The Northampton School Committee approved a slate of procedural and financial items on June 12 while spending the bulk of the meeting hearing public comment on a scheduling crisis at Northampton High School.

Key approvals and actions

- Approval of meeting minutes: The committee approved the minutes of prior meetings as presented.

- Transfers: The committee approved multiple budget transfer requests, including a $16,000 transfer into district-wide software license fees for IT (item B) and a $62,940 transfer related to special-education tuition accounting (item C). Committee members said transfers were intended to correct coding choices and reduce duplication within IT lines.

- Revised 2025-26 school calendar: The committee approved a revised school-year calendar that shifted one professional-development day (to accommodate a primary election) and corrected a miscalculation in the number of school days.

- Northampton Education Foundation (NEF) small grants: Members voted to accept NEF small grants totaling $32,950.35 to fund 11 school projects including robotics, literary magazine printing, visiting-artist series, and field trips for elementary grades. The NEF endowment committee also presented two larger endowment awards totaling $40,000+ in multi-year support for elementary initiatives (Grow Food Northampton and Math Recovery certification support); the committee accepted those grants as well.

- Special-education transportation contract: The committee approved renewal of the district’s special-education transportation contract with the existing vendor, citing limited vendor options in the region and ongoing discussions about long-term transportation strategy.

- Leeds before/after program rates: The committee approved changes to early/late program pricing at Leeds Elementary (including a small per-hour increase and a new sibling discount) and referred program-level details to the Budget & Property subcommittee for further review.

- Business-administrator contract negotiation authorization: The committee voted to authorize the superintendent to enter contract negotiations with the business administrator and to consult with the committee in executive session before returning any final contract for public vote.

Procedural notes and next steps

Committee members and staff repeatedly said the one-time funding and transfer items were intended to address operational coding and short-term needs; members emphasized that true recurring budget changes must be addressed in the regular budget process. The committee also requested more detailed follow-up reports on how newly identified funds would be used and asked the administration to return with a plan at a June 25 special meeting when relevant.

The meeting further included a lengthy rules-and-policy discussion about proposed limits on student cell-phone use in schools; that item remained a policy discussion with direction to the superintendent and subcommittee for further community engagement, including student input, rather than an immediate policy vote.

Ending

The committee adjourned after ordering immediate administrative steps to address NHS scheduling gaps and scheduling a follow-up special meeting. Several pro-business and nonprofit grants were accepted; various transfers and the transportation contract were approved by roll call.