[0:07] Good evening everyone.

[0:08] I will now call this meeting

[0:09] of the Dairy School Board to order.

[0:10] Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance,

[0:15] Pledge Allegiance, pledge allegiance to the to the flag

[0:17] of the United States of America.

[0:20] And to to the republic, which which stands by nation,

[0:24] God Invisible Liberty.

[0:25] Liberty and justice for all.

[0:31] We will start with the roll call,

[0:32] if everyone could introduce

[0:33] themselves, starting from my right,

[0:38] Dr.

[0:39] Carrie Sandon, assistant superintendent,

[0:41] James Ard, business administrator,

[0:43] Michael Flynn, superintendent Brenda Willis,

[0:46] School Board.

[0:47] Michael Thiel, school Board Chair,

[0:48] John Thoro, school Board, vice Chair.

[0:50] Jenna Paradise, school Board Secretary,

[0:52] Jamie Caru, school board.

[0:53] Karen Ran school board. David K Clap, school board.

[0:57] Serena Anderson, student representative. Woo.

[1:01] All. Welcome Serena.

[1:04] Our first order of business tonight will be the consent

[1:07] agenda for tonight.

[1:08] We have the public meeting minutes of September 9th, 2026,

[1:11] the non-public meeting minutes of September 9th, 2026,

[1:15] and the manifests in the amount of $3,916,296 and 42 cents.

[1:20] Of which $3,540,769 and 36 cents is general payroll

[1:25] and $375,527 and 6 cents is general expense.

[1:30] Do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda?

[1:33] So moved first by Jen. Second. Second by Jenna.

[1:37] All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed. Motion carries.

[1:40] Seven zero. We have one presentation tonight.

[1:44] We have the directors of the district's five administrative

[1:46] departments here tonight for their fall update.

[1:48] So I will turn it over to Mike to make introductions.

[1:51] Yeah, thanks again.

[1:52] As this is now going into year two of this,

[1:54] the directors are here to present their

[1:55] opening of year reports.

[1:57] Jeremy does feel like he's here every week.

[2:00] He'll also be here at the next meeting as well.

[2:02] So he's becoming a regular, he wants a plaque

[2:05] as he said, as we're getting there.

[2:07] So we look forward to the department.

[2:08] Please ask any questions as you guys have.

[2:10] But go ahead Jeremy.

[2:24] It will be nice and short because I was

[2:25] just here like Mike said.

[2:28] Oh, before you start, yeah, the, the facility tour.

[2:31] I'd like to just take a moment.

[2:32] Jeremy took time last Thursday. I called it Mr.

[2:36] Trip's personal facility store

[2:39] as he was the only public person to show up.

[2:41] But Jeremy spent two

[2:42] and a half hours walking the board around a MR trip,

[2:46] showing us all the summer work and things of that nature.

[2:49] So thanks again, Jeremy, for taking your time to do that. I

[2:51] Think he enjoyed it.

[2:56] No. Okay.

[2:58] So the first thing I have in my agenda is just a couple

[3:01] screenshots of our workflow from our work request system.

[3:06] Just to point out that August is full of them.

[3:12] Usually when the teachers come back.

[3:14] And between moving all the summer programs from school

[3:16] to school, our, our work ticket requests go way up.

[3:23] The next one down is just a pie chart to show you

[3:28] basically where they're focused.

[3:30] There's a bunch on the, there's a 62% on there that

[3:35] it doesn't break down for some reason.

[3:36] But you know, landscaping, pest control, playgrounds,

[3:39] heating and cooling furniture moves.

[3:42] That was a big one for us this year.

[3:43] We were busy quite a bit, moving stuff, moving boxes,

[3:47] still moving a couple boxes outta the SAU.

[3:51] They're starting to slow down a bit,

[3:53] but they will stay consistent.

[3:56] Next I have south range.

[3:58] Just an update on where we are with that this week.

[4:01] They're filling all the piping.

[4:04] There's been some updates since I made this agenda.

[4:08] But they're working on filling the piping,

[4:11] doing control wiring.

[4:13] They're gonna be doing a startup at the end of next week.

[4:19] Everything, if everything goes as planned October 1st,

[4:24] everything will be up and running.

[4:25] We do have a contingency plan if they do have some hiccups,

[4:28] 'cause they're gonna be doing balancing,

[4:29] they're gonna be doing testing,

[4:30] they're gonna be doing all kinds of stuff

[4:32] with the equipment that they've installed.

[4:35] We will be able to run stuff in manual mode if we have to

[4:38] to get heat in the school.

[4:40] It's supposed to be, you know, in the forties at night.

[4:44] We should be good. And we have noticed too that

[4:47] with the section that we have put the new roof on

[4:50] is already definitely warmer than the section

[4:52] that we're gonna be doing in the second phase.

[4:54] So the insulation that we've put on the roof

[4:57] has helped tremendously.

[5:02] Next for the, we had a discussion at facilities

[5:07] for releasing the CIP that Mike and I are working on.

[5:11] We're currently working on doing a breakdown

[5:13] of the priorities from the bond related stuff

[5:16] that we had on the, the first proposal that we did

[5:19] for the bond and lists of things that I'm putting together.

[5:23] That should be on the CIP.

[5:24] So we just have to go through and kind of separate it out

[5:28] before we propose it

[5:29] and we should have it for the October meeting.

[5:34] Lastly, heading into the fall,

[5:36] we're currently working on equipment prep,

[5:39] tuning up the snowblowers and spreaders.

[5:41] Not that anybody wants to hear that.

[5:44] And shortly we'll be winterizing all the summer stuff.

[5:48] PMs on heating equipment, air handlers.

[5:52] We're gonna be moving the salt shed from the old SAU

[5:55] to a location at the new SAU.

[5:59] And we still have two projects that are lingering.

[6:01] We have a date for the loading dock at South Range.

[6:04] It'll be the first week in November.

[6:06] And we will work around, you know,

[6:09] school hours, things like that.

[6:11] And the guard rail at West Running Brook, I've walked

[6:14] with the contractor and I don't have a final date yet,

[6:17] but that will be this fall.

[6:19] And then of course, planning for next summer's work.

[6:26] Questions for Jeremy before you leave?

[6:29] It's in my superintendent's update,

[6:30] but while you're here, it'll make it easier.

[6:34] We, I mentioned earlier we had a septic tank failure over at

[6:37] East Rain East area.

[6:38] Excuse me. We are, we are pretty certain that

[6:43] that needs to be replaced.

[6:44] The pumps or the mechanical of the pumps.

[6:46] Can you just explain it a little bit?

[6:49] So it's a lift system. So we pump up to our septic fields

[6:53] and the original, we had one that was installed in 2004.

[6:58] The one that we're having issues with was installed.

[7:01] I think when the building was built.

[7:06] The, the LaValley binger report gave everything a level

[7:11] of three, which it was in good condition

[7:14] and technically it is.

[7:15] But sometimes these mechanical parts need to be replaced.

[7:18] We had an inspection done this year before school started.

[7:21] And then ironically two weeks

[7:23] after we had the inspection done, we had a pump fail.

[7:26] Once we went into the tank to check the pump failure,

[7:29] we realized that there were other issues

[7:31] that needed to be addressed.

[7:33] So right now it's working, it's limping along,

[7:36] but we need to get it.

[7:38] So that might be an approach.

[7:40] I, I asked the board to have a public hearing

[7:42] to access the contingency fund.

[7:44] Remember that's the retained funds that you, you keep

[7:46] for un unanticipated, unplanned, unforeseen circumstances.

[7:50] So we're working on numbers.

[7:53] We're, this is gonna sound crazy,

[7:55] but you have to have the tank pump in order

[7:57] to check out what's going on.

[7:59] So meaning the people

[8:01] that are working on it already have a pretty good idea.

[8:04] So they might be a single source type of

[8:07] fix rather than trying to get multiple people in there.

[8:09] 'cause then you have to pump it each time someone's coming.

[8:11] So we're trying to work through those details

[8:13] to get a number on, on what it would take to fix that.

[8:15] Because without that, trucks come and empty it out.

[8:19] Yeah, we had trucks coming every morning

[8:21] while it was being repaired.

[8:22] Yeah. To empty it out. So

[8:24] Was there any, how was this discovered?

[8:26] Was the when it failed did was there damage,

[8:28] did something back up and they, then they figured out that,

[8:31] so do we have other things have now

[8:33] been damaged because of that? No,

[8:34] No.

[8:35] We have an alarm system. Okay. So it went into alarm. Okay.

[8:39] And we checked it and that's good. Yep.

[8:41] That's working. Yeah,

[8:45] So more to come on that.

[8:46] It was in my superintendent's update,

[8:47] but I'd rather him speak to it while he's here.

[8:49] So, thanks Jeremy.

[8:51] We good? Thank you very much.

[8:53] Thanks guys. Thank you Jeremy.

[9:05] Good evening. Okay, so for hr, so at the beginning

[9:09] of this year, I met with the team today

[9:12] or met with the team to establish roles and responsibilities

[9:17] and expectations for the year.

[9:18] Just defining some lanes within our team to make sure

[9:21] that things move along seamlessly.

[9:25] And then just continuing

[9:26] to focus on consistency in the department efficiency

[9:29] and also the employee experience.

[9:33] In regard to HR systems

[9:34] and process improvement, the primary operational focus

[9:38] for us this year is to strengthen

[9:40] how we use our existing HR systems

[9:43] and also just make sure that the data

[9:44] that's stored on them is accurate.

[9:46] So just going through that

[9:48] and essentially auditing which employees are active

[9:51] and which aren't and which shouldn't be in which,

[9:53] you know, locations.

[9:55] And this will just help us reduce manual processes

[9:59] and also so the team doesn't have to do duplicate work.

[10:04] Continuing to streamline and standardize HR workflows.

[10:07] So we did digitize

[10:12] or you know, send the teacher contracts digitally via panoc

[10:15] to our teachers this year, which allowed us

[10:18] to not stuff envelopes a lot.

[10:20] So I'm looking forward to doing that with

[10:22] the assistant contracts as well as some of our other groups.

[10:25] And that'll free up some time for the team to focus more on

[10:29] strategic, you know, work

[10:31] that we have to do for the department.

[10:33] And then just continuing to develop

[10:35] and document HR procedures and resources.

[10:37] So last year was my first year, so I really took that just

[10:40] as, as a learning year

[10:42] and just writing down everything that was due at which date.

[10:44] So I'm hoping that this year, now

[10:46] that I have everything written down, it'll be a lot easier.

[10:49] Know where to find the information,

[10:50] know who to reach out to.

[10:52] So I'm really looking forward to that.

[10:55] Just to talk a little bit about staffing and retirements.

[10:58] We've received four retirements so far.

[11:00] So those are due for the teachers as of October 1st,

[11:06] the three out of the four of them are

[11:09] for elementary education

[11:10] and the other one is for middle school.

[11:14] And then we've received five employees

[11:17] who are requesting an extension.

[11:21] 'cause sometimes some people just have some loose sense

[11:23] of tied up, whether that's meeting

[11:24] with New Hampshire retirement

[11:25] or meeting with 4 0 3 B provider

[11:28] to just see if they're ready for that.

[11:30] So four out of the five extensions for

[11:32] that are elementary education

[11:34] and the other one is for middle school.

[11:37] I don't really anticipate receiving a few more.

[11:41] It's the 22nd of September.

[11:44] So you know, I just don't expect a significant number to,

[11:47] to, to come up from today and for the next week.

[11:50] So just continuing to monitor that.

[11:52] And also also anticipated staffing needs.

[11:54] As you guys know, and I've heard me say

[11:56] before, we're only a few months away from job fairs.

[11:59] So trying to find candidates on, on that front

[12:02] and making sure that we have everything planned

[12:04] out for benefits.

[12:06] I know we kind of alluded to that earlier,

[12:09] but there is a meeting in two days up in

[12:12] Concord for health Trust.

[12:15] It's open to the public. People can go

[12:17] and share their comments and they'll take those

[12:20] comments into consideration.

[12:22] I was looking through my email,

[12:23] I didn't really see any specific dates

[12:24] for when they're gonna release the health insurance

[12:27] for rates for this coming year.

[12:30] So as soon as I get

[12:32] that information I'm gonna share

[12:33] it right with Jane and Mike.

[12:36] I don't really, there hasn't really been a preliminary

[12:39] indication yet of it being a substantial

[12:41] or, you know, magnitude of potential increase.

[12:43] So I'm just trying to remain positive

[12:46] and hoping it's between that five

[12:47] and 7% that we saw last year.

[12:48] But again, I don't know, we'll just

[12:50] wait to see when that comes out.

[12:53] And then looking ahead, just continuing

[12:57] to improve the systems that we have.

[13:00] Reducing administrative and manual processes really is

[13:03] my ultimate goal with the team preparing,

[13:07] like I mentioned earlier, for any upcoming staff and needs.

[13:09] So I'm super excited about that.

[13:11] A lot of the feedback that we got last year at some

[13:15] of our job fairs was our new educator program,

[13:18] which last time I looked, we are the only district

[13:21] that offers a three year educated program comparing

[13:24] that to other school districts.

[13:25] So that really sets us apart

[13:26] and a lot of people do really come up

[13:28] to the table to ask about that.

[13:30] Continuing to review procedures

[13:32] and yeah, just improving the overall employee experience.

[13:38] And that's all I have.

[13:42] Just really quickly, I I want to commend Paula,

[13:44] it's been a year under her belt managing, managing one

[13:48] of the biggest districts in New Hampshire.

[13:49] And the, the hiring is, is a result of her. Right?

[13:53] So the, the proactive approach at job fairs,

[13:57] the way she forces us to use LinkedIn excessively

[14:03] and trying different avenues to,

[14:05] to post jobs rather than just the, the normal channels.

[14:08] So we're the,

[14:10] we're the most staff we've been since, again, pre COVID.

[14:12] So I think that's a commend for, for Paula. Nice job.

[14:16] And I think I saw, wait, we're not there yet

[14:18] with the special ed update, but that was gonna comment that.

[14:20] Yeah, I, I noticed in there it said that all

[14:23] of our positions have been filled ed and that is remarkable.

[14:27] And I just want to say thank you.

[14:28] Yeah. It's all the work the you're doing.

[14:30] Oh no, I appreciate that. But the student services team,

[14:33] Christina, I mean she's,

[14:34] I'm like if you ever don't wanna do student services

[14:36] anymore, you wanna come be like a part-time recruiter, let

[14:38] Know.

[14:40] 'cause she works really hard as well as Kristen and Laura.

[14:42] So I've just had a blast working

[14:44] with them throughout everything.

[14:45] Awesome. Thank you.

[14:46] Yeah, your department's doing a fantastic job bringing

[14:49] people in and I appreciate you introducing Panda doc

[14:53] 'cause it meant I didn't have to sign a few hundred teacher

[14:55] contracts this year by hand, so that was nice. Exactly.

[14:57] More to come. Thanks Paula. Cool

[15:08] Dr.

[15:08] Nancy, good to see you.

[15:10] Good to see you. I have not been home yet.

[15:14] I just got back from Orlando from a conference

[15:17] that I was at over the weekend and it was really good.

[15:21] A lot of stuff about screen time, AI

[15:23] and all kinds of other cybersecurity issues.

[15:26] You've probably read my report.

[15:28] It was a really, really big summer.

[15:30] In fact, I don't think we've had

[15:32] to work this hard since COVID with the South range project.

[15:35] That was really huge for us

[15:37] and we had to hire a company to come in

[15:41] and rewire the, the side where the roof was, was taken out.

[15:45] And I don't know if on your tour you got

[15:47] to see the new switch panel in the custodian closet,

[15:50] but it's probably darn

[15:51] It, we miss That.

[15:53] It is probably the most beautiful switch panel

[15:56] that we have in the district that is a work

[15:58] of art if you, if you will.

[16:00] It. They did a really good job putting that together

[16:03] and they got it all done the day before the meet and greet.

[16:07] And I was very relieved as was Mr.

[16:09] Cmo but also the SAU move required us to move the phones

[16:14] and the copiers and the, and the access points.

[16:17] And that all required a coordination of third party

[16:22] companies to be able to work with us on that kind of stuff.

[16:24] So on top of our normal 500 Chromebook

[16:30] stuff and, and the administrator laptops that we do,

[16:33] it was a very, very busy summer.

[16:36] Unfortunately we were not a hundred percent ready

[16:39] to go on day one.

[16:40] And this job, there's a lot

[16:44] of times when we are building the plane while we're flying

[16:46] it, you, you do all the testing you can over the summer

[16:49] and then everybody comes back

[16:50] and things don't work

[16:51] the way you thought they were gonna work.

[16:53] The PA system was working just great whenever he left it

[16:56] and then everybody came back and now they

[16:58] can't hear in the rooms and stuff.

[16:59] So they keep coming back and keep working on it

[17:01] and it's, it's getting done.

[17:04] The same thing is true with our new

[17:05] visitor management system.

[17:07] It was working until it wasn't,

[17:09] but we keep working on it and it will get done.

[17:11] And sometimes in those first few weeks of the school year,

[17:15] when you have those glitches, it seems like the end

[17:17] of the world and then you get to February, march

[17:20] and you forget that it, it even happened.

[17:22] So we will make it through.

[17:23] The things are, I am meeting

[17:27] with people almost every day to get these things fixed

[17:30] and get, get them in tip top shape.

[17:33] We instituted the new three tier busing system this year

[17:37] and we had to make some modifications yesterday,

[17:41] Pinkerton, we increased the number of buses that we're using

[17:45] to service Pinkerton so that their routes will go faster

[17:48] so they can get to the middle school

[17:50] and to the intermediate school.

[17:52] The intermediate school I think has gotten everybody

[17:54] there right on time.

[17:55] The middle school, we're still working out those times,

[17:58] but it is getting better for that.

[18:01] Other than that, like I said, things are,

[18:05] things are moving in place not quite as quickly

[18:09] as I would've hoped.

[18:10] They, they are, but our people have, my team has

[18:15] addressed about 400 tickets since June,

[18:18] which is a lot for four guys.

[18:20] And, but they do an ex they do an extremely good job.

[18:25] A lot of times they're ahead of me on some of these things

[18:27] and bringing my attention to the things

[18:31] that we need to get replaced and all.

[18:32] And so I, I big shout out

[18:34] to my team there and to our bus drivers.

[18:36] Our bus drivers are doing a fantastic job

[18:38] of learning these new routes, getting them going

[18:41] and getting them in time.

[18:42] So that's all I have.

[18:45] Oh, well, a little bit of update on the electric buses.

[18:47] I heard back that end of November,

[18:50] early December is when they're to be delivered.

[18:52] Right now they're in a permit process

[18:55] of getting the construction for the, for the

[18:58] actual infrastructure there at the, at the bus depot.

[19:02] And they're looking for groundbreaking in January on that.

[19:05] So, but the buses are supposed

[19:06] to arrive somewhere at the end of November, early December.

[19:12] So we'll have possession of the buses

[19:14] but not be driving them until January

[19:16] because they don't have the one of the charging capacity.

[19:19] I'm telling you in theory,

[19:21] I'm telling you what I've been told.

[19:22] Okay.

[19:24] Cliff, how many buses do we

[19:25] run at this time? Point in time.

[19:27] We have 29 buses. 29 large buses.

[19:31] What do, what did we run last year? Just

[19:32] Curious.

[19:33] 29. Oh, we did, we have been running 29 buses for the last

[19:37] three to four years since we

[19:39] Brought down from 34. Since

[19:41] I brought everything down.

[19:42] Yes. Okay. Thank you.

[19:47] Any more questions for Lifton? All right, thank

[19:50] You.

[19:51] Thank you.

[20:02] Hi, Laura Powers, director of student services.

[20:06] And as far as kind of going through, like

[20:09] with the summer program, we,

[20:11] every year we run an extended school year program

[20:13] for students that require maintenance

[20:16] of skills throughout the summer months so

[20:18] that they're not falling behind.

[20:21] And this year, and again it was held at Barca,

[20:24] it was a phenomenal year, no issues to really speak of

[20:30] the admin from across the district assisted

[20:33] with it this year and covered all the days

[20:36] and that was very successful.

[20:38] Christina and Kristen spent a lot of time over there.

[20:41] It was very nice to have a full staff

[20:45] and the other admins from across the district to allow me

[20:50] to get some other things done at the office

[20:52] for preparing for the year.

[20:53] So a very successful year with the kids.

[20:56] One of the changes that we did this year was we went from

[21:00] going from a four year, four hour program

[21:03] to a two hour program.

[21:05] And I think that really worked well for the students.

[21:08] It allowed them to be more focused.

[21:11] Not there as long during the day with the heat,

[21:14] but it really focused the time

[21:16] and it wasn't a lot of time spent on the playground trying

[21:18] to get outta hot classrooms,

[21:20] having snacks, you know, those types of things.

[21:23] It really focused on the skills that they were working on.

[21:26] So I thank everybody who worked the program

[21:28] and the admin who helped out throughout the summer

[21:34] program updates.

[21:35] This year we're starting a program called Effective School

[21:39] Solutions at West Running Brook.

[21:42] It's a program that is really focusing on mental health

[21:47] for a group of identified students.

[21:50] We're starting with that through our grants to

[21:55] really get that program up and running

[21:57] and hoping to expand that over time to

[22:00] be a little bit larger

[22:01] and be more of a tier two as well

[22:04] as special ed programming with that program.

[22:07] There is a clinical clinical worker as well as

[22:12] a mental health technician that also works with teachers,

[22:15] professional development, very trauma based.

[22:19] So that is kind of off and running this year.

[22:21] And so far so good.

[22:25] Paula already talked about it.

[22:27] We are actually full staffed number wise.

[22:31] So all the positions are filled.

[22:33] As always, special ed is kind of the ebb

[22:35] and flow of who's in the district,

[22:38] who's out of the district.

[22:40] So we, charter schools certainly affect us as well.

[22:43] So we're, we're constantly filling positions

[22:46] and working within our grant money

[22:49] to supplement those services.

[22:51] I try to use every penny of that

[22:53] and we, we are submitting for our 24 25 grant,

[22:57] which is just coming to a close

[22:59] and we have spent right down to the cent

[23:01] so there's no money being left on the table.

[23:05] And I thank the finance department, they've worked hard

[23:07] with me to make sure that happens as well as

[23:11] my admin assistants and assistant directors.

[23:16] One big theme this year was

[23:18] for the summer we put out a parent survey really

[23:22] to get a pulse on how people are feeling about special ed,

[23:25] the process communication.

[23:27] So I gave you a little bit of feedback as far as

[23:30] where we rated on our five point scale with those questions

[23:35] there, it's always in the comments,

[23:37] the contradictory information of,

[23:39] and it depends on people's experience.

[23:41] People that say communication was great, love the team,

[23:44] the team tells me everything I need to know.

[23:46] And then you get into where can we can improve

[23:48] communication, tell us what we need to know.

[23:50] So I think that it really, you know, goes

[23:52] to people's personal experiences, how the, the tone

[23:57] of the team, the performance of their student,

[23:59] how much progress is made.

[24:01] But I, it's one of those things

[24:03] where I think the more information we have

[24:05] and the more feedback we have, the better we can serve.

[24:08] And not only the students

[24:09] but the families that those students belong to.

[24:14] Coming up, we have, we're going through,

[24:17] it's called a PEGS process.

[24:18] It's program,

[24:22] program approval and general supervision.

[24:25] And that is, yeah, I,

[24:27] I was cheating over there looking at my computer beforehand

[24:29] and I'm like, I call it the PAGs program.

[24:32] And that program is really going to go through everything.

[24:36] So we go through our, all of our procedures.

[24:41] There's an audit for IEPs, there's an audit for timelines.

[24:44] It kind of goes through everything

[24:46] that could possibly happen in a special ed process.

[24:50] So right now we're in our, I believe what they call it,

[24:52] the discovery stage where we're gathering

[24:55] and submitting everything to the state.

[24:57] We have until November 4th to put all

[25:01] that stuff together and submit.

[25:03] And then we go into verification

[25:04] and there's multiple stages.

[25:06] It's a year long pro process that happens every six years

[25:10] and we've been, we're lucky enough we have other people in

[25:12] the south central area that have already been through it.

[25:14] So they're also helpful in coaching, coaching through

[25:20] as well as the people at the state are very supportive

[25:23] and they want this to, they really want their relationship

[25:27] with the districts to be a working relationship

[25:30] and not a gotcha relationship.

[25:32] So it's all about improvement, communication with, not just

[25:36] with parents but also with the state.

[25:40] And through that process,

[25:41] there'll be another parent night that'll be happening.

[25:44] I just met with the state this morning.

[25:46] They will be, will be picking a date.

[25:49] I have to get the, the pick program, a handful

[25:53] of dates to choose from.

[25:54] I have to go through the master calendar

[25:56] so we're not conflicting with any open houses

[25:58] or other nights,

[26:00] but it's really a time, it's virtual

[26:03] so parents can join from their homes.

[26:06] We'll be getting information out through schools

[26:08] and probably Parents Square all, all the places

[26:11] to sign up for that.

[26:13] And it's really a, an opportunity for parents

[26:16] to give the state feedback around a lot of the same topics

[26:19] that we talked about in our survey.

[26:22] And that'll give people another opportunity

[26:25] to voice those either concerns about things that are,

[26:28] they would like to see improved

[26:29] or things that we're doing well and to continue.

[26:32] So I encourage families to give feedback.

[26:36] I have never put a closing date on our survey.

[26:39] So if there's anybody who has the link

[26:41] or would like the link, we certainly want the feedback.

[26:44] So that's something I will keep open to.

[26:46] Continue to get that. And I think that's about it. Alright,

[26:50] I just had a couple questions.

[26:52] So you got 94 responses on the special ed surveys.

[26:56] Out of how many, do you know

[26:57] Oof?

[26:58] We, I send out one to everybody.

[26:59] So it is our elementary, our middle, and our high schoolers.

[27:03] We run a little over a thousand, probably 1,030 ish,

[27:08] depending on the, the time. So

[27:11] That included high school.

[27:12] Yeah. Includes everybody.

[27:14] So, so we don't get a lot of feedback.

[27:17] That's why I'm coverage. I'm leaving it open

[27:19] and encourage people to, you know, to reach out

[27:22] because we really do wanna want that feedback.

[27:25] And if there's anything specific, it's all anonymous

[27:29] unless you don't want it to be.

[27:31] There's very few people that, there's myself

[27:32] and my assistant directors that have access to the feedback.

[27:35] So it's not something that's open to the general public.

[27:39] If there is a specific issue that people would like

[27:41] to address in the comments, they can certainly do that.

[27:45] Cool. Are, are we gonna be sending those out like annually

[27:49] or is there like a plan for that or?

[27:52] Yes, we, we do send out one through the state annually

[27:55] that goes out from the state that we get feedback on.

[28:00] Again, there's never a lot of surveys filled out.

[28:04] So I would like for us to be doing one as well annually.

[28:07] And then through the PAGs process we get a

[28:09] little bonus one this year too.

[28:10] So, and that's just, you know, feedback within

[28:12] that, within that meeting.

[28:14] Okay. Awesome. Well thank you for,

[28:16] I just wanna say thank you for doing the surveys

[28:18] and sending us the results.

[28:20] It's really nice to see everything. I appreciate it.

[28:23] All Right, thank you. I have anybody else? Any

[28:26] Other questions for Laura?

[28:29] All right, thank you.

[28:32] And then last this evening, Dr.

[28:34] S gonna be given the curriculum update.

[28:37] So the curriculum update for this evening.

[28:39] The theme's been summer,

[28:41] so summer's a great time for collaboration.

[28:43] And the summer 50 teachers collaborated

[28:45] with the curriculum team to analyze the curriculum,

[28:48] the pacing in which we teach it, the assessments

[28:50] that we give students to monitor and assess their progress.

[28:54] The teams also identified key priorities,

[28:57] evaluated curriculum maps,

[28:58] and created resources to meet the goals

[29:00] of strengthening our tier one instruction.

[29:04] If you have been in the buildings lately,

[29:06] you may have seen the CARES behavior matrices intended

[29:09] to reinforce age appropriate behavior in common language,

[29:13] thank you to the CARES task force

[29:15] for their work on this initiative.

[29:18] HB 5 71 mandates

[29:20] that all public schools participate in patriotic activities

[29:23] on September 17th

[29:25] and celebration of Constitution day,

[29:27] which we did on the 17th activities,

[29:30] ranged from dressing in red, white,

[29:32] and blue to engaging in read alouds

[29:34] and civic activities for the older students.

[29:38] Collaboration also occurs through the school year

[29:40] with ongoing curriculum touchpoint meetings.

[29:42] These meetings serve to align goals, share updates

[29:45] and insight and gather feedback from staff.

[29:49] Teachers in grades six through eight have begun using open

[29:53] sed, which aligns

[29:55] with the next generation science standards.

[29:58] The premise of open ed is that it's student driven

[30:02] and it's high engagement.

[30:03] The students take the place of the scientists.

[30:05] It's phenomenon based

[30:07] where students investigate real world problems and events.

[30:10] That's something we just started.

[30:13] We have an assessment calendar throughout the year

[30:15] where we plan out the assessments that we give.

[30:17] NIWA started this week.

[30:19] The assessment assesses academic growth

[30:22] to inform instruction intervention groupings,

[30:24] and monitor student progress.

[30:26] And as many of you know,

[30:28] the New Hampshire State assessment scores were re were

[30:31] recently released by the Department of Ed,

[30:33] are curriculum team's currently interpreting the scores

[30:35] and trends to create action plans

[30:38] to address areas of growth. Any questions?

[30:43] Dr. S, can you address one of the things that came up,

[30:46] and I don't mean to put the cart before the horse,

[30:48] 'cause this became brought up at the last curriculum

[30:51] meeting, and I know Jenny, you're gonna speak to some of

[30:52] that, but can you talk a little bit about the 5%

[30:56] or more of people who opt out

[30:58] and how this, this was a little surprising to me.

[31:01] Yeah. So, and it wasn't great news in my view. So

[31:04] The New Hampshire State Assessment has a lot of procedures

[31:06] and mandates and rules.

[31:07] And one of the rules is they

[31:09] encourage participation of all students.

[31:11] However, parents have rights in New Hampshire,

[31:14] there's the parental Bill of Rights

[31:16] and one of those bills of rights is

[31:18] to opt your child out of assessments.

[31:21] However, in the case of New Hampshire State assessment,

[31:24] if you reach over 5% of students that have opted out

[31:28] of the assessment, the district takes a zero

[31:32] for a student.

[31:34] It also complicates matters is if

[31:36] that student is in a subgroup.

[31:38] So if that child is a special education student

[31:42] or a student that speaks another language.

[31:45] Not only do you take a zero for that,

[31:46] but you take a zero for the subgroups as well.

[31:49] So those are some of the things

[31:50] that factor into our percentages of proficiency.

[31:55] It's, it's pretty complicated.

[31:58] Yeah, no, I appreciate you bringing that up just

[32:00] because we talked a little bit about at that meeting,

[32:03] how this is like viewed as our report card, if you will.

[32:06] The New Hampshire staff serves a different purpose than

[32:10] the niwa, which is more of a growth,

[32:14] I think my daughter told me this morning that SaaS tests

[32:16] what, you know, and NIWA tests how you grow.

[32:21] And so that was the

[32:22] That is a fantastic analogy

[32:23] that actually describes it perfectly.

[32:26] And so, but I,

[32:27] but I was surprised even as somebody on curriculum committee

[32:31] to hear that information.

[32:33] So I, I think it's important to highlight.

[32:37] Thank you. Oh, sorry, a quick question.

[32:41] So when you say take a zero, are you talking,

[32:43] so if the whole, the total population, 5%,

[32:46] That zero gets factored into the percentage

[32:48] rate of our students, correct.

[32:50] All like, I don't know. So 2000 kids you're talking,

[32:53] But it, it's, it's, it's complicated.

[32:56] The, the, the way they c the way they factor it in, it's

[33:00] by grade level, it's by group, it's by subgroup.

[33:05] What's the rationale behind that?

[33:07] I don't understand why you would do that.

[33:11] Because they, they want all students

[33:13] to take this assessment.

[33:14] Why They don't incentivize it.

[33:16] It's, the way I rationalize it in my mind is the state has

[33:21] certain guidelines for parents that a lot of liberties.

[33:24] Yeah. But the federal government doesn't

[33:26] necessarily align with that.

[33:28] So the New Hampshire State assessment is a federal mandate.

[33:31] So those two methodologies don't exactly align. Gotcha.

[33:36] It's been an argument that we've been having for years,

[33:42] specifically now that it's drafted on Warren articles,

[33:46] fully articulating the math behind the numbers.

[33:49] It's not just as presented.

[33:52] So we, I I feel as though with the,

[33:56] the new commissioner and her team that were heard a lot more

[34:02] and we're hoping that some of those adjustments can be made

[34:06] to show, show a little bit more of an accurate picture.

[34:09] Do you think you would think that would be the goal?

[34:11] Right? I mean, you're showing percentages that don't align

[34:15] to what's actually taking place.

[34:17] Sure. Which, and people in the community or on,

[34:20] or in New Hampshire, they, they rely on those,

[34:23] that information to beat us over the head with.

[34:25] So it'd be nice if the numbers were accurate.

[34:28] Yeah. And that's why we emphasize our internal

[34:30] scores more often than not.

[34:32] 'cause those are the ones that we do three times a year

[34:34] at the right timeframe with our students.

[34:37] So, you know, like I said, we're, we,

[34:39] we're never gonna run away from it.

[34:40] We had a great curriculum meeting on,

[34:42] on it today we're gonna, we're gonna still attack the areas

[34:44] of growth as needed, but those areas of growth

[34:47] are different than what's presented on the state level.

[34:51] Sure.

[34:52] Yeah. It's hard to figure how dinging the district is

[34:55] going to encourage people to not opt out of the

[34:58] Test.

[35:00] Yeah.

[35:02] It becomes a little bit of a catch 22. Yeah.

[35:06] Any questions on curriculum? Alright,

[35:12] If you guys are good, I'm gonna dismiss the directors to

[35:15] Yeah.

[35:16] Yeah. Thanks to all of you coming for Yeah.

[35:17] Coming out on a Tuesday night to talk to us.

[35:19] I think it's important for both us

[35:21] and the community to hear from you guys what's going on,

[35:23] all the hard work that you're doing.

[35:25] So thank you again.

[35:27] Thank You. See you

[35:29] Jeremy.

[35:30] We'll see you at the next one.

[35:34] All right. Our next order of business will be delegations

[35:37] and individuals at this time.

[35:39] Residents of dairy, parents of currently enrolled dairy

[35:41] students and employees of the district may address the

[35:43] school board on matters that pertain only to school

[35:44] and district business for a period of time, not

[35:46] to exceed three minutes per person.

[35:48] As a reminder, the board welcomes comment from the public,

[35:50] however, questions are not

[35:51] entertained during the comment period.

[35:53] If you would like to speak, please come up

[35:55] to the microphone at this time and state your name

[35:57] and address for the record.

[36:29] Good evening. Can you hear me?

[36:32] Yeah. See I've learned something.

[36:36] No, the,

[36:41] I really appreciate the tour last week.

[36:44] The, it, it was a, it was a good

[36:50] time to find out all the problems used, fixed.

[36:56] You know, it's, it was interesting that, you know,

[37:00] the schools had so much carpeting

[37:02] before it was replaced by real tile.

[37:05] You know, I, I think that that

[37:09] makes it much easier to clean the schools.

[37:13] The, I thought the gym floors,

[37:18] they looked marvelous.

[37:20] I think I was telling Jen that in, in my youth,

[37:24] I was a school custodian

[37:27] and one of my task was sanding the gym floors.

[37:32] Yeah, that,

[37:35] but, you know, it was one of those things that I learned how

[37:37] to run a, a buffer.

[37:40] And I think when I was in bootcamp,

[37:41] I was the only person in my company

[37:44] that knew how to run a buffer.

[37:45] So I didn't have to mop.

[37:47] All I have to do do is run the buffer.

[37:53] I was really impressed with the new SAU, you know,

[37:56] the I'd like that.

[38:00] You've got the room that you can have meetings with

[38:03] and have everyone have a microphone, you know,

[38:07] and so that's good.

[38:10] The last thing I wanna say is, have you ever noticed

[38:14] that we've got this big screen up here?

[38:19] I would've really appreciated if when the people were giving

[38:22] presentations, they might have a presentation

[38:25] that you could put up on a screen so you could, you know,

[38:27] follow, you know, what they're talking about.

[38:30] Because sometimes they use some terminology they don't

[38:34] understand and I try to write down

[38:39] what they're saying so that I can research it later on.

[38:42] But, you know, if we had a clue up on the,

[38:46] the screen, that would be good.

[38:48] You know? So, anyhow, I, I,

[38:53] one last thing, I was really disappointed

[38:56] that nobody else showed up for the facility tour.

[39:00] You know, this is one of those things where people,

[39:03] they complain about all the school,

[39:06] all the money the schools is paying,

[39:08] but they never actually do any, take any time to see what

[39:13] benefits the school's spending is, you know?

[39:18] So thank you very much.

[39:22] Oh, we did walk too much. So

[39:25] Thank you Mr. Trump.

[39:26] Thank you Richard. I

[39:53] Right on queue right with the SAS.

[39:56] Good evening. My name is Brian Ello.

[39:58] I'm a resident in taxpayer in dairy.

[40:01] I'm standing here tonight while sitting here tonight

[40:03] because the recent released 25 26 New Hampshire SAS

[40:06] assessment results are deeply alarming.

[40:09] And they raise a fundamental question.

[40:12] Are we as taxpayers truly getting our money's worth?

[40:15] Our community consistently steps up

[40:17] to fund our public school system.

[40:19] We do so because we believe in supporting our children,

[40:22] but funding is an investment.

[40:24] And right now the returns on that investment are in shop.

[40:27] Downward slide,

[40:29] widespread academic decline across our district is not

[40:32] an isolated fluke.

[40:34] It is a clear sign of systematic shortfall.

[40:37] Look at the data. South Range Elementary was once our high

[40:41] performing benchmark in a single school year.

[40:45] Its math proficiency plummeted by 13 percentage points,

[40:48] and it's reading proficiency collapsed

[40:50] by a staggering 16 percentage points.

[40:53] That is not a minor variance, that's a crisis at Grinnell.

[40:58] Fewer them. One third of our students are proficient in

[41:00] either subject with math scores dropping down

[41:02] to a devastating 27% at Gilbert h Hood

[41:06] and West Running Brook math proficiencies

[41:08] and languishing into the low to mid thirties

[41:12] outta the six schools.

[41:13] EVAC evaluated four SAR a drop in reading

[41:16] and three SAR drop in math.

[41:18] When proficiency levels slide into the twenties, thirties

[41:21] and forties, the system is failing its core mission.

[41:25] As taxpayers, we are routinely asked

[41:28] to support budget increases in bonds.

[41:31] We fulfill our end of the contract.

[41:33] We provide the financial resources in return.

[41:36] We expect a school system

[41:38] that at least maintains academic

[41:40] baselines, if not improve them.

[41:42] Right now, the hard truth is

[41:44] that we are paying more in getting less widespread drops.

[41:47] Like this means that our current instructional strategies

[41:50] and fiscal allocations are simply not working.

[41:54] Tonight, I'm asking this board for two things.

[41:57] First, total transparency.

[41:59] We need a detailed public explanation

[42:01] for these dramatic drops.

[42:02] And I heard some conversations of maybe the 0%

[42:07] for a kid that's not taking that.

[42:08] Maybe that's why those scores are low.

[42:11] But it'd be nice to have that explanation in public.

[42:15] Second, an immediate rigorous audit of

[42:18] how our current funds are being utilized alongside a

[42:20] concrete measurable turnaround plan to fix these scores.

[42:24] Our students deserve a high quality education,

[42:27] and the taxpayers who fund this district deserves strict

[42:29] fiscal accountability.

[42:31] Thank you.

[42:45] Anyone else? All right, we will move on with the meeting.

[42:49] However, the public comment period will remain open

[42:52] until 7:35 PM If you wish to speak prior to that time,

[42:55] approach the microphone and I'll recognize you

[42:57] with the next break in the agenda.

[42:59] Our next order of business will

[43:01] be our student representative.

[43:02] So we're happy to welcome our new representative

[43:04] from Pinkerton Academy.

[43:06] Serena Anderson. So welcome. And the floor is yours.

[43:10] Hello. As you said, my name is Serena Anderson.

[43:13] I am a junior at Pinkerton.

[43:15] I am grateful for the opportunity

[43:17] to be the student representative this year.

[43:20] And I'm just gonna talk about some things

[43:22] that have been happening at Pinkerton lately.

[43:25] So on Saturday, the past Saturday,

[43:29] the seniors got to experience the annual senior corn roast.

[43:33] It had a bonfire, barbecue food, corn,

[43:38] and like other activities for them to do.

[43:41] And this week is the start of our Mac Plaque Week,

[43:46] which is a competition between Pinkerton

[43:48] and London Dairy that's been going on for many years,

[43:52] where our fall sports teams all go against each other.

[43:56] The school that has the most wins in total gets

[43:59] to take home the plaque.

[44:01] It started in 1983

[44:04] and Pinkerton has taken home 37 out of the 43 years.

[44:10] We have a spirit week this week

[44:12] to get students showing Pinkerton spirit,

[44:15] and today was red, white, and blue day.

[44:17] Tomorrow's theme is pink out.

[44:21] Also happening tomorrow is the meet the teachers night.

[44:25] There's a session from one to three

[44:27] and a session from five to seven

[44:29] where you can meet your students'

[44:31] teachers starting tomorrow.

[44:35] The 23rd is when our first team goes against London Dairy.

[44:39] It's our golf team.

[44:41] The results of Mac plaque will be finalized

[44:47] all the way in November, technically

[44:49] because our cheer team doesn't compete till then.

[44:53] On Friday during the school day, we have our pep rally

[44:56] where students gather in the gym.

[44:58] It's always fun to watch the varsity teams perform their

[45:01] dances and skits that they create.

[45:04] Later on Friday, our cross country team has their meet

[45:08] and our football team has their game at 7:00 PM at London

[45:11] Dairy, and our band will be playing at the halftime show.

[45:17] Then on Saturday, field hockey, volleyball

[45:19] and soccer go against London.

[45:21] Dairy Saturday will be wrapped up with our homecoming dance

[45:24] that all grades can attend

[45:27] another event coming up next week on Thursday,

[45:30] October 1st is our freshman reception dance.

[45:33] We welcome all the freshmen

[45:35] and new teachers to Pinkerton on that night,

[45:38] and that's what's going on at Pinkerton currently.

[45:42] All right, thank you, Serena. Thank you.

[45:44] We really appreciate you signing up to do this,

[45:46] and we're looking forward to your

[45:47] updates throughout the year.

[45:48] So you did a great job. Thank

[45:49] You.

[45:50] I am looking forward to having a band kid

[45:52] as the representative, so you can keep us update on

[45:55] what all the concerts are,

[45:56] because I look forward to seeing those. Thank

[45:58] You.

[45:59] Yes, I would definitely include those.

[46:00] No, did anyone have any questions?

[46:03] What do you do in the band?

[46:05] I'm in percussion. So during marching season,

[46:08] I'm in drum line and I play the bass drum.

[46:10] That is awesome. When I was in high

[46:12] school, I was a drum major.

[46:14] Ooh, that's really cool.

[46:18] All right, well thank you again

[46:19] and we're looking forward to your

[46:20] updates throughout the year.

[46:21] Thank you. Our next order

[46:24] of business will be deliberations.

[46:26] We have one item tonight, which is preparation

[46:28] for the New Hampshire School Board Association's

[46:30] annual Delegate Assembly.

[46:32] We are a member board of the association,

[46:33] and we can appoint one voting delegate

[46:35] and one alternate delegate to send to the assembly.

[46:38] So the first piece here will be to nominate our delegates

[46:41] and grant them with authority.

[46:42] The delegate assembly is scheduled to be held on Saturday,

[46:44] October 17th at 10:30 AM I've heard from one member, Karen,

[46:48] who's planning on being in attendance

[46:50] and she would like to be considered as the voting delegate.

[46:53] Did we have anyone else who's gonna be in attendance

[46:55] and would like to be considered for the

[46:58] voting or alternate delegate?

[47:04] All right. I am planning on attending this year,

[47:06] so I would happily serve

[47:07] as the alternate delegate if nobody

[47:09] else is going to be attending.

[47:10] And I know Brenda, you'll be there in your role as a member

[47:13] of the board of the association.

[47:18] So, so the second step here would be

[47:23] to determine the level of authority we granted the delegate.

[47:26] So the resolutions presented

[47:27] to the assembly are subject to amendment.

[47:29] So we would need to provide the delegate with direction on

[47:31] how to vote on amended resolutions.

[47:34] I believe last year we granted authority

[47:38] to cast the board's vote, so long

[47:39] as there wasn't a substantive change

[47:41] to the meaning of the resolution.

[47:42] So relative to the position the board had taken on it.

[47:45] So as long as you know, there could be language changes,

[47:49] but the core belief of the resolution still remains intact.

[47:55] So does that still work for everybody? Yeah. All right.

[48:00] So I would accept a motion to nominate Karen Rand

[48:02] as the board's voting delegate

[48:04] and Michael Thiel as alternate

[48:05] and to direct the delegate the authority

[48:08] to vote on amendments so long

[48:09] as there is no substantive change to the meaning

[48:11] of the overall resolution. So

[48:13] Moved First by Jenna.

[48:15] Second. Second by Jen. All in favor? Aye. All opposed.

[48:19] Motion carries seven zero.

[48:22] The second piece here would be to direct the delegate on how

[48:25] to vote on the proposed bylaw changes

[48:26] and proposed resolutions.

[48:28] And I assume everyone has had a chance

[48:30] to review these documents.

[48:32] They've been sent out a few times by the association

[48:34] and they were in your packet tonight

[48:36] and are ready to cast the vote on these.

[48:39] So, you know, first off, we have the bylaw changes.

[48:41] I don't know if you want to comment on this at all, Brenda,

[48:43] as a member of the board and what the bylaw changes entail.

[48:47] No, I don't need to comment. Alright,

[48:50] so I'm gonna assume that everyone has read these

[48:53] and is prepared to cast a vote.

[48:54] So I would accept a motion to direct the delegate

[48:57] to vote in support of the proposed changes to the bylaws

[48:59] of the New Hampshire School Board Association.

[49:02] So moved first by Jen. Second. Second by Jamie.

[49:06] Did we wanna discuss this at all before we vote? All right.

[49:10] All in favor? Aye. All opposed. Motion carries seven zero.

[49:15] The final step would be we have a list

[49:17] of 15 proposed resolutions

[49:19] that will be considered at the assembly.

[49:21] So each of those 15 proposed resolutions comes

[49:24] with a recommendation from the N-H-S-B-A board of directors.

[49:28] So I'm gonna ask for a motion to direct a delegate

[49:31] to vote on the 15 proposed resolutions according

[49:33] to the recommendation of the N-H-S-B-A Board of directors.

[49:37] Once we have a motion on the table,

[49:38] I'll open the floor for discussion.

[49:40] And if there are any resolutions

[49:42] that anyone would wanna separate out

[49:43] and vote on a position that differs from the recommendation

[49:46] of the N-H-S-B-A board, we can do that.

[49:49] So do I have a motion to direct the delegate

[49:52] to vote on the 15 proposed resolutions according

[49:54] to the recommendation of the N-H-S-B-A Board of directors?

[49:58] So moved first by Jen second. Second by Jenna.

[50:02] So I'd open it up for discussion if there's questions about

[50:04] any of the 15 resolutions

[50:06] or if there are any proposals

[50:07] for taking a different position on any

[50:09] of the resolutions that are gonna be considered.

[50:14] All right. Hearing none, I would call

[50:17] for a vote on the original motion.

[50:19] All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed motion abstain

[50:23] Because I've already have already weigh in on those in

[50:26] A different board.

[50:27] All right, so we have the motion carries six zero

[50:31] with one abstention then.

[50:32] All right. Thank you everyone.

[50:34] And Karen, you will, you can take care of signing up

[50:38] for the, the assembly as the voting delegate.

[50:43] Mike, ask a question before we move on. Sure.

[50:45] So I don't know, was it three

[50:46] or four years ago we actually got a proposal

[50:50] through, right? Yeah. Yeah.

[50:51] I think this Is, does that die in

[50:52] the vine after a while?

[50:53] Or they, to continue to push

[50:55] Continue resolution?

[50:56] Yeah. Great. Yeah, it becomes a continuing resolution then.

[50:58] What is it after three years? It becomes part

[51:00] of the statement of beliefs. Yes.

[51:02] I mean, people continue to talk about food insecurity.

[51:06] So it, it, I don't think it'll ever go away. Yeah.

[51:09] Unless we fix it, which

[51:11] We can hope.

[51:14] All right. Our next order

[51:16] of business will be administration report.

[51:17] So first up will be Jane with

[51:18] business administrators update.

[51:23] Okay. Included in your packet is my,

[51:28] my update each each month.

[51:31] When I do it, I'm gonna highlight, you know, Laura

[51:33] and I work directly on,

[51:36] because they are some of the larger costs,

[51:38] the OUTTA district tuition, the contracted services.

[51:43] And you know, at this time of the year,

[51:45] we're also having grants approved

[51:47] and waiting for final approval.

[51:49] So sometimes there'll be transfers that'll happen.

[51:52] So the number seems a little inflated right now

[51:54] until the project's approved and,

[51:56] and then we'll do those transfers at a later time.

[51:58] But you can see on there where we are having some

[52:02] over budget areas and where we may be under budget

[52:07] and you know, Christina

[52:10] and I continue to work on free

[52:13] and reduced, just as a reminder, parents

[52:15] or families that were approved for free

[52:17] or reduced last year have until October 9th to reapply

[52:22] or their status will go back to paid on October 10th.

[52:28] So we encourage those families to make sure

[52:30] that they get their applications in.

[52:34] We actually, because I do these updates a week prior,

[52:38] there's gonna be things that are gonna be a little off.

[52:41] So when I say that we're gonna be receiving the first pink

[52:44] invoice, we actually received it today.

[52:46] However, I have not gone through it,

[52:48] so I can't give any numbers.

[52:49] So I'll do that at the next, at the next board meeting.

[52:54] And Glenn

[52:56] and I both on Friday, attended our association meeting

[53:01] the New Hampshire School of the New Hampshire Association

[53:04] of School Business Officials.

[53:05] We were there on Friday. They had, you know,

[53:08] representatives from the New Hampshire Department of Ed,

[53:10] department of Revenue Attorneys talking about some

[53:14] of the newly adopted legislation.

[53:17] And it's a, it's a great meeting to go

[53:21] and talk with our colleagues

[53:23] and hear any changes.

[53:26] What we need to do to address this new legislation.

[53:31] Again, the auditors, they were there the week prior

[53:35] to last week and we continue to send them information.

[53:38] They continue to send us more samples

[53:43] that they would like drawn.

[53:44] So everything is in an up portal

[53:46] that we submit all our information for.

[53:48] So that continues and it's starting to wind down.

[53:52] But we do, we're still doing that on a daily basis.

[53:57] I just put in there the, you know, the estimated cost

[53:59] for the SAU renovation wasn't, we don't expect it to exceed,

[54:04] exceed 3 79 and to date we've paid 187,000

[54:10] and we actually made payments today.

[54:13] So that's actually a little higher.

[54:14] But again, this is, this was done last week.

[54:17] Wanted to give you an update on the funds, the capital

[54:21] reserve funds that are held

[54:23] by the trustees of the trust fund.

[54:25] And we currently have two of those.

[54:29] We have the general maintenance, which

[54:32] we transferred the 500,000 that was voted on from

[54:37] unspent funds from 25 26.

[54:39] So we sent a check over to the trustees.

[54:42] So the general maintenance account currently has a balance

[54:45] of 761,895.

[54:47] And that's, we would use that,

[54:50] actually Mike talked about it when we were in

[54:52] our, the meeting with the town.

[54:54] We would only use that for maintenance projects

[54:58] and it would come before the board,

[54:59] before we would ask for

[55:04] the trustees to send us a reimbursement for that.

[55:06] And then we also have the roof replacement fund, which is,

[55:10] we had already spent all the principle on that.

[55:12] So this is just interest that had been earned

[55:15] while the project was being completed.

[55:18] And that project was Westenburg roof

[55:22] and Barca's roof.

[55:26] I also included in your packet

[55:30] an update on revenues.

[55:32] Keep in mind some of these haven't been updated.

[55:37] For example, the adequacy.

[55:42] The adequacy, actually we did update that.

[55:44] So the adequacy number came in

[55:46] and while we were only a couple thousand off from

[55:48] what we estimated, we're still, the actual number is

[55:52] from the difference from last year's adequacy

[55:55] to 26 20 seven's.

[55:58] Adequacy is a difference

[56:00] of $429,167 and 22 cents.

[56:05] And that is, so that's essentially what

[56:07] that means is an additional 429,000 that is,

[56:13] that gets raised locally through local taxation.

[56:16] The on the flip side with the Swept,

[56:19] which is a state education property tax,

[56:23] the amount we're receiving over last year is an additional

[56:27] $13,505.

[56:31] But of course the SWT is just

[56:33] Local property tax.

[56:34] It's, it's the same, yeah. Raised locally. Yep.

[56:38] So those numbers will get updated on

[56:42] in the revenues as well.

[56:44] I included an expenditure report,

[56:48] but what I wanna point out is

[56:50] that you're gonna see huge balances if you were looking at

[56:52] health and dental, a balance of 9.7 million.

[56:56] That's just because right now payroll just started up

[56:59] and we have to go into the system

[57:02] and encumber all the health insurance

[57:04] that's tied to each employee.

[57:07] We just haven't had a chance to do that yet.

[57:10] We've only, I think we've had two payrolls

[57:12] since teaching staff have come back.

[57:15] So when you have the next update, those will all be included

[57:18] and you'll get an actual number that that's also included

[57:21] with the retirement and social security.

[57:23] We have to go in and encumber that with our payroll system.

[57:25] So otherwise it's been normal expenditures

[57:31] as anticipated through the summer.

[57:33] I also included one

[57:38] more report, which is an update on the bond project.

[57:44] I've included each of the

[57:48] budgeted projects, what the contract amount was,

[57:51] how much we've paid to date,

[57:53] and how much has been encumbered,

[57:55] and then what the balance, the budget balance would be.

[57:59] Now again, there are a lot of projects

[58:01] that haven't been started because these are projects

[58:03] that would likely be done next year.

[58:07] And that would include things such as the replacement

[58:10] of interior and exterior doors,

[58:13] window replacement at Gilbert H Hood, exterior repairs on,

[58:16] again, doors and frames.

[58:19] So those projects will take place probably next summer.

[58:23] So you're gonna see those have no encumbrances, no payments.

[58:26] And I believe Mike mentioned it earlier

[58:28] regarding the Windows at South Range kind of

[58:33] got combined with the facade.

[58:36] And so that's why you're seeing

[58:41] a surplus on the facade, surplus on the windows,

[58:45] also surplus actually on the facade at South Range.

[58:50] And you're actually seeing over overspent on the roof

[58:54] because they had a lot of things

[58:56] that they didn't realize when they were

[58:58] came, came into the project.

[59:00] As well as I also moved some of the funding on,

[59:03] after talking to Mark job under HVAC equipment

[59:06] and replacement, we moved the

[59:10] structural upgrade from the facade

[59:12] to HVAC equipment and structural.

[59:14] So it's the same amount of money in the budget,

[59:17] it's just moved where I've allocated that.

[59:20] So you can see that right now there's $10 million

[59:25] unspent again,

[59:26] because a lot of the projects haven't started yet.

[59:28] So if you have any questions on the bond

[59:32] or anything on the report,

[59:34] we actually did make payments on some

[59:36] of the bond projects today.

[59:39] So this'll be again updated

[59:43] at our next report or next month, whenever.

[59:45] I'm gonna do the bo the bond report. I have two questions.

[59:49] One, there's a placeholder for out

[59:51] of district regular education with a $1 placeholder

[59:55] and an encumbrance of 20,000.

[59:57] Could you just explain that? Sure.

[1:00:00] Well, initially I think there was some legislation about

[1:00:05] out of districts, out of district placements

[1:00:08] for general education

[1:00:09] and the districts would need to budget that.

[1:00:13] And so we'd put in a dollar placeholder.

[1:00:16] The 20,000 is for a student who is going

[1:00:21] to another district, but it's a general ed student.

[1:00:23] And in the contract with PanIN, we do have the right to

[1:00:29] let a student go to another school district.

[1:00:31] There's a certain percentage of students who can allow that.

[1:00:34] And they are for certain circumstances,

[1:00:36] sometimes it's in their senior year

[1:00:38] or you know, they've moved.

[1:00:41] And so we work it out with another district

[1:00:44] and we only pay the portion

[1:00:46] that we would have paid to Pinkerton.

[1:00:49] And there's a contract that Mike

[1:00:51] and Kathleen will draw up as well as the receiving district.

[1:00:56] And the parents are responsible for the remaining portion.

[1:01:00] And we are, we're net neutral with

[1:01:03] what we would've paid pancreatin if that student went there.

[1:01:05] So we encumber, we encumber the 20 K,

[1:01:08] but right now we don't have a student in that position.

[1:01:11] We encumbered because I think that we have two students.

[1:01:15] One of them is not, but you gotta be careful.

[1:01:18] I'm not gonna say where they're going. Okay.

[1:01:19] They're general. General education. Okay.

[1:01:21] We're not gonna name what school district, but Okay.

[1:01:25] They're less. Alright, thank you.

[1:01:27] And my other question was just in regards to the SAU

[1:01:31] of we have spent, and I guess it's kind of a combo question

[1:01:33] for you and I, maybe I should have asked Jeremy,

[1:01:36] what is left to do over at the new SAU

[1:01:40] and is it possible that we might not spend that full amount?

[1:01:43] And if so, where will that extra money go?

[1:01:47] We'll just go back into contingency

[1:01:49] or do you think we're gonna spend all of it?

[1:01:50] No, I believe we're gonna spend all of it and Okay.

[1:01:53] Well no, the 3 79. 3 79, yeah. So

[1:01:55] The, the remaining 21.

[1:01:59] Thank you. Yeah. Sorry guys.

[1:02:01] That goes back into the end of year contingency. Yes.

[1:02:05] So that goes, goes back into the surplus. You

[1:02:07] Believe that we still, I mean,

[1:02:08] 'cause I don't know what left,

[1:02:09] Left.

[1:02:10] I think we're done there. That there's no

[1:02:11] more work to be done.

[1:02:12] The only thing left is billing.

[1:02:15] Oh, okay. So does that make Sense?

[1:02:16] Yeah. So it's co It is.

[1:02:18] So we would not have spent the full amount. Correct.

[1:02:20] Oh, excellent. Thank you. Yeah,

[1:02:21] the contractor is outta the building and there's nothing.

[1:02:24] Okay, great. Yep.

[1:02:27] We're just waiting to pay invoices at this point.

[1:02:31] Are there any other questions on any

[1:02:32] of the reports that I provided? Yeah,

[1:02:34] James, quick thing.

[1:02:35] On the contract of services overage, I assume we net

[1:02:38] that against the salaries savings, it's wash

[1:02:41] and we still have plus a million bucks.

[1:02:43] Wash No

[1:02:44] Plus.

[1:02:45] Yeah. Wash is tough.

[1:02:46] So I don't mean wash, I mean push it together. Yeah,

[1:02:49] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1:02:50] It's not, obviously if we're going out for contract service,

[1:02:52] it's gonna cost more than if we hire an internal employee.

[1:02:55] Sure, of course. Yeah.

[1:02:56] And I think that was in Laura's report

[1:02:59] and her special education costs, specifically

[1:03:01] around services, school, psychs, OTPT, things like that.

[1:03:04] And we've had this discussion, actually

[1:03:06] to your credit several times, about how

[1:03:08] there's gonna be less people that are signing up

[1:03:10] to be full-time employees in districts when they can make

[1:03:12] 30% more through contracted service.

[1:03:15] So we're gonna have to really evaluate that.

[1:03:19] I'm not saying just as dairy, I'm saying

[1:03:20] as a profession in our education, about how you attract

[1:03:24] and retain those professionals with those skill sets

[1:03:28] when there's collective bargaining agreements that are

[1:03:31] specifically sometimes drawn out for teachers.

[1:03:33] So, yep.

[1:03:37] Does that answer your question? Yeah. Oh

[1:03:39] Yeah.

[1:03:40] Thank you.

[1:03:41] All right. So if there are no more questions for Jane,

[1:03:44] we'll turn it over to Mike for his superintendent's

[1:03:45] Update.

[1:03:46] Thanks. Best part about directors night

[1:03:48] is, I don't how get to talk a lot.

[1:03:49] So quickly, a couple things.

[1:03:52] We already mentioned the facility store.

[1:03:54] Serena, before you leave, you were in my

[1:03:56] superintendent's update.

[1:03:57] So met with Serena last week.

[1:03:59] I'm gonna skip Serena last week.

[1:04:03] Talk about a go-getter as a junior.

[1:04:05] I, what's funny is Anthony's here tonight,

[1:04:06] I don't know if anyone noticed him, but

[1:04:07] Torch is really being passed.

[1:04:09] But Serena asked so many great questions.

[1:04:11] But more specifically, I said I wanted

[1:04:13] Serena to be Serena, right?

[1:04:14] So that's the purpose of your voice here.

[1:04:15] That's the purpose of what you bring.

[1:04:17] So be yourself over the next year.

[1:04:19] And if you do it again, continue.

[1:04:22] But you did awesome tonight. It's like

[1:04:23] you, it's like you've done it before.

[1:04:25] It feels like you practiced. Did you practice?

[1:04:27] I didn't practice, actually, but thank

[1:04:29] You.

[1:04:30] And you crushed it. So great job. Thank you, thank you.

[1:04:33] Thank you to the facilities tour, you know, and,

[1:04:36] and I said thank you to Jeremy, but to the board, thank you.

[1:04:38] It's another night away from your

[1:04:40] family and your obligations.

[1:04:42] It was nice to show everyone as a whole

[1:04:45] and talk about maybe upcoming things

[1:04:46] that I might be bringing to whether the budget process,

[1:04:49] whether it's a CIP, it was nice

[1:04:51] to see everyone in this, not in this setting.

[1:04:55] So it was great to have those conversations.

[1:04:58] The septic tank already brought it up.

[1:05:00] It's gonna be something that we're gonna have

[1:05:01] to be discussing probably by the next meeting.

[1:05:03] So if we send updates, it'll be through email

[1:05:07] about a possible public hearing.

[1:05:08] If that's the way we decide.

[1:05:10] We're really waiting on a number that's gonna really tell us

[1:05:12] the tale of, of what we need to do there.

[1:05:13] But it needs to be fixed. That's not a, it's not a want.

[1:05:16] That's a need. Just to be very clear on five,

[1:05:21] six busing, the reason I'm bringing it up again is

[1:05:23] 'cause that went into place last week

[1:05:24] since our last board meeting.

[1:05:26] So we are now, the bus company has, Chandra is just,

[1:05:30] she's a workhorse and it's been phenomenal work with her.

[1:05:32] She found a route to pick up our five six athletes

[1:05:36] and bring them over so parents don't need to bust them

[1:05:39] after school for athletics.

[1:05:41] Oh, cool. So we have nearly 60 students a day going from

[1:05:44] west to hood to participate in our athletics.

[1:05:48] And now we're already in the winter planning phase on

[1:05:51] how do we handle those numbers.

[1:05:53] So more to come on that.

[1:05:56] And then, you know, I, I really try

[1:06:01] in this role to just be kind

[1:06:04] of advisor for the board, right?

[1:06:05] That's my job. You guys are the elected officials

[1:06:08] and you know,

[1:06:11] this seat is very challenging sometimes.

[1:06:15] And I think tonight I just, I just want to emphasize that,

[1:06:21] you know, when, when people criticize our teachers

[1:06:26] or our paraprofessionals that help our students

[1:06:29] with the greatest needs or our custodians who work

[1:06:33] after hours to help the community with athletics, you know,

[1:06:37] when you try and bang the system for a couple scores,

[1:06:42] it's a little bit personal for me.

[1:06:44] You know, you can get up here and criticize me all you want.

[1:06:46] That's what this role is for. That's what my job is.

[1:06:51] I've been criticized a lot.

[1:06:52] I'm sure you could Google good if you wanted to.

[1:06:55] I have no problem with that.

[1:06:57] And I also said, I'm not afraid of, you know, our,

[1:07:00] our inefficiencies or our challenges that we face in

[1:07:03] that we're gonna continue to strive to get better.

[1:07:05] But it, it is not a systematic failure in any form

[1:07:09] or fashion that we're providing in dairy.

[1:07:11] And I think our teachers and our paraprofessionals

[1:07:14] and everyone that shows up every day starting at 4 45 in the

[1:07:19] morning, and some individuals that don't go home

[1:07:21] until nine o'clock at night

[1:07:22] to make sure our buildings are clean

[1:07:24] the next day for our students.

[1:07:26] I don't think that's reflective of

[1:07:27] what the da dairy taxpayer is getting.

[1:07:29] I really don't. And if anyone ever has questions about

[1:07:34] what we do or how we do it or,

[1:07:36] or what we think we're struggling

[1:07:37] or what you think we, my door is open every day.

[1:07:41] I meet with parents all the time.

[1:07:43] And as long as you feel comfortable

[1:07:45] or you feel informed, that's our job.

[1:07:48] You know, the word transparent can be taken different ways.

[1:07:53] I think we're doing a different job since I've been here.

[1:07:55] That's just my take.

[1:07:58] We're trying to provide all the accurate information and,

[1:08:00] and definitely stand on it.

[1:08:01] So, you know, I, I know it's like a soapbox spiel,

[1:08:04] but I would say that, I think that was that one,

[1:08:06] that one kind of hit home

[1:08:07] because it's, it's,

[1:08:09] I think it's actually the opposite, right?

[1:08:11] So we are providing high level services

[1:08:14] and we're not afraid of results.

[1:08:17] But I look forward to the discussion

[1:08:20] as Carrie is already working.

[1:08:22] 'cause I texted her to work on some things,

[1:08:25] and I look forward to that discussion over the next,

[1:08:27] you know, couple months so that the community feels

[1:08:29] comfortable with where their tax dollars going

[1:08:31] and knowing that we're putting

[1:08:33] a hundred percent effort in every day.

[1:08:35] So that's about it on that. Sorry. Thank you.

[1:08:38] Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, for my chair,

[1:08:40] I feel confident in the work

[1:08:42] that you guys have been doing over the last year plus here.

[1:08:45] And I like the direction that we're moving in

[1:08:48] and yeah, I mean, the school district is more than

[1:08:50] just one metric.

[1:08:51] You know, there's a lot of good things going on here,

[1:08:53] and I think that things are moving in a good direction.

[1:08:57] So thank you for that.

[1:09:03] I would just, Mike, I would,

[1:09:04] I would, I would ask the question.

[1:09:05] I don't expect you to have an answer tonight,

[1:09:07] and I think it's an age old question.

[1:09:08] How do we, you know, you can cherry pick any numbers

[1:09:11] and show 'em how you want to show them.

[1:09:14] How do we get to the actual number that we want to, that

[1:09:17] that makes sense, that show the real picture?

[1:09:20] What does that look like?

[1:09:21] I don't, I don't know the answer to that.

[1:09:22] I mean, we always talk about this, do you,

[1:09:24] does you don't just measure

[1:09:24] what we're doing on these numbers.

[1:09:26] I just don't somehow we need articulate

[1:09:29] that in a way that people understand.

[1:09:31] You know, data is what you, you know,

[1:09:33] the age old saying is data is what you make it to be, right?

[1:09:36] So, you know, I could pull all the data

[1:09:38] of last year's graduates

[1:09:39] who are attending Ivy League schools.

[1:09:41] I could attend all the ones that have entered the armed

[1:09:43] forces and, and serving our country.

[1:09:45] I could pull all the ones that, you know,

[1:09:47] went into a trade immediately

[1:09:49] and already making 50, $60,000.

[1:09:51] Right? So I, I like the question and,

[1:09:54] and you know, my mind starts spinning right away

[1:09:56] because what will end up happening with pieces

[1:09:59] of information, whether they're accurate

[1:10:01] or not, is it can start to run on things.

[1:10:04] And I think it's our job.

[1:10:05] And that's what I was texting Carrie about.

[1:10:07] It's like our job to show that we are doing things and, and,

[1:10:11] and whether it's doing a better job at these meetings,

[1:10:14] presenting our internal data through niwa

[1:10:17] or our internal assessments through, you know,

[1:10:21] what's happening at Pinkerton

[1:10:23] because those are our students.

[1:10:24] And that that dollar that we provide

[1:10:26] as a taxpayer goes to that education.

[1:10:29] So I, I think it's a work

[1:10:31] through some of our committee levels.

[1:10:33] I think it's gonna be my challenge at the discussion at

[1:10:35] that level is what can we show the community again,

[1:10:38] that we're doing more than what's said sometimes,

[1:10:44] you know, it's, you know, you know, this is my world.

[1:10:48] And to say that we're doing a disservice is,

[1:10:53] is very challenging for me

[1:10:55] because I see every day the hard work

[1:10:58] that's going into kids.

[1:10:59] And it doesn't come out in a report.

[1:11:02] It doesn't come out in a report.

[1:11:05] So we have to do, we have to figure out how to present

[1:11:10] our successes because I think they far outweigh

[1:11:15] what the state's providing as data.

[1:11:18] So When I began my teaching

[1:11:23] career, I, I taught in one

[1:11:25] of the poorest schools in the state,

[1:11:26] and we struggled significantly.

[1:11:27] There was one year where we were the lowest

[1:11:29] and we were, we had every plan imaginable.

[1:11:32] The department of Ed would come in weekly.

[1:11:34] And one person said to me, said,

[1:11:36] you have to tell your story.

[1:11:37] That's what we need to do.

[1:11:38] We need to humanize these numbers

[1:11:40] and we need to tell the story of our district

[1:11:43] 'cause number, like Mike said, numbers are

[1:11:44] numbers and how we do that.

[1:11:46] I mean, that's all of our jobs

[1:11:50] Work on it.

[1:11:51] Appreciate it. Yep. All right. Thank you Mike.

[1:11:56] Anyone have any other questions for Mike?

[1:12:01] Our next order of business will be committee reports.

[1:12:03] We've had three committees meet over the last two weeks.

[1:12:05] So first up will be Jamie

[1:12:06] with an update from the communications committee.

[1:12:09] Alright, so at our last communications meeting we

[1:12:13] discussed the, the first newsletter

[1:12:16] that we're gonna be putting out for this year.

[1:12:19] It should hopefully be at the end of October.

[1:12:25] It carries new to the committee.

[1:12:27] So we basically briefed her on like the norms we've

[1:12:30] established over the last year as a new committee.

[1:12:35] Let's see. We discussed like a general plan as

[1:12:38] to when the future newsletters should be issued

[1:12:42] based on like upcoming important events throughout the year.

[1:12:46] We discussed other ways we can try to reach the community.

[1:12:49] Oh, sorry. That's okay.

[1:12:50] Sorry to communicate important dates like fiscal

[1:12:54] advisory and the deliberative.

[1:12:56] And Carrie had a really good idea

[1:12:58] to host like a senior lunch to engage with community members

[1:13:02] who may not have kids in the district,

[1:13:05] which I think that's a really great idea.

[1:13:06] Hopefully we can get that going. Carrie, also intro.

[1:13:11] You're bringing all kinds of new exciting things.

[1:13:14] She also had the great idea of the three things

[1:13:17] after every school board meeting.

[1:13:18] So Carrie decides the three most

[1:13:23] important things that we discuss

[1:13:25] or votes that have hap

[1:13:26] that occurred or whatever during the meeting.

[1:13:28] And they are put out on social media so that people can

[1:13:32] like, get a gist of what we're talking about without having

[1:13:35] to actually watch the whole meeting.

[1:13:39] And let's see. I think that's about it.

[1:13:43] Yeah, that's all I have.

[1:13:46] All right. Did anyone have any questions? Yeah,

[1:13:48] I just, well, maybe not a question.

[1:13:49] Maybe just a thought to think about is the community needs

[1:13:53] to be, and maybe you, I wasn't your last meeting,

[1:13:55] maybe you guys went into this, so I apologize if I'm,

[1:13:57] I didn't watch the meeting, so I apologize.

[1:13:58] Is we need to educate the community on HB 1300

[1:14:02] and how do we do that as a board and as an administration?

[1:14:07] Because when you read that bill, it's like,

[1:14:11] it's screaming to check Yes.

[1:14:13] If you're not paying attention.

[1:14:16] And I think we just need to figure out a way to,

[1:14:19] I dunno whether it's to bring Jim in

[1:14:21] and do a, a one nighter thing, invite the comm,

[1:14:24] invite the community to come in

[1:14:26] and I, I don't know the answer.

[1:14:28] I, I never have. And then we've tried a lot

[1:14:30] of things over the years, but I think between that

[1:14:34] and I, I think you gotta figure out some way to,

[1:14:37] to get the board out on that because it's, I know it's 60%,

[1:14:41] but it's November, so it's gonna be a challenge. Sure.

[1:14:44] I think this did come up a lot,

[1:14:46] David, in the last meeting.

[1:14:47] There was quite a bit of discussion around this as well

[1:14:49] as HB 1331.

[1:14:50] That doesn't mean that we have any answers

[1:14:52] because part of the problem is that HB 1300,

[1:14:55] in my view is opaque at best.

[1:14:57] And being able to come up

[1:14:58] with a message has been really hard

[1:15:00] because my understanding Mike stepped away here.

[1:15:06] My understanding has been that our own district's

[1:15:10] attorney has had a lot of lack of clarity around, you know,

[1:15:13] all the things we've already discussed.

[1:15:15] So, but your point is very well taken.

[1:15:17] I mean, it's very important for us to be able to communicate

[1:15:21] the potential impacts of what this might mean.

[1:15:24] Particularly on the November ballot.

[1:15:26] It didn't come up so much the, during the joint,

[1:15:30] the joint meeting just now about 1331 March will

[1:15:33] also be here very soon.

[1:15:35] So,

[1:15:36] Yeah, no, I agree.

[1:15:37] I, but I hopefully by two weeks out

[1:15:39] or something where we we're at a point

[1:15:40] where things have been ironed out, you know, mid-October,

[1:15:44] third week of October, let's

[1:15:45] hope that things are ironed out.

[1:15:46] Yeah, that was the biggest concern when we discussed this

[1:15:49] at the last meeting, is that nobody can clearly explain

[1:15:53] what the impact of this question would be if it passed.

[1:15:56] So that's the most difficult thing is how do you communicate

[1:15:59] the impact of something when you know what it's gonna be.

[1:16:03] I think one the things too, I mean certainly

[1:16:05] to your point, Michael and David, like there's a perception

[1:16:09] that when we have a tax cap

[1:16:10] that equals fiscal responsibility, I wanna be very clear

[1:16:14] that there are different drivers

[1:16:16] that are happening on the town side versus the school side.

[1:16:19] And when you talk about a tax cap, we need to be able

[1:16:21] to predict year over year what our revenue's gonna be.

[1:16:24] Jane mentioned it during the, during the joint meeting.

[1:16:27] That doesn't happen for us as easily

[1:16:29] as it does for town council.

[1:16:31] And so when we talk about having a tax cap on the school

[1:16:33] side, it becomes a much more,

[1:16:36] much more different conversation, I suppose.

[1:16:40] You know, we have different responsibilities,

[1:16:41] different statutory requirements, different obligations.

[1:16:46] Mr. Flynn, you spoke to it well, we have, and,

[1:16:48] and Laura did tonight as well,

[1:16:50] during her special education update.

[1:16:52] We serve special education population, all of it.

[1:16:55] And so tax cap is like a, a,

[1:16:59] a loaded term in my view.

[1:17:02] And again, i, I don't want that to be seen as

[1:17:06] what would be a fiscally responsible move.

[1:17:09] I mean that much I'll communicate right now.

[1:17:11] I think that that's a, that's something

[1:17:13] that we really need to think well about. So,

[1:17:15] And of course, you know, a tax cap isn't gonna

[1:17:18] make taxes go down.

[1:17:20] No. You know, the only way

[1:17:21] that we can make taxes go down is if our

[1:17:23] revenue situation changes.

[1:17:26] That's a good point guys. And, and Jen in particular.

[1:17:29] There's ways, even though if you don't know the calculation,

[1:17:31] there's ways to articulate certain things

[1:17:33] that drive our budget and, and hone in on those.

[1:17:36] And we do that obviously.

[1:17:37] But I mean, you look at insurance, the number was

[1:17:42] $11 million, a 10% increase on that is 1 million,

[1:17:46] 1,000,001, whatever it is.

[1:17:48] So that right there kind

[1:17:49] of blows things outta the proportion.

[1:17:50] But when you, there are other ways,

[1:17:52] even though if you don't know the calculations,

[1:17:53] there are other ways to educate the public.

[1:17:55] Sure, for sure. On, on certain, like key drivers.

[1:17:59] 'cause right in the bill it says this won't affect

[1:18:00] classroom, this won't affect classroom funding,

[1:18:04] which is patently false.

[1:18:07] So I don't even know how you get around that, but, so, but

[1:18:10] It, it won't impact classroom instruction, I think is,

[1:18:13] I don't have the language in front of

[1:18:14] Me.

[1:18:15] It is, you're right. That's all right. I'll shut up now.

[1:18:17] No, no, no. I think I

[1:18:19] Hear you and I hear the concern as well.

[1:18:21] I mean, I'm in agreement.

[1:18:24] I wish we had a little bit more of an on-ramp to prepare

[1:18:26] for this and had more clarity from legal around it.

[1:18:31] But we are here.

[1:18:34] I think that's where a lot of the emphasis will probably

[1:18:36] be right now during the fiscal advisory meetings is,

[1:18:38] is is the drivers.

[1:18:39] Right? We started introducing new,

[1:18:41] new vocabulary last year on the needle movers and,

[1:18:44] and what can we really shift, you know, and,

[1:18:46] and I think as we,

[1:18:49] I believe at my meeting on Friday, all three of us went

[1:18:53] to a different meeting to hit everyone up.

[1:18:56] I believe DRA has been granted permission to start

[1:19:00] communicating with us now.

[1:19:02] So I, I'm hoping between now and our first meeting

[1:19:04] and October, we can have some clear vision to communicate.

[1:19:09] And then by our next board meeting, which is October,

[1:19:12] oddly we have an extra week here.

[1:19:14] I just hope everyone's paying attention to their calendars

[1:19:17] by that next board meeting will have some significant

[1:19:20] ability to have a deeper discussion on

[1:19:23] what we want to do as a board. Yeah.

[1:19:24] Yeah. It would be nice to be able to know, you know,

[1:19:27] how this tax gap is gonna impact the budget

[1:19:29] and if it were to pass, what would that mean?

[1:19:32] Yep. You know, that's, I think

[1:19:34] that public communication piece where we really don't have,

[1:19:38] you know, we need more information.

[1:19:39] Yeah.

[1:19:44] I think it's me Policy. Yep. Yeah.

[1:19:47] If we're all set with communications,

[1:19:49] we have a first read from policy.

[1:19:51] Alright, in your packet for your Sunday reading,

[1:19:54] please take some time

[1:19:55] and review the first read on our AI artificial

[1:19:58] intelligence policy.

[1:20:00] Dr. S spent significant time on some cross analysis of

[1:20:05] what other districts have already done, incidents

[1:20:08] that have occurred around the state.

[1:20:10] So if you take a look at the deep fake part of that

[1:20:12] AI policy that kind of came out of Goss Town uniquely,

[1:20:17] we're putting a policy in place for a K eight.

[1:20:20] So it's a little bit different, right?

[1:20:21] If we had that high school, Pinkerton has their own policy

[1:20:23] that they manage and the, and they entertain.

[1:20:26] So take some time to read that.

[1:20:27] Please shoot me any questions, gimme a call if you have.

[1:20:30] But we'd like to have that in

[1:20:31] place at the next board meeting.

[1:20:35] All right, thanks Mike. Like he said, I go over

[1:20:38] that policy that we have

[1:20:39] and that will come up for a second read

[1:20:41] and a vote at our next meeting on October 13th.

[1:20:45] Finally, we have an update from the

[1:20:47] curriculum and assessment committee. And Jenna.

[1:20:49] Hi. So the curriculum committee last met

[1:20:51] on Thursday the 17th.

[1:20:54] Our main focus was to discuss the results

[1:20:57] of the New Hampshire State Assessment system,

[1:20:59] which we've now spoken to a couple

[1:21:02] of times that were just released.

[1:21:05] Just so you know, the, the NH SAS measures the percentage

[1:21:08] of students meeting New Hampshire grade level expectations.

[1:21:11] In the spring, our recent scores were 37% proficient

[1:21:15] proficiency in math and 45% in reading.

[1:21:19] While there are several factors that go into testing scores,

[1:21:22] such as when the tests are administered,

[1:21:24] the recent school transitions

[1:21:26] and the percentage of children that are able

[1:21:28] to opt out without affecting the scores,

[1:21:30] the district is aware that there is work to be done.

[1:21:33] These scores are not reflective

[1:21:35] of our children's individual growth throughout the year,

[1:21:37] which is reflected in the NIWA scores.

[1:21:40] The two main areas that the curriculum department plans

[1:21:43] to focus on are preserving the growth

[1:21:45] that has been shown in the K through four grades,

[1:21:49] while aligning all of K through eight

[1:21:51] with a strong tier one curriculum,

[1:21:54] which will benefit every student.

[1:21:56] This will also hopefully address the slide

[1:21:58] that we're seeing in grades five through eight.

[1:22:01] Strengthening the tier one curriculum will consist

[1:22:03] of a strengthening grade level core instruction using NIWA

[1:22:06] scores to assist in small group

[1:22:08] instruction to fix skill gaps.

[1:22:10] Establishing four to six week check-in cycles to monitor

[1:22:14] progress while surveying teachers and interpreting the data.

[1:22:18] We also did a quick review of

[1:22:19] what our three year curriculum reviews will look like,

[1:22:23] which is year one study

[1:22:25] and define what do we need to do year two, evaluate

[1:22:29] and decide what best meets those needs.

[1:22:31] And year three implement

[1:22:33] and refine, how do we make it work well across the district.

[1:22:39] That is my review.

[1:22:42] I'd just like to add there, I wanna thank Patty Thomas

[1:22:44] for coming to that meeting as well as Aaron Rinard.

[1:22:47] I really valued what you brought to that meeting.

[1:22:49] Thank you Dr. Sansoni, for leading it.

[1:22:52] I mean, I don't wanna hop on the curriculum train,

[1:22:54] but since it's here, I'm going to,

[1:22:57] I have been very impressed with the leadership that Mr.

[1:22:59] Flynn's brought to the central office over the last 15

[1:23:01] or so months, bringing Dr.

[1:23:03] Sandon on board three months ago.

[1:23:05] There's definitely renewed energy in the curriculum area,

[1:23:07] which I'm very excited to see.

[1:23:10] Mr. Flynn, you've already spoken to a lot of these things

[1:23:12] that I might have said, but I'll just echo them here.

[1:23:16] You know, we're having careful examinations on an ongoing

[1:23:18] basis of what we're teaching, how we're teaching it,

[1:23:20] the tools and the resources

[1:23:21] that we're providing teachers to teach it.

[1:23:24] And most excitedly for me, I was really pleased to hear Dr.

[1:23:28] Sandi say that we're looking for ways to engage teachers on

[1:23:31] what they're seeing in the classrooms

[1:23:33] and how we're gonna use their feedback

[1:23:35] to inform what it is that we're doing.

[1:23:37] So I think it's a good place that we're at right now,

[1:23:39] and I'm energized by the conversations that we're having.

[1:23:41] Thank you.

[1:23:45] All right, thank you both. Did anyone have any additional

[1:23:47] questions on curriculum?

[1:23:51] All right, we'll move on. Our next order

[1:23:52] of business is member updates and any other business.

[1:23:55] I don't really have anything tonight,

[1:23:56] so if anybody else has any updates, I

[1:23:59] I do, I just wanna talk, is this on?

[1:24:02] Yeah, yeah. On the, the present successes.

[1:24:06] I'm sorry, I have a list, but,

[1:24:08] but there, there are a lot

[1:24:09] of successes going on in the classroom

[1:24:11] and I just wanted to give a couple of shout outs.

[1:24:13] One is to eighth grade social studies teacher, Laura Owens.

[1:24:18] She let the kids watch the Man in the Red Bandana on nine

[1:24:23] 11, and it was just wonderful.

[1:24:25] My granddaughter's in her class and she came home

[1:24:28] and she understood the impact on our country.

[1:24:32] So I just really wanna thank Ms. Owens for that.

[1:24:34] And also Jeremy who had a chance to talk today,

[1:24:37] I just really want to give him a shout out also.

[1:24:40] 'cause this guy has so much common sense. I really like him.

[1:24:46] He's actually keeping the paint color all the same so

[1:24:50] that we're not buying 8,000 different gallons of paint

[1:24:53] and wasting all our money.

[1:24:55] And he's just doing a, he's doing a bang up job.

[1:24:58] He's a good guy. That's it.

[1:25:00] Thanks Karen. Thank you, Karen. Anybody else?

[1:25:04] Yeah, I wanted to say something.

[1:25:07] It's in, in reference to the, the, again, I don't want

[1:25:12] to to beat the drum too much about those test scores,

[1:25:15] but one of the things that I, I wanted to mention was that

[1:25:19] kids change over the years.

[1:25:21] And I know that seems very cliche

[1:25:24] because the, the thing that we're supposed

[1:25:26] to say when we get old is kids these days, like, you know,

[1:25:29] they're, they're so different than, than what we had.

[1:25:31] But I had the pleasure of being in the classroom

[1:25:35] for nine years and, and being a substitute.

[1:25:38] And I can tell you that from one year to another,

[1:25:41] let's say a fourth grade class, one year,

[1:25:44] the fourth grade was just like on the ball

[1:25:47] and they had everything going,

[1:25:48] and they were just like ducks in a row.

[1:25:52] And then the next year I'd come in fourth grade

[1:25:54] and it was like feral kittens.

[1:25:56] Like it, the, the kids do change every year.

[1:25:59] And so when we get these test scores,

[1:26:02] you can have a completely different group of kids come in

[1:26:06] and the teachers can be teaching the same thing

[1:26:08] and it's just not gonna land the same way.

[1:26:10] And every year these kids cycle through

[1:26:12] and we see them come up

[1:26:13] and, you know, they, they have

[1:26:16] screen time a little bit more than they did before.

[1:26:18] They have cell phones more than they did.

[1:26:20] Like their personalities change

[1:26:22] how they're receiving things as they're coming up.

[1:26:24] We have the COVID kids, obviously, which are now,

[1:26:26] I cannot believe COVID is like almost seven years ago.

[1:26:28] But those kids come in

[1:26:30] and every year when these kids come in,

[1:26:33] they're changing the data

[1:26:34] because they're different kids to teach.

[1:26:36] And I love that. You know,

[1:26:38] what we're doing now in curriculum is the three year rolling

[1:26:41] review of the curriculum.

[1:26:42] Like, okay, we've got this

[1:26:43] and every three years we're gonna check

[1:26:45] and see is this still working for the kids that we have?

[1:26:50] How are things changing? Like what's the feedback?

[1:26:52] Taking the feedback from the teachers is really important.

[1:26:55] But this is one pinpoint,

[1:26:57] and again, I know that it's been said by other people.

[1:27:00] This is one pinpoint of data of one moment of time, of

[1:27:03] a group of hungry kids who maybe came in from recess

[1:27:06] and took a test on a 90 degree day.

[1:27:09] It's, it's a small bit of it.

[1:27:12] And I want to say that I,

[1:27:13] I've watched these teachers teach over the years

[1:27:16] and they've really put everything that they had to it.

[1:27:19] And to Mike Superintendent's point the,

[1:27:24] it's almost a slam against our teacher and it shouldn't be

[1:27:27] because they're doing what they can with what they have.

[1:27:31] And we need to just factor everything in.

[1:27:34] So, sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now. Thank you.

[1:27:38] I think there are a lot of different drivers in all this

[1:27:41] testing talk.

[1:27:43] I wanna make sure that,

[1:27:44] and I'll, I'll hold myself accountable.

[1:27:46] I'm holding this board accountable

[1:27:47] and we'll hold the administration accountable

[1:27:49] to making sure we're doing the very best that dairy can do.

[1:27:51] Dairy has unique challenges.

[1:27:53] We also have a lot of talent here.

[1:27:55] And I'm excited too about,

[1:27:56] like I said, the direction that we're heading.

[1:28:01] All right. Thank you everyone. Anything else from anyone?

[1:28:06] All right. Our future meeting schedule two regular meetings

[1:28:08] in October on the 13th

[1:28:09] and the 27th, both at 6:30 PM location, DVD, location,

[1:28:14] DVD.

[1:28:15] This is not on, of course,

[1:28:18] fiscal advisory will take place at the new SAU.

[1:28:22] And then we believe we'll be shifting our board meetings to

[1:28:26] our new location that we have set up that I was so excited

[1:28:29] to show everyone in our tour that no one came.

[1:28:33] It's fine. We'll see everyone there.

[1:28:35] All right. Well, we have no non-public business tonight,

[1:28:38] so I would accept a motion to adjourn.

[1:28:40] So moved first by Jamie. My

[1:28:41] Favorite Motion. Second.

[1:28:42] Second by Jen. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed.

[1:28:45] Motion carries. Seven zero. Goodnight everybody.

School Board Meeting - 09/22/2026

Agenda

Transcript