School committee approves Hopkins project technology purchases and greenlights temporary kitchen; seeks design work for loop-road repair

The Hopkinton School Committee on April 17 approved a package of technology purchases for the Hopkins School addition and discussed several project budget priorities, including a temporary kitchen for the five‑month transition period, design work for a loop‑road repair, and the possible relocation of a modular classroom from Elmwood.

The committee voted unanimously to authorize vendor purchases of $150,099 for equipment and related services tied to Hopkins and to transfer funds to cover E‑Rate purchases of $35,325.60. Committee members said the purchases were split between items funded from the Hopkins project technology budget and items tied to construction transition costs.

The discussion placed special emphasis on protecting recently purchased network hardware during construction, procuring projectors and projector installation by the manufacturer (to ensure a single point of responsibility), and using the state E‑Rate program where eligible. Chris (staff member presenting the project) described the vendor packages and explained the recommendation to acquire projector…