Bedford Public Schools board approves routine personnel, safety and meal-price measures

The Bedford Public Schools Board of Education approved a bundle of routine personnel, safety and financial items during its meeting, voting unanimously on each roll call.

Among the approvals, the board adopted a resolution to terminate a probationary teacher contract at the superintendent's recommendation and recertified the district's Return-to-Learn and continuity-of-services plan, which the administration said is required by current federal grants and needs review every six months.

The board also approved the district's emergency operations plan. There was no substantive discussion on the plan during the meeting before the roll call vote.

On food-service pricing, Chrissy presented the state's minimum adult meal-price guidance and the director of food service's recommendation to raise the adult breakfast price by $0.20 to $3.10 for the 2024–25 year; the board approved the increase.

Personnel actions included a roughly $1 per hour increase for nonaffiliated hourly staff (substitutes, lunch aides, parking monitors and third-party vendors) — described by administration as about a 6% raise spread over two years and intended as a retention tool — and several hires and one resignation:

- Rachel Brubaker was approved as a social worker for Monroe Road Elementary.
- Jeffrey Polley was approved as a campus and student support specialist at the senior high; administration said the grant-funded role focuses on student connections and de-escalation and will not carry a weapon.
- BEA new hires approved include Caitlin Raines (sixth grade instructor), Paige Gibson (kindergarten) and Haley Walling (third grade).
- The board accepted the resignation of Amy Brunella, reading specialist at Jackman Road Elementary, who is relocating out of state.

Alex, who led the personnel overview, said the district has made staffing progress: "We filled 19 of our 25 [paraprofessional] openings in the last three weeks," he said, thanking HR and administrators for onboarding efforts. Board members repeatedly praised staff for summer work on facilities and for being prepared for the start of school.

The meeting concluded after a set of announcements about facilities, the upcoming audit, professional development plans and reminders about back-to-school events; the board adjourned following a final voice vote.

Next steps: administrators will proceed with standard onboarding and audit preparations and will bring any future funding requests to the board if CTE or other projects require additional appropriation.