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Gardner School Committee approves surplus equipment, adopts several policies and hears facilities and finance updates
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Summary
At its Nov. 10 meeting the Gardner School Committee approved a consent agenda and voted to dispose of an ~80‑item kitchen‑equipment surplus, adopted several second‑read policies, removed policy BDFA‑E‑1 from the policy manual, and received facilities and finance reports including maintenance work orders and MSBA roof paperwork.
The Gardner School Committee held a regular meeting on Nov. 10, 2025 and approved routine business, several motions, and informational reports.
Motions and votes: The committee approved the consent agenda by voice vote after a motion by Bob Schwartz and a second by John LeFrenier. Facilities chair Bob Schwartz moved to approve disposal of a kitchen‑equipment surplus list of roughly 80 items (agenda item 3,732); the motion was seconded and taken out of order for a voice vote and the chair announced the motion carried. The policy subcommittee recommended acceptance of several policies on second reading (including DB annual budget, DBG budget adoption procedures, EFD school nutrition charge policy, and JIC student discipline); Anne Hurst moved to approve the policies, a second was recorded, and the committee approved them by voice vote. Hurst also moved to remove BDFA‑E‑1 (school improvement plan) from the policy manual and place it in the procedure manual as procedural; that motion passed by voice vote.
Facilities and maintenance: Schwartz reported the facilities committee met Nov. 6 and presented 11 pages of maintenance work orders covering Aug. 28 through Nov. 3 that listed new, open, on‑hold and completed work orders. He said the district limited who may submit maintenance requests to assistant principals to reduce duplicate tickets, and that work‑order volume has fallen while remaining focused on meaningful items.
Finance and capital projects: The finance committee (reported Nov. 6) reviewed the year‑to‑date expense report, noted a needed $30,000 transfer to cover a city‑shared athletic/recreation director salary line, a negative secretary line due to extended leave, and a pending E‑rate funding credit not yet applied to bills. The finance report also said punch list items are being closed for the Gardner High School auditorium and that paperwork to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for Gardner Middle School roof work is in process.
Other items: The superintendent recognized two nurses (Bethany Hakunowitz and Benjamin Blake) for their swift response to a serious high‑school medical emergency. Committee members raised operational issues including a City Hall elevator out of service (pulley malfunction; Otis contract in place and parts ordered) and Pearl Street paving scheduled for Saturday (with a rain date). Bob Schwartz expressed concern about low turnout in last week’s local election, noting that his precinct had 1,706 registered voters and 362 ballots cast.
Next steps and logistics: No contested motions failed; votes were taken by voice and recorded on the public transcript as "Aye" and "Motion carries." The committee announced its next meeting for Monday, Dec. 8, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, where the inauguration date and time will also be scheduled.
Vote note: All recorded motions at this meeting were approved by voice vote; specific numeric tallies were not read into the public transcript.
