The Methuen School Committee voted unanimously on Nov. 18 to adopt a set of amendments to Section E of the district policy manual, accepting multiple MASC (Massachusetts Association of School Committees) model policies in place of older local language.

Committee members reviewed a long list of sub-policies under Section E that cover school safety, building and grounds management, pest control and food-service rules. Speaker 1 presented the items and recommended adoption of most MASC models, noting several Methuen-only policies were outdated (one dated to 1975, another to 1983) and that MASC language was more current and comprehensive.

The vote to amend specific items (listed by the committee as ECD, ECFA, EEAA and EEEAEA) passed on a roll call that recorded five 'yes' votes from Donovan, Keegan, Maxwell, Chevalier and Mayor Beauregard. Speaker 5 advised that the committee should formally adopt the listed amendments first and then proceed to a final vote on the package; the committee followed that sequence.

Among the substantive changes the committee accepted were replacing older building-and-grounds policies with MASC's EC/ ECA language, adopting MASC vandalism and security-camera policies, and updating food-service policy to reflect the federal and state changes tied to universal free lunch and meal-charge procedures.

The committee also added a follow-up action regarding civil-rights complaint procedures for school nutrition programs after Speaker 1 noted districts are required under a cited FNS reference to establish complaint intake, assistance and reporting procedures and the district currently lacks a developed procedure.

The committee recorded acceptance of the amended Section E in form and then voted to accept the Section E package as amended; both votes were unanimous. The motion records and roll calls were read into the record by Speaker 1 and confirmed by roll call.

The committee said a handful of items will be revisited at second read where further local tailoring or legal counsel input is needed, and that items deemed more operational (for handbooks or staff manuals) will be removed from formal policy and handled administratively.