Superintendent Laurie told the committee on Oct. 27 that the district is continuing fall ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) drills and is reviewing vulnerable areas of school grounds for limited fencing and other deterents. She said fall drills are announced and the spring drills may be unannounced and could include different building locations, playgrounds and common areas.

The district plans to upgrade its camera system to a cloud-based operation and hire two safety monitors to centrally observe the new system. Laurie said specific technical details will not be disclosed publicly for safety reasons, and that the Falmouth Police Department is coordinating on what portions of the safety plan to share publicly.

Laurie also announced that Lawrence Middle School and Falmouth High School received favorable placements in the U.S. News and World Report rankings: Lawrence ranked 164 in Massachusetts among the report's list and Falmouth High School was ranked among the state's lists in an earlier report. She noted that the district will share press materials and context for the listings.

On enrollment, Laurie said school-choice numbers had shifted since early reporting: the district expects to end the year with more than the 175 school-choice seats discussed in earlier presentations, and emphasized that school-choice students become full members of the Falmouth student body once enrolled. She provided a breakdown for kindergarten school-choice counts by elementary school (Mullen Hall, North Falmouth, Teaticket) and said she will provide periodic updates.

The superintendent raised a national-level concern: staff at the U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights have been reduced, and staff cuts at HHS could affect federal oversight and complaint processing for special-education rights. Laurie said the district will continue to provide required services and plans a November update on special-education programming.

On community supports, Laurie described higher demand at the Falmouth Service Center and a new high-school food pantry run in partnership with Cape Kid Meals and volunteers; the service center has seen its busiest recent week since February and is scaling turkey-basket and holiday programs involving county and local partners.

The superintendent closed by asking for community patience as the district plans camera upgrades, expanded pantry operations, and the rolling implementation of safety improvements; she said implementation and operational details would be reported back to the committee.