Lowell School Committee approves series of motions directing superintendent on scholarships, cybersecurity, safety and operations

The Lowell School Committee on Feb. 28 approved a package of motions directing the superintendent to take administrative and outreach steps across scholarship, safety, cybersecurity and operations.

The committee unanimously voted to ask the superintendent to work with community members to establish a privately funded scholarship in the name of William “Billy” Rizos, after a presentation from the applicant, Nick Rizos. Rizos said his foundation plans to award two $5,000 scholarships a year for 10 years at Lowell High and asked the district to list the award on the district scholarship page and help publicize the application process.

Members also approved a motion asking the superintendent to request an outside audit of the district’s network security after a recent cyber incident. Mr. Conway and others argued the review should be done by a ‘‘legitimate’’ firm that can evaluate the entire system; the superintendent reported that staff had installed new endpoint security and restored individual services carefully after an attempted intrusion.

Other motions approved included reestablishing a safety task force in partnership with the Lowell Police Department to improve school safety practices; a request that the superintendent meet with the athletic director and staff to update athletic program oversight for high schools and middle schools; and a directive to explore a live work‑order tracking system so staff and families can see the status of facilities requests.

The committee also passed motions to: enhance perimeter security at unsupervised Lowell High entrances, provide monthly air quality test results to families (with vendor context to avoid misinterpretation), create an equity subcommittee meeting to disaggregate dropout and attendance data, post meeting notices on district social platforms and the calendar, and present a revised job description for attendance monitors to improve recruitment and retention.

Several motions were procedural or referral requests (for example, sending Drake Academy paperwork to the law department for review). Committee members said many of the motions were designed to clarify responsibilities and improve transparency rather than adopt new policy.

Next steps identified by the committee: the superintendent’s office will connect the Rizos family to guidance staff to finalize scholarship logistics; the district will scope an outside cybersecurity review and continue phased restoration and monitoring; and administrators will return to committee with proposed job descriptions, website changes and timing for the recommended subcommittee meetings.

Votes: The motions were reported as moved and seconded and passed by roll call with all seven members recorded as voting in favor on the recorded items.