The Rochester School Committee met briefly on August 19 for the purpose of approving changes to the Student Handbook for the 2024-25 academic year and approved changes.

            Committee member Robin Rounseville had requested language be included that spells out the “opt-out” option that parents/guardians have regarding their children’s ability to check out any library book similar to the language used for opting out of photographs.

            The new procedure would be for parents/guardians to send an email to the librarian with the title of any book a child is not to check out, and it will be recorded and managed at the school, according to Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson.

            Committee member Anne Fernandes, attending the meeting remotely, requested the phase “check out” be revised to “access” to prevent the child from viewing the book irrespective of checking it out. Rounseville asked Fernandes how that would be accomplished from a practical standpoint.

            Rounseville strongly disagreed with Fernandes’ recommendation, asserting that denying access altogether would be too cumbersome a duty for staff to carry out given all their responsibilities. Chairperson Sharon Hartley agreed with Rounseville’s concern that education would be difficult to conduct amidst a constant watch for unauthorized book access.

            Member Josh Trombly took issue with a subsequent statement saying the absence of such an opt-out email would be taken as an assumption the child may access a book. He suggested making opt-out language more specific. The members agreed with his suggestion and to include a link to the opt-out procedure.

            Fernandes said she understands it’s impossible to follow children around the library but reemphasized her concern about certain books’ accessibility. Fernandes would make the lone dissenting vote against acceptance of the Student Handbook as written and revised at the August 19 meeting. Hartley, Rounseville, Trombly and Kate Duggan voted to accept the Student Handbook.

            Introducing the topic, Nelson referred to the committee’s last meeting in which the committee requested review of certain policies.

            “There were some questions around whether the fees were going to be updated around technology replacement or damages. We opted to keep our fees the same for this year,” said Nelson.

            The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee was not announced upon adjournment.

Rochester School Committee

By Mick Colageo

Rochester’s Select Board Monday postponed the Special Town Meeting, previously scheduled for October 21, to January 6, 2025, because of the interim town administrator’s workload.

            Suzanne Szyndlar, who is also the town’s finance director, noted that because of her dual role for the town, she hasn’t had adequate time to put to together a Town Meeting. “I’ve been behind the eight ball of late,” she said.

            Cameron Durant, the human resources director for the Town of Fairhaven, was unanimously chosen last week by the Select Board after he and two other finalists conducted final interviews for the job of town administrator. As of Monday night, Durant’s contract had not yet been finalized.

            The Select Board granted Szyndlar’s request to postpone the Special Town Meeting and also extended the deadline for submitting warrant articles to November 1.

            “Luckily, there’s not a lot of warrant articles yet,” said Select Board Chairman Brad Morse.

            Next, the board eliminated the need for one of the articles already proposed for the Special Town Meeting by using the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

            To build a new children’s playground at Gifford Park, the town’s Park Commission had planned to ask voters in October that the town contribute $40,940.85 to the town’s share of the $81,881.70 construction cost. The other half of that price tag will be borne by the local nonprofit Tri-Town for Protecting Children.

            On Monday, the board approved spending $60,803 of the town’s ARPA funds to include the $40,940 for the playground. The rest of that money will go toward an Assessors Department mapping and imaging project ($7,500) and Police Station HVAC upgrades ($12,362).

            Park Commission Chairman David Hughes thanked the board for spending ARPA funds for the playground, eliminating the need for Town Meeting action.

            The board’s other important move was to officially sign the contract for new Police Chief Michael A. Assad Jr., whose contract will be valid until June 30, 2027.

            “I’ve been waiting for this for a while,” Select Board member Paul Ciaburri said with a smile, as Assad shook the board members’ hands. Assad will be the full-time replacement for Robert Small, who retired as chief on June 28.

            In other action, the board continued until September 9 its public hearing into plans for 29 new Eversource and Verizon utility poles in the area of 280 North Avenue and on Snipatuit Road between numbers 722 and 865, 655 and 694, 500 and 610. The Eversource representative attending the meeting said he has not yet spoken to Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge about the plan.

            The Select Board instructed him to do so before the next meeting.

            The board announced the resignation of Mary Bessey as a member of the Council on Aging and accepted the COA Board of Directors’ recommendation to appoint Johann Forand as her replacement.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board will be held on Monday, September 9, at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Council on Aging, 67 Dexter Lane.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco