Winthrop adopts school police interaction policy

School Committee · Meeting of September 28, 2026

Winthrop School Committee adopts a new policy on civil law enforcement interactions and tables a push to revive sponsored travel. Members unanimously approved the MASC-drafted policy, tied to a state law signed around August 5 requiring action by September 1, after officials said the district spent roughly $25,000 over two years rewriting its full policy handbook using one-time COVID relief funds. World language teacher Michael Nickerson asked the committee to restore "school-sponsored" status to his international trips, which have sent students to Spain, Italy and Greece since 2012 at roughly $4,000 to $4,500 each; he said "anything that happens, I'm responsible for" and that a 90-student 2015 Greece trip was his last that large.

The committee referred the request to its Athletics and Extracurricular Subcommittee. Members also approved warrants of $178,056.90 and $959,026.67, a fourth-grade homeschool application, and a sick-day buyback for retiring staff member Cheryl Barker, now set for January.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,087 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of September 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.