001e e e greetings and call this meeting of the Saka School Board to order for Wednesday December 22nd 2021 uh at 5:00 p.m. uh all school all school school board members are present including uh superintendent Ray with that like to invite you all to join us in the Pledge of Allegiance Al thank you on to item three of the agenda and that is the approval of the Schoolboard meeting minutes dated December 8th 2021 is there a motion to approve the minutes so move School Board member Archie is there a second second School Board member Johnston any discussion uh just one tiny tiny tiny thing Ard M Truman on the superintendent report one two3 bullet down principles is the wrong principles it's pretty minor um we just have that fixed and then still approve can we
002would you like to table that and see that the superintendent make sure that they get corrected till the next meeting I I it seems like a pretty tiny thing I don't know if it's something that we can approve and just have it corrected or if that something we have to completely table you're looking at me like that's not an option if you'd like to make a motion to amend the minutes to reflect the different principle we can do that okay you can make that motion a second second second by School Board member Gail to amend the minutes to reflect the different terminology any discussion on the amendment only on the amendment only roll call vote on the amendment only School Board member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School
003Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes and School Board member Johnston yes Amendment passes 70 back to the school board meeting minutes that have been amended any discussion roll call vote on the minutes Schoolboard member Archie yes Schoolboard member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member La Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes and School Board member Johnston yes motion passes 70 to approve the minutes uh brings us to item four adjustments to the agenda is there an adjustment for this evening Mr Mayor School Board member of Fortune um I move that we add uh under executive session um to enter executive session under 1 MSA subsection 4056 F discussion or review of confidential records with possible action [Music]
004second motion's been made to add an executive session uh with possible action seconded by School Board member Truman any discussion on adding the executive session roll call vote to add the executive session Schoolboard member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes School Board member Johnston yes the addition passes 70 any further adjustments to the agenda see no further adjustments moving on to item o superintendent Ray on on the agenda there's 's also uh we need to add an item H and it's the addition of a policy it's on our proposed there's a memo and a proposed addition of policy JFL jle and JFR around reporting child abuse and neglect this is a mandatory policy
005that is not on our books yeah that's that's correct I'm I'm sorry I did forget about that the um I move that we add section f um which would be for a first reading and a second reading of the policies that were just listed so that's JFL and JFL e and jlr okay there's a motion made by school board member of Fortune to add to section h under action items uh for a first and second reading of policies is there a second second second by School Board member Johnston any discussion are we going to be getting copies of those there was an email that was sent that you should have received that I did receive did did that email come this evening or no it was it was earlier in the week thank you I
006was going to say I didn't receive that as either so just letting you know so we will get copies if we need to can we print here Stacy if this is an ad are you looking for a vote tonight yes it's a required policy that Sako schools has no policy on reporting child abuse and neglect um and that has been a required policy I believe back dated eight years ago 11 years ago and it's not on our books and it needs to be on our books it may be wise to call a special meeting next week rather than to ask the school board to vote on something they haven't seen but I'll leave that to the uh to the wisdom of the school board members I just like to add I just checked my email
007and I don't have a copy of that so thank you uh seconded by uh School Board member Johnston on adding section H for tonight for first and second reading any discussion so just to round out the discussion around the the required nature of it where you know eight 10 years in yep um I know another week is eight or 10 years plus another week in but given this the fact that some of the Schoolboard members don't have a copy I I am we can add it to inclined to go down the path of moving it to the next meeting and that's fine uh we can add that to that I just uh I need the school committee to understand that that policy is so important for us um it needs to be there any further
008discussion on this item roll call vote to add section H for our first and second reading on these policies Mr Mayor School Board member of Fortune given the discussion that we just had I withdraw my motion motion is being withdrawed by school Bo rule of Fortune School B member Johnson are you willing to withdraw your second yes thank you so I in its place I move that we table this until the next meeting second so you don't have to table it because youve removed the motion from the table uh so you don't have to table it you can just bring it up at the next meeting uh as part of your agenda planning any further adjustments to the agenda okay moving on to item five correspondence any correspondence this evening no correspondence item six public
009session uh we've had one folk sign up here uh Oly Traer from the Sako Education Association uh please come forward speak directly into the microphone uh state your name and address for the record and please keep your comments to three minutes hi my name is Holly Traer um I am speaking on behalf of the Sako Education Association um and do not actually live in Sako the Sako Education Association sends its gratitude to the school board and administrative team uh for your for and administrative team for the generous gift received by the staff members we great we are grateful that you recognize the team effort this year and thank you very much thank you if there's anyone else who would like to address the school board under public comment please come forward and be heard state
010your name and address for the record please Susan newer Wildwood Drive the s school department central office should return to a permanent location at 90 Beach Street when a permanent superintendent is selected this building was purchased in 2003 for approximately $250,000 it has been renovated at least two times the first time was extensive at the cost of about $200,000 and another time for approximately $60,000 currently special ed and Technology are housed there much of the space on the front entrance level is unused recently a secure entrance system was installed with moderate success the complete system has a door buzzer intercom system and Camera all of these components as of last week when I visited there were not fully operational perhaps this is different today it's in the best interest of the student staff and taxpayers
011of Sako that the central office be located there collaborative decision making is imperative with a well-located meeting place that is known to all and easily accessed by taxpayers of Sako a lot of money has already been spent at 90 Beach Street so it would be wise for it to be used for its intended purpose and full potential thank you thank you any further public comment moving on from public comment that brings us to item seven superintendent's report superintendent Ray all right good evening everybody uh first I have a couple of recognitions and first one is uh last last meeting I wanted to take an opportunity to recognize Charles marsi and Tony pesy uh and we had some gifts for them but they weren't quite finished as everything takes a little bit of time and so
012uh I have a nice Sako school department best for Charles here tonight to thank him for serving on the board and I'd like to present that to him [Applause] second recognition that I'd like to talk to uh tonight is that Maine school boards Association uh this year recognized their distinguished service award to School nurses across the state and we are fortunate enough uh tonight to have three of our School nurses with us and out of our five and this wasn't exactly what we had planned for weather on the night that we were hoping to present to you guys um but the role of the school nurse has changed so much in the last 20 months that with the addition of covid-19 we have five ladies who work 7 days a week non-stop making sure that
013our students are safe they're cared for they're the first line of defense uh of all injuries Health Care situations and have gone above and beyond each and every day as we spoke this week when you think about covid-19 and the resources that school districts provide we started to talk about testing and we have some of our nurses that give on nonpol testing days 25 to 30 covid tests a day and when pool testing days come we can be upwards of a hundred and this is one single person caring for our kids and so with all of my appreciation and that of the main School boards Association I'd like to recognize Jess Morgan Christina renald Deb Malia Joel Joan Holmes and Mariah gof for their outstanding service to our students our community and our families and
014thank you very much ladies I have a uh certificate for you and please please please take a break the next week and a half Deb that's you too we have tried to put in place for our community a process so that if your child or your or a family member comes down with covid-19 or your close contact that you fill out this form these five ladies deserve an opportunity to be off their computer in a away from email over the holidays and I ask people to please fill that out because I also know that these five ladies want to make sure that when we return to school on January 3rd that they're organized their kids are safe and that we're on top of things um and so if you're out there listening tonight please help
015our School nurses over the next couple of weeks and uh report that way because they've earned every minute of time off that they can so Ladies If you please come up I'd like to present you with some certificates for thank you very [Applause] much and ladies I will not be offended if you want to start that vacation early um another pieces as we know this morning was our first uh snow day and we've sent a letter out to the community about what is the best way to get our notifications and where they are first just a reminder to everybody that it's always important to make sure that you keep your students contact information updated because that's where the phone calls go that's where the email address goes uh and if you're someone who moved out
016of town or things have changed sometimes you can there can be always be a mistake and and a call can be can go out to a family that no longer has a kid just contact us and we'll help you take that off um again another reminder to the community I just said it a few minutes ago uh but the letter went out today to talk about um the process that we would like you to use on reporting cases of covid-19 over the holidays uh we have a form on there and this will quickly help us uh sort the information and be prepared when we come back to school next week we are awaiting uh as School departments an update from the doe on the standard operating procedures for working with covid-19 and what that will
017entail as many of you have um seen on the news that the CDC is considering several different items one is shortening the length of um quarantines for those who are vaccinated and are positive that was something that's new that came out today um they are looking at the national CDC is looking at a test to stay procedure uh and that is something that we would need to see how the doe um deals with that uh and then finally we know that the testing rule that we have an effect of pool either vaccination or pool testing is already in place we are waiting and hoping and praying that pool tested will be an acceptable form of the test out procedure um if that is not an acceptable form in the state of Maine and something that
018the CDC uses that will also add a great deal of work to our current employees and we would need to come back with a different plan in place to make sure that we were supportive of them so a lot of different uh pieces with Co still um making its way through the country and through the state of Maine right now and I would encourage everybody to be as safe as we can over the holiday season and please report those close contacts using the sheet so that we're safe on returning to school and then finally a thanks to all of our employees and wishing them the happiest of holidays as it's been a tough stretch and uh we couldn't get there through all of this without all of their hard work and dedication to Sako students
019thank you superintendent Ray any questions for superintendent Ray moving on to item eight the chair's report chair of Fortune I don't have anything this evening other than just to Echo what Jeremy just said thank you very much to everybody who is here as well as those who are unable to be here tonight that work for our district um it has been a rough year been a rough couple years and I just want you to understand that that we really do appreciate what you do for us here in Sako every day and uh I hope that you you do recognize that that you that we recognize your contribution and truly appreciate it and I'm and I'm sure I speak for all of the parents around the community as well that being in school five days and
020doing what you do to make that possible every single day is definitely appreciated thank you have a happy holiday and and I hope you also get to have a a decent break as well thank you thank you uh item nine there are no staff reports this evening uh item 10 on the agenda there are no board subcommittee meeting minutes brings us to item 11 which is old business item a is the day oneou that was uh discussed at the last meeting Mr Mayor School Board member Truman are we doing the motion now um I move we authorize the superintendent to engage with day one to provide contracted services to Middle School students as outlined in the day oneou second motion's been made by Schoolboard member Truman second by Schoolboard member Johnston to approve uh theou
021uh with day one Services any discussion Mr Mayor School Board member La for um just a quick clarifying question so this mou runs through the end of this school year and the question I have is will we be following up with one for the following school year or a longer period of time at that time that would be our hopes okay thank you any further questions discussion roll call vote on approving the mou School Board member Archie yes School Board member Preble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes 70 brings us to item 12 new business uh item a there are a memo in the packet with new hires superintendent Ray are you looking
022for any kind of motion on this yes we need motions uh for the two employees on new hire Jane Evans is a 05 elel teacher and Abby Al Dean human uh Director of Human Resources SAR a motion Mr Mayor School Board member of Fortune I Mo I move we approve the nomination of Jane Evans halftime eel teacher effective 1222 21 and issue a contract for the remainder of the 2021 2022 school year second second motion's been made by Schoolboard member L Fortune second by School Board member Truman uh any discussion roll call vote School Board member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member Le Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes and School Board member Johnson yes motion passes 70 School Board
023member Truman is there another motion that brings us uh to Item B resignations just we had a second person Abby Aline okay I don't see anything else on the M on 1222 Mr Mayor Schoolboard member Richard like to make a motion to uh approve the nomination of ab Abby Alden Director of Human Resources um effective 1222 21 and issue a contract for the remainder of the 2021-22 schol motion has been made by school board member Richard is there a second second second second by School Board member low Fortune to approve the hiring of Abby Aline Director of Human Services any discussion roll call votes School Board member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes Schoolboard member Truman yes and
024Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes 70 now we're on to Item B which is resignations superintendent r looking for any kind of motion on this no school board members you received a memo in your packet with the current uh resignations any questions on Item B and resignations no questions moving on to item C which is BDA the organizational meeting election of the chair and vice chair Mr Mayor School Board member Johnston I would like to um move to nominate Kevin lefor Fortune for our board chair for the coming year motion's been made by Schoolboard member Johnston to nominate Kevin La Fortune for the chair uh for the coming year Sarah second second second by School Board member Gail any discussion roll call vote Schoolboard member Archie yes School Board member prebble no school board member
025Richard yes Schoolboard member L Fortune I'm going to obstain school board member Gail yes School Board member Truman no and Schoolboard member Johnston yes yes 42 motion passes Kevin Le Fortune for the school board chair for the next coming year there a motion for the vice chair Mr Mayor School Board member Truman I'd like to nominate uh Jeff Richards second motion's been made by Schoolboard member trumman second by Schoolboard member prebble to nominate Jeff Richards for the vice chair position for the next coming year any discussion roll call vote Schoolboard member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard abstain School Board member La Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes School Board member Johnson yes motion passes 60 congratulations to Schoolboard member Kevin Le fortune and
026School Board member Jeff Richards uh on becoming chair and vice chair for the next year with that we move on to item D which is bde committee assignments Mr Mayor School Board member La Fortune sir so given that um just learned this evening that the two new members have had some difficulty with their email and that's probably made it not possible for anyone to express some interest in uh which committees they have interest in or would like to probably move from if they're if they're on I would like to actually table that till the next meeting we don't have any committees that are in that are expected to meet between now and then um and I think it would just give everyone an opportunity to to think about that um perhaps over the holiday and
027then come back with some some ideas of which committees that they would be interested in any objection to deferring this to the next meeting no no objection would defer to the next meeting with that brings us to item e a covid update superintendent Ray this is nothing more than in informational uh trying to keep everybody the loop about what counts and casee counts and positive pools have looked like uh every two weeks and I just uh want to again draw your attention to positive pools and close contacts because those are the items that make our our our that nursing job even so much more difficult because every time there's a positive pool you're looking at 10 to 15 plus tests per pool uh by next now test that has to happen two times uh and
028then the close contacts are all of the parents that were having to call so when you think about the work that the ladies do in the course of a day um those are the numbers that that really add to that job any questions for superintendent Ray on the covid update report found in your packet hearing no questions moving on to item f a roof replacement for SMS superintendent Ray yes so earlier this evening in uh finance committee we talked about uh the Sako Middle School roof and if you remember last spring we were able to put $498,000 into the budget to work on cap improvements and a little bit of that money had been spent in other areas but one of the items that was top on that list was looking at Sako Middle School
029roof um we are hoping to get a replace $344,000 uh of roof which would be for section four and section seven which is the gym section and the library section correct Mike um while also that work would be done this this spring while also hoping that in the next budget cycle we're able to put a similar amount of money in there so that we can complete that project and have a new roof on that building that has been a source of leaks over time uh is starting to get towards end of life as part of this uh project we also would be increasing the insulation on the roof from 3 to 6 Ines correct Mike um and so we'd have a a more insulated roof which would help with the efficiencies for heating uh and
030we coming from uh budget uh from finance committee recommend the approval of this piece thank you superintendent Ray any questions for superintendent Ray superintendent Ray are you asking for a motion Mr Mayor quick quick question Ember Gil so uh if I'm reading this right we're going to have $103,000 remaining was there any discussion of addressing sections two or three or five given that in the future construction prices are only going to be increasing yeah um again what we would hope to do is that towards the end of this budget cycle as we look to see what remaining funds would have knowing that we still have some Capital Improvement funds then also budgeting in the future hoping that we can put another half a million dollars in that in April May March we can talk about
031those other three sections um and I know that Mike's worried about timing being a little bit of an issue but thinking about if we can add on to that get some more pieces done and by the end of next budget cycle have that roof replaced Mr Mayor School Board member Preble so correct me if I'm wrong um superintendent Ray that those were the two pieces of the roof that were the worst off that needed the most critical repair is that right or yes based off the recommendations from Mike he wanted to address those sections first uh in this project and then again looking at uh again we want to we want to address all sections but those were the most two critical to make sure those were done this summer and then again hoping that
032we have enough hoping that we have a good budget process and that we can address the others in the following cycle superintendent R would you like a motion on this to approve this or is this just informational purposes I would like to have a motion to approve so that we can lock in that price thank you Mr Mayor School Board member Archie uh could you explain to us where the 344,000 will be going and how many estimates we've gotten on that so we received two bids on this piece and this is the low bid and the $344,000 where it's going or I just mean as far as how many estimates we've received we we received two estimates and this went out to full bid any further questions is there a school board member willing to
033make the motion to approve the spending of the capital Improvement funds Mr Mayor School Board member Truman I uh make a motion to approve the uh School construction um to repair the sole Middle School roof motion's been made by Schoolboard member Truman is there a second second second by School Board member prebble any further discussion roll call votes School Board member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes Schoolboard member Truman yes Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes 70 that brings us to item G superintendent search superintendent Ray or Cher of Fortune um I can I can ceue up this this item so we have had discussions um and probably throughout the community people have had individual discussions amongst themselves
034about the path that we take with this we've brought it to this meeting a few times to uh discuss where you know where we are at or are not at um and given the you know calendar where we are at that um I think we're at a point where we need to make a definitive decision of which path we're headed and that is essentially what I was hoping to accomplish with this getting on the agenda this evening and so the path forward is either we start from a motion and do discussion or have discussion and then arrive at a motion I have no preference either way but I'm I'm I'm prepared to to make a motion to at least get the process started make your motion if you're you're ready to make it all right
035well I move that we um as a school board choose to take the path to continue for one more year with the arrangement that we have now with Jeremy Ray second motion's been made by school board member L Fortune second by School Board member Johnston to continue the uh contract with smack or Southern main administrative collaborative for one more year is that your motion that is my motion is there any discussion on the motion as presented Mr Mayor School Board member Gail just a a couple of questions and apologize because I'm you know second meeting so um I guess I just have one thought um in terms of the the the length of the contract one year what is the what are the dates and then is there um well what are the dates for
036the year is it the school year so the current one that we have right now is for the school year so it would be June to or July 1st to June 30th um and that is the reason I picked that date as extending what we have now is because that's what's in what we have now um I think that we would be free to entertain keeping it that way or you know going with a longer period it was as a starting point it was simpler from my perspective to go with the the known entity that we have right now from a contract standpoint and then a follow-up question to that is um the decision to move forward is occurring in December is the thought process then we would make another decision next year year in
037December as well as a board reading the Tea Leaves we could um my rationale for making the motion this evening is that if we were to take a path that in that did not take that direction and chose to do a search we would really need to be starting that as soon as possible because it is going to ultimately consume probably all of our spring in addition to the budget and we would have to get ahead of that not only to lineup support from um meain and school management assuming we would use them again um as we did the last time but there's going to be some lead time um required to you know put together committee um for for both uh search and selection um as well as a lot of the other logistics
038that go with that so that's doing it now as opposed to a couple of months from now um is you know we're sort of at that juncture where it's it's time to decide what we as a board want to do moving forward I guess just a last comment is that as a as a newly appointed School Board member elected Schoolboard member it's difficult to make this decision in December with only you know two meetings under our belts and if we make this decision again next year there's potentially going to be uh new Schoolboard members or maybe not but it's just a difficult decision to make second meeting into this and um I'm wondering as we move forward if we could think about the timing a little bit uh in the future so just a couple
039comments there thank you Mr Mayor Schoolboard member Truman um I am supportive of uh extending it for one year I know that typically superintendents are given contracts of two or three years typically um to be renewed on that kind of cycle um I think I'm comfortable with the one year I know we have a huge school that we're trying you know the construction project that we're getting into we have to get through Bond um you know we have other issues like our our budget and is it is it going well because of all the financial I mean all the finances what's the word I'm for the funding that we're getting from the federal government um you know I'd like to kind of see how that shakes out um I do think that because the way
040we set this up in the spring I do strongly believe that we need to go through the hiring process but at this point like this kind of weird juncture that we're at I think that it would be wise to to uh continue this for one more year and I think it would also give our new members more time to kind of see how things are working um and if this is something that we would want to go through but I I do think that we you know the way we set this up earlier in the year was that we would go through this hiring process I think timing wise talking about this in December if we're going to hire someone different come uh July one seems still seems a little rushed to me and I
041feel like given this one more year does make the most sense Mr Mayor Schoolboard member PR um I'm going to have to agree I am supportive of another year I think we do need to go through the full hiring process as we set forth before I'd like to see more future if we go through with the year I'd like to see more future communication with our within the communities as well um so that we're on board with where things lie and I agree with Sarah oops sorry I agree with Sarah that we should allow more time for our new board members to to get on track and stay with all of us and get a chance to get their feet wet and get a feel for our current situation if that's something they truly want
042to continue or not and uh go from there thank you Mr Mayor School Board member Archie um I have not heard how the bitford committee feels about the situation I know that they were speaking of it have have they made a decision at this point what I'm what I'm hearing from them um by way of their their chair which in bford is is Mayor Alan casan is that they are on board if we are on board it's sort of how the the process goes is that they if if we are not interested in that then they will not Chase they're they're not going to try to convince us to do that if we're not interested in doing that in Soo and whatever boards decide there still would need to be a negotiations process that occurred
043um and so I think that's just something that that has to happen is that if there whatever decision boards make there has to be a negotiation process and if not my recommendation is that Sako goes and looks and advertises for that position whatever happens you're getting late there are several openings for superintendents of schools Bonnie Eagle um Oldtown uh what were the other ones that came out guys uh Freeport um but there's several of them starting so whatever you guys decide to do and again bitford has to be and Dayton have to be a part of that final decision if this is going to work out um needs to be done sooner rather than later um because we got a lot of work to do whoever that is has a lot of work to do
044and obviously School building is number that's high on the list is getting to vote next year uh and number two uh is again just setting a course for uh you know our schools and getting back and there's you know we have a big we have a big budget process coming up again and so um my recommendation is whatever you guys decide to do that we start that process and even if that if that means going to advertise and starting that process to see what's there it needs to happen sooner rather than later Mr May thank you School Board member Archie um superintendent Ray are you suggesting that we should not do another one-year contract and that we should make our decision I'm what I guess what I'm saying is that if we go this whatever
045Direction you guys decide to do it needs to be expedient in the fact that it's getting to December there's three or four other districts who are already looking for superintendence in Southern Maine and that if we want a quality C candidate for Sako whoever that is that needs to occur and we need to go forward if if the partnership is something that needs to be considered and the two boards need to get down to Brass tax and kind of NE negotiate that contract to set the path uh there's been several discussions uh already about that uh but I also think that for the health of your school department one way or the other decisions need to be made people need to know staff needs to know principles need to know there could be hirings and
046that uh sometimes that influences a lot of people's decision any followup any further discussion yeah Mr School Board member oh School Board member La Fortune then School Board member Johnson I I'll defer to school board member Johnston um I guess I would like to say a couple of things reflecting over a number of years of time in several superintendant I appreciate superintendent Ray's urging us to move quickly if we choose to to do a search we've certainly been short on time in the past um but from my perspective I think a great deal has been accomplished over the last short amount of time since the southern main team has been with us and I would just like to say it seems like we're moving in the right direction in a lot of areas um chair
047La fortune and I I think have said this to each other in the past and um I just want to say that I I think it makes sense for us to continue in this route um and I I think we would be starting a lot of things all over again if we do not at this juncture thank you thank you School Board Mar of Fortune um I was going to head down the same path and and I'm only speaking for myself um I've put a lot of thought into this over the course of the last eight months and I'm have always been a you know a data driven person and I like to have facts when I make decisions and I've I've looked back through why did we decide to go with Jeremy and his
048team for the interim position um I've been asked that um by people out in the community and quite frankly there was no other candidate who came in on short notice with an entrance plan to come in in a month and a half and put us where we were last year um fast forward that to the follow-up that's kind of what drw drew me um personally to why would we want to even continue for a year and the way I look at it is absolutely knocked out of the park everything that the school board asked and a number of things that we probably didn't even know we needed took place this this past eight-month period I mean some things that we have not been able to accomplish in six years have have begun in the last
049eight months um the school Construction process is not the smallest of those by any means um but I look at I look at the way things have been going and the potential for there to be lots of other ways that we might be able to collaborate with our neighbors that we're not even aware of at the moment and I just look at that and say this is you know this has a lot of potential uh not only potential for us to do the things that we know of right now like the school construction process but to make it possible to to do some things that we don't even know we're going to want to do right now and so that's where where I'm at and and my my head is in a place where I
050can't possibly look at how well things have gone and say I want to do something different that's that's just where I'm at I know there's seven people up here with sever seven individual positions um but that's that's where my head is at I I'm more than pleased and impressed with the job that's been done thus far and I'm kind of wondering what can we do next and that's really where I'm at thank you any further discussion the motion before you is to continue with smack for a one-year contract extension motion was made by school board member L Fortune second by School Board member Johnston roll call vote I would I would ask that you re re rephrase that motion to if that's the direction you're going to go to negotiate is it's not a continue
051we need to do a if this is going to happen this has to be a negotiation um to bring back an agreement to then be voted on it really would need to go that way okay Mr Mayor I amend my my motion to um be that I move that we um that we negotiate with uh the bitterford school department and smack um to arrive at a new uh contract similar to what we have now Mr Mayor schol member Johnston I um second the amended motion okay the new motion is for a uh to negotiate with bitterford and Southern main administrative collaborative known as smack for a one-year uh contract School Board member Gil so following up on this discussion and and hearing the the timelines for for everything that the superintendent was talking about with
052open positions what is the timeline after this vote for an agreement to be presented to us to approve are we talking in January or February my suggestion would be whatever you do to do it in January as soon as possible if that's the direction and make that decision because if not we need to start those that process and secure good Services moving forward with a and it's a process it takes time um and so if that if that's the case that that it goes in that direction we want to put Saku in the best position possible to get a quality candidate just just to clarify but I guess my question is what are the next steps moving forward after this vote is it that bord will the the next piece would be having a a
053select committee negotiate that agreement or to have those further disc discusss with bford and Dayton to say this is what it would take to do this yeah I think if the motion passes that that would be something we would get going as soon as possible um and I would go and and email um mayor cavan that's you know right after we get out of here to to see when we could get that going so the the goal would be to have that done as quickly as possible um and as Jeremy mentioned it's it's really time is of the essence and we either need to head down a path of we're going to do that and we have the negotiation and that's successful or get out of that path as quickly as possible and start an
054actual sech and that's really my my intent of of putting this on the agenda this evening was to let's get that started as soon as possible that that sounds good the one thing to think about maybe is do we need to put some sort of deadline on this motion because in my experience experienced negotiations work better with a deadline rather than an open-ended I don't know if that would be helpful for the for this moving forward or if it would be detrimental but just a just a thought I don't see how that wouldn't benefit the process um the only thing is that with trying to put schedules together um amongst you know a handful of us it's challenging trying to do the same thing with you know another group of people i' you know I'd
055hate to say we're going to do this by the 31st and then find out that nobody's available you or something like that that's I I definitely think that we want to have urgency applied to this to this process um I just I would hesitate to say that okay we're going to be done by the you know the 10th of January and if we aren't what what is the consequence of that do we we have to build something into the motion that you know says that if we aren't able to do it by the 10th then we've already decided that we're going the other path I mean that's kind of if we're going to put a date that's sort of of I think what we would ultimately need to start considering is what is the you
056know is the fallback that we just give it a few more days or is it that we have decided that it's it's too late at that point and you know Full Speed Ahead with a search and and my comment would be that if this can't be wrapped up by the second meeting in January you need to move that needs to move ahead you got to we got to start going on that process Mr Mayor School Board member Archie so I was a little confused when um it was presented I was under the assumption that we were going to try and do a one-year extended contract but that's not what you're trying to push through you're you're trying to get us to open a negotiation that could be in two or or three-year contract correct I
057think that would be up to us when we decide to have the negotiation so the current contract right now runs out at the end of this school year um in order to do something beyond that we would have to negotiate with them anyway um and so but it's it's being worded as a one-year extension or a one-year negotiation so I just want to make sure that we're not voting on one year versus an open-ended position I see what you're saying yeah there will be a date certain like when it ends the contract won't be like a you get the job and you can have it until we fire you or you leave it's the contracts always have an end date so if it starts July 1 and goes for one year or two years or
058three years most contracts go for three years right so can we reward the motion then well that's part of the negotiation piece I think right and I think I I I I think the I understand where you're coming from RG and that what you're saying is that we don't want to necessarily have the motion that we've made hem us into it only being one year um if there's you know the possibility that we as a board might be open to something longer than that and um I'm more than willing to amend the motion to have it be that we negotiate with bitterford on uh terms amenable to all parties does that sound better any further discussion CH of Fortune have you given any thought to the problem of what happens if you're in negotiations and
059negotiations don't seem to be going well that you're going to be stonewalled in the sense that there will not be enough time uh and Saka will be in a negative position uh moving forward because there will not be a time to do a search which is what the school board told the community they were going to do last year uh after the interim there was going to be an a a full search uh so I just have you given any thought to that to the situation to the timing that's why I'm I'm I'm both reluctant to say it has to be by a certain date unless we attach to that a contingency that says that if we go beyond you know what pick a date whatever it is that's you know the second meeting of
060January that if we haven't arrived at a basically a a a spot of Common Ground amongst the parties that we have decided at that point that we're not moving forward and and continuing on and then doing a search at that point that's that's why I'm saying that if we're going to pick a date we have to have we have to have something that happens if the date should pass any further discussion I guess just continuing to follow along with that I mean I feel like that should be in this motion if we're authorizing to enter into negotiations then it would be helpful for those folks to have to have everything up front so that both sides know that come you know February 1st Saka will will be you know Saka will do one or the
061other yes we we need to move this is if this is going this dire we need to to have a decision by clearly by February 1st at the latest CH of Fortune do you want to amend your your motion I will withdraw my original motion and make a new one for the sake of simplifying the discussion so I move that we enter into negotiations with the bitterford school committee and smack to um work on terms amendable to all parties and that we have that meeting and and a decision Point completed by February 1 second School Board member Johnson I take it with your second on this motion you're good with the withdrawing your second on the previous motion thank you uh all right so the motion is to move to enter uh negotiations with bitterford
062and Southern main administrative collaborative known as smack for the terms of agreeable to the parties uh with a February 1st uh deadline any for any discussion roll call vote Schoolboard member Archie no school board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member La Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes School Board member Johnston yes motion passes 61 uh that ends the uh new business this evening that brings us to item 13 other information any other information this evening seeing no other information we move to item four uh there was an addition to the agenda to add executive session 4056 f with possible action is there a school board member willing to make a motion yeah Mr Mayor I I have the motion I move we enter executive
063session um discussion or review of confidential records with possible action under Section 1 MRSA subsection 456 F second motion has been made by Schoolboard member of for second by Schoolboard member prebble to enter executive session any discussion roll call vote Schoolboard member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes School Board member Johnston yes motion passes 70 to enter executive session at 602 executive session will be downstairs in the conference room e e e okay we're back from executive session is there a motion to exit executive session so moved School Board member Truman second School Board member Richard any discussion mayor Mr Mayor roll call vote to exit executive session School Board member Archie yes
064School Board member Preble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes yes and Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes 70 at 655 Schoolboard member Truman do you have a report from executive session yes I'd like to make a motion uh I move that we accept the resignation of Sak Middle School principal Ken Hawkins so he can focus on his family and the many needs that have been way laid since the p pandemic began motion's been made by school board member Truman is there a second second second second by School Board member Johnston any discussion on the motion to accept no discussion roll call vote School Board member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board
065member Le Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes and Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes 70 to accept uh the resignation of soc Middle School principal Ken Hawkins with that we move on to item 15 is there a motion to adjourn so moved School Board member Truman is there a second second second by School Board member Johnston any discussion on adjourning roll call to adjourn School Board member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richard yes School Board member L Fortune yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes School Board member Johnston yes motion passes to adjourn 70 at 656 p.m. have a wonderful evening everyone and have a great holiday thank you you too