[0:02] And will take the call to the the roll call

[0:07] Chair.

[0:08] DeAngelo Here. Member Feller. Here.

[0:12] Member Holman. Here. Member Richardson. Here. Member Rich.

[0:17] Here. Member Smith Here. Student Rep Lian here.

[0:21] And student rep Rio

[0:22] Bloss here.

[0:25] And if you are interested in joining us, you can stand

[0:30] for the Pledge of

[0:30] Allegiance. Pledge Allegiance

[0:36] To the flag of the United States of America.

[0:39] And to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation

[0:43] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice.

[0:48] Thank you.

[0:56] So, as this is a public proceeding,

[0:57] unless the Board of Education specifically votes

[1:00] to enter into executive session, the public has the right

[1:03] to hear everything and to look at all exhibits.

[1:06] Please let us know if you experience difficulties

[1:09] with accessibility.

[1:10] Members of the district staff are located in the lecture

[1:13] hall and can provide assistance.

[1:16] The school board works from a prepared agenda,

[1:18] which is posted in advance on the district website.

[1:21] And the printed copies

[1:23] of this evening's agenda are available near the

[1:25] entrance of the lecture hall.

[1:26] Fellow board members please remember that Robert's Rules

[1:29] of Order states members may speak no more than twice on the

[1:33] same question at any one meeting except

[1:35] by permission of the board chair.

[1:38] Questions brief ques, brief suggestions

[1:40] or points of clarification are not counted.

[1:42] As speaking in debate, the board asks

[1:44] that the public audience refrain from clapping, booing

[1:48] side comments or other behaviors

[1:50] that may interrupt the flow of speakers.

[1:52] Every person is entitled to speak their opinion

[1:55] and to feel safe in the process.

[1:57] Thank you. In the report

[2:02] of the chair, I would just say our next regular meeting is

[2:06] Wednesday, October 14th at 6:00 PM Here in the lecture hall,

[2:11] the board is doing a retreat on Monday,

[2:17] the 21st from 4:00 PM

[2:19] to 8:00 PM at Cobblestone Coffee and Company.

[2:23] There are also two forums

[2:24] that are coming up on reconfiguration that are

[2:28] September 28th, which is a Monday,

[2:32] and that will be five 30 to seven.

[2:35] And that will be at the middle school

[2:37] and Wednesday, October 7th, which will be at the same time,

[2:41] five 30 to seven

[2:43] and will be at the Red Bank Community Center.

[2:45] And we are up to Member

[2:49] Rios Plus on the report of the student representative.

[2:54] Hello. Okay. So for the elementary school updates,

[2:59] We've got that the first week of school went very well.

[3:03] Students were taught routines and expectations

[3:06] and students have been positively welcomed by staff

[3:11] State Testing is or was today.

[3:17] And the MTSS team supported

[3:20] students for the middle school.

[3:23] The start of the year also went very well.

[3:26] Students have learned school expectations,

[3:28] community building and more.

[3:31] We welcomed Nicole Katu, I'm pretty sure,

[3:35] I don't know if I'm saying that right.

[3:38] As interim assistant principal

[3:40] and Mitch as our new director of operation

[3:45] and safety For the high school updates, we've got

[3:50] that the first week went well as well.

[3:53] And picture day in class meetings read successfully,

[3:56] which was on the first day.

[3:59] Students were informed of goals

[4:00] and expectations for the year, including credits

[4:02] and attendance class officers

[4:05] and student board representatives were introduced at at

[4:07] class meetings and ninth graders have been informed

[4:10] of their grade elections.

[4:13] Students transition with the phone ban has

[4:16] been going very well.

[4:19] And for the adult education updates,

[4:22] the SPAE ended their summer learning in mid-August.

[4:26] The ESOL summer session had many participants.

[4:29] English for Healthcare Careers is a new ESOL class

[4:34] and it's been very successful.

[4:37] And the 13 high set graduates from 2025 to 26 school year

[4:42] had their graduation ceremony on August 6th.

[4:45] And the new workforce training is going to launch.

[4:52] Thank you. And we are up to the report

[4:56] of the superintendent.

[5:00] Okay, thank you. So I have a little bit

[5:02] of an overview from our departments.

[5:04] Just wanted to update folks on all the work that happened,

[5:09] well maybe not all, but as a good amount of the work

[5:11] that happened during the summer to set the stage

[5:14] for a strong school year.

[5:15] And also give some updates on how the school start has gone.

[5:20] So we have some sections from each of our departments

[5:24] and tonight we'll highlight our team summer work

[5:27] and the start of the school year at the elementary schools.

[5:32] Our leaders were ready for the school year.

[5:35] We have heard a lot about the elementary boundaries

[5:38] deliberation, which continues in the summer.

[5:42] Some highlights included onboarding three elementary

[5:45] principals and one elementary assistant principal.

[5:49] The new leadership team is enabling

[5:51] and necessitating common plans

[5:53] and practices across all elementary schools.

[5:57] We've also seen our pre-K expansion,

[5:59] which now includes six in-district classrooms

[6:02] and three formal partnerships for classrooms.

[6:06] As part of our new early childhood special education

[6:10] responsibilities required by the state,

[6:12] we have added staffing and a special purpose pre-K.

[6:17] And then definitely during drop offs.

[6:20] The elementary boundaries

[6:21] and configuration was on everybody's mind

[6:25] and I expect it will continue to be through the fall.

[6:28] These are, I wanted to highlight

[6:30] and share some pictures from our elementary teams since we

[6:34] have a strong and new slate.

[6:39] So we have returning Ms. Petski at Brown.

[6:43] She is in a new elementary school. Then we also have Ms.

[6:46] Rumson stepping up into the skill and principal role. Ms.

[6:50] Pier stepping into the skill and assistant principal role.

[6:54] Mr. Chatto as small principal

[6:57] and Ms. Fowler is back as the dyer principal for the year.

[7:04] Our secondary schools spent a good amount of time

[7:08] during the summer developing grants

[7:11] for our community school model supports

[7:15] and also preparing for the new cell phone policy.

[7:19] So they partnered on the submission

[7:21] of a United Way Promise Neighborhood Grant.

[7:24] That's a federal grant

[7:25] for staffing capacity at middle and high school.

[7:28] And also engaged in a community design process

[7:33] for a Nellie Mae grant application

[7:36] that would increase supports for students

[7:38] with low attendance, including those in special education

[7:41] and from families experiencing poverty.

[7:45] And then at the beginning of the school, the implementation

[7:47] of the personal electronic device policy has

[7:53] been an important part of this, of the school opening

[7:57] for students, staff and families.

[8:00] Our technology department, our team,

[8:03] our team there has organized,

[8:05] organized intentional technology event this summer

[8:08] prepared devices and advanced cybersecurity.

[8:11] So they prepared 450 new iPads

[8:15] for students in grades five through nine.

[8:18] Hosted the multi-district intentional technology

[8:20] screen time framework event.

[8:23] Welcomed new staff

[8:24] with technology support at our orientation

[8:27] and have been working on ongoing implementation

[8:31] of cybersecurity strategies

[8:32] to protect our district resources at such

[8:37] as segmented wifi.

[8:40] Our operations team,

[8:42] the summer is a major work time for this team.

[8:46] And so they spent that time preparing students

[8:49] and facility schools and facilities for staff and students.

[8:53] They completed the secure vestibules projects at Skill

[8:56] and Dyer Schools.

[8:59] The South Portland Middle school field is ready for play

[9:02] and we've seen kids out on that since the start of school.

[9:05] We have new fencing at small

[9:07] and brown schools, which now provides fence protection

[9:11] around the vernal pool area

[9:12] and separate space for our pre-K students.

[9:15] We have new ovens at the elementary schools

[9:17] that we are replacing 25-year-old ovens.

[9:20] We have new salad bars at Brown, small and dire.

[9:24] And we and our facilities team also work to relocate 42

[9:29] KR staff members into new schools.

[9:33] At the start, our transportation has been safely delivering

[9:37] 870 students to and from school.

[9:39] And our nutrition services prepares over 2,600 daily meals

[9:43] for students between breakfasts and lunches.

[9:48] Our business office has been working to close out the FY 26

[9:54] year and then has been preparing for the annual audit,

[9:58] worked on onboarding staff and has updated purchasing

[10:02] and reconciliation workflows.

[10:04] So we've been working

[10:06] to finish up those FY 26 year end financials

[10:10] and with some preliminary closeout data already shared

[10:14] at this meeting and with the finance team.

[10:16] And now we're working towards the annual audit preparation.

[10:21] The team was had some,

[10:23] they restructured the leaves management

[10:25] and accounts payable supervisors

[10:28] and then we onboarded new staff for

[10:32] a benefit specialist

[10:33] and accounts payable front desk assistant.

[10:36] So just wanna welcome Marvin Tallah

[10:37] and Eden Furman who have been really great additions.

[10:41] They've also, they also over the summer piloted internal

[10:44] purchasing and reconciliation procedures, which helps

[10:48] to build a more secure and financial system.

[10:53] So at the school start the new hire payroll

[10:56] and benefits has been set up.

[10:58] We've for, they've done the payroll encumber encumbrances

[11:03] for or started those for FY 27,

[11:08] which is also continuing.

[11:09] And then they have, we've been implementing digital

[11:13] timecards for some of our staff,

[11:16] which would should help us have less errors

[11:19] in our timecard data.

[11:23] Our special ed team, it has, it was,

[11:28] it's fully staffed with teachers

[11:30] for all programs at all levels.

[11:33] We have also been working on pre-K transition planning,

[11:37] lining up placements and services with community partners,

[11:39] which happened throughout the summer at the school start.

[11:44] Our additional instructional strategists

[11:47] positions have has been able to support the launch details

[11:50] and receive students in developing plans.

[11:52] So those have been helpful.

[11:54] We've been creating new teams, trying to be thoughtful

[11:57] and purposeful as we welcome Kler students

[12:00] and staff throughout the district.

[12:03] A challenge has been

[12:06] filling in the vacancies in our elementary functional life

[12:09] skills programs.

[12:10] We continue to actively recruit for those positions

[12:15] and have also reached out to subs

[12:17] to notify them of opportunities.

[12:19] And we are currently looking into the option of

[12:23] securing support from a recruitment

[12:25] and staffing agency with which is becoming

[12:29] a much more common practice among districts in our region,

[12:35] our multilingual programs.

[12:38] They planned for the transition

[12:40] and welcome of our Taylor multilingual

[12:42] students into their new schools.

[12:43] They hired and we hired

[12:45] and oriented a new director of multilingual programs

[12:48] and McKenney Bento liaison Mr.

[12:51] Carlos Gomez.

[12:53] They supported multilingual families in our school district

[12:56] who were adversely affected

[12:57] by the community law enforcement events at the school start.

[13:02] Our multilingual specialist

[13:03] and ESOL program coordinator called

[13:05] and communicated with all new multilingual students

[13:08] to confirm transportation arrangements for the first day

[13:11] of school to make sure that they had

[13:14] their information and were ready.

[13:17] So we have definitely been working hard this summer

[13:20] and planning to set the stage for a strong start

[13:23] to the school year.

[13:26] And then we also have some announcements,

[13:30] just a reminder that it is Arts in Education week this week.

[13:35] So we just wanna recognize

[13:37] and celebrate the power of arts

[13:39] as fundamental in education this week and beyond.

[13:43] And then I have just an informal update on our personal

[13:47] electronic devices.

[13:49] We do have two more formal updates scheduled for

[13:53] our business meetings, one in November

[13:55] and then another one in the spring

[13:57] where we'll present more detailed data about

[14:00] how the personal electronic devices implementation is going.

[14:04] But you already heard from students that it seems

[14:06] to be going pretty well.

[14:08] Also checked in with our school leaders

[14:11] and that has has gone smoothly.

[14:15] I think we've had a couple of questions about

[14:19] safety from a few parents

[14:23] and so I did wanna just kind of speak to that a little bit.

[14:28] 'cause we recognize that while many parents see the benefits

[14:31] of a phone free

[14:32] and educational environment,

[14:34] some parents may also have concerns about student safety.

[14:38] And so while much of the conversation around cell phones

[14:41] and safety focuses on emergencies, our primary approach

[14:45] to keeping students safe relies on prevention

[14:49] and daily wellbeing.

[14:51] The most effective way to protect our schools is

[14:53] by cultivating a positive school culture, building strong,

[14:57] trusting relationships between adults and students,

[15:00] and ensuring that students

[15:02] and community members feel empowered

[15:03] to bring concerns forward.

[15:06] Furthermore, the day-to-day harm

[15:07] that students can experience in schools such as fighting,

[15:11] bullying, cyber bullying,

[15:12] and hurtful peer conflict is often instigated

[15:15] or severely exacerbated by unrestricted access

[15:19] to smartphones and social media during the school day.

[15:22] So by implementing a phone free environment,

[15:24] we are directly removing a major catalyst

[15:27] for these conflicts, allowing us

[15:29] to maintain a more supportive, focused

[15:31] and emotionally safe climate for all students.

[15:35] One of the questions that's come up is like,

[15:37] is my child safer in an emergency if they have a cell phone?

[15:41] And so there have been worries about having a cell phone

[15:44] stored away during an emergency are an

[15:47] understandable concern.

[15:49] As parents, we all want our students to be able

[15:51] to call 9 1 1

[15:52] or contact their family as quickly as possible.

[15:55] However, top safety

[15:57] and security expert experts agree that smart phones

[16:00] and schools do not improve student safety

[16:02] and can create dangerous distractions in a real emergency.

[16:07] Our cell phone protocols were discussed

[16:09] with our South Portland Police department prior

[16:11] to implementation and they do not have any concerns about

[16:15] limiting access to student cell phones

[16:17] during the school day.

[16:18] On the other hand, it's important that adults

[16:20] and main office staff have easy access to phones

[16:23] and other communication device uses used

[16:26] during emergency situations.

[16:27] And our safety protocols ensure that they do just a few

[16:33] ways that cell phones can interfere

[16:36] with emergency protocols.

[16:39] They can be a distraction to students when we need them

[16:41] to follow instructions quickly.

[16:45] It can lead to network con congestion

[16:48] with high call vol volumes.

[16:51] Noise risk can also create situations

[16:56] like just like that perfect timing that was planned,

[17:00] that was totally planned where we might not want people

[17:04] to know where students are.

[17:07] They can also lead to kind of spread of misinformation

[17:10] before we have accurate information

[17:13] ready to share with the public.

[17:14] And then also whenever if folks are called on site

[17:18] that can lead to traffic Andes congestion

[17:20] and create problems for our actual emergency responders

[17:24] to getting onto campus.

[17:27] So I know folks may be wondering how will my student

[17:30] and I communicate in an emergency?

[17:31] So in the event of a school emergency,

[17:33] administrators will communicate directly with families.

[17:37] So students should not use personal devices

[17:39] unless directed by school personnel.

[17:42] The South Portland School Department utilizes the standard

[17:45] response protocol from the I Love You Guys Foundation

[17:47] to ensure a coordinated

[17:49] and safe reaction to any crisis

[17:52] in a real emergency once students are in a safe location

[17:55] and the threat is mitigated.

[17:57] Staff would assist students in access accessing their

[18:00] devices so that they can contact their families,

[18:02] let 'em know everything's okay.

[18:03] But if the threat is imminent, texting

[18:06] and calling would not be permitted

[18:08] as we will want all students

[18:09] and staff focused on following our response

[18:12] protocols and staying safe.

[18:14] So I did just wanna speak to that since that has been

[18:18] come up a few times really just in a handful of cases.

[18:23] But I know that it is a concern

[18:26] and we again, will have an update to the board on those

[18:31] personal electronic devices in November.

[18:35] So Superintendent Doina,

[18:37] before we go on to the enrollment report,

[18:39] I just wanna see if there are any questions about the

[18:42] announcements and recognitions. Claire,

[18:44] Claire raised her hand first. I'm happy to,

[18:45] Oh, this about everything that, the things we just heard.

[18:48] And one of mine was, you said that,

[18:50] and this goes back several slides, you don't have to switch,

[18:53] but that there's

[18:57] digital card cards system or whatever that's called.

[18:59] Time cards. Time cards. They digital time cards

[19:01] are for some staff.

[19:03] I'm just curious who,

[19:05] Yeah, so it's mostly been with our service staff,

[19:10] so our hourly employees

[19:13] and that's, and it's just being implemented right now.

[19:17] So

[19:19] Thank you Member Richardson.

[19:22] Thank you. The, I have a couple of questions kind

[19:26] of all over the place, but the, the grant applications

[19:29] that were highlighted in the middle school discussion,

[19:33] when do we learn about the outcome of those applications

[19:38] and how do we track those?

[19:41] How do we track those? Yeah, I would, I'm gonna defer

[19:45] to Joanna if she knows when our,

[19:47] when we would expect to hear back.

[19:49] I feel like it was like October, but

[19:57] Hello Johanna Prince, assistant superintendent.

[19:59] So there's two grants that we're working on right now.

[20:02] One we'd be a sub-recipient of and that was the United Way.

[20:05] We actually should hear back by the end

[20:08] of this month on that grant.

[20:10] But again, it would be United Way that would be notified as,

[20:13] and then they would let us know.

[20:15] The other grant that we are is submitted this week

[20:19] and we would find out by the end of October on that.

[20:22] And that we are the primary author of that grant.

[20:25] And how much, what, what is the amount

[20:28] of the, of each of those grants?

[20:30] So the grant that we are submitting this week

[20:32] is a three year grant.

[20:34] The first two years a request of $300,000

[20:39] and then if approved, you're allowed to submit

[20:42] for 200,000 more in year three.

[20:46] The United Way Promise grant,

[20:49] I actually did not see their final figure,

[20:52] but it would probably be a direct add

[20:57] of two FTE positions for the district

[21:00] for community school work.

[21:02] So again, that one was a multi-year multimillion

[21:07] dollar grant that was a statewide infrastructure.

[21:09] So I don't know what the total was on that one.

[21:13] Primarily for middle Thank you.

[21:14] Primarily for middle school staffing or you said that

[21:18] Is for United Way to really be the statewide

[21:23] infrastructure for community school

[21:25] development across the state.

[21:28] And so they would be supporting director positions.

[21:31] There's not a specific level in that,

[21:35] but rather to help us build out that structure.

[21:38] Okay. Thanks. Any other questions?

[21:42] At some point I would love an update on

[21:46] how we're preparing for the CDS transition for pre-K

[21:50] and you know, we're,

[21:55] I know I think that sort of ties to the capacity

[22:01] discussion that you spoke about earlier.

[22:03] So I just would, I'd like to put a pin in that.

[22:08] And then the FLS staffing issues that you highlighted

[22:14] are, are those roles roles that were unimpacted

[22:19] by the reduction in force,

[22:24] are those open roles roles

[22:25] that were unimpacted is what I'm trying to say.

[22:30] I'm not, so I'm not, the vacancies that we have

[22:33] Yeah, the vac, yeah, the vacancies we're trying to fill.

[22:37] And are you asking if we have like, I'm not sure,

[22:44] I'm not, I don't think I'm clear on

[22:45] the question, Len. Yeah,

[22:47] Why don't I ask again with more words.

[22:51] So we had a pretty massive reduction in force. Yeah.

[22:57] That resulted in 75 positions being cut.

[23:00] We now have vacancies that we need to fill

[23:03] that are causing staffing constraints.

[23:07] If I'd like to understand if those positions that are open

[23:11] and were, were, would would've been open no matter what

[23:15] or you know, how we're reflecting on those, those vacancies

[23:18] and the constraints that staff is

[23:21] feeling as a result of them.

[23:23] And I know that's kind of a loaded question. Yeah.

[23:26] I don't know that I could, I don't know that anybody

[23:29] here could, would be able to answer

[23:32] that if those positions I would suspect, you know, judging

[23:35] by the vacancies that you've had in the past

[23:39] that having vacancies for the start of the fall,

[23:46] it's not unusual.

[23:47] And I, I think we all also started out with fewer

[23:51] vacancies, especially

[23:54] for in the special education field.

[23:57] We are seeing lots of vacancies.

[24:00] I mean, I guess I can understand why from

[24:04] a perspective you might think if we cut that many positions,

[24:08] why isn't it easier to like make sure that our all,

[24:13] all our positions are filled.

[24:15] And I just don't think that it's a kind

[24:17] of direct correlation like that with the way that our,

[24:21] the special education field is right now.

[24:25] So there is relatively high turnover in

[24:29] that field with, especially for ed techs

[24:32] and so there are lots of changes that happen.

[24:35] So, but, and there are some strategies I think as a district

[24:40] that we haven't used that other districts are using.

[24:45] So you know, it's, we might be able to like, use some other

[24:51] recruitment avenues using staffing agencies that help

[24:55] to fill with temporary positions until we can get permanent

[24:59] people in or helping to identify people with the,

[25:04] the skills to recruit them to our positions.

[25:07] So we are not as a district set up

[25:10] to be full-time recruiters.

[25:12] Even though if you look at Trina's time

[25:16] and how she spent her time this summer, a lot of it was on

[25:19] what you would think of like an recruiter doing.

[25:24] But there are, so I think some of the agencies

[25:26] that are working with districts now to help fill in some

[25:30] of those spots and special education isn't something

[25:32] that our district has made use of in the past.

[25:36] And I think that that would help us fill our vacancies.

[25:41] So that's something that we're looking into now

[25:43] and obviously we wanna make sure that the people

[25:46] that we bring in are highly qualified and ready to

[25:49] and prepared to meet the needs of students.

[25:51] But, so I don't, I don't know that I can add anything more.

[25:57] I'm just looking to see Jeff, Joanna sees anything,

[26:00] any additional insights there, do you?

[26:03] Sure. If you,

[26:10] The vacancies

[26:11] that we have in special education right now are in the sspa

[26:15] unit, which is EdTech

[26:17] and clerks is that unit in the reduction in force

[26:22] that happened last spring.

[26:24] We were able to offer every impacted member of that unit

[26:28] a position with us on staff this year.

[26:31] Some of them chose not to accept the position,

[26:35] but we were able to offer everyone a placement.

[26:38] So the, the EdTech vacancies that we are starting

[26:41] with are similar to what we have started

[26:44] with in recent years.

[26:45] And we can work to try

[26:46] and pull some of that data if the board is interested.

[26:51] Thank you Dr. Prince. Any other questions?

[26:54] I, I think just a, just an ongoing update on,

[26:57] on this issue is, is important for, for us as a board,

[27:02] I know this is a topic we talked a lot about

[27:04] during the budget and I, it sounds like there's

[27:09] some really good observations being made

[27:13] that it would be good to hear more about and

[27:17] and hear how they're panning out. So thank you.

[27:22] Any other questions at this point in Dr.

[27:26] Deen's report? Okay.

[27:30] Do you want to go on to your enrollment? Sure.

[27:34] So lemme make sure I'm,

[27:38] you do have a full enrollment report I think in your packet,

[27:41] but right now,

[27:42] or the late, at least as of September 9th,

[27:47] it was 2,739 students,

[27:51] which is down 36 students since

[27:55] the last report I think that we gave you.

[27:59] But there, if you compare it to last year around, you know,

[28:03] we, we try and get to Octobers when we think

[28:06] of our official count.

[28:08] And so if you look at like the October figures from 2025,

[28:13] this number is pretty, the 27 39 is pretty stable,

[28:18] so not any major changes there.

[28:22] So last month it looked like we would increase enrollment

[28:24] over the fall of last year by about 20 students.

[28:27] And now it looks like we're simply holding steady,

[28:33] Thank you.

[28:35] And also had a resignation from a teacher,

[28:39] an instructional support teacher at South Portland.

[28:41] So that was effective August 31st.

[28:43] So that's notifying you that here.

[28:48] Any other questions on either the resignations

[28:50] or the enrollment report?

[28:56] Seeing none, we are up to the first public comment.

[29:01] The board's public comment time is an opportunity

[29:04] for the board to listen to opinions of the public

[29:07] that relate to school and education matters on

[29:10] or off this evening's agenda.

[29:13] The board is here to listen.

[29:15] Anyone wishing to speak will be asked to proceed

[29:17] to the microphone and state your name and the town

[29:21] or city where you reside.

[29:24] All questions will be recorded by the superintendent

[29:27] and the chair and will be answered at the end

[29:29] of public comment to the extent possible.

[29:32] If the answers are not available, someone will be assigned

[29:35] to reply to you as soon as the answer is available

[29:39] and you'll be given three minutes to speak.

[29:41] There will be no interaction

[29:42] between the public and the board members.

[29:45] Additionally, no clapping, booing,

[29:46] or other interrupted behavior will be allowed.

[29:49] As a reminder, school board meetings are broadcast, live,

[29:52] recorded, and posted on the city's website.

[29:54] Please consider the impact of your comments,

[29:57] Ms. Edwards. Hi,

[30:03] My name is Stephanie Edwards.

[30:04] I've been, I'm,

[30:05] I live in South Portland on Pennsylvania Ave.

[30:08] I've been here before, but today I am here just

[30:11] to introduce myself as a candidate

[30:12] for an at large seat on the school board.

[30:15] South Portland schools have been a part

[30:17] of my family's life for many years.

[30:19] I'm the parent of three children

[30:21] who have attended our school since kindergarten two,

[30:24] have recently graduated from the high school,

[30:26] and my youngest is currently an eighth grade

[30:28] student at the middle school.

[30:30] I've also experienced public education from the other

[30:33] side of the classroom.

[30:34] I am a former teacher within the district

[30:37] and I'm currently working in another district

[30:39] as a special education teacher.

[30:41] Those experiences have given me a perspective

[30:44] that I believe would be valuable on the school board,

[30:48] not only as a parent and a community community member,

[30:50] but as someone who understands

[30:52] what the decisions made at this table

[30:55] can look like when they reach a classroom.

[30:58] I've decided to run

[30:59] after spending a lot of time watching, listening

[31:02] and reflecting, particularly

[31:04] through some very difficult budget decisions.

[31:07] Like many people in our community,

[31:08] I have found myself asking hard questions about

[31:11] how we prioritize limited resources,

[31:13] how we support people doing the day-to-day work

[31:16] with our students and

[31:17] how we communicate difficult decisions to the community.

[31:20] But I'm not running simply because I have concerns.

[31:23] I'm running because I care deeply about the

[31:25] school district and the community.

[31:27] And I believe that I can contribute

[31:28] something meaningful to it.

[31:30] I believe that we need thoughtful fiscal responsibility,

[31:33] not simply spending more or cutting more,

[31:35] but making sure that our resources reflect our priorities

[31:38] and have the greatest possible impact on students.

[31:41] I believe that our teachers

[31:42] and staff need strong supervision,

[31:44] meaningful professional development

[31:46] and support that allows them to do their jobs well

[31:48] and want to stay in our schools.

[31:51] And I believe that communication and transparency matter.

[31:54] People may not always agree with the decisions

[31:56] that a board makes, but they should understand

[31:58] how those decisions were made, feel

[32:00] that their voices were heard,

[32:01] and trust that the process was honest.

[32:03] Above all. I believe deeply in equity.

[32:06] Every child who walks

[32:07] through the doors at a South Portland school deserves the

[32:10] opportunity to be successful, even when

[32:12] what they need looks different than

[32:14] what another child might need.

[32:16] There's so much worth protecting

[32:18] and building upon in South Portland.

[32:20] I've seen the incredible heart of our educators and staff.

[32:23] I've watched our schools rally around families

[32:25] and our community and have seen the effort

[32:28] that goes into making our schools, places

[32:29] where children can feel safe, accepted,

[32:31] and comfortable being themselves.

[32:33] I'm running because I wanna help strengthen that work

[32:36] and I will bring the perspective of a parent, an educator,

[32:39] and a community member to this table.

[32:41] I will ask questions, I will listen

[32:43] and I will be willing to have those difficult conversations.

[32:46] And I'll approach the work with honesty, integrity,

[32:49] kindness, and a commitment

[32:50] to keeping our students at the center of our decisions.

[32:53] Thank you.

[32:55] Thank you Stephanie. Mr. Parsons.

[33:01] Hello. Carl Parsons, south Portland

[33:05] and 3 58 Clarks Pond Parkway.

[33:09] I just wanted to say it's been such a joy to

[33:13] actually decide to run a campaign

[33:16] as if I'm an as if I'm opposed.

[33:19] I have basically been going out

[33:21] and meeting members of the community.

[33:24] I have so much feedback, thoughts just going in

[33:27] and direct con meeting directly with voters.

[33:32] And I will say that it is really been a joy to see

[33:36] how much faith people have in our schools when they meet

[33:40] with someone that has the positivity and joy

[33:43] and is excited to run.

[33:46] So one thing that I'll be kind of really working toward,

[33:49] I'll be doing obviously some pre-work,

[33:52] but one of the biggest things that I'd like for the council

[33:56] to consider is really looking at our policies from our

[34:00] neighbors, from Portland and Westbrook in terms of budget.

[34:05] They've done some radically incredible things

[34:08] in order to do so.

[34:10] I think continuing to educate folks on the

[34:15] the blocker to raising revenue in a radical

[34:18] and empathetic way.

[34:20] We continue to have taxes, everything be attributed

[34:25] to property taxes and making sure we work

[34:28] with our friends in the legislature to make sure

[34:31] that our hotels pay our fair share.

[34:34] In terms of education, I think retention

[34:38] and inspiring our teachers.

[34:41] You know, there's a hidden cost every time we have

[34:43] to go in and recruit.

[34:46] There's soft cost to that

[34:47] that don't show up easily in a financial sheet,

[34:50] but do come in burdens at the end of the year.

[34:53] But ultimately I've heard is that people want stability.

[34:57] And this is not from everyone, this is from teachers.

[35:01] No matter whether they're progressive

[35:02] or conservative, everyone wants stability.

[35:06] So I think one of the biggest things that I hope I can work

[35:09] with you guys on the council is to do more long-term

[35:14] planning and budgeting

[35:15] and forecasting so that way we can give predictability

[35:18] to our upcoming, to our constituents,

[35:21] to our community members.

[35:23] And also as we consider reconfiguration, make sure

[35:27] that we don't speed into a decision

[35:30] that we also consider grandfathering

[35:32] and our current students.

[35:34] So that way we can have the most stability

[35:36] and help everyone.

[35:39] And I would love to know when the next finance committee

[35:43] and the the next finance committee and policy meeting is.

[35:48] I don't know if it's recorded,

[35:49] but I would love to just continue to learn

[35:52] and understand not just from members

[35:53] of our community, but others.

[35:55] And I appreciate you guys. Thank you.

[35:59] Thank you Mr. Parsons. Ms. Marshall.

[36:02] Hi, I'm Jennifer Marshall. I am a community member.

[36:06] I work for transportation.

[36:08] I am also president of the service employees.

[36:11] I am AIA tonight, not just speaking

[36:14] for the service employees, but also Sarah Gay

[36:16] and Connie to Santo.

[36:18] Were unable to be here tonight,

[36:19] so I am also speaking on their behalf too.

[36:23] All three of our units would like to welcome all

[36:26] of the new admins that we have

[36:28] and we are looking forward

[36:29] to having positive relationships with them in the future.

[36:34] I did want to bring up the last school board meeting we had.

[36:37] We had a student that got up and spoke about bullying.

[36:41] So I would like to know

[36:42] what we are doing on all school levels

[36:45] to address that issue this year.

[36:49] I know I, living in the community,

[36:52] I have memorials in Red Bank

[36:54] where we've lost students from suicide and things like that.

[36:57] A result of bullying and other things.

[37:00] I don't want us to lose any more kids

[37:02] and I'd like to know what

[37:03] as a district, what we're gonna do. Have a good night.

[37:06] Thank you Mr. Daniels.

[37:17] My name's Ismael Daniels, south Portland, Orland Nav.

[37:22] I'm running for school board at large.

[37:31] My running, my reason for running for school board isn't to

[37:35] impress upon the community some of the things

[37:36] that I've heard other people say about dreams.

[37:44] I'm 16th generation American

[37:47] I 16th, right?

[37:50] And I've heard a lot of dreams come and go.

[37:55] I've heard a lot of hopes and wishes dissolve.

[38:00] I'm not here to say, and most people already know

[38:05] I'm gruff, but I ask a lot of common sense questions.

[38:11] I ask simple questions. I like intelligent answers.

[38:16] I'm not gonna sugarcoat the position

[38:17] that I take in the community.

[38:20] I'm blue collar. Most

[38:21] of my clothes have holes in them because I'm a welder.

[38:24] I don't come from a lot of means ****,

[38:27] we barely ate dinner today.

[38:29] But as a school board member,

[38:34] I don't really, really wanna replace anyone

[38:36] that's sitting on this council.

[38:37] What I'd like to do is make an alignment,

[38:42] make an alliance with some people, some people

[38:44] that I've spoken with, and really just make sure

[38:47] that the trans, the transparency, the communication,

[38:52] and the diversity, that's the big one

[38:54] that everyone keeps talking about.

[38:55] The diversity is actually diverse.

[38:59] There's a lot of people out here that work day to day

[39:01] that have real honest questions

[39:02] that aren't getting those questions answered.

[39:07] I speak a lot to people in my community

[39:09] because I engage with a lot of people in my community,

[39:13] not just trying to get their vote,

[39:15] but also just trying to pick their brains

[39:17] and see where they're struggling.

[39:18] Just like myself and my family,

[39:24] I'm not doing this to be liked.

[39:26] I'm doing this to make sure that my daughter

[39:28] and my stepdaughters all just get the proper information

[39:33] and education and opportunity to be more than just

[39:39] another TikTok video.

[39:42] So you'll still see me up here,

[39:45] even if I don't make school board, I guarantee you that.

[39:48] But I just wanna make sure

[39:52] that people see me,

[39:55] Ishmael Daniels at large Ridgeland Nav

[39:58] and thank you to the community up here.

[40:00] Right? Very good question. Right?

[40:03] Did those vacancies, did those vacancies come at a

[40:07] cost of 75 jobs?

[40:09] Right? That's a great question and I appreciate your time.

[40:13] Have a good day.

[40:16] Thank you, Mr. Daniel. Yes,

[40:20] Good evening.

[40:21] Sarah Cohen, Vincent Street.

[40:22] I am a proud parent of four kids this

[40:25] year in the school district.

[40:26] I have a seventh grader, a fourth grader,

[40:28] a third grader, and a kindergartner.

[40:31] I just wanna say that I am excited for this school year.

[40:34] I think that we have a lot of new leadership

[40:36] and I am hoping that this is an opportunity

[40:39] for some creativity.

[40:40] We have new superintendent welcome.

[40:42] We have a lot of new elementary school principals

[40:44] who have shifted a lot of shifting that happened, which I,

[40:49] it is a new challenge as our newer board members know,

[40:52] but I am looking at it with excitement

[40:55] and I'm excited to see

[40:56] what happens in these meetings over the course of the year.

[41:00] One thing I wanna ask and challenge

[41:03] and question the creativity of is a year ago,

[41:07] less than a year ago, when this budget process started, one

[41:09] of the items that was discussed for saving money

[41:13] was a single start time for the middle school.

[41:17] But one of the issues with that was the months long process

[41:20] of dealing with the Department of Transportation.

[41:23] So I'm curious, where are we at with that?

[41:25] Is that still a conversation on the table

[41:27] and how does that affect the bigger picture?

[41:29] I asked that with a seventh grader whose bus time

[41:31] is at 7 0 9.

[41:33] And I want to remind the board that the CDC

[41:36] and many other pediatric organizations recommend that middle

[41:41] and high schoolers do not start times for school and

[41:44] before 8:30 AM I know Portland schools has adjusted their

[41:48] whole school system to account for middle

[41:50] and high school having a later start time.

[41:52] And I'm just encouraging the board to do

[41:55] to think about that in the bigger picture.

[41:57] A lot of the conversation that we've had over the last year

[42:00] has been about budget cuts and reconfiguration.

[42:03] And I'm encouraging you in this new time, in this new season

[42:06] to let's look at the whole district.

[42:08] Let's look big picture

[42:10] and let's see how all of the pieces fall into place

[42:13] and what are the dominant o effects of

[42:14] what we make changes here and how they affect people here.

[42:17] I know as a parent of multiple kids,

[42:20] having my kids in one three

[42:22] of my four in one school has been amazing.

[42:25] But I also think about all the different types

[42:27] of families in all the moving pieces that happen.

[42:31] I will note that at small, we have

[42:35] 52 kindergartners this year, which they had

[42:38] to move from two classes to three, which is exciting.

[42:41] But also with the addition of three pre-Ks,

[42:43] there are now six classrooms where there used to be two,

[42:47] which put my fourth grader

[42:49] and the fourth graders back in the portables.

[42:51] So I'm just sharing that for those who are not aware

[42:54] that we do have spacious issues,

[42:56] 30 seconds in some of these are buildings.

[42:58] And I have a question about the surveys.

[43:00] We filled out so many surveys

[43:02] and I hope that they're effective.

[43:04] I am asking for the a genera generated surveys

[43:09] to be evaluated for bias

[43:11] because often when I'm taking the surveys it feels like it's

[43:14] leading me towards one direction

[43:16] and it doesn't, doesn't always feel good.

[43:18] So can we look at surveys from a

[43:20] survey research perspective?

[43:23] Not ai. Thank you.

[43:25] Thank you Corinne.

[43:31] Oh no, good evening.

[43:33] My name is Corinne Altham

[43:35] and I'm the librarian at Brown Chair DeAngelo.

[43:40] May I speak about the item six two?

[43:46] Excuse me. May I speak about policy BEDH,

[43:51] public participation at board meetings?

[43:54] Yes. May I speak about that now and

[43:57] after you have your conversation?

[43:58] Can I speak again later? Yes. For three minutes each time.

[44:02] Thank you. I appreciate that

[44:04] because this is a public meaning and

[44:06] because we're in America and

[44:08] because this is a democracy,

[44:15] I think that people should be

[44:16] able to speak when they want to.

[44:17] That being said, I thought about people coming up behind me

[44:21] and then offering their three minutes

[44:24] and how many people that could lead to the entire

[44:29] teacher's union could make a line

[44:31] and we could be here till 2:00 AM

[44:33] So I understand the policy,

[44:35] but any policy that's going to limit intellectual freedom

[44:40] and the ability to share your opinion about this public

[44:44] meaning and this public institution should not be limited.

[44:50] However, whenever we can't agree on something,

[44:53] we can find the gray area.

[44:54] And so I would encourage you to find

[44:59] new ways to have more voices heard.

[45:03] I'm very glad that you're talking tonight about

[45:07] our new recon, our new configuration

[45:11] because well it is one year only

[45:14] and I'm really glad about that

[45:16] because the way that it is right now is

[45:21] in my mind in some ways inequitable.

[45:24] And I would love to speak about that

[45:26] in any committee you might invite me to.

[45:29] And finally, I would like to say congratulations

[45:33] to my fellow South Portland

[45:38] leadership cohort member Nicole Kutu for her new job

[45:41] as assistant principal.

[45:43] And welcome back Elizabeth Fowler and to congratulate Mitch

[45:48] and to congratulate Helen.

[45:50] And I don't know Shelby, but I'm sure she's amazing

[45:53] and I wanna say congrats

[45:54] and welcome back to my friend

[45:56] Mary Catherine Short and that's all. Thank you.

[45:59] Thank you Ka Ellen.

[46:05] Good evening. I'm Ellen Clancy from

[46:10] Delbert Street in South Portland.

[46:12] I am running for city council in district two.

[46:16] I wanted to just introduce myself to you here

[46:20] at the school board meeting

[46:21] because I've been hearing out in my campaigning a lot

[46:26] of questions about the school

[46:28] and school budget particularly, which is where we interface

[46:32] as board and council.

[46:34] And I wanted to just say that I am up for any kind

[46:39] of collaboration with the school board that's allowed.

[46:43] I don't know all the rules yet,

[46:45] but I do think it would be a very, very good thing

[46:48] for members of the council to meet

[46:50] with the school board on a mu more regular basis.

[46:53] Especially as we approach budgets so that we can understand

[46:57] where everybody's coming from in some of the issues that,

[47:00] you know, you folks are dealing with.

[47:02] So with that, that's all I wanted to say.

[47:06] I think you do great work

[47:07] and I hope we can see more

[47:09] of each other in the future. Thank you.

[47:11] Thank you. Ellen. Any other people

[47:16] interested in public comment for this first time?

[47:22] Seeing none, we will close public comment.

[47:26] There were a couple of questions that I think we can answer.

[47:31] One is our committee meetings, both finance

[47:36] and policy are always posted on the website

[47:41] and they are public meetings so people can come.

[47:44] They are not recorded.

[47:46] So, but you are more than welcome to attend to those live.

[47:51] The Buildings and grounds committee,

[47:53] I believe is usually virtual, is that correct?

[47:56] That's right. And that's also public.

[48:00] You can, you can't make comments but you,

[48:04] but you can, you can partic you, you can listen

[48:09] to the meetings publicly.

[48:16] That was the first question.

[48:17] The second question, I don't have any answer,

[48:21] but I don't know whether the superintendent

[48:23] or the assistant superintendent has, it was by Jen Marshall

[48:26] and it was about what, what is our bullying program

[48:30] or what is it we're doing around bullying uhuh?

[48:32] I would recommend if that,

[48:33] if the board would like a fuller report on that,

[48:36] that we could come back at a later time.

[48:39] Okay. So we will report on that at

[48:42] October and November meeting.

[48:44] Okay, thank you. The

[48:52] other question I I, I I think is, is just

[48:58] was regarding the middle school start time

[49:02] and I don't know where we are with that.

[49:04] We do have a meeting on the books with the Department

[49:07] of Transportation, which is happening actually

[49:11] this week and also with the city.

[49:14] There are a couple of studies that would, we would have

[49:17] to do in order to transportation related in order to move

[49:22] to one start time.

[49:23] So we are, you know, taking the steps to

[49:28] evaluate whether that's something we can do

[49:32] With regard to the surveys.

[49:34] We will be reporting more on the surveys.

[49:36] So we can give you more information about that at that time.

[49:41] And we will be,

[49:45] the board will be discussing

[49:47] the amendments on public comment

[49:51] a little bit later in the agenda.

[49:54] So

[49:59] we are at the report of committees.

[50:02] So we will start with Ms. Holman doing

[50:05] the finance committee. Okay,

[50:07] Thank you.

[50:09] So are we gonna look at the, any

[50:13] of the materials here?

[50:15] So the finance committee, one of the, one of the ideas

[50:20] that's been in the works and that is, is starting

[50:22] to become reality is that, that the superintendent

[50:26] and our finance director will be reporting to city council.

[50:30] There, there are some details about,

[50:32] and one of the things that we hope to ha see happen

[50:35] as a result of that is eventually for the city.

[50:40] They, they had generously offered

[50:42] to cover some things for us.

[50:43] Some, some finance, some overages.

[50:47] And there's, we,

[50:49] we haven't gotten the total green light from our legal

[50:52] counsel to go forward with that.

[50:53] So it's to actually make that,

[50:55] that vote is not on the agenda for tomorrow.

[50:58] But nonetheless, I understand that superintendent Angela

[51:02] and financial director Abigail will be meeting with going

[51:06] to the city council tomorrow, the start of a grand, grand

[51:11] relationship and

[51:13] or continuation of a grand relationship I should say.

[51:16] A lot of other things I think were mentioned by,

[51:18] by our superintendent in her report audits getting underway.

[51:23] And in general, if you are able, can we see the,

[51:28] do we see, can we see any of the reports on

[51:30] this on the screen?

[51:31] We don't have to I guess, but we're,

[51:35] we've really gotten into different kinds of shape where,

[51:38] and Abigail, you can correct me if I'm wrong on this

[51:40] 'cause it just seems like too incredible to be true,

[51:43] but if you look at the, if you look at,

[51:47] if you look at the report that's called

[51:54] Fiscal year 26, local budget article summary report.

[51:57] Okay. And it that at the end of it, the, the,

[52:02] the part that's in red in parentheses, which means

[52:04] that we are over is starts

[52:06] with it's only got four figures to it.

[52:08] 1000, 1000

[52:11] and 1080 $5, which is

[52:15] mind blowingly amazingly great.

[52:17] Yay. That's very, very good news for us

[52:19] and hopefully we can continue in that direction

[52:23] as usual going forward.

[52:25] One of the big things that has to happen with the budget is

[52:27] that encumbrances need to be rolled out.

[52:30] Encumbrances mean that you set aside money

[52:34] that you know you're gonna have to pay, such as

[52:35] for salaries, which are the biggest cost anyway

[52:38] and other kinds of things, utilities and others.

[52:41] So that's underway. It's hard to, in other words.

[52:43] So it's hard to get a total reading without

[52:45] those things all set.

[52:47] And of course there are always adjustments end up getting me

[52:49] made when there is an audit,

[52:50] but we'll have the auditor come talk to us.

[52:54] Yes, we will. Anyway, have I left anything important out?

[53:00] Thank you. Okay. Policy committee.

[53:05] Oh, I'm sorry.

[53:07] Yes. I was unable

[53:10] to attend the finance committee meeting.

[53:15] I understand tomorrow we're that we're planning

[53:18] to go in front of city council

[53:20] and I imagine present the FY 26 hypothetical

[53:25] that we're only a thousand dollars potentially in the red.

[53:31] The facts and circumstances of the hypothetical we presented

[53:36] to council is significantly different.

[53:39] We are not looking at a one

[53:41] and a half to $2 million payment or credit.

[53:46] They called it a transfer from the city

[53:50] budget over to the school budget.

[53:53] The, while it is wonderful

[53:55] that we are only in the red a thousand dollars,

[53:57] what this means is we have no fund reserve balance,

[54:02] which is very concerning to me.

[54:05] And I am wondering if there's a way to present

[54:10] this tomorrow to council as something to discuss given

[54:14] they, they understood the gravity

[54:17] of the situation we were in.

[54:20] We're now, we've now done really good belts

[54:22] and suspenders at a cost, at a substantial cost

[54:25] to our staff this past school year.

[54:28] But now we have a pretty irresponsible

[54:32] situation of no fund balance.

[54:33] And we have, we've had members

[54:37] of the public tonight discuss about partnering

[54:41] with city council.

[54:43] I think this is a pretty grave situation

[54:45] and I'm wondering if we're, you know, kind of what the tone

[54:49] of our conversation with city council is gonna be

[54:52] on this topic tomorrow.

[54:54] In other words, could I just say

[54:55] may, may, I may, may a comment.

[54:57] Yeah. Thank you. Can they help us out

[55:00] with the fund balance is the question, right?

[55:03] Yep.

[55:04] So I I I'm gonna go

[55:08] to the superintendent for this. I have my thoughts about

[55:12] It, but I'll go to the superintendent.

[55:14] You know, a fund balance is there

[55:16] for an emergency situation.

[55:18] I, I don't think we need them

[55:20] to tra I mean it would be an a very unusual situation

[55:24] for them to transfer some of their fund balance

[55:27] to our fund balance, right?

[55:29] Whenever it we're.

[55:31] We, we have shown that we have, you know,

[55:36] through some very serious, through the, your efforts

[55:40] around the freezes and being

[55:42] and the financial controls to really set yourselves up for

[55:46] a better, stronger financial situation this year.

[55:49] So that said, you know, they have, they, it was,

[55:53] they very graciously have agreed, agreed to support the,

[55:57] the school department in, in,

[56:00] when there was an emergency situation.

[56:03] I think we're, we're coming out of that we're there

[56:06] to be an emergency situation, financial situation.

[56:10] I think that we still, it's, I would expect

[56:13] that they would still be open to that.

[56:15] We definitely have some facilities issues

[56:18] that could become an emergency situation.

[56:20] I don't, hopefully they will not,

[56:22] but that might put us in a precarious situation

[56:26] where something like that to happen this year.

[56:28] So I don't, yeah,

[56:33] I think it would be unusual if we, if we were to have

[56:37] them transfer the fund balance here.

[56:40] So I don't, I, but I don't think that means

[56:42] that we were in the same kind of boat of being able to,

[56:45] if we were in a serious situation of probably having to go

[56:48] to them if we needed

[56:50] to rely on a substantial fund balance of some sign.

[56:55] Any other questions?

[57:00] I I will just add that,

[57:05] That the, the reason I would be opposed

[57:08] to asking the city council

[57:10] to move money from their fund balance

[57:12] to ours is it is stealing from Peter to pay Paul.

[57:16] I mean we're the, it's the same.

[57:17] It's still the taxpayers, it's still the same money.

[57:22] So we are a department of the city.

[57:25] We would be, it would be no different than if the

[57:28] police department or the fire department or the parks

[57:31] and rec department asked to say, Hey,

[57:35] can we have some of your money?

[57:37] And we just wanna put it in our savings account

[57:40] and hold it here.

[57:41] So I think what the superintendent is explaining is

[57:45] that if we came into a crisis and something happened

[57:50] and we had to go to the council to ask for money

[57:54] for a particular item, that, that, that's a,

[57:58] that's a different question than just asking them

[58:02] to give us some money for our fund balance.

[58:04] So,

[58:06] Yeah.

[58:07] So can I just wanna add how, I really just wanna say that

[58:11] through these efforts, which I know were painful,

[58:14] that you have set the district up for a much stronger

[58:18] position and I think

[58:20] that the public really expects departments

[58:23] to manage their funds in a way

[58:26] that doesn't put us in this kind of situation.

[58:29] So I, I think really we, that's

[58:34] what we wanna do is we wanna be able to kind

[58:36] of stand on our own two feet

[58:38] and be able to manage our own expenses

[58:42] and finances within the budget that we have.

[58:44] And so I think we're, it's, it's to me, a relief

[58:49] that we're not having to request

[58:52] so much support from the city.

[58:55] Also, I, having had some experience

[59:00] in Portland that was in a situation like probably 20 years

[59:03] ago where there were financial situation,

[59:08] you do end up in a place where you set up more controls

[59:13] and more kind of, you know,

[59:17] approvals from the city in certain situations if you get

[59:20] into a very serious situation

[59:22] and it can take decades to untangle yourselves from

[59:27] that kind of more tighter relationship.

[59:30] And so I think really it's a,

[59:32] you're in a much healthier place.

[59:34] We do not have to do that this year.

[59:37] That doesn't mean that we're, we are kind

[59:41] of out of the woods so to speak.

[59:43] We still need to be very mindful of our fine finances so

[59:46] that we get into, you know, a much safer place

[59:51] and we continue to be mindful of

[59:52] how we're managing our, our budget.

[59:54] So

[59:57] Thank you.

[1:00:00] Policy committee, what's

[1:00:02] before you are the minutes that have been approved from the,

[1:00:06] from the August meeting.

[1:00:08] We just had the September meeting,

[1:00:09] but the August minutes were approved.

[1:00:13] I we can't present the minutes to you until the committee

[1:00:18] makes an approval of those minutes.

[1:00:20] So we will have the second read tonight on the,

[1:00:27] the, the rules and regulations

[1:00:29] for personal electronic devices.

[1:00:31] And we will have the first read on recommended changes

[1:00:35] for public participation board meetings,

[1:00:38] which we will talk about when that comes up on the agenda

[1:00:43] and report.

[1:00:45] And, and so I will just say that the,

[1:00:51] let me just say that the, the conversation

[1:00:54] that the board will have about public participation is

[1:00:59] to get our public comment in line with

[1:01:04] surrounding districts and also with city council

[1:01:09] where there is not any allowance for yielding time.

[1:01:13] That we do have two public comments at the school board,

[1:01:17] even though we are only required by state regulation

[1:01:21] to have one, we have two

[1:01:23] and there isn't any there, there wasn't any

[1:01:29] action by the policy committee to limit,

[1:01:34] to have only one comment.

[1:01:37] Comment period. So we will talk more about that and,

[1:01:42] and the second read will be on the electronic devices.

[1:01:46] So report a buildings and grounds. Great. Mr. Fowler.

[1:01:50] Thanks.

[1:01:52] Yes, we had our first building

[1:01:54] and grounds committee meeting of the year.

[1:01:58] The, the committee is myself, member Reish,

[1:02:03] the superintendent, Mitch Ette

[1:02:05] and Harold Blaney, who's the director

[1:02:08] of Buildings and Grounds.

[1:02:09] It's a really great discussion.

[1:02:10] I'm not gonna mention all the items that are were discussed.

[1:02:13] You can refer to the link minutes, couple items

[1:02:15] that I wanna touch upon, some exciting stuff.

[1:02:19] The solar array at the middle school

[1:02:21] produced more electricity during many times

[1:02:24] of the summer than the building was consuming.

[1:02:27] And so we're gonna buy some relatively

[1:02:29] inexpensive inverters.

[1:02:31] They're gonna allow reverse metering

[1:02:32] and we'll actually, you know, run the meter backwards so

[1:02:36] to speak, and accumulate credits

[1:02:38] that will offset later electricity usage in the winter.

[1:02:41] So it's a really great thing

[1:02:42] and thanks to Harold for taking that,

[1:02:44] that initiative skill and boiler.

[1:02:47] So we're currently working with Siemens, who's kind

[1:02:50] of a long-term partner of the

[1:02:51] department on a couple of different things.

[1:02:54] They're looking at some HVAC components here at the high

[1:02:58] school that have been problematic,

[1:03:00] but more importantly they're doing a study,

[1:03:03] an energy efficiency study at Skill.

[1:03:05] And that's really the first step towards replacing

[1:03:08] the HVAC system at Skill.

[1:03:09] And I think a lot of folks know last year there was concerns

[1:03:13] about the boiler at skill, which is actually original

[1:03:15] to the building, which I think is from the seventies.

[1:03:19] So yeah, so we're, we're working towards that.

[1:03:22] We really want to have a plan in place in case

[1:03:25] that boiler does fail midwinter, this is not likely,

[1:03:28] we're not expecting the boiler to fail,

[1:03:31] but Mr.

[1:03:34] Ette, who's the interim director of operations

[1:03:36] and safety is gonna draft a contingency plan.

[1:03:38] So, you know, if that boiler does have problems in the

[1:03:40] midwinter, that we can get a

[1:03:42] temporary boiler in there really quickly.

[1:03:43] So we just, we really wanna be prepared for that.

[1:03:45] Worst case scenario, high school athletic complex,

[1:03:50] I'm gonna get into a habit of providing an update every

[1:03:55] meeting about the athletic complex.

[1:03:56] So right now still in the design phase

[1:03:58] and in drafting permits, if you don't know, we're working

[1:04:03] with Actus, who's the project manager,

[1:04:05] not the construction firm for the project.

[1:04:07] So actus drafting permits,

[1:04:12] which will be submitted in October

[1:04:13] and November for construction.

[1:04:15] And then shortly thereafter

[1:04:19] they will be soliciting bids for construction.

[1:04:23] So yep, that's that final issue.

[1:04:26] I'll addresses,

[1:04:27] we talked a little bit about long-term planning.

[1:04:30] You know, we haven't had a comprehensive facilities

[1:04:33] assessment in some time.

[1:04:34] That's something that we want to do

[1:04:36] with particular attention to skill in

[1:04:38] as it is our oldest building.

[1:04:41] And so we're gonna look at

[1:04:42] what neighboring districts have done in terms of

[1:04:45] assessing all the facilities and,

[1:04:47] and really trying to focus on prevention

[1:04:50] of issues rather than, you know, this very costly kind

[1:04:53] of wait and see approach

[1:04:54] and then you, you kind of get behind the ball

[1:04:56] and you have to spend money when you didn't expect it.

[1:04:59] So yeah, that was the building grounds meeting

[1:05:01] and yeah, it is, it's virtual

[1:05:04] and we're holding it during the workday, which I think

[1:05:09] kept kind of everybody on their toes

[1:05:11] and they're really ready to do work.

[1:05:12] I think that was preferred to,

[1:05:14] to having it, you know, after hours.

[1:05:16] And I will say for other folks on the board, I used the,

[1:05:21] an AI program, generated the entire transcript

[1:05:24] and then had it generate literally perfect meeting notes

[1:05:28] and it was just such a time saver.

[1:05:30] It captured really the nature of all the discussions.

[1:05:32] So, you know, if we can get in the habit of that as a board,

[1:05:35] I think it's really a, a helpful technology

[1:05:37] so we can really stay present

[1:05:39] during committee meetings rather than trying to take notes

[1:05:42] and having our attention be elsewhere.

[1:05:44] So highly recommend that.

[1:05:47] Questions for Mr. Feller member Richardson,

[1:05:53] Last board meeting, we had a question

[1:05:56] that someone was supposed to address.

[1:05:58] Was the field cleared of debris from construction materials?

[1:06:01] This is the middle school field.

[1:06:03] Did we ever get an answer to that question?

[1:06:07] I don't know if, I think we may have discussed it.

[1:06:09] I we definitely discussed it during the committee meeting.

[1:06:14] Haven't been any reports of that.

[1:06:16] I think multiple folks have gone over there

[1:06:18] and looked, including myself,

[1:06:19] didn't find any construction debris

[1:06:21] or anything concerning to my knowledge

[1:06:24] that field is in great shape.

[1:06:26] It's being used for athletics, it's not being used for,

[1:06:30] you know, kind of recess or other activities of that nature.

[1:06:34] And there will be an additional application

[1:06:38] of fertilizer in the fall as well as some,

[1:06:41] some composted loam.

[1:06:44] So Harold and his team are working hard on the field

[1:06:46] and there's no evidence of any construction debris.

[1:06:51] Thank you. Other questions?

[1:06:55] I, I had one question which was about the athletic complex

[1:06:59] member feller and it was just, I, I think I heard you say

[1:07:03] that activa will be

[1:07:08] seeking bids for the construction.

[1:07:10] And so my question is are are they looking at,

[1:07:16] are they, are they looking at organic vendors

[1:07:22] Or, yeah, so who, who focus on kind of more organic,

[1:07:25] who tells it, sorry, more organic substrates for the,

[1:07:27] the field surface itself.

[1:07:29] Yeah, and exactly for the replacing of the field.

[1:07:34] There's a whole different process that happens if there's,

[1:07:38] if there's use of organic materials. Yeah,

[1:07:41] That's a good question.

[1:07:42] I can report on that next time. We'll make a note of that.

[1:07:44] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:07:47] Any other comments? Okay, so we are up

[1:07:51] to the consent agenda, consideration

[1:07:54] and action to approve the consent agenda

[1:07:57] with the following items.

[1:07:58] Approval of the minutes from the regular meeting held

[1:08:01] on August 17th.

[1:08:02] That's 7.1.

[1:08:04] 7.2 approval of the following personnel elections.

[1:08:09] Nicole Kutu, assistant principal at the middle school.

[1:08:12] Elizabeth Fowler, principal

[1:08:14] for one year only at Dyer Elementary.

[1:08:16] Mitch Willette, director of operations

[1:08:18] and safety, one year only.

[1:08:21] Helen Peltier, assistant principal Skill

[1:08:23] and elementary, one year only.

[1:08:25] Shelby Santor, kindergarten teacher,

[1:08:28] Dyer Elementary, one year only.

[1:08:30] And Mary Catherine Short kindergarten teacher,

[1:08:33] small school one year only.

[1:08:37] And then 7.3 approval of the donation grants.

[1:08:41] $4,176 value from DEGO Reads

[1:08:45] for every first grader in the district

[1:08:48] to receive a new book each month between October, 2026

[1:08:52] and May, 2027.

[1:08:54] 7.4 is approval of all needed transfers for current

[1:08:59] and prior school year.

[1:09:02] Prior year deficits as part as the f part

[1:09:05] of the FY 26 closeout process.

[1:09:09] So we will have a motion to

[1:09:14] approve that consent agenda

[1:09:18] unless there is something that people, somebody wants

[1:09:20] to remove from the consent agenda to

[1:09:24] be considered separately.

[1:09:28] So if there is nothing, if we can have a motion

[1:09:33] for approval of the consent agenda.

[1:09:35] Moved by member feller and seconded by member Smith.

[1:09:40] Sure. George had his hand up. Sorry, George won. Oh sorry.

[1:09:45] Oh, sorry. I didn't see, I couldn't see George fell there.

[1:09:48] George, you're down there.

[1:09:49] I didn't see that We need more any, sorry, I can't, this,

[1:09:54] this table should scratching his face

[1:09:58] like we need go for a handshake.

[1:10:00] Member feller any com. Any comments?

[1:10:03] This is a question that one year only caveat,

[1:10:08] I think that's new have, is that new is, I guess a question

[1:10:11] and is that common practice to do that?

[1:10:15] Well there, I will let the superintendent speak

[1:10:17] to that. There's, there's

[1:10:18] Reason for this one, you know, here.

[1:10:20] So some of 'em I think makes sense

[1:10:23] because we had, so for instance, you know, Mitch

[1:10:28] in Mitch's case was taking a, wanted to have, we wanted

[1:10:32] to have an interim position to during this transition

[1:10:35] as we kind of look at what is the right organization for

[1:10:38] that, we had a couple, we,

[1:10:41] so we looked at internal candidates.

[1:10:43] We had, and this allows

[1:10:48] Mitch to have an opportunity to try the the position.

[1:10:52] But he did, he does want to still have the option

[1:10:55] of returning to his position if he doesn't.

[1:10:58] So that kind of is one thing

[1:10:59] that sets off situation like that.

[1:11:04] And then the other one is the, that you know,

[1:11:08] late in the hiring season, it can be helpful to

[1:11:13] have an, an interim position like that.

[1:11:16] Got it. It's not the same thing as

[1:11:19] sometimes you have one year only positions.

[1:11:21] If like we needed to add an extra teacher

[1:11:24] and it was outside the budget

[1:11:25] and we might say, okay wait, it's a one year only.

[1:11:28] These are really kind of interim positions.

[1:11:30] They aren't those positions.

[1:11:32] We are expecting them to continue beyond,

[1:11:34] even though the makes sense.

[1:11:36] Yeah. Got it.

[1:11:38] Thank you. And anything else? Members Smith?

[1:11:41] No, just very excited to have everybody in place,

[1:11:44] all the administrators, A lot of changes

[1:11:46] that happened very in very short order.

[1:11:49] So very exciting to see everything come into place.

[1:11:53] Thank you. Okay, so

[1:11:57] vote all those in favor of approving the consent agenda.

[1:12:03] And that is unanimous with the two student votes approval

[1:12:07] of the consent agenda.

[1:12:08] Thank you. New business is consideration

[1:12:11] and action to approve policy.

[1:12:13] J-I-J-C-R rules

[1:12:16] and regulations for personal electronic devices.

[1:12:19] And that is the second read.

[1:12:22] If I can have a motion to approve that.

[1:12:26] Move by member Richardson

[1:12:30] and seconded by Member Rich.

[1:12:32] Oh sure. And

[1:12:37] comment Member Richardson.

[1:12:41] I look forward to getting a more comprehensive update on

[1:12:44] how the implementation of this policy is going,

[1:12:48] but I did reach out to our

[1:12:53] director of technology and principal on the first day

[1:12:56] of school, principal of the high school

[1:12:58] on the first day of school.

[1:13:00] And I was floored by the observation

[1:13:03] that it was very peaceful and serene in the hallways

[1:13:06] and that brought me a lot of joy thinking about

[1:13:11] the real benefit that this policy is gonna bring our

[1:13:15] students and our teachers.

[1:13:18] I understand there's concern from parents about wanting

[1:13:21] to be in touch with your child when they're going

[1:13:23] through a very scary situation,

[1:13:25] but I actually, I think

[1:13:29] that this is gonna keep them safer in the end if

[1:13:32] that ever is to happen, God forbid.

[1:13:36] So yeah, that's all I'll say. Thanks.

[1:13:38] Thank you member. Rich.

[1:13:40] I don't really have any comments. Thank

[1:13:42] You.

[1:13:43] Thank you. Any other comments?

[1:13:45] Okay, seeing none, all those in favor of 8.1 consideration

[1:13:49] and action to approve policy JIJC.

[1:13:52] Second read and that? Yeah. Oh, okay.

[1:13:56] And that is unanimous with the two students as well.

[1:14:03] Consideration and action to accept as a first read policy,

[1:14:06] BEDH, public participation at board meetings.

[1:14:10] If I can have a motion to put that on the table.

[1:14:16] Member feller.

[1:14:17] Moved by member Feller and seconded by Member Smith.

[1:14:22] Member Feller.

[1:14:25] Yep. I'm really glad to see that this,

[1:14:28] this was an item addressed now and not later in the year.

[1:14:33] You know, I think it's, it was really great to, to call out

[1:14:36] specifically allowing six minutes for individuals

[1:14:41] that are using an interpreter.

[1:14:43] I guess I had a question that we could discuss later about,

[1:14:47] are there parameters for the provision

[1:14:50] of an interpreter, right?

[1:14:51] Like how does someone go ahead and request an interpreter?

[1:14:55] Are they just gonna magically appear at a meeting when

[1:14:57] someone whose language

[1:14:59] of choice is not English chooses to speak?

[1:15:01] So we should discuss that? I think

[1:15:04] I do support preventing individuals from

[1:15:06] yielding time to another speaker.

[1:15:08] I think last year when folks would come up and,

[1:15:12] and speak for six minutes during the first three minutes, I,

[1:15:16] I typically would understand their point of view

[1:15:20] and I really, I do want everyone to have an opportunity

[1:15:24] to speak and I think, you know,

[1:15:29] limiting anyone's opportunity

[1:15:30] to speak would be not not allowing them to speak.

[1:15:32] And it's not that we're trying

[1:15:34] to prevent people from speaking at a meeting.

[1:15:36] Everyone will have the opportunity to speak,

[1:15:39] but I do think limiting each individual speaker

[1:15:41] to three minutes if they're not using an

[1:15:42] interpreter is smart.

[1:15:45] I guess another question aside from the provision

[1:15:47] of interpreter be would be, what would the vote

[1:15:49] to extend the meeting look like?

[1:15:52] You know, so we had dis I think in the,

[1:15:55] in the policy it says we'd end board board meetings at 10

[1:15:59] o'clock and so at what point would it be at 10 o'clock

[1:16:03] that we would take a vote whether

[1:16:05] to extend the meeting or not.

[1:16:06] So those are my questions.

[1:16:10] Thank you. And I can answer a couple of those,

[1:16:13] but I wanted to go first to members. You can answer first.

[1:16:15] Okay. Let me say first,

[1:16:20] so comments, we're still making comments on this.

[1:16:21] Yes, but I'm trying to answer his questions.

[1:16:23] Yeah, just trying to answer his questions.

[1:16:25] The parameter for use

[1:16:27] of an interpreter is a really good question.

[1:16:31] We often have interpreters present.

[1:16:34] If somebody brought somebody as an interpreter,

[1:16:36] they would be able to use that person as well.

[1:16:40] Otherwise, if somebody came

[1:16:42] and we didn't have an interpreter,

[1:16:47] you know, I, I don't know that we would have any other,

[1:16:50] any option if we have not made a phone.

[1:16:53] Oh. And we would be able to use a phone. Thank you.

[1:16:58] Thank you. And your second question,

[1:17:02] what would a vote look like to extend a meeting?

[1:17:07] I'll, I'll use the model that's used at the city council

[1:17:10] to answer that question.

[1:17:12] Typically, the item that whatever is being discussed,

[1:17:17] if there's, if there's a, a topic that's, that's

[1:17:21] before the board right then that they finish that item

[1:17:25] and then the meeting is adjourned

[1:17:27] unless there is a motion to extend the meeting.

[1:17:32] So somebody could make a motion to say, I move

[1:17:35] to extend the meeting until 10 30,

[1:17:37] or I move to extend the meeting until 11 o'clock

[1:17:39] and somebody seconds it and then it's a vote of the board

[1:17:42] and it's just a majority.

[1:17:43] Just like anything. I mean,

[1:17:48] otherwise the, the meeting would be adjourned

[1:17:52] following the conclusion of that item.

[1:17:54] If we were in the middle of public comment,

[1:17:59] public comment would close and

[1:18:01] unless there was a motion to finish public comment.

[1:18:06] And so again, it's all about whether

[1:18:10] somebody on the board makes a motion to do, otherwise,

[1:18:14] otherwise the meeting ends at 10 o'clock

[1:18:18] or the item that's before the board is completed.

[1:18:23] So, and, and that would need a motion as well.

[1:18:27] So there would need to be, I move

[1:18:29] that we complete the motion, the, the action that is

[1:18:32] before the board right now.

[1:18:34] And there's a second and there's a vote.

[1:18:36] So it, it was just the, the goal,

[1:18:44] the, the goal of doing this was

[1:18:49] to address one of the things that you said member feller.

[1:18:53] And that is, first of all,

[1:18:55] there are two opportunities for people to speak.

[1:18:57] So somebody could speak for three minutes

[1:18:59] and they could speak again

[1:19:00] for three minutes on the same item if they want,

[1:19:03] as was asked before that, that is

[1:19:08] very different from how it's allowed at the city council.

[1:19:11] You, you cannot speak on an item, the same item twice.

[1:19:15] But we're allowing that

[1:19:16] because this is the only time there's public comment is

[1:19:21] prior to discussion and after the board debates

[1:19:25] and then afterwards.

[1:19:32] And the second reason was,

[1:19:34] and this was raised by one of the members of the committee,

[1:19:39] is that at a certain point people are not doing good work.

[1:19:44] You know, so after 10 o'clock people

[1:19:46] just aren't doing good work.

[1:19:47] And we have people in the audience as well

[1:19:50] as two student members who have to get up

[1:19:53] and go to work at six or six 30 in the morning

[1:19:57] and they need to be alert and they need to be attentive

[1:20:01] and they need to be responsive to what's happening in front

[1:20:04] of them, whether they're a student

[1:20:06] or whether they're somebody working in the district.

[1:20:08] And so the feeling was that in the, in an effort to

[1:20:14] allow people to do their best work,

[1:20:18] that the meeting would be adjourned

[1:20:21] and the items would be moved to the next agenda.

[1:20:26] Unless there was again, an action

[1:20:29] to add an additional meeting by a member of the board.

[1:20:33] And that would be at the next available Monday session so

[1:20:37] that we're keeping meetings on Monday evenings.

[1:20:42] And a board member could say, I'd like us

[1:20:45] to meet next Monday.

[1:20:47] And if there's a second

[1:20:48] and there's a majority vote, if there's not a majority vote,

[1:20:52] the items just get added to the next meeting agenda.

[1:20:56] Does that answer your questions? Yep. Yes. Member Holman

[1:21:02] Somewhat tangential but also related in and, and

[1:21:06] and also belonging to the good news category is that

[1:21:09] I learned from the superintendent's report

[1:21:14] to the board this week that we now have an email that's

[1:21:17] that you, where you can email

[1:21:18] with the one email, email the whole board.

[1:21:21] I think that's a great, a great innovation.

[1:21:23] I don't know if that was your idea, whose idea that was,

[1:21:25] but it's a great, great idea.

[1:21:26] So board@spsdme.org, you can hit every, everybody,

[1:21:31] everyone will get it Seems a lot more efficient and yay.

[1:21:36] Thank you member Holman.

[1:21:37] And the other thing was, again, not trying

[1:21:42] to limit anybody's voice So people have the opportunity

[1:21:46] to send emails, they have the opportunity to come

[1:21:49] and speak at one or both of the public comments.

[1:21:53] But this policy was recommending

[1:21:58] eliminating the opportunity to yield yield time

[1:22:02] member Smith.

[1:22:04] Yeah, and I just wanna add, I think an important piece

[1:22:08] of this is that board meetings are really awkward places

[1:22:11] to have dialogue and the public comment should not be the

[1:22:15] main place that we as a board have the opportunity to engage

[1:22:19] with people of the public.

[1:22:20] And so I think what's really important, what we're doing

[1:22:23] for example, for reconfiguration of having different kind

[1:22:26] of setups, like forums as ways to have real dialogue

[1:22:31] is gonna be super important.

[1:22:33] And so the kinds of board meetings that are gonna

[1:22:36] push up against this issue are the kinds of board meetings

[1:22:39] where we're gonna be talking about very important issues.

[1:22:41] And I think as a matter of practice, it's gonna be valuable

[1:22:44] for us to say this, the board meeting is not the place

[1:22:48] where we can have the primary dialogue, right?

[1:22:50] There's gonna be forums about this issue.

[1:22:52] There's gonna be places where we can reach out

[1:22:54] to constituents to, to gather feedback.

[1:22:57] And so creating just more of a culture of

[1:22:59] that rather than people feeling like the only time I can get

[1:23:03] my view across is if I show up

[1:23:05] and have this, you know, I can talk at you

[1:23:07] for three minutes, right?

[1:23:09] So I think the policy is fair for all the reasons

[1:23:13] that Rosemary said

[1:23:15] and just kind of encouraging more of a culture of dialogue

[1:23:19] and creating spaces for that.

[1:23:21] Thank you. Any other comments?

[1:23:27] Seeing none. All those in favor of 8.2 consideration

[1:23:30] and action to accept as a first read policy, BEDH,

[1:23:33] public participation at board meetings

[1:23:39] and that that is unanimous with the two student votes.

[1:23:47] And we are at the second public comment.

[1:23:52] I don't need to read the rules again.

[1:23:53] They've been only read once.

[1:23:55] So anybody who's interested in speaking

[1:23:58] at the second public comment can come forth.

[1:24:01] Again, you're not required to give your address.

[1:24:04] You can just say I live in South Portland

[1:24:06] and that's more than acceptable.

[1:24:09] Yes.

[1:24:14] Bill Newton, I do live in South Portland.

[1:24:16] I have a first grader at Skill

[1:24:20] and a nearly 3-year-old.

[1:24:23] So it's nice to see you all again,

[1:24:25] things got busy over the summer,

[1:24:26] so I am just kind of catching up.

[1:24:30] I am actually wondering about this deficit,

[1:24:33] how we managed only get down

[1:24:34] to a thousand dollars when the last I knew it was gonna be a

[1:24:39] million or millions of dollars.

[1:24:42] And I think this result is kind of exactly why

[1:24:47] it was kind of foolish to enter this,

[1:24:51] this agreement with the city council versus trying

[1:24:55] to raise revenue

[1:24:57] and on the taxpayer burden another half or 1%.

[1:25:01] 'cause now there is nothing here.

[1:25:03] Like as member Richardson said, we have no fund balance,

[1:25:05] we have nothing going on, nothing to fall back on.

[1:25:10] And so I think, and this argument came up at the time,

[1:25:14] and I mean one of the things

[1:25:16] that I keep thinking about is I'd like the board

[1:25:19] to act in the interest of the school department

[1:25:22] and not be scared of the city council or the voters,

[1:25:26] but act as if the,

[1:25:28] the school department was acting in its own self-interest in

[1:25:32] what is best for that department.

[1:25:34] And I think that should be a guiding

[1:25:35] principle going forward. Thank you.

[1:25:38] Thank you very much. Bill Aiden?

[1:25:42] Hi, Aiden Renehan, south Portland.

[1:25:44] I have a kindergartner,

[1:25:46] a first grader at Brown's New School here.

[1:25:48] Couple things. One, I just wanted to respond

[1:25:51] to Sarah Cohen's comment from the,

[1:25:53] from the first public comment session just

[1:25:56] in the name of public transparency.

[1:25:58] All of the data from the reconfiguration

[1:26:01] committee surveys are available in the board minutes

[1:26:04] of the reconfiguration committee survey.

[1:26:07] In the meeting minutes, you can see all the cross tabs,

[1:26:09] you can see all the raw comments.

[1:26:10] So to the extent people are interested in the results,

[1:26:13] I would encourage everybody to go there because it is public

[1:26:15] and I hope that we have a, a presentation of

[1:26:17] that data in public forum.

[1:26:18] Second, I, I want to sort of echo Bill Newton's comments,

[1:26:22] which I think are very sage.

[1:26:24] I I certainly see the value of managing the school budget

[1:26:27] within the school budget

[1:26:28] and not relying on City city Council,

[1:26:30] but sort of good budget practice is being able

[1:26:34] to handle emergencies like the skill

[1:26:35] and boyer, like boiler, like cost of diesel,

[1:26:37] like transportation overruns that requires a fund balance.

[1:26:41] I, my recollection from last year was

[1:26:43] that if everything goes well, we'll end up

[1:26:45] with something like six or $8,000 in fund balance.

[1:26:48] That doesn't seem like a lot to be able to manage overages.

[1:26:51] And so I, I would really encourage thinking about sort of

[1:26:55] how we're going to do

[1:26:56] that without replenishing the fund balance.

[1:26:58] Because any overage in one account means

[1:27:00] that we're cutting in another account

[1:27:02] and that's gonna be a real thing we face this year.

[1:27:04] The real reason I came is 'cause I wanted

[1:27:06] to talk about the policy BEDH about public comment,

[1:27:11] totally understand the need to limit time in the meetings.

[1:27:14] And I'm wholly supportive, totally supportive

[1:27:16] of the interpreter extension.

[1:27:19] I I am really opposed to the idea that we cannot yield time,

[1:27:22] that people can no longer yield time.

[1:27:24] I would really encourage you to think about when

[1:27:26] and how people yield time in these public comment section.

[1:27:30] I'll use a couple examples how, right now I'm giving

[1:27:34] multiple a comment on multiple issues, right?

[1:27:37] That could potentially go over my three minutes

[1:27:39] and curtail good dialogue on certain topics.

[1:27:43] I would encourage you to think of

[1:27:44] how many times the union representatives are yielded time in

[1:27:47] order to talk about multi-point issues

[1:27:49] that they are facing when they are

[1:27:51] representing their communities.

[1:27:52] I would encourage you to think of the number of times

[1:27:54] that district admins

[1:27:56] or school leadership have used their public comment period

[1:27:58] and yielded time because they have complex issues

[1:28:01] that they wanna discuss in a public forum.

[1:28:04] I think in my mind,

[1:28:05] what I see this is it really reflects a lack

[1:28:07] of trust in the community to, to be respectful

[1:28:10] of the time in the public comments they're making.

[1:28:14] I, I take board Member Smith's point, that board,

[1:28:17] this is not a time for dialogue.

[1:28:19] This is not a place to have dialogue.

[1:28:21] But then I think I would encourage you to think about

[1:28:22] how are you having dialogue with constituents?

[1:28:25] You have emails that you don't answer often.

[1:28:28] I, I cannot express the frustration

[1:28:29] with questions asked during public comment.

[1:28:32] They're not recorded, they're not accurately reflected,

[1:28:34] they're not followed up on.

[1:28:36] There's such simple things

[1:28:37] that can be done like transcription services,

[1:28:39] having people sign in for public comment

[1:28:41] so you can reach back out to them if you don't know

[1:28:43] who they are, recording all the comments so

[1:28:46] that you make sure everything gets answered

[1:28:47] and divvied up on board members.

[1:28:49] I understand what we're entering into in the fall

[1:28:51] with boundaries and reconfiguration,

[1:28:53] but curtailing public comments.

[1:28:56] Thank you. That's your time only gonna backfire.

[1:28:58] Thank, thank you den.

[1:29:00] Yeah, Isha,

[1:29:06] Ishmael Daniels, south Portland Dire Elementary.

[1:29:09] Now quick question.

[1:29:12] So I do these and I come up here and my phone goes crazy.

[1:29:18] I have a question from the KA community, mostly

[1:29:22] for the new superintendent.

[1:29:24] There is some items from Kaler Elementary

[1:29:29] that some staff, parents, PTA members have been wondering

[1:29:33] where they found new homes and where they've been relocated.

[1:29:37] I know that this isn't the actual best place

[1:29:39] to ask these questions, but this is where they popped up.

[1:29:45] So there is some,

[1:29:47] and I can wait till another time, an email or whatever,

[1:29:51] but there's some things that are missing per se that

[1:29:56] some parents, teachers, staff, PTA members are looking for.

[1:30:01] And if there's an itemized way to find out where a lot of

[1:30:05] that, where a lot of those pieces of furniture, pieces

[1:30:09] of equipment and certain items may have went to

[1:30:13] where they found new homes.

[1:30:15] There's a lot of people that are in search

[1:30:17] and would like some, some, some definitive answers on that.

[1:30:22] Again, Ishmael Daniels,

[1:30:24] I'll see you on Wednesday. Thank you.

[1:30:25] Thank you Ishmael. Yes, Mr. Ladd. Hi. Hi there.

[1:30:32] I'm Dawn Lad and I'm nine

[1:30:33] Highland Avenue in South Portland.

[1:30:36] I've been living South Portland for 42 years.

[1:30:39] I've worked in accounting and finance for 40 years

[1:30:42] and I also taught full-time

[1:30:43] as a faculty member at university

[1:30:45] for 10 years in accounting.

[1:30:47] So I understand governmental accounting just a little bit.

[1:30:50] My taxes went up 9% this year

[1:30:54] since over the past four years my property taxes have gone

[1:30:57] up 52% on Highland nav.

[1:31:00] No auditions, no improvements.

[1:31:02] 62% of that money comes to the school district.

[1:31:05] So I'm obviously very concerned about

[1:31:07] how my money's being spent as well as the accounted for

[1:31:12] the common theme of the fiscal 2024 and 2025.

[1:31:16] Material weaknesses per the annual audit were in areas

[1:31:20] of lack of reconciliations and also budget non-compliance.

[1:31:24] In other words, overspending the budget.

[1:31:27] There were many other areas of concern,

[1:31:29] but my questions are on the two that I've just noted.

[1:31:32] So my question is to the finance director

[1:31:35] or the school board our superintendent,

[1:31:39] are the account reconciliations

[1:31:40] occurring on a monthly basis?

[1:31:42] That's very basic process in accounting.

[1:31:46] Are there any lingering surprises out there?

[1:31:50] I asked because I noticed

[1:31:51] that there were significant adjustments effecting the

[1:31:53] general fund in prior years in the amount

[1:31:56] of $1,422,000 on top of that

[1:32:01] for fiscal 26, transportation overspent 500,

[1:32:05] $5,400

[1:32:07] and also administration overspent over 200,000.

[1:32:12] So as far as I'm concerned,

[1:32:13] there's certainly either lack of budget.

[1:32:17] That's your time. Okay boy,

[1:32:19] time flies when you're having fun,

[1:32:23] But thank you.

[1:32:24] And I encourage you to back send, yeah,

[1:32:27] send an email about those questions.

[1:32:29] Thank you Carlton.

[1:32:32] So I think one thing, can I Introduce yourself

[1:32:34] Please?

[1:32:35] Sorry. Carl. Carl Parson, south Portland.

[1:32:39] One thing that kind of really came up as I was doing more

[1:32:43] of my research into just different policies that we have,

[1:32:47] I think when I really am focusing on working with, you know,

[1:32:52] the city council, I would love

[1:32:54] to have it not just be specifically about the budget,

[1:32:58] but specifically about how

[1:33:01] the city council can address root causes of affordability.

[1:33:06] Because I think that for working families,

[1:33:09] things like daycare are a major part

[1:33:12] of a reason why we can no longer kind of working.

[1:33:17] Families are starting to leave

[1:33:18] and this is causing some enrollment issues as well.

[1:33:23] And I think that it always comes back to like we are going

[1:33:27] to be at a loss address trying

[1:33:29] to address the affordability crisis through our tax rate.

[1:33:34] On average, property taxes only constitute eight to 10%

[1:33:40] of a total expenses of a household.

[1:33:43] So keep in mind is that when we even try to do drastic cuts,

[1:33:47] we're really doing, you know, percentages of percentages,

[1:33:51] you know it's not gonna address food can go up by 10%

[1:33:55] and then all of a sudden our tax cut that we fired a bunch

[1:33:58] of teachers for laid off, closed the school, all

[1:34:01] of a sudden it's moot.

[1:34:03] And we have to do that again to address affordability.

[1:34:06] So I think in that case is we can here

[1:34:10] do our fiscal responsibility on the budget,

[1:34:13] but people will continue to come up

[1:34:15] and complain about taxes

[1:34:17] until we address the root causes of affordability.

[1:34:20] This is far beyond what we can do as a school board,

[1:34:24] but certainly because our main,

[1:34:30] our main benefactors are our kids

[1:34:32] and our families, they also deserve not to have

[1:34:36] to pay the price

[1:34:38] to address our root causes of affordability.

[1:34:41] So I'm hoping that as we continue to work together,

[1:34:45] that it's not just a one-sided dialogue

[1:34:48] that we work together to afford to address affordability

[1:34:52] and issues around our diverse communities

[1:34:54] as well, including ice. So thank you.

[1:34:58] Thank you. Carlton,

[1:35:03] Can you stop?

[1:35:06] Lauren Shapiro, south Portland parent.

[1:35:10] Thank you for the general enrollment numbers

[1:35:12] you provided earlier.

[1:35:13] While these numbers are helpful as a high level overview,

[1:35:17] a more complete picture would help the community understand

[1:35:20] whether there are significant differences between schools,

[1:35:24] grades, or individual classrooms.

[1:35:27] Could the board commit to providing a detailed school

[1:35:29] by school class by class breakdown for the next meeting

[1:35:33] with the loss of staff and a school's closure?

[1:35:37] We are all sensitive to what that now means

[1:35:39] for current class sizes.

[1:35:41] I also think it's worth asking

[1:35:43] how much we are relying on screens in the classroom.

[1:35:47] Using technology to meet each child at their individual

[1:35:50] learning level can be a great tool,

[1:35:53] but are we overusing it beyond that benefit?

[1:35:56] I've been told that advertisements have been displayed

[1:35:59] to children in the middle of educational content

[1:36:02] and I'm also aware

[1:36:03] that games are incorporated into the learning tools.

[1:36:06] At what point does screen time begin

[1:36:08] to replace teacher instruction?

[1:36:10] Hands-on learning, reading, writing

[1:36:12] or interaction with classmates.

[1:36:15] Are these, are there currently guidelines around screen time

[1:36:19] and what is considered appropriate for each grade level?

[1:36:22] Could we establish clear boundaries around screen use so

[1:36:26] that technology supports learning without becoming the

[1:36:29] default way children learn?

[1:36:32] I also want to rera the issue of the safety

[1:36:35] and security of the portables, which was mentioned

[1:36:38] by a teacher at the last meeting.

[1:36:41] What specific safety

[1:36:42] and security concerns have been identified

[1:36:44] and what has already been done to address them?

[1:36:47] What additional measures are currently planned

[1:36:50] or being considered to ensure the safety

[1:36:52] of students and staff?

[1:36:54] Could the district create a secure enclosed vestibule cont

[1:36:57] connecting the main building to the portable classrooms?

[1:37:01] This would allow students to access critical resources,

[1:37:04] the nurse guidance counselor

[1:37:06] or even the restroom without having to go outside,

[1:37:09] be exposed to the elements

[1:37:10] or leave the secured area of the building.

[1:37:13] It would be helpful for families to understand

[1:37:15] what safety measures are currently in place,

[1:37:18] what concerns remain

[1:37:19] and whether improvements are being considered.

[1:37:23] As for the brave young man who spoke last meeting,

[1:37:26] we see you, we hear you,

[1:37:27] and we ask the school community to do better for him

[1:37:31] and for all those whose voices have gone unheard.

[1:37:35] The question now is, what will we do to make sure

[1:37:37] that being heard leads to meaningful change Further

[1:37:40] what is currently being done

[1:37:42] to promote genuine positive connection across

[1:37:45] our middle school community?

[1:37:46] 30 seconds Specifically, what concrete steps are being taken

[1:37:51] to ensure the lunchroom is a safe, welcoming

[1:37:53] and inclusive space where no student has to sit alone?

[1:37:57] Thank you for your dedication to our students and staff

[1:38:00] and all the hard work that you do.

[1:38:03] Thank you, Lord. Is there anyone else

[1:38:07] who wants to make public comment?

[1:38:11] Seeing none, the second public comment is closed.

[1:38:16] There were some questions that are a little more extensive

[1:38:20] and the superintendent has recorded those

[1:38:24] and they will be answered

[1:38:27] either at a follow up meeting or through email.

[1:38:33] But there was a question an asked

[1:38:36] by Mr. Daniels about items that were

[1:38:39] remaining at Kaler and what's happened to them.

[1:38:43] There was a question asked by Mr.

[1:38:45] Lad that was about whether their

[1:38:50] accounts are being done,

[1:38:53] accounts are being reconciled monthly.

[1:38:57] And there was several questions by Ms.

[1:39:00] Shapiro about the security

[1:39:03] of the portables.

[1:39:07] So those questions will be answered

[1:39:11] either on the website or at a follow up meeting or by email

[1:39:16] Chair.

[1:39:17] I do think Abigail Kein is here

[1:39:19] and she would be able to speak to the finance.

[1:39:22] I know we've, in my report, we did report on some

[1:39:25] of the reconciliation work

[1:39:27] that they have been have been doing.

[1:39:29] And I think

[1:39:30] If you wanna come up to the podium you

[1:39:32] can come up and answer that.

[1:39:33] Thank you. There's another question.

[1:39:40] Good evening. I'm Abigail Chen, finance director.

[1:39:44] Yeah, the speaker who brought up reconciliations.

[1:39:47] That was indeed a theme, not just of that one year

[1:39:51] that he brought up, but of several years.

[1:39:53] It will continue to be a theme in this

[1:39:55] next year's annual audit.

[1:39:58] As he mentioned, monthly reconciliations is fundamental.

[1:40:01] I agree as the seventh finance director

[1:40:06] in about six to seven years.

[1:40:07] This is also something that I've identified

[1:40:11] as incredibly important and fundamental.

[1:40:15] It's, it's, we are working on it,

[1:40:17] but it is definitely a work in progress.

[1:40:19] We've had some new team members who I think

[1:40:23] will be helpful in this process.

[1:40:25] We are working like a heavy focus really is on our benefits

[1:40:29] monthly reconciliations that's comparing vendor bills to

[1:40:32] what people are charged, what the employers charged.

[1:40:35] So we've got kind of a first month

[1:40:37] run at this in this fiscal year,

[1:40:40] but that's something we're working on.

[1:40:41] We have a few months. Then there's grants, receivables,

[1:40:45] reconciliation, that's another finding

[1:40:47] that we've been tackling.

[1:40:49] We've had, we have this FY 26 in pretty okay shape.

[1:40:53] So I'm looking forward to what this annual audits results,

[1:40:56] we'll bring on that front, but that's another one

[1:40:58] where we've also brought in some consultant help

[1:41:01] to learn more about that

[1:41:03] and to make sure that's getting set up.

[1:41:04] And then our withholdings reconciliation,

[1:41:06] that's another finding that we have

[1:41:08] and that is what we, that we are also working on

[1:41:10] that pretty heavily.

[1:41:13] So that's all to say reconciliation is,

[1:41:15] is a big important project that we are working on.

[1:41:18] I definitely anticipate findings in general in this next

[1:41:21] annual audit, but hope that I'm,

[1:41:24] I am optimistic about the FY 27 annual audit

[1:41:28] that we will experience in FY 28.

[1:41:31] So we'll see what, what that brings other further issues.

[1:41:36] I think. Of course there certainly could be other unknowns

[1:41:38] and we'll, you know, handle them

[1:41:39] as they come, as they come up.

[1:41:42] But overall, I think we're in better shape than we have

[1:41:44] been in some time.

[1:41:46] He mentioned the transportation over spend,

[1:41:49] that's a combination of under budgeting

[1:41:51] and overtime, the system administration overspend.

[1:41:54] That's a combination of having half the year

[1:41:58] with two superintendents salaries posting to our accounts,

[1:42:00] which we wouldn't have budgeted for naturally.

[1:42:03] As well as just writing off bad debts, such as issues

[1:42:07] with our withholdings to get some

[1:42:08] of those accounts in balance.

[1:42:12] And then overall, I would just encourage that person

[1:42:14] to join our finance committee meetings.

[1:42:15] They're open to the public and we talk,

[1:42:17] we talk a lot in those meetings about all

[1:42:20] of these nuanced facets to our budget. So thank you.

[1:42:24] Thank you. Before you leave there, member Holman,

[1:42:27] did you have a question for

[1:42:28] No, no, but I will say no, You're

[1:42:30] All set.

[1:42:31] There was just another

[1:42:32] question I think that needs to go on that list. Oh,

[1:42:33] Okay, go ahead.

[1:42:35] Which was, is there a policy on, on how much screen time?

[1:42:40] Oh, and I think it's a very relevant question, especially

[1:42:44] based on recent, some of the recent research I've seen.

[1:42:46] Yes, but also I think that this, this gentleman did come

[1:42:49] to one of our finance meetings

[1:42:50] too. Didn't you come one time?

[1:42:52] Yeah, yeah. Thank you. We will record that question.

[1:42:56] How much screen time and do we have a policy about that?

[1:43:00] Thank you. Okay,

[1:43:04] so, and thank you.

[1:43:06] Thank you Ms. Tran.

[1:43:08] We are up to 10.0,

[1:43:11] which is school board communications

[1:43:15] and the people have

[1:43:20] things I wanted to announce

[1:43:21] or things they've been to that they wanted to report

[1:43:25] or whatever. Member Holman

[1:43:27] My yes, what I'm gonna be talking about, where I've been

[1:43:30] to mentally and,

[1:43:34] and where I've been mentally is I, I am, I'm quite obsessed

[1:43:38] with learning about what AI is

[1:43:41] and what it means for us.

[1:43:43] And I've got some, some resources.

[1:43:46] I'd be happy to recommend anybody,

[1:43:48] but if anyone who follow the news news knows that, you know,

[1:43:52] diary Ade from philanthropic just asked us

[1:43:55] to put on the brakes following some terrible,

[1:43:57] some not terrible, some upsetting incidents that,

[1:44:00] that occurred including the, the, the departure of a,

[1:44:03] of high profile staff member who just said,

[1:44:07] this is too, this is too dangerous.

[1:44:08] I don't wanna be part of this anymore.

[1:44:10] And, and others, others seconded him in general,

[1:44:15] you know, Elon Musk said Dario's, right?

[1:44:18] So, so this is,

[1:44:20] this is going somewhere the related to schools.

[1:44:21] Don't worry, it's not just about that.

[1:44:23] But also in Dario ADE's statement, he said, well,

[1:44:28] we're gonna work internationally.

[1:44:29] And in fact, just today I saw that the top Chinese spy chief

[1:44:33] who said that, a, that the AI is a threat to them.

[1:44:35] So the word is out and I,

[1:44:37] and we, we really need to have an AI policy in our school.

[1:44:41] We really need to have one. I think that's understood.

[1:44:43] I'm not the only person who thinks that I know that,

[1:44:45] but I do think it's urgent

[1:44:47] and we just shouldn't let this slide.

[1:44:49] We know that both, both the schools,

[1:44:51] the country's two largest school districts, New York City

[1:44:54] and Los Angeles have, have a student AI use bands.

[1:44:59] I think one is least is K through eight.

[1:45:01] And I'm not, I don't, you know,

[1:45:02] it's easy to find out what though they are.

[1:45:03] But anyway, I think we really need to take it seriously.

[1:45:07] This doesn't mean that, for example, for the kinds of things

[1:45:11] that, that Daniel Feller was mentioning earlier,

[1:45:14] that you can't, you know, use it

[1:45:15] to help you organize meeting notes or staff

[1:45:18] and teachers wouldn't be able to use it.

[1:45:19] But we really need to think very carefully.

[1:45:21] So yeah, let's do it.

[1:45:24] And that goes along with the screen time limits,

[1:45:26] because I think in, I,

[1:45:27] I think in California they just ban screen time.

[1:45:29] We do have some kind of a policy, I forget

[1:45:31] what I can't remember what it is,

[1:45:33] or some kind of, if not a policy

[1:45:35] parameters that are generally accepted.

[1:45:38] Policies is a, is a kind

[1:45:39] of a specific thing that we vote on.

[1:45:41] But that's the screen time thing

[1:45:43] is something we need to think about too.

[1:45:44] There's some interesting research about that type of thing.

[1:45:49] Thank you Member Holman. Someone else, a member feller

[1:45:55] Wanted to thank the staff at the high school for

[1:45:59] hosting the grassroots music festival

[1:46:01] in the auditorium yesterday.

[1:46:02] It was really, it was a great time.

[1:46:04] It was a bit bummer about the rain,

[1:46:06] but you know, the sound in the auditorium is really good.

[1:46:08] So please thank the custodial staff

[1:46:10] for cleaning up after everybody.

[1:46:13] I wanna thank folks for filling out the survey

[1:46:15] on elementary reconfiguration.

[1:46:16] I think it's really helpful.

[1:46:18] Last thing I wanna talk about,

[1:46:19] and I think I might talk about it at most meetings is Trump

[1:46:22] accounts, unlike a degree from Trump University

[1:46:25] or Trump's stake, Trump

[1:46:27] accounts are actually worth something.

[1:46:28] So for any child, and this is not

[1:46:32] because I'm a Trump booster, I'm obviously very not

[1:46:35] for any child born

[1:46:36] after January 1st, 2025,

[1:46:39] they get a thousand dollars from the Treasury department

[1:46:42] and that's for an investment account.

[1:46:44] So I would hope that folks are aware of this.

[1:46:47] Like there it's a thousand dollars

[1:46:49] with no strings attached, right?

[1:46:50] Like everybody in South Portland who has a kid born

[1:46:52] after January 1st, 2025 should take advantage of this.

[1:46:55] You can go to the IRS website

[1:46:57] and submit form 45 47

[1:47:02] again form 45, 47.

[1:47:06] Yeah. So just wanna let folks know about that.

[1:47:09] Just to add on to that, it's,

[1:47:11] even if you don't have a kid born

[1:47:13] after that date, you can still start a Trump account

[1:47:16] for your kid and it's more expansive than a 5 29.

[1:47:20] So it doesn't just, it's not, the money can go

[1:47:22] to more things when they turn 18 than just school.

[1:47:25] It can go to like down payment

[1:47:28] for a house, a bunch of other stuff.

[1:47:29] So worth considering

[1:47:33] even if you don't have a kid that's newly born.

[1:47:36] Thank you member Richardson.

[1:47:39] Since we're talking about investment planning for,

[1:47:42] for children, may MA Maine does have the

[1:47:46] 5 29 Yeah.

[1:47:47] Plan. True. It's all there.

[1:47:49] So, but I am wondering,

[1:47:51] can I also do the Trump account on top of that,

[1:47:54] but since the a you Yeah.

[1:47:56] Okay. The ALP Fund, yeah. Yeah.

[1:47:58] So if you don't have that

[1:47:59] and you wanna know how, I'm happy to be your resource

[1:48:02] for, for the how to do that.

[1:48:04] This seems to be the coming out party for at large

[1:48:08] board candidates, of which I am one as well.

[1:48:13] It's whether or not this is appropriate.

[1:48:15] It feels uncomfortable to not address the fact

[1:48:17] that I am a candidate.

[1:48:20] And while I'm an incumbent, I'm only,

[1:48:23] I've only been in this role for one year.

[1:48:25] So I do consider myself

[1:48:26] to be a pretty a a relatively new member of this board,

[1:48:30] still learning, still

[1:48:34] growing in my role.

[1:48:35] And I, and I believe my job is not done,

[1:48:38] which is why I submitted my papers for reelection.

[1:48:42] And my three priorities

[1:48:45] are developing a strategic wide plan that establishes

[1:48:51] clear priorities to support, accountability,

[1:48:53] financial stability, and community diversity,

[1:48:55] while improving teacher retention and morale

[1:48:58] after our recent budget challenges,

[1:49:01] the board's fall 2026 agendas focusing on elementary

[1:49:04] school reconfiguration.

[1:49:06] And I remain committed to responsible changes

[1:49:09] that promote equitable opport opportunities made

[1:49:12] with community input throughout.

[1:49:15] Finally, I also believe that the board, the board has

[1:49:18] to evaluate classroom use of technology

[1:49:21] and AI to ensure that we're using it responsibly.

[1:49:25] That we have appropriate safeguards in place

[1:49:27] and that policies are supporting student success for all.

[1:49:31] I'm a working mother of two boys.

[1:49:33] I live with my husband and my mother moved

[1:49:35] into this last year.

[1:49:36] So we are a multi-generational family

[1:49:39] who loves South Portland. Thank you.

[1:49:42] Thank you. Member Richardson. Anyone else? Member Rich.

[1:49:47] I'd like to thank everybody for coming out and running.

[1:49:49] It's, it, it, it shows a certain amount

[1:49:51] of interest in the school system and,

[1:49:54] and always like

[1:49:55] to see people taking their ideas into action.

[1:49:57] So thank you for running everybody

[1:49:59] and we should be careful with ai.

[1:50:01] It can make you feel alone and stop talking to people.

[1:50:04] So if we can still keep that human connection

[1:50:07] and focus on the human connection, that's

[1:50:09] what I would appreciate in in schools.

[1:50:12] It's my AI statement.

[1:50:15] Thank you. Either one of the students. You Okay.

[1:50:22] I will just say the, that I wanted

[1:50:25] to comment on the first day for the staff.

[1:50:30] That was at the end of August

[1:50:32] and it, I really wanna thank Mayor Tipton for coming

[1:50:36] and speaking and Superintendent Dena as well,

[1:50:40] and also assistant superintendent Prince for, for,

[1:50:45] for being the mc for the event.

[1:50:47] So that was great. Our two students were there as well.

[1:50:52] They were both in the choral music, which was incredible.

[1:50:57] The band in the entry was phenomenal

[1:51:01] and the choral music was, was brilliant.

[1:51:05] It was really beautiful and it was really impressive

[1:51:08] and I wanted to thank members Holman

[1:51:11] and Richardson for making it that day as well.

[1:51:16] I also attended the Music Boosters Breakfast

[1:51:21] that was at the Masonic Hall on Saturday.

[1:51:24] And I want to thank you for the hard work for all

[1:51:27] of the music boosters and also for the time

[1:51:32] and donation that was by the Masons who

[1:51:35] sponsored the breakfast.

[1:51:38] And it was, it was great to have that.

[1:51:42] I attended the Grassroots Music Fest

[1:51:47] as well at the auditorium and it was really fabulous.

[1:51:51] And if you were there, you may have seen the man

[1:51:56] who changed his clothes three times

[1:51:58] because he danced for the entire eight hours.

[1:52:02] And I said to him like, I, I just can't believe this.

[1:52:05] And he said, yeah, and I was in Boston last night, you know,

[1:52:08] so I, I mean he's clearly, he did not stop moving

[1:52:14] but did change his clothes multiple times.

[1:52:16] And, and so I

[1:52:22] was able to hear Bubb Lee

[1:52:26] and his band with Desert Blues

[1:52:29] and also the Co Toco Brass Band,

[1:52:33] which was the last band that played.

[1:52:37] So it was really great. I would agree with Member Feller.

[1:52:40] It was really unfortunate that the weather didn't,

[1:52:44] even though though it did sound great, it would've been,

[1:52:48] it would've been wonderful to have it outside at Bug Light

[1:52:50] because there were so many people who randomly come

[1:52:54] to Bug Light and would've been able to appreciate

[1:52:57] and experience the music as well.

[1:52:59] But it was, but it was fabulous. So thank you.

[1:53:04] If there are no other comments

[1:53:07] and without objection,

[1:53:11] the meeting is adjourned.

South Portland Board of Education

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