001I'd like to welcome you to the night's Augusta Board of Education special meeting. It is Wednesday, February 25th, 2026. We are here in the CATC cafeteria and it is 8:35. And with that, after the call to order, I will call for a motion to approve the agenda. >> I make a motion to approve the minutes of the Augusta Board of Education business meeting on January 14th, 2026. I second. >> I have a move and second to approve the minutes of the Augusta Board of Education meeting. Discussion hearing none, please vote. And in a vote of six to vote of six to zero, the motion to approve the minutes has been approved. I'd also like to have the uh superintendent address item number four. >> Good evening everyone. Um nice to see you all. is late.
002So, I'll just uh be brief, but it brief doesn't mean a lack of respect for these folks who are resigning or retiring. So, Cheryl Gagen, our food service at Coney, is resigning effective the 14th of this last month. And um we have a retirement at the end of the year. This is Lisa Dalan, a Huzzi teacher at the end of this year. She's been with the district many, many years. So we wish her a wonderful retirement. >> Thank you. Item number five A. Can you explain that line? >> These are justformational. Both uh the unified basketball statements as well as the professional development. Those areformational. They're online and folks can read them and we don't have any comments other than they're presented to the board asformational. >> Thank you. Item number six, I will entertain
003a motion. >> I make a motion to approve the minutes of the finance committee, policy [clears throat] committee, personnel committee, curriculum and education and building committee for January 2026. >> I second. I have a movement. I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes of finance committee, policy committee, personnel committee, curriculum, education and building committee for January 2026. Can I have discussion? Hearing none, please vote. And on on a vote of six to zero, the motion to approve the minutes of those committees have been approved. Item number seven, >> I have one nomination. We've kept Dr. Sakura here all night. So I will give you a brief second. Dr. Sakor, if you want to introduce Michael Bell for this program coordinator position briefly. So, I told Mike all the way out here. Um,
004we're really excited to have him on board. He is super qualified. He has been assistant executive director at home. He's worked with our director of students. I'm excited to have him on board. >> Thank you. Do I have a motion? There's a motion. >> I need a motion. >> Motion. >> Is there a motion? >> I need a motion. >> I make a motion to that vote to hire Michael Bell as the program coordinator for adult education. >> It's been moved and seconded to approve Michael Bell for the program coordinator of adult education. Discussion hearing. None. Please vote. And on a vote of six to zero, Michael Bell has been approved for the adult education position. Thank you for bringing him to us and tell him that we're sorry he couldn't attend, but we're lucky
005that we're glad that he did because he would have been very late. Under new business item number eight, I like >> chair's point of information, the business manager and I have two pieces of information that are related to new business and you can take we can do them now or we can do them at the end of your new business, but I wanted to let you know we have a couple of updates for you. >> Do we want to make an adjustment to the agenda for that? >> You can't. >> Oh, we can't. Just we have some information we're going to provide and then after the information the board then could motion. >> We will do that at the end of this rule like a D. [laughter] >> Okay. Thank you. >> So, I'll entertain
006a motion on item A. I make a motion to approve CATC Skills USA students 80 plus to attend the Skills USA state championship March 12th through March 13th of 2026 in Bangor Chevron by Heidi Karin Nicholas Ganon Patrick Austin Jamie Clark Chip Eastman and Tommy Holtzfar second. A motion has been made to approve the CATC Skills USA students to attend the Skills USA state championship in Bangor. Discussion hearing none, please vote. And on a motion of six to zero, the motion has been approved for the CATC skills CATC skills students to attend the conference. Item B, I'll entertain a motion. I make a motion to approve Kelsey Roman, Sharon Fowler, Kendra Lakeman, and Alicia West to attend main school safety and transportation conference in Rockport, Maine, March 9th, 2026 through March 11th, 2026. I second.
007A motion has been made and seconded to approve Kelsey Roman Sharon Fowler, Kendra Lakeman, Alicia West to attend a main school safety and transportation conference. Discussion. Mike, can you just briefly describe describe what that conference is? >> This is an update to the the main school safety resource uh center is the new department. Well, it's a newer department, DOE, and it specializes informing us of our like our safety plans. When we had our our last big safety meeting last year, we had someone from the state come in and help audit our plan when we were redeveloping it two years ago. Um so this is a free opportunity and these are mostly uh deans and social workers who are attending this event in >> free free and with that I'll call for a vote and on
008a vote to six to zero the motion to approve Kelsey Roman Sharon Fer Kendra Lakeman [clears throat] and Alice Alicia West to attend the conference in Rockport has been approved. Item C. >> I make a motion to approve the business manager's contract. >> I second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the business manager's contract. Discussion. Hearing none. >> Is it a second? >> Okay, you're good. >> Oh, okay. >> I did discussion. Please vote. On a vote of six to zero. The motion to approve the business manager contract has been approved. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And there's some information that you wanted to share with us, Mr. Tracy? >> Yeah. I'll ask the business manager just to give you an update because we had to cancel Monday night's budget meeting. Would you
009u I'll hand that up for if you want to just update the board? >> Sure. Um so because we had to cancel the March 2 uh sorry the February 23rd budget workshop, uh we've just moved everything down some. So we were going to have presentations on buildings and grounds technology and special education um on Monday. So that has been moved to Monday, March 2nd. Um and then the schools um as well as system administration debt service transportation has been moved to March 9th. Um [clears throat] and so on. So we just moved it down a day. Um but we have still left um the budget workshop and approving the warrants on the dates assigned. >> Thank you questions on that. Anybody? >> My question is I was wondering why we couldn't have had the meeting
010on the 23rd via Zoom. We didn't have enough time to set it up. We had that conversation. Shelby and I actually had the conversation and there was in a way to set it up quick enough and to give the notification to the public of that change. >> Thanks. >> And the budget workshops are going to be at >> and the budget workshops will be here >> as part of our next conversation. >> Okay. >> So, are there any other questions on Janine's budget meetings? >> No. The next >> All right. So the next uh piece of information we need to uh it's it hot off the press and we need to just sort of have an understand general understanding so that I >> can we wait till this is passed out like >> Sure. >>
011Please. >> Thank you. >> There you go, Mike. It's all you. >> Thank you. So recently uh the city chambers, our city council discussed um the usage of the city chambers and um that that discussion really was coalescing um with a conversation I've been having with the city manager about having potentially holding our schoolboard meetings here within our school district. Um, I learned of the conversation 24 hours before they had the conversation. So, I didn't have the time to inform you all that city council were to have that conversation. So, um really it frankly the net outcome from that is that we still could use city hall but we would have to use the well portion where we have our workshops where we've been holding our budget workshops even for uh you know business meetings
012and um so I guess I'll I'll stop right there. What what are your thoughts on that? >> Member Parks, >> I don't want to meet any Well, uh because of the um personalities of some of the public commenters. Um I would not feel safe there. >> Anybody else? I personally would I think it's an opportunity for us that we've been having those conversations about coming back to the school, but I know that personally I didn't want to make the change because I didn't want it to look like we were trying to avoid interacting with the public or having an opportunity with the public and by changing the space. But I think that the city has given us an opportunity to make that change. Uh some of the comments made at that meeting I think were
013important. Some of those being that maybe the public would feel more comfortable in this space since it was within a school that they're used to coming to the school and it might be a more welcoming atmosphere and um we used to meet in school 14 years ago and it was because of the CAT the CTV that we relocated to the city chambers. I thought we had to meet there. So, that's another reason why I was a little reluctant to say, "Well, let's just go to CATC for all our meetings." But, I think it's an opportunity for us to to be in this setting. I think um uh Mike and I have had some conversations about it that I believe our school resource officer and our security people could be here for us. >> Yeah, >>
014there's a couple of other reasons that make safe as well. >> We're a gun-free zone. Maine has an open carry law. So, because city hall is a public municipal building, you could walk in there holstered. Uh, and there's nothing really we could do about that as long, you know, so I think um that's an that's an important piece of information. And I personally haven't felt threatened in those circumstances, but other people have. I've had our staff tell us they're they felt frightened to go to some of our meetings and so I don't know I don't know if this environment will soothe things. I put that I mean I said that to the newspaper. I hope that being in the schoolhouse that um maybe some of the tensions we've um had happen at city hall maybe
015maybe we'll be lucky enough to not have them happen here. Um the setup so administratively if everybody has digested this and feel comfortable the plan would be to move forward with our March business meeting here. Now, you can see we've been we've been messing around with the setup. Um, I' I've asked Mr. Stoner uh and M. Rodriguez to look at how we could set this room up to kind of and we're we're buying we're working on buying some tablecloths and and nice uh table tents that would be actually wood with your skin nice plates where we would we would style up the room a bit. So it would look a little more formal for you um in this space and and we're work Caitlyn's working on the best way. Right now we're using an owl
016to present but uh is there a better way? She's working she's researching that for us. So I what I have given you is that if we want catb7 CTV7 to broadcast that's about a $20,000 investment. Um, and I I'm assuming that's annually. Um, it's 19,800 annual cost. And so I I don't know if the city because they're interested in us moving would be picking up that cost or if they would want us to pick up that cost. I again I think the original intent was to broadcast because that was our only methodology in 2011 to broadcast. We have other less expensive mechanisms to broadcast here at CATC. So really a I need to know just we don't have to take a vote but just a general thumbs up that you are supportive of moving our
017meetings here and we I I think Janine's posted the budget meetings at CAT at at city hall. So, we would have to change uh that and when Michelle puts out your notice because we have to have public notice when you convene as a board, those would be reverted to here. And henceforth, starting next week, we would just start having all of our meetings here in the CATC this this space here. >> So, a couple of things. one. I think there's already things from uh I think CC already has things for the tables. >> Um they have black cloths. I think we were looking at um we have some we have one that has the Augusta seal on it. So we we're working on classy us up a little bit if we're going to do this
018>> and then after I after I take comments, we'll just do a a check on that. So >> So I if I may, I need to know board's comfortable and how do you want how do you want us to broadcast? >> I'll do three things. There's three things I'm going to do. I got this. >> Rita, thank you. >> Um, I actually had a question about do we know what the viewership is for the channel on television? >> I don't know the viewership. >> Okay. Because that's my only reservation is the the security, not the security of us in person, but the security of a recording like the the infrastructure, right, of that existing because we get chopped up on the internet, we get spliced, we words get put into my mouth that don't that
019never existed in that order. Um, when I see archived CTV footage so formally created and processed and then put out publicly, it gives me resolve for the fact that there's a real record. And I know our YouTube channel can do that. I just want to make sure that if we go away from the channel and from the formal production of something like that that our YouTube uh recordings or the way that we decide to do it has as much as possible that same fidelity and security around like the recording and around the the public the public recording that's going to exist thereafter as well. Um so that's my I'm fine with it. I'm curious what the channel viewership is. If it's five people and they have internet service and they can switch to a YouTube
020channel, that's great. If it's 150 people and half of them don't have internet and rely on television, is that what we want to do? And that would be my lingering questions. >> I I can ask the city manager. >> Member Parks, I agree with what member said, but I I'm not ready to do a straw poll on this yet. But I still have some questions. So, when am I allowed to ask those? >> Right now. >> Thank you. Um, does this CITC allow election signs for city elections, etc. to be displayed in this building? >> I don't believe we allow, just any propaganda of that nature. Now, in our social studies classrooms, we would allow like this is what propaganda would look like, and they could show different signage. But no, we would not be
021allowing political signage uh in our to be hung in the schools. That doesn't mean someone couldn't come in with a t-shirt on. That's that's free speech. >> I'm only asking about signs. >> Put signs. No, ma'am. I do not believe those are allowed. >> And banners. >> Banners. >> Correct. Those are would not be allowed here. Also, where I mean, if this were to be the setup, where would the podium section be? >> Well, we had this this thing that we would be using until we can get a real vote in, but it would be probably by the post. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> And other question is um this pillar would prohibit people from seeing a single screen. So I it seems to me that [laughter] this there should be two screens so that
022everyone people aren't you know doing like this or going to the other corner to look at I mean it needs to be accessible from people's view vision. >> I'm sure our director of technology is taking notes. >> Okay. And my last question is um we just had begun using that timer function and that is really I really liked it a lot and I think it's effective and it's visual so people can keep track of where they are when they're at the podium would we have >> access to say it's just a website. >> It's just a website so I can pull it up. >> Okay. Great. Okay. Those and and back to what Miss Member Pillow said, if if this these owl recordings can be tampered with and switched up and spliced and all that,
023that will not be good enough in my opinion. I I I just proceedings >> from a public record. Um I'll have our director Rodriguez look into that. Anybody could use their cell phone, the CTV7, you know, um and take a video off their phone of me speaking and then put it on the main wire and and for example, like that's happened to me. So, um, I would just want to, yes, we need to make sure we invest in the security of it, but I also want to say that CTV7 does a great job and they are secure and they're a great record, but anybody can tamper with those and record from a TV screen from [clears throat] from that. So just to clarify that point, we would have I call it a clean >> the
024OG. Yeah. OG record >> would be avail would always be there. We can't prevent tampering once they can they wouldn't tamper with our permanent taping, but they could still do that and and we can't permit we can't prohibit people from taping here themselves either. >> Correct. and and I know um director Rodriguez was already talking with city IT today and we had a discussion about the what's the best way to look into researching it and doing this. Yeah. >> So I we're just beginning this process and we'll have more information as this is going to be flying the plane like as we build it as you can see tonight. >> Is there enough time to get that operating for our next budget meeting to have it here? Why can't we get that in time for
025the next Monday? >> We're going to be using the owl as is with our YouTube channel until we can figure out the best method going forward. And if there's a cost to either method, you're going to need to be making that decision because none of this is budgeted. >> Gotcha. Member Park, what? Excuse me. I haven't spoken to me um yet. I can yield my question till after she if you proceed to >> mine's just tangential about the about C7 visa va C7 people can watch the video on demand at certain times like I don't know how long they keep the videos but on Tuesday night at 7 there'd be our board meeting from tonight for example and people can watch it they don't have to be synchronous with this meeting. And that's something I
026I really >> that's happening right [clears throat] now. Like this meeting if you pulled up your phone could be watching us talking right now. So this is being broadcasted right now and then it goes into a linked uh archive on our YouTube channel, the Augusta School Department YouTube and people then can watch it hence forth thereafter. >> Thank you. >> I'm done. You're welcome. >> Member Reynolds. >> Thank you. Uh share with them. Uh yeah, initially when uh the idea theory uh to come here brought up, my first concern was that people that are have issues with transportation like desiring to come talk to us at meetings having a hard time getting here. Figured we could figure that out right now that I'm looking at this. This would create a financial burden on or we'd
027have to find a way this proposal. Is that what I'm reading? So, >> yeah. What you the one thing you have in front of us shared with me from Mr. Mills. I emailed this to you. >> I know. I read that. >> Yes, sir. Uh, this is just simply if we or they want to continue to have CTV7 broadcast our meetings, it's about a $20,000 invest annual investment unless we outfitted this room with mechanical robotic can wear mirrors which then we have they have their network up here because they produce uh they broadcast ours >> I saw >> so you know we that's a we could look at spending whatever it is 40 to 50,000 in the equipment and then they could still broadcast it from city hall up here our meetings from you they
028could do it remotely down there our meetings >> and we'd still be responsible for the paying the person >> well I don't I don't believe I think right now the city's paying I don't believe we pay I believe business manager I don't believe we're paying CTV7 for them currently broadcasting our meetings I believe the city's paying that contract course currently um I have zero personal stake I don't care where we do them I want us to be able to be effective still be able to produce you know effective work uh this now this does create an effect on will create an effect on our budget. So I don't have a position yet. I haven't can't answer that right now. >> Any other comments? So let me ask you the first question. >> Thank you, Madam
029Chair. >> Sorry we didn't see your hand. >> No worries. Um thank you. Uh I guess as we're discussing this, one big concern I have is how this is going to be communicated to the public since this is a major change. Um, you know, we're changing the setup. You know, we are changing how things can be viewed online. You know, I I would hope we could consider maybe some type of script that we read at the start of every meeting saying this is the link where you go, this is the YouTube channel. Um, I just I think all that would benefit the public knowing where they can tune into these meetings, how they can access them afterwards. Um and and that would just be a good thing to help if we move forward with this,
030help them transition to um a big change. >> That's a great idea and I I certainly we can put a blast out at least to our families and then I can speak with the city manager. It sounds like >> should be in the city newslet. Do we have a city newsletter? >> I was thinking it should be on their city website. I mean like a formal city communications that now the school board is to be like part like from their side and from our side. >> I can I can voice that to them. They he would have to make the decision when they >> if their communication manager has the capacity to help with that because it is a big deal. I mean to have board meetings change for any community member who maybe watches
031or wants to know what's going on. Um that's a city that's the city also being a good steward of the rest of >> the their like half their budget, right? Like you know what I mean? So I I would ask for their assistance with this if it if the communications is beyond just what the school department. We don't have a communications manager hired here. They do. So >> yeah, I could ask the I could ask the city. >> And also to share with you, I can't remember if it's the water utility department or I know it's not the planning board that does their meetings from a conference room via an via an owl from the city as well. So, I know that some people who want to see those meetings are observing them from the
032from a from an owl setup. >> There was something else I was going to add. >> Must have been a lot. >> I'm just wondering if the technical center has a film class. >> Oh, it doesn't that would be great chance to bring >> That's how it started. >> That's how started. We were told [laughter] >> I think we're going to spend money on this. >> Might as well make it a curriculum involved. >> Make it, you know, something about that today. >> Students can learn how to make I feel better with that investment. >> That's a great idea, isn't it, Kaitlyn? >> Because I know she's talked about >> starting some student groups just to do this kind of thing. >> Great idea. >> Member Parks. >> Last question. >> Okay. Um, how about
033putting a little kind of a little message from Superintendent Tracy on the website about big changes and with little links or something like that to make something more permanent for people to see about the change and how to do it. So the questions I have, we can meet here. First of all, do you all just a nod of your head or a shake of your head, do you all agree that it's time for us to move to the school? That's what I'm hearing. Do you also agree that we should start this for the next Monday's finance meeting and continue all of our meetings henceforth from this setting so that we can change where they're going to meet on your piece of paper here so that >> um >> we have a home? >> Yes, we
034can do that because the the agenda for next week hasn't gone out. So, we could we can use that. And also to share with you, I did have a conversation with the mayor as well and he shared with me that if there were something to happen for any reason that we couldn't meet here, we would always be welcome to come back and meet in the well at city at city hall so that that door is not like shut to us. That that still is an opportunity that remains out there. So sounds like we have a home. Mr. Tracy, >> excuse me. So the the agenda for Monday's meeting >> has gone out. >> So we need to well on Monday for the budget >> for the budget while we're in the well anyway. So um
035>> we'll just confirm that >> right now that's been posted so that we really can't walk that back. Okay. that it's fine. >> Um, okay. >> And with that, >> board member. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, can I just request then that we have a clear message at Monday's budget workshop about the upcoming change should we proceed with it? >> So that we're providing starting already again if we move forward with it that we're starting to provide some notice and advanced notice to the public. >> We'll do that on Monday. share that. That's a great idea. Thank you. And I will now We have one last >> item. Are we off the air? We're good. >> But we need to go to executive session, but I think we're >> going into executive session. We're
036going to entertain a motion to go into executive session. We're going off the air after that. We will not be returning if anybody is watching by the hour. >> I will not. >> Wait a minute. We will not be taking any action after the executive session. >> So we Okay. So I move that the board enter executive session to discuss a legal matter as permitted under one MRSA 4056E for the purpose of receiving legal advice. >> We need a second >> second. It's been moved and seconded into exe entered into executive session at 911. >> Can we have a vote? >> And a vote on that would be six to zero. >> Thank you. We can go into executive session probably. You're going to bring material in for us.