Votes at a glance: Coventry board approves exchange student, chemical-waste disposal fees and CHS gym sound purchase

The Coventry School Committee unanimously approved three time-sensitive items added to the agenda: recognition of a foreign exchange student's enrollment for grade 10, impact fees for chemical-hazard waste disposal tied to science-lab renovations, and a purchase order to update the sound system in the Coventry High School gym.

The committee voted 6-0 to approve the foreign exchange student's enrollment for the 2025–26 school year after the high school confirmed the student met the school's documentation requirements. The student will be a 10th grader; the administration kept the student's personal information out of the public packet and recommended committee approval.

The committee next approved impact fees to hire a licensed hazardous-waste contractor to remove out-of-date chemicals from the high school's chemical storage room. The superintendent said the work responds to a fire-marshal inspection and is necessary because expired and unused chemicals cannot be disposed of through ordinary trash or dumpsters. "We want to get them in and get these chemicals out of the building," the superintendent said during the discussion.

Committee members then approved a purchase order to replace or upgrade the gymnasium sound system while crews are on site installing lighting and fans. Don Cowart said the project remains within the gym budgeted amount of $2.5 million and noted savings elsewhere in the capital work — including a portable fume-hood decision that freed roughly $70,000 that allowed additional painting in the science labs. Joe Fagnoli, the district's athletic director, was present and participated in the discussion about vendor selection.

All three motions passed by recorded announcement with the tally "motion carries 6 to 0." The committee adjourned at 8:22 p.m. by a 6-0 vote.