School committee adopts operations protocols, assigns subcommittees and appoints superintendent to consortium board

The Swampscott School Committee voted unanimously Thursday to adopt its School Committee Operations Protocols for 2025–26, a document the chair said outlines how members will govern, communicate and treat one another. "These protocols...delineate how we govern, how we treat each other, how we communicate, how we will improve ourselves, the limit of our authority, and when things go wrong," the chair said.

Immediately after approving the protocols, the committee moved through subcommittee appointments and organizational items. Members confirmed leads on bargaining, budget and finance, policy and wellness subcommittees and discussed creating a communications approach that would clarify what the school committee should communicate versus district communications.

The committee also unanimously approved a required wellness policy and scheduled follow-up on a concussion policy. Several members asked that staff verify the concussion handbook and communication flow so that academic accommodations and teacher notification will be clearly documented before the committee votes on the updated concussion policy. The chair agreed to defer the concussion policy vote to the next meeting so staff can provide supplemental handbook material and enforcement details.

In other business, the committee unanimously appointed Superintendent Kalishman as the district's representative on the North Shore Education Consortium board for the 2025–26 year. The committee also approved regular-session minutes from June 12 and adjourned.

Why it matters: the protocols formalize expectations for committee behavior and boundaries between governance and day-to-day administration; subcommittee assignments and the consortium appointment set roles for the coming year. Deferring the concussion policy shows committee members seeking assurance that school-level protocols for teacher notification and academic accommodations are in place.