North Reading School Committee Votes Unanimously to Approve 2026-27 Meeting Calendar

SCITUATE -- May 18, 2026, North Reading School Committee advances modular classroom plan and approves 2026-27 calendar. The committee voted unanimously Monday to approve next year's meeting calendar, adjusting the November date to November 30 to avoid Thanksgiving week, and voted 4-0 to send a letter supporting state teacher retirement legislation identified as H 4361. The most substantive discussion centered on the district's school building situation: administrators described a strong preference for replacing modular classrooms at the Hood School, potentially consolidating all six units at that site, over continuing to pursue a Massachusetts School Building Authority-backed building project, citing cost estimates for the MSBA route that staff called prohibitively high. Adding in-classroom bathrooms to the modular units was estimated at roughly $1,500 per classroom. A May 29 meeting with MSBA is scheduled, and a formal modular replacement article is expected to appear on a future town meeting warrant. The committee also accepted four donations totaling $4,080 from the North Reading High School Softball Boosters, the Compass Group, North Reading Youth Football and Cheer, and two individual donors, directed toward dedication signs, a scholarship, and new cheerleading mats.