Committee reviews new student clubs; officials say high school fees and finance subcommittee will monitor stipends

Westford School Committee members discussed a slate of new student clubs and how stipends and associated fees are managed across the district, with administrators saying the finance subcommittee will continue to examine whether current fee structures adequately cover extracurricular costs.

The new clubs are listed in an addendum to the WEA (Westford Education Association) unit A and unit B contract and are broken out by elementary, middle and high school offerings, Dr. Chu and staff said. "It basically talks about each of the categories of stipends that we have, and then some of the subcategories that we have for each of those clubs," a district presenter said.

Nut graf: The committee sought clarity on whether approving new clubs would push the district over stipend budgets and whether there is a deadline for proposing new clubs during the year. Administrators said teachers may propose clubs year-round but the district expects most additions at the start of the school year; the finance subcommittee is reviewing FY25 stipend and student activity account data to determine budget impacts.

Administrators said high school clubs are largely covered by student fees but elementary clubs generally do not collect fees and would need an alternate funding source. "They are covered by the student fees at the high school... Elementary, we don't collect a fee so that we have to identify a different funding source," the presenter said. Committee members asked staff to provide specific stipend overages and account details at a future meeting; finance subcommittee members confirmed that stipend and extracurricular fee structures will be examined at an upcoming meeting.

Ending: The committee approved the consent agenda that included the new club listings and asked staff and the finance subcommittee for follow-up financial details on stipend overages and possible revised student fee tiers.