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Wakefield School District committee meeting, Aug 25, 2026

1 h 24 min · 0 public speakers

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Wakefield School Committee accepts handbooks without change to absence failure policy 45:04

  • The committee discussed a proposed change to the high school attendance policy that would lower the number from 8 per quarter to 5. 13:57
  • The committee voted unanimously to lay Policy JKAA, JFBB, JLCD and JLCDC on the table for 2 weeks. 1:13:27

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Item by item (10)
  1. Opening and meeting minutes 5:06
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a reading of the mission statement, and no one spoke at public comment. 5:13
    • Melissa Quinn moved to approve the minutes of the August 11th, 2026 school committee meeting and accept minutes of a policy and communications subcommittee meeting, after members asked which dates were listed. 7:36
    • The minutes motion passed unanimously. 8:32
  2. Gift acceptance 8:52
    • Melissa Quinn moved to accept a donation of $2,044.75 from Galvin Middle School staff and friends toward the purchase and installation of a bench. 9:02
    • The motion passed unanimously. 9:21
  3. Superintendent's remarks 9:35
    • The superintendent said September 1st is the first day for high school students and September 2nd is the first day for all students pre-K through 8th. 10:11
    • The superintendent said the district welcomed 18 new faculty members and has 5 open positions, including 3 long-term sub positions and 2 teaching positions. 12:26
  4. School handbooks and attendance policy 13:32
    • One board member said the Student Services Subcommittee discussed approving the handbooks but not the change to the high school attendance policy, and said buyback or credit recovery options should be considered. 14:48
    • A district staff member said the current limit of 8 unexcused absences per quarter affected 22 students this year and 7 students for the year, out of 900, while one board member said, "I don't think I'm in favor of the amendment." 20:11
    • One board member said it would not be reasonable to insert the change at any point during the school year. 44:25
    • An amended motion to accept the handbooks except for the absence failure policy change from 8 days to 5 days passed, with 4 members in favor. 45:04
  5. District facilities update 46:06
    • A district staff member described summer projects including a Genetec access control upgrade, a new PA system at Woodville and air conditioning in every second floor classroom at Greenwood. 46:30
    • The staff member said traffic patterns stay the same until December 23rd and that January 5th will be the first day in the new high school. 1:02:28
    • Peter Davis asked whether Hemlock parking was going away permanently, and the staff member said the staff member believed it was a temporary change for construction. 1:03:26
  6. Early literacy week and farewell open house 1:09:47
    • A district staff member said more than 200 students took part in the Early Literacy Academy August 17th through 21st. 1:09:51
    • The staff member said the old high school will open to the community the November 20th weekend, with an evening event from 4 to 6 and a Saturday morning session from 10 to 12. 1:10:43
  7. Policy and communications subcommittee report 1:11:07
    • Melissa Quinn said the subcommittee was bringing back policy JKAA on physical restraint, seclusion and timeout after new guidance, along with changes on administration of medicine and sibling preference in school choice. 1:12:07
    • Melissa Quinn moved to lay excessive heat guidelines on the table, and a district staff member said the guidelines would go in the handbooks at all 3 levels and be enforced by administration. 1:14:00
    • The committee voted unanimously to lay policies JKAA, JFBB, JLCD and JLCDC and the excessive heat guidelines on the table until the September 8th, 2026 meeting. 1:13:27
  8. Student services subcommittee report 1:16:25
    • Alexander Naumann said the subcommittee discussed preparing for the SY28 YRBS and the possibility of handing it off to Health and Human Services. 1:16:35
    • A district staff member said the next Policy and Communications meeting is September 14th. 1:18:37
  9. Finance and facilities subcommittee report 1:18:56
    • Thomas Markham said the subcommittee has not met since July and that the town administrator finalized the creation of a town revenue committee. 1:19:03
    • Kevin Fontanella asked about additional Chapter 70 funding, and Thomas Markham said the amount went from 150 in the House proposal to 160 out of the joint session. 1:20:51
  10. Future dates and adjournment 1:21:43
    • The next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, September 8th at 7 PM. 1:21:43

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Wakefield School Committee Meeting - August 25th, 2026”