[2:36] - To call the School Board meeting for September 10th.

[2:39] To order. First item on the agenda is roll call.

[2:44] - Member Anderson. Present Member Horn. Present.

[2:47] Member McGowan. Present. Member Gregoire. Here.

[2:50] Member Oliver. Here. Member Battis. Present. Member Keith.

[2:54] Present. Member Pappas. Here. Member Co. Here.

[2:59] Member Campbel. Here. Member Karlberg. Present.

[3:03] Member Grassy. Here. Member Smith. Member Bellows.

[3:07] Present, we have a quorum.

[3:09] - Great. If for all those who are able, please stand.

[3:11] We will say the Pledge of allegiance

[3:14] and then remain standing for National Land

[3:17] Pledge Allegiance, which is

[3:18] - The flag of the United States of America.

[3:21] And to the republic. A witch stands on nation under God

[3:27] with liberty and justice.

[3:30] - Today we have Jfi, Perrin

[3:32] and Gabriela Millard singing the national anthem.

[3:36] Okay, you step right up to the mic. Right there.

[3:44] - Say, can you see

[3:48] by the what?

[3:53] So we,

[3:58] the lights,

[4:02] O spot stripes

[4:04] and bright stars through the

[4:12] on the

[4:38] I.

[5:20] - Thank you very much ladies. That was beautiful.

[5:22] It was wonderful. Next item on the agenda is reading

[5:25] of the records of the Oct August 13th meeting.

[5:29] Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second.

[5:33] A motion by Ms. Campbell. Second by Mr. Bellows.

[5:37] Any discussion? Additions, changes, deletions.

[5:42] Seeing none. All those in favor say Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[5:46] Motion passes. Next item.

[5:48] We have the swearing in of our student

[5:50] representatives to the School Board.

[5:51] I'm gonna have you both stand right up in front of me.

[5:54] I'm gonna join you up there and have you take your

[5:57] - Pledge.

[6:12] - You can face me. All right.

[6:16] I'll do my best to share the microphone with you.

[6:19] So I state your name.

[6:21] - I, I, rusty - Do solemnly swear. Do

[6:24] - Solemnly swear.

[6:25] - Swear that I will bear faith and true allegiance. That I

[6:28] - Will bear faith and true allegiance

[6:30] - To the United States of America in the state

[6:32] of New Hampshire to the

[6:34] - United States America, to the state of New Hampshire.

[6:37] - And we'll support the Constitution thereof

[6:40] - And we'll support the Constitution there thereof.

[6:43] - So help me, God and I. State your name

[6:48] - Sole.

[6:49] Help me God. I'm Josephine.

[6:51] - Do solemnly and sincerely swear and affirm so

[6:55] - Solemnly - And sincerely, swear and affirm

[6:57] - That I will faithfully and impartially

[7:00] - Faith faithfully and impartially,

[7:02] - Discharge and perform all duties,

[7:05] - Discharge and perform all duties

[7:06] - Incumbent upon me

[7:08] as student School Board members. Incumbent

[7:10] - Upon me, upon me as school and School Board

[7:13] - Members.

[7:14] According to the best of my abilities. According

[7:16] - To the best of my abilities.

[7:18] - Agreeable to the rules

[7:19] and regulations of this constitution.

[7:21] - Agreeable to the rules

[7:22] and regulations of this constitution

[7:24] - And the laws of the state of New Hampshire and the

[7:26] - Laws of State of New Hampshire.

[7:28] - And the charter in ordinances and

[7:30] - The charter and ordinances

[7:32] - Of the city of Rochester. Of the

[7:34] - City of - Rochester.

[7:35] So help me God. So help me

[7:36] - God.

[7:37] - Congratulations.

[8:04] Okay, next up is the report of the Superintendent. Mr. Fni.

[8:07] - Yeah. Thank you Mr. Chair. We do have some guests joining

[8:09] us this evening, so I will let those folks go.

[8:12] Go first. First,

[8:13] we have representatives from the Rochester Police

[8:16] Benevolence Association.

[8:17] So I would ask them to come to the podium

[8:21] and one of those people should at least

[8:22] look familiar to this board.

[8:26] - How's it going? School Board. Welcome,

[8:28] - Welcome, welcome - Back.

[8:29] I'll do my best. I've been up since like

[8:31] three o'clock yesterday afternoon.

[8:33] But what we would like to do is like

[8:36] to thank the School Board for allow to be here tonight.

[8:39] My name's Shane Downs and I serve as a sergeant

[8:41] of the police department with me as Alicia.

[8:44] She's a dispatcher at the police department.

[8:46] We're both board members of the Rochester Police

[8:52] Vanilla Lent Association,

[8:57] which I serve as an at large member.

[9:00] And she is the secretary.

[9:05] - The Rochester Police Benevolent Association was

[9:08] established and chartered in 1953.

[9:10] The organization relies on donations from both community

[9:14] members and active and retired police officers.

[9:17] Community engagement fosters relationships

[9:19] with youth athletic programs

[9:21] and local charities aiming to support the younger generation

[9:24] and those pursuing higher education.

[9:26] The benevolent association values its connections

[9:29] with the community to create both short-term

[9:31] and partnerships that provide various forms of assistance.

[9:35] This includes advocating for juvenile access to education

[9:39] and offering financial support to those in need.

[9:45] - So the purpose of our visit is to thank

[9:48] and recognize the Spaulding Art department.

[9:50] Is this is Daley here.

[9:55] A couple years ago I had the idea

[9:56] to design some police patches that would carry meaning

[9:59] and generate proceeds for good causes.

[10:03] Once we received approval from Chief Boudreaux,

[10:05] we collectively as the RPBA, decided

[10:09] to create a breast cancer awareness patch,

[10:11] an autism awareness patch, and a stroke awareness patch.

[10:15] So I wanna first, the, the community, I wanted the community

[10:20] to be involved in this initiative.

[10:22] So I approached Jen Daley, I knew she was head

[10:25] of the art department and she was on board about doing this.

[10:29] After a few months, we met with Jen in the art department

[10:31] where her students produced outstanding designs,

[10:34] we're excited by the number of students

[10:36] who participated making the selection process for each patch

[10:40] design design quite challenging.

[10:43] Ultimately we chose the designs

[10:46] and we brought one of each patch.

[10:48] Here is a token of appreciation.

[10:51] The patches are now available

[10:53] for purchase at the police department for $10 each.

[10:55] And all the proceeds that they, they go to

[10:59] that respective cause.

[11:01] So first we wanna extend our thanks to Jen Daly

[11:04] and her staff, the art department for the contributions.

[11:07] Knowing that specific conditions affect many individuals.

[11:10] And it is our goal at the RPBA

[11:13] to assist in any way we can.

[11:16] So what we have is first the patch that we all wear daily.

[11:23] This is the breast cancer patch. That

[11:27] - Which, - So this student pre designed that one.

[11:31] That the police department,

[11:35] this is the autism one.

[11:39] - Oh, Sandra. - And this is the, the stroke.

[11:45] - Oh, hold it up to the camera. Yeah. Great.

[11:49] Hold it up to the camera. Sorry

[11:50] to interrupt you. Is that alright? Yeah,

[11:52] - Of course.

[11:53] So the stroke one for me is actually hits home

[11:56] because my son had a stroke at birth.

[11:58] So that one was really important to me

[12:00] to be able to do that.

[12:01] And this is the one that, yeah. And I just want,

[12:14] oh, wrong

[12:15] - One.

[12:16] No wrong one. It's on Shane. Somehow chained.

[12:19] - Okay. I'll just hold him up. Yeah, that's easiest

[12:21] - One.

[12:22] Good try. Nice try. I think he can zoom in on Shane.

[12:26] - Yeah, I think we've had enough of that. There is that one.

[12:31] The breast cancer, the autism,

[12:36] and then the, the stroke one.

[12:38] So what we wanna do is we wanna present these to Jen

[12:43] for her department

[12:44] and to thank them for participating in this.

[12:48] And we're excited

[12:50] that they're out there now for people to purchase.

[12:52] - Cool. - Mrs. Daley, would you,

[13:03] would you mind just introducing ourselves?

[13:04] - Oh, I don't mind at all. Hi, I'm Jen Daley.

[13:07] I'm one of for our teachers at Saling High School

[13:09] and we work together as a department, which is awesome.

[13:12] Having our students to springs ago kind

[13:16] of brainstorm these amazing ideas.

[13:20] The team came

[13:22] and they got to choose from a lot of different designs.

[13:27] These were the winners. This is Holly Ricard,

[13:30] Rashard Rashard, this is

[13:35] - Owen.

[13:36] I know

[13:39] - This is Owen VI know all these people.

[13:44] It's just, and this is

[13:46] Vander Conway.

[13:49] So again, some of these designs were done in my class, some

[13:53] of them were done and a different class.

[13:57] When we talked to the kids about it, we had

[13:59] to actually like use real world concepts.

[14:01] We had to explain that these were getting stitched,

[14:04] that there there, the stroke length

[14:06] and the length of things needed to be thick enough.

[14:09] So we kind of had to apply it to like

[14:11] what were gonna do later on if you were in a design firm.

[14:13] So these guys did a great job.

[14:16] It's awesome that their stuff can kind

[14:18] of live on throughout our community.

[14:20] And I heard that these are traded among Yeah, yeah.

[14:24] The other different, they're kind of kind

[14:27] of collectors items when they go places.

[14:28] So it's kind of cool just to know

[14:30] that your staff will be sought after.

[14:31] - Great. And I'm gonna have the three

[14:33] of you actually just come home,

[14:34] shake everybody's hand up here and thank you very much.

[14:57] - Shane, will there be other patches

[14:59] coming up in the future?

[15:02] - So far the chief approved for us to do those.

[15:04] It's something that I know a lot of people want us to do,

[15:08] like a lot of different other ones.

[15:10] We wanted to start with just

[15:11] three of 'em to see how it goes.

[15:12] Yep. 'cause I know we've, we're, we're talks

[15:14] with domestic violence awareness.

[15:17] There's so many out there.

[15:19] So we started right here

[15:21] and we'll see how it goes and go from there.

[15:22] Wonderful. But if we do it again,

[15:24] obviously we would obviously work with the arts department

[15:26] 'cause it did such a great job the first time.

[15:28] - No, that's fantastic. Yeah, thank

[15:30] - You.

[15:31] Alright, thanks guys. Great,

[15:31] - Thank you.

[15:40] - And then this evening we also have representatives from

[15:42] Spaulding High School here to tell us about their

[15:45] proposed student trips.

[15:48] So I'll invite the folks that are here

[15:51] to talk about the trips to the podium.

[15:53] - Tony, this is typically done in committee

[15:56] and just they didn't have time to put something together

[15:59] but wanted to get it approved. My understanding

[16:01] - Is that is right.

[16:02] So in, I know oftentimes it's just an informational thing,

[16:07] but these are trips that are leaving the country.

[16:08] So really my preference would be for the board

[16:10] to formally approve, approve the trips.

[16:13] So, and they would like,

[16:17] I'm understanding is they would

[16:17] like to try to get this going.

[16:18] There is excitement I suspect already buzz in the

[16:21] high school about these.

[16:22] So yes, we would like to try to get 'em approved

[16:25] for you soon so you can start the recruiting

[16:27] and sign up process assuming the

[16:28] board approved. So perfect.

[16:31] - I'll introduce myself. I'm Stacey Herto.

[16:33] I'm one of the social studies teachers at Spaulding

[16:35] that has been a part of these trips in the past.

[16:36] And I'm gonna be a part

[16:37] of the travel team if this trip is approved.

[16:41] - I'm Dylan Geier. I'm actually the one

[16:42] who owns the business, who's been taking these students on

[16:44] these trips for the past couple years.

[16:47] - Yeah. Well Justin's in the

[16:49] - Hallway, but essentially speaking,

[16:51] - But I think you're doing most of the talking. Yeah,

[16:52] - What we're doing is we've been working

[16:53] with this team for the past couple years.

[16:55] - Speaking of the microphone please.

[16:56] - We've been working with this team

[16:57] for the past couple years.

[16:59] We've taken the students to Italy,

[17:00] multi-country trips in Europe, New York City

[17:03] and Disney in past years.

[17:04] This year we're proposing Greece, a country I've been

[17:06] to many times myself.

[17:07] We'll be working with the same teachers, we'll be working

[17:09] with the same administrators.

[17:11] And overall preparing a trip for February this year

[17:13] to meet a different demographic than we met

[17:15] before going in April vacation.

[17:18] - Yeah, so on the trip we like

[17:21] to incorporate learning in addition to fun as I've learned.

[17:25] Our kids love to go shopping when they're abroad,

[17:28] but we make sure to incorporate a lot of historical lessons,

[17:31] walking tours, museums, things like that.

[17:33] So it's not just for fun.

[17:35] They're actually going to be doing learning on this trip.

[17:38] And we've also discussed maybe this year moving forward,

[17:41] doing a little bit more during the flex time

[17:44] that's built into the high school schedule during advisory

[17:47] to pull kids in to do some more history lessons so that

[17:50] before we go on the trip,

[17:51] they're gonna have a little bit more background on some

[17:53] of the historical sites that we're going to be seeing

[17:55] to kind of amp up that excitement that they, you know,

[17:59] seeing history in real life.

[18:01] So that's something

[18:02] that we're building upon our past

[18:04] experiences with these trips.

[18:06] - I'm thankful, thankfully we do have,

[18:09] Danny Devoy is our tour guide.

[18:10] She's a former Maple Street Magnet school teacher.

[18:13] She is now certified in multiple different countries

[18:15] and she is who we take with on all these tours

[18:18] to not only connect with the students directly like we do,

[18:20] but give that immersive experience based on all these

[18:22] different tours that we'll be doing in Greece.

[18:26] - Yeah. So again,

[18:28] we've done these trips these last couple of years.

[18:30] We are planning February break, which is a change this year.

[18:34] And I believe we're doing seven nights this year.

[18:37] Eight nights. Eight nights, sorry, eight nights.

[18:39] And students do share their hotel rooms together.

[18:43] We do try to pair students with friends if possible.

[18:46] We have parent meetings along the way.

[18:48] We also do some fundraising opportunities

[18:50] and scholarship opportunities through Geier Travel as well

[18:54] to try to diversify the students

[18:57] that are able to attend these trips.

[18:58] And we also target juniors and seniors

[19:01] because we're wanting to bring some more mature

[19:03] students on a trip like this.

[19:04] So that's kind of the gist.

[19:06] Does anyone have any questions for us at this point?

[19:09] - Do you have a, an administrator going with you or

[19:11] - Just teachers?

[19:12] Yes, we plan to bring two like we did last year. Okay. Yes.

[19:15] - Any questions? Smith?

[19:18] - I'm just curious, for the students that are preparing

[19:20] to go financially, what does that look like

[19:23] for them leading into the trip?

[19:25] - So just cost-wise or how we help them?

[19:27] How, how they get there. Yeah.

[19:28] So essentially the last couple of years

[19:30] we have done a couple of fundraisers

[19:32] where students are able, if they wish,

[19:35] not all families choose to do this.

[19:37] So they are able to participate in some fundraising

[19:39] opportunities, but also through Geier travel.

[19:42] He usually does a graduated system in the sense that,

[19:45] or installment plan so

[19:46] that they can pay up front if they want,

[19:48] but they can also pay for the trip over time as well.

[19:51] And he's also been very generous in working with some

[19:53] of our students to give them some

[19:55] scholarship opportunities as well.

[19:57] Yeah,

[19:58] - We also do operate on a 5 0 1 C3 model.

[20:01] So we reduce the trip cost overall based on the funds

[20:04] that we have from our community.

[20:06] So overall the trip is advertised at about a 15

[20:09] to 20% reduction based on other brands like CIE tours go

[20:12] away, Colette, et cetera.

[20:14] We understand our community, we know these kids.

[20:16] Half of them have been volunteering with us for years.

[20:19] We have, you know, younger siblings who know their sister

[20:21] and brother have gone on these trips with us.

[20:23] They're excited, they want to go

[20:25] and we're ready to make that a reality for them.

[20:29] - Go ahead Ms. Anderson. I'm sorry.

[20:30] - About how many students would be attending.

[20:33] - We fill up an entire 52 passenger coach, 56 if allowed.

[20:37] And that includes me,

[20:38] that includes the teachers and everybody.

[20:40] So we try to maximize the value

[20:42] and also if we fill the bus we get the lower rate included.

[20:46] - Yeah. And typically like the last couple of years,

[20:49] last year's trip was larger

[20:50] so we brought more staff members.

[20:51] So the number of students

[20:53] that sign up would be reflected in the number

[20:55] of staff members that also attend.

[20:57] So we, we try to keep that ratio in mind.

[20:59] 'cause obviously there is that 10 to one. So

[21:03] - Any other questions?

[21:05] Anyone like to make a motion to support the trip?

[21:08] - I'd like to make, make a motion

[21:10] that we approve this trip for

[21:11] - Spaulding.

[21:12] Second motion by Mrs. Grassy, second by Mr. Oliver.

[21:17] Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor say aye.

[21:21] Aye. Opposed? Have a great trip.

[21:24] - Thank you. - We have one more quick proposal.

[21:28] Last year we had New York City.

[21:30] We crazily went down on the 23rd of December this year we

[21:34] wanna go down on the third to fourth.

[21:35] We had a brilliant time walking around New York City

[21:39] visiting the nine 11 memorial,

[21:40] visiting these intrinsic value historical places.

[21:43] And I keep going on with verbiage,

[21:45] but the point being is we wanna take another, you know,

[21:46] maybe 20, 25 kids down in New York City as well this year

[21:50] - In December. Yes. Yes.

[21:53] - Is that fire approval or is that

[21:56] - I I, I feel at least more comfortable

[21:58] that they're in the country and they say they appreciate us

[22:00] knowing, but it's when they're leaving the country is when

[22:03] we like to have the, they make sure

[22:04] that the board has approved that. So, but

[22:07] - I would like to make a motion

[22:08] to approve a New York trip in December.

[22:11] - Okay. Motion by Mrs. Anderson. Second. Ms. Anderson.

[22:13] Second by Ms. Campbell discussion. Seeing none.

[22:17] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

[22:21] Have another great trip. Wonderful.

[22:23] - Thank you so much for your time. Thank you

[22:25] - Guys.

[22:26] Thank you.

[22:27] - Thank you. Nice job. - Yep, go ahead Mr. It

[22:32] - Also says Belize on here.

[22:33] - Yep. I - Believe we have a Yes.

[22:36] - Hi. I am Darren Skoal.

[22:38] I teach environmental science at the high school.

[22:40] And so I'm proposing a Belize trip for this April,

[22:43] this coming April in 2027.

[22:45] It would be during April break.

[22:48] I took a group through this company,

[22:50] ecological Project International in

[22:52] Costa Rica a couple years ago.

[22:53] And it was really su successful

[22:55] and I think the kids got a lot out of it.

[22:56] So I want to use this company again.

[22:59] This trip would be nine days.

[23:02] It would involve 20 hours of community service

[23:05] and 30 hours of science instruction, whether,

[23:10] you know, they like it or not.

[23:11] But usually they enjoy it because we're doing hands-on stuff

[23:15] and we're collecting real data for scientists.

[23:17] So the first part of this trip would be

[23:20] at a re rainforest research station

[23:22] where students would help do animal surveys

[23:25] and some animal tracking these fresh water turtles

[23:28] that they have tags on to go into the stream

[23:31] and help the scientists collect data.

[23:34] And the second part of the trip days five through seven

[23:37] or eight would be at a marine station off the coast,

[23:41] on an island on a key off

[23:44] of Belize out on the grape on their reef.

[23:47] And at this time they'd be doing coral surveys, snorkeling

[23:50] and doing invasive line fish surveys and collecting data.

[23:54] And I think there's a day where they'll do a beach cleanup

[23:57] in survey for different types of trash and plastics.

[24:00] And the last day there will be a cultural experience

[24:04] of some kind with local Belizean high school students.

[24:07] Hopefully. Yeah.

[24:11] So this trip involves them doing some research

[24:15] and collecting data for,

[24:17] for scientists doing authentic projects.

[24:20] And they also design a small project themselves,

[24:23] I think at one of these stations, either the rainforest

[24:25] or the coral reef. Any questions?

[24:30] - Ms. Anderson? - Would this just be

[24:32] for like one senior class that you have

[24:35] - No, it, it is open to the whole school,

[24:36] whether they're in my class or the club

[24:38] or whoever wants to go. Really?

[24:40] - And there's a, a, a limit on how many people

[24:43] - I need at least nine students.

[24:45] I did mention it the last couple weeks of school last year

[24:47] and there are at least nine students interested already.

[24:50] I mentioned it to my class today

[24:52] and I'll advertise it during the week.

[24:53] And so I, not sure what the upper limit would be,

[24:56] but if I get above nine, I'd need to, if I get to 12,

[25:00] I'd have another adult come along

[25:03] at least like I might be able to take up the 16 I,

[25:06] I'm emailing them back and forth right now.

[25:09] So it's not just me. There's also representatives from the

[25:12] company there helping conduct the trip.

[25:22] - Mr. Fellows. Thank you

[25:23] - Mr.

[25:24] Chair. Sounds like an excellent opportunity for kids.

[25:29] Will your, will you do fundraising as a group for this trip

[25:32] and would there be scholarship opportunities? I know

[25:35] - Yeah, EPI has you

[25:36] - To be able to give out scholarships, but

[25:37] - Sure they have a small scholarship,

[25:39] a few hundred dollars if the students can apply for,

[25:43] we'll definitely try to do fundraising.

[25:44] It is not in my wheelhouse,

[25:46] but I will do my best to help them raise some funds.

[25:50] Ultimately it gets distributed with all to all the kids.

[25:53] So I think it would just take the edge off.

[25:54] Not really be a huge reduction in the cost, but

[25:58] - Thank you.

[25:59] Thank you. Mr. Spel,

[26:00] you've gone on this trip several times, right?

[26:03] - Well, no, just once with this company before

[26:05] and C to Costa Rica, it was a trip

[26:07] that a previous teacher had started and he left the district

[26:11] and so I took it over and took eight students to Costa Rica

[26:15] and we did leatherback turtle research

[26:19] and then we went to the rainforest.

[26:22] Their phones, once they land in Costa Rica

[26:25] or Belize, their phones stay in a safe in the hotel

[26:27] and they're without them for the whole time,

[26:29] which they'd probably be more accustomed to now,

[26:32] but it was a great experience actually.

[26:35] - Any other questions? It's gonna cool.

[26:39] Is there a motion to approve Mrs. Grassy? I'd like to move

[26:43] - That we approve the trip to Belize.

[26:45] - Okay. Second in - April.

[26:47] - It was a second by Ms. Smith. Any discussion?

[26:53] - Okay, so I have a child

[26:54] who is interested in attending this trip

[26:56] and I, I don't think I need to recuse myself from the vote,

[26:59] but I just wanted to let that be known

[27:01] that my child is planning on attending. Great.

[27:03] - Appreciate it. Yeah, you can vote on this. Okay, great.

[27:07] Any other discussion? Seeing none.

[27:10] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[27:13] Motion passes. Alright,

[27:15] - Thank you very much.

[27:16] It's great to see two students on the board now.

[27:18] Congratulations you guys. Thank

[27:20] - You.

[27:21] - If you need another adult

[27:22] - Right, I wanna go on the grease trip. Yeah,

[27:25] - They both sound they like great trips, great opportunities

[27:28] for these, for these students.

[27:30] Mr. Chair, as this is our first meeting back since the

[27:33] school has started, I just wanted to recognize some folks

[27:38] because of course, and we've talked about this at committees

[27:41] and board members had mentioned it as well,

[27:42] but you know, this kind of perception

[27:44] that schools are relatively quiet over the summer and the,

[27:47] and the truth is, is quite far from that.

[27:50] There's a tremendous amount of work

[27:51] that went on in the schools over the summer to prepare.

[27:54] And so I certainly wanna recognize anyone that's driven

[27:57] around our city parents as they're dropping off.

[28:00] Students will see how nice the front of our schools look.

[28:03] Fresh gardens, fresh plantings.

[28:06] There's a a, a tremendous pride

[28:08] that's being shown in our schools.

[28:10] And so I wanna thank Rich Belanger

[28:12] and the facilities team as well as David Recl for the work

[28:15] that they did this summer.

[28:17] Preparing our schools. It really nice.

[28:19] In fact, I was walking around over by McCullen

[28:22] and there was a family that was walking and commented

[28:24] and about how nice things look

[28:26] and the word they kept using was pride.

[28:28] They're like, wow, that's really,

[28:29] you know, we have a lot of pride in there.

[28:30] And so I I thought that was great.

[28:32] Also, recognizing how much work goes in

[28:34] by the teachers as well.

[28:35] We have teachers that are here as part of the, the,

[28:37] as folks know, part of the Pathfinder program

[28:40] and are working on curriculum

[28:41] and preparing their classroom as well.

[28:43] And not to be remiss the amount of work, believe it

[28:45] or not, that the School Board did.

[28:46] I think people probably also assume

[28:48] that the School Board just disappears in the summer.

[28:49] But the reality is you folks came together

[28:52] and did a, a fair amount of work on developing goals

[28:55] for yourselves and for the district.

[28:57] So in front of you this evening, you will see some draft

[29:01] of the, that work that we did.

[29:03] And so what I would ask you

[29:04] to do is just look those over at your leisure,

[29:07] make some comments, send those back to me.

[29:10] We will take another look at those

[29:12] and then hopefully we would look

[29:14] to adopt those at the October board meeting as the former,

[29:18] as the formal goals of the, of the School Board.

[29:21] So if you get a chance to do, please take a look at those,

[29:23] give us some feedback.

[29:25] We can talk about 'em in committees as well.

[29:27] But we did try to capture the conversations

[29:30] and the work that was done

[29:31] that night when we had our retreat and, and worked on those.

[29:34] So, and then we'll look to formally adopt those

[29:37] and then we'll post those publicly

[29:38] and then we can use those as kind of our North star

[29:41] as we go navigate through this school year.

[29:43] So, and

[29:47] otherwise we also,

[29:48] I think we have the student report as well too.

[29:50] So I recognize we have a full agenda

[29:52] so I'll let the students go.

[29:55] - Who's going first? - Mr. S going first.

[29:58] - We had long reports in the past, so Mr.

[30:00] R wanted us to shorten them to be more bullet points.

[30:03] Great start to the school year. Students are excited.

[30:07] New classes and settling in for the school year.

[30:09] People seem really happy to be back and in good moods.

[30:13] The first football game, which was at Central,

[30:15] we had a big student section that was super hyped.

[30:18] Even the Manchester principals said

[30:20] that we were a class act new lunch program.

[30:23] Had great reviews from the students, amazing quality

[30:26] that had fresh food and lots of variety each day.

[30:29] They're excited to put protein packs together

[30:32] for our athletes before games.

[30:35] - Our first pep rally is tomorrow.

[30:38] We have each class competing against each other trying

[30:40] to get hype for the rival home

[30:42] opener that's happening tomorrow.

[30:44] Spaulding versed over every, I can tell you personally,

[30:47] every single player on Spalding's team of coaches,

[30:49] I've lit a fire under us and we, we are excited.

[30:52] The new field looks amazing. Grass is very, very soft.

[30:57] I can see the facility working hard to get it painted

[30:59] and looking sharp for the amount

[31:01] of people that's going to be there.

[31:03] We'll also be collecting food instead of at the door to,

[31:07] that's gonna go to our pantry

[31:09] and as well, we're excited

[31:11] to see the band form their halftime show

[31:13] the first one of the year.

[31:15] And because it's the 25th anniversary of nine 11,

[31:18] we'll be honoring the first responders this night

[31:22] and we really hope to see you guys there.

[31:23] And as well, HRCU is donating $500 directly

[31:27] to our pantry. Nice.

[31:29] - That's great. Cool.

[31:31] - That's really nice. And then we have a

[31:33] couple sports highlights.

[31:34] Volleyball, JV and Varsity just won a game against Central,

[31:38] or not Central, sorry.

[31:39] Timber Lane and then golf BA ton of teams such

[31:43] as Manchester Memorial, Manchester South Keans, Wyndham,

[31:47] Pinkerton and London Area Soccer won their game against

[31:50] Central Unified Soccer went against Port Smith

[31:54] and Cross Country had two shoutouts.

[31:57] Anthony Royals placed third

[31:59] and Isabella Langer placed the ninth at Exeter.

[32:01] - Guys, all great news.

[32:04] What time does the football game start?

[32:06] - Football game starts. Kickoff is at six.

[32:08] - Ooh. Alright.

[32:10] - Yeah, that's horrible.

[32:11] No, our ribbon cutting six 30. Yeah,

[32:15] - I was just about to ask. Oh okay.

[32:16] - Yes. Me - Seat.

[32:18] - Yeah, I gotta get there at three.

[32:20] - Ribbon cutting. We doing a ribbon

[32:22] - Cutting?

[32:23] We are, we're gonna do a brief ribbon cutting

[32:24] and then we also, we'll then

[32:25] welcome the, our first response.

[32:27] So field. So we're gonna do a brief ribbon cutting.

[32:30] We can, we'll send you, you know,

[32:31] we'll send you the whole agenda 'cause it's really broken

[32:33] out by time so you can see what time you need to

[32:35] to arrive and all that stuff.

[32:36] So we'll send that to you. Okay, so everyone has that.

[32:39] - We is not, we, we, we them, we Right.

[32:42] - What - We're not participating in the ribbon cutting.

[32:44] - Correct. You are certainly welcome to the board.

[32:47] Absolutely is welcome to Okay. Yes, yes, please.

[32:49] More the merrier. I mean the reality is this, this,

[32:53] this field and the athletic complex was really the

[32:55] collective work of, of, of a lot

[32:56] of people including the School Board,

[32:58] the city, the man of City Council.

[32:59] So we really are inviting all those folks that were part of

[33:02] that to help celebrate

[33:04] and congratulate the, the opening of that.

[33:05] So, okay. So we're welcome to not, not, not mandatory,

[33:09] we won't come to your house and drag you out

[33:11] or drag you down from the stands if you're with your,

[33:13] with your family up in the stands.

[33:14] But we do welcome you to join us. So thank you. Yes, you're

[33:18] - Welcome.

[33:19] Any questions for Mr. F or our student representatives?

[33:24] Seeing none, we will go to public comment

[33:29] while the board both recognizes

[33:30] and respects the right to free speech

[33:32] and enshrined in the first amendment to our constitution.

[33:35] The board wishes to make all speakers aware

[33:37] that statements made a public comment depending on their

[33:39] content are not immune from potential civil

[33:42] or criminal liabilities.

[33:44] Is there anyone in the public wishing to address the board?

[33:46] Please step forward, limit your comments to five minutes

[33:49] and just state your residency.

[33:52] - Carlton Cooper, how street Rochester.

[33:56] I am with the Rochester Veterans Council

[33:58] and I'm sure you guys have probably seen the plentiful

[34:01] amount of ads and promotions about the salute

[34:04] to service football game On October 2nd,

[34:07] we're gonna be hosting Manchester Memorial Crusaders

[34:11] in a game that Coach Jackson kind of whipped up

[34:14] and came to me and said, I know how to play ball

[34:16] but I don't know how to do an event.

[34:17] Can you help? So we've put this together

[34:20] and it's gonna be to basically highlight

[34:23] and recognize our local veterans in the community

[34:26] and our active duty members.

[34:28] We've got a lot of people here

[34:29] that are stationed in the Navy yard stationed at peas.

[34:32] So we're recognizing them at this event.

[34:35] There's gonna be decorations all over the field.

[34:37] Free entry for veterans

[34:38] and service, active duty service members as well.

[34:42] I'm not sure if you guys know, but there's

[34:44] 80,000 veterans in New Hampshire.

[34:47] 2,500 of them live here in Rochester.

[34:50] We have the highest veteran per capita

[34:52] in the state of New Hampshire.

[34:54] So this was kind of key when Andy

[34:55] and I started talking about this, that we put this together.

[34:58] It's something he's wanted to do for a little while.

[35:00] Him and he and I are both veterans

[35:01] of the 10th Mountain Division Army,

[35:02] which was kind of coincidental.

[35:04] We were a year apart in school.

[35:07] I went off to active duty, he went

[35:08] to school, then went to active duty.

[35:10] We served at the same unit. Didn't realize it

[35:11] till about two months ago.

[35:13] So it was pretty interesting. Small

[35:14] - World.

[35:15] - Yeah. Proceeds from this event

[35:17] for the different activities that we have at the game,

[35:19] there's gonna be 50 50.

[35:20] We're doing a game ball raffle that's gonna happen.

[35:25] Comm member of t-shirts, cash donations, program sales

[35:28] is all gonna go towards vouchers for veterans.

[35:31] Anybody knows vouchers in areas.

[35:32] They have the farmer farmer's market every Tuesday

[35:35] for a long time now.

[35:36] Each veteran gets a $25 coupon that they can use

[35:39] to purchase food at this, at the farmer's market.

[35:42] Been going on for probably 10 years now. Great event.

[35:45] So this, any proceeds

[35:46] that we have from the event is gonna go towards that.

[35:50] In this event in the program,

[35:51] we're gonna have a recognition.

[35:53] I've got posters mounted here in in city hall at the

[35:56] community center, different places.

[35:57] And then you can also go on the Veterans

[35:59] Council website and find out.

[36:01] But we're basically asking if anyone wants

[36:03] to honor a veteran or service member

[36:04] that they have a hero in their mind.

[36:07] You can donate $5 and their name

[36:09] and little blip about them with their branch of service

[36:11] and when they serve we'll be put in the program.

[36:13] So that's gonna be part of the program that we're gonna,

[36:15] we're gonna sell at the show, sorry, at the game.

[36:19] And then also the game is on Friday.

[36:21] Anybody knows that obviously our colors are red,

[36:24] but anybody that knows the military red is, we have,

[36:27] excuse me, we have red on Friday, meaning remember,

[36:30] remember everyone deployed, this is something

[36:33] that I promote all the time.

[36:34] You see on all the Rochester social media pages.

[36:37] It just making sure that those people realize there's people

[36:40] thinking about 'em and while they're gone

[36:41] and out, you know, serving our country, any information

[36:44] that you need, like I said,

[36:45] is on the Rochester Veterans Council website.

[36:48] There's posters, library community center here,

[36:51] different places and we will be looking

[36:55] for some volunteers that want to help.

[36:57] We're also gonna have General Daily as our guest speaker

[37:00] who will do the flip the coin.

[37:02] We had a number of custom coins,

[37:04] challenge coins made up for this event.

[37:06] And custom three by five flags

[37:09] that you can purchase the the event which will have our logo

[37:12] along with Manchester's

[37:14] and then the salute to service logo on the bottom.

[37:16] So a lot of stuff going on,

[37:17] but it should be a, should be a great event

[37:18] and recognizing our local,

[37:19] local veterans and active duty soldiers.

[37:22] That's great. Any questions?

[37:25] I'm hoping to see all of you guys there.

[37:27] We'll be there wearing red. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Thank

[37:31] - You.

[37:32] Just like to say thank you for your service, sir.

[37:34] Appreciate it. My grandfather was a 10th

[37:36] Mountain division in World War ii.

[37:37] He was original Pando Commando skiing in

[37:40] skiing in Italy, so.

[37:41] So I appreciate you.

[37:50] - Good evening. My name is Jillian Pierce.

[37:52] I'm Rochester parent in Ward four.

[37:54] I've been watching a lot of the recent committee meetings

[37:56] and I just wanted to say thank you

[37:58] and I'm so glad to see

[37:59] that screen time is on the board's radar.

[38:02] I heard the state screen time task force mentioned,

[38:05] and I think that's great news.

[38:07] My understanding is that the governor launched it

[38:09] with 32 members, mostly superintendents, principals

[38:12] and educators along with a few parents, a student

[38:15] and health and legal experts.

[38:16] And it's asking the right questions.

[38:18] I also heard the concern that we wouldn't want to act now

[38:21] and then have to redo our work once the state

[38:23] decides on something.

[38:24] And I absolutely understand that instinct,

[38:27] but I'd ask you to weigh what waiting actually costs.

[38:30] If Rochester adopts a policy

[38:32] and state guidance later says something

[38:34] different, we can amend it.

[38:36] And if the state does mandate something the way it did

[38:39] with personal cell phones, that's an argument

[38:41] for starting now rather than waiting

[38:43] because a district

[38:44] that has already done work implements a mandate

[38:47] or a directive, but a district

[38:48] that hasn't scrambles to comply.

[38:51] More importantly, it's the difference

[38:53] between doing something because the state tells us to do it

[38:56] or doing something because we believe it's in the

[38:58] best interest of our students.

[39:01] There's a timing piece that has come up too

[39:03] that is very much a reality about the devices being

[39:05] purchased all at the same time during COVID

[39:08] and are now coming up for replacement.

[39:10] So how many we buy for which grades that will follow from

[39:13] what we decide about how they're used.

[39:16] Research shows that when five-year-olds practice letters

[39:19] by hand, the reading circuits in their brains activate later

[39:22] when they see those letters,

[39:23] when they practice those same skills on

[39:25] a keyboard, they do not.

[39:27] And across dozens of studies, kids comprehend

[39:30] what they read on paper better than

[39:32] what they read on the screen.

[39:33] It's strongest for informational text,

[39:35] which is exactly the kind

[39:37] we're teaching them to read closely.

[39:39] We made the trade district wide without ever deciding to.

[39:42] And that's really my point.

[39:43] Nobody set out to replace instruction handwriting

[39:47] or books with screens.

[39:48] But it happened one purchase at a time, mostly

[39:51] during an emergency.

[39:52] And Rochester is not alone here it is across the country.

[39:56] What I'm asking for isn't a ban, it's a thoughtful decision.

[40:00] The Department of Education has said the task force will

[40:02] develop recommendations for future guidance while respecting

[40:05] local decision making.

[40:07] It's positioned as advice and districts decide.

[40:10] So the question in front of Rochester isn't whether we're

[40:13] allowed to act, it's whether we're ready when the advice

[40:15] arise or starting from zero.

[40:18] I believe that we can have something in place

[40:19] that strengthens the education of Rochester students

[40:22] for the next school year, but I don't think

[40:24] that's possible if we wait.

[40:26] There's another upside here too.

[40:28] I absolutely love hearing

[40:31] and seeing that the reputation

[40:32] of Rochester schools is changing

[40:34] and that people want to work here.

[40:36] I'm seeing it firsthand, especially at the beginning

[40:38] of the School Board meetings.

[40:40] Prioritizing a screen policy is exactly

[40:43] the thing that adds to that.

[40:44] It's the kind of things that in, it's the kind of things

[40:47] that would make this a district that parents choose.

[40:50] If Rochester moves now, we'd be one

[40:53] of the first in the state to take this on.

[40:55] This is a great story for Rochester and our schools

[40:57] and it's one we'd be telling instead

[40:59] of reading about somebody else doing it,

[41:02] I started looking at a policy

[41:03] and a summary of what we'd be asking for

[41:05] and I'm happy to share that after this meeting.

[41:08] I'll also be at the governance meeting next

[41:09] week to walk through it.

[41:11] So my ask tonight is simple and it's just that we start.

[41:14] Thank you. Thank

[41:15] - You Julie.

[41:16] Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else

[41:20] from the public wishing to address the board?

[41:24] Seeing none will pause, public comment

[41:27] and move on to committee reports.

[41:31] First item is governance committee, Ms. McGowan.

[41:34] - All right. The governance committee met on

[41:36] August 20th, 2026.

[41:40] The first thing is the governance committee recommends

[41:43] that the board review policy BCA a dash r board member

[41:47] ethics acknowledgement for first reading.

[41:50] There's just a slight change

[41:55] in one of the, the statements

[41:59] which I can read to you guys.

[42:01] I blank shall to the best of my ability strive

[42:03] to improve public education

[42:05] and to adhere to all ethical statements

[42:07] and considerations contained within that policy.

[42:09] So it's, this is the signature page of our ethics policy.

[42:15] - Any questions? Okay.

[42:19] - All right. The next thing is the governance committee

[42:22] recommends that the board review policy AB New Hampshire

[42:24] Parental Bill of Rights for first reading.

[42:33] - Any questions on that? Okay.

[42:36] - Shawnee, I actually emailed

[42:37] you a little earlier about this.

[42:38] I understand it was a very lengthy email.

[42:41] I'm curious if we should do some committee study on

[42:44] that in particular, just with the, the recent legislation.

[42:49] - I'm gonna refer over to Dr.

[42:51] Nichols 'cause she's the one

[42:53] that brought forward this policy for us.

[42:56] - So the Parental Bill of Rights, it it,

[42:58] the whole entire plate on what you have

[43:01] before you is right from the New Hampshire

[43:03] School Board's Association.

[43:05] All these rights have been out for parents

[43:06] before, so it's just putting it out in the forefront.

[43:09] They do ask us to make sure

[43:11] that it's not only in our handbook, so

[43:13] as you see our handbooks, we need to put that in.

[43:15] It also asks us to put it into our website

[43:17] and they wanted us to start moving in that direction

[43:20] after July 1st.

[43:22] So that's why you have it before you,

[43:23] but it is directly quote by quote, the only thing

[43:26] that was taken out

[43:27] that is different than New Hampshire School Boards

[43:29] Association is the one section where it says

[43:31] that in the district handbook

[43:33] that they would hand out for the budget season.

[43:36] We don't do that. We do a larger aspect of it.

[43:39] So that's the only thing that was redacted from it

[43:40] because we don't do that as a district here.

[43:43] - Great. - Any other questions? Sorry. No, you're good.

[43:49] - All right. The governance committee recommends

[43:51] that the board approve policy BCA School Board member ethics

[43:55] for second reading and adoption.

[43:57] - Okay, is there a second? Second. Ms. Smith seconded.

[44:03] Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor say Aye.

[44:08] Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

[44:12] - All right. The governance committee recommends

[44:13] that the board approve policy BDDC, agenda preparation

[44:17] and dissemination to the full board

[44:19] for second reading and adoption.

[44:21] - Second. Second by Mr. Oliver. Any discussion there?

[44:27] None. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[44:30] Motion passes.

[44:32] - And then the governance committee recommends

[44:34] that the board approve the following policies

[44:36] for second reading and adoption.

[44:38] DAF administration of federal Grants.

[44:40] Kb, title one, family

[44:42] and Community Engagement, J-F-A-B-D, McKinney-Vento,

[44:47] allowable and disa allowable supports

[44:48] and J-F-A-R-D dash a Education

[44:52] of Homeless Children and Youth.

[44:54] Second.

[44:57] - Okay. Second by Ms. Campbell. Any discussion there?

[45:00] - We did have discussion when

[45:04] surrounding policy J-F-A-B-D on page,

[45:10] well it was 43 of that night's packet,

[45:13] but about transportation in particular.

[45:16] So we will go back and look at that after this is approved.

[45:21] So just so you know.

[45:24] - Alright. Any other questions, comments? Seeing none.

[45:28] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes

[45:34] - And then we had a lengthy discussion about

[45:39] AI in schools.

[45:43] We were brought forward a policy that we tabled for now

[45:48] and we'll be looking at forming a committee

[45:53] of various members of the district to, to look at AI

[45:56] and screen time to kind of put together a policy

[46:00] that works for our district.

[46:02] - In fact, the leadership of the Teachers association is,

[46:05] is going to suggest teachers

[46:08] that will be able to join us for that.

[46:09] So I look forward to that.

[46:15] - And that was all for governance.

[46:18] - Great. Any questions for Ms McGowan?

[46:21] - Sorry, I just wanna clarify, so the committee,

[46:24] I think I missed this when we were having the

[46:25] discussion that night, so I apologize.

[46:26] But the committee for AI is also going

[46:28] to include screen time discussions?

[46:30] Or is that going to be separate?

[46:32] - Yeah, it will be a, an AI screen time kind

[46:36] of combined policy because that's what the,

[46:38] the state is formed a subcommittee looking at AI

[46:42] and screen time together.

[46:43] So we're gonna lump it together so that it

[46:46] - Kind of parallels and in fact, it's under goal one

[46:49] of the school board's goals, right?

[46:51] Is to evidence-based approaches

[46:53] to student technology and screen use.

[46:54] So we, we do see those.

[46:56] So you can't really separate those two things out.

[46:59] I mean, there's a lot of overlap,

[47:00] but, so I do think it's worthy

[47:01] to have both those conversations at the same

[47:04] time. Sure. Yeah.

[47:05] - Thank you - Mr. Ballas.

[47:09] - I'd be interested to see how this rolls out,

[47:12] but I will say, I don't think anyone's talking about using

[47:15] AI with kindergartners, but we want

[47:16] to talk about screen time with kindergartners.

[47:19] So are we gonna have kindergarten teachers on

[47:21] an AI committee?

[47:25] These to me are related but separate issues.

[47:28] - They, they are, but the, I think part of it is also,

[47:30] not necessarily for kindergartners using it,

[47:32] but how do we see AI in its use in instruction?

[47:35] And certainly we would recognize

[47:37] that kindergarten teachers may be looking at the use of AI

[47:40] as an instructional tool for them,

[47:42] whether it's developing lesson plans,

[47:43] whether it's developing tools.

[47:46] And I don't know that we've had that conversation

[47:48] as a district or that you've had it as a board about

[47:51] what are the values of the, of this group in terms of how

[47:55] teachers use AI as an instructional tool.

[47:58] So yes, while instructional, we may not be looking to see

[48:00] that kindergartners are gonna be using ai,

[48:03] but we might see that, that the adults are using AI

[48:06] and I think we want to be mindful of how

[48:08] that is being implemented in our district.

[48:11] So I I to your point, yes, they are separate,

[48:15] but I think the overlap is,

[48:16] is worth having those conversations together

[48:19] so we hear the voices both from an instructional standpoint

[48:22] and from a student standpoint.

[48:24] Appreciate that. Thank you.

[48:26] - Any other questions or comments?

[48:28] Alright, thank you very much.

[48:31] Next item is teaching learning student

[48:33] supports committee. Ms. Campbell?

[48:34] - Yes. TLSS met August 20th.

[48:37] We had no actionable things,

[48:39] but we did have some great presentations by Mrs.

[48:42] Colson about Bud Sway concussion protocol.

[48:46] Another great presentation by Ms.

[48:48] Sherry about Bud Carlson

[48:50] and the changes they're doing there.

[48:52] And another great presentation by Mrs. White

[48:55] and Mrs. Cotton with the vision of the learner.

[48:59] So if anybody didn't see it, go back

[49:00] and see some great presentations. And that was all.

[49:05] - Any questions? Great. Thank you. You're welcome.

[49:09] Operations Mrs. Grassy.

[49:12] - Yes. Operations met on September 3rd.

[49:17] We also have no actionable items on the agenda tonight.

[49:21] We, excuse me.

[49:24] We did have a wonderful presentation from our new school

[49:27] of vendors lunch, hot lunch vendors.

[49:31] And I've been hearing around the district

[49:34] that kids are impressed with the food they're being served.

[49:37] I had a granddaughter in my living room who just went on

[49:40] and on and on about the lunch she'd had the day before.

[49:43] And I, I've never heard one of my grandchildren,

[49:46] I can't think in a recent time when they've talked about the

[49:48] food the way this child did.

[49:52] So I am assuming that the,

[49:54] the department has seen a big change.

[49:57] The lunch workers are revamping

[50:02] how they do business

[50:03] and it's be being received very well by the,

[50:06] the young people of our city.

[50:08] So I'm, I'm, I'm impressed.

[50:09] I'm, I'm so glad that we switched to this new company.

[50:13] I think it's going to bring lots of benefits

[50:15] and I did hear that they were going to do a sample table

[50:19] at the upcoming football game so

[50:21] that the community could sample, not have a meal,

[50:24] but have a few tastes of what they make for our kids.

[50:28] So I would encourage people to come

[50:30] to the football game for many reasons.

[50:32] But that being one, that being one, I'm impressed.

[50:37] I'm not a hot dog fan.

[50:38] I don't wanna say that, get anybody upset,

[50:40] but having something different than hot dogs would be would

[50:44] be a fun, a fun choice.

[50:47] We had information about the facilities, projects

[50:52] that have been ongoing.

[50:54] The sports complex.

[50:55] Phase one is nearing completion with phase two underway

[51:00] due to cost and leg logistical challenges of purchasing

[51:04] or installing a temporary concession stand.

[51:06] The existing 10 ticket booth will be converted into a

[51:09] concession area for the current season.

[51:11] And it's an ongoing project

[51:14] that we will need to do something about.

[51:17] The Gonic renovation has been

[51:21] completed and inspections are happening.

[51:25] Maple school closure, the transfer of the property

[51:27] to the city will take effect September 13th,

[51:29] which is this weekend critical incident

[51:34] mapping facility.

[51:35] Walkthroughs were completed August 11th and 12th.

[51:38] Police and fire department contact information was

[51:41] provided to finalize first responders map access

[51:45] and sharing a district-wide building assessment is planned

[51:49] as an upcoming initiative.

[51:51] And we also had a little tour of three buildings

[51:55] by School Board members with the facilities people.

[51:58] It was, it was an amazing morning.

[52:00] We toured part of the high school.

[52:03] We actually got to walk on that soft football field.

[52:05] It is incredibly soft.

[52:08] - You weren't tackled, were

[52:09] - You?

[52:10] No, there were, there were

[52:11] no football players in the vicinity.

[52:12] That was an option. But it wouldn't have hurt if I had been,

[52:14] I just gonna say that it wouldn't,

[52:16] it's like this thick, the grass.

[52:18] I wish I could get my own lawn to look like this.

[52:23] We did the, the middle school, the high school

[52:25] and McClellan school and then the morning was done.

[52:28] It took us that much time. So Mr.

[52:31] Recl assured us that we would have an opportunity

[52:33] to visit the other schools as well.

[52:36] It's good for us to see what we're talking about.

[52:39] I think it's a, it's a benefit.

[52:43] And then the bus routes were finalized and posted and

[52:45] after school's been in session for 30 days,

[52:48] they will start looking at any adjustments that need

[52:51] to be made or any special requests for busing that

[52:55] a child may fall outside of the rules

[52:57] that we have and need for.

[53:00] And that's it.

[53:01] - Any questions for operations Ms. Smith?

[53:05] - The only thing that I would be interested in seeing in,

[53:09] in future reports would be the actual usage

[53:13] of the lunch program.

[53:14] And that way we can kind of compare it to last year.

[53:16] I think it would be interesting to see the numbers

[53:18] with the new program to see if we do over the next couple

[53:21] of months end up with more participation

[53:22] or just kind of watch that as it is a new program.

[53:25] I have been hearing wonderful things about it,

[53:27] but even my child came home today

[53:29] and she goes, mom, the pizza's really good.

[53:31] - I was like, - Alright, if the pizza's good,

[53:33] that's like the baseline.

[53:36] But I think it'd be interesting to, for us

[53:38] to be mindful in watching those participation numbers.

[53:41] - We usually do get those numbers. Yeah.

[53:43] - After schools, - Mr. Oliver

[53:46] - And, and just be one thing might have been forgotten just

[53:49] because I got hit up while I was out walking my pup earlier.

[53:52] The fee, the walking on the track if I've got correctly

[53:57] September 14th again, Mr.

[53:59] Yes. September 14th we will be opened for the public

[54:02] to walking on the track.

[54:04] So as I've talked to a few of you,

[54:06] that is a very large question

[54:08] that you would not think is a very large question,

[54:09] but the public is very interested in that.

[54:11] So there's that information

[54:13] for anybody that hasn't heard it yet.

[54:14] - So drive carefully after the 14th.

[54:16] There'll be lots of walkers in the high school area.

[54:19] - It should be on the track, so we'll see.

[54:22] - Great. Any other comments or questions Mr. Keith?

[54:26] - Yeah, the food is really good.

[54:27] But another thing too, the company is based outside

[54:29] of Newland, so I actually never think I would say this.

[54:32] I gotta try a new food in school, which was pretty cool.

[54:35] I gotta try something called grits,

[54:36] which was, oh my god. Goodness.

[54:38] - It's pretty something called

[54:39] - Chris.

[54:40] Yeah, it was, it was pretty cool. It was really good.

[54:43] But it's just interesting 'cause I never thought

[54:45] that I would try a new food while getting from school lunch.

[54:49] - That's amazing. Cool. Abby, that's fantastic. Yes. Really?

[54:53] - Oh my gosh. - So keep talking about it

[54:54] because this is how we get our participation up.

[54:57] Right?

[54:58] - Any other comments, questions? Great. Great.

[55:02] Thank you very much. You're welcome.

[55:03] Next item is finance committee.

[55:06] Finance Committee met on two nights August 20th

[55:09] and September 3rd.

[55:10] The 20th was pretty much to prove new hires

[55:14] so we can get them going on the school year.

[55:19] What else we have, we had a finance report

[55:24] and we had a donation.

[55:25] We also talked about a new job description,

[55:28] which we will talk about in just a second.

[55:31] And the first step is going to be that job description

[55:35] and the finance committee recommends

[55:36] and I assume move the board, approve the operations

[55:39] and project specialist job description.

[55:41] Second. Second by Mr. Bellows.

[55:43] Assume there might be some discussion.

[55:45] So any discussion Ms. Karlberg?

[55:47] - Yes. Thank you. I did watch the meeting from home.

[55:50] I was curious if you could explain

[55:52] where the funding is coming from One more time.

[55:55] - As folks are aware, we have not filled the

[56:00] school business administrator's position.

[56:02] So when that person vacated the position,

[56:04] that position remains empty.

[56:06] We know that we did not fill it.

[56:08] We do have David Reclick, who's the director

[56:10] of operations working in that capacity,

[56:13] but that position remains open.

[56:14] So the funds that would normally go to fund

[56:17] that person's salary are actually being shifted.

[56:21] - Follow up. That's okay.

[56:22] I I thought I remembered that we approved the,

[56:27] the three different positions to take up those funds.

[56:30] The two consultants and the additional responsibilities.

[56:32] - Yeah, they will not, they do not consume that,

[56:34] that total amount of money.

[56:35] Nope. Okay. Nope.

[56:37] The, the additional person's helping zone

[56:39] only here two days a week.

[56:41] So it certainly does not consume the entire business

[56:44] administrator's salary, which is significant.

[56:47] So,

[56:49] - Any other questions?

[56:51] Everyone? Good? All right.

[56:53] Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye.

[56:56] - Aye. - Opposed? Motion passes.

[56:59] Next item was the finance committee recommends an ISO move.

[57:01] The board approve a donation in the amount of $10,000

[57:05] to go towards student lunch debt.

[57:08] - Second. - Second by Mr. Bellows. Mr. Gregoire,

[57:12] - Is that an anonymous donation

[57:13] or is that something that can be disclosed? That

[57:16] - Was bad Burger. Bad

[57:18] - Burger.

[57:19] Bad Burger was bad Berg. Yeah.

[57:20] - Right. - And some came from,

[57:23] - So there was a combination of, of donors.

[57:25] I put that together, but Bad Burger was one of them.

[57:28] And so we certainly appreciate, appreciate those folks

[57:31] and have sent the,

[57:32] the appropriate people Thank you

[57:33] letters on behalf of the district.

[57:36] - Thank you. I think some of

[57:37] that money came from leftover funds from Maple.

[57:39] - Okay. So, fantastic. - Mr. Mr. Bell. The

[57:43] - P The PTA, the ma the Magnus pt.

[57:44] Yeah. PTA. Yep. Yeah.

[57:47] - Mr Car. Ms Car. - Yes. I have a question for Mr.

[57:49] Reig actually, if that's, if that's okay.

[57:52] - I

[58:00] - I was hoping someone is gonna ask me a question.

[58:03] - Oh, well my question was just, I, I saw the plans to

[58:05] how it was gonna, you were thinking about applying them

[58:08] to the, the student accounts that were negative.

[58:11] But I was curious if you would consider

[58:14] using a proportional reduction like across

[58:17] all accounts instead.

[58:21] Does that make, does that question make sense?

[58:23] - It makes sense. I believe that question was posed at the

[58:25] last finance committee

[58:28] and what I proposed is

[58:29] that moving forward I'll do exactly that. Yes ma'am.

[58:33] - Oh great. That was my only question.

[58:37] - Thank - You.

[58:39] - Any other questions, comments? Seeing none.

[58:42] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[58:45] Motion passes. We'll move on

[58:48] to personnel stuff.

[58:51] The finance committee recommends

[58:52] and I so move the board, approve the resignations

[58:56] as listed in the agenda.

[58:58] - Second. - That was Mr. Bellows seconded.

[59:02] Any discussion there? Seeing none.

[59:05] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

[59:09] Finance Committee recommends

[59:10] and is ISO move the board,

[59:11] approve the nominations as listed.

[59:14] - Second. Second. - We'll go with Ms. Campbell

[59:17] for this for the second.

[59:19] Any discussion there? Just want to point out there are a lot

[59:22] of nominations, so that's great to see.

[59:25] Alright. Seeing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye.

[59:29] Opposed? Motion passes And Mr.

[59:32] Greg Wire Abstains Finance

[59:36] Committee recommends the board approve the

[59:39] stipends as listed.

[59:40] Second, a very long list. Second by Mr. Bellows.

[59:44] Any discussion there? Seeing none.

[59:47] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Any abstain?

[59:52] Abstention by Mr. Greg.

[59:59] And we will go to the addendum.

[1:00:00] The Superintendent recommends an ISO move.

[1:00:03] We accept the resignations as listed. Second.

[1:00:06] Second by Ms. Anderson. Any discussion there? Seeing none.

[1:00:11] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[1:00:14] Motion passes. Superintendent recommends

[1:00:17] and is so move we approve the nominations as listed.

[1:00:21] Second. Second by Mr. Bellows. Mrs. Grassy,

[1:00:24] - I just wanna make it clear that I have a,

[1:00:27] a family member in that list of nominations.

[1:00:30] - I assume you'll abstain, so I'll abstain. Okay.

[1:00:33] Any other comments or questions? Seeing none.

[1:00:36] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstentions.

[1:00:41] Mrs. Grassy? Aye. Thank you. Motion passes.

[1:00:47] And lastly, the Superintendent recommends

[1:00:48] and I assume move the board, approve the stipends

[1:00:51] as listed on the addendum.

[1:00:53] Second. Second by Ms. Anderson. Any discussion there?

[1:00:57] Seeing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

[1:01:00] Opposed? Motion passes.

[1:01:09] All right. So as promised,

[1:01:14] I have an update on the legislative bills.

[1:01:17] Some of you may have seen these

[1:01:19] 'cause it came in as part

[1:01:21] of an email from the New Hampshire

[1:01:23] School Board's Association.

[1:01:25] Think there should be enough for everybody.

[1:01:26] And there's probably a couple extras

[1:01:30] and sorry about the stapling job.

[1:01:33] It stapled on the bottom, not the top.

[1:01:38] It was a long day at school. Sorry.

[1:01:44] But just to highlight that the Superintendent's Association

[1:01:51] provided is that the School Board's Association throughout

[1:01:54] the last session proposed and,

[1:01:57] or I'm sorry, tracked 350 bills that had something to do

[1:02:02] with education and both the House and the Senate.

[1:02:06] So that kept them busy. So all 350 of those bills

[1:02:11] required the School Board's Association representatives

[1:02:13] to actually attend the hearings on all those

[1:02:15] and then keep track of where they were going.

[1:02:18] 50 of those bills were signed into law

[1:02:22] or became law without the signature of the governor

[1:02:24] or went through a veto override.

[1:02:27] 51 of those bills were without signature, I'm sorry,

[1:02:31] were moved to interim study

[1:02:33] and 220 bills were voted in expedient to legislate

[1:02:38] or vetoed by the governor cabled

[1:02:40] or were not acted upon within a certain deadline.

[1:02:43] So it gives you a flavor for how busy they were.

[1:02:49] And as you can see, they, the variety of topics

[1:02:53] that are included in here are quite extensive.

[1:02:56] And there are some that I didn't include in here that

[1:03:00] weren't applicable to a city atmosphere like us.

[1:03:04] So it applies to SB two towns

[1:03:08] and towns with town meetings and, and things like that.

[1:03:10] So it doesn't apply to us.

[1:03:11] So I I didn't want to waste paper.

[1:03:15] I know it's a lot to read.

[1:03:16] I probably should have sent this out ahead of time,

[1:03:17] but anyone has questions?

[1:03:21] - I do have a question. Does the School Board Association

[1:03:24] record their webinars

[1:03:25] and post them to be viewed by members later?

[1:03:28] - For most of them, yes. Yep.

[1:03:29] And we do subscribe to that so that if, if you want to

[1:03:35] see any that aren't there, that maybe it's listed,

[1:03:38] you need a password, username,

[1:03:40] and password, we can certainly get that

[1:03:41] for anyone on the board.

[1:03:43] - I was able to log in, so I'll have

[1:03:44] to reach out to you to try to find it.

[1:03:46] But I do encourage any School Board member who's interested

[1:03:48] in going through this packet to also go back and find that.

[1:03:51] 'cause they did just host a webinar on all

[1:03:53] of this and it was really great.

[1:03:54] It was about an hour and a half and they went through

[1:03:56] as much as they could, and it was very informative.

[1:03:59] But they also have one in December coming up

[1:04:00] for next year's legislation as well.

[1:04:02] So it was just a really nice breakdown versus reading this.

[1:04:06] - Agreed. And I'll make sure

[1:04:08] that it gets put into the records so that it'll be in the,

[1:04:11] in the minutes for next month.

[1:04:13] Yeah, for sure. So any other questions, Mr. Be?

[1:04:16] - Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you for providing us

[1:04:18] with this information.

[1:04:20] And I'll check out that webinar you kind

[1:04:23] of touched upon there.

[1:04:25] In December, they'll be doing a webinar about, you know,

[1:04:27] potential upcoming legislation.

[1:04:30] As of today, there's 155

[1:04:34] legislative service requests.

[1:04:36] LSRs already have been filed,

[1:04:39] and many of those are related to education.

[1:04:43] There's already, you know, these are, these are not bills

[1:04:46] yet, but they could become bills next session.

[1:04:50] There's bills about education, funding, education,

[1:04:53] trust fund, statewide education, property tax revenue.

[1:04:56] There's bills related to special ed, sorry, LSRs related

[1:04:59] to special ed dealing with special ed funding reform

[1:05:05] school facilities.

[1:05:07] There's a, an existing LSR

[1:05:09] that would create a school facility consolidation incentive

[1:05:12] fund, potentially providing up to 10 million statewide.

[1:05:18] These are all things that would, you know, impact Rochester,

[1:05:21] potentially curriculum standards

[1:05:24] that could affect statewide curriculum, including one

[1:05:27] that proposes a statewide logic

[1:05:29] critical thinking requirement.

[1:05:31] And another involving a broad standards,

[1:05:33] high quality instructional materials revision.

[1:05:36] And then some mandates, one

[1:05:39] of which would be annual K 12 firearm safety instruction.

[1:05:42] So there's, there are already folks

[1:05:45] that are working on bills

[1:05:46] that they'll be talking about in just a couple months.

[1:05:48] And for the public that is, is, is I think one of the

[1:05:53] silver linings of some

[1:05:55] of the budget challenges we faced the last couple years is I

[1:05:58] think it's got more people paying attention

[1:06:00] to what's happening in Concord.

[1:06:02] So we can see some of these things

[1:06:04] that are gonna be showing up in,

[1:06:06] in those chambers in just a couple months.

[1:06:08] And I think if you're interested, you can see all

[1:06:10] that stuff on the state's website.

[1:06:12] But I was surprised to find out how many were already like,

[1:06:16] like ready to go into the oven, you know, so

[1:06:19] it's gonna move quick once those pe new people are seated.

[1:06:22] - And I think, correct me, Mrs.

[1:06:24] Grassy, once they are elected, they,

[1:06:26] they meet in December to start that process. They

[1:06:28] - Get sworn in the first week of December.

[1:06:32] I think there's a deadline tomorrow

[1:06:35] for filing early legislation.

[1:06:37] And then after the election, there's another

[1:06:40] deadline in November for newly elected

[1:06:43] representatives and senators.

[1:06:44] The senators have more time than the representatives do,

[1:06:47] but yeah, they have to be ready to go in December.

[1:06:50] They don't do a lot of legislative work in December,

[1:06:54] but they get all of the housekeeping organizational

[1:06:59] stuff out of the way in December. That,

[1:07:01] - That's when they choose a speaker and majority leader

[1:07:04] - Minority.

[1:07:05] Right. But they start the first week in January.

[1:07:06] Sometimes it's January 2nd,

[1:07:08] depending on what day of the week it is.

[1:07:10] Okay. Because they'll take December

[1:07:12] to give everybody their committee assignments.

[1:07:15] It's, it's a big job to organize 425 people, 24 people

[1:07:21] to get them all their con committee assignments,

[1:07:23] get the chairs and the clerks and all of that set up.

[1:07:28] Wow. So yeah, the, there always are a bunch of bills that

[1:07:33] someone doesn't get elected

[1:07:35] but had put in legislation into, into the legislative

[1:07:39] office that does the drafting of bills

[1:07:42] and they will be running around trying

[1:07:43] to find new sponsors for bills they wanted.

[1:07:46] But if they didn't make their election,

[1:07:48] they need someone else to sponsor them.

[1:07:50] It's a very hectic time between election day and November

[1:07:53] and January 1st.

[1:07:55] So yeah, it's interesting.

[1:07:57] And along that line, the group that we had come

[1:08:00] to Rochester, the fund fund Fairness funding project

[1:08:04] has a new presentation.

[1:08:07] I got an email today.

[1:08:08] They've set up several meetings around the state

[1:08:11] with their new presentation aimed at maybe some solutions

[1:08:15] to funding as well.

[1:08:17] They normally don't get into how we're,

[1:08:20] they just talk about the system the way it is.

[1:08:22] But I think their new presentation might be really

[1:08:25] interesting to, to attend.

[1:08:29] - Good point. I went to that presentation, I was phenomenal.

[1:08:32] If anyone gets an opportunity to see all the background of

[1:08:35] how the budget is prepared

[1:08:37] and what, where all the dollars go.

[1:08:39] It's, it's, it's quite spectacular. But Ms. Anderson,

[1:08:43] - Is there a date, time

[1:08:45] and location for the fairness funding?

[1:08:47] - They've set up like 10 of them around the state.

[1:08:50] So I'm not, I'm not, I didn't see the list.

[1:08:52] I just got the email saying we have it ready to go.

[1:08:55] They had a evening last week where they asked people

[1:08:57] to come over to the Krista IFF center to kind

[1:09:00] of do a dry run of their new presentation.

[1:09:04] And I thought maybe it would take them longer

[1:09:06] after that to get it set to go.

[1:09:08] But they're ready to go.

[1:09:10] I don't know if we wanna, if you're interested in bringing

[1:09:12] them back to Rochester,

[1:09:13] because education funding is a big source

[1:09:16] of concern to this city.

[1:09:20] - Any other comments on that? Great.

[1:09:25] On the issue of the School Board's Association, I've been

[1:09:29] speaking with Ms.

[1:09:31] Patti about the delegate assembly

[1:09:35] that's coming up in October

[1:09:36] and she's the only one who's expressed interest

[1:09:39] in, in going.

[1:09:40] So I don't know if anyone else had an interest.

[1:09:44] I will be there. It's actually,

[1:09:45] I'm not gonna be running the meeting this year.

[1:09:47] I, the new president will take their position

[1:09:52] at that meeting and I will be the immediate past

[1:09:55] president as of that meeting.

[1:09:57] So I will be there.

[1:09:59] I'm on the executive board,

[1:10:01] but I would entertain, if anyone would like to,

[1:10:06] we can do it by consensus or we can take a vote

[1:10:08] or what have you that if Ms.

[1:10:11] Battis wants to be our representative to that,

[1:10:14] it would probably be appropriate to have a vote on that.

[1:10:17] But

[1:10:18] - Anderson, I had, I had interest in attending that

[1:10:20] and I I had put it in my calendar.

[1:10:22] I didn't know if that was something that I had

[1:10:24] to, I thought I could just go,

[1:10:26] - You, you can go as an observer

[1:10:28] or as we are entitled to one vote.

[1:10:31] So, but any of us can go as an observer. Okay.

[1:10:36] No one has ever been interested in going in the past.

[1:10:38] - I'm just trying to learn more about all

[1:10:40] - The things.

[1:10:41] Wait a minute. That's not fair.

[1:10:42] - Can I go last year? You did.

[1:10:43] - Alright then. So not no one That's

[1:10:46] - Not true either.

[1:10:47] Matt, you've always been interested.

[1:10:52] - We have one more meeting before that,

[1:10:54] but Ms.

[1:10:58] Ms. Anderson or would you be okay being an

[1:11:00] observer and we let Ms. Ti I'm kind of being

[1:11:02] - An observer.

[1:11:03] I just wanna go and soak up the knowledge

[1:11:05] and I, it's a reasonable drive for me,

[1:11:08] so I was like, that's something I can do.

[1:11:09] - Okay. - I'll make a motion that we send Mrs.

[1:11:13] Vati as our official representative

[1:11:15] to the New Hampshire School Board

[1:11:16] Association meeting. Okay.

[1:11:17] - Second. Second. By Mr. Gregore.

[1:11:21] Any discussion I would like to go too, if that's possible.

[1:11:26] Absolutely. I'll send you,

[1:11:27] we'll have the Superintendent send out the link

[1:11:29] and there's this little sign up form and you can just check.

[1:11:32] Observer. It

[1:11:34] is a lot to take in.

[1:11:38] I assume you'll agree a lot to take in.

[1:11:40] Yes, it was,

[1:11:42] but I don't remember.

[1:11:46] Did we take a vote? We didn't take a vote yet.

[1:11:48] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

[1:11:52] Had a senior moment. Sorry. Motion passes. Thank you Ms. Ti.

[1:11:55] Thank you. All right,

[1:11:59] so I'm gonna reopen public comment.

[1:12:00] Is there anyone from the public wishing to address the board

[1:12:03] Again, seeing none, we'll close public comment.

[1:12:09] Any other? I have one,

[1:12:11] but if any I'll let anyone else go first. Ms. Smith,

[1:12:16] - I just had a couple of comments that, just to add to Mr.

[1:12:20] Fog's list of wonderful things happening in Rochester.

[1:12:23] I just wanted to give a quick shout out to our custodians.

[1:12:25] 'cause the past couple of weeks to watching them at

[1:12:29] unspoken hours of the morning out there,

[1:12:31] picking up the trash diligently,

[1:12:33] making sure all these grounds even still

[1:12:34] that now the school has started,

[1:12:36] they're out there just working so incredibly hard

[1:12:38] to keep everything that was done over the summer going.

[1:12:40] And it's been really cool to just

[1:12:42] see them out there working really hard.

[1:12:43] I feel like sometimes they're like the unseen heroes

[1:12:46] of the school, so shout out to all the work they were doing.

[1:12:49] But also there was a really great back to school event

[1:12:52] that was started last year

[1:12:53] and happened again this year by Inger and Jackie Shire.

[1:12:56] And the turnout this year was wildly different

[1:13:01] and so many people showed up.

[1:13:05] The setup was very similar to last year.

[1:13:07] And it was very cool to see all

[1:13:08] of the community members come

[1:13:09] and the, the goal is to, they,

[1:13:11] they call it the Start Strong event

[1:13:12] and they give free haircuts to children.

[1:13:15] And every single resource within Rochester that

[1:13:19] families could possibly need

[1:13:20] or wanna speak to, it just puts them right in front of us,

[1:13:22] including all of the PTAs that we got to connect with some

[1:13:25] of the Maple families coming in,

[1:13:27] or just new students that were coming into the district.

[1:13:29] And it just gives everyone an opportunity just to,

[1:13:31] another opportunity to be face to face

[1:13:33] and give families a chance to connect to the district

[1:13:35] before the start of the school year.

[1:13:37] And a lot of resources were there.

[1:13:38] So last year it was like a, it was, it was a great event,

[1:13:43] but it was definitely like a steady

[1:13:44] trickle through this year.

[1:13:45] There was a crowd that rushed in the door as they opened,

[1:13:49] which we were all standing there like, oh wow,

[1:13:51] this is really, really cool.

[1:13:53] So the word spread and it was even stronger this year.

[1:13:55] So I just appreciate the efforts

[1:13:57] that those two ladies put in

[1:13:58] and look forward

[1:13:59] to seeing it continuing was the future. It was,

[1:14:02] - It was so fun.

[1:14:03] Rochester childcare was there

[1:14:04] and I decided that we needed to give out socks

[1:14:07] and we spent some time building a contraption to hang socks.

[1:14:10] The socks went so fast. Love socks.

[1:14:15] - One would never really think

[1:14:16] socks would be the number one.

[1:14:17] - Well, I wanted something that would attract them to us.

[1:14:20] You know, it was, it was,

[1:14:22] I didn't wanna go the sugary sweet.

[1:14:24] I did have some fruit chewy things too, but,

[1:14:27] but I know from grandchildren

[1:14:28] and lots of them that socks are very,

[1:14:31] very important and popular.

[1:14:34] - Mr. Oliver, go ahead.

[1:14:36] - I got a few things that everybody doesn't mind.

[1:14:38] First off, I, the last board had

[1:14:42] put in place a rule, if you will, to not talk with Fosters.

[1:14:48] Been thinking a lot about that.

[1:14:49] I don't think that serves us.

[1:14:50] So to be blunt, I would like to make a motion

[1:14:54] to remove the restriction on School Board

[1:14:56] members speaking to Fosters.

[1:14:57] We can discuss why, but I think there's,

[1:15:00] nevermind the First Amendment things, everything else.

[1:15:03] I don't think it behooves us. I think it restricts us.

[1:15:05] I don't think it serves us well. Second. Oh, sorry. No.

[1:15:09] And yeah, we can go to vote. Yeah. Discussion by all means.

[1:15:13] - All right, so second by Mr.

[1:15:14] Bellows, and now we'll open up

[1:15:16] to discussion if anyone wants to comment.

[1:15:19] - I, I don't know if that was ever actually put into policy,

[1:15:21] so we may not need to vote to rescind it.

[1:15:24] - It was a vote of formal vote of the previous board.

[1:15:28] So some people have been, some people, those I think

[1:15:30] who knew about it have been following it.

[1:15:32] I have not talked to Fosters.

[1:15:35] I think our staff has not talked to Fosters all that much.

[1:15:38] But not everyone on the board, the current board knows. I

[1:15:42] - Would agree.

[1:15:43] I think if it's not in a policy, it doesn't have

[1:15:44] to be a vote to rescind it.

[1:15:45] It can be somebody's individual

[1:15:46] choice of what they want to do.

[1:15:48] I I don't think it's something

[1:15:49] that would require us to vote as a body.

[1:15:52] - I, I would disagree considering the staff has been

[1:15:55] following it as a rule that the former board had in place

[1:16:00] and is not in, in effect until somebody else removes it.

[1:16:04] - Go ahead Mr. Gregory. - What would the consequence be if

[1:16:07] I chose to speak to Pons, to Fosters?

[1:16:09] Should there be a rule put in

[1:16:11] - Place?

[1:16:12] It's the other reason why I think we should remove that.

[1:16:13] - It's a toothless tiger

[1:16:14] and it really has no place in, in a,

[1:16:16] in a public body, a rule.

[1:16:20] - Any other thoughts, comments,

[1:16:22] - Mr.

[1:16:23] Chairman? My only thought would be is that anytime

[1:16:25] that the board's looking to give a directive

[1:16:27] to the Superintendent, there should be a motion.

[1:16:29] And part of what it was was also a directive to the,

[1:16:32] to the school district vis-a-vis the superintendent's

[1:16:35] office, which is historically really

[1:16:37] how media communications happen.

[1:16:39] So the superintendent's office is kind of the, the,

[1:16:42] the spokesman, if you will, for the school district.

[1:16:44] And so really a part part of that was also a directive

[1:16:47] to the Superintendent

[1:16:48] that the school district did not respond

[1:16:50] or engage with Foster.

[1:16:53] So if the board was gonna change that directive

[1:16:54] to the Superintendent, I would need the whole board

[1:16:57] to actually, because not no individual board member

[1:17:00] can direct a Superintendent.

[1:17:02] - Ms. Smith? - I agree with Mr. Oliver.

[1:17:05] I think that there should be caution with everyone speaking

[1:17:08] with individuals outside with any media agency

[1:17:11] and who they speak to, just

[1:17:14] because things can get turned and twisted.

[1:17:17] But that's, I I I don't believe that

[1:17:20] that would necessarily be something that we, we want Mr.

[1:17:24] Fogi to speak to the media. We want him to,

[1:17:26] we're trusting him to be a spokesperson for the district

[1:17:29] and how,

[1:17:31] and what he does with that, it, I think is important for us

[1:17:34] to, I it would any board member who went

[1:17:37] and spoke with Foster, like, I think really to both

[1:17:39] of your points, like really what happens?

[1:17:42] I think that's the question of why we remove it,

[1:17:43] is if Jared does decide to go

[1:17:46] and respon make a response,

[1:17:47] it could be a very positive thing.

[1:17:50] And then that, that's kind of where the teeth come in,

[1:17:53] is then he would be in

[1:17:55] or not compliance with the

[1:17:57] directive that was previously given.

[1:17:58] So yeah, I I would agree that we do need

[1:18:01] to take this away.

[1:18:04] - Mr. Bellows? - Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[1:18:07] I was not in favor of this when we voted on it.

[1:18:11] So for that reason, I'd be willing to vote

[1:18:13] to support what Mr.

[1:18:14] Oliver's motion, although I agree with you Mr.

[1:18:17] Gregoire, what would stop me from talking to Fosters

[1:18:20] and what would be the consequence?

[1:18:21] So I just feel just

[1:18:23] because we put put it on the books, whether it had teeth

[1:18:26] or not, we can kind of revert it.

[1:18:29] And for what it's worth,

[1:18:30] there's excellent things going on in our schools

[1:18:33] and we should be like telling like the fosters,

[1:18:36] can you tell everybody what we're doing here?

[1:18:38] So like, by tying our hands and, and, and,

[1:18:40] and not allowing our administrators to do that.

[1:18:43] It's just, you know, it's keeping some

[1:18:45] of the people in the dark and allowing, you know,

[1:18:47] allowing certain perceptions to continue to fester

[1:18:50] because we can't put another side out there.

[1:18:53] We're relying on, you know, word of mouth

[1:18:55] and parents to do that when really it can come right from

[1:18:59] our, our staff and our, and our, and our board chair.

[1:19:02] - The history behind it just stems from, just

[1:19:05] so everyone's aware of where it came from.

[1:19:08] There was one reporter for Fosters that covered Rochester

[1:19:11] that consistently misquoted people,

[1:19:15] misquoted the previous chair, misquoted

[1:19:18] several people on the board.

[1:19:20] I know that some other city departments also refuse to talk

[1:19:24] to fosters this or this reporter for the similar reasons.

[1:19:29] So we are not alone. And also getting facts wrong,

[1:19:33] for example, I know I was at a, at a court hearing

[1:19:36] and I heard one thing

[1:19:38] and read something else in the newspaper

[1:19:41] and it was not at all the same thing.

[1:19:45] And what was, what was done in the court was not at all

[1:19:48] what was put in the paper and disseminated around Rochester

[1:19:51] and everyone had misconceptions of what

[1:19:54] that court hearing was.

[1:19:57] So that's not the only reason,

[1:19:59] but that is a collection of different things that led to

[1:20:03] the previous board voting on that.

[1:20:06] - Just clarify my point.

[1:20:08] Just because we lift this rule, if you say if you will,

[1:20:12] doesn't mean I would speak to that reporter.

[1:20:14] Just means I would say that we don't have a rule

[1:20:16] that governs the body about restricting that.

[1:20:19] Yep. Doesn't change my perception.

[1:20:21] - Yep. Any other comments?

[1:20:25] - I was at a court hearing too,

[1:20:26] where the same reporter did the same thing.

[1:20:29] It report, the reporter did a whole different outcome

[1:20:32] that didn't even happen.

[1:20:34] But there's nothing holding fosters from coming to a meeting

[1:20:38] as we're reporting all the good that we're doing

[1:20:41] and they could go home and report good.

[1:20:43] It just for the past two years,

[1:20:46] they don't wanna report the good from

[1:20:49] what I'm, what I've seen

[1:20:51] - Doesn't sell newspapers.

[1:20:53] - No. - Mr. Ballas.

[1:20:57] - I, I may add, and I, I agree with what you're saying,

[1:20:59] Ms. Campbell, I think,

[1:21:03] I'm not sure if this is still the practice of the district

[1:21:05] that I work in, but I've seen several stories in the Fosters

[1:21:08] about the schools we work in that were written

[1:21:10] by staff from our school district

[1:21:13] and they just sent them to the Fosters and the Fosters.

[1:21:14] I mean, the Fosters will print things if you send it to them

[1:21:18] because they need content for their papers.

[1:21:20] I don't know how big their news staff is these days.

[1:21:23] So I think

[1:21:24] what we voted on in the last board would've stopped

[1:21:28] our Superintendent from sending a press

[1:21:29] release to the Fosters.

[1:21:31] Maybe I, my interpretation is too rigid.

[1:21:33] But this would allow that type of action action to happen,

[1:21:37] which again allows us to share with the rest

[1:21:40] of our community what we're doing here and, and,

[1:21:42] and have, I don't wanna say control of the narrative,

[1:21:45] but at least have a voice in the narrative.

[1:21:48] So again, another reason why I'm, I'm in support of this.

[1:21:50] - Okay. Any other comments saying none,

[1:21:54] I guess we'll just move it to a vote.

[1:21:56] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[1:21:59] And just for the record, I vote Yay. I vote yes.

[1:22:04] - Alright, good. Like I said, I got a couple other please.

[1:22:06] Sorry, please.

[1:22:11] I'm gonna make the motion first

[1:22:12] and then I'll explain why and then we can discuss.

[1:22:13] If we don't mind, I'd like to make a motion

[1:22:17] to form an ad hoc committee to work

[1:22:19] with our state legislator to fund school meals.

[1:22:23] Quite frankly, I've,

[1:22:26] - You wanna pause and then Yeah.

[1:22:27] Is there a second? Second. Second. By Ms. Smith.

[1:22:29] And it's legislators, right? Not one

[1:22:33] - Legislate I'd like.

[1:22:34] Yes. Legislators. So, since Mr.

[1:22:38] Fni last week had informed us at a finance meeting

[1:22:42] that basically the federal government has cut,

[1:22:44] has raised the standards, we're gonna have less kids

[1:22:47] that are eligible for free and reduced lunch.

[1:22:50] I've been trying to think about what to do with it.

[1:22:53] This is what I've come up with.

[1:22:55] I just, I it's gonna be an uphill battle.

[1:22:58] I think we need to change the narrative.

[1:22:59] We just talked about a bunch of bills.

[1:23:01] Not one of them talked about feeding kids.

[1:23:04] I want to get that on people's minds. I want to,

[1:23:07] - I, - If we fail, I want

[1:23:09] to at least have tried to do something.

[1:23:11] So that's the basis of where I'm going.

[1:23:16] I don't need to talk about it too much.

[1:23:18] I did a willow quick research of the New England States

[1:23:21] and then New York, and then I got bored Googling stuff.

[1:23:23] Quite frankly, Connecticut doesn't do any, no, I'm sorry.

[1:23:27] Rhode Island doesn't provide anything.

[1:23:29] Just like New Hampshire,

[1:23:31] Connecticut provides breakfast for all their students.

[1:23:34] New York State, Maine, Vermont,

[1:23:37] and Massachusetts all provide lunch and breakfast.

[1:23:42] I'd like to see this New Hampshire advantage.

[1:23:44] I've lived here my entire life, include feeding kids.

[1:23:47] So I want to, I would like to see what we can try

[1:23:51] and do from a local board perspective to throw our weight

[1:23:54] behind and try and solve this.

[1:23:57] It's a weighty problem. It's gonna be a lot.

[1:24:00] And anyways, that's my proposal.

[1:24:03] - Thank you. Okay, Mr. Bellows seconded.

[1:24:07] I don't think anyone's in disagreement,

[1:24:09] but want comment, not disagreeing at all.

[1:24:11] - I mean, we could start right here at home. Yeah.

[1:24:14] And make that proposal in Rochester and lead the way

[1:24:17] and say we are gonna lead, we're gonna show the direction.

[1:24:21] If we're gonna say, if we're gonna propose something,

[1:24:24] why not just be the ones that say we're going to do it,

[1:24:26] - Follow us.

[1:24:31] - And I would propose that for the upcoming budget season.

[1:24:38] - Mr. - Beas. Thank you Mr. Chair.

[1:24:40] If, if this gets up the ground, Mr. Oliver, I'd be happy

[1:24:43] to be involved with that.

[1:24:45] I, I think this is, I ate a lot

[1:24:47] of free meals when I was a kid.

[1:24:51] I a hundred percent agree with you Mr. Gregor.

[1:24:53] I'm so glad you said that. I, I, it's not premature.

[1:24:57] We haven't really gotten into budget conversations,

[1:24:59] but I've been thinking the same thing is what's,

[1:25:02] I know we don't, money does not grow on trees,

[1:25:04] but what is stopping us from saying

[1:25:07] we could expand If you get reduced lunch,

[1:25:10] you get free lunch in Rochester.

[1:25:11] Or how far can we take it? What, how much would this cost?

[1:25:14] But I know our budget's tight,

[1:25:17] but we can do something while we're,

[1:25:21] I'm not gonna hold my breath about Concord,

[1:25:23] but we can work it, we can work our legislators,

[1:25:26] but we also might be able to,

[1:25:28] to swing something here in, in, in, in town.

[1:25:32] - The point being Concord doesn't pay for

[1:25:34] what they're supposed to pay for now for schools.

[1:25:36] Why can I depend on them to pay for it something new.

[1:25:41] - Yep. Ms. Karlberg,

[1:25:44] - I'm in complete agreement.

[1:25:46] I'm curious if there will be pushback about this

[1:25:48] appearing partisan at all.

[1:25:50] Is there a concern about that?

[1:25:53] - I, so I'll be blunt with you guys.

[1:25:56] I have people on both sides of the aisle

[1:25:59] that fully support me.

[1:26:01] You just don't make it partisan.

[1:26:03] It has a, we're talking about the kids

[1:26:06] and keep the conversation on the kids.

[1:26:08] It is about the messaging.

[1:26:09] It'll be partisan if you want to allow it

[1:26:11] to be, just leave it.

[1:26:13] We're trying to feed kids

[1:26:14] and I don't care which side of the aisle those kids are on,

[1:26:18] people are gonna have opinions and that's fine.

[1:26:21] But it doesn't have to be.

[1:26:22] And I'm going to say to you that

[1:26:27] I think our view of the aisles isn't as solid

[1:26:31] as you might think because some of the people

[1:26:33] that are are not on the side are the first ones to go.

[1:26:38] No, you're right. But I mean,

[1:26:40] here's the bottom line I got told by somebody.

[1:26:42] You can be as you know, you know, liberal hard,

[1:26:45] bleeding hard as you want, but you gotta

[1:26:47] find a way to pay for it.

[1:26:48] That's true. And that's something people respect.

[1:26:52] So in my mind, so again, I'm willing to put this forth, try

[1:26:56] and lead that argument, if you will,

[1:26:59] but I just to That's a great point.

[1:27:01] We just have to be very careful not to allow it to get

[1:27:03] that into a partisan talk.

[1:27:05] 'cause it gonna, it it'll be easy to have that happen.

[1:27:09] Especially, you know, you get up

[1:27:10] to Concord and all that stuff.

[1:27:12] It doesn't have to be though in my mind.

[1:27:14] So this is

[1:27:18] - Grassy.

[1:27:19] When you build a bill

[1:27:20] and put it in for legislation, you try

[1:27:23] to find sponsors on both sides of the aisle.

[1:27:25] There's very rarely a bill up there

[1:27:27] that doesn't have both sides as sponsors.

[1:27:31] Because you won't make it.

[1:27:32] If you don't, your bill won't go anywhere.

[1:27:34] It doesn't matter which side of the aisle you're on,

[1:27:35] if you don't have sponsors on the other side,

[1:27:38] you won't get the buy-in.

[1:27:39] You won't get that. So we will be talking to all

[1:27:41] of our legislators and there will be some from both sides.

[1:27:46] And I don't know how you can tell people that your educating

[1:27:51] children, especially our elementary age children whose

[1:27:54] brains are developing

[1:27:55] and one of the building blocks

[1:27:57] for good brain development is, is healthy nutrition.

[1:28:01] And we have a lot of, of food insecure families

[1:28:05] in our school district.

[1:28:06] All the food pantries around us are booming.

[1:28:10] They are not running out of clientele.

[1:28:12] It's, it's hard for them some nights

[1:28:13] to feed the people that show up.

[1:28:16] So we do have a need in Rochester

[1:28:19] and it's an educational need.

[1:28:21] It's the beginning. It, you can't start filling a brain

[1:28:25] with information that you hope will be retained if

[1:28:29] that body's not healthy.

[1:28:31] It's just a, it's a, it's a fundamental need.

[1:28:34] And we should say at Rochester that, that our kids

[1:28:38] may need it more than other communities do.

[1:28:40] And I know some of the, the pushback you'll get in Concord

[1:28:43] is it's a community issue.

[1:28:45] You take care of your, you know, it's not a state issue.

[1:28:47] It's a, it's a, it's a town issue. It's a city issue.

[1:28:52] But pushback to the state

[1:28:54] of them doing their part is what we need to show

[1:28:59] - Ms. Smith.

[1:29:00] - I - Think what we've learned here with our,

[1:29:03] with our time on the School Board is that most

[1:29:04] of the work happens in the committee meetings.

[1:29:06] And I think that this would give us an opportunity

[1:29:08] to not only take a look again,

[1:29:10] I know there was conversations last year about doing this

[1:29:12] just in Rochester, but,

[1:29:14] and I agree, I think we should revisit that

[1:29:16] and see what we can do to forge ahead.

[1:29:18] But I think this also gives us a real opportunity

[1:29:20] to sit together and put our minds together

[1:29:21] and put real directives to the rest of the School Board

[1:29:24] to say, this is a stance that we're going to take.

[1:29:26] And if that committee can take the time to say, Hey,

[1:29:28] here's a statement we've written that we wanna send

[1:29:30] to all the school boards in the area, that can be then sent

[1:29:33] to a full, full board meeting

[1:29:34] and then we can actually

[1:29:35] start reaching out to other communities.

[1:29:37] Just like Ann said, this isn't just a Rochester

[1:29:39] problem, this is a state problem.

[1:29:40] And that gives us a real opportunity to reach out

[1:29:42] to those boards and say, Hey, we've taken this initiative.

[1:29:44] Would you join us? Would you sign this letter with us?

[1:29:46] And then again, you know, the partisan issue too.

[1:29:49] It's legislators, it's across the board really taking the

[1:29:51] time to take that real data that's coming from Rochester

[1:29:54] and our community resources showing what is needed

[1:29:58] and trying to change that.

[1:30:00] So kinda like Sam said, I'd rather die trying than

[1:30:05] even if I, even if we fail, I think it's worth the time

[1:30:07] that it would take to at least put all of

[1:30:09] that information out there and show

[1:30:11] the real need that is here.

[1:30:15] - So shall we take a vote first

[1:30:17] or do we, any other,

[1:30:20] I guess any other questions or comments?

[1:30:22] We'll go with that First. We're gonna create an ad hoc

[1:30:25] committee to look at ways to fund

[1:30:29] lunches for all of our students.

[1:30:31] - I would defer to folks

[1:30:32] who just have more experience in bodies like this.

[1:30:36] Is this like an appropriate like subcommittee

[1:30:38] of the operations committee where we deal with

[1:30:42] our food services already?

[1:30:44] Or is this more of a,

[1:30:45] i I don't know if there's any history of things like this.

[1:30:47] I guess we did an ad hoc for the, the magnet school, but

[1:30:52] - We did an ad hoc committee for looking, we, we,

[1:30:56] this is years ago.

[1:30:58] Mrs. Grassy might remember this,

[1:31:00] where we looked at a later start time.

[1:31:02] Oh yes, Mr. Mr. Haron was chair at that time. Yes.

[1:31:06] And he put together, I think there were four

[1:31:09] or five board members and brought in parents

[1:31:11] and all kinds of people to come in

[1:31:12] and talk, look at the research and talk and,

[1:31:16] and ultimately come up with a recommendation

[1:31:20] so it can be anybody on the board.

[1:31:22] And then that committee can invite anybody they want

[1:31:24] to come in and be a part of that.

[1:31:27] - Even further back, way back when Dr.

[1:31:29] Yle was Superintendent here, they did an ad hoc committee

[1:31:33] to look at year round school.

[1:31:35] And as a PTA person, I got appointed to

[1:31:38] that ad hoc committee to do that study.

[1:31:40] That, that was dangerous. I got threatened.

[1:31:47] - I, I think for clarification though,

[1:31:48] I think sir your motion was actually to develop a committee

[1:31:51] to work with the legislators.

[1:31:54] What I'm hearing is the development of an ad hoc committee.

[1:31:56] So you do, we want to clarify that motion

[1:31:59] because one is a motion to work directly

[1:32:03] to former committees for the purpose

[1:32:04] of working with the legislators.

[1:32:06] It sounds like it morphed a little bit into becoming an ad

[1:32:08] hoc committee to study the possibilities of, of,

[1:32:11] of providing a free lunch

[1:32:14] and meals to to, to the Rochester students.

[1:32:17] So those are two different things.

[1:32:19] - Two, if you're okay with that and we get Mr.

[1:32:20] Bellows to agree, we can alter the motion.

[1:32:23] - Yeah, I'm fine. I, to be honest with you, this is,

[1:32:26] I'm trying to bring something concrete to the board

[1:32:28] so we could open up the discussion.

[1:32:29] Quite frankly, the more options we have and thus,

[1:32:32] but this was the wording that Sam hallucinated last

[1:32:34] night when he was coming up with us.

[1:32:36] So I am more than willing to, to, to amend,

[1:32:40] just make a motion to form an ad hoc committee to,

[1:32:45] to look to how to fund school meals in Rochester.

[1:32:48] - Ms. Bowers, do you agree with that? I, I'm

[1:32:50] - Agreeable that.

[1:32:51] - Okay. All right.

[1:32:52] So the motion on the floor is to create an ad hoc committee

[1:32:55] to look at ways to feed our children in our schools.

[1:33:01] Any other discussion? Seeing none.

[1:33:04] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[1:33:07] Motion passes. So if anyone is interested,

[1:33:10] I assume there's gonna be a lot of interest,

[1:33:11] but if you're interested, do you want

[1:33:15] to be the one to decide? Everyone let

[1:33:17] - Sure - Mr. Oliver know.

[1:33:18] - Thank - You. And we will convene that ad hoc committee.

[1:33:23] - And then I got one more very minor thing. Sure.

[1:33:26] And this kind of goes to what Mrs. Pierce was

[1:33:27] talking about a little bit earlier.

[1:33:29] I've already talked to Mr. White, Shannon and Mr.

[1:33:32] F for the TLSS committee.

[1:33:34] Can we just add cursive writing

[1:33:38] discussion onto the, the agenda specifically?

[1:33:43] What I'm looking at, well where it SCOs is I,

[1:33:46] my oldest son graduated in 2022 from Spaulding.

[1:33:50] And then I went with him yesterday

[1:33:51] or the other day to watch him register his car

[1:33:54] and well, you know, having people look over your shoulder,

[1:33:57] he struggled more than a little

[1:33:59] to try and fill out his checkbook.

[1:34:02] And that's a very recent graduate.

[1:34:03] I know there's laws in place, I know we're doing different,

[1:34:06] but I would like to have a more robust discussion about

[1:34:09] where that fits in the curriculum.

[1:34:11] You know, the benefits thereof,

[1:34:13] the whole engaging left right side of the brain, the better,

[1:34:16] you know, retention and all that stuff.

[1:34:17] So if you could just throw that on the TLSS

[1:34:19] committee meeting, that would be great.

[1:34:22] - You got that Missed Dr. Nichols. Okay.

[1:34:25] She's handwriting it down.

[1:34:28] Cursive, not typing it, but handwriting it. Is it cursive?

[1:34:32] I always go with a low tech pad. Whatcha talking about?

[1:34:35] - And I'll shut up now. - It's a good point. Absolutely.

[1:34:38] I've seen that myself.

[1:34:40] So a couple things I have,

[1:34:44] we have been asked to put together a committee

[1:34:49] to meet with Wakefield

[1:34:51] to discuss their re departure from our SAU

[1:34:56] and we need two people.

[1:34:59] I reached out to Mr. White and Mrs.

[1:35:01] Grassy to see if they would serve on that and they agreed

[1:35:05] and being a committee that would need approval of the board.

[1:35:09] So I'm just asking for approval of that

[1:35:12] or discussion on that.

[1:35:15] - So moved. Okay. Or second. I don't know if you,

[1:35:17] - I'll make the motion if you want

[1:35:19] to second it. Okay. Discussion.

[1:35:21] - Can other people attend that?

[1:35:23] - You can, but I, I assume, but yeah,

[1:35:26] - We post as, as open meetings.

[1:35:27] So the week school district has started a

[1:35:30] from withdrawal committee.

[1:35:31] - I would like - To attend.

[1:35:33] - I don't think it would, you'd you'd be a member

[1:35:36] of the public, not a School Board member.

[1:35:37] That's fine. Yep. Okay. Any other comments or questions?

[1:35:42] Seeing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

[1:35:46] Motion passes. And one last thing.

[1:35:50] We have a, a need for a Superintendent evaluation.

[1:35:55] Our policy says we need to evaluate Mr. Fogi in November.

[1:36:00] We have a committee in place, but I have some concerns

[1:36:04] because of the recent ethics committee stuff.

[1:36:08] I don't think it's appropriate

[1:36:10] to remove one person without the other

[1:36:12] 'cause both individuals are on that committee.

[1:36:15] So I'd like to make a motion that we

[1:36:21] reestablish this committee with.

[1:36:23] I don't think it's fair to remove one and not the other.

[1:36:25] So I think the fair thing to do, remove two individuals

[1:36:29] and put two other individuals on.

[1:36:32] Okay. I have not really spoken much about this with anyone,

[1:36:36] but I just wanted to make sure that I bring it here

[1:36:40] 'cause it needs approval of the board.

[1:36:42] And I asked Ms. McGowan

[1:36:44] and Ms. Smith if they would be consi,

[1:36:46] if they would consider it.

[1:36:47] And that would be my motion to reconvene this,

[1:36:50] this committee with those two members. And Mr. Oliver.

[1:36:54] - Second. - Okay. Discussion Ms. Carver,

[1:36:59] - I would like to mention that we've actually met

[1:37:01] through email a couple times since the complaint.

[1:37:05] We've had emailed communication.

[1:37:06] We have a rough draft in place

[1:37:08] that we are planning on meeting about

[1:37:10] in the next couple of weeks.

[1:37:12] - Okay. Motion's on the floor.

[1:37:17] So, I mean, it's open to discussion what,

[1:37:21] what we need to do with this committee.

[1:37:23] Just so to, to make sure everyone's on the same page.

[1:37:27] We need to look at our current policy. It's kind of a mess.

[1:37:32] We don't have goals yet.

[1:37:34] We have an approved goals,

[1:37:35] so we can't evaluate him on meeting our goals.

[1:37:38] So what we need to do is look at our current policy, see

[1:37:41] what we can pull out of that policy that is applicable

[1:37:45] for us to rate Mr.

[1:37:47] Fogi according to that policy.

[1:37:51] The second part of this committee will be

[1:37:54] after the evaluation.

[1:37:55] What the evaluation will require is in Nove at our November

[1:37:58] meeting, we, we are presented

[1:38:01] with the evaluation tool.

[1:38:04] And then over the course of November, you all fill that out.

[1:38:08] And then according to policy, you send it

[1:38:10] to me when I collate everybody's answers

[1:38:12] and then disseminate it to everybody

[1:38:14] and we discuss it in the December meeting.

[1:38:19] - I guess I would be in agreement with this.

[1:38:21] I would not want any internal strife

[1:38:23] to have any impact on Mr.

[1:38:26] Fog's evaluation.

[1:38:28] - Okay, Ms. Carver, another

[1:38:31] - Point is that I believe our policy says

[1:38:33] that the evaluation is due in November.

[1:38:36] - It's disseminated in November. We discuss it in December.

[1:38:39] And where a subcommittee is put together to meet with Mr.

[1:38:43] Fogi and go over the results, I believe is what it says. I,

[1:38:46] - I don't believe that's correct, but I can pull up the

[1:38:48] policy language later.

[1:38:50] Okay.

[1:38:53] - Other discussion? It's open floor is open.

[1:38:59] None. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Na.

[1:39:04] Okay. Thank you.

[1:39:07] Any other, other, make sure I have everything?

[1:39:12] - I just have a quick thing in follow up

[1:39:13] to the ad hoc committee and talking with legislatures.

[1:39:17] I had the honor and privilege of going to Concord today

[1:39:20] and testifying before the New Hampshire Board of Education.

[1:39:26] For those who don't know, our state is very unique in that

[1:39:30] the New Hampshire Department of Education

[1:39:32] does not set policy.

[1:39:34] They are governed by a board like us.

[1:39:37] So they carry out the policy.

[1:39:40] So those who know me, know me well, that restraint

[1:39:43] and seclusion is near and dear to my heart.

[1:39:44] So I was able to go lend my voice

[1:39:48] to the board today on how we need to change policies

[1:39:52] regarding restraint, seclusion from the state down.

[1:39:57] I'm very fortunate to be on the School Board now

[1:40:00] so we can see where policies are not working

[1:40:03] and children are at risk.

[1:40:05] But I only bring this up

[1:40:06] because as School Board members,

[1:40:08] if you're talking about feeding children,

[1:40:10] that's another avenue to use your voice.

[1:40:13] They, they're, they listen, they ask great questions.

[1:40:16] It, it's just they meet once a month.

[1:40:18] So add that as a platform to lend your voice

[1:40:23] and your knowledge and to make connections.

[1:40:29] - Great point. Thanks. Any comments?

[1:40:33] - Question? Just shifting gears, thank you for going

[1:40:38] to, to the board and,

[1:40:39] and representing that point that's important to you and,

[1:40:44] and representing the kids in Rochester,

[1:40:46] but I know beyond Rochester too, so thank you for that.

[1:40:50] I also just want to thank, we touched upon this earlier,

[1:40:53] but my kids came home the last week from their first days

[1:40:56] of school and they were very happy.

[1:41:00] And again, thank you to all the teachers, the staff,

[1:41:03] the administrators that, that work really hard to,

[1:41:05] to make sure that our kids get their school

[1:41:07] year after a great start.

[1:41:08] It's, it's hard to come back from bad

[1:41:10] start to a school year.

[1:41:11] You can, but it's, it's a lot easier

[1:41:13] to keep a good start going.

[1:41:14] And so I, I hope that most kids have

[1:41:16] that same experience that my children had.

[1:41:18] But I appreciate their teachers and,

[1:41:19] and everyone around them for

[1:41:22] helping our kids get off to a good start.

[1:41:26] - All right. Any other, other? All right, we have two,

[1:41:30] actually three non-public issues to talk about.

[1:41:33] Oh my goodness. So I'm gonna make a motion.

[1:41:34] We enter non-public under RSA 91 A three 2K

[1:41:40] RSA 91 A three L,

[1:41:43] and 91 a three C, second,

[1:41:48] second by Ms. Campbell.

[1:41:51] And that is a rule call vote

[1:41:53] - Member Greg.

[1:41:54] - Yeah. Aye. - Member Fellows? Yes.

[1:41:58] Member Berg. Yes. Member Grassy. Yes. Member Oliver.

[1:42:03] - Yes. - Member Smith. Yes. Member McGowan. Yes.

[1:42:06] Member Horn. Member Horn? Yes.

[1:42:10] Member Anderson. Yes. Member Pappas. Yes. Member Tis Yes.

[1:42:14] Member Campo. Yes.

[1:44:05] - All right. School Board is back in session.

[1:44:08] I'm gonna call on Ms. Horn.

[1:44:11] - Yes. Thank you. - Sure.

[1:44:15] - I have just been thinking about something for a while now

[1:44:18] and tonight just

[1:44:21] proved what I've been thinking.

[1:44:24] This board is great. It works well together.

[1:44:29] This board is great. It works well together.

[1:44:31] We had a little glitch last month,

[1:44:33] but everybody has come back.

[1:44:36] I mean, our constituents voted us in for the betterment

[1:44:40] of the school system, for the betterment of the and staff

[1:44:45] and the, the more importantly the, the students.

[1:44:50] And I, what I saw tonight was just great work

[1:44:55] together with all of us.

[1:44:57] And I just wanna say thank you

[1:44:59] 'cause that is the way we need to be going.

[1:45:02] Very short and sweet. Sorry.

[1:45:03] But that, that's just been weighing on me

[1:45:06] and I, I do appreciate you giving me the time to speak.

[1:45:09] - Thank you. Thank - You.

[1:45:12] - All right. I'd like to make a motion

[1:45:14] and that according to the Department of Education Rules

[1:45:17] and Laws of New Hampshire, that we recommend a one year

[1:45:23] certification of the Superintendent

[1:45:28] to have a, let me word this correctly,

[1:45:33] recommend that we approve a one year certification

[1:45:35] as Superintendent of Jared Fni.

[1:45:38] Second, and that we authorize Katie Keo to

[1:45:43] amend the contract with the Superintendent Therewith.

[1:45:47] Second by Ms. Anderson.

[1:45:51] And I gotta make sure I write all this down. Where's my pen?

[1:45:56] And any discussion?

[1:45:59] - Just, just briefly. When we hired Mr.

[1:46:02] Fogi, we hired a, a very experienced, qualified

[1:46:07] school district administrator.

[1:46:09] And this allows us to operate

[1:46:12] with a certified Superintendent while

[1:46:16] the red tape that happens in Concord can be dealt with.

[1:46:22] That's why I'm voting yes for this.

[1:46:24] And appreciate all your hard work and your great job, Mr.

[1:46:26] Fogi.

[1:46:28] - Any other discussion? Seeing none.

[1:46:31] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed,

[1:46:34] - Nay, abstain,

[1:46:37] - And one abstention

[1:46:42] and any other business.

[1:46:46] - I'd like to make a motion to seal the minutes of our

[1:46:49] - Non-public session tonight.

[1:46:50] Second. All right. Let me just write this down.

[1:47:07] All right. Any discussion? Seeing none.

[1:47:09] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay.

[1:47:13] Motion passes. Okay.

[1:47:22] Just one last thing. I hope

[1:47:23] that we see you all at the football game tomorrow,

[1:47:27] and especially seeing they're playing Dover.

[1:47:30] And hopefully we have a nice victory.

[1:47:33] Is there a motion to Adjourn? I make a motion to Adjourn.

[1:47:36] Second. Motion by Kelly. Second by Sam.

[1:47:41] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[1:47:44] Motion passes.

School Board - 9/10/26

Agenda

Transcript