001Hello. >> Are we good? Thank you. >> Um, wow. Welcome guys. First day of school, maybe sort of. Um, welcome to the first SAU meeting of the school year. I am Lisa Christie still as I have been for a while and the chair of this and we have a large agenda just like the Dresden had a large agenda. Um and so just want to own the fact that we're kind of holding two things here. There are important things to discuss there are important things that need to happen tonight and we also need to be efficient and I don't want one to come at the expense of the other and I will do my best to honor both of those things and I will fail and succeed accordingly. um depending on what's happening. So, I just
002want to name that because it is really hard after a two and a half hour meeting to kind of look at what might be another long meeting. So, I really appreciate that we're all here. Um so, agenda review. Do we have anything that needs to be rearranged? Like Jay, I'm wondering, do you need to How long do you wish to stay with us this evening? >> Yes, I haven't had dinner yet. >> Okay. So, I also Trux Collins has been on the phone for like forever. So, I would like to give them the opportunity to still be the first thing, but then move Jay's celebration up to the next item if that is okay with everyone. So, then they can both go about their days. >> Yes, Kelly. I just wanted to add a quick
003board for chairs update in the committee section. >> Yes. >> I just don't >> I had I had a note. Yeah, >> I don't want to forget to say it myself. So, saying it now. >> Saying it out loud. And um >> yes, um four chairs. Also, there were some um there were some we're there are so many new things this school year and they are all wonderful and they will all be better. And one of the things that will be better is our use of Simly. And so there is a there's a superintendent's amended contract that we're discussing, but we're not really discussing. We're just referencing it. And then we are approving Superintendent Steiner's contract, but it's not under discussion. So, we need to have it. We need also need to add um a
004discussion of of Superintendent Steiner or Robin's contract um under business requiring discussion and um so just don't let me can you make those changes live for me? >> We're gonna test Robin and see if she can do it. >> Um Lauren could do it at the meeting. Um, and I think >> Yeah, exactly. I think that that is it. I wrote it down, but just remind me if we can't actually change it. Okay. So, if there are no other changes to the agenda, which that seemed like quite a bit, um, we're going to move on to public comment. Um, this is a time for the public, either online or in person, to comment on anything that is not listed on the agenda. >> Jay, >> hi, my name is Jay Adams. >> I live in
005Stratford, Vermont, but um I just wanted to to let the board know that if you didn't already know, I've been appointed to the Vermont um school reconfiguration task force. We had our second meeting today. >> Oh, wow. and I'd be happy to keep the board up to date um as you as you see fit. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, sure. Thank you. >> And thank you. Thank you for serving and thank you for being willing to update us. >> Maybe not this evening. Um >> but >> still finding our way anyway. >> Thank you. Um also wanted to point out that Rebecca Holam who represents Norwich is on that as well. So we have some we have some strong representation from this district. Um okay, anyone else? That felt weird, Jay. Okay. Um, business requiring
006discussion. We have TRX Collins online. David Epstein. Epstein. Sorry, David. Um, and then we also have our wonderful facilities. I don't even know what your title is now officially. >> Do you? >> What is your director? >> Yeah, for those of you who don't know me and I see some new faces. My name is Tony Del and I'm the facilities director for the SA7. >> Yeah. So, we have two here >> to help with this properties. >> So, I don't know how you all want to do it. I'm going to kind of turn this over to you. Um, >> well, I I think the way we discussed it is we're going to let Truce Collins give their presentation. >> Okay. >> And then open it for questions. I based on what they're going to present
007tonight. >> Great. >> David, are you >> Yeah, I am here. Can you hear me? Okay, >> we certainly can. Thank you. >> Um, I'd like to share my screen. I don't know if I have to be promoted to a panelist or if I can just do that. >> Oh, join as a panel. >> Yep, you're being promoted. I'm also can you promote Stephen Stefan Poston my colleague who is also um >> should be on the line. Hi everyone. Now you can see me. >> Yes we can >> and David just so you know you are being um recorded and are on YouTube live. So feel free, you know, we don't need to see your face if you do not wish to be. >> Okay. No, that's fine. I'll just have to I'll just remind
008myself to smile occasionally. >> Okay, take it away. >> Okay, great. Well, thank you and thanks for inviting us here. Um, I'm Dave Epstein, one of the partners at Trux and with me is Stefan Poston and he's our project manager. We're going to walk you through we're what we'd like to do is give you a update on our the project we've been working on which is the capital improvement plan. Um and we have a very brief slide deck that we want to talk through and then we'll open it up for questions. Um so I'm going to share am I allowed to share my screen? You can, but you should also know that anyone who is on Simly has access to your deck right now. So, we can all see it whether you share it or
009not. >> If you share, >> if you share, it will go on YouTube. >> Okay, that's fine. Um, I just sent a request to share and um, in um, in the same spirit as Jay's announcement, I wanted to also let you know I've been appointed to um, the school construction advisory board um, which is is another component of act 73 which is to work with the agency of education in Vermont um, towards getting a school construction ction um program back up and running. So um you know we'll you know and I'll I'll keep you apprised of uh what we talk about you know when we do talk with the board and and through our meetings with Robins. Okay. So I'm going to try and share. Here we go. Desktop two. >> Y you got it?
010>> Y there. Perfect. We'll go to slideshow mode there. >> So, um, as I said, this is just a a brief slide deck. Um, we want to talk about, you know, what what is our scope? What have we've been tasked with? Um, the we want to talk about the Bureau of Veraritoss database, which is the work that was done in 2022. Then the cost update, which is what we've been working on. We want to talk about the climate action plan uh which was adopted by the board and then the prioritization that we did of the different elements in the bureau of veritas database and then finally uh where we are with the capital improvement plan and what next steps are. So just to reiterate our scope of work um as you recall the RFP was
011quite extensive. In the end the board focused it on two things. One was updating the costs in the Bureau of Veritas uh database and then putting together a capital plan um a capital improvement plan which basically says what you know helps guide the district in terms of what investments should be made um you know each year or each f every five years um to take care of the buildings and and really as a starting point to understand the scope of of the um issues and both in terms of the kinds of issues but also the costs. >> So Stephan, do you want to talk about the your work with the database? >> Yeah, absolutely. Hi everybody. Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yes. >> Wonderful. Good. My name is Stefan Poston. uh been working with
012um some folks on on the school or wi with Robin and with Jay and with Tony uh and Teresa to u gather information and then put it together and see how we can best make use of it. So the the very first thing we did was we were given access to beer Veritas database as David mentioned where um that firm had come through and done an assessment of all the schools and and grounds in 2022. Um and we started to review that to see how we could best use that data and update it to uh today's costs and then project those forward into the future and to help with any planning that the district needs to make. And a few things became apparent. One was that uh the costs were just just at first glance
013seemed fairly low um based on what we have seen recently in the uh you know in the construction and building markets. Uh and so that was something that that sort of um you know raised a little flag for us. Uh and then as we dug into the database, what we found was that the database uh is very extensive and it it is a very powerful tool. It's a really great reference for anybody who is um looking to find out more about what each of the schools has in it and what condition those things exist in. Uh but it was it's not userfriendly. It takes quite a bit of time and training to navigate it and updating costs and information within the database proved to be pretty prohibitively timeconuming. And so what we did was we
014decided to take the database and export it to a spreadsheet that we could try to make much more user friendly while still keeping the information in the database as a reference for anybody who is um looking to find information on planning work in the future. So this uh slide speaks to um BV is bureau veraritas and then PM and C is the company that we used to update the costs. So what we did first was we took all the bureau of veritas costs and we escalated them mathematically to 2025 costs and then um we have the PMNC costs in 2025 and you can see the totals on um was about $67 million is what Bureau of Veraritas um came up with. Um the new calculations are about 133 million. So roughly double and this is
015consistent with you know um we've seen this with uh Bureau of Veraritas reports in other um in other um you know in Vermont they did a quite a bit of um they did the whole state and and they were coming back with numbers that were quite low and a lot of the facilities directors were saying you we can't. It was a difficult conversation because people were like, well, we would go in and do a facility evaluation and it would be $50 million of work at a building whereas Bureau of Veras would say it was 5 million. And so there was quite a discrepancy. Anyway, one of the things that I think is really worth pointing out is that the the work that's in the report, the Bureau of Aaratas report, is for inind replacement of
016equipment materials. So there's no system upgrades. There's no geothermal or any kind of um you know system change. So if you have unit ventilators in the building, they just comment on replacing unit ventilators with new new unit ventilators. And that's an example of an outmoded technology. um if you have vinyl composition flooring, they just assume you're going to put vinyl composition flooring back down. Um which is not necessarily what the district's doing. >> So, so it's it's uh and and there is no um renovations to the buildings to improve um you know the educational effectiveness of the building or align them with 21st century learning. So, it's really it's a really kind of nuts and bolts. This is what you have. This is its condition. This is what the cost is to replace it. Um,
017so we, you know, when we started working on this, we were informed that the the district has um adopted a climate action plan. And some of the features of the climate action plan like the top bullet is a big one. Replace all fossil fuel consuming HVAC and DHW which is domestic hot water with high efficiency electric systems such as heat pumps. And then there's things like improving the insulations of the walls and ceilings. Um and there's some other ones that are, you know, like replacing fluorescent fixtures with LEDs. Well, that's you're going to do that anyway. But our what we've done is we've currently flagged anything in the database that could be related to the climate action plan. But but we don't you know it's not part of our scope to go to go in
018and say okay how would we replace all the fossil fuel systems for um related to HVAC with electric systems. That that would be a different kind of study. Um and we'd have to bring in an engineer and we and we do these kinds of studies all the time but it's just not part of our scope. So that's a decision point for the board is how should the climate action plan be addressed in this capital improvement plan? >> Stephan, do you want to talk about the the the how we did the priorities and the waiting? >> Yeah, absolutely. Um early on in our discussions with um you know with Tony and um with Jay, Teresa and Robin um we realized we needed to to help come up with a way of prioritizing um potential work because
019there's so much of it. The number of line items itself is pretty high. Um, a few things we had to work with were uh some remaining usable life estimates that Beritas had conducted as well as a rating of condition for any given item um from poor up to good and in fact some things had been noted as failed condition uh which were addressed earlier but that that's sort of the range of of data we were given to start to assign priority and And we took a pass through assigning uh a numbered system 1 through 4 just to to help to make decisions uh such as uh priority one items would be those items that are that are like that need to be done right away. There's some sort of a code violation or water is
020leaking into the building or there's an unsafe condition. Uh priority two would be things that should be done and uh you know should be done soon and there would be a lot of benefit to it. And then, you know, the importance and effects uh and and return on investment of priority 3 and priority four a little bit lower with priority 4 being those items that actually Tony and and and his facilities team went through and noted that uh these are routine maintenance items. These are things that they're going to be doing anyway. They're already planned for or they're working to get them into an annual budget. Um so with those three criteria we were able to just do a very simple formula to weight the priority. So if something has very low usable remaining life
021and is critical and uh is in poor condition, it would rise further up on the list than those items that might be maintenance or things that have 15 or 20 years of usable life left. And so that's that's what we came up with with uh which is a way to help with the decision making and and find those decision points when looking at um you know really what is a big list of items that could be addressed. So um so what we did was we we created uh rather than go real granular and and talk about like year 1, year two, year three, we grouped them in five-year grouping. So we said here are all the things that need to happen uh years 1 through 5, years 6 through 10, 11 through 15, and 15
022through 20. And what we did was for the items in um the first group we escalated them um 5 years at 4.1% then the next group 10 years at 4.1%. Um 4.1% is the you know we we recently reached out to a number of cost estimators and asked them what should we use for construction cost escalation um as an average and that's the number they gave us. So that's why we're using it and we did that for 15 through 20 and then you and then we totaled it up. So you can see the in years 1 through five it's approximately $21 million and if you divide that by five that's $4.2 million a year. Years 6 through 10 similar exercise that's 4.6 million a year. And then you can see it starts to really rise.
023And that's a you know I think that's just the nature of how the rankings work. But also, you know, the further you go, the more uh cost escalation there is. So that everything gets more and more expensive compared to today's dollars. And so, you know, now we're at 80 million. And then at 15 through 20, it's at 126. So, so the um the total is now if you do it if if you didn't bond for any of this and you just paid as you went along and you did everything that was in the Bureau of Veraritoss report which is you know and this is an academic exercise um now the total for all that is 251 million um as compared to in today's dollars it's 133 million and so one of the decision points you
024know will be is you what things should be bonded for and what things should be budgeted for. And this is a typical, you know, conversation and decision point that districts have um because, you know, some things you can, you know, you can reasonably budget for, but other things um might require a bond because it's beyond your ability to budget for. and and you can see the effect of of trying to pay as you go is that the the costs keep escalating year after year um and grow quite a bit. And then finally, the last um I think decision point we talked about um as a smaller group was um should there be a a larger facilities committee whether it's a board facilities committee or ad hoc facilities committee to help guide the project? Um because
025you know there's some big big decisions here um and big questions like the capital improvement uh sorry the climate action plan um bonding and and you know I think that's something for the board to consider is like what group should be um making those decisions or making those recommendations for the board to consider. Um so in terms of next steps, you know, the next step, um you know, we definitely need some feedback about climate action plan. Um we, you know, we need to get a little more granular um in terms of, you know, the the uh information that we've um presented. But but I think the um and and with the net result of creating the the capital improvement plan um and and so you know we're at this point that concludes our presentation and
026we'd like to open it up for questions and answers well questions and hopefully we'll have answers. Um, one before I open it up for questions, um, there just appears to be a typo on slide seven under years 1 to five. The Bernice Ray number looks a little large. >> Uh, I think what happened was it didn't round. You see the 603 281.86. >> Yeah, >> I I probably didn't put the rounding function on the uh on the spreadsheet. >> It should be around 3 million. >> 600. Oh, good. Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Good catch. >> Just wanted to catch. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, we can definitely make that change. >> Okay. Um and with that, Kelly, just a quick clarification on that same slide. If we were to decide,
027let's bond the whole amount today, 133 million, let's do it. Are there any duplicates due to life cycle replacement in years 1520 or are these all single >> like individual things? >> Yeah, that's a great question. No, right now they're all they're all there's all only a single replacement cycle. So, you know, if you replace an air handling unit that had a 15-year or 20 year lifespan in today, you yeah, it might show up in the 15 to 20, but that kind of um that that has not been accounted for in these in the Bureau of Veraritas report. They only have single cycle replacement of of all the items >> because you look in that 15 to 20 year, you're starting to re-replace some of this stuff too, right? So that's deferring has >> an
028additional cost. So >> yes, >> um Ben, >> thank you for this. David, the I'm assuming this should be a big wide list. That's why it's not on here, but is there a way we can see what you ranked as priority one, two, three, four? Um yeah, I mean we could make the data, you know, the spreadsheets available to to um show you so you could go through those. We worked, you know, that was something that was um done in concert with Tony um and the and the district. So we we took a stab at it first and then they um and then we met with Tony Stefan and Tony met and kind of worked through all of them and re reccalibrated as necessary. But we we'd be happy to make that available. >> And
029I'd just like to add too that those are definitely for you know for review. Um you know we do our best with what we know. Um, but there could be things that would change priority based on just what what you all know about the district. >> Tony, I think had something to say on this. >> Comment on that. >> I what I think should happen after seeing those uh spreadsheets they made is that we should form a facilities committee. let four, five, six, whatever people take us take a good look at that stuff and then report give it to you guys because I don't think it's it's been prioritized but it hasn't gone through to like stuff we've just accomplished in the last few years and stuff that >> you know needs to be defined
030a little bit better before >> I think you should guys should look at it. I think it needs to be, you know, um the useful life of publicity needs to be adjusted on some things because we go off the bureau of Veritoss' assessment. Some things are right on, some things are a little off and in that spreadsheet, that's what we as a side note we did, we added like for further review because it's not correct, right? I don't want to give you guys something that you know again some of the information is not updated. So I do think with your you know with your you know you approve or think it's a wise thing to do is we we form a group to uh look at this stuff and then report back um to you
031all a little bit better so we can so then then we can make a better informed CL um capital improvement plan. Right now it's it's still in the early stages I believe. Just a quick clarifying question. So this reflects if we want to keep all of the schools as they are today. It does not reflect if 10 years from now the way that teaching is done is suddenly decided that everyone has like open classrooms. So this is just yeah that like would be a separate >> and we our districts have done that. They had open classrooms and then we that's correct. We have to decide where are we going to Kelly's point in 20 years some of this equipment will be the end of it it's useful like you know be done >> right at
032that point >> this building was renovated in ' 06 >> the next year is 26 um >> along with the entire town of Hanover >> Richmond was built brand new in 2005 right >> it's 20 years old >> so we have to come up with how we're going to start replacing some of this stuff if we're going to keep those physical plants in operation >> to see in the future. >> Thank you. >> And just there there's the monetary part of this like you know going with Kelly's let's play with this and we get all of this approved now and we've got this bundle of money to to do. There's also the capacity part of it like I'm assuming Tony and his crew could not manage all of this happening at once. like it would
033still have to be >> Yeah. All these projects for our buildings would have to be based >> accordingly. >> Okay. >> Kelly, I agree with creating a committee. Um, you know, somebody's got to be on that committee. I recognize that. But I think I mean because this also doesn't incorporate, you know, the the opportunities of doing the roofs and putting in solar and maybe we have some cost savings there. Not to mention, you know, philosophically the way we want to head. So, you know, redoing windows is going to help with our, you know, heating budget. And so, there's a lot of those sorts of things that I think a committee would be able to drill down on as well. >> Jay, >> I just want to remind the board too, we made the conscious decision
034in the light of the different budget uncertainties we were dealing with last year to strip this engagement down with Trux Colin. So what we're looking at really is the cost of doing nothing. >> We decided to forego the visioning and thinking about how things might change >> and this is this is essentially >> taking care of deferred maintenance and planning to avoid having deferred maintenance moving forward. >> Yes, Deb, but it's also I think addressing the climate action plan to a certain extent. >> Well, when is it >> highlighting it? I I believe again we probably should share those spreadsheets. They did highlight it in those but take those spreadsheets >> and realize that they are not they are not a road map and they're just one for one but then >> highlighting items that
035fall into the climate action plan right >> which then the price is totally different >> and and I think also to Kelly's point having the cost savings in a column as well would be helpful. Yes. Um Carrie >> um And I definitely agree that it feels like a committee should be developed. I think one of my questions is um I I would look to you to think about like who who needs to like what are the roles that should sit on that kind of committee. Um you know and like what are those expertise within our district or within our resources that would be most beneficial to be on a committee such as that. >> Neil oh sorry Deb and then Neil I forgot about Deb. Well, I was basically going to say I do not
036think the committee members need to be school board members. >> Yeah, I agree. >> I think they should come from the community with experience in >> construction and architecture and surely we have people in the community who would step forward. >> Yeah, I agree. do their part. >> Yeah. >> Um I I guess to follow up on on that idea then the question for me is what what's the purview of that committee? Um is it strictly just determining you know what what the capital improvement plan was or is it also going to address and how do we fund it? >> Um I will admit feeling personally a bit of paralysis in this whole thing. uh you had me at 133 million when you went to 200 and some odd million. Um I mean David, you
037got to know at being part of the task force that's looking at the stuff in Vermont, there ain't no money. There just flat out ain't no money. How the hell are we going to pay for something like this? And I I will I mean and the same situation is on the on the New Hampshire side of the river. Like we're talking about boards going through Colchester went through an extraordinary effort to pass a $15 million bond for improvements. And I'm looking at something that's 10 times to 20 times that amount. >> It's just it it is it is not possible to fund that on the backs of the local district. We're stuck in a situation where this is just in my mind just flat out not affordable >> and that stops me from like this
038work and and this work needs to be done, >> right? Like those are two truths in my mind and how do you reconcile them? >> Yeah. And no, and we we're having these conversations with school districts, you know, all over Vermont. Um, you know, these numbers, the 133 million, um, is right in line with many districts uh, we're working with in terms of the u amount of deferred maintenance they have. And it is it is it's a it's a vexing problem. Um, for the record, Colchester um, passed I think it was close to a hundred million uh, dollar bond vote to take care of their deferred maintenance. um which was surprising because that's that you know we don't see that a lot in Vermont uh a community um you know one of the things we've
039been doing with other communities is we've been cost modeling um similar to to the to the slide we showed um but in other districts they're looking in Vermont especially because there's a lot of small schools and you folks don't really fit into this category of of you reconfiguring the district in a way that makes it more efficient, less facilities, less square footage to take care of. And so that's what a lot of districts are doing to try and get out of this bind is is trying to create a more efficient and more effective model for delivering education. Um but like in in SA70 you know you're you know all of your schools are of a scale that really don't suggest that approach >> then >> so that David it seems like from what I'm hearing
040from you is that bureau veraritas pretty much had exactly half of what you are saying in terms of an actual dollar amount and I know that the dangers and both the appropriateness of of modeling but also the dangers of over and underestimating. What do you think? What do you think Bureau of Veritas would say in response to what you're telling us about how far off they were? I mean, you know, they they use I I don't know. I that would be pure conjecture on my part. I don't I couldn't put words in their mouth. Um, >> and I know this doesn't mean to have you speak from, but more like where you're telling us there's a difference of you're you're saying what they have is 200% of what it actually is, you know, or they're
041estimating by half. >> So, I'm assuming that they would defend themselves in in some way, for lack of a better term. Would they would so would they maybe say what would they say about you or what would you say in terms of if I say >> well you know >> why you think your numbers are more accurate than theirs >> that's >> I don't I don't know I don't know what they would say but I what I what I would say is they may be using like a national database that isn't really dialed in to the local region. Um there is a you know there's a shortage a severe shortage of um mechanical and electrical contractors subcontractors in northern New England which is really what causes a lot of uh price escalation. And if you're
042not aware of that when you're doing these kinds of estimating you will um you know you'll really miss the mark. and and you know most a lot of the the work in these uh deferred maintenance tabulations are related to mechanical and electrical subcontracting. Um, I mean, there's a generally a lack of subcontractors in in Northern New England, period. And um, it drives the cost up substantially. And if you're just not, if you're a national firm um, and you're not aware of that, you you might underount um, the cost of things. But I I don't you know I I just know they you know several of our clients have have had work done by them or other companies like that and when they go to do the projects um they cost vastly more than what was
043um was in in the database. So >> that's just our experience. Yeah. So that they think the largest difference in cost would be there theirs is generally an underestimation of labor cost while yours are more accurate assessments of labor cost in your opinion? >> Yeah, I think that's I think that's part of it. You know, our our uh we're using PMNC. They're a a estimating firm out of Massachusetts. They do work all over New England. We've used them on many projects and they so they they have um you know a good track record of of being as accurate as you can be in these situations. Now one thing is is that you know the purpose of these numbers and the purpose of a capital improvement plan it it's not like you know what happens is
044you're identifying all the the the different projects need to happen and you you have you're getting a ballpark estimate from the estimator based on unit costs um you know air handler this many BTUs is uh is going to cost X. But um the next step is once you have a capital plan is then you have to you have to then identify which projects you're going to you're going to do let's say the following year. hire architect and engineer or an engineer or whoever whatever special you need to scope the project because projects are always interconnected. You know like for example if you might want to do the roof of a uh of a building and in the database there's the cost for re-roofing but um you might want to put solar on the roof as
045was mentioned earlier. So then you have to get a structural engineer to check the capacity of the roof to make sure that it can hold the structural. So there's a cost, right? And then you might have to uh you might have to um improve the strength of the roof to put solar up if you decide to go that roof. So there's a cost when you're putting a new HVAC. You might uh be putting a ducted system which means you have to take down this like you might for example this doesn't address air conditioning your buildings. this capital the the work that Bureau of Verites does. You might decide in light of climate change that all the schools need to be air conditioned or at least you know a good proportion of them or or certain
046wings or whatever. So then you're you're having to redo the HVAC, you're having to put in insulated ducks. That means you take the ceilings down and that means when you take the ceilings down you're going to replace the lighting as well. And so you so you can kind of get a sense of like these you know buildings are composed of systems not individual components. Sometimes you can replace an indiv individual component but sometimes it makes sense to do a whole system replacement because while you're doing certain work it makes sense to do other work. And so that's the kind of investigation that needs to happen like the year prior to doing the work and and that's where you get the accurate scope and the accurate um costing. Um this information that we're providing tonight and
047that's in the the database is really just to kind of get get you started and give you a sense of the scale >> of of the of the problems. I I don't know whether to say thank you or ugg um or a little bit of both. Um but unless there are more questions, I kind of feel Yeah. Um >> yeah, go ahead, >> Linda Dante again. >> Um I'm also involved with the environmental club and the climate action plan. Um and so I just wanted to update the board. Um part of what we recognized for the climate action plan implementation was um a team to help inform the board and not and recognizing that George Collins was not providing that service gave us more sort of more motivation to try to build something that wouldn't
048cost the district at this point. And so that's why the climate action plan implementation team is being formed. And admittedly it's a small group now. We have people from Dartmouth College. Part of it came from the community forum we did on the climate action plan. We found community members are interested that actually have areas of expertise and been advocates in the community. So again, this is would be led by hopefully a sustainability coordinator at something that would be very affordable cost for the board this next year. Again, we're trying to put something in there that is going to bring in the expertise so that if there's a facilities committee in my mind's eye, there would be some overlap. again bringing in community expertise to inform the facilities committee. Maybe this would be a an a
049sort of pathway for that. So this is just a work in progress, but I wanted you to know that that the climate action plan information team is having their first meeting next week. I will be sharing that with with uh our superintendent. So she's on it. >> She's making notes right now. >> Yeah. So she'll be there telling you. >> Thank you, Linda. That's important to know. And and I do want to also point out that we passed this so we can't ignore it. Um, I mean this is this is something that we as a board passed and so it needs to be incorporated in some way while keeping Yeah. Um, so unless there's other comments, I'd kind of like to thank um Tony for staying so late and thank Collins for this information and
050for staying so late. Um, and just, you know, the four chairs will get together, talk about, you know, a committee. Um, if people have suggestions for who could be on it, that would be great and we'll kind of move forward. Yeah, Kelly. >> So, that was actually going to be my question moving us forward is who owns creation of that committee? Is it the board or should it be >> I don't know. That's a good question, >> Robin. Should it be who? Yeah, Tony. >> Tony. Tony wants to do it. Okay. >> All in, >> but I do think it should be admin some administrator. >> Administrator. Okay. starting and then yes some community members >> I I know and I don't want to say this I I hate to say things in gorgans that
051I regret but I don't know if we should have students because they're young pe they're wise but young and they don't quite understand a physical plant >> per se okay >> but I think and if there are some members of the community that who have expertise in some of these that would be great >> and and we just I just want we want I want to present to you all something that's we can work with, not not just numbers. >> I just don't want four chairs to hold up. >> Moving forward. And I I actually like the idea of of the superintendent's office housing it and then reporting to us just as you did with the strategic plan and, you know, making sure that the committee has the right people on it because I don't
052want you all to feel like you're making decisions that you don't have the proper expertise to make. I mean, I don't know how much you know about solar power or whatever, but there are lots of people in town who do, so just making sure that we connected you to them. Um, okay. >> Yeah. >> So, thank you everyone. I'm going to move us on to the next item. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay. Take care. >> Okay. So, our next item is Superintendent Bams. Um, we can make you come and stand in front of us. We can make you sit in a chair or you can stay where you are. >> Okay. any of any of the above works for me. Um so just to start with um that we'll
053do a quick update on on um Jay's contract and his current capacity with the district. Um as of August 4th, our superintendent is sitting next to me, Robin Steiner. Um but Jay has graciously agreed to stay on in a consultancy capacity um which he did for us just moments ago um in non-public for the Dresdston meeting and he will be doing that. So he is we're saying goodbye officially tonight but not totally goodbye. Um so just he will be doing that through the throughout the fall. So he has graciously agreed to do that. And with that we are now going to sort of vet and thank you. Um I want to give the board members an opportunity to say I told them to be within I think what what did I say 30 to 90
054seconds. Um so sort of each to be as succinct as possible but as grateful as possible. So again kind of balancing the quality and the efficiency. >> That was a roast. >> We can do that too but probably not for public consumption. Um, so I don't know who wants to get us started, but anyone who wants to start. >> Kelly. >> Well, so I Jay, I'm one of the few people who's been here longer than Jay. I'm looking at Neil. Um, but yeah, it's just been a joy. We appreciate your kindness and your generosity of your time and your patience with us and your patience with everyone and and your steadfast leadership throughout this time. So, thank you for all of that. >> Same back at you. >> The popcorn or you want us to
055go? >> Yeah, I I don't know. No one indicated that everyone does not have to talk is sort of so I I don't want to point to people who aren't willing. I'll just say something really quickly. I will never forget being at a board meeting and I'm not sure if I was on the board yet, but you were talking about your son and you were talking about making sure that the district paid attention and made every student feel their self-worth. And you were talking about an instance where your son felt like he was the expert in the room. And I think that that's something that resonates for me about you being superintendent is that you do the profession, but you bring the personal to it. And I think that combination is is really quite wonderful
056and we've really benefited from that. Um, I will also admit to a personal failing. I looked for the soldering thing I did at Hartford, >> which weighs about five pounds and is sharp and kind of a weapon. And I thought, "Oh, I'm going to give this to him." >> You'll find it. He's still around. >> I might have already thrown it out. >> That was such a fun day. >> That was a fun day. Yeah. >> But anyway, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, >> Tara. You had your hand up, did you? I I just wanted to say that um your your level of caring and focus on sort of success and and just care at the student level has been so touching to me because a lot of the work that we do
057feels very separated from that. even though a lot of what motivates us individually to be on this board is because we care about the individual level. So seeing you in action and knowing that that's where you put so much of your time and effort um has been so meaningful. >> Thank you so much. You just never know if anyone ever notices that. >> Seriously, thank you. Yeah, >> Ben, >> in terms of how much time has passed and yet so little time has passed. When I first met Jay, I came to a board meeting when my first kid was in kindergarten and they're now middle school, but where um I could not get into the building because the doors were locked and I was using the wrong entrance. I was at the front entrance to
058Ry not knowing where the board meeting was. had never been in the building before and I only went to the board meeting because Lauren Amaran happened to be walking past and she was late to the meeting and let me in. Otherwise, I probably would have walked away. You'd never have seen me ever. So, I'm sorry. You're welcome. But at that meeting, I raised my hand and interrupted them many times. I think Kelly was chairing things like, "What's a 504? What is this acronym? What's an IEP?" And the part that helps me a lot with Jay was that he calmly explained everything. I'm sure he's done it many hundreds of times now throughout his long lusterous career, but that he was a patient person. >> He I was not made fun of. There was no snickering.
059We got a comment in the last survey that board members have their opinions and they're always snickering and you know what they really feel and you're like, "Wow, okay, that's not true, but that's not Jay." And it was mind-blowing how patient you were and how focused you were on consensus building. And that was an issue that I've probably obviously have struggled with where you show me sort of not only here's what needs to happen. I'm saying a lot of us know what we need to do, but you have showed me in sort of a superintendent/metoring capacity how to do it and when to do it and how to make everyone kind of jump on the ship with you so we all don't drown. And that is one of your great skill sets is building up
060that consensus building so we all get there eventually in our own sweet time maybe for different reasons, but we all got to where you wanted to go, but you weren't you didn't force us there sort of gently guiding us by the hand maybe with some candy or something. But it really >> bags and bags of candy >> and along with the consensus building I have the one thing you gave to me which is a gabble and so there's some sort of metaphor there was here's the candy and how to build consent also this is what needs to happen sometimes >> and I will put those things together in my fond memories of you city my thank you >> yeah China >> I'm new to the board but I want to say publicly thank you for
061your courageous leadership during COVID I think as a parent in this district. I was grateful to you and to the board members that were here that you enabled us to live whole lives and our students to be in school and I will forever be grateful for that and I just uh wish you all the best and I'm really glad that you're helping us in Vermont to help us figure out the next steps. So, thank you. >> Yeah, thank you. That was that was I mean that was talk about community. That was all of us working together. That was that was I don't think I still fully process that. It was a lot that we all went through together and we did it as we were together. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. I'll just
062go now. I mean Bill Gina's comment. I think my impression Jay working with you has always been a lot of competency. I think I've always been impressed with the number of things that you've got going on at once as a superintendent when you walked in your office and I thank you. >> Yeah. the time in particular um when we were doing all of the um the discuss where we had to present in front of the Vermont state legislature for example and you were still kind of editing this you know piece that we had at 6:30 in the morning before we're supposed to go on and you know it's just kind of always having good ideas for how we might approach things. I've always been uh you know lucky to be working you with these ideas
063and kind of being able to balance everything that you were balancing in a competent manner. Gina said it kind of gave you a lot of um yeah just confidence in what we were doing. So thank you. >> Yeah. >> Uh so >> you don't have to speak. >> No no I will. I actually I I wrote something down speaker. >> And so uh if anything um I think it's a summary of what everybody else just said. So it's an indication that we're all thinking the exact same thing. But first off, I just want to say um thanks for your leadership in the district. I greatly appreciate it. Um your steady hand and thoughtful work helped guide our school systems through some very challenging times during your tenure. COVID certainly being one of them. Um, from
064the moment that you joined the district, I was impressed with your ability to really bring people together, including what I consider to be a very remarkable talent for bringing a sense of fairness to any difficult decision that we had. Um, and leaving everybody that was involved in that feeling like they were truly hurt. It's it's I've never seen anyone else with that same talent that you've got for that. Um, most notably, however, and and it was something that um that Deb brought up is that you are not just our superintendent, but you are also a client of this uh school system, having had a student of your very own at Hanover High School. And I do think that that scenario provided you with a very unique view into our school system that many school leaders
065don't have, at least not while they're working in that position. >> Um, I want to thank you for the support and the guidance that you provided me personally um, while you were here. You made me a better board member and I'm truly grateful for that. Um, and I also want to just say thank you for just your support, your guidance, and your care for all of our schools, all of our kids, um, all of our boards and our communities. It it was truly amazing. And, and, uh, I will remember fondly the years that I spent while you were at the home here. >> Thanks. I'll go like Gina very like short little tenure together on the board but um yeah I think in general just to reiterate other people's comments like just so thankful for
066leadership and clearly such a positive board and um having been able to witness different school boards and different settings that I've worked professionally it is clearly with some true leadership that this board functions so well. Um, and uh, yeah, thanks and I'm so glad that you were on with the part of that 11 member board and I can't wait for the update. Um, yeah, very grateful to see your name on that. >> One more thank you. >> Go, Kelly. >> Thank you for hiring Robin, too. >> Transition. >> Yes. Very smart. Um, I will go next. Um, I met Jay as a football parent. Um, and we were working the concession stand on a very dark night um, flipping very greasy hamburgers um, with cheese. And as you would guess, um, things go wrong as
067often as they go right when you have a bunch of parents in those volunteer positions interacting with the public and trying to fix equipment that may or may not work. Um, and what I found with Jay in that moment is he was incredibly friendly, extremely supportive, unbelievably fair, and unbelievably willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. It was sort of like it, you know, and to get greasy. I was going to say dirty, but we were not getting dirty. We were getting greasy. And um I feel like those characteristics that I met as a parentto parent interaction are also what we all felt in your professional capacity. And um I just think that that that's rare. A lot of people don't bring their true self to work >> and I really
068appreciate that you did. Um and I'm going to cry now. Um >> didn't know. Um but then I got to read something so I'll be fine. Um I also on a personal note because people have been saying that um I had a rough three years and you were great. >> So thank you. >> Yeah. >> Back at you, Lisa. I can say my thank you. I would I would just reciprocate everything that you all said. And I think part of it is Deb, you nailed it. And I um well, Tara, you mentioned it too. Um I I'd had this revelation when I did my dissertation. I had gone through all the stuff you go through when you're in a doctoral program and it was like my last revisions were due like in the morning. It
069was 1:30 in the morning and I was it was just about I was writing my conclusion. My wife was working on my bibliography and um I I got to like it was like 1:30 in the morning and I I was writing the conclusion and I I was trying to make sense of the whole case study that I had done and at the end what it what I came to the the great realization after like whatever $90,000 for a patent doctorate um was that I care. the reason that the the project succeeded was because I cared >> and and that that's that that's what made being superintendent here so easy is I don't know I can't remember any board members who've moved through here since I've been here who who didn't care deeply about this district.
070You wouldn't be here at 9:30. >> Don't remind us three and a half hours routinely if you didn't care. And and I it's been cool seeing each of you come on the board because you all came on the board because you cared. There might have been a very specific thing that brought you here, but you really quickly learned that that's not the only thing we're dealing with. And all of a sudden it's it's everything. And the reason that school boards are so important and I think often in in good situations like this affected because you care. Um and you too, you've all most of you had kids here. um you're so invested in it and I've said this on numerous occasions and I have no reason to blow sunshine your way but it amazes me
071how much your time energy passion that you give to this and against Dante like when I listened to the Trux Collins presentation and I heard Neil talk I was just like >> yeah I mean Woodstock has a triple digit triple million dollar digit they have sewage coming up through building and they can't. It's like we have big problems statewide and nationally >> that you're at the you're on the front lines of >> and uh and and I'm so grateful to you for doing it and to all of those folks who are willing to do that because we've got a lot more hard work to do and listening to the stuff like I heard today listen to some people's um concerns I'm stricken by the fact that uh and Neil, you made this point somewhere in
072one of the Norwich budget situations, but it's the the whole notion that public education is a collective common good. It's something that going all the way back to the founding of our country, we recognize as a common good and a critical critical component of maintaining democracy. But very often when when you you start getting to more and more scarcity, it becomes more about like what's what's in it for me? How does how is this going to benefit me and my child? And and you could have perfectly, you know, great citizens involved in these decisions who any who normally would be thinking about the common good who suddenly are >> are focused only on how a given decision affects them and their child. And uh and and I think we need and this is true probably
073nationally in everything. We need more realization that this is a common good >> and it's a it's a really important common good that we have a real great opportunity to screw up and you're the ones who will keep us from doing that. So I I will I will say thank you for your kind words but also thank you for what you're doing. And I I give I I just wish you all the best in continuing that work. And Robin, I hope we haven't scared you. We still haven't scared you away. So >> for two weeks, >> but I I have every faith that that you're going to carry on and continue moving us forward and helping the board do its work. And and thank you so much. >> Okay. Thank you, Jay. Um, we have
074two more things to do. Um, when board members leave, they get a resolution. And so we wrote a resolution for you. Resolution of the Dresden, Hanover, Norwich, and SAU school boards, 19th of August, 2025. Whereas one person can make a difference through service to one's community and career. And whereas Jay Badams served as our superintendent of schools from the 1st of July 2017 to the 4th of August 2025. Whereas Jay Badams served on the board school and community committees far too numerous to list. And whereas Jay Badams has been a tireless advocate and spokesperson for students, parents, teachers, staff, and the board. And whereas Jay Baden's unwavering principal stands on numerous difficult topics has served as an example for all community members. And whereas Jay Badens has served as an invaluable asset to staff, teachers,
075students, board, and community members for years and will continue to help shape the future, this is wishful thinking, of the educa of educational policy in the state of Vermont and the state of New Hampshire for years to come. And whereas the Dresden, Hanover, and Nor schools improved in their quality during Dr. J. Badam's tenure as our superintendent, we the undersigned extend our heartfelt gratitude and deep appreciation for the difference Dr. J. Badams made in the lives of students in Hanover, New Hampshire and Norwich, Vermont during his years of service and for many years to come as we all benefit from his tenure. and we sign it including we did a generic numerous HHA representatives to the dress. So we rather than listing all of them in your tenure although we could probably reconvene that before
076um I'll have this printed out and given to you in the meantime you have a small gift from us boy >> um there are two things happening um we all signed a card and I would like to note that it is the Marian cross school on the card >> I did not know I tried to find a card of the race school there was none or anything else so we have a an official artistic artistic card um by a local artist whose kids went to the school. >> Um who made this card and you have one >> tankered in here from Simon Pierce. >> The other one is being engraved with the SAU logo and will arrive as soon as it's done. We decided Tiffany might not want to drink out of the logo one.
077So, um there you go. So, there's a plain one and another one. And just thank you. >> Yeah, they're orange juice for all students to drink. That's right. Thank you very much. >> I can't believe you're staying when you can leave. >> Are we moving on a new another uh agenda item? >> Okay. Um, thank you everyone for participating in that. >> Thanks Jay. >> See you again. Not >> you better. Let us know about the new grandbaby. >> I sure will any day now. >> Yeah, that's why we keep hearing. Byebye. Good night. >> Bye, Jay. Um, okay. Our next item on the agenda is the IT update. And basically, um, Bryant just asked me to make sure that everyone had seen him. Um, to make sure that your personal devices were hooked up
078to the system so that you can use them while you're in the buildings. Um, for those people that were listening to the Dresden meeting, we had a bit of a conversation about the fact that, um, for security reasons, the internet is no longer public in any of our schools. And so, um, that is a change. Unfortunately, we had another conversation about self services and all that great in either handover or Norwich, and we might be thinking as part of our capital improvement plan about how to fix that. um because it would be nice in case of emergency for cell phones to work um in the building if people can't get to the internet. But um just letting the public know that that is the case that there is no longer public access um to the
079internet um um you have to have um and students for those parents who have are not yet aware of this have to have a schoolisssued device in order to get on. So, um, yeah. So, the one exception to that is the board members are being linked on our personal devices, but other than that, it's schoolisssued devices. So, he just wanted that public service announcement made. Um, we now have a reading of policies. Ben, take it away. >> Same you talked about in dressing. >> Okay. Any discussion from the public? Hello public. Okay, great. Um, we need we added a discussion of Robin's contract to this session section. Um, I want to say that it has not changed in any size, shape or form other than the date of it. Um, since we discussed it in
080April, I think >> June, was it June? Yeah, whatever the last meeting was. Um but we we did not officially approve the contract. So we do need to do that tonight. So um any discussion on on her contract? >> Let's get it done. >> Okay. Serving without an officially approved contractor there. That's what we should say. >> Okay. Um and with that, yes, business requiring action. Thank you, Deb. I move to approve, let's see if I can do it right this time. Items B, C, D, and F by consent. B. Oh, yeah. Did I get them all? >> Yeah, you got them all. >> Okay. Seconded by Ben. Um, everyone's here. So, all in favor? Unanimous. Thank you. And thank you officially. We'll we'll roast you later. Um so thank you so much. Okay. Now
081report of the chair. Due to the lateness of the meeting, I have no report except for to officially welcome Robin now that we have approved her contract and to say um good luck to all the staff, student teachers, community members, parents, the kids playing sports on the fields right now. Um the people who are making sure the schools are ready. Hi, Tony. Um, I know that they've been doing a lot of work over the past couple of days. So, just a huge thank you to all the behind the scenes work and good luck to everyone as the school year starts. So, that's that's what I've got. Um, committee reports. I know that we have one from the the chair of the four chairs. Anybody else? I start. >> Yeah, go for it. I think you're
082the only one. So, um, in order to help make our four chairs meetings a little more efficient, a little more, um, I guess clearly, um, organized in terms of agenda and such, um, the four chairs decide to elect care of the four chairs. That's me. Um, the other the other nice thing about that is that if you have suggestions for the four chairs about for governance matters or um, how to run meetings, etc., I'm the person you can send it to and then we're not running into um open meeting concerns sending them to all of the chairs at once. So I can be the point person on those. Um I've already received some really great suggestions. Thank you, Gina. Um but you know a lot of you have experience with um running meetings and running
083organizations. Would love to hear those suggestions. Um we also have had suggestions um about having a fall retreat. Um so the four chairs are going to try to meet prior to the Dresden meeting um so that we have a standing monthly meeting. Um that's our intention going forward so that we can kind of work through some of these things. Currently we think a fall retreat just is there's not a lot of bandwidth for that right now. Um but it is kind of in the back of our minds for perhaps later in the fall into the winter if we have a little more time once budget season kind of kicks off and settles down a bit. Um so those were the the big updates that I wanted to share with you all. Um so I know
084um one of the suggestions has been to add um really clear and it's come up a couple times tonight already. What are we trying to solve with this? Um can we put I noticed in simply there's tasks. So perhaps adding concrete questions um just to sort of guide the what are we hoping to achieve with this conversation? Um and what are the outcomes that we want? Is this an information, a point of information? Is this um you know a decision for tonight? Um what is the goal of this conversation? And hopefully that can you know get us all better prepared and moving through meetings a little more efficiently. So that's what I have to share. >> Any other committee reports? >> Um reinvite. >> Yes. Okay. I was going to >> Thank you. Okay. So,
085I just remembered something I forgot to say, but Robin's gonna say it for me anyway. Okay, so superintendent report. >> Hey, I'll try to make it brief, but it has been a fast and furious start to my superintendency. So, two weeks ago, I began and I started with a full SAU staff meeting just to get everyone together and, you know, to talk about monthly meetings with the SAU staff. And then on the next Wednesday, we had our first, well, not our first, but our back to school all new staff orientation. Um, we had about 20 people attend that and then all of the directors and principals and we did a little tour of the district. So, that was I think the fourth year that I've done that. But it was just so great to meet
086the new staff and really we the principles did an incredible job just hiring fabulous new people. I'm so excited and feel so fortunate to come in as superintendent with the group of new staff that we've hired. So that was Wednesday. Thursday, I brought all of the principles and directors together for a meeting and we just really look at leadership and what has informed our decision making as leaders. And um then this week I've been just following up or last week with um getting prepared for our opening meeting which will happen on Monday and hopefully you've all received your invitations to that. But that will be a district-wide meeting. All staff have been invited. I have a I'll start at 8 to 8:30 with breakfast. So again, you're all welcome to join for the entire meeting
087if you'd like or for hearts and pieces if you would like that more. We'll have a breakfast. I'm going to do some opening remarks just to, you know, like have a little pep rally, get it rolling, jazzed up at the start of the school year because that's what I like to do. And then we are going to have a student panel and I have students from all of the schools who will sit on the panel and some of our for our teachers who are former students of the district which I think will be a lot of fun. Actually Lisa gave me that idea which I loved because it fit in with my whole theme about really focusing on students. So I'm excited about that. And then we'll end with um basically a recognition of our
088staff members who have been here for 10, 20, and 30 years. That's something that I've been involved with in previous districts and I just really feel like it's a great way to recognize all the work that gets done in the district. So that will be our meeting on Monday and then everything else as you know has been happening. We are interviewing for positions in the SAU office. I know we've talked about this in the past that we're down a few positions. Assistant business administrator, our front office person. We are It's looking good. I fingers crossed. We've had great interviews. So hopefully those positions will be filled and that will relieve some of the burden that others have had to take on over these past few weeks. But I think that's it from Oh, and I
089did include an update for legislation. So, I'm continuing to get feedback about some of the bills and the impact that those will have on the district. We've already been talking about obviously the cell phone policy, which fortunately we have some pieces of that in place already, >> but there are some other big things like the parental bill of rights and and others that we are taking a close look at. And there we are getting legal guidance which will occur. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm attending a meeting. I think it's September 13th. Okay. >> So I'll have further guidance at that point. >> And I think that's all I have for you for tonight. >> So before questions for Robin, um I would encourage anyone to to go to Monday's event if you can. Um,
090I always try to attend commencement and it's fabulous and there aren't that many board members that are usually there. So, I would also encourage that to happen. Like I sat amongst teachers who really had no idea who I was and that was a good conversation to have. Um, there was a lot of whispering and actually Shannon was like, "Oh, that's Lisa Christie." And I mean it was it was very funny. Um, but just I would encourage you if you can um to get into the schools and to attend the things that we're invited to as often as you possibly can. I unfortunately work at a school and I will be teaching during the entire Monday, but um for those of you that can get there, please do. So with that, any questions for Robin? >>
091One quick question. The dates associated with the items, the legislative items, are those the dates the bill was passed or dates that the >> those are the dates that they they're expected to be implemented. So, as of July 1, >> we have or should have a cell phone policy. >> Yes. Which we have already put cell phone >> pieces into place. So, >> I know it's very complicated. >> So, there's a lot of things in here with the July one or August one. >> August one, right? >> We are a little behind on, I'm guessing. Well, >> I mean, they put them into place, so the time limits are really >> Yeah. >> unavoidable for us to >> get into place in the time that they provide us with. >> Ben, >> in in a
092policy sense, NHSBA is still going through these books. Obviously, these were changed stuff up to the wire. So, I think they have their first meeting to any board members are welcome to attend in I think September as well. >> So, Right. All the attorneys for all of these districts are taking time to go through the information and that's why, you know, I've been going through them on my own, but I feel like I need >> legal feedback on so many of these, too. >> And their lawsuits and >> Yeah. >> So, >> I'm glad you're getting legal feedback. Kelly, >> the survey one makes me really nervous. Um partly because I think you know her per her for earlier March intensive discussions you know making sure that those sorts of things are defined as part
093of our academic program. Um sports also if you know the coach is surveying students if managers >> which they all do I think >> I anyway I policy thank you and good luck. Yeah. >> Yeah. Uh I mean I have question like that's also a highlight for me. I think my biggest concern with that is the the mental health and privacy of students to >> and just you know the whole point of the youth youth risk behavior survey is to identify students at risk and if they're worried that the parents would either know that they were asked those questions perhaps follow up and any abusive family situations in which um there's co like just super concerned and sort of curious how do we support our school counseling staff in terms of yeah what how do
094we identify kids if we're not and kids are worried about are not able to right >> take and be a part of those things and then I think definitionwise I'm super curious about the um >> aliens u relatives department of health and human services just because we don't ask about citizenship status >> um is sheltering somebody considered sheltering them if they're in our buildings for seven and a half hours in a day right >> um and that's not information um >> that anyway So I those clarifying questions that I would have for an around like >> specific clarifying question K's made me think about um if a student's in a health class and questions are asked >> in the context of that health class about I mean where are the lines right and >> that
095might be really >> Gina different topic if the I hope the interviews go well >> yes >> if they don't do we have plan B to pull in um >> contractors or temporary help to relieve because I think this came up in the Norwich meeting and just wanted like it feels like we have >> no slack in the system and a lot of new people and just making sure you and your team have the support, >> right? Yes. Yeah, we are looking at whatever methods we can to provide help. So, >> but hopefully the interviews work. >> Yes. Any other questions from the board before we go to the public? Ben, >> I'll just point out to going back to the political updates that if for those of you have gone through the survey results,
096one of the biggest takeaways of in terms of percentage people supporting something was wanting more notification about what's going on in a political sense where we had 81% of people say they want to hear about legal changes that are relevant in schools. And in a survey like this with hundreds of people, 80% of people wanting something is pretty much as high as you're going to get in the real world. So folks want to hear more from us about what's going on in a legal sense. [Music] >> I would I would actually encourage you, Robin, to share lists like these. Um, just sort of FYI because the >> there just aren't the systems in place anymore for easily retrieving information. >> Yeah. >> From what's going on in conquered. It's a constant challenge. >> I agree.
097>> Yeah. Um, the superintendent of the district where I work sends something out like every other week just with an update of what's going on in Vermont, >> which you know, you can either read or not read, but it's helpful. Yeah. To have >> something I could add to my monthly newsletter. >> Linda, >> yeah, I don't know if it's certainly in the legal camp of things. Um, so I hang out with teachers a lot. Now I teach the first time. So, so I'm sitting in a staff meeting, right? And because of Deb, I a lot of times I get the legislative updates in the council meeting because she's very great about keeping our students informed. And a lot of times with my best effort to remember what you said, I share it with the
098staff members. Um, and and it's not a secret. I mean, they are very concerned even in the classroom about what they're allowed to say or not say. And so they are I'm sort of their messenger because they're not here. And I hope I get it right. But just the idea that if the board or administration can offer clear places where we've got your back here um so they can be the good teachers they want to be, even when it comes to accuracy of how they teach history, >> there's so many things. Um and so I think again that communication um you know as far as you know from the superintendent's office or whatever I'm constantly looking for that and I think at least our building administrators do the best job they can but a lot
099of times they really they also need that that sort of backing. So, as we go into this next wonderful year together, let's be together. >> And I will say in response to that, the language is so vague and so many of these laws, that's the difficulty right now in providing any kind of clear guidance. >> Yeah. >> So, that's why we have so many lawsuits stemming from these new bills. So, >> thank you. With no other questions for Robin, you might get some questions for this next one. Um the interim director of curriculum and instruction um who is Lauren um who could not be here with us this evening, but many of you from Handover know her as the um past Ray School principal and now our interim director of curriculum and instruction gave us
100a report. Are there any questions for Robin based on her report? >> I don't think it was different than the Dresden one. So, I didn't compare it word to word, but it seemed very similar. Okay, seeing none, Teresa, you're up. >> For respect for time, I won't repeat everything I've said in the last three meetings. >> My report is attached. If you have any questions, >> any questions for Teresa that have come up in the last hour and a half? >> Thank you, Teresa. >> Excellent. Okay. Um, with that, we do not have a need >> for non-public session, so we can skip that. Um, we are returning to the public session that we never left. >> And if there is any public comment at this time for anything that we did not cover this
101evening in this meeting, not in all the other meetings. >> Seeing none, um, please send me any agenda topics for the next meeting. Um the next meeting is Tuesday for us. We skipped September um for the SA Tuesday, October 28th, 2025. That said, I think we've yet to have a month where we haven't had to have like at least one thing discussed at the SAU level after a dress in meeting. So don't be surprised, but it will not be it will not be a full meeting. Um so with that, may I have a motion to adjurnn, please? >> Yeah. I move to adjourn at 9:55 p.m. >> We may be 10. >> Hurry up. Second car. Thank you. Going around the horn here. Garrett >> yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Nelson. Yes. >> Russell. Yes.
102>> Yes. >> And Chrissy. Yes. Thank you everybody. >> Thank you. Good luck everybody.