By HOLLY GASKILL
Another trip to Japan was approved for Norwell High School students Tuesday night.
Jacob Bowman, physics teacher, and Mark Weinert, science teacher, presented a proposal to the Norwell Community Schools board Tuesday evening. The trip will look quite similar to the one taken this last summer but will add two days, now an 11 day trip. In doing so, the summer 2025 group can visit Hiroshima.
The school board was very supportive of this change and trip. Board members Gene Donaghy and Chad Kline noted they’d like to see the teachers organize more opportunities to connect with the people and culture before traveling internationally.
The trip will cost approximately $6,489 through the travel company EF Educational Tours. The school plans to send one chaperone for every six to seven students that attend.
The board later approved a bid package for new buildings and entrances for the football and baseball fields. Springer noted one small change in the project specifications, which swapped flooring options to expand the concession stand by five feet.
Bids for the project totaled $2,427,061. The board unanimously approved the bid package.
Also during the meeting, the district’s attorney, Nick Hursh, told the board that the separation agreement from the Adams-Wells Special Services Cooperative had been reached. He advised the process had taken roughly seven months given the language of the document, particularly in protecting the retirement benefits of teachers who will continue from the co-op to NWCS.
Norwell also agreed to transfer its shared ownership in any property and withdraw its representative leadership. NWCS will officially sever itself from the co-op until July 1, 2024, however, the school’s liability insurance with the co-op will continue until July 1, 2025.
The board approved this agreement 5-0.
Alongside this, Superintendent Mike Springer notified the board negotiation regarding teaching contracts begins this week. He expected the process to go smoothly and agreement approval would follow in November. Additionally, no one from the public provided comment regarding the 2024 budget.
holly@news-banner.com
