Daily Five: The School Board, A Christmas Tree and No Smoking In Parks

1.  Today is Monday, Nov. 5. The National Weather Service predicts mostly sunny skies and a high temperature of 48 degrees. The low will fall to 29 degrees tonight, with patchy frost in some areas.

2.  The Groton Board of Education will hold special meetings at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 7 p.m. today in the school administration building.  At 5:30 p.m., the policy committee will discuss issues including visitors to the schools, the seclusion and restraint policy and procedures for statewide and district assessments.

At 6:45, the board will discuss establishing a 403 contribution for Interim Superintendent John Ramos, which is needed because he cannot collect a salary beyond a certain percentage of his retirement without penalty from the state. At 7 p.m., the board will discuss the superintendent and board of education evaluation.

3.  The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is looking for a donated Christmas tree of about 30 feet to put in Mystic River Park. The tree must be within Mystic, Stonington, Groton or North Stonington and be easily accessible. If you’d like to donate a tree, e-mail a photo of it to triciawalsh@mysticchamber.org. The tree will be lit at 6 p.m. on Nov. 24, before the Holiday Lighted Boat Parade.

4.  The Ledge Light Health District wants to apply for a grant of about $5,700 through the Southeastern Regional Action Council to promote a tobacco-free policy in Groton parks and playgrounds. The grant would also be used to encourage people to use prescription drug drop boxes in the city and town to discard unused prescriptions.

5.  The Groton Food Locker collected $395 in donations from the retirement party for Wes Greenleaf, Groton’s longtime school facilities director. The donations will be deposited into the Mystic Congregational Church’s food locker account and be used to buy supplies for the upcoming holiday.