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Votes at a glance: Ashland School Committee approves appointments, meal price increase, auditorium upgrade and school‑choice allocations
Summary
The Ashland School Committee approved multiple administrative and budgetary measures at its opening meeting, including a $130,000 school‑choice funded upgrade of the high‑school auditorium communication system, a hike in adult meal price to $5.30, appointments to safety and wellness committees, and confirmation of school‑choice allocations totaling $153,000.
The Ashland School Committee took several formal actions during its first meeting of the academic year. Key approved items and procedural notes follow.
• Appointment: Superintendent Jim Adams to the board of directors for the Accept Collaborative. Motion moved and seconded; the committee approved the appointment.
• Nutrition services: approved an increase in the adult school‑meal price to $5.30. The request was presented as aligning district prices with DESE and USDA meal‑pricing formula adjustments; the committee moved, seconded and voted in favor.
• Safety committee appointments: the committee approved an expanded safety‑committee membership list that includes district administrators, public‑safety liaisons and a recommendation that the district head nurse attend as a non‑voting participant. The committee also approved Paul Kendall to serve on the 2025–26 safety subcommittee.
• Working groups and liaisons: the committee confirmed standing working‑group and liaison appointments (status quo), and appointed Tina as the district representative to the wellness committee (meetings occur quarterly and attendance is required by law for the wellness committee).
• Facilities/AV: the committee approved allocating $130,000 from school‑choice revenue to replace and modernize the auditorium communication system at Ashland High School, citing intermittent microphone failures, projector problems and day‑to‑day safety concerns. Principal/administrator Kelly Myers told the committee, “we've spent every day in the cafeteria, since we started, just kinda having to yell and dismiss kids ... we haven't had the ability to do that, this year, which is concerning to me if there was a legitimate emergency.”
• School choice funds: the committee approved the district’s school‑choice allocations to buildings and departments for the year — the package totals $153,000 and uses the same allocation levels as the previous year while acknowledging increased school‑choice enrollment and a plan to revisit allocations next year.
• Consent agenda: the committee approved the consent agenda, including gifts/donations and grant allocations, by voice vote.
All measures listed above were moved, seconded (where recorded) and approved by the committee during the meeting. Individual vote tallies were not recorded in the transcript beyond affirmative voice votes and procedural “ayes.”
