Kathleen Alexander

The meeting featured student council and school activity updates, including information on dances, STEM opportunities, and school athletics. Recognition awards were presented to staff for their contributions to public school education and student support services. The board discussed reading proficiency data, upcoming community events such as a family game night, and the rotating host schedule for a legislative dinner. Additionally, the meeting included the presentation of an educator of the month award and a curriculum discussion regarding the integration of keyboarding instruction in the district's instructional framework.

The committee meeting agenda included a food service update, a review of the upcoming fiscal year budget, and a discussion regarding staff increases. Additional topics included employee relations, updates on post-employment benefits and referendum financing, an employee assistance program, a report on a technology education house project, and consideration of monthly expenditures.

The board discussed key items including construction updates, progress on strategic goals focusing on staff culture and infrastructure, and planning for a future strategic plan update. Finance-related matters included budget parameter reviews for the upcoming fiscal year, approval of equipment purchases, consideration of personnel additions, and student fee schedules. Board policies were formally adopted as part of a comprehensive codification effort. Furthermore, updates were provided regarding personnel, food service operations, and an actuarial valuation for post-employment benefits.

Key discussion points included a legislative update detailing a change in location for the legislative dinner. Under regular business, the board recognized February's educator of the month, Kylie Weiler, and received a curriculum connection presentation on keyboarding. Significant time was spent updating the district's strategic goals, specifically focusing on Staff Culture (addressing staffing gaps, workload balance, behavior systems alignment, administrative visibility via observations, and finalizing recommendations for compensation/benefits plans) and Infrastructure (reviewing completed projects from the 2016-2017 plan). The board also discussed initiating the process to update the 2016-2017 strategic plan internally. Financial updates included reviewing 2026-2027 budget parameters and approving motions for purchasing a combi oven/serving system and adding an elementary assistant principal and ELL teacher for the next school year. The board also considered and accepted the proposed student fees schedule and adopted a comprehensive set of bylaws and policies by resolution.

The Policy Committee meeting focused on the review and editing of various Medford School District policies. Several policies, including ABB (Staff Involvement in Decision Making), BCH (BOE Consultants), and BDA (Remote Participation in BOE Mtgs), were targeted for elimination or modification. Specific actions included eliminating policies like ABB, BCH, BFG, CBE, CF, CHCA, and others, while keeping policies such as CI, DFEA, DGA, GBO, GEZZ, and JFCIA in their current form. Amendments were made to add language to Neola policies 0164, 5515, 2340, and 9700. New Neola policies (5820: Student Government, 5850: Social Events, and 7460: Conservation of Natural & Material Resources) were slated for addition.