001Looking for a motion to approve the schoolboard minutes from June 12th, 2025. So move. Do I have a second? Roger. Any discussion? Any omissions? All those in favor? I. All those opposed. Any abstensions? Did you have something recent? You're abstaining. Okay. Thank you. All right. Before we get going on the the rest of the agenda, uh I'd like to have a brief moment of silence for Pam Honden, who passed away, uh for all that she did for the community and writing for the school board uh for all those years. Thank you. Uh, no communications. Um, public comment. Uh, public comments. Anybody wishing to speak will get three minutes. I'm asking audience members to please, um, not comment on somebody else's opinion. Um, address your comments to the chair. Amanda Vichi. Thank you. I'm greatly concerned.
002This board is obligated to act swiftly to protect the community, students, and reputation of RSU73. This board should set an example for our community's children. How can we enforce anti-discrimination and anti-bullying policies when our own officials violate them? At the very least, I formally request that this um official be placed on suspension while an investigation ensues, if not removed from the board entirely. And I urge this board to develop a formal and specific policy about the conduct of board members to include consequences of violating this policy. I asked this board, "Is it worth a lawsuit to protect someone just because they agree with you politically? Or do you want to be known for being ethical and protecting our students and communities from dangerous individuals who cause fear and threaten and harass even teens in the
003community, teaching our children what appropriate behavior is, and standing up against bullies?" I need you to ask yourself, what kind of official body shames a teen, discusses their personal lives, speaks on their parents to them, and then blames the teen for their own conduct as though they asked for it? This is victim blaming at its finest and the adults were harassed in similar ways. The time to act is now. We have a code of ethics that was last reviewed February 24th, 2025. There have been several violations. Number two, not considering the impact h that has had on LGBTQ plus students with very public harassment toward the community such as a business displaying a pride flag or how it impacts their education to be in fear of bullying and discrimination. The third section, frequently disparaging other
004board members opinions both verbally and on public Facebook pages, even stating things such as having you removed one by one. The fourth section, stating on many occasions, I'm untouchable. There's nothing that anyone can do about my conduct. I can't be removed from the board. And stating things such as the school staff and the local citizenry on multiple occasions in writing and verbally. The seventh section, spending half a dozen hours on social media this past weekend discussing multiple complaints from multiple citizens, parents, business owners, and even teenagers, and recent RSU 73 graduates discussing complaints and harassing and threatening while doing such. The ninth section, this past weekend, disparaging three school employees by name in writing with a community member on a public Facebook page while identifying himself as a public official. On other occasions, there were
005two more that were disparaged verbally. The discrimination policy was last reviewed on April 10th, 2025 and has also been violated. Protected classes include sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and more. Recently, a local business in our community was simply displaying a pride flag, and it was called a sex flag, and the business owners have been harassed because they do not feel the flag should be visible to students. I am asking you to develop a policy and take action swiftly. Thank you. Thank you, Linda Dean. Linda Dean. My name is Linda Dean, a lifelong member of this district who lives in Livermore. I want to begin by echoing the powerful words shared by the former student board representatives at the last meeting. They spoke with courage and honesty saying what many have been thinking that students no
006longer feel safe or supported by this board. They said students now fear the board because meetings have become filled with arguments, violations of code of conduct and discussion that do do nothing to support education. They asked you to return to a place of respect to focus again on students and to act as true representatives of our schools. I and many others in the community agree with them. Now, I've learned tonight that this board may vote to reject state Title 9 protections and instead align with a version that directly contradicts Maine state law. School boards swear an oath to uphold state law and in Maine that includes clear protections for LGBTQ plus students. I also understand that your own legal counsel advised you to follow the law and that that advice was ignored. Instead, the board
007sought advice from a law firm recommended by a far-right political group, one that already helped RSU70 become the only other district in Maine so far to reject Title 9 compliance. This isn't about politics. It's about your legal and moral responsibility to protect all students and make sure RSU73 is a safe, supportive place to learn. I want to close by sharing a quote from a letter to the editor published in the Bangor Daily on June 5th, 2025, written by the father of a transgender child who shared that at one time he didn't even believe transgender kids were real. I brought copies of the letter for you to read in full. Quote, Maine is a place that understands freedom, and freedom means the ability to live as you truly are. That's a man I know. That's a
008man I love. Transgender children are just like your children and grandchildren. They have the same dreams, the same hopes, and the same right to be safe, seen, and supported." unquote. That's a main I believe in and that's a community I want to live in. I urge you to show our students, all of our students, that this board leads with integrity, compassion, and courage. Thank you, [Applause] Lyn Wlette. Good evening. My name is Lyn Wlette. I am a resident of the town of Jay and I taught in the school system here for 37 years. What considerations arise when a school board considers changing policy so that transgender girl athletes are carved out of the student population and prohibited from participating on girls athletic teams. The main human rights act makes it clear that this action is
009illegal and these mandates are enforced by courts. But what about the humane qualities involved in this issue? These are children we're talking about. We must show acceptance and kindness, advocacy and support, affirmation and inclusion despite our possible differing beliefs and opinions. If through policy you explicitly exclude a minority group of students, then you tell them they're not valued, respected, or important. You deprive them of recognition for who they are and the assurance that they are welcome in their school community. I have to believe that you have a place in your heart for the kindness toward these students. Please leave that space open for them as you consider this issue, possible compromises and potential outcomes. And thank you so much for your time. [Applause] James Ferrari. Yes. I didn't sign up to speak. Oh, I have
010you on the I signed in. Oh, okay. No problem. Meline Labonte. Hi, I'm Meline Labonte. Uh, I live here in Liverour. Um, and I want to talk today about how this school district is putting both the students and the district as a whole in a dangerous position. Title 9 protects students rights against discrimination. And it's very important to recognize that by rolling this back, you are committing a civil rights violation. I am aware that not everyone here cares about that, but here's what you should care about. Not allowing transgender individuals to use the bathrooms that they feel comfortable in puts us in a precarious leg legal situation. There is legal precedent in this state that suggests that the courts will rule in favor of those being discriminated against in these cases with districts facing up
011to a $100,000 fine. The schools know this and the school has already received legal counsel that told them to leave Title 9 alone while the federal courts are finding their stance on these policies. For the time being, Main State schools are legally obligated to follow Mainstate law, which not only allows, but specifically states that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathroom that correlates with their gender identity. After hearing this very resounding no on whether or not to adopt a new policy, the district made the decision to seek legal advice from a firm that has no background in educational law and rather practices criminal defense and family law. This issue is absolutely a civil rights issue, but beyond that, it's a simple question of liability. Can the school afford the cost of a potential
012lawsuit? And is that really what we want our budget going to Michelle Ban? Good evening. My name is Michelle Brian and I'm the president of the RSU73 Education Association. I'm speaking tonight because of my concerns about the agenda's reference to discussion and a possible vote on Title 9 policy based on executive session legal advice earlier this evening. I was worried that members of the board might either be unaware of or unwilling to follow district policy and state labor law regarding the adoption, review, revision, or deletion of policy. You'll see that I've distributed copies of RSU73's policy BGB-R outlining policy adoption procedures. Most specifically, I'm concerned that if a vote to revise policy occurs this evening, the board will be in violation of section A3, which requires that quote, "At an appropriate stage in the policy
013consideration, the superintendent shall initiate contact with the representative teacher organization by sending a copy of the proposed policy to the association president to provide opportunity to meet and consult regarding any proposed new or changed educational policy. This particular section of the district's policy is required by main labor law, specifically described in title 26 MRSA section 965.1C. I've also provided you with a copy of the specific legal legal statute in question. As the association president, I can affirm that this step has not yet been completed. This is not through any fault of Mr. Albert. The proposed revision simply did not exist prior to the start of this evening's meeting. Furthermore, I want to point out that sections B and C of the same district policy also require multiple readings of proposed revisions along with those provo
014proposed revisions being listed on each board meeting agenda, presumably to protect transparency in the process and to allow members of our school community to consider and offer feedback on any proposed revisions. As some of you already know, I'm also a high school US history and civics teacher here in the district. And a central theme of our curriculum is the importance of the rule of law in our democracy. The process can sometimes be long, time consuming, and even frustrating. But the legislative frameworks that exist at all levels of government, including the policy used to govern schoolboard action, are designed to ensure that all voices are heard. I hope that our board members are dedicated to modeling for our students what it means to be honorable public students and elected officials by following our district policies and
015state labor law as they apply this evening. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Jeff Bailey. Hello, my name is Jeff Bailey and I'm from the town of Jay. I'm here tonight to speak about the board's decision to seek additional legal opinions in regard to Title 9 and its relevant policies. When it comes to sports competitions, it's a given that everyone follows the same set of rules. This is a lesson we learn at a young age and we hope that students learn by example in classrooms and through extracurricular activities. Many conversations about transgender high school athletes have been around the broader issues of safety and fairness. But let's take a minute to look at the specifics of how a pos policy change might have to be reconciled. When RSU73 participates in athletic events against other schools,
016we do so in the main principles association organization, an a member-driven organization that sets the rules for those sports competitions. MPA in consultation with the main attorney general's office and the main department of education develops those policies which include transgender athletes participating in high school sports. The rules clearly state that transgender and non-binary athletes can compete on teams that match their gender identity regardless of their sex assigned at birth. This is in line with the main human rights act. If 73 chooses to change its policies to deny this rule, will our students be allowed to compete and participate? Will we have to form an entirely separate league in order to find other schools that will change to meet our views? If we do compete, will our students and coaches be forced to forfeit games if
017we disagree with the rules that another team that we are opposing is following the MPA? Whose responsibility will it be to verify the proper gender of a student athlete? We are all interested in safety and fairness for all of our students, all of them. Why then would we alter our policies to write rules inconsistent with the organization in which we compete? We have to play by the same rules. Rules that are backed by current state and federal laws and agreed to by the vast majority of schools competing with us. Recently, the main legislature even failed to pass changes in this law at the state level. Changing our policies would violate state and current federal law, and we may not exclude transgender athletes from the team that matches their identity, but it may shut out all
018of our athletes from competition if we're not careful. Thank you. [Applause] Jane Costa from Jay. I'm just gonna not repeat what everyone else has said and just get right to it. As school board members, you took an oath. You took an oath in office to follow the laws of the state of Maine. And you have to do what you swore your oath to do. You have to follow the laws of Maine. You have to put aside your personal opinions and your personal differences and follow the law. That is what you are sworn to do. That is what the job is as a public servant. And that is what everyone in this community should expect of its public servants. Simply follow state law. The issue at hand is in due process going to be decided, but
019we have to let that due process play out. And when it does, then there'll be another opportunity to look at it again. But right now, state law is in effect. and it is what we should be following. Thank you, [Applause] Phoebe Pike, BB Pike, Livermore Falls. Uh, what I'm going to say may surprise most of you on the board. Let the laws protect her. Let them be put her in a position to resist and escape. Nothing is more legitimate than protecting the women and keeping ourselves honest. We are required to keep them separate as is the rule. Oh, I'm sorry. This was the rules that they stated to keep women out of sports. My bad. To change title nine means you're getting rid of alpine skiing, bowling, cheering, competitive cheering, esports, golf, wrestling, Nordic skiing,
020as well as many other sports if anyone contests it. Why? Because men and women are in co- sports together. Maine Human Rights Act of 2021 explicitly protects against discrimination based on gender identity. Maine has not enacted any laws specifically banning transgender athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. As early as June 14th, this our state voted against changing this. Maine Principal Association states it will follow state law that allows transgender athletes to participate. Whether you agree with that or not, that is the law. That is the rules set forth by our state, the same state that you are supposed to represent in our community. You can disagree with that if you wish, but you cannot as officials who swore to uphold mainstate law as it pertains to schools vote to change
021how you follow the law. Do so, you are opening us up for lawsuits. You are opening us up to have the schools closed because we cannot afford costly litigation. I understand that it cost $300 to confer with another lawyer. That's more than the entire esports budget. You spent the entire budget on one hour with a lawyer outside of our regular ones for what? It's still being passed. They're still debating this. We're jumping ahead. Whether you agree or you don't, you have to understand that you are skipping so many steps. I'm not going to repeat them. You've already heard them. You already have the policies in front of you. What are we teaching our students? If you don't agree, skip it. That's not how this school runs. That's not how this community runs. That's not how
022the state or country runs. I know our board wants to do what's right for students. You wouldn't be in positions you're in if you didn't care. But show the kids you care about. All of them. Not just the ones that you feel like protecting today. Protect all of them. [Applause] Joseph Bosi Livermore Falls. Good evening, board members, educators, and community members. I'm here because we're still doing this. There's an ongoing deliberate attempt to strip transgender students of the right to participate in school sports in an effort that disguises itself as a concern for fairness, but is rooted in fear, misinformation, discrimination, and at the same time, this board is knowingly given space to thinly veiled hate groups under the pretense of parental rights or protecting children. It's It's not a weapon. It's not. I'll put
023it. It's It's my work knife. That's it. That's fine. You can have it. When you remove a transgender student from the field, you're not protecting fairness. You're erasing identity. You're telling a child that they cannot that they're not they're unfit. They can't play alongside their peers. This is not just exclusion. It's dehumaniz dehumanization. And when you allow speakers often affiliated with national hate groups to stand here and demonize trans transgender youth with selective science and inflammatory rhetoric, you're not hearing both sides. You're giving them legitim legitimacy to discriminate. You're making this room, this school, this system unsafe for LGBTQ plus students and their families. What kind of message does this send? Schools should be the one place where every student, every single one feels like they're they belong, where they're not reduced to debate, where
024their existence is not up for discussion. And yet here we are debating whether some students deserve equal access to sports while others use that debate to spread fear and division. You have a responsible, not just legally, but morally, to protect all students. That means rejecting policies that target transgender youth. That means setting clear boundaries around who and what you give a platform to. This means choosing courage over comfort. We're not asking for special treatment. We're asking for dignity, for inclusion, for the basic decency of letting kids be kids in the field, in the classroom, in every corner of this district. History will remember how you handled this moment. I hope you choose to be on the right side of humanity. Thank you [Applause] Steve Bian Steve B and resident Jay I'm here tonight because I'm
025deeply concerned about the growing influence of an outside group calling itself Maine's people's rights in education despite the name This is not a grassroots main organization. It is backed by big money and part of a coordinated national effort to undermine public education right here in our community. This group and others like it are using fear, misinformation, and political pressure to try to control what happens in our schools. We've seen them push school boards to ignore the advice of their own legal counsel and instead rely on law firms handpicked by far-right political organizations, groups whose goals are not about education but about control. We've already seen this result. RSU70 became the first district in Maine to reject Title 9 protections for LGBTQ plus students against Maine law. And now this board may be considering doing the
026same. This is not leadership. This is caving to pressure from extremist politics at the expense of our students. Let's be clear. This is not about protecting kids or parental rights. It's about silencing teachers, banning books, and making schools unsafe for students who don't necessarily fit into a narrow mold. Maine has always valued fairness, decency, and community. Our public schools should be a reflection of that. They should be places where students feel safe, protected, and supported no matter who they are. We cannot let outsiders with deeper pockets and dangerous agendas dictate what happens in our classrooms. Our schools belong to our students, our teachers, and our communities, not to outofstate political operatives. I urge you, don't follow the example of RSU70. Don't put this district on the wrong side of the law or the wrong side
027of history. Please stand with your students, with your educators, and with us in the community. Thank you, [Applause] Adam Gtle. My name is Adam Gthtle and I live in Jay. Since my parents moved here when I was 2 years old, now with my wife of five years and and two daughters, I have called Jay home. I attended Jay my freshman year, experienced the consolidation, and graduated from Spruce Mountain in 2014. In 2018, this district hired me as the boys varsity soccer coach. "You have a target on your back," the athletic director told me at the time. To my surprise, the team had led the league in red, red, and yellow cards. I rebuilt the team primarily on the values of unity, integrity, and commitment, second to the rules and fundamentals of the sport. As a
028result, those boys were voted recipients of the MPA Sportsmanship Award in 2019. In 2021, the team ended the season with the best record the school has yet to see. Through the pandemic, I experienced firsthand what it was like to coach girls. Co-ed games were played on a weekly basis. These games were fun for the kids because they wanted to be there on the terms that this school provided, play a sport they enjoy, and not be denied the opportunity to do so. No title was at stake, no podium finish. Often as a coach, the boys would ask, "Coach, can we scrimmage the girls?" My response, "No." Training sessions were separate from boys due to a female's bone structure, organs, and genetic makeup different from that of the males. The girls sessions were slower paced, less aggressive,
029and emotionally different than I was used to simply because that is the way God formed male and female in the womb and fearfully and wonderfully created each one of us with a purpose. The girls's response to the boys wanting to scrimmage was most often, "Let's not." These girls knew their limitations and what the boys were capable of. In my experience, the student athletes of this community want to compete at a level they know they are capable of. As of last fall, I have resigned my position. I have, however, not resigned my freedom to stand up for the competitiveness, hearts, and desires of your children and grandchildren. I coached character first so that the graduating students of this school would respect authority and the powers God put in place, not defy them. Should sex distinction as
030God ordained it, and sex-based privacy not be protected by this school district, my own daughters will know will have no participation in RSU 73. Thank you. [Applause] Steve Gettle. Good evening. Uh my name is Steve Gtle and my wife Sandy and I have been residents of Jay since 1998. We raised our three children in Jay and Spruce Mountain School District. Each of our children participated in various male and female sports and used the boys and girls bathrooms respectively. This was simple and a blessing. We've heard a lot tonight about 2021 in Title 9. Well, in 2021, our governor Janet Mills when she shut down our state did not did not allow the legislature what? Quiet, please. It's a Leatherman. Yes, it does have a blade on it. Okay, keep my time. Quiet, please. Our governor
031Janet Mills in 2021 during COVID shut down our state and did not allow the legislature to convene and redefine title nine according to her and a democratic run legislature vision for our state at that time. We heard a lot about the laws. Well, here she circumvented the law and did it on her own. Genesis 1:27, the holy Bible states, "So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them." In Matthew 19:4, Jesus answers the Pharisees and says, "But from the beginning of creation, God made male and female." God made male and female. Period. When a baby is born, they are respectively called a boy or a girl based on their specific plumbing that defines their sex. I am here this evening to encourage
032the board to vote to repeal the current definition of Title 9 and adopt a previous correct interpretation of Title 9. do the right thing morally for Spruce Mountain to take a stand against such foolishness and wickedness and say everyone is either a biological male or female. Period. Give the teachers and the staff the power to enforce this simple guidance and bring back sanity in their schools or state and place of business. Proverbs 13:40 uh 34 states, "Righteousness exaltth the nation, but sin is reproach to any people." You know, God destroyed the entire cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for similar perversion and wickedness against his statutes. On February 25th, Speaker Ryan Feetu and the House Democrats unconstitutionally stripped Republican Representative Laurel Libby of her voice to of her voice and to vote for speak on behalf
033of main girls. On May 20th, the Supreme Court went on record with which we already knew that the actions the Augusta Democrats were were unconstitutional and her vote was must be restored was counted. Yesterday, she was permitted to speak again finally. The fact is her ability to represent her district should have never been stripped in the first place. But August, the Democrats abused their power and took unconstit unconstitutional action to silence and voice they fear on any issue they refuse to make right as they continue to allow biological males to dominate women's sports. Proverbs 19:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is beginning in wisdom, and knowledge of the holy is understanding." Our governor and legislature have lost this fear. I won't be silenced. I fear God, not man. I will not sit by and
034have the governor or a legislature jam transgenderism down my throat, my children, or my grandchildren. I will stand for what God's ways and truths are, no matter what the costs are. I stand here tonight to urge you to do the same to vote to restore simple biological male and female definitions as God designed. Have the courage to stand in the gap at such a time as this. Vote for moral truth for RSU73. It is not the school's place to endorse this promiscuous lifestyle. You have our support. Thank you, Sheila Lyman. Hi, thank you for having me. I I didn't prepare anything and now I'm regretting that. But I am Sheila Lyman, mom first. uh a daughter that was a fourletter varsity athlete in uh Livermore Falls High School at the time. Number two, citizen of
035Livermore Falls taxpayer and number three the representative for this amazing district. And you know, I speak to you tonight and thank you for the job that you do because as a minority leader of the educational and cultural affairs committee at the state, I understand every time you guys sit down in your horseshoe the challenges you face and facing some tough decisions that you need to need to make. And based on the testimony tonight, I just remind you that there's limited voices here. You you folks, it sounds like, have taken the responsibility to dig into the legal matters of which there are two very different sides. And there are two um this arguments that you guys need to take into consideration when it comes to ultimately making the decision that you want to make as serving
036the constituents of these towns. I know on the state education committee, we've been posed with some difficult bills, ban school, all cell phones, curriculum material that they want mandated statewide. I mean, the list could go on, folks. So, I understand your challenge. But then the reality is we will spend a day listening to testimony. Those people for those people against those folks that are neither one or the other. And they they give their arguments why. And then ultimately it's our decision to make a choice on what to do with the bill before us. and and that's where your challenge is serving our prek through 12th grade minors and making a decision about what's best for all. I I I find it so unfortunate that the conversation tonight seems to be about separating our kids. That's
037not what this is about. This is considering what is fair, what's healthy, what's safe for all students, not one particular group of students. And that's your challenge. And I honor your work. I respect your work. And thank you so much. Board comments. comments. No board comments. Roger. Uh the only comment I wanted to have is I wanted to thank you for uh the moment of silence for Pam. Um Pam and I didn't get along politically, but she was an amazing woman who dedicated a boatload of time to our community. Uh and I just want to thank you for that. Uh again, Pam was wonderful. I my apologies and sympathy to her family. And that's all. Andrew, I'd like to thank the chair for recognizing Pam Harden tonight. And I'd like to echo Roger's comments as
038well. Uh Pam made me a better board member because she made sure that things were reported accurately as to the best of her ability. and it forced me to make sure that I had to think about what I had to say before I just had something offhand uh comment. She made me a better board member and a better person. And I'll truly truly miss her. She spent countless hours at civic meetings like this, which is not easy to do as a member, let alone as a observer. and uh she showed good judgment and I appreciate her work and I will certainly miss her. Thank you. My comments uh are very pertinent. Obviously, the ongoing debate on whether boys should be allowed to participate in girls sports, use girls restrooms, and access girls showers raises significant
039concerns regarding fairness, safety, and the protection of opportunities that girls have worked tirelessly tirelessly to secure. First and foremost, it's crucial to recognize the hard-earned achievements of female athletes who have spent years honing their skills and p and p pushing themselves to succeed. Allowing biological males to compete in girls sports, especially those who may have spe physical advantages, jeopardizes the integrity of female competitions. Sports by their very nature rely on fairness on fair competition where athletes face one another on equal footing. Biological males on the average possess advantages in terms of muscle mass, endurance, and overall physicality. These advantages can lead to unfair victories not because of better training or skill but due to inherent biological factors. This undermines the achievements of female athletes who have earned their places through dedication and hard work. I
040just read where in 2017 uh the US female Olympic uh soccer team played an all boys under 15 years old uh to tune up for an upcoming match and they lost terribly. Uh there is a clear advantage. Moreover, the introduction of boys into girls spaces such as restrooms and showers creates a host of safety and privacy concerns. These spaces are meant to provide a safe environment for girls to manage personal hygiene and privacy. And the presence of boys, regardless of their gender identity, can create discomfort and even anxiety for many females. Respecting the privacy of young girls is paramount in ensuring that they can confidently go about their daily routines without fear of being exposed to situations where their dignity might be compromised. Another critical issue is the broader social impact of allowing boys to
041participate in spaces designated for girls. When biological males are allowed to compete in girls sports, use their restrooms, or access their showers, it sends a message that the hard work, effort, and resources invested in creating equal opportunities for women. Women are secondary to the desires of a male minority. Girls have fought long and hard for equal treatment and opportunities in sports, education, and other public domains. To allow boys to infringe upon those spaces diminishes the value of those struggles and sends the wrong message about the importance of protecting the achievements of women. While it is important to support the rights and dignity of all individuals, it should not come at the cost of undermining the rights of and opportunities of women and girls. Ensuring that girls can compete in sports, use their restrooms, and maintain
042their privacy without fear or discomfort is essential for fostering a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Ultimately, the solution lies in finding ways to create fair, inclusive environments for all while still ensuring that the opportunities and spaces women have worked so hard so hard to achieve are preserved and protected. The distinction between boys and girls in certain areas, particularly in sports and private spaces, remains vital to the safeguarding to safeguarding fairness, safety, and equality for women and girls. Nobody wants to remove trans kids from sports. Thank you. [Applause] Other board comments. Would either one of our student representatives like to say anything? You don't have to. Sorry. Didn't mean to put you on the spot. Okay. Uh, no. Super. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Andrew. I'd like to thank Holly for the
043flowers that she presented all the board members tonight. Very thoughtful and a good use of flowers and spread a little cheer and happiness. Thank you, Ava. Um, I know there was some concern um with some people that came up to speak about how we would um by going back to and uh complying with the 2025 um legal actions um that it would be getting rid of certain sports like bowling, cheering, uh skiing. That wouldn't be the case. Um there it's to my understanding um especially since I've been on a team where there's been boys and girls like a track team. Um the boys compete with the boys category and the girls compete in a girls category yet it is still one team. And that's the same case with bowling um and alpine skiing um and
044other sports like that. So I just like to clarify that for everybody. I just think that uh I'd like to send as a board if we may our best get well wishes to a member who was missing Brian Riley who's uh been very ill and we are all sending him our best wishes to for a complete and quick recovery. So be get back with us Brian. Other board comments, Darcy, quick transition. Um, I don't have a lot for the end of the year. Um, we're just kind of transitioning into our summer work. I will be, um, as I know, I've talked to you guys a lot about how our our our mental health focus this year is going to be pretty high. And as I've mentioned, we need to put mental health needs at the
045forefront of our teaching and learning. if we want high academic outcomes. With that said, I'll be attending the ease main annual convening in July at the University of Maine Oro and this will give me an opportunity to collaborate with other districts and community organizations and state agencies to partner and confront those growing mental health needs. Next month, I'll also be meeting with the healthy community coalition to discuss resources for struggling um students with mental health. and I will be meeting with our tier one SEAL curriculum um mind up to kind of kick off our year with getting our teachers some PD and resources for our SEAL curriculum. Um at the start of every day they spend 30 minutes doing SEAL. So it's kind of gearing that right back up again. Um, at the end of
046the year, all the students took a trip to the Jay Niles Library, and they'll be kicking off the summer reading program this Monday with a magic show, and I hope to see many students there. I miss them terribly. Uh, so hopefully I I'll get to see a lot. I want to or we want to say a big thank you to Gigi's Pizzeria and Horus Man for supplying staff with lunch both Thursday and Friday, the last week of school. It was a really nice treat that um was one less thing staff have to prepare for. So, it was really great. And then just today we decided that um we'll be hosting our open house on August 25th at 4. That's all I have. Questions for Darcy Elaine? Darcy for everybody here because I know when I
047was teaching too we use jargon social emotional se. That's exactly because I bet some people here might not know what that mean. Darcy, could you uh email me a list of the number of students who were held back per grade? Yep. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for Darcy? Holly, do you have an outline of the social emotional learning, what that entails or the curriculum?Uurriculum. I can email you. Can you email that to me? Absolutely. Thank you. They're actually redesigning it next year. Um, previously it was 17 lessons that each grade level did each year. So, it was the same 17 each year. Now, they're going to redo the curriculum this year. So, it's going to be geared towards kindergarten, first grade, and second grading. So, it's going to be new resources for the
048teachers as well. Um, and my social worker is going to now be um working with preK and um special ed as well. Other questions for Dazzi? Thank you. You're welcome. TJ, good evening everyone. Uh before we go any further, I do want to and I know this is the first night that they've been here. We have Mason Leonte and Aubrey Mitchell. Um they're here tonight. I'm very thankful for them. They've done a a really good job going through the process and best of luck and thank you for being here, guys. Yes. Give them a round of applause. Yeah, that's good. Um, enrollment. I went to look at enrollment. We've already moved out our seniors, so I just need the uh it's going to be around 420. Um, 4:22 depending on how many come up from
049the uh uh eighth grade. Uh, summer sports have started. Uh, if you noticed, basketball's going on tonight. Um, this stuff doesn't stop during the summer. It just keeps going. So, if you get a chance to come out, see a game that I'm sure they'd enjoy that. Um, 9inth grade orientation, that is a big one. So, August 27th is our our 9th grade orientation. And on the 28th, we are doing an open house and it's a big barbecue that we did last year here. We're going to do it again. Please come to it. It's good food. Um, burgers, hot dogs, salads, and and it's a What's that? Barbecue. Yeah, it's a cookout. It's a cookout. How you doing? Um the uh thing that I handed out to you guys uh referring to the uh suspension comparisons
050uh for last year and then this year uh the uh if you notice our inschool suspensions have gone up. Um our out of school suspensions have gone down considerably. Um and the number of days have gone down considerably. Um we're only making gains. We're going to keep making gains next year. Uh especially with some of our outside help that come in each each uh each day. Um we have social workers. We have uh groups that come in and and meet with students for vaping and and we have a whole uh it's a 12week uh smoking sessation program that kids for habitual offenders they're going to be doing next year. So um there's some really good stuff that's going to happen next year. Uh, and we have some really, really outstanding part partners here. So, um,
051yeah, great. That's what I have. Thank you. Questions for TJ. Thank you very much. Sherry. Gosh, they're making my report sound really long tonight. So we ended the 202425 school year with 322 students in special education. Um 16 graduated. So that's why there was the big drop. They graduated with the class of 2025 and an an additional nine students were either dismissed from special education or transferred to other districts. Um we ended the year with 10 open referrals which will resume again at the start of the new school year. we were able to complete the referral process for eight students between my May report and today. Um this year we we processed a total of 46 special education referrals. Um the primary school ended the year with 67 students in special education. That's down two.
052The elementary school had 84, which is down one. The middle school 77, which was down five. and the high school ended the school year with 90 94 students after the graduation of 16 and one student dismissed from services. We continue to have 13 students out of district and specialurpose private schools for day treatment programming. We have one additional student who will be starting at a special purpose school on July 1st as part of their extended school year services and he will become a full-time student be beginning in September. Um the anticipated numbers to begin the school year, uh the primary school will have 58 students. This includes 12 students we know coming into kindergarten. Uh the numbers typically start pretty low um in the primary school and then referrals come in after they start. Uh
053the elementary school will start with 80, middle school 76, and the high school 120. We do have and just to explain that we have a few classes that um currently all four in the in the high school as well as one class um that's still in the middle school that had 25 to 30 students um in special education. So that's why they're all landing in the same place at the same time. So that's why that number is so high. Um, we have filled five edtech positions, three with brand new hires and um, the other two were transfers. So, we do still have some open positions. Um, we'd like to hire one high school life skills teacher or a really strong edte. Um, I have one edtech 2 and one edtech one open at the high
054school as well. one edtech 2 at the middle school, an edtech one at the elementary school, and an edtech one at the primary school. I also have one part-time occupational therapist position open. I do have applications, so um those will be scheduled when I return from vacation. Um at the last schoolboard meeting, Jenna spoke about two open teaching positions. We did not hire a teacher. However, we have four very strong EdTech 3es. They have all been in the district for quite some time to run the elementary and middle school life skills classrooms. As an edtech 3, teaching and planning can be done as long as weekly check-ins with a certified special education teacher take place. Christina Bamford will maintain the case management duties as well as split her days between the two programs. She has
055been the special education teacher of record for the middle school for the last two years. However, she didn't have regularly scheduled visits. The case load numbers are larger this year. So, removing the planning and teaching from her daily responsibilities, it will leave her additional time for direct contact with both programs as the case manager as well as time for the additional paperwork responsibilities. at the high school. Diane Moore is willing to contract as a case manager to oversee two edtech 3es if we're not able to hire a teacher. We currently have one edtech 3 in that program at this time and a potential candidate to interview for the other position when I return from vacation. This is technically vacation that that's how it works, right? Um we also have interest in other edtech positions as
056well as a couple of uh occupational therapy positions. Uh lastly, Jenna and I spent two very warm days at Sugarloaf this week. Apparently, ski lodges are not made for 98 degrees because the air conditioning couldn't handle it. uh with other special education administrators from around the state. We received legislative updates that impact special education from the main DOE and legal case updates regarding special education from Drummond and Woodsome that include Supreme Court cases um that in and changes to Maine law and the impact on special education law across the country. One of the most important aspects of this con conference was the guest speaker Julie de Jesus spoke about improving mental health through human connection. We thought and discussed numerous ideas regarding how to build relationships, trust and creative positive environments as leaders. She had
057us send a quick positive text, write a handwritten note, and other meaningful ways to show we see them and we appreciate them. We're currently living in a very controversial time. I sit at many board meetings listening to debate, but there's almost always a common theme among all board members. We have fabulous teachers and we appreciate them. When teachers see the budget get voted down or listen to the controversy amongst board members, they're not feeling seen or appreciated. I have a challenge for all of you. How can you show the staff in RSU73 that you see them and appreciate them? Thank you. Questions for Sherry? Thank you. Chris, good evening. I'm going to start off with our enrollment for the end of the year, which was 293. Um, on June 4th, we had our eighth grade
058trip to Fenway, which was a very successful trip. Uh the students got to see a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth from the win. Uh Chase Ro, one of my eighth grade students, was selected to participate in the egg drop from the top of the green monster. Uh he successfully dropped his egg from 37 feet 2 in without it breaking. Uh the seventh grade had two successful trips to the Challenger Learning Center in the Cole Transportation Museum. the kids did amazing work working together for their missions and they were intrigued by the history of the transportation museum which is absolutely fantastic if you get a chance to go up and check it out. Uh both of the places contacted me and commented on how polite and well-mannered our and well behaved our
059students were which is something very to be very proud of. On June 11th we had a very fun and exciting field day with many activities and games for the students to enjoy themselves. Uh June 10 June 12th was our eighth grade uh promotion. Uh we had well over 650 people in attendance. Um and they all got to see 98 eighth graders uh get promoted to the high school. And June 13th was a step up day and the incoming sixth graders get to see what their first day of middle school is going to be like. So other than that, questions for Chris. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry, Elaine. Well, I was sitting back. I was getting, you know, when you sit like this and I've been turning my neck and now the whole bottom body's Chris,
060I wasn't at the last board meeting, but I was able to listen to your report. Yeah. Well done. That was so well organized and made that program so clear. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Patrick, good evening. So, I'm going to talk about the last couple weeks of school because that's the most exciting time at the elementary school. Um, we had fun day. We had the normal three zones. We increased our bounce houses by one, which the kids love. So, we had two bounce houses in the wet zone, one in the fun zone. Um, we had a ton of parent volunteers, which was great to see. The kids had a blast. Um, I'm a little sad to say, um, Mrs. McDonald's class was our fifth grade uh, tug-of-war champions, and they came out, talked a
061lot of smack about beating the teacher team, and I thought because we had young Mr. Toner on the team, I thought we had a ringer. and they lost horribly. So, Mrs. McDonald's class came out as the overall tug-of-war champion. So, when they come to the middle school, I think they're going to aim for Mr. Target next. Um, field trips. We had some great field trips that the kids went on. Um, the fourth grade went to uh Windsor Fair and went to the New England Livestock Expo. So they got to see about livestock and jobs and livestock and how to take care of livestock in Maine and just all the different things that are available to people that that want to work with livestock. So the kids are always excited to see the, you know, all
062the animals and come back and tell me about it. And I just worry that sometimes maybe they try to talk their parents into getting some of these animals. I just hope that I didn't, you know, tell them to go ask their parents, but I think some of them may have. Um, third grade did their normal walk to Softy Delight down the trail, which um, they love. And, you know, it's always a good surprise at the end when they get a little ice cream after. Some of them think it's a a rather rugged march, but they seem to make it. They seem to make it. Um, third grade had their planetarium that we've done for years where they come into the school and they have this huge giant inflatable planetarium that the kids can go inside
063of. It's almost like almost like a bounce house kind of. Um, and they learn about the planets and the the galaxy and and all the different things that go on there. Um, so they did they enjoyed that. Um, one of my favorite days towards the end is when second grade gets to come up and you get to lay your eyes on the new kids coming into third grade next year. Um, I'm excited. They're a much smaller class than we've had over the years. Uh, usually averaging about 100 kids. Uh, this year's 87. Um, so the kids did great. They came off the bus, they were amazing, asked great questions. Um, I don't know if they were really excited to talk to the principal, but they did. Um, so that was always fun. Um, our attendance
064at the end of the year was 300. I think the last time I talked to you was 301. Um, and if you've come down to the elementary, the janitors have already torn it apart and got some of the rooms done and looks great and should be ready to go for August. I saw some of those bounce houses and I wanted to go and jump myself. You should have just waited till the end of the day. You could have questions for Patrick. Thank you. Thank you. Uh I have nothing. No committee reports. Um, looking for a motion regarding Title 9 based on the executive session legal advice. Now therefore, be it resolved that the RSU73 District School Board hereby directs the superintendent to number one amend all district policies to align with the Title 9 as
065reaffformed by Executive Order 14201 recognizing only two sexes, male and female. Number two, ensure that all private spaces within the district such as but not limited to bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations for field trips are designated and assessed according to sex. Number three, require all applicable extracurricular activities and athletic teams to be separated by sex to preserve safety and fairness. Number four, provide written notice to the district and public, ensuring transparency and compliance with the original intent of Title Nine and Executive Order 14201, protection of sex-based privacy in our district policies. Number five, the superintendent and policy committee will review and change all gender applicable policies and return turn to the board for appropriated readings as per board policy. Do I have a second discussion? Don, am I understanding that we're going to refer
066this to policy or are we actually voting on making this happen now? So, we're we're we are not passing this. We are we are voting to move it to committee and then there'll be a vote on the final policy. Correct. We're voting to pass the motion that she said which says that there are only two genders and then it will go to the policy committee to weed out all those policies that apply to that. And then th those will come back for first and second reading as per board policy. Okay. Makes sense. I just I just want to be clear on what we're voting on, right? Everybody knows my stance, but I just wanted to make sure that it's going to go through the proper policy development. And more than ever, we need to make
067sure as emotionally charged up as this is, uh, we need to make sure that we do everything correct. The board policy will be enforced that it will go the all the policies will come back to the board for a first and second reading after the policy committee. Okay. And just another quick thing, u what does the timeline look like for the first and second readings? Will this be something we handle in September? We we haven't discussed timelines yet. I'm not sure. Uh we may have to have a July meeting if we have new hires. So we may be able to have a policy committee before then. If not, it'll be pushed back to August. And then obviously whatever policy is developed it would be run by which law firm? Drummond and Woodson. Drummond and Woodson.
068Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion? As many of you are aware, I do not have a vote on this issue, but I do have an opinion. This issue has been on the back burner for some time now. And from the beginning, my position has been that this is not something that the school board should be voting on at this time. I believe it should be settled in either the legislature, the courts, or if allowable by state referendum. Now that the issue is on the front burner, I still feel the same way. We need to have patience. We need to let it play out in the courts. Seeing that at this time the state legislator legislature has voted not to change our state law. Please be patient. That's what Drummond and Woodson shared with us. It's
069in the court system now. Let them take care of it. That's my opinion. Thank you, Elaine. Do you see me? Um, I'm going to take the same stance when we voted in the current policy that we did several months ago. That is, it matters not what my personal opinion is on this. My job is to follow the law. The same law I asked several of you when you took your were nominated for positions here. Were you going to follow Maine law? I'm standing with main law and I want the policy to sit at the 2020 place where it is right now and we wait for the courts to figure this out and then we act. I agree, Scott, and I stand firmly on that. My position is also that we follow the law that's in
070place. I know there's a lot of popular opinion on both sides to make people feel good and feel better about things. The court of public opinion is is well known, but as a legal basis, I think we need to let the courts play this out despite what some of our feelings may be. I feel we should delay this motion and uh refer it to committee as as another time. I think we should defeat this motion. Holly, I want to thank um everybody that's here in support of Title N and everybody that has sent emails in support of Title N. And I think we owe our girls in this district, our taxpayers of this district, we owe them a vote of standing behind girls and no boys in girls sports. [Applause] Any other board comments? Okay,
071we have a motion on that's been seconded. Can I have a roll call, Lara, please? Yes. Noah, no. Yes. No. Yes. Motion carries. Quiet please. She has left. She left the meeting. Yeah. I'd entertain a motion to enter into executive session to discuss personnel matter pursuant to one MRSA 4056A. Do I have a second? All those in favor? Opposed? Looking for a nomination to the Dina students position for Matthew Charlan and the music teacher Mariah Charland. Any discussion? All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Okay. Uh the superintendent would like to carry over five vacation days. seconded by Elaine. Discussion. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Steve Bailey. So I'm all set if you are. All right. Wonderful. Thank you. You're welcome. So it's 10 minutes of eight. You've been here since
0725. It's been a long meeting. You've had a lot of conversation already in a lot of different topics. Um so we will uh make sure that uh this is concise, condensed. At the same time, I want to make sure that you have the opportunity for for questions and uh we we give it full opportunity to be able to have the the opportunity for for training tonight. Um so what you have in your uh handouts Whoops, I forgot an important part. So tonight in your packets uh if you will on the right hand side of your packet you'll see a series of handouts. While we won't go through all of these tonight some of these are policies that you have adopted uh in your own district. Others may be sample policies that uh MSMA would suggest
073that you take a look at and perhaps consider for your own for your own your own use here in the district. Thank you very much. On the left hand side you have a couple of brochures that do describe uh what uh is offered and available from main school management association as well as a smaller brochure about the main school boards association. You are a member of the school boards association and therefore uh you also are able to take part in the offerings that are provided by MSBA. One of those is the opportunity for training as we're doing here tonight. And I'm trying to get my Well, I'll just go with that one. Um, so that's what's basically in your packet. And we won't go through, like I say, everything there. And hold on just a
074second. Okay, we'll use it this way. Um, tonight we do have and I will be reviewing for you uh some of the uh school uh main board uh the main school board statutes statutes that do uh relate to main school boards. Uh we'll talk about and review some roles and responsibilities of schoolboard members enhance school board member learning which is why we're here tonight in this particular workshop aspect of your meeting and then try to develop a strong collective understanding and roles and responsibilities of of school board members. If I could ask, how many of you are new to the school board this year? So, six of you, including two student school board members, how many of you have three to five years of experience on on this school board? Okay. And then more than
075five years. Okay. All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, but I know that I've not been up here to do this particular type of a training. I don't know that you've had something like this by your school attorney. And I don't believe that Eileen King has been here either. So this is my first time opportunity to be able to uh come together for you. How many of you have been able to attend the main uh school management association conference in October at the civic center? Okay. So that would be Sherry, right? Yeah. And Don, you did last year. Okay. Um so that's another excellent opportunity for you to be able to connect with other uh schoolboard members as well. We have uh between 50 and 60 clinics each year. It's a Thursday, Friday
076in October. I'd encourage others to attend. It's not that far away. It's going to be the 23rd and 24th of October uh this next year coming up. So, tonight um I guess I'd like to find out from you since we have a little bit of a time together. And Sherry and um Scott, I do want to do a little bit of a time check um because it will identify uh what key points uh you'd like me to hit tonight. How much time would you like me to take? because I could I could be very uh enthusiastic and go through a lot. I've already had one member say that uh he's got you I've I've got him for five minutes. Um so maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle. Okay, I will I will uh
077run through and like I say, I don't want to uh negate any opportunity for questions or conversations, but I do have quite a bit of content to cover as well. So, off the bat, are there things that you'd like to find out as we have the opportunity tonight for conversation? I I would say that uh school school board members I would just make this as a as a blanket statement that schoolboard members in the state of Maine are nonpartisan. Uh you are elected uh neither Democrat nor Republican. Our schoolboard association is made up of 1,700 different school board members across the state and the legislative committee uh actually the uh main school boards association itself is made up of 19 different individuals who are nine elected directors uh three officers uh we have one past
078president and we have six at large members and from your particular area you're considered western Maine is that correct? So, uh, Greg Buchina, uh, from, uh, RSU10 is your, uh, regional director from RSU10. And you have another one from, uh, Carabasset Valley up in, um, Steve Arner from Carabasset Valley. So, you have two of the six, two of the 19, two of the 18 who are elected to represent you from region six, Western Maine, um, uh, from from region six. So we make up basically in terms of who's elected to the board and they demonstrate and represent the positions uh within the legislative committee and the delegate assembly as those are held each year. So it's not that we're liberal, it's not that we're uh conservative, it's it's where the people are and who what
079they think should be happening in the best interest of students. And that is one of the things that I do want to talk about. One of the next thing okay I I do want to try to keep it informal as much as possible. Um, are there other questions you might have in terms of wanting to learn about certain things as we have our time together tonight? Okay, then I'll just kind of keep it rolling and uh we'll we'll come to an ending point when you think you've had enough. Um, right now I would like to just kind of reiterate and and uh the first five or six people that went tonight, this is one of our our typical slides. It's it wasn't made special for tonight. Um, as schoolboard members, you probably have received this
080earlier from me uh in the spring. Uh, but each of you did uh uh swear an oath when you were first elected before you could attend and vote at a meeting. And and basically this is the oath that you all take. Um uh you're supposed to be faithfully discharging to the best of your abilities the duties incumbent on you as a school director of RSU73 according to the constitution and laws of the state. I just need to say that it and it says so help me God. It doesn't say that if if if that if that is your oath from from RSU73 from the town of what? J. Okay. Constitution as well as a con. It's both constitutions. is going to be the constitution of the state as well as the constitution of the United
081States. But it's a constitution. It's the constitution and it's the constitution. Okay. It's not executive order. It's the constitution as well as well as as well as the laws of the state. So in that particular case, this is this is what one of the things that's a guiding premise of of being and this isn't just schoolboard members. This is for all elected officials. It's not just for school board members. So we'll move we'll move forward. I would just say also you are the governing body for the school administrative district. You are the governing body for RSU73 and the the statutory duties that are made for you do come from title 2A MSRA section one in uh section 100001 and there are 22 different duties that are given to school boards and they're given to the
082full school board. They're not given to individual school members, school board members. They're given to the full board. And so you only have authority as a school board member when you're coming together uh collectively to meet within your board. That's where you can make decisions. That's where items are put on the agenda for you to consider and then be able to make decisions like you did tonight. Um you have RSU 73 policy BBA which provides you their powers uh and responsibilities of boards. That is one of the uh handouts that's in your uh packet on the right hand side. uh board powers and responsibilities. It would be handout uh number two I believe because number one is the one that uh provides information about uh what the uh powers are based on what the state
083statutes are. So your code uh policy BBA is your board powers and responsibilities. Uh the next um handout that I want to go over is handout number three on your uh right hand side. And this is an important one and it's one that's not well understood, but it is an important one based on how you operate as a board and who you're responsible to. There was a a a time about three or four years ago where the um education and cultural affairs committee asked for an opinion and there was a bill that tried to go through that said that uh schoolboard members would be responsible to the taxpayers or to the citizens and uh that question was raised and the uh Sarah Forester the assistant attorney general was asked to respond to that particular question
084and a a statement was read back and and written back to Pendermake and the commissioner of education. So in your handouts number three uh there is uh based on a court case uh in Yarmouth Maine uh there's a a part of the paragraph here that I I want to make sure that people understand in terms of of kind of a a joint responsibility that you have but also what your primary responsibility is. So in this particular instance uh based on the Sha versus uh Sha versus small uh court case in in Yarmouth Maine, the main constitution affords control over education to the main legislature. So you are a function of the legislature. You're not a function uh being created by your town officials. your your towns didn't collectively create RSU73, nor did it create a
085school board in in either any of your individual towns when you were organized differently. You are organized uh through the statutes that are set set up uh by the main legislature and as such school boards are creatures of statute with their duties and responsibilities described herein. The nexus of the concern about school board's responsibilities for in responsive to their respective communities appears to be the statement contained in the decision of the mains law court. And I want to talk about this more. So don't please just get caught in this paragraph. But I do want to talk about what this means a little bit as well. The school committee acts as a public board. It in no sense represents the town. Its members are chosen by the voters of the town but after election they are
086public officers deriving their authority from the law and responsible to the state for the good faith and rectitude of their acts. So this is a guiding principle in terms of how school boards are created where they get their their duties and their their powers and responsibilities is from the legislature. It's not from your town councils. It's not from your city councils. It's not from your select men. It's it's from the legislature that provides you with a responsibility of providing education for your students here within RSU73. So this particular case, it also identifies and represents that yes, you do pay attention to you do hear your neighbors, your citizens that you live next to. You do hear what the concerns are within your communities. But the essential responsibility that you have and we'll look at this
087in a slide in another minute is really your your essential responsibility is to the students and to the best interests of the district. And so those two things combined, it it's where you come together with your different towns that make up RSU73 in terms of all students, all your buildings, all your facilities, all your staff members, all of your transportation and and uh your food service personnel to be able to make sure that you're providing, you know, what's in the best interest student of students as well as what's in the best interest of the district. So, in that particular way, you're working together as a team to think about what's necessary and what can we do to be able to make sure that we're we're providing for everybody for all of our students within all
088of our schools and all of our our um district facilities. Uh do you have any questions about that? Because I'd like to have make sure we uh get them if you do have those kind of of questions about that particular statement. Does that sound conflicting to you at all? Yes, go ahead. And I can't see name tag. So, okay. Thank you, Andrew. That's correct. Well, that's that's very carefully because you do have you got the students in their best interest and the best interest districts on on this hand. You do have on the other hand the interest that citizens and other folks are saying to you about um look we we can only sustain so much. And so you do that in your budget deliberations, you do that in your program conversations, you do that
089in what you think you can consider and be able to support. So that's that's has to be, you know, part of your fiscal responsibility in terms of understanding and representing. But in terms of when you're thinking about, okay, thinking of all kids, well, what does that mean? What does that mean in terms of of your special education needs? What does that mean in terms of numbers of students within a particular class, you know, within a particular grade span? Those are all those kinds of things you have to consider. What can we do? Uh what can the town support and and having those kinds of conversations. So anytime you're putting together a budget, you are you're you're taking into account all those different considerations and hearing in the background too. Well, I don't think they're going
090to be be able to support that. I don't think they're going to go for that. Uh we need to look at this in this particular area. However, you as an elected schoolboard official, I would continue to say you need to be uh the strongest advocates, you know, in the district for what you think is needed for your kids to be able to have what you feel you want, you know, for that education system within RSU73. So, you can advocate, you know, for the students understanding you're in a much better place than a lot of other people who don't have the access to the information you do. and the people being able to report to the superintendent, report to you in terms of what what's needed to be able to make our system go. Um, and
091and if if you if you can't say it, if you can't I mean, your budget has to become your budget. Uh, the budget that's adopted, you need to be able to both support it and be able to explain it to say this is really really important for us to be able to make sense of how we're going to operate as a district. So, I'm I'm glad you asked the question, Andrew. I don't know if I've explained it enough to be able I know you deal with it on a regular you know yearly basis but it is one of those things you do have to deal with knowing that you know your students and the best interests of the district are going to be you know your first and primary uh goal. Okay, other related questions
092to that. Okay. Um, so, uh, we did talk some about this really quickly, but you campaign as individuals, but then you you serve as a member of a team and you're coming together as a variety of folks from different different towns and different communities, different neighborhoods. Uh, you don't have any authority except when acting as part of the majority of the board. Um, this is where I was going where I was talking about this before. uh your representative really of and you are somewhat different than uh thinking about you as being a legislator because um either a legislator or a selectman or someone who's elected as as a town counselor. Um you're going to be thinking of everything you're hearing about. You're going to be thinking about information from the school department. You're going to
093be thinking about uh people you see around town. Uh and you're going to be thinking about them. Those voices are going to be in your head as as different interests come up. But while you know them and while you are hearing them, you want to vote and vote voice your interest on behalf of the best overall interest of the organization, which really is students and the district. So that's that's where this comes together and where it is a little bit different than a legislature who uh is elected by a number of people within their district or in their Senate district and then they go to Augusta and you you or we we talk to folks in Washington and want them to vote, you know, based on what we feel our interests are within our particular
094geographic area. That's not how a school board member works entirely. uh you do have to make sure that you're paying attention to what the best interests of the organization meaning students and district are. And again, that would be your that would be your first and foremost uh interest. So you're representative of you're not representative for. One of the things I do want to speak about here though and this is really important uh that you as um board members and all of our school folks who work within schools uh we very definitely feel that we have parents as partners and the importance of this can't be overstated. Uh schools work with parents guardians as partners provide instruction and learning for students. you have various rights that are are afforded to you in in both federal law
095as well as state law that provides those kind of uh uh parent uh both rights, responsibilities and expectations. Um we have uh MSMA has a sample policy KB parent involvement in education and that's handout number four in your packet if you want to take a look at that in the right hand side. It's a couple pages long. So that's that's a very important part of anything that we provide in terms of schoolboard training trying to assure that um parents are feel included, parents are feeling engaged as well as parents are feeling uh they have a a important uh and responsible role to play and that that schools are making sure that they're uh not not just uh putting that information out as lip service but it really is an invested engaged you know part of
096of this partnership. So we would want to make sure that that is is both heard and as well as as felt. Um another aspect of of your board work um does come together as it relates to uh how does the board interact with the superintendent. Um as a board you have one employee. You hire the superintendent. You don't you you go through the motion I say the motion of approving other folks to be hired but your act is really only to hire the superintendent. The superintendent uh recommends nominates you approve and unless you approve he can't hire. If you do approve then he can hire but it's a three-step process and even if the second step is approved with you as a board adopt approving a particular nomination um the superintendent can even at that
097stage say I found out other information and it's not in the best interest it's not a value ad you know for the superintendent to say I've decided uh we're not going to be hiring this individual he probably would come back to you and give you some indicated reason as to why that would be however that three-step process has to be in place. He has to nominate, you have to approve, and he has to hire. That's specifically uh in law for teachers and for um principles. Those are the two uh positions that are in law where he has to do that. So, as a board, you're going to be thinking uh and and working within the vision, mission, goals, and policy end of things. You're going to be looking at uh what are the end results?
098what is it the uh do we have a vision of what we want as a high school graduate coming from RSU73 and what would that look like? You're also going to be asking questions like you did tonight. What, why, and how much. Uh those are the kinds of things that you as board members would be asking while the superintendent is going to be involved in other types of specific activities that relate to the how we're going to get there, what the means are, uh thinking about objectives, action plans, regulations, procedures. um he's going to be recommending to you. You're going to be talking about it. You're going to be voting on it. If there's a vote to implement something, you're going to send it back to the superintendent for that implementation to happen at the
099administrative andor uh school level. Um the biggest thing I probably can talk about on this particular slide is looking at the importance of communication and trust. Uh you had trust when you first hired the superintendent. as you work with the board, as you have new members come on, you're going to continue to uh elaborate on communication both with him and amongst yourselves. And that we want to try to have the communication continue to grow. Um I'd like to think about that from the standpoint of you're always trying to make uh investments uh in into a a trust bank. And the more you can do that, uh the bigger the trust goes from time to time you end up having withdrawals. And uh that's that's kind of a a situation where you the trust might get
100a little sketchy and then you you work on you know what do we need to do to be able to continue to improve uh the communication and and improve that trust again. So that's always a a give and take back and forth situation of trying to make sure you maintain uh a strong level of trust between superintendent and and the board and your role as a board. Uh any question on this slide in terms of role of the board uh versus role of the superintendent? No. Okay. Uh you do have an important policy in your in your handouts on the right hand side. This is a policy BDD. It is the uh board of directors and superintendent relationship. And so that is one that is important for you to know as well. And you also
101have that slide that I I shared with you. Um, another important policy that I'm going to go to next is a policy uh, it's a policy BCA in your handout also on the right hand side. This one is going to be your code of ethics RSU73 policy BCA. This is very similar to policy that other boards have and essentially it is a series of I will statements and while they may be aspirational it's important for you as a board to be able to take a look at these identify what does this actually mean for us as a board what does this actually mean for you as individ individual board members as you work together with with each other on the board the um a piece I didn't talk about with regard to the policies way
102back at the beginning is that your policy manual really is your owner's guide. It really identifies how are we going to function as a school district. And while I did say at the very beginning that those policies you should uh support as well as be supported by uh statute and uh so that's that's typically where those policies come from. Your your um code of ethics, your schoolboard member code of ethics really become your job description in terms of your individual roles. what do I need to do to be able to be a successful board member uh working together with the other members on on the board? So, if you haven't um I do know that this was adopted in u um August of 72. It was reviewed and and re revised or at least reviewed
103back in February of of this last year. So, it's something you've taken a look at fairly recently. Um, we often uh say this is a good thing to take a look at after you've done your organization meeting and identified who your chair is going to be so that new board members coming on have the opportunity to be able to discuss and explore, you know, what their individual roles are within uh within u their their code of ethics. Uh this is a piece I would just just urge you to to consider and remember that as school board members it's important to think about okay well what is my board what is my role as a board member and one of the things really is to think about recognizing your responsibility is not to operate the schools
104but to see that they are well operated with your one employee the superintendent if you have questions it's him you want to be asking questions about and have him find answers and bring them back to you in terms of a board meeting to be able to provide uh reports or have other people report to you as to the particular question you might have uh of of him. Um so another piece and this is important for new board members as as well as people who've been on the board for a while. Your your email usage is determined by the right to know the law, the right to know access act. And the right to no access act essentially says that you can't uh conduct business uh via email. You have to be able to conduct your
105business in in the sunshine within a advertised uh public meeting and not have uh email subvert the intent of of you being able to get together publicly to be able to conduct your business. So uh that's that's an important policy. Uh typically that is policy BEA and I think that's in the right hand side of your packet and it's your handout number 11 and it is policy BEA. Another part of this policy is that you want to make sure that um anything that you conduct through email and I would say text or any other type of social media that's written is that anything like that that is about school business can be considered a public record. and therefore it's um accessible through a f freedom of access act request and you just have to be
106very cautious that um you're not doing things uh illegally or under the uh u shade of darkness with regard to the freedom of access act. So in that regard there's another piece of this um that is in your policy uh and it's letter C of your policy. Board members shall avoid reference to confidential information about employees, students, or other matters in email communications because of the risk of improper disclosure. You have a responsibility to keep information that's private private. You have a responsibility of keeping confidential information uh private. And so therefore, uh this policy bea is is something that you make sure you you want to honor as well. There are two other handouts in there that do relate to social media use of social media by board members. And there also in your packet
107on the right hand side there is a sample policy from MSMA board member use of social media is policy BEB and uh perhaps this is something that uh you may want to take a look at to consider you through your policy committee. Is this something that we want to uh consider and adopt you know for for the board? um a a graphic that we we often use uh just because sometimes social media can be problematic for folks, just don't do it. Um if you can avoid it, um just you try to use your uh communication via um phone or via in person and and not uh res resort to having to go through um social media to be able to express your opinions. And I say there are the guidelines within your packet and I'm
108going to work work uh through other slides. Now, um one of the things that we do and and and I I I saw this in action that you want to continue to work on as a board because uh you do want to you do ought to consider yourself as a team and think about how we can work together to be able to work in the best interests of our students and the best interest of our of our of our district. Um there are times that you're going to receive uh concerns or complaints from from folks within the community. Uh you do have uh in your packet uh there's another handout. It is um uh policy we'd be policy KB. This is complaints about school personnel. And it's important for board members to know your policy
109especially know this one. uh to be able to identify that how you handle this is is really um it's important that you follow the chain of command and not try to be the savior or the person that tries to solve the problem for the person providing the complaint. But see if you can help the individuals try to resolve the issue if it's in the classroom at the classroom level if it's at the school level with the principal. if it's a district issue with a district director, if it's within special education, perhaps with a special education director, and if need be uh refer them to the superintendent. Uh things should come to the school board really only at the at the high at the highest level after they've had the opportunity to be able to uh
110be considered and dealt with at other levels, trying to encourage meaningful conversation and um uh consideration for how it can be resolved at a very early level. Um um this next policy policy beedh which I know you have um we did make some um changes uh to our sample policy back in October of 2023. And right now uh you'll see the slide up on the uh the the policy up on the slide. The title is different than yours. It says public comment at board meetings versus public participation at board meetings. And while the the title the words are are are slightly different, there is a nuance there that really does speak to um the intent of the law is schoolboard uh meeting public comment period. And this provides an opportunity for members of the public
111uh to um speak on school and education matters at a at a schoolboard meeting. And this needs to happen at any full meeting of the school board. Uh doesn't include uh meetings at at subcommittees. So, uh, subcommittee meetings, you can allow it, but you don't have to allow it. Um, so one of the changes was the the public participation, uh, change to a public comment. And the other the other, uh, change that was made, and this was, uh, made based on, uh, some court cases that were, um, national court cases, but there is a section in the, um, sample policy, and I I'd ask you to take a look, if you would, at handout number 19. It's not going to show up on the screen. So, if you could uh find handout number 19 in
112your packet, it's toward the end. And on on that handout number 19, uh on the back of the third page, um you'll see a letter heading 3C. Three speak 3C speaks to discussion of personnel matters is not permitted during the public comment period due to the privacy, confidentiality and due process rights of school unit employees. For purposes of this policy, discussion of a personnel matter means any discussion of job performance or conduct of a school unit employee including complaints or positive complimentary comments about them. the change in the policy was that last part in terms of positive complimentary comments about them. The reason why this is in there is because the court case determined that um in a public comment session that comments needed to be viewpoint neutral. You couldn't say you couldn't allow good
113things but not allow bad things. And so the court case determined that it it needed to be viewpoint neutral. So that's during the public comment period. It does not mean that you as schoolboard members and through your superintendent report, your principal reports or your um school chair report you can't you can provide time within there to highlight certain you know positive things that are going on within your within your schools. So it does provide that opportunity within your agenda setting to be able to to provide that. Yes. And again I can't see names. Sorry. Sarah So even a positive one might be talking about Mrs. Jones and how she uh you know did a terrific job you know leading her class you know in her physical physical education activity in terms of the the funday
114and and unfortunately that can't be stated you know within a public comment session much like uh you can't say Mrs. Jones. Oh boy, she did a terrible job in terms of, you know, leading and and providing safety, you know, for for the students out on on the on the fun day the other day. So, you you can't allow one and not the other. It has to be viewpoint neutral. Yes. that was under board comments. It wasn't under public comment. That's right. Yes. And that's where again uh you have on your agenda and you have within your policy public participation at board meetings. And the only uh change that our our sample policy suggests is that you call it public comment uh at schoolboard meetings versus public participation. You see the difference? And I have one
115more thing. The last thing is as as board members as as board because you do come together, you work together as a board. Uh the very last couple of policies speak to schoolboard evalu self-evaluation. Um if you can consider um during your organizational times because of uh and again in your packet you have information about what effective boards do. Uh there is a sample policy in there BBA that does speak about um uh the board itself you as a board you're looking at yourself in terms of how are we doing as a board not rating individual members but how are you doing as a board and there are 29 questions in there that really can be answered by you all and then uh perhaps debriefed you know with a within a meeting to be able
116to say okay well how are we doing here how are we doing there you know does it make sense for us to be able to take a look at are there things that we could do that would would strengthen our role in helping our students succeed within our schools. So that self-evaluation if not every year, perhaps every other year just to see to do a check-in just like you do a check-in with your superintendent, just like your superintendent does check-ins with your principles and other staff members. It's a good idea for you to consider, you know, how about yourself as a board? How are we doing and what can we do better to be able to help support our students in our district? So with that probably 25 minutes but 35 minutes but are there
117questions you have? I know you're anxious to get home as well. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. You have your sheet with uh personnel information on it. Um as I said earlier in the meeting, we may have to have a July meeting um if we have uh hires that uh that come up. And um for those on the policy committee, if you can email me some possible dates that you are all available, that would be appreciated. Ela [Music] pink sheets. Yeah, your pink sheets. If you can leave them in your folder and leave them for Lara. And with that, I will take a motion to adjurnn. Motion made by Michelle and seconded by Elaine. All those in favor? Yeah. Discussion. Yeah. Don, I just noticed that one of the board members stood up in the middle of
118this. Well, I'd say it's frowned upon. Would you as you speak. Absolutely. Any other discussion? All those in favor Opposed