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Plymouth School Committee votes to join Cape Cod Collaborative, membership to start July 1 if other districts approve
Summary
The Plymouth School Committee voted 6–0 (one absent) to accept amended articles of agreement to join the Cape Cod Collaborative; next steps include securing a majority of member districts and a DESE filing due April 1.
The Plymouth School Committee voted 6–0 with one member absent on March 3 to approve amended articles of agreement to join the Cape Cod Collaborative, allowing Plymouth students to access collaborative programs at member rates and giving the district a voting seat on the collaborative board of directors.
The committee heard from Hope Hanscomb, executive director of the Cape Cod Collaborative, who described the procedural steps that remain before membership takes effect. “I am really excited that we're gonna be able to make this move forward, for a July 1 start if all goes well,” Hanscomb said, explaining that the collaborative's board voted to accept Plymouth on Feb. 26 and that each prospective member district must also approve amended articles so the collaborative can file with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
The committee's approval allows the chair to sign documents tonight; Hanscomb told the committee she will visit multiple school committee meetings across member districts before the DESE deadline of April 1. She said the collaborative needs a majority of school committees to ratify the amendment; if that majority is reached, Plymouth would begin membership July 1, with Plymouth able to send students to collaborative programs at member tuition rates and hold a voting seat on the collaborative board.
Committee members asked how tuition and transportation would be handled. Hanscomb said tuition rates are set annually by the collaborative board of directors and that transportation decisions are made by the student's IEP team and may be provided by the collaborative or private vendors depending on cost and availability. “The board will vote on our budget and spending plan in April or May of this year,” she said.
The vote followed a superintendent recommendation in support of joining. The formal motion passed 6–0, with one absence; the chair signed the paperwork afterward.
What happens next: the collaborative will seek votes from other member committees and complete the DESE filing by April 1; if enough districts ratify the amendment, Plymouth's membership would begin July 1.
