The superintendent asked RAMAC – on the consultant’s behalf – to create a committee of community members to study options for grade configuration.

It’s unfortunate we have to lose some of these opportunities for students, but the very difficult financial situation we are in requires difficult measures.

To be on the safe side and to avoid any concerns, if other similar groups are formed the district will notice these meetings just as we notice our board of education committee meetings.

Closing for a weather-related situation is one of the more challenging decisions a district makes, but we always place student safety as the primary determinant in making these decisions.

At all times, we consider student safety. As soon as the call is made, we immediately contact media sources, school staff and parochial and private schools.

The district then could say ‘No’ if it reviewed the material and it determined they (the coloring books) were not appropriate.

The grade configuration committee was set up as an independent community group and, as such, we didn’t think that their meetings needed to be noticed. No board members or administrators served as participating members of...

It’s not an ideal solution, but it will work if everybody follows the basic criteria of food is in classrooms only on days when rooms are scheduled for cleaning.