001off can hear me too. Um, good evening and welcome to a special meeting of the HUSD school board. Um, thank you for coming. Thank you for all the guests and thank you board members. Um, as you all know, this is a confidential matter. So, we can take public comment but then we'll close the session and we'll go into a private board only session to discuss um, to discuss it. Um, please remember that uh, you guys everyone should remain muted unless they're going to talk because we'll have that funny override. We don't have our normal system set up here in the library. It's just it's just a bunch of laptops and we're using um, Emily's laptop to be our one of our sound devices and the White Houses are sitting at our other microphones. So, we're
002we have we're set for it but it's a little different than normal. Um, so we have 15 minutes for public comment. I know that I am assuming both of you would like to speak. So, I if if we're ready, we'd love to have you begin. Is that unmuted? Can we unmute? >> I'll unmute you. >> Okay, when you're ready and then that rather the rest of the board can hear you. And it's 3 minutes per person. That's the rule we kind of go by here. >> I'll do my best to cram this all in. >> Okay, can everybody hear me okay? Uh, my name's Tristan Whitehouse. And I'm here asking the board to overturn the superintendent's decision and allow Henry to remain at Faced and Elementary School. This request is not about convenience, perseverance, or
003preference, or avoiding our home school. It's about preserving a placement where Henry is already known, supported, and successful. The district's policy allows family to request attendance at another school within the district. The question before you is whether there is a compelling reason to deny that request for Henry. Over the last several months, we have repeatedly asked a simple question. What educational benefit does Henry gain by leaving Fayston, a fantastic school where he is already successful? What we have heard is concern about future enrollment numbers. We have been told that moving Henry to Warren helps ensure that a future first-grade class will have 10 students so that the district can comply with the Vermont educational quality standards. It seems like Henry is a number. I understand why enrollment matters to the district, but enrollment planning and
004educational needs of a special education student are not the same thing. When I review Henry's records, I see a child who is making progress. When I read documents from his pediatrician, former caregivers, and educators, I see consistent emphasis on continuity, relationships, stability, and carefully managed transitions. What I do not see is evidence that changing schools is expected to improve his educational experience or outcomes. For students with disabilities, federal and state law requires decisions to be made based on the individual child, not administrative convenience or future projections. The law recognizes that placement can be technically appropriate and still cause harm if it unnecessarily disrupts a child's relationship or access to the support that have historically helped them succeed. That is why educational benefit, continuity, and potential harm must be considered whenever a placement decision is made.
005Since filing this appeal, the Vermont Agency of Education has formally accepted our complaint. Before that investigation moved forward, we welcomed a mediation because we believed a conversation could help resolve these concerns collaboratively. The district declined mediation. At the end of the day, granting this appeal costs the district nothing. Saying no will only result in more work, more hours, and more sleepless nights for everyone involved. The district gives up nothing by saying yes. And here's the best part. Saying yes preserves something that is already working and helps a little 5-year-old kid thrive. Please help us. Thank you. >> Hi, everyone. I'm Kayleigh Whitehouse. I'm Henry's mom. Tonight, I'd like to talk less about policies and procedures and more about the child at the center of all of this debate. When people meet Henry today, they see
006a happy little boy. They see a kid who loves school. They see a kid who loves his friends and loves being around other children. What they don't see is how hard he's worked to get there. For the first several years of his life, every cold seemed to become a medical emergency. I drove over Roxbury Gap in the middle of the night more times than I can count. We made countless trips to the emergency room. He struggled with hearing problems, severe sleep apnea, speech delays, and challenges communicating with the world around him. As parents, we watched him become frustrated when people couldn't understand him. We watched him struggle to express himself. We watched him work harder than most um people to realize that he worked harder than most people realized just to participate in conversations that
007other children took for granted. Thankfully, things began to change. With speech services, support from his teachers, and a tremendous amount of effort on Henry's part, he started finding his footing. And over the last few years at Face in, we've watched something remarkable happen. We've watched him become more confident. We've watched him become more independent. We've watched him build friendships and we've watched him find his voice. The people who know Henry best all seem to describe his success in the same way. His pediatrician talks about continuity. His former caregivers talk about stable relationships. His teachers talk about trust, confidence, and connection. Different people, different perspectives, the same message. Relationships matter, trust matters, continuity matters. As parents, we've seen that firsthand. This process has been incredibly difficult for our family. There have been sleepless nights. There have
008been countless conversations around our dinner table. And there have been moments when Henry has asked us where he'll go to school next year and we've had to tell him we honestly don't know. That is a heartbreaking answer to give a 5-year-old who loves his school. And I understand that children are resilient. Henry could survive a change, but that isn't the question before you tonight. The question is whether change is necessary. If Henry were struggling, I could understand considering something different. If there were services available elsewhere that he couldn't receive at Face in, I could understand that conversation. But that's not where we are. We're talking about a child who is succeeding. We're talking about a child who knows his classmates, knows his teachers, loves going to school. A child who walks into school feeling safe,
009confident, and supported. We're simply asking that he be allowed to continue on the path that he that has helped him become the child he is today. Please keep Henry at the center of this decision. Please allow him to remain at Face in Elementary. Thank you. One >> Is there anyone We have 9 minutes left of public comment. Is >> hands in the room. >> Oh, sorry. >> to speak next. >> I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that. I just was looking for hands up. If anyone wants to talk though that's in Zoom, please put your hand up. Go ahead. >> Hello. I don't know which way to place that up. >> [laughter] >> I'm Lauren Ayotte. I am a special educator and I am also a parent of a student at the Rising
010as a rising kindergartner and I I think this is my fifth year as a parent at the Face and Elementary School. Um I am asking to request that you reconsider your decision for Henry Whitehouse. As a special educator, I know that for students with IEP, consistency and routine are not nearly nearly preferences. They're critical components of educational success. Predictability, familiar staff, established expectations, stable peer relationships help build student confidence. When a student is thriving in a setting where those students have already been there those has supports have already been established, disrupting that environment should only incur when there is compelling education educational reasons to do so. As I understand it, the primary reason for the denial is a concern uh that allowing Henry to attend Face and would reduce the projected first grade class size
011at Warren Elementary to fewer than 10 students during the 2027 2028 school year. While I appreciate the district's responsibility to consider enrollment trends and resource allocation, I believe this rationale warrants further review. Henry's enrollment at Warren would increase the projected class size by only one student, resulting in a class size of nine rather than eight. Is nine not still below the standard of 10? Over the next 14 months, enrollment numbers could change significantly. Families could move in and out of the district. They could choose to home school. Things could change. So, it seems to me like this decision is a little premature when we're talking about the 2027-2028 fiscal year. School year. Either way. Uh I also asked the question about the minimal threshold. If there are other classrooms in the district where that number
012is not being met. For example, the rising to be second graders at Feasden Elementary only have nine students. One, there is a student who was granted school choice, that's a Feasden resident, to go to Waitsfield Elementary. You granted them an exception to go to Waitsfield Elementary. And yet that put the district below the number of 10. I don't know if I said that right. Um And so, right, that would have been the 10th student at Feasden for that class size. But the exception was granted and he was allowed to go to Waitsfield. All right. Uh let's see. I think Warren also has a class size of below 10 students for the rising first graders. Um what I also really struggle to understand, oh, and so what also happens then with the ramifications of being below
013that threshold? What What happens? It's unclear. Um I'm struggling to understand the consistency of the district's position. If maintaining a minimum first grade class size down the line is the overriding concern, then why were any Warren rising kindergarteners approved to attend Feasden? There were two Warren kindergarteners, rising kindergarteners, that were approved to attend Feasden. I assume those requests were approved because the district recognized the importance of family logistics. They both had older siblings already attending Feasden. And a decision was made based on the best interest of the student and of their families. And if those factors were enough to make a decision for those families, why are those decisions not enough to impact a decision for Henry? The inconsistency is really difficult to reconcile. On the other hand I sorry, on one hand, the district
014argues that a projected enrollment of a single student is enough to deny Henry's request. And then on the other hand, exceptions have already been made. This creates the appearance that the standard is being applied differently depending on the family involved rather than according to a clear and equitable policy. I'm not sure what objective is being advanced by denying Henry's request cuz it does not appear to be educationally necessary, financially necessary, or consistently applied. And it does not feel like the kind of thoughtful, student-centered decision-making that I know many of you value and uphold. Sincerely, Lauren. >> Okay. Thank you all of you. Anyone in on Zoom who wants to make a comment, please raise your virtual hand. >> Oh. >> I see go ahead, Felicia and Reese, and and unmute yourself to be heard. >>
015Yes, hi. Thank you. Um that was wonderful hearing from Tristan and Kaylee and Lauren. Uh my son, Bennett, goes to school with Henry and Henry is is invaluable. He's such a wonderful um asset to any classroom and he has become such a good friend to my child that I can't imagine having a change for him, especially when I I'm hearing the parameters, they seem clear to me. The IEP is supposed to take precedence. Um and he deserves to have that upheld for him. So he can save face and thank you. >> Thank you. We are out of time. If there's one more comment, we can take that. Is there someone online who wants to make a comment? Okay. Thank you everyone. We appreciate the input. We are listening. We can't respond to you right now.
016I wish we could, but we cannot. So um we are going to go into our closed session and we thank you for coming out. >> Ashley's My name's Jennifer Felice. I apologize I didn't have it signed on as my company name. Thank you. >> I I knew that. I should have >> [laughter] >> said that. Yeah, I knew that. Thanks everyone. >> And then do you want me to move to go to the room? >> All right. Yeah, we're going to We got to do the agenda first. Okay. So board members online and here in the room, I need a motion to approve the agenda. >> I move to approve the agenda. >> Um Emily second. Pam first, um Emily seconds. All those in favor say I. I. Okay. And then uh I need a
017motion to go into executive session. >> Uh motion to go into executive session. >> Second. >> To discuss a >> To enter into executive session with all board members only for the purpose of discussing a confidential student matter. >> You have to go into the other >> Now we're going to go in the breakout room everybody. Switch to that. >> the motion. >> Oh, second motion. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All right, into that other room, please. >> So I leave this room? >> And then go into >> I'm I'm here. >> We're we're missing board members. Maybe they thought they had to go off. I don't know. >> This is I think we're supposed to be in the other one. >> Well, I don't know. I didn't know there was
018another one and so I just stayed on and she put me in and I saw three people and then all of a sudden I got out of it. So, and now Jillian is coming back. I think we just stay put. I think we should just stay put. >> I tried to join the executive session one, but because this meeting still in progress, it won't let me in cuz there's another meeting in progress. Is Dr. Mike here? >> Um well, it says that Dr. Mike is he is is here and and it also um we I didn't do anything. I didn't go into any other session, but Ashley did it like it was a you know what what do you do that with small group a breakout group. >> No, no, we're there's we got emailed
019another >> meeting going on, but I couldn't get into it either. That's why I left and came back in. I don't know what to do. >> Yeah, because this meeting's this meeting needs to close cuz they only have one zoom meeting. >> Here's Ashley. >> Ashley, tell us what's going on. Unmute yourself. >> She's on the phone. Dr. Mike started the other meeting. We need to close this meeting to get in the other meeting. I can't hear you, Bobby. >> Yeah, I was muted. So, apparently Dr. Mike started Okay, Ashley said hang on. >> We just have to get into the right Mike has to turn off what he started. >> So, I think you guys are in the original meeting as opposed to the executive session. >> No, we are because this meeting this
020meeting needs to be stopped so the other meeting can start. >> Right, we need to You need to get out of this. Mike needs to close this one and we're we're trying to get the other one open. So, if you head to the waiting room in the executive session, we'll be there shortly. >> Yeah, it says there are people in the waiting room, but it says in complete we have to close. >> Okay, so we should go into the waiting room of the other Okay. >> Yeah, I'll see you guys in the waiting >> Okay, Mike's Mike's working on it right now. >> Yeah, if he if he ends the other meeting, we'll all get kicked out. >> He's ending it right now. >> Awesome. See you guys soon. >> 2 minutes. >> Two 2
021minutes. >> He's staying on the phone with me. >> Mhm.