North Reading School Committee Approves Calendar, Eyes Modular Classrooms Over State Building Project

NEWBURYPORT — May 18, 2026 — North Reading School Committee backs modular classrooms at Hood School and accepts $4,080 in donations. The committee voted unanimously at its May 18 meeting to approve its 2026-27 calendar and to send an amended support letter for state education legislation identified as H.4361. The board's most substantive discussion centered on a plan to replace aging modular classroom units at the Hood School through a private vendor rather than pursue a Massachusetts School Building Authority building project; an administrator said in-classroom bathrooms would add roughly $1,500 per room — about $6,000 total — and that existing gas hookups can be retained, avoiding a costly code-mandated electrical conversion. A member said plainly, "It feels almost too good to be true," though administrators expressed confidence in the vendor's references, which include Shawsheen Valley Technical and Parkhurst Elementary School. The committee accepted four donations unanimously, including $2,000 from North Reading Youth Football and Cheer for new cheerleading mats and $1,000 from the Compass Group for the Chartwell Scholarship supporting two graduating seniors.