Marlborough School Committee adopts revised homework policy, expands Boys and Girls Club deal

MARLBOROUGH -- June 27, 2023, Marlborough braces for up to 140 new homeless and immigrant families with no state plan in place. Mayor Arthur Vigeant told the School Committee that DHCD has notified the city the Holiday Inn will be taken over for as many as 170 families, on top of placements already at an extended-stay hotel, at roughly $189 a night per room plus $45 to $50 per person per day for catered meals. Superintendent Mary Murphy said the district does not yet know ages, languages or head counts but is preparing on-site registration and translator funding. The committee also approved a five-year Boys and Girls Clubs of MetroWest agreement adding 250 no-cost child care slots at the Pleasant Street Clubhouse with 2.5 percent annual rate increases, adopted an amended homework policy (7.700) clarifying that homework is permitted "at the educator's discretion," and canceled school on Nov. 10 in observance of Veterans Day. Outgoing Finance Director Doug Diaz delivered a final report noting Richer Elementary reached 80 percent lunch participation in May.