School committee accepts $69,124 life-sciences grant to support high-school curriculum

The Easthampton School Committee approved acceptance of a $69,124 Education and Workforce Development grant awarded by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to support life-science instruction at Easthampton High School. Chair Laura Scott moved the consent motion; the motion was seconded and passed by roll call. "The education and workforce development grant in the amount of $69,124," the committee recorded on the agenda and moved to accept the funds.

Superintendent Dr. Balch outlined how the grant will be used: "So 57, just a little over 57,000 of that is for equipment materials...and then 12,000 of that is going to professional development for the OpenSciEd," she said, describing the purchase of kits to support new, phenomenon-based high-quality instructional materials and the district's change of ninth-grade instruction into biology to expand upper-level course access. Committee members praised staff for pursuing grants and for making fiscal choices that extended taxpayer dollars; the motion to accept the grant carried on a unanimous roll-call vote.