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School committee approves a package of policy updates and routine business
Summary
Committee moved and approved a set of policy amendments on nondiscrimination, attendance, extracurricular participation for homeschool/virtual students, purchasing and class-size rules, and accepted consent‑agenda items including minutes and donations; votes were recorded by roll call during the meeting.
The Wachusett Regional School District Committee approved several governance changes and routine motions during the business portion of Monday’s meeting.
The committee approved an amended policy on school‑committee operations and nondiscrimination that adds definitions for discrimination, harassment and retaliation and updates legal references; district counsel said the harassment language aligns with DESE and U.S. Department of Education guidance and cited the bullying reporting regulation at 603 CMR 49 in drafting retaliatory definitions. The committee also approved revisions to the pupil‑services/attendance policy (to align with MSBA templates and strengthen dropout prevention language) and adopted a new policy allowing homeschooled and Commonwealth virtual students to participate in district extracurricular activities, with procedures to appear on the district website.
A set of budget and purchasing policies (including policies numbered in the 4300s) was approved on second reading and one vendor‑contracts policy was deleted as part of the housekeeping package. The committee also approved an amended class‑size policy on second reading. All motions passed on roll‑call votes recorded in the transcript.
The consent agenda — including approval of regular meeting minutes for Jan. 12 and Jan. 28, 2026; donations to Dawson Elementary, Wachusett Regional High School and Mayo Elementary; and Dawson PTO gifts and grants — was approved without removals. Subcommittee reports followed, and the meeting adjourned.
Roll‑call recordings and the full meeting video (broadcast on Holden TV and holdentv.com) provide the official record of the votes and motion texts.
