Policy committee forwards update to Policy Instruction 102 on academic year hours to full School Committee

The Manchester School District Policy Committee voted Jan. 15 to approve revisions to Policy Instruction 102, “End of Academic Year,” and forward the changes to the full School Committee for final approval.

Assistant Superintendent Nicole Girardi told the committee the revision updates how the district records the academic year by hours rather than days. “This outlines the number of hours we have for an academic school year. And this is in line with the Department of Education's policy. I also had it reviewed by our data analysis to confirm,” Girardi said. Committee members asked no substantive questions before moving to a vote.

The committee also approved the minutes from the Dec. 18, 2024 policy committee meeting and moved to adjourn. The motion to forward Policy Instruction 102 to the full School Committee was moved by Committee member Benitez and seconded by Committee member Empar; the committee voted in favor with the roll call recorded as “Aye” and no opposition noted. The minutes from Dec. 18, 2024 were approved (mover not specified in the record; second by Committee member Parr), and a motion to adjourn, moved by Committee member Munoz and seconded by Committee member Park, carried by voice vote.

The committee record shows quorum present and no public commenters. The forwarded Policy Instruction 102 update clarifies the district's measurement of the academic year to align with Department of Education guidance; the specific total number of hours included in the revised policy was not specified in the committee discussion recorded in the transcript.