School leaders and district staff reported updates on multi-year school improvement plans, instructional programs, technology infrastructure and budget planning at the Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District committee meeting.

Principals and curriculum staff said the district has shifted to three-year improvement plans to allow sustained focus on goals. Bethany, principal at Assawasi Elementary School, described goals around inclusive leadership and comprehension standards and said her school will hold a first “coffee with the principal” parent event. Michael Ward, principal of Freetown Elementary School, said the school’s goals include ensuring “100% of our students will make progress towards being a strategic reader.” Dr. Sullivan reported connected goals at the intermediate school including social-emotional learning and improved attendance targets.

Technology director Ryan Blanchard reported summer infrastructure work and device deployments: the district inspected returned Chromebooks and deployed 417 Dell Chromebooks in 910 Max cases, completed a dark-fiber link between ARHS and AES to route campus traffic directly, and replaced aging cabling at FES with CAT 6 and new intermediate distribution frames. Blanchard said the district has applied for a 2025 cybersecurity awareness grant and listed longer-term needs including a new phone system, network switches (end of life since 2013) and classroom desktops that cannot be upgraded to Windows 11.

Director of Finance and Operations Jack Higgins said the FY24 audit is nearing completion and preliminary reports show recurring issues from prior audits but that initial responses indicate effective steps are being taken in FY25. He outlined budget risks and drivers for FY26, including an expected double-digit health-insurance increase (to be confirmed in February), an approximate 3.67% inflation estimate for out-of-district special-education tuition increases, and an approximate 5% increase for collaborative tuition. Higgins noted liability insurance premiums have doubled since 2023 following large claims; ongoing subrogation litigation could affect future premiums.

The committee also received a middle-school special-education update: the middle school had 698 enrolled students at the most recent count, with 124 students receiving special education services (about 17.8%) and 77 students covered by 504 plans. Inclusion rates were reported at about 67.6% full inclusion, 18.4% partial inclusion and 5.1% life-skills placement. Staffing and evaluation metrics were summarized, and committee members were told the district has avoided contracting out evaluations this year after hiring an additional school psychologist.

Votes at a glance
- Approved out-of-state and in-state field trips: motions to approve various grade-level trips (including visits to an IMAX theater, RISD Museum, Coles State Park and a Newport trip for the Junior Honor Society) passed during the meeting; the committee said "all field trips approved." Specific tallies were not specified in the record.
- Approved payroll vendor warrants for Nov. 13 and Nov. 27, 2024; motions carried.
- Accepted a $20,000 donation from the boosters for the school wellness center and the final pieces of a scoreboard project; the scoreboard installation date was discussed but not finalized in the record.
- Appointed John Burke as the Lakeville member to the Regional Finance Committee; motion carried by voice vote.

Other items discussed included school-based examples of student work (a middle-school writing program using the Amplify platform was highlighted), classroom engineering presentations by elementary students who built and tested model bridges, and formation of an AI policy committee to draft district guidance on the classroom use of artificial intelligence.

The meeting packet, minutes referenced in the discussion, and vote records will be posted to the district website when finalized.