In the past two months, two new Southport School Committee members have been appointed. On Nov. 6, Adam Climo attended his first meeting. He replaced Nick Ullo, who recently moved and is no longer eligible to serve. In October, Marc Kurtz replaced Kathy Tibbetts, who resigned due to personal reasons, according to Superintendent Bob Kahler. Later in the meeting, Mike Wallace, who was elected in March, was appointed chairman. Kurtz received appointment as vice-chairman.

The new board had its first reading on an updated field trip permission form and field trip procedure policies. Earlier this fall, a field trip to Bigelow Laboratories was rescheduled due to confusion about the policy.

According to Kahler, the school and Bigelow Laboratories arranged a field trip on a Monday, but on the preceding Friday, Bigelow sought a liablity waiver due to a boating segment involved in the visit. School officials sent out a liability waiver request on the Friday prior to the Monday field trip. During October and November, Daniel Billings, a SCS parent, attended the committee meetings urging more clarity in the policy. 

Kahler described the proposed field trip policy updates as minor revisions. “The field trip was postponed until all parties had a better understanding of the policy. I think it had a lot to do with a lot of new people involved,” he said. Kahler added the update would also involve his contacting past field trip hosts to gain a better understanding of any and all potential liabilities.

In other action, Principal Shawn Gallagher reported the school’s on-site prepared “scratch breakfasts” were reaching their intended target. He shared, on a recent morning, 18 of 21 students participated. “I’m psyched about this,” he said. “It gets us off to a great start in the morning. So far, we are serving double the breakfasts from last year. Tardies are half and absences are down.”

Gallagher is preparing for the upcoming winter weather. He reported on discussions with Coastal Property Care  Co. about snow removal and shoveling the entrances. Gallagher reported CPC's bid ranged from $1,200 to $2,000. Wallace recommended receiving a firm figure. “There is a great range of about 20%, so I’d pin him down to a number,” he said.

Kahler outlined the 2026-27 budget schedule. In January, the committee would adopt a proposed budget and later in the month, it would be sent to the town budget committee for review. In March, voters would have the final say at the annual town meeting. The committee will follow a similar procedure with the Alternative Organizational Structure 98 and educational service center budgets. In October, an initial budget would be presented to the AOS and ESC boards. Dec. 8, the AOS 98 board and local ESC board would vote on both proposals. In January, warrant articles for both would be posted. In February, the AOS budget meeeting would occur and voters would vote on adopting both budgets.

The next committee meeting is at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4 at Southport Central School.