Carver School Committee Reorganizes, Approves Policies and Surplus Tech Disposal

CARVER -- May 18, 2026, Carver School Committee reorganizes, debates cell phone policy options, and honors student achievements at lengthy May 18 session. Chair Stephanie Clority was unanimously reappointed following the spring town election, with Kelly Nimi confirmed as vice chair and Katie Sullivan as secretary; the committee then filled more than a dozen subcommittee slots spanning policy, athletics, capital outlay, and six labor negotiation teams. Superintendent John Mills reported that the district's chronic absenteeism rate fell from 19.8 percent to 12.8 percent, a 7-point improvement that placed Carver among 55 districts statewide recognized by DESE and likely in the top 15 percent of the state for attendance improvement. The committee spent more than an hour on pending state legislation, two bills titled "An Act to Promote Student Learning and Mental Health" now in conference reconciliation, that would require a cell phone prohibition policy by September 1, 2026; Mills outlined three options including magnetic locking pouches at an estimated $24,000 and a geofencing app at roughly $12,000 annually, with no formal action taken. The committee also unanimously approved fourth-quarter financial warrants, declared surplus a slate of technology including 22 Epson projectors and 15 Dell Chromebooks, and waived the second reading of a homebound instruction policy update required for a June 5 DESE document submission ahead of a March 2027 integrated monitoring review.