001All right. Good evening everyone. I am going to call the October 29th school board meeting to order at 6:00 pm. If everyone could please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Uh, roll call. Megan Arshambo, excused. Melissa Bacon, excused. Carmen Barski. >> Suzanne Bower. Mark Cardisano >> here. >> Elizabeth Day >> here. >> Michelle Felicetti. >> Anastasia Ferguson >> here. >> Eric Garrison excused. Jodie Lane here. Jennifer Mayo >> here. >> Amy Morrison >> here. >> Wes Finny >> here. >> Adam Tangway >> here. >> Judith Vau. >> D. Vigliata >> here. >> Zoe Anthony >> Walker Vivian >> here. >> We have a
002quorum this evening with 13 directors present. Are there any adjustments to the agenda? Nope. >> Anyone? >> No adjustments to the agenda. Uh consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Make a motion the consent agenda. >> We have a motion. Anastasia and Beth. Um any discussion on the consent agenda? Amy, you may have the same corrections I do. Um, so it was for was it the October 21st meeting? I'm sorry. Yes, the October 21st meeting. Um, motion at the third motion during the executive session I do not believe was unanimous. >> No, it was 12 to1. >> Yep. I spoke with Caitlyn about that and also had her add the adjournment time. So, >> and that was my >> Yeah, thank you. Good catch. Any other discussion on the
003consent agenda? All those in favor? All right. Thank you. Public comment. Do we have any public comment this evening? No public comment. All right. Board chair report. um happy to kick off recognitions and celebrations for this school year and especially with this evening's uh which is for Adam go. So you want to speak and >> I would love to. So it's it's with great pleasure and an honor to uh share with you this evening that Mr. Go has been selected as the Maine Adult Education Administrator of the year for the state of Maine. As you know, he has really led uh a drastic expansion of our program offerings as well as participation and um of real keen interest to all of us is the fact that our graduation levels through the high school equivalency uh
004process the high set has really blossomed under Mr. Go's leadership. So, it's uh with great pleasure that we recognize him tonight for all the wonderful work he does for our greater learning community. Congratulations. [applause] [applause] >> Green's good. Awesome. Uh just briefly, I wanted to say thank you all so much. Um this this award uh is really a reflection of the the fantastic work being done here. Um I and that is the direct result of the really exceptional staff that uh we have in adult head and the exceptional board support. Um I think the I'm honored to receive the award. I think it's more accurate to say it's program of the year. Uh but nonetheless um we couldn't have done it uh without our terrific employees and the board and uh school admin. Thanks very
005much. That's all I have tonight. I'm going to share a little bit about the MSMA conference at next week, uh, our next meeting, but I wanted to get some of that put together [clears throat] for you before I did that. So, I'm going to move on to the superintendent report. Dr. Marquee. >> Okay. And as always, we're going to start off with our student reps first. >> Okay. Good evening, everyone. Um, so recently Alfred Elementary had a day with the Alfred Fire Department. Uh, there was a fire truck, ambulance, and smoke simulator at the school, and students were able to explore these and do some target practice with the fire hose. Uh, throughout the year, the school will be awarding a pizza party to the classroom who earns the most uh golden tickets each month.
006And these tickets are awarded to students uh who go above and beyond and demonstrate the school promise. Uh classrooms that have 90% attendance or more each month are also entered into a contest um and a drawing to win a special prize like extra recess or a pizza party. The school had a fall family night on the 15th of October. Fall in Maine was the theme and there are a lot of different learning stations including silent e- lake, main book readaloud, main pumpkin estimation and design your own main state seal. All students received a free book and there was also the evening book fair that night. The book fair ran throughout the week during school hours. On the day of Halloween, uh the school's annual character parade will be occurring. Students are invited to come to
007school dressed up as a character from their favorite book. They go in a parade during care time that morning. Uh in the library, younger grades have been focusing on character studies. First and second graders are learning about authors and illustrators and older grades will be reading a chapter book and learning about digital citizenship. This month is bullying prevention month and counseling lessons this month will revolve around that theme. And on the 23rd and 24th, the Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness was partnering with the school for some activities. On the 17th, the Alfred Elementary had a trick-or- treat trail. Uh there were decorated candy stations throughout the wooded trails around the school and uh participants were able to vote on their favorite displays and the winners got prizes. It was a fun and well attended event.
008On Thursday, November 6th, the school will be hosting a fall bingo night from 6:00 to 7:30. There will be snacks and beverages available and the school has partnered with RSD Graphics to make some new school themed apparel that will be able to be purchased until the 12th of November. Uh each month every teacher at Lion Elementary nominates a student that they believe is a model Mustang. Uh and a staff member who always goes above and beyond is also recognized each month for their contributions to the school. Uh the school had a candy collection war on the 17th of October. Uh and the grade that collected the most candy won a pizza party and a glow stick pack. There is a Halloween costume swap at line which runs until the end of October where families can
009leave old Halloween costumes and pick new ones up and so far it's been very popular. The Lumer and Newfield Fire Department recently visited the school and their book fair will be from November 12th to the 14th. Chapley has been focusing on their theme of perseverance this month and students have been encouraged to share examples of times they persevered. The school will be hosting a book fair from October 28th until the 31st. And their book fair will be open during the school day and in the evening on October 30th. Uh, on the most recent early release day, there was an activity for the younger grades where they were able to read a book and then use handson materials to design their dream home. And I'll turn it over to Zoe for the second half of the
010student representative report. Thank you. >> Good afternoon, everyone. More on Shley. On November 12th, there will be an annual Veterans Day assembly and a breakfast with the veterans and their families. Um, and they will also have a spirit day at the school for a several days during the month um of October and November. October 9th is wear pink. Um there's a comfy cozy day on the 24th, a red, white, and blue day on November 12th for the veterans assembly. And then each Monday is a mustang Monday where students will wear Mustang gear. On Friday, October 24th from 5:30 to 7:30 to 7:00, Lyman Elementary will have a Halloween bingo night. And there also will be a walk-athon fundraiser on October 17th. The most recent PTC meeting was on was at 6 p.m. on October 14th,
011and the next one will be the 10th. Um, and they're usually held in the library. During the month of October at Waterl Elementary, they'll be focusing on cooperation. The fifth grade class will be hosting a bottle drive where bottles will be donated to JD's. Um, and then the PTO is having a fundraiser selling Mustang and school themed shirts, pants, hats, and other other things like that. Students participate in NW NWA tests throughout the month, and results will be finalized soon, and this will be used by teachers to set goals and guide instruction. Um, and there will also be a trick or treat or on October 24th from 6:00 to 8:00. And the school will be seeking candy donations from students and families. MMS has many clubs and organizations that are meeting regularly. The Spilled Inc.
012newspaper meets every Monday. Student council, yearbook, uh, game club and law enforcement club is will be meeting a few times as well as drama. MHS just had a schedule change to give clubs more time for meetings. Tuesdays and Thursdays now have extended home rooms for those club meetings. Um students are not meeting will just remain in their home room and that means the block block one will also be shortened now. Uh the ski club will also be starting up with the cooler weather coming. Um and signups have just started and are in the weekly newsletters. Um, National Honor Society will be inducting students um, on November 6th. Eligible students that applied were juniors and seniors who had a 3.5 or above cumulative GPA and also had proof of good character examples of leadership in at
013least 25 community service hours. Um, there are lots of events happening um, throughout the district this month. many Halloween themed elementaryaries will be holding tr will hold several trick-or-treating events and other Halloween related activities. Uh with every day students continue to gain more knowledge and skills and exper and experience growth in themselves and their abilities. Um and this will continue happening now and for the rest of the school year. There's a lot more look to look forward to for the school and the students. And that will conclude our report. Thank you. You guys are both fantastic. Um, want to share last week, uh, six board members. Um, I was fortunate enough to join six board members and Dr. Doyle at the main school management, um, and main school superintendent association conference. It was a wonderful
014opportunity to learn from experts from around the state and beyond and and also spend a lot of time um having conversations with colleagues whether it were board members talking with other board members from around the state or um Walker was like local celebrity up there and uh the the number of comments shared about Walker uh I'm really shocked that he wasn't signing autographs by the end of the [laughter] the the the couple days up there. Um I I think that Zoe will be a fantastic representative next year um if she's able to attend. Um so it was really a wonderful event. Um on a on a side note, I I won a drawing that uh I have to I'm going to take my own personal stance on this. I want a drawing for $500 to
015go towards a program that uh we might want to start or that I might be interested in. and I'm going to actually take advantage of that and it likely um I'm I'm whittling it down to two options and uh that I think could have a real impact on kids um from around the district. Um [snorts] want to share that uh at this time of year our business office is quite busy with NEO reporting. Neo reporting is all the state data right and that helps to generate um subsidy and such. So, uh, tomorrow I'll be certifying our student, um, information as well as our staff information and, um, Mr. Okconor will be finalizing the special ed portions of that. And, uh, we're very, uh, um, upbeat about our outlooks of maximizing our subsidy. I want to
016share that um today we were visited by Channel 6 for a uh a news uh segment that I think is fitting. This time of year it's really always critical as we we um look to um colder temperatures and economic conditions and and obviously um the current state of um some of the the shutdown elements. So, we talked really um today about um food insecurity and the supports and mechanisms. And I think that's something that this district um really should be quite proud of is the fact that people rise up to help others in need. And um this fall our schools have heard from numerous community members that are seeking ways in which they can help you know with um shelf stable food and and various products that could be of of support. So each of
017our schools are collecting donations that would be sightbased. So the the impact is immediate and really aligned with each of those um school facilities. And then also, uh, Miss Wakefield, our, um, outreach leazison, works really closely with, um, with a variety of organizations and community groups um to help support those in need. So, I just want to express great gratitude to our our larger community um, the the support of Youthful Maine and the Backpack Program. We we're fortunate right now as a whole state to be able to provide um meals to kids during the school week, but we also provide thousands of meals each year really to be consumed on weekends um during vacation weeks as well as throughout the summer. So, at this time, I' I'd really want to express sincere gratitude to all
018of those really. It's about the helping hands of many that make make our our communities really rich and thrive. So, as we move towards Thanksgiving and the holiday season, let's continue to look out for one another and demonstrate the strength of our greater school community. And uh so um I was a little nervous about the the segment because there are political elements to some of the desire to tell a story um because it is impacting so many people. I don't I can't imagine anyone in this room is not impacted with some level of um current reality of of financial challenge. Um, so what and it's something that we really need to be mindful of year round regardless of um the status of say a government shutdown. If we focus all of our attention on the
019government shutdown, we're actually not really understanding the the true impact and um folks might rise up for one cause, but really this is really a um more of a systemic thing throughout the state of Maine and our nation as we try to support others. Um let's see if there's anything else on me. I'm going to talk a little bit later about um the roof renovation project as far as um the your approval tonight. That's going to conclude my report for this moment. Actually, as an aside, I want to share something funny. Um, I always appreciate kids when they when I'm visiting schools and they'll they'll say the the cutest things and um and I hope that Mr. Soy doesn't mind this one. So, I'm up at line uh the other day and I'm sitting in
020the lunchroom next to some kids because I tend to like to sit at lunch tables and talk. And uh this little kid's like, "Oh my, you look just like last year's principal." I'm like, "Am I bald?" [laughter] So anyway, I think Mr. So would like that one. [laughter] So um that concludes my report. >> We do have a question. >> Uh D, go ahead. >> Uh just a question about the outreach program with the food pantry with the schools. Um, some of the federal subsidies that families take advantage of too include pet supplies. Are you guys accepting any type of pet supply donations included for students? >> Um, I can't speak to that. Um, and I can't recall every item on the list, so I apologize for that. Um, do you know the answer to
021that >> or do you know if there's like a need like is there like an an obvious need from students? I don't believe that I think we're getting feedback. I don't believe that we had those items on the list. Um I do know that there are understanding that students have families that have broader needs. I do know that there are some ancillary things that um the outreach coordinator will collect for families. So an example I would give you would be like clothing for infants for example. That that's part of it. I would see pets to be a similar extension. Um, there are also, you know, other agencies that do do those collections within town that are worth considering as well, but I I doubt that we would turn away a donation. That seemed like something
022it could be passed forward into families. >> Cool. Thank you. And and [clears throat] I think that um though I was a little nervous um over the last couple days for that um brief interview um the reality is larger stories have broken late this afternoon about some additional supports to families, some um significant funds that will be going to Good Shepard food pantry for distribution around the state. So there are a lot of uh levers being pulled uh this afternoon which were not on our radar this morning and I and I would have grabbed a few of those talking points and uh ultimately what we talked about earlier today was the exact message that was sent out to all main schools this afternoon by main school management. So we might have been a little ahead
023of the curve which is actually nice but a little frightening early on because just the with all the political climate that we have in our nation for various reasons. Jen, >> um I mean like in regards to D's question comment, if we knew like there [clears throat] is a nonprofit right near the middle school that we could refer people to to either donate or also to seek support like so if we knew some of our students had that concern maybe we could work with like Naen just get some cards or something from her. >> Yep. and and much of our our we're really seeking support within our schools to support others when our within our schools. But um in the broader context there are individuals that feel good about certain organizations that they like to
024work with and they regularly routinely work with. So, um, really at this time we're doing it with our students, but really about engaging with whatever organization that really is supporting the goodwill and and for others. So, great point, John. >> Um, I also wanted to share to that end that we do have a community resources page that's available on our website which will be included in um, upcoming newsletters to families. There's a very, very broad variety of resources that's available there. always changing as you might imagine. And so we're working on updates to that page, but there's a significant list of everything from our district resources and contact information as well as our homeless assistance, school nutrition information, and other community resources, food pantries, locations, hours, contact information, and that sort of thing. Mental health
025and well-being resources, domestic violence and emergency. There's just a really broad range that I think it would be a great idea for folks who would be interested or interact and have forward- facing positions throughout the district or even in your your um roles as as um directors to be able to sort of bookmark that to share whenever you have an inquiry because the need is a highlight right now as Dr. Marque shared, but it's certainly something that's always ongoing and having that in our back pocket is a great toolkit to be able to share with folks when they express that need or desire to help. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments regarding that or anything on the superintendent's report? >> Right. We uh standing committees, we will start with policy. Beth, >> um
026we have not met. Our next meeting is Tuesday the 5th um at 6 PM here. >> Wednesday. It is Wednesday the [laughter] 5th >> at 6 p.m. >> I know. I've been going to policy meetings on Tuesdays for 10 years. It's It will take a while to >> It's throwing me off. Yeah, I hear you. Uh, finance Wes, [clears throat] >> thank you. Um, the finance committee met on October 21st. Um, met with Colin Walsh, our director of finance and communications. He reviewed that the modular project uh by the high school has moved on to the hands of uh our lawyers and theirs as we try to settle some end of the project differences. Um transportation update was that we were going to have director Richie Newton at our next meeting here tonight and he's
027here. Um the uh school revolving renovation fund SRRF is going to u have the application presented tonight by Dr. Marquee to the to the school board for approval. Um the budget process and schedule for fiscal year was developed and reviewed in detail. uh the capital planning update. Uh the committee reviewed lists of current needs with goals of reviewing issues and prioritizing uh recommendations for funding. Um uh keeping a real focus on our strategic plan as we we go over that uh budget process. and also health and safety has been another concern that uh everyone's agreed is a priority area to monitor. Uh the next meeting is uh November 25th of 25. >> Thank you. Any questions for Wes? Uh human resources Anastasia. >> Uh we met on the 15th a couple weeks ago. Um, we
028talked a lot about the school board goals. I'm not going to get too much into that because we're going to cover that in a little bit, but we did set three top goals. Board encourages community at large. Um, the the board uses data to and reports to evaluate progress towards goals and identity and identify areas of concern. and the board participates in activities to further development of boardmanship skills. We had some conversations over employee retention and turnover. Um lots of praises for Mrs. Tritchell. She's doing more onboarding, mentoring programs, developing mentoring pages, balancing engagement with professional development along with the onboarding process and transportation has made huge improvements. The bus upkeep and not having any not having so many bus runs not covered. And our next meeting is November >> 19th at 6 PM. Thank
029you. Any questions for Anastasia? >> All right. We have no old business, so we can move on to new business. And we will start off with the school revolving renovation fund SRRF application. So I'll have Dr. Marquee speak to that. in your board backup was the complete document with engineering studies. Um this is a process by which we um seek funding through the DOE and um this particular project would be um for the replacement of the roof at Alfred Elementary School. The total cost would be $1,160,531. Um what this is is just to allow or give authorization to the board chair and myself to sign the priority one and emergency project application um which then would be delivered to Augusta handd delivered tomorrow. Um it's really u um I think it's an important one to
030approve um as we seek to um keep our buildings uh in tip-top shape and really trying to benefit from u state support for this project. Questions? >> Any questions? Um, at this time I would entertain a motion to approve the application and submission [cough and clears throat] tomorrow. Excuse me. >> Moved. >> So we Suzanne. So we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion or questions on this? >> Um, it would be um Mrs. Miss Ridley in the business office. She does that uh each year when these things come forward. So, we're really fortunate to have her uh she's willing and able and uh I'll send her a message after this meeting saying it's a go. >> Perfect. Um if there is no further discussion, all those in favor is unanimous. Motion
031carries. Thank you everyone. Next up, we have a presentation from Mr. Newton, our transportation director. And while you're coming up, I do want to say the bus ride um app, they were set up at the conference last week. So, I chatted with them for a little while and saw some demos and that was pretty cool to see it in action because I don't have a >> I don't have a kid in the district anymore. Amazing. >> Yeah. I don't have anyone to um I can't look at it myself. So, I asked them a million questions and they were probably chewing me on. I just turned it on. >> Can you push your button? >> That's on. Thank [clears throat] you. Good evening, [snorts] members of the board, administrators, community. Uh for you that don't know
032me, I am Richie Newton, the transportation director. I appreciate your time and effort dedicate to supporting our schools and students. I'd like to share some of our important information regarding the department. My goal is to provide a clear overview, highlight both the progress and our challenges this year, and discuss how we can continue working to ensure best outcome possible for our students and staff. I'd like to start off by talking about bus right. Last April, we piloted 10 buses with the new software. Over the summer, we worked with our technology department to fully transition all 29 bus routes to the soft uh over to that software. The new software is much easier, userfriendly, and more efficient for the office staff and the drivers. Um the bus rate provides a live map showing where all the
033buses are. I on the route if you if we need to contact a parent or guardian on behalf of the driver, the live screen shows us where the bus is. we can click the pin next to the bus and up pops the information that we need to see to contact that guardian. Our old system is about 25 years old. It would be a three-step process to get that information. So, this new system helps reduce the amount of time that the drivers are sitting on the road beside the road or waiting for for contact for information. >> [snorts] >> Um the program that we use the bus right has an app for the smartphone for parents and guardians can access this notifies them the ETA the students bus stop. We can also send a notification to
034select routes and groups through this app and it also has helped reduce the confusion to the whole district in the event of a cancellation. Um, I have some members of the board that are parents, too. But I have some parent testimonials, um, comments from other parents that they like the notification of the pickup time. It's nice on the app. They can see who the driver is, if it is a spare, and their biggest compliment was very user friendly. For the drivers, they have a tablet mounted in a cradle on the bus. It provides turnbyturn directions as well as stop information and some student information. We in the office have found the software to be a great tool for our district and the drivers have welcomed the change and been very cooperative updating their routes and
035has been very helpful for spare drivers to complete a route in the in the absence of a regular driver. Uh one of the biggest negatives that we've encountered and are working on with the bus right team is the connectivity. Um, bus right utilizes cellular service for connectivity and as most of you know that have phones in in the area. It's the same struggle with your own cell phone. Um, the bus right teams trying to find a better carrier or a solution for our problem. I think we're going to find that this with any software and cellular carrier will have these type of problems. So, um, in short of pros show significant improvement over the cons with the bus rate program. Um, I don't know if anybody's got any discussion on that or comments for bus
036right. You love it. [snorts] >> Um, on to the bus replacement program that the district's worked hard on. >> Oh, sorry. >> No, I just No, I just want to say I like how it sends a notification when the bus has left to start the route when it's like so many minutes away and then obviously when it's at. But it's it's definitely a lot better than the last app. more. I [clears throat] think my only issue is on half days a lot of times it doesn't show up the afternoon run for me. >> So, we've worked with them on that and we would have to create 121 more runs to and swap every morning of an early release day and swap back the next morning of. We haven't found a real good way to to
037go about [snorts] that yet other than adding the two hours or deducting the two hours in a delay or an early release day. But I do like how it sends out a notification that it is an early release day, too. Like it's a good reminder, I think, for parents. >> Anything else? >> Um, [clears throat] talking about the bus replacement program, it's been working well over the years before I even came. Uh, it's noticeable improvements to safety and reliability across the district's transportation system. It's also reflects among the drivers, um, they like maintain new equipment. It's really improved their culture, their attitude every morning. They they like the newer buses. The updated safety features such as a better camera technology, improved lighting inside and out. The consistent replacement schedules also help reduce maintenance cost and
038downtime, allowing the transportation department to focus more on service quality rather than constant repairs. Uh the camera technology is as important now as ever. However, we're dealing with increased red light violations for stop school buses. The camera footage we're able to capture is better quality than before. Um, we do pass this information on to the sheriff's office and and the SRO's for further investigation. So, along with the better quality camera equipment in the film footage, it's been helpful with student behavior or any other issues on the bus that we might have. Staffing. Our RSU's transportation staff remains fairly strong. We have hired a second transportation mechanic to fill a vacant position who will be starting in the near future and we have managed to hire and retain the amount of drivers needed for daily operations.
039This includes van and bus drivers. It can be a challenge when planning for absences, sports trips, and field trips. But as we continue to work on improving and following along with the strategic plan, excuse [clears throat] me, we have hired van drivers and monitors who are willing and want to further grow their career in the district by enrolling in the CDL class or adding an endorsement to their license to be able to drive a bus. I do feel confident that we will continue to hire, train, and retain the staff that we need. The transportation garage has served the district well for many years, providing a reliable base for maintaining and housing the fleet that keeps students safely transported each day. The staff has done an excellent job keeping the buses in top condition, often working
040with limited space and an aging infrastructure. This facility has been the backbone of the district's transportation operations, ensuring the routes run smoothly and vehicles remain dependable throughout the school year. However, as the district continues to grow and the transportation demands increase, we may be time to consider investing in a new garage or updating the facility. The current space, while functional, is designed is not designed to accommodate um modern equipment. Larger fleets are evolving technology found in today's buses. In closing, I want to thank the school board for your time, attention, and continued support. Your commitment to our students and staff make a tremendous difference every day and we truly appreciate the partnership as we work together to keep the district moving forward. >> Thanks, Richie. Any questions? Go ahead. >> I just want to make
041a comment. Richie has done an absolutely wonderful job since his arrival. You can't turn on the news on a nightly basis and not hear or drive through any town in the state of Maine right now and uh not pass a bus that says CDL drivers wanted. and um we're we're not as competitive as some places salarywise and he's still maintaining a a really strong team and I think that speaks volumes for his leadership and uh the folks that he has on uh on the bus or driving the bus. So, we're really fortunate to have you, Richie. >> Thank you. >> You're you're really doing a tremendous job and and I know people know that. >> Thank you. >> Questions for Richie. Make sure you have some really hard ones. So, I always like to ask
042you about our two electric buses. >> And as they are they're about a year old now, right? >> two years. Um, how are they doing? Are they becoming more efficient? Are they running the same? Are they getting less miles per charge? I'm just curious. >> No, they're So, we're using both of them every day. Yeah. Yeah, >> on regular routes around Waterboro, they average about 100 miles depending on the time of day. They're using lights that draw power from the battery or the heater which draws p power from the battery. Sorry. Um, so they're they work pretty good around town as far as going on further trips. You have to prepare to have a place to plug in. Um, but we are using them every day and the two drivers that use them like them
043and they're safe. So, >> good. Thank you. >> No problem. >> Is there going to be a potential for the bus ride app to for a parent to be able to communicate with transportation? Like for instance, you're taking your child to the dentist so they don't have to stop. Like I'm on a hill and I always feel bad Ricky has to stop if like Aiden's not there, right? >> So I didn't know if that was something that's going to potentially be down the road that you can say like not here or >> I don't know. [clears throat] I think that would be on on the bus rate company, but for now just a phone call. >> I don't know if they offer that. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Um looking
044at uh the bus barn, how many um how many bays do you have? Do you have lifts in there? What what kind of things are you looking for when you're looking for thinking about, you know, a future facility? What kind of thing are you looking at for? >> So, we have three bays right now. Uh, two of them you can put a full-size bus in. One will take the small bus that that has a lift in it that we use to for the vans to service the vans. Uh, one of the things I'm thinking in driver shortages and trying to keep the kids moving. Um, they are making larger buses with more seating capacity. Um, the problem is they will to put in our garage. If they had to stay in overnight, there's no room
045to work around it. They're longer. To most people, you wouldn't notice that, but they are longer and it would fill up the garage. >> Hi. Um, and for your future plans and goals and hopes with longer buses, um, will that entail a different type of CDL licensing for drivers to drive a bigger axled vehicle? And also will it be do you have any safety concerns with the fact that a lot of the buses have to drive really unfortunate back roads with a very large bus. >> The CDL license will be the same. It goes by the gross weight of the vehicle and that wouldn't really change. >> They wouldn't they would be about 2 feet longer and that would be past the rear axle. So you really wouldn't notice much when turning and maneuvering and
046getting around the back roads. How many more seats would that >> Six? >> It would give six more seats. So essentially 12 more kids. >> No, six more students. I'm sorry. Two more seats. It could be up to six more students. >> Cool. And have you like priced that out in the midst of possibly [laughter] >> Okay, cool. I'm intrigued to >> to learn more about that. Thank you. Prices change all the time, but the last time I looked into it, there weren't there was not a very significant difference in price. >> Great. >> So, >> cool. Thank you very much. >> Any other questions for Richie? >> Thanks so much for coming in. >> Thank you. >> We appreciate it. [applause] >> All right. Next up, schoolboard goals. So, Anastasia mentioned this before. I'm
047going to let her go into a little bit more detail on each of the ones that the HR committee kind of narrowed things down to. We talked a lot about schoolboard goals. Um, but I did note on the agenda action needed. Um, I I'm not sure whether it necessarily needs an official vote, but the board needs to definitely um weigh in and speak to um these goals and our commitment as a board to um to achieving these goals this year. So, I'm going to let Anastasia speak to that. >> Okay. So, our first goal was board engages community at large. [clears throat] We talked about best ways on how to do this. We also talked about putting board meetings on the RSU 57 Facebook page. Um, having include board information for meetings in every newsletter,
048info on future dates for the budget process. Um, and that was pretty much it to engage them as far as the process of the budget or in our board. Any questions on that goal? Our second goal was the data um how we use our data. We would talking more so that we would with how the students take the NWBAs a lot of the times the scores increase. So instead of just getting the beginning of the year or the end of the year, maybe have a midyear level on where we stand as with our students with the scores. Um based on we've added classes to the middle school and the high school. Um we've increased extracurricular activities um just to see where that would go. More presentations from all the schools and departments questions. I like
049this. [laughter] >> Oh, we have a question. Hold on. [clears throat] >> Um, for and I guess I could have waited till the last one, but do you do we talk about ways to measure our success with those first two goals? Like how would we know if we're making progress? I didn't write that down. I think based on where were our what the goals were in the beginning, how we stated like with data where the students were in the beginning, where they were in the middle and where the end. So probably the following year we would have more data to understand where the growth was. If I'm >> Yeah, I was Yeah, I was thinking for the first one around um the board uh engagement with the community. Do we have a a thoughts on
050how we could measure our success with that or >> what we're trying >> It would be up to the community that interacts with us. Um I I know one of the is it Dr. Mary's newsletter? He can see how many people engage within his newsletter like opening it I think. Yeah. So he gets an idea of where the engagement is there. I don't know if all the other schools have that same capability. That's something we would have to look into. Dr. Doyle, shake your head. Yes. Um, as far as score, as far as community, we talked about putting information out into the school town libraries, um, to engage our communities as far as the board process, the budget commit, budget process, all of that, and try to engage them there. I guess the how we
051would look at that is when we go to May to vote, does it bring more people? when we go in I think it's March that Colin does the review process to the communities and then does it with the selectman see if they're engaged see if they actually come this way we have more community than board members that go >> yeah that's what I was wondering in those cases is potentially if we're looking to engage more around say the budget process you know there are some key areas where we could measure you know how much participation we're getting that sort of thing Right. I think community engagement is a real hard thing to specifically measure if you're just dialing into one aspect, but the committee had some great conversations about getting information out to the community
052in different ways. And one of the ideas that we landed on that hasn't all the details haven't been flushed out, but and [clears throat] correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed like the committee was in favor of kind of a midyear newsletter from the school board specifically, not from the superintendent, not from administration, but the school board putting out a newsletter both electronically and paper copies in libraries and town offices with like here are the recognitions and celebrations that we've done this year. Here's our upcoming budget meetings. Here's um you know when our upcoming meetings are. Here's you know how our students are doing things. Kind of just like a midyear just piece of paper front and back um with you know a QR code whether that brings you to the schoolboard website or
053to a survey saying like hey did you like this newsletter? How would you know what other information? So, I think that kind of dialing down in on that midyear report out from the board directly from the school board, um that may give us some measurable data, especially if we toss a QR code in there or uh you know, if you want to tell us what you think about this newsletter, here's the email or I mean, there are more details to flush out, I think, but there's a lot of ideas. So, >> um, we met for almost two hours. >> Yeah. Yeah. Go [laughter] ahead. [clears throat] >> Um, we certainly try to get our message out. In the past couple years, most of our messages were going through our schools and the community newsletter to
054folks that are interested in the schools. We've tried to really broaden that and um this year we've been sending the community newsletter to all of our um municipalities as well. You're all civic-minded people. You're more likely to watch your own town meetings and such. Um, engagement is a challenging one. People typically get engaged on two ends of the spectrum. They're either really upset about something and they get engaged or they're really happy about something and they get engaged. And it's more common that if they're upset with something, they get engaged. Right? I can tell you that I never watch town meetings and I and I'm far more connected and understanding of what happens in the town in which I live, but I'm not necessarily when I want to know something, I'll go to the website
055or I'll look at something. And I don't think that's uncommon. So, I want us to balance I' I'd encourage you to balance the need to have everyone coming to the table because everyone's in a different place. So, the objective would be how do we get our message out without coming off as offensive where you're trying to get your message out too much so then folks miss key ingredients when there's overcommunication or not communicate at all. So that's why um we talked about trying to attend town meetings um early in the budget process if if we're um if that's something [snorts] that our towns want to do, right? They could actually say no, we have a full agenda, right? Just like you could say, "No, we've got a full agenda. We have our regular business to
056to carry out." Um but I think continuing to try to engage our community. I'd say the one area that we probably haven't discussed is how do we engage employers more? What are they looking for in students? How can they be partners with us? How can they support what's happening? Um so they're aware of what's happening um because we are trying to really um prepare kids success for that next step. Um, I love the fact that you're asking the questions. Adam's question is a perfect one. How are we going to measure it? It's great to have schools all over the place are filled with strategic plans. School boards have goals and most folks don't know what the goals are. They don't know what the mission of a district is. So, it's easy and it's nice to
057have some shiny little thing, but you need to make it sticky and really be consistent in application. So when we send things out, we always say really we are trying to prepare prepare kids for success in an everchanging world. I'd like to think at some point people that will be ingrained and that's really the work of the board is to communicate that um and ask the hard questions about how do we measure it? I think that's what the HR committee is really working hard to do. All right. Just based on Adam, do we do we have a way of knowing how many people watch us each meeting? [clears throat] >> Okay. So, that would might be another way to quantify. >> Yeah. >> If our viewership goes up, I don't know. >> And most views
058don't happen during the meeting. Amanda might be able to [clears throat] tell us how many are. I'm guessing >> and you can actually if you go on to click the link on the live stream if you click on a video you'll see how many views there are. That's great. >> How many people do we average? >> Depends on what we're talking about. [laughter] >> Six. >> So maybe five. So you're right. >> But it's it's hundreds [clears throat] each meeting. Uh don't have there was a a local town that had their school >> Is your mic off? Hold on. There we go. >> Uh a local uh town had a schoolboard meeting um recently and um it had 18,000 views within uh within a couple hours of the meeting. that told you it was a
059hot topic and most people were not from that [laughter] town. >> Right. Right. >> But it was very close to here. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Very very close. >> D >> um just to piggyback off of Anastasia and Dr. Marquee. Um we I think talked extensively about who and how we want to engage the community. And I know Amy brought up a a great point when we talked about devel uh delivering our information in an equitable way because we have a high population in our district of people that don't have access to technology um and rely on hard copy. And that's why we kind of landed on the sense of accessing our community spaces because we also uh Colin was there and gave us some numbers on how much it would cost to put it
060in the mail and it was high. Um so but um I think we Michelle also mentioned at that meeting too that we really want to engage more people to be part of the board and we want to access um you know which means accessing more parents of students that have students in our district because they have good insight and they have good purpose of why they would want to be part of the board. So, yes, we want more people to be engaged with our board, but we also want more engagement on the board, >> right? >> So, that's all I wanted to say. >> Yeah. Um, Michelle, >> one thing I'd be interested about the views with YouTube, um, our town did the same thing to see how many people look at certain meetings and
061certain ones larger certain times. But what we did find too is if you subscribe to something, a lot of people just will click on it to go, you actually can we actually found out that when he had 60 hits, only five of them watched the whole meeting. What it is when you get that 60, they're watching for 30 or 40 seconds and then logging off. You have to go in deeper to find that. So we were actually able to find that even though we saw maybe there was a 100red views, it was people that had subscriptions that clicked it and saw it, but they we only had 10 people watch it. So that's one thing that I'd be curious to know. Even though you see a hundred people, how many are actually watching the meeting
062itself? >> You can minus one off of every view because I rewatch every minute >> when I get home from >> a way to actually get a measurable data count. A simple one would be how many subscribers to the channel. That's one area that though there are hundreds of people that might view you, the number of subscribers is actually far lower than I would have anticipated. As of right this moment, there are 286 subscribers to the channel. >> So maybe a goal will be to get it to a thousand. That's a measurable goal. >> Yeah. Amy, >> um I think this was just going back a couple conversation points ago. Um, this was just about that mid-year check-in too, like we were trying to say as a committee. Um, I agree with everyone what everyone
063said about all the meetings um, so far that we've had, but that was kind of like our way that we were thinking we could positively promote what's happening in the district and then prepare people to be like we have all of these, you know, upcoming financial meetings. So, that's why we had chosen that like timeline too. I thought that was kind of important to bring up, >> right? And we had also mentioned to a blurb in there of you know if you're from Chapley Newfield Limmerick I to think your elections are coming up in March you're going to be you know voting on school board members if you're from Waterro and Alfred and Lyman look for that election in June for your school board members like um I think that that mid you know in
064January that that is a good time for us to put out some information >> like after the holiday season. So, people were like dialing back into. So, >> yeah. And I think that in my time in the board, I don't remember any any sort of newsletter or information like this coming direct from the school board. There have obviously been communication from the school board in my time here. Um, but not something not something like we were talking about at HR where it really is the school board putting together um putting together something to send out to the community with the information that the board wants to share, you know, specific to what's coming up. Um, I'm going to turn back over to you in a second, Suzanne. Um, have we successfully engaged the employers in
065the area like have them come to an evening meeting or in the past few years to to get feedback? I know at the job fairs when we've had them meet at the high school, they were there, but have we s >> We had a community forum. >> Okay. >> My not last year, but the year before. >> Okay. um where we had some local business owners that sat around this room and there were some students there and um talking about employment in the district and and those types of things, but that was a couple years ago. Um, I know that I wouldn't even try and remember who was there, but um, but some of the local smaller businesses had I know there was somebody that owned a daycare was there and >> um, somebody that
066owned an insurance company, owns an insurance company was there >> and um, those types of things. So, in the district and then um yeah, a couple students I remember talking about what they like where they were working right now while they were still going to school here and kind of plans for the future. And that was I think it was um live streamed. There wasn't a lot of people here um outside of the panel or the the um owners, but I I'd have to go back to see if it was live streamed and see what kind of views it got. So I mean is it something that you would that we would want to do again? You think it was successful enough? >> I mean if we want to engage employers it's some certainly something
067that we can look into and see >> see what um what kind of response we can get. >> Uh all right back to you. >> Okay. And goal three was board participates in activities that further development further develop the boardmanship skills. We talked lots about workshops, what we can do better to be better boardsmen. Um we usually just have the one workshop in August and then nothing else. So we talked about having at least maybe not this year but two more within the school year. Instead of having say two board meetings a month, we'll have a board meeting and then a workshop. We would bring we talked about having legal come in and tell us [clears throat] what we can and cannot do as board members. Um, and that's when we sit here, when we're
068out in the public, when there's something with the media, what we can and cannot say or who we defer it all to. Um, just what we all so that we're all on the same page as what we can and cannot do so we don't get in trouble. Any other questions on that? [sighs] Mark, before you ask, I'm scheduling those workshops for March 17th and April 30th. [laughter] I'm putting them right on the calendar right now. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. >> I'm kidding. Um, any other questions about board goals or are we good with those three areas and kind of having the HR committee dial it down a little bit further to get some real specifics? I just didn't want them to do a bunch more work on it and bring it to you
069all and say so we're good with that. >> All right. >> No, he doesn't have his button pushed. He's >> pushed his button. [laughter] >> I mean, we took two meetings to discuss all this. So, we had two [clears throat] very long lengthy meetings discussing all of this. >> So, this was not a oh, we'll just do these. No, we had very lengthy conversations on these goals >> and we'll work through them throughout the year and we'll keep increasing them, >> broadening them. >> Yeah. A long time. >> Just wanted to say about community engagement. There's no one that engages more with our community and at these meetings and really understands the pulse and appreciates everything as Vicky Lynn Anderson. >> [laughter] >> It's just remarkable that you're at everything and and uh really you're
070a steward to our community. I just wanted to draw attention and say thank you. >> All right, we're good. Everyone's good. Anything else on that? All right. At this time, I'm going to make a motion to enter into executive session to discuss a student matter pursuant to one MRSA 4056B. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All those in favor, we are in executive session at 7:01 What is the direction of the board? >> Motion to tell student A indefinitely the road map. >> Second. >> Mark, that was you. >> It was. >> Okay. All right. We do have a motion and a second to expel student A indefinitely with a re-entry plan or roadmap to return. Is there any discussion on the motion? All those in favor? Opposed? There are 11
071in favor to oppose. That motion carries. administration will get with you on next steps and discuss where we go from here. Um calendar and announcements are at the bottom of your agenda. Our next full school board meeting [clears throat] is November 12th and we are adjourned 7:47 p.m. Thank you.