Concord School Committees Unanimously Back Town Decarbonization Roadmap, Unlock Grant Path

CONCORD — June 16, 2026 — Concord school committees endorse decarbonization roadmap and ratify maintenance union contract at June 16 overflow session. Both the Concord School Committee and Concord-Carlisle Regional School Committee voted unanimously to endorse the town's municipal decarbonization roadmap, the last local step required before the town can apply for a state climate leader community designation that unlocks up to $1 million in energy grants. Deputy Town Manager Megan Zamuto described the document as a high-level planning framework identifying five school buildings — Alcott, Willard, Thoreau, CCHS, and Ripley — as high-emission facilities, with no binding capital commitments attached. The boards also ratified a three-year maintenance union contract covering fiscal years 2026 through 2029, described by Assistant Superintendent Bob Clendenin as a "slow progressive contract" to bring staff pay in line with town of Concord scales. Clendenin separately briefed the committee on a proposed electric bus lease from Highland Fleet Solutions — two Thomas Electric buses at $28,600 per bus per year with charging infrastructure included — but did not seek a vote, saying legal review and bus inspection remain outstanding. Public comment, lasting roughly 25 minutes, focused on the case of eighth grader Eris Apollos, who said he was removed from a class trip to Washington, D.C. for wearing a T-shirt reading "Bombing children is not self-defense," and on criticism of the prior meeting's officer-nomination process; Mary Beth Tinker, a plaintiff in the 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines, spoke in support of Apollos.