School committee unanimously approves JRA policy expanding staff access to student information

The Methuen School Committee voted unanimously on Feb. 24 to approve the JRA policy expanding controlled staff access to student information for legitimate operational needs such as extracurricular supervision and student advisories.

Vice Chair Shabilius moved to approve the policy; Member Shabilius seconded the motion. The committee took a roll call and recorded unanimous votes in favor. "Unanimous," the clerk confirmed after the vote. The committee chair then declared, "All right. That passes." (Roll‑call results were recorded in the meeting transcript as all votes in the affirmative.)

The policy expands access to the district's student information system, Infinite Campus, for staff members who require records to supervise activities, monitor health or accommodations (such as 504 plans) and otherwise ensure student safety during off‑site events and extracurricular programs. Committee members and staff said the change is intended to limit access to a "need‑to‑know" basis rather than opening records broadly.

Member Keegan described personal experience that prompted the policy: "Last school year...the extracurricular people did not have access to accommodations," Keegan said, adding that the lack of access posed a potential safety concern for students involved in activities. The transcript records multiple staff references that district technology and administrative staff (named as Dr. Golovski and Matt Serkwa in the meeting) are "fine tuning" the Infinite Campus settings and accompanying safeguards.

Committee members discussed implementation details: coaches and other non‑full‑time personnel will be handled differently because they typically do not have full Infinite Campus accounts; printed or alternative confidential files and signed confidentiality agreements were discussed as interim measures for some outside or part‑time supervisors. Committee members also asked whether federal or state student privacy laws should be cited in the policy language; staff said they would consult district counsel (Attorney Macaro) and include required procedural safeguards and a staff confidentiality agreement before the second reading.

Action recorded: the motion to adopt the JRA staff access policy passed unanimously by roll call; the committee did not attach a sunset date or budgetary change at adoption. Staff were directed to finalize the technical access settings, audit/logging procedures and a confidentiality attestation for staff who receive expanded access.