At their June 30 meeting, the School Committee amended the 2020-2021 School Calendar, conducted an evaluation of Superintendent Jon Sills, and heard an update on school reopening. The Committee also reorganized to name Dan Brosgol as Chairperson, Sarah Scoville as Vice-Chairperson, and Brad Morrison as Secretary of the Board.
District Calendar 2020-2021 Review and Approval
While the district calendar for 2020-2021 was previously approved, Superintendent Sills proposed amending the calendar to include Election Day, which falls on November 3, 2020, as a school holiday. This adjustment was made to in response to the expected number of voters on election day in John Glenn Middle School, which raised concerns due to Covid-19.
Superintendent Evaluation
As the meeting was Sills’ last as Superintendent of Public Schools, the Committee provided a Superintendent Evaluation of the preceding year. The Committee members, led by Chair JoAnn Santiago, praised Sills for his work and thanked him for his many years dedicated to Bedford Public Schools.
Superintendent’s Report: 2020-2021 Reopening Update
Sills provided his Superintendent’s Report, primarily focusing on the 2020-2021 reopening update. He explained that each of the four schools had formed their own reopening task force. The separation of the task forces was due to the very different effects of the state’s Department of Education and Secondary Education’s Covid-19 guidelines on the individual schools.
At the end of his report, Sills virtually and symbolically “passed the torch” on to incoming Superintendent Philip Conrad. In the coming weeks, Conrad said he is looking forward to working alongside Sills as Sills moves into his role as Associate Superintendent.