[0:00] call the we're going to open the meeting

[0:01] here at 8:22

[0:04] and um

[0:07] the first order of business

[0:10] is to review the minutes of October 7th,

[0:12] 2025.

[0:20] » We got a first

[0:21] >> second.

[0:22] All those in favor approve the

[0:24] minutes.

[0:27] >> 300.

[0:29] >> Financial statements. Warrants. Shelley.

[0:32] >> Uh, since the October 7th meeting, 38

[0:34] warrants were signed electronically

[0:36] totaling $235,79.66.

[0:41] I did send you the general fund expense

[0:43] report. There's nothing new to be

[0:44] concerned about. We have about $180,000

[0:47] left to get us through the rest of the

[0:48] year. So, we're closely monitoring the

[0:51] accounts to make sure that we don't have

[0:52] any major overages and we can balance

[0:54] the budget, but right now things seem

[0:57] like we're in good.

[0:58] >> Excellent.

[1:00] >> Thank you so

[1:07] um hope everyone got my Sunday.

[1:10] >> Y so transition back was great. Student

[1:14] absences were really following. It's

[1:16] been pretty low. the January highlights.

[1:18] Not a whole lot to report as we enter

[1:21] the new year assessments coming up. So

[1:24] by the next uh school committee meeting,

[1:26] I'll be able to provide information on

[1:27] the data. Um but we have some great

[1:30] things to come work

[1:32] and I also include

[1:34] for you.

[1:37] Sweet. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:40] All right.

[1:43] public comment.

[1:47] We have Kate in the room. No one's

[1:49] storming down the door. All right. And

[1:53] un business is none. And then we got a

[1:55] cat's butt on the screen.

[2:00] And all right, new business. And this is

[2:02] actually the big business of the

[2:03] meeting. So as we cruise along here, but

[2:05] is the budget discussion, the initial

[2:07] discussion of the budget. So um

[2:12] share

[2:21] and then explain.

[2:25] » All right.

[2:27] I'm going to go through this

[2:28] really quickly. Um

[2:31] there's a lot of good info for us to

[2:33] talk about, but this is just the first

[2:35] pass. And the nice thing about Conway

[2:38] whose town meeting is not till June. So

[2:40] we have plenty of time to go through the

[2:42] budget process. Technically we have a

[2:44] March vote on the calendar. Um if we're

[2:47] not ready to make decisions by then we

[2:48] can push it off. So um Conway's not in

[2:52] the worst shape out of the elementary

[2:55] schools this year. Can you get to the

[2:59] We're going to start talking about level

[3:00] service budget as we always do. Um, all

[3:03] of the elementary schools are above 5%

[3:06] for level service budget. So, just as a

[3:08] quick reminder, level service does not

[3:10] mean level funding. Uh, level service

[3:12] means that we've replicated staffing and

[3:14] programs from the prior year in the new

[3:16] budget, but there's always for at a

[3:19] minimum wages for COLA. So, the level

[3:22] service budget comes in at 5.71%

[3:24] or just about 133,000.

[3:27] These are the different expense

[3:29] categories captured within the budget.

[3:30] And you'll see these categories in your

[3:32] monthly expense reports, which is why I

[3:34] present the budget in the same way. You

[3:37] can see in the far column uh the total

[3:40] growth there. Uh the growth would

[3:42] include wages and non-wage expenditures,

[3:45] which we're going to break down in the

[3:46] next couple of slides. But overall, um

[3:49] it's right now about a 50/50 split as

[3:52] far as what the growth is, whether it's

[3:54] wage or non-wage. And we don't typically

[3:56] have a significant level of non-wage

[3:58] growth at Conway Grammar School, but

[4:01] there is one thing impacting us this

[4:02] year. So the next slide we're going to

[4:04] talk about uh wages. So let's look at

[4:06] that first. Of that 5.71%

[4:10] 3.04 is who the wage obligations. So

[4:14] we've taken into account all of our

[4:15] non-union staff and contracts. So,

[4:18] secretary, custodial, cafeteria, um,

[4:21] anyone else on the ground that's not on

[4:23] the the unit A or the unit C contract,

[4:26] and then administrative renewals, which

[4:28] would also include Conway's portion of

[4:30] central office expenses. On the right

[4:32] hand side of the slide, you can see the

[4:34] primary driver of the budget growth at

[4:37] about 58,000 is contractual obligations.

[4:41] So, that has to do with year two of the

[4:43] contract. um teachers are receiving 4%

[4:47] if they're on the top step. Otherwise,

[4:49] if it's step plus cola at three, they're

[4:51] seeing 6.22% growth. And we do have one

[4:55] faculty member who has advanced their

[4:57] degree, so they'll be moving a column as

[4:59] well, which um results in a larger

[5:02] increase. And then, uh unit C, all of

[5:05] our IAS are funded outside of the

[5:07] general fund in Conway. So, IAS are

[5:10] seeing wage growth, but it does not have

[5:12] a general fund impact, which at the

[5:14] moment, this is what we're talking about

[5:15] when we look at our budget for level

[5:17] services. It's strictly the general

[5:18] fund. All I will move up. We added a new

[5:22] step. There's a 2 and a half% cola plus

[5:25] about a 3% step. So, IAS will see a 5

[5:28] and a half% growth in their wages. And

[5:31] then we added $6,000 for summer stipens.

[5:34] That's based on the prior year services

[5:36] we provided. Um the structure of our

[5:39] summer programs has changed a little bit

[5:41] and the need to find a higher level is

[5:44] necessary. Plus the contract grew um

[5:47] particularly in the teacher contract.

[5:49] >> Pleasure to say hey Phil I'm going to

[5:50] mute you if you don't mind. We're

[5:52] getting some feedback from you. So just

[5:54] be sure you unmute when we can talk.

[5:55] Okay.

[5:57] >> The hourly rate changed for teachers in

[6:00] the contract with the new contract that

[6:01] we negotiated. So that's causing some

[6:03] growth in our wages as well for summer

[6:05] programs. So we're not necessarily

[6:08] adding staff or growing the program.

[6:09] It's just covering existing needs. So

[6:12] the remaining uh two and a halfish% if

[6:16] we go to the next slide Darius is

[6:18] related to nonwage obligations. We don't

[6:21] normally see significant growth here

[6:24] unless there's some major change with a

[6:26] funding source or a contract. We're

[6:29] seeing the growth under student services

[6:32] which is our transportation line. It's

[6:34] not actually a growth in the cost of our

[6:37] contract outside of the two and a half

[6:39] percent which only totals a couple

[6:40] thousand dollars. However, we did fund

[6:44] part of our transportation costs with

[6:45] rural aid in the current year. Conway is

[6:48] ineligible for rural aid in um the new

[6:51] year. So, we are going to see a shift in

[6:54] that expenditure. So, again, not an

[6:57] increase in the actual cost, just a

[6:59] change in the funding source.

[7:00] >> Right. and Conway lost the rule aid

[7:03] designation because the average income

[7:06] of the town went up. So somebody moved

[7:09] into town that was making money in order

[7:11] for that move that way. They must make

[7:13] significant amount of money. That's that

[7:15] millionaire

[7:15] >> Yeah.

[7:16] >> conversation we had in the past. But

[7:17] that is one of the indicators in rural

[7:20] aid is the amount of the

[7:21] >> the income level of the town.

[7:23] >> Crazy

[7:24] >> which is the general, right? And so if

[7:26] you take a small town and you increase

[7:28] it by

[7:29] >> one or two very wealthy people, which is

[7:32] my guess because

[7:33] >> yeah,

[7:34] >> I don't think 30 people moved in with a

[7:36] slightly higher income, which you would

[7:38] have to do.

[7:38] >> And I don't think that the enrollment

[7:40] numbers changed enough. So rural aid and

[7:42] chapter 70 have to do with enrollment

[7:44] and income in your town or wealth of

[7:47] your town. Um the rural aid formula is

[7:49] slightly different because it has to do

[7:51] with um students per

[7:55] uh I don't know what the right word is.

[7:56] I can't think of it.

[7:57] >> Um

[7:58] >> what's that?

[8:00] >> I don't know if it's square mile. Maybe

[8:02] it is. It has to do with you know the

[8:04] size of your town.

[8:06] >> Um

[8:07] >> so I don't think enrollment is the

[8:09] factor here. And Conway has received

[8:12] rural aid for years.

[8:14] >> Oh no, it's been confirmed it was

[8:15] income. Yeah, they wrote me a note.

[8:17] >> They must know.

[8:18] >> They wrote me a note and said that.

[8:20] >> Um, so this really is a growth to our

[8:23] budget and we talk about not using

[8:27] unreliable consistent funding sources in

[8:29] all of our budget. We anticipated that

[8:32] Conway would be eligible for this again.

[8:34] Um, and you know, it could come back in

[8:37] the future, but for next year it's just

[8:38] not going to be a funding source that we

[8:40] have access to.

[8:42] >> So that's one component here. and

[8:43] $32,000 is over a percentage point. 1%

[8:47] is about $24,000. So, um it's it's

[8:50] pretty significant growth. The other

[8:52] impact here is the central office health

[8:54] insurance, which we've had conversations

[8:56] about in the current year. So, because

[8:59] we're seeing an overage in 26 that we

[9:01] did not have budgeted from that October

[9:03] 1st increase, that's going to come into

[9:05] play in 27 automatically. We're going to

[9:08] see growth of 20%. and we have a

[9:10] placeholder, even though we do not know

[9:12] what the rates will come in at, we have

[9:14] a placeholder of 20% growth again in the

[9:16] budget. Um, so that's a $30,000 increase

[9:19] right there. So, we wouldn't normally

[9:20] see this type of expenditure um on our

[9:23] budget in a typical year. We would have

[9:25] had to deal with the rural aid challenge

[9:27] no matter what, but this is another, you

[9:29] know, 1.25% or so that we're having to

[9:32] absorb. So, it's causing some

[9:34] significant budget growth that we can't

[9:35] really escape from. Um there's not an

[9:38] alternative funding source for us to go

[9:39] to for those two pieces.

[9:42] Any other questions before we keep

[9:44] going? All right.

[9:46] Um so just revolving funds at a glance.

[9:49] Uh you can see school choice is growing.

[9:52] That is primarily because we pay our

[9:55] sick buyback for teacher retirements out

[9:57] of school choice. That's estimated at

[9:59] about $60,000 for next year. Um I'm

[10:03] comfortable with this number. We're

[10:05] still at a healthy balance. I want to

[10:06] say we're at about $400,000 even after

[10:09] these expenditures. So, we're in a safe

[10:11] place there. And then you can see

[10:13] minimal growth in all of the other

[10:15] grants that we utilize in revolving

[10:17] funds, which is primarily related to

[10:19] wages. There's no non-wage growth in

[10:21] these expense categories. And then the

[10:23] rural aid, you can see zeroed out. So,

[10:25] even though we don't have the rural aid,

[10:27] because school choice is up with the

[10:29] sick buyback, we are spending more than

[10:31] we did in the prior year from grants and

[10:33] revolving funds.

[10:34] Next slide shows the total budget. Uh

[10:37] you can see we're at almost three and a

[10:39] half million that 5.71% for the general

[10:42] fund plus revolving funds and grants and

[10:45] then our total.

[10:48] >> Okay, Mr. Modesto.

[10:50] >> Yeah, I have that Madden thing now. I

[10:51] can do that.

[10:53] >> So what does that look like for cost per

[10:55] pupil? You can see our cost per people

[10:57] at 146 students which does include

[11:00] resident and school choice enrollment

[11:02] which is remaining relatively flat from

[11:04] the prior year. We're down a couple of

[11:06] kiddos um which is basically school

[11:09] choice residents are staying about the

[11:11] same from the prior year but we're at

[11:12] roughly $24,000 per student.

[11:18] And next we're going to talk about

[11:19] principal's budget. So part of our

[11:20] process is always considering new needs

[11:22] and initiatives on the ground here in

[11:24] the building. things that Kristen thinks

[11:25] we might need um outside of capital

[11:28] expenses, just regular day expenditures.

[11:30] It is pretty minimal um but it does

[11:32] equate to about a half a percentage

[11:34] point. So, we're looking for an

[11:35] additional $9,500 which is mostly for um

[11:40] split about 50/50 curriculum textbooks,

[11:43] which is primarily um consumables for

[11:46] our new curriculum that we've rolled out

[11:48] in the last couple of years. Uh we're

[11:50] seeing an increased need for workbooks

[11:52] and things of that nature. Laura is

[11:55] going to see if she has an alternative

[11:57] funding source so that we can keep this

[11:59] request down. Perhaps she has some other

[12:02] grant that we can tap into that we don't

[12:04] really rely on for general fund

[12:06] purposes. Um we are still trying to

[12:08] assess whether or not that consumable

[12:11] need is a year afterear expenditure or

[12:14] if it's one time. If it's one time, then

[12:16] we could pull the money from school

[12:17] choice as well and just buy what we need

[12:20] and then not have to inflate our budget.

[12:23] Special education contracted services is

[12:25] exactly what it sounds like. People that

[12:27] we bring in service providers to meet

[12:29] needs of our students in the building.

[12:31] We are seeing a growth in that area.

[12:34] Everyone's rates are going up. Um needs

[12:36] of the students may change. So we're

[12:37] looking for an additional $5,000 there.

[12:40] So that brings our total budget request

[12:42] with principles plus level services to

[12:44] 5.8. 81% at just over $135,000.

[12:50] What's next? Enrollment. So, enrollment

[12:53] is down slightly in this slide for

[12:55] projected um compared to the current

[12:57] year at 146. I expect that we'll see

[13:00] this go up. Kristen does an excellent

[13:03] job of making sure she can balance

[13:05] school choice. However, part of the

[13:07] decline in enrollment here is because of

[13:09] our Wings program. So, if you remember,

[13:11] we talked about Wings last year. Um,

[13:13] we've had a hard time finding a solid

[13:17] teacher replacement in that program um,

[13:19] since June and Tracy retired several

[13:22] years ago. And rather than taxing our

[13:26] existing staff any further, we've made

[13:28] some conscious decisions internally to

[13:31] not replace the sixth grade students who

[13:33] are leaving the program, which I think

[13:35] there are four or five.

[13:37] >> Um, so that is going to see we'll see a

[13:40] drop in enrollment there. However, I do

[13:42] think there is potential for K and preK

[13:45] possibly um particularly kindergarten

[13:47] and maybe to add some new school choice

[13:49] students in there. And this is just

[13:51] based on what we know of the census. So

[13:53] those numbers for K and preK are

[13:55] estimated. Um so those could change

[13:57] slightly as well. So I expect we'll

[13:59] probably be around 140 instead of 135.

[14:04] » Moving ahead, we are looking I think

[14:06] just at historical information and just

[14:08] some other thoughts for us to consider.

[14:11] So Conway's budget prior to the last two

[14:13] years has been pretty reasonable. Um I

[14:16] think the 2 and a half 3% is where we

[14:19] would like to be. In 2025 we had the

[14:23] increase in transportation. Um and

[14:26] similar to this year where we don't have

[14:28] another funding source to put that on,

[14:29] we grew the budget which was almost a 5%

[14:32] increase. In 2026 the growth is related

[14:35] to the loss of ESSER funding. So we had

[14:37] used ESSER to supplement the budget in

[14:39] the prior year. We don't have that in

[14:41] the current year. So that grew our

[14:43] budget by 5.25%.

[14:45] So the pass will be at three years now

[14:47] if we move forward with over 5% in the

[14:50] current year. So that's something that

[14:51] we should talk about. Last year it

[14:53] really wasn't an issue because Conway's

[14:55] portion of Frontier's budget was down

[14:57] like $200,000. So there wasn't an issue

[15:00] to increase the elementary school

[15:02] budget. We don't quite have a sense yet

[15:04] of what's going to happen with

[15:05] Frontier's budget. The state chapter 70

[15:07] is not out yet. Um, so we haven't looked

[15:10] at assessment and Frontier's budget, if

[15:12] you've read the paper or watched the

[15:14] school committee meeting for fun. Um,

[15:18] the the level service budget was around

[15:20] 9%. Am I remembering that right?

[15:23] >> Yes.

[15:24] >> 8%ish. Um, about a million dollars was

[15:27] what was in the paper for growth on the

[15:29] budget itself, which is significant.

[15:31] Usually, we're around 300,000. So, um,

[15:34] it's going to be a taxing year across

[15:36] the board. And the town is going to see

[15:38] the health insurance increase on their

[15:40] side as well. Not just for school

[15:41] employees, but any other town employees,

[15:44] DPW, fire, police, town offices. So, um,

[15:47] it could be a more challenging budget

[15:49] season for us. We might have to be a

[15:51] little bit creative in how we navigate

[15:54] next steps.

[15:55] >> Yeah. I mean, to run off with Shel said,

[15:57] we'll know the state's budget on the

[15:58] 23rd, that Friday. The governor is going

[16:00] to um present it and that that'll give

[16:04] us the the cherry sheets, the

[16:05] assessments for the town. So, we'll know

[16:07] where Frontier does is is nowhere near

[16:10] ready to where they're going to land on

[16:11] their numbers, but we'll know the

[16:12] assessment numbers so we know how each

[16:14] of the moves will affect what the town

[16:16] can afford. Um, and then we'll have a

[16:18] general idea of what kind of income the

[16:19] town got. Um, and so at the same time

[16:22] and then start talking with them and so

[16:25] um about where it all ends out. So, it's

[16:27] kind of really it's premature um these

[16:29] percentages the percentages this year if

[16:31] we came in oh 4%

[16:34] um depending where you know Frontier

[16:36] lands and depending where the town lands

[16:38] we really there's we don't have enough

[16:40] information to know if it's a good

[16:41] budget or bad budget based on previous

[16:43] numbers again because of healthcare

[16:46] >> um the healthcare increase and again

[16:48] Shelley said you know Frontier's budget

[16:50] it was a half a million dollars increase

[16:52] and we usually grow the whole budget by 300,000 so that just on healthcare.

[16:57] So, um you know, we don't we just don't

[17:00] know how that impacts the town, what

[17:02] their liability is going to be for that

[17:04] increase.

[17:05] >> One of the towns picked up the town like

[17:06] it's like it just we just don't know. I

[17:09] think is it was it Sunderland got dinged

[17:11] last year?

[17:12] >> Sunderland's had a couple of big years.

[17:14] Um Conwayley was a little bit high too.

[17:17] Deerfield enrollment is declining for

[17:19] Frontier, so they'll probably see a

[17:21] decrease again.

[17:22] >> So, yeah. Yeah, it looks like No, it

[17:24] looks like Sunderland it looks like

[17:25] Sunderland's going to get a hit again

[17:28] >> because their enrollment is going up

[17:31] compared to everybody else's which is

[17:32] reducing. So, um yeah, it's going to be

[17:37] interesting. And with how Frontier

[17:40] works, just one assessment is very

[17:42] difficult to sometimes it's very

[17:44] difficult to drop

[17:46] how much that town has to give based on

[17:49] the assessment. It doesn't it's not it's

[17:51] not smooth in the sense of like let's

[17:53] say we're going to increase the budget

[17:54] at Frontier for $500,000

[17:58] the percentage of a town paying you

[18:00] could reduce it by 300,000 and they're

[18:02] still paying a greater percentage um due

[18:05] to what the state says they can afford.

[18:07] So it gets um there's still a lot of

[18:10] work to do in the budget season and

[18:13] it'll be interesting with our four towns

[18:15] what the town's approach is going to be.

[18:18] Um, I just have the conversation now

[18:20] because in the sense of like is it a

[18:22] year that they're going to try to do

[18:27] um, you know, Prop 2 and a half to try

[18:30] to increase slightly more because you

[18:32] you're they're going to have the problem

[18:34] for multiple years. You're going to see

[18:35] insurance at 15 to 20%. As you as we

[18:39] talked to the experts for next couple

[18:40] years before it it reassures itself. So

[18:44] towns just can't afford that based on

[18:46] their current um way income that they're

[18:49] getting on, you know, growth. There's

[18:51] not as a lot of growth in towns based on

[18:53] residential. So,

[18:55] >> and they're going to hit get hit in the

[18:56] same way we are with central office. So

[18:58] even if they have free cash that passes

[19:00] out of town meeting to fund this year's

[19:02] overage, it's not built into the budget.

[19:04] So they're going to see a multi-year

[19:06] increase next year. Yeah, that's and

[19:08] that's kind of my my thought process is

[19:11] a appreciate the groundwork now knowing

[19:13] that not everything's set. We're going

[19:15] to see some more things change, but like

[19:18] if it's an ongoing expense, you can't

[19:19] sweep it under the rug one year because

[19:21] then you have to like you just said, you

[19:22] have a multi-year increase the next

[19:24] year.

[19:25] >> Yeah. So,

[19:27] >> yep. And so, and excuse me. And so, our process on this is January is just

[19:33] is like introductory. This is a class,

[19:36] this introductory class of let's this is

[19:38] what the numbers are and then the next

[19:40] class will be we'll we'll add up on top

[19:42] of that. We'll kind of refine those

[19:44] numbers, add more information to it and

[19:46] we'll build build our budget. All right,

[19:48] Phil, I see you unmuted.

[19:50] >> Yeah. So, um just first of all, you

[19:53] know, every every year I am I am so

[19:54] impressed with your budget presentation

[19:57] and your budget uh the work that you do

[20:01] on it. I just want to say that before I

[20:03] get into specific questions which um the the the health insurance thing of

[20:12] course

[20:13] you know all these all these things are

[20:15] not problems of our making they're just

[20:18] things we have to deal with. Um but the the the

[20:25] you know the the newspaper articles etc

[20:28] covering these questions have been

[20:31] brutal. the the the school districts

[20:33] that did opt out of the Hampshire Trust

[20:37] the um saying that it was hiring

[20:41] consultants that were quoted as saying

[20:44] it's insane to stay in it and um you

[20:47] know you can't just do nothing and

[20:51] >> um the the

[20:53] >> what's that?

[20:55] >> So we have the announcements coming over

[20:57] the intercom from the school right now.

[20:58] >> Okay.

[21:00] >> Um

[21:00] >> so let's pause. Let's pause for 30

[21:02] seconds.

[21:02] >> All right.

[21:03] >> Because we're pledging

[21:07] and to theublic

[21:10] one nation under God, indivisible,

[21:14] liberty and justice for all.

[21:17] >> At high grammar school, we follow the

[21:22] community agreement. We take care of

[21:29] our material

[21:33] environment.

[21:34] We take care of ourselves. We take care

[21:39] of each other. Today is Monday, January

[21:43] 12th. Lunch today is grilled cheese. A

[21:46] water beneath and and and

[21:51] the water

[21:53] and bubble means someone is very kind

[21:56] and brave and brave and you look up to

[22:00] them.

[22:02] >> Happy birthday to

[22:05] Robin.

[22:07] >> It's now time for the morning meeting.

[22:12] » All right, Phil. Grilled cheese for

[22:14] lunch.

[22:16] That's okay.

[22:18] >> Um, so, so you know, and I guess this pertains to Frontier, but it also

[22:22] pertains to town hall. You know, is are

[22:25] we going to have

[22:27] the ability during our budget

[22:30] presentation at town meeting to

[22:33] talk about what we're doing proactively?

[22:39] uh be it be it you know any of the

[22:42] options that we've discussed previously

[22:44] the going our own way joining the GIC

[22:48] whatever um are we going to be able to

[22:51] have something to say about that this

[22:54] aspect of our budget besides just we're

[22:58] sticking it out and seeing what happens

[23:02] >> yeah I mean I think uh so a couple

[23:03] things one is the so some members have

[23:06] left the trust But to put it in

[23:09] perspective, I think it was five or six

[23:11] towns and they equal 3% of the

[23:14] enrollment of the trust. It was 3 and a

[23:15] half% or 3.2%. So a very small number of souls have left the trust. Um and we

[23:24] haven't seen the numbers from the state

[23:25] about what um which the GIC is going to

[23:29] go up percentage-wise, but we are told

[23:31] it's going to be double digits. They're

[23:33] getting hit just as hard. and um Maya

[23:36] for those you know communities in Maya

[23:38] they're looking between 15 and 20% that

[23:40] we're hearing. So I think you're going

[23:42] to see 20% across the board no matter

[23:43] who you're enrolled with. Um so anyway

[23:47] so just just kind of a clarification of

[23:49] that out there. They're not saying that

[23:50] in the paper because I don't think

[23:51] anybody's told them that. Um

[23:54] >> the we have met and Verique would have

[23:56] to talk for the town of Conway about

[23:58] what they're doing. I just happen to be

[24:00] in meetings with her where we have work

[24:02] working on a having a backup plan should

[24:05] the trust continue to have issues and we

[24:08] need to withdraw and um either

[24:11] self-insure or do a um what do they call

[24:14] it a group?

[24:17] >> It's not a group purchasing. It's

[24:19] >> it's coming together. It's not group

[24:21] purchasing but you're working with

[24:22] others to

[24:23] >> do whatever. So, we have had that

[24:25] conversations with um insurance uh

[24:28] vendors, so to speak, so that we have

[24:30] that lined up should we need to move.

[24:33] So, that backwork is being done. But I

[24:35] can't talk for the town of Conway

[24:36] because

[24:38] >> I'm just, you know, knowing that they're

[24:40] in the meeting

[24:41] >> to have those backup plans in place. So,

[24:44] >> so the other thing with health insurance

[24:45] is the GIC window has passed, right? you

[24:48] have until December 1st to make your

[24:51] letter of commitment and then they gave

[24:52] an extension of January 5th and none of

[24:56] our towns that are with the trust or

[24:58] Frontier have opted to go with the GIC

[25:01] the states program. So that's not that's

[25:03] not a choice. So really the options

[25:05] right now are sticking it out with the

[25:07] trust

[25:08] >> um which hopefully the trust will have

[25:12] preliminary numbers at the February

[25:14] insurance advisory committee meeting

[25:17] which doesn't

[25:20] for Conway it's not an issue because

[25:22] your budget meetings aren't till June.

[25:24] So the town has plenty more time for

[25:26] Frontier it'll be more challenging

[25:28] depending on when those numbers come in.

[25:30] Um the other towns Weightley and

[25:34] Deerfield are

[25:37] Deerfield's April so they have some time

[25:40] too. Um so we'll be able to have more

[25:42] conversations about it, Phil. But

[25:45] staying with the trust really would be

[25:47] the most beneficial for everybody

[25:49] involved. It's just a matter of what

[25:51] does that look like structure-wise

[25:52] moving forward.

[25:55] And so and also understand so that those

[25:58] who have left they have to pay their

[25:59] runoff.

[26:01] >> Um and the state has allowed the state

[26:04] has allowed them to take on debt um with

[26:07] new legislation but they're still got to

[26:09] pay the bill. They're just going to

[26:10] spread that bill out over several years.

[26:13] Um so basically what I mean by the

[26:15] runoff is that is once you leave um the

[26:19] trust stops paying for your bills. So

[26:21] anything that's in cycle you got to pay

[26:23] out of pocket and so and you could

[26:26] depending on unless you really I don't

[26:28] know how people can survey their

[26:29] membership because you can't just look

[26:31] around the room because they're also

[26:32] talking about spouses and children those

[26:34] plans. So I mean you can be paying off

[26:36] hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[26:38] >> Um and so they got to find the money for

[26:41] that as well to leave. So there's a part

[26:43] of us like you know um you know trying

[26:47] hoping that you know there is some

[26:49] hoping that the trust works out. Um but

[26:52] we also are not naive enough not have a

[26:53] backup plan. Like I said we c we have

[26:55] something called a parachute plan. So if

[26:57] things do not go well um we have a plan.

[27:00] It's going to cost money. Um but it

[27:02] won't be as bad. People will not be

[27:04] without insurance. It's the number one

[27:05] thing. We're going to take care of our

[27:06] people

[27:07] >> and you know to there will be some

[27:09] expense but um you know I it's uh

[27:15] the details of those plans are those

[27:17] we'll if we need it right I'm not going

[27:18] to take the parachute out right now.

[27:22] So I I I guess my point in all this, one

[27:25] of my point is that um this is going to

[27:28] be I um my prediction is that this is

[27:31] going to be the the main issue budget at budget, you know, at at town meeting

[27:37] and um you know, it's going to require

[27:42] significant amount of explanation

[27:45] uh um which is difficult to do in that

[27:49] setting. These are complex issues

[27:53] and Jesus um and the uh you know does

[28:00] the does the trusts uh

[28:04] new consultants you know are we going to

[28:06] be getting presentations from them or

[28:08] anything like that u um any any

[28:12] >> I don't they will present to the

[28:15] insurance advisory committee which is a

[28:18] public meeting and open for anyone to

[28:20] attend and Verinique and Shawn have been

[28:24] attending those meetings. I know that

[28:25] because I see them on the roster. Um

[28:29] there may be opportunity for the

[28:31] consultant to have meetings with

[28:33] individual units if they so desire. We

[28:36] haven't really broached that yet, but I

[28:38] do think it is up for discussion. The

[28:40] consultant is incredible. The amount of

[28:43] information and support and feedback

[28:45] that the trust is getting is

[28:48] >> nothing like I've ever seen before with

[28:50] the prior executive director. Not that

[28:51] Joe did a bad job. I just think the

[28:54] tools in the toolbox were not as

[28:56] expansive and we're getting a lot more

[28:58] analysis and information and data. Um

[29:01] I'm less concerned about the renewal

[29:04] component than I am about the financial

[29:07] piece as to whether or not we actually

[29:08] have enough money to make it to July

[29:10] 1st.

[29:11] >> Yeah. without some other dramatic

[29:14] change. So, uh, we're going to get a

[29:16] renewal, whatever that looks like. If

[29:18] it's 20%, 25%, we're not escaping that.

[29:22] As Darius said, we're seeing that across

[29:23] the board with my end and the GIC. So,

[29:27] um, the renewal I don't think is

[29:29] necessarily the issue, but being able to

[29:31] explain the October 1st increase, which

[29:34] is going to hit your budget next year,

[29:37] and the new increase, it's going to have

[29:39] to be talked about. And you know, I I

[29:41] would think that people in the community

[29:44] are aware.

[29:45] >> Yeah. I mean, we'll I mean, we'll we'll

[29:47] deal with town meeting when town meeting

[29:49] and you know, I mean, Shel and I will be

[29:52] there. We probably speak

[29:54] >> in the community probably speak the

[29:56] strongest on understanding it because

[29:57] we've been really deep for a year. Um,

[30:01] >> and if people I mean people either

[30:04] understand or not understand it. They're

[30:05] going to point fingers, but we didn't do

[30:07] it. Um, you know, you know, it's like

[30:10] it's insurance across the board. And

[30:12] that's the other thing that's the only

[30:13] thing I can see is is I guess comforting

[30:16] within it is that we're seeing 20%

[30:18] across the board. So, it's not just the

[30:20] trust. The trust keeps getting hammered.

[30:22] Everybody's getting hammered and the

[30:23] trust is still market value a good a

[30:27] good buy um in comparison to the other

[30:30] plans. And so, when that comes out of

[30:32] whack, then people will have the we'll

[30:34] be on a hotter seat. If that if that

[30:36] comes out of whack, we'll be on a hotter

[30:38] seat. But

[30:39] um

[30:40] >> I I I you know and that's all well I I

[30:43] think though that um because of our

[30:46] institutional structure and the need to

[30:48] sort of get four towns

[30:51] lined up behind the budget before town

[30:54] their town meetings. Um the I I think

[30:59] you know having that consultant me

[31:02] address a joint committee a joint

[31:04] meeting of our school committees would

[31:06] be beneficial um just in in terms of

[31:09] educating people and um give giving the

[31:13] communities as much information and

[31:16] knowledge as possible. But um

[31:19] >> yeah, I think um I don't think it's a a

[31:21] wrong idea. I just think we need to have

[31:23] what are we educating them on first? And

[31:25] so the frontier budget um you know is in

[31:30] holding until the next month,

[31:32] >> right? Um so the February meeting will

[31:34] be um I use the word fireworks but it'll

[31:37] be fireworks in the sense of um we'll

[31:41] have the numbers and we'll have the real

[31:44] uh ask the towns and then we're going to

[31:47] have to make some decisions about what

[31:49] level of reductions are going to be

[31:50] needed in order to meet you know where

[31:53] the towns stand because again right now

[31:55] we don't know we don't know how much

[31:57] money the towns have even even if our

[31:59] asks are reasonable you know what I mean

[32:01] we don't know, you know, I mean, they

[32:03] may have an idea, the towns themselves,

[32:04] but it'll be a it'll be public when the

[32:07] governor puts the budget out. And that's

[32:09] kind of everybody I think everybody

[32:10] holds their cards close until after the

[32:12] governor's budget comes out. Um, and for

[32:14] the first time, you know, at Frontier,

[32:16] we usually don't go public um with the

[32:19] budget until after the assessments. But

[32:21] we did similar to today, we wanted

[32:24] everybody to have the information so

[32:25] that the February meeting can go right

[32:27] into discussion and not have people say,

[32:30] "Explain to me where school choice is,

[32:32] explain to me why world aid is, explain,

[32:34] you know, so we have all those numbers

[32:36] already came out at that last meeting."

[32:37] So

[32:39] >> yeah and I I think you know looking at

[32:43] the the topline budget information these

[32:48] I I you know I think Darius your your

[32:49] earlier comment about how historically

[32:52] 3% is a good number to come in at that

[32:54] is that has proven to be correct and we we regularly hear from residents that

[33:00] that's a number that people are

[33:02] comfortable with. Um and but it at the same time the needs are the needs

[33:08] and um that's that is an arbitrarily an

[33:14] arbitrary number and I always have a

[33:16] hard time

[33:18] saying no ignore ignore the needs and go

[33:21] with an arbitrary number instead. That's just not the way we should be

[33:26] doing business. But um

[33:29] >> right, the one thing I I also want to

[33:30] make sure is that as we if we have to

[33:32] make reductions and such, is the plan

[33:36] more than a one-year plan?

[33:38] >> You know what I mean? And so that's

[33:39] going to be the conversation also at the

[33:41] frontier level is that if you know so

[33:44] you know schools can reduce their

[33:47] services, right, if the town's people

[33:49] want that, right? It's your school

[33:50] districts um and so forth. But will we

[33:55] be in the same boat next year about how

[33:56] we're funding it? Right? And so, um, you

[34:00] know, if if we're expecting insurance to

[34:02] go up again the following year, what is

[34:04] going to be the expectation the

[34:05] following year? Because you can only you

[34:07] can only cut so much services before um

[34:10] either people walk and try to find

[34:12] services elsewhere um or we start

[34:15] providing a product that's not the

[34:16] standard we want. So um as a community

[34:20] so

[34:21] >> which here has a huge impact because of

[34:23] the number of school choice students

[34:24] that we have right so we want to make

[34:26] sure that we're providing strong

[34:28] programming and strong services so that

[34:29] we can continue to bring in

[34:32] >> um outside students can you go back to

[34:34] the enrollment slide just to look at

[34:36] that quickly

[34:37] >> double down our problem right yeah

[34:40] services and we lose that funding we get

[34:42] from that

[34:43] >> you know if you only had 89 resident

[34:45] students your fifth grade class would

[34:47] seven students if we didn't have the

[34:49] school choice. So, you know, there's a

[34:52] lot of negative talk about school choice

[34:55] in communities. That's not the case in

[34:57] Conway. It really enriches what the

[34:59] school has for a community. Um and it

[35:03] allows us to have stronger programs and greater offerings. So, um we have to

[35:08] be careful with how much we actually cut

[35:10] back. Um can we go to the last slide

[35:13] just to finish up?

[35:15] >> Uh one more.

[35:17] Okay. So, just reminders andformational.

[35:20] So, we're looking at 5.881

[35:22] with level services plus the principal's

[35:24] budget and uh the level service

[35:27] breakdown. About 3% of that is wages. If

[35:31] that was our only challenge right now,

[35:32] we'd be in a really good spot. We could

[35:34] handle a 3% wage growth increase with

[35:37] the contract, which is rich, and we

[35:39] settled at really good places for our

[35:41] staff. Um, but we have the rural aid

[35:44] challenge of losing $30,000 roughly in

[35:47] rural aid and then we have the central

[35:49] office health insurance challenge. So

[35:51] those are the major drivers. So the

[35:53] conversations will continue internally

[35:55] as we go through the process to see and

[35:58] weigh, you know, if we did cut back an

[36:01] IIA, what does that look like based on

[36:04] programming to help? Because cutting an

[36:06] IIA would help fund 1% of the budget.

[36:09] Um, but we have really have to look at

[36:12] what that impact is across the board.

[36:14] Level service, um, I'm sorry, 1% budget

[36:17] increases, $23,000. You can see the

[36:20] breakdown of our full-time equivalent

[36:22] staff for unit A and unit C. The one

[36:24] comment I want to make about the IAS is

[36:26] that we did take into account um, with

[36:30] the wings number wing students

[36:32] increasing that we will have some

[36:33] reduction in IAS because they were

[36:35] serving as oneto ones and those students

[36:37] are no longer in the program. Um the

[36:40] wings conversation is bigger because

[36:42] what is the long-term impact of not

[36:44] having that program should we not be

[36:46] able to find a teacher which we are

[36:48] going to post for is that correct? You

[36:50] said that you were going to post just to

[36:52] see if anything wonderful comes in

[36:54] because if we did get a really strong

[36:56] qualified teacher that specialized to

[36:58] meet the needs of students, we could

[37:00] bring in tuition in students again which

[37:03] you know there's a lot of things to

[37:05] consider here. I think for me budget

[37:08] wise the primary one is if we don't have

[37:10] a specialized program we're at higher

[37:12] risk for not meeting the needs of

[37:14] resident students which results in an

[37:16] out of district placement which could be

[37:18] 4050 $60,000

[37:20] >> which is multiple percentage points. So

[37:23] we'd really like to keep the program

[37:25] thriving if we can. Um so we'll continue

[37:28] those conversations. Sick buyback is

[37:30] justformational purposes. Um we have

[37:32] that paid on school choice currently.

[37:34] And then we talked about the health

[37:36] insurance. So, um, lots of things to

[37:39] come and we'll have more in February,

[37:42] right?

[37:43] >> I mean, we we say that the sick buyback,

[37:45] sick pay buyback isformational.

[37:48] It's on school choice, but if it wasn't

[37:50] on school choice, something else would

[37:52] be. Um,

[37:54] >> yep.

[37:54] >> And you know, again, our sick pay

[37:58] buyback contract provisions, which were

[38:01] done many years ago, many years ago now,

[38:04] um, are are probably the most for the

[38:08] union, the the most lucrative in the

[38:11] state. Um, way out of line with what the

[38:13] state average is. Um, and again, you

[38:17] know, the the the the

[38:20] light at the end of the tunnel is that

[38:22] there is a expiration date to these.

[38:24] It's still I don't know how many years

[38:26] away. Not enough. Um, but

[38:29] >> too many.

[38:30] >> Yeah. Um, but that this is

[38:32] >> that's still that for for two employees,

[38:35] that's a brutal number.

[38:37] >> Just a budget wrecking number. Um, so

[38:40] thank goodness for school choice for

[38:42] that reason alone. But um it's that's just that's just bad

[38:49] >> bad terminology. That's a problem we

[38:51] already own, right? And I think this the

[38:53] beauty of that school choice funds it's

[38:56] a it does have an ending sight whereas

[38:58] some of those other budget pressures are

[39:01] ongoing or or even more significant

[39:03] moving forward. So

[39:06] um say it can be used for something

[39:08] else, but I don't want to use funds like

[39:10] that for anything that's not oneoff at

[39:12] all.

[39:14] Yeah. All right. So, that's where we are

[39:17] with the budget since I'm sharing this

[39:19] thing here. Um, and so

[39:23] beginning of the discussion. So, the

[39:24] next thing on the agenda is uh the

[39:27] school improvement plan. So, you know,

[39:30] usually we approve this much earlier in

[39:31] the school year that the scheduling of

[39:35] things um wasn't great. And I kind of

[39:37] talk about this. So you guys had got

[39:38] this plan a few months ago um just so

[39:41] that you knew what we were already kind

[39:43] of working on and Kristen's going to go

[39:45] through it.

[39:46] >> Oh, so I sent it out again yesterday. I guess I'll start with does anyone have

[39:49] any questions or I know you're really

[39:52] good at looking.

[39:55] Do you have any questions, Phil?

[40:01] » No, I've always thought these are pretty

[40:03] good. Oh,

[40:06] >> any uh

[40:08] >> do you want you want to just do any

[40:09] highlights on it so far? You don't have

[40:10] to go through the whole thing, but

[40:11] >> I'm sorry. Yes.

[40:12] >> I don't Yeah, I never like one. So, we

[40:15] have Elaine was here. She's like, "Don't

[40:16] you dare read us a document we should

[40:18] read."

[40:18] >> Um but just kind of any is there

[40:20] anything highlights on that stuff so far

[40:21] this year?

[40:22] >> Yes.

[40:22] >> Just to put you on the spot.

[40:23] >> No, no, no, no. The the main goals I

[40:25] mean there it's hard to have goal one,

[40:27] two, three because they're all sort of

[40:28] equal. um uh foster school culture where

[40:32] students sat and families feel valued,

[40:34] respected, and connected. I mean, when

[40:36] you when that's when all the hard work

[40:39] can come is when you have that. So,

[40:41] that's always front and always appears

[40:44] on our school improvement plan.

[40:45] Diversity, equity, inclusion is goal

[40:48] number two with the action steps that

[40:50] we'll be taking for that. Um and then

[40:54] academic achievement and growth. So

[40:57] under each goal we have many many

[40:59] activities but we felt like those were

[41:01] the three major areas um for school

[41:04] improvement plan and we also want to

[41:05] make sure that it's um doable within

[41:08] because they change from year to year.

[41:09] I'll make sure we like to see at the end

[41:12] done done done even though some of them

[41:14] will continue obviously they're

[41:15] continuous but those are all major

[41:18] focus. Thank you.

[41:20] >> Any questions on the school improvement

[41:21] plan?

[41:23] Um, it is. You do have to vote to

[41:27] approve to accept it. So, I'm going to

[41:31] need a motion in a second.

[41:32] >> A motion to accept it.

[41:34] >> Second.

[41:35] >> Have a first and second. All those in

[41:37] favor?

[41:39] Three up.

[41:42] Um,

[41:44] the next thing on the agenda is appoint

[41:46] member to superintendent agreement

[41:47] subcommittee. So, um, a few couple

[41:51] years, three years ago, we created the

[41:53] superintendent agreement, um, to help

[41:56] create language on the hiring, um, and

[42:00] dismissal of the superintendent because

[42:02] our regional contract was, um, the UN 38

[42:06] uh, regional agreement doesn't exist in

[42:09] paper. Um and so we put that together so

[42:11] that um you know should you have to hire

[42:13] a new superintendent eventually you will

[42:16] um there would be figure out there would

[42:18] be a system of how to do that. Um in the

[42:20] agreement it says every two years we'll

[42:22] review it. Um there was talk about u

[42:25] maybe we should start adding to it kind

[42:27] of slowly create a 38 agreement at least

[42:31] in some of the operational stuff and

[42:32] this came out of the chair's meeting. um

[42:34] things like the calendar, you know,

[42:37] let's say we go to the count, we do it

[42:38] at the joint meeting. Everybody in the

[42:40] past has just kind of um worked together

[42:44] um which is which is good. But what if

[42:45] you had what if say Conway said, "We're

[42:48] not coming back to school. We are

[42:50] adamant we're not coming back to school

[42:51] until after Labor Day. You know, you are

[42:54] your own governing body. You could do

[42:55] that." And there was and then the rest

[42:58] of the district would be in a pinch

[43:00] because you were on the same bus

[43:01] contract. You know what I mean? there

[43:03] would be a lot of work um on that. So,

[43:06] we want to kind of create stuff maybe

[43:09] again some of the smaller kind of things

[43:10] like how do we vote the calendar and put

[43:13] that in there? How do we vote and some

[43:15] of these other kind of things and so

[43:16] anyway to do all that we need a

[43:18] subcommittee to do that work? Um, and so

[43:20] I'm looking for a

[43:22] >> So can I can um can I can I just ask a

[43:25] question at the threshold here? Um, and

[43:28] because the the rationale that you just

[43:30] advanced, these are these are the

[43:32] rationale. I mean there's so many more

[43:34] of these specific examples.

[43:36] >> Yep.

[43:37] >> That are applicable. And all of these

[43:40] rationale spoken and yet unspoken here

[43:42] today are the the ration for going

[43:46] full-on K through 12 district. Yep.

[43:49] >> Um and the more

[43:53] in one sense the mo the more we

[43:57] take these issues peacemeal

[44:01] the less

[44:03] um the less incentive the less energy

[44:06] there will be going forward to really

[44:10] address all of the root cause for all of

[44:12] these. So that's just an observation. I don't it are are we

[44:20] you know yes these are our institutional

[44:23] defects um but is not the best way to

[44:28] address our institutional defects to

[44:31] really address all of them rather than

[44:34] peace meal. So,

[44:38] >> um, yeah. So, I hear I hear what you're

[44:40] saying. My counter to that would be the

[44:44] problem with the regionalization

[44:45] conversation is money.

[44:48] And so, it's money and insurance and so

[44:50] forth. And so, um, where these are the

[44:53] non-monetary issues that, um, you know,

[44:57] I hear what you're saying that, you

[44:59] know, you're going to fix those or if

[45:01] you can figure out the monetary stuff,

[45:02] then you would have everything in place

[45:05] on how an idea of how things run

[45:06] together. So, I mean, I hear what you're

[45:09] saying, but

[45:12] you without solutions to this, we're

[45:14] going to have more you could have some

[45:15] major problems if

[45:20] » So, Anyway,

[45:21] >> I'm not chair. I'm just chair.

[45:25] >> So, we need a committee member for this.

[45:27] >> We need a committee report.

[45:29] >> And normally Elaine could appoint

[45:31] somebody if

[45:36] I do it if none of you want to, but

[45:41] » if one of you wants to.

[45:43] >> What does the commitment look like? When

[45:45] and where? Where? I imagine there'll be

[45:48] virtual meetings.

[45:51] Probably a couple depending on how deep

[45:53] it gets into it.

[45:55] >> Well, I don't mind doing it either,

[45:56] Phil. I mean, I know you do a lot

[45:57] already, so I don't mind doing it.

[46:02] >> That's fine.

[46:03] >> If you think I'm I'm a good fit for you.

[46:06] >> Yeah.

[46:07] >> Um, you are the vice chair, so

[46:10] technically I guess you do the

[46:11] appointment.

[46:13] I will appoint.

[46:15] >> Okay.

[46:16] >> Any objection? I'm seeing.

[46:20] » I think you're the right guy.

[46:22] >> That's one. I'll point you.

[46:25] >> All right. So, we have that appointment

[46:28] and um love you as a backup Phil. I

[46:31] guess the next thing on the agenda is

[46:33] the capital project. So, we don't have

[46:36] um we were looking at that front

[46:38] entrance and you know, I kind of been

[46:41] out there looking at it as well. Again,

[46:43] looking at replacing that cement. Um

[46:47] my gut on that is it's a bad fiscal year

[46:50] to be spending on something that isn't

[46:53] absolutely dysfunctional or a safety

[46:56] issue. It's getting there. Um and I know

[47:00] it's a different pocket of money for

[47:01] those watching at home. Um it's you know

[47:04] the capital is a different you know we

[47:06] have that savings where we continue to

[47:08] do improvements but um where I the

[47:13] difficulty is that either you do it

[47:14] repair it or you do the whole thing over

[47:16] and the difference in cost was you know

[47:19] uh 30 around 20 to $30,000 let's go the

[47:22] higher end $30,000 more and so um

[47:28] and I don't think it needs to be done

[47:29] ASAP so

[47:31] >> yeah whatever I the repairs I haven't

[47:33] done to it. I've got it. So, the safety

[47:36] issue we made for now.

[47:38] >> Yeah.

[47:38] >> It's aesthetically not the best, but

[47:40] it's also not a year to be focused on

[47:42] aesthetics.

[47:42] >> Yeah. So, anyway, I put that back on the

[47:45] agenda to have that discussion because

[47:47] it is ultimately your decision. Um

[47:50] Kristen, is there anything else in the I

[47:53] know we have our capital list and I

[47:56] didn't review it. two floors if we're

[47:59] moving along with that. They probably be

[48:01] a high a high priority.

[48:02] >> Okay.

[48:03] >> Other than that,

[48:04] >> Jesus.

[48:05] >> All right. So, we could we could shift

[48:08] over away from the front entrance and do

[48:10] the classroom floors. Continuing to do

[48:14] >> um let me just get the numbers on that

[48:16] up. Give me one second.

[48:20] >> Jesus.

[48:21] >> That was part of like the fiveyear plan,

[48:22] right? Flooring replacement. So I think

[48:25] you know we talked about that for quite

[48:27] a while

[48:28] cut and dry in our capital meeting

[48:31] discussion.

[48:32] >> Yet

[48:35] don't

[48:42] reading the tea leaves

[48:45] is next year. What are the prospects

[48:47] for, you know, that I if if if if we're

[48:51] saying this isn't a good year, we're

[48:54] also saying next year, that implies that

[48:57] next year is going to be better or the

[48:58] year after is going to be better.

[49:00] >> Is it? Is it?

[49:02] >> It's a fair I mean, it's a good fair

[49:03] question, Phil. Right. Like you how long

[49:04] do you you pause for?

[49:06] >> Yeah.

[49:06] >> Um here's the capital plan.

[49:11] >> Oops.

[49:11] >> Right. We're also not going to lose

[49:13] rural aid again. Right. If we get it

[49:17] back, that's a plus, but we won't lose

[49:18] it again. That's one hit that won't

[49:22] be.

[49:22] >> Yeah. I mean, so looking like so what we

[49:25] had in priority is we had this front,

[49:27] this is why we talked about we had the

[49:28] front sidewalk

[49:30] um the two plans of 40 to 80.

[49:34] But if we do the classrooms for 30, we

[49:38] continue working on that. We don't stop

[49:40] completely.

[49:42] Um,

[49:44] we don't stop all capital projects. We

[49:45] continue moving forward. We just we just

[49:48] not do the front entrance next year.

[49:52] That sound

[49:56] » Well, I mean, the the the other the

[49:58] other part of this too is that we are,

[49:59] of course, the only elementary school in

[50:01] the district with a well, I don't know

[50:04] if that's true anymore, but we we have

[50:06] our own uh capital stabilization fund.

[50:10] >> Yep. And there is the option to do the

[50:13] work out of that. And

[50:17] um yeah,

[50:17] >> that's what we're Yes, I'm talking

[50:19] about. Yes, I'm talking about requesting

[50:21] to use 30,000

[50:24] >> next year to do that. and and so the the

[50:27] budgetary impact would be uh an

[50:30] associated request to fill to refill

[50:33] that stabilization cap in that which

[50:36] does not necessarily need to be made or

[50:38] need to be made in full or whatever. So

[50:42] there is sort of a

[50:44] >> I don't know

[50:45] >> it's not necessarily an eitheror.

[50:48] Um

[50:51] uh yeah. So

[50:52] >> the other thing is is if we get rural

[50:54] aid back, we could talk about using that

[50:56] for a capital. It could be put towards

[50:58] the front entryway for next year if we

[51:01] get funding back in that regard because

[51:04] using it as a budget offset clearly is

[51:07] not the best option for us. We don't

[51:10] want to have to continue to go up and

[51:11] down in the budget that way.

[51:15] But there is a significant amount of

[51:17] money in this fund. I I think last time

[51:19] the accountant told me it was like

[51:20] $275,000

[51:21] in that stabilization fund.

[51:23] >> Well, the idea was to have the the

[51:25] boiler the boiler uh

[51:28] >> number the funds available for for a

[51:30] major

[51:32] >> emergency. So, um

[51:35] All right. So, I'm looking at um

[51:37] approving that we move forward with the

[51:39] $30,000 classroom project for next year

[51:42] for capital.

[51:44] >> Bill, based on your knowledge of the

[51:46] town budget, does that make sense? not

[51:47] to go more aggressive with dollars, just

[51:49] to go with the 30.

[51:51] >> You know, my

[51:54] um I my my sitting here right now, my my

[51:57] take is, you know, take care of the

[51:59] building's needs that these are these

[52:01] are among the

[52:04] you know, historically we've done well

[52:06] at town meeting because these are the

[52:08] things that are so apparent and that

[52:10] people can really wrap their heads

[52:12] around what these are that we're asking

[52:14] for. And historically the general

[52:16] concept of taking care of the building

[52:19] has it meets with widespread public

[52:22] approval. But um the you know so so I

[52:27] you know I would be okay with doing more

[52:30] but um I you know I don't

[52:35] >> we don't have to decide that

[52:38] meeting soon. So this could go back on

[52:40] agenda for discussion with Ela here as

[52:42] well. I think I think that's probably a

[52:44] smart move. I'm a little torn myself,

[52:46] honestly.

[52:47] >> Um I I hate to have it be just that the

[52:52] straw that breaks the camel's back in

[52:54] the meeting where all of a sudden this conversation about capital becomes

[52:57] a little contentious for the first time

[52:59] ever because we have a five and a half%

[53:01] request on the budget,

[53:02] >> right?

[53:03] >> Um

[53:05] >> I don't know.

[53:06] >> Yeah. No, they the general public

[53:08] doesn't see the silos of money as

[53:11] easily.

[53:13] >> They, you know, they look at they they

[53:14] look at every warrant article and if

[53:16] they look at warrant I mean you have the

[53:18] money to spend and then request you

[53:20] don't have to request to get re have it

[53:22] be filled back filled the same year but

[53:24] I wouldn't get into that practice. I

[53:26] would try to always keep that backfilled

[53:29] as you do as you use it.

[53:30] >> And there have been years that it's not

[53:32] been fully backfilled. They've done

[53:34] we've done a partial. you know, if we

[53:35] spend 30, then we ask for 15 to go back

[53:38] in. There's definitely that has

[53:40] happened.

[53:42] >> What do you think, Bill? Wait another

[53:43] month, see more information on the

[53:45] state.

[53:45] >> I mean, I I guess and just to um just to

[53:48] Shel's point that, you know, we we have

[53:50] that that is true. We have the the you

[53:53] know, and um you know, I was part of the

[53:57] group that originally created the

[53:59] stabilization the the cap the grammar

[54:01] school capital stabilization fund. And

[54:03] Darius is right. The purpose was so that

[54:06] if one or both boilers explode, um, you

[54:10] know, we we don't need to

[54:14] uh cancel school to have a town meeting

[54:16] and uh, etc. that we that we're ready to

[54:19] go and we can

[54:21] we have the money in place. And so to

[54:24] me, the the the amount in the

[54:27] stabilization fund should always bear a

[54:29] relationship to the cost of boiler

[54:31] emergency boiler repairs. That was its

[54:33] original purpose. Um but

[54:36] >> all right. So I think yeah, so I think

[54:38] it's a we we'll continue this

[54:40] conversation. Um we're just not going to

[54:41] take action on this today. Um and we'll

[54:44] continue we'll put that on the

[54:46] unfinished business next month. Sounds

[54:48] good.

[54:49] >> Yeah.

[54:52] >> All right. Now we're down to reports.

[54:55] Chair is not here for a chair report. Um

[54:58] collaborative.

[55:00] Who goes to the collaborative?

[55:02] Did

[55:02] >> you go?

[55:04] >> I did. Yes. It was just a review of the

[55:06] budget.

[55:08] >> All right. I also understand they're in

[55:10] the final stages of their hiring, too,

[55:12] right?

[55:12] >> Yeah.

[55:13] >> Um they're gonna announce that today,

[55:14] aren't they? Who they finalist, sir?

[55:16] >> Yes, probably. I got an email, so

[55:19] >> Okay. Um yeah, when you get the uh who

[55:22] the files are, I'd love to know who they

[55:23] are. Um and then superintendent report

[55:27] is

[55:29] I sent it out as part of the packet.

[55:31] Remember was on it. It was just the

[55:32] timeline for the budget for those who

[55:34] curious about how the state budget

[55:35] timeline was um and so forth. The first

[55:39] thing was but um you have that and that

[55:43] is to the end here.

[55:46] Any other uh business?

[55:49] >> Motion.

[55:51] to adjourn. Jared does a first.

[55:54] >> Second.

[55:55] >> Tori does a second. All those in favor?

[55:57] >> I.

[55:58] >> Thank you. Thank you.

Conway School Committee - January 12, 2026

Transcript