School committee approves policy manual edits; delays portions of transportation and bus-conduct language

The Blackstone-Millville Regional School Committee voted unanimously on Feb. 9 to adopt revisions to its policy manual, approving extensive edits to Section D and moving forward on Section E while holding specific subsections on student transportation and bus conduct for further review.

The committee approved updates to Section D—covering fiscal management, budget planning language, procurement thresholds and federal fund accounting—after discussion of audit timing and procurement amounts. Dan Keefe made the motion to approve Section D and Kerry seconded it; the committee approved it by voice vote.

Committee members flagged one timing issue during the Section D review: the draft policy requires audits to be completed within nine months of fiscal-year close, but district auditors told staff they typically begin detailed work on April 1 and consider June 30 a practical completion target. Tammy raised that concern, saying the policy “makes very good sense” but that meeting the March 31 deadline “makes me very nervous.” The superintendent noted the district would explore options if auditors cannot meet the tighter timeline.

Section E discussion led to an explicit wording change on access to school video recordings. Superintendent Jason DeFalco explained that “the camera system in our district is already hardwired to the Blackstone Police Department,” and the committee agreed to add law-enforcement designees to the list of administrative roles authorized to access video recordings while clarifying emergency-response access in a subsequent sentence.

Committee members also debated and ultimately held (tabled) specific EEA/EEA-related subsections concerning transportation mileage guidelines and bus-driver reporting language so the administration can cross-check state law, regional-agreement implications and template language from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC).

The panel also discussed food-service language intended to protect student dignity; members agreed to prefer the word “staff” instead of “teacher” in the provision that would permit staff to ensure students receive meals even if free/reduced applications are late.

The meeting record shows the committee moved the policy updates forward while retaining a conservative approach—holding sections where legal or operational clarity remains necessary. The committee will return to the held subsections after staff research and legal/administrative checks.

The committee moved on to other agenda items after the policy votes; no additional action on the held transportation and bus-conduct subsections occurred at the meeting.