School committee debates meeting norms, wants more community comment before votes

The committee used part of the meeting to review its own self‑assessment and to set near‑term governance goals: increase community engagement, begin FY28 budget planning earlier and use data to support decisions. Members proposed an expanded schedule of work sessions and suggested jointly briefing the town council earlier in the budget calendar.

A substantial discussion focused on meeting norms and public participation. Administration reminded the committee that the chair may invite public comment and suggested piloting item‑by‑item public comment before votes on selected agenda items to increase meaningful input. "We will be including community comment on any item before the committee before a vote is taken to hear the community's opinions," the presenter said as an operational option the committee could adopt; members asked for a plan to pilot that approach and asked staff to research how other districts manage item‑specific comment. The committee agreed to refine norms after the election and to schedule targeted work sessions to advance community workshops and budget engagement.