Gill-Montague School Committee Approves Banking Resolutions, Holds Bus Policy

GILL — August 10, 2021 — Gill-Montague School Committee holds bus policy, approves banking resolutions, and maps COVID safety plan for fall 2021. The School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an accounts payable warrant of $40,821.34 and two banking resolutions adding new Great Falls Middle School and Turner's Falls High School principals as authorized signers on student activity accounts, while reaching consensus to maintain the existing practice of providing no district transportation to Montague students who choice into Gill Elementary. Superintendent Brian Beck announced that all students and staff will be required to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status when school opens August 26, with Franklin County classified by the CDC at "substantial" transmission risk. Beck introduced incoming Turner's Falls High School Principal Christopher Barnes and new Director of Teaching and Learning Gene Powers, and presented a three-year strategic plan framework built around the state's Acceleration Roadmap, covering engagement, grade-appropriate instruction, and equity. Business and Operations Director Joanne outlined an ESSER II grant of approximately $60,860 funding new paraprofessionals, a math teacher, a speech pathologist, and expanded summer programming, and flagged a new voluntary Supplemental Low-Income Data Collection Form due by October 1 that could increase Chapter 70 state aid in fiscal year 2023.