By Carol Britton Meyer

In response to what School Committee Chair Stephanie Peters called “some confusion out there,” at Monday night’s committee meeting she referred anyone with questions about the committee’s Sept. 12 vote to accept the recommendation by the Best Educational Use of School Facilities Ad Hoc Committee to consolidate Hull’s schools to review the minutes.

Known as Option 4, the recommendation calls for realigning the Hull Public Schools’ grade structure to place K-7 at the Jacobs Elementary School and grades 8-12 at the high school. The Memorial School would become available for other uses but would no longer be a middle school.

The minutes read: “[Superintendent of Schools] Ms. Kuehn rehashed the process we went through with the Best Educational Use of School Facilities and how the MARS Group and the Ad Hoc Committee came to the same recommendation of Option #4. Ms. Peters stated that the School Committee discussed it briefly at the summer retreat, and in the short- term they agree on option #4, preK-7 at Jacobs School and 8-12 at Hull High School. She said, it was determined that they would keep this item on the agenda and send emails to School Committee members [that SC members would send their questions to Kuehn], and Ms. Kuehn and [School Business Manager] Ms. [Diane] Saniuk can put them together and answer them. . . . Ms. Peters stated that they will take steps, not giant leaps, for a year. Committee members discussed the need to move forward and take a formal vote. There was also a short discussion regarding an MOA or contract with the town.”

At that meeting, a motion to accept the MARS Group and Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation of choosing option #4 was made by David Twombly and seconded by Ernest Minelli. The vote was 5-0. A replay of the meeting is available at hulltv.net.

The purpose of the Best Educational Use of School Facilities report by the MARS Group was to evaluate the educational adequacy of the three school buildings and determine what is in the best interests of Hull students.

“It’s been a three-year process,” Superintendent Judith Kuehn said.

She noted that the BEUSF will be on the school committee agenda for every meeting and that there is a link to the MARS report on the Hull Public Schools website.

“We’re only in the first phase,” Kuehn said. “There is no MOU yet.”

She noted that the middle school will be open during the 2023-24 school year and that there will be no staffing changes. School committee members will continue to send their questions and any concerns about option 4 to Kuehn for discussion at upcoming meetings.

Peters emphasized that there is no intention to “diminish” the work of the ad hoc committee when school committee members ask questions, “but we want to be sure the public knows we have done our due diligence.”

Peters and Kuehn will work together to come up with a plan to discuss sections of the MARS report at upcoming meetings to give the public an opportunity to ask further questions beyond the many earlier ad hoc committee meetings with stakeholders, including parents, staff, and members of the community.

Peters said it’s important that the committee “is transparent. There’s a lot of good information in the MARS report, but people may not have read it.”

She also suggested a meeting involving school principals to talk about the “interaction between 12-year-olds and 19-year-olds [Hull High School seniors]” if option 4 moves forward and grades 8-12 are in the same building.

Committee Member Kyle Conley said she would “love to get input from students along the way. We’ve already heard from them – but when we’re making the final decision.”

Committee member David Twombly suggested holding a meeting at the middle school to discuss issues related to potential consolidation with the students.

Officials plan to visit the new Chapman Middle School in Weymouth to get ideas about furnishings and other considerations and to think about how to bring some of what that new school offers to Hull students.

At some point, Twombly said, “there will need to be an intersection of the school committee, [Town Manager] Phil Lemnios, and the select board to talk about financing and various decisions that need to be made to ensure that we are all on the same page.”

Consolidation of the three HPS into two buildings would leave the door open for the repurposing of the middle school for potential educational and municipal uses.

Even though there have been opportunities for public input throughout the process, Peters said the additional school committee discussions “will give us credibility. We can put an asterisk beside the agenda items as to which sections of the MARS report will be discussed. These meetings will be really public and [aired live on] TV.”

Conley acknowledged all the work ad hoc committee members put into its recent report recommending option 4.

“A lot of information is already available,” she said. “We don’t want to spin our wheels around the same questions with answers that are already clearly established.”

At the same time, she believes that additional discussions at SC meetings where citizens can continue to be “part of the process” is a good idea.

While Twombly said it may seem like a repeat of what’s already been discussed, he thinks people will watch school committee meetings who may not have attended the ad hoc meetings.

“We will take a final vote once everything is vetted. It’s a big decision,” Peters said. “My message is for the community to start paying attention.”

Twombly agreed.

“The train is leaving the station,” he said.