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Date: 10/3/2023
EAST LONGMEADOW — Health Services Director Candace Goyette updated the East Longmeadow School Committee on what has been accomplished so far this year.
A care coordinator and a registered nurse have been hired. The care coordinator will help identify students with health needs.
Goyette said Stop & Shop Pharmacy has conducted a free flu clinic for staff at no cost to the district and a second clinic is planned for staff. On a similar note, the health services goal for this school year is to ensure immunization for all students. After stating that people who are not vaccinated “can’t be here,” Smith emphasized that the vaccination requirements do not include vaccines for COVID-19.
The school department began operating a late bus for middle and high school students who stay after school. On its first day, the bus picked up 34 students from Birchland Park Middle School. The number of students picked up from the high school was not yet available.
Smith said the bus will drop students off at congregate stops in East Longmeadow and not drive into neighborhoods as the regular buses do. The bus will also drop off students who live in Springfield but attend East Longmeadow schools through the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity program. The late bus was instituted this year after high school students completed a civic project last year that demonstrated a need for the bus.
Smith updated the School Committee on the high school building project. There have been several open houses and community forums to answer questions about the proposed new high school and the pool building. The final community forum is on Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. at the high school, with a guided tour of the existing building available at 5:30 p.m.
The total cost of the project is $177.5 million, of which the Massachusetts School Building Authority is expected to reimburse the town for $63 million. The town would then be responsible for $114.5 million. The town will be asked to approve a debt exclusion to fund this project at a special town election on Nov. 7.
On the same ballot, voters will also be asked to fund the pool and the natatorium that would house it. Smith said a key point about the natatorium is that it would be a community building and residents could access it whenever students are not using it. The building has been designed to create a public entry that does not require people to enter the school.
“If people don’t come out and vote, the project does not go forward,” Smith said.