001working. That works. Hello everyone and welcome to the regular meeting of the Bangor School Committee. Um today is Wednesday, April 29th and we will get started with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republicy for all. >> All right, thank you very much. We are starting tonight with recognitions. We have several recognitions to make of student achievements which we are honored to celebrate. Beginning with the Bangor High School math team. Dr. Robinson. >> Thank you. The Bangor School Department and the Bangor School Committee would like to recognize the class A state math meet winners from Bangor High School. They took home the top team spot and the Crystal Trophy. Come right up. uh so that is a a accommodation on its own. Uh
002but the competition is fierce and there are schools that recruit uh kids from all around the world. We have a charter school in the state. We have some private schools that do active recruitment and they're our main competition at the state meet and we haven't won that crystal trophy over all the schools in the state uh as far as I know since 2013. So uh very proud of this crew. It is a true team. Uh as I've mentioned in the paper uh this crew has met beyond our practices. We meet every Tuesday afternoon and we meet Monday evenings and have some pizza. Uh they have met a lot. They've de dedicated a lot of time and I I really can't say enough about how much ability they have, but also how much dedication they have
003to this and many other enterprises. So, I'm very honored to represent them here today. So, I'll call them forward so they can receive their uh commendation. Anka Suarez, Zafir Basher, >> Jacob Klene. By the way, I should mention uh Jacob is the top scorer in the state at both Preston Cuto. Thank you, >> Kai Gene. Magna PJ, Wyatt Chadwick, Daniel Seamers, Daniel Robbins, Ava Wriggler. >> And this would not have happened without the invaluable help of Eric Steedman as well. Eric, >> thank you very much for your time. Could we have all team members actually join the school committee over here and we'll take a quick photo. You're doing Um, my name is Steve Godso. I was the math department head at Bango High from 1975 to nuh 2013. And actually, there had only been
004three department heads at Bango High since worth noise and Gordon Smith and myself. I just want to congratulate all the students. We just had a potluck. I realized that I'm also responsible for hiring these two here, these two fine gentlemen. >> I want to give a quick history. Uh back around 1990, Louise Small, who was one of our teachers, started joined the math league and I was the department head, so I hadn't done anything. So pulled her in and um in 1995 we were the state champions for the first time. Now when you said class A they're actually champions of all there are like 90 schools. They're the champions for all of them not just class A. So and so we won. We had 15 students and at the time if you won you had
005to have an assembly if you won a state championship. So they had won lots of sports championships. So I was very nervous about that because uh I would tell my students I taught there for a long time that we're all nerds. If you're in my class, you're a nerd. I'm a nerd. I know it. And so um I was just worried about taking 15 math nerds and putting them in front of a class of about 1300 at that time and what would happen. And uh I'm familiar of other places where there's been a big blow up and against the kids, but that was never the case. Nothing but love. Everybody was great. All the kids really wonderful. And it built over the years. We won the state championship the next five years. And um we
006built up so we had 150 students on the math team. Uh seven teams. We take three school buses to go to the meets. Um, in fact, during an 11 an 18-year period, we were champions 11 of those years. And this partly MSSM was very strong during that time. I recall uh the school board used to meet at Abraham Lincoln school and we were being honored one of these times and there was a delay and I was just talking to the kids saying you know there were 12 of them said how many of you had 800 in SAT math or the achievement math or fives on AP class and 10 of them 10 of the 12 had the two that didn't were sophomores they all in other words they had all 800s all 800s the two
007that were sophomores hadn't taken them yet, but when they did, uh there's a um American mathematics competition, an exam they take in the in the spring, they were third and fourth on the Eastern Seaboard going all the way down to South Carolina. So, and I I already talked about this in the potluck we just had. Uh, this kind of thing carries over to other subjects, too. When we had 150 on the math teams, they were great in lots of different subjects. And I recall one of the years u the uh science um the national science bowl there's a competition in the spring and um this was one of the years we did so well at the math beat in fact we there were 10 on the team we could have had just nine on the
008team and still won but our score was so much higher. Lexington High School in Massachusetts is a powerhouse. They have like 25 national merit finalists every year and they could choose where they went to in the regional and they chose to come to Bangor. Well, these kids killed them. And this one part of the meet was like 100 points. They beat him 100 to five. They haven't come back since. So this is a special little enclave here where there lots of friendly competition between all the kids helping each other and it builds a very positive environment. So I just want to say that all the graduates that I know of are very very proud of them and they've done a wonderful job. >> Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that and congrats again
009to the Bangor High Math team. Next up, we have educators for a multi-ingual Maine's student of the year. >> Dr. Robinson. >> The Bangor School Department and the Bangor School Committee would like to recognize the multilingual main student of the year, Bangor High School student, Jasmine Jervo. I just want to add to that that um Jasmine speaks four languages, English, Russian, Usuzbck, and Spanish. and she uses her languages to build community as she tutors multilingual learners in science and math and helps organize the World Language Club. Congratulations. >> Hold on. Congrats again, Jasmine. Next up, we have our Scholastic Individual Chess Championship, Dr. Robinson. The Bangor School Department and the Bangor School Committee would like to recognize the first place winner in the Scholastic Individual Chess Championship in the category for K5. Shyora Kamar is
010a grade five student at the Mary Snow School. He is now eligible to participate in the National Individual Chess Championship in Michigan this summer and also Maryland tomorrow. All right. >> And then I'll have the school committee do that go up while I'm taking the picture. >> Awesome. And we'll have it go over here and we'll take a photo. safe travels tomorrow and congrats again. All right, next we are so excited to honor and celebrate the United Technology gold medalist, Dr. Robinson. The Bangor School Department and the Bangor School Committee would like to recognize two Bangor High School students who won gold medals for the Skills USA championships. Allison Perky won a gold medal for additive manufacturing. Ava Ciphers won a gold medal for nurse assisting. The Skills USA Championships is a premier showcase of
011America's most highly skilled career and technical education students. It's also one of the largest hands-on workforce development events in the world. congratulations. And um last but certainly not least in our recognitions tonight, we have the Sister Solange Bernier Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Robinson. >> The Bangor School Department and the Bangor School Committee would like to recognize our Sister Salange Bernier Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Mary Sue Schilling. This award, named for an EME member whose career as a well-loved and well-respected French teacher spanned more than six decades, recognizes the long career accomplishments of those who are approaching retirement and who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and leadership throughout their careers as modern and classical language teachers. Teachers who have been EME teacher uh members for at least five years and have a minimum of 15 years
012experience in teaching world languages are eligible for this award. Congratulations All right. Thank you so much to um all of the amazing uh individuals that we've celebrated tonight and congratulations once again. Next up, we have adjustments to the agenda. Do we have any adjustments, Dr. Robinson? >> No adjustments this evening. Thank you very much. Now is our opportunity for public comment. Um I do have a statement to read before we get started. Members of the public may address the school committee for up to three minutes on school and education matters. Public comments shall be directed to the school committee and brief and not repetitive. The school committee's practice is not to respond or debate with speakers during public comment period. We are here to listen. The superintendent or her staff will follow up on comments
013outside of the meeting as appropriate. The committee will not permit profanity, shouting, and requests that and requests that speakers be civil. Discussion of specific personnel on student matters and complaints concerning specific employees or students will not be allowed, but will be addressed through established policies and procedures. Before speaking, we encourage speakers to review the school policy, the school committee policy AC, which provides that the committee does not and will not discriminate nor tolerate discrimination against students or employees on the basis of membership in a protected class. Speakers who share comments contrary to this policy will not be allowed to continue. Before starting, we ask that you please state your name and place of residence. So, any individuals here to share thoughts tonight are welcome to the podium at this time. Go ahead. It's green screen.
014Good evening. Uh my name is Megan Anderson of Bangor. Um I am a mother of a current fourth grader at Fairmount School and a second grader at 14th Street. Um see if I can make that stop. Um, I am here to express concern about the closure of Fairmont School for the 2026 2027 school year. Specifically, I object to the timeline of the closure, the seemingly intentional obation on the part of the superintendent and other school administrative staff, and the potential for this closure to widen the ever growing disparity between the east and west sides of our city. No one here is advocating for our children to attend a school in to attend school in a hazardous environment. However, to announce the closure of an entire school with less than five months notice and with no
015plan for the students slated to attend Fairmont next year presents a needlessly stressful distraction from the work of our incredible teachers. It appears that the school administration long ago knew or should have known about the existence of the asbestous and the need to disturb it as the school's roof and ceilings continued to show signs of increasingly urgent need for repair. Rather than proceeding with a thoughtful strategy, the school administration seems to be relying on a recent asbestous test as a stated impetus for a hasty closure. Bangor students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers should not have to tolerate such careless and opaque actions from our school administration and from our elected officials. Similarly, the way in which this information was communicated to teachers and parents is unacceptable. The agenda for tonight's meeting did not even include mention
016of this possible closure. Instead, school administration appeared poised to roll this announcement out once the public comment period closed, potentially foreclosing community input on decisions about our students futures. It was only after parent and teacher awareness crested that Superintendent Robinson released any official writings. This is a shameful way to proceed and it does not meet the standard of excellence to which Banger holds its own students. What's more, at the same time, Superintendent Robinson's writing state this will be be a one-year closure. Some district employees have expressed that this closure is much more likely to be permanent. I hope that Superintendent Robinson will tonight clarify whether the district plans to ever reopen Fairmount School and if so, the exact timeline of remediation and reopening. Students, teachers, and their families deserve honesty and clarity. In a very
017positive way, however, this closure presents an opportunity for the school administration and school committee to respond to the east-west disparity that plagues our city. Although this school is located on the city's west side, the implications of this closure should not be absorbed only by westside schools. We are one district and it cannot be the case that displaced Westside students are crammed into existing Westside schools. The closure of Fairmont should be part of a thoughtful or reorganization of our city's schools in a way that corrects systemic inequities and benefits all our students and teachers. This opportunity must ensure equitable busing that provides east and west students the same access to both school and extracurricular activities and resources. >> Thank you so much, Megan. I'm so sorry. We have Thank you very much for those statements. I
018appreciate it. Oh man, I'm loud. I probably don't need it. We'll a little bit. So, hello. My good evening. My name is Carrie Rice. I'm actually a resident of Holden, but I am fortunate enough to have a superintendent agreement. I have children that attend the Banganger schools. I am here today, so I want to thank you and superintendent Robinson. I am a registered nurse with two two professional experiences in both public health and infection control. And I'm also a parent, as I stated, of two students in the Bangor schools. I want to begin by expressing how incredibly thankful I am that my children have been able to attend school within the Bangor School department. This environment has truly allowed them to thrive specifically through the unique and rigorous curricula that the other districts simply just
019don't do not offer such as the accelerated math and reading program. And I see that I see Miss Susie right over there so we'll give shout out to her. It is because of this I value this high standard of excellence and I am here tonight. The proposed closure of Fairmont School exists at a critical intersection of environmental safety, school infrastructure and educational consistency. From an infection control and public health standpoint, I fully support the priority of providing a hazard-free learning environment specifically regarding asbestous remediation. However, a closure without a clear long-term road map risk risk creating a systemic hazard. The disruption disruption of stable consistent environment that makes those specialized programs so successful. A proactive city-wide strategy to protect both the physical and educational well-being of all Bangor students is vital. First, environmental integrity with
020a clear remediation timeline that ensures the Fairmont building meets the highest health and safety standards before any future reopening. Second, infrastructure equity to ensure that classrooms across the city maintains safe capacity so that every student, regardless of where they live, has equal access to resources and the extracurriculars that they currently love. Third is educational consistency. Our teachers are the stabilizing force of our children and they need struct structural support and adequate lead time to necess and that is necessary to maintain high quality environment during this transition. What I suggest is taking a systems approach that values both clinical safety and operational transparency. This can be achieved through the development of a comprehensive transition plan detailing student placement and resource distribution citywide and to commit to a transparent communication model that keeps parents and public health
021professionals informed throughout the infrastructure planning process. By approaching the Fairmont school closure as an opportunity for thoughtful, equitable reorganization, it ensures Bangor schools remain a safe and consistent place for its students and teachers to continue to thrive. Thank you. I'm Dr. Christina Murphy. I'm a resident of Bangor and I have two children. One of them is at Fairmount. And I just want to keep this really brief and say that part of the reason that when we moved to Maine, we chose Bangor was for the schools and specifically for the schools being biking, walking, commutable distance from home, having my other child at Vine Street, which was plagued by hour and a half busing delays. I am not convinced that moving children across the city is particularly feasible given the infrastructure at this time. I am
022absolutely horrified by the communication of this messaging. I think that if there was a greater way to cause trauma to our children towards the end of the school year, um when they do rely on teachers and staff that they love, this was a great way to make them panic. Um I had to have a discussion this morning because it was in the Bangor Daily News. I don't want to have those discussions. I want this to be something that is rolled out in a thoughtful, wellplanned manner that we feel ownership of as parents and that we feel that we can trust the Bangor school department and the superintendent to do what is in the best interest of our children in a complete and holistic way, which is not how I feel right now and is not
023the reason that I am attending this meeting. So, thank you. Anyone else for public comment? All right. Thank you very much for everyone that spoke this evening. Ne Thanks, Ray. Next up, we have superintendent proposals and updates. Um, our first action item is the school committee approval for the humanities travel program. Superintendent Robinson, >> I am recommending approval for the humanities travel program for the next two years. In April 2027, our trip leader Stephanie Hendris will be taking is proposing to take students to Scotland and Ireland. In April of 2028, a trip is being proposed to Italy. The revised policy JA requires that we get school committee approval for overnight stays and international travel. >> Thank you very much. Um, can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Yes.
024Uh, member Speed. >> Yeah. I was wondering if we could clarify the uh criteria if we could dig a little bit deeper into that for student participation. this last week. It was a joy to see um the participation of Bangor students uh uh not only abroad this year in in Europe, but then earlier in the year in Japan. Um and you see that with all schools throughout the community. Um and and so many kids um so how can we get more kids through Bangor High School into these programs? Can you tell tell me a little bit more about the criteria? >> Sure. I would um defer to Dr. Butler um who oversees that program at the high school. >> So uh international travel originated I guess three years ago into it. So over time soften
025the at the same time the humanities academy emerges takes foothold. um graduates some classes that propose uh international travel through EFS tours which is a major vendor uh came to this board I think is it three years ago anyway uh and in all the ways that you would expect u the experience has been first class first safety first all of those things uh it's right now the travel has been limited primarily the students who are making their way through the humanities academy. Uh they set their sights on probably through a combination of curricular events maybe to be honest maybe to the extent they can dodging some world events and seeing places where the art and the culture and the language and all the integrated experiences come alive and only ways that travel can. uh we've
026talked about uh about three years in evaluating the experience for all the things that we would expect as fundamentals and then the larger payoffs. We see those things there. Uh if at some point uh there was decision to expand, it really hinges very much on a a sponsoring organization individual that's changing things. Every intention that's made to economic factors, >> lots of fundraising, lots of due supervision and getting adults be able to adjust their lives in a way that they can support international travel. It's a big endeavor. It should be. So right now, just to answer the question, it's been limited to in students in around the humanities academy at some stage. My understanding is that some might hold off in the interest of a larger destination or place they've never been or maybe economic
027factors. Who knows? So before we expand, I think the critical questions are asked to confirm has it been positive. My check in the box would be yes. It's been positive. It's been uh doable. Not a heavy lift to get to the too heavy lift to get to the uh type of experience we want students to have. Is it accessible? The answer so far is yes. You expand that you know questions come. But uh wouldn't would support the endeavor. It's valuable and been successful today. Thank you, Dr. Butler. Um, follow-up question, members. >> Yeah, I just wanted to to respond. I think it's great. I'd love to see it expand and and I I I recall hearing that it's not simply humanities students, but a travel club is is also a criteria, which which is which
028is a wonderful way to expand it because I mean, it's the humanities department is fantastic. Uh, but I'm sure there's other students that would love to attend those trips. So, if they can expand that club in any way, and I understand it's a there's a a ratio of um chaperoons, and uh I appreciate what you've said as far as u making it accessible, but also making sure it's a lift that we can can manage. >> Thank you. Um Member Cook, Dr. Dr. Butler, before you sit down, um I know EF has previously offered through trips opportunities where students can do some supplementary work and then they can earn credit. Is that something that Bangor High offers to students >> in particular that one, but I would be surprised if if it was a viable one,
029they hadn't gone after it. It's that has been a hard part. They they commit a ton to it and it's a year round thing to pull not only the logistics together, but the actual funds. So, I I don't know the direct answer to that question, but it would be surprising if the answer was no. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Butler. Any further discussion? All right, let's take a vote. Um, we've had a motion in a second, so all in favor 6. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, moving on toformational items. First up, a free energy audit and indoor air quality testing program. Superintendent Robinson. At this time, I'd like to um request the director business of business services, Heather Hail, uh to provide you with an update on the free energy audit and
030indoor air quality testing program from the main department of education. >> Thank you. Um Okay. All right. So, thank you. You have uh the priority notice that I have included in your packet and I also gave you um a little handout for the what this program entails. Um, in early February, the main department of education announced their partnership with um, building infrastructure management solutions, also known as BIMS, about a green solutions initiative. And, um, they are partnering to offer schools throughout the state of Maine a facility energy analysis and consultation at no cost to the schools. um through an application and interview process, Bangor School Department was chosen to be part of that process, which is extremely exciting because this uh company will work with us to analyze all of our schools and do various
031um indoor air quality uh testing. They will look at lighting. Um they will also consult with us on other infrastructure improvements. Um and so far the director of physical plant Josh Magcuire and I have met with uh BIMS the BIMs team some engineering and um the senior vice president Don Breznahan on a weekly basis so we can develop a plan. They look at our strategic goals for the district. Um, and we talk about the priorities of all of the schools in our district and um, just various concerns or um, upcoming needs that some of the schools we we have and they will consult with us, talk about those needs and how they can help us uh, investigate ways to uh, fund some of these programs. and then also analyze a lot of data. Uh and
032our timeline for this is we're actually starting the data logging tomorrow. Um in a few of the schools, they only have so many data loggers and I believe there was 80ome schools that applied for this program and they can only do so many and again Bangor was chosen as one of them. So that was a great opportunity because again it's at no cost. But um so we will start with you know our highest priority schools first to do some data logging that takes about two weeks to do that. They will analyze the data and then they will share those results with us and from there we will develop a customized actionable guide outlining recommended facility improvements and um then we will kind of move on from there based on timelines of when some of these
033programs are offered for funding. And there is a energy efficiency one coming up for lighting that is actually due June 30th. So, that one may be moved a little bit progressively if we um as we we review that. And then the indoor air quality one is due it October 1st and they will help us write all of the um the grants and all of those applications for the state for all that funding. So, they help us as a partner throughout this whole process as a technical partner. So I just wanted to share some of that exciting news. I think it's really really great opportunity for our um you know given any of the new information plus you know Bangor school department needs a little bit of assistance when it comes to these facilities and making
034sure we have a safe place for all our kids. So I think this is exciting news. So I'm open to any questions you guys have about this process and >> thank you very much Director Hail. Any questions from the committee? Member Speed. >> Uh, thank you for that, uh, Director Hail. I appreciate that. When I saw this come through, I think it's a great idea. You know, it really is, uh, imperative to have healthy buildings that our students can can learn in. Um, our aging infrastructure of our buildings is a is a great concern. And then also our energy consumption. So, I'm I'm pleased to hear that the lighting is going to be looked at, air quality is going to be looked at. I would I would like to know um you know right off
035the bat with these findings this data will it be made public? Will there be a landing page where folks can track data? Will we set goals, objectives where we can uh track it and actually um you know reach to make uh those benchmarks. >> So um I have actually worked with this company before in the previous district I worked in and they are they want you all involved. They want the school committee completely involved. They will um do presentations. They absolutely will u put all this data in graphs. They will put it in presentations and then those presentations can then be shared on our websites in a public format and um however you all want to see fit. They they let us be the the leaders of this whole program. So I think it's a
036great partnership in that aspect. Thank you, Director Hail. Followup, member speed. >> Yeah, I just want to want to say how I think this would fit perfectly into a sustainability program. Really, a resiliency plan for our schools would be wonderful that looks at the aging infrastructure, what our waist stream is, what our water quality, um energy use, um what the, you know, um uh you know, uh capacity that we have to do that I think would be really important to track that data, but also set goals. Um, so I really appreciate the start and I would love to see it continue. >> Thank you, members. Um, I have one question. Director Hail, what does data logging look like in the school? >> So, they um set up they have little programmer things and they set
037them up in uh on the walls and okay, it does not disrupt anything >> and they are just in the various rooms of the schools and they measure the air quality. So they measure the uh CO2 levels um things of that nature and I think I already said two weeks but uh we tried to keep the the buildings at their natural state so windows closed you know um and things like that so the the data is as accurate as possibly can be and then they take that the engineers take that data and then they um they measure it compared to what the level should be and things like that and then they'll they'll give us a comprehensive um analysis of all that. >> Wonderful. Thank you. And then actually help with the technical writing of
038any sort of grants. >> They will do all of the things. Trust me, the things that you would never >> able to comprehend. Yeah. >> Thank you very much for that update and for your work on this. I appreciate it. >> Welcome. >> All right. Next up, um we have our superintendence update. Dr. Robinson. >> Thank you. Uh so in terms of schools and programs, uh I'm just going to run through my report as um written here. Um another congratulations to all of our award winners. It's wonderful to see so many um students being celebrated. Um a couple of highlights. Of course, there's many, many things going on across the school department, especially at this time of year. Uh there was recently a kindness assembly at Abraham Lincoln School and the annual art show uh
039at Fruit Street School that I was able to attend. Um very wellreceived students and staff um all doing a great job uh rounding out the school year and of course um end of year planning across the department as well as um multiple theater performances and our end of year assessments. Uh we are very um excited to welcome a on July 1st a new director of pupil services uh that will come later in our agenda and we're continuing to hire for any open positions for the fall. Our budget process uh will continue uh as scheduled on May 7th. I'll be presenting our budget to the city council. Um and in terms of our facilities, I just want to reiterate that um this was an unexpected situation that occurred. Um and this was not part of the
040original plan. The original plan for our facilities was to have a multi-year scaffolded approach that will include and does include as many um stakeholder voices as possible. Um so it is unfortunate and um an unexpected challenge the way things have transpired. Um but just to reiterate uh Fairmount is safe. Um currently the uh we have conducted all of the environmental testing. It is in compliance and the building is currently up to code. Um so just to give a short context of what has led to this um unexpected change. Approximately 8 weeks ago, um there was a roof leak that was being addressed and through that process, uh we were made aware of unexpected asbestous containing materials in the ceiling. The asbestous containing materials were immediately abated. This discovery has led to further questions about the
041needs of Fairmont School. Based on the unexpected discovery of the asbestous containing material and out of an abundance of caution, the determination to temporarily reorganize arose and that um in order to um really be able to thoroughly address and thoroughly assess the needs within SC Fair Mount School. Um the proposal will be coming to look at reorganizing for next school year. Um this is being done as a proactive measure noting this unexpected asbestous to ensure that we don't start the next school year with additional unexpected events that would lead to an emergency situation with even less than the than the current timeline to make these changes. Um so this proactive measure in my opinion is going to provide us uh with a comprehensive picture that we can then um you know use that information to
042make the best informed decisions around the next steps um for the schools. Uh the proposed temporary reorganization plan will be presented at our next school committee meeting on May 13th. So that is the update for Fairmont. Um and again I just want to reiterate that this was unexpected and certainly not the the most desirable way to proceed with our facilities. Um CDS process that's continuing. Um we are developing those processes and looking to hire uh staff which is that um state funded program. Uh we are scheduled to be interviewed uh I guess I am scheduled to be interviewed um for the the business view magazine which is a national publication. They reached out to us and are looking to do a school series focused on innovation technology talent management and strategies for maintaining excellence. Uh
043so that will be happening um in the coming month and then the publication will be June or July. Um, in terms of the region and state, the main DOE update, uh, LD2226, uh, did pass in terms of the EPS, uh, the revise, the revisions to the funding formula, and that's a benefit to BSD and the bell-to-bell cell phone ban in schools did pass uh, through the government uh, through the governor's um, proposal and we are in the process of working through a policy to address that for to be in place for August. Any questions? >> Yes. Um, members, >> thank you. Uh, thank you for the updates. I hope it's okay if I ask a little bit more about the Fairmont situation. Uh, I am a Fairmont parent myself. I've got one at Dowy, one
044at Fairmont, one at 14th Street. So, I empathize with a lot of the comments tonight and I appreciate the room. It's actually really nice to have people here. I wish it was under better circumstances, but um it's nice to have people engaged even though it's a really tough topic. Uh and I agree that it was unexpected. I'm going to say two things are kind of in conflict here. This situation right now was unexpected and yet we have known for a while that Fairmont is the oldest building in in our school facilities and easy for me to say now. Uh but the conversation about Fairmont and Mary Snow to be honest is another old building should have been 5 to 10 years ago. And I think that it it we should not be afraid of having
045those conversations as a community discussion because people really care about this stuff and the neighborhood schools are one of the most special things not just about our school department but about our community. I feel it in the comments tonight. I I live it myself. We all do. Um, so I know and respect that the communications plan is to unroll this plan in May. Um, what are the opportunities for public participation in that? I think we're having community meetings. How would you characterize those meetings? Is it a chance for people to actually submit and offer feedback and perspective or are the community meetings more that we're going to be delivering a plan >> or is it somewhere in between? >> Well, at this point given the accelerated and unexpected timeline, uh the temporary reorganization will be
046proposed. Um, this plan has been developed and is in still in development stages uh with the administrative team knowing that it's a temporary one-year reorganization. Um, the idea is to move forward with that plan as well as get the community input for the longer term plan. So um we've explored multiple options um and I will be detailing all of that even going back to the 2019 Oakpoint study um that was um a part you know presented to the Bangor school department back then um with multiple different options and those would be the long-term things to discuss which I absolutely would like as much input as possible. Um, so that's I think that answers your question. >> Can I ask another question? Who decided that Fairmont does need to be closed next year? >> I'd say
047that was a collective decision uh based on the facilities uh the discovering of the facility concerns. And I mean ultimately I agreed that yes, this is necessary because um out of an abundance of caution, I mean if we're unexpectedly finding asbestous to be able to um repair a roof, we really need to do a thorough assessment. Um it's not fair to students and staff, this has been going on since well even before 2019 because that's when the study was put out. So, um, in I believe it's in the best interest of students and staff and I do deeply understand the disruption and I'm not, uh, thrilled that by any means. I don't think it's helpful. I don't think it's it's not easy. It's very challenging. I do think however if we can come together as
048school and community that this is going to lead to the necessary steps that as member O'iri mentioned or I think you mentioned as well member spre should have been addressed many years ago and it hasn't been. So, there's been a number of items. Uh, there's been deferred maintenance based on budgetary um considerations and the multiple schools needing multiple um upgrades and um that's that's where we are right now. >> Okay, I respect that. I think in general, and I think we all agree with this, I'm not saying anything earthshattering, but we should try to overcommunicate and rather than undercommunicate. And we do have this vacuum of time now for the next two weeks that people are going to be feeling very anxious and I don't know if there's any opportunity to accelerate the discussion. I
049think we have dates for these community meetings which I think are great. I'm glad we're doing one on the east side and one on the west side. I hope that people will feel warmly welcome to participate in those. And I respect the tension between the time sensitivity of this and that if to run a true public process would be months, but people still need to feel like they're being heard and respected and listened to because people have good ideas and people have meaningful perspective that we should bring to bear in this. And um the I also agree that this is a really good opportunity. Some of the comments mention it, you've mentioned it. I think this does accelerate the east west discussion. I think there's real opportunities for expanded academic offerings by modernizing our facilities.
050Um I went to Fairmont and it feels the same walking in there as it did 30 years ago and that's very nostalgic and wonderful. But I think we also should recognize that it's a building that served us well and it's life is ending. Uh and we can honor that and Fairmont's a really special place >> and that's honestly that's the process. This is why I feel it is extremely important to take this next year to thoroughly assess and determine is this something that can be revitalized? What will it take? can it be, you know, upgraded to a point where it's going to extend its life? Um, and that's what the plan is going to be. So, in order to do that thoroughly, it does require um a number of different um aspects being looked at.
051And in order to proactively, you know, um again, not have to in an emergency situation say in two weeks we have to relocate because of an environmental hazard. Um, I do believe that it is in our best interest to do this now despite the short timeline. >> So, people that are especially concerned about this, and I understand why they are, our family is too. Um, what what would your advice be to them, come back in two weeks, attend those community meetings? >> Absolutely. And and you know, share your voice. I mean uh in the end of May as well I mean I know this isn't a short timeline but time is moving along very quickly I would say um but we are also going to have the preliminary results of our strategic planning process um
052so that is going to come forward and through that process those that that participated in those listening sessions there was discussion around facilities so my hope um is that we are going to have some preliminary information but then there will be continued listening sessions to uh gather as much input as possible so that we can make a long-term plan and that is you know that's what I'd like to do. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you, Member Sprag. Um member Cook. Uh Dr. Robinson, I don't know if you can speak to this and if you can't um that's fine, but given the timing of this um in our budget process and I assume what would be really high cost to fix some of the issues and what we might have to ask the taxpayers
053for to remedy those issues in a building that the infrastructure is just not where we want it to be. Um I we've talked about sort of like the community and their concerns and we've heard from people today. I I'm live in that neighborhood as well and my son will attend that school. Um I'm wondering if you would be able to kind of speak to some of the um staff perspectives that you've heard. Are they feeling similar concerns to the public or are they really concerned about the working conditions? Um just so that we kind of have an understanding of of where they're at. >> Yeah. I don't I don't want to necessarily speak for the staff. However, um I'd say that's both. Um there is concern. Um of course, for any kind of reorganization, as
054was mentioned this evening, it does create um an additional stress for folks, especially at a busy time of year. Um at the same time, concerns have been expressed. Um the leaky roof is just one example. Thank you. >> Um, thank you very much, Member Cook, member uh, Speed. >> Yes, thank you very much. Um, you know, I I'm I'm all about communications. I agree. Overcommunicating as good and as timely as possible, but I also, uh, appreciate the responsibility of communicating um, uh, accuracy and being thoughtful of what we communicate, uh, when we communicate, how we communicate it. because sometimes if we jump get ahead of ourselves it's irresponsible really um before we know enough. So, I'm wondering, you know, my my suggestion really is, and I appreciate the approach that we've taken tonight, you know,
055expressing what we know, expressing um what still needs to be determined. Um and I understand that there Member Sprag has alluded to some listening sessions. So, I wanted to give you the opportunity uh uh to reiterate when those listening sessions are. And also, you know, I'd love to also hear your thoughts on um the fact that we have a a very immediate situation that we need to deal with for the upcoming school year. And now that's um presented an opportunity to think about our reorganization as a whole, as a whole district. How can how can we be sensitive to the parents and students of Fairmont during these listening sessions? um while also listening to all parents and all students during those times. Is there is there a way that we can carve out special attention
056during those times? Um and then lastly, um one of the things that I think helps transparency in the two weeks that we have between now and those and our next meeting would be um a landing page, you know, on our website where folks can go as a source of truth of what we know, what we don't know. um a form that folks can fill out with their questions or concerns so we can start to collect those. And I would encourage all members of of Bangor to express those concerns. You know, the the concerns that we heard tonight were um were valid and um and received and so the more that we hear, the better that we can make those decisions together as a community. >> Absolutely. Um we can uh the two listening sessions that
057are scheduled are um on May 18th and from 5 to 6 p.m. at James F. Dowy and then at 6:30 to 7:30 um we will be over at Cohen. Um we can certainly there was not a specific plan to talk just to Fairmount students. Um, however, if that arises to um something that we need, I'm not opposed to doing that. Um, you asked multiple questions. I'm not sure what else you said. >> Yeah, I appreciate that because, you know, having an open-ended listening session is wonderful and constructive, but I think, you know, the immediate need the the Fair Mount parents and students, I think they deserve a carve out of time specific for them. That's a personal opinion. But but to communication, is there anything else that you can share um that we haven't heard
058already about what we know, what we don't know, what needs to be determined, and then also how can we receive those questions and comments. >> Sure, folks. In the meantime, >> I have talked with our um director of um community outreach um director Finny, and he is in process working on a web page that will um allow us to post that information as well as um a Google form that can allow for feedback. So, that's not quite ready yet. Um, as you can imagine, like you mentioned, um, this is a significant process in an accelerated timeline. So, um, I I will apologize for the fact that there hasn't been extensive communication at this point. Um and that is because we are trying to be very thoughtful and work through um a number of iterations so
059that we can land on what is going to be um hopefully the least disruptive that also provides um opportunities of course to maintain academic excellence and to ensure uh the safety of our students and staff. So um it has been a very thoughtful process. Um, I would like to commend the administrative team and district team. Um, those that have been deeply involved. Um, it's been a lot. We're still in process with that. Um, that presentation and proposal will be finalized and prepared um for sending out to the school committee for next week. Um, so that is definitely um what we want to reiterate is that this was unexpected. certainly not in the plan, not in the original plan. Uh the strategic plan was um is being revised and refined. We've been doing those listening sessions
060all over the winter and the whole purpose of that was to to gather the community input from uh input from community staff, students um and and all all the people as possible. So yeah, >> thank you. I did see member Oiri first. Sorry, members break. >> Um, thank you. Uh, this might not be the appropriate time, but I want to thank the parents who spoke today. Your voices matter. Um, I didn't run for school committee because I have a lot of free time. It's because I want to be a voice for those um who don't have the time. Um, and I commend you for taking the time out of your busy day and coming and presenting. But um, uh, member Speed said something that I wanted to say earlier um, but he u got to
061it first. But I I want to suggest again um a forum or some kind of landing page where parents who necessarily can't attend the the um those meeting sessions where they can feel that their voice is heard um where they can you know obviously you can email the the superintendent, email the uh school committee um come to school committee meetings. Um but if there's just some special um place where um parents who are specific about this uh talk topic could come and express their concerns and suggestions and ideas. Um that would be great. Um so that's my question. But I also want to commend um Superintendent Robinson for your work on this. It's a a lot of work that happens behind the scenes. Um and to be as strategic, thoughtful, um reasonable uh uh presenting
062the information that you actually have accurately, it takes time. Um and of course, as a parent, you know, you'd be frustrated um by the lack of not knowing as soon as possible, but at the same time, it's a it's a large organization that a lot of parts need to be uh put into place and communicated um effectively and efficiently and accurately. Um, so I commend you balancing all that while also doing your regular job that takes up a lot of time. So I really appreciate that. Um, um, so I'll let you answer if there's a possibility for parents to something that they can comment on that's not necessarily an email. >> Absolutely. Yeah. Um, we can, as I mentioned, uh, do a form on our uh, website and that can be shared out through thrillshare
063to all of our Fairmount families and um, really everyone if we want. Yeah. Yep. Thank you. Member O'Kee member Spray. >> Thank you. I don't want to seem like I'm secondguing in public here, but I the order of things is still a little bit troubling to me of what comes next because there's a vacuum of time here. Misinformation fills a vacuum and it's pinballing all over the place right now. I can feel it myself in my neighborhood and just people who are reaching out. I don't I feel a little bit in on uh I don't know off myself because I don't have a good sense of the plans. I know they're still being worked on. It's very complicated like transportation, uh facilities, extracurriculars, everything. It's complicated. I want to re recognize that. Um in my
064opinion, the community meetings May 18th is too far out. Is too far out. And I think I think we have to do it sooner as soon as next week or the week after. And again, just on the order of it, because we are a public entity, we have to post our agenda publicly like several days before the meeting. So then that is going to get in the media before we've had a chance to talk about it. And when it ends up in the media, it's going to get skewed and it's going to further the misinformation. We're going to be here two weeks from now still very confused. And I actually think after the May 13th meeting, we will all feel a lot better. So maybe we just need to endure to that point. But I
065think that people are so anxious right now and there's so much misinformation. I mean, I'm hearing wild ideas out there. And um I don't know. I I I don't blame people for feeling that. So, I don't know if there's an opportunity that maybe when if you're going to post it as part of the agenda for May 13th towards the end of next week, maybe it shouldn't just be like part of the agenda, but actually a public announcement of the preliminary plans. And so, we control the narrative a little bit better so that we're not just waiting until May 13th, but we are out in front of it a little bit more. >> Definitely can be considered. Yeah. Thank you. member speed. >> Yeah, but but isn't that the point to get as much feedback and
066ideas as possible? I I hear what you're saying. You know, we don't want if we don't control the narrative of what we know and what we don't know, then folks will spread rumors or make up ideas of what they think is happening. Um, however, I think what we can do as a community right now is really think about how do we address this as a community? And so I think having time to actually take that input, take that feedback is is going to be valuable. So that's that's my encouragement to folks, more folks that are here that can speak to that speak to that, but also come to our next meeting and give public comment, fill out the forms, reach out uh to the superintendent's office. Um it's going to be important. But I I
067do appreciate what you're saying, member Sprag, because um you know, we're we're all hearing uh rumors out there and the the truth is as a community, we need to figure this out. So, uh it's on all of our shoulders to do that. >> Thank you very much, Member Speed. I think we're all in the very unique situation that we all have children who will be directly impacted by whatever change happens. And so, this is very uh reticent for all of us. And I I do want to um echo member O'Re's message that it is very scary to talk at that podium and to express yourself especially when there is so much frustration. And we understand that and we hear that and we thank you all so much for taking the time out to show up
068to be here and to um continue to share your ideas like every person up here has said. I wanted to also maybe, as much as I want to wax poetic about all of the emotions that I'm feeling, I think right now the most honestly constructive thing that would be helpful right now is to recognize that this isn't anything new. We've been understanding that these buildings are old for some time, but every spring we are here meeting with the city and being told we have to make cuts. And I think a constructive thing to do is to write to your city counselors and encourage them when they are looking at the school budget to look at what our school needs are because they ultimately look at that school budget and they might say how bad is
069it? It's not that bad. Okay. And then suddenly six years later we're in a situation where there is panic in the community. And that's frustrating for all of us. And there's obviously I'm not trying to redistribute blame. I'm saying that as a constructive way to encourage some movement on this. We have our budget meeting with the city on May 7th encouraging our city councilors to look at the school budget and say we don't want to be in this position again. And I think that we have learned a lot of things and will continue to learn very hard lessons throughout this. I think um if anything as we continue to progress having those continued um listening sessions and creating a real community conversation is going to be critical and I just want to encourage that and
070say that publicly like this has to continue this conversation and I know that there this is just two listening sessions and hopefully what will be continued throughout the year so that there is no misinformation there is no waiting there is no oh also this happened and no one heard something famili something scheduled. Um, but at the end of the day, telling your elected officials that this matters is so critical. So, thank you very much for being here. And also, I hope that there's just as much encouragement when we meet with the city on May 7th to say this is why passing the school budget is so valuable. Please understand that these are old buildings that need attention and that's where our students spend the majority of our day. Our valuable teachers spend their day. We
071want people to feel safe and comfortable and thriving and have the best most innovative upto-date technologically advanced you know experience and not feel like it's you know 1993 when you walk back into the building every time. So, um, I appreciate everyone's feedback on this and thank you truly and and I really thank you for coming out here tonight to share. All right. Next up on our agenda, um, we have Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, members. >> I just wanted to, um, just reiterate. So you're saying that May 13th is the next time that we meet? >> No. >> As a school committee, May 7th, we have a budget presentation that we're going to attend. >> Yes, we are going to help. We are going to assist Dr. Robertson in the presentation of our budget to the
072school city. It will be a city council meeting that we can attend >> and anyone in the public anyone in the public can attend. >> Yeah. >> That's May 7th and then May 13th we'll reconvene. Yes, we will be at this regular >> dis. >> Then May 18th will be the listening sessions. >> Correct. >> Um I had a couple other questions for the superintendent report. Is that okay if I address that? >> Yeah, I'm so sorry. Yes. >> Um so the pupil services director position is an incredibly important one. Um how is that transition going to take place? Um, you know, one of the policies that we have before us involves uh the Lao uh plan that we have, and I'm sure it's a a policy that we're we're going to need to look
073at. Um, so I'm wondering if if somebody could speak to what that transition will look like between our current pupil services uh and the incoming pupil services that has not yet been approved. I know we're we're that's on the agenda to approve that that nomination uh tonight uh tonight. So, uh, once approved, um, we'll really be continuing with what's been happening, um, already, I would say. Um, we are fortunate to have, um, the person who has, um, risen to the top for this position is a current employee, um, and is our current assistant director of people services. So, she has been able to work closely uh with our current director of pupil services and really um begin to make that transition now and that will continue from now until the end of the school year.
074Uh being included in um specific meetings uh discussing specific topics that will again ease that transition. um this is a much better scenario than um in an event where at times we have to wait until that July 1 um time frame to bring in new employees. So this affords us the opportunity to begin that transition process well in advance of that July one uh kind of handing over the baton. >> Yes. So in relation, you mentioned the cell phone ban policy. I had a opportunity to attend the MSMA main school management association advocacy day in Augusta and get a chance to sit down with the governor and that was the question I asked her her thoughts on on the cell phone ban policy and you know she's done a lot of research on it read
075a number of books on on it to to come to this decision and I know at Bangorra High School has been um allotted in the media recently for a cell phone ban policy and other schools are looking to our model. Um I I would love to to know when we're going to um get a report back on how that policy is is going. I think there's a draft policy that is being developed um and that allows us to adapt to our specific uh department. Um, but I'd love to encourage one of the things and and this is why I like to encourage at that meeting in Augusta, there were two student reps um that actually pushed back a little bit and and uh I was there were two students from York and they were very
076thoughtful and they had actually done a survey of students uh and staff on the cell phone policy. Um, and not just on cell phones, but you know, anxiety that comes from the use of cell phones, how to have digital literacy, engagement within classrooms, um, employability skills around how we use phones, right? I have my phone in my pocket right now. Um, but I'm not going to take it out and and play Candy Crush um, at the moment. So, um, how do we teach those skills? And so, all of these discussions, I know before I joined this committee, there are several discussions on it. Um, is it possible to have a report out from Bangor High School and and how the cell phone ban is going? Um, but also, you know, if my student rep our
077student our student rep was right here still, she's my neighbor, my buddy. Um, uh, I would encourage them, you know, is it a possibility to conduct a survey to get some feedback from from students and staff? >> Thank you. Yeah, we can definitely consider that. Okay, thank you very much. Um, next we will move on to report of retirements. Dr. Robinson, >> I'm reporting the following retirements for the 2026 2027 school year. Kathy Stankard, principal at 14th Street School. >> No, just kidding. >> She does. Kathy. Um, all right. Next report of reassignments. >> I'm reporting the following reassignment for the 26 27th school year. Ann Marie Stencil from grade 1 teacher at Abraham Lincoln School to kindergarten teacher at Abraham Lincoln School. >> Thank you very much. Report of resignations. >> I'm reporting the
078following resignations for the 2627 school year. Tiffany Albi, grade four teacher at the Fairmount School. >> Thank you very much. Um, all right. The next item we have is business action items. First up, uh, minutes of the last meeting. >> I'm recommending the approval of the draft minutes of the April 8th, 2026 regular school committee meeting. >> Thank you very much. Can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> 6. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, the financial report. Dr. Robinson. >> I'm recommending approval of the March 2026 financial report. >> Thank you very much. Um, can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> 6o. >> Thank you so much. Next on our agenda is personnel. Um,
079we start with administrative nominations. Dr. Robinson. I am recommending the following administrator nominations for the 2026 2027 school year with a one-year probationary contract. Jeannie McAlpine, director of pupil services. I'd just like to say a couple things about Jeanie. Um I met Jeanie last year uh when I first started. Uh she has been our assistant uh director of pupil services and has done an amazing job in that role. Uh we had several um highly qualified candidates conducted uh interviews with all of them including um member speed. Thank you again for joining us in those interviews. Um Jean's skills, knowledge and expertise really set her apart from our other candidates and um we are very thrilled to uh bring her on board as the director of pupil services. I don't know if you want to say
080anything at all. You're good. Okay. So, this is the job that chose me. Um, I started as an ed for 25 years ago in education. Um, I've always been in special education. I worked my way up to a special teacher, taught for around 16 years, special ed teacher. Um, and was always very student forward. Um, I've been the assistant director for two years. an amazing opportunity. I have learned from the my current administrators. Um I learn from them every single day. Um and so I'm very honored to be chosen as the new director. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Well, no surprises here, but can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. All in favor? 6. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you very much. Congratulations, Genie. Um, do we
081have any new teacher nominations? >> We don't have any new teacher nominations for this evening. >> Thank you very much. Okay. Next up, we have second-year probationary contracts and continuing contracts. Dr. Robinson, is everyone okay if we take both of these together? Wonderful. Thank you. So, I'd like to um nominate to for committee approval the election of teacher nominees for second-year probationary contracts from September 1st, 2026 to August 31st, 2027 and continuing contracts from September 1st, 2026 to August 31st, 2028. Second year probationary contracts from Bangor High School. James Fe foreign language Lyn Rush special ed man Mayor Maynard Walton history from William S. Cohen School Michelle McGrath Copeland science from James F. Dowy School, Kelsey Hilton, grade six. Christy Proctor, grade six. Carmen Palencia, grades uh special education. Abraham Lincoln School, Kelsey Lindcott, kindergarten.
082Fairmont School, Olivia Belute, Noah Gier, uh, special ed. Noah Gier, grade five. 14th Street School. Joshua Martin, school counselor. Sarah Mishu, special education. Maya Middleton, preK. Kelly Thompson, grade two. Fruit Street School. Allison D. Carlo, special education. Garrett Johnson, physical education. Mary Snow School. Haley Anderson, grade four. McKenzie Powell, grade five. Scott Talov, special education. Megan Vanstein, school counselor. Vine Street School. Jacob Clark, grade 1. Carissa Lamond, grade three. Pupil services. Michelle Dunning, school nurse. Stevens Sherro, physical therapist. Our continuing contracts at Bangor High School are Emma Nelson, special education. Jamie Pernell, science at William S. Cohen School, Isaac Bushwe, grade six. Corey Deion, physical education. Sarah Holappel, music, James F. Dowy School, Jonathan Dowy, special education. Brooke Deu Dew de French, of course. Um, Alyssa, I didn't take French. Alyssa Kabash, special education at
083Abraham Lincoln School. Michaela Richards, grade three. Down East school. Michael Boomer, art. Haley Burgess, grade three. Alexis Duvo, grade three. Morgan Hart, grade three. Kasha Robertson, special education at Fairmont School. Alexa Bartley, music. Karen Daart, grade four. Alexander Randall, special education. Mary Snow School. Megan Shaw, title one. Vine Street School, Jacob Dun, special education. Alexandria Gingris, grade 1. Pupil services. Maria Glidden, occupational therapist. Ashley Hoffman, social worker. Abigail Pierce, social worker, and Rose Pompei, ML, and Bangor Regional Program. Susan Lauritano, social worker. >> Thank you very much. Um, can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> 60. Thank you. >> Wonderful. Um, for extra duties assignment for the school year 2026 27, Dr. Robinson. >> I have a comprehensive list of extra duty assignment nominations for
084the 2026 2027 school year. Uh these nominations cover most duties. Um and they are noted. It's listed in uh our packet if the um nomination is not a current Bangor School department employee. So that's noted. Um, and I'm recommending school committee approval for the extra duty assignments for the 2627 school year as listed in our packet. I'm not going to read through all of them this year as I know I did last year, but we're trying to streamline. I remember I remember streamlining. So, I recommend approval as listed. >> Thank you very much. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Um, any discussion? All right. Uh, all in favor? >> 6. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Um, next up, donations. Member O' Carey will now read a list of our received donations. Member O'Kee,
085>> thank you. Uh, to Down East school from Bangor Savings Bank Bank snacks to support students having a total dollar value of $200. With gratitude, I would recommend the um motion to accept this generous offer. >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor? >> 6o. Thank you very much for those donations. >> All right, the introduction items. Next up, we have the first reading of revised policies. I am recommending that we take these all at once um to review and approve. Dr. Robinson, I'm recommending approval of the first reading of our revised policies. Revised policy IGD, co-curricular and intercolastic programs. Revised policy, IGDH, academic contests for students. Revised policy, IHBA, program for multilingual learners. Thank you very much. Can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Um any second. >> Any discussion? >> I'll take
086this opportunity to run um the list of uh what the policy committee discussed um in policy IGD, the co-curricular and instalactic programs. Um this uh the practice end times were updated to reflect scheduling needs. Um the standard time extended uh to 8:00 PM and the lateness end time adjusted to 9:00 p.m. um from 9:30 p.m. Um and we removed the word social just to simplify the language. Um and in policy IGBD U program for multilingual learners uh we updated the policy name to IHBA um in in um in alignment with um MSMA's um guidance and also aligned the language um with MSMA. >> Thank you very much. Any questions? A member speed. Um yeah, I was wondering if I could start with uh policy IGD co-curricular and intercalactic scholastic um not galactic intercolastic programs. Um
087you know there's there's listed here start times, end times um what's reasonable for folks um to get notification. I understand in the policy it states if there's anything that's extra early or extra late then then communication would be um provided. But I'm just curious is there is there do we feel there's a need to actually put that in the policy as far as travel is concerned. So I know that it's listed as events events do not end or after this time. Um but there's some early morning activity as well and there's also some late travel. So, what what is if if if uh you know, I'd like to know what is the earliest that students are leaving uh for activities and what is the latest that they're getting back? Um and does does that need
088to actually be in in the policy? >> Thank you very much, Member Speed. I would love to answer, but I definitely am making eye in contact with the um policy expert right now. Um uh thank you. I I know I was going to say assistant director uh Dr. Aris Medbury. >> Um so what this is intended is that it will uh really address the vast majority of the things that are occurring. There are occasional things that happen a little bit earlier like there's some 21st century things and there are um some musical things that happen earlier in the morning but not an excessively um early amount of time. There are occasional like large field trips like if they're going on something special that might extend much earlier uh or can like like going to Scotland
089you know those are things that would come before you but this would address the general things that are happening on a regular basis and that way it would allow people time to plan. Um, we don't really want to extend the school day a lot as far as, you know, increasing it in the morning time other than like there's walking school bus that that's something that helps students to walk to school. So, we wouldn't necessarily add that in there because it's part of getting to school. Um, anything that's happening on those extended times would be clearly articulated to families so that they would know that those events were coming up and they could choose do they want to participate or not. Thank you very much Dr. Harris Smithberg. I also just want to add that during
090our discussion we also saw this as an opportunity to maintain um especially when things are being planned some organization and some boundaries in terms of how late events might be planned especially if they include younger children where 8:00 is past a bedtime. And so by being able to frame out a beginning and an end that's reasonable, maybe perhaps this is a policy that folks would look at and say, "Hey, we're going to have our school play. When should we plan it? Oh, it has to be over by 8." It's more of a buffer to help us make sure that we're still working within a safe and reasonable timeline for the basic hygiene and wellness of our students. Um, uh, member Cook, is there a separate policy that is related to co-curricular and intercolastic transportation? That
091is a great question. I am not familiar, Dr. Harris Mudberg. Um what I'm not sure what you're asking like for times >> or just transport to and from or what what um curricular co-curricular um or intercolastic activities for which we provide. >> So if they're going on a basketball trip or something like that that should fall within this policy. >> And is um elementary school band considered um a co-curricular or intercolastic activity? Yes, I believe that it Yes. >> Go ahead. >> We did discuss specifically like the band concerts and the lateness of them and um making this more of um so that um um I don't want to say teachers, but the band directors, you know, can look to this and say, "Oh, maybe we should push it earlier and whatnot." That may be
092why you're asking, >> member Cook. I'm asking because I just want to make sure in the future that if we are offering um uh music programming in the morning that we are providing that transportation and I'm wondering if that's something that we accomplish through policy. >> That is a wonderful recommendation and question. Um Dr. Harrisburg. >> Um the transportation is not required through policy. It's just a standard practice. >> Thank you very much. Member Speed. Yeah, I was wondering if I could have an answer to my previous question, which is what is the earliest and what is the latest, right? I' I've heard stories of folks getting home at 1:00 a.m., but I can't imagine, right, that folks would get home that late. Is that true? >> Are there question? >> I think that would
093be a Yeah, I don't know if that's at the high school if I I would say there may be exceptions if there are unex, you know, unexpect unexpected circumstances, but I I wouldn't say that's the norm. I certainly >> Yeah. So, like our kids our kids uh leaving before 6:00 a.m. and getting getting back after 11 >> pardon the policy are exceptions. They're noted. You know, we made some decisions. I made some decisions to stop participating in certain seasonal uh co-curriculars because I couldn't I wasn't satisfied that the outlandish hour that kids got released was something we wanted to continue doing. So, they're rare. They do occur. The very earliest, uh, a high school does start a little earlier. Um, there aren't clubs or activities that start even before 7 a.m. The student council exec
094board might come in at the at that time, but most things are between 7 and 8. The latest the in terms of, you know, scholastics, the rearrangement of the divisions in class A having more uh, local opponents. I couldn't have stood up here five years ago and said travel's great. It wasn't. We were traveling for league contests, just run-of-the-mill contests, uh, you know, 3 hours, you know, when you from the time the game ends and getting home. So what was presented, what I heard in the policy doesn't seem unreasonable, undoable, and not much less of an occurrence or an instance of those things happening than I could have said 5 years ago. >> Thank you, Dr. Butler. >> Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. It's good to have that context and I just want to
095be aware of that. So, if students are getting home late and and they're working on Saturdays, working on Sundays, it may it may be a policy that um you know considers Friday different than a school night, but we also have students that work and and I would hope that they would have access and and ability to compete and to participate. Um and any way that we can help uh in our policies, this is this is I think one of our most important duties that we have to to do that. So, um, something to consider, I think. Um, love to hear your input as well as far as whether we think we need to put in the policy. Um, cannot return later than this time. >> Thank you very much. I I would recommend that that
096be reserved for our policy committee meeting and I would welcome you to join that so that we can have that discussion because I do think it's an important thing to consider and I appreciate that. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Um, moving on. Uh, oh, I'm sorry. Sorry. We That was the discussion. Now it is the time to vote. All in favor? >> 60. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Next up, committee updates. Um, we have no committee appointments. Do we have any representative reports? >> Wonderful. Um, member VJ was kind enough to leave a little note on the student committee updates that I would be um, happy to share um, because they're very exciting. Bangor High School senior prom is this Saturday. Yay. The math team, as we saw, placed first in
097both their division and their state. Congratulations. Um, spring sports are well underway with softball, baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, outdoor track, and tennis all performing well. The Best Buddies um Bangor hosted its friendship walks actually for most of Maine at Cameron Stadium last sat last Sunday um and was well attended, exceeded all goals and um really brought in more individuals in the community than ever before. Um so thank you to all who attended that. The class of 2027 participated in junior transcript review day with UI and BHS humanity students traveled to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague over spring break. And as we all again saw this t this earlier this evening, French teacher uh Mrs. Chilling w received uh the multilingual mains sister Solange lifetime achievement award. So thank you very much member VJ for those.
098Um next up we have any questions or comments from the committee? Member Sprag >> I promise I'm not going to prolong this too much longer but I want to end on a positive note and say member Brideen well done leading the meeting tonight. I think this is your first time. Big meeting. Nice job. Uh it was really great to see all those students and staff recognized at the beginning of the meeting. Uh I'm glad there were so many people here to see it and people watching online. Achievement is worth celebrating and it's okay for us to want to be the best at things. I love that about the Bangor School department. I want us to be the best and I want to be proud of it. So that was a nice start to the meeting
099today. Uh, and I do think the Fairmont I know the Fairmont situations have been all-consuming on your time, Dr. Robinson, and many people in the staff. And I I it's easy to second guessess things after the fact, but decisions made in moments of crisis are rarely going to be perfect. There's things we can learn from all these situations, and I hope we do, but I don't really think there's been deliberate attempts at obuscation here. I think it's been trying to get to this meeting for an initial update. It ended up in the paper. They're a good paper. They got it. Okay, that's how it goes. But we're going to get through it. It's going to be okay. We have short-term decisions to make and long-term decision decisions to make. And it will be we will
100be okay. Our staff is phenomenal on these. Our students are are resilient and we'll get through it. And some of the ideas floating around are so bad that whatever we come up with is going to be better. It's going to be wellreceived. So I look forward to the next discussion in two weeks. But >> I can say it's not the Bangor Mall. >> I did hear that and it's not that >> and concern. >> Thank you very much. Member Frag, Member Cook. Uh Dr. Robinson mentioned the retirement of Kathy Stankard and I just wanted to take a moment to say that is the crisis I'm dealing with right now because that will be um a devastating loss to our community but we wish her well in her retirement. >> Well said, Member Cook. Thank you
101very much for all you've done. Principal Sinker uh members feed. >> Yeah, I just wanted to to put a shout out for the recent podcast. I'm number one fan of Beyond the Bell. um uh with committee member Luchiano and uh Dr. Robinson as well, but particularly it's close to my heart because of the uh emphasis on nature-based learning, learning outside, uh learning through the school gardens and the wonderful staff and volunteers that we have. Um but not only that, but just listening to the conversation of the fact that we're partnering with UTC students who are designing and building a greenhouse with the Bangor students. We have local Girl Scouts that are collaborating on these uh community gardens, raised beds for the uh project transitions program uh and the other multitude of community partners that we
102have. Um and it's just a wonderful way of emphasizing hands-on learning and getting outside. So, I really appreciate that. >> Thank you very much. >> All right, seeing no further comments, I wanted to um share uh some upcoming important dates. First up, Thursday, May 7th, mark your calendars for our city budget presentation. 5:15 here in council chambers. Wednesday, May 13th is our regularly scheduled meeting. Uh 700 p.m. in council chambers. We do have our listening sessions. May 18th, 5 to 6:00 p.m. at Dowy School and 6:30 to 7:30 at Cohen. Wednesday, May 27th, regular meeting 7 p.m. in council chambers. Wednesday, June 10th, uh, regular meeting 7 p.m. Council Chambers. Wednesday, June 17th, end of year assembly 7:45 Peaks Auditorium. And Wednesday, June 24th, regular meeting 700 p.m. Council Chambers. Um, with that, may I
103get a motion for adjournment? >> So moved. All >> in favor? 60. Thank you. Good night.