By Stacy Hawn, Bennington Public Schools

Updates & Reports Presented to the Board of Education

Throughout the meeting, building and district administrators presented reports and updates to the Board of Education. Click here to view the agenda with each presentation attached.

Reports included:

• Overview for elementary, middle school and high school
• Student Services
• Operations
• Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment
• Math Curriculum Adoption
• Spotlight on the BPS Foundation

Dr. Plas Provided a Monthly Update to the Board

During each regular board meeting, Dr. Plas provides an update to the Board on various topics. You can view the full report online as an attachment to the meeting agenda. Click here to view the agenda.

This month’s report included an update on:

• Retirees
• Strategic Plan Update
• School Finance Review Commission Update

Curriculum and Personnel Proposals Approved

Dr. Thoendel and Dr. Feeney provided an update on the curriculum and personnel proposals for the 2026-27 school year. The Curriculum Committee met on April 13th to continue the process of determining which curriculum and personnel proposals to recommend for the 2026-27 school year. There were 50 proposals this year for consideration.

At the previous meetings, the BOE approved thirteen of the 50 proposals while utilizing fund reallocations and special education reimbursements. The Curriculum Committee has continued to review proposals that were highly prioritized by both the Curriculum/Proposal Committee and the Administrative/BOE Committee. The table below shows the proposals approved.

District Purchases Approved

The Building/Finance Committee met on May 4th to discuss potential district purchases. These

discussions included school nutrition purchases. The Board approved the purchase of a walk-in cooler for Bennington High School for a total cost of $29,096. This cooler is going to create enough space to ensure all food items can be stored appropriately and continue lunch service.

Changes to Student Handbooks Discussed

BPS administration has been working on updating the student handbooks for preschool, elementary, middle school and high school for the 2026-27 school year. The overview of changes was presented to the Board and will be voted on at the June Board of Education meeting.

K-12 Math Curriculum Adoption Approved

Dr. Thoendel and Dr. Feeney presented the proposal for the K-12 Math curriculum to the Board of Education. Dr. Thoendel and Dr. Feeney have been working with a committee over the past year to research and select a new Math curriculum. The committee conducted an in depth analysis of different options. Below are the recommendations from the committee:

• Kindergarten through 5th grade: Amplify Desmos, mClass Math & Boost Math, and Aimsweb Plus
• 6th grade through 8th grade: Big Ideas Learning – Math & YOU
• Algebra, Geometry, Advanced Algebra: Big Ideas Learning – Concepts & Connections
• High School Electives: Cengage & Pearson

Based on the recommendation, the Board of Education approved the purchase of the recommended instructional materials for $1,244,091.

Parents are invited to preview the newly adopted K-12 Math curriculum materials on Monday, June 8th from 4-5 p.m. at the Bennington Public Schools District Office. 

Bond Issue Update

Board of Education Approves Bid Package for the Second High School

The Board approved the next set of construction bids for the second high school. Below are the two bids that were recommended for approval by the Building & Finance Committee. The combined total of these bids is $98,469, which is $16,183 under the preconstruction estimate for these items.