A day before the Board and Mayor and Aldermen finalized a bottom line for the Fiscal Year 2027 Manchester School District budget, Members of the Manchester Board of School Committee met for a regular scheduled meeting. Here is a recap of some things that were discussed.
Adorable Little Girl Wins Award
Avery Buxton stole the show near the beginning of the meeting when results of this year’s Families in Transition Walk Against Hunger were announced.
Families in Transition Chief Philantrophy Officer Michelle Casale said this year’s event raised $170,000 to help with the operations of Families in Transition, the organization that runs the city’s primary homeless shelter. Overall, volunteers connected to the district raised $6,494.47. This amount raised the total gathered by district volunteers over the past eight years to $97,000.
A total of 722 Manchester School District staff members and other individuals participated in the walk, including young Avery, who was able to fundraise $325 on her own and did not realize that she had won a plaque for her efforts, initially giving it back to Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais before understanding that she could keep it. Webster Elementary School raised a total of $2400 combined, and Ward 4 Board of School Committee Member Leslie Want organized ten separate teams for the walk.
More information on the walk can be found here.
In-District Family Transfer Requests
Earlier this year, the Manchester School District created a policy that allows families to transfer their child to any public school in the city. For the upcoming 2026-’27 school year, the district’s assistant superintendents provided information regarding the first crop of families seeking to use this policy.
There were six elementary school transfer requests involving students from Highland-Goffes Falls, Jewett, McDonough, Parker-Varney, Webster and Weston Elementary Schools. The parents of these students requested transfers to Bakersville, Green Acres, Webster, Weston, Gossler Park and Beech.
At the middle school level, there were 18 requests and there were 30 requests at the high school level.
Retirement List Announced, Retiree Has Recommendation
Per Board of School Committee tradition, a list of staff members retiring at the end of the school year was provided during the final Board of School Committee meeting. The 46 retirees had a total of 1,138 years of combined service in the district.
A list of the retirees can be found below.
One of the retirees, Memorial teacher James Colby, was the only speaker during the meeting’s public comment section. He asked the board to revisit the decision that removed the district’s “No Grade” grade, explaining to the board that attendance had dropped since that decision was made.
