MANCHESTER, NH — The Board of School Committee met Monday evening and passed a proposed nurses’ contract on a 7-6 vote. The panel also heard reports from Superintendent of School John Goldhardt and Director of Information and Educational Technology Stephen Cross. Among the many items discussed was the Memorandum of Understanding with vendor Ping 4 and the Safety Alerts For Education Foundation foundation for their S.A.F.E. emergency alert app, which was cleared to move forward.
The nurses’ agreement provides for the city health department to continue to provides nurses to all of the schools. The school district reimburses the health department for the cost, which for the fiscal 2020 year is expected to be $2,324,320 according to the text of the agreement.
Goldhardt told the board that he is well along in his plan to meet with key city and school figures as part of his new job. He said he plans to make a formal report to the board at the conclusion of 90 days of service. Then he turned to the subject of the S.A.F.E. agreement.
“I had a productive meeting with Mr. Bender,” Goldhardt told the panel, referring to the Jim Bender, the Managing Director of the foundation, which is providing the app to the school district.
The controversy over the MOU has been over a promotional video that Pier 4 made to demonstrate the utility of its product. Some BOSC members were upset, along with parents and others, because although they maintain that the video production may have been authorized, taking pictures of the students and the school building was not. Also, the video plays out a school shooting scenario using the name Central High School in which police officers role-play for the video, while most of the featured student footage was shot without students knowing they were part of the promotional video.
The company has agreed to visually blur the faces of students in the video, as well as the name of the school, Goldhardt said. The company also agreed to replace copies of the video that they control with the new version, he said. The video has been posted to YouTube; it was not clear from the discussion whether the video posted on YouTube is an authorized copy. The MOU will be revised to reflect the agreement, and that is expected by Wednesday. No new board action was necessary, said Goldhardt, and the agreement effectively ends the S.A.F.E. matter, he said.
With the schools getting ready to open, the board also discussed with Goldhardt the current churn in labor. The district had 138 vacancies of all types as of last Friday, reported a school district official. That figure includes 47 teachers and at least six other staff. Hiring is taking place rapidly, said Goldhardt, but not at the expense of quality.
Cross thanked the board for the budget he has this year for making information technology purchases, and he reported at length on his bidding strategy, which he said has resulted in substantial savings for the district.
The board did not address teacher compensation negotiations in open session but did hold closed sessions before and after the public sessions.
