Subcommittee outlines process for student liaisons; favors teacher nominations and administrative screening

The Warwick policy subcommittee reviewed draft language to establish student liaisons on the school committee and worked through selection, timing and safeguards.

Members favored a process that begins with student applications or nominations available at both high schools, followed by faculty nomination (via a Google form or similar), selection of up to five applicants per school, and interviews by the building administrative team to choose one nominee per high school. The nominees would then be submitted to the superintendent for consideration and advanced to the full school committee for ratification. Several members said this approach reduces bias and balances teacher input with administrative oversight.

The draft assigns the student liaison a one‑year, non‑voting advisory term beginning with the September school committee meeting. Members agreed the liaison should receive public meeting materials in advance but should not attend closed session or receive confidential materials exempt from disclosure by law. The subcommittee discussed practical timing (March application windows versus second‑semester or 'beginning of September' phrasing) and recommended flexible language to accommodate school calendars.

Committee members also discussed protecting students from potentially contentious meetings: options included having the student sit with administrators rather than on stage, allowing the chair discretion to excuse the student on nights that could be volatile, and making explicit in the policy that students may be dismissed from a meeting if circumstances warrant. Members emphasized vetting any prepared student materials before public distribution.

Next steps: the subcommittee will fold the agreed selection mechanics and confidentiality language into the consolidated draft and circulate it for editing prior to administrative review and placement on the full committee agenda for a first read.