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High school asks district to sustain Project Lead The Way, restore staff and expand tech licenses
Summary
High-school leaders asked the Blackstone–Millville Regional School District committee to fund course expansion and restore instructional staff, and requested new and renewed ed‑tech licenses to support career‑focused pathways and classroom instruction.
Matt opened the Blackstone–Millville Regional School District budget workshop and said the purpose of the meeting was to present school- and cost‑center budgets; he turned the presentation over to Mr. Dudek, who led the high‑school briefing.
Mr. Dudek said the district received a $70,000 grant last year to launch a biomedical science pathway and asked the committee for a $10,000 district contribution to sustain the current forensic-focused course and to add a second anatomy and physiology course next year. “We were accepted through the phase two process of Project Lead The Way,” he said, and added the district has applied for an engineering pathway that would carry a $7,500 district cost if awarded.
The presentation listed a package of instructional‑technology subscriptions Mr. Dudek recommended retaining or expanding: IXL, Virtual High School, Naviance and Newsela. He described a Nearpod school license at $4,500 (including 8,500 videos and lessons) and an Adobe Creative Cloud bundle listed at $2,500 as purchases that would align classroom work with industry standards.
Mr. Dudek outlined supplies requests across math, art, music, robotics and video media (microphones, controllers, memory cards) and said the high school is seeking to restore several staff positions cut in prior years. He asked the committee to consider bringing back a business/math intervention teacher and a wellness/PE teacher to enhance interventions and electives.
On leadership structure, Mr. Dudek proposed restoring four department leaders for math, ELA, science and history to provide content‑area oversight tied to MCAS and Department of Education expectations. Committee member Jason said the contract lists $1,750 per position and indicated a $7,000 total addition is currently reflected in the proposed budget.
Mr. Dudek also presented projected enrollment numbers for the next year — a senior class of about 94 and an incoming ninth grade of roughly 110 — and said that modest increase would inform staffing and sectioning decisions.
The committee asked clarifying questions about whether department‑leader duties would require a memorandum of agreement with the union; Mr. Dudek said the district would negotiate responsibilities and potential contract adjustments with Unit A if the committee approves the positions.
The presentation closed with committee discussion about how to prioritize instructional materials versus staffing within available funds; no formal vote on the high‑school proposals occurred at the workshop.
