001Mike Check. Welcome to the RSC22 board of directors meetings. Um, everyone is here and I would ask everyone to stand up if they're able to join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Now, I'm open to um motions on approval of minutes for the u meeting of April 16th. This is not the um the budget workshop but the board meeting in April. So we have a motion on the floor to approve the minutes. Any discussion? Not hearing any. All in favor and that's unanimous or no. Any abstensions? All right. Are there any adjustments to the agenda? All right. And uh I'll hand it over to Nick for
002the uh recognitions. Good evening. Uh as you can see, we have a number of uh individuals here to be recognized today. And what I would like to do is start with the students. So I would ask um Molly Priest to come up with her students. And if the um voices unlimited could at least stand. You're welcome to be in the front if you'd like. You'll have to be somewhat close because I will at least ask for your names and your grades if you're able to lose. And so in front of you, you have voices unlimited. There's should be a microphone on the podium. Molly, I don't think I told you that you'd be talking, but I'm going to put you on the spot. If you could just let this group know uh who they are,
003what they have done, and the accomplishments this year, that would be great. Yes. So, this is our um Hen Academy voice unlimited, our show choir. They're auditioned out of our coral program. And uh every year they compete in a state competition, state show competition where they do a show. We rehearse from about December until March with um choreography and music for about 20 minutes from that show. This year it was a Fleetwood Mac show and it had all the songs not all the songs five of the songs six of the songs from Rumver's album and um yeah and they received a gold rating. It's out of 100 and they got a a score of 97 with three judges. So yes, it was only my second year teaching show So, I was pretty pleased. Um, yeah.
004And, uh, there only three groups that got gold. They do a rating system, not like a first, second, third, but rating. So, we we got gold out of three people. So, we're definitely one of the top three. So, yeah. Um, do you want us to go down the line, have them say their name? Before that happens, was there any reason why uh the the Fleetwood map piece was chosen? Oh, well, the students we had last year, it kind of sparked them an idea that I had students that really loved uh food and map because they're just old souls and they like good music. And so I had a really excellent guitarist, Sean Morris, and then uh an excellent jack of all trades, Jacob Fanjoy, in my room one day, and I said, "Hey, what do
005you think of Fluid Mac?" And they're like, "Yeah." And so that's how it pretty much happened. And the the whole pit, our whole band that accompanies them is studentrun, which no other group had all students. It was only ours. We had a student bass player, Claire. We had a student drum drummer, uh, Katie Jennifer, who's also an excellent, uh, student as well. Does a lot of math things, very smart man. Um, and then we had Jordan Stevie on keys over here. And then we had Sean Morris on guitar. And it was all student run. They played the whole show and got like really great comments from the judges and those. Oh, also Jacob. Jacob tore his ACL, so he also was part of the band in the end. He was going to sing it and
006then he ended up playing guitar and also singing. Yeah, he always tears his ACL before a show with him last year, too. Um, um, other other questions for introducing. Cool. All right, guys. So, I guess your name, uh, what you do voice-wise, instrument wise, and then your grade. Maybe that sound good. Um, as mentioned, I'm Jacob Vanel and I play the guitar and I sing tenor in the song and I'm a junior. Hey, uh, I'm Harrison Bham. I'm a bass and I'm a sophomore this year. I'm Gabe Penel. I'm a tenner and I'm a sophomore this year. I'm Evelyn Oiler. I'm a soprano and I'm a sophomore. I'm Abby Scott and I'm a senior. And I don't usually like to like mention things that are like cool, but because we're here for this, I was
007also one of four people at the state competition that won a soloist award for Songber. I feel very lucky that that happened my senior year. But I'm a senior and I'm like an alto me soprano. Uh I'm Jordan Stevie and I play piano. and I'm a senior. Um, I'm Claire Barrett. I play bass and I'm a senior. I'm Lily Trip. I sing soprano and I'm a junior. I'm Liliana. I'm a soprano and a senior. I'm Jessica Sass. I'm an alto and I'm a junior. I'm Angley Millia. I'm an alto. I'm a junior and I do choreography for I'm Sarah Haskell. I'm a soprano and I am a junior. JCL convention because they do everything. And um yeah, I I forgot about Abby. Yeah, Abby got a really great award too that she mentioned herself which
008um yeah I mean great kids. We also have a show uh Friday in Brooks Main where we're doing a one new song that Yeah. Ensley choreographed. We have student choreographers in this group, too, because I'm not a dancer. I love to dance, but I don't do that. Um, and uh, yeah, that's in Brooks, man. Seven o'clock on Friday, so anyone's free Friday night. They're going to do the whole show again. Um, it's really fun. Well, thank you very much. Congratulations to you all. I know that not everyone could be here, but uh, kudos to everyone. Um, the music program is always uh, top-notch in this district, and you're going to hear more about that shortly. Uh, but congratulations to you all. You certainly represented RSU22 and Hampton Academy very well. Thank you very much. [Applause]
009And now since we had the students stand up, I have two music staff who I would like to uh come up to the podium as well because I would like them to be in the front so everyone can see. So if you wouldn't mind just coming to the podium. I have a couple things to read. [Applause] I didn't really want to tell them what I would do because I was afraid they just wouldn't show up. But it's not anything new. It's stuff that has already been said. Uh in front of us, we have two individuals. Let me just get to my correct page. We have two individuals who uh were recognized last week at the Main Music Educators Association um reception. A third one was also recognized who is a retired RSU22 teacher uh and
010she could not be here tonight. But the two of uh two individuals we have in front of us are Rebecca Mallalerie and Dana Ross. So uh Becky was awarded the uh middle school music teacher of the year for Main Music Educators Association. and Gana along with uh Heidi Corass were recognized as the association's hall of fame. Uh which I'm not exactly sure how many people are in that. Uh I will let Mr. Ross if he might talk about that in a moment. Uh but just a couple of things to read um beforehand there. All three and and every individual that was recognized that night, it was a fantastic ceremony. uh every individual that was recognized that night had a nice write up uh explaining their accomplishments, what they do for children uh and the students
011within their schools and and obviously specific to music music education. And so I wanted to take just a snippet of each one of their writeups. Um I want to thank Mr. Priest for getting these. Um not sure if they're copyrighted or not, but uh I am stealing them and using pieces of it. So I will start with uh Mrs. Corless since she's not here. Uh for over 40 years, Heidi has devoted herself to public education, transforming the lives of countless students and leaving a profound mark on coral music in Maine. During her 35 years at Hampton Academy, her choirs not only earned awards and recognitions, but also became a true reflection of her passion, high standards, and belief in the power of music. Beyond the podium, she has mentored over 40 student teachers. And interestingly
012enough, I think there were about three or four that were there uh that night. And one of them just spoke to us, Molly Priest. Uh guiding them with care and wisdom to become both skilled educators and kind, thoughtful human beings. Her influence continues to ripple outward, touching schools and communities across the state. What truly sets Heidi apart is how deeply she invests in people. She's not just a talented educator. She's a pillar in the main commu uh music community, a trusted colleague, and an unwavering advocate for music in public schools. and it goes on, but that's just a small summary uh of the kind words that were said about Heidi. Uh Molly and Jason nominated both Heidi and Dana, and Heidi's response. Um she obviously said she couldn't be here tonight, but she said she
013was surprised uh is an understatement. I was blessed to have a career that I loved and felt like I had made a difference every day. I had a family that supported me in that a necessity as a music teacher. I was blessed to work in a system where working for excellence was encouraged and I felt supported. I am thankful for music colleagues who had the same philosophy of music education and work ethic beyond compare. I can't say enough about the importance of music education for all children in brain function, social connection, mental health, and just plain joy. my heartfelt congratulations to all of the awardees and thank you so very much. So that was from Heidi. The next one uh is Dana. So again, Hall of Fame a snippet from Dana's uh write up. Dana
014Ross is one of those rare educators who leaves a lasting mark on everyone he works with. As both a mentor and colleague, he's inspired us through his unwavering dedication, warmth, and passion for music education. For over 20 years at Wagner Middle School, Dana has created a space where every student, no matter their background, feels seen, valued, and motivated to succeed. His influence reaches far beyond the classroom, lifting up not just students, but their families and the entire community. Even when faced with challenges, Dana embraces growth. like when he chose to take private voice lessons to strengthen his coral teaching. As department head, he's brought music educators together, fostering a supportive team and helping make music a meaningful part of every student's education. Dana truly embodies the heart of what it means to be a music
015educator. Dana, do you have anything that you'd like to say? I didn't. This is brilliant. Um I came into this program as a 11year-old student at we moved here from Caramel and we moved to Hampton and uh the program here was already established very well with Jerry Bates running the department and Kermit Far along with John Haskell Um and um it was because of that education at that time. I want to keep that going for anyone that wants that. Um it was my music teacher that I'm introducing Burton College music. I didn't even know it existed. And um so I had a chance to go there because of those connections. All the things that I get to do performing wise now I get to do. because of that connection. So I hope that in 20
016years, 10 years, someone here is doing what I'm doing and hoping to help others do the same thing. So I guess that's my kind of my history and why I do what I do. And the last one we want to recognize, and this one was nominated by Dr. Tibido, uh, Becky Mallerie. Um, as I mentioned earlier, she is the educator of the year for middle school music. Rebecca Mallerie is deserving of this honor for so many reasons. As a music educator at Reedsport Middle School in RSU22, she has created a culture of excellence, collaboration, and mentorship. One of Rebecca's most remarkable achievements is her ability to maintain a robust music program with a large majority of our school's population electing to participate in band, chorus, or both. This level of participation is a testament to
017her exceptional teaching skills, her ability to engage and inspire students, and her unwavering commitment to providing a high quality music education. Becky brings passion and expertise to her teaching. She focuses on student learning and musical skills and techniques while also fostering critical thinking and problem solving skills. Her efforts to challenge students is shown through their successes. So I will give Becky an opportunity if she would like to speak otherwise I will say something. Is this okay? Um, thank you very much. Uh, so it is an emotional night. I really appreciate the recognition. Um, I've been I raised my students my I raised my students. I raised my children. I'm really exhausted. Um, I raised my children here through the district and I absolutely love my job. I was hired originally as an instrumental music teacher
018uh part-time and I was working for a charity um that helps survivors of human trafficking on the sides. Um and then I uh my job kept getting bigger and bigger and uh so I took on the course about 10 years ago, 11 years ago. Uh we all specialize. Uh we have a K through to 12 certificate in music, but it's a very big umbrella. We all have our own specialties. Mine's instrumental. Heidi is coral. Heidi could probably do band, but she really wouldn't be happy and it's not really great for the kids. I did chorus. That's a huge challenge. And I thought it would be temporary. and I loved all the time I did it. But uh I'm not I should not be in front of a chorus. I'm not a vocalist. Um I destroyed
019my voice. Um and kids deserve better and I got burnt out which is why I resigned. Um I'm just going to a new It's not fair to the kids. Um and so hopefully with your awesome new candidate, you don't burn out because he's a really instrumental guy, but he can also do everything. And I really appreciate the opportunity to grow the program. We both have gold awardwinning jazz ensembles. I don't know how you show up before I did, but you know, it takes a lot to get those gold medals. It's a huge It's really a hard rubric and it's a hard standard to meet every year. Um, so thank you for supporting our amazing program. It's really on the backs of the teachers and your support. Um, because we care about the kids, but that's
020why we're all here. Um, they're worth it. And, uh, I just wish Max the best hopefully. Um, and um, we have a carnival tomorrow for our fundraiser. Um, we have a lot of really fun greetings. So, I'm not really looking at this being the end, but um, I really appreciate the recognition and um, like what Danny said, please keep supporting it. It was a great place to raise my children and um, I'm not leaving the community. You'll be around, so hopefully I'll play the musical or something. But thank you very [Applause] much here today. It just goes to show the music program. This is a small snippet of the music program uh prek to 12. Uh the program itself is flourishing and it is because of the educators that we have here tonight. Uh and
021I certainly really appreciate it. And again uh one last time congratulations to the two of you and obviously to Heidi who couldn't be here today. There is one other teacher that we want to recognize. Unfortunately, as mentioned, he is already at JCL. Uh so we will recognize him in June. Uh and that will be Ben Johnson who is the Ponovska County Teacher of the Year. So you'll be hearing more about that uh the next uh in our next month's meeting. All right. Thank you everyone. Are there no people signed up to excuse? All right. So, um, board chair report. I don't have anything this month. We've got a full docket and so I'll move on to personnel. We have a few resignations to announce. Uh, Andrea Bazino, assistant director of special services. Jarrett Bean, science
022teacher at Hampton Academy. Darleneson, math teacher at Hampton Academy. Brian White, special education teacher at Leroy H. Smith School. And Destiny Ran, occupational therapist at LeBron Weatherbe, and Smith. nominations and [Music] transfers. Two nominations tonight. One of which was added just uh a little later earlier today. The first one who was written uh I'd like to nominate Michelle uh Jacques for a special education teacher at Handon Academy. Michelle has 20 years experience as a math teacher. She has a master's degree in educational leadership from Western Governor's University. nominating Michelle at a salary at $81,260. [Music] Nice to see everybody and I'm honored to join the district. Thank you. So, we have a motion and a second on the floor. All those in any discussion? Question. She's a math teacher. She has her certificate in special
023education. Thank you. Any other comments, discussion? All right. All those in favor and that looks like everyone. [Applause] Next one we have is Maxwell Carter. Maxwell has a bachelor's degree from UMAIN, uh, K12 music certification. Student taught here at RSU22, nominating Maxwell as a music teacher at Reeds Brook Middle School. A salary of $45,540. [Music] Any [Music] discussion? All those in favor? And that's unanimous. [Applause] We have a number of transfers to announce as well. Lee Luna, grade three teacher at Leroy H. Smith School to grade four teacher at Smith School. Chris Beckwith, technology teacher at Reedsbrook. He was our uh distinguished educator who was on loan with the department of education for the last couple of years. Uh Chris is transferring to uh grade three at Leroy H. Smith School. Uh Dr. Susan Tibido,
024principal at Reedsbrook Middle School, will transfer to being the principal at Hammond Academy. Jennifer Seir, principal at George B. Weatherbe School, will be principal at Reeds Brook Middle School. And Matthew Lindman, principal at Earl McGrath School, will now be principal at George B. Weatherbe School. All right. Thank you. Um Jessica, you're up with essential behavior and outcomes. Education enables all students to learn the skills, acquire the knowledge, and develop the attitudes necessary for them to reach their potential as citizens who can meet the challenges of a changing global society. We believe that all citizens in our communities share the responsibility to educate our children within themselves. Our schools are community support systems and should welcome and encourage all members of our communities to participate. And our schools will have a supportive and empowering atmosphere for
025all students and community members. All right. And now the superintendent's report. First item under my report will be the presentation from Principal Pratt from Wagner Middle School. I was thinking I might have to get Dana to help me. Um I have to say a little um little story about Dana. Um when I was a principal in Glenburn, uh Dana's um the show choir jazz band came out and performed and I always I'd seen them around of course having taught in the district and um the thing that and and just all was so enjoyable to watch that group and the thing that um really struck me was um as Dana knows we had fabulous English music teacher. Um, and u, they respect each other immensely. And um, whoops, what am I doing here? I can't obviously
026talk and do this at the same time. And so that music teacher reported to me that after um, the Wagner show choir appeared that they all went back to her and it inspired them to do um, different with their performances. and she said, you know, they're expecting to do this overnight and and they really worked hard to put some auditions into there rather than just singing to put some performance into it. So, he has inspired other districts. I know for a fact. Well, I'm glad to be uh presenting to you folks tonight. Um with with any um organization and situation there always um some hiccups and there are and the importance are with the hiccups is what are we doing about them? Um so this is kind of a little bit of celebration, a little
027bit of hiccup and a little bit of these are the some things that we have um that are helping Wagner Middle School progress in the trajectory that we would hope. We're going to start with um the state and the accountability indicators and what that has what impact that has on Wagner Middle School and where we're going with that. So when um when your students and and your children and you hear them talking about taking the state assessments, when the state gets those results, they are looking at these five indicators. They're looking at chronic absenteeism. They're looking at your progress in English proficiency. They're looking at a academic progress like how much gain have they made, academic achievement, their grade, and the graduation rate of the district or that particular school that's high school. We have
028some um and I left my notes back there. We have some um changes this year. they were called something different and now they are um these initials and with we have a comp comprehensive school um intervention. So it's uh CSI we have all that means that title one schools with all student population experience challenges across all of the indicators that they measured if they are in the emerging which is the um they haven't met the standard in all indicators for one year and then they have this other ATSI which is the additional targeted um interventions school interventions is all schools with at least one student population. So when they break down the student populations from uh white to Native American to students with disabilities, all those different categories in if you have at least one
029of those categories experiencing challenges emerging in all indicators for one year and another category is TSI with all schools that have one or more student populations not meeting their targets for three consecutive years. Wagner Middle School has been identified. I'll I'll stop right here. So, we look down at what is um the question was posed. What is the identification percentage across the state of Maine? So, we have the CSI about um 8.6% 6% of the schools not this is not districts these are schools 60.1% are in that ATSI additional targeted um interventions and the TSI 12.5% and only about 19% of the schools in the state of Maine don't have some kind of identification Wagner Middle School has the ATSI identification additional targeted support and improvement we have we were identified in mathematics and in
030chronic IC absenteeism not in ELA that is based on this kind of chart that you get that you there's no way you can read that but if you look at the circles the circles mean not met or another wording that they use for that is emerging the check marks are u met and then the triangles are accelerating. So you have the different categories. You have on the far left you have the chronic absenteeism with the top row is all students and then they've broken it down into those subgroups. So in chronic absenteeism based on um this one is based on 20 23 2024 data. We had 15.9% chronic absenteeism rate. If you move across to the second um red circle, that is the progress that they've made in ELA. But because you move all the
031way across to the check mark that we made um adequate achievement in ELA. So therefore would that does not identify us in that area. And then the next row across the the next circle is in mathematic progress and the last dot is mathematic achievement. And so we that based on this we are chronic absenteeism in the emerging academic progress in mathematics in emerging and academic achievement in mathematics was identified as emerging. So we so we have a plan that we have to then make based on that data. So our plans are around the targets which are attendance, math achievement and math growth. One of the things in that comp we have a comprehensive needs assessment that every school does the CNA and we have a math goal. Um and then underneath that you have all
032of these action steps that you'll take to help you achieve that goal of making sure that our students reach that mark that is expected. The same for reading and then attendance. Um you'll see that the attendance is you may question like that's a goal for attendance but attendance is the climate survey um that we take through another program that I'll talk to you about um and the certain grades that we want about good behavior. How does that affect attendance? So, the first thing that we did was um we have partnered with Count Me In and we have a um a gal named Jessica that meets with Wagner Middle School every month for attendance meetings and we followed this flowchart and what she's done is she's helped us look at we've had attendance meetings in the
033past, but she's helped us streamline the way that those are run. She's given us some documents that we can use to to collect the data and make decisions based on that data and track what's happening with attendance. Um it's involving um community partnerships. It's talks about uh building relationships and they their claim to fame is those districts that have fully implemented the counten model with fidelity have decreased their rates of chronic absenteeism by an average of 23%. Another thing that we're doing to uh address our attendance is again it's that wonky it's behavior. So this is PBIS which is positive behavior interventions and supports and we have this chart that comes from PBIS and PBIS um talks about that last that that biggest tier that's for your students that are miss 5 to 9% of
034the school year. The state does not want anyone missing over 10%. 10% is the threshold. So tier two is those students fall in that tier are those that have missed 10 to 19% of school of their school. And that top tier is the 20%. What we're doing so far, and I'll quickly do this, but then I have a couple more that I can go into some in depth. But tier one, we have things that I'll explain. attendance streaks that are addressing everybody even if they don't have any absences. Another thing we're doing with everybody is we're doing busted slips. We are doing the climate surveys that we have in our CNA. That's where we want those scores to go up about behaviors. Behaviors allow my teachers to teach. And then the last is the newsletter
035that goes out to everybody. And in that there's always a little blurb about um you know what's our current attendance rate for the week. Um there's a little document on what how does attendance um affect your child's learning and academics. It's all intertwined. If students are not feeling like they can learn because it's chaotic, they may not show up. If a student feels that they're always getting in trouble, um they need to internalize what's happening with their behavior, but that that attitude will keep them home and they'll start to have upset stomachs and they'll come up with excuses as to why not to come to school. So, we we we include behavior in this model of attacking attendance because there there there's a direct correlation between the two. So in the newsletter is you know
036if your child misses this many days this is what could happen with their reading and their mathematics. Then we go up the next tier where it is the 10 to 19% and we have family meetings. We have attendance meetings with those families and we come up with a plan. The child is involved. Um and it's it's like a little mini contract where we say okay what is the root cause? How can we help? What are some things that you need? And the student says, you know, these are the things that I will agree to do. The school, these are the things that we agree to do. And the parents, here's how we will support. And then everybody signs the contract. We have a school van. And then sometimes in making those contracts, you will hear,
037"I can't get her to come to school. Um, she's really fighting me." and we will offer that van that you know there might be a conflict on the on we've heard that there's um they don't like the bus that there's a conflict with some students on the bus we'll offer the van it they've not taken us up on it has not been misused but we have just this week I went and picked up a student because there was an issue they weren't going to be able to get to school so we went and got them um so that is offered in that in that uh range for students to make sure that they get there all they have to do is reach out and and ask. And that top layer is the tier three where
038we have the really significantly chronically absent students. Sometimes that's where the truency falls in. Um if and I say sometimes because a student can have 20% of their day absent and not be truent as long as they are excused absences. That keeps them in that chronically absent. So the truent students or the really chronically absent students when we had an SRO um which is why we really um look forward to getting one back is he would make home visits. He would be involved in the family meetings. he would make home visits and that connection and and as recently as this afternoon in a staff meeting staff were saying that we have students that even though he's not here that that is still there that's ingrained in them the message that he gave them and the
039impact that he had on their importance to get to school. This is um this is kind of what we do with um the uh streaks, the attendance streaks. And this was a staff member came up with this when we were working on different things to address attendance. And so we started working on this in about March. And we have this little board that that's right front and center when the kids come in. Um the one thing that we've noticed that the kids, you know, a whiteboard is very um they're very tempted to go over and run their fingers through it. you know, I can have all of these. No one touches that board except for the day. Our goal is 93% being in school. And there was one day that we didn't have 93% and
040we noticed that there were fingerprints down through it. That's the only time that anybody has touched that board, which shows you that they respect it, they appreciate it, they're looking at it, it's theirs, they own it. So, we look and we've broken it down by grade levels. We then we have a whole school and then I report all of that information out in the newsletter. On the left is in front of the office and we have a staff member who's made these flames so that we have these attendance flames and we when we announced that we were starting this we said now after a certain amount of flames or streaks which we did not announce we are going to have a little award and the award is unannounced. They don't know how many streaks they
041need. And the purpose of that is you need to be in school every day or you're going to miss out on the activity. So the first thing that we did u on the left is we decorated a cart and I went around and everybody came out and and got a snack. Um and that was their and I did hear some kids saying, "Oh, so and so isn't here." They missed out. After that, we then started on the right. You see that we have some kids eating outside. We all of a sudden had our sixth graders who went somewhere around 10 days and there was a break maybe a day in there somewhere but for 10 days they've had 100% attendance 100%. So that was an announced reward and we went in and I told them
042in the cafeteria that they could go outside. They were going to eat outside and they had an ice cream treat as a little extra addition. and we've made that announcement. We're waiting for more um for kids to to step up and that way encourage each other. Come to school. We want we want the next reward. We are now running our goal was 93%. And you set a goal that's attainable at first but is just you know it's just attainable because you want them to feel that success. We are now running anywhere from 95 to 97% attendance rate every day. It's been incredible. Busted slips is another way that we're addressing those attendants because through behavior if they come to school and they can't learn that their class is frustrating or they don't feel recognized or
043they don't feel like they belong. And so a long time ago, but way before me, they came up with busted slips. And so you're busted for making the right choice. And they go in buckets. And then every Wednesday during each lunch period, we draw the winner out of the bucket and they have a big treasure chest that they draw from. And then and then we take a picture and we put it in the newsletter. And um and then they if they have 10 then they can uh off to do a bigger prize which one of them is um Brenda who works in our kitchen has always done a cooking activity with them and that that's one of their choices. So even though their name doesn't get drawn out of the bucket, they can save the
044other half and collect 10 and then do they can always get a prize to address the academics. It's really difficult to not impossible um certainly but when you think about that were identified in mathematics. A lot of the strategies that we use in mathematics are transcendent to all academics. So it could say math and reading it could say all content up here. And again we have another tier one, tier two, tier three. Tier one being that general what the instruction you give to everybody. Tier two is those small group and the tier three would be those pull outs, those really intensive interventions. So, we have been working hard on um this this particular school year, we have gone from for our tier 2 kids, we have gone from having a half one half-time title one
045position to one and a half title one positions. We're finding that we still have kids that we didn't have room for in schedules and uh we need to make sure that we're getting everybody. We don't want we want we don't want the cuto off to be so high. And so what has been proposed is that this coming year that we will again increase from 1.5 to two whole uh title one positions to give that intervention to our students and again are we identified in mathematics but students also need help and assistance with that reading. We have response to intervention where teachers have um a little form that and they when they're meeting in their grade levels, they discuss students and they say, "Okay, this student is struggling academically. Here's the plan. Here's how we're going
046to give them targeted instruction within the classroom." That's why it's tier one uh tier two rather because it's that intervention, but it's with within the classroom. The other thing that's been missing is the SAT student assistant team. That's been missing for a little bit from Wagner. And so we are starting that back up and that is comprised of um staff members from different grade levels, special education, gifted and talented. We try to have all walks and all positions and so that we have this various perspective. Kind of look at it as a think tank. So a teacher can come with a student's name and present to their colleagues and then we all brainstorm and come up with a plan um for that student to try to get them um over that learning hump. What is
047the tangle? What needs to happen from there? Then of course we have professional development and just some of it that u we've had a building thinking classrooms which was directed at mathematics but certainly there are things in there that can be used anywhere. the regulated classroom. When those bodies are regulated, when the staff is regulated, more uh good teaching happens, learning happens. Belonging with a culture of dignity. If you don't feel you belong, you're not going to show up. So, that one I truly believe affects attendance and it affects that student's ability to participate in a class, to succeed in a class. So, that's some of the professional development that's happening. How do we get all of this done? There's a lot on our plate. There's a lot that we have going on. It's because
048we have um an amazing staff and we will have this new identification every year. This the state looks at identifications and makes those each year. We have this amazing staff. Um this is a picture of four of the staff that recently earned their master's degree. Emily Armore is our guidance counselor. She earned her mers in counseling with a concentration in school counseling from the University of Southern Maine. Sarah Acy, who is one of our ELA teachers, has a master of literacy education from the University of Maine and Orino. Greg Martin, who teaches social studies and part-time ELA, earned a master's in education instruction technology through the University of Maine. We integrate so much technology into our learning. and Betsy Murphy, who is currently a fifth grade teacher teaching math. She has a master's degree in
049educational leadership from the University of Southern Maine. Then we have um another highlight is Sam Pole that she has been selected as one of Maine's state finalists for the 2025 presidential awards for excellence in mathematics and science and teaching. she has let me know but this takes a long time and the um the winner will not be announced probably until next year. The other thing is um we have the uh Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, the MMSA. They recognized seven educators across the state of Maine in their on their site for educator uh appreciation week and Samantha Paul was one of those educators. And what they said about her was Samantha has brought sharp insights about how to integrate energy topics into both math and science classes as a member of the MMSA's rural energy
050futures project design team. So she is there helping um working on designing projects. And then of course we have u Mr. Dana Ross who is was inducted into the main educator association hall of fame. We also have amazing students who are ready to work and learn and these are the recent um awards that have been given. So we have uh this is the Wagner Jazz Band took gold at the main state Jazz Festival. Thank you Mr. Ross. We have our Wagner um Wagner students participated in Eastern Maine Math League Division 2 competition and our eighth grade team took first place. And then in the individuals, we had one individual who took first place and six students who placed in the top 10. So, congratulations to them. And then we have um our engineering team that
051competed um on a windstorm challenge. And this one I was able to count and see that there were 62 teams there. One of our teams took first place with their project and one team took fourth place. So both of those are amazing, especially when you're thinking out of 62 teams. So we have um amazing staff, students, we have work in front of us, we have a plan in front of us, we've been working on this plan, we've seen the results of this plan. Um and I have confidence that we are heading in the right direction. So any questions? Yes. So Angela is part where we are identified as ATSI does that bring in any title one funds additional title one funds to the school or is it it it's unfunded and I'll look to Jennifer
052that it's unfunded. Yeah, originally they had labeled it something different and it was still unfunded. Thank you everyone. This brings us to another recognition uh today this evening. So tonight might be our um one of our student representatives last meeting. She's always welcome to come in June, but often times when the seniors tend to graduate, they tend to forget about us. Uh so you are welcome to come to the June meeting, but in the event that you're not here, we always plan for it to be in May uh with the anticipation you might not be here. So this is uh Liliana Falloon's uh possible last meeting with us. Um she has been with us for 2 years and as a reminder to those folks that have been with us for a few years uh and
053to new to anyone who's been with us just as of recently there is a scholarship that goes along with the being this um student representative. And so um Liliana will be presented at the graduation a $250 scholarship for being part of the board of directors for the last couple of years. But in addition to that, we just have a small token of our appreciation of a certificate for you and then you will be announced at the graduation for the $250 scholarship as well. So I have a letter for that for you as well as certificate. [Applause] I did write in my board report but do want to announce publicly a formal thank you to Bangor Savings Bank. For three consecutive years they have been a community partner for RSU22 and the leaders among us. I
054mentioned RH Foster last month and I wanted to thank Tanya Taylor who's the branch manager here in Hammond for facilitating that. It's quite a process and we are very grateful for their generosity because they keep giving year after year after year. Also earlier in the year we wrote an opioid trust grant and that deadline to apply was backed up and therefore the results of seeing learning who has been awarded the grant has also been backed up. So, we expect by the end of this month, we will find out if we would have a mobile office and an employee for community outreach, all the things that Mrs. Pratt talked about today and we talked about in the education committee about getting kids through the door. That's why we wrote that grant. So, our fingers are still
055crossed. You haven't heard anything simply because I haven't heard anything. Monthly financial report. Uh this was printed uh Friday before the board meeting. So we're looking at about 13 and a half% left of the school year, 12% of the fiscal year. A couple of our articles are running a little high. So we're going to uh look into those. Uh and everything else seems to be fairly consistent with where we are. If you look back at uh last year's report, were just about identical to where we were last year as well. student report. Good evening everyone. Firstly, I have some school updates. Yesterday, our AP literature classes hosted the annual poetry slam, and it was a really powerful event where many student poets got the chance to share their original work. The honesty and creativity in
056the room were incredible, and it was a great way to celebrate student voice. On Monday night, we held our academic awards night where juniors received college book awards and each department recognized one junior for excellence and one senior for excellence. It was a meaningful night to acknowledge the academic work happening across all areas of the school and prom took place on May 10th with this year's theme being golden hour. The junior class did an amazing job at transforming the space and it was a night full of joy, dancing, and unforgettable memories. AP exams have been moving along smoothly and most students have wrapped theirs up. Late exams are occurring this week. This past weekend, many of our student musicians participated in the Allstate Festival at the University of Maine. It was a great opportunity to
057work with some of the top music educator educa educators in the country and to hear the New York voices in one of their final performances. Definitely a highlight. This Friday, R&B and Chopfire will have their final performance of the year at Marsh River Theater. It's always a fun show and a great way to close out the season. Next Saturday, we'll be heading to the Great East Festival to perform and receive feedback from adjudicators and we wrap up the music gear. And then on June 2nd, we'll have a prison concert will be the final performance for band and chorus for the year. And it'll definitely be bittersweet for me as it'll be my last uh concert as a student at Hammond Academy. And with just eight days left for seniors, it's definitely bittersweet as well. We're
058all feeling the mix of excitement and nostalgia as we wrap up our time here. I'm grateful for this community and I'll carry it with me into my future. And a quick note, Hamma, our music boosters association, is looking for new parent volunteers for next year as many of the current ones have graduating seniors. Um, so if anyone is interested or knows someone who may be, we'd love for them to get involved. Now, if I may, I'd like to take a moment to close with a few personal reflections as this is my final meeting as a board representative. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as a student representative over the past two years. Sharing student updates and being present for these meetings has been an incredibly meaningful experience. It's been eye opening to see how
059deeply everyone here cares about education and in the future of our schools. Growing up, school boards felt distant people in formal attire making decisions behind closed doors. But this experience revealed something much more human. A group of dedicated people working hard to make compassionate, thoughtful choices that truly benefit this community. And even without a vote as a student rep, being part of these meetings has offered so much. There was a chance to listen, learn, and contribute in small but valuable ways. Watching the board in action taught me important lessons about leadership, communication, and teamwork. Lessons I'll carry with me into my future. There's a lot of excitement for the future as I'll be attending the University of Maine to study biology on pre-med track with plans to minor in neuroscience. That path wouldn't be possible
060without the current without the encouragement and support of many people. So, thank you to Mr. Ruand, Mr. Raymond, and Mrs. Boon for your leadership and support. To Mr. Hills, and Mr. Kissinger for the interview and continued guidance. And to every teacher from Smith School to Wagner to Camden Academy who helped shape this journey. And of course to friends and family, thank you for being a steady presence every step of the way. This experience meant more than words can fully express. Thank you for welcoming my student voice and everything you do for this district. Thank you, Liliana, for your service. I know it's not the most exciting thing I would have thought when I was a 17year-old to come hang out with a bunch of old people, but thank you for uh sitting in for these
061last two years and uh we wish you well moving forward. All right, now I open it up to questions of the board. All right. Um, committee reports were in and minutes were in the packet. Um, so any questions to committee chairs about any of those? I feel like you should have a big sign for you, FA, when it's policy time because floor is yours. Some of you when you saw the agenda went, "What was FA thinking?" Well, we're moving forward. Many of you will see if you looked at the minutes. This is going to go quickly because there's a bunch of deletes in here. So hopefully we'll be able to go through this rather quickly. The first policy for first reading is policy D B DB. And I apologize right now the B's and the
062D's are going to get very mixed up. I'll repeat them to get them right. So it is D B DB election of board officers which will now be um re uh a new title as board officers. You will see that an awful lot has been added to this. The reason being is the next seven will be deleted and they will all be in one policy versus several little policies. So it is the policy committee moves to approve for first reading policy BDB board officers as presented. All right, we have a motion and a second. Any comment on policy BDB? All right. The motion on the floor is to um approve the first reading of policy BDB board officers. All those in favor and that's unanimous. The next set will be done in two parts. The
063first one will be to the policy committee moves to approve for first reading polic uh never mind. Policy committee moves that the following policies be considered as a slate. Policy B DBA board officers chair. Policy B D B officers vice chair. Policy B D B C board officers chair promp. Policy B D C A appointed board officials secretary and policy B D C D appointed board officials treasurer. Second. We have a motion and a second to take the above listed policies as a slate. Any discussion? Kristen, I just have a question. In our notes, it looks like we also need to do we need to delete the old BDB. No, we have added to DVD. If you look at the policy um that is in your packet, you will see that the very beginning of
064it is um in black. Some of it is deleted. That was the original policy. And so u by adding the rest of it then no we are not deleting BDB simply adding to it. Right. Thanks for clarifying. All right. This is not for approval. This is to consider these as a slate. Um all those in favor for taking policy BDBA, BDBB, BDBC, BDCA and BDCB as a slate. All those in favor and that's unanimous. Based on that, um, the policy committee moves to delete the policies that were listed as a slate. Any [Music] discussion? All right. So the motion on the floor is to delete the policies on the slate. All those in favor and that's unanimous. The next policy is policy BB AAA board member authority and responsibilities. This policy was updated to reflect
065current practice. The legal reference was also added to the document. The policy committee moves to approve a first reading policy BBA board member authority and responsibilities as presented. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All right. the motion and the second on the floor is the approval uh for first reading of policy BBA board member authority and responsibilities. All those in favor and that's unanimous. The next policy wait a minute. Okay, did that one. The next one is policy BBA school board powers and responsibilities. A legal reference was add was the only thing different in this policy is the legal reference was added to this policy. Policy committee moves to approve a first reading policy BBA school board powers and responsibilities as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?
066I do want to comment FA that I I like how everything's getting cleaned up at the RSU22 because we've got policies that are all over the place date wise and I'm sure you still run across some SAUs every once in a while. Well, we we Yeah, those will be coming up pretty. All right, any other discussion? All right. The motion and second on the floor is to approve for first reading policy BBA, schoolboard powers and responsibilities. All those in favor and that's unanimous. The next one is policy BBBA, board member qualifications. This uh policy was totally revamped and made more succinct. Legal references were added to the document. The policy committee moves to approve for first reading policy BBBA board member qualifications as presented. We have a motion and second on the floor. Any discussion?
067All right. The motion and second on the floor is to approve for first reading policy BBBA board member qualifications. All those in favor and that's unanimous. The next policy is BB BB unexpired term fulfillment. This policy was reviewed and some language was updated. The legal reference was also updated as we are no longer an MSAD. We are an RSU and it is under a different section of the law. Therefore, uh the policy committee uh wait a minute. Wait, am I on the right one? Yes. All right. For a moment there, I thought so. The policy committee moves for first reading policy BBBE unexpired term fulfillment which will also be renamed by the way um for first reading as presented. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? John. So I just want to make
068sure. So if somebody comes in and if somebody resigns and and someone's appointed, they're only they don't finish up the term of that p person and just goes to the next election. So you're asking about policy B ba correct? key unexpired term. Unexpired. We did have a discussion regarding that one. Um and basically at that point it is the town that makes that decision. So it it does say um that the superintendent will get in touch with selectman or councilman of the town of the town involved who shall thereupon appoint a replacement board member to represent that town. So what is it you're asking? So the la the last sentence it says such appointees shall hold the office until the next annual municipal election. And I'm wondering do they they fulfill the term of the
069person they're replacing or is it actually the next annual you know election and if each town's different I wonder if it should not policy. I'll check into that because I don't know. The one issue I would see is that implementing town uh code or policy into our policy would then necessitate us changing it every time that happens. But right, unless instead of naming their actual policy, we just say that we're going to follow the send policy. And that way if it changes, then we're still in compliance with it. If we just if we just didn't say anything, if we just took the last whole sentence and half the other sentence out after the word involved, didn't put anything else. Our obligation would be met by wouldn't Wouldn't you still need the rest of that because
070the town is then going to appoint a replacement? We don't know what they're going to do. Are they going to appoint or are they going to elect? [Music] I'll check further into the law and and for second reading I'll get back to you on that. Yeah, because I think that he brings up a good point because we can't compel the towns to do something. So, any further discussion? There is a law though that goes with that and I don't have it pulled up in front of me. So, I'm going to look into the law a little bit more and then maybe I'll maybe then it'll explain it better. All right. Um, so the motion and second on the floor is to approve for first reading policy BBBE unexpired term fulfillment. All those in favor and
071that's unanimous. The next one is policy BB BC uh board member resignation. This policy is a duplicate of the policy and the language that were reflected in BB BBE. Um therefore the title of this one uh the title of the one before will become board member resignation. Um and so the policy committee moves to delete policy BB BBC BC board member resignation. Second. We have a motion and a second on the floor. Um any discussion? All right. The motion is to delete policy BBBC board member resignation. All those in favor and that's unanimous. Next policy is policy VCA code of ethics. A few changes were made uh to section O and the of the original policy in the sections Q and R were added. The policy committee moves to approve for first reading policy BCA
072code of ethics as presented. Second. A motion and a second. Any [Music] discussion? All right. The motion on the floor is to approve for first reading policy BCA, Code of Ethics. All those in favor? That's unanimous. The last one for first reading is policy BDD board superintendent relationships. Again, I put the year in there so that you could see how old some of these are. Uh this policy was completely updated to give more again specificity to the document. Legal references and cross references were added. The policy committee moves to approve for first reading policy BDD board superintendent relations as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second on the floor. Uh any discussion? All right. The motion is to approve for first reading policy BDD board superintendent relationships. All those in favor and that's
073unanimous. We now move on to second reading. First one in second reading is policy AC non-discrimination equal opportunity and affirmative action. No changes were made to this policy since the first reading. The policy committee moves to approve for second reading policy AC non-discrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action as presented. Second. We have a motion and second. Any discussion of policy AC? All right. The motion is to approve for second reading policy AC non-discrimination equal opportunity and affirmative action. All those in favor and that's unanimous. The next policy is ACAB which is now renamed to harassment and sexual harassment of school employees. No changes were made to this policy since the first reading. Policy committee moves to approve for second reading policy A C AB harassment uh harassment and sexual harassment of school employees as presented.
074Second. We have a motion and a second on the floor. Any discussion on policy ACAB? All right. And uh forgive me for the protocol. I'm going to use the new title when we put up for a vote. But um so the motion on the floor is to approve policy ACAB, harassment and sexual harassment of school employees. All those in favor and that's unanimous. The next policy is ACA. New title being harassment and sexual harassment of students. No changes were made to this policy. The policy committee moves to approve for second reading policy ACA, harassment and sexual harassment of students as presented. Second. Any discussion? All right. The motion on the floor is to approve for second reading policy ACA, harassment and sexual harassment of students. All those in favor? One last thing is I want
075to thank this committee that works really hard on all of these. Um it really is a lot to think about and to uh reflect upon. So again, I really want to thank this committee for their hard work. Thank you, FA. And um that wraps up policy and brings us to old business. And we have one item on there that's to discuss and act on the 202526 school calendar. The calendar that you have been presented has one adjustment from the last meeting shifting the December originally December 12th early dismissal day down to December 23rd. So December 12th will be a full day and December 23rd will be an early dismissal day. Everything else uh has remained the same. So at this point I would accept uh motion uh on the calendar. I make a motion to
076accept the calendar as presented. All right, we have a motion and a second to accept the calendar as presented. Any discussion? All right. So, the motion on the floor is to approve the calendar, the 202526 school calendar as presented. All those in favor? And that's unanimous. Oh, you did. Oh, sorry, John. All those post years of service go to that too, right? Um, so now we move on to new business and it looks like the first item is uh discuss an act of laptop donation. This is actually the second time that we've had the opportunity to have some donations from the main state police uh involving laptops. Uh so they are looking to donate 12 Panasonic tough books to our technology education program uh here at Hampton Academy that would be used for technology or
077teched as well as the robotics group. Uh the estimated value because of that value that's why it comes to the board. Uh so the estimated value in their mind is anywhere from $6,000 to $8,400 for the 12 books. Uh and so I would certainly ask for a motion to hopefully approve those. We've had a great partnership with uh the state police and the devices even though they've outlived the state police, they have been fantastic for our program. Um very nice pieces of equipment. I move to accept the donation of Panasonic tough books from the main state police to be used within our technology education program and so we have a motion and a second uh to accept the donation of the laptops. Any discussion? All right. Not hearing any. Um the motion on the floor
078is to um accept the donation of the laptops from the main state police. All those in favor and that looks like everyone is done. Uh next part of our agenda deals with the administrative contracts which you folks do on an annual basis. uh those contract figures are within your packet. Um and some of them have um obviously some of the positions have changed uh and so therefore they're in a different role, but those are certainly based on having competitive salaries for administrators as well as as our uh regional uh index that we look at throughout the district and performance. I move to accept the administrative salaries for the 202526 school year as presented. So we have a motion and a second to accept the administrative salaries as presented to us. Um is there any discussion?
079Um, where's Nick's salary? That's not part of this. It's done in executive session. Any other questions or discussion? All right. The motion on the floor is to accept the administrative salaries for the 2025 2026 school year as presented. All those in favor and that's unanimous. Next thing on our agenda deals with our probationary teachers. This is a multi-step process. We are dealing with approving individuals who are currently in their first year moving to their second year and then we are also dealing with those that are currently in their second year moving to continuing contract. All of those lists are uh in there and these are all based on the recommendations from the principles to myself. These are my nominations moving forward uh into the next step for them. So this needs to be done in
080two steps and the motions um I would appreciate be read as written in the uh agenda notes. I move to accept the superintendent's nomination of personnel to second year probationary contracts. Second. All right. We have a motion and uh a second on the floor to accept the nomination of personnel to secondyear probationary contracts. Any discussion? All right. So once again, the motion is to accept the superintendent's nomination of personnel to secondyear probationary contracts. All those in favor? And that's unanimous. I move to accept the superintendent's nomination of personnel to continuing contract. All right, we have a motion in a second. Any discussion? All right. So, the motion on the floor is to accept the superintendent's nomination of personnel to continuing contracts. All those in favor? And that's unanimous. The last part of new business is
081uh regarding our FY26 district budget. Just as a disclaimer, you folks had the presentation last week um for the two hours. Uh what has changed in that? Very little has changed. Uh much of which we already announced that evening. uh the bulk of the things that had changed were the iPad individual iPads the cost has increased by $20 uh and so that is now reflected in there but the uh revenue is also reflected that way so there's 20 additional dollars per device that comes in uh as revenue so that is completely offset but we do have to at least uh show the additional expense and since uh our May 14th meeting we have had some personnel changes uh that's another uh adjustment from the last time. So, what we're looking at right now, and you'll
082you'll see the total number when that comes around. Uh, last week we're at a 4.44% increase. With the adjustments that had come in uh with the additional expenses, we're at a 4.53%. So, the total number is 40,783,924.15. And again the major um changes in there were the iPads and uh shifting personnel and um new new personnel. If and when this is I another part to it. If and when uh this is all approved there is a signature that we need from you times 15. So this is the process that we start the paperwork on one end. Everyone has a blue pen uh on the table and if you have your own pen that's fine as long as it's blue. We do ask it's the same color. When you uh start signing you will sign the
083same exact line on each one of the 15 papers. So if you sign on the ninth line please on the 15th paper also sign on the ninth line. Uh we have three different forms of paperworks. We have a notice of amounts that will be adopted. So, in the event that we change the amounts tonight, we'll have to hand write that in to reflect that. We have the notice of election and we have the warrants. So, in total 18. We have five for the notice of amounts, eight for the notice of election, and five for the warrant articles. So I would accept a motion on the budget. I move to approve the fiscal year 2026 budget as presented. All right. We have a motion and a second and Alan and Jessica are going to arm wrestle
084to see that. All right. Any discussion? All right. So, the motion on the floor is to approve the fiscal year 2026 budget as presented. All those in favor? Any opposed? And any [Music] abstensions? That's unanimous. I thought that was everyone, but I wanted to make sure for the budget that we reflected accurately. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. So, um, what I wanted to draw your attention to is, um, next month is, um, a little unusual for, especially for those of you new to the board. Um, we will have our district budget meeting in the Hampton Academy gym on Thursday, June 5th. If it's at all possible for you to be there, I encourage you to be there. um full board presence is is um sets a a tone for the um the budget
085process and um and so I understand that if you can't but it's uh please be there if you can. And then also note that the board meeting um the June board meeting will be on Thursday, June 12th. So that's on a Thursday and it's the second week of the month. So that's uh a bit out of the ordinary. So please pay attention to that in your calendar. So what we're going to be signing forms right now and um after we do that, we're going to be going into executive session and those are the last orders of business for the day. So uh if you want to stay, you're welcome to, but you don't have to. Can I ask the question please? I didn't answer it fast enough on the on the removal of teachers from
086probationary status first year to second year and then second year to third year. There was an extra page in our packet that said continuing teacher status to annual teacher. What's the difference there? Aren't they still on continuing contract? I I I don't understand that part. Too many B's were said tonight. So, I think that's the problem. I will defer to Nick or Tina on that one. Okay. Well, I didn't either, but I thought I just page one. mess up. No, it's