Mansfield School Committee Votes 5-0 to Advance Multi-Year School Security and Capital Plan

MANSFIELD -- September 25, 2018, Mansfield School Committee approves security-focused capital improvement plan and overhauls student activity accounts. The five-member board voted unanimously Tuesday to endorse a multi-year capital plan prioritizing a district-wide FOB door access system, expanded cameras, a visitor management system with government-ID scanning, and a $10,000 architectural security study, all framed as the most urgent needs after months of joint planning with police and fire officials. Facilities Director Matt Jacques said the high school's existing keycard system cannot add or remove users and that more than 40 percent of classrooms cannot reliably hear the building's original public address system, which has cost the district roughly $20,000 in repairs over two years. The board also voted 4-0-1 to redistribute $9,774.84 from nine inactive student activity accounts, including defunct robotics, rocketry, and ski clubs, into startup funds, freshman class seed money, and a nascent needs-based scholarship for senior activities, with one member abstaining due to a family conflict. All field trips, three policy updates, and a $1,500 AP coordinator stipend passed 5-0.