Frontier Regional awards $613,560 parking lot contract, debates ending international trip sponsorship

WHATELY — May 12, 2026 — Frontier Regional School Committee awards $613,560 parking lot contract and opens debate on ending international trip sponsorship. The committee unanimously awarded the resurfacing contract to Taylor Davis Landscape Company at its May 12 meeting, with authorization for Principal Darius to approve up to $400,000 in additional change orders from school choice funds, after seven qualifying bids ranged as high as $960,000 against an engineer's estimate of $934,000. The committee also opened a first reading of a proposed policy that would end the district's formal sponsorship of optional international student travel, citing a small-claims court judgment requiring a student refund, a near-cancellation crisis during last year's Peru trip, and equity concerns about trips costing $3,000 to $5,000. Biology teacher Stacy Chaplin told the committee that EF Tours carries a $50 million liability policy available even without district sponsorship, but a committee member replied, "I'm not worried about what happens to a kid — I'm worried about what their parents do when the thing happens that they didn't like and who gets sued." Two trips to Spain and Argentina are already planned for spring break 2027.