Southeastern School Committee Approves Atlanta SkillsUSA Trip, 2028 Spain Travel Club

EASTON — May 12, 2026 — Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical School Committee approved nine formal motions at its May 12 meeting, including a June 2026 trip for 11 students and four chaperones to the national SkillsUSA conference in Atlanta and a 2028 Travel Club trip to Spain and Portugal at a base cost of $4,941 per student. The committee unanimously adopted the second reading of the 2026-27 student handbook after debating food policy language, settling on the phrase "without prior administrative approval" to clarify that cultural and school-sanctioned events remain permissible. Superintendent Holly McLannan announced the FY27 budget is formally approved after six member communities voted in favor, and the committee voted to voluntarily accrete two school psychologists into the teachers' federation bargaining unit pending negotiation of terms. McLannan briefed the committee on behavior management data and Massachusetts discipline law following an April 27 staff injury, noting fights are down sharply from 22 in 2023-24 to a significantly lower count this year, and she disclosed that roughly 20 percent of the 426 admitted freshmen in the class of 2030 have identified special needs, up from the historical 13 to 15 percent range. The Technical Institute will temporarily suspend its part-time evening practical nursing program, refunding 15 accepted students in full, after the program director resigned effective April 20 and an interim was immediately contracted.