April Nye confessed she had felt excitement while preparing her May 25 Chairperson’s Report to the Marion School Committee, listing items such as the first Grade 6 field trip since the fall of 2019 and the tree-top adventure of May 20.
“They had a ball, I witnessed it all,” said Nye, whose prepared remarks were eclipsed by the heaviness of heart with which she addressed the deadly shooting on May 24 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. “It just didn’t seem right to come in here and talking about (positive news at Sippican Elementary School) when all of that happened there.
“I would be remiss as a parent if I did not say that I, too, have concerns. I know there are concerns out there. But I also know at the (Old Rochester Regional) district, we are working with our local agencies to try to support our children as well as our teachers and our administrators.”
Nye said that inside of the 24-hour window since the shooting the committee had already received numerous questions from the public and wanted to stress that the committee was not content telling the public, “We’re working on it, but it’s our babies that we put on those buses every day,” she said. “I want to worry when my child’s going into school if he’s going to pass his math test that day or not. That’s really what I want to focus on.”
Nye thanked Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson for his email addressing the tragedy in Texas.
Given the floor by Nye for his Central Office Report, Nelson took the opportunity to reiterate his message that it is important to validate the individual feelings that are present when something terrible happens to another school community and, at the same time, reinforce a sense of security “to the best of our ability,” he said.
“We do have strong partnerships with our local police departments and first responders, and we do have established security protocols and emergency preparedness plans in place,” said Nelson, noting the internal training that goes on to best prepare for unplanned events. “At the end of the day, there’s always that worry, that anxiety, and we recognize that. And we will continue to do our best to listen to parents and guardians and experts in terms of doing everything that we can for our students, not only at Sippican but our staff members and all our sister schools here.”
In shifting gears, Nelson thanked the voters for their approval of FY23 school funding that makes Sippican Elementary School ADA compliant.
Nelson reported a small spike in COVID-19 in synch with what has been happening across the state. Testing programs will stay intact through the end of the school year.
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Jannell Pearson-Campbell discussed professional development events and next year’s schedule.
Director of Student Services Craig Davidson discussed summer programs and preschool. He said a competitive grant process yielded $5,000,000 across the state and allotted Marion $100,000. He also discussed the $200,000 awarded the ORR district, including $50,000 to expand the summer program in Marion.
ORR Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber told the committee that approximately $94,000 remains in the operating budget out of the approximate $6,400,000 total.
After a public hearing, the committee voted to decline the option to be a School Choice district for the 2022-23 school year. Nelson had recommended during the public hearing that Sippican Elementary School maintain its 2021-22 status as a nonschool-choice school.
“Our staffing is based on what we know,” said Nelson, who said he could not guarantee that Sippican would have the staff to handle School Choice students if an affirmative vote was made.
With that and the absence of public comment on the matter, the public hearing was closed and shortly thereafter the vote taken.
Sippican Principal Marla Sirois discussed extracurricular activities and thanked VASE for the organization’s work. She reached out to parents about their expectations for the next academic year. MCAS testing has concluded for 2021-22.
Given the floor in the Open Comment portion of the meeting, Tara Tracey, 14 Ridgewood Lane, suggested Marion take a proactive stance and put a police officer in the school building. She referenced the threat that the school received and thanked the committee for all of its work.
Noelle Stork, 24 Stoney Run Lane, reiterated Tracey’s comment and said there should be no debate on the matter. “We should have a first responder on site at all times,” she said. Stork also thanked the committee for its work.
Nye thanked both for their public comments.
The committee voted to approve the following School Committee dates for 2022-23: September 14, October 26, December 7, January 11, March 8, April 12, May 10 and June 14.
The May 25 meeting was the first for new committee member Nichole Nye McGaffey.
The committee moved into executive session and only returned to public session to adjourn the meeting. The next meeting of the Marion School Committee was not scheduled upon adjournment.
Marion School Committee
By Mick Colageo