School Committee 2/27 Meeting Summary

The Sanford School Committee met February 27, 2023. All members were present at the start of the meeting. Vice Chair Amy Sevigny left part way through the meeting.

The minutes of previous meetings, workshops and executive sessions were approved.

There were no public comments and no communications.

Superintendent’s Report

Student Representatives: Aidan Gendron said students will be choosing classes for the next school year on Thursday and Friday of this week. Emma Adawadkar reported that the Civil Rights Team will be hosting Inclusion Day on Wednesday, March 1. The day has been celebrated at Sanford High School since 2009 to insure everyone feels included. The girls varsity basketball team lost to Gorham in overtime at the semifinals. John Paul Alexandre reported on the Sanford Abroad trip to Italy. Participants returned at 1:00 am the night before. 72 people went on the trip to Venice, Florence and Rome. He thanked Ms. Foley and the chaperones for all their work to make the trip a success.

Field Trips: Superintendent of Schools Matt Nelson announced the following field trips: The SHS Key Club will be going to a district conference in Springfield, MA from March 31 through April 2. Approximately 30 students will attend. Digital Design students from SRTC will be visiting the New England Institute of Technology in Rhode Island on March 1. The Skills USA leadership conference will be held in Bangor March 16-17. 45 to 50 students from SRTC will visit the United Technologies Center and Eastern Maine Community College on that trip. SRTC’s Building Trades student will go to a trade show which includes training seminars in Providence, RI on March 24.

Sanford Spotlight: Mr. Nelson gave an overview of the latest issue of the Sanford Spotlight, the School Department’s online newsletter. View it here.

There were no Director’s Reports.

New Business

Budget: See separate story.

Financials: Business Manager Cheryl Fournier went through the January financial report, which the Committee accepted.

Calendar: Mr. Nelson gave Committee members a preliminary look at the calendar for the 2023/24 school year. The proposed plan is to have the first student day of school on Wednesday, August 30, another school day on Thursday, August 31, and then the four-day Labor Day weekend off before coming back to school Tuesday, September 5. Christmas break would be December 23-January 1. February vacation would be the week of February 19 and April (2024) vacation would be the week of April 15. The last day of school would be June 5, 2024, but days would likely have to be added to that to make up for any snow days. Mr. Nelson said there may still be some changes made, but the proposed plan is a compromise with other districts who send students to SRTC. The state requires Sanford to have no more than five dissimilar days with those other districts. He said some of sending schools are in coastal communities who don’t start school until after Labor Day due to the need for students to work in the tourism industry. Sanford has a shorter school year than many other districts because the inservice hours that teachers are required to take are done on early release Wednesdays, while other districts have extra days set aside for those.

Staff Changes: Mr. Nelson went through the list of staff changes. Barbara Dumont, an Ed Tech at Sanford Middle School, has retired. Cindy Quetti is a new Ed Tech working with middle and elementary grades in the BRIDGE program. There was a lengthy list of spring athletic appointments. A few of those positions are still open. Jason Dudley was nominated to be the new Director of Facilities and Maintenance. He is a graduate of Sanford schools and a longtime employee of the School Department. He previously worked as head custodian at the Willard School, then as Assistant Director of Facilities and Maintenance, and has been Interim Director since January.

Upcoming Meetings: School Committee meeting will be held March 6 and March 20. The City Council Budget Workshops will be held on Tuesdays in March beginning at 4:00 pm. The public hearing on City and School budgets will be March 21, during the regular City Council meeting which begins at 6:00 pm. The City and School budgets are scheduled for approval on April 4. The School budget will go before voters in June.

The full School Committee meeting may be viewed on Town Hall Streams here and on YouTube here. All of the School Committee’s budget workshops are archived for viewing on those sites.