Madison School Board OKs Policy Updates; Accepts $17K in Donations; Begins Reviewing 2026–27 Budget

MADISON, CT — The Madison Board of Education unanimously approved a slate of policy updates and accepted more than $17,000 in school donations at its Jan. 13 meeting, while also receiving the administration’s proposed 2026–27 school budget.

Budget preview

Superintendent Craig A. Cooke, Ph.D. presented the administrative team’s recommended 2026–27 budget. Board members did not vote on the proposal Tuesday night. The full presentation is available with the meeting recording on the district website. Further discussion and action on the budget are expected at future meetings.

Policies approved

The board voted 8–0 to adopt Policy 5110.4, Student Discipline, following a second reading.
It also unanimously waived a second reading and approved four additional policies:

• 4119: Reports of suspected abuse or neglect of children or reports of sexual assault of students by school employees
• 5180.1: Confidentiality and access to education records
• 6130.2.2: Curricular exemptions
• 6050: Parental access to instructional material

Diane Infantine-Vyce, chair of the Policy Committee, reported on the policies and the committee’s prior discussions.

Donations accepted

The board approved three donations, all by 8–0 votes:

• $3,208.50 from Steady Photography to Neck River Elementary School for staff development.
• $2,316.10 from Steady Photography to Polson Middle School to support student activities.
• $10,000 from the Madison Foundation to Daniel Hand High School for a spring 2026 international trip to Bermuda.

Committee updates and other business

Cathy Miller, chair of the Curriculum and Student Development Committee, reported that the committee reviewed an international trip to Germany, SchooLinks, AI social-emotional learning lessons and the Mastery Transcript pilot program. The Facilities, Finance, Personnel and LEARN liaison groups did not report.

During board comments, Dr. Infantine-Vyce asked about a recent roof drain leak at Neck River Elementary School. No further discussion was recorded in the minutes.

The board approved the December 9, 2025, meeting minutes and consent agenda, which included budget expenditures through Dec. 31, 2025, and the December personnel report.