School Committee votes to put AC, bus items on warrant

School Committee · Meeting of August 18, 2026

WELLESLEY — The Wellesley School Committee voted to place air conditioning design funding and a transportation-contract flexibility request on the fall special town meeting warrant. Chair Niki Ofenloch said the air conditioning design-funding figure had settled at roughly $1.425 million, with construction funding to follow in a future year; both warrant placeholder votes passed 5-0. Assistant Superintendent David Jordan separately asked the committee to seek authority to negotiate bus contracts longer than the town's five-year cap, citing Belmont's 10-year contract as a model for attracting electric-vehicle vendors ahead of the district's 2027-28 bid process.

The committee also adopted Policy JKAA on seclusion and restraint of students 4-0 to meet a state mandate, while deferring votes on a student fundraising policy and a revised code of conduct, the latter stalling over whether to keep language barring members from "playing politics."

In the full story:

• Reports and Field Updates
• Policy JKAA: Time-Out, Seclusion and Physical Restraint
• Policy JJE: Student Fund-Raising Activities
• Policy BCA: Code of Conduct
• Select Board Encroachment Policy
• Warrant Articles for Special Town Meeting: Air Conditioning Funding
• Warrant Articles for Special Town Meeting: Transportation Contract Length
• Other Business: Sprague Field Funding
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,124 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of August 18, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.