001Good evening and welcome to the Augusta School Board's operational meeting . It is August 12, 2026, and we are in the conference room of the CATC cafeteria. With this, I declare the meeting open and ask for the oath of allegiance to be recited. I pledge allegiance 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. Thank you. At this point, I ask if there are any changes to this evening's agenda. I propose to modify point 17, the consensus items. We will add A. Elizabeth Loyo, second grade teacher for Huzzi. B. Rachel Gonzaga Parkin, fifth grade Lincoln, C. Kevin Feainer, sixth grade Lincoln. And D. Amanda Hayward, MTSS coach for Con. Does anyone support the motion? I
002support it. The support was proposed and approved. Discussions? I don't feel it. Please vote to add these changes to the agenda . With a vote of 8 to 0, the motion passed. We don't have, um...we don't have any presentations tonight. Point six, I ask for approval of the minutes. I move for approval the minutes of the Augusta School Board's operational meeting of July 8, 2026, and our special meeting of July 22 of this year. Thank you. Proposed and supported. Discussion on point number six. I don't feel it. Please vote. By a vote of 8-0, the minutes of the Augusta School Board's operational meetings on July 8th and 22nd were approved by 8 votes to 0. The next item is the superintendent's report . Mr. Tracy. Yes. Hello. Good evening everyone. Happy August. I just wanted
003to provide a written report attached to the agenda and...I won't read it all, but I wanted to highlight and thank Mr. Stoner and his team at this time of year. Um, our buildings are among the most beautiful in Augusta. Not to brag, but we have wonderful, well-maintained schools, and that doesn't happen by accident. So, I would like to thank Mr. Stone and our facilities team for all their hard work getting our schools ready. Um, again, in the summer I have a lot of friends who say, "Oh , Mike, you, you know, you have summers off. You're an educator." I reply, “Well, we have a lot of teachers and staff to hire.” Which you will see again tonight. We hired seven or eight people a couple of weeks ago. We are sorting out school curricula and
004preparing for training, working on planning for the next school year, as you know as a council. So there is a lot to be done about that. I won't go on for too long , but thank you for the opportunity. I am about to begin my fifth year with the school department. As deputy superintendent and superintendent, and I feel very fortunate to be able to do so. There are a few things I'd like to mention as we approach the school year. I'll be sending out a welcome back letter shortly, and if we don't have the bus routes by the end of the week, we hope to have them ready for the public next week. There are a couple of new developments, or almost, and one concerns the state law regarding cell phones or electronic devices. I
005just want to remind the public and everyone that this is not our initiative. This is a state law, and it will be a significant change, particularly for Coney Middle School and the entire district, but especially for Coney Middle School and High School. We have never allowed cell phones or devices during academic hours, but now the rule will apply 24/7, from bell to bell. This means that they should be put away upon arrival at school and not taken out until after school. So, even during downtime or in the cafeteria, we will have to keep our cell phones closed and put away. The other thing, which is not new for middle and high schools but applies to the entire district, is that we will not allow hoods. I mean the hoods of sweatshirts. There may be cases
006involving students with special needs, which will be addressed through the IEP, but in general we will not allow hoods for safety reasons. We worked closely with the Augusta Police Department, who advised me last year not to allow them because we don't know who might be in our schools. It is important to always know who is present in our institutions. So, and just to clarify, they can wear a hoodie, but they can't pull the hood up. Thanks for the clarification. We will not allow hoods to be raised during the school day. Yes, you can wear a hoodie. Just keep your hood down when inside the building. So, these aren't major changes, but there are some things that will be posted in announcements and manuals , and I really wanted to be the first to break all
007this good news. Agree. So, anything else? I would be happy to answer questions, if the council has any for Mr. Tracy. Member of the Board or Thank you, Madam President. Mr. Superintendent, the Supreme Court recently ruled that parents can refuse to allow their children to participate in LGBTQ school programs. Do we have that form? We have an opt-out form and parents can already opt out of content that is controversial, is not controversial, is LGBTQ school curriculum, any material containing a "gender unicorn " or any other material added to the curriculum, can parents opt out and have their children not be taught? If those programs existed, then yes, parents do exist. Yes, the answer is yes , sir. Thank you, sir. And we can get that form for you, if you're interested. I appreciate it. To
008follow up on what you said, Mr. Tracy, we already have a policy in place for any parent who wishes to challenge part of the school curriculum. Isn't that right? Correct. So, it's already in effect. Yes. Agreed. So, we didn't have to do anything extra because we were already compliant in offering that opportunity to parents. Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Tracy? Parks Board Member. Thank you. A requirement for all employees to be mandatory whistleblowers has recently come into force. So is this in effect in our school district now? Currently, I will have the Deputy Superintendent, who manages our annual training, update the information. The policies will arrive in September and, although they have been modified, they are part of our training. Always, every quarter. Okay. We went from having a training every five years,
009now it's every two, so. We did it every year anyway. Thank you. Please. Any other questions for Mr. Tracy? We're done, Mr. Tracy. Thank you. A thousand thanks. Deputy Superintendent Tibido. So, what we did a lot this summer in our administrative meetings was go through everything and break it down into five areas. So, for security and compliance, administrators completed training on Title 9 and voting investigations, so everyone was clear on the investigation process, documentation, what support measures could be put in place, and reporting protocols. We have strengthened the roles and responsibilities that this entails. We discussed strategic planning for potential elementary school district redesign, later start times, transportation, professional development, and school safety initiatives. We have taken care of professional training on the curriculum and operations. We have been doing advanced planning for the 26-27
010professional development calendar and the district-wide implementation of the “Amplify” pilot project , which is our ELA curriculum. We reviewed the three-year evaluation data, analyzed what our expectations are for multi-level support systems and mandatory staff training courses . We have finalized the assignments and building placements of our MTSS interventionists, formerly known as edtech staff. We have planned the new teacher orientation, which will be held Monday through Wednesday of next week, and the kindergarten graduation walk. We are talking about communication initiatives with families, developing our MTSS framework with a manual and quick reference guide , and establishing a definition of appropriate student progress; you will receive all this soon. Thank you. And as a reminder to anyone watching, there are links to these reports online if you'd like to see the details and the reports presented this
011evening. Questions for Deputy Superintendent Tibido. Councilman Gabby, Councilman Bar Pierce, give me a minute. A quick question about applying for substitute teaching through Red Rover. What is the timeframe for making it operational ? Is it already active? I know there was a PDF. Yes. Regarding Red Rover, I hope to have all applications for substitute teachers, non-RAP teachers, and support staff open by the fall, October or November. We're at a stage where we need to create test applications, fictitious applications, so we can test them. Our admins will review them, test them, see how I've set them up, and give me feedback. I'll make the necessary changes to the online form and then we can make it live. In the meantime, is it possible to attach the application in PDF? I believe that sometimes it is possible
012and sometimes not. Optimal. Yes, but I can definitely make sure it's consistent. Thank you. Any other questions for the superintendent, councilor? Greetings. I understand. Tonight I can think of first names, but not last names. I'm trying to be formal. I appreciate all the planning that went into this over the summer. And I also know that you managed the summer programs. I was wondering, maybe this will come from other school officials, but are there any summaries of how the summer programs went this year and whether they are still ongoing or have already concluded? Extended school year services are for students with IEPs and ended in August, that... last week, last Thursday, as did our Title I programs. I'm waiting for those reports on the number of students who participated and the attendance. I have received some
013preliminary data for Title I, but I want to make sure I have those reports so I can review them before… Thank you, Member Parks. A reminder to the public: The research and surveys regarding the delayed start of classes are for the 2027-2028 school year. Yes please. And all the work we were doing on the elementary school reconfiguration, the later universal start time, and the one-way bus service—all of that would be for 2027-2028. Thank you. Member... Thank you, Madam President. Deputy Superintendent, you said you had Title IX training? Was this Title IX training in accordance with federal law recognizing biological sex, or Title IX of the Mainstream Human Rights Act which says a boy can be a girl and go to girls' bathrooms , girls' locker rooms, and play sports with girls? These are the investigative
014processes in case of violations of Title IX. Which Title IX, the state one or the federal one? It depends on what the complaint is. So we trained mostly on investigative processes, not necessarily on the actual cause. Because a complaint arrives and this investigation process must be followed. That's where this is going. But if we don't follow federal law, a boy can walk into the girls' bathroom, that girl can file a complaint, and then she could be accused of bullying. It would be different, because we have never had this problem in this district. We have never had to deal with this issue until now . The other thing is, under Title IX, it could fall under, as you said, one of the state laws like bullying or harassment, which would have more weight than Title IX.
015I repeat, we have not received any complaints of this type and we have not had any of these incidents. Any other questions for Superintendent Tibido? Thank you. Next up is Administrative Manager Ross. Thank you. The administrative office is still very busy during the summer period. We continue to manage two accounts payable cycles. We are still paying some last-minute bills for the 26th and starting on the 27th, closing out FY26, a process we are doing together with the city. I am preparing for the August state reports, as outlined in my report submitted today. There are two state reports due in August. One is our actual budget for FY27 to inform them of the budget, and the other is the quarterly financial data for FY26, uploaded today. So that requirement has been met. And then, of course,
016we continue to work on our grants, making sure we finalize FY 25-26 and move into FY 27. We continue to work with Red Rover. We will be making our absence management system operational for the new school year. We know that issues will arise when the entire district starts using it. At the moment, some groups of people are already using it. The good thing about Red Rover is that solving most problems is very easy; I can log in and make changes in seconds or minutes. It's very easy to use. Let's hope the attendance and absence system works well. We look forward to improving it further. Regarding the attendance tracking system, we know that it will not be ready by September. So we'll use cards initially, then we'll move on to that. And for the hiring system,
017as I said, we will also take care of the testing activities. The FY 25 audit is still ongoing, but draft financial statements have been provided to the city; these are consolidated financial statements. We hope to receive that information soon. Regarding the financial data for June. Just an update on this. We close the year in a positive financial position. We received additional income from tuition, reimbursements, and government subsidies. A little more than we expected. The only cost center that closed in the red was transportation. But hopefully we can resolve this issue this evening. I won't go into detail about the July financial data because it's still very early. However, the few cost centers that are currently slightly above expectations are due to one-time purchases or subscription costs that we typically pay in July. This concludes my
018report. Thank you. Questions for Administrative Manager Ross? Block student members. Um, I was wondering what Red Rover was. Certainly. So, Red Rover is a company that works exclusively with schools, from kindergarten to high school. Assists with hiring and onboarding . Help our employees manage absences, such as vacation or sick leave, by tracking them and finding replacements. And it's also a way to use electronic timecards instead of filling out paper ones. Any other questions? Did you hear? None. After you. Reports from other school officials. Hi, I'm Tina McDonald. I'm the principal at Lincoln. Um, just some information. Tomorrow our elementary schools will send out assignment letters. So, parents should receive them in the mail in the next few days. Additionally, we ask families who have moved to the city to contact one of us at the
019elementary schools. This is because we are moving some students to balance classes and coordinate transportation. We therefore ask parents or families to contact us to coordinate everything. This year, all open days are the same: for kindergarten through sixth grade, on the 26th, from 5 to 6 pm, in all elementary schools. I don't think I've forgotten anything. That's all. Requests? Questions for Principal McDonald? I have one. How are nursery school enrollments going this year? Do you have an overall idea? I think the west zone is a little higher, but registrations are coming in . The average class size is 15-16 students. Some are a little smaller, some are a little larger, but the average is about that at the moment. What if there are preschool or kindergarten students who are not yet registered? What should they
020do? They should come to the superintendent's office . There's a link on our website to download the forms if you can't download or fill them out. Copies are available here, but you can also give us a call. We're all in the building right now, we can print the documents and follow them step by step. Thank you. Questions from other board members. Mr. President, we have 127 students in preschool right now. And how many did we have last year? Do you know ? I'm putting her in difficulty. 131 first grade students. We're a little behind, but not by much. Thank you. Please. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Heather Goff, principal of Fington and Huzzi. I just wanted to let the board members know that we have a couple of events next week . One is Tuesday
021at Huzzi from 5:30 to 6:30 pm and then Wednesday at Ferington, also from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. We're handing out popsicles at the playground to end the summer and kick off the school year. Of course, we'll have popsicles, bubbles, and music, and the children will be able to meet up, say hello, and get excited about the school opening in a few weeks. We would appreciate it if board members could attend one of these evenings, schedules permitting. A quick weather check: it's sunny so far. So it's going to be a nice evening. Did we talk about the kids' first day of school? Did anyone mention this? Maybe I missed it. For grades 1-6, the first day of school will be August 31st. Group A for preschool students will be on September 2nd. Sorry, September 1st. Group
022B will be on September 2nd for preschool, then all preschool children will start on September 3rd. Let's start slowly because, if you've ever been in a kindergarten classroom, you know it's chaos. So it's very helpful for teachers to have a small group of children to help them transition from half-day preschool to full-time and understand routines and expectations. I know that teachers, students and families appreciate it very much . So, this is the schedule for our student open week . Thank you. Requests? I should add that information about open houses and staggered start dates for various grades across the district has been posted on our website and Facebook. Thanks to Mrs. Rodriguez, our IT director, always very helpful during meetings. So, thanks for that clarification too. Thank you. Other school officials? I don't see any. Point
023number 11, we have no communications. Point number 12, resignations and retirements. I pass the floor to Mr. Tracy for this point . Optimal. Thank you. We had a few of these over the summer. So, I'll read the list in bulk, if that's okay with you. Perfect. All right. Caitlyn King, fifth grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary. And the dates are correct. July 31, 2026, resignation. Kate Parker, first grade, one correction. Should be first grade at Lincoln Elementary, August 2026. Uh, Dustin Weber, sixth grade teacher, Lincoln Elementary, 8 2026. Um, Peter Michaelelsson, math teacher , high school, 8 2026. Amanda Weber, MTSS interventions, Gilbert Elementary, 826. Megan Thornton, NPSS 3 interventions, Harington Elementary 8626, Kathy Doyle, secretary, Gilbert Elementary, 72926. Uh, Jennifer Sabian, uh, sorry, physics, sorry, part-time secretary, Huzzi Elementary, 71626 and Reena Andrean, cafeteria worker,
024Huzzi Elementary, 7826. I have no retirements. Thank you. Requests? I don't feel it. We have no awards tonight. Item number 14, our student school council member, Aana. Um, as far as the board members are concerned, as students are wrapping up their summer, a lot has happened. Coney High School held a fall sports meeting on August 4 to discuss changes for the upcoming season, such as pay-to-play , the introduction of new coaches, and to distribute sports schedules and contact information for coaches and the trainer. Preseason for most, if not all, high school sports begins on August 17th, which is next Monday. And middle school sports will also start the first week of school. And the sports information evening for middle school athletes and parents will be on September 1st at 6:00 pm. Speaking of sports, a
025huge thank you to TC or Mr. Cen for the free summer workouts for all Coney students. They really help our athletes and the number of athletes continues to grow since they started. Let's move on to the beginning of school. Coney brand ambassadors will be giving new students a tour of the school on August 25th. Sixth grade students and parents will have an open house on August 26th at 6:00 PM at Cody, and the first day for 7th and 9th grades will be August 31st. Grades 8, 10 , 11, and 12 will begin on September 1st. Some big changes at Coney this year include a "red day/white day" schedule instead of the original 4x4 block schedule, and most students should have received their schedules in the mail. The Cody Guidance Department has worked very hard on
026this program change. So a huge thank you to them too. And if students have questions about their schedule, they can contact their assigned advisor. As for upcoming events, the main one is simply the first day of school for students. But for future reference, I will inform the board members of any upcoming events at Coney that highlight students, and I encourage you to come. Finally, I look forward to another fantastic school year. Thank you. Thank you. Questions for the board members? I don't feel it. Oh, sorry. Councilman Barry Bry Pierce. What kind of feedback have you gotten from Cody students about the bell-to-bell policy, if any ? Um, not much so far, but I've heard mixed reviews. Not more negative than positive, but I'm sure it's all a change. And since it's at the state level,
027there's not much we can do about it. Thank you. Any other questions? I don't feel it. Attached are informational items, including the appointments of coaches for fall 2026, department heads and advisory segments for 2026-27, and a $1,000 donation for school supplies to all schools in the district from the AAM Union regional office, for which we sincerely thank you. Questions for the superintendent regarding any of these points? I don't feel it. Item 16, Committee reports and approval of minutes. There were no meetings in July. Let's move on to point 17, points of consensus. I am making a motion to accept the list of new staff that I initially read when I made the motion for adjustments. Second. It was proposed and supported . Mr. Tracy. Yes. We have some of those colleagues here tonight. So, I'll
028introduce them. Elizabeth Leo, second grade teacher in Hudie. Oh, no. They have to stand up. They have to stand up. No, no, no. Rachel Gonzaga Parkin, fifth grade at...er...er, Kevin Fanor, sixth grade teacher at Lincoln. He ca n't be there tonight. And Amanda Hayward, AMTSS coach for Conia. This concludes our work. Thank you. Further discussion? If you don't hear any, please vote on these four proposed new employees. And with an 8-0 vote, the list was approved, and we sincerely welcome you to your new positions and hope you enjoy being here. Thank you, Madam President. Maybe they don't want to stay. Oh, yeah. And I have to tell you that you can leave, unless you really have nothing else to do and want to stay. But know that at this time, if you want to go
029out, you are more than welcome. Thank you. Thanks for the reminder. Item 18, comments from board members and/or discussion of items not on the agenda. And a reminder that there is a 10 minute maximum per member. Does anyone want to talk? Parks Member. Thank you. So, to add to what the Pelos member said about summer school, I went to our "Title One" summer school at Coney High School one morning and was introduced to everyone by Shannon Morgan, the director. And I had a lot of fun meeting the guys and working with them. We answered questions, and I left snacks in a classroom that didn't have many dietary restrictions. It was really nice to see the boys. They are adorable. Always. Thank you. Does any other member of the board wish to speak? Member Bar Pierce.
030I just wanted to thank all the district staff and administration who have gone above and beyond this summer, because I just had my first Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting tonight, and we only got to see a portion of the work that's been going on in the district over the summer. And so it's not slowing down at all. It's just shifting gears to a different mode. And I'm really excited to see what this year has to offer. And I think we'll talk about the board's priorities in a moment , but I think they're perfectly aligned. We have some great things happening year-round in this district. Thank you. Other members? Member or Thank you, President. I apologize for missing the policy meeting we held. But I looked at her . And I was completely stunned and confused,
031because it seemed like the entire 40-minute conversation was going back exactly in the direction of the workshop, where we constantly try to limit and intimidate people in the audience from coming to speak. It's, it's, I ca n't understand, you know, the superintendent saying we're stuck. We have to do it. We need to give people the opportunity to speak. We are not stuck. It's called the First Amendment. And as the superintendent also said , it might make us uncomfortable, but it must make us uncomfortable. This is precisely what makes us the greatest country in the world: the fact that we are the only country with the First Amendment right to speak up and complain to anyone in any part of government. Our country is the only one that does it. You go to England, you post
032something on Facebook and you could end up in prison for one post. It's a law in England. It won't happen in the United States because of the First Amendment. So, again, I find it very sad to look at um and see that so much of the time has been spent going down that road. And I'll give the warning again that we're going, we're already in the middle of a First Amendment lawsuit. And do we really want to go down another path like that ? Do we want to continue inviting the police here to show force so that people can speak? Maybe you weren't here when you were talking about this at the policy meeting, but that's what I heard sitting there watching, that, "Oh, we're going to move them to a corner, but we're going
033to make sure we can hear and we're going to make sure they do their job of de-escalating." Cops shouldn't even be at a stupid school board meeting. They even have to be here. It's just... I defended him, right? And I'm amazed that we continue to go down this path. And for, you know, someone who 's on this board and who might very well be a lawyer, don't even give real legal advice. I'm sure they've taken some kind of constitutional law course and have a better understanding than I do of what the First Amendment is and what we can and cannot do about it. It's simply stunning. Um, secondly, I think it was a couple of months ago. Yes, that's right. Because you all voted to censor me last time, last month. Um, so it was
034a month before I brought up the fact that we're not following federal Title IX law. and a comment was made that um that a board member did not vote in favor of Title IX because it was the subject of federal litigation. Well, and it's still being litigated. However, in most of the cases currently underway, speaking of Trump's executive orders, they are all meeting challenges at every level so far and will likely eventually be deemed constitutional and become the rule of the land as it should be, simply by executive order. But the hypocrisy is that their reason for not voting for him was because he was in uh in court. Well, this council, that particular council member, voted not once, but twice, making it a policy based on Joe Biden's directives that were also going through
035federal court, effectively losing ground and legitimacy with the "bombs of liberty" lawsuits and other lower-level lawsuits. And just to remind you that the superintendent himself had said, at that next board meeting that we had, that scoundrel, the day after you all voted to approve that policy that, uh, the Supreme Court found to be unconstitutional. So it's quite hypocritical. People say, "Well, I didn't vote for that reason." when you literally voted for the other one, even though you were in the exact same situation. So, I just wish we would stop these little games of trying to violate people's First Amendment rights and stop this hypocrisy. Thank you. Any other members want to comment? The only comment I want to make is that I do n't think what we're doing here is stupid. Thank you. Let's move
036on to item number 19. Um , tonight's public comment session is going to be a little different, and I'm going to read our usual memo on public participation first, and then we'll explain the difference. We are actually offering an opportunity to participate via Zoom this evening, and I will ask Mr. Tracy to explain this after I read our public participation policy. The primary purpose of school board meetings is to conduct board business relating to school policies, programs, and operations. The council encourages residents to attend meetings to familiarize themselves with the school's operations and programs and cordially invites any interested members of the public to attend as provided in this policy. The Board recognizes the value of public comment on school and educational issues. To allow for the fair and orderly expression of public comments at
037board meetings, while still allowing the board to conduct its business efficiently, the board has established the following procedures for regular meetings. At special seminars and emergency meetings, public comment will be limited to the topic of the specific meeting. The following guidelines apply to public participation in board meetings. The Board shall include a public comment session of no more than 30 minutes on the agenda of its regular meetings. Individual speakers will be granted equal speaking time during the public comment period , limited to a minimum of three minutes per speaker. Individuals may not give up any portion of their allotted time to another speaker. The time limits in this paragraph may be modified at specific meetings at the discretion of the board . The board will first hear public comments from Augusta City residents, then from
038Augusta students and staff . If there is time remaining after the public comment period has ended after all residents have had the opportunity to speak, the council will allow non-resident comments. Individuals wishing to speak should complete the registration form available at each board meeting before the start of the public comment period and review a copy of this policy. Each individual will be required to declare their name and city of residence before starting their intervention. People will be required to remain behind the podium during the allotted comment time. Speakers will not be permitted to approach the board, walk around, or be anywhere else in the room during their commentary period. Speakers will be recognized by the Prime Minister, and comments must be addressed to the Prime Minister . The Chair of the Board is responsible for
039ensuring the orderly conduct of meetings and compliance with this policy, including the following procedural rules. Speakers are expected to follow common rules of etiquette and decorum and are required to refrain from disruptive behavior, including, but not limited to, yelling, threatening others verbally or physically, making defamatory comments, exceeding time limits, speaking over or interrupting others, and offering comments on matters unrelated to school or instruction. Discussion of personnel matters is not permitted during the public comment period due to the privacy, confidentiality, and due process rights of school department employees. For purposes of this policy, a discussion of a personnel matter means any discussion, positive or negative, about the job performance or conduct of a named school department employee. Discussions of matters involving individual students are not permitted during the public comment period due to the privacy ,
040confidentiality, and due process rights of district students. Any concerns about staff and/or student matters should be directed to the superintendent or another appropriate administrator outside of board meetings so that they can be addressed through an alternative channel and in a manner consistent with the privacy, confidentiality, and due process rights of those involved. The Prime Minister will suspend any public comment that violates these rules. Persons who disrupt a board meeting may be asked to leave to allow the board to conduct its business in an orderly manner. And Mr. Tracy , would you mind explaining how the Zoom portion of the meeting will work tonight? Certainly. We have a link to include any audience members outside of this room who wish to participate in the public comment portion of the meeting. That link was provided in the
041agenda, and so if anyone... I have it here, and if anyone comes, I'll let you know, and we'll include it in the public comments. So I'll activate it when the time comes . Agree. Received. Thank you. And we start with Jane Whiteside. Hi, I'm Jane Whiteside. I have been here several times in the last few months. I just wanted to say that last month I was at an activity somewhat related to school. The Chief Nutrition Council held continuing education credits here in July, and two CATC culinary arts instructors were present that day. They presented a program on the main aspects of how they manage the course. Food safety certification, basic cooking skills, and then they discussed community collaborations with businesses and other organizations. I was very impressed by it. I'm also glad you have a
042Zoom link. I have followed several school boards across the state and am pleased that you now offer this option. Getting back to my point, during my school years in the 1980s, there was a situation related to bus transportation that was discussed in Francis X Quinn's 1980 article. I hope you were able to read that article because it brings back a lot of memories, some not so good for me about school, but it's important to keep in mind all your legal cases and your media presence. KBEC Newspaper can help you with this. Things from the past come back, because people have memories of their school experience, especially if they live in the same town, since you had speakers who didn't live in the community and spoke about certain issues. And one more thing, I have a
043comment on what you talked about, the escalation policy. Since I'm a reserved person and I discuss things by presenting them in a certain way, without getting too excited, what would be considered derisive in a presentation? Or will it be defined somehow during a presentation, or in what people say? Because you know, some people might have something to present and I'm not sure where the line would be drawn on that. So, my main concern is student transportation for next year: the priority must be the commute to school, not transportation to after-school activities. And, you know, I hope you keep in mind the students who aren't as engaged in after-school activities. There seems to be a big emphasis on that, but we should focus more on what happens in classroom activities. And that's the nutrition council's agenda
044: they talked about everything they 're doing to improve the education of students not only involved in extracurricular competitions, but also in the classroom. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Next up is Kim Lisk. Good evening. My name is Liskum, I am an employee of the school department, and I just wanted to take a moment to share my appreciation for our staff over the summer. I wanted to talk about a couple of things that prove that. First of all, we have very active summer programs during the summer . Especially in sports, there are many staff who volunteer their time to do all sorts of activities. Whether it's athletics, football or whatever. So I'm really, really grateful to them. The other thing I'd like to mention is the summer programming we do at the secondary
045level, in addition to the elementary one, which I see firsthand because it's held here, and it's fun to see the kids running around. But I also want to acknowledge that approximately 70.5 credits were actually recovered during the secondary summer school. So it 's really exciting. I wanted to say that our custodial staff is absolutely fantastic. Our buildings are beautiful, and I know this is under the direction of John Stonier and Comey, and I know I speak for my fellow elementary school colleagues as well, Matt Peterson, who is at Coney. I just wanted to do some publicity for him . However, they do an incredible job making sure our facilities are excellent. So, thanks to them . Our guidance staff works during the summer. I mean, they're real rock stars. Please remember that we have changed
046our entire school format for next year. So, I know Aana already said that the consultants are amazing, but I want to thank them in return. My fellow administrators are the busiest people in the world. We have done so many different training courses . And I'm so grateful for the learning that happens over the summer. And under the leadership of our amazing Assistant Superintendent, our Superintendent, and our Chief Administrative Officer, we couldn't be led by more incredible people, who have so much experience to bring to our school. So, I feel very lucky about that. I also wanted to thank the staff committee that worked on the possibility of a universal start time, which you will be hearing much more about. The Education Program Committee discussed this today. It is not for 2027-28 , as Member Park
047said. But these staff members did a really great job: Naja Monroe, Aaron Hard, Christina Jackman, Darren Joyce, Jan Murphy, Abigail Folsam and Kathy Toothacre, I apologize. And so I wanted to recognize their commitment. They dedicated a lot of time, often taking it from their own downtime, seizing the opportunity to learn extraordinary things and to better prepare us . And finally, thank you all for the work you do every day on behalf of our students and staff. I'd like to take a moment to talk about positivity within our school. We are truly fortunate to have such a committed group of people. Thank you. And thank you very much, ma'am. For future public comment sessions. if we could avoid naming names Oh, sure. Yes. Yes. I'm sorry. I had forgotten about it. Yes. I will. Excuse me.
048Janessa James. Good evening. Janessa James, Augusta resident. I just wanted to make a quick comment on the nine resignations. I don't know, is that a worrying thing? It seems worrying to me , but I don't know much about it. However, the fact that nine teachers are resigning shortly before the start of the new year likely indicates a problem. But I'm not here to talk about that. I just wanted to mention that. I'm here tonight because I want to continue addressing an issue I've been talking about for some time: racism in this district among students. First, I want to acknowledge that I have heard many good ideas from this district. I heard discussions about education, policy changes, assemblies, staff training, and making sure students understand that racial harassment is not acceptable. I appreciate these conversations, but
049conversations and ideas only matter if they are followed by meaningful action. And unfortunately , this is where I continue to have concerns. I was told that assemblies and additional instruction would take place in the spring of 2026. However, spring has come and gone. When commitments are made to families and then not kept, I lose faith in leadership. Trust isn't built with words. It is built through consistent actions and concrete results. I want to be able to count on the fact that when the district promises something to families, it actually happens. Now, we are starting a new school year and I am making the difficult decision to send my son back to Augusta schools. Although I don't think the environment has been adequately improved and I'm very uncomfortable. I'm making this decision because I don't want
050my son to keep changing schools. As you know , he has already attended three of these four schools. We can't keep changing institutions. The problem isn't him. It's not fair that we have to start over again because the adults responsible for a safe and inclusive environment haven't yet resolved the situation. His return this year should not be interpreted as a sign that everything is fine with me . It is not so. This is a new school year, and I want to see a different level of engagement. Words cost nothing. I don't want another year of discussions about what we could do. I want to know what we will actually do. What education will students receive this year? What training will staff receive ? When will it happen? How will the district measure whether it is
051working? And most importantly, what is the response when racial harassment occurs? What will be the consequences for racial slurs? Prevention can't just mean telling children to be kind. Students need meaningful education about racism, stereotypes, and the impact of these behaviors. Staff must be able to recognize such behaviors and respond appropriately. And there must be accountability when harassment occurs. My child should be able to go to school, learn, make friends, and study without worrying about being targeted because of the color of his skin. No child should have to carry this burden. And no child should be accustomed to being insulted. I 'm not here tonight because I want to attack the precinct. I'm here because I want this district to succeed, because I believe our children deserve better. Thank you. One last minute. Dr. Martin Luther
052King said, "There is always a right time to do what is right, and I believe that time is now." Thank you, William Clardy. I think I said that correctly tonight. Much better than most people. And as Mr. Or pointed out about the First Amendment, yes, my comments will probably make you all a little uncomfortable because, as you may recall, I submitted a documents request at the last meeting . and, kindly, Mr. Tracy responded, giving me an estimate of 15 hours of staff work, about five days. And so he asked for, I believe, $325 as a fee or just whatever the district could charge to fulfill that request. And that seemed reasonable to me, based on what I know about the time it takes in most places to search emails, extract them, and find any relevant
053text messages, given that the request was about the student protest. written communications between the school board, all board members at the time , school employees, and any outside parties between those schools. So , uh, you know, I was a little surprised when I got the response to that request, which is clearly incomplete. um, 15 hours produced 40 emails. 40, about a fifth of which came from outside and, you know, didn't originate from in here. This is n't surprising to me, as the event happened so quickly that I wasn't expecting much email communication , but I haven't ruled out text messages . Um, and that's partly because, according to the May 1 KBEC Journal, senior and school board member Rauna began organizing a walkout after Tuesday's Augusta City Council meeting . Now, I didn't expect to
054find any hard evidence or anything like that. What I was really looking for, among other things, was to know if any of you had bothered to clearly tell the students that civil disobedience involves breaking the law. If anyone in eighth grade or younger left the school premises, they were violating state law. It would probably be borderline if even senior students had left the school premises without parental permission, but it still means they're breaking the rules. And I haven't seen any evidence of that in here. Nor have I seen any evidence of communications between , um, the student school board member who, as a public figure and a board member, was involved. I would have expected to see something, if Mr. Tracy had not been able to contact you and get records in response from you,
055since he is no longer a member of the board . You know, I would have expected a comment along those lines. Nothing. Nor have I seen anything from any of you to alert her to the fact that she was breaking the rules. Can I just warn you not to refer to specific students? Madam, you are a public figure. You can speak to the um Your time is up, Mr. Clark. Agree. Well, Mr. Crazy. Try again . See if he can finish this time . And maybe next time, when you make a statement or tell the press you're going to make one, you can include Mr. Clardy, your time is up. I know. Thank you. Do we have Zoom? Mr. Tracy, I have no one, Madam President. And I don't have anyone on my list anymore
056either. So, we conclude point 19 of the public comments. Let's move on to number 20, which concerns unfinished business . We have no unfinished business. Moving on to the 21st, new questions. I will accept a motion to approve the first reading of BD. I would like to make a motion before we proceed, to suspend, I want to make a motion to suspend the BGR policy. This is the one that requires a second reading in relation to BDDB, as this is a policy on the agenda format. So, it would allow us to have the new agenda with public comments first um and it would be streamlined with some additional recommendations for next month. So, I want to propose a motion to suspend the BGR policy um for second reading in relation to BDB. I will accept
057a motion to suspend the BG-R policy and then we will vote on, then we will vote on, then we will vote on the BDDB policy. So there's a motion on the table to suspend the BG-R policy, which is our format policy. It was proposed and supported. Discussion on the suspension of the BG-R policy. I don't feel anything. Please vote. Motion passed 8 to 0. The BG-R format policy has been suspended. Now I'm waiting. I would like to introduce a motion to approve our BDDB policy. BDDB agenda format. I support the motion, proposed and supported. Discussion on BDDB policy. Member Pello. Yes, it's right that we talked about it in our last political committee. And we felt it would be best for people to come and talk right away. And if they hadn't wanted to stay
058for the rest, they would n't have had to. They could have shared their thoughts on the agenda items earlier . I think there were some, I think limiting some of our comments as board members so that we didn't get to 10 minutes or 4 minutes, so that we basically stayed within the boundaries of a meeting. um we cleaned up the formalities a bit, removed the communications . We usually don't have them, and they end up in reports and other official communications from other school officials. So, here, this is just to say why we're kind of glossing over it and moving forward with this new agenda. Not too much, not too different from our past. Thank you. Any other comments? Mr. Tracy? Just a reminder that we have heard members of the public indicate that we
059have come here, we have waited all evening to speak, and many have expressed a desire to do so earlier in the meeting. So I think it's also important to listen to what the audience would like to see. So I thought I'd mention it. Member Hicks. Madam President, I thought it would also make it easier for people who want to join us on Zoom to schedule a time and say, "Oh, it 'll be at 7 o'clock." It won't be too late after 7 when I have my say. This might be helpful. Further discussions? There are n't any. I welcome a motion to approve the BDDB policy. It will not require a second reading. It will only require this meeting. Who is in favor? And with a vote of 8 to nil, the motion was approved for
060the BDDB policy agenda format . I now welcome a motion to approve the first reading of the KBF on the involvement of parents and families. Madam President, I would like to propose that you approve the KBF policy on parent and family involvement. Second. Proposed and supported to approve the first reading of the KBF. Discussion, member Pello. Yes. As a Title I grantee for the district and all of our schools, this is a required policy that should be updated annually or regularly. And now that we have school-wide programs , this was a great time to make sure the language in this policy was appropriate for the various schools in our district. Further discussions ? There are none, please vote; With a vote of 8 to 0, the KBF policy on parent and family involvement was approved.
061By order, Madam President. Yes, member? That vote was to approve skipping the second reading, suspending the second reading. That's what that motion was. No, we did that one. We didn't vote on that one. We did it. Oh, we did it. Okay. We did it. I welcome a motion to approve the 2026-27 school board priorities. I'm making a...I'm proposing the motion. Members? I move to approve the 2026-2027 school board priorities and I second the motion. It was proposed and supported, discussion. Member Pello . Yes. Um, I don't know if the president wanted to go over with you what the three goals were, but once we did, I just wanted to say that we know it's been a difficult year. It's also been an exciting year, this last school year. Um, a lot of positives and a
062lot of challenges. And I think our priorities are somewhat twofold. The first is that we didn't want to throw everything away and start over , because there has been incredible continuity between our administration and the staff in this district to continue working towards the priorities. Much of this has to do with simply being student-centered and receptive to kids in our schools. And that means if we have any other specific needs or resources from students, we have the staff ready to support them. Um, I think overall these are very ambitious goals, given the budget year and the staff cuts we've had consistently over the last two years. I don't want to speak for the entire board, but I recognize how ambitious our goals are, given the context. Yet I know that our administration and staff would
063not use this as an excuse not to do a good job for our students. So, with that in mind, I think we know they are ambitious, and we also want to support our teachers and kids to succeed. I know you'll read them and stuff , but they're not that different from years past. And part of this is to consolidate what we've done well and improve what needs support and help. So when we looked at our goals from last year, we discussed this. But first, we reviewed our mission statement, and the mission of the Augusta School Department is to provide all students with challenging, high-quality educational programs, academic competencies, life skills, career preparation, and citizenship. And in this, we essentially reused last year's three goals because we didn't fully achieve them as we would have liked.
064And we also wanted to consider: if we achieved our goals, what would all of that look like? So, I'll read about the goals and what they would look like if and when we achieve them. If you want the operational phases, there are five to six for each objective, they are in an attachment in the agenda that you can also consult online. So, our first goal is about student growth and academic performance. Augusta School Department students will develop academic skills and critical thinking abilities through rigorous, varied, and engaging learning opportunities. If our kids do this, what will all this look like ? And what will we do to achieve this? Overall student academic performance will be reported twice annually and will increase by 3 percent by June 30, 2027, comparing at least two academic years according
065to state test results. And then subsections one through six, which I said I won't read to you , will be completed by June 30, 2027. So, while a 3% gain doesn't seem like much, if you look at the charts of state expectations and outcomes, a 3% increase would be significant. And it's a goal we would expect for all our grades. We therefore believe that this is a feasible goal for one year. Number two: We will look at systems for educational excellence and financial stability. The Augusta School Department will establish comprehensive and consistent systems while supporting innovative practices. So, what are we going to do ? Overall systems improvement will be monitored through a staff survey that will report annually on improved consistency in facilities, spaces, and programming. We believe it's important to have consistent programming
066across each of our schools, so that if students transfer, there are no changes to the curriculum. We believe consistency is important. Madam President, do you want people...do you want us to discuss? I'll stop and then we can ...what do you say? I am unstoppable. You know, whether you want to proceed by priority or at the end. I'm moving on. All right . Thank you. Furthermore, the budget process will improve based on a qualitative level of satisfaction expressed at polling stations of 1%. And our third goal is stakeholder engagement and community partnership. The Augusta School Department will strengthen connections between students, families, staff, school board members, and community partners through clear and consistent communication channels. Overall stakeholder engagement will improve by 3% in the biannual school climate survey, and you can see those steps again—we welcome
067any feedback on those goals. Board Members, Councilor Parks , I just want to say that we are really committed to having parent participation and involvement in each of our schools. It makes a difference in what we do. It makes a difference in what students do and it makes a difference in the community. So, parents, get involved, come to the events we organize, to the parent -teacher conferences, to find out how your children are doing compared to the beginning of the year, etc. Thank you. Any other comments? And to follow up on what Member Parks said, there will be some public forums that I think will be particularly important to attend. One of these will be our new building project, where we will close Housy School and build a major extension in Fington. So, please participate
068in the public forums we will be holding about this. We will also be scheduling a public forum on the aforementioned, um, single start time for the 2027-28 school year. So please participate in those too. We appreciate your feedback. We previewed a great presentation tonight, and I encourage you to participate in those public forums as well. We will continue to look for other opportunities to engage parents and communities. I hope, I know it's difficult. I know everyone is very busy. I know you're tired when you get home at night , but we'll continue to do everything we can to ensure community engagement. And speaking of community engagement, we had one more thing to say at our Curriculum and Instruction meeting tonight. We attended a presentation that will be presented to the full board by the Kiwanis
069Club and the Healthy Community. Partnership for a healthy community. It's called, oh, someone help me. Yes. What? A cabin of importance. Of importance. A cabin of importance. I know you may have heard discussion before about the MIDAS survey that our students take. I think every year. Is it every year? Every two years. Every other year. And one of the things that came out of that MIDAS survey is that almost half of our students, I think it was about 52% for seventh and eighth graders, 47%, feel that their community cares about them. Which is pretty sad, when you think about it, that only half of the kids feel like their community cares about them. So, we'll have this importance cabin where there will be some objects. It's a bit like one of those little neighborhood libraries.
070I think the plan is to put it on Cooney's property, where the kids walk past, and there will be encouraging things inside. Students can include items to encourage others and find ways to let kids know they are important to the community. And we, as a school board, feel that community is important to us, too. So, we're going to try to really engage on this and on any opportunities that arise to strengthen those collaborations. So, these are the three fundamental objectives we have ahead of us for the school year. I know Mr. Tracy can relate that he also discussed this with the administration. We have assigned Mr. Tracy school board goals that flow from these very goals. Let's hope we can all pull in the same direction as the school year progresses. We are really quite
071happy with all of this. Let's try not to overburden anyone, but to do what we've started better and more thoroughly. These will therefore be our goals for this school year. Member W. Thank you. Yes, I wanted to underline my appreciation in particular for point three of the council's priorities . I really appreciate public input , the opinions of students and parents, and what they think is best for their children. There are specific advisory committees for discipline and behavior. So, if this is something that interests you, keep your eyes peeled. Try to get on those advisory boards. I want to hear your contribution. I want to be able to collaborate with parents to find out what is best for their kids. So, thank you. Parks Member. Well, another important thing is that, alongside the November 3rd
072election, there will be a referendum on the bond issue for the expansion and renovation of Fington School. Please go and vote. Thanks for this reminder. Anyone else? I also wanted to share, I hope this isn't off-putting for you , Member Bot, but we had a meeting with Member Bot, our new student representative, the superintendent, myself, and a representative from the high school. She has some ideas on how she can be more active with us, and she also gave us suggestions on how we, as a board, can be more active with the students. We really enjoyed hearing them and hope you can give a presentation to us at a board meeting so everyone can hear what we heard. It was really encouraging and enlightening. So, thank you for that. That said, if no one has any
073further comments, I apologize. Only quickly did the administrative team gather together. We take the priorities you just listed this evening very seriously. We spent two days defining the district objectives, that is, how we will actually carry out the activities in the schools; We administrators will present everything in September. There will then be a brief opportunity to hear from various departments, schools, and grade levels about how we will operationalize, or rather, how we will put into practice, some of your priorities. I would also like to emphasize, and I think it is important to clarify this right away, that 39 fewer positions in two years will not be an obstacle for us. We will try to exploit the situation to understand how to act more agilely and efficiently. However, at the beginning, we wondered how we would
074manage the work with fewer social workers and less staff available. I just wanted to make this clear, not as an excuse, because we've heard the board reiterate that the priorities you started last year are really important to you. Administrative staff will appreciate our focus on digging deeper and working smarter, not harder, to achieve these goals. We will be ready next month to provide you with details on the actions we intend to take, including the superintendent's goals in the process. So, expect news in September. All right . Thank you, Mr. Tracy. Thank you. Any other comments? With that said, I accept a motion to approve the school board's priorities for 2026-27. Who is in favor? With 8 votes in favor and 0 against, the school board's priorities for 2026-27 were approved. I now turn to the
075motion to transfer funds in the amount of $223,363.36. It is possible to do so. Do I have a motion? Is there a second? Second. A motion was proposed and seconded to transfer $223,363.36 from the special education cost center to the transportation cost center, pursuant to Title 20-MRSA, subsection 1485, subsection 4. Discussion? Councilor Pell. Just to clarify, based on Chief Administrative Officer Ross's previous report, we have increased revenue and generated enough resources to cover the deficit, and I can't believe it's coming from special education. I mean, but... but it's really fantastic, and having the funds allows us not to put too much of a dent in our savings. I am enthusiastic about voting in favor of maintaining a good financial situation. Mr. Tracy or Chief Administrative Officer Ross, would you like to add anything on this
076point? Certain. I'll just give a quick summary. I talked about it at almost every monthly meeting, we knew it could happen. It appears that during last year's budget season that cost center was reduced a little too much to meet the guidelines we were given. Superintendent Tracy and I meet weekly to review finances and it became clear pretty early on that this could happen. So we had a plan from the beginning to hopefully cover that. And it's great that it worked. All our cost centers closed in the black, except this one. So I hope to move the money to make sure all the cost centers end up in the black. So, just to be clear, this in no way reflects a deficit of any kind in our budget. In fact, we did pretty well this year.
077We don't have the final numbers because they come from the audit, but we are expected to close significantly in the black . However, when certain cost centers exceed the budget, by statute, if they exceed $5,000— I believe $5,000 is the figure—you have to get permission from the school board to transfer that amount from one cost center to another. And it 's not unusual. So, that's what this point is about tonight. Since there is no further discussion, please vote. The motion to transfer funds from the special cost center to cover the transportation deficit was approved by a vote of 8 to 0. And that concludes our basic agenda for tonight, except we have an executive session scheduled immediately afterward. However, we will go into executive session and leave it immediately after. No decision will be made.
078You are more than welcome to wait for us to leave executive session if for any reason you would like to escort us to our cars. I don't know why you should wait. With that said, I will grant a motion to enter executive session. I move that we enter into executive session pursuant to Title 1, Section 4205, Subsection E, to discuss legal advice. Motion proposed and seconded to enter executive session. There being no discussion. Please vote. And with a vote of 8 to 0, we will now enter executive session at 8:29. No.