School Committee approves warrants and accepts donations; DECA gift distribution to be finalized

At its March 6 meeting the Wareham School Committee approved routine warrants and accepted three gifts to district programs; both votes recorded a 4-0-0 outcome.

Lede: The committee voted to approve the bill and payroll warrants and accepted three donor gifts to support school programs. The committee amended acceptance of the $2,000 anonymous DECA donation so distribution details would be confirmed before funds are disbursed to students.

Details

The gifts presented by the superintendent and approved by the committee were: - $500 from the American Legion (John Comer) to support the Wareham High School JROTC program. - A donation from Home Depot of set materials for the Wareham Middle School production of Moana Junior (2x4s, plywood, casters, foam board and adhesives). - A $2,000 anonymous donation earmarked for DECA travel expenses; the committee accepted the gift with a contingency that administrators provide a plan for equitable distribution to students before funds are released.

Vote and procedure

The superintendent asked for approval of the warrants; a motion was made and seconded and the vote was recorded as “4 0 0.” Committee members later moved to accept the three gifts; after discussion about how the DECA funds would be distributed the committee amended the motion to accept the anonymous DECA donation contingent on an equitable distribution plan and again voted “4 0 0.”

Why it matters: The gifts provide modest supplemental support for student activities (JROTC, the middle school theater production and DECA competitive travel). The committee requested that the superintendent and program leads clarify distribution so that the travel assistance is allocated equitably among participating students.

Ending

Administrators said they will confer with DECA advisors and bring back distribution details for the anonymous DECA gift at the next meeting.