[0:04] Good evening and welcome

[0:05] to the August 11th, 2026 meeting of the Dairy School Board.

[0:08] I now call this meeting to order.

[0:09] Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:14] Allegiance to flag United States of America.

[0:19] Call it course stands, one Nation under God, inadmissible

[0:24] with Liberty Justice for All.

[0:30] Thank you. A note

[0:32] before we begin this evening that Chairman Thiel is out

[0:34] for the nights, but we will proceed as usual, beginning

[0:37] with the roll call, if everyone could introduce themselves,

[0:40] starting on my right name and title.

[0:45] I turn. Yep. No, no, no.

[0:50] Just introduce yourself, my man. Oh, sorry.

[0:53] Jeremy La Moth, facilities director, Carrie Sandon,

[0:56] assistant superintendent,

[0:58] Jane Simard, business administrator.

[1:00] Michael Flynn, superintendent School Board.

[1:04] Jen Thoreau, school Board, vice Chair.

[1:06] David Clap, school board.

[1:07] Jenna Paradise, school Board Secretary,

[1:09] Jamie Crew School Board.

[1:11] Karen Rand School Board.

[1:16] Our first order of business.

[1:17] Tonight is the consent agenda for tonight.

[1:19] We have the public meeting, minutes of June 23rd, 2026,

[1:23] the meeting minutes for the school board goal setting

[1:25] workshop of June 23rd, 2026, the non-public meeting, minutes

[1:29] of June 23rd, 2026, approval of the manifest

[1:33] and the amount of 12,077,000.

[1:36] $74 and 24 cents

[1:38] of which $4,190,012 and 66 cents is general payroll

[1:44] and 7,887,000.

[1:46] $61 and 58 cents is general expense approval

[1:50] of the following, professional staff nominations.

[1:53] Brittany Bergstrom, elementary school teacher at

[1:56] Grinnell Elementary School.

[1:58] Emily Engler, special education teacher,

[2:00] east Area Memorial Elementary School.

[2:03] Phony Joyce, art Teacher,

[2:05] east Area Memorial Elementary School.

[2:07] Tricia Kent, reading Specialist East Area

[2:10] Memorial Elementary School.

[2:12] Madison Rowe, teacher Gilbert h Hood Middle School.

[2:16] Candace St. Ange.

[2:17] Pace Language Arts teacher, west Brook Intermediate School.

[2:22] Approval of the following retirements.

[2:23] Christie Nolan, pace Language Arts teacher.

[2:25] West Brook Intermediate School.

[2:28] Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

[2:31] It's so moved. First by Jamie. Second. Second by David.

[2:35] Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor?

[2:40] Oh, It's okay. It's okay. I'll add it after. Go ahead.

[2:43] All in favor? Aye. All opposed. Motion carries.

[2:47] Six zero. Brenda,

[2:48] I just wanted to say thank you to Christie for all

[2:50] that she's done for our district over the

[2:52] many years that she's worked here.

[2:53] Just wanted to recognize that.

[2:55] Thank you. Second order of business.

[2:59] Tonight is appointment presentations.

[3:01] Tonight we have director of facilities,

[3:03] Jerry Jeremy La Moth here to update us on the summer work

[3:06] that has been happening throughout the district.

[3:10] Now it's my turn. So I have a report that I presented

[3:15] to the facilities committee at our meeting this week

[3:18] with some more updates on top of that.

[3:22] So at West Running Brook this year we did the gym floor.

[3:25] We did flooring throughout the building.

[3:27] We're gonna be paving the Courtyard Guard rail,

[3:30] repl replacement and folding wall for the stage.

[3:33] As of now, the, the gym floor is completed.

[3:36] It's been refinished, sanded new lines painted

[3:39] with the new logo on the floor.

[3:41] We did about 16,000 feet

[3:43] of carpet replacement within the building.

[3:46] And that is complete

[3:47] and the custodial staff is currently sealing it.

[3:50] Waxing it, and getting it ready for furniture

[3:52] to be moved back in for the start of school.

[3:55] The Courtyard paving has been all demoed

[3:58] and prepped for paving,

[4:00] and we heard today that Thursday they'll be paving that lot.

[4:04] So guard rail replacement is ongoing with scheduling

[4:09] and same with the folding wall.

[4:10] Due to lead times, we have material won't be there

[4:13] until September, but that's stuff

[4:14] that can be done while the kids are in school.

[4:18] At Gilbert H Hood, we did flooring

[4:20] and flood repairs from the flood that we had last year.

[4:27] We did two classrooms, which also included an abatement

[4:30] and we did the library.

[4:33] So the library got all new carpeting.

[4:35] The classrooms got vinyl tile

[4:37] and that is all complete flood repairs.

[4:42] Hallway flooring is complete.

[4:43] The drywallers and plumbers are still on site repairing

[4:47] those bathrooms and the walls

[4:49] and it's on schedule to be completed

[4:51] before the students come back.

[4:55] Barca, we have bleacher seat replacements.

[4:58] That was ongoing as of this report and that is now complete.

[5:02] We have two tactile strips on some ramps in the concrete

[5:06] that are scheduled to be done

[5:08] before school starts this year.

[5:12] East area, we did flooring and a roof replacement.

[5:16] The roofing is complete.

[5:19] We're just waiting on the manufacturer

[5:21] to be out in the next couple weeks

[5:22] for their final sign off and inspection.

[5:25] But as far as the project itself goes,

[5:28] it's complete flooring.

[5:30] We did about 8 8600 square feet of carpet tile

[5:33] and all the hallways and the remaining classrooms

[5:35] that had carpet in them.

[5:36] We replaced that with VCT and that is complete

[5:39] and that school is in great shape, ready to go.

[5:44] SAU slash Dairy Village.

[5:48] We started moving some

[5:50] of the staff in there on conditional inspections

[5:53] that were completed by the town and the fire department.

[5:57] We were still working on mechanical items.

[5:59] Those are complete.

[6:01] We just have to wait on the manufacturer again to come in

[6:03] and do programming and start up

[6:06] final inspection from the town.

[6:08] And fire is scheduled for Thursday

[6:09] of this week at Grinnell.

[6:14] We did flooring

[6:16] and we are scheduling the loading dock still.

[6:20] That will have to be done when the students come back

[6:23] working around that schedule.

[6:25] The flooring, we did an abatement in five classrooms.

[6:30] We replaced the carpet in the library

[6:32] and the music room with carpet.

[6:34] The rest of the classroom's got the vinyl tile.

[6:37] They're completing that today

[6:39] and the custodians are currently waxing it

[6:42] and putting it back together as this week

[6:47] at South Range, we have the brick facade and roofing

[6:51] and HVAC work.

[6:54] The brick facade work is complete on the ground level

[6:59] and it is 95% complete

[7:02] or 90% complete on the second level up by the gym,

[7:06] which we didn't think that that was going to be something

[7:08] that was done until the students get back.

[7:10] So that's moving along very quickly.

[7:15] The window installation is following close behind.

[7:17] If you look at the front of the building today,

[7:20] it looks done other than the roof,

[7:21] but the, the windows are in, the bricks are up.

[7:24] There's a few windows still to be installed in the back

[7:28] of the building on the right hand side.

[7:30] If you're facing it, then that should

[7:31] be done in the next couple days.

[7:33] They're following right behind with the caulking

[7:35] and they are putting in the new ceiling grid, new lighting.

[7:40] That's all being worked on as we speak.

[7:43] And that should be good to go

[7:44] by the time the kids come back to school.

[7:46] I think that's, you know,

[7:48] they'll be wiping down the last window sills as

[7:51] staff walks in, but it, that's their promise.

[7:55] So roofing,

[7:59] during the demolition of the roof,

[8:01] we had some lead paint issues where we needed to weld.

[8:05] It's a couple things. Pushed us back.

[8:07] We found some asbestos in the roof where, you know,

[8:11] we did a bunch of test cuts

[8:12] and so there was a couple surprises with that.

[8:14] So getting people there to take care of

[8:17] that took a little bit extra time.

[8:19] It slowed the process down.

[8:20] But the weather's been good to us as much

[8:23] as we've had a couple downpours

[8:25] and it will be done by the time school starts.

[8:28] They're about 85% now with the permanent roofing system.

[8:32] So boiler room was demoed.

[8:35] We demoed a chimney, demoed some walls.

[8:39] The new boilers are installed.

[8:41] They're working on piping

[8:43] and putting the finishing touches on that, that portion

[8:47] of it is going to go into the, when the kids return,

[8:51] but we'll be in, in time for heating season.

[8:54] So the hot water system will be up

[8:58] and running for staff.

[9:00] So district wide

[9:05] re-keying was underway when I did this report.

[9:07] That is complete. We'll be distributing keys this week,

[9:12] starting tomorrow at the secretary's meeting.

[9:16] There is a couple doors that they couldn't do here

[9:18] and there, so we're working on that.

[9:21] But all in all, that project is complete

[9:23] and we've, we've got a secure key system for the district.

[9:28] That's it. Any questions?

[9:34] Can you just briefly talk about the asbestos mitigation,

[9:38] because I'm getting a lot of questions from people

[9:40] who are concerned about how it's done.

[9:44] I have told people that I watched it done at Hood

[9:47] and how safe it was, but your

[9:50] words are much better than mine.

[9:51] So could you just explain it sort of to people?

[9:55] Yeah. So it's done by licensed contractors

[9:58] and the whole process is monitored with the state.

[10:02] There's rules that they have to follow.

[10:03] There's paperwork that we need to file as far

[10:06] as south range goes,

[10:08] we had a couple different abatement contractors there taking

[10:11] care of it because of what we found and the timing

[10:13] and availability of contractors.

[10:16] So that's all closely monitored.

[10:19] They do it according to the standards

[10:21] that are required of them.

[10:22] And then when we do it inside of the building,

[10:25] there's a different process,

[10:26] but they build a containment within the building

[10:28] and they have a negative air pressure so that, so

[10:33] that it doesn't go throughout the building.

[10:35] And you know, they use all the proper equipment,

[10:37] HEPA vacuums and a showering system

[10:40] and then they dispose of it properly.

[10:42] And again, we get that paperwork right down to every guy

[10:46] that's on site has to sign in

[10:49] and we need that paperwork to file within our HA books so

[10:52] that we can show that it was done properly.

[10:56] And they're all responsible for that. So thanks. Yep.

[11:04] Any other questions for Jeremy?

[11:07] Well done. Sounds like it's been a busy summer.

[11:10] Yeah, I'd just like to take a moment. Yeah.

[11:11] You know, absolutely. You can talk about project management.

[11:15] I, if you want to go down the list and do the check boxes,

[11:18] but the amount of flooring that was replaced, the amount

[11:20] of buildings all had work on it.

[11:22] The coordination he had to do with the admin team, Lynn

[11:25] and Michelle still not really back in the building yet.

[11:27] They've been all over. But Jeremy's been

[11:30] so communicative towards all of us.

[11:32] But then really going back to the project at South Range

[11:35] and how he's managed that group.

[11:37] I want to compliment that group from all

[11:39] of our project managers.

[11:41] Yeah, they had their weekly meeting I joined, they're on top

[11:45] of it down to when the cleaning's coming in.

[11:48] When the, when the teachers are going out, they,

[11:50] they continue to uncover stuff the entire time.

[11:53] I think I've shared several pictures

[11:54] with you guys along the way

[11:56] and they haven't, they didn't blink.

[11:58] They've had to pivot. They've had to change.

[11:59] But school's opening, teachers are gonna be coming back.

[12:04] Right, right. As they left. Same thing.

[12:06] It's like they're passing a baton.

[12:07] So, nice work, Jeremy, and thank you.

[12:08] And, and especially all our partners that are helping us

[12:11] with all of these projects.

[12:14] Thank you Jeremy.

[12:21] Our next order of business tonight is delegations

[12:23] and individuals at this time, residents of dairy, parents

[12:26] of currently enrolled dairy students

[12:27] and employees of the district may address the school board

[12:29] on matters that pertain only to school

[12:31] and district business for a period of time.

[12:33] Not to exceed three minutes per person.

[12:35] As a reminder, the board welcomes input,

[12:37] however questions that are

[12:38] entertained during the comment period.

[12:40] If you would like to speak, please come up

[12:41] to the microphone at this time and state

[12:43] your name and address for the record.

[12:54] Anybody?

[12:58] I'll do the time. I can do it. Got it. You got it? Okay.

[13:02] Oh, you don't have a, no one's pressing

[13:05] the button, huh? Oh, I'm

[13:06] Instructed now.

[13:07] Okay. I get to talk forever River.

[13:11] Let me know when I can start. Go. All right, thank you.

[13:15] Hello everybody. My name's Brian Ello, six Rollin Street.

[13:19] I have a quick question.

[13:21] I've been waiting for the last couple of months.

[13:24] As you know, I've come up before in the past to find out

[13:28] what the school board will be doing with,

[13:30] and I think it's probably roughly a million dollars of money

[13:32] that was unspent from the previous budget.

[13:36] I do know that you spent $200,000 on five

[13:40] or six projects, which I, I did witness,

[13:42] but I I thought there was gonna be discussion on the million

[13:46] dollars that was left over.

[13:47] So, did I miss any meetings

[13:50] or No, that was not discussed at all yet

[13:55] because I I, I was told it was coming up on August, so

[14:00] Yeah, Brian, We have it on our agenda

[14:01] I think at the end of August.

[14:03] Okay. Alright. So it's a, that's a future budget. Okay.

[14:07] That's fine. What I would recommend as,

[14:12] as a citizen of dairy, is that you use that million dollars

[14:17] of unreserved fund balance

[14:19] and you use it to offset the, the tax rate for next year.

[14:24] As we know, come December

[14:27] is a $10 million increase from the schools 10 million.

[14:31] So if you put 1 million towards it,

[14:33] it'll put a small bent in it.

[14:35] And I think the citizens would appreciate that they,

[14:37] they understand that the 10 million was voted on,

[14:40] but as a gesture, a goodwill gesture from the school board,

[14:44] I think it would be great if you guys voted

[14:45] to put the million dollars towards the, the tax rate.

[14:50] Just to let you know, the town is done is doing a full

[14:55] val, town wide, Val, that is at the end of August.

[14:59] We'll all get mailed new numbers of assessed value.

[15:02] Now I'm just telling you, because I spent 18 years on a town

[15:05] council, so this is what's gonna happen.

[15:08] It happens every single time.

[15:10] So you're gonna get your assessed value.

[15:12] Right now it's currently at 90% of the market value,

[15:14] so it's gonna probably go up to a hundred.

[15:16] So figure 10% increase, people are gonna look at it

[15:19] and they're gonna apply the old tax rate

[15:22] and they're going to be screaming.

[15:24] So just be prepared.

[15:26] So at the end of August, people are gonna be upset

[15:28] because they, they, they don't know how it works.

[15:30] Okay? The issue is, is

[15:33] that the tax rate doesn't get set till November.

[15:36] So you're gonna have a couple of months of people

[15:39] buzzing about what's going on.

[15:41] You know, they're gonna say my taxes went sky high.

[15:44] Now I did calculate between the school,

[15:50] the town, and the county, a increase

[15:54] of $2 and 20 cents per thousand

[15:57] of assessed value increase.

[16:00] Okay? So I've heard different numbers bouncing around.

[16:05] And I know this because, you know, I,

[16:07] I'm in the real estate world, the,

[16:10] the average house in dairy is 580,000.

[16:13] It's not 300,000, it's not 400,000, it's 580,000. Mr said

[16:17] Ello, would you like to extend your time by 30

[16:19] Seconds?

[16:20] Only if you guys allow me to

[16:21] Do, I have a motion to extend Mr. Church

[16:23] Outside, so I'm almost done.

[16:25] I appreciate that. All

[16:26] In favor.

[16:27] Aye. Thank you. I appreciate that.

[16:29] So at $580,002 and 20 cents.

[16:33] Now this is not an exact number

[16:35] because there's different things that are gonna play, right?

[16:37] If you pull the million dollars in, that will offset it.

[16:40] There's also additional value that the town ha has created.

[16:44] So that's gonna help it. I'm just, I'm just using numbers

[16:47] that I can't, I, I don't know the unknowns yet,

[16:49] so we're just roughing it.

[16:51] So that's $1,160 increase on

[16:54] that $580,000 house.

[16:56] They're currently paying $10,500. So now you add the 1160.

[17:02] I'm not telling you guys anything you don't know, you,

[17:05] you know that people are gonna be upset.

[17:07] It's not anybody's fault.

[17:08] I mean, everything's been voted on,

[17:09] but it's, it is what it is.

[17:12] So you're gonna get a lot of questions.

[17:13] The town council's gonna get pestered

[17:16] and you know, a lot

[17:18] of times in the town council we would say, don't look at us,

[17:21] we're under a tax gap.

[17:23] Right. Okay. That's just the conversation.

[17:25] So I just wanted, I just wanted to kind of set that out

[17:29] because a lot of people just don't know the ALS coming.

[17:33] So thank you very much. Appreciate it.

[17:35] Thank you.

[17:42] Anybody else?

[18:09] Well, good evening, Richard. Trip 44 Windham Road.

[18:16] I wanna thank Jeremy.

[18:19] He did a pretty good job on, say again?

[18:25] It's, it's Phyllis. She's talking.

[18:30] Might have time. Oh, speaking to the mic.

[18:33] We can hear you. Is the microphone on?

[18:35] All right, well thank you for reminding me of that.

[18:40] The, anyhow, I, I did have some,

[18:45] some things that I wish that Jeremy had talked about.

[18:50] I know that this is, I I believe the second year

[18:53] that the schools have been worked on

[18:56] and the, the, the idea

[18:59] that was gonna take about four years to do all the work.

[19:04] The, it would be nice if at one of the meetings

[19:09] that the school board would do an update as to

[19:13] how much work has been done, how much work is remaining,

[19:18] and how much the, of the, the

[19:23] estimated cost has been expended.

[19:31] The,

[19:36] I, one of the things that, one of the other things is I,

[19:41] I try and keep up with what the school board meetings

[19:46] consisted of and I don't always make it

[19:50] to the school board meetings,

[19:52] but I always figured that I can just watch the video.

[19:57] Unfortunately, I believe

[19:59] that the video from your last meeting

[20:02] still hasn't been posted, which makes it hard

[20:06] for people to look at it, you know, I think the only thing

[20:10] that has been posted so far was the,

[20:14] the last agenda. Yeah, Mr.

[20:15] Trip. It's up on the dairy cam website.

[20:19] Oh yeah. Oh, so June 25th.

[20:22] So you don't have to go to the,

[20:26] the school board site to see what has, what has been posted.

[20:31] Go to Dairy cam, it's up under the government meetings.

[20:35] Alright,

[20:36] Well thank you.

[20:40] The other thing that I'd like to talk about today is that

[20:45] Phyllis and I were out to lunch the day and were coming back

[20:51] and we saw where T-Mobile

[20:55] has a program going on where they,

[21:02] if the schools sign up that they,

[21:06] they will be awarded anywhere from 500, no, from $5,000

[21:11] to $25,000

[21:13] to $100,000 to $1 million. You want me

[21:17] To make A motion?

[21:18] Mr. Trip? Do you wanna continue

[21:19] with 30 seconds, seconds? I'll,

[21:21] I'll try and be quick.

[21:22] I'll make a motion to extend Richard's time. Second.

[21:26] All in favor? Aye. Aye.

[21:28] Now, one of the

[21:33] wrinkles in this is that the only, the only

[21:38] schools that can sign up for this program, this contest

[21:42] is high schools.

[21:47] And I asked him, well who all has signed up?

[21:51] And there was, you know, several schools

[21:53] that have signed up, but Pinkerton hasn't signed up,

[21:56] you know, and I suspect that,

[22:01] I know there are some board members that always complain

[22:04] that there's, there's no way to,

[22:06] to get a little extra revenue.

[22:08] You know,

[22:12] I would suggest emailing the director over at Tim Powers

[22:15] over at Pinkerton to see if

[22:16] I was getting to that.

[22:17] Ah, gotcha. Mr. And, and I realized that since

[22:20] Mr.

[22:21] Tripp, can you tie it up?

[22:22] Did I what? Can you finish up please? Alright.

[22:25] Anyhow, if you're interested in possibly

[22:30] getting some of this free money, I would hope that you would

[22:36] talk to Pinkerton, you know,

[22:41] and see if they're even aware of this so that you know,

[22:47] you can work with them and maybe win some of this money.

[22:51] That, that school that won a million dollars last year

[22:55] was a school in, I believe it was Oklahoma.

[22:59] It was 900 pop, a population of 900.

[23:02] So anyhow, thank you very much.

[23:05] Thank you Mr. Tripp.

[23:13] Would anyone else like to speak this evening?

[23:21] All right, see no one approaching the microphone.

[23:23] If no one else wishes to

[23:24] speak, we'll move on with the meeting.

[23:26] However, the public comment will remain open

[23:28] until 7:12 PM If you wish to speak prior to

[23:31] that time, approach the microphone.

[23:33] I'll recognize you in the next break in the agenda.

[23:36] Our next order of business is student representatives.

[23:39] We have nobody tonight,

[23:41] although we do look forward to welcoming two new

[23:43] student reps in the fall.

[23:45] So we will move on to deliberations.

[23:49] One order of business to Deliberate tonight.

[23:51] For several years, the district has been holding funds

[23:53] that have been donated for a specific project

[23:55] that never came to fruition.

[23:56] And we have a proposal on the table

[23:58] for an alternate use of those funds.

[24:00] Jane is going to provide some background on the item.

[24:02] And we also have Barbara DuPonts, one of the teachers

[24:05] who spearheaded the original fundraiser as well

[24:07] as the other fundraisers here this

[24:08] evening to speak to the proposal.

[24:11] Jane, would you mind giving a little bit of background?

[24:15] Sure. This proposal came to the school board

[24:20] and a committee of the school board from, we talked

[24:24] to both Barbara Ubon, Audrey Allen,

[24:26] and the intent of the project was

[24:28] to have an outdoor learning classroom in the memory of two

[24:33] young ladies who had been students at West Brook

[24:36] Middle School at the time.

[24:38] And we brought the project forward, the board

[24:43] approved that we would accept.

[24:45] The donated money.

[24:47] Funds were raised in a variety of areas.

[24:51] They did, they did an auction over the Boys and Girls Club,

[24:56] and that was in October of 2022.

[24:59] They were doing additional fundraising just

[25:02] on their own, on the side.

[25:03] I believe the PTA may have donated some money to the funds.

[25:07] And the total funds

[25:08] that were raised were $75,423

[25:12] and 88 cents.

[25:14] And the attend again, was

[25:16] to have an outdoor learning classroom.

[25:18] Over the last number of years, we've just had roadblocks.

[25:23] It was right after COVID the location

[25:25] where they originally thought that we would do it

[25:29] was not going to work, it was gonna be

[25:31] in the back of West Running Brook.

[25:32] And then looked to try to put it in the front

[25:34] of the building and again, had difficulties finding

[25:40] a structure or a outdoor learning classroom

[25:43] that would fit the budget.

[25:45] And the district was doing the paving, so that was fine.

[25:48] But just being able to work that in.

[25:50] So I believe that Audrey

[25:54] and Barbara have requested that the 75,000

[25:58] would be donated instead of

[26:03] keeping it at the school district

[26:04] and instead of having an outdoor classroom.

[26:07] So I think, I don't know if they're gonna

[26:09] come up and speak to it.

[26:11] Yep.

[26:20] Is this on? Thank you Jane.

[26:21] You encapsulated that pretty well.

[26:25] It just so everybody knows we want the

[26:27] funds redirected to St.

[26:29] Jude's. Both, both girls were treated there

[26:32] and I think West re brook is no longer a middle school.

[26:35] So the whole idea, it it, it's not there. It's not there.

[26:40] And when we originally wanted the classroom in the back

[26:43] of the school, there were a lot

[26:44] of roadblocks on that as well.

[26:46] As far as, you know, you gotta build a wall for safety

[26:49] and then front of the school that's even worse.

[26:52] So I think at this point in time, you know,

[26:55] the money's been there a while

[26:56] and both families of these girls are on board as,

[27:01] as is all of our major donors

[27:04] to release this money to go to St.

[27:06] Jude's Children's Research Hospital to do some good.

[27:13] So can I just add that the money was raised purposely

[27:17] by private donors Correct.

[27:19] For this purpose. So it's not coming from,

[27:22] the school district isn't giving away money, we're

[27:26] honoring your donors wishes.

[27:28] I just want that to be perfectly clear.

[27:30] Yeah. Not one it was from the district at all. Thank you.

[27:33] Thank you. Does anybody have any

[27:38] questions or No,

[27:39] I'm, I'm really sorry.

[27:40] Like I, I wasn't on the board at that time,

[27:42] but I remember hearing about it

[27:43] and the concept

[27:45] of having this outdoor learning center was amazing

[27:47] and beautiful and I'm really sorry

[27:49] that it didn't work out the way that it's planned.

[27:52] It would've been lovely, but I'm very happy to see,

[27:55] and you know, that you have a place to direct it.

[27:58] And I'm sure that obviously St.

[28:00] Jude would be more than happy to get that donation.

[28:04] I just wonder if there's any way that we can

[28:07] still honor this with, you know, some type of,

[28:12] I don't know, I don't know if ceremony is

[28:15] the right way word.

[28:16] 'cause we did all these fundraisers

[28:18] and the point was to be able to do like a ribbon cutting

[28:21] to do something to this grand gesture to say this is

[28:25] for these girls.

[28:26] And I'm wondering if there's any way to do that instead

[28:30] of just, you know, quietly writing a check in

[28:31] and then it goes away that we can still make it

[28:35] an event and known.

[28:36] And if you have any ideas,

[28:38] Audrey and I will make sure that anybody

[28:41] that was connected to that will know Okay.

[28:43] That we'll make this public. Yes.

[28:45] And Bobby Marquardt,

[28:48] who's in attendance tonight, Alana's dad.

[28:51] He's done amazing things for St. Jude's. And St.

[28:53] Jude's has done amazing things with all the funds raised

[28:56] and IIII think the ship sailed.

[28:59] Yeah, I think the ship ship is on the port.

[29:01] Yeah. I just, like I said, I I'm glad that it's happening

[29:04] and I, I would very much love it to just be publicly known

[29:07] that, you know, we're, we're trying to pull together

[29:11] to do the right thing and,

[29:12] and make sure it gets to where it needs to go.

[29:15] Not for our recognition.

[29:16] I hope you don't understand,

[29:17] you know what I'm saying? Understand.

[29:18] We don't, People involved

[29:20] Recognition at all.

[29:21] This is all about just doing

[29:22] the right thing with the monies.

[29:23] Right. So, and just to be clear, all along

[29:25] with their fundraising,

[29:26] there was celebrations every time they hit a milestone,

[29:30] there was a celebration, the school was part of that.

[29:32] The Boys and Girls Club was part of that,

[29:35] the donors were part of that.

[29:37] It was on channel nine, it was on in the dairy news.

[29:39] Like there was definitely a lot

[29:41] of press and a lot of celebrate.

[29:42] And I don't wanna take away anything

[29:44] because you deserve a lot of celebration, as does Bobby.

[29:49] But I, I don't, I don't think

[29:50] that we didn't, you weren't celebrated.

[29:53] All the work that you put in, you celebrated

[29:54] and you made sure everybody celebrated with you.

[29:56] So as much appreciated.

[30:00] Are we ready to move? 'cause I'll make a motion.

[30:02] No, I'll accept the motion to transfer $75,423

[30:06] and 88 cents and donated funds held by the district to St.

[30:09] Jude's Children's Resource Hospital. So

[30:11] Moved First by Brenda.

[30:13] Second. Second, second by Jenna. All in favor? Aye. Aye.

[30:16] Aye. Thank you Carrie doing the thing.

[30:19] Thank you very thank you very much for all

[30:20] of your efforts. Thank

[30:21] You.

[30:22] I will reach out to you to get the address and names

[30:24] and so that we can put a letter in with it

[30:26] for the, so it's on your behalf.

[30:27] Thank you.

[30:33] Just, I don't even know

[30:36] We can, I just request that we work with our direct St.

[30:40] Jude's representative to make sure that it's appropriated

[30:43] to our kids' names and stuff.

[30:45] Absolutely. Yeah, that's It. Thank

[30:46] You. Thank you. Appreciate,

[30:47] Thank you very much.

[31:04] The next item on the agenda tonight

[31:05] is administration report.

[31:07] So I'm gonna turn it over to Jane once again

[31:08] for her business administrator's update.

[31:17] Okay. The first document,

[31:20] I'm sorry, the first attachment

[31:21] that I had put in your board packet.

[31:24] Very large 57 page financial report.

[31:28] We had our first fiscal

[31:32] board finance committee last week

[31:35] and we talked about reviewing the finances

[31:38] and expenditures for bonds.

[31:41] And I'll go over that spreadsheet as well.

[31:43] But since we are transitioning to,

[31:45] and I've mentioned it a couple board meetings,

[31:47] we're transitioning from a desktop portion of our

[31:50] software to the cloud.

[31:52] The reporting is very different in the cloud version

[31:55] and the software has a lot of

[31:59] pre-designated reports that are automatic

[32:02] that you can choose from.

[32:03] And their formatting is different than the

[32:06] format on the desktop.

[32:08] So these are a little bit different.

[32:12] And so until we get the hang of exactly what we want

[32:14] for reporting, we, I just figured I'd give you everything.

[32:20] And it's the new fiscal year, so it's July 1st, 2026

[32:23] through last week.

[32:25] And it's just whatever expenses

[32:26] and encumbrances we have in that two month or month

[32:30] and a half time period, I wouldn't normally

[32:32] send you all of this.

[32:34] Detailedness the finance committee decides that that's

[32:37] what we think is a good format to bring forward

[32:40] to the board at each meeting.

[32:42] But if you, you know, look through the reports,

[32:44] there aren't gonna be any salary expenses

[32:47] or encumbrances other than year, the year-round staff.

[32:52] So staff like ourselves, custodians,

[32:55] office staff in the SAU principals

[32:57] because they're getting paid year round

[33:00] so their money is already coming out

[33:02] and it's already been allocated,

[33:04] but the teachers haven't been set up in our system yet.

[33:07] So that's why you're not seeing any encumbrances

[33:10] or expenditures under those line items.

[33:12] So look through that.

[33:14] If you have any questions and you wanna call me

[33:17] and ask for any of them, just let me know.

[33:20] And for the second board meeting in August,

[33:24] I will bring you a financial report from last year,

[33:28] a finalized one and then we're,

[33:29] I know we'll be talking about unspent funds as the end

[33:33] of the year, at the end of that meeting as well.

[33:36] I also included in that packet an update of the

[33:41] bond And what we've spent to date.

[33:48] Now as you know, some of the projects had been done already.

[33:51] Some of them, the, the big projects

[33:53] that we're working on this summer, a lot

[33:56] of the money hadn't been expended

[33:57] because they had to wait until school got out.

[33:59] So, but you can see that there are, you know,

[34:04] we've made I think two payments to Honeywell

[34:07] and those are, Jane, is it possible to put

[34:09] that sheet up to show?

[34:13] I don't know if that's something

[34:15] I, The, the Bond don't know how

[34:18] to do that right now, but

[34:20] Okay. They just changed the

[34:22] Whole system.

[34:23] Yeah, they just told us they changed it,

[34:24] so I'm probably not.

[34:26] Okay. So I'm gonna say that's no

[34:27] but it's, it will, it is under the,

[34:30] it should be on our website on the board packet.

[34:32] Okay. If people wanna wanna look at that. Okay.

[34:34] I did wanna, was it you Brian that was asking about that

[34:38] or it was you?

[34:39] Sorry, you were asking about the bond

[34:41] expenditure up to date.

[34:43] So there is a, a paper, a packet out there that shows line

[34:48] by line item of what we spent and what's still there.

[34:51] Yes. Under tonight's meeting,

[34:52] under tonight's meeting should be posted on the website.

[34:55] Yes. Thank you. Sorry about that. Sure.

[34:57] So we've, you know, we've made payments to Honeywell

[35:01] payments for the brick replacement over at South Range.

[35:06] Many of the projects that Jeremy updated today completed

[35:09] or not completed, we have either made payments in full

[35:12] or partial payments for basically progress payments.

[35:17] So right now we've expended

[35:21] or paid out

[35:26] year to date would be 7,000,400, 4,000.

[35:34] And when I say year to date, it's really project to date.

[35:36] So since the beginning of the project,

[35:41] So over the course of the summer we have paid, you know, all

[35:44] of our contractors have been paying job mark job

[35:47] to be managing the project.

[35:49] Ekman Construction, who's been doing a lot

[35:51] of the facade work, the roofing company, Honeywell.

[35:56] So all of those projects have been going on.

[35:58] East area roof was replaced, that's been paid already.

[36:02] So a lot of those projects, they're all moving.

[36:05] Some of them as you know,

[36:06] when the bids came in came in under budget.

[36:08] So obviously we're tracking that.

[36:10] We're tracking some savings.

[36:12] So all of those have been posted

[36:15] checks again were issued today.

[36:16] So these are not reflective of even payments

[36:19] that we made today that you've signed

[36:20] off on on the manifest.

[36:24] But considering how much work is getting done over the

[36:26] summer, I can run this report for each board meeting if,

[36:30] if the board would like that.

[36:33] Alright, we'll go over that during the finance committee

[36:37] and see if that's what they wanna bring forward.

[36:41] I have a question. Sure.

[36:43] So the column that says over under budget,

[36:47] which one is over

[36:48] and which is under the ones with the The negatives.

[36:51] Are those under, I mean over

[36:54] They'd be over.

[36:55] They would be over. Okay. Just making sure. Thank you.

[36:58] Yes. Any other questions on those two reports?

[37:03] I was just wondering in connection to that, how

[37:05] that PIP account is doing with the money that we have

[37:09] had in there.

[37:11] Is it, because I know we're obviously pulling

[37:14] more money out to spend it.

[37:15] Are we still Actually David probably is gonna,

[37:17] oh sorry, go ahead.

[37:19] I'll No, it's okay. Didn't know

[37:20] that was your thing or his fine.

[37:21] We're working together on it. Fine. Yeah,

[37:23] So we did the $700,000 at the end of June.

[37:26] I think we were what, seven 40?

[37:27] The, the total number at the end of June.

[37:29] So we get about 60,000 a month in interest.

[37:33] Currently the interest rate hasn't changed in the last year

[37:36] we've we're at around three and a half I think.

[37:39] So everything stayed flat

[37:41] and obviously as we expend funds the interest will

[37:44] start tailing down.

[37:46] But yeah, we're about 60,000 to 65,000 a month right now.

[37:50] Okay, awesome. In interest still,

[37:54] Last two things I just

[37:56] wanna talk to you about Food service.

[37:58] The free and reduced applications are

[38:00] active online right now.

[38:02] So if parents wanna start going on to

[38:07] the district website, go under food service

[38:09] or child nutrition

[38:11] and you can fill out an electronic application if you are

[38:14] interested in free and reduced or think you may qualify

[38:20] While we're on that note.

[38:21] Oh sure. While we're on that note,

[38:24] we'll be sending out the same video

[38:26] that we did last year and had some success.

[38:28] So that'll be coming once the students return.

[38:31] Yeah, so paper applications will be available.

[38:34] The online applications, Christina Belgar, director

[38:39] of Child Nutrition, she's,

[38:41] she's in the district if people have questions

[38:44] and they can also ask their kitchen managers

[38:47] at each individual school.

[38:48] If they have questions on their application, she's happy

[38:52] to walk anybody through through one of them.

[38:54] Just a reminder to parents, they,

[38:57] if they were approved last year and they are on free

[39:00] and reduced, they will have to reapply

[39:03] before their status holds them until October

[39:07] and they will have to reapply in October

[39:09] or their status goes back to paid.

[39:11] So we just wanna make sure to remind

[39:13] families they don't have to do that right now if they were

[39:15] already on a free reduce,

[39:16] but make sure they do that by October.

[39:19] Okay. And lastly,

[39:23] I talked about the audit.

[39:24] We had the auditors here last Wednesday.

[39:28] We had 'em on August 5th

[39:29] and we had four auditors with us for the day.

[39:32] They pulled a variety of information, they will send us

[39:38] questions and requested documents a couple weeks beforehand.

[39:42] We submit it in the online portal.

[39:44] From that they then dig deeper,

[39:47] request additional information.

[39:49] All of that was provided to them.

[39:50] They were pretty happy when they left.

[39:52] And they will be back on September 8th for the week.

[39:57] And at that meeting they will do student activities,

[40:01] they will do general fund, they will do the capital fund,

[40:05] food service, federal projects.

[40:10] They will look at payroll even more in depth.

[40:13] All the accounts payables.

[40:14] It's quite an extensive process

[40:17] and the majority of it has already all the information,

[40:20] the majority of it's already been uploaded into the portal.

[40:22] So I feel like we're very prepared for that.

[40:25] But that will be happening at that date.

[40:29] Any other questions?

[40:34] So the only thing I would say

[40:35] regarding PIP accountant, regarding Mr.

[40:37] Tripp's idea of T-Mobile, which is a good idea.

[40:41] So one of the things on Jane's recommendation back in

[40:43] November we had moved our investment funds out of citizen I,

[40:47] I mean TD Bank citizens, excuse me, over to the pip.

[40:52] So we were earning about $20,000 a month

[40:55] with our citizen account,

[40:56] but in the PIP we doubled our, we doubled our growth

[41:00] to about 40,000 a month.

[41:02] So we picking up about a quarter million dollars this

[41:04] year starting in November.

[41:07] So just to give you a heads up, when,

[41:08] when we do get roadblocks from other areas of

[41:11] what happens in the nature of the business, we try

[41:14] to find areas where we can make, make opportunities happen.

[41:18] And on, like I said, Jane's recommendation, we did

[41:21] that back in November

[41:22] and it's about an extra 20,000 a month

[41:24] that we get on the money

[41:26] that just sits there while we pay our bills.

[41:29] So, heads up.

[41:33] Any final questions for Jane?

[41:37] No, thank you Jane. You're welcome. You're up Mr. Flynn.

[41:41] All right, thank you Superintendent update.

[41:43] It's our favorite time of the year.

[41:44] Well, so welcome to the 26 27 school year.

[41:46] As Jane mentioned, we officially transitioned.

[41:50] I missed you guys. I hope you enjoyed your

[41:53] five and a half weeks off.

[41:55] So exciting times for us teachers,

[41:59] new teachers come on the 19th staff report back on the 20th,

[42:04] students come back the following week on the 25th

[42:07] and we are in full fledge, get ready

[42:10] for everyone to show up mode.

[42:12] So been a lot of excitement around the hiring.

[42:16] As you can see, we had quite a few summer

[42:19] hires at the same time.

[42:20] I think it's the most, I I, I said it at the end,

[42:22] it's the most staffed we've been since pre COVID

[42:25] from what people have told me.

[42:26] So not a whole lot of positions open there with

[42:30] that retirement that came pretty late.

[42:34] We got lucky and were able to

[42:36] gain a teacher in the hiring process.

[42:38] I just, I just wanna reiterate some of our practices so

[42:41] that the community's aware, you know, one of the goals

[42:43] to restrain salary is in the hiring process.

[42:47] So at some point in the fall I'm gonna show you some data on

[42:51] the salaries that went out, whether it's retirement,

[42:53] resignation moves, and then the hire, the hiring we did,

[42:55] we really, we really wanna show

[42:57] that we are regaining some salary back.

[43:00] We're still gonna hire the best candidates.

[43:01] We're not, we're not hiring the cheapest,

[43:04] but we're trying to be articulate in, in which areas

[43:07] that we replaced and how we replace them.

[43:09] So I look forward to showing that detail

[43:12] 'cause that's a way to show the community the restraint

[43:13] that we're trying to predict over

[43:14] the next three to five years.

[43:16] So hiring's been outstanding.

[43:18] Enrollment numbers are in your packet if you take some time

[43:21] that came in hot, that was this morning when we were at our

[43:24] leadership retreat and I'll, I'll discuss that in a second.

[43:27] You'll see that we relocated kindergarten over to East area

[43:31] and our numbers are still in the areas of which the,

[43:35] that we recommend take a look at West Running Brook,

[43:38] you're gonna see that we have a bubble coming up there.

[43:41] As Bill was saying this morning,

[43:43] it's the highest they've been in the short time they've been

[43:46] there, but they're at 6 75.

[43:50] So it's gonna be interesting to watch that this year as we,

[43:53] we had quite a few move-ins in that school.

[43:55] So enrollments in there.

[43:56] If you have any questions in regards

[43:59] to some summer decisions we've made,

[44:03] we posted a one year position for a nurse at Gilbert h Hood.

[44:08] We did some analysis with Mitch and,

[44:10] and working with Jane on some salary stuff.

[44:14] We have some high need students moving up into Hood and,

[44:18] and with deep there we thought it was,

[44:21] we thought it was the right opportunity to, with,

[44:23] with the savings we have in some of the positions

[44:25] that aren't gonna be filled this year to see how

[44:27] that efficiency works out.

[44:29] Good news, we've already had three applicants so

[44:32] I think we're gonna see some better, better support

[44:35] for our students in the caseloads there.

[44:36] If you can imagine one nurse for 600 kids,

[44:38] now we're gonna have two nurses that are able to split

[44:41] that load in in regards to helping out with deep two.

[44:45] Next update is, we've met several times this summer on five

[44:49] six sports and if you are in that building,

[44:52] you would've received kind of a, a dipstick feeling

[44:56] of if any of the interest.

[44:57] So we're gonna be able to run four sports in the fall, boys

[45:00] and girls soccer field, hockey girls, field hockey,

[45:03] and cross country.

[45:05] So the details are still to come

[45:07] because it's really gonna be a numbers based system.

[45:10] We posted positions for coaches, number one.

[45:14] And then once we get our numbers

[45:16] and have rosters, that's really where the next detail comes.

[45:19] So we've been working closely with Tri-County

[45:22] that still exists right now for fall and winter.

[45:25] And then in the spring we will be switching to N-H-I-A-A,

[45:29] which all rules are a five eight model.

[45:32] So we'll be fine. We have

[45:33] to do some dancing in the fall, in the winter.

[45:35] I've already talked to Dr. Crawford interestingly on,

[45:39] on playing Hamstead 'cause they have a five six model too.

[45:41] So we're gonna try

[45:42] and play locally in that five six as much as we can.

[45:45] But if it turns into a five eight,

[45:46] we have some set setups there.

[45:48] But Bill, Melanie and Danielle have been outstanding and,

[45:52] and proactive in their approach from busing

[45:56] to communication to hiring.

[45:57] So I'm excited to see what we can put together in the fall.

[46:04] Jane already did free and reduced, so we can cross that off.

[46:08] We, at the end of July, and Dr.

[46:10] Sandia had worked closely

[46:12] with Laura Powers in sending out a special education survey

[46:15] that Jamie had, had, had mentioned several times.

[46:17] So if you are a family in

[46:19] and housed an identified student, you received a survey.

[46:22] We've had, oh, it's right, yeah, it's purple. Sorry.

[46:28] We've had 92 responses, which is,

[46:31] I'd say pretty good honestly in, in, in the outreach.

[46:33] And I can't wait to share these results

[46:35] because they are very positive in what we're doing

[46:37] and how we've

[46:38] accommodated families and how we work with them.

[46:40] So I look forward to showing that data.

[46:42] Once we close that out, I'll bring it to a board report

[46:45] and you'll get to check out what some of the comments were

[46:47] and then really the, the scale of

[46:49] what people have been rating us.

[46:50] So I look forward to that.

[46:53] Yesterday, our administrative team, all 30 of us roughly

[46:57] received an eight hour legal training session with Drummond

[46:59] and Woodson from collective bargaining.

[47:03] What our contract is and what it means.

[47:05] 5 0 4 IEP

[47:10] investigation, supervision, evaluation.

[47:14] It's everything pretty much close.

[47:16] It was, it was great training.

[47:18] Several people from the law firm were there.

[47:20] It's always good for us to get refreshed.

[47:22] There's a new bullying policy that I'll be talking about

[47:24] that we need to bring forward, a couple new updates,

[47:27] but it's always good to get the,

[47:30] I'll say the dust blown off the folders

[47:31] and make sure that we're doing all the

[47:32] right things administratively.

[47:34] So thank you to Drummond Woodson for that.

[47:37] And then last is a legislative update.

[47:41] So if you've been paying attention

[47:43] or maybe you haven't, a couple things have gone on

[47:46] and I just wanted to, I'm gonna give a, an overview

[47:48] because they're kind of hot off the wire,

[47:51] but specifically House Bill 1300, which is

[47:54] a mandate statewide

[47:56] that there's gonna be a ballot question on the November

[47:58] election in, in regards to talking about a local tax cap.

[48:03] It's a three-fifths majority vote.

[48:06] And what's odd is we received training on this yesterday.

[48:08] There's still a lot of murky details

[48:11] in the way it was written.

[48:13] No one really knows the actual math in regards to

[48:17] what they were saying or what, how they wrote it.

[48:19] So we have a legal seminar on August 25th I think it is.

[48:25] So it's, it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

[48:28] I know there's actually a couple districts out there

[48:30] that are already trying to get together in regards to

[48:32] possibly challenging the law itself and how it was written

[48:35] and how it's being presented.

[48:36] Jim had mentioned that the other day,

[48:38] so I'll say it's still going through the ringer.

[48:40] Brenda had reached out to us and Jane trying to be prepared.

[48:44] It was, we're gonna have a lot of this information

[48:46] as we move into the fall here so

[48:48] that the board feels comfortable with how they stand

[48:51] and what their stitches and,

[48:52] and what the community is in, in regards to those impacts.

[48:56] I don't, I don't really feel comfortable speaking

[48:58] to the detail because we're still all

[49:00] uncovering it as we're moving along.

[49:02] So that's 1300.

[49:03] And then there's also 1331, which is specific to dairy.

[49:07] And I've already been in touch

[49:10] with Mike from the town in regards to that one in regards

[49:15] to that legal mechanisms.

[49:16] And that has to be petitions

[49:21] by the voters to get on the ballot,

[49:22] a voter petition under RSA 39 3

[49:25] or action by the town council.

[49:27] So there's a lot of stuff still in the air on that one,

[49:30] but that's another tax cap relative thing.

[49:33] I'd say thirteen hundred and thirteen thirty one are gonna

[49:36] be a discussion for the board.

[49:37] And I think I'll bring it up more importantly

[49:39] through our committee work on

[49:41] how it's gonna impact obviously our finance committee,

[49:44] how it may impact our curriculum, all those things so

[49:47] that we have a comprehensive packet when we get

[49:50] to those, those parts.

[49:52] I think August 25th is probably the next date for us

[49:54] that we'll be more prepared to speak to.

[49:56] So not the next board meeting,

[49:58] but probably that one in that first meeting in September.

[50:00] We'll be ready to, to really discuss it.

[50:02] So that is the update. Any questions?

[50:06] Is there a third bill? 1610, I think it was got vetoed

[50:11] by the governor so that that next meeting in August,

[50:13] which you'll be able to discuss the fund balance.

[50:16] You guys still have control of that.

[50:19] So Mike, if I heard you correctly, you had a meeting

[50:22] with the law firm that handles all

[50:24] our business in dairy, right?

[50:26] Yeah. And they couldn't articulate the ins and outs of 1300

[50:30] because it's just not there.

[50:32] Yeah, there's some, there's some real

[50:33] discussion around the math.

[50:36] I'm trying to, trying to read.

[50:39] No, you don't have to get, we can talk offline.

[50:40] Yeah, no, there's, because it's, it has to do

[50:41] with inflation, but then there's a 6%,

[50:45] but then they're saying that it doesn't impact the,

[50:48] the students, but it does

[50:49] because that's where the money would come from.

[50:51] We're in a real interesting spot

[50:56] as a sending town.

[50:58] We have a sending town meeting in the first week

[51:01] of September because when we calculate our costs

[51:04] or how this math would happen,

[51:06] O'Shaughnessy specifically was saying the sending town

[51:08] schools are gonna be different because there is no

[51:11] cap for Pinkerton, right?

[51:12] So if Pinkerton goes up 2, 3, 4, whatever it, it doesn't,

[51:16] they can do whatever they need to.

[51:18] Then it impacts sending schools

[51:19] because we have to then figure out

[51:22] how we're gonna handle the, our budget.

[51:25] There's interesting discussion around obviously healthcare

[51:29] and then more collective bargaining profession.

[51:32] So it it's gonna be,

[51:34] I I'll just say the next

[51:35] couple weeks are gonna be interesting.

[51:36] There's a lot of work going on at, at our level in regards

[51:39] to who's doing what.

[51:42] And I, it's clear as mud, that's where we are right now

[51:45] and everyone just wants to do the right thing.

[51:47] Sure. I don't think anything,

[51:48] I don't think anyone's worried.

[51:49] I think it's more about making sure we're communicating the

[51:51] appropriate message and make the math is important, right?

[51:54] So that, that we're calculating appropriately

[51:58] to show the community how it'll be an impact.

[52:00] Thank you. Thank you Mike.

[52:04] Any other questions for Mike? That's a lot.

[52:09] That's a lot. All right. No other questions.

[52:12] We'll move on to committee and liaison reports.

[52:15] We're gonna turn over to Karen

[52:16] for an update from the finance committee

[52:19] And Jane did a great job

[52:22] with the update on the finance committee.

[52:24] I just wanna reiterate one thing that

[52:26] because of the transition

[52:28] and the new software they're having

[52:30] at our next finance committee meeting,

[52:32] she's gonna bring us all the different reports

[52:34] that we're able to see.

[52:36] Instead of getting one report of a hundred pages

[52:41] with you have to go through line by line with,

[52:43] they'll be specifically targeted.

[52:46] So that'll be a big help at the next

[52:49] finance committee meeting.

[52:51] And that's it.

[52:53] Thank you. Karen, any questions for Karen?

[52:56] I know Jane and Jeremy kind of took a big butt out

[53:00] of this one, but we'll turn it over to David

[53:01] for the facilities committee update.

[53:04] Yeah, no, I mean Jeremy pretty much discussed

[53:07] everything we went through the meeting.

[53:09] I, I think the one thing we talked about,

[53:10] and I don't know if this is a tonight discussion or not

[53:12] or an offline, but both walk,

[53:15] do you wanna a walkthrough over south range

[53:17] at some point in the near future?

[53:19] You know, there's a whole,

[53:21] we'll figure that part out, but yeah,

[53:22] And actually several people have reached

[53:24] out to talk about, about that.

[53:25] 'cause in, in facilities we talked about options, right?

[53:29] I think after doing some looking back, we, I think we're, I,

[53:34] my suggestion to the board is just post it

[53:36] as a facilities walkthrough

[53:37] and that way we can do it in one fell swoop.

[53:39] I, I don't think we need, Jeremy taken two

[53:41] or three walkthroughs so we'll post it.

[53:44] Anyone that wants to come walk around, there's nothing.

[53:47] It's everything to show the work

[53:48] that we've done or what we've uncovered.

[53:50] So what we'll have

[53:51] to do though is obviously agree upon a date.

[53:53] So I will work with Michael when he returns

[53:55] and we can do a calendar

[53:56] thing and then we'll get something posted.

[53:58] Might be during the day, maybe between 12

[54:00] and three, something along those lines.

[54:02] But we also have to make sure everything's clear and safe.

[54:04] So. That sounds right.

[54:06] Thank you. And one thing, you know,

[54:08] just getting feedback from a couple people in the community

[54:10] over at South Range is those guys are out there at six in

[54:13] the morning and they're working their butts off on the

[54:16] weekends to get everything to where it needs to be,

[54:18] which is great and very appreciative,

[54:22] but it sounds like it's looking really good

[54:23] with the new bricks and everything else.

[54:25] So I'm looking forward to, to seeing what,

[54:26] what's coming up. Yeah.

[54:28] While we're on facilities, I'm gonna throw the SAU update

[54:31] in real quickly 'cause several of you reached out this

[54:33] summer In regards to that, Jeremy kind of touched upon it.

[54:37] Jane fully moved out, your office moved in two weeks ago.

[54:40] Special education's moving in this week.

[54:43] Curriculum's 80% in Dr.

[54:47] Sand's office will be open as of tomorrow.

[54:49] So it's kind of been this slow move.

[54:50] The the goal is to be out by August 26th or seventh.

[54:54] And then in one of those first meetings in September,

[54:56] I'll bring the next steps for the board in regards to

[54:59] what you need to do in regards

[55:01] to selling the current property.

[55:03] So I have all the rules and regulations that you need

[55:05] and are required and then you guys can take that discussion

[55:08] and those action steps and see what's next.

[55:10] So that'll be one of those meetings in September.

[55:13] Great. Any questions for David?

[55:17] Yeah, I just have one question.

[55:19] So I appreciate what Jeremy did when he gave us

[55:23] the whole outline of what's been going on there.

[55:27] Is there any way, I went to the facilities meeting as

[55:31] as a citizen and just sat in there.

[55:34] I went out to the website

[55:36] and I pulled the facilities information,

[55:38] that whole spreadsheet that Jeremy had done.

[55:41] Is there any way for the school board to get that first?

[55:43] I mean, this,

[55:45] I had some questions on some things just like the public had

[55:48] and I felt kind of uninformed to discuss it

[55:52] with the public when I got it at the same time they got it.

[55:55] You know what I mean? Is there any way

[55:57] You talking regarding the committee meeting, getting

[56:02] before the committee meetings,

[56:04] His update on all the projects?

[56:06] Oh, before tonight's meeting?

[56:07] No, it came, it came out on the, I see

[56:10] what you're saying on the website,

[56:11] but I got it at the same time

[56:12] times to me. Everybody got it?

[56:14] Yeah, I mean that's a, that's a Mike

[56:16] and Mike question. Well,

[56:18] Usually it's just, I'll use finance as an example.

[56:20] The, those finance documents go to the committee first

[56:23] for review and discussion before they go to the board.

[56:25] So you guys can tell us what to do.

[56:28] But that's typically the process because all, all the work

[56:30] and the review is done at the committee

[56:32] level and then brought to the board.

[56:34] If, I'm trying to think of the timing.

[56:36] So how would you, if we gave it to you earlier,

[56:39] how your questions still would have

[56:41] to come to this meeting, right?

[56:43] Correct. Yeah.

[56:45] So it, it's again the, this is up to you guys, honestly,

[56:49] it's not, this is not my decision, it's up to you.

[56:52] But that's typically the process.

[56:54] Like policy, all policy goes to committee

[56:56] before it comes to board.

[57:00] That's typically where the work is done.

[57:03] Maybe it's more on like a need to know, like if you know

[57:07] that you're gonna go to a facilities meeting,

[57:10] if there's something specifically that you are interested

[57:13] and wanna ask for, you can hit up the committee chair

[57:16] or something and be like, Hey, I'm going to the meeting.

[57:18] Do you have any information before I walk into it?

[57:21] I don't know if that's rather than

[57:22] spread it out to everybody. I'm not, I don't know. I'm

[57:24] Not, again, this is not a my decision, this is

[57:28] I trying To solve our problem or

[57:29] Question.

[57:30] Is this always the way it's been done

[57:33] is my question? I guess

[57:35] So I think what you're asking is

[57:37] could we have updates on the work

[57:39] that's being done? Is that the question?

[57:40] Which I didn't, I did ask for those updates,

[57:43] but they came to me

[57:45] and the entire public, so I had no updates all summer

[57:49] On.

[57:50] Right. So that, but, and if I'm wrong, tell me. Okay.

[57:52] But it's, to me, I think you're asking

[57:54] can the board have updates?

[57:57] What, and of course now school's gonna start,

[57:59] so we probably don't really need them.

[58:00] But during the summer it would've been good

[58:02] to have some updates to the board.

[58:04] Like, this is what's happened.

[58:05] You know, biweekly or even every I don't,

[58:09] biweekly would've been great

[58:10] just to know what what's happening.

[58:12] Instead of constantly calling Mike or

[58:15] or Jeremy's taking up their time.

[58:17] If they just had a quick email, this is what's been done.

[58:20] Right? Great job. Thank you

[58:21] So much.

[58:22] And when I did, and when I did ask, it was, oh,

[58:24] everything's according to schedule.

[58:25] Well that would've been great to know too.

[58:28] A quick, an email a week ago.

[58:29] Everything's according to schedule. Thank you.

[58:32] You know, just stuff like that instead of having, you know,

[58:36] because I'm on other committees, so now I have to go

[58:38] to the facilities to hear what's going on.

[58:40] You know what I mean? It's just,

[58:42] I think this, this particular summer presented

[58:44] some unique challenges because it's,

[58:45] It's, it did, it's A large bond.

[58:47] Yes it did. That we have. And that we're,

[58:48] we're really taking a, a lot of work towards that.

[58:52] As far as like the work that's been accomplished

[58:55] or is being accomplished across the district.

[58:57] I know like people who are on facilities,

[59:00] I have not been concerned about it.

[59:02] 'cause I've been going, like, I'm an active member of

[59:04] that committee and I get updates

[59:05] and talk to, talk to them all the time about it.

[59:08] So that, I'm not sure.

[59:11] It's also the first time you guys haven't had

[59:13] a July meeting, so.

[59:14] Right. You know, we had one July meeting last year

[59:19] and as, as I said to you when we were leaving, that if, if

[59:21] that's something the board wants next summer, that's

[59:23] that's more than happy.

[59:24] It's up to you guys. It's,

[59:27] it's, this is your decision.

[59:31] I mean, you guys tell me what to do, that's

[59:32] Your job.

[59:33] No, I mean, I can say I appre, you know,

[59:35] if I can appreciate having July off, you know,

[59:37] but I guess Cameron, what I would say is,

[59:39] if you're uncomfortable, it doesn't solve the problem.

[59:42] But if you're uncomfortable answering a resident's question,

[59:44] you can direct 'em to Mike or Jeremy

[59:47] and they're, they're probably better off given

[59:49] the answer than we are.

[59:50] Right. That's what I would do.

[59:52] If you don't, if you don't, if if there's a specific

[59:54] question you can't answer, I'm sure.

[59:55] And then there's all of us, like if someone comes to me,

[59:57] a curriculum in the community, be like, Hey,

[59:58] listen, you want to talk to Kim?

[59:59] You wanna talk to whoever? Whoever in the,

[1:00:01] on the administration, I'm not gonna be able

[1:00:03] to give you a coherent answer on that.

[1:00:05] That would be acceptable to them. But I hear your point.

[1:00:08] And to Mike's point, typically, yeah,

[1:00:10] committee meetings are usually

[1:00:11] where the word the sausage is made

[1:00:12] and it's brought, brought to this body.

[1:00:15] I think that the best, one of the best things

[1:00:18] that Mike implemented and you guys implemented

[1:00:20] as a group two years ago, well last year,

[1:00:22] is these co-chairs.

[1:00:23] You made 'em more consistent where every Thursday

[1:00:26] of the month, every, every Tuesday of the month

[1:00:28] through our meetings and you got people

[1:00:30] that are setting the agenda, you have people that come in

[1:00:32] that are responsible for the update.

[1:00:35] Before it'd be like, Hey,

[1:00:36] can you give an update on transportation kind of thing.

[1:00:38] And it just wasn't organized.

[1:00:39] You guys did a good job last year

[1:00:40] of organizing the way committees are run

[1:00:42] and the way it's handled and it's supposed to be a,

[1:00:46] you know, do a bad job communicating.

[1:00:48] Right? Oh, in theory, if it's not, I, I don't know how

[1:00:51] to fix that, except that if you want more frequent updates,

[1:00:54] then I think it's more of a, Mike

[1:00:56] and Jeremy kind of pick up the phone

[1:00:58] and call and say, Hey guys, what?

[1:00:59] What's going on? You know? And I, I dunno.

[1:01:03] That's just how I see the problem getting fixed.

[1:01:05] I don't think it does. 'cause we only

[1:01:06] meet once a month for committees right?

[1:01:08] Before, I mean when last time I was on facilities,

[1:01:10] we were meeting like every other week because it was

[1:01:12] so hot button, right?

[1:01:14] Stuff going on Now it's once a month

[1:01:17] and it takes a certain level of trust for these guys too,

[1:01:19] that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.

[1:01:20] Right. And if there's something that doesn't appear to be

[1:01:24] what you think it should be,

[1:01:25] then just pick up the phone call.

[1:01:26] That's what I would do right here. Your point though.

[1:01:29] But that's kind of way I always viewed it, I guess.

[1:01:33] And my experience.

[1:01:34] I think I'm calling this a summer problem honestly.

[1:01:36] 'cause now we're meeting every other week from now

[1:01:38] until June we experienced something new

[1:01:41] you my last summer.

[1:01:43] Again, I'll go back to, I think that was the gap, Karen.

[1:01:45] I think we didn't meet in July,

[1:01:46] so you hadn't heard from me that was intended.

[1:01:49] Like I was trying to give everyone time off and a breather.

[1:01:52] But next summer we'll do a,

[1:01:54] we'll do a July facilities update

[1:01:55] or maybe we'll meet in July as a facilities team.

[1:01:57] That's fine. No problem with that.

[1:02:01] Yeah, that's fair. Yeah.

[1:02:04] Alright. Final order

[1:02:07] of business member updates and other business.

[1:02:09] I have a few updates here.

[1:02:11] We continue to actively look

[1:02:12] for a school district treasurer.

[1:02:14] Please reach out to the SAU office if you are interested

[1:02:17] in filling that position.

[1:02:19] A reminder to school board members

[1:02:20] that we'll be finalizing our board goals

[1:02:22] for the 20 26, 27 year.

[1:02:25] At the next meeting, I'd encourage you

[1:02:28] to continue thinking about the goals you wanna put forth.

[1:02:31] Reach out to Mike, the superintendent,

[1:02:33] and Mike, the school board chair

[1:02:35] with anything you'd like to add.

[1:02:38] And we are working on scheduling a joint meeting

[1:02:40] with the town council in September

[1:02:42] and it will be, I think a great opportunity to discuss some

[1:02:45] of the legislations that's come down the pike

[1:02:48] that Mike's mentioned in his superintendent update.

[1:02:51] HB 1300, which may affect the November vote

[1:02:53] and HB 1331 in March.

[1:02:58] Anyone else have any other updates?

[1:03:00] I just have a question. So

[1:03:01] this is great that you're doing that.

[1:03:02] I watched the one back in February,

[1:03:05] you guys did whatever it was before the election.

[1:03:07] You guys met with the town? Yeah.

[1:03:09] The one thing I would, I would request,

[1:03:12] I'm not gonna say please do, is have some action items

[1:03:17] that like if we're going to, if you're gonna meet, say,

[1:03:20] Hey guys, town council, this is, you know what I mean?

[1:03:23] Greg agree on some action items when leaving the meeting.

[1:03:25] It's nice to sit there and shoot the crap and,

[1:03:27] and talk about everything and, and be, yeah, yeah, we met

[1:03:30] and all that, but have some actionable items

[1:03:32] that we might actually make a difference would be helpful.

[1:03:35] And I That sounds bad.

[1:03:37] I don't mean to sound the way it does.

[1:03:38] I just think we need to have more direction.

[1:03:39] I know you guys are just meeting with them

[1:03:40] and it was kind of a first time.

[1:03:42] That's great. I think the second meeting we just had more

[1:03:44] meat in the bone and have more progress and more to-dos.

[1:03:48] Sure. And the only thing to say is,

[1:03:50] Kathy Kennedy's doing a great job

[1:03:52] as interim district treasurer.

[1:03:53] I suggest we all pop an email and say, Hey,

[1:03:57] Job You're doing, please do it full time.

[1:04:00] Get a promoter if you will. Yeah.

[1:04:01] And I hear you about, yeah,

[1:04:03] having action items is a great, great thing.

[1:04:05] I think with Mike, certainly we're just trying

[1:04:08] to develop a new relationship that hasn't existed before

[1:04:10] and we're trying to feel our way through that.

[1:04:12] But I hear you David. It's always nice

[1:04:14] to leave a meeting feeling like everyone has a next

[1:04:16] step to go towards.

[1:04:19] Anybody else, Jenna?

[1:04:20] Yeah, can can we just get a reminder on the upcoming dates

[1:04:23] of the start for school?

[1:04:27] Yeah. First day of school for, I just thought,

[1:04:29] Oh, I said that did, Yeah.

[1:04:31] Did I miss it? I'm sorry. 8 25.

[1:04:33] Are you talking about the, the time

[1:04:34] Start?

[1:04:36] 'cause the start times have changed.

[1:04:37] That one would be helpful too. Sorry, I Wow.

[1:04:40] I was asleep at the wheel. Sorry. Yeah,

[1:04:42] So August 25th students, new teachers, the 19th.

[1:04:46] Your quizzing me. I'm waiting.

[1:04:47] What time is school start Mike?

[1:04:48] I'm gonna, you'll get communication from the

[1:04:50] principals as reminders.

[1:04:52] Yeah. Okay. Anybody else? Any other updates?

[1:04:57] So I have three things actually.

[1:04:58] I had people asking the names of the young ladies that

[1:05:01] they raised the funds for to in memory.

[1:05:05] So that one is Lauren Rela and the other one is Alana Ott.

[1:05:09] There is a planter at West Running Brook

[1:05:11] that is named for Lauren.

[1:05:13] I don't know if there's anything else named for Alana,

[1:05:15] but I wanted to make that clear

[1:05:17] 'cause people were questioning about that.

[1:05:19] I also wanna make it clear

[1:05:20] that I never said I didn't want the tactile

[1:05:23] pla pads at Barca.

[1:05:25] I've been getting a lot of calls about that.

[1:05:27] My motion was made by what was said at the meeting.

[1:05:31] We were told that the money for the tactile pads,

[1:05:35] $6,000 would come out of the budget.

[1:05:37] And at that point we didn't need, the

[1:05:42] guardrail wasn't an emergency.

[1:05:45] Things changed. Never once did I think

[1:05:48] that we shouldn't do the tactile pads

[1:05:50] because if I thought we weren't going to take them out

[1:05:52] of the budget, I would've included them

[1:05:53] in my motion that night.

[1:05:55] End of story. I don't wanna talk about it anymore,

[1:05:58] but I, people have been very upset

[1:05:59] with me, so I wanted to make that clear.

[1:06:01] The other thing I wanna ask about is the strategic plan.

[1:06:03] Where are we with the strategic plan?

[1:06:06] Yeah. So the strategic plan was implemented

[1:06:08] right before my hire.

[1:06:10] And then last year we did several things with g

[1:06:13] and d, more specifically our mentoring

[1:06:15] program, our learning walks.

[1:06:17] We did some curb to classroom, so we still employed them.

[1:06:20] And then this year we have several other actions with them,

[1:06:24] specifically to the strategic plan.

[1:06:26] I had mentioned it recently at our superintendent's

[1:06:28] leadership team on how we can incorporate it.

[1:06:30] What they're doing

[1:06:31] for us right now is they made a massive plan, right?

[1:06:35] Massive. And so what we're really trying to do is tailor

[1:06:39] that down specifically in the curriculum world.

[1:06:41] So they're working more on

[1:06:43] breaking it down into a curriculum strategic

[1:06:45] plan, because that's what we figured.

[1:06:47] It was a better way to target if you guys wanted

[1:06:52] there to be an agenda item.

[1:06:53] And we can come back and, and discuss it more.

[1:06:55] But that's kind of how we've worked with them on really more

[1:06:57] of a targeted approach rather than this massive,

[1:07:00] that's why you kind of hired me, right?

[1:07:02] So I'm doing some of the massive stuff on the organization,

[1:07:04] the structure and, and the communication side.

[1:07:06] And now we're really having them a targeted approach

[1:07:08] with our curriculum and they're doing our

[1:07:10] mentor program again with Dr.

[1:07:11] Sed. So we're, we're still engaged, still working hard.

[1:07:13] It's just a little bit of a different feel. That's

[1:07:15] Good.

[1:07:16] No, I, we paid a lot of money for it,

[1:07:17] so I just wanted to know where we

[1:07:18] Stood. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely.

[1:07:20] So the one thing I would say about that night

[1:07:21] that we voted everything on that we voted

[1:07:24] for was coming out of the current year budget.

[1:07:26] Just so people know that it's not like you,

[1:07:29] everything was coming outta the current year budget.

[1:07:31] So I don't understand the, the need to direct deal

[1:07:34] And that people thought

[1:07:35] that I took it out and I didn't. You

[1:07:37] Just didn't add it to your thing. That's all. No,

[1:07:39] Stop for one minute.

[1:07:40] The night that the motion that I made was for four items.

[1:07:43] Yeah. That Mike asked for.

[1:07:45] He said that night that the $6,000

[1:07:47] to the tactile pads would come out of this budget.

[1:07:49] I understand it's all coming outta the same place,

[1:07:52] but people thought it

[1:07:54] after the me meeting following They thought I removed them.

[1:07:57] I did not. I've said over

[1:07:58] and over again that we didn't need that.

[1:08:00] They're dangerous. Didn't,

[1:08:01] It's just, I I just wanna clarify.

[1:08:02] Everything we voted for comes out of that current budget.

[1:08:05] So there'll be no need to leave it out

[1:08:07] because he said it was in the budget.

[1:08:09] It's all one budget.

[1:08:13] All well. All

[1:08:14] Right.

[1:08:15] Sorry.

[1:08:17] Anybody else? I

[1:08:18] Would like to welcome Carrie Sand to the full. Hi. I

[1:08:21] Forgot about That.

[1:08:22] I just like it.

[1:08:23] It's looking down and we're seeing a new face

[1:08:25] and you've been very quiet, so take it all in.

[1:08:28] Welcome. Thank you.

[1:08:29] And yeah, welcome to the crew. Thank you very

[1:08:33] Talk about missing the boat, right?

[1:08:35] You, you forgot the first day. I forgot to introduce Dr.

[1:08:39] It's like she, she's

[1:08:40] been here for a month now. It's almost like

[1:08:41] She didn't leave. It's

[1:08:41] True.

[1:08:42] I call it, I'd call it more of a reorientation than

[1:08:45] An orientation.

[1:08:48] Alright. Okay. Our future meetings.

[1:08:51] We're back on a regular cadence following our

[1:08:53] July break this summer.

[1:08:55] We have a net meeting scheduled for Tuesday, August 25th.

[1:08:57] That happens to be the first day of school

[1:09:00] and Tuesday, September 8th, which is also primary day.

[1:09:04] The board meeting. Wanna think about discussing that

[1:09:06] during our next meeting, if that's a meeting

[1:09:08] that we wanna have.

[1:09:10] Both of them are scheduled at

[1:09:12] 6:30 PM at the municipal center.

[1:09:14] And we have no public session, non-public session tonight,

[1:09:17] so I will accept the motion to adjourn.

[1:09:19] So moved first by . Second. Second by Jenna.

[1:09:22] All in favor? Aye. Motion carries six zero.

[1:09:25] Goodnight everybody. Thank you.

School Board Meeting - Meeting of 08/11/26

Agenda

Transcript