School committee approves revised policies, affirms school choice, accepts CHA bid and sets follow‑ups

The Barnstable Public Schools School Committee took several formal actions at its March 19 meeting, approving policy updates and routine business and authorizing staff actions. Committee votes were recorded on multiple agenda items; where the transcript records only verbal unanimous “Aye” votes or roll‑call fragments the outcomes are reported below with notes on available tallies.

Policy approvals: The committee approved revised versions of three policies on second read: • AC — Non‑Discrimination, Including Harassment and Retaliation (second read; motion carried unanimously). • IKF — Graduation Requirements (second read; motion carried unanimously). • JICFB — Bullying Prevention (second read; motion carried unanimously).

School choice and tuition: The committee affirmed the district’s intention to offer interdistrict school choice for the 2025–26 school year (motion carried; recorded as “Aye”). It postponed approval of FY26 tuition rates for Barnstable Daycare and the Pre‑K program at Barnstable High School until the April 2 meeting (motion to postpone carried).

Procurement and warrants: The committee accepted the selection committee’s recommendation for on‑call owner’s project manager services and authorized the superintendent to sign a contract with CHA Consulting for on‑call owner’s project manager services (the RFP response was accepted; no immediate appropriation at this vote—project manager services are called in on capital projects and paid from capital project budgets). The administration noted that by state law an owner’s project manager is required for capital projects greater than $1.5 million.

Financial approvals: The accounts payable warrant FY25, warrant number 37, in the amount of $627,141.91 was approved. The committee also approved the consent agenda (minutes from 03/05/2025, budget transfer authorizations, and FY25 grants/gifts/donations).

Executive session: The committee voted to enter executive session to discuss strategy for collective bargaining and non‑union negotiations (motion carried; the roll call in the transcript records Chair Jennifer Collin and committee member Andre voting “Yes” when the roll call was called; full roll‑call details beyond those two names were not recorded verbatim in the public transcript).

Notes about tallies and provenance: Several motions were recorded with unanimous verbal “Aye” and the minutes show motions and seconds for each action; the public transcript does not contain a full named roll call for each vote. Where the transcript did not provide exact numeric tallies or names for mover/second, the article records the outcome and cites the meeting record. The committee did not adopt the FY26 operating budget at this meeting; the budget public hearing was opened and closed and the adoption vote is scheduled for April 2.

Ending: The committee’s action items leave the administration two immediate tasks before the April 2 meeting: bring forward the FY26 adoption motion with any requested alternate scenarios, and supply the committee with any additional documentation requested for one‑time savings and tuition rates.