[0:00] It's so true, Daniel.

[0:02] Good evening everyone. I will now call this meeting

[0:04] of the DER School Board to order.

[0:05] Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance,

[0:10] Pledge Allegiance to the flag,

[0:14] To the Republic Nation.

[0:18] God Indi with liberty and justice.

[0:25] We will start with the roll call if everyone can introduce

[0:27] themselves, starting from my right.

[0:33] Gary, you're up. That's me.

[0:36] Gary Sandon, assistant superintendent,

[0:39] Jane Ard, business administrator,

[0:41] Michael Flynn, superintendent Brenda Willis, school

[0:43] Board.

[0:44] Michael Thiel, school board Chair. Jen

[0:45] Thoro, school Board Vice Chair.

[0:46] Jenna Paradise, school Board Secretary,

[0:49] Jamie Caru, school board.

[0:50] Karen Ran school board. And David K Clap School board.

[0:53] All right. Thank you everybody. Before we get started

[0:56] tonight, thank you to everyone throughout the district

[0:58] for taking care of our kids on this first

[0:59] day back to school today.

[1:01] I know I didn't wanna see summer to end,

[1:02] and I am sure our educators, staff

[1:04] and students probably didn't want to either,

[1:06] but I hope everybody was able to take the summer to recharge

[1:09] and today's a fresh start to a new year.

[1:11] So good luck to our students and staff alike.

[1:14] I'd also like to welcome Carrie Sandon to the district.

[1:17] I wasn't at the last meeting, which would've been her first.

[1:19] So Carrie, welcome

[1:21] and I'm looking forward to working with you.

[1:22] Thank you. Our first order

[1:26] of business will be the consent agenda for tonight.

[1:28] We have the public meeting minutes of August 11th, 2026.

[1:32] The manifest in the amount

[1:33] of $2,968,882 and 79 cents.

[1:37] Of which $1,305,516 and 25 cents is general payroll

[1:42] and $1,663,366

[1:46] and 54 cents is general expense approval

[1:49] of the following professional staff nominations.

[1:51] Cameron Dure,

[1:52] one year science teacher Gilbert H should middle school.

[1:55] Angelina Ra, elementary teacher,

[1:57] Ernest p Barkett Elementary School.

[1:59] And Christine Thomas, school Nurse

[2:01] Gilbert Achu Middle School.

[2:03] Do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda?

[2:06] So moved First by Jenna. Second. Second by Jamie.

[2:10] Any further discussion of any of these items? Hearing none.

[2:13] All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed.

[2:16] Motion carries seven zero. No presentations tonight.

[2:20] So we'll move on to delegations

[2:21] and individuals at this time.

[2:24] Residents of dairy, parents of currently enrolled dairy

[2:26] students and employees of the district may address the

[2:27] school board on matters that pertain only to school

[2:29] and district business for a period of time, not

[2:31] to exceed three minutes per person.

[2:33] As a reminder, the board welcomes your input,

[2:35] however questions are not entertained

[2:37] during the comment period.

[2:38] If you would like to speak, please come up

[2:40] to the microphone at this time

[2:41] and state your name and address for the record.

[2:54] Tracy Zisk. Five Silver Street.

[2:58] First off, I just wanted to start off with,

[3:00] I know I've been in contact with Mike and with Jeremy.

[3:04] If you haven't been over to see South Range School yet,

[3:07] which I can't imagine any school board member has not,

[3:10] it was such a big project.

[3:12] It's unbelievable. I mean, I lived it.

[3:17] None of you live in the neighborhood care

[3:19] and you do a few streets up,

[3:20] but it's directly across the street from my house.

[3:24] Seven days a week. They were there.

[3:28] These guys were out there at six in the morning

[3:31] to nine o'clock at night.

[3:32] I mean, they, they killed it.

[3:34] And when I tell you that they were so respectful

[3:37] to the children in the neighborhood, they drove slow.

[3:40] They did a touch a truck

[3:42] and impromptu one by the side of my house.

[3:44] They let the kids come up

[3:47] when the kids were pulling the horn,

[3:48] they would punk their horns.

[3:50] It was the cutest thing ever.

[3:51] It was, it, it really engaged at the kids.

[3:55] Did not have their playground,

[3:56] but they made the most of it for them.

[3:59] It really was unbelievable.

[4:01] And for someone as a resident,

[4:05] they were there at six in the morning pounding starting,

[4:08] and it was not loud.

[4:10] It wasn't out of control. I was leaving for work.

[4:14] I work seven days a week in the summer,

[4:16] and one of the guys pulled over at 5 45 in the morning.

[4:21] It was Saturday. And he is like, it's gonna be loud today.

[4:24] And I said, that's okay. It's what we voted for.

[4:27] You know, we, we asked for this, we know it.

[4:29] We're not here to complain about it.

[4:31] You guys have been out of control. Amazing to all of us.

[4:35] Walking the parking lot,

[4:36] making sure there were no nails in the street.

[4:39] All that can happen in construction zones.

[4:41] They went up and beyond, but a big shout out to 'em

[4:45] because if you didn't know or you didn't drive by right

[4:48] after 4th of July,

[4:52] it was over a hundred degrees for like four days.

[4:56] Those guys were up on the roof in asbestos suits

[5:00] for hours at a time.

[5:03] And what I witnessed and what I saw, they,

[5:05] they rallied together.

[5:06] There was crews coming in with Gatorades water.

[5:10] They didn't stop working. They didn't say it's too hot.

[5:13] They were out there. And I work outside

[5:16] and it was a hundred degrees and I was hot.

[5:18] I was not in an asbestos suit for 10 hours.

[5:22] They, those guys unbelievable.

[5:24] But how kind

[5:26] and considerate they were to all

[5:28] of us definitely just needed its praises.

[5:32] But the reason why I'm here is I do have a question about

[5:35] the SAU wondering when it will be listed.

[5:39] I know that's something we discussed

[5:41] and we voted on in March.

[5:45] I, my, my concern is it's not a typical house,

[5:49] so it will sit on the market longer.

[5:52] I know I had addressed this at a meeting.

[5:54] I had spoken and asked

[5:56] to consider putting it on the market while it was

[5:59] still in use.

[6:00] Like a regular houses residents live in their

[6:03] homes as is for sale.

[6:05] But I'm looking to know when that will go on the market.

[6:08] And if you ever found out what it's going to be sold

[6:12] under being that it's in the West running Brook district,

[6:16] because that's mixed zone unit mixed zoning

[6:21] where I remember I had asked if you could confirm if it was

[6:24] gonna be just commercial or mixed zone.

[6:27] I believe it needed to be grandfathered in

[6:29] because of how that district was put into place.

[6:33] And my third question is,

[6:34] has Tracy, the economic development,

[6:36] Your time is up, so if someone wanted to make a motion

[6:38] to grant Tracy additional time,

[6:41] So moved second.

[6:43] Just All right, we have, yeah, I,

[6:45] I gotta do the procedure.

[6:48] So we have a motion and a second. All in favor?

[6:50] A all opposed motion passes. Seven zero.

[6:52] Go ahead. Thank you. And I, my last was,

[6:55] I was just wondering, is the economic director been pulled

[6:58] into the loop on this yet?

[7:00] Has she started networking to see if that building

[7:04] is something a local business

[7:07] or other businesses in her network would be considering?

[7:11] Like I said, it is mixed zone usage, so would like to know

[7:16] what the, the game plan is for the building.

[7:18] That's it. Thank you. So

[7:20] We don't enter seeing questions during the comment period,

[7:23] but Mike is gonna have an update

[7:24] on the SAU later in the meeting.

[7:25] It's in my superintendent's update.

[7:27] Okay. Thank you. Yep.

[7:50] Good evening, Brian Church six Rollin Street.

[7:54] First off, happy birthday Jenna. Thank you.

[7:56] I wish I was your age, but I wish we could. I'm 25.

[8:00] I know, that's what I'm saying. I would like

[8:05] to make a recommendation if, if I could, one of the things

[8:09] with spending on both Townside

[8:12] and school side are health insurance costs.

[8:15] And if anyone paid attention to the town council,

[8:19] I think it was Counselor Webb had made a recommendation when

[8:24] they were doing their goal setting to study

[8:26] or have an outside group take a look at health insurance

[8:29] because the drivers,

[8:30] they're like 20% I think for the town side.

[8:33] I don't know what it was for the school side,

[8:34] but it's getting very expensive.

[8:37] So Council Webb made it a goal

[8:40] to check into

[8:43] what they could do on the healthcare side of things.

[8:46] And I think it would be beneficial to the town as a whole

[8:51] if the school could actually participate with the town,

[8:54] see if they can get an outside group to look at

[8:57] what they can do to contain some of those costs.

[8:59] So that's just a recommendation. That's it. Thank you.

[9:03] Thanks Brian.

[9:15] Good evening chair. Members of the board neighbors.

[9:17] I'm Matthew Glavin at 31 Berry Road in Derry, New Hampshire.

[9:22] I'm here tonight to support keeping the surplus you guys

[9:27] have in your, in your budget from the year, keeping

[9:30] that in a rainy day fund.

[9:33] We do not have to look far for an example of this.

[9:36] Bedford last year got hit

[9:37] with an unexpected million dollar increase in their

[9:39] retirement costs after their March election,

[9:42] after the budget had passed.

[9:44] And that kind of surprise

[9:45] that nobody wants in a school budget

[9:48] unless it comes with cake.

[9:50] Since they don't have much flexibility, they had

[9:52] to make some tough mid-year cuts

[9:53] to make, to make adjustments.

[9:56] This is exactly what I hope dairy can avoid.

[9:58] You guys have done an exceptional job at budgeting

[10:01] and to be, you know, that close

[10:03] to the margins is is pretty good.

[10:05] You know, we haven't had any seem

[10:08] to have reigned in the costs a little bit as far

[10:10] as the building goes and,

[10:11] and taking the, the necessary steps

[10:13] and the rainy day fund will be something that's useful,

[10:15] especially when boilers break or snowblowers go.

[10:19] And, and towns need to make decisions on to buy these things

[10:22] and we don't have to rely on the taxpayers to do that.

[10:26] I also get why returning the surplus sounds appealing.

[10:29] Everyone likes getting money back,

[10:30] but the savings back for each also would likely be small.

[10:33] And if a big expense comes up later,

[10:35] taxpayers could end up paying 'em a lot more.

[10:38] To me, a rainy day fund is not money taken from the

[10:40] taxpayers is money saved for taxpayers.

[10:43] So we are better prepared when the next problem shows up.

[10:46] So I would ask to take the long view

[10:48] and keep this approximately a million dollars in reserve

[10:51] to help keep dairy's public schools stable

[10:54] and the taxpayer's bills stable as well.

[10:57] Thank you.

[11:13] Sorry.

[11:18] Good evening. Hi, my name is Christine Christy Trow.

[11:23] I live at 15 Lawrence Street here in Derry

[11:26] and I'm a homeowner and a taxpayer.

[11:29] I came tonight because I have been listening

[11:31] to the discussion about the approximate

[11:36] surplus and what should happen with that money.

[11:40] I understand why returning the money

[11:42] to the taxpayer sounds appealing.

[11:45] Property taxes are a real concern for many of us,

[11:48] but I also think we need to look

[11:49] beyond the immediate savings

[11:51] and consider what could happen down the road

[11:55] if the amount returned

[11:56] to an individual homeowner is relatively small.

[11:59] I believe we should consider whether keeping these funds

[12:01] available for unexpected school expenses

[12:04] could ultimately save taxpayers more in the long run.

[12:08] We all know what happens in our homes.

[12:11] Heating or air conditioning system can fail.

[12:14] A plumbing problem can happen without warning

[12:16] a roof can suddenly need work.

[12:19] And our school buildings face some

[12:21] of these unexpected expenses only on a much larger scale.

[12:26] With changes in the state funding in Concord also

[12:29] affecting our schools.

[12:31] I think it's very important

[12:32] that dairy has some financial protection

[12:35] when an unexpected expense comes up.

[12:39] I would rather have the funds be available than find

[12:42] ourselves facing an emergency later having

[12:46] to raise additional funds to cover it.

[12:48] For that reason, I support keeping the

[12:52] surplus available in our appropriate fund if,

[12:56] if legally permitted for unexpected

[12:59] expenses in future needs.

[13:01] To me, that is responsible planning in the way

[13:04] of protecting the taxpayers in the long run.

[13:08] This is one number I would really like the board

[13:11] to clarify tonight.

[13:13] What would returning the approximate surplus actually save

[13:16] the average taxpayer tax home dairy homeowner?

[13:20] I think taxpayers deserve to know what number,

[13:23] so we can compare the immediate savings with the value

[13:25] of having money available when our schools

[13:28] unexpectedly need it.

[13:30] And thank you.

[13:32] Thank you.

[13:48] Busy night for public comment, huh?

[13:51] Hi, my name is David Proventure.

[13:53] I live at 26 Milton Moore Road.

[13:55] I've lived in Derry almost my entire life.

[13:58] I was gonna come up here

[14:00] and say basically the same thing Matt and Chrissy just did,

[14:02] but that seems like a waste of time.

[14:03] Of course you should keep a rainy day fund instead.

[14:07] I'd like to take a minute to remember.

[14:11] Fallen American hero,

[14:13] Dolly Parton passed away at the age of 80.

[14:14] Today a lot of people might be asking what does that have

[14:17] to do with the board, school board?

[14:20] A lot of people know her. You know, for, as a musician

[14:23] with a unique sense of style.

[14:24] She also used her fortune that she got from her music

[14:28] to start a nonprofit organization called The Imagination

[14:31] Library that was dedicated to teaching children to read

[14:36] and giving them a lifelong love of reading.

[14:38] And I just want, you know, everyone to think, you know,

[14:42] how can I be more like Dolly

[14:47] David?

[14:58] Any more takers? I'm sorry.

[15:02] I was like, I didn't register. No, there's not

[15:03] Register.

[15:04] It's fine. Just come up

[15:05] and state your name and address for the record.

[15:06] Thank.

[15:08] My name is Francois Alrich.

[15:10] F-R-A-N-C-I-S-E 37 Kristen

[15:12] Drive. Good to go.

[15:18] Ready? Okay. Good evening. My name is Francoise.

[15:21] I have three children that attend dairy schools.

[15:24] I live on Kristen Drive a one mile loop in east dairy.

[15:26] I'm here tonight to ask the school board

[15:28] to review my daughter's bus stop assignment

[15:30] and a process by which bus stops are assigned.

[15:32] My daughter is 10 years old and attends intermediate school.

[15:34] She's currently being asked

[15:36] to walk approximately half a mile

[15:37] to her bus stop along the road

[15:39] with no sidewalks and no street lighting.

[15:41] There are four children who live along Kristen, Dr.

[15:43] Who are assigned to the same stop because at the distance

[15:45] and safety concerns, the adults are routinely driving their

[15:48] children to the stop sign at

[15:49] the intersection in the morning.

[15:51] This results in multiple vehicles

[15:53] and children congregating at the intersection creating

[15:55] additional congestion and an unsafe situation.

[15:58] I've tried to address this through the appropriate channels,

[16:00] but I've received conflicting answers about

[16:01] who is actively responsible.

[16:03] The transportation director has told me

[16:05] that the bus company is responsible for signing the stop.

[16:08] The bus company, however, has told me

[16:09] that the transportation officer

[16:11] at the school is responsible.

[16:12] I'm asking the board to clarify who has authority

[16:14] and responsibility for bus stop placement

[16:16] to review this particular stop for safety

[16:18] and to consider whether a more appropriate stop can be

[16:20] established for these children.

[16:22] This is not simply an issue of convenience.

[16:24] We have four intermediate school children being asked

[16:26] to travel along a road without sidewalks or lighting.

[16:28] And the current arrangement is resulting in adults having

[16:31] to drive them to an already cluttered intersection.

[16:34] I would appreciate the board's help in determining

[16:35] who is responsible for resolving this

[16:37] and ensuring that this safety concern is properly reviewed.

[16:39] Thank you.

[16:41] Thank you. There is a review process for bus stops

[16:46] and I, it does go through the transportation coordinator.

[16:48] So if you're not getting the answers that you need,

[16:51] you know, we can have the superintendent's office make

[16:54] sure that you know you're being

[16:55] Properly taken care.

[16:56] I wrote an email outlining my concern to Mr.

[16:58] Clifton, I think. Yep. Yeah.

[17:00] And Mr is the one who told me that I had the concern.

[17:03] So that's it. Thank

[17:05] You.

[17:06] All right. Thank you. Thank you.

[17:16] All right. Not seeing anyone else come to the microphone.

[17:18] So we'll move on with the meeting.

[17:19] The public comment period will remain open

[17:21] until 7:02 PM So if you wish to speak prior to that time,

[17:24] please approach the microphone

[17:25] and I'll recognize you with the next break in the agenda.

[17:29] It's first day of school, so no student members

[17:31] with us quite yet tonight.

[17:32] So we'll move on to deliberations.

[17:34] We have three items to consider for tonight.

[17:37] Our first discussion is going to be school board goals.

[17:44] So back on June 23rd, the board met with Mike

[17:46] for a goal setting workshop.

[17:48] Members of the board were asked to submit ideas for goals

[17:50] to Mike and I for consideration in advance of the workshop.

[17:53] And everyone was also encouraged to continue

[17:55] to provide input right up until tonight's discussion.

[17:58] So we went through the discussion notes

[17:59] and the feedback from that workshop

[18:01] and we put together some themes for potential goals

[18:03] to consider tonight.

[18:05] Before we get into the goals themselves, I wanted

[18:07] to talk a little bit about the board,

[18:08] the superintendent, how we work together.

[18:11] You know, we're a board of directors and Mike is our CEO.

[18:15] So he's the one employee that we hire

[18:17] and he's responsible to us

[18:18] for the day-to-day operations of the organization.

[18:21] So this goal setting process is for the board,

[18:23] but it's also really Mike

[18:24] and his team that is gonna take our goals

[18:26] and do the day-to-day work to implement them.

[18:29] So, you know, we provide oversight

[18:31] and we ensure those goals are being met

[18:32] and the resources are being responsibly stewarded.

[18:35] So as we go through this process to set goals, you know,

[18:38] we're obviously gonna rely on Mike

[18:39] and his team as professionals in their field to provide us

[18:43] with advice and some realism onto what is possible.

[18:48] So with that, I'll go through what we have.

[18:50] And of course everyone is encouraged to provide input.

[18:53] So the first goal we put down addresses something we

[18:56] know we have ahead of this year.

[18:57] And that's the contract with AFSCME

[18:58] and our educational assistance there.

[19:00] Current agreement is up at the end of the year

[19:02] and we will need to begin negotiations on a new agreement

[19:05] to bring to voters next March.

[19:07] So I have the following language for us to consider.

[19:10] The school board with the superintendent

[19:11] and the administration's negotiating team will negotiate a

[19:14] collective bargaining agreement with afscme the Union

[19:16] representing educational assistance

[19:17] and bring that agreement for voter approval at the 2027

[19:20] school district annual meeting.

[19:23] This one should be a no-brainer.

[19:24] Did anyone have any comments on this?

[19:29] No comments. I don't have a comment. No.

[19:31] Thought you were gonna say some sounds.

[19:33] I just put it on 'cause I figured at some point

[19:34] I'll talk.

[19:35] I, but I would, I don't have

[19:36] Any comments on that.

[19:37] That seems like a, yeah.

[19:38] Yep. I would accept a motion

[19:40] to adopt. This goal is presented.

[19:42] So moved First by Jen, second by Jenna. All in favor?

[19:46] A. Aye. All opposed. Motion carries. Seven zero. All right.

[19:50] The second goal we talked about was something we've been

[19:53] addressing and we'll need to continue address.

[19:55] And that's our policy manual.

[19:56] So our policy committee meets monthly to review new

[19:59] and revised policies to come before the full board.

[20:02] It was expressed in the workshop

[20:04] that we should set a specific goal around policy

[20:06] to keep us on track throughout the year.

[20:08] So I have the following language for us to consider.

[20:11] The school board with the superintendent will aim to review

[20:13] and bring at least three new

[20:14] or revised policies to the board for review each month.

[20:18] So I put three policies in here as a placeholder.

[20:21] I think if this is a goal we want to implement,

[20:22] there could be a discussion around

[20:23] what we think is reasonable,

[20:24] whether we'd wanna be more or less aggressive.

[20:27] So I'd open it up to comments on this one.

[20:31] I think that, I mean, how many do even know off the top

[20:34] of your head how many policies we have

[20:36] and how many are in need of review?

[20:37] Because I feel like three a month is a small amount

[20:41] and most of the policies appear

[20:42] to be small in nature, not very large.

[20:45] I feel like we could probably get through

[20:47] at at least two per meeting,

[20:49] meaning at least four per month, if not more.

[20:52] Do you have any feedback, Mike?

[20:54] As far as what we have as an undertaking?

[20:59] Yes. So we, we have a lot that we're trying to

[21:04] reel back in and get compliant with what we need to.

[21:07] I think we did a pretty good job last year, nearly 36, 37,

[21:11] which is around that four a month target.

[21:14] So four is, four is fine with me.

[21:16] Brenda, I don't know if you have an opinion on, I mean,

[21:19] four would be the four, right?

[21:20] Yeah. But some of them might be five

[21:22] or six depending on what specifically comes

[21:24] through N-H-S-B-A and legislation that we need to do.

[21:27] And I think part of the, part of the process

[21:32] of setting changing

[21:33] and updating policy involves legal sometimes

[21:37] and also new laws that come up.

[21:39] So while we have these policies to review,

[21:44] we might have to do this instead.

[21:47] Because there's new laws that require, like there's,

[21:49] we're gonna look at a policy tonight that has to be dealt

[21:52] with because of a law.

[21:53] So I, I mean I, I think three is a good goal,

[21:56] but if we can do more, we will.

[21:57] We talked about this at our meeting the

[21:59] other day as well. Yeah,

[22:00] Because another thing that happens, right?

[22:03] We have to update JICK tonight

[22:05] and then there's also one, two, I'm looking down there.

[22:08] I think there's at least three that are connected.

[22:10] Five a lot. Five. They don't connected to the same.

[22:12] Oh three. Yeah, there's three connected.

[22:14] So that means we'll within the next month we're gonna have

[22:18] to bring three additional on top of one.

[22:19] So again, three's fine. Four's easy.

[22:23] We anticipated a committee

[22:24] Four, you know, at least.

[22:25] So I mean if you wanted to shoot

[22:27] for four four's, fine. You know, it's a goal.

[22:28] Yep. Four's fine. I mean we are able to,

[22:31] and we have a, we have a committee goal of five

[22:35] per meeting trying to review so that whether it was four

[22:38] or not, or has to go back four should be fine.

[22:40] Yeah. Alright.

[22:42] So let's say we use the language

[22:43] of the school board with the superintendent.

[22:44] We will aim to review and bring at least four new

[22:46] or revised policies for the board to review each month.

[22:50] So I would accept a motion to accept the school

[22:52] as revised. So

[22:54] Moved First by Jenna.

[22:56] Second. Second by Jamie. All in favor? Aye. Aye.

[22:58] All opposed. Motion carries. Seven zero.

[23:03] So the third goal gets into finance.

[23:05] So there was a desire from the group

[23:07] to tighten up the fiscal advisory process

[23:09] and set a target for the budget.

[23:10] So just about the entire fiscal advisory committee has

[23:13] turned over in the last few years.

[23:14] We have a lot of new members, we've had a lot

[23:16] of new members on the board itself

[23:18] and we have a still new

[23:19] superintendent adapting to the district.

[23:21] So it's a good time to set a path forward for

[23:24] what we want this process to be

[23:25] and what is expected of everyone involved.

[23:28] So I had the following language for us to consider

[23:31] and I did leave the target increase undefined for now.

[23:33] I think that's something we should talk about.

[23:35] That's something that Mike

[23:36] and Jane should, should have input into.

[23:39] And I know you guys are already gearing up

[23:41] for the budget season, so I'm sure you have thoughts.

[23:44] So the language I have is the school board

[23:47] with the superintendent and finance department will continue

[23:50] to refine the fiscal advisory committee process

[23:52] and to define the role of the committee members.

[23:54] And we'll aim to produce an FY 28 budget

[23:57] and no more than an X increase.

[24:00] So I'll open this up to discussion.

[24:02] And you know, Mike Jane, if you have thoughts on

[24:05] what would be a reasonable target

[24:07] for the budget at this point.

[24:10] So that's under the superintendent's update as well.

[24:12] Obviously there's a couple bills

[24:14] that are in place in regards to

[24:15] how we're gonna have to prepare them.

[24:19] So I, I would, I would make a recommendation to leave it as

[24:22] as X and then once we get into September, october,

[24:25] you can certainly revisit it

[24:26] and put a, put a number on the ground.

[24:29] I don't feel comfortable putting any type of number in

[24:31] Place.

[24:32] I think that absolutely makes sense.

[24:35] So the only thing I would say is I, I agree with you.

[24:38] It, it's hard to put a number on it today,

[24:40] but if things are favorable with these bills, as we find out

[24:44] with the calculations come up with, I'd love to be

[24:47] around 3%, three and a half percent

[24:50] as a target point if possible.

[24:52] Obviously today it's a little early to come to

[24:54] that conclusion, but from a, that's

[24:59] what I would like to see.

[25:00] We can talk more about it obviously. Sure.

[25:04] Clearly that hinges on HP 1300

[25:06] and we'll see how that shakes out when,

[25:09] when we have some clarifying information on

[25:11] what the calculation looks like for the tax cap.

[25:17] So that's kind of my feedback

[25:18] and I think I gave that feedback at our meeting back in

[25:21] last month, whatever it was.

[25:22] So that's all, that's

[25:23] what I thought my thoughts as we move forward.

[25:25] Yeah, I mean we're still a couple

[25:26] of months away from really getting the fiscal advisory

[25:29] process going, so Yeah,

[25:31] I mean I think we definitely have some time

[25:33] where you're gonna wanna find tune, you know,

[25:35] what a real target looks like.

[25:38] Michael, the only thing I would say what

[25:39] that is is once Jane's knee deep in these

[25:41] budgets, she needs the number.

[25:43] Yeah. Like we can't wait till like end of October.

[25:47] 'cause she's probably Yeah, absolutely.

[25:48] Halfway through the process.

[25:49] So I'd say early September, mid-September,

[25:51] unless these guys say

[25:52] otherwise, we should really narrow that number down.

[25:57] Yeah, I mean when, you know, when the meeting comes,

[26:00] when you guys are ready to discuss this,

[26:02] we'll obviously wanna bring it up

[26:03] as soon as possible. Sure.

[26:05] And Michael, did you say that in,

[26:06] in the language somewhere about what is,

[26:09] what the expectations are

[26:10] for fiscal advisory committee? Yeah,

[26:12] We would, that was the, the language was we would continue

[26:15] to refine the fiscal advisory committee process

[26:17] and to define the role of the committee members.

[26:19] Okay, good. I, I think it's really important

[26:21] because I know for myself, and I can't speak for Jen,

[26:24] but for that short stid that we were doing fiscal advisory,

[26:29] I would almost like it to read more like

[26:33] a job application on Indeed where you have a breakdown

[26:35] of what's expected from you.

[26:37] 'cause walking into it and,

[26:38] and being put on there, it's still so vague as,

[26:41] and people sitting around going, okay,

[26:43] so what do you want from me?

[26:44] Especially because the process was odd.

[26:46] And I know Mike, when you walked into it, you were like,

[26:49] all right, we're gonna revamp things

[26:50] and it's gonna be very different.

[26:52] So it would be nice

[26:53] to have it laid out like a job application of

[26:57] what people are walking into volunteer for.

[26:59] 'cause obviously it's not a paid position,

[27:01] so you wanna know the hours that are expected.

[27:03] The, like you said, setting out the meetings,

[27:05] like very, very straightforward.

[27:07] So people know I go in, I get out, I do this job.

[27:10] Yeah, Jane and I sat, I'm losing track of days.

[27:13] I think yesterday. Yesterday.

[27:14] Yesterday. Okay. And I'll call it like what,

[27:17] this year we plan on doing basically an orientation night,

[27:20] kind of what you explained, like what to expect, what, how

[27:23] to read, what, what the documents are.

[27:24] And then we'll do like a,

[27:26] a pre-meeting prior to the first meeting.

[27:30] So we have the same goals in place, specifically myself.

[27:33] 'cause last year I kept looking around being

[27:34] like, what do we do here?

[27:36] So we're gonna establish some of our goals

[27:38] with an orientation night.

[27:39] And then before we kick off, get,

[27:41] get a couple more in depth trainings on how

[27:43] to read Jane's documents, what to look for

[27:46] and what the purpose of each meeting should be.

[27:48] Is there still gonna be a chair per se?

[27:51] 'cause I know that there was one person

[27:52] who was the dedicated, what,

[27:54] what are they considered a chair?

[27:55] I don't remember the gentleman's name.

[27:58] I think you're talking about there formally there was

[28:01] Bruce Kling who has since moved outta town

[28:03] who I think just, it was an unofficial,

[28:06] I dunno, It was an unofficial position. Okay.

[28:09] I think he just sort of spearheaded things

[28:10] and he kind of became like a,

[28:11] an impromptu leader of the group.

[28:13] So, but I do think that speaks to some

[28:16] of the turnover that's happened.

[28:18] And there's been some moving parts

[28:19] regarding fiscal advisory committee members turning over us,

[28:23] getting Mike on as superintendent.

[28:25] And so it speaks to the need

[28:27] to clarify this process. I think

[28:29] There was a, was a group on that committee for a long time

[28:32] that kind of had a way of doing things

[28:35] and you know, almost the entire, I mean,

[28:37] the entire committee has turned over in the last few years.

[28:40] So, and it turned over again. We're

[28:42] Member.

[28:43] So it's a, it's a good time to redefine

[28:45] and you know exactly what it's meant to be.

[28:49] Okay, thank you. I again,

[28:51] appreciate all the feedback on

[28:53] this and I agree a hundred percent.

[28:54] The only thing I would say is, you know,

[28:55] after every meeting we, we are pretty specific on

[28:58] what the expectations are for the next meeting.

[29:00] There's no, it's literally saying, Hey,

[29:02] we're gonna review X, Y,

[29:04] and Z, be prepared to discuss X, Y, and Z.

[29:06] So I appreciate what you're saying and I get that.

[29:09] But there's some little personal responsibility

[29:12] that comes along with this position as well, that kind

[29:16] of an expectation that as you get into this role

[29:18] and go to the meetings, you gotta kind of, you know,

[29:21] step it up and do the work.

[29:24] But I, I appreciate what you guys are saying though.

[29:25] I don't disagree as well.

[29:29] So, Jen, I just wanted to say

[29:31] that the fiscal advisory committee chooses their own person.

[29:35] Okay. And they communicate with each other

[29:38] and write the letter for the annual report.

[29:41] And we did used to have an, a training,

[29:44] or I don't know what you wanna call it, training with Jane

[29:50] prior to the past couple of years.

[29:51] So I, I do think that it's beneficial to people who

[29:56] have never even looked at our school budget before

[29:58] and don't understand what's needed

[30:00] and why we spend this much money on X.

[30:02] Right. So I, I do think I'm kind of sad that it went away,

[30:05] but I'm glad that it was coming back

[30:06] and I'm sorry that you were part of the people

[30:08] who didn't have all that training.

[30:09] Thank you. All right.

[30:14] So we are good with this goal as written. Yes. So I

[30:18] Have a goal with an Yeah.

[30:20] Doesn't mean like,

[30:24] Are do you wanna revisit it when there's a number there?

[30:27] Yeah. Or take it out for now.

[30:29] Yeah, we can take it out for now

[30:30] and revisit it later when we have a number.

[30:32] Is that okay? Works for me where we can just leave out the

[30:35] part about the increase

[30:36] and obviously we can set a goal

[30:38] where we wanna refine the fiscal advisory committee process

[30:40] and define the role of the committee members

[30:42] and just leave the budget target off for now.

[30:46] Next. Because it doesn't really say,

[30:47] it's not really a goal, it's next.

[30:49] Yeah. Well let's say we could set a goal right now the

[30:52] school board with the superintendent and finance department.

[30:54] We'll continue to refine the fiscal advisory committee

[30:56] process and to define the role

[30:57] of the committee members, period.

[31:00] And then when we're ready to discuss a budget target,

[31:03] we can, it's gonna be a target anyways.

[31:05] So like, yeah, you guys are gonna tell us a number

[31:07] that doesn't need to be a goal at that point.

[31:09] That's gonna be, it's gonna be what it is. Yeah.

[31:11] So that's fine. Alright.

[31:13] So I would take a motion to accept the goal as revised.

[31:18] So moved Second. All right. We have first by Jen.

[31:21] Second by Jamie. All right. All in favor? Aye.

[31:25] All opposed. Motion carries. Seven zero.

[31:30] So we have a fourth goal that also touches on finance.

[31:33] There was quite a bit of discussion in our workshop

[31:35] regarding trust funds.

[31:37] So there was a facilities trust established a few years ago,

[31:39] and we moved toward annual replenishment of that fund

[31:42] to address long-term capital improvements.

[31:44] But historically, trust funds haven't been a big part

[31:46] of the district's financial picture.

[31:48] So given economic uncertainty facing school districts right

[31:51] now, it's as good a time as any to rethink that.

[31:54] So I have the following language.

[31:57] The school board with the superintendent

[31:58] and finance department will explore

[32:00] and establish trust funds as part

[32:01] of the district's long-term financial management strategy

[32:04] to responsibly fund future capital improvements,

[32:07] mitigate the financial impact of large unforeseen

[32:09] expenditures, and promote greater stability

[32:11] and predictability for taxpayers.

[32:15] I like it. And this went up for discussion.

[32:17] I have one question. Do we want to, each year,

[32:19] since this is a goal for the year, do we want

[32:22] to determine this year how many trust funds

[32:24] or what the goal might be in within our goals?

[32:28] Yep. I mean, I left this deliberately kind of open,

[32:31] you know, where we will explore and establish trust funds

[32:35] and, you know, we can kind of, you know, go from there

[32:38] as you know, as we start to look into it through the year.

[32:41] Yeah, I read this as this is your target

[32:43] and then as we begin the discussions,

[32:45] you'll then narrow it down on how many this year

[32:47] or next year or the projection.

[32:49] Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I would,

[32:50] and I think this is a good opportunity for Mike to present

[32:52] what he feels the needs are

[32:53] and what is reasonable for us to move forward with.

[32:57] So I think this is something that really,

[32:58] that will come from Mike and

[32:59] we'll say yay or nay kind of thing. So keep

[33:01] It vague now. Yeah.

[33:02] Okay. I mean, let him do his analysis.

[33:04] We just get a capital improve CIP coming up

[33:07] and so there's lots of information to digest

[33:09] and figure out where that opportunities are. Yeah,

[33:12] It's a broad goal for the year

[33:13] and then, you know, you fine tune

[33:14] what it looks like throughout the course of the year.

[33:17] Okay. So any more discussion on this one?

[33:23] All right. So I would accept a motion

[33:24] to adopt this goal as presented.

[33:27] So moved First by Jen. Second. Second by Jenna.

[33:31] All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed. Motion carries.

[33:34] Seven. So the fifth goal gets into some

[33:38] of the state legislation that we've already

[33:40] talked a little bit about tonight.

[33:42] So there are issues we're gonna have

[33:43] to face in the coming year, whether we like it or not.

[33:46] So we're gonna have to be prepared.

[33:47] We have HP 1300 that's become law

[33:49] and that requires a school tax cap vote

[33:51] to be on the November ballot in every town.

[33:53] And we have HP 1331 that opens the door

[33:56] for a charter amendment vote

[33:57] that would reorganize the school

[33:59] district as a town department.

[34:00] So this is all still incredibly murky, particularly

[34:03] around the tax cap.

[34:05] I know Mike, you've been consulting with legal counsel,

[34:08] but once we can have all of this laid out for us, we'll need

[34:10] to settle on a position as a board

[34:12] and how we approach these issues.

[34:13] So Mike and his team can work on a

[34:16] communications plan for the district.

[34:17] So November's gonna come up fast.

[34:20] So this is the language I have for us to consider.

[34:22] For now, the school board

[34:24] with the superintendent will develop a position in

[34:26] communications plan to approach a possible tax cap vote in

[34:29] November, 2026 as a result of HP 1300

[34:32] and a possible vote to consolidate the district

[34:34] as a department under the town as a result of HB 1331.

[34:39] So, thoughts on this?

[34:45] All right, so I would take a motion

[34:46] to adopt the goal as presented. So

[34:48] Moved first By Jen.

[34:50] Second. Second by David. All in favor? Aye. Aye.

[34:53] All opposed. Motion carries seven zero.

[34:57] The sixth goal addresses the facilities bond.

[35:00] So the bond's gonna need

[35:01] to be wound down in the near future,

[35:03] and we're gonna need to determine how the remaining bond

[35:05] proceeds and the interest income will be utilized.

[35:08] So I have the following language, the school board

[35:11] with the superintendent and facilities department will

[35:13] develop a prioritized list of facilities, projects

[35:16] to utilize bond proceeds

[35:17] and interest income prior

[35:18] to the established deadline for expending funds.

[35:23] Any discussion comments on this one?

[35:28] All right. Pretty cut and dry.

[35:29] I would accept a motion to adopt this goal as presented.

[35:32] So Moved first by Jenna.

[35:35] Second. Second by Jen. All in favor? Aye. Aye.

[35:38] All opposed? Motion carries. Seven zero.

[35:42] All right, so the seventh goal

[35:43] addresses curriculum and assessment.

[35:45] So we are as a board legally responsible

[35:47] for the overall education programs in the district.

[35:50] And while we rely on Mike

[35:51] and the professional educators, the employees

[35:53] to handle the day-to-day curriculum development

[35:55] and delivery, we do have a duty to ensure

[35:57] that the robust curriculum is being provided in every grade

[36:01] and subject area and once it's implemented,

[36:03] that it's being effective.

[36:04] So the overall sense from the board is

[36:06] that we'd like the board as a whole to be

[36:08] provided with a better understanding of curriculum

[36:10] and to have better defined procedures for

[36:12] how our role in the process is fulfilled.

[36:15] So this is the language I have for us.

[36:18] The school board with the superintendent

[36:20] and curriculum department will establish a procedure

[36:22] for the presentation of proposed changes to curriculum,

[36:24] to the board for review and ascent,

[36:27] and for the presentation of the results of those changes,

[36:29] including assessments at periodic intervals.

[36:33] So I will open this one up for discussion.

[36:39] I would just say, you know, I've, I've taken a,

[36:42] an interesting working alongside component

[36:44] and the curriculum department on

[36:46] the curriculum assessment piece

[36:48] and figuring out how the board fits into all of that.

[36:50] And I, I like this gold. I think it's a good one.

[36:53] I think that the, we've had

[36:56] as a board over the past few years,

[36:58] a particular interest in the facilities components.

[37:00] We've often talked about that in meetings.

[37:02] I think everyone's heard us talk about that a lot.

[37:05] I really think we need to hit this with some new energy

[37:07] and I'd like to see the curriculum department work alongside

[37:10] us to show us as a board what's happening in the department.

[37:16] Have us thoughtfully weigh in on what's being taught in the

[37:18] district and move forward with that

[37:22] routine intervals throughout the year.

[37:24] So I like the way that the, this is written.

[37:26] I do think it's broad enough to cover a lot of areas.

[37:29] Another piece of that, I think as well is something

[37:32] that Kim has mentioned to the curriculum committee

[37:35] is engaging families better, communicating better with

[37:39] the community at large, and also parents in the district.

[37:41] What's being taught in the schools, how it's being taught,

[37:44] how to support that at home.

[37:45] So I would be supportive of this goal for the year.

[37:51] Alright, any further thoughts or comments?

[37:56] I would accept a motion to adopt this goal as presented.

[37:59] So moved first by Jen. Second. Second by Jenna.

[38:02] All in favor? Aye. All opposed. Motion carries. Seven zero.

[38:08] So the last goal addresses communications

[38:10] and as you just noted, particularly

[38:13] around family engagement and parent feedback.

[38:15] So the sense from the group at the workshop was this was an

[38:18] area where the district can do better.

[38:19] I think we're already seeing improvements

[38:20] since we met in June.

[38:22] So this is the language that I have for us.

[38:26] The school board will direct the administration

[38:27] to develop strategies

[38:29] for increasing meaningful family engagement,

[38:31] seeking regular parent feedback on programs

[38:33] and policies through the use of periodic surveys

[38:35] and further developing a parent education program.

[38:39] So I'll open this one up.

[38:40] So I, it was my understanding

[38:42] that the communications committee was formed to increase

[38:46] communication with the entire community

[38:48] and not just families and parents.

[38:51] I mean that is true, but this goal,

[38:53] particular goal is centered around, you know,

[38:55] what we had discussed as something we wanted to hit the,

[38:58] you know, hard this year, which is engaging families.

[39:02] So you can have separate goals. Yeah.

[39:03] So committee can have targeted goals

[39:06] and then the board can have targeted goals as well.

[39:10] You know, everything. Just think comparatively,

[39:13] everything we do in facilities

[39:14] as a facilities committee isn't necessarily gonna be all

[39:17] around the bond and all that.

[39:19] Right? So each committee can have their own goals still.

[39:22] Yeah, and I mean that was our goal from last year was,

[39:24] you know, to increase communication with the,

[39:27] with the greater community.

[39:28] That's why we established the communications committee.

[39:30] And I think that that committee has been doing

[39:33] that work toward that goal.

[39:34] And I think that work will continue.

[39:35] And this is kind of another layer to communications.

[39:40] Okay. I also kind of see communications

[39:42] as like the Venn diagram that intersects all of it

[39:45] because I sit on facilities, curriculum and communications

[39:50] and there's no meeting that

[39:51] happens that we're not talking about.

[39:53] Well we do this in communications as well

[39:54] because ultimately that's what we're trying

[39:56] to do is communicate the whatever's going on.

[39:58] So I I appreciate what you, Mike said what you said Mike,

[40:01] about we can have specific information shared,

[40:03] but I know that at least in the curriculum area,

[40:07] Kim's mentioned that family piece of, it's a big one,

[40:10] communicating what we're teaching in

[40:11] the schools is a big one.

[40:14] So I, I think that's why

[40:15] that was highlighted in this particular one.

[40:18] And I mean, it was a topic of conversation at the workshop

[40:22] of, you know, basically customer satisfaction.

[40:25] You know, that parents and the district are, are happy

[40:29] with the services that they're

[40:30] receiving and that they're being heard.

[40:32] So this goal kind of, you know, drills into that.

[40:36] I also, like at the communications committee, Mr. Church

[40:40] a couple weeks ago talked about the tax cap

[40:42] and it's coming out like I see those things

[40:45] that the community brings forward, going to that committee

[40:47] for level, like how are we gonna communicate how

[40:50] to read your tax bill, right?

[40:51] And, and things like that.

[40:52] But I still think the board level is what are we doing

[40:55] for the, for the direct family

[40:57] that we're, they're targeting.

[40:59] So I think you you hit 'em both honestly.

[41:01] So the job's gonna hit done. I mean

[41:03] It's true like a lot of these goals are gonna dovetail

[41:05] back into commun communications.

[41:06] You know, the, the legislation, the votes we're gonna have

[41:09] to deal with is gonna fall to communicating, you know,

[41:13] the use of the facilities bond funds is gonna fall

[41:16] to communicating with the community.

[41:17] So I mean, everything really ties back

[41:18] to communications at the end of the day.

[41:22] I think the big piece too, over the past year

[41:23] for communications, it was a new committee last year

[41:26] and creating the new norms around, for example, having the

[41:31] quarterly newsletter come out, that that was a very big,

[41:34] big, a very big target for us last year that we accomplished

[41:38] getting information out about the budget, the vote,

[41:41] the deliberative session and all of that.

[41:43] So I think some

[41:44] of these things will eventually become just norms within the

[41:46] district, if that's helpful to,

[41:51] Yeah.

[41:52] Okay. Can you talk a little bit

[41:57] about the parent education program?

[41:59] Like what, what do you see as that ha happening with that?

[42:03] Yeah, so that's something that the board kind of really

[42:06] emphasized at the end of last year.

[42:07] And I'll go back to the special education.

[42:10] One of the questions we asked in the survey is,

[42:11] would you be interested in coming

[42:13] to an information night or a workshop night?

[42:15] It was like 60 40, 50, 50 ish, which is fine.

[42:18] So trying to find some of those targeted approaches

[42:20] for parents that are looking for maybe a little bit

[42:22] more in depth discussion.

[42:24] I mean, again, I always roll my eyes when I say in

[42:27] Huffington I did muffins with Mike,

[42:29] but that was an evening I spent with people

[42:31] that really had questions around the budget.

[42:32] So we're trying to find some of that targeted approach.

[42:34] Okay.

[42:37] All right. Any further discussion? All right.

[42:41] So I'd accept a motion to adopt this goal as presented.

[42:44] So moved first by Jen. Second. Second by Jamie.

[42:48] All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed.

[42:52] Motion carries. Seven zero.

[42:54] Mike, before you go on, can I Oh sure. Have a second.

[42:57] You know, Brenda asked a great question a couple weeks ago

[42:59] in regards to the strategic plan that this board previous

[43:02] to hiring me invested in.

[43:04] So I actually started doing some cross-referencing from

[43:08] what was completed by the, the firm

[43:11] and what's happened in my first year.

[43:12] And it was kind of really neat to see the things that kind

[43:15] of what we started to implement were aligning

[43:17] with the strategic plan unintentionally.

[43:18] So at some point this year,

[43:20] I really envisioned my group coming together with showing

[43:22] that cross work so that you can see the money that you

[43:25] and the community invested in it is actually being done even

[43:27] though we might not be titling it strategic plan, update,

[43:31] you know, our goal is update, my goal update.

[43:33] All of those things are really starting to connect.

[43:35] So I thought it was a, a great question

[43:37] that we can bring value to show that we are doing the work.

[43:40] Yep. Mike, I get one sec. Sure.

[43:43] So I, I, I'll just comment on what Mr. Ello said.

[43:47] I agree with him a hundred percent,

[43:48] but I don't think it's a goal though.

[43:49] I think when we talk about health insurance,

[43:51] I think it's something we should be looking

[43:52] at on a regular interval.

[43:53] Whether it's every other year we should be shopping out our,

[43:57] our, our plans and see what we can get.

[43:59] We did it two years ago. I think we,

[44:01] it didn't materialize we what we had was better.

[44:04] But I think that's something, and,

[44:06] and maybe it is, maybe you've already discussed this I

[44:08] talked about, but we should probably do it on

[44:09] a, some sort of interval.

[44:10] I don't know what that is, but you

[44:11] can deal with that part of it.

[44:13] But as part of operating a district of $110 million

[44:17] and health insurance is going up for us 10% a year,

[44:21] whatever it is, seven, 8% a year, we should definitely

[44:24] look at other o opportunities that may be out there

[44:26] and see if we can do better if not, I mean it is

[44:28] what it is least we said we try

[44:30] And do it.

[44:31] Brian, your comment was about working with the town

[44:34] collaboratively and you know, we are, we do meet

[44:36] with the town regularly for joint meeting.

[44:39] We have one that's gonna be coming up

[44:41] before our second September meeting.

[44:42] And that's an excellent topic of discussion to have

[44:44] with our town council, the counterparts.

[44:46] I think we all have different union

[44:47] contracts though, right?

[44:47] There's a lot of differences there.

[44:50] I don't know how that would

[44:50] mesh, but we could definitely talk about it.

[44:52] I didn't think that that was allowed to do

[44:55] because I remember asking Jane at one point about trying

[44:58] to do some sort of merger offer for next charter school

[45:02] for their health insurance and whether

[45:03] or not they could come in under or come in with ours.

[45:07] Sure. And it was

[45:08] Not, there are, there are several

[45:09] rules in regards to that.

[45:10] But to Mr.

[45:12] Ella's point as well, we, Mike

[45:13] and I met at the beginning of the summer, the towns already,

[45:15] health Trust does a very good job.

[45:17] They can run a scenario, right?

[45:18] So Mike talked about joining our buying group, right?

[45:21] Picker buying group, lower numbers, things like that.

[45:23] But I'll go to what David just said.

[45:24] There's a, there's a key component for the plans

[45:26] that are offered in the bargaining units, right?

[45:29] So we can shop around

[45:31] every time a collecting bargaining agreement opens up,

[45:34] but you can't break the bargaining unit that you're in

[45:36] with the plans that you're offering.

[45:37] So trying to get coordination with that.

[45:39] But Mike Fowler is, I mean,

[45:41] I don't think I need to tell you anything.

[45:42] He's, he's phenomenal what he does.

[45:43] And so he had reached out in May to run this hypothetical.

[45:46] So Health Trust is doing a lot of work

[45:49] to see if it's doable.

[45:50] If it's not, next is a different entity.

[45:53] 'cause it's not a mu it's a charter.

[45:55] So there's different rules with that. Okay.

[45:58] It's definitely something. And believe it

[45:59] or not, it came up at Rotary this morning.

[46:02] It's something that our profession or our world

[46:05] and education has to really think about.

[46:08] And more specifically, and not to go on in, on record

[46:11] or into details, but there is a district that

[46:14] broke away from health trust in

[46:16] school care for the first time.

[46:18] And their testing, their, their bargaining unit was open.

[46:21] So they're testing and theirs in I'll, I'll call it more

[46:24] of a private supplier.

[46:27] So we'll have some data

[46:27] that's gonna be coming our way before.

[46:29] But I agree with everyone.

[46:30] It's, it's definitely a controlled cost

[46:32] that we have to figure out what to do.

[46:34] So David, were you saying that

[46:36] because you want that to be one of our goals?

[46:38] Like do you want Oh, you just,

[46:39] I think it's, I think it's standard operating procedure in

[46:41] an organization, whether you're private, public, whatever,

[46:44] you should always evaluate certain contracts.

[46:47] And health insurance is a big, it's not a contract,

[46:49] but it's a big, big nut in our budget that,

[46:52] and I'm not saying it's every year,

[46:53] but every couple years

[46:54] you should look and see if you can do better.

[46:55] Okay. I just, there's a lot of restrictions,

[46:57] there's a lot of to red tape.

[46:59] And it comes down to our labor agreement too,

[47:01] as Mike alluded to, you know, with the health trust

[47:04] and the specific plans that they get is in the

[47:06] collective bargaining, but you

[47:07] Cannot not do some, 'cause it's

[47:09] hard. You know what I mean? You

[47:10] Gotta still, we would have to do it in tandem

[47:11] with negotiating with the bargaining units.

[47:13] Yeah. All right.

[47:18] So we have our eight goals

[47:19] that we came up with out of our workshop.

[47:21] Everyone feels comfortable with what

[47:22] we've approved tonight for now.

[47:23] Is there anything glaring that you think we need to address?

[47:27] And we can always revisit these throughout the year.

[47:29] You know, if something comes up that, you know, needs

[47:31] to be a goal, you know, they can always be revisited.

[47:34] So this is our starting point and we'll go from here.

[47:37] So I will take these and draft

[47:39] Mine and bring 'em to you either the next meeting

[47:41] or the second meeting in September.

[47:42] So whenever we decide at leadership, it's fine.

[47:45] Thank you. That's good. Alright. All right.

[47:49] Our next item to consider is gonna be the FY 26 fund balance

[47:52] and retention in the contingency fund.

[47:54] So I believe Jane is gonna have a

[47:56] presentation on this for us.

[47:59] I think you just tapped. Yep.

[48:01] That, Okay.

[48:05] So now that we're at our fiscal year end

[48:07] and we're reviewing our financials for the end

[48:11] of the school year, and again our year,

[48:13] our years go from July one to June 30th.

[48:15] So this is where we would be at the end of June 30th, 2026.

[48:19] And these are unaudited numbers.

[48:22] We're not having our audit, let's take it till the first

[48:24] or second week of September now.

[48:26] But our estimated yearend balance right now is a little over

[48:30] a 4.4 million.

[48:32] And there are several areas of the budget that make that up.

[48:35] General and special education tuition,

[48:38] there was some surplus through rein

[48:43] and just in general, general funds some health insurance

[48:47] and also unfilled positions tend

[48:52] to give us a surplus.

[48:54] And so when we're looking at how we're gonna calculate

[48:58] the number that we're presenting tonight, we also have

[49:01] to keep in mind that last year we approved a warrant

[49:04] article, which was warrant article number three.

[49:06] That was $500,000.

[49:08] And that was for maintenance

[49:09] and repairs that would move from the unspent funds

[49:14] and move it to the capital reserve fund, which is

[49:17] what you were just speaking about a few minutes ago.

[49:20] And that would be held with the, it's a trust fund held

[49:23] by the trustees of the trust fund at the town.

[49:26] And that's 500,000.

[49:28] So I subtracted that

[49:30] there was also a warrant article number four,

[49:33] and that was also to address capital improvement projects

[49:36] through facilities.

[49:37] And that would be taking

[49:39] that on the interest earned from the bond proceeds.

[49:43] And remember we were issued the bond, it was a,

[49:47] the bond was sold last August

[49:49] and we were earning interest all along last year.

[49:52] And the total that was earned through the bond was 743,000.

[49:56] The award article was for 700,000.

[50:00] So the remaining 43,000 would've just gone through

[50:05] part of unspent funds.

[50:07] So we subtracted the 700,000

[50:10] and then subtracting 1.5 million,

[50:14] 1.5 million is an amount that we use every year

[50:17] during the budgeting process.

[50:19] And it's kind of a, a placeholder for revenues

[50:22] as your unspent or unreserved funds at the end of the year.

[50:25] And last year when we were doing our calculations, we

[50:30] estimated a 1.5 million in return

[50:33] of unspent funds at the end of the year.

[50:35] So I've calculated that

[50:37] and then that leaves the 1.7 million,

[50:41] which would be available to either move

[50:43] to the contingency fund all or in part

[50:47] or return to offset taxes.

[50:50] Wait before you click? Sure. Okay.

[50:52] Before you click, I just want to point out as we're,

[50:55] we're trying to retrain our vocabulary

[50:57] and some of the things, so our, our unspent right is end

[51:00] of year in a municipal budgeting process, you your target

[51:04] for unspent every year.

[51:06] Remember we cannot go back

[51:07] to the taxpayers ever and ask for more money.

[51:09] So if something happens or something occurs,

[51:11] it comes from the bottom line or a bottom line

[51:12] budget, you cannot go back.

[51:14] So the targeted approach for municipality budgeting is

[51:16] between three and 5%.

[51:18] So that 4.48 is right exactly

[51:21] where municipality budgeting should be with unspent funds.

[51:24] That means you appropriately budgeted

[51:26] and you appropriately spent for the year.

[51:28] So I just want, I want to point that out

[51:29] and then remember these, the, the Warren article three

[51:32] and four were voted on by the, the taxpayers to, to save

[51:35] that money and move those into those, those funds.

[51:37] So just clarifying that before we move on.

[51:42] Did you, you didn't go over the allowable right?

[51:45] Did you? I did not. Okay.

[51:47] And just as a note on the, on the bottom years ago, the,

[51:50] when they finally addressed

[51:52] that school districts could have retained funds,

[51:54] this board voted to have the maximum, which is 5%

[51:58] and it's of your net assessed amount of your budget.

[52:03] So for us, we would have been able to retain up

[52:07] to almost 3.9 million.

[52:09] That's not how much we have left over.

[52:11] We've never retained our maximum allowed amount.

[52:16] So, but we just put that in there so you could see

[52:18] how much we could have retained had we had

[52:20] that much remaining.

[52:24] And then we were asked if we could show different scenarios

[52:28] or options and what the tax impact would be for

[52:31] that depending on if you retained one of these scenarios

[52:36] or, and returned funds.

[52:38] So if we look at scenario one, if the school board wanted

[52:43] to retain 500,000 of the 1.7

[52:47] and move that to the contingency fund,

[52:51] you would have a balance of 1.2 million.

[52:54] And if you return that to offset taxes,

[52:57] that would be a 23 cent tax impact.

[53:01] If you retain a million, it would be a 14 cent tax impact,

[53:05] retain 1.5 million, 5 cent tax impact.

[53:09] And if we retained the full amount, that would be no impact

[53:12] of a tax reduction.

[53:15] So we just use these for easy numbers, you know,

[53:19] the board can choose number whatever numbers they want,

[53:23] but so that's what we have right now.

[53:26] And we have historically always

[53:31] retained funds since we've had the ability to do that.

[53:35] And they've ranged from, I think it started at 400,000

[53:40] and we've been in a different range over

[53:42] a different number of years.

[53:44] Yeah. I wanted to clarify too, that we have the ability

[53:47] to do this because of a vote of the town, right? Yes.

[53:50] The, the town voted for

[53:51] That, the town's voter approved

[53:53] to give the school board the ability to retain these funds

[53:56] until specifically rescinded.

[53:57] So Correct. It's indefinite.

[53:59] Correct. Yeah. And,

[54:00] And I mean This is the board's decision, right?

[54:04] So the recommendation from us is always

[54:06] to, to protect ourselves.

[54:08] And I say Jane always protects the house, right?

[54:11] And I think we live through a couple experiences and, and,

[54:14] and thankfully insurance covered the flooded hood,

[54:17] but we have some other things that could possibly happen,

[54:19] whether it's a boiler, whether it's, so it's,

[54:21] it's always good to have that protection piece so that

[54:26] the following year, if, if,

[54:28] if you take from the bottom line general the following year,

[54:31] you're then gonna be requesting for it again.

[54:34] So just keeping that in mind as you guys deliberate here on,

[54:36] on what you think is best for us.

[54:38] But I think we always say, you know, protecting,

[54:42] protecting the house is always a good thing.

[54:43] 'cause there are a bunch of unknowns.

[54:46] So just for the people in the audience,

[54:48] when you see these numbers, say your house tax assessment,

[54:52] $600,000, you divide that by a thousand, you multiply it

[54:55] by those change on this on the right hand side,

[54:59] and that's the amount you would save.

[55:01] So on a $600,000 house at 23 cents,

[55:03] what are you looking at about a, I don't know, $123 roughly.

[55:07] It's kind of how you look at it when you think about

[55:10] the calculation and trying to figure out

[55:11] how much you'd actually save by the amounts

[55:14] that are showing up top there.

[55:16] $138. It's

[55:20] Just one That's for the whole year?

[55:23] That That'd be for the whole year. The whole year.

[55:25] Okay. 7 38 Thoughts.

[55:28] If we were to retain, if we retain

[55:31] or we choose to retain now, do we determine now what

[55:35] kitty fund, what category

[55:37] that the money would be retained for? Or is it?

[55:39] Great question. It goes into the contingency fund. Okay.

[55:41] So that's, that's the, the, the state rewrote that law too

[55:45] to help districts to be better able

[55:50] to access the contingency in case of

[55:52] unforeseen costs that come our way.

[55:55] That's the way the language is written.

[55:57] So it's a general umbrella term for anything

[55:59] that would arise.

[56:00] And it's not earmarked for specific causes.

[56:03] And the board gets to determine that.

[56:05] Yeah. And you have to have a public hearing

[56:07] and the board has to vote. Right.

[56:09] Okay. All right. So this just puts it into the,

[56:12] It's a savings account for protection.

[56:14] Okay.

[56:16] And whatever, you know, when we establish this contingency

[56:18] fund now, whatever is left in it at the end

[56:20] of the year just goes right back into your year end fund

[56:22] Balance at the end of next year.

[56:24] Yep.

[56:25] Do we know what the tax impact

[56:27] of the bond is this year? Like

[56:31] The rates of it?

[56:33] Is that For the bond? Yeah.

[56:36] No, I, I can look it up though. Okay. This was a high year I

[56:41] Think.

[56:42] I thought so too. I thought this was a higher year,

[56:43] which is why I was hoping to take that into consideration.

[56:47] I thought it levels down. It should

[56:50] because the first year was like nothing.

[56:52] And then the second or third year was gonna be a high kick.

[56:56] I feel like we gotta go something back

[56:59] At That.

[57:00] I don't remember the number, but yeah,

[57:01] to answer your question, interest only the first

[57:02] year is a smaller number.

[57:04] Then you start the amortization schedule.

[57:07] Jane would better be better suited to answer that question.

[57:09] I don't remember the number.

[57:14] Sorry. I'll need a few minutes. It's okay. Sorry.

[57:18] Sorry. Do we have any other questions

[57:20] about the impact of this?

[57:22] What we're talking about?

[57:28] I just wanna reiterate what Michael said.

[57:29] I think it was kind of quiet there at the end.

[57:31] So if you, if you do vote to retain

[57:34] and nothing comes up right, that money then rolls right back

[57:38] to the taxpayer the next year. Okay.

[57:41] I mean, my thoughts would be

[57:43] that we would retain the amounts

[57:44] of 1.7 or so million dollars.

[57:46] I think that we need

[57:48] to be thoughtful moving forward about expenses

[57:50] that we know are gonna be coming up down the line.

[57:52] I think that everyone up here is being tasked

[57:55] with being thoughtful stewards

[57:56] of the public's dollars tax dollars.

[57:59] Part of that is being able to plan

[58:02] and anticipate expenses

[58:03] that we know are coming down the road.

[58:05] I think we have a very recent example of what happens when

[58:08] that doesn't happen, which is what resulted in the bond.

[58:11] I'd like to see us be a little bit more

[58:13] thoughtful moving forward with that.

[58:15] And I do think it's a responsible move.

[58:17] So that, that would be my idea around all of this.

[58:23] So we retain this and we don't use it.

[58:26] It goes back to the taxpayers,

[58:28] It goes back into your un it goes.

[58:29] So you come back to this discussion a year from now.

[58:31] You keep doing this every year.

[58:33] You just keep doing it every year.

[58:35] I think, I think it would be great if we just

[58:38] split it in half and kept half of it

[58:40] 'cause we might not need it

[58:41] and give the other half back to the taxpayers.

[58:47] I think there's definitely some benefits in doing that.

[58:51] Karen and I, I can certainly see meeting everyone halfway.

[58:56] I think we're also in a climate right now where we're,

[58:59] we're coming up against some potential volatility at the,

[59:02] that are is beyond this board's control regarding HB 13,

[59:06] HB 1331.

[59:08] That would be my concern is that if we're not

[59:12] maintaining flexibility about

[59:13] approaching things moving forward,

[59:17] The, sorry.

[59:19] The bond. The bond, the bond number really quick.

[59:21] 44 cents. 44 cents.

[59:24] 44 cents. That Is high. It's, I don't like it. No.

[59:27] Is that an increase? Is that a delta?

[59:29] I mean, I would also be of the opinion

[59:31] of retaining the balance.

[59:33] I mean there's so much unpredictability, unpredictability in

[59:37] so many areas of the district's ledger, you know,

[59:40] facilities, healthcare costs, special education,

[59:42] what we're actually gonna get from state

[59:43] and federal funding sources.

[59:46] I think the fiscally responsible thing to do is

[59:48] for the district to maintain this contingency fund.

[59:50] You know, this is part of municipal budget management.

[59:53] You know, you have to consider, if you take all this money

[59:56] now and you use it for a quick fix

[59:57] that's gonna take a few cents off the tax rate,

[1:00:00] there are things you're not gonna be able to address

[1:00:02] that are gonna get pushed out again.

[1:00:04] And you know, as Jen alluded to, that is kind of

[1:00:07] how we've ended up in bad situations before.

[1:00:12] Can I just clarify one thing, Karen? Sorry.

[1:00:14] So the tax pad is, is 44 cents,

[1:00:16] however, it's, it's going up 33

[1:00:19] 'cause the 11 that was already in because of the interest.

[1:00:22] So there's the Delta's 33 cents just so

[1:00:25] That's on the bond.

[1:00:26] Yes.

[1:00:28] I think my main concern is just, I mean we saw

[1:00:31] what just happened last year with the healthcare funds

[1:00:33] and how London dairy got gobsmacked with an unanticipated

[1:00:39] increase in theirs and they were scrambling.

[1:00:41] And my fear is that next year, I mean nothing's going down.

[1:00:46] The cost for everything is going up.

[1:00:47] I mean, we just had to increase,

[1:00:50] we've had to increase everything.

[1:00:51] And if we're getting less from the state

[1:00:54] and where everything else is increasing, we're just gonna be

[1:00:58] stealing from Peter to pay Paul at some point

[1:01:02] and giving this back of $138 to then possibly have to turn

[1:01:06] around the next year and ask for more money

[1:01:10] for something else when we could have this

[1:01:12] as a rain day fund.

[1:01:14] I also think it, it, it sounds so

[1:01:20] callous to say it's only 138

[1:01:22] because I know $138 is a lot to a lot of people,

[1:01:26] but to a district

[1:01:27] and for what we're funding, that is

[1:01:31] what we are fiscally charged to do is, like you said,

[1:01:35] to, to protect the house.

[1:01:36] Mike and I, I think personally I think we, we'd be,

[1:01:41] it's responsible for us to keep it

[1:01:43] 'cause we know, we know things

[1:01:44] are not gonna get any cheaper.

[1:01:48] But we did have the money from the bond. We

[1:01:51] Also had, I don't think your mic's on,

[1:01:54] We also had the money from from those other

[1:01:57] projects we just did.

[1:01:59] Nope. You just turned it off.

[1:02:02] No. Okay. Use this one. Okay. Anyway.

[1:02:05] I I still think in good faith

[1:02:07] to the taxpayers splitting this in half is the better

[1:02:10] decision simply

[1:02:11] because we've already used a bunch of money to fix a bunch

[1:02:14] of little things that were kind of not super important

[1:02:19] but needed to be done.

[1:02:21] So I don't know, I just think

[1:02:24] we might possibly not even use this money this year. Right.

[1:02:29] And the contingency fund is only gonna grow. Right?

[1:02:31] Like we, we agreed to put,

[1:02:34] was it the 500,000 in there?

[1:02:37] That's, those are different funds you're talking

[1:02:39] About or sorry.

[1:02:42] Okay, so it wouldn't be going into that one.

[1:02:45] The maintenance and repair it would be a different

[1:02:48] No, this is the contingency fund

[1:02:50] that is established under, what is it?

[1:02:51] 1 98 4 B. It's the bottom. So it is different.

[1:02:55] 1 94 have traditional trust fund

[1:02:57] Or March.

[1:02:59] It's an expiring fund every year you can take money from

[1:03:02] your un expend your unspent fund balance

[1:03:05] and put it into this contingency fund

[1:03:07] and it expires at the end of the year

[1:03:08] and just goes back into your

[1:03:10] unspent fund balance at the end of that next year.

[1:03:13] Okay. I mean,

[1:03:15] and facilities is, is going kind of okay now

[1:03:18] because we got the bond and we've done all this stuff.

[1:03:21] So we're keeping money in case of

[1:03:25] we need it for health insurance.

[1:03:26] Well if we're shopping around for health insurance,

[1:03:28] then we might save on that too.

[1:03:30] I mean, there's just other things to do.

[1:03:33] I just think it would be a goodwill gesture gesture

[1:03:37] to split it in half.

[1:03:39] Yeah, well I mean,

[1:03:40] any savings on health insurance are gonna be a

[1:03:42] few years out because

[1:03:44] Of the contractor. Right.

[1:03:45] The labor agreements that we're in. So

[1:03:49] David, I'd be interested in hearing your perspective.

[1:03:53] So I, I hear everyone saying, and, and I,

[1:03:55] and I can appreciate what Jenna mentioned about London

[1:03:57] getting whacked last year.

[1:03:59] And a lot of people who used

[1:04:00] for the student care, whatever got whacked.

[1:04:03] You know, the three prior years I was on the board, I,

[1:04:06] I gave money back every year.

[1:04:08] My vote, I voted to give money back every year.

[1:04:11] 'cause we were able to keep a good chunk of money.

[1:04:13] But I'm not comfortable going to a, a super low number.

[1:04:19] I don't think we need to take it all.

[1:04:20] But I I I'm good with 1.5 as a number.

[1:04:24] I know it's not a lot. I just don't feel comfortable giving

[1:04:27] I not having a savings for, you know, we did, yeah.

[1:04:30] We're spending a lot of money on facilities,

[1:04:32] but that's everything outside.

[1:04:34] Like when we're not putting a ton of money inside

[1:04:36] and things could go, like, I'm sit here and list them off.

[1:04:40] But you, you know what I mean? You know, I just don't,

[1:04:43] IIII just don't feel comfortable not having something

[1:04:47] reserved that will protect us.

[1:04:52] Just another piece. I'm only giving you

[1:04:54] information was going on last year.

[1:04:55] You guys retained, it was my first meeting.

[1:04:57] I couldn't remember last year. We retained 2.1 last year.

[1:05:02] And how much of that do we use?

[1:05:04] Oh, we used it for, so it's contingency.

[1:05:09] So the only public hearing we had was to use the funds

[1:05:12] to relocate the SAU.

[1:05:14] So that was it. Excuse

[1:05:16] Me.

[1:05:18] What the warrant on articles two, these two. Oh,

[1:05:21] It's separate.

[1:05:22] It's separate. The problem

[1:05:23] to looking into the past about unexpected expenses is that

[1:05:27] unexpected expenses are unexpected.

[1:05:29] So that's what's problematic about that.

[1:05:31] And there was a time that this board was debating about

[1:05:33] having a bond that was $10 million more than the $25 million

[1:05:37] that we asked for $15 million more.

[1:05:40] I mean, there, there is significant need

[1:05:42] and there remains significant need.

[1:05:45] I don't like those needs. I, I really don't,

[1:05:46] I wish we didn't have those needs.

[1:05:47] But they continue to be needs.

[1:05:49] They don't go away because we don't pay for them today.

[1:05:52] My concern would be that, you know,

[1:05:54] a hundred dollars today is taking $200 tomorrow.

[1:05:58] That, those are my thoughts

[1:05:59] and that's why I'm, I'm advocating for,

[1:06:01] to retain the full amount.

[1:06:03] I I understand we can have

[1:06:04] thoughtful disagreement about that.

[1:06:07] Okay. So I I don't think we should retain it all.

[1:06:12] I think we've asked for a lot from the taxpayers.

[1:06:15] We have a $9 million increase in our budget.

[1:06:18] I don't know what that is 'cause we don't have a,

[1:06:20] we don't know what the tax rate's gonna

[1:06:22] be, but it's significant.

[1:06:24] We have the two warrant articles that were approved

[1:06:26] that we can spend that money.

[1:06:27] We've approved money that has been left over

[1:06:30] to do repairs up until a couple of weeks ago.

[1:06:34] So we're not ignoring doing things.

[1:06:37] I think $138 is not a lot of money

[1:06:40] or whatever it turns out to be.

[1:06:42] But it is a goodwill gesture to the, to the taxpayers

[1:06:45] who have given us a lot this year.

[1:06:48] So you'd be in favor of returning a portion of it? Yes.

[1:06:51] Or do you have a number out of this? What is,

[1:06:55] I don't have a number.

[1:06:56] I, I listened to David and I listen to Karen.

[1:06:58] I'll see where it comes down, what, what ends up coming up.

[1:07:02] So I can definitely appreciate what Brenda's saying

[1:07:04] and she's, and Karen's saying a hundred percent right.

[1:07:06] The one thing, and I don't wanna get too political here,

[1:07:08] and I, and I, I'll try not to,

[1:07:10] but we've been asked to do a lot as a school board

[1:07:13] from in Concord.

[1:07:15] We've been asked to give a lot

[1:07:19] and change direction change course.

[1:07:21] I won't go into every little detail,

[1:07:23] but we all know what they are.

[1:07:26] So, and this is who the town of Derry voted

[1:07:29] for up in Concord to send up there.

[1:07:32] So, you know, I do, I feel bad

[1:07:36] that the tax rate is at where it's at.

[1:07:38] Of course I do. But do I have a lot of sympathy?

[1:07:41] No, this is what was voted for.

[1:07:43] This is what the town voted for

[1:07:45] and we're doing the best we can to manage the variables

[1:07:48] that have been given to us.

[1:07:50] And, but I'll stop my sob story.

[1:07:54] So I'll make a motion to retain

[1:08:00] 1,000,002 50.

[1:08:04] All right. So we have a motion on the table

[1:08:06] to remain retain $1,250,000.

[1:08:10] Do I have a second? Second. Second by Brenda.

[1:08:16] All right. So why don't we do a roll call Vote. Brenda? Yes.

[1:08:21] Jen? Yes. Jenna,

[1:08:27] Can you come back to me?

[1:08:30] Is your mind gonna change? Maybe I, I'm not.

[1:08:35] Alright. Right. We'll skip you for now. Jamie? Yes. Karen?

[1:08:40] Yes. David? Yes. Jenna?

[1:08:45] Yes. All right. Chair votes Yes.

[1:08:48] Passes. Seven zero. Right

[1:08:50] For the record, that means $533,811

[1:08:55] will be returned to the taxpayer.

[1:08:58] Okay. Alright. Thank you. Okay,

[1:09:05] so our final item

[1:09:06] to go over tonight is gonna be a policy revision.

[1:09:09] Mike will have more details, but this is a first read

[1:09:12] and there is urgency to enact its revision.

[1:09:14] So we're being asked as permitted under policy BGA

[1:09:18] to waive the second meeting limitation

[1:09:19] and take immediate action.

[1:09:20] So Mike, I'll turn it over to you.

[1:09:22] And actually I'm ecstatic

[1:09:23] 'cause I'm gonna turn it over to Dr.

[1:09:24] Sand.

[1:09:27] So in your packet tonight, you have a po, a copy

[1:09:31] of draft policy JIC.

[1:09:34] As you know, house bill 1 31 was recently JICK.

[1:09:37] JICK was recently amended

[1:09:43] because of legislation that Governor Aott signed in July.

[1:09:46] It actually went into effect August 1st.

[1:09:49] So we're somewhat on a time crunch.

[1:09:51] And basically the revisions

[1:09:54] of this policy is due to that legislation.

[1:09:56] So just to give you an overview of some of those changes,

[1:10:00] it is in relation to bullying and student safety.

[1:10:04] All school staff must report bullying by the end of the day.

[1:10:07] That is new. Upon receiving a bullying report,

[1:10:11] administrators need to provide the rights to the victim.

[1:10:14] It a lot of the legal terms in the policy have changed.

[1:10:19] It replaces labels like respondent

[1:10:21] and complainant to perpetrator and victim.

[1:10:26] Sure. It updates new here I am new. I'm sorry.

[1:10:33] It updates a lot of the cyber bullying threats.

[1:10:36] It gives behavioral expectations

[1:10:38] with plain language examples.

[1:10:40] And it also has a curricular component.

[1:10:42] And there's also a piece of it where the principal

[1:10:46] or designee needs to have a mandatory conference

[1:10:48] with the perpetrator and the perpetrator's family.

[1:10:51] So the New Hampshire School Board Association has advised

[1:10:54] districts to actually waive the second reading to be able

[1:10:58] to implement this as soon as possible.

[1:11:01] All right. Questions, comments about the policy?

[1:11:06] All right. So I would take a motion

[1:11:07] to waive the second reading limitation

[1:11:09] and approve the amended policy.

[1:11:11] JICK as presented first by Brenda. Second.

[1:11:15] Second by Jenna. Karen. Karen can take it, Karen. All right.

[1:11:20] All in favor? Aye. All opposed. Motion carries. Seven zero.

[1:11:25] Move on to administration reports.

[1:11:27] I'll turn it over to Jane for

[1:11:28] the business administrators update.

[1:11:30] Okay. I just want to address a couple things

[1:11:32] that were mentioned tonight with regards

[1:11:35] to the capital reserve accounts.

[1:11:36] We actually have two right now.

[1:11:39] One of 'em is, was voted on, that was for the replacement

[1:11:43] of Westbrook and Barca's Roof.

[1:11:46] And there is remaining funds in there from interest.

[1:11:49] So right now that account,

[1:11:51] I think it's in the $60,000 range.

[1:11:54] And we would only spend

[1:11:56] that on a roofing project since that's where it came from.

[1:11:59] And we would bring that to the board if we were gonna

[1:12:02] do any spending on that.

[1:12:03] The other capital reserve is a general facilities

[1:12:09] account where we would be able to do, you know, HVAC

[1:12:13] or window replacement paving, things like that.

[1:12:16] Again, those would be brought to the board

[1:12:18] for approval as well.

[1:12:19] So those are the only two capital reserves. How much is in

[1:12:22] That one? I'm sorry?

[1:12:23] Did you specify how much was in that one?

[1:12:24] You said 60 K for the roof one

[1:12:27] and then the general one has how much?

[1:12:29] Yeah, and I don't have the numbers with me,

[1:12:30] but it's over a hundred thousand.

[1:12:32] Okay. And I'll bring, I'll bring that actually

[1:12:35] for my September report.

[1:12:37] I'll bring you a copy of those. We get them every month.

[1:12:39] Okay. And so if you were going to, if you wanted to have a

[1:12:44] WOR article to add to a capital reserve account,

[1:12:48] I would recommend that if it's going to be

[1:12:50] for general facilities, it would just add

[1:12:52] to the existing capital reserve account that there is,

[1:12:55] there's no need to have a third, you know,

[1:12:57] a second general maintenance account.

[1:12:59] If you're gonna do something different

[1:13:00] and have a warrant capital reserve for special education,

[1:13:04] then you would have to have a new account.

[1:13:07] Okay. And

[1:13:11] so I know we talked about budget

[1:13:14] and you know, obviously we're, we have

[1:13:16] to take into consideration House Bill 1300.

[1:13:20] We've already started doing our templates

[1:13:22] and our base of our budget.

[1:13:24] And like Mike said, we met yesterday

[1:13:25] to talk about timelines.

[1:13:28] The good thing I guess for timeline is

[1:13:30] that Health Trust no longer

[1:13:33] just gives you a guaranteed maximum.

[1:13:35] Last year we were given our actual rate October 10th.

[1:13:40] So we're getting

[1:13:42] that in the beginning of our budget process.

[1:13:44] So that's really helpful to us so that we'll know what

[1:13:47] that increase is going to be early on in the process.

[1:13:50] And that will be really helpful when the board decides,

[1:13:53] you know, for a percentage of an increase,

[1:13:55] I'll at least have that number.

[1:13:57] It won't be a guess. And as you know, we get PanIN typically

[1:14:01] around the week of Thanksgiving, so

[1:14:03] more towards the end of November.

[1:14:05] But by that point we'll know what the town vote

[1:14:08] is relative to that.

[1:14:09] For 27, 28,

[1:14:13] we're also working on, I'll be bringing to the DOE 25

[1:14:17] that is the compilation of all

[1:14:21] of the revenues expenditures.

[1:14:23] And we do that for the Department of Ed.

[1:14:26] I think they call it the DOE 25

[1:14:28] 'cause it used to be 25 pages,

[1:14:29] but I believe we have a whole bunch more tabs.

[1:14:32] And everything in the budget now has to be broken down by

[1:14:36] elementary, middle high.

[1:14:38] Also now has to be broken down by each individual school.

[1:14:42] And that's for general

[1:14:43] and special education, all grants, food service,

[1:14:48] it's a very complicated report, takes a lot of hours.

[1:14:51] So we're working on that.

[1:14:52] We're probably going to, it is due September 1st,

[1:14:55] but since we've just finalized our numbers,

[1:14:58] we'll ask for request.

[1:14:59] And we've always, we've always got one,

[1:15:02] so it probably be 10 days after.

[1:15:07] And we're also still working on audit.

[1:15:10] We've received so far 54 requests,

[1:15:13] although those are a lot of requests within each one.

[1:15:17] And if you remember, we have three different bank accounts.

[1:15:19] We have two PIP accounts, we have a general checking,

[1:15:21] we have six student activity checking accounts

[1:15:24] that we have to reconcile.

[1:15:26] So we are working on all of that

[1:15:28] to be prepared for a full audit.

[1:15:31] I would like to just bring up food service today.

[1:15:34] I, Christina LeBel, our director of child Nutrition,

[1:15:38] brought over the applications for me to approve today.

[1:15:43] We received several applications, three of them.

[1:15:48] And this is after we've gone down in the calculations on

[1:15:52] whether people are approved or not.

[1:15:54] We had three that were approved to be on reduced meals.

[1:15:58] Five were denied for excess in

[1:16:03] or too much income based on the guidelines.

[1:16:06] Four families were approved for free meals

[1:16:10] and five that were sent over are actually direct certified.

[1:16:13] So they wouldn't have even had

[1:16:15] to have filled out an application because we get

[1:16:17] that the direct certified actually is a list that comes

[1:16:20] to us directly from the state.

[1:16:22] So as you as you know, people

[1:16:26] who are already qualified for free

[1:16:28] and reduced, they have until the beginning

[1:16:30] of October to reapply.

[1:16:32] So we wanna make sure and encourage families to do that,

[1:16:35] even though the timeline's another month and a half out.

[1:16:38] Get your applications in now so that we can make sure

[1:16:40] that you're set up to have a continuation of the free

[1:16:44] or reduced if you still qualify.

[1:16:47] And so people can do that.

[1:16:49] We have paper copies in the school office.

[1:16:52] We have our online portal is open

[1:16:55] and if you feel like you need additional assistance with it,

[1:16:59] please feel free to call Christina

[1:17:01] or call any one of the kitchen

[1:17:04] staff members at your child's school

[1:17:06] and they'd be happy to help you with your application.

[1:17:09] And we also do have teachers

[1:17:11] who specialize in speakers of other languages.

[1:17:14] So if, if families need assistance with that, we have plenty

[1:17:18] of people that can help people fill out.

[1:17:20] And the home to school coordinators are also really helpful.

[1:17:23] We do have cook server

[1:17:26] positions open if anybody's interested in a

[1:17:28] position in our kitchens.

[1:17:30] And we also have a commissary driver position open.

[1:17:33] They're part-time, but the commissary driver

[1:17:37] brings food from one school to another.

[1:17:40] Unloads the state commodities when they come every month.

[1:17:44] So we're looking for somebody

[1:17:45] for those positions in food service.

[1:17:49] Any questions? I do actually, while you have the microphone,

[1:17:54] I was wondering if you could address publicly the

[1:17:57] how the choosing the audit works.

[1:18:00] I know I spoke to Mike recently a couple days ago

[1:18:02] and there was a concerned citizen who had posted on a thread

[1:18:07] that actually Brian had had posted

[1:18:10] and basically kind of like accused nefarious wrongdoings

[1:18:14] of choosing an auditor basically that would favorably

[1:18:19] look upon our books or look the other way or whatever.

[1:18:21] And I was just wondering if you could quickly address the

[1:18:25] fact of how, how you choose an auditor,

[1:18:27] how many are actually available to us in the state

[1:18:29] of New Hampshire and just to kind of, you know,

[1:18:33] clear the air and, and,

[1:18:34] and make it well known that this is not picked

[1:18:36] to look the other way or cook our books of somehow.

[1:18:40] Sure. So there are very few auditors,

[1:18:44] public auditors for entities like ourselves.

[1:18:47] We currently use Cbis,

[1:18:49] which has had a few different names

[1:18:52] over the last several years.

[1:18:54] And actually it's the same auditing firm

[1:18:56] that the town of Dairy uses.

[1:18:58] So different teams are doing the audits.

[1:19:02] Different ones do municipalities, different ones do schools.

[1:19:06] So there's Sebas, there's PLA and Sanderson.

[1:19:09] We had used pla, pla and Sanderson for many, many years.

[1:19:13] And so then we went out to try to find, you know,

[1:19:16] because we had been on there for so long,

[1:19:19] that same concern had gone up

[1:19:20] and then we switched to another company.

[1:19:23] But there's really, those are the top two in the state.

[1:19:27] There are some smaller private ones,

[1:19:30] but they would do a town maybe the size of Chester.

[1:19:34] I know Chester uses a small accounting firm,

[1:19:37] but with a, with a business like ours, it's $120 million.

[1:19:43] We are using a very large firm.

[1:19:47] We never have the same team.

[1:19:49] So they, many of them don't live around here.

[1:19:53] You know, some of them are remote, some of them travel

[1:19:57] to get here, some of them are local,

[1:20:00] but they purposefully rotate your teams so

[1:20:03] that you're not having anybody who's,

[1:20:08] you know, for any conflict or anything like that.

[1:20:11] So yeah, there's very few auditing firms for us

[1:20:14] to choose from and we're using one of the largest ones.

[1:20:19] Okay, thank you. I just wanted to kind

[1:20:21] of put it out there on the record so that

[1:20:24] if this person should ask again,

[1:20:25] they could actually find the information easily.

[1:20:29] You think Jane would've gotten,

[1:20:30] you think Jane would've taken it

[1:20:31] so personal last year when she was a super user?

[1:20:34] Yeah, if I thought it was gonna be a breeze,

[1:20:36] I wouldn't have so much anxiety to be perfect

[1:20:39] and make sure that, thank you for

[1:20:43] that there description, Jane.

[1:20:44] Appreciate it. Yes.

[1:20:47] So Jane, I have a question on free and reduced lunch.

[1:20:50] Sure. Is that state guidelines or federal guidelines?

[1:20:53] Federal guidelines. They are federal guidelines. Okay.

[1:20:56] Yes, yes. They're, they're not school district.

[1:20:58] We have no control over those guidelines, you know, and,

[1:21:01] And some people in the community might ask,

[1:21:02] why do we always talk about it?

[1:21:04] Right? That you hear at every board

[1:21:05] meeting it, it's important.

[1:21:06] Number one really is

[1:21:08] to make sure the families know the benefits

[1:21:10] that are available to them and so

[1:21:12] that the students are fed every day.

[1:21:14] That's the real goal. But the second piece

[1:21:16] that people might not understand is that we, our, the amount

[1:21:19] of money we receive from the state is tied

[1:21:21] to our free and reduced lunch.

[1:21:24] So if you think about how calculations exist,

[1:21:27] it's kind of crazy, right?

[1:21:28] The, the higher you're free

[1:21:30] and reduced, the more adequacy you get.

[1:21:32] So it's also important for all districts, not only just

[1:21:34] to make sure that the communities receiving the benefits,

[1:21:37] but it's also a bottom line number

[1:21:38] for us in regards to adequacy.

[1:21:40] So that's why it's important on both ends.

[1:21:43] Are you saying, Mike, that when the federal guidelines

[1:21:45] change, the state adequacy changes

[1:21:47] and then the local school board needs to figure out

[1:21:49] I didn't say it that way. I said it.

[1:21:52] That's what it kind of sounds like. Yeah. Okay.

[1:21:55] Alright. So onto my report. Right

[1:21:58] Ahead.

[1:21:59] Alright, so just a couple things.

[1:22:00] We're gonna go down the list. It's

[1:22:01] Tracy's stealing my thunder here.

[1:22:04] So to report out on South range, it, it's, I'll reiterate

[1:22:07] what Tracy did in public comments.

[1:22:08] So I commend the, the, the groups

[1:22:12] that we entered into the agreement with

[1:22:13] and the work that was being done.

[1:22:15] It was seven days a week.

[1:22:17] It was during the torrential downpours,

[1:22:19] it was during the Crazy heat.

[1:22:20] They were there every day

[1:22:22] and they were respectful to the neighborhood

[1:22:24] and they cranked out work

[1:22:26] as Jeremy reported, there's no secret.

[1:22:28] As we started to uncover more things popped up.

[1:22:31] So some of those timelines changed credit

[1:22:34] to South Range in the staff

[1:22:37] for their resiliency as the trucks.

[1:22:40] I I, at my opening staff meeting, as the buses were leaving,

[1:22:43] the trucks were pulling in at the, at the start of summer.

[1:22:45] And then as the trucks were pulling out,

[1:22:47] the staff were pulling in, they walked

[1:22:49] into a pretty filthy building.

[1:22:51] They, Jeremy's crew

[1:22:53] and the staff themselves just started

[1:22:55] taking it upon themselves.

[1:22:56] But then we got a crew in during the weekend,

[1:22:59] staff from Barca, staff from other buildings.

[1:23:01] I know Dr. Sandi was over there really starting

[1:23:04] to help make that building come together.

[1:23:07] So credit to them, credit to the, the people that we worked

[1:23:10] with, it was pretty cool.

[1:23:12] Speaking of that, I mentioned teachers are back,

[1:23:14] it was great to see them last week.

[1:23:16] And we did our opening meeting,

[1:23:19] which I've got down to about 45 minutes.

[1:23:21] So I think everyone's happy about that.

[1:23:24] Get them back into the buildings, get 'em kicking.

[1:23:26] So it was great to see them.

[1:23:29] I have to say it publicly, the way I sit in front

[1:23:31] of the staff, if you see Jeremy, please

[1:23:34] give him a high five that man.

[1:23:36] And what he did this summer, not only coordinating

[1:23:38] what was going on South Range,

[1:23:40] but we replaced nearly 4,000 square feet of, of flooring.

[1:23:45] We replaced so much.

[1:23:47] And I don't think I've ever seen

[1:23:48] that man either get too high or too low.

[1:23:50] Probably the most even keel guy around.

[1:23:52] So he did just a phenomenal job

[1:23:53] this year, managing all that.

[1:23:54] So thank you to him. Spent some time at Rotary this morning.

[1:23:58] It was great to see that group.

[1:24:00] We spent some time talking about the,

[1:24:02] the work we're doing in our school.

[1:24:04] And then really the questions surrounded House Bill 1300,

[1:24:08] which I'll talk to at the end.

[1:24:09] But it was, thank you for the invite to the rotary. Bev.

[1:24:11] Bev had reached out to invite me.

[1:24:13] So that was, that was great. Obviously students are back.

[1:24:17] Today was a great day.

[1:24:21] I I, I made a joke with Mr. Fox this morning

[1:24:23] 'cause the buses were terrible.

[1:24:25] But at the same time in my Carrie

[1:24:27] and I, I think we did some math, I think in my 26 years,

[1:24:29] we've never had a good first day run on busing,

[1:24:31] but a couple unanticipated consequences

[1:24:33] this year with time change.

[1:24:34] So we had a higher ridership than we ever have this year.

[1:24:37] So we actually had more students getting on the bus

[1:24:39] and less parent pickup and drop off.

[1:24:42] But that slowed down the routes

[1:24:43] 'cause the routes have been designed for normal ride,

[1:24:46] call it normal ridership previously.

[1:24:48] So we're working through all those kinks.

[1:24:50] It normally takes about three or four days.

[1:24:51] New, new stops are added.

[1:24:53] New stops may be adjusted at the same time.

[1:24:56] I think I spoke with Michael and Janet leadership today.

[1:24:58] Your buses were totally on time, so it's good and bad,

[1:25:02] but we're trying to navigate that as usual.

[1:25:06] Really super excited to report out.

[1:25:08] We had our signups with five through eight sports.

[1:25:10] So remember we added five, six sports.

[1:25:11] We included boys and girls soccer, cross country

[1:25:15] and field hockey.

[1:25:18] We had nearly 200 signups.

[1:25:20] So whoa, we actually have

[1:25:21] to add an additional volleyball team.

[1:25:25] And so that's great. That's what we all wanted,

[1:25:27] I think in the spring was to have more kids involved.

[1:25:30] I'll say now some of the, the rubber needs

[1:25:32] to meet the road in regards

[1:25:33] to organizing our coaches in our fields and all of that.

[1:25:37] But I think we have Danielle, who's in great shape.

[1:25:39] She's pheno so organized along with Melanie and Mr. Fox.

[1:25:43] They're all doing a phenomenal job.

[1:25:44] So excited to report out that SAU move.

[1:25:48] So Kathleen and I actually, I call it evicted.

[1:25:53] We've been evicting people slowly.

[1:25:55] The business department now has been there

[1:25:56] for almost three, four weeks.

[1:25:58] Moved into special ed, moved into curriculum McKinney, bento

[1:26:02] and then, then Kathleen and I actually closed the doors

[1:26:04] today for the final time at 18 South Main.

[1:26:07] We took our final staff picture there yesterday.

[1:26:12] So we are all in at Dairy Village.

[1:26:17] The only thing left at the SAU are,

[1:26:20] it looks like a ghost town, but it's chairs

[1:26:22] and desks and filing cabinets.

[1:26:24] So what we're gonna do is slowly move those filing cabinets,

[1:26:27] if you can imagine years

[1:26:28] of stuff into the appropriate places.

[1:26:30] And then we'll essentially be all out

[1:26:33] in regards to the next steps.

[1:26:35] We met with our legal team last Friday,

[1:26:40] and obviously it's up to you guys.

[1:26:41] And I had mentioned that we start

[1:26:43] that discussion, the recommendation.

[1:26:45] So there's an RFP, I'm gonna give the quick version

[1:26:48] 'cause this isn't, this isn't the work we're doing,

[1:26:50] but the RFP, right?

[1:26:51] You put a purchase order out for the SAU, you solicit bids,

[1:26:54] people tell you how much they wanna buy it,

[1:26:56] and then the board can select that.

[1:26:57] The recommendation from our firm though is to do an RFQ.

[1:27:01] So it's the same way. It's you're trying

[1:27:03] to find a qualified commercial real estate agent

[1:27:06] that has that skillset.

[1:27:07] So it's the same as if we're doing an RFQ for architects

[1:27:10] or landscaping things like, so

[1:27:14] who is qualified to do the work?

[1:27:17] That gives the board a little bit more control.

[1:27:19] So you can interview the candidates once they submit,

[1:27:21] if they're interested in being the, the agent.

[1:27:24] And then you can tell them more specifically

[1:27:26] what your bottom line number is, what your goals are.

[1:27:31] We have already qualified the legal components

[1:27:33] because we went out to the to vote, right?

[1:27:37] So the town unanimously approved you to be the,

[1:27:40] the buyers, the sellers.

[1:27:42] So you can, you can do all the work.

[1:27:43] So we've, we've crossed that line.

[1:27:45] Once we come to an agreement though, remember it's

[1:27:47] that last, last chance, whatever it is

[1:27:50] that charter schools can come in

[1:27:52] and equal the match, whatever it may or may not be.

[1:27:54] So the, the next step would be for the board to

[1:27:59] probably either the next meeting

[1:28:00] or the following meeting, put in

[1:28:02] what you want see out of your RFQ.

[1:28:04] So what are the qualifications? What's the experience?

[1:28:07] Do you want to do a firm, do you

[1:28:09] want to do an individual person?

[1:28:10] Things along those lines.

[1:28:12] The reason why the, the, I'll just say it one more time.

[1:28:14] Publicly. The reason why you move away from the RFP

[1:28:16] 'cause what's the goal of an RFP?

[1:28:18] What's the goal when you bid? I'm, I'm testing you guys.

[1:28:21] When you're putting a bid in, what's the goal?

[1:28:22] Lowest, right? You, you're,

[1:28:24] you people are just gonna continue to undercut what they,

[1:28:26] maybe what the value is

[1:28:27] and what they think they can get the sale for.

[1:28:29] So really to give yourself the leverage

[1:28:31] and make sure you're using what you you're capable of.

[1:28:34] You wanna find that buyer and you tell

[1:28:35] them, go out, do this.

[1:28:37] And then we meet all those qualifications.

[1:28:39] So you can get that going.

[1:28:41] One of the next meetings, we get that posted

[1:28:43] and then you guys get to do that work from there.

[1:28:46] But we're officially out.

[1:28:48] I mean it's, it's, it was today,

[1:28:50] it was really weird and, but it's nice.

[1:28:54] So that goes into my last thing is the facilities tour.

[1:28:57] We've been kicking around. So I'd like,

[1:29:01] I know I think we've heard from one

[1:29:02] or two board members in regards to the nights or evenings.

[1:29:04] We're gonna post that as a whole meeting

[1:29:06] just outta the good for everyone.

[1:29:07] And then anyone in the community can join

[1:29:08] the tours as we hop around.

[1:29:11] Also thought about maybe doing it before a board meeting.

[1:29:13] Maybe we go out in the facilities.

[1:29:15] That way you don't have to mess

[1:29:17] with your calendars too much.

[1:29:18] Maybe we book a four o'clock start time and we bounce around

[1:29:21] and we end up back in this direction.

[1:29:23] So those are some of my recommendations.

[1:29:25] School's off and running. You'll hear from the principals

[1:29:27] next meeting, they're gonna come and do the opening spiel.

[1:29:29] I didn't wanna take any of their

[1:29:30] thunder and more off and running.

[1:29:33] It's been a, it's been a great day.

[1:29:34] I say it's always the best day of the year.

[1:29:35] So questions for me?

[1:29:40] Questions? Alright, lots of good news there.

[1:29:44] Glad to hear about five, six sports that seem

[1:29:46] to come together at just the right time for us.

[1:29:49] Excited. All right.

[1:29:53] Our next order of business will be committee

[1:29:54] and liaison reports.

[1:29:56] Mike, I'm assuming you have no other updates outta policy.

[1:29:59] We were just meeting it. That specific emergency policy.

[1:30:03] So I will turn it over to Jenna

[1:30:04] with an update from the Curriculum and Assessment Committee.

[1:30:09] Okay. So shameless admission,

[1:30:13] we had a massive meeting last week.

[1:30:16] It was our first one in review of the summer,

[1:30:19] and Kim gave us a lot.

[1:30:22] It was a full amount of Kim just going over everything

[1:30:25] that was done over the summer.

[1:30:28] So I had to take the notes and I had to throw it into AI

[1:30:32] and scramble it

[1:30:33] because I could not possibly summarize

[1:30:36] everything that was given to us.

[1:30:37] So this isn't entirely from my brain, but a little bit.

[1:30:42] So I'm just gonna give you a rundown of what we did.

[1:30:45] The main focus that the curriculum worked on over the summer

[1:30:49] was family at, one of the things is family access.

[1:30:53] The district is working on a family curriculum hub

[1:30:57] and a K through eight curriculum dashboard.

[1:30:59] And the idea is that parents will be able to easily see

[1:31:03] what their child is expected to learn at each grade level,

[1:31:06] what the priority standards are,

[1:31:08] how students are being assessed,

[1:31:09] and get ideas of how they can support them from home.

[1:31:13] They're doing a lot of work around writing

[1:31:16] and instruction grades K through eight, which we know that

[1:31:20] there needs to be some work on over the summer.

[1:31:23] The task forms work on the curriculum using something called

[1:31:26] the writing rope, which isn't, I believe a paid for program,

[1:31:30] but it's something that they're pulling from that goes

[1:31:33] around the evidence-based learning

[1:31:37] to build on the framework.

[1:31:38] The goal is to build those skills year over year,

[1:31:41] like critical thinking

[1:31:42] before we send them into Pinkerton,

[1:31:44] where they're really expected to do a lot

[1:31:45] more, learn a lot more.

[1:31:47] Writing homework is an area

[1:31:50] they're trying to make more clear.

[1:31:52] Starting in fifth grade.

[1:31:54] The homework will gradually start to increase.

[1:31:57] Again, preparing them for what they're going

[1:31:59] to expect once they get to high school.

[1:32:01] It's not just to give them more work, it's to reinforce

[1:32:03] what they're learning, build responsibility

[1:32:05] and help prepare them for middle.

[1:32:07] And then for high school

[1:32:09] families will get more information about

[1:32:11] what the expectations are and how they can help.

[1:32:14] In math, they had some,

[1:32:19] some task force teams go over that

[1:32:22] and they're working on consistency

[1:32:24] and how instruction is structured,

[1:32:26] which I know is very vague,

[1:32:27] but it was kind of vague to us in the meeting too.

[1:32:31] It was just basically, this is something

[1:32:32] that we are working on.

[1:32:35] Math block is including a warmup focused instruction

[1:32:38] and meaningful practice.

[1:32:41] And then continuing to work on the ELA curriculum.

[1:32:45] There was something that I thought was really interesting is

[1:32:47] that there was progression made with open up,

[1:32:52] I guess there are different programs

[1:32:53] that are used for each level.

[1:32:54] There's K through four and then 5, 6, 7, 8,

[1:32:57] and depending where they are,

[1:32:58] and the fifth graders were doing,

[1:33:01] or the upcoming fourth graders were doing so well

[1:33:03] that they're now being bumped up into the next level

[1:33:06] of the ELA program, which I thought was really good.

[1:33:10] And then, oh, and science, we are going to be,

[1:33:14] they're gonna start using Open sc,

[1:33:16] which they're very excited about.

[1:33:18] It's gonna be sixth through eighth grade

[1:33:19] full implementation.

[1:33:21] And they're going to be using something called SAM Labs,

[1:33:24] which is a, a obviously a, a lab program for K through four.

[1:33:29] So I think that is the general synopsis.

[1:33:33] But there was, there was a lot.

[1:33:35] Jen, please if I miss anything. No, there

[1:33:37] Was, there was a lot of information that we covered.

[1:33:39] It's over a short period of time.

[1:33:41] I think you summarized it well.

[1:33:43] I think one of the take homes for me was that there's a lot

[1:33:45] of work that happens in the curriculum department over the

[1:33:46] summer when there aren't students in the schools

[1:33:48] and teachers are getting together

[1:33:50] to think a lot about what's being taught.

[1:33:52] I had asked Kim about Kim Conan, again for everyone

[1:33:56] that might not know as the director of curriculum.

[1:33:58] I asked her about some writing information

[1:34:01] at the K to four level.

[1:34:03] Yeah, there was a lot that was contained in that meeting.

[1:34:05] So good job, Jenna.

[1:34:07] Thanks. I tried just to

[1:34:10] Echo a few things.

[1:34:11] I also said on that committee, the writing rope,

[1:34:14] if you think about, it's actually a visual.

[1:34:16] So it's all the elements of strong writers

[1:34:18] and you take those strands

[1:34:20] and you weave them together to create the rope.

[1:34:22] So it's really a focus on different strands of writing

[1:34:24] and explicit instruction for students.

[1:34:28] Another goal of the committee is

[1:34:29] to create public facing documents that we would like

[1:34:31] to put on the website so families know

[1:34:33] what their students are learning and when.

[1:34:36] And also, just to echo what Jen said, there were people in

[1:34:40] and out all summer long at the SAU working on task force

[1:34:43] to really look at the curriculum that we have, refining it

[1:34:47] and trying to make it really clear for teachers

[1:34:50] to really provide them a strong framework

[1:34:52] to teach from in ELA.

[1:34:57] Oh, and one other thing I wanted to add,

[1:34:58] which I thought was very important

[1:35:00] and to let parents know, is that the,

[1:35:02] they're gonna be implementing book contracts, which so

[1:35:06] that nobody gets a surprise in that every year, you know,

[1:35:09] physical copies of books go out

[1:35:10] and sometimes kids don't take care of things,

[1:35:13] which is a shocker.

[1:35:14] I know. So parents

[1:35:15] and kids are gonna be signing book contracts to say

[1:35:18] that they're getting property from the school

[1:35:20] and they're going to take care of it,

[1:35:22] and they're going to return it back to the school district,

[1:35:24] hopefully in the same condition that it went out.

[1:35:26] And if not, then they're going

[1:35:28] to be fiscally responsible for that book.

[1:35:30] Which I think not only is that beneficial to the district,

[1:35:33] but it's also beneficial to the children to learn how

[1:35:36] to take care of their property

[1:35:38] and especially other people's belongings.

[1:35:42] So that's my report.

[1:35:45] All right. Do we have any questions?

[1:35:48] We will move on to member updates in any other business.

[1:35:51] I had a couple of items. First, I wanted to thank Jen

[1:35:53] for chairing our last meeting on August 11th

[1:35:55] while I was on vacation.

[1:35:58] I also wanted to thank Barbara DuPont, Audrey Allen

[1:36:00] for reaching out to us and coming to the meeting

[1:36:02] with their proposal to redirect the funds from the

[1:36:04] fundraiser they spearheaded six years ago.

[1:36:06] Their proposal to donate the funds to St.

[1:36:08] Jude's is an excellent way to honor the memory

[1:36:10] of the two girls who were the inspiration of the campaign.

[1:36:13] So thank you again to all of them for all of their work.

[1:36:16] I also wanted to mention, again,

[1:36:18] we'll probably keep mentioning this,

[1:36:19] that the district is looking for an applicant

[1:36:21] for a school district treasurer.

[1:36:24] This is an appointed position.

[1:36:25] So you'd submit an application

[1:36:26] through the SAU office for the board to consider.

[1:36:29] There's a small stipend.

[1:36:30] So if you're a resident of dairy and a registered voter

[1:36:33] and you'd like to offer your services to the district,

[1:36:35] please reach out to the SAU office.

[1:36:38] Did anyone else have any other business or updates?

[1:36:43] Alright, Hearing none are upcoming meeting

[1:36:46] schedule. We're back at it.

[1:36:47] Oh wait, wait. Septe, the next ELE board meeting we need

[1:36:51] to discuss about possibly moving the September 8th board

[1:36:54] meeting because there is an election. Oh yeah,

[1:36:56] That's right. Forgot about that.

[1:36:59] Mike. Do we want to consider That's up to you.

[1:37:01] Rescheduling that meeting. So that meeting is scheduled

[1:37:04] for state primary day.

[1:37:06] Good Call. I personally, I mean I, I would like

[1:37:10] to see it move to a different day

[1:37:12] for obviously my own personal reasons

[1:37:14] because I work the elections and so does

[1:37:18] Yeah.

[1:37:19] Somebody I understand that's a, it's also a

[1:37:21] Conflict.

[1:37:22] That's a conflict for a lot of other peoples.

[1:37:23] That's September 8th, right? Well

[1:37:25] You're holding signs too. Yeah.

[1:37:27] So September 7th is Labor Day,

[1:37:30] so we're definitely not gonna have it that Monday.

[1:37:32] We could consider moving it to that Wednesday the ninth.

[1:37:37] I could do that. Mike, thoughts on that?

[1:37:40] Again? This is your meeting, so

[1:37:42] I mean that date works for, for your team. Yeah,

[1:37:45] We're Gonna make it work for my team.

[1:37:48] Wednesday or Thursday.

[1:37:53] I cannot do that Thursday, September 10th. Alright.

[1:37:56] Wednesday would be better for me anyways. You guys for me.

[1:38:00] Alright. Not at Nighttime. Nice job. Not

[1:38:05] A big deal, but I'll be absent that day.

[1:38:07] Just no big deal. Alright.

[1:38:09] Yep. So if we want to move that meeting,

[1:38:11] I would take a motion to move our Tuesday,

[1:38:14] September 8th meeting to Wednesday, September 9th.

[1:38:16] Same time, same place.

[1:38:18] I'd like to make a motion for

[1:38:20] That.

[1:38:21] First by Jenna. Second. Second by Jamie. All in favor? Aye.

[1:38:24] Aye. All opposed. Motion passes. Seven zero. I'll

[1:38:27] Work with Kathleen to repost

[1:38:29] and go from there. Thank you. Yep.

[1:38:31] All right, thanks. Yeah, last

[1:38:34] Minute.

[1:38:35] So our upcoming meeting schedule again.

[1:38:36] Our next meeting will be Wednesday,

[1:38:38] September 9th at 6:30 PM here at the Municipal Center

[1:38:42] on Tuesday, September 22nd.

[1:38:44] We're gonna be meeting for a joint workshop at the town

[1:38:46] council one hour before our regular meeting.

[1:38:48] So a bit of context for this earlier this year we met

[1:38:51] for a workshop prior to a town council meeting

[1:38:54] and it's our turn.

[1:38:55] So we're hoping our these regular meetings will lead

[1:38:58] to some meaningful collaboration

[1:38:59] and some action that benefits the town as a whole.

[1:39:01] We, we talked about this a little bit earlier, so again,

[1:39:04] that workshop is gonna be here at five 30 on the 22nd

[1:39:08] and our regular meeting will follow at six 30.

[1:39:12] So if there is no other business,

[1:39:13] the board will be meeting in non-public session tonight.

[1:39:15] So I would accept a motion to enter non-public session under

[1:39:18] RSA 91 a Section three, paragraph two, subparagraph A.

[1:39:22] So moved first by Jamie second. Second by Jenna.

[1:39:26] The statute requires a roll call vote. Brenda. Jen. Yes.

[1:39:31] Jenna? Yes. Jamie? Yes. Karen? Yes. David? Yes. Chair votes?

[1:39:35] Yes. Motion carries. Seven zero.

[1:39:37] Board will now move into non-public session.

[1:39:39] Goodnight everybody.

[1:39:41] I haven't had a chance to.

School Board Meeting - Meeting of 08/25/26

Agenda

Transcript