001Welcome. Okay. Thanks. It >> It's a lot more comfortable in here than it is outside. >> So, I think we'll stay in for the duration of the meeting. >> So, we'll call the meeting to order and start off >> with the pledge, the pledge of allegiance led by the scouts. That's your >> I pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. supposed to be duck seat. >> Oh, those are the second graders. They're saying >> Okay. Now, welcome to the Brentwood School Board meeting. You are now the con convened legislative body of the Brentwood School District. And it's a public meeting. So audio and video recording of any type is allowed in
002meetings of this sort. So to participate and to vote you have to have and through the checklist you have to have your voting card to to speak to an article. you have to come to the floor mic and be recognized there. Now, there's a couple of rules that go with that. One, it's first come, first serve getting there, and we use a little scouts honor while you're there. No pushing, no shoving, whatever. The other thing is if you get there, try to make sure you've been to the bathroom first because if you leave in the middle of your whatever your dissertation is, you go to the back of the line if the subject is still open when you get back. In other words, we don't recess the meeting for party breaks for one person. If
003it turns into a a major issue, I will deal with it at at that time. Now, meeting rules, we do I do not we do not use Robert's rules of order. We use the Brentwood moderators rules. What's the difference? This is a condensed version of Robert's rules of order. The Brentwood moderator's rules are take depending on the type a lot less pages. The first the first version was one page. I think we're up to three or four pages now with some footnotes on them and whatnot. But if anybody has a question on the moderator's rules, don't be bashful. >> You can ask them. Now, what are the rules when you ask a question? >> Yes, >> you're entitled to an answer. You're not required to like the answer or to agree with it. and asking.
004But if you've asked your question and you got an answer, that's what you're here for. Anybody who wants to challenge that can challenge it from outside. >> In other words, we're here to do the school's business and get on with life. Okay. Uh, Mr. Moderator, if u I can talk about one or two things before handing it over to the the students to sing. >> Sure. >> Is that all right? Okay. Um, so as the moderator mentioned, um, we're here tonight to do the school's business. Uh and tonight's goals are to present and discuss the sea school central school warrant articles. So please hang around so you can vote on all five warrant articles. Um you can provide recommendations. Uh we'll provide the recommendations of the school board and the budget committee on the five
005warrant articles which are the 2027 operating budget um the contract for the Brentwood teachers association uh funds for the special education trust fund and the technology trust fund and a warrant article on the issue of open enrollment. And of course, you'll be able to vote as a community on those items. So, please stick around for those. And right now, turn it over to Mr. Q and some sees students to sing a song. >> Thank you, Mr. Moderator, uh, chair of our school board. Hello everybody. This is a tradition for our second graders. Second graders, you ready to sing a song? >> Okay, stand up crowd. Woody, this land is your land. If you know the words, please join us. Okay. from the redwood forest. As I was walking, As I saw in the sky, I
006saw you. >> Everybody sing. Land from California to the New York Islands. From the Redwood Forest to the Gulfream. This land was made for you and me. Don't leave. Don't leave. Don't leave. I know. >> Okay. Going out there. >> Please don't leave. >> I I think that's for me that's one of the highlights of a school meeting to have Ron and the kids making music. Now, next order of business on my list here is I need a motion to adopt the moderator's rules as the rules of the meeting. Do I have a motion? >> Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> All those in favor? I >> opposed. It's unanimous. Good. Thank you. Now, so that everybody knows who everybody is here, we're not going to do everybody stand up
007and do an introduction, but we'll start with the school board. If they would introduce themselves. >> Sure. Uh, good evening. My name is Brian Duffy. I am the current chair of the Brentwood School Board. I'm Megan Fitzgerald. I'm the vice chair. >> Dan Abear, school board, >> Kate Bonafiti, >> Allison Higgins, >> and Mr. Moderator, if I just add may add uh two more items related to the school board. And one of which is you can see on the screen is the school board goals. These are at the top of our agenda at every meeting. For those of you who are here at parent teacher night in the fall and heard members of this board present, you saw these goals then as well. And these are the things that have guided us as we've developed
008these warrant articles which are keeping students the center of the decision-making process. Making sure that our decisions are based on data and that these data uh allow us to allocate resources to support student growth and learning. that we continue to pursue community and board engagement and that we sustain our school with eco-friendly practices while promoting environmental stewardship and most importantly maintaining fiscal responsibility. Something I think you will see in our presentation on the budget tonight and as part of that sees students are thriving. Uh when Mr. Heert presents the budget later this evening um you will see test scores at the top of that warrant article. That is because that is a requirement of state law. But those those test scores are presented really without any context. This slide provides you with the context and
009you can see that um sees central schools uh scores are well above state averages. And that is all I haded wanted to add for the school board at this time. Thank you. Okay. And on the other side here, we have the budget committee. >> Uh I'm Jim Hazer. I'm the chair of the municipal budget committee. >> And your members? >> Gabrielle Kelly. Michelle Sudet. I'm the secretary. >> Katney Morowski. >> Alina Rita. Lety Baddard. Uh select board rep. Good. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Mr. moderator. Uh before we jump into the first warrant article, um we'd like to acknowledge Mr. Q who is retiring at the end of this year. >> Really? And I believe Dr. Bennett has something to to say in honor of Mr. Q. >> Yes. Um good evening. My name is
010Renee Bennett. I'm the superintendent designate for the Brentwood School District and I'm an assistant superintendent in SAU16. Um I did want to take a few moments at the town's meeting to recognize someone who has given this community steady um valuedriven leadership for many years. Principal Ron Q. Um this is not a final goodbye for us because we have a few more months with him and we have a lot more moments planned um to celebrate him before he finally he officially retires. But tonight it felt like an important time to acknowledge publicly and on behalf of the district, Ron's dedication, leadership because his impact is not just felt inside the walls of Seaway Central School. I think it's felt by the entire community. Ron started here um July 1st, 2012. And what stands out to those
011that have known him, cuz I asked around um one thing that everyone talked about was how Ron has stayed true to who he is from 2012 to today. And by that they mean he's always been an educator first and student student centered first. It takes real courage to maintain that northstar year after year in public education. It's become more complex. Students needs have changed. It's more demanding, more public. But Ron's done that with integrity. And if you've ever heard one of Ron's Friday morning messages, you've heard the line, "Don't forget to say something nice to someone and make their day." That's how he ends his message every Friday. And that's not just a pleasant tradition. It's a reflection of the culture he built. A school where people are seen, where kindness is practiced, and where
012joy isn't an afterthought. Ron has what I call a quiet strength. He sees both the micro and the macro. The needs of a single student in a single moment and the systems and decisions that shape outcomes across the school and honestly across the US, the SAOU. He slows down when others speed up and he makes thoughtful decisions with children at the center. And I want to name something really important. Ron's kindness has never meant avoiding hard conversations. When he needed to have a courageous conversation around behavior that might have be impacting students learning, he's had that courageous conversation calmly, honestly, and directly. And that's what it means to protect kids and lead with integrity. As a SAU leader for student service and special education, I've also been really grateful for Ron's work with IEP teams
013and as the LEA for this building. He supports the teams through growth mindset. He's never afraid to ask for help when a student needs something new or we need to think outside the box for students program. He didn't need to have all the answers and he has always led with humility, made our team stronger and our systems better. Ron helped lead the school through an important growth including ushering in a preschool program inside the building, expanding early learning opportunities for our children and strengthening their foundation for success. Ron, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for your steady presence, your authenticity, your humanity, and your unwaving commitment to the students and the families. But we look forward to celebrating you a little bit more this year in the coming months. On behalf
014of the district and this community, I want to thank you for your leadership. It has mattered. And please join me in thanking Ron Q. Okay, great. Now it's time for some business. Article one. Shall the Brentwood School District vote to raise and appropriate municipal budget committees. >> Uh would you like me to read the warrant article, >> Mr. Med? M Oh, Mr. Moderator, would you like me to read the warrant article? >> If you would. This >> Thank you. There's very little light here. >> That's true. >> That's that's fair. >> So, warrant article one as mentioned you can see the average cost per pupil for the preceding year is calculated in accordance with RSA18975. Roman 1A is 23,899. Uh Mr. Heert when he presents this article will talk about how that compares to neighboring
015communities and the statewide average. You can see that the English language arts proficiency level is 74%, math proficiency 74%, science proficiency 74%. Again, that is there as a requirement of state law and you saw previously how those compare to statewide averages. >> 63% sorry. So, the language warrant article one. Shall the Brentwood School District vote to raise and appropriate the municipal budget committee's recommended amount of 7,858,33 for the support of schools, for the payment of salaries for the school district officials and agents and for the payment of the statutory obligations of the district. The Brentwood School Board Municipal Budget Committee recommend this figure of 7,858,33. This article does not include appropriations voted in other warrant articles. A majority vote is required. >> Okay. And do we have a second? >> Second. >> So motion and
016second from vice chair. >> Okay. So it's been moved and seconded. Questions or comments from the audience? >> I'm going to speak to the >> and um Mr. Moderator, uh Mr. Heert is going to speak toward article one uh on behalf of the school board. >> Okay. >> And when I first started uh teaching, I realized my students didn't know how to pronounce my last name. They'd say Herbert, Sherbet, whatever. So, I I drew a big capital letter A on the chalkboard. This is down in Mississippi, so yes, it was a chalkboard. And then a dash and a picture of a bear. So, it's a a bear. That's not actually how you spell it, but they didn't mess up the pronunciation after that. >> I did though. >> You're forgiven, Brian. No, I'm kidding. Um,
017but we're not here to talk about my last name. We're here to talk about the fiscal year 27y school budget. Um, the fiscal year 27 budget uh is technically the the school year 2627 budget. Um, because it runs from July 1st, 2026 through June 30th. 2027. Um so that's how the fiscal year operates for the school. Um the headliner behind all of this or driving all of this is that Sway Central School um you saw the comparisons to state averages. Uh we're talking about difference between proficiency of 75 around 75% in math and ELA compared to state averages around 48 49%. So significant differences. The students are doing great. Um, number one in SAU16 as far as academic performance is Brentwood and number one in terms of cost per pupil. How much we're actually spending
018to educate our our students. Number one in academic performance and number one in cost per pupil. Um, >> lowest cost per pupil. Yes. Most efficient in educating the students. Um the main uh and this budget has been developed with exactly that in mind carrying that forward. Um principal Q in addition to serving this community and these students for the past 14 years has also left behind a very meticulously planned budget. Uh when we take a look at the the main drivers uh behind the the change in budget from fiscal year 26 to fiscal year 27 um you'll notice that around 100% of those drivers are tied up in non-discretionary items and items that are sort of products of macroeconomic trends like increasing health insurance costs. Um, and so the budget is actually more or less
019flat uh despite there being uh a couple of non-discretionary and um sort of fixed costs built in uh based on rising health insurance costs. So you'll see anything in parenthesis up here is a negative. So it's a decrease from last year to this year and anything without a parenthesis is an increase. So you'll notice that overall the increase is $263,000 of which uh $257,000 is health insurance costs. Um so principal Q um in in partnership with our assistant superintendent uh Dr. Bennett who you heard from uh meticulously went through and uh you know with financial responsibility fiscal responsibility in mind uh cut wherever we could to arrive at this point. Next slide or sorry you could back up. There we go. Um so how we got to this point is in the fall um the
020school board uh looked at three scenarios. Um so we ran three scenarios or three options. Um option number one which you see in the bottom left uh is an increase of around 6% uh from last year which basically maintain the full program. Um so no major cuts, no major changes. Option number two um there were uh some cuts. So for example, cutting a pair professional position. Um and then option number three uh is more conservative in that um we did uh Dr. Bennett actually spearheaded this uh a class class size analysis uh student teacher ratio analysis um and we found that we could make some savings by uh reducing the number of teachers at one grade level um down from three down to two. uh because there was one grade level with lower number of
021students. Um so the rest of the the grade levels would maintain three teachers and then one of the grade levels would drop from three down to two while still maintaining class sizes that are aligned with evidence-based best practices for student achievement. Um so we went with option number three um in the spirit of student achievement um and fiscal responsibility. So the the lowest of the three scenarios is what we're looking at here. Sorry, >> budget committee. Any comments? >> Uh, yes, Mr. Moderator. Um, first before I go over the tax impact. I I do want to again, I did this at our our budget uh meeting with the school board. Uh, I want to thank them again. As uh Dan stated, there were three options that they had to choose from and they went with
022the most reasonable of the three um with a 3.4% increase. And I I thank them for that. Um I also want to acknowledge that um the budget committee had requested we wanted to look at some trends looking at class size, cost per pupil, things like that. And I had actually requested to the school board, you know, where do I get this information? and I want to make sure I have the the right information for the budget committee. And the SAU told me, don't worry about it. We'll put together a presentation for you. And what they sent us went way beyond what I actually had requested. And um I I really again want I thank them for that because it made our job of reviewing their budget much easier. And so again, I just want to
023acknowledge and thank the SAU as well as our school board for for presenting a budget to all of us that is uh very reasonable. with that. Um, if you look at the, um, the article, the 7,858,33, um, I'd like to point out that there is in that appropriation, there's $135,79 that will not be paid for by taxation. It is paid for by a grant. So if you look if you want to know the actual tax impact the increase from fis uh school fiscal year 26 to fiscal year 27 is $263,879 which is a 3.5.4% increase. That is 22 cents per thousand tax impact. And if you ex put that out toward an average home of $650,000, that would be an increase of $1423. Um, and with this, the budget committee unanimously um recommended this budget.
024Thank you. Okay, thank you. And it appears we're ready for a vote on >> Y. If you want to come up to the microphone, you can >> the procedure if you want to speak is to come up to the microphone instead of waving your hand or >> Hi, Courtney Clashevski um Eleanor's Way. Um my question is regarding the actually the decrease in the number of teachers. Um the fifth grade is the lowest grade and they are carrying two teachers right now. So next year um there's actually going to be more students. Um so how is this going to affect them because the kindergarten class is very big. So the the number of class students is going to go up. >> Thanks for your question, Courtney. We are actually um we have to do some movement.
025So um fourth grade has three classroom teachers right now. We're going to have a third fifth uh fifth grade classroom teacher. The grade level that's getting reduced for next year is grade two. There's currently three first grade classrooms and that's going from three classrooms to two classrooms on grade two. >> Okay. >> And it's important >> like um >> and that's where we have low numbers this year. >> Yeah. Like 20 kids per class then next year for that grade. >> Less than 20. Yeah. >> Yeah. There's like 30 something kids. Okay. >> Less than 20. >> Okay. >> Right. >> Thank you. And it's important to add that we're not eliminating a teaching position. We're simply not filling one that was empty. And this is going to allow this is going to require one
026teacher to move every year to match that grade uh that has a higher enrollment. >> Chimber Scrabble Road, you're asking for 7.858 million. If I divide that by the 23,8.99 that you've put out for cost per student, that brings me to a student population of 328 kids. What is our current student population? >> So I'll defer to uh principal Q for the student population. Um but it's important to note that that 238.99 figure is not uh is calculated according to its specific formula determined by the state department of education. So using that and dividing that into the total budget is not necessarily going to give you the exact number of students. >> What is our exact number of students? >> 268 students. question then. Um as far as preschool is concerned, what is the um
027cost for the taxpayer? Is that a revenue neutral preschool? A revenue neutral preschool? No, it's uh we we have a preschool teacher that we've hired with our operating budget. Um, according to the October 2025 snapshot of student population, um, it was submitted to the state that there are 272 kids, 13 preschoolers. That brings us to 259 K through five students. What percentage of that 13 kids in preschool are fully funded by the town of Brentwood versus the students that are obligated to pay into the preschool? >> It's a good question, Jim. We have, I believe, five students that we are required to pro provide preschool for and then I believe it's more than 13. Uh we probably have 12 students that are uh community peers that um pay tuition to join that group. >> Is
028that is that revenue neutral? >> You're past your time. You you are entitled to come up and ask your question, not engage in a debate. Kim Leo, uh, Liberty Street. I just want to say as a mom who's had four kids go through the elementary school here and four of them who have received special ed through this school, I can't thank you guys enough for what you do and with the budget that you work with. Thank you for providing a spectacular education and getting our kids where they need to be from prek through fifth grade. Thank you, >> Eric Wallace. Three Old Danville Road. Can Can somebody flush out some more on this health insurance increase? That's a 33% increase. Have we looked at other carriers? Are we tied into something? Can somebody just explain
029that more? >> So, um, Dr. Dr. Ben, is that something you're able to speak to or Molly? >> The healthc care um cost are directly related to teacher contracts and what we are obligated to pay as a district and we got our quotes in terms of what the costs were going to be with the current plans for next year from our healthcare provider. um long-term um SEAU16 and other districts are looking at what are our options to mediate the cost around health care because it is a um budget driver and we don't have as much controls about controls of the outside um cost as we would like. So, the budget is the contractual obligations that the Brentwood School District has with their employees in their healthcare benefits that they um received. Um it's a percentage
030increase is not something we can control. We were told by um the consortium that provides the healthc care for SAU16 based on our risk pool and it it changes and um everyone across the state was hit with huge increases if you if you speak to anyone. So longterm we're looking to remediate it as other districts are, but that really are our contractual obligations. >> Excuse me. Do do you want to speak to it, Alison? You can. >> I'm just It's not just everybody across the state. The healthcare insurance premiums went up across the entire country. I This is not a Brentwood thing. or other people. >> You asked your question, you got your >> You got your answer. The discussion stops there. You don't get to return to your seat and then go on and
031on and on. Okay, next customer. >> Hi, U. My name is Jen Bordis and I live on Washington Drive. Um, I want to thank you guys for creating a really sound fiscal budget. Um, and I understand that the health insurance is the main driver and you have nothing to do. Can I move for a vote on this warrant article? >> That's what we >> Okay, that's it. >> That's it. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Are we ready for the question? Yes. >> And it appears that we are okay. Article two. >> All the vote on article one. >> I'm Tony. We're still on article one. >> All those in f in favor of article one in its entirety, vote by saying I. And hold your cards up. I >> I >> those opposed. >> You're
032entitled. >> Three. >> And um going to make a motion to restrict reconsideration. >> A second. >> A. Those in favor of restricting reconsideration. >> I >> The eyes have it. Oh, well, somebody had somebody has to do it. >> Okay. Are we ready for article two? >> Good. >> Mr. Moderator, would you like me to read article two again? >> Okay. Shall the school district vote? >> Sure. Why don't you read it? Okay. >> It is scary. >> Warrant article number two. Shall the school district vote to approve the cost items included in the collective bargaining bargaining agreement reached between the Brentwood School Board and the Brentwood Teachers Association, which calls for the following increases in salaries and benefits at the current staffing level. Fiscal year estimated increase in 2027 would be $198,260. Uh
033fiscal increase uh fiscal year estimated increase in 2028, $174,464. in 2029, $144,77. In 2030, $145,767. And further to raise and appropriate $198,260 for the current fiscal year, such sum representing the additional costs attributable to the increase in salaries and benefits required by the new agreement over those that we pay would be paid at current staffing levels. The Brentwood School Board and Municipal Budget Committee recommend $198,260. A majority vote is required. >> Okay. And do we have a motion? >> I will move the question >> and a second moved and seconded. >> And one of the school board members can speak to the uh warrant article. >> Dave, who >> are you sure? Um, so we just want to start by saying that we are really grateful to the teachers at Swayazy. This place is really
034special. Anybody whose kids went through it know that and it is special because of the teachers. Um, so we're really proud of this contract and proud to support them. Um, so this contract is really the major changes are wage increases. Um, so year 1 is a 3 and 1/4% increase. Years two and three are three and a half percent. Year four is a three and a quarter percent. Which um right are >> Yeah, that goes >> and that goes along with what if you look at the cost of living increase over the last um the cola through the government over the last average over the last four or five years that's right around just giving them basically a cost of living increase. Um, another thing that this contract does is it um rewards our teachers
035who have put a lot of investment into their own education. Um, so there's a $1,500 per year, once a year stipen for teachers who have earned their CAGS, which is certificate of advanced graduate studies. Um, we want just like we want our students to learn, we want our educators to be invested in their own um, education. So, we're really happy to do that for them. And it also increases personal days from 3 to 4 in addition to a lot of grammar cleanup um and legal ease. >> Thank you. >> Great. >> And the budget committee. >> Uh yes, Mr. Moderator. Again, uh I just want to thank the school board and the teachers association uh for bringing forth a collective bargaining agreement. They you gave the percentages 3.25, 3.5, 3.5, and 3.25, which I think
036is a very reasonable contract over the 4-year period. Um the budget committee um unanimously recommended this and the tax impact because uh in the fiscal year 27 the impact is $198,260 which is 16 per thousand tax impact. Um the increase on a $650,000 home would be $16.86. >> Okay. Thank you. questions from the legislative body. Jim Burlo, Scrabble Road, is there an RSA law that I don't know of that dictates that unionized employees are guaranteed a raise every year. Okay. Do we have legal counsel here? >> Yeah. >> That would be subject to negotiation. The law allows the um the teachers to unionize and then it obligates the teachers in the district to to have good faith negotiations. The law does not tell you what to put in your contracts. So regardless of of teacher
037performance, all are guaranteed a raise >> based on the contract, they're they're guaranteed a cola every year. Yes. A cost of living increase as negoti law. >> Correct. Per per their contract. Okay, I guess we're ready for the question. All those in favor of article two collecting >> I >> and the the Naz. Okay. So, the article passes with flying colors. I'd like to move to restrict reconsideration of the article >> in a second. >> I'll second. >> It's moved and seconded. >> All those in favor of the restriction, >> I thank you. >> Okay. Article three, Brentwood School District. >> Would you like me to read the article? >> Sure. >> Okay. Warrant article three. Shall the Brentwood School District vote to adopt an open enrollment school program designating sees Central School as an
038open enrollment school pursuant to New Hampshire RSA 194D for the purpose of enabling the district to admit zero non-resident students to seway central school with 0% of its resident pupils permitted to attend open enrollment schools. located outside of the district. Majority vote required. This article is recommended by the Brentwood School Board. >> Okay. And >> and I can speak to the warrant article. Well, I will make a motion in favor of the warrant article. >> Okay. And then it's been moved. And do we have a second? >> Vice Chair Fitzgerald seconded. >> Okay. Been moved and seconded and it's available for discussion. I will I can speak to the warrant article, Mr. Moderator. >> I can I can speak to the warrant article on behalf of the school board. >> Okay. >> So, this is
039an unusual warrant article. It's not something that typically comes up before the school district meeting and it addresses a rather complex and dynamic topic and that is open enrollment. But at base, the question being put for you tonight is fairly straightforward. Do you want your tax dollars raised here in Brentwood, spent in this district to educate students from this district? Retaining local control over how and where your tax dollars are spent is the purpose of this warrant article. To be clear, voting yes for this warrant article will not increase the school's budget or increase tax assessments. To the contrary, voting yes for this warrant article could prevent the district being required to send funds raised here to other towns or schools or to subsidize the education of students from other towns. Why are we proposing
040this warrant article? Under current state law, RSA chapter 194D, if you want to look it up, and a recent state supreme court ruling, school districts could be responsible for spend for sending 80% of their average per pupil spend to an open enrollment school. If a student from our town, including a homeschooled student not even attending sees, attends an open enrollment school, we would be required to spend to send 80% of that 23,899 to that school. There is no way to budget for or control for these outflows without adopting the language of warrant article 3. If students in Brentwood opt to attend open enrollment schools, the school district will not realize savings. The loss of a student or two per grade level will not affect the number of teachers, reduce the number of bus routes, significantly
041reduce the amount of supplies. But these departures would add an expense. It would see an outflow of 20 of 80% of 238.99 per student that leaves. So we are asking you Do you want to send your tax dollars to other schools, potentially including one operated by a for-profit company, or do you want your tax dollars to stay here? Under state law, we are required to become an open enrollment school, albeit one accepting zero students, in order to expressly state that we want zero dollars going out, which explains the structure of this warrant article. So, there are two purposes of this warrant article. to make known that you want your tax dollars raised here, spent here, and not sent to other districts, and to limit the dis the risk that the district be required to raise
042and appropriate additional funds to send to other districts. In short, this is a money-saving warrant article. >> Okay. And the budget committee, >> uh, yes, Mr. Moderate, as as there is no appropriation associated with this warrant, the budget committee does not give a recommendation at all. We cannot give a recommendation as there is no appropriation or tax impact. >> Okay. Any questions from the audience of the legislative body and hello James McIntyre 57 Mohawk Lane in Brentwood. I'm no expert on this. So what I am curious about is um at the beginning I heard how Brentwood students test the highest in the SAU16 system. So I think to myself, well, you know, why would then any students that go to Brentwood now currently want to go to a different school? Why would you want to
043leave the school that the kids test the highest to go to a different one? So but maybe they would. So when you say it's a money-saving um proposition, I guess kids that may come to sees from other SAU16 towns that all have a cost per pupil higher since we're the lowest, they would have to pay 80% of their towns um a average student uh cost to come to Sees. So wouldn't we potentially have a money-making opportunity if kids from other towns were to come here? There's um there would still be costs associated with absorbing students from other towns. We take um as mentioned in the the school board uh governing rules. You know, we rely on data to craft policies to craft budgets and those budgets and policies are crafted based on the student population
044we have now. Um we also want to maintain the relatively low class sizes we have to improve teacher student uh interaction and ensure that students have access to the teacher and greater interaction with the teacher. Um so then there are additional fees to absorbing those students reviewing applications uh determining how to admit students how do you address issues if we have people move into town and we have students attending from neighboring towns. So, there are a lot of complications surrounding that. Um, finally, we don't want to be making money by beggaring our neighbors. It's a bad neighborly thing to do to put another town into a death spiral uh because it's sending 80% of its per cost uh of student to neighboring towns u while still funding their schools. It's a a challenging thing for
045those schools that lose students. It's not going to make a significant amount of money for Brentwood. It would alter the kind of school we have here by changing the student teacher ratio and it would be bad for neighboring towns. >> Okay. I don't want to go back and forth, but it just seemed to be your argument at the beginning was that you didn't want to increase any cost. You made it seem to be a money-making thing, but now it seems more like a a student toteer ratio thing and other factors that are just weren't brought up at the beginning. So, thank you. You're welcome. Hi. Uh, Doug Marino, 26 Mil Pond. Uh, Mr. Moderator, I just had a quick point of order just to to clarify. Um, and this isn't directed at anybody, but just
046a question. Um, isn't it true that when somebody comes up to speak and or if they ask a question, if they have a follow-up question, they need to ask the moderator for permission for a follow-up rather than just continuing. Is that accurate? >> That's that's accurate. and we we try to enforce it with a we try to be considerate about it, but when it goes on beyond what you just described, then it's time to step back and let somebody else have the mic. >> Thank you. >> Other qu Oh, okay. >> Susie Curtis, Gallant Drive. Um, I have a question or I guess I'm seeking clarification for those of us that have students in both the Brentwood School District and the Cooperative School District. Um, I know that there's a similar warrant article um, addressing
047the same issue that is worded very differently. Um, and I believe that one, this article is recommending that you vote yes, and I think the cooperative school district is recommending that you vote no, but they're both presenting the same concerns. And I didn't know if anyone from the cooperative school district could just clarify for Brentwood's article. >> Am I making sense? >> I Dr. Bennett, I believe the two warrant articles are phrased. worded identically. >> They're identical. >> Okay, perfect. That's all I wanted to know. Thank you. >> Uh, Ridgebenton 423 ponds, you raised an interesting uh concept about the homeschooling kids being involved in this somehow. Um, I would assume that some of the homeschooling kids would be homeschooled because they weren't particularly happy with this district and therefore would be fairly likely to
048try to go to someplace else. Do we know how many homeschool kids are in this area that would potentially go to another um to another district and potentially cause a lot of problems moneywise? >> I do not have the figures of number of students that identify as homeschool students that are in the Brentwood school district. We have a homeschool coordinator, um, Jill Lizier, who tracks that. And it wasn't even until recently that we were always informed of a family that was choosing the homeschool. They didn't always have to tell the SAU. I think that law just changed. So, I I don't have that figure for you. And I think that speaks to the challenge of of budgeting for this that not knowing who's out there, who would who is out there, who would even consider
049taking advantage of this should become available. And so that's another reason why we're bringing this motion forward. >> Seeing no further, >> I wanted to move the question. >> Okay. I was going to I'll second moving the question. >> Okay. The motion is to move the question been moved and seconded. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Okay, now we're back to the question. All those in favor of the question. Hi. So, we just had a vote to move the question, which we didn't do for articles one and two. Now, we're having a vote on the question itself. So, we have another extra layer of procedure on this one, but that's fine. So if you want to vote in favor of warrant article 3. >> I >> anyone. >> Okay. And those opposed? >>
050Okay. >> Uh Mr. Maker, make a motion to restrict reconsideration. Please. >> Second. >> Okay. It's been moved and seconded to restrict reconsideration. >> All those in favor? I >> I >> opposed. We have one opposed. >> Okay, we're up to article five. >> Four. >> Mr. Moderator, we're moving toward article four. >> Four. Okay. >> And >> apologies. Would you please? >> Sure. >> So, all right. To change the screens on my computer as well. Warrant article 4, Special Education Capital Reserve Trust Fund. Shall the Brentwood School District vote to raise and appropriate the sum of up to $20,000 to be placed in the special education capital reserve trust fund previously established for the unanticipated special education costs at Sees Central School. This sum to come from June 30th fund balance available for transfer
051on July 1st. No additional amount to be raised from taxation. The Brentwood School Board and Municipal Budget Committee recommend this appropriation. A majority vote is required. And I will make a motion to advance the ward article. >> Second >> and seconded by vice chair Fitzgerald and speaking to it is >> Dr. Higgins will speak to the motion. >> So our goal has been to to add to the special ed trust fund. Um so that should we ever have an incident where there is a student who needs to go out of district or has in more needs than we have budgeted for um that we don't have to freeze our budget that we have a fund to use. Um years ago this fund started at 200,000. Um a handful of years ago the SAU recommended that
052that average cost is up to 250,000 um for an out of district placement. And so we raised our goal to 250,000 um with this year's um we will hit our goal. Um and so if that doesn't get used this request will stop. um which is true of other special um funds that we've had. Um we no longer contribute to our maintenance fund because we hit our goal. So they're really like they're they're safety um funds for us and there's two of them on the on the voting for tonight. >> And you can see on the screen that we have four capital reserve trust funds and we have target balances for each of them. And you can see because we've hit the target balances for two of them, we're no longer asking for funds to be
053added to those. But there are two where we are somewhat short of our target right now. And those are our remaining two warrant articles. >> Okay. Committee. >> Uh yes, Mr. Moderator. As the $20,000 appropriation is coming from fund balance and not from taxation, the tax impact of this warrant is zero and it is uh was unanimously uh recommended by the budget committee. >> Any discussion from the legislative body? >> I guess we're ready for the question. All those in favor >> make a motion. >> I >> Okay. And we have just one opposed. Okay. And article four passes. >> Make a motion to restrict reconsideration. >> Second. >> Okay. And it looks like that one's unanimous also. No one opposed. Well, I'm sorry. We have we have our traditional one opposed. >> Mr. Moderator.
054>> Yes. >> Over here. >> Just for clarification, there was actually no motion made to approve that article. You just asked if everybody approved. There was no motion to approve that article. The motion was brought forth before the mo uh warrant article was discussed. So I made the motion to bring the warrant article forward. Chair vice chair Fitzgerald seconded and um then there was discussion. Well then there was a presentation by Dr. Higgins. No public comment a vote move forward. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Number five. >> Okay. Um, >> number five, >> warrant article number five, technology capital reserve fund. Shall the Brentwood School District vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000 to be placed in the technology capital reserve trust fund previously established for the technology cost at
055Sees Central School. This sum to come from June 30th fund balance available for transfer on July 1st. No additional amount to be raised from taxation. The Brentwood School Board and Municipal Budget Committee recommend this propo this appropriation. A majority vote is required. And Dr. Higgins again will speak to this article. >> So, same thing. Uh we're trying to have a fund. Um we actually know in this instance um that there is roughly a $50,000 fee every five years that we are going to have to pay um for the technology in the school. And so rather than every five years having to put $50,000 in the budget, we try to keep it as flat as possible, we put 10,000 a year into the fund and then we will use that fund to pay for that service.
056So uh that's that's the goal and make a motion to advance the warrant article. >> Second. >> Okay. Committee. >> Yes, Mr. moderator as the $10,000 appropriation for this warrant is coming from the um fund balance and not from taxation. The tax impact is zero and it was unanimously recommended by the budget committee. >> Comments from the legislative body, did you have a question? Oh, over here. >> If I'm not mistaken, oh, Eric Wallace, three old Danville Road, we we currently have a 100,000 in the budget for software, 60,000 and computer services, new equipment, computer services replacement at 20 grand each. Is that right? Is that the same kind of stuff we're talking about here? >> So, these are separate items and I believe Mr. Q or Dr. Bennett can speak to this. What exactly
057technology are we talking about then? >> So when we when we talk about technology and we talk about um machines that teachers and students use and then we talk about the technology infrastructure um and a big part of that is a safety technology infrastructure that secures the building and secures the technology that students use. So, what we have budgeted for is some upgrades to the technology and safety safety infrastructure of the Brentwood School District. And $50,000 is what it would take take us to replace the tablets or the devices that our students and teachers use every on a cycle of every 5 years. So, you're looking at a safe a technology savings account for what equipment we know we're going to replace every 5 years. We don't replace everyone's every 5 years. We replace a
058set of technology every 5 years. What you're going to see, what you see in the budget is s current curtain operating cost around technology and infrastructure for next year for Brentwood to run it. And that includes servers and all sorts of safety infrastructure that we don't talk about as much in public, but they cost a lot of money to keep the building safe and to keep the devices that students and teachers use safe. >> Thank you. I move the question. >> Okay, we have a motion to move the question. All those in favor? >> And on the question itself, all those in favor of question >> I >> and one nay. Okay. >> And a motion to restrict reconsideration. Second. >> All right. >> Okay. I guess we're ready for article seven. And >> what
059>> on my on my copy of it here, I all I have is the last sentence. >> Um Mr. moderator have um two more things that as a board we'd like to share. One, um it was announced earlier today that Mr. Q is retiring at the end of this school year and the uh his replacement, not that Mr. Q is replaceable, but the next person for that role is here tonight. And we'd like to introduce the incoming principal of >> Swayazy Central School. >> Did she go Did she leave? >> She was here. Um >> but that >> so um she knows how to build an air of mystery. So uh >> Oh god, >> Kathleen Hapa will be replacing Mr. Q effective July 1. And then the last item you can see on the
060screen. Um, thank you for coming tonight and participating in >> town government. >> Wrong screen. Thank you. Um, but there are a couple of more opportunities to participate coming up. So town election to vote for municipal and school districts both sees and co-op candidates as well as the cooperative school district budget and other warrant articles will be uh a week from tomorrow, Tuesday, in this very room. Uh polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. And then the following Saturday, March 14th, will be our town meeting to vote on the town operating budget and other warrant articles. That meeting will also be in this very room. It will begin at 9:00 a.m. and you must attend in person to vote. >> We have the lights on. >> Okay. >> I have a motion.
061>> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Okay. Now, all those in favor, please stand. Give yourselves a good round of applause. >> Thank you very much.