Chicopee School Committee Approves 2026-2027 Calendar and More Than $1.4 Million in Warrants

CHICOPEE — December 3, 2025 — Chicopee School Committee approves 2026-2027 academic calendar and more than $1.4 million in bill warrants at December 3 meeting. The nine-member panel voted 9-0 to approve both the school calendar and a memorandum of agreement with the Chicopee Education Association governing teacher start times and primary-election closings, after a member caught that the document carried an erroneous 2023 signature date. Two bill warrants totaling $1,467,225.22 — including $674,437 in special education and $298,511 in maintenance — passed 8-1, with Member Doubt abstaining from both on the advice of the State Ethics Commission because a parent company of his employer receives district funds. The committee also fast-tracked a state-mandated revision to the career and technical education mission policy, voting 9-0 to waive its standard two-reading rule before adopting the updated policy on the spot. A presentation from Chicopee Police Department officials on body-worn cameras for school resource officers drew questions about footage deletion safeguards; Director Bill Schwartz confirmed that individual SROs cannot delete footage themselves and that accidental recordings are purged automatically.