Chariho committee adopts changes to elementary-choice policy, purchasing rules and multiple curricula

The Chariho Regional School District school committee approved multiple policy and curriculum items at its June 17 meeting, moving several district governance and instructional changes into effect.

Member Jessica “Jess” Purcell presented a revised voluntary change of elementary district guidelines designed to guide school choice during the district’s consolidation from four elementary schools to three and address regional transportation-line adjustments. After Purcell read an added introductory sentence, the committee voted unanimously to adopt the redlined policy.

The committee also updated the district’s purchasing policy to raise thresholds and give administrators flexibility to make emergency purchases needed to keep schools open. Greg Zenian explained the changes and cited repeated winter boiler failures and a recent emergency replacement at Ashaway as examples of why faster procurement is sometimes necessary. The purchasing policy update passed unanimously.

On curriculum, the committee approved new physical education curriculum for grades 7–8 and recommended expanding it to younger grades if successful. The board also approved K–12 visual arts, K–12 music and world language curriculum for grades 5–12 after presentations from department leads; members noted the updates were primarily reformatting and that redline versions are provided when standards change.

Several speakers complimented the materials and asked for accessible redline summaries for future review. Doctor Camilla and department heads were acknowledged for work on the materials.

No dissenting votes were recorded in these items; members asked administration to continue sharing redline materials and to provide the public with timely access to curriculum documents and redline comparisons when substantive content changes are proposed.