001e e e good evening everyone and welcome to the Sako school committee uh Sako school board meeting for Wednesday May 22nd 2024 let the meeting reflect starting at 5:03 we do have all school board members present with the exception of Schoolboard member roach and Schoolboard member Gail who is stuck in traffic and on his way so he may be may be showing up in a few moments would you please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you and now that takes us to item number three and that is the retirement acknowledgement superintendent Ray all right well good evening everybody and thank you for coming uh out on the best night of the entire spring it always happens this way uh when you do something it our luck is at least it didn't rain the
002other well it did rain last night some in some places but uh we want to take this uh opportunity to uh recognize um four retirees um with us tonight and um as a district we're going to ask for your building principal to please come forward um we're going to have a few words and the school department um will recognize you for all of the wonderful years of service that you have given to our children our community to the staff um all of those pieces um after we present you um with the gift uh Jen Partridge is going to meet you outside to fill out your sub application forms so we want One-Stop shopping because I know Marco is ready to come back and I tried to work on your a little bit Nancy over there
003but hopefully we'll get there um but to start off with I would uh like to ask uh principal Susi to please come forward um so we can honor our first retiree thank you for having me congratulations to all the retirees tonight it's an honor to speak tonight as we celebrate the retirement of our beloved social studies teacher Dennis Driscoll although teaching was a second career for Mr Driscoll one in which he served s middle school for 21 years it's evident that he's a natural and was meant to be in the classroom Dennis has a deep passion for social studies and his stories make history come alive for his students his lessons are engaging and draw them into the subject matter at hand what truly sets Dennis apart however is his ability to connect with all
004students in a genuine way he is approachable and supportive offering guidance and encouragement beyond the classroom and student students feel valued and understood by him Dennis is thoughtful and generous to students and colleagues alike he often gives up his time and his own money to treat his students to pizza or ice cream during lunches and brings in treats for his colleagues outside of the classroom Dennis can be found attending students performances and sporting events where he is enthusiastic supporter of all students not just the ones in his classroom just yesterday we found him after school with a colleague having cake that he brought in for a student in need of some support I behalf of all those whose lives you have enriched I extend my heartfelt heartfelt gratitude to your years of service dedication and
005passion may your retirement be filled with as much joy as you've brought s Middle School all these years and though you may be stepping away from the classroom your impact will endure for years to come congratulations Dennis [Applause] thank you for having me tonight I get to recognize three amazing educators who dedication and passion have really profoundly impacted CK Burns so I'm going to start with Michelle Brown for 21 or 22 or 23 depending on who you ask Michelle has been a joyful inspiring educational technician when I think of Michelle I first think of her laugh not a morning goes by without her greeting me personally each and every day and checking in with me and we always end our conversations with something that she has that makes us both laugh the staff at CK
006Burns will always think of her and remember her humor and they will remember her strength in fostering relationships not only with students but with her colleagues Michelle demonstrates patience creativity and tireless effort to help countless students overcome challenges and achieve their fullest potential Michelle has not only been an educator but a mentor and a friend to everyone that she works with as Michelle embarks on a well-deserved retirement we reflect on the many lives she's touched and the mark that she'll leave CK Burns her Legacy of compassion and excellence and education will continue to inspire many to come thank you Michelle for 21 22 and 23 years of unparalleled service you've earned a wonderful retirement [Applause] next up I want to recognize Nancy Sullivan and these two come as a pair so I'm not surprised that
007they're leaving as a pair uh Nancy has been a Cornerstone of support and commitment within our school Community her passion for working with students with disabilities and inspireing them to work hard and be successful she has impacted lives with nurturing and concern for children's well-being she cares deeply about the student she works with and she comes to work with a smile on her face each and every day she is probably the most dedicated and she I think has hard I don't know if she's ever missed a day of work she comes to school all the time so I they're there I wish they were more like you it was great so she's dedicated she and it doesn't go unnoticed by everyone I want to thank Nancy for 19 years see HR doesn't quite have it
008down yet 19 or 20 I think um a lot of our edtech staff also started out as substitutes so they work their way into the district through subbing and we just I just want to say thank you so much you are going to be truly missed and enjoy your [Applause] retirement I'm not even going to try to guess how many years Marco has because he's been in many different places but Marco lamth uh after a career dedicated to the growth and development of countless young minds Mr lamth our beloved fourth grade teacher is retiring his Innovative approach to education and his deep personal connections with his students have left an undable mark on our school Community Mr Lam moth's journey and education has been characterized by his unwavering commitment to making learning an exciting and
009personal experience for each of his students his classrooms have always been a place where creativity thrives and lessons are brought to life through imaginative methods he consistently seeks out ways to bring on Hands-On learning and personal experiences in his classroom from researching ways to raise salmon in the classroom and following all the way through with a personal release of them to walking trips around the town of Sako he was passionate about connecting the curriculum to the town that the students live in Beyond his creative teaching techniques Mr lamth is known for his genuine care and personal investment in his student students lives he takes the time to understand each of their strengths their challenges their interests and he Fosters an environment of trust and encouragement you can often hear students inviting Mr lamot to their
010birthday parties thanking him for attending one of their Afterschool games or plays or talking about the fishing trips that he planned with all his students during the summer months Marco thank you for all you have done for the students of Sako enjoy your retirement and I look forward to your your application for [Applause] substituting I was wondering if we could get all of our retirees and the principles to come forward so we can get a photo you guys wanted jump in huh they seem very very quiet [Applause] and on behalf of the city of Theo thank you as well for all of you for your dedicated work okay and with that it was requested that we do take a very short recess um so we will take a quick recess so that we can say
011goodbye to our retired as they head out and we will be back in just a few moments e oh there okay and welcome back everybody and thank you okay so that does take us now to item four and that is the approval of the Schoolboard meeting minutes dated May 8th 2024 is there a motion Madame mayor I move we approve the school board meeting minutes dated May 8th second motion has been made by Schoolboard member Truman second by Schoolboard member prebble any discussion on the minutes okay not seeing any that roll call vote Schoolboard member Archie yes School Board member prebble yes School Board member Richards abstain Schoolboard member Truman yes and Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes four zero and one abstention okay that takes us to item five and there are no adjustments
012to the agenda item six there are no correspondents item seven is the public session if there are any members wishing to speak please step to the podium state your name and address for the record and you will have three minutes okay not seeing anyone seeking Rec recognition takes us to item eight this evening and that is the superintendent's report superintendent Ray right well good evening everybody um so at this time uh normally I go through a whole list of things during superintendent report but I would like to use my time tonight to honor one of our very own teachers um from CK Burns uh Danielle peler who I don't know we were probably like three weeks ago when we really kind of knew knew but we weren't allowed to tell everybody um that uh Danielle
013um was selected out of several um uh I think it was over 30 some odd in York County of app of nominations for what would be the York County teacher of the year and so I'd like to invite uh principal Noble to talk a little bit about Danielle and uh as part of this Pro uh process uh in recognition tonight the school committee has some uh special gifts that we hope you will wear around uh because we are so very proud of you and it's not the two schools one plan t-shirt although I bet she'd wear one of those too right thank you for allowing me to come up and talk a little bit about Danielle um I've been at CK Burns for three years but Danielle was one of the first teachers that I
014really felt like I got to see her teaching um in action and I think one of the words I think of when I think of Danielle is innovative and approachable and I believe that's why I got to know her so well in the beginning she was uh one of the first colleagues to step up when we were implementing a new math program and she took that math program on and became a pilot teacher in her grade level and it's it's you know some teachers would say they can teach behind closed doors to kids and be very successful but it's very hard to teach your colleagues and your friends Danielle opened her doors to her colleagues and her friends and um monthly would hold meetings after school for colleagues to come in and talk about what
015they saw when they came in to teach so she's uh very brave and Innovative and she is just a wonderful leader in our building um she's consistently inspiring her colleagues uh she's uh kind and patient with students and I wasn't surprised when I heard that she was nominated in fact Danielle was nominated two years in a row for York County teacher of the year and yet last year she became a finalist and through that process was offered the opportunity to apply again this year as a finalist and we're excited to you know recognize her it was hard to keep that secret for a couple weeks um I think it was hard for her to keep from her colleagues as well and um I was invited up by Danielle to go watch the ceremony up in
016Augusta and quickly sent a picture on off to her colleagues and everyone was just thrilled and I think a lot of the comments were you know we're not surprised welld deserved um just such an inspiration to everyone um one other thing that uh Danielle has been recognized in my short tenure there is in 2022 she was also recognized with the presidential award for excellence and math these are not uh nominations or awards that all teachers uh receive so in my short tenure I've seen her really just Excel and stand out in Maine we're really ex you know privileged to have her teaching here in Sako what Danielle doesn't know is that I have a good friend of mine who was on the selection committee who was also sworn to secrecy and I happened to run
017into that uh administrator over the weekend and he said I can't believe I didn't call you because it was really hard for me to not call you but I need you to know that Danielle hands down blew everyone outse out of the water and uh you know there was no question that she was going to be selected for York County teacher of the year so she has a long tenure of a year of service for the state of Maine which allows us some privileges um here in Sako but she will be working um outside of her classroom to support teachers and um all of the community in York so we look forward to the announcement of the next step in the process that won't be announced until the fall but we will support her along
018her path and uh we're just really proud of Danielle so thank you Danielle for all you do thank you very all right I'll Che it out congratulations okay that now takes us to item nine and that is the chair's report Schoolboard member Purble um I have nothing new to report this evening but thank you item number 10 there are no staff reports this evening and item 11 is the board subcommittee minutes policy and Personnel committee agenda will be uh to be determined for the next meeting the finance and infrastructure committee agenda meeting will be 82824 at 4:30 and the curriculum committee agenda next meeting will be 6324 at 4:30 there is no old business this evening and moving on to item 12 for new business it a is new hires there is a memo in
019your packet is there a motion Madame mayor I move we approve the nomination of Katherine favro Fairfield school teacher and issue a one-year contract for the 2024 25 school year Elizabeth Mitchell Fairfield school teacher and Wendy free Sako middle school art teacher and issue a contract for the 2024 2025 school year motion has been made by Schoolboard member Truman is there a second second second second by School Board member Richards any discussion or comments on the item okay not seeing any roll call vote Schoolboard member Archie yes Schoolboard member prebble yes Schoolboard member Richards yes Schoolboard member Gail yes Schoolboard member Truman yes and Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes 60 okay Item B resignations There is a memo in your packet with resignations but there is no motion on the item taking us now
020to item C and that is the dates for the June meeting all right so um one of the things that uh because of the way the end of the year worked and election and all those things uh June 12th turns out to be our eighth grade promotion promotion night which would be right during the same time as our school committee and so we looked for another night and we were hoping that we could get a motion to have June 11th at 7 o' our June meeting um if that worked for everybody um and maybe it'll even be a night where we get to celebrate some good news I'll make the motion would anyone like to make a motion to move the date I move we reschedule our June 12th Schoolboard meeting to June 12th 2024
021at 7 p.m. June 11 June 11th oh my goodness I said the same date twice second okay motion has been made by Schoolboard member Truman second by Schoolboard member prebble any discussion on the item you want me to say it louder online they can it is working in the back okay Mo uh roll call vote School Board member Archie yes School Board member Preble yes Schoolboard member Richards yes Schoolboard member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes and Schoolboard member Johnston yes motion passes 60 item number D that is the budget update and discussion vote on the June 11th 2024 and the April financial statements so just to touch on the April financial statements we didn't have policy uh finance committee tonight because of our recognition of our retirees uh I have reviewed those and
022we'll review those at the next meeting uh we're in very good shape uh as we come into the end of the year um just a reminder to everyone that June 11th is also budget validation day uh and in the state of Maine we're required to have a positive vote from um the public on that day hopefully uh between the I think the only two issues on the ballot are School related issues and budgets uh in building um so we hope that uh we will have a positive vote um on the budget that day as you know we put together a package here that I think was very reasonable um based off the economic um surrounding towns and communities and the City of a whole has done a really nice job uh this year helping to
023keep the tax rate low so so just reminder that uh voting does um happen at Thorton Academy um and we'll be open I believe at 7 and 700 am. to 8:00 p.m. is that correct yes um on June 11th and uh if people have any questions about that feel free to reach out and we'll get those answers back to you thank you and just a reminder that you can come to City Hall at this time we are doing in person voting downstairs and that is open as well before the if you're not able to do june 11th okay and that takes us to item e and that is the school construction update vote on June 11th 2024 and the new website so uh as you know we've been working very hard to make sure that
024we are able to put out information about the um Bond question that will be voted on on June 11th on the state project and the local project uh we have created uh a website info onto.com uh and have been working on putting videos information handouts mailers signs around town where people can go to a website uh and get any of the meeting minutes the plan the financials uh the data on the land uh correspond with us about any questions that they may have um I know that additionally uh people have are available to answer any questions because you know some of the PE things that still pop up that people ask about is so why didn't it just go somewhere in the middle of town and we understand that that's if you didn't follow the
025process along that's a hard one uh and we probably can't say enough times is that there was a requirement on having 20 acres plus one acre for every hundred kids that puts it at 31 Acres there's just not 31 Acres everywhere that's one has to be available and two has to be for sale uh and so those are some things um that sometimes people um who haven't probably followed along all the time would say no so why is that or why are those pieces or how does that uh handle Walkers and our response uh would be saying that you know there really is more drop offs than Walkers and you know why nor Sako and we think or on Route One availability size of land future growth so we can answer a lot of those
026questions that people may have um and so we have a website and if you see any of our signs around town that advertises when the Voting is there's also a QR code on there that will take you right to the website uh so that people can answer any of those questions so June 11th will be a big day in Sako it will thank you and as a reminder we've got two more Tuesdays that I will be here with my open Office hours so again if anybody has any questions or concerns please feel free to stop in 4:30 to 7: on Tuesdays I I also felt today uh Jody just to mention that the city put out informational video today about three and a half new video came out today that is outstanding it really breaks
027it down in a simple form the of the impact on taxes how things are being done what some of those p uh City staff did a great job with that any questions or comments for superintendent Ray uh Schoolboard member Gil just a quick comment I mean I I think this website's awesome and it's a real Testament to the transparency of how we got to the decision what went into it and I think it's it's a great resource for everybody and I didn't see yet the the uh video today but I'm sure it's excellent so again I mean just congratulations to everyone at the school department and and at the city for helping to be transparent and just put putting all our cards on the table on on this great job thank you uh will I
028I do think that one of the hard pieces about when people talk about some the is that the process is so long um and that it wasn't like you made a decision over a six week period um this was three years that uh Meg and I and this group have been working on it and there was 17 years before that um and I just I've even found it quite interesting um over the last week looking at um I believe it was in 2017 when the council did not put a vote out um I think 17 was the year and at that time the city of Sako was looking at spending $21 million or 215 sorry which would have have replaced young school and renovated Fairfield and the bond was for 30 years so you would
029have had a 30-year payment where this bond is a 20-year Bond because that's what the state requires for the state construction project and so at that point in time you were replacing only young school with no prek in it renovating Fairfield with no prek in it for a total of 215 over 30 years and this is a scenario where for 39 million we address every single Elementary building and prek that wasn't even like in the conversation and so and that's a 20 year so when you really think about 17 to 24 and that all of our challenges are going to be addressed at one one time to provide equity for our students $18 million difference it's a really really unique and great opportunity for us and uh we'll find out our Direction on June 11th
030anyone else School Board member Johnston I would just like to say um I would reiterate everything that's been said by people here relating to this issue tonight but I would also like to encourage people to go ahead and vote before June 11th um sometimes people forget something comes up to know that those votes are already in The Ballot Box I think is is comforting for those of us who would really like to see people show up and vote and it is very important that we get what is it uh Mr superintendent about 900 people who actually out 486 I think is think was the number it it was 8 86 or 887 is the required I believe so in other words we do need to get a certain number of Voters to actually go and
031vote um so I'm just encouraging everybody to go ahead and do it early if they can but if not please get there on June 11th thank you thank you anyone else okay that now takes us to item F and that is the first reading of the policies is there a motion for the policies Schoolboard member Johnson thank you I move we approve the first reading of policy jic student code of conduct and J IA student dress and I move to strike JFC student use of cellular telephones and other electronic devices and also JF ck- rules for the student use of cellular telephones and other electronic devices thank motion has been made by Schoolboard member Johnston second by Schoolboard member Truman any discussion on the policies okay roll call vote School Board member Archie yes Schoolboard
032member Purble yes School Board member Richards yes School Board member Gail yes and uh Schoolboard member Truman yes and Schoolboard member Johnson motion passes 60 okay and there is no other information tonight there is no executive session and is there a motion to adjourn so so moved motion made by school board member Truman second by Schoolboard Preble that works roll call vote Schoolboard member Archie yes Schoolboard member Preble yes Schoolboard member Richards yes School Board member Gail yes School Board member Truman yes and School Board member Johnson yes motion passes 60 to adjourn at 5:34 now everyone get out and enjoy