RSU73 School Board Meeting 2/27/2025

001e okay s we're going to go into executive session to discuss a personal Personnel matter pursuant to one MSA 405 we're not doing that now y good okay and uh got I get an approval of the uh motion for approval of the school board meeting minutes [Music] Dawn Danielle SAR no Sarah sorry you'll take okay s good any if you can remember back that far to the minutes of that meeting right right right any questions or comments okay should I wait for her or just do the vote um so all in favor of the motion say I I all oppos to the motion say nay what it's unanimous she's messing around anybody abstain anybody abstain I abstain I was it there all right Communications and correspondents we're not doing cha or behavioral so we're looking

002at the permissions of the humanities trip so Briant Kim good evening oh wow holy smokes that is definitely on uh I'm Kim Bryant I am here for the Humanities trip though I am not the only teacher represented we have a few here as well so this is a yearly trip that we take to New York City it is 24 hours whirlwind trip from 6:00 a.m. to 6: a.m. it is super exciting um so that includes 12 hours on a bus and 12 hours in New York City while in New York City students um have an opportunity to do activities that align with their own interests so some go to museums some may just do some sightseeing um but we all go to see a performance on Broadway in the evening that's our culminating activity um

003this year we are going to be seeing The Outsiders which won best musical last year at the Tony and I have SE seen it and it is amazing I cannot wait for kids to see this um the trip will be April 29th and 30th it is a Tuesday Wednesday um on the Wednesday that we return at 6: a.m. the understanding is that kids do not need to attend classes that day inevitably we always have at least one that still does I swear that happens um but um after being gone for so long and trying to sleep on a bus and anyone who's ever tried to sleep on a completely packed bus knows that that is just does not happen um the bus company that we are going through is Northeast Charter tours in Lewiston um

004this will be a third or fourth year that we've used them and they have been wonderful to work with um and we will continue to use them as as much as we can um their prices are fantastic but their service is spectacular and um generally it is a total of 53 people about 47 students and six teachers those students are broken into six groups so that they can maneuver around the city way easier than 47 people all together and I think that's about it normally we do go in May um so I do want to point out this is earlier than usual we had a very difficult time finding a date in May that would work for Broadway and us um so we had to move it back a little bit but and then the

005other thing that I would like to mention this may be the last time that we do this yearly we may be pushing it to an every other year trip simply because we do not have the student excitement that we have had preco I will say so we're managing to fill a bus but it is not like normally we would have a wait list and we would have kids just seniors going and then a few Juniors now we have seniors Juniors and we have to open it up to a couple of sophomores so um we're hoping that maybe with the O every other year it will make a little more sense there and also note that there are definitely kids that go every year if they can so they will be upset but um it just

006makes sense to probably do every other year from this point on so if you don't see me next year that is why question uh sounds like it's not an issue cuz you're having trouble getting enough kids but U how are students selected is it like announced to the entire school that they can sign up if they'd like yes so all seniors and juniors it is presented to them like in an assembly style format um they do have an opportunity to raise the money for their trip and I did not mention that the cost for the trip is $190 which includes the bus and the Broadway tickets um if you've been on either a bus or Broadway tickets um you know that that's a pretty reasonable price um and obviously we only get that price because

007we have a lot of people but we do want to make sure that it is available to all students that want to go we have scholarships available but we also have like I said the opportunity to raise money so when we first announce the trip they're given that the fundraiser a lot of students raise the entire amount for their trip and they're all set to go um and some may be you know raised for a portion um but most stud students pay I I also want to say this year in particular I am extremely excited because we have a number of students who I don't even know if they've been as far as Portland Maine um and have never been on on a field trip like past like they've went gone to Mount Blue um

008and that's about it a bunch of these kids that I am so so excited that they have the opportunity to go this year like I cannot wait to be on this trip and and see them experience what they're going to experience and they are so excited about it and they're not kids that are generally excited about school um but they are so excited about attending and I don't think we've ever had a year when I've had so many of those kids like the ones you really want and wish could go and then they generally don't care cuz a lot of them are scared they' they've never been to the city and it doesn't sound like something they would enjoy um and this year we just have a bunch that have decided you know what I'm

009a junior this year or I'm a senior this year and I'm going to make it happen and um I I think it's going to be a fantastic trip great that definitely answer my question I appreciate you uh putting in the effort and organizing it and making it happen sounds like a wonderful thing thank you any other questions yeah uh so how many Juniors and seniors are are going this year so we have for juniors and seniors we have out of the 47 I believe 40 are Juniors and seniors and then seven are sophomores so seven and the thing is we have to fill a 53 person bus in order to get the price we get okay cuz we've looked at okay we could do a 35 person bus but it costs pretty much the same

010amount and then that makes the trip just that much more expensive um we try very hard to keep it under $200 like we don't ever want to go over that um so that would push it to like $250 a person and while you know it would be easier for those 35 it may be more difficult for some kids who would not be able to go right so it's 53 people on the bus yes 47 students and six teachers and six teachers I'm good thank you and we try um teachers are like it's a Humanities trip but it is not just humani teachers we try very hard to make sure that that we have teachers from all um different areas but I will tell you it is not easy to get teachers to chaperone this trip

011because a 12-hour bus ride is not something that most people and they have to pay like we pay our own way so kids are not paying for our spots um so to ask a teacher to pay their $200 their $190 which also includes um tip for the driver um and then be on a bus for 12 hours and also watch seven kids in New York for 12 hours uh it's kind of a hard sell sometimes so those who do it are dedicated wonderful people and we appreciate them thank you very much thanks so I I'd like to suest that we all right as second Dawn okay and any discussion any further discussion on that no so all in favor for the uh Humanities trip to New York City uh say I I I all opposed

012say Nay it's unanimous that feels weird all right I'm hoping it makes your job easier you don't like it that's right all right uh there's no public comments uh no student board member report so are there any board member comments Holly thank you you're welcome I'd like to make a motion to move the policy meeting to March 10th to address the title 9 issue that is tied to Federal funding do I have a second Roger it's a Monday two Mondays from now no it's not what is it Sunday so be March 11th March 10th is a Monday okay so two Mondays for now uh any discussion Tina we've already got a policy meeting on the books for a little further out than that yeah and I don't see I'm sorry what did you say I

013said March 24th right 24th right I don't see what we save by moving it up to weeks we're going to be fine this is mostly a procedural change it's rolling back what we have right now to what we had before we did all the work that we did just a few weeks ago so it's not that big of a change and I don't see any sense in in disrupting schedules that's not a great day for me and I'm the policy chair so um I would have to say no I'm not in favor of it at all any other comments thank you Tina thank Don my question is just Why We want to move it up are you asking me yes sorry I feel that where it's tied to Federal funding um time is of the

014essence we're moving in Trump time and Trump time changes frequently and I don't know I know that the funding from the state comes the federal government normally goes through the state but I've seen lots of information saying if you abide by these policies or or back backtrack our policies to the original that we just changed um that the federal level the funding um they won't look bad on us if I mean you can laugh and smirk all you want but this is the thing EXC I've seen and I'm talking right now so hly excuse me I just want to make sure that all board members remember to address the chair not each other individually okay thank you very much are you finished no so I just feel where it's tied to funding that time may

015be of the essence and if we can move it up why not okay Tina if that were true I would probably agree with you it is not tied to funding we don't need to change anything right now we can do it on the schedule that we work on and it will be fine we don't need to go flying around like fat in a mitten to make it work it'll be okay any other Roger I I can see why we would expedite it I mean I'm honestly angry that we masked our children for as long as we did and our excuse was federal and state funding now we're going to play this game and delay our funding I am not happy with the mpa I am not happy with the Department of Education nor am I

016happy with Janet Mills I have two daughters and risking Federal funding for these games after we massed the least um the least affected group during the Corona virus is really mindboggling to me and and unsettling so I am in agreement with Holly that we should move that that up and move quick it it's not going to do us any favors to drag our our feet and I don't mind setting a precedent to say I care about our female athletes at RSU 73 thank you anyes no no I'm theair chair of the policy committee and I just told you that I'm unavailable on the date that you want to hold the meeting you haven't given a real reason for having to move this up by two weeks and I don't think that this discussion belongs in

017front of the school board this is a political debate it doesn't belong here the fact of the matter is is that we have no deadline we have no crushing need to to roll that back it's largely an administrative procedure and we can do that on the time schedule that we have set up I don't need be pushed into this when it's not that your schedule isn't going to work for me to begin with it doesn't even belong in front of the school board enough said Don iagree I think it should be discussed use your mic I think it um belongs in front of the the school board I also believe that um I know the people that were at the policy meeting received the email from Dr wisom I don't know if everybody else on

018the board but it tells us to go back to 2020 that's what our lawyers are telling us to do and I think it is important to get it and and where it's not a big deal where it's already there we just have to go back to 2020 why not just get it over with so we can raise our hands and say federal government we're doing what you told us to do because I have also read some things that if schools do go to these go back um that they may be able to get Federal funding directly from the federal government so that's my opinion very good Tina I would offer an amendment to really cut to the Chase and say perhaps instead of having another meeting and hashing through all of this we could just

019make a motion right now to roll back our policies the relevant policies and I believe there are four of them that may be affected um to to get make sure we have the right titles for those and make a motion to Simply adopt what we had at the beginning of the school year before we made the changes sorry I I believe that's what we were going to do well if we do that right now we don't need a policy meeting to do that we could just roll it back and be done with it then we don't have to worry about whether I'm available on a certain date or not so that would be my I would I would offer that as an amendment i' second you'd second it yeah can we have discuss okay U

020any discussion Melle I just uh am seeking Clarity on if that roll back that is being prosed would cover the entirety of section 9 UM as is addressed including that of um protecting women I think it was I don't know the exact title but if we are also looking to include that in the roll back Tina what we would be doing is following the legal advice that we were given to Simply roll back our policies to what they were before and then we'll wait for everything else to settle out in the courts if we go chasing it around trying to decide what the courts are going to do and make our policy match up with that we're going to drive ourselves crazy it makes a whole lot more sense to me to just do the

021thing that we need to do that's going to to get us back in line with with what the courts have already decided which is to just it's it's it's just an administrative procedure right so we roll that back and then if something else changes in the future then we'll deal with it and but that stuff hasn't necessarily made it through the courts and some of it is pending legislation I've got AC ACA a ACAA n AC thought there was four too but no it's just it's just three do you think there four okay so acab is harassment and sexual harassment of School Employees that ACAA is harassment and sexual harassment of students AC is non-discrimination equal opportunity and affirmative action and we think there's a four and am I missing it I brought all of

022my notes from the policy meeting and I have three to vote on the amendment she a friendly Amendment she can away we have further comment I just have one I just need Clarity on something and I think um Michelle um hinted on this as well if we turn our policies back on the title n of it the main Human Rights Act um how does that play into any of this does anybody know Tina oh sorry oh I thought I apologize sorry you'll go right next okay yeah I thought you pointed so right now that issue is in the courts and I think it would be wasteful and and un helpful to try to figure out what the courts are going to do until the courts are done I think we let that sit and just

023wait eventually we'll have guidance I'm sorry thank you have Don go okay yeah I was because I was trying to see what the changes would be also and making sure everybody's still protected and I believe that they are because if you look at you know all of them the previous Title Nine you know the 1965 act um for disability and I think it's all covered because if you look at the protected categories you know they have them I did have them up I was talking to Scott about them earlier but they're pretty much all you know sex sexual orientation um any type of disabilities they're all I believe they're all covered already that's what I think anyway thank you Holly I guess I need further um I just feel like the main Human Rights Act

024cancels out the Title Nine guidance Tina that is exactly what the courts are trying to figure out we'll have an answer on that from them eventually let's just sit down and let them do their job and then we'll do ours Holly so until so we still wouldn't be in compliance of what federal guidelines are from the Trump Administration Tina thank you um there is there is debate at the state and federal level about that if you want to be involved in that it should be done I think at the state and federal level I don't think it makes this school better I don't think it helps our students I don't think it helps our staff and I don't think it helps our community to jump into what will definitely be a really difficult conversation when

025it's just not time yet let's let that settle first at the state and federal level sorry Rie Roger rajie I think it's foolish that we would say that we're not going to discuss um political things that's literally what we do here the book um issues were political things the mask was political things many people challenged The Mask laws uh we did not wait to see how that played out in court and I don't think that we should do so now and I I know how everyone's going to spin this and say that I'm anti-transgender I'm not I I love those kids just as much as the rest and they need uh um Outlets as well but Title 9 is very important to me I'm a father of daughters and Title 9 means something to me

026when Title 9 came out women started their own leagues this didn't happen overnight it took time okay women put an effort to make these leagues my recommendation to our transgender athletes is to put in that time and effort the same that the women did and I don't think that makes me an unreasonable person we do have hundreds of female athletes in the school or at least over a 100 okay so it's it's not dancing around the issue to to wait and let the feds handle the issue for us I have no problem saying right now I want to protect our female athletes at RSU 73 thank you Sarah I haven't seen the letter that you guys have discussed about that came from our lawyer is that correct I only brought it I'm sorry I policy

027I no that's fair I guess my focus is RSU 73 is not an affluent school district and I would follow legal advice on this matter so we don't lead to any kind of unnecessary litigation until things are settled no need for exposure El without Dina the letter that we got and I'm sorry that I didn't distribute that one if I'd been thinking I I would have but this was not on the agenda tonight and I did not expect that we would be dealing with this now um but basically what they're saying is the the changes to um the the Title Nine how that was going to be implemented by this Administration by by the Biden administration had finally made it through the courts and we had implemented the new changes to in order to stay

028current with that now the the changes from the um Trump Administration did go through the courts that one I'm not saying that it's going to stay forever but for the moment we have some clarity on that piece of it that just says what we had in place prior to up updating for the Biden Administration rolls back to what it what it was beforehand and so we can do that and they and they said that right in the letter that those those articles those policies that cover that can be changed back to just the way they were the rest of it in order to stay in line with I mean these are pending court cases the head headlines are all over the place until that's worked its way through we just don't know about the rest

029of it and we'll go back and make whatever changes we need to make to stay legal um and and in compliance um at that time the issue I have with doing that is I'm embarrassed to be on a board that will not let our student female athletes know that we will stand up for them and protect them the other thing that I am wondering about um with Federal funding in general is knowing that um the question or sort of the unclarity I have is like are we running on Trump's time clock when he chooses to expedite are we going to be caught are we how how is this going to shake out because I know that our special education population and our school funding for um lunches and meals goes through Federal funding and that's

030Gravely concerning to me um in addition to you know the issue we're discussing here um that our school district has a large population of students who access um special education services um and also who benefit from the student um free and reduced meal program and I think that needs to be included in the discussion and be part of that decisionmaking process any other comment I'm buying time oh Jody so I think it's clear that we cannot make this decision tonight and we do need to go back to the original of when is the policy meeting getting changed to there's too much that we don't know um by not having a letter for any one of us to make any um decision of just a roll back when I haven't seen the policy specifically what the

031roll back looks like so I feel like we need to go back to the motion that was originally created to have the policy meeting moved to March 10th which is on the table versus creating a different policy or a different motion which we all don't have in front of us uh point of order was that a friendly that was suggested as a friendly Amendment and I thought Don had accepted it in which case the motion is now motion on the table is is to accept on this 2020 right correct so we need an up or down vote on that correct right and may I please I think it's I think it is within the purview of the of the um policy committee and not the committee not the school board as a whole to determine

032the dates that the policy committee meets that's done by the availability of the people who are on the committee and not by order of the rest of the board Jody Dina can you provide another date that's earlier than when you're currently meeting excuse me please address the board when you oh I'm sorry absolutely yeah can can we have another date that potentially the policy committee could meet would be acceptable is that what you're saying correct for that committee to meet earlier than when they're originally um supposed to meet on the 24th if so the question is Tina is there a date that works for you other than ear before we can entertain another motion we probably need to vote this one up or down okay yes I just want my suggestion which is actually kind

033of what Tina said saying that we vote to go back to 2020 that's what we're yep and then we can discuss you know the main what you know if we do have to make changes on our meeting that schedule all right so the motion on the table as we speak right now if there isn't any other discussion you're all talky talkie tonight uh the motion on the table is to accept the 2020 Title 9 policies so I should probably do a roll call so there you go roll call please no yes no it's on yes no yes yes so that fails good all right the motion fails uh moving forward no the motion pass pass six people has to be two3 no it doesn't it wasn't on the agenda oh okay you're right it needs

034to be a two-thirds vote because it was not on the agenda oh that's true no that's true don't ever say that again all right okay so any other board member comments okay Scott you're not prepared I I had it I had it all here now it's like okay what' you do uh this first part is from uh Rob Taylor uh the blue crew robotics team is competing at the southern main Regional F High School Saturday and Sunday March 1st and March 2nd and will'll be competing at the Pine Tree Regional at the colise in Leon March 15th and March 16th if we qualify for the new englands in April we will come to the board for permission for out ofate trip but we are lucky to have two qualifiers in man this year over the

035last couple of weeks I get the read use mine thanks uh we attended the Transportation uh meeting we discussed second bus run option nma did not feel even if we wanted to spend the extra money that she could have it ready for next year as a compromise it was suggested uh we'll talk about later during the budget portion that we get another uh purchase lease for another van um tend to the buildings and ground grounds committee and this will also be discussed later during the budget portion uh looking at a four-year lease for high school Jim bleachers all right and administrative reports Jenna okay good evening I am going to be mostly looking at my paper um because I have something I need to discuss before I go into the numbers and I'm sure a

036lot of you have you know seen things floating around Facebook and that sort of thing um so specifically as a Section 504 coordinator it's super important for me to be aware of you know the legal developments that um concern Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act so in September 2024 a coalition of 17 States led by Texas filed a lawsuit CH challenging a rule that was finalized by the Biden Administration and um in that they talked about um making 504s unconstitutional it was a part of it um there has been a lot of public concern around this and the states have clarified their position that they do not intend to declare Section 504 unconstitutional uh but they are going after certain disabilties ities that they don't feel should be a disability under Section 504 so um

037I just wanted you to be aware that you know there was there were a lot of people that were very concerned that their students might no longer be able to have 504 Services um and right now um the states kind of redid what they put in and it's kind of tabled it's under review right now the case is under review um but like I said they have made it clear hopefully they continue with their word um that they want to keep 504 intact um ensuring that our students with disabilities continue to receive necessary accommodations so uh a few weeks ago I was very concerned about Section 504 and it potentially going away uh but right now they have backtracked and said nope that's not our goal uh instead we're going after certain disabilities so um

038we'll see where that leads um it seems like every day there's you know something new that changes so it's just another one of those situ situations where we just need to wait it out so at the high school last month we had 40 students with active 504 plans and one in referral this month we have 39 students with one in referral at the middle school last month we had 23 students this month we have 23 students with 504 plans with one in referral and one anticipated last month we had 22 students with active 504 plans and 22 students this month with none in referral at this time and at the primary school last month we had five students with 504 plans and this month we have seven uh with active 504 plans and two in

039referral and one anticipated um we did have a handful of students that either moved to another District or um left their 504 Services uh in order to receive special ed services the accommodations weren't enough and they required some specially design instruction so we have around 91 students right now and I have um a handful of new referrals that I'm processing right now so that's where we're at with 504 do we have any questions or comments for Jenna Tina yeah thank thank you for the report are those are the dis disabilities that they're concerned about um in this lawsuit is this primary or this maneuvering is this primarily behavioral based U disabilities nope it is specifically gender dysphoria ah thank you that's what they're trying to get rid of right now so any other questions thank

040you Jen thanks and Norma hello don't have a whole lot to report tonight um I had a transportation committee meeting as Scott said on February 3rd we discussed a lot of different Transportation needs and issues with Transportation we've had some transfer of jobs due to job changes and moving of employees around we still have one bus driver out for medical reasons thanks to great staff during the cold spell they've been making sure the buses are starting in the morning and getting them out on the roads um I just want to say praises to my crew right now if you guys have noticed um our buses are cleaner than ever right now they're all shining more than ever um we've had three specific people that have been really putting some time and effort into making them

041look a lot better and appreciate you know making our buses last longer so we've lost one of our van drivers due to a uh medical event at home on February 14th um his spouse also works for the district this is a great loss to the district the transportation department he absolutely loved the students he transported sorry and called the van position his dream job he retired from a another company after 38 years and he enjoyed coming in every day and driving for us and he actually came in at 4:30 every morning to go to Norway to get some kids for us um we have one new hire for a custodian bus driver who's working on his uh School Bus endorsement on February 19th he received his school bus permit one of our custodian bus drivers

042went for a school bus license on Wednesday February 12th he received his license and he'll will now be a spare bus driver so things are looking up in the transportation department um we have a total of 20 one out of District students that were transporting seven mckin vinto students have found homes we're no longer transporting them that's something that's uh a big deal and so that's about it thank you any questions for Norma Don um did we get the uh the new bus back yet yes yeah hopefully fingers crossed I mean there's some like uh cosmetic stuff and I always send it back to Bailey's when it comes back to make sure that everything's on the up and up um I talked to Chad this morning and it should be good to go next week

043um we just have to put some stuff in it for the Wheelchairs and stuff but um and make sure the first aid kits and blankets and all that are in there so but it should be on the road next week no need for a snorkel anymore I hope not any other questions Elaine not a question but our sincere condolences to your whole department because I know it means a lot to all of your drivers and all the people that work for you they're family and I'm know affects the kids as well yes it does so sincere sympathies to all of you thank you thank you anything else any other questions thank you Norma good evening as of mid-February we have 17 adult Learners who have finished their High School credential with many other on track

044to graduate in June we continue to identify barriers to enrollment and retention for Learners such as Transportation access to Mental Health Resources and food insecurity we have secured on-site direct Client Services through sappers which is the sexual assault prevention and response Services once a month and we're beginning telea Health counseling appointments for students starting in March um we are utilizing Western main transportation once a week for door Bor Service as well as having our van pickup students for our manage enrollment enrollment classes on Wednesday mornings with the continuation of grant funding for the countywide digital literacy program we've created a three-year plan with um a few new proposed initiatives so I'll just roll out three right now um one is working with local municipalities if they wish to make Town websites more accessible and user

045friendly for residents to find information and focus on engaged citizenship two work collaboratively with the Jay Livermore and Livermore Falls Chamber of Commerce to offer tech-based business classes such as QuickBooks and offer additional Technology support for new or inexperienced technology users and three partner with connected Nation to bring a teens teach Tech program to Greater Franklin County Schools this is not an immediate roll out um and would require significant planning but we do serve we would hope to serve um middle school and high school students an alternative learning option for students to help community members learn how to use new devices um also on the grant fun we received an email update last week from the main development foundation so we are subres um of the main development foundation for congressionally directed spending funds for

046the CDL program they received a condition of award notice from the Department of Labor and now we just wait to sign an official contract to draw down funds at an FY 26 um so if you're you're new to the board or just need a refresher this is a grant that we applied for in 2023 um to address the findings of A needs assessment in our region there are no um other CDL Class A classes in Greater Franklin County this grant funding will cover all necessary expenses minus Personnel um to start a CDL program for three years um the funding also allows um what we call Equity stiens so if someone is working and there is a fear of loss of income to enroll in a class um if they're eligible that won't be an issue

047for them the classroom portion of our medical assisting program will'll be wrapping up in the next two weeks and our students will enter into their clinical rotations at the hospital there are currently four paid apprenticeships um for medical assistance at Main Health Franklin and they are eligible to apply if they want to take on a full-time role while they're still in school and lastly we'll be holding interviews for the culinary arts program and starting the program at the end of March so there's still time to apply if anyone's interested thank you Robin any questions or comments for Robin Roger I don't know what we did to deserve you and your staff but we appreciate you guys that's excellent that you're doing that um and I think the owners of the old FAL Jewelers building will

048appreciate you training some local CDL Drivers as well they've lost their roof a few times yeah I've seen that thank you any other comments or questions thank you Robin thank you maintenance Wayne Uh good evening uh thanks for having me tonight uh last time we met I reported that the vaporiza was going to be up and running at the middle school happy to say that it it is up and running uh great success no boilers going down due to propane pressure um it's been a long road but we're taking care of it um the grounds maintenance Crews have been busy in the past month chasing snowstorms they've been dumping small amounts of snow for us um I want to thank them for keeping the buildings clear to snow and ice it's a challenging it's challenging

049at times it seems to be on weekends and they're always willing to drop their plans and come in to make sure the buildings are open for us day and night um I also want to say thank you to the building custodians is a quite it's quite a cleanup after all the events we just got done with basketball and and such so schools get used most every night for something whether it be practices games or just special events custodians have to clean the classrooms and also clean up after these events so it can be quite the chore to get all that accomplished and be ready for the next school day I currently have four custodians out due to illness or I have one with a bement um we're making the best of it remarkable crew that

050we have here so um I met recently with the building and grounds committee and we discussed bleaches for the high school gymnasium I received two quotes one from hussy bleachers and the other from A+ Athletics uh the new bleaches would be um ADA Compliant with uh six cutouts for Wheelchairs and hold approximately 490 plus or minus students SL Spectators um they'd be secured to the floor and uh it would be on the weight room cage side of the gym uh the current bleaches originally uh to the original to the building of 1969 and uh they've gotten we've definitely got our money's worth out of them for sure so um where was I right here with uh the inspections that we've had they've been they we never pass inspection since I've been here since 2006 due

051to the fact that they don't make the they don't make the parts for it anymore and they're not in compliance so they won't make parts for our bleaches anymore so that's a big it's a big issue for us um I hope everybody agrees that we need to need to address them before somebody gets hurt um definitely um we also discussed replacing the dump truck that we have now because it no longer passes inspection uh the frame and cross members are rotted out of it um we're looking to buying through the Ford Fleet program that saves us a bit of money I've received two quotes on the truck we'll be we'll be doing a three-year loan so it won't be such a significant burden on the community on uh the taxpayers uh We R rely on

052the truck quite often to haul LOM other materials to save us money uh it comes in handy on many occasions for spring cleanups um the old dump truck I'd like put out the bid as soon as we get a new truck delivered so so we can put that towards as well so that's all I have thank you very good any questions thank you Wayne any questions for Wayne thanks again okay thank you all right curriculum and Technology Chris okay good evening um so it's been a while so um we've been meeting with curriculum teams um lately it's been interesting we've as probably people have seen we've had some illnesses so it's sometimes it's hard to get everybody together um but we should hopefully soon with spring coming we'll get through those and and get back

053on track with everybody um couple of highlights we did get to attend a great workshop at umf on February 7th myself and several um teachers from the district got to go to a workshop um District computer science visioning Workshop which was put on and it and it's really to look at um our Computer Sciences and how we can the best way to get that to all the kids in the district um obviously it's easier at the high school because they actually have classes but at the lower levels you know it's how to integrate it and and make sure kids get those skills um all the way through um great thing was um the person that was running it uh was Shelby Bryant who um is from this area went to schools here so I'm sure

054some of you remember I didn't remember she had all she had been all grown up but she didn't look the same as when she was younger um and then um as far as um looking into technology um we are we were having fun with power school I think the last time I taught to you I let you know that power school sent us a letter and said oh you're not one of the ones um so um so we decided because we trust them so much decided to check out Power School school ourselves and looked at the log files and we found this interesting log file and it just didn't look right so we sent that we actually um had to download that and send it to power school and said can you look at this

055and you know maybe we're wrong but can you look at it and that took about a month and then they got back and it says well yeah it looks like you might have been breached so um so I think letters just started going out to people that said if you can have Experian for you know a year or whatever if um if you'd like to and a link to join it so that's kind of powerder school's answer to help alleviate this um there wouldn't have been anything I mean they talk about social security numbers we don't have that in there um it wasn't um the medical necessarily would have been it was all um demographic kind of stuff but but they couldn't they still this time they at the beginning they said they were going

056to be able to give us a list of maybe anybody that specifically had been breached but so far no names um and then the other thing I want Adit we are trying to I'm watching as closely as we can what's going on with the federal money things um because a lot of times you hear on the paper everything it always mentioned special ed um and um in the lunch program which are very important but we also have to remember we get about somewhere around $500,000 um under title funds um which is directly related to our um our at risk population I mean in those funds paid for six teachers and seven Ed Techs in the district so um so we're really trying to just see where they're going with that so we know what's going

057to happen because obviously that would be devastating to us thank you Chris any questions for Chris thanks again all right Food Service Laura all right thank you so in Food Service um since we last meet met um we have interviewed and put out a proposal and we have a new hire coming on board next week we're really excited to welcome her to RSU 73 Child Nutrition department um we will cross train her as well as other um staff members to prepare for our 2026 school year where we're going to have lots of Shifting us to um who is in which kitchen due to our um retirement um staff members the Middle School recently received some new kitchen equipment um got a nice stand mixer over there and um commercial immersion blenders which are um Lifesavers

058for the shoulder and for working with um mixing and stuff and uh they have successfully been testing lots of new recipes and the Middle School's been making their own homemade uh pizza dough now as well as muffins and other breakfast items so we're excited to see where our staff take um that program moving forward uh next week I expect them to start with homemade Breads and rolls um I have been working quite closely um over the past I would say three four months um with the design and quote team for our cafeteria Renovations as well as our uh the sales representative on trying to get the finalizations done on these projects that we're working on um during this past vacation I had four staff members who attended did their surf safe training in Mount Blue

059um um further enhancing their commitment to food safety um over the break as well a new hot water booster was installed at the elementary school and I want to thank Wayne and his team as well as Phil myy and his company for their hard work on getting that project done um myself and two staff members uh recently particip ated in a scratch cooking webinar through the institution of Child Nutrition um which provided valuable insight to enhancing our meal and programs tomorrow I will be attending a lead to success uh training session at UMaine in Augusta um and we're looking forward to uh look for ways that we can continue to improve our department and uh services and um do everything we can for our students so that's all I have thanks any question for questions

060for Laura thank you thank you Laura all right next up is uh board chair report I really don't have anything to report I do uh you wanted me to mention binders we're missing we have what two people Andrew needs his binder I don't know who the other person is but oh very good get your binders I'll I'll get a message out to Andrew all right next up is committee reports are we doing it we don't have a chair for Trans uh Transportation Tina do you want to give a policy committee report or are we good thank you um we had a handful of the series B policies which have to do with the board responsibilities and whatnot and we basically went through those and said not much to update here we're pretty good and uh

061date stamped them and put them back very good any questions for Tina thank you step outside e e e all right back in session at 705 going to get a motion uh for the superintendent's nomination to the position of social emotional learning RTI teacher Elaine Tina what's the name and it is for Amy forier any questions or discussion all right seeing none all in favor say I I all opposed say nay the motion carries all right budget overview Mr Albert there you go we'll see all right that's good okay first off I'll just quickly go over the the total that we looking at we started at 7.1% we were able to bring that down to 5.75% that's an increase from last year's budget to this year's budget after we met uh with the transportation department

062Department uh not Department excuse me uh Team um it was suggested that we put a um another van lease Van Into the budget if we if we do that uh they would put our budget up to uh 5.82% increase um that is not in the budget as you see it right now but it would be put in afterwards and then um if we were to do the bleachers which was suggested by uh the buildings and grounds committee um that would also be that would be a four-year lease that would put us at 5 uh 5.99% what we're suggesting to do for that if the board approves is we would have a separate vote on that when it goes up for uh in the town meeting as well as the referendum so that it would be

063separate so that you'd have the vote for the whole budget you'd have the vote for this is a year we have to have a vote for whether or not we want to stay having the town meeting and referendum that has to be voted on every three years so that's on would be on the ballot this year and it would also if you guys approved it and the town they approved it at the town meeting for a school budget third the third thing on the uh referendum would be do we want to take out a four-year loan for the bleachers for the high school gym in the past we've done stuff like that for the elevator and for the actually the football field bu bleaches a few years ago we think it's important to have but

064we don't want it to necessarily interfere with the overall budget passing so it's up to whether the people in the town really want it if they want it great vot for it so that's what the overall budget looks like at the moment system administration um sometimes it's see you got the updates um our system administration has gone up $28,000 the big one one of the big ones is our liability insurance has gone up $464 that's 25% that we've budgeted that's been pretty accurate in the past we don't have a definite number yet but that's been pretty accurate in the past right crystal yes okay um oh page y should be page one of the budget presentation or you can look under section one page one school board superintendent's office and business offices is is what

065is consider considered system administration um I mean the rest of that is salaries and benefits um that everybody has in that group and then also under professional credits this year I I put in for professional credits I need to take a class in order to keep my certification up um you can have if anybody has any questions on anything in that area tonight that's fine and if you don't have it tonight feel free to call email and we'll be we can bring it up at the next meeting as well for people does anybody have any questions on the system administration at this point in time okay all right TJ all right it's Bruce Mountain High School TJ oh there he is hi everyone if you could turn to page four I'm going to go through

066my items that are going to that I have the control to kind of change so uh you'll notice it we'll skip around a little bit it's really just between page 4 and page nine for me and then the last part with Mr Keller will be on page 17 so on the first one that I have is the admin postage it is number line number 96 7 it has gone up $1200 that's due to the postage increase um those things happen is just what we need to do for the upcoming year if you turn to page nine page nine is uh regarding our regular instruction Spruce bont High School regular instruction if you look at line number 194 194 it's an increase of $1,368 that has to do with some Contracting uh services that we have

067uh also a little increase with the jmg specialist that we have and a good portion of that is related to the Foster tech center um a way that we are helping pay for our foster Tech teacher that we have here doing a phenomenal job if you look at at line number 197 we are looking at the regular instruction for General supplies um it is a decrease of $13,200 that is due to uh the Foster Tech Teacher no longer need we don't need to spend the money on the supplies for that programming that uh he is doing because Foster Tech has taken that over okay that's a that's a big decrease here and and then the last one that I can control which is uh the 19 uh line 199 for regular instruction for equipment um

068it is our science Department's turn to get a a a room with new desks and whatnot um we we rotate this for a reason that way it's not such a shock when we do all of them at once so every year we put that in and science is going to be a little bit more because they have to have the fire retardant uh tables and things like that okay okay and I'm going to have Mr Keller come up and he's going to go over the athletic oh yep sorry does anybody have any questions Tina thank you um I'm looking at page five line 106 it's your textbooks and I'm noticing everybody else wants more money and you want less and I'm just checking in on that yep um if I I let me pull it

069up you said page what uh page five what line number um that's what my teachers requested I I I know that we no longer have the springboard books so those things aren't part of it um and that's that's what they ask for yep yep thank you any other questions okay Mark I'm G to have Mark come up good evening um I do have increases in the Spruce Mountain High School athletic budget they are all on page 17 we have an increase on line 372 which is athletic stipend um that is an increase due to contracted points and the um Education Association contract and the addition of a wrestling coach um last year the board approved a wrestling program at the middle school um that is currently underway there are 21 athletes that started the season

070um including eight eighth graders eight eight yes eight eighth graders um one of those actually uh qualified for New England uh tournament um nice just this past weekend um so we're looking at extending that program to the high school uh we have also had a couple of student athletes that have participated over at dirgo in a co-op program this year um it did not go as well as we had hoped we started out with six added a seventh and then really the big issue became um travel um and some students several students dropped out we ended up with and one actually transferred to dergo um so so started with seven ended with just two um I firmly believe that several of those athletes would have continued had we had the program here so we'd like

071to offer that next year uh but along with that comes um much of the the remaining increase line 379 is under General supplies we will need uniforms for our wrestling program um that would be an increase of about $2,300 line number 380 is is really the big one um we need a wrestling mat um so it's a it's a big cost it's $16,500 that includes the the carts that are used to move those around to make sure that we're taking good care of them um and then we're not sliding them across the floor um that will also help out with our cheering mats as well um and unfortunately that's just a one-time thing that's what what they're going for so um and then line 381 which is uses in fees um adding in wrestling uh

072each tournament that you participate in has wrestling fees uh wrestling's a uh can be a pretty expensive sport when it comes to officials um and we're there's also a 2.7 increase in the Consumer Price Index which is um how the mpa contracts with the officials boards throughout the state um instead of basically negotiating with the the officials the 17 or 18 different officials boards um they've negotiated with all of them all at the same time to to go with a consumer price index so those are are increases in the athletic uh budget at the high school any questions from Mark Roger you know roughly the lifespan of uh one of those wrestling mats oh they lost if you take good care of them they last a long time take years okay great thank you yep

073okay any other questions is that Michelle Michelle I don't mean this to sound a bit silly but what size are the mats like how big are we talking they're 42 by 42 okay so you can have several matches per mats well essentially no no um it's actually that's the official size of a high school wrestling mat okay um in the event that you do host a meet where there are several teams and and you have a lot of wrestling matches you usually bring in a mat from some other school okay um to get the help to do that um we do have a wrestling tournament coming up here in a couple weeks with the youth and if you were to come in and see what was going on they would have two or three mats

074set up across the gym okay any further questions thank you Mark thank you Miss uh no where are we uh Chris Middle School all right good evening um actually I only have a couple of ite line items this year on page number four line number 82 administrative uh dues and fees that's going to take a decrease of $3,900 um this just basically due to that was in there prior to me BEC a principal and I haven't been able to spend that down so I can get rid of that and then on line uh oh sorry how I do this page seven line 165 um my me my regular instruction supply line went up by $1,500 um and then our last increases are going to do with our Athletic program those are on page 16 lines

075354 356 and those are ENT all the wrestling program as well it's mats uh official fees officials for All Sports have gone up um and then also General supplies uniforms as as long as other things was that it yeah that's it thank you do we have any questions for Chris yeah do we have a wrestling mat for the middle school what we have Roger is a we we bought a practice mat last year and that's what we've been using um I'm going to actually help out Mark with cost of the high school Matt too so we're going to kind of use it together awesome uh during the high school season um the practice match that we have are going to come up here to the high school so they can use them too so we're

076going to kind of try to work together okay awesome that was my next question the middle school and the high school alternate Seasons so they don't run concurrently yeah so high school is in the uh winter middle school goes from February to the end of March excellent and then the last thing would be class sizes no yeah go ahead Jody sorry um so is the equipment budget here to help with wrestling at the high school and also help at the middle school we still have to buy some more uniforms you do okay thank you that was a larger number than we originally anticipated coming outes you want unless they ask that question you don't have to go over class sizes if it comes to a point next meeting when we're looking at concerns about what

077the overall cost is that's usually a time that we share what we have for class siiz perfect thank you so we're not doing anything with Craig Collins all right Elementary Pat so just ignore the class siiz paper that I gave gave you until next [Laughter] week um so I only had three items change if you go to page three line 60 uh professional courses that's for me and there's just no way with my youngest daughter and her soccer schedule and recruiting that I'm going to be able to take all those so I just reduced it by a class so that's why it went down $2,100 um page six line 145 is instructional supplies for the teachers it went up $1,400 just the cost of everything's gone up um and that's just to maintain what we

078have each year um and then the last one is Page seven line 148 um AV materials normally I carry about $3800 in that line in case our laminator dies um but I you cannot have an elementary school and no laminator I would be toast um but the middle school has extra one that he's giving me um so I decreased it by $2,000 keep $1,800 in there for maintenance and repair and um supplies for the the film and those were the three that I had that's it all right thank you any questions for Pat thank oh El I know ask trust me I put it out there because you always ask so if you have questions about that next week I'll be more than happy to thanks Pat thank you and Primary School Darcy guys I

079only have one and that is line 121 I don't know what page number that's on um instructional supplies an increase of 5,000 um we have the five ad hoc committees and they have had zero budget and we really they would really really uh appreciate having some sort of money to um go towards their action plan and goals for their committee um it is all about school Improvement whether it's attendance and doing initiatives and right now we've have a lot paying out of pocket to do some of those fun uh things we have family nights and we just would like to have a little cushion to be able to fund those projects Outdoor Learning was another one so great any questions Tina thank you um I have two items here one is um line 41 from

080page two and that showed up huh I don't have it in front of me what was that okay and then I've got line 121 that's the one I just did and that shows on here is a decrease of 5,000 oh the budget and in the budget so shows an increase of 5,000 it's supposed to be an increase right yeah it's supposed to be an increase okay we just change that that right there all good so that's oh okay I think it's just a okay on the handout right which one is the misprint the 5,000 the 5,000 line number 121 on page five right that's that's supposed to be an addition of $5,000 right it is right but then on the the line before that line 41 that doesn't do we know what that that is

081that doesn't belong in here at all right okay it's just an error okay good good deal this one so is there postage supposed to have something there just has one item on line number 41 she still has she has it's just not more than last just the same perfect it's the same that last column is up right right right yeah my bad uh any have we settled that any other questions for Darcy thank you she's trying to run away all right special education Sherry hello hello I wish I only had one item that changed um so on pages 20 21 and 22 that's contracted Services uh for it's split into three different school it's K to8 contracted services but the it's separated into Primary Elementary and Middle School um there's an increase of $1,000 on

082each line and that is our contracted Services um for bcba we have um augmented alternative communication Specialists that come in and some of our evaluators have increased their rate uh on page 22 tuition for our special purpose private schools for K to 8 which is line 50 5004 and tuition for PR private schools in 9 through 12 that's an overall increase um of 53,6 41 um we did have some students move from the K to8 line to the 9 through 12 line um and so there was a significant increase in the 9 through 12 line but a decrease in the K to8 line tuitions also go up they tell me to plan for 6% increase each year so and those tuitions are set by by the state not by the individual schools on page 24

083speech K to8 lines 543 544 45 46 and 550 those are benefits salaries and benefits for um a an RSU 73 hired position I was not able to do that and we are Contracting for all of our speech services so those um lines were all combined into contracted speech services and it's a little bit more the rate is going up so it's an overall increase of $3,795 183 um but that was salary and benefits from our provider that retired last year and moved to contracted um on I believe it's page 25 contracted OT services for K to8 there's no impact there it moved our position moved from 6 through 12 to K to 8 so you'll see one line is zeroed out and then the next line is increased so it it equals each out

084those are lines 563 and 571 um on page 26 line 580 for contracted PT or physical therapy services in grade 9 through 12 we have an increased need for physical therapy at that level and so there's an increase of $10,000 there on page 27 lines six2 6113 and 614 that is our K to 8 Behavior contracted Services the that's um covers our bcba and evaluator needs at that level rate increases for six in are $16,500 more for next year and then on page 28 line 633 that is also the bcba consultation for the behavior program at the high school and that's an increase of $7,000 all right thank you any questions than oh there we go Michelle so just to clarify Sherry are you telling me that are in my understanding that we had people

085who were salaried in District for services that are now going to be moved to conso or not cons out of District Consultants that we hire in like right well so we have two contracted speech providers who are in person and then our third our provider in middle school and high school we have what's called high-tech service so the therapist is Tella Health but there is an in-person facilitator that that same company provides okay and the difference of those two is about 3K is what you said three grand the difference of the so I took all the salary and benefits from the inperson yes and then it went 3,000 more than that yes gotta thank you yeah any other questions for Sherry thank you all right curriculum and Technology Chris okay your curriculum is your first

086sheet so I'll go with that one first um that's on uh page page five um it's uh it's really the district uh the curriculum textbook lines U line 103 105 and 106 on line 103 um in 105 the elementary and the K2 textbook lines um currently the the language arts curriculum team um is looking at a comprehensive reading program um that'll provide consistency and reduce the gaps and skills for students um and so this is this is an increase because of that cost of a new program and um and also the professional development that will go along with that to to provide for teachers um you know we're still in discussion on whether you know we're we're thinking now we'll probably roll it out next year K to2 and provide um in service for three

087to five teachers to learn the the program as well and then the following year Roll It Out 3 to five just so we can do it and not not be overwhelmed have everybody overwhelmed with with a a big new program all at once um and then the the textbook line at the high school um was down 3100 um I thought TJ was going to cover all those textbooks but apparently yeah yeah that's why I heard now um no it's really because it is because the high school um they used to purchase a springboard program for English which they're they're not that that program actually uh went away they don't make it anymore um and and it was a costly program so now um they're not using that same amount of money to do that anymore

088so that's curriculum keep going don't have J has a question um is there um is there a reasoning that they're looking at a new program versus the one that they're currently using well yes because currently we don't really technically we don't have a program right now it's and that's it's not that teachers haven't been teaching reading and and doing a great job at it and everything they can but it's teacher by teacher so we we have we don't have and we notice this this year um especially because the middle school is using um the star assessment and it's looking at gaps skill gaps and they were seeing a lot of skill gaps um that they were coming into the middle school with um and it's really because we just haven't had a a consistent program

089that touches everything and and grows as the kids go up um so so it could you know so we we want to make sure that we have a program that actually makes sure it touches the skills so when they get to the middle school they have those skills in place and then all the teachers oh okay all the teachers would be all on the same page with this new program from K from K to five yep from K to five thank you Michelle do you have the name of the uh the program no okay is that something that can be shared um because right now we haven't there's three programs there's three major programs we're looking at right now um and uh luckily for us all three of the programs are also being used by

090districts in Western Maine um so the language arts committee is going to go visit those schools um and um decide on which one they think you know get feedback from them on what they're doing and if it's working for them um and then also make sure it's something that'll work for our district um and then once we narrow it down to one program um but I could certainly get you the three programs we're looking at that' be great yep thank you Elaine I've been fortunate to work with this committee um this is much needed uh people have really tried to it's been an approach to let teachers craft their own following what we have for curriculum and demands for services everyone around us and I think everybody's gotten to the place that everybody can still

091put their own personality on this but we all need need to ensure that these steps are all being covered and that's what the teachers want that's what we know is going to work and I we want something that increases test scores we want to address that that's bottom line um and everybody's been amazing with looking at this they're all the teams that are visiting other schools looking at these packets are going out with a checklist making sure all the companies say they cover these things let's talk to the people that are in the ditches doing the work this this really good what would you they're excited and instead of trying to we could roll this up by saying one grade will do it this year one will do the and lesson the financial pain what

092we're doing is getting everybody up to speed K through true one year three through five the next it's costly but I think we're doing what's best for the kids so just wanted to throw my two cents thank you Jody so can you confirm because I'm seeing textbooks K to2 is this also doing the 3 to five like we're buying them we're just not going to do it for the another year Well in I when we were doing the budget the language arts committee hadn't decided exactly where we're going to put it yet so I put money in both okay just to be safe y um so it's easy enough if we buy just all the books for K2 this year that I can shift that money to the K2 line and and and buy all

093the books um and then whatever um PD as well that comes with that program we want to make sure it covers uh K through five so they get the PD even though they might not be starting it until the following year okay so like next year we wouldn't see another line with textbooks three to five or would we you could see just the three to five next year okay yeah thank you very good any other questions did you have anything for technology Chris or sure don't have to um for technology on page 12 not anything too big um page 12 line 263 um professional development travel um that's just down 2000 this year um because uh we usually um when Power School um comes to Boston during the summer we try to send um at

094least a couple texts to go take that because you do learn quite a bit um it's too bad it's not in Boston this summer I'm sure that'll be a fun time to listen to Power School but um but it's not in Boston this year usually every other year or so so we won't be going this year so I just took it out of the budget um as well as online 264 on the same page General supplies we just not uh we seem to have enough supplies and um usually the schools are pretty good if we need anything we kind of get something from them so we're down 2,000 there um and then on line 265 on the same page um computer software it's not really a bunch we do use quite a bit of software

095in the district um but when we do find if there's something that's really not being used you know we try to track as much as we can what the use of something is um and if something's not really being used then we just get rid of that so we don't have to pay for it um and so we're down 3,000 this year it's not a lot but um and then on page 14 line 326 contracted assessment were actually up um 7,000 and that is because right now um the department of Ed pays the cost of our nwaa assessment um in grades 3 through 8 and 10 because it's the it's the state main threeyear assessment is the nwaa so they pay for that um but that contract with NWA is up right now um so

096the department of Ed is going through the process of deciding if they're going to stay they put out rfps they're deciding if they're going to stay with nwaa or go with somebody else um so to be safe um I put in what the cost to cover 3 through eight in grades 10 would be in nwaa just in case the state decides to go with a different vendor uh so which we're hoping they don't but Roger oh Tina which one okay very good I'm a little confused if they they pay for the testing now but if they were to go with a different vendor then they might not pay for for that they they would definitely not pay for NWA if they're not if it's not the state test oh I see what you mean okay

097I understand Roger so I guess my question this may be an uneducated uh question but if we may not use it or be required to use it why would we want to pay for it uh NWA has been a the assessment we've used as a district even before um the state we used to have NWA for district for data for teachers and administrators um and the state had a different assessment and this was probably four or five years ago and then and that was the main I can't remember the name of it now and we didn't have to pay for that part so we were we used to pay for NWA to use as a district um and then when the state started using NWA for the state they picked up part of that cost

098we still pay our ourselves for K to 2 um and nine uh 9 11 and 12 um and so the understanding was that if we didn't if the state wasn't going to use NWA we would still use NWA for our own purposes um it certainly is I mean yeah you could get rid of NWA and not it would just be a an assessment we wouldn't have then okay all right any Elaine we were giving Nas back when I was teaching 15 years quite a while whatever ages ago did you say no NOA the New England yeah um it's a it's a it's a test and they actually take it on the computer and the test adjusts to their their level so if this test I got this one wrong the test Am I Wrong Pat

099well for the state for the state test it the state um it only lets it adjust within a certain grades but for like K to two still it adjusts for them that the teaching the teaching part of that is you get to see each kid for those kids that are not being assessed by the state you get to see where exactly where they are and then it can help instruct tell you where we need some instruction and fill some gaps the state used to give the meas and they probably were giv them when you were in school and every year it was a different test they'd make up something new and it's really hard to compare apples and oranges each year no they finally moved I it was crazy drove me insane um used to

100have a teacher that said oh they were probably old too weren't they um when we went to they finally said okay we'll go to the NWA after for 10 years we had said stop this changing the test every year we're trying we don't want to have to teach the test but every year we'd come out and look terrible because they changed everything it it was crazy this has been a really good way to do it and I hope they don't when you were saying they're going to change yeah it it levels the playing it's it's equal playing across the board if everybody's doing the exact same assessment yeah no no no no it's the K and the thing is once they start that test in kindergarten first second they Advance with it but they know

101by third grade this is what we're going to be doing and they're tuned into it when they would get the meas there was a shock Factor each year like what am I supposed to do you know and of course they big secret they wouldn't tell the teachers so this is yeah any other questions for Chris very good thank you thanks all right Transportation Norma yeah I was told Elaine I was told by your husband that you can't be doing apples and oranges there's no such thing as an orange great made us laugh every time Norma thank you so on I don't have much really for transportation page 29 l650 um increase of $5,000 due to the Bailey's contract increase per hour this year 650 so it's going up from 80,000 85,000 oh wow do you

102find it and then page nine line 659 um increase of $3 5,000 gallons of propane which the impact is like $7,500 cuz we plan on purchasing a uh propane bus page 29 line 660 veh an increase of vehicle fuel for $2,500 for special needs transportation and mckin vinto transportation increase and then page 29 line 663 lease principal um $25,000 $2,476 current bus lease agreement for the bus that we bought last year um $36,000 for a purchase of the propane bus lease agreement and then $1,733 year agreement that's basically to save us money so it'd be a total impact of 15,000 for this year's budget Could you um does anybody have any questions C could you talk about the mckin vinto I am I saying it right M Kinny vento is a law that we have

103to abide by for anybody that is um in inadequate housing that means if they don't have running water power electricity or couch surfing and or living in a shelter um we have to provide them with Transportation even if they attend one day in our school district okay thank you that's out of District so like we we were um transporting some kids from Norway so all right I I heard somebody going what's can oh very good uh any other questions for Norma thank you all right you did it thank you all right we're almost done okay I would entertain a motion for a five minute recess Don Elaine seconds uh any discussion all those in favor say I all all oppose say nay all right e e I love doing that I need a heavier Gabel

104all right so next up is facilities and maintenance Wayne uh hello again hello again now I'm a little upset with Scott because he said I just had to stand up here and answer questions so but um we'll start off with uh Spruce Mountain Primary School um page 30 line 676 um a rate increase of property insurance unfortunately that goes up every year so um and some of this will be repetitive throughout each school um line I mean page 30 line 679 uh General supplies which is uh cleaning supplies chemicals paper products trash bags gloves Etc um that's a increase of $1,000 uh inflation everything goes up for some reason so hopefully sometime it'll go down um and then I have Spruce Mount Elementary School um page 30 line 690 uh repairs maintenance of equipment which

105that has to do with our HVAC which is the heating ventilation and air conditioning uh of uh each unit obviously the elementary doesn't have air conditioning but um custodial equipment and all mechanical items um increase of a thousand there um same thing um we got a thing from Seamans the other day a letter from seens the other day that said the possibly increases because a lot of the stuff comes from overseas so be be aware of that um so um page 30 line 694 the rate increase of property insurance again of $1,826 um and then go to the Middle School um page 31 line 712 712 uh property insurance rate increase of $2,830 and4 cents and again um page 31 line 715 General supplies um increase there of 2000 um we use a little bit

106more supplies over there due to the size of the building um takes a lot there so um then on to the high school um page 32 line 724 contracted professionals uh annual contracts uh trash overhead doors um Pest Management roofs um that's an increase of $247 um page 32 line 726 repairs maintenance which is equipment um HVAC that's another thousand just just because again the um increases of of Parts um page 32 line 728 repairs maintenance of the building um that's all Electrical Plumbing carpentry roof repairs um an increase of a th um we've got a lot of old old pipes uh here and also um the electrical was some of the breakers are more costly now where they're a lot a lot older it's hard to find um page 32 line 730 property insurance

107rate increase of $2,864 98 and this is where we put the the lease for the truck which is page 32 line 737 uh 2025 F350 dump truck to replace the GMC dump truck that we have currently now um we're doing that over a three-year lease uh $330,000 for impact there um and then we'll go to systemwide which consists of uh central office um and also deals with all facility facilities as well uh page 32 line 745 contracted professionals this is the annual contracts again with um Overhead Doors Pest Management roofs Etc um 1,172 uh page 32 line 748 waste removal um we have that through cassella waste um we contracted with them for the next two years I believe it is um that's an increase of $1,000 this year for that um page 33 line

108749 snow removal um we're contracted of course with Gan castang way logging um that's an increase of ,000 for that contract and heating oil which is uh page 33757 that's a rate increase of $1,080 um just due to the impact of oil fluctuating going up so and I think that is it all right thank you any questions for Wayne see none thank you great thank you adult in Community Education Robin okay so a few changes in probably initial sticker shock but I will explain how those work out so 94 postage what page what page are you on I'm sorry that's a good question I'm not sure on the entire book oh hand it out I apologize you say section four section four section four in the book oh section we good are you still looking

109is it just the adulted hand out okay does anyone need a copy good okay so it's this handout that you had in your packets thank you sorry Oh no you're fine I wanted to make sure that we're all looking at the same document line 14 is postage uh the cost of postage continues to increase we mail cataloges to over 5,000 homes and have tracked the effectiveness of those mailings in relation to enrollments um so that is increasing by 1,800 the next line um is Workforce invoke ready lines 24 through 27 there you'll see two new positions one being a CDL contracted instructor the other being a Workforce coordinator so that increase together shows about A5 58,000 impact as an increase um but we'll also go down into the local literacy lines and see where that

110cost is offset in another place in the budget so the workforce coordinator position is going to be repurposed from our current admin assistant and marketing Outreach role uh which will become a reduced position um and you'll like I said you'll see that in the local literacy line below and the salary line for the CDL instructor will be paid through adult education subsidies so there will be no added local share costs for FY 26 for those positions and then jumping down to line 42 through 47 those are the local literacy lines um that I talked about that admin Position will become part-time and monies from those lines will help support the workforce coordinator role so that's a decrease of roughly $75,000 so there's like I said there's no cost increase through the local share um but

111the budget does go up by 85,000 and again that'll be covered by adult education adult education subsidies and carryover funds okay thank you any questions for Robin Roger do we have a truck or vehicle for these people to learn their CDL on yes that's the grant so the grant covers everything except for personnel which is oh that's right you said that okay so that's why we have the Cale instructor awesome thank you in this yep you're welcome anybody else have questions for Robin thank you Robin you're welcome thank you food service Laura Al set um first we're going to start and I hope I'm not going to jinx myself by decreasing our repair line repair and maintenance by $5,000 um we've done a lot of um Capital Equipment Improvement and I'm anticipating that we'll have

112have less hopefully in our repairs so that's a decrease for $5,000 um what was line number four I'm sorry I should have led with that line number six was the travel line I am proposing that that be increased by 5,675 so that um myself and staff two to three staff members can attend um the national school nutrition Association conference in July um which was a part of the spend down plan that I we had put together Scott and ion crystal in the fall for the um state of Maine um line number nine is food line and it's an anticipated increase of food cost and there is an error on there that should be 22,8 39 I wish it was two $22,000 but it should be 22 and that is the standard um anticipating of a

1133% um food cost increase which is pretty pretty standard if we can keep it at 3% I think we'll be doing well um with what we've been seeing in the past few years um line number 11 is equipment line um and that line is going to cover the new equipment and cafeteria updates um as again once again that's in the spend down plan and that is uh $320,000 um there increase um and then in lines one two and three wages and benefits and there I don't have the impact out there broken out um but we are asking to increase one staff member as well as the um standard increase in wages um for all of the staff so for our overall budget there is no no um local support this is all within the Food

114Service budget and our spend down plan so very good any questions H Elaine Sarah Sarah all right I just want to clarify again a little discrepancy on line nine in our pamphlet it says 2800 it should be 22,000 okay that's what's in the book yeah was a typo when they did them sorry did yeah do you have a question El oh okay any other questions for Laura thank you thank you all right debt Services okay on page 33 of your first section uh Debt Service uh is it stays the same as last year this is for Seamans 1 and Seaman 2 work these uh amounts will be up in the year 2034 I won't be here and I'm not sure if many of you will still be on the board in 2031 maybe you never

115know Dawn there you go are there any questions right now on debt service and then all other is also on page 33 that's contingency it's the same as last year it's $100,000 that's what we've kept in the last probably five or six years uh in case something comes up that we hadn't planned for uh we have to have it in the budget so we don't have to go out to the town and ask for another vote uh for things at one time it was up over $200,000 and we've brought it down over the past five years and luckily we haven't had to spend it and we'd like to keep it that way questions any questions for Scott Ju Just a big reminder March 6th next Thursday we are it said snow date we've had snow

116date so we are having that meeting it's only on the budget that night we not anything else um during that meeting it's only the budget when you take this stuff home if you go through it if you have questions please email me okay so that way we'll have the answers for you when you get to the meeting if you wait till the meeting we might have the answers for you but this way You' be guaranteed that you have the answers um couple things in here that wasn't mentioned before uh couple new positions uh I had mentioned it at a uh I think it was a transportation meeting because someone was asking um at the elementary school and primary school they're looking to add a DEA students um we've talked about behavior issues and allowing the

117principls to get into the classrooms more um instead of just adding a whole position what we've done is we know there's a retirement in the secretary position at the primary school so what we're hoping to do is have one secretary one one dean of students um that's kind of worked at the middle school for us over the years um and that they can overlap and do things a lot of times uh the dean of students is taking care of attendance but also taking care of behaviors uh can make phone calls home um you really don't want your secretaries having to chase a kid down the hallway for other issues um Pat's wanted it for a while too he's given up a half a secretary in order to do that so like I said it's not

118one full position brand new positions coming in we're taking some away and the other difference you'll see in the budget is at the Middle School uh we've had a uh DEA students here for a long time he's done a great job but we believe in order to bring in somebody new at the primary and Elementary School you kind of have to put them on the teacher scale when it comes to pay so if we do that and you guys approve that we will be bumping up the salary for that person at the middle school to be fair across the board any questions all right you have your co-curriculars I would uh as Scott said we do have that special meeting March 6th we also have a Schoolboard meeting on March 13th and March 27th and

119there'll be a finance committee meeting at 5:30 on March 27th I would entertain a motion to adjourn Lena Lena Roger any discussion all in favor say I