North Middlesex School Committee Authorizes Fitness Court Deal, Adopts Cell Phone Ban

School Committee · Meeting of July 21, 2026

TOWNSEND — North Middlesex Regional School Committee authorizes superintendent to pursue zero-cost fitness court deal with Townsend. The committee voted unanimously Monday to allow Superintendent Morgan to negotiate terms under which the town of Townsend would gift the district fitness equipment it purchased two years ago through the National Fitness Campaign, with total project costs estimated at roughly $138,000 and fully covered by state legislative earmarks of $30,000 from Senator Scarsdale and a proposed $150,000 from Senator Cronin. The committee also adopted a district-wide cell phone ban, policy GBEF and JICJ, on a 6-2-1 vote, with Jackie White and Kim Craven opposed and Carla Lima abstaining, and unanimously adopted the school facilities rental fee schedule, KFE1.

A proposal to add alcohol-serving language to the rental policy was referred back to the policy subcommittee for development as a standalone policy after Kim Craven cited peer districts including Newton, Brookline, and Wellesley as already permitting nonprofit organizations to serve alcohol at facility rentals. The committee tabled the fate of the playground at the closed Ashby Elementary School, which is subject to an ADA complaint filed against the town, with a hard October 30 handover deadline forcing a resolution within three months.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,497 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of July 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.