Gill-Montague School Committee Unanimously Approves Handbooks and New Meal Prices

GILL — August 23, 2022 — Gill-Montague School Committee approves updated handbooks and raises meal prices for 2022-23. The committee voted unanimously three times Tuesday, approving a $102,805.22 accounts-payable warrant, five revised student handbooks, and new meal prices — student lunch at $3.50, up from $2.75; breakfast at $1.75, up from $1.50; and milk at $0.50, up from $0.45. Business Operations Director Joanne noted that Massachusetts law guarantees all district students free breakfast and lunch this school year, making the price increases applicable only to extra purchases. Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School Principal Christopher Barnes introduced a new cell phone policy requiring devices to be "off and away" in classrooms, alongside a new restorative practices discipline table, and flagged that the high school handbook had contained incorrect language suggesting the school serves peanut butter — a direct contradiction of the district's nut-safe policy that will be corrected before school opens September 1.