School Board Meeting 11/18/25

001is out of town tonight so I will be chairing for this evening. So we are joined by Rob Nato, Jonathan Cohen, Suzanne Carmichael, myself Andrea Folsam. We also have superintendent Amy Doyle, our business administrator Laura Taylor, our executive assistant extraordinaire Jodie Condan, and then our student reps Lucy Beardmore and Kip Hudist, and man behind the scene, Matt Stone. Um, with that, let's go ahead and stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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. >> All right. So to begin, we have uh two sets of meeting minutes to approve this evening. Uh, is there a motion to approve the uh mini meeting minutes from the school board budget

002work session from October 16th, 2025? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. And is there a motion to accept the school board meeting minutes from November 6, 2025? >> So moved. >> Yeah, second. >> Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? I any opposing carries. Wonderful. With that, we are at our first public comment section of the evening. I think we are joined by some civic students. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Great. So, we have two public comment uh portions uh for every meeting. The first one comes now. We have a second one towards the end of the meeting. Um we welcome you to come up uh say your name and address for the minutes. Um, and then we ask that you keep your comments to three

003minutes or less. Um, so if you don't have anything to say now and you'd like to say it at the end, you're more than welcome to do so. Does anyone have any public comment? >> No. Great. All right, moving right along. Student comment. How's it going, guys? I >> think it's going really well. Uh, so far, uh, fall sports pretty much just wrapped out with a few exceptions that we'll hear about later. Uh there's a lot of club activity going on right now. Um the sled club, student le ethics discussion had their um first like debate style field trip to say a uh this was just a practice one but a lot of fun. Two of our teams went undefeated in that. Uh additionally like there's math meets going on and other activities. And then

004since we have like all the civic students here, there's also a big civics field trip coming up tomorrow. Um a mandatory one down to um Boston, which I won't be attending until next semester, but about half the grades going on that Lucy. >> Yeah. So um as Kip said, fall sports are pretty much done. Uh we had sports awards night uh last Thursday uh which was successful. The teams go up and captains give speeches, athletes are recognized, things like that. Um, so high school cross country is the girls team uh and a couple boys are kind of still going. We have that overnight field trip uh to New York uh this Friday into Saturday. Uh but for the most po for the most part uh fall sports are done, winter sports are starting. Uh some

005open gyms, open ice, >> open skates. Yeah. >> Um things like that. Uh we've had a lot of community service around town. So um the Interact Club helped out at Wooden Warf. So, at the wood bank behind the transfer station and then also stacking wood at different homes around town. Uh, and then National Honor Society also helped out with uh the GOT projects fall cleanup day for elderly citizens around town. Um and then also with the Rotary Club um or like town Rotary group and um the environmental action club yesterday uh worked together to do some uh bulbs out in front of the school and our sort of likeformational sign. They used our compost that we've collected for the environmental action club and planted some bulbs in the sign that will grow in the spring.

006Um and then Grand State Challenge team. Uh so we went to uh Plymouth High School and we took a uh 100 question qualifying test. Um so it's 35 teams from all over the state and the top 16 teams go onto the like into the actual bracket and there will be um televised episodes um airing on PBS in March and I think we're taping uh mid January. Um so that's exciting. um World Language Honor Society. Uh we have our induction on Thursday evening. Uh we had a rehearsal uh today during advisory. Um and then a meeting on Friday um to go over some of the community service that that group will be doing throughout the year. Um and then the last thing, um I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the junior class is

007doing a holiday greens fundraiser. Uh so we're selling um reads um poinsennas, things like that. Um there's been uh the form has gone out to high school families hoping to get that out to the younger two schools. Um but yeah, consider supporting the junior class. >> Yes, I can send you >> I was going to ask can the community do that as well? >> Open to everyone. >> Super. Great. Any questions for these two? >> Very thorough. A lot of information. >> Yeah, >> I'm impressed. Great. Thank you guys. Uh board comments. Nothing. Anything? >> Nope. >> Sam? No. I would just say that I also went to the um awards, the sports awards night, and it was wonderful. It was um a multi-hour thing, but all of the speeches were really lovely. Um and

008Mr. reserve shared some wonderful examples of um just what it is to be a Hopkin not just student athlete but just a Hopington uh student citizen which were really uh touching. So it was a really nice event. >> Thank you. >> Sad to miss that when I was at home sick but I heard from Mr. deserve about it and um especially a lot about like how we've had good examples um and whatnot through his like um mentor like sports mentor club thing which has a ton of participants in as well. So just another example like Hopington students stepping up and taking on leadership roles and helping out in the community. So >> yeah, I think we have like 43% of the students participate just in the fall in the high school, which is impressive. So

009awesome. All right, so moving right along. Um, so we've got some really exciting uh highlights tonight. We Does it matter which ones we start with? We can just start. All right, we're going to start at the top then. So, the first one, um, every year, um, we give out the Susan Pazinski award. Uh, and that is actually an award, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that is chosen by the teachers and given to fellow teachers. And so, we are really, um, excited tonight to have our award winners from last year um, be here. And so, we have Kate Centro um, and Bonnie McAuliffe. So, if you guys wanted to come up so that we can just say nice things about you, come on down. And maybe if you want to talk a little bit

010about what you do or what you did at the school. Um, and yeah, anything. >> Good. >> Um, so I'm Kate Cro. I teach at Hawin High School. I've been a teacher there since 2007. Um, I teach in the social studies department, uh, pretty much almost every class, uh, that I think has run in the past few years. Um, civics, American history, intro to law, global issues, American history. Um, so, uh, I don't know, that's about it. But I've had a wonderful tenure here. I've been here since, you know, like I said, 19 years. Hopefully a few more to go. >> Excellent. >> Um I working at Har School as a special education teacher. Um my favorite part was really the part as much as the other parts of it. Um for me I started

01123 years ago and was walking up to me last year. Actually I just flew in. I just took a red eye this morning from um Arizona. when we did the Grand Canyon. All the parts on my bucket list. So, >> wow. >> You're doing great. >> No, it's been it has been great. >> That's wonderful. >> Excellent questions, comments from the board. I know I have some. Well, I I think Kate undersold her resume a little bit because beyond her teaching, she leads numerous clubs, peer leaders, has been a uh advisor to probably every class that's uh gone through in the last eight years at some point in time. >> Yeah. If if there's an initiative to be led at some point that involves kids getting involved, um Kate's been the person for a long

012long time. and we are truly blessed to have. >> Great. Well, and what I just wanted to say about you both is that it's one thing to have like board or or students or, you know, whatever give you an award, but to have your peers identify you, I feel, you know, it says a lot. And I think both of you, you really capture like you've captured the special education component and you've captured the teaching component. like the two of you together I think really capture the heart of our school district. Um and you kind of like have span you've captured all of our schools really. Um and so just I wanted to thank you both so much. The impact that you've had on students throughout the years, dare I say decades, um is it's so

013impactful. Uh, and I think there are many things that we feel very grateful for here in Hopkin, but at the end of the day, it really is our teachers um, that are what make us a really special place. And so, I just wanted to thank you both so much for your care and dedication uh, because we literally would not be who we are without you. So, welld deserved. >> So, Oh. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. You don't get to run away. We have to take a picture with you. >> Run away. But we'll still take a picture with you. Move up a little bit. And can you push in a little bit? Like act like you know each other. >> There you go. >> Three, two, one. Thank you for being here and thank you for

014taking no worries. >> All right. Amazing. So, um the other thing that makes us amazing, not just our teachers and staff, but our students. And so now we're going to talk to an amazing student. And I just moved the microphone so we'll have to move it back. Um but yeah, can you move it back? So we also have um super amazing New England cross country champion Maddie Lane. Come on down. So this is Hopington history here. First ever Hopkin student to win um the New England cross country champions. I didn't realize until I got misty eyed at the student awards that your mom also won the New England's uh and then she presented you with the award and we all stood for standing ovation and then I started crying. It was >> very touching. Also

015of note, Maddie got two standing ovations because >> she's awesome. So, um I know you probably are a little tired of talking about it, but can you talk about it one more time? Uh about your amazing race, >> the quick lean at the end, >> the win, just we'd like to hear everything. >> Um it was kind of like a crazy experience for me. I went into it like not really knowing how things were going to go. I had like a very open mind and I was trying not to get like too worked up about it, but I I wouldn't say like I was really expecting to win. I had like goals of like top three and things like that. But it was kind of a surprise for me. I was just hoping to like

016run a good race and feel good on that day because I didn't run like my best performance the week before. But yeah, it was kind of crazy. I would say I mean it was probably like the best race I've ever had. Um so it was Yeah, it was really cool. Um and yeah, it was a little bit little bit nerve-wracking at the end, but I was happy to get the win. And I mean, I've been like competing a lot with the other girl, Alexis Paterna, throughout the season. So that was been that has been really cool to be able to like compete against her. And I think it's really cool that we were able to like represent New Hampshire and New England's in like such a big race like that. But yeah, it was it

017was pretty surreal and it was just cool that like me and my mom both won and we like have our trophies that are like both the same. >> It's like the same one. So, that's pretty cool. Um, yeah, it's just been like a really cool experience and it was really awesome and like just having the team, the whole team there was really fun also like just makes it less stressful for me but also just way more fun. So, yeah, it was really cool. >> I love that. That's great. Um, any questions, comments? >> I have a question. More of an observation than a question, I guess. So, I've gotten to watch you race a few times this year. And I think the thing that stands out is your composure when you're racing is not normal

018for what you see at the lead. You know, usually people are well, they they look like they're tired. You never look like you're tired. You always look like you're in control. And I'm just like, what is your thought process when you're running to to have that kind of >> determination? I mean, I just love running. And so, it's kind of just like the thing that I'm the most passionate about. So, like every time I go out and race, I just kind of try and think about like all the cool places that running takes me and like the people that I get to meet. So, I try and just feel like lucky that I get to be out there and have those cool opportunities. And then also just kind of like know where I'm at like

019training wise cuz I train a lot. Like it's a big thing that I do like all the time. And I work really hard in all my workouts to kind of get to the places I am. So I usually try and kind of put that all into perspective when I'm racing cuz it really matters a lot to me. And so it's just kind of like an accumulation of all the things. So yeah. >> What's the next step? What's the next goal >> if you got top three? I mean you won. So what's what's next? Um, well, uh, like Lucy said, we're going to Nike regionals as a team in New York this weekend. So, I'm hoping to qualify for nationals from there, but we'll see how it goes because I know it's going to be a

020really tough field. Um, so yeah, basically that. But, I mean, it's all kind of just about the process for me. Like, I want to go to like a very good school to run hopefully and um, things like that and just continue to progress. So, yeah. >> Thanks. Excellent. Um, so at the very end when you leaned, did you know you were going to need to lean to get in or was it like you were just trying to get over the line? >> I mean, I was pretty much running like as hard as I possibly could. So, and I knew that she was like right on me and like a little bit behind me, so when I crossed the line, I like kind of knew I won, but I was pretty like flustered, so I wasn't

021totally sure. But yeah. >> Yeah, >> that's great. I've always just wanted to ask an athlete who wins by a tenth of a second. >> Yeah. >> Questions. So, that's very cool. Well, congratulations again. Any other good? Excellent. >> Yay. And we're going to take a picture with you as well. So, don't move. >> Congratulations. Just taking a picture with her. Okay. >> Put this on your seat. >> All right. Squeeze it in. Come on. Three, two, one. No, just come to >> this weekend. That was a slip and fall. >> Thank you. >> Yes. And you guys, you are welcome to stay or Bonnie if you want to go to sleep. You can, you do not need to understand >> stay for the full meeting. You have, you've put in your years. >> And

022uh yeah, Kate, you don't have to stay either. You can just make your students stay. Uh, all right. So, that was the fun part of the meeting. Now, we get to the work part of the meeting, which is also fun. So, next up, we have Mr. Kelly and Miss Leighton uh presenting our NEASK survey data summary. Um which is pretty great. I'm going to let you guys come up and you grab that corner. Come >> better. >> This is Kelly's corner. See what I did there? >> Nice aliteration. It's real. Come on in, Miss Leon. Mrs. I think this is your schoolboard debut, right? >> Oh, is it? >> It is cuz she miss >> Oh, welcome Miss Le. She's our our new this year vice principal. >> She's killing it up there at the

023middle high school for fab reviews. >> Oh, good. >> Yeah. >> All right. Take it away, guys. >> Right. Um, so I think the last board meeting I attended is when I gave an overview, a snapshot look at our beginning processes for the NEAS accreditation that we're embarking on over the next two years. Um, and during that presentation, if you remember, um, I talked about the beginning of that part of that process being the the surveys that went out to faculty, students, and our families. So um we collected those surveys and that data back from NEASP. Uh they sent that to us. Um where we are in our process of looking at this data and just our overall work is that in our November faculty meeting the standards committees uh got together uh started looking

024at the survey data and then all the evidence that our entire faculty gave for each one of those five standards that we talked about in our last meeting. Um, and then, um, Miss Leightton has been looking over these surveys. Um, she put together this presentation and I thought it was a a great exercise for her being new. I remember when I came on board 21 years ago, we were at the very end of one of those and and Steve Chamber, the principal at the time, asked me to do that and it just gave me great insight to the culture, the climate, and uh, the community of our school. Um, so I thought it was a great opportunity for Miss Sllayton to to do the same. U, she's done a great job putting this presentation together.

025So I'm going to kind of turn this over to her. Um, and that will be her show and then my show is program studies. Um, but we're both here to answer questions for both presentations. So >> I'll turn it over to Miss. >> All right. So in reviewing all the survey data, which there's quite a bit to unpack, um, I wanted to present tonight just some of the highlights for each standard. The data presented tonight represents the percentage of respondents selecting almost always or always to a question. I picked some of the questions where similar questions asked of the students families and the faculty just to kind of gauge that difference between them. So under standard one when asked if there is respect for students from different backgrounds there was very positive results um all

026above 85% feeling safe at school and for parents this is worded as I feel like my child is safe at school 100% of our faculty feel safe 90% of our students 97% of our families feel like our school is a safe place Um and another important one is understanding or teaching that mistakes are part of learning which is definitely true. So that was all very positive feedback. Under standard two talking about our clear vision for success was also talked about the u portrait of a learner as well. the very high percentages, families with a little bit less. That's something we can work on with communication and make that more well known. Um, HMHS and teachers maintain high standards for our students. That was high across the board as well. The last one on this one,

027appropriate use of technology to support lessons. parents were not asked this question, but students feel like they are using their technology in class appropriately to support their learning. Standard three has a lot to unpack, especially for the faculty results, but here are some of the highlights. Students are frequently asked to explain their thinking. So, not just giving surface level answers, but going a little bit deeper. Students feel that teachers can explain difficult concepts clearly was a high of 83%. Students have learning opportunities with community members or programs. Faculty responded to that question in particular with the 93 and not a typo same percentage of faculty has um works together with their departments to align curriculum. So overall the highlights under standard three would be that there's uh strong student engagement and reasoning, clear alignment and

028real life experiences. Standard four looks a lot at learning support. So I chose to look at counselor availability, nurse availability, library use, and special education support and services. Um families were not asked about library use which is why there's no for that. Um overall I think it's pretty clear to see that students, family, faculty think we have terrific resources available across the board. Standard five looks at our learning resources and our building itself. So happy to say everyone for the most part thinks our building is clean and wellmaintained. There is access to materials for teachers and students to be able to learn and teach and crisis preparedness. So students u and faculty rated very highly that they understand what to do in the event of a emergency which is probably in part to our frequent

029drills. So kind overall I saw that stakeholders have strong confidence in our school environment. We have strong perception of rigor and expectations. Our support services were pretty highly rated. We have great strengths in respect, safety, support and rigor. And our faculty was the consistently most positive response group. questions. >> Yes. Um, so on standard two, I mean obviously there's some gaps between the student perception and the faculty's perception. Were there comments as a part of the survey so that we could get some sense as to what drove that gap or >> There isn't. It's a likered scale. Um I thought the same thing when I was saying it would have been nice if there was just even a short um you know a small box to give a short comment to be more a little

030bit more specific. um actually gave that feedback back to Miss Mitti who is our liaison from NIASK for something to consider. Um >> as there all you know NIA is always revising how they go through this process but I wish that I wish there was a place for some comments to give some narratives to >> so so my recollection of how NES is going to ultimately work is they will come in they will look at these these profiles and then they're going to sit down with kids and with staff. Um, so is there a step for us in between to get a sense as to why those gaps are there with our students as a preparation like you know what I mean? >> Um, I don't know that there's a process in place. What will

031happen is what we're doing right now is the faculty is reviewing all of this. They have not seen this presentation, right? >> Um, we were going to present it here and you know I will share this presentation in Kelly's corner for our faculty to take a look at. Um but I would see that this would be allow us to you know have some talking points to start and how do we close those gaps look deeper into the data we collected here and just start asking ourselves some questions when we get ready to write the report. So there are reports that will go with every one of these standards and we'll have to take a look at why is it that you know families at 70% around clear vision or maintaining high standards is a little

032lower than we're a faculty. Um, so it will create some conversations, but this is also a different process than what you and I have experienced in the past. So, in the two-day collaborative, it's a it's a quick hit, if you will. Um, when I did my two-day collaborative, um, we didn't review the survey data. It was really for the faculty. What we reviewed as a reporting committee was the reports that had been written and then we kind of went out and looked for evidence in our walkthroughs of classrooms or meeting with families and other stakeholders um and asking questions that kind of either confirmed or said okay well we need to maybe make this a recommendation for them to something for them to work on and then we'll spend those two years after that visit

033in next October and kind of working on those and addressing those um so that when they come back for that 4-day visit or three-day visit. They come in on Sunday, but we don't have anything to do with them this year at this time. Um, and then we'll we'll work on those recommendations that so the teachers that are assigned to that standard group will probably do some uh exploring as to why those gaps are there so they can write their report with some exemplars in there. >> Right. And they'll be looking at the evidence that the faculty um has uploaded to those spreadsheets that I had talked about. So there were spreadsheets um for each one of these standards. Um and on that first day in October is that PD day that we had was our

034evidence collection day on October the 10th. Um and every single faculty member that was present that day had the opportunity to upload evidence that supported any one of these standards. So it's been a pretty collaborative process and transparent. Um but that will be the goal of every one of those standard committees to look at where are some of those deficiencies? how can we improve uh in those areas and and decide what it is that we like to work on next. And those would be things I would imagine that we'll take a look at as an admin council and as a whole faculty and potentially work into our building goals and or see how they may fit with the strategic plan or with the school board. So we'll look for those alignments there and obviously those

035will be conversations I'll have with Danny. >> Thank you. questions. >> I I have a quick one. Can you guys just um sort of remind us and for folks in the room to just briefly uh what NISK is and why this is important? >> Sure. So, it's the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. >> It is one of six accrediting bodies in the country. Um it is the largest accreditation um because it's not just New England, it's also Europe. So, it is now open to uh educators uh in New England to travel to Europe and do an accreditation, which I kind of kept in the background. You know, haven't been to Ireland yet. Time to go. um um and so the importance of this is that you want a high school uh that is

036accredited by an outside association that comes in and does an indepth study of what we're doing to make sure that we have clear visions that we have curriculums that supply rigor and offer those opportunities uh for students to have success that we have an environment that's inclusive support um that we have nursing services, school counseling services, special education services that support all students. Um, and because you don't want to graduate from school, that's not right. Um the example that I give u when I went to state in my undergrad um one of the gentlemen that I freshman year graduated from students high school almost again with Keen State because it wasn't an accredited high school and that was where a lot of what we're still working through at the state level had started with a

037Claremont. So that's important. You want to know that you're graduating and you're sending your student to a to an accredited institution. um one that's accredited by our peers in the field um other practitioners, other superintendents, people that know their craft well. Um and this process I think is a little bit more comprehensive, not easier, but more comprehensive, but I think more thorough. You know, in the process that um I went through in regards to just attending the two-day, uh Miss Colar is in a 4-day visit right now in a in a neighboring school district. So, I look forward to talking with her about how what how that went, what that looked like and what we should expect. Um, but it's also something to hang our hat on, you know, to say that we are credit.

038I'm looking forward to going through this process and looking back at, you know, some of the things that were suggested that we improve upon. A lot of those things we've talked about here is at a board whether it's facilities and taking a look at our science labs. Um redesigning the fifth floor so we don't have an elevator going into the classroom and all the security pieces that we've had to implement over the years from the films on the on the windows to the cameras um and everything that Jim's been working on in the record facilities kind of just helps to give us a focus. You know, sometimes I think it's easy when you're in a building for as long as some of us have been to kind of just we're on the train, right? I

039mean, and I worked with Bill Crow. He always keeping the train on time, right? Um but to step back and say, "Okay, I thought we were really doing this well, but okay, but this is another year we can take a look at." So, um it's all about school improvement. How do we continue improving? How do we continue to get better? Um these are very encouraging numbers and feedback. I think that um if I went back and kind of compared to where we were 12 years ago, I think we're higher in these percentages. Um so, and that's a credit to the faculty that we've had and the support of the school board over the years and the community and just adding things with additional clubs and um like like you heard Kip talk about, you know,

040just having the opportunity for students to participate in SLET. That's something we didn't have until Mr. came home for but that expanded an opportunity for kids to participate and feel like they belong to something outside of maybe sports or drama or some of those extra activities that we have. So, um I don't know if Kim has anything to add to that. That's why I think it's important. >> Thank you. >> Chris, can I ask another question on uh standard two? Matt's going to do a presentation in a little bit about Chromebooks and funding and all the rest of it. pretty obvious the appropriate use of technology. That's the only one where the faculty is saying that's pretty low. Is is that around Chromebooks or is that around something else? Like what's your gut on that?

041>> That's a good question. I have not had a chance to have a follow up with the faculty to ask, you know, why would it be at 75%. What would you like to see in regards to the use of technology? It could be because they see students using it inappropriately. Um that may be one area. um or just other available means to technology to utilize in the classroom. So I think it could go down a couple different paths but I haven't had honestly Rob I haven't had that conversation. >> Thanks. >> Any other questions? >> I think the only other one that um jumped out at me was the crisis prepare preparedness. Um just that the families uh were only at 72%. I'm thrilled that the faculty and students are, you know, are are pretty

042high. I think it's really important for them to be quite high and knowing what to do if there's a crisis. Um it just seems like >> uh maybe the families just don't know >> how prepared our faculty and students are. >> Can I add something? When we went through this in my previous district that was similar >> and it is interesting you don't share your crisis intervention policy. Yeah. Um, so it sort of makes sense that they wouldn't know all the ins or outs because you really have to be careful about, you know, sharing that publicly. Um, you don't send out information about what you do in any number of things. Students know, uh, they also know to listen to the adult in the in the classroom. >> Um, so that was similar and I

043know that, um, Kim has been other places as well and so I would just be curious if that was you found that as well. Yeah, you definitely can't share those plans ahead of time with parents and the community. That sounds like a counterproductive choice. Um, so that that data point did kind of make sense to me. In fact, I kind of thought it was high. >> Oh, interesting. >> The students must be communicating with home as after we do drills and they are sharing some information with their families. >> Yeah, I think I would I I would echo that. I I think when I was looking at this and I was, you know, if we had above 50%. I'd be like, "Okay, we're doing all right, you know, but when I came in where it

044did, we're doing better." >> We do, as she mentioned, we do a lot of drills. We push those dates out ahead of time. Try to adhere to those as best we can. Sometimes just our schedules don't allow us to run them when we do, but that calendar that we put out keeps us, you know, on task to get them done. Um, at the beginning of the year we have presents and we talk about what event is um you know we have the posters up talked about see something say something you know I think we we've over the years we've had situation where students have brought attention to us if they thought another friend of theirs was you know struggling um and needing you know because it's not just about school when I think about crisis

045predict, you know, what about that student who's maybe targeting the cell phone and how do we respond to that? Not all those families would know about those protocols that our school counselors work through, including school count uh sorry, school administration or school psychologists, you know, to kind of go through and supporting those students in crisis. I think when we hear crisis, we're thinking about what we hear in the news all the time, but we have students in crisis. It may be that they lost a family unexpectedly, you know. So there's different types of crisises that schools deal with on a daily basis. >> I do recognize I just want to chime in that that those are, you know, some of those things are privileged plans. Um, and I remember having a student go through and

046being alerted that there will be a drill or there will be, you know, sort of the vague awareness. But I'm wondering if part of the communication piece is just more iterations of there is a plan. We cannot share the plan with you, but your students have been trained on what to do in case of this or they have been trained in just more reminders to the community because I think being a parent in this day and age of a of a student and especially I know like the the no phones and and some of that has caused some anxiety from parents. Um, so just letting people know that there is a plan. We just can't tell you all of the pieces of said plan. >> And in the last several years, we put flip charts

047in every classroom. >> Yeah. >> You know, really, >> and your data tells you that the, you know, faculty feel pretty good about it and the students feel pretty good. It's the parents who can't, but you can tell them like, rest assured, we have these things in play. And I, you know, and I was pleased to see that number for the faculty because, you know, when we first started implementing the avoid, deny, defend process. Um, the avoiding part >> comes naturally >> anxious made them anxious. What do you mean? Leave the building. Where do we go? I don't care. Get away from the building, you know. And I said, we will find you later. We will figure this out. And, you know, that's not how we're trained as we're structured people lesson plan. to the

048minute, you know, running my bell schedules and things. Um, so sometimes I have to think on the fly and be flexible in a stressful situation, you know, it's just that it's a stressful situation. So they want to know, but I think they feel more comfortable because we do have a flip chart to talk about. >> Thank you. >> All right. coming up this. >> Okay. >> All right. I think you're staying in place, right? We're just keeping it right here. >> Any other questions? >> We're good here. All right. Program of studies. >> Yeah. So, um it's it's been a whirlwind um for a lot of different reasons. Um if you saw in my board memo um you know just started with the purpose of the program of studies. Um a lot of the work

049that went into our next program of studies was to align it to the new 306 which is realigning some of the requirements or minimum requirements I should say for graduation. So it was it has been a lot of discussion with uh department chairs collectively or individually uh with our school counselors to make sure that this program of studies does align with the new F306es that goes into effect for the incoming class of 2030 for next year. So anyone who's going to be a sophomore or junior or senior next year doesn't really affect them. Um they're under our the old minimum standards. um it's really with the incoming freshmen that we're going to have to realign some things. So um just some summary of the key updates, you know, the reformatting. If you remember, I've reformatted

050the program to sell I think three years ago. Um we reformatted it again to get it out of we have a program called Inesign, which is a very powerful great program, but I only use it once a year for this purpose. Um and so I was retaching myself all the time. And I would and Michelle Fischer who's wonderful in our guidance office um she has also done some work on this over the years but again she only uses it for this. So what we did was we took it out of inesign. Um Matt Stone helped us get it out of Inesign and put it into Google Docs for us. So it's just the ease of editing moving forward so that anyone that comes in if Michelle was ever to leave you know someone coming in

051should be able to utilize Google Docs pretty easily. Um, we've updated the table of contents again for better formatting and better navigation. And you'll notice if you look at the program of studies, we removed the flowcharts. Remember, there were flowcharts in there. Yeah. >> Um, and the reason why I did that um was because I felt like we were duplicating some of our efforts. >> What we didn't do is we put the flowcharts in there, but what we didn't do was we didn't put the courses in order that they needed to be taken. So um part of the reformatting was to take the flowchart out but then reorganize the course descriptions in those core areas math, social studies, English and science um and put them in the chronological order in which they should be taken

052um as best we could. So we did th we made that realignment in there as well. Um we updated those pathways to graduation. Um, if you remember in the program of studies, there are two charts, one for the 20 and one for the 24 credit pathway. I've updated those again to align to the ed 306's for the class of 2030. What you'll see is there are four of those planning charts now because we need one just for the class of 2030 and then we need a set for the um students who will be sophomores and older. Um, so that's been in there. Um again we reiterated uh the importance of competence based education because that's where we're moving to as a state that everybody has to be a competent based system. Um and again emphasizing

053the mastery of those locally defined competencies. This is something Mrs. Miss Doyle and I have been talking about. Um she's actually going to attend one of our um department chair meetings and we'll continue those discussions around competencies. Um and then looking at those minimum graduation requirements and expanding the recognition of the extended learning opportunities, internships and any interdisciplinary uh projects there. Um let's see what else. So I talked about the diploma planning sheets. Oh and then so I may have talked about it here before I cannot remember. Um but we uh as you know it is a requirement that all of our students in their civics class pass the US US citizenship test and they have to pass for a 70 or better. So um it up until last month there was still some confusion

054in regards to how we administer that test. So um schools were or civics teachers across the state were doing it one of two ways. They were either developing their own citizenship. You still utilizing the same questions all 128 of them. Um but um Miss Cro was utilizing a Google doc or Google form to administer the test. Um and school other schools were doing the similar kind of paper pencil or some type of Google doc. Um and then it was starting to come out in some of the N306 meetings that I was attending that it's a requirement that we take it on the New Hampshire SAS portal. the tide system similar to we do for New Hampshire SAS and I had reached out to Christina Downing who is a superintendent at do you remember where >>

055Granthm >> where >> uh Grantham >> Granthm um she has been kind of the point person across the state to um kind of lead these workshops and all the changes to the 306. So I reached out to her and I said is this true like are we going to have and she didn't really know because she was hearing different things. So I contacted the state directly and I said just wondering if we get some clarification and that person was on vacation so I had to wait. Um did receive an email back saying yes we do have to do it through the New Hampshire SAS portal. Um and then ironically a week later there was a technical advisory that came out from our new commissioner again letting us know that this is what had to be

056done. So, um, in order to make sure that we're prepared to do that, um, Matt Stone and I met with Mrs. Crosse, um, started talking about what that would look like. So, we're in the process of redeveloping how we administered that test. Um, but it's, you know, you're just going to sit and take the whole test. Um, so it will be interesting to see how many of our students are able to pass it the first time versus taking it multiple times. Um, I believe Mrs. Centros in the past would kind of give it in chunks at times to make it more manageable for students, but because it's an online test, we're we're no longer able to do that. Uh we are able to pause that test, but if they pause it for more than 20

057minutes, they can't go back and change anything. So, it it's best that we just try and fit it in our 80-minute block. So, we'll be working on that. Um under number three are just all our course and departmental departmental updates. Um What you're going to see here um is where we updated course descriptions um and we added a sentence to many of those course descriptions to make sure people when they read it knew that it satisfied those those particular state requirements that are new. Um and I you know I just need to give credit to our department chairs uh and school counselors for just being forward thinkers uh in regards to just our overall curriculum. Uh for instance um There's a lot it's it's been surprising to me to find that there's a lot of

058high schools that have not offered a financial literacy course. >> Um even though there's a technical advisory out there that says that we have to have it. When the technical advisory came out, Scott said in the math department worked on putting that in place, put that in place. So we do not need to add that as a new requirement because we already have it. What we do need to make as a new requirement in math is statistics. So under the new requirements, we need to offer a half credit of statistics or some type of data analysis course. But we're not I'm not going to develop a new course right now because you know there's a lot that goes into that goes to C you know if we do that it goes CIA and a process

059but we already have a course in place with intro to statistics but that would match that. So for the class of 2030 that will become a requirement for them where for everyone else it's just an elective for them to take. Okay. So that's how we're trying to meet those things. So where we're where we were able to take existing courses and and and make sure that they meet those requirements, we've done that. Um rhetoric and logic is another, you know, because Kate wanted to Kate uhlair, our department chair, wanted to put that course in place a few years ago. We put it in place. We made it the requirement for 11th grade English. We already had it. There are schools that don't have it. Uh and so they're struggling to figure out where they're going

060to put it. they're going to put it in another department like social studies and they're going to put it in in English. So, we don't have to worry about that. We're in really good shape there. Um the New Hampshire and US Constitution um are other requirements. Um and this is where, you know, social studies gets a little interesting. Um some schools are developing very new courses to make sure that we meet that standard or that credit. Um what we're doing is we're going to embed competencies in existing courses to meet those requirements. So this is where the E306es gets a little messy. So we are moving away from credits and we are moving away from seat time with new E306s. Because we're moving towards the proficiency and mastery of competencies. However, if you go to

061the state website and you pull up the new ed 306s, they have them outlined by credits, but we don't count credits. Um, we're still going to work within that credit model because it helps us with planning an organization to help students get into schools and colleges after they they leave us if that's the direction that they go. Um, so you may hear people saying, "Well, credits don't count anymore." Well, you're telling us that we need a minimum of 20. So there they still have some teeth in them, right? Um and because there's no seat time, that's something that we're trying to figure out now as well as you know, for instance, we take a reassessment policy. We're talking about that. We started talking about it back in August with my department chairs. This is something

062I want to take a look at because it's still serving its purpose. Do we need to change it? you know, um, in our last admin council meeting, the question that came up that I hadn't thought about yet is if we're not counting seat time, but we're saying, you know, we put in a structure that within 10 days, we'd like somebody, you know, somebody that needs to take a reassessment to start that process for reassessment. Well, what happens if somebody doesn't finish a course successfully at the end of their fresh, let's say, just freshman year, freshman English, and it was two because of two competences. But if there's no seat time, how long do we give them to finish those companies in their freshman that credit from their freshman year? So these are things that I'm

063having to work through um and you know continue to talk with Amy and our admin council to to to figure out how we address those pieces. Um because again it's really about completing the competencies, not se time. Um, so Carnegie units, all that stuff kind of goes up the window and u we're just having to think think differently. Um, now I don't suspect that we're going to have a lot of students that are going to forget about it because we're a small school. Our teachers are very good about staying on top of that working with students um to get get those course sorry those assessments made up or those competencies completed uh before moving on. uh what we do have in place are prerequisites. So in order to take sophomore English, you need to complete

064English 9. So in some areas, we do have some safeguards in place because we have prerequisites. So it may mean that we have to think about prerequisites for more courses to help keep students on track. Uh so that's just an idea uh that I've been thinking about. We'll continue to talk about them council as we move forward. Um so you know that's really the you know you know I can answer questions about the the memo that I I've submitted here. Um the course levels and section on page six we again updated there. Uh I did do some combining of some paragraphs around early college running start dual enrollment programs uh on page seven. So it falls under the early college at your high school section of the program of studies. Um and again we were

065just I was was going to make sure that we were as consistent as we could be as with our course descriptions in every part of this program of studies um make it a little easier to read from people u and to again just strengthen the communication of our expectations about academics at our school. So happy to answer any questions. >> Yeah. What so what is competency based what does that mean? So competencies >> in opposition to what? >> So there are standards and there are competencies written for every single course. So our department chairs working with the departments came up with overarching competencies and those competencies are what we want our students to know and be able to do basically for any particular subject. >> Okay. >> Um >> so the minimum things that you

066should learn in order to complete a course. >> Correct. and we want them to uh perform at a level of proficiency um where that would be your so right now our level of proficiency is a mark of a 70 or better and so that's where we would want our students perform. So if they don't achieve a 70 on a competency based assessment >> they have to retake that so they can get to a 70 or higher to pass that competency or set of competencies. So that's in opposition to what? Because you said I think you said that there's a movement toward competency based education. So the movement from what? Like what's the >> because not every there's no requirement that every school has to have competencies. >> So that's different than what like a passing

067grade >> a number grade. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So that's what I'm trying to that's what I'm trying to understand >> like on the real 10,000 foot view what our terms mean here. >> Yeah. >> So as opposed to getting a a C or better to pass a course this is saying to pass the course you need to hit these benchmarks or >> to be able to do very specific things perhaps um a particular set of knowledge a particular set of skills rather than just like you got a 70 on your test congratulations like it's very finite. So there are overarching competencies for each for I'm sorry is that okay for each content area but then each course and you can see the amount of work I was just thinking the amount of work that

068they did for each course to say what competency it meets is just amazing like in the long run because a student can then recover that it just the competencies that they've missed because I I mean I think of competencies as like when you're an elementary teacher most of them most of us thought on a continuum that you have that philosophy have not yet you don't know it right now but eventually you will and competencies I think of it that way you didn't know it today what are we what learning is going to happen between now and the next time we're going to assess you and what does the support and learning look like and it usually just was you failed this you never get a chance to learn that content again >> so we're moving

069away from the second part >> okay I'm not going to I'm not going to hijack the meeting but I'm still having a hard time I mean to me if you if you get a a D then you didn't learn certain things or you didn't >> but you never have a chance to learn that D. So competencies say you have to meet these particular things you can't get out of this course without knowing these things. >> Right. Okay. >> Right. So sometimes like you could do well in other things because I I work at a competency based school and it would bring your average enough to walk away but maybe the kid can never you know doesn't spell. Competency based grading says you cannot leave this course until you have met proficiency right >> you don't

070get credit for a course that you don't pass either >> right but sometimes your average right traditional grading back in the day you could have a kid who maybe failed this test and this test but the average was high enough in other pieces that it would bring the kid out and they passed English um >> but they still >> but they maybe still couldn't spell >> because it was just one aspect aspect of the course. So using learning targets and competencies would say that all of these are valuable >> and you must achieve a certain level of proficiency on all of >> the targets. >> Your confusion is similar to what Chris said is that there's this there's a lot of information and literature around competencies, but the state is still still saying you need

071a half a credit. >> So there like you're right on target with however people that aren't living it. You're thinking, well then why are you giving me a half credit for it if you're saying I just need to know these concepts? >> Some schools have done away with grades altogether and they're doing >> together. >> Yep. They're doing, you know, exemplary proficient. >> Yeah. I guess to me it's >> appreciate. >> You're not alone. >> Yeah. >> I mean that's why, you know, I've been I don't know how many of ED 306 meetings I've attended. Um I've attended ED 306 meetings that were uh curriculum specific and I had the department to join those meetings so that they were aware of what those changes were going to be. Um, if we didn't have these meetings

072with the principles or the superintendents that were running these, I don't think we would have been in a a good spot to present program of studies this early. >> Um, >> you know, I get that like the best way I can describe the competency is it's what if we want our students to know a >> Sure. >> at a particular level. >> Yeah, makes sense to me. >> And And we also want that knowledge to be transferred. Um, so what we're not doing, you're you may you like if you were to talk to other schools, there are some schools for instance that didn't have the personal finance or financial literacy course, but they don't have the staffing, right? >> So they're embedding those competencies that would be in that personal finance course into their economics

073course. Mhm. >> And then what they're doing is they're playing the credit game and even though they don't have to, but they're now awarding a semester long class one credit. >> I didn't want to go down >> because they can pull out these proficiencies and these. >> We don't need to do that because we've, you know, I think again to the credit of our faculty, we're forward thinking about adding some courses over the years that have allowed us to be got in a much better place. As I started going and going, I'm like, "Oh my god, this is really going to blow up." Like, "Are we ready to do this?" this became a principal's worst nightmare of these changes. But the more I started to peel back at this, say, "Okay, no, we got this.

074We have this, we have this, going to Kate Centro and saying, Kate, these are the changes in social studies. How can we make this work? Oh, we have these competencies. This is going to satisfy this." I didn't have to combine anything. And I don't know that I would have gone to, you know, Amy and said, you know, I want to change this course from a half credit to a full credit for just a semester because then that gets confusing in the eyes of the public too. >> That's the piece to your to your point and and to your point as well having made the transition to a competency based school a couple years ago. There was a a lot of community education that went into because grade reports look different, right? Report cards, transcripts looked

075a little bit different. Um and so there is going to be a process yay um of educating you know the students and the community about you know what those things look like and different iterations of how you know we tried it this way one year and we need to change this. So it's a journey >> it is I mean in in the state of New Hampshire typical fashion you know they they still want local control. They're saying that this is what we want you to do but it's local control. We don't know. We don't care how you get personal finance taught to the students, but you got to teach it. Um, and that's where some schools are like, well, we're going to combine these two courses for a semester, but then that waters down the

076other half of the curriculum. And so, forget bigger, right? And so, and that's not what I want as the building principal for our school. That's not what I believe our community or school board wants. And that's not what our department chairs and teachers want. They don't want to water anything down. This doesn't water anything down. Thank you. >> Just biting my tongue off over here. Biting it off. Um, in my view, Jonathan, competencies certainly have their place. My issue with the evolution of competencies was there was a a notion put out by the person who was the uh board of education person at the time that time was all that mattered. We were just giving grades away and that was a load of malarkey. Um a welldesigned test in 2010 looks just like a well-designed

077competency test in 2025. If you were a good teacher doing your job, there was no difference. The difference here is students now have the opportunity, as Amy said, to retake a segment if they miss that piece, whereas before their grade would go from, you know, a 93 to an 83. That's fine. >> The downside for me in all of this in terms of the soft skills, which I consider the hardest skills that we get, is what habits are we teaching students? And I can't tell you the number of times that I got frustrated when a student would come in prior to a test or worse a presentation period where one presentation builds on another and just say, "Well, I'm not ready. I'll just make it up on competency." That is to me the black hole

078of competencies. >> And it still is. >> The next time is the problem. And that's why you know this how we're going to to reassess and and we went through some processes where you had to sort of earn that reassessment you know capability >> process that two-tiered process is still there. Yeah. And to be fully transparent, I mean, teachers do it at different levels of fidelity. You know, we talked about that admin council. Um, and so how do we go about, you know, tightening it tightening that back up, but then also supporting one of my goals around, you know, equitability, you know, for all students. Um, because, you know, students are good at playing the game with students, right? I mean, if they really enjoyed one particular subject area or were really good at it,

079they may study for that but knowing there's a reassessment push that others went on. >> Um, so that was a frustration of teachers over the years. So that's where I think the two-tiered system came into place where >> teachers were asking for evidence or looking for evidence that they did actually prepare for something assessment in order to achieve you know the right to reassess or the privilege send. >> So we're looking for the approval of the program of studies so that we can then send it to print. I can take that word draft off of it. Chris, can I ask you a few questions before? Sorry, that got along. Um, so the diploma planning sheets, when do those happen? Is that done annually by students? Is it done like in their freshman year? Like, >>

080so the those are in this program of studies and that's more for the students and the parents to see what they need to take in each particular subject area. The school counselors also have four year planning sheet that they keep. and they write down the courses that they took in their freshman year. And then when it comes time for them to do their next set of course selection, they make sure that they're on a continuum to graduate with either one of those diploma paths. >> So I guess the question is is like who's reviewing that with the student and when to see that they're on >> okay >> during the course selection process. >> Okay. um the independent studies. I get a lot of questions during the budget process about the value of our independent

081studies and whether that's something we should just do away with. So, we've got at my count we've got 11. Um can you talk a little bit about how well subscribed they are, those kinds of things? >> Well, the number will vary from year to year. um the reasons behind why a student may end up in independent study maybe >> no I'm oh sorry I misspoke I have independent study here at AP courses I'm talking about AP courses so we have 11 AP courses >> okay >> and um yeah there you know I remember a gentleman saying well you know we have these highle courses but a lot of colleges aren't accepting them as credit which in my personal experience is false because I saved two semesters worth of tuition at UNH based on AP courses

082is so like where >> changed >> what's the design there in terms of how many students are taking uh AP courses at the at the high school >> like how many do we have enrolled >> yeah like in a typical year >> um I think they're pretty well subscribed I don't have a number off the top of my head the least subscribed is kelp BC but that's like and that's a pretty high level capstone course for math students. Um, but like AP US, you know, is well subscribed from one semester to the next or one year to the next. Um, because Mr. Hian does a great job with that. Um, I was in AP psych uh with Miss Lar Shell, full class of 24 kids. Um, so I think there's a strong desire by our

083student body to take AP courses. Um, and I would not suggest that we remove any AP courses that we're current that we currently have. Um, we have we have one student that I know that's taking five AP courses right now. Um, because of this, you know, academically driven. We wouldn't recommend that because it is a heavy course load. Uh, but they are popular courses. Um, and I think they do bring value for those students that are maybe looking for a particular college or university that they want to, right? >> Whether it's an Ivy League or not. I think a lot of the colleges have caught on to the AP sort of game and and quite a few schools have stopped they've they've started taking maybe one humanities right so if you're taking an AP US

084history and you're taking like your AP you know uh lit composition or whatever and you manage to get fours or fives on both they'll only take one um and you'll see that in the state at UNH like they'll be like oh we'll only take but what they do provide having a kid who just went through is the rigor >> that if they are collegebound, which would probably be why they're taking an AP course, is it certainly prepares them for a college level course. >> And in some of those courses, they're doing the Socratic seminar and those students enjoy that environment. Um, and I think that's one reason why I think some of those students that enjoyed attending sled that we heard about, you know, I know we heard about it once or twice already. Um,

085but being able to take what they learn in those courses and then apply it in an organization or a club like sled is like an extension of that knowledge, right? And then being able to apply it at St. A's and go undefeated in an environment that they're not comfortable in. >> Um, you mentioned skills. I mean, it gives them those communication skills and that ties back to our a portrait of a learner, which is one of the five aspects of the portrait of a learner to be able to collaborate and be able to communicate. So, uh, I think there's a lot of value in AP courses. >> I agree. >> Our AP stats course, um, I looked at those numbers today because of the stats course. I was, you know, I was just kind of

086digging a little bit. You know, on average in that class over over the last seven years, we've had 20 students on average take that per year in a small school like ours >> and score well. >> Yeah. But I mean I would also I mean I'm far away from AP courses. Um but separate aside from getting credit there's also just as a student it's good to challenge yourself and there's value in the study right like in my opinion like >> I mean you take the test to get the credit >> you take the course you may take the course for a lot of reasons because you're want academic rigor and >> that has value intrinsic value in my opinion >> separate and aside from transaction about >> we have a strong number of students who

087do participate in the AP exam. We don't require it. Some high schools do that. If you sign up for an AP course, you're required to take the AP exam. Um but our numbers are very strong as far as participating in that exam. Um and overall, uh throughout the years, we've we've scored well on >> and you've created quite a few more dual enrollment courses as well. So, I mean, we're providing opportunities for students. That's the name of the game, I guess, is is to give everybody a pathway >> to graduation and success after. >> We have right now we have 24 students in um enrolled in early college, they changed it, so I don't mess it up, but in that during moment of early college at high school >> um and of those 24 students,

088I think there's 13 that are doubled up. Yeah. >> So, you know, that's again when you think of juniors and and seniors, that's a nice little percentage for a school our size of of taking advantage of that opportunity somewhat. >> Yeah. I I think when we were doing the 20 credit pathway work, spent some time looking at what's offered in other regional schools because there's this sense that we are offering above and beyond and we're actually on par or below schools around us. John Stark, bow, conquer, etc. And that sort of speaks to staff being really willing to take on a heavy burden because with three, four, five preps, teaching an AP course is a lot of work. >> Yeah. I mean, and being able to support those teachers, you know, Miss Larelle, she had

089five preps last year. First year teacher. >> Oh, and it was stressful for her. You know, I think she would tell you that. Um, and we did the best that we could to support her. uh my in my evaluations for her this year, you know, she's she's hitting out of the park as a second year teacher. Um there's not a lot of teachers that will do five preps or four preps. I did four preps, you know, >> I've done it. >> It's a lot of work. >> Don't enjoy it. >> And the AP course, it's a prescribed curriculum, right? It's it's national. And we also are at a disadvantage in New England because we start later. So I always feel like you're I mean Lucy's like, "That's right." because we're running up against that deadline

090that kids, you know, some students have a month more content than our students do. So, >> they're really working from the minute they get in there. It's an advanced course, but also accelerated, right? It's that combination. Um, and it's one thing we were trying to get through a push, which I I think Mr. Nato probably taught, but um the the cals psych, but it it's a lot. >> It is. And so, you know, when you when you have to hire teachers, it it's it's getting harder to find teachers that are willing to teach the books, you know. So, you know, again, I'll just say we're very fortunate. Um, I if I've had any good Irish luck, it's been in hiring and finding teachers um that are willing to come to Huffington, teach our students. >>

091Thank you. Thanks. >> Yeah. Well, this is great. I um I really like the new formatting. I think it flows really well. >> Thanks. >> Um and I know that you took out the flowcharts because I like that you took them out. They always confused me. So, >> yeah, that's what I was thinking. I mean, it it was a good idea at the time. It was something different. Um and I think it it served its purpose because we were also going through those curriculum changes. Oh, yeah. and social studies and a couple other areas to delineate what classes had to follow what. Um, but we're really out of that now. It's only class of 2030, but we've also tried to realign some of those requirements so that it works for all of our students in

092every class. >> Yeah. No, I think it makes a lot of sense and I think it makes sense to also have it in Google and not in in design because who wants to teach themselves in design every year? That sounds a nightmare. >> There were there were a few days that I had to take a walk. >> Yeah. Um, all right. So with that, is there a motion to approve the 2026 2027 uh Hopington High School program of studies as presented? >> Yes. So moved. >> Second. >> Great. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor? I. >> None opposed. >> Congratulations. That >> super early, too. I just would like to note this feels like a very early program of studies. This is fantastic. >> Yeah, we we're on it. >> High five

093for you. Yes, a lot of work went into it with our school counselors and teachers. So, >> yeah. Well, kudos to them all. It's great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We are out of here. >> All right. Well, the fun just keeps coming. With that, we are gonna now talk uh tuition rate setting. And Laura has some exciting information for us, right? >> Yeah. Um, based on our 10, excuse me, I'm still fighting a little bit of a cold. Um, based on our 101 enrollments, we have a district-wide enrollment of 914 students. So, we take um the total amount of our budget and divide it by that amount and um make a couple other fund adjustments based on expenditures at the schools. And we come out this year with a final tuition rate of

094$23,134.67 for elementary and 21,87786 for secondary, which is middle high school. >> Excellent. And Laura, this is not this should not be considered like quote what it costs to like necessarily educate because this is like less transportation and that kind of stuff. Right. >> Right. So this is this is a specific um equation that we use for kids that are coming in from out of district. >> Yep. >> Got it. I just wanted to clarify that. >> That's exactly it. Yes. >> Okay. Any questions about this? Does the calculation include our special education costs? >> Yes. >> Um, and I think I would just mention from the enrollment standpoint, you see a reduction in our middle school enrollment. That's because that very large class moved to nth grade this year. And so we expected to

095see that. like a big wave rolling through. Any other questions about this? >> No. Um, do we know how many students? We do not have very many students. We don't have very many. Um, we four or five. Okay. Okay. this year. >> Super. Uh, and do you need a an official vote from us? Yes, please to accept this. Okay. So, is there a motion to accept the 2025 2026 Hopkin School DI tuition rate as presented? >> Yes. >> Second. >> Excellent. >> So quick. >> Uh, any discussion? >> No. Hearing none. Uh, all in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries. Thank you very much for doing that. >> Okay, that was easy. We have another presentation. So, Matt Stone gets to come come on down and talk to us about Chromebooks. >> So, I'm actually

096straight back. >> Okay. Oh, great. Amy's gonna talk Well, just just briefly. um that is going to maintain his man behind the curtain um motif. So >> as much as possible >> at one of the last meetings uh we talked about providing some Chromebook budgeting information and before we did that we talked about surveying the teachers to get a sense of how they are using their devices, how satisfied they might be about them and that would help inform our decisions about funding for them moving forward. when we were working through the public hearing, we also talked about how we really needed to put into place a more uh sustainable device replacement process. Um so I've had a lot of conversations with Matt um and you know that he knows all things devices. Um I was

097really particularly um thinking about how are teachers using their devices in the classroom um and how can we ensure that our uh financial um budgeting and our obligation to them is um replacing those devices at a way that is makes it sustainable um but also is responsive to to student learning. So Matt and I put out a survey um we really good feedback. I was really glad that the teachers took the time. It's a busy time. We got over 50 responses um which is great. Um more than 50% of our responses were from the high schools. So I think your earlier comment related to NIA ask I I didn't want to jump in. I do think that part of what we are going to talk about related to the speed of the Chromebooks that was

098a piece of feedback that we got primarily um and if we just it's an anonymous survey but if we just say 50% of the responses came from the middle high school um they're our biggest users. Um, so as you go through the the um the expressed concern as Matt is on the slide deck up here is around the speed. Um, and students with personal devices seem to have an advantage over those that have to use the district device. We talked a lot about that during the the um public hearing. I know that was a conversation that you had as a board. Um, if you have a MacBook Air, um, you're certainly at an advantage over a student that is using our Chromebook, even if it's a brand new Chromebook. So we want to be cognizant

099of that as well. Um as you go through some of the responses as I mentioned 50% came from the middle high school about 25% from our other two buildings. Um classroom teachers overwhelmingly are the responses that we uh received but also special ed unified arts. Some of our support staff decided um to fill out the survey. Interventionist um literacy specialist. Uh there was a moment where someone wrote in athletic director and asked if it was still anonymous. I didn't like that. We told them we actually know who you are. >> Um how often are you using your Chromebook? Um most of our devices are used either daily or several times a week more than twothirds. So that is also something for us to keep in mind that there is a large demand for our devices

100and they are being used for these instructional purposes um in the classroom environments. So, Matt can't you can't quite see all of the responses. So, um the questions themselves we asked, you know, what are the how what do students use the Chromebook for in your classroom? So, um top response there accessing core instructional materials. So, if you think about some of the content that students are um digesting in their class or that is accessible to them, we would be thinking about Amplify at K through six um Illustrative Math. They have online pieces. You talked about um AP. A lot of the AP content now is online. Um of course you have to have some textbooks, but they are accessing that content um for core instruction. Completing online assessments. It's important within our MTSS system that

101we have core assessment tools to provide diagnostic assessment, but then also progress monitoring information. Um and we're also required to administer statewide assessments on district devices. So if you think about things like the SAS or the the DLM or whatever we are giving to students um we talked a little bit about the civics test we are required to have um you know privacy and um data control on those devices. So we have to use district devices um other >> tests now as well are also all online this almost all online. I think all the ones we give are online and they also need to be on district owned devices. >> Yes. SATs for statewide assessment PSATs, right? Um research and information gathering, writing and editing documents, accessing intervention enrichment or extension materials, and then we

102just allowed people to give us other uh ways that they're using them. So um some are using them to record information uh digital lab sensors um kindergarten they're using them for to listen to read learning to type which forget that that's a skill that we are still teaching students um science simulations um and creating spreadsheets so we have I think a lot of information about how the devices are being used um and then when you look at satisfaction I overwhelmingly people are I think satisfied with the device. Um when you start to get into, you know, less than, you know, about 12, 13, 14% are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Um and then the comments, um we didn't put a lot of the comments up, but we did take some time to unpack them. It's

103a lot of timing. They take a long time to boot up. Um they take sometimes they crash. They can't have more than three tabs open at once. I mean those are things that you heard about during the public hearing. Um so when Matt talks about the next part which is related to the budget um one of the things that we talked about is replacing two grade levels per year. Um and just having that as part of our budget process as as much as we can and I know that you know you're carefully looking at every dollar that is put into the budget. Um so as Matt walks you through the monetary part you know just thinking about a couple of things. Um, right now we are committed to a one-to-one environment. Um, I think that

104we're making, you know, making do with the devices we have. We know that many of them are at at the end of their life. Um, we have feedback from teachers that are letting us know that they're happy that we have that resource. Um, but that the speed of the older Chromebooks and it is is problematic. So, Matt, can you talk a little bit about um the financial part? >> Sure. And I had intended to add a few more slides to for some more options, but I didn't uh didn't get to it. Um fun week. Um but the general rule um as we talked about during our public hearing, um the plan that I presented is based on maintaining our current program. So that's a onetoone in grades 2 through 12 with some devices available for

105grades uh kindergarten and one. And those early devices are largely focused on touchscreen devices. So they're a little more friendly for users for whom the touchpad and the the mouse are a little tricky still. Uh as we talked about as well, we've kind of gotten through with the purchase based earlier this year the worst of the you know unevenness from COVID. So this is really about what is our level plan going forward and trying to have a target u within a company you know what can we sustain. Uh so the top line there u the columns essentially what I looked at was two possible models. One where at our lower grades we switch or we either maintain our current program or we switch to having two carts per grade level. So that would essentially be

106one device for every two students. The challenge of that is significant in terms of coordination for teachers. I think any resource that teachers know they can count on they use much more frequently and what much more fidelity than one that has to be coordinated. Um that was our experience with a number of rollouts that we did whether it was document cameras or projectors in the classroom or anything like that. If the teachers knew they always had it available they would make it part of their planning. If they don't know that it's available they're much less inclined to use it as part of their everyday instruction. Um that being said good sharing among teams is certainly possible. it can be done. Um, and we have great teachers. So, so really just broke down the numbers. Um,

107this is all based on a 5year lifespan, which is a little bit longer than I would ideally like. Four would be better, but you know, we're trying to make two. Um, and again, this is not saying that if we fund at a certain level, we're going to go in and rip the Chromebooks out tomorrow. You know, we have devices in hand. um we'll have to make the call on whether you know can sustain them but you know I think teachers given a choice between slow Chromebooks and no you know no Chromebooks would stick with slow u so really just you know what grade levels does it support um if you cut certain uh cut the annual investment this is really it looks a little more dramatic because again you're investing over the course of five

108years so this is at the end of five years, where would we be if we wanted to maintain the program? So, I'm happy to talk options. I'm happy to answer any questions, but just wanted to go through some of the financial numbers and sort of how we arrived where we did >> questions. >> Simple. So, I'm I'm struggling a little bit here with what is the cost of the two-year plan? >> $50,000. >> 50,000. Okay. >> Because that would essentially give us 10. >> And is that what you put what did you put in your budget for this year? >> 50,000. Okay. >> Now, I'm noticing that on daily usage there's like 30% are saying they occasionally or rarely use them. Um any idea because that's not correlated with grade level like is that you

109think elementary or what's your is and is there a way to get that like correlated with grade level >> because I'd be curious if they could it's easier at an elementary school to maybe work with teams of or banks of than it is at a high school. >> That is certainly plausible. Um the numbers certainly support strong daily usage. You know, we do track how many are are used on a daily basis. I'm happy to come back with some data. I was hoping to add it to that this slide with that. Um but I would say that the survey responses are totally line up with the data that we have. Most, you know, >> 70% of people are using them, but about 30 say they rarely or occasionally. So potentially could do with a bank

110as opposed to onetoone. >> I wonder though just since we have like an IIA an interventionist specialist counselor like I don't know if it's teachers who are saying it's like I think >> is it elementary like where we >> is it the teachers who are saying they're using them daily or rarely or is it a non-teer who is >> and it's like a high school teacher versus an elementary teacher. >> Yeah. And certainly even you know our paras in many cases ours are using devices for monitoring um completion of plans and things like that. So certainly the staff usage of technology is also very high and important because you know they special education having that data is vitally important to see if the students are on track. So that's the piece that some of the

111students who have greater challenges may not be using the technology themselves but it it's being used on their behalf. Matt, can you remind me of the process? Is a student getting a Chromebook for their duration of their high school career or is it an annual redistribution? >> So, right now, um, incoming seventh graders receive them and new students receive them on entry and then they are replaced when they hit end of life based on the model that they happen to receive. Um, so there ideally would be a sort of like one ideal model would be like you receive one device in fifth grade, you receive another device in 9th grade and then you keep it for those four years. Um, we have not ever gotten on to that because we don't really we don't take

112them home in grades K through six. So we have a onetoone they are in carts in the classroom. students access them, you know, they know, oh, I have number 17. I go take number 17 out of the cart. Um, we do find that assigning them one, we do get more care taken of the device. Um certainly even if it's not always perfect care that is the case the kids >> um I had a question around um so if the if the issue is slow like slow Chromebooks is the main complaint is the if that's the problem is the solution new Chromebooks or is it different kinds of Chromebooks or is it both? >> Um, we and many most other schools around New Hampshire uh settled on Chromebooks as the most cost-effective way of having a

113onetoone program. >> Chromebooks have many advantages. They are pretty easy to administer. So, we don't necessarily, you know, we didn't add a staff member when we went to a onetoone program. Um, had we done like onetoone MacBooks or iPads or something like that, I would have been in saying, "Nope, that is a lot of work. we are going to need some extra hands to do that. Chromebooks are much easier to centrally manage. They're easy to deploy, redeploy, uh things like that. So, you know, taking a brand new device and how long can it be in the hands of students, you know, a Chromebook, you're usually talking 20 to 30 minutes. And most of that is waiting for it to update to the latest version. It's hands-off time. You can have one person do quite a

114stack at once. Um I speak with some experience on this. I have some great pictures from COVID days. I had a table full. Um several tables actually. Um so in terms of I don't think there is a more cost-effective device if we want to stick to a onetoone program. There are certainly other very effective uh onetoone programs out there that have done iPads that have done Windows devices. Um you know Maine was doing MacBook laptops for years. That's a very effective. It's not very cost effective. So if we want one to one at cost effective rates, uh the Chromebooks that we buy are certainly a more affordable model. Um we do pay for a few upgrades. For instance, we do um add a processor that allows us to access certain curriculum items. Uh so an

115Intel processor allows us to run certain software that we count on. we buy some more RAM um precisely for that three tab problem. Our newer ones have more RAM. Um the old ones are getting pretty tired, but um so that is we buy I think the lowest model that allows us to have the low total cost of ownership because the devices last longer and allow us to fully access our curriculum. So, we certainly could buy a more expensive machine and have more fidelity, but those numbers at the last slide would certainly go up in response. Um, you know, I know some schools are paying north of $400 for their Chromebooks. Um, currently we pay uh a little under 300 for the device itself and then there's a one-time management fee that allows us to manage

116them centrally and sort of allows us to do all of those assessment pieces. Makes it a district owned device. Gotcha. What about the um I know like when I was there you did a lot of work on improving the network capacity. >> Is where is that at in terms of a more juice system being able to help with that lag or are we in pretty good shape? >> Um our fiber connection is in great shape. Um we have a really good outside connection from our buildings um through our partner First Light. Uh the wireless access point is continually upgraded. Uh there is funding in this year to replace the oldest uh wireless access point so that our classrooms will have both greater speed and more capacity for the number of devices. Uh but I would

117say in general we're not being held back too much by the Wi-Fi except in the rare case when something is going on. Um or I would say there are a couple of classrooms that have uh interesting architecture that leads to some certain challenges in a few rooms. The engineering room is a tough room to get great Wi-Fi in with the open ceiling and the exposed beams and a few other things like that. Um but no, I would say in general our capacity is sufficient for the number of devices that we have. One thing we did a long time ago was decided we would have one access point for every classroom. And that's to me the the real key to having a stable network for Wi-Fi. There are places that try and split one Wi-Fi access

118point across multiple classrooms. >> It's a nightmare. I don't recommend. >> Yeah, you have more questions. So, another question I was wondering, and I don't know if this was asked in the survey, but I didn't know if the survey indicated or asked at all about um like are teachers wanting to continue to have and I think you kind of alluded to this. Do they would they like to continue to have access to computers? >> Yeah. Yes. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yes. There's no way. didn't have a liyker scale for that, but that came through pretty strongly in the comments. Um, >> that was a consistent theme. >> Okay. So, so the Yeah. What because what I'm basically asking is like, do teachers want us to no longer be a onetoone district is is kind of

119the question. It sounds like >> no indication in the comments or, you know, just in any conversation that we've had. I think what they're hoping is actually for devices that are quicker. Um, and there were a lot of comments about um, you know, when we shifted away from everyone has to use a district device, you know, to students that are bringing their own device that they really felt like that was inequitable. Um, that came up and and that was, you know, and and you all discussed that as well. Um, but I think that's just part of where we are as a district. Um, and when you have to choose between, >> as as Matt said, we're not going to give every student a MacBook. Um but if we have the ability and parents have the

120resources uh to provide a device, we are offering that. >> Yeah. Okay. Um what do you guys need from us this evening? I >> I think this is a reflection of the question really related to the funding and the ask from Matt. Um we did have the public hearing. We took out $40,000. Um he has ordered those devices. They've come in. They're in the hands of students. Um, and so then moving forward, I think we're all hoping, you know, to get a sense, you know, from you as well of should we be planning for a onetoone? Are we planning to shift away from onetoone at lower grade levels? I I I don't see how we move away from a onetoone at the high school level. That doesn't seem, you know, responsible as a school district.

121Um, but I think that will help us to determine, you know, curricular materials that we might purchase. um what are we going to do about assessments? As as we know, there are statewide assessments that have to be given on a district device. So, if we're moving from a one one to a 2:1, you know, we just want to be able to plan and have teachers plan for that as well. Um because then we would go back to the days of, you know, all of the Chromebooks have to go to grade four. Um because they're they're doing, you know, their SAS testing. Um I've taught through that. I know you talked through that and you know that is it's not you know it's not insurmountable um but it definitely takes planning and preparation on the behalf

122of the tech team and teachers. >> Gotcha. >> Okay. Well, we can either continue to have this discussion now or we can also wrap it into our budget discussion which we're about to have also now. >> Let's wrap it. We'll wrap it in together. All right. Great. Did anyone before Matt leaves the the table, does anyone have any other questions for Matt? I mean, it's he's not going far. So, >> thank you, Matt. >> Matt doesn't get to leave. So, >> yeah. Thank you very much for doing this, though. This is really helpful. >> Okay. So, with that, budget discussion. So, I think we've all been um had some time to look at both the salaries and benefits and the operating costs. Um, and we talked about it at finance yesterday in terms of where

123we're going. So, I think I'd like to begin by just kudos to Amy and Laura because I think one of my personal things was let's not start a budget process where we're putting all of our wants and needs in and then bringing it down. Um, and I don't think it did that at all. I think on the salaries and and benefits side, the FTEES are actually a little bit lower. the operating costs really when you X out special ed is 300 a little over $300,000. So, thank you for that. So, normally at this point, you know, if you go back two years ago, we said to Mike, um you need to you need to make $800,000 go away and come talk to us then. So, we're not in that ballpark at all. Um that said,

124the overall increase is at 5.09%. or a little over five. And if I can go back to the days of Jim O'Brien, I I would like to see if there's a consensus of the board to give Amy and Laura some direction to bring that percentage down to somewhere in the 4 12 to 4 and 3/4% range. Um, and and with the expectation of it being predominantly on the operating side of your budget. um without taking away your capacity to do your jobs. Um and by that I mean Amy, first year superintendent, you have some goals as to what you want to do and we want to make sure that you have the funding to pursue those goals. But we do think that it's going to be a lot more palatable to the budget committee and

125to the town if we can get that into that 4% range, which is more in line with uh the measures of inflation that we tend to look at. I hope that all makes sense. >> Makes sense to me, Bob. I mean, I agree. There are some things that I would specifically, you know, going through the budget that I question, you know, I'm I'm still salty about the storage pods that we're paying for. Like, I'm like, just either buy some storage pods and then sell them when we're done or get rid of them and we have three to four buildings. Let's make it work. Um, the retirement party as a teacher, >> I think you take care of your people. Um, and that's how you know they're they're best served. I I >> think that that

126can be scaled back. I'm not I'm not saying we don't thank people for 20 or 30 years of service certainly, but there's no need to rent out that the Barnet Bull Meadow would be my preference. Um, it it feels tonedeaf in the current on me, but I agree. If we can get it down in the fours, that would sit better with me. >> Thank you. >> I mean, yeah, we talked about it in the finance yesterday, so Um, you know, I think a small reduction to address somewhere I would support. I think that to echo the way that started. I mean, you were given a charge to try to uh sort of short circuit the start here, wind up here approach. And I feel that in good faith that you did that. >> So, I'm

127certainly not looking for a very significant reduction from where you've already reduced it to. You know, we're not looking at sap, we're looking at syrup. Um, so maybe we're talking about >> just came up. >> Yeah, >> it's a good one. I'm going to write that. >> Great. A, great B. What are we doing? Um but I think um you know without without belaboring the point people are unhappy with the economy. People feel stressed. People feel pinched at the grocery store and at the gas pump and everywhere else. So, if we can get under five, I think that's a that's a good place to be. >> Yeah. No, I I think, you know, I' I've had the Well, I'm not on the budget committee, certainly. I've had the opportunity to go to the budget committee

128meetings um looking at what you both have already been able to reduce. You know, I hope folks appreciate to Rob's point how much has already been reduced. Um, so that as a board we don't have to make those significant reductions that we've had to do in the past. Um, I worry because since we have not had to do that in public, it it may seem like we're only having to make a small reduction. Um, however, you know, a lot of work has already gone into this budget. You guys have done so much already. uh and really should be commented on your work. Um because I know that it is not easy. Um I know that we last year already had two contracts go through and so that was a weight that we already knew that

129we would be carrying and so I think that aiming for you know a 4.5 4.75 certainly um is very reasonable. So I'm in line with with these guys as well. Um, you know, I I think it's one of those things where is everyone going to be happy? No. Um, but I think that it strikes the balance of maintaining a district that overwhelmingly people are very proud of and that serves the needs of our students uh while also supporting um the majority of folks who live here uh in the the best way that we can. >> Thank you. >> Is there anything else? any on the topic of computers. Do we have anything else? We have any additional thoughts that we would like to share about that. Um since we just heard about that and we

130have been asked for some kind of direction or do we want to think about it? We can always kick that can. I I think what we've done is entrusted Amy and Laura and and her people to sort of say like this is I I mean my personal thoughts about computers are that co changed everything right and we went onetoone we certainly did use banks of computers you know I say back in the day five years ago like it wasn't that long ago where we were sort of organizing our stuff um >> I think we can consolidate at the younger levels if that's where you see okay if if I need to go into the fours. This is this is where I think we can make do here, here, and here. Um I to me that's

131an e not an easy cut, but it's it's a reasonable place, but I don't and I was going to tell you how to right your we hired you to run the district. >> Yeah, I appreciate that. And um you know with this charge Laura and I for the probably the December 4th meeting will come forward with the list that gets us as close to 100,000 uh 4.5 4 point just doing some quick math in my head between four and so I appreciate the range. Um it's a little harder to get you know right at four and a half four and 75. Um, and I think also the community, you mentioned they voted on two contracts last year, so they knew that a co an increase in this area was coming, right? It was something they

132had already voted on. So, I appreciate the the compliments. Laura worked incredibly hard. I mean, you I mean, she's not saying anything, but I mean, the amount of work that went into developing the spreadsheets. I'm thankful for the team. um they know that our next conversation is going to try to hit those numbers. I was able to get some of the feedback from the budget committee uh meeting and it seemed like they also recognized there was a lot of work that went in before it went to them. So that was also really nice I think for two um maybe a little more introverted numbers people um to to hear that. It was nice at the end when they said, you know, they thanked us for the work and similar to the comments that you've made,

133they recognize that an additional cut should, you know, should be how many people are hurting. Um, but, you know, our contractual obligations are already within that range. So, we have work to do. Um, and at the next meeting, we'll bring forward a list. >> Great. All right. Excellent. Well, with that, uh, we have a very brief policy update. Um, it's like a just a mini update. It's everything is on to its second read. I'm not going to read through everything. Um, I read them all last time. They're all on their second read now. Uh, everything is available for everyone to see and click through. Um, please let us know. As a reminder, this is the Bank of I policies and also uh EFAA, which is our meal charging policy. Um, please let Suzanne, Amy, or

134myself know if you have any um suggestions. However, we will not be having a policy meeting until after the Thanksgiving break. So, I just want to point out that uh principal and assistant principal from the high school policy IK reflects a lot of those changes. they were talking about. You'll see the um high school graduation worksheet, so to speak, in the new policy. Um so that's part of why these eye policies are coming forward. We have to make sure that we're, you know, ready for the class of 2030. Great. Good. Until we're running out of stamp. Okay. No. There's a no. Time for the consent agenda. Yes, ma'am. Please. >> Um, we'll start with our personnel. We did have a last minute change. I apologize for that. Um, it's in a good way, though. We

135have a new a new hire coming forward tonight. Um, Joanna Dustin is going to be a Harold Martin IIA fulltime. Um, taking the Sam Chillis position. >> And then, um, an unfortunate resignation, Sandy Babson, who came to us in June, has chosen to resign. It's uneffective. uh 125. >> So if you know an accountant looking for one, >> we have a fun workplace. >> All right, >> that's it for our new hire sheets. >> Great. >> How many IAS are we still looking for in the universe? >> About three in 37 or something in preschool. Right. Right. Yeah. Okay. Uh for donations tonight, we have two to go over. Um the first is an anonymous donor has donated $500 to grade four. Um and the second is Sarah Hoof. I apologize Sarah. Um donated approximately

136$600 of photography equipment to the Herald uh the middle high school art program. Um I talked to Miss Ezen. She's very excited. She the she says this will really help her programs and so she's very thankful. So we thank them very much. >> Cool. That's great. >> Um our we have the October 31st financial statement in your packet as well. There is a revised statement based on some feedback from the finance committee. So please look at the one that is dated um November 17th. the revised one. As of right now, it is very early on, but our projected unsigned fund balance as of June 30th is $393,38. That is our projected end of year at the moment. Um, we are projecting that special education, if you look in the packet, um, I just want to

137point out that the primary function code of special education is 1,200. There is a positive balance currently available. Um, all of our placements haven't worked out yet, though. And as we know, we just hired a new who will come out of that number. So, I'm feeling like that will continue to decrease. Food service is currently trending in line with last year. We're within a couple thousand dollars of revenue from last year. Um, with that, we I am expecting to see a loss again this year. Um, we'll keep a close eye on it. And I do expect though I'm projecting that we will need to use most of the full $100,000 for fun balance for food service. Lori, it shows that we have a balance of 116 in the CRTC. I know last year we took

138it on the chin a little bit there. How's that looking in the long run? >> Um, we just got in our budget estimate. I think that the CRTC itself, we're going to be well in line of that 116. It does say that it's available there. It's now fully encumbered. So, November, that will be all gone. The state bill is the really one the one that hits us the most, the one that hits the hardest. Um I think that that 116 will not cover the state bill from last year and this year's. >> Thank you. >> And I once once we get that state bill, which doesn't happen until about December, January, I'll I'll bring it to the board if it is significant. Does that change every year? >> It does. It's based on what they

139have in their budget for vocational aid and our attendance. So if kids don't attend, the state says, "I'm not going to pay for that." And then they put it on on us to cover. >> And the food service is trending the same, but we've increased the cost. >> Correct. >> So we were hoping to see by now with the October being our full month of food service a revenue gain >> and we we aren't seeing that very much right now. But we also wanted steps on. >> Yep. Uh well, we we went the full 25 cents. >> Oh, we did. >> We did. >> I couldn't remember. >> Okay. Do you have a sense of where that loss is? Is it the number of lunches being purchased or is it just expenditure in terms of

140food cost? Um, as the Hest contract continues to go up, there our expenses for our staff continue to go up as well as I think our our sales are down a little bit in terms of food food sales. >> Okay. >> Food cost also. >> Yep. Food cost continues to grow. Um, we did while we have a buying group, we did still see an increase in the buying group as well. While the USDA commodity program, which was supposed to be a free program, now has a cost to it as well. So they while they give us the food at a reduced or free rate, it's now $7 for every delivery of every item. And so we're pay we're still paying for that, which we didn't have to in the past. >> Laura, we talked about

141the tuition a little earlier. Can you just go to page six on the revenue piece 1311 and 1312 and just give us a >> overview of the the regular tuition versus the preschool tuition where it comes from and why. >> Sure. Uh our regular tuition that revenue that we see there are are we budget about we budget very conservatively for revenue. um students can come and go every year, midyear, whatever it may be, and they're only responsible essentially for the till the end of the month. Um so we are seeing right now about almost $69,000 in preschool revenue. Now that is again, remember the regular education students that come in and so that ability to take them in is based on what we have for special education students. Um so we don't budget a lot

142for that program as well. We have, like I said, I think four or five out of district students right now. So that makes up about the $70,000 of tuition. >> And now that you voted on the tuition rate, they'll see a small reduction um or a small addition to their bill for that modified rate and that number will go up. So just to refresh my own memory on the preschool, we are required by law to provide preschool for students that meet certain needs, but we also generate revenue from families who choose to tuition into that program. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> And one other thing to note on there while I while I can, uh our 1740 is student activities. Um so that's our athletic fees. So, for the fall sports, we receive 20

143thou uh $20,790 for fall sports. If we trend with that for all three programs, then we'll actually be ahead by about $5,000 of what we projected. >> And those are from the fees. >> Those are the athletic fees to participate. Yes. >> Is it still $100 per activity per? >> Yeah. >> Which we increased three years ago. I think we moved that up maybe four. I remember. >> Sorry about that. >> I got that though. >> Yeah. >> Wait a minute. >> It's still a bargain. >> You know that's what it is. It's cheaper than club. >> Yes. >> Or rack. >> Okay. Any other questions on the financials for October? Okay. Once again, once approved, they like normal within a couple of days, they'll be on our website under the business office um tab

144under departments so others can see it. Um and then the last piece is the finalization of the FY26 revenue. So I have worked with the Department of Revenue Administration or the DRRA who sets the tax rate and we have finalized our revenues for this year. So while we project them back in March, we go through the next six months really to let them iron out to let them level out. So, with the addition, thank you very much for last the last meeting where we added the additional 20,000. Um, we've added that in and we've also heard that our special education aid is going to be higher than we anticipated. Um, and so we are actually trending in line where we have a little bit more revenue than we planned. So, we expect to see a

145a small reduction to the tax rate actually hopefully when it comes in in the next few weeks. Wonderful. The MS24 does not need to be signed by you. It's just for information only. >> Perfect. >> That impacts the current tax rate for right now. Not based on nothing to do with next year's budget. This correct fiscal year that we're currently in. >> Yep. This is the last piece of current year revenue. So now everything is finalized um in here and then we should see our tax rates in the next few weeks. Next in the next two weeks when we meet again on the fourth, I'll be bringing you the revenue projections for next year. and tax rate projections for the budget. >> Excellent. Any other questions for me? >> Good. >> I'm good. Thank you.

146All right. >> The glasses came off. No, it's good. >> Uh, all right. Great. You good? >> Yeah. Okay. Great to you. On to you. >> I just want to take a minute to thank um the families that came in last week for parent teacher conferences as well as the staff. It was wonderful to see so many families coming and going from the buildings. Um I would just encourage folks uh to send in a request if you weren't able to come. We tried really hard to accommodate um either early morning or after school meetings. It's really important that families feel uh that connection between home and school and that they know how their student is doing. Um, personally, I also want to thank folks for filling out the family engagement um, series survey that I

147sent out. The response has really been overwhelming. Um, I've just been, you know, so pleased to hear people giving their feedback about the kind of information or the kind of series and events that they think would be helpful uh, to them. So, working with um, my team to figure out what will the events look like, who will we be bringing in. Um, of course we will have a mix of um, our local talent um, as well as speakers that are experts on these particular subjects. >> Um, staffing, you know, we still need a special education teacher at Harold um, and now we also need um, an accountant over at the SAU and always looking for instructional assistance and substitutes. I've had um, we're lucky to be nominating someone tonight. Um, she comes to us, she's

148wonderful. She has a lot of experience already with kids, which I think is great. Um, and then I'm also interviewing a sub tomorrow. So, um, just we're really thankful that, you know, folks want to come in and and help in the school. Um, and I just want to remind everyone that there is no school next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And we'll see everyone back in December. Um, that's hard to believe. We'll come back first. >> Thanksgiving. >> Thank you. >> Just rocked our world. I know. >> Not ready. >> All right. Any questions, comments? No. Hearing none. Um, do I have a motion to accept the cons consent agenda uh as presented? >> Yes. >> I believe that's also moved. Do you want to >> second? There you go. >> Great. Any further discussion? No.

149All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? And it carries. Wonderful. >> Okay. Um, we are on to committee update. Um, okay. Pull up my little committee sheet because I forget all of our committees. Uh, policy committee, we haven't met and we just talked about policies. Uh, curriculum, we meet Thursday. >> Instruction and assessment, we meet on Thursday. That would be great. Uh, CIP, >> we haven't >> not met. That's totally fine. uh safety and security. >> Nope, there's not been a meeting since January. >> Excellent. Um energy management committee met today. Um, we reviewed there was a um survey that went out to the staff about um their environmental uh or sustainability outlooks in the school and what they would like to do. And so we discussed that and um some potential objectives for the

150committee as it finds new legs now that it's not focused on kind of the buildings. Uh we have a couple of ideas um but have not settled on anything and we watched a video on how cardboard is recycled which is exciting. >> Uh finance >> uh so you you've already gotten half the update. Um we did spend some time looking at the formatting for the uh the monthly financials. Um, so that work sort of continues as we or I should say as Laura settles into how she wants this to be be presented. Um, and then we spent some time talking about how so I've had a conversation with a member of the budget committee uh Don Houston about fund balance and how to explain it. So what is the educational process and Don really likes

151sort of a pictorial view of that. So he and I sat down recently and created or reviewed a flowchart that says these are our categories, these are our surpluses and deficits. This is our total. These are our options where this can go. Um it is in rough form, rough draft form at this point, but we spent some time talking about that and we'll continue to work on it. um hopefully as a means of just I think it's a difficult concept for folks and maybe just another way of explaining what we're doing and how we're doing it and what we can do what are the options. So, in process. >> Great. Excellent. Uh wellness, you guys met? We haven't met. We'll meet in December. Okay. Super. >> And PD? No, we won't meet until January till

152we get the um approved PD master plan back from Right. >> All right. >> Just circling back to safety security because it's related. I have the last info session tomorrow night for the security redesign project. Okay. >> Um and an update as to where that is. The series of contractors came and did the walkth through and then I believe earlier this week Jim went came back with some of those contractors and their subs to get a look. So, we definitely have interested parties and those uh bids are due in second week in December, I believe. And then we'll review, interview the contractors and select somebody so that when it comes time for the public hearing, we have all the information folks need to make a decision in January. >> And where is that info session?

153>> Uh it is the Hopington Republicans and it is at the Slooer Center at six o'clock tomorrow night. Perfect. Great. Thank you. >> It's Thursday. >> Thank you. It's not tomorrow night. Tomorrow night I'm at SNW Sports doing a clinic. So don't go to the SU Center. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Lauren. >> Thursday night. >> Okay. Wonderful. >> My days are messed up. >> Excellent. All right. Any other committee updates? >> Good. Great. Well, with that, uh, we are on to our next public comment of the evening. So, same drill. You have public comment. If you want to come up, say your name and address for the minutes, and please keep your comments to three minutes or less. >> Good evening everyone. Lauren Clement, 86 Maple Street. Um, the first note I wrote down

154was back with uh Mr. Kelly's presentation. And speaking of kind of moving from grades um conventional grades to this competency discussion and I think uh what Mr. Cohen said kind of sparked this. But my thought process was when I I get how the competency is could be effective in one manner, but the negative side to that is it seems to set a target that is a minimal standard that needs to be achieved. And for some, why go beyond that? If if the report card's going to say, "Yeah, my kid met the competency." How do I know? Okay, they hit 70. Did they get an 80? Did they get a 90? Are they trying to challenge themselves? Or did they just meet compensy? Great. I I don't know how that reflects in a report card. I

155honestly don't even follow my kids report cards that much. I ask them how they're doing and where the struggles are and encourage them to do better. But I do know one of my kids that is challenged in school came home with a 97 on her thing, wanted to show it to me almost like the refrigerator kind of thing and I was like okay so we are still doing great and it was the highest in her class. So she was pretty happy with that. So that was just my thought on that comp. See, I don't know how you reflect that on the report cards coming back home, you know, and how do you encourage the kids to do above that passing grade? And then um on the budget subject, not going to get too deep into

156it, but um the discussion went to um trying to reduce approximately $100,000. from uh following along here. Um I'm curious if a chart of what has been added new to the operational budget this year would be helpful for taxpayers to understand this. I know uh food service went up a a chunk to cover um it being a deficit. Um the performance contract moved from uh the maintenance trust into operational expense. And uh we just talked about how Chromebooks 50,000 went from instead of taking out technology trusts into operational expense, that combo right there is $100,000. So, um when looking at this from a taxpayer perspective, if we could maybe somehow highlight those bigger changes into the operational budget, it helps you understand the whole picture. does for me. I understand it but I if others

157are trying to look at it. So those are my comments for the evening. >> Great. Thank you. >> Do you guys have any? >> Okay. Thanks. >> All right. Um other business old business. Do you have any anything you wanted to add? Anything else from here? No. And I will just say um you know I know we've talked a lot about competencies and grades and I know this has been like an ongoing conversation at like the state level and it's you know it's much bigger unfortunately unfortunately actually than uh our our district. Um and it feels like it's been going on for several years now. We just haven't transitioned to how to provide that assessment. I'm not sure what Suzanne is using in her school, but Conquer for example moved away from you had to

158log into Power School to see your 97, but then you had to log into a different app called teacher reads to see your competency. So your point about you know how is that going to be articulated to families? There were information nights when Suzanne was talking about the education piece. We are not at that point yet. Um but it is what we would have to do you know to roll out and figuring out what is the platform that we would use and there's no ask for that in next year's budget. I mean, we would have to be looking at Aspen, which is our student information system, um, and just figure out how we want to articulate the competency piece. >> And I think as a I will not speak for the board, but I think

159my sense has been is that we have tried to actually balance both having competencies, but also maintaining grades. um because in general that is what we've done in Hington and it has seemed to have been a good fit um for our students who have gone on to a variety of after high school things. >> Yeah. And I think one of the questions that often comes to you know administrators is what do colleges training you know post secondary what what do they think? The good news is a lot of post high school institutions they have caught on to the competency um piece. you do have to provide them with your profile like what instead of like what is your grading scale um in the common app now you'll see do you are you a competency based

160school what is your competency because some are numerical some are similar to our current standards base report cards where you might get a 1 2 3 or four um some are letter grades so you would have something that would be you know meet competency approaching competency below competency exceeds competency so you do have to provide that you know to the college to the university the community college. Um so they are that is the question that comes to me most often when you make this switch is it a disadvantage for my student when they're applying. Um and I've gone to lots of um trainings and Q&A sessions with people from Dartmouth, UNH, uh Manchester Community College. You know, they understand the competencies. >> All right, may I just bring one other business up? Yep. I just

161wanted to mention I I kind of try to watch the news to see if other school districts show up in the news what's going on and I saw a couple recently just about adequacy aid and a deficit with their adequacy aid coming in. I just want to let you know how it was fine. We were spot on. We actually got a couple extra dollars that we had budgeted and so we're good there. >> Oh, great. Just one piece of other business. Wanted to clarify that. >> Thank you. Um with that, we do have a need for a non-public this evening. Um so I am looking for a motion to go into non-public and after following non-public we will come out uh and do no further business. Um but I need a motion for non-public under

162RSA 91A 3 comma 2 C for reputation. >> I'll move for nonpublic but I won't say the statute. >> Yes. I need a second. >> Sure. Second. No discussion. Roll call vote. >> Yes. I and yes, you know what I br