[1:46] All right. Good evening everyone. I'm
[1:47] going to call the meeting of the Auburn
[1:50] School Committee of September 16, 2026
[1:53] to order. Please join me in the pledge
[1:55] of
[1:55] >> allegiance
[1:59] to the flag
[2:01] of
[2:02] the stands nationisible
[2:09] for all.
[2:12] >> I'll start down here on my right with
[2:13] introductions.
[2:14] >> Dan Pon, w five.
[2:16] >> Lydia Chapman, w four.
[2:17] >> Corin Mcwigan, w one. Miss Dedk, w two.
[2:20] Pamela Albert at large. Sue Doris,
[2:23] superintendent.
[2:26] >> Excuse me. Pat Guardia, award three.
[2:28] >> Jay Rich at large.
[2:30] >> Adam Platz and Nolan Platt, city council
[2:32] representative.
[2:37] » Go ahead.
[2:38] >> Megan Ackley, student representative.
[2:40] >> Miles Irvy, student representative.
[2:42] >> Amanda Cooter, business manager.
[2:44] >> Scott Anir, assistant superintendent.
[2:47] >> Thank you and welcome everyone this
[2:49] evening. We're going to start uh with
[2:52] the approval of the consent agenda which
[2:54] includes the approval of tonight's
[2:56] agenda as well as the approval of the
[2:58] minutes of the September 2nd, 2026
[3:00] meeting. Do I have a motion?
[3:03] Corin, do I have a second?
[3:05] >> Second, Misty. All those in favor?
[3:08] Motion carries. Uh we do not have any
[3:10] recognition tonight. Do I have anyone
[3:13] here who would like to address the
[3:15] school committee tonight?
[3:18] Seeing none, we will move on to our
[3:20] presentation tonight with a facilities
[3:22] update.
[3:24] >> Thank you very much. Mr. Anir is going
[3:27] to start that off for us.
[3:40] Good evening everyone. Uh this was an
[3:42] opportunity to try to bring everyone up
[3:44] to speed on some of the things that have
[3:46] been going on with facilities throughout
[3:48] the district. Uh so hopefully we've
[3:51] touched upon many of the the large items
[3:53] and if there are questions at the end by
[3:54] all means there'll be an opportunity for all of you to inquire.
[4:00] Uh some of the things that you have
[4:02] approved up to this point. Uh one of
[4:05] them was the AMS backup water pump.
[4:08] That's a an image of what the water pump
[4:11] um would does look like. Um as you can
[4:13] see there's a bucket underneath and
[4:15] indicating it's leaking and that was not
[4:17] staged. That was uh as of Monday. Uh so
[4:20] we are currently working with scheduling
[4:23] that between maintenance and the
[4:24] contractor to get that done. And
[4:25] remember we need to be sure that the
[4:28] water pump is working in case the uh
[4:31] primary one goes down. We need to have
[4:33] the backup or else the pipes freeze and
[4:35] that would be a bad day.
[4:39] Uh, some other updates. The Fairview
[4:41] fire suppression system is completed. It
[4:43] was updating the work that was already
[4:45] there. Sorry, there isn't an image of
[4:47] it. It's just the behind-the-scenes
[4:49] updates of the suppression system and in
[4:52] the fire panel itself. Uh, the Park
[4:54] Avenue um boiler and gasket and air
[4:57] compressor. Um, I tried to take some
[4:59] pictures from outside, but it was really
[5:01] hard without getting up on the roof, so
[5:03] sorry about that. But same as uh the
[5:06] backup water pump, we are working with
[5:08] scheduling that with maintenance and the
[5:10] contractors. Um that is moving ahead. Uh
[5:13] and I think we will have something by
[5:15] the end of the week in terms of a
[5:17] timeline on that. Fingers crossed.
[5:22] Uh the ELHS hatch enlargement again
[5:25] something that you would improve uh
[5:26] approved. What you can see is the 6x6
[5:30] hatch that goes down into the basement
[5:32] that we would want to be able to expand
[5:34] in order to bring the modular units back
[5:37] out uh because they have to go back to
[5:39] the factory because of the catastrophic
[5:42] damage that has been happening to them.
[5:44] So that is an image of it and it would
[5:47] expand in to the bottom leftand corner
[5:51] another three feet.
[5:53] Any questions on some of these projects
[5:56] up to this point?
[6:01] And then there's the ELHS greenhouse.
[6:03] It's going full steam ahead. Um
[6:06] installation is underway. I would
[6:08] imagine there was even more progress
[6:09] since I took these photos on Monday. Uh
[6:12] the frame is completed. They're starting
[6:13] to put the walls and the roof in. And
[6:16] there's a ribbon cutting planned for
[6:17] October to uh as a kind of a ceremony
[6:20] indicate its opening in operation.
[6:27] AMS the project currently right now we
[6:30] are in the design and construction
[6:31] document phase. This tends to be the
[6:33] largest longest part of the process. Um
[6:36] this is taking the concept and really
[6:38] putting it on paper with all of the
[6:40] designers and engineers uh mapping out
[6:43] where every light fixture goes, where
[6:45] every outlet goes, where every stud in
[6:47] the wall goes and measured out and uh
[6:50] speced all the way through. We are
[6:53] continuing progress meet and planning
[6:55] meetings with Heramman uh to go over
[6:58] those documents. They're not complete
[6:59] but just updates making sure that we
[7:02] haven't made any had had to make any
[7:04] modifications and right now we are uh
[7:07] the site and MPS the National Park
[7:09] Service grant the appraisal and site
[7:11] surveys are underway. Uh hopefully we've
[7:15] had some good feedback from the National
[7:18] Park Service grant coordinator that we
[7:20] are getting the right pieces of
[7:21] information and sending them on to them
[7:23] so that once that part is done we don't
[7:26] have a backlog and waiting on one left
[7:29] you know one item left over in order for
[7:32] us to be able to submit for approval.
[7:35] Any questions in terms of the AMS work
[7:38] up to this point?
[7:43] project timeline. We are anticipating
[7:45] that those construction documents that I
[7:47] spoke of will be ready in November. Uh
[7:50] December to January, uh Heramman will
[7:53] look at the pre-qualifications for
[7:55] contractors. This is an important step
[7:58] because it allows they have to submit
[8:00] pre-qualifications to determine can they
[8:02] handle that scope of work. Do they have
[8:05] the right subs lined up? Can they get
[8:07] the um right subs on on site to be able
[8:10] to do the work and can they fulfill the
[8:12] financial requirements of the of the
[8:15] work as well as the insurance
[8:16] liabilities with that? And that brings
[8:19] us to February. Then it goes out to bid
[8:22] and by March we should be able to have
[8:24] our contractor selected
[8:30] elementary school reconfiguration. Our
[8:32] current work we are in the planning
[8:34] phases. We are work meeting regularly
[8:36] with Haramman to go over our filters,
[8:38] talk about the data that we may need uh
[8:41] to move forward which brings the
[8:43] enrollment and demographic and housing
[8:45] study. This is underway. Um our goal is
[8:48] to be able to have as much information
[8:50] as we can so that when the committee is
[8:52] formed, we have that information at our
[8:54] fingertips and don't have to delay the
[8:57] committee works process in order to
[8:58] gather information. So we're trying to
[9:00] frontload and gather as much as we can
[9:02] and Haramman has been a great partner
[9:04] directing us to the right people to uh
[9:07] get that information. So that is
[9:10] happening. Uh we should have the the
[9:13] enrollment pieces and data gathered by
[9:16] the by of October of this year. Uh,
[9:19] another piece that we're doing right now
[9:21] is we're scheduling meetings with our
[9:23] MLL coordinators and staff, our special
[9:26] education coordinators and staff, and
[9:28] our preK coordinators and staff because
[9:31] that it plays an important part of our
[9:33] discussion with our elementary
[9:34] reconfiguration, kind of pull them
[9:36] together, try to find out what their
[9:38] current needs are and their projected
[9:40] needs as um as we look to the future.
[9:44] Um, and we're also gathering in
[9:46] administrator input from our building
[9:47] administrators, uh, to try to hear from
[9:51] them what they're seeing as their
[9:53] current trends, whether that is a bubble
[9:55] in second grade, kindergarten, or a
[9:57] decline in third grade. And I'm just
[9:59] making upgrades right now, but really to
[10:01] try to understand what they see as their
[10:03] current needs as well as what they've
[10:05] seen for trends uh moving ahead from
[10:07] their perspective.
[10:12] Where we are with the advisory
[10:14] committee, we're looking at about 10 to
[10:15] 15 members uh representations from
[10:18] teachers, parents, administrators,
[10:20] school committee as well as city
[10:22] council. interest has already been
[10:25] expressed uh by many members that had
[10:28] previously served on the AMS advisory
[10:31] committee um as well as we've heard from
[10:33] others uh expressing their interest. If
[10:36] we need to do additional outreach that
[10:38] will occur this fall and if we need to a
[10:41] selection process will be needed to be
[10:44] used as we try to make sure that we're
[10:46] having the appropriate representation
[10:48] but not having a committee size that
[10:50] gets too large and unmanageable.
[10:54] Uh and we are we're projecting that
[10:56] November, December of this year, we'll
[10:58] kick off those meetings with that group.
[11:05] I'm using my teacher hat and pausing for
[11:07] any time. Okay.
[11:11] Uh
[11:13] the elementary reconfiguration timeline,
[11:16] we have the enrollment demographic and
[11:17] housing studies. November the advisory
[11:20] committee formed
[11:22] uh monthly meetings and then the other
[11:25] piece is starting late winter early
[11:28] spring we'll develop the community focus
[11:30] groups so that we're trying to reach out
[11:32] into the community particularly around
[11:34] the neighborhoods surrounding all of our
[11:36] schools and then we've already marked
[11:39] out that May of 2027
[11:42] uh that group would bring a
[11:43] recommendation back to you uh as the
[11:46] final decision maker. there.
[11:52] Some key takeaways. We are completing
[11:54] and moving forward with many of the
[11:56] projects that you have approved. Some um
[11:59] as of yesterday afternoon u we got some
[12:02] information. Uh others were just doing
[12:05] that coordinating with contractors and
[12:07] maintenance. The AMS project is moving
[12:10] full steam ahead. We're just following
[12:12] right within the timeline that Haramman
[12:14] had set out and we're waiting on those
[12:16] construction documents and elementary
[12:19] configuration. Again, as I said, we're
[12:21] trying to gather up as much of the
[12:23] information and frontload that prior to
[12:26] developing the committee so that we're
[12:28] not having any delays trying to gather
[12:30] information and trying to be as
[12:32] thoughtful as we can.
[12:38] And that's my presentation. Any
[12:41] questions?
[12:41] >> Any questions? Yeah.
[12:44] >> Any questions for Scott about anything?
[12:48] >> I think the one I don't so much have a
[12:51] question as a comment, but I appreciate
[12:54] kind of just the overview. Um, I think
[12:56] it's important to, I know it came up in
[12:57] our facilities subcommittee meeting, but
[13:00] just to clarify that the elementary
[13:02] reconfiguration process is like just
[13:05] starting now. And that will be a process
[13:08] that will involve a lot of people and a
[13:10] lot of discussions and that an ultimate
[13:12] decision about whatever happens with
[13:14] elementary schools in Auburn has yet to
[13:16] be made despite whatever rumors may be
[13:20] uh around in the community. and that decision when it is made will come
[13:24] from this body. So I just want to make
[13:27] sure that everyone is clear about that
[13:31] and that the community is clear about
[13:32] that.
[13:35] Anyone else have any thoughts or
[13:36] questions?
[13:37] >> I did have a quick question and just to
[13:38] go back I may have blanked out. You said
[13:41] catastrophic damage on one of those
[13:42] slides.
[13:44] Yeah, some water was able to penetrate
[13:46] into some of the coils uh that were part
[13:50] of the geothermal system. And so we've
[13:54] been having ongoing conversation of um
[13:57] how that occurred to find out the
[14:00] responsibility of getting the repair or
[14:02] replacement for that.
[14:08] » Great. Anyone else have any thoughts or
[14:11] questions?
[14:12] Okay. Thank you.
[14:15] Uh moving on to our school committee
[14:18] student representatives report.
[14:30] Good evening.
[14:34] Um, so at Park A, staff welcomed
[14:38] families into the school for an open
[14:40] house to share what is happening in
[14:41] classrooms as well as celebrating the
[14:43] beginning of the year. And this week
[14:46] also recognizes art and education week
[14:48] where Park AB celebrates their wonderful
[14:50] art teacher, Mrs. Stro. And students got
[14:53] to create a piece of artwork together
[14:55] with her help. Um, and soon students
[14:58] will begin NWA testing and Girls on the
[15:03] Run has started at Park A and this
[15:05] includes like 15 girls and overall it's
[15:08] an amazing way to begin the year for
[15:10] Parkav.
[15:13] Washburn has their second annual popup
[15:16] farmers market which featured a local
[15:18] tomato pico de gallo taste test surveys
[15:22] and uh prize wheel and along with some
[15:25] amazing guests Washburn's vendors shared
[15:27] education resources and introduced
[15:29] locally grown produce to the students
[15:31] and families of Washburn and a lot of
[15:34] people joined them at farmers market
[15:36] including some student volunteers from
[15:38] ELHS who've got their hours in for
[15:41] thing.
[15:43] Um, Sherwood settled into routine. They
[15:47] um began their NWA testing this week and
[15:50] students are doing a great job staying
[15:52] focused and putting in their best effort
[15:54] and persevering through the state
[15:56] testing. And um Friends of Sherwood
[15:59] Heights, their parent organization, has
[16:01] already planned several activities and
[16:03] events for the community and sponsored a
[16:05] BMX biker assembly where the kids got to
[16:07] see some really cool tricks and hear a
[16:09] message from the um biker about kindness
[16:14] and making positive choices and empathy.
[16:17] and sixth graders got to spend a day at
[16:20] Y camp and they participated in a lot of
[16:22] different team building activities and
[16:25] the salsa club um students have been
[16:28] making homemade salsa using fresh
[16:30] produce from the Sherwood Heights garden
[16:32] and lastly there will be a family dance
[16:34] on October 7th from 6:00 to 7:30 and
[16:37] Sherwood hopes to see a ton of families
[16:39] at the event. It's free will be a lot of
[16:41] fun and will help build community.
[16:45] Fairview has welcomed back about 500
[16:48] students and seven new staff members.
[16:50] They're also excited about the addition
[16:51] of Girls on the Run, a program for all
[16:54] girls third through sixth grade of all
[16:55] abilities. Twice a week after school,
[16:57] their team meets for physical for
[16:59] physical movement and interactive
[17:00] lessons led by Miss Richardson, Miss
[17:02] Kravitz, and Mrs. Peterson. And they
[17:05] focus on friendship, teamwork, and
[17:06] self-respect. The fall season program
[17:09] will end with a celebratory and
[17:10] non-competitive 5K event. So, they're
[17:12] off to a great start as well.
[17:16] Okay. So, so far AMS has only had one
[17:19] incident with cell phones. Their uh
[17:21] policy has been the same for about five
[17:23] years and they're staying strong. Uh I
[17:27] think last week they had Carrie Cenor
[17:31] from the Uain system come in for a
[17:33] presentation about ocean ecology. They
[17:35] were learning about uh ecosystems in the
[17:37] oceans and then they took a tour of
[17:38] Casco Bay visiting the aquaculture sites
[17:41] and more. Uh AMS has also began their
[17:44] aspiration trips to Bates where they go
[17:46] and learn about uh just college life,
[17:48] what it's like um personal like um
[17:53] financial aid and all the things about
[17:55] college. Uh
[18:00] yeah, that's everything about this
[18:01] slide. Yeah. So Amos has had a good
[18:03] start to their year. [laughter]
[18:05] Uh so Franklin has continued to uh train
[18:08] for their mission the 5K for the dog 5k
[18:12] and they have a bunch of their students
[18:14] are doing very well in technical
[18:15] programs with through LRTC their welding
[18:18] and LRTC programs are
[18:20] yeah they have had very few um cell
[18:22] phone issues due to the way they're like
[18:25] they maintain it with cell phone cubbies
[18:27] where that every student has they're
[18:28] optional but um not mandatory but if you
[18:32] have a cell phone problem then they do
[18:34] become mandatory.
[18:36] Yeah. So, yeah, since this the beginning
[18:38] started this year, there's been no
[18:39] increase in cell phone problems.
[18:42] And then our open house at EHS was very
[18:45] good. Uh,
[18:48] and families enjoyed a meet and greet in
[18:50] nature of that evening. And then spirit
[18:52] week is coming up within the next two
[18:55] weeks. All of the classes are prepping
[18:58] for our skit, spirit week, uh, outfits
[19:01] and days and all the things. Our theme
[19:03] this year is
[19:06] yeah, decades. Uh
[19:10] yeah, our our cell phone policy is we're
[19:13] doing pretty good based on the amount of
[19:14] students we have. We have an average of
[19:16] 5.36 incidents a day, which is very I
[19:20] would say pretty good for the amount of
[19:21] students that we have in the building.
[19:23] Uh Charles Ellis National Merit is a
[19:30] National Merit semi- finalist. Uh Mr.
[19:33] Breler is up for the Filbrite teachers
[19:39] um classroom program. And
[19:45] oh yeah, he's a third teacher. Miss Aley
[19:47] and Mrs. Towns have also been chosen for
[19:49] this program. And then Gabe Newsome and
[19:53] Steven Corey are part of the fire
[19:55] science 2. Then they've completed a 110
[19:58] fly stair climb on 911.
[20:02] >> That's all we have.
[20:05] >> Any questions?
[20:06] >> Great. Thank you. Does anyone have any
[20:07] questions?
[20:12] » And I love that Sherwood Heights has a
[20:14] salsa club, a salsa making club.
[20:17] >> Tell you, my brain did not go to salsa
[20:18] as food. I'm like, "Oh, they're dancing.
[20:20] It's very very specific. [laughter]
[20:26] Thank you both.
[20:31] Uh moving on, I do not have a
[20:33] chairperson's report tonight other than
[20:35] just to remind people about the MSMA
[20:37] conference that's coming up um at the
[20:39] end of October. If you are interested in
[20:41] attending, please reach out and email um
[20:45] Dr. Doris or Cindy Sheeks and they will
[20:48] get you registered. Um,
[20:51] moving on to our city council update.
[20:53] Adam, do you have an update?
[20:54] >> Yeah. Uh, just a short update that at
[20:57] our meeting u two nights ago now, uh, we
[21:00] received the presentation of the draft
[21:02] comp plan. Um, the comp plan is a
[21:05] extensive and exhaustive document
[21:07] showing kind of the the path that Auburn
[21:10] would like to take for the next decade
[21:12] or so. Um, there's certain areas where
[21:15] that um, crosses over and intertwines
[21:17] with the school department. So, I would
[21:18] encourage everyone to check that out.
[21:20] It's available on the website. There are
[21:22] links to the comp plan. And then within
[21:24] that, um, if you explore within that
[21:26] website, you'll see their uh,
[21:28] opportunities. I I think some of the
[21:29] last opportunities to have your voice
[21:31] heard. Um, those are coming up. I don't
[21:33] have the exact dates. Scott might have
[21:35] the date, but maybe he doesn't. Look it
[21:38] up on the website. It's right there.
[21:39] It's, but it is coming up shortly. And
[21:41] again, important to note, um, there have
[21:43] been multitudes of opportunities to
[21:45] speak up until this point. And so those
[21:47] opportunities are running out. So if you
[21:49] read the document and you say, "I don't
[21:51] like that." You've only got a few
[21:52] chances left to let your voice be heard.
[21:54] So
[21:56] >> great. Thank you, Adam. Uh moving on to
[22:00] our committee reports, our finance
[22:02] subcommittee agenda, and the minutes
[22:04] from our September 8th meeting are
[22:06] linked. Um
[22:09] Adam or Amanda, do either one of you
[22:12] want to give a quick update? Yeah, I
[22:14] mean I most of the agenda items on that
[22:17] meeting were our ongoing items such as
[22:19] staffing updates, um grant updates as
[22:22] well as our budget updates. Nothing was crazy there. I think the biggest
[22:27] one, which I can I can allude to and if
[22:29] you want to add extra light to it, but
[22:31] the revolving loan um is we need to
[22:34] bring that up in this meeting. Um, we
[22:36] had been hoping to apply for a state
[22:39] revolving loan fund um, which would have
[22:42] given us up to $2 million uh, for the
[22:45] AMS project. And this was something that
[22:47] we had been hoping would be available
[22:49] um, for that future that bond uh, and
[22:52] that project. We've learned that the
[22:55] state is not accepting applications for
[22:58] that revolving loan for this cycle. Um,
[23:02] what they've told us is that that's how it happens. the the loans
[23:06] been not the fund has been tapped into.
[23:08] So now they have to wait for things to
[23:11] charge back up. I can't remember the
[23:12] reasoning, but in any case, it delays
[23:15] our ability to access it uh and and
[23:18] forces us to come up with some creative
[23:19] solutions um to replace what maybe could
[23:23] have been
[23:25] >> and it was not anticipated because these
[23:27] funds have been available every year for
[23:31] I mean many many many years. So, um,
[23:34] Amanda, do you have anything to add to
[23:36] that or No. Okay. [laughter]
[23:39] Anyone have any questions about
[23:42] that? That was kind of the biggest piece
[23:44] of news.
[23:47] Okay. Uh, the policy subcommittee agenda
[23:50] from yesterday is linked and the
[23:52] curriculum subcommittee agenda and
[23:54] minutes from the September 2nd meeting
[23:56] are linked. Orin, do you want to give a
[23:58] quick update on those?
[24:00] >> Yes. Um, Dr. Dr. Doris gave us the uh
[24:03] professional development calendar for
[24:05] the year. Um and
[24:09] uh the areas of focus um included
[24:11] training on the new additions of the my
[24:12] view and my perspectives in the literacy
[24:15] program. Um you can see that in the
[24:18] agenda, but uh also we went over the
[24:20] curriculum evaluation cycle. If you have
[24:23] any questions about what that is or what
[24:24] that looks like, it is linked in the
[24:27] agenda. Um it's a five-year cycle that
[24:31] Dr. Doris um put together years ago, you
[24:34] know, a few years ago, and we're
[24:36] actually re really into it now. Um but
[24:40] the five-year cycle is every piece of
[24:43] curriculum is reviewed. We recently did
[24:47] the literacy, this year's math
[24:49] curriculum. And on this um the
[24:53] evaluation cycle that's linked here, you
[24:55] can see it's very detailed um and shows
[24:59] all the steps that we're going to be
[25:00] taking in each year how that works. So,
[25:04] and the math curriculum evaluation has
[25:07] begun. Um so we'll be see hearing more
[25:10] of that throughout the year. Um if
[25:12] anybody has any questions, let me know.
[25:16] >> Thank you. Any questions for Corin?
[25:20] Okay, the health and safety subcommittee
[25:23] just met on Monday and that agenda is
[25:25] linked and those minutes will be linked
[25:26] at our next meeting and the facilities
[25:28] subcommittee minutes are linked from our
[25:32] meeting last week which Scott pretty
[25:34] much went over everything that we
[25:35] discussed at that meeting. Um, we don't
[25:38] have any old business tonight and we do
[25:39] not have any new business tonight. A
[25:42] list of all of our upcoming meetings are
[25:44] listed there. Our next regular school
[25:46] committee meeting is on Wednesday,
[25:48] October 7th. Do I have any future agenda
[25:50] items or requests for information?
[25:55] Okay, seeing none at this time, I'll
[25:57] entertain a motion to adjurnn.
[25:59] >> So moved.
[26:00] >> Jay, do I have a second? Corin, all
[26:02] those in favor? And we are adjourned at
[26:05] 6:24. Thank you, everyone.