0018:06 right now. Um, so I'll call the meeting to order and we'll we'll start with the pledge of allegiance. So now that I ask everybody to sit, could you please [laughter] stand for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge of 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. >> Okay. Thank you. So, um, quick overview here. We're trying to get through things as efficiently as we can. We have the town deliberative after this. Um, [clears throat] so part of the goal of the moderator and of I'm sure many people at this meeting [clears throat] is to to get through the items on the warrant articles um as efficiently as we can while allowing for deliberation.
002So that's the overall overall goal. Um, and prior to the meeting, we did uh have an oath sworn by Michelle Larson to uh act as clerk throughout this meeting. Um, as a general reminder, it's it's um only town residents who can generally speak at these meetings. Okay? And so debate floor discussion is limited to residents of the town. Uh the exception here is Gordon Graham right there is our council for the for the district. Allison Bryant the super uh attendant designate and then Molly O'Keefe chief financial officer. um we have to vote to allow them to speak. Um and so I'll do that right now. But other than other than that, uh no non-town residents will be allowed to speak absent a vote from the from the body. So all those in favor of allowing
003those external town residents to speak, I all those opposed. Okay. So those designates, Gordon Graham, Allison Bryant, Molly O'Keefe, uh are allowed to participate in the meeting uh when called by the moderator. Okay. Uh I'd also like to point out we have our school board right here, uh Kirsten Soko, Paul Doyle, James Brown, who will be uh answering a lot of these questions and presenting information. Um there is a copy of rules out there, but just general general points, right? This is your meeting. as a town. So, you can call a point of order um at any time. Uh the I'm going to read the articles uh one at a time and we'll discuss them. Um absent any motions to amend, they'll just move straight to the warrant. Um generally direct your questions to me
004as moderator and I will figure out who on this panel will uh will address the questions. Um and then generally first run we're trying to keep comments to about 2 minutes. So if you want to speak uh you'll come up to the microphone when we open it up to the floor for discussion. You'll come to the microphone your name, address, and then about 2 minutes for discussion and then we'll let the next person go. If you feel like you didn't get all your comments through in that 2 minutes and I I've cut off discussion, go to the back of the line and you'll get another chance. We just want to make sure we get through everybody that has an opportunity to at least make a couple minutes of comments before we get into um [clears
005throat] longer statements. Um use the microphone so you can be heard. Um I think that's it. Anything I'm missing? Uh council? >> No. And we have the other one obviously is our great principal French is is up here um to answer any questions uh as well. Okay. Um reviewed the rules. Uh Principal French, do you want to make any comments about um child care? >> Sure. I just [clears throat] wanted to recognize we had staff come uh on a Saturday morning at 8 a.m. to provide child care for parents of small children. And I want to thank Mr. Stevens, Miss Smith, and Miss Cattle, three of our teachers that are here today to do that. And I want to thank the PTO for supplying donuts for the kids that are here. >> Great. Thank you.
006Okay. So, we have a budget video that the board has put together, uh, that we'll play now before we read the Warren articles. So, um, who has that? Oh, you can just press play. >> Yep. >> Okay. Hello, I'm Brandon French, principal of East Kingston Elementary School. Thank you for taking a moment to learn about our proposed school budget. In this short video, we'll share what's happening in our school, some important things that are driving the school budget, and what the next steps are for voting on the budget. To begin, we wanted to share some voices from our school community to show what makes EKEs such a special place for our students and families. Hi, my name is Addy and I'm in fifth grade heading to CMS next year. So excited. I h I am
007so lucky that I have what the school has to offer. This year the play is um Susicle the Musical Kids. It is so fun to watch or be in. Secondly, we have jobs at our school. The some of the jobs are recycling crew, King Fisher [music] Chronicles, fifth grade rock band, scene committee, and lastly, most importantly, the teachers. [music] They're so nice and kind. They help us learn everything we need to know, and they help us do everything we need. Hi, my name is Silus. I'm in second grade. And um some things I like about EKES is there's a lot of night nice teachers and you learn a bunch [music] of important things that you need to know. And I like coming to this school every day. Hi, my name is Heather Allen and I'm
008the president of the PTO here at East Kingston Elementary School. What makes the school so special is that it teaches children how to be good humans, not just good students. From a very young age, they are shown what it means to care about their community through food drives, supporting local businesses, and building relationships with the seniors in the community. Giving back isn't an extra here. It's part of who they are. It's also a place where everyone truly knows one another. And the kids grow up feeling seen, supported, and safe. No child is ever just a number, which [music] means when someone needs extra help or a little bit more of a challenge, it's noticed very quickly. The teachers and staff treat the students like family. Many families are connected to the school in multiple ways,
009which creates [music] a rare sense of trust and belonging. Older and younger students learn together, support one another, [music] and build confidence through programs like reading buddies and shared activities. Beyond academics, students learn real life skills: how to communicate, take responsibility, navigate emotions, resolve conflict, and even apply for jobs. They're taught to understand themselves, care for others, and contribute meaningfully to the world [music] around them. The school doesn't just educate children. It raises thoughtful, capable, and compassionate people, and supports the entire community along the way. >> At EKEs, we are very proud of our students academic growth over the last 5 years. These scores reflect the hard work of our teachers and staff in all grades K through 5. Our state assessment scores are routinely well above the state average. During the 2425 school year,
01069% of our EKES students scored proficient in or higher in math, 21% above the state average, 59% of EKES students scored proficient or higher in science, 21% above the state average, and 70% of EKES students scored proficient or higher in English language arts, 17% above the state average. We want to highlight some of the work happening each and every day at the East Kingston Elementary School to meet the needs of all students. We provide a consistent highquality experience in reading and math for all students across the school. This ensures that every child is exposed to essential skills and a common instructional language from grade to grade. It also strengthens collaboration among our teachers who are able to work together and grow through district supported professional development. New to EKES this year is a highly structured
011win time or what I need that is a dedicated block in the school schedule designed for personalized learning. During this time, students are grouped to receive support tailored to their specific needs. From extra help on skills to extended learning opportunities, helping every student succeed together. These efforts reflect the meaningful student centered work happening every day in our school. work that deserves our community's continued support. We have a very supportive and active parent teacher organization. Our PTO organizes fun and exciting annual events for our students, staff, and caregivers, including our fall festival, sweetheart dance, and bowling. There are also a number of afterchool enrichment activities that are offered to our students. These activities are designed to support community activities and keep our kids active and engaged with each other and our school. During the budget drafting
012process, school leaders from the East Kingston School District worked hard to present the school board with a fiscally responsible budget for the 2026 2027 school year. Please note in our chart that the majority of increases reflect fixed, non-negotiable costs, including health and dental insurance, transportation, and maintaining highquality staff. In New Hampshire, public schools are funded through a mix of state aid and local property taxes. But state adequacy funding does not cover the real cost of educating students. The Supreme Court recently confirmed it's too low. Around $7,356 per student would be a more realistic minimum, but the legislature hasn't acted. Right now, the base grant is in the low 4,000s with extra funds for special education and other needs. Because state funding falls short, local property taxes cover most of the difference, including about 83% of
013special education costs, which are legally required and tailored to each student. This slide shows the change from the current school year to the proposed FY27 budget for the 2627 school year. The principal described the changes in the operating budget which consists of the general fund and food service fund. Title idea and other grants were previously appropriated as part of the SAU budget. However, as the school district is the legal owner of the grants, the appropriation is being moved to reflect that. When the voters go to the ballot boxes, they will have a choice between the proposed budget we have just presented and the default budget. The default is the prior year budget plus or minus any contractual or mandatory obligations required by law or one-time expenditures in the prior year budget. In closing, thank you
014for taking the time to watch and for hearing the voices that make East Kingston Elementary School such a special place. We hope this gives you a glimpse of the great work happening in our school and the importance of your support as we move forward with the budget process. Please keep these important dates in mind. Public hearing on the budget, Monday, January 12th at 5:00 p.m. in the EKES multi-purpose room. Deliberative session, Saturday, January 31st at 8:00 a.m. in the East Kingston multi-purpose room. And voting day in East Kingston, Tuesday, March 10th, in the East Kingston Elementary School multi-purpose room. Okay, with that, we can move on to the warrant articles. So, the process for these is I'll read the warrant article out loud, give the um the board the opportunity to speak on the matter,
015and then open it up for discussion. Article one, operating budget. The average cost per pupil for the preceding year as calculated in accordance with RSA, >> including health and dental. [laughter] >> All right, it's okay. Operating budget. The average cost per pupil for the preceding year as calculated in accordance with RSA18975 A is 31,817 ELA proficiency 69% math proficiency am I reading the right thing? >> Yep. >> Math proficiency 69% science proficiency 55%. Shall the East Kingston School District raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amount set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by the vote of the first session for the purposes set forth therein totaling $4,10,428. Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall
016be $3,974,481, which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the district or by law. Or the governing body may hold one special meeting in accordance with RSA 4013, 10, and 16 to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only. The East Kingston School Board recommends $4,10,428. Majority vote required. Okay, I'll now open it up to the school board chair Kirsten Sroco to comment. >> Good morning everybody. Um, thanks for coming. Um, I want to uh walk through a little bit of what the budget is and and some clarification of how we got to this space. Um the operating budget right now is really focused on fixed costs. We have no control over um health and dental insurance. Um the salary increase we have no control over
017because of the CVA and part of that is applauding our teachers for the professional learning that they're doing and staying current in researchbased practices for education. And so therefore because of their CPA they get CBA they get um bumped in their space and that is negotiable outside of this operating budget. Um thirdly we don't have control over transportation costs. So if there's inflation with the bus and transportation, we don't have the ability to um change that I guess in the sense of we can look and bid for other places. However, if the SAU goes with this particular space, they have the right to um do that and we can't control the cost. Um, also the one thing that was due this year was new computer equip equipment and over the last three to four years
018we've actually been pulling from a grant that is or it was a um a donation. That donation has now run out and so we need to be in our cycle and that that has not been in other line items that are now in this line item. So that we had no control over. Also, um the things that we did have control over I think are really important to talk about because the board felt really um strongly about doing our due diligence about things that that could be controlled. And I want to talk about a few of those things. Um, one of the things that we felt strongly about was um, uh, a writing program that, uh, principal French had asked us to look at. The writing program, which is something or goal of the school
019for next year, is in alignment with our um reading program, which has really proved to be something that our kiddos have excelled in, and our test scores show it. And it's not just reading. So, when kids are in a reading situation where their confidence is growing and gaps aren't being are are being closed, our other subjects are actually seeing some rise also. And so I think it's very critical to say even though the state and our SAS tests, break it from math to science to English language arts, that focus on reading has really bumped us up in all areas because kids are feeling confident and we're closing gaps and that's what's going to make the learning actually happen. And so the next move in ELA is writing. And so to align that so kiddos are
020having the holistic experience of the communication, the speaking, listening, writing and reading aspect. That is the correct move that we need to do. But that was going to be extremely expensive. And we actually said no. We asked them to go back and see if they could find something because this was not going to be the year that this was going to happen. And so we asked them to go back. We're in favor of having it. Could you do it in halves? Could you do it in quarters? Could you do it with one grade level so that we could actually pilot it and see if it was working to collect data on whether or not it was going to happen? Um, and Principal French and his team did um and they actually found um we had
021a grant floating out there uh and they did and so that 30,000ish stuff is no longer on this line item because it was a lot of teamwork trying to find that. Um, and so I I really appreciate that on our end because we we want it for our kids, but it was not going to be this year. And so, um, now we have it and it's not in this line on this budget. The other thing I want to talk about, um, is our special ed costs. Our special ed costs have gone down dramatically, and there's reasons for that. They have put into into place two two systems of support. And systems of support are places where we can help our teachers and our children become much more efficient and effective in their instructional practices. And
022so one of those piece pieces is when which was talked about in um the video. When is what I need. What I need means that kids are being assessed as to where they are, what their proximal zone of learning is and they're being instruct intentionally instructed at that point for that moment so that the gaps close so that they have the ability to move forward every single time they're assessed. And these kids are assessed often and not assessed like with a computer and hitting a button or back in the day with a pencil and bubbling stuff in. They're assessed through multiple means of assessment to show where their growth and we're seeing that growth. The other system of support that's been put into place here at East Kingston Elementary is something called MTSS and that's
023multiple tiered systems of support. That is where our teachers are becoming extremely intentional about what they're planning, how they're planning, and planning together. And when teachers plan together, we have an effect size of 1.6 six from a Hattie research which is researchbased and and extremely important for all learning within our kids. It's not about curriculum. It's not about um whether a kid is capable or not capable. It's about teachers believing that they can affect every single child in this building. And that's happening every single day here. And then through MTSS, we then move to tier 2, which is where we have our math specialists, our reading specialists, and they're honing in and assessing kids specifically where they need to be to make sure that they don't need to go get on an IEP because an
024IEP costs us a lot of money. When our kids go into a special ed program, it's because they need to be specifically worked with on an intentional learning disability and that is expensive. And so now we're seeing a drop in that because our teachers and our EKEs team is being very intentional about that. So I applaud them. This is the [clears throat] right move for from research from kids growing. This is the way we need to go. So for that we were able to control and we're starting to be able to be intentional about where our money needs to go. Um lastly I want to say they talked about the holistic child in the video. The skill sets not the academic sets the skill sets of growing and being um confident articulate being able to
025advocate for themselves. uh applying applying for jobs, interviewing for jobs with the principal and other staff members, really learning life skills to me is the bigger focus here. And we actually cut $2,000 in activities and it's still going to happen because people believe so strongly that these skills are the most important pieces for these children to thrive. And so again, I applaud them for really being thoughtful about where they could cut, but yet keep our kids in a situation and keep our teachers in a situation that are going to make them flourish. And so for that, um, the school board feels very strongly that we did do our due diligence in making sure that this budget was, uh, fiscally responsible and we hope that if you have questions that we can answer them. [clears throat]
026>> Thank you, Kristen. So with that, we'll open the floor to comment. >> I did read the warrant article. >> I've got I don't have enough. I'm sorry. >> All right. Can you Can you get to the microphone and read your name and address, please? >> Yes. Uh Ron Morales, 69 South Road. Um I don't have enough handouts. I'm sorry. So, if you're with a few people, you could share them. >> I may need more than two minutes. Um, I hope you grant me that time. >> I'll see. >> Uh, what I've gone is on this the the the data that I've got here is from the state of of New Hampshire education website except for the the last year. Um, the calculation of the cost per student is from your proposed budget. If we
027look at the data um we can see that the as we know the student population has decreased um drastically from 2015 where we had a total of 147 to where today I think you're saying we've got 118. Also the cost per student back then was uh significantly less. It looks like starting in 2023 is when we really started to increase and escalate the cost per student. [clears throat and cough] And I guess the question is why did I have is why did why have we seen such a significant increase in the last uh few years I think it becomes apparent to me at least with the decrease in population we didn't have any decrease in staffing the staffing I believe has not changed and that's the thing that we need to address we're we're if
028you look at these student uh educator ratio and that that to me was the teachers [clears throat] where your website says we have 12 that's four [snorts] if we have the student teacher and paraprofessional ratio that's six. So, we've got a, you know, a great great that we have a lot of people there with with very few students, but again, that's way way too low. And [snorts] I guess my question is, why haven't we been able to do a reduction in staff? >> Okay. Um, so Kirsten, do you want to take that and and address any factual points and and then respond to the the question? >> So I I think there are a few things here. Um, and first I'll say from 2023 to now our um my understanding is that our [snorts] population
029has plateaued. We've had 119 121 like we've like we're steadying right now so we're not really losing any more kids. Um >> I also would say we don't have control over inflation. So over the last three years you know things have gone up because inflation has become you know a topic of conversation everywhere right? Uh what I will say is the CBA is really where the negotiations are for um our number of staff and I wasn't part of that CBA la the was it two years ago or last yeah two years ago and so that's where that is um one of the things that I will say is our budget passes almost every single year and so as long as our budgets are passing we are keeping our staff because there's no reason to um
030lay anyone off or not have anything if our budgets keep passing. So, the years that I've been here, our budgets have passed and therefore we keep our salaries, we keep our people. And lastly, I'll say and then I'm gonna ask Principal French to um add in is under um the special ed state laws, if children are um assigned a parah, that's a have to and we have to pay those paras to to be here. We have no control over that. And so any kid that has a par um aligned to them, that that's a have to. and then kiddos for our MTSS for us to be successful in that space which I just explained is really changing the game for us. Um those are those spaces. So principal French >> so I I'm I'm not
031sure I'm not sure where the DOE gets the information from as far as numbers of teachers but currently right now we have eight classroom teachers when you >> according to your website it says I count 12. the website >> anybody that had a teacher next to their name. >> When you include arts teach one second so don't interrupt speakers. >> I'm sorry. >> Okay. Principal French continue. >> Thank you. When you include unified arts teachers, they're considered a teacher. That includes steam, physical education, art, music, library. When you include interventionists like reading or math, that is a teacher. When you include special educators, which we have two of them, they are considered teachers. When you look at number of the classroom ratios, we have eight classroom teachers. So often times numbers get mixed because they
032look at the number of staff, but they don't they don't take into account the classroom teachers and the number of students in those classrooms. In addition, I I think it's really important to understand this. I'm I'm really glad you mentioned the pair professionals. Per law, if a pair professional, I'm sorry, if a student needs academic support or behavioral support through a pair professional, by law, we have to provide that. For those that were here last year and voted on our budget and heard these, we did reduce a teacher last year. Last year, last school year, we had nine classroom teachers. We saw our numbers have gone down a little bit over the last few years. We took into account for that, and we now have eight classroom teachers. So, there was a reduction for this
033school year of one full-time classroom teacher. >> Okay. Do you have do you have more questions? >> Um, >> so that that's two minutes. I just want to see does anybody else want to speak before Mr. Mor? >> I'd like to make an I'd like to propose an amendment to the budget. May I do that? >> Let's Yes. Let's hear comments. uh first. Okay. So, I' I'd ask that you wait until the end, Mr. Morales to do that. >> Okay. [clears throat] >> Bob Nigerello to Pinewoods Road. Um just a couple of questions that I have. Um health insurance 22% increase. I'm assuming that's SAU16wide >> pretty much. >> Is that a question addressed to somebody in particular? >> It's a question to whoever you think would be best to answer it. >> Okay. Molly.
034>> Um, so here at SEU16, we utilize Health Trust as our health insurance company in each district. So each elementary school is their own individual legal entity in a different district. And then the cooperative is also a different district. We use the buying power of the SAU, but each district has a different plan. And so the rate was increased differently per each plan. Anywhere between 16 and 20%. >> 16 and 20%. Okay. Thank you. One other question, special ed. I think you did a great job with special ed reducing that number. Um, do you still have a special ed trust fund? That's one question. And number two is how much is in that? >> Okay. Uh, Kirsten or or Molly? >> Go ahead. Oh, sure. So, yes, we do have trust funds. We actually have
035um three special ed maintenance and a retirement trust fund. So, in the special education trust fund, there's $311,844. >> Okay. Any other comments? >> Hi, Abby Mills 139 depot. I had a question on the CBA. What was the um uh teachers increase for this year percentage? >> Oh, that I Go ahead, Molly. >> Molly, >> sorry. Also, I wanted to comment that the uh health insurance is something everybody's battling um statewide, all the school systems. Um schools especially got hit really hard um because of claims statewide with teachers, not here. I don't know what the claims are here, but I can tell you it's something all schools are hit like and there's nowhere for them to go. Like no other healthcare plans are going to do better. I can guarantee you that. Um the other
036comment I wanted to make was on the per student cost. um those aren't those rates aren't adjusted for inflation. So although it looks really really bad, I bet if you did the inflation adjustment, the change would not seem so stark. So >> okay, so there was a question in there for for Molly. >> Yeah, we're just trying to look up what year they negotiated. >> I think they're in year two right now. >> Is it it was 1% last time I knew >> which I just wanted to point out. I think social security the share is 2.8. the CPI was 2.77 which is like what our our um inflation is currently. I should also note teachers give back 7% I believe of their salary to the New Hampshire Retirement Fund without they don't have an
037option they have to. So just realize that the salaries you see they do not get to take all of it home. Okay. >> So this was negotiated um last year. So this would be the second year. >> Okay. So the first year which Oh, can I just see? So FY 26, which is the 2526 school year, they negotiated a 1.5% COLA. >> FY27 1.5% COLA. FY28 1.5% COLA. Now, I want to remind you all that um teachers are on a grid, meaning that they step until they get to the highest step and then they would only receive the cola after that. >> But it's also due to years service or education level. Correct. >> The steps. >> Correct. It's years. Yes. It goes >> They have to be here. They can't be like a brand
038new teacher and have an immediate like start in the middle. They have to work. It's like a longevity. >> You can start in the middle if you have experience at another school. >> Exactly. Yeah. So, but they're experienced teachers, not like kids out of school. >> Correct. >> So, step is number of years of experience um track across the way education. >> Okay. And cola was 1.5 though, which is significantly lower than the CPI. >> It was 1.5, but the is that >> the stepping if if they're still stepping is 3.7, but um >> it's 2.7. >> Uh 3.7. >> All right, Abby. I I think that's more than two minutes. I just want >> I apologize. Thank you. I was just clarifying. Thank you. >> I just want to make sure nobody else has
039comments. Uh, you can come back, Abby. Um, all right. Anybody else have comments? Hi, Andrew Shakeley. Uh, 8 Cornerstone Road. Uh currently through the state legislature, there appears to be rapidly moving legislation that could go in effect as early as next week to allow student movement between schools. Has that been addressed or considered within this budget and what the implications may be whether we be a winning school district or a losing school district. >> You doc Dr. Bryant. >> Yeah, >> we have had a lot of discussion about that. Currently um >> and sorry a reminder Dr. Bryant is the uh superintendent design. >> Thank you. Um currently the I think the greater concern is at the middle and high school level and so um right now we are um we are not anticipating accepting
040or sending students from East Kingston. Has the district put a position out to the our legislators on the matter? >> There's definitely been conversation. So the legal requirement is that we have to have a line item in our budget. So, if you do look at the line by line item there or line by line budget, there is a line item called open enrollment now, but that is set at a $0 budget. Um, because we do not anticipate any people or any students leaving the district or accepting the district. Um, the only warrant or the only district that has a warrant article related to open enrollment is the cooperative. um because it is the only district right now where that we see the potential of students having movement because there are no local elementaryaries that are
041currently receiving or sending schools and I don't know if I my friend Gordon wants to add anything >> okay thank you question >> all right one second anybody else before uh Mr. Nigell that hasn't spoken. So I'm just giving everybody one one shot at the mic. >> Hi. [clears throat] Um Arty Frankor 67 depot road. Um just this school um is a reason families move here. [snorts] Um I've been a teacher for over 20 years. Different districts. Um seeing great moments in districts, seen really bad moments. Um, and I would probably say most of the towns we all moved from have a whole lot worse elementary school than this place. This place is amazing. The uh number of students going down um and the teachers number of teachers staying the same. Wow, what a blessing.
042Are you kidding me? Look around. What do you think of the kids growing up these days when they're walking by you? The kids [snorts] that you know, how do they treat you? They're in schools with 30 kids in their classrooms. They're not from around here. We got a great opportunity to change things in the future through our kids. >> Hi there. Uh my name is Zan Lewis. I live at 38 East Road. Um, and just thinking about something that Ardy said, I work in suicide prevention and mental health. >> Our kids are growing up in an incredibly complex time, an isolating time that is so over their heads. We are just seeing so many complicated challenges that kids all bring to the classroom. And schools are our community space and have been as long as
043there have been communities with schools. Um, so I for one am so grateful as a mother of two young boys growing up in this country facing all of these complexities to have a school like East Kingston and just wanted to express my appreciation um for the MTSS model which I know from working in Vermont um and what it's doing there for kids um and just hoping that our community communities can rally to support our kids to grow up as community responsible adults. who have emotional intelligence, who are in touch with each other, who care about the planet and their communities. Um, so thank you. >> Hello, uh, Samantha Adams, 122 Giles Road. I just want to echo that sentiment. Um, in a previous life, I was a kindergarten teacher also in New Hampshire. Um I
044was born and raised in New Hampshire in a over by Nasha um in a school district similar to this where um I'm know how blessed I am to get the public education that I had in the similar setup as this. Um I had uh friends who went to private schools that um their education their when they moved to those private schools did not miss a beat. They were competitive with other students from different countries at world leader levels. So if we continue that we are going to have a great community here. Um coming from a a kindergarten teacher background in a different district in a much poorer district than this I was had 24 students in my classroom. 24 5-year-olds. That is an insane number for anyone who's been around even the most docile 5-year-olds.
045We don't want that in this community. I don't think it is mayhem. It is chaos. Um, so the small student ratio, it's incredible as as mentioned and I just want to echo that. Um, and I also just want to say that this is a community where I came to knowing that it's a community where that uh Greek proverb um what I'm going to look at it. I say this to my two sons all the time. Um, a society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they shall never see sit in. And I just want to echo that sentiment here. Thank you. Okay. Any other anybody else who hasn't spoken? Okay. Um, as long as you don't have an amendment, >> not an amendment. >> Okay. Go ahead. >> Uh, prior question was um
046with the pending uh Senate amendment on open enrollment in schools. reading it yesterday as I was sitting in an airport. Um there seemed to be a provision that said a school can say zero they don't have any room which means that no one would could come in. I don't know if that was part of your thinking when you looked at it >> Dr. Bryant. >> Sure. That's certainly been part of our conversation, but again, the primarily the discussion has been at the uh the co-op level at this point. >> Okay, Mr. Morz. >> Uh, thank you. >> I'd like to propose an amendment that we reduce the budget to $2,950,000. This would come out to be $25,000 per student, which is more in line with what we've done the last few years. I've heard all
047the comments and and yes, this is a great school. I'm not denying that. But I I also feel strongly that we could continue to be a great school with a reduced staff. Um that that decision obviously has not been made. Now, one of the things that this board is responsible for under the RSAs is your fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. And I don't see that happening. Um, you're basically just letting it roll like we've heard some of the comments. Yeah, let's just keep it the way it is. That's the easy way to do it. So, that's why I'm forced to propose this amendment. I have a second. Second. >> Okay, there's a motion on the floor. It's been seconded. Um, so I'm I'm going to read what I understand as the revised um proposal [clears
048throat] um and and just kind of affirm that this is correct, Miss Morales, this reflects what you're proposing. So there's a proposed article amendment to amend article one the operating budget so that it reads the average cost per pupil for the preceding year as calculated in accordance with RSA 18975 is $31,817 that would be revised to $25,000. >> No >> is is what is what you're proposing? Uh, no, no. That what you're reading right now is prior information >> and so that needs to stand and that what would need to change is the number in the body of the Warner. >> Okay. All right. So, that will stay the same, that number 31,817. Okay. and the rest shall read, "Shall the East Kingston School District raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations
049by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately the amount set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session for the purposes set forth therein totaling $2,950,000. Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $3,974,000481, which is the same as last year with certain adjustments required by the previous action of the district uh or by law, or the governing body may hold one special meeting in accordance with RSA 4013 10 and 16 to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only. the East Kingston School Board probably still recommends the the higher budget, the the $4 million uh $10,428 budget. So, I think that would remain the same, their recommendation. Did that make sense to everybody? Does the Does the body have any
050uh questions for Mr. Morales about the proposed amendment or others? Okay. Um, so I just want to give the the panel up here an opportunity to respond uh to this proposed amendment um and any impacts you could see from uh that budget. >> If you want I could address a little bit about cost per pupil. And so the cost per pupil published by the Department of Education is based off of actual expenditures. It is not budget. So this is directly from the department of ed website. The cost per pupil represents with certain adjustments certain expenditures from all funding sources local, state, and federal associated with the daily operations of the school. Payments to other school districts and private schools have been subtracted as well as capital items, bond interest, and facility construction. Revenues from food
051service sales of lunches have also been excluded. So you cannot take a proposed budget and just divide it by the number of students. It is not an applesto apples comparison to the actual published cost per pupil calculation by the state. I just want to make sure everybody is aware of that. >> Okay. Any other comments before we vote on the amendment? >> I I want to comment on on the understanding of how much special ed costs. Um so if you look at the special ed um our numbers and the amount it costs for special ed and then you divide that into the the regular ed situation. It's not as as Molly just said, it's not apples to apples. Like each kid has their own cost according to what their needs are. And so therefore, the
052budget is is built on those spaces and and it's it's just not apples to apples and and I think it's super important that everybody knows that. >> Can I also add something? >> Yeah. Uh, I also think it's important that that the people here know when when when we're looking at um the number of students um that are receiving an education from East Kingston, it's not just students that come to this building every single day. Once students turn three years old and if they require special education services, this district is responsible for providing specialized services to those children beginning at 3 years old. I also think it's important to understand that if a student requires special education services that attends a public charter school, we are also responsible for providing an education to that child.
053Even though they don't even come to this building, we have to contract with staff or take time away from the students that are here and send staff over to public charters to provide them specialized services. And we have that happening right now with students attending public charters and students in preschool when they turn three years old. >> Sure. Go ahead. >> Ron Morales again from 69 South Road. Um you have a special education um trust fund. I think it said there's 301,000 in it. If I remember, we we several years back, we took the capital reserve fund that was for adding to this building and we split that into um I think it was 25,000 for um letting uh for termination of teachers and I think there was something in there for retirement 125 and
054350 for um [clears throat] special education. So, you really haven't used that much. Um, you've gone to the taxpayers to ask us for more, but you've got a fund there that you really haven't used that much. And that seems to be a trend where we've got money set aside, but you tend to budget it because you don't want to use what we've got set aside. And I I recall having a debate with a previous school board member years ago where we were raising money for something some capital improvement in the building. And I said, "Well, why why aren't we using what we have set aside?" No, we don't want to use that. That's for an emergency. Um, that's all I have to say. >> Can I So, yes. Um, we do have trust funds and
055uh we we try our hardest not to use those unless there is an emergency. If we had a child that showed up on Monday to East Kingston and they required extreme specialized services like an outofd district placement that that could cost between $180,000 and $200,000 for one year to provide a specialized instruction to a child in a special school or a placement. We would also have to transport that child to and from their home to that school. So the special the special ed trust if we began to use that yearly and we didn't have that money if a student showed up again Monday this district would be responsible for providing that education to that child and that that's one child that could happen. So that's why we keep that special ed trust. We also have
056maintenance trusts. If one boiler goes you know what that could do to this operating budget. So we have these trusts in anticipation of things going or happening that we don't expect. [clears throat] >> And also just keep in mind this budget is for the next school year. So there's a whole year and a half that a student could move in that we would have to utilize these funds for. >> Jen Dervin 128 Giles. Um I'm just curious about the state's responsibility for supporting um special ed costs when they like if they might increase to extremely high numbers. Like is there any efforts at the state level to create funds for that to so the taxpayers who are struggling already don't have to drain money from local school systems to provide. That's my question. >> I'm
057not the expert at the state level. However, in order to spend money, you have to appropriate it in your budget. What the state gives you is special education aid which is a revenue source. So we have to appropriate the funds in our budget to be able to expend the funds to support the students. And what happens is the state gives us aid which is a revenue source. And in school accounting you cannot net revenues against expenses. You have to gross appropriate meaning you have to appropriate for every dollar you want to spend. So what happens is in the spring on the ballot we have all of the expenses and then in the fall before September 1st the state tells us how much aid we're going to receive and we do that as a planned revenue.
058Then the difference between the revenue and is an expense is what is raised in taxation. So unfortunately even if the state was to up the aid that they give us it won't change what we have to budget for. It will change the amount of revenue we get which then will impact your taxes. >> Okay, there's a motion on the floor to move the question. Is it seconded? Seconded. Okay, so the the motion on the floor is Does anybody need me to read it again? >> We understand that the budget proposed is $2,950,000. >> Okay. So now, >> are we voting on the amendment or the original? >> The amendment. So we're voting we're voting to amend the original Warren article so that the budget for next year, if approved by the town, would be $2,950,000.
059Okay. All those in favor, put up your green cards. One, two, three, four, five, six. Do you do you want to confirm that this is the result? Okay. All those against. Okay. The motion fails. The article remains as stated in the warrant as stated in the materials. Okay. Are there any other comments or proposed amendments? Okay. The article. Go ahead. Norman Cton, 8 Maple Veil, East Kingston. You can hear me? Okay. Yeah. Fine. Oh, great. First of all, my wife is a retired school teacher. This week, she got her first paycheck. It's $400 net. Why? [snorts] Her insurance for a retired school teacher went from $400 to over 700. Her net is about $30 some odd dollars. Now, [clears throat] I'd like to address the cost, too, cuz it's very high. And what I'm concerned
060about, we have six schools in the district. We have a cost a reduction it says of $7,979 for the off office office of superintendent. Yet we went from $93,000 down to $83,000. What does the cost of that office of superintendent cost SAU16? and why can't we reduce that cost? Dr. Allison Bryant. Thank you. >> I'll turn it over to Molly to explain how that works with SA16. >> Sure. So, every school district has to have a superintendent and a business office. And so, we utilize the power of the SAU um I like to say to go to BJ's instead of the corner store. And so the SAU has I believe it's 19 employees. And so it is the superintendent and assistant superintendent, the entire business office, the director of special education and her team. Um
061so what they do is they process all of the bills of the school. So anytime we have any payments regarding vendors or payroll, that is all processed through the business office at the SAU office. Um, in addition, the business office takes care of all of the financial reporting every year. Um, we take care of budgets and helping form those budgets. Um, the director of special education oversees all of the directors of special ed and, um, attends several conferences to make sure we're in apply compliance with the laws and all of the superintendent services. Um, also in that budget is a director of security that keeps our building safe. um and the entire human resources department. So, anytime anybody has a human resource issue here, whether there's a teacher that needs to go on maternity leave
062or an FMLA, that all flows through the human resources at the SAU. So, the SAU provides a lot of services here. And if East Kingston was to do that on their own, it would be significantly more. Okay, seeing seeing no more comments, um we're stopping debate and article one as written in the meeting materials with an ultimate budget recommended and in the body of the email of 4 million $10,000420 $10,428 um will move to the ballot. Article one as written moves to the ballot. >> Yep. I'd like to make a motion uh to uh restrict reconsideration for article one and to move that to vote. >> Is that seconded? >> Second. >> Okay. There's a motion on the floor to restrict reconsideration of uh article one. All those in favor say I. >> Okay. All
063those opposed? I see I see two opposed. Uh the the motion to reconsider is approved by the meeting body. We will not reconsider article one. Okay. So now we're moving on to article two uh regarding the special education capital reserve trust. Article two reads, shall the East Kingston school district vote to raise and appropriate up to $50,000 to be placed in the special education capital reserve fund previously established. This sum to come from June 30th fund balance. available for transfer on July 1st. No additional amount to be raised from taxation. The East Kingston School Board recommends this appropriation. A majority vote will be required. >> Okay. Y just want to speak uh real quick to this article. Um you know, I think there's been a lot of discussion already about special education. Two things are
064pretty evident. You know, it's it's far more complex than educating regular students. It's also costly. Uh I know that the board um Brandon, we had talked earlier about uh things that we have done to help kind of reduce some of those costs. Um but the reality is is that we are a town that is going through a little bit of growth. [clears throat] A family could move in on Monday as Brandon mentioned and could have two students that might need special education. Um we're not sure where things are headed with open enrollment. We [snorts] talked a little bit about that already. Um but in order to create even just more of a cushion um just to make sure that we have funds in place uh for if a need comes up uh was the reason
065why we wanted to have this on uh the ballot and discuss this today. So um as of June 30th, we are unsure what the fund balance will be for the year end. Um but again, we're uh looking to appropriate up to 50,000 uh that will be placed in that uh trust fund as of July 1. >> Okay. Any comments from the floor? >> I just want to make sure I understand. >> Uh come to the come to the phone uh the yeah whatever it is microphone. >> Hi. So this article is not I'm going to it is if the fund balance is sufficient and you feel like you need it, you can allocate up to $50,000 into that $360,000 existing trust fund. Is that correct? >> Was it 311? Michelle, you want >> So the
066way the Warren article is wording, it's it's not that the board has a choice at the end of the year. It's the reason the up to is there is if we end the year with $35,000 that the 35 could go to the trust fund, not cuz if we just say a flat 50, if the 50 is not there, then we wouldn't be able to contribute to it. So the reason the up to is there is say if the funds are available at the end of the school year the warrant articles will be funded in the order that they appear on the ballot. >> So is there another one on the ballot? >> Yes. >> Yeah. School maintenance. So if you have another question, so based upon these proposed uh warrant articles, you could spend all
067of your fund balance and not give any back to the town. Is that correct? I hope so. >> That is correct. If they end the year with $75,000 or less. >> Okay. One more question. How much did you can send back to the town of your front balance last year? >> So that I believe was $48,670. >> 50,000. Okay. Just a statement. It's always nice to give some back to the taxpayer. >> Sure. >> I will Michelle I will say I think we haven't funded this trust fund especially at order the maintenance. I think it's been several years five, six, seven years at least. >> Correct. It was 2021 where I believe the the other capital fund was dissolved and then reallocated to these trust funds. >> And just for uh everyone knows, I was
068the one who started the special education trust fund. >> So it is would be nice to give the taxpayer back some [snorts] of what you don't spend. >> Yeah. And the I believe the reason why that was chosen because right now looking at the February board pack, we have a projected ending fund balance of $175,000. So with that amount going to the trust funds, you're still giving back more than we did last year. >> That's great. >> And that and that is why that amount was chosen. >> Thank you. >> Now that I just want to say it's not a guarantee right now. We still have a long ways to go before the end of the school year, but right now that is the projection. Okay, seeing no more comments, no amendments on the floor,
069article two moves to the ballot. Moving on to article three, the school. >> Well, what do we need to do? >> Um, we want to motion to have no reconsider for this warrant. >> Reconsideration. >> Seconded. >> Second. >> Okay. So, there's a motion on the floor that's been seconded to restrict reconsideration of article 2. Uh, all those in favor? All those opposed? Seeing none opposed, uh, motion to reconstrict uh, reconstrict reconsideration passes. Restrict reconsideration passes um on article two. Moving on to article three, the school maintenance expendable trust fund. Shall the East Kingston school district vote to raise and appropriate up to $25,000 to be placed in the school maintenance expendable trust fund previously established. This sum to come from June 30th fund balance available for transfer on July 1st. No additional amount to
070be raised from taxation. The East Kingston School Board recommends this appropriation and a majority vote is required. open this up to comments on the floor. >> Yeah. >> How much is in the maintenance fund balance today? >> So, currently in the maintenance trust fund, there's $131,820. >> So, the question is, what would you like the fund balance to be before you don't ask for anymore? just for sake of the recording. >> So, so it's actually that's exactly the right question. So, I'm glad you brought that up. Um, so what we need to do as a board is actually cap what makes us comfortable, right? Um, and so special ed will never make me comfortable. [laughter] However, the maintenance piece, there needs to be a cap as to what that cushion is. Um, and I would
071strongly recommend as you know after when the board um reconvenes after the next election uh that they really start looking at what that caps will be for each of the trust funds. So, thank you for asking that. >> Seeing no further comments and no amendments on the floor, article three on the school maintenance expendable trust fund is moved to the ballot. Um and we would like to restrict >> motion to restrict >> consideration for this warrant >> reconsideration. >> Second. Okay. Again, a motion to restrict reconsideration is on the floor. All those in favor? >> All those opposed. Okay. The motion in favor carries. Article 3 will not be reconsidered at this meeting. All right. With that, I think that's that's all the items on the meeting. Um, I think we're we're pretty much done,
072but I I do want to say um all three items will move to the ballot uh as written at the beginning of this meeting. Uh thank you to the panelists, everybody on the panel. Um including our our new school clerk, brand brand new, newly sworn in this morning. Uh Molly, thank you. Gordon, thank you. Dr. Bryant, Principal French. Okay. >> Uh Kirsten, thank you for your service on the board, for your three years, your dedication, your time. Thank you for serving the taxpayers. Um thank you for for really focusing on costs as much as you could and we look forward to see what you two other board members have for us next year. Uh with that, is there a motion to adjurnn? >> I make a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> Second. >> Okay,
073motion is seconded. All those in favor? I. All those opposed. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you. >> Welcome everybody. And for starters, just a couple of rules. I'll make them quick. If you want to address us, could you please come to the microphone? Could you state your name? We might need a spelling and say where you live, please. Okay. First of all, I'd like to start by giving thanks to the people that have resigned and have done so much for the town. We all need to thank Rob Karen, Allison Scamman, Gizela, and Ted Lloyd, and anybody else that I may have forgotten. Thank you. For starters, the first six articles, uh, town council has informed me that we cannot make any changes to, but we can welcome any discussion, but we don't have to go through
074them individually unless anybody has any particular questions or things that they would like to discuss. And those are the um the planning board articles. Does anybody have any particular questions or discussion that they'd like to have relative to those? There being none. And the other thing I'd like to do is since every year I forget, can we have a vote now that after we vote on a particular article, we won't make any amendments. It dates back to oldtown meeting time, but people used to wait to the end after everybody had left and then make a motion to change something that we'd had discussion on and people had voted on. Thank you. And for a show of cards, all of those who agree that once we vote on the particular article, we won't make any changes.
075Show a green card. All those in favor? Opposed? There being none, we will uh as we go forward, we will not make any amendments once there's been a vote. And to the extent there are articles that we can make changes to, we'll first have a full discussion on the article and then we can take any amendments and go forward from there. So that would mean that we'll start with article 7. Shall the town of East Kingston raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately the amount set forth on the budget posted with a warrant or as amended by vote of the first session. for the purposes set forth herein totaling $3,995,892. Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $3,877,848, which is
076the same as last year with certain adjustments required by previous action of the town of East Kingston or by law, excuse [clears throat] me. Or the governing body uh may hold one special meeting in accordance with RSA 40, 13, 10, and 16 to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only. A majority vote will be required. Is there any discussion with respect to that cornerstone road a general question in that budget that was presented we were roughly 86% spent from 2025 and for 2026 we're% increase over the budget which gets out to roughly 25% increase over actual spend for 2025. I guess I just like some understanding of >> a lot of it was our insurance costs have gone last year which is big part in >> Can everybody hear Joe? No, >>
077I'm not on. Huh? All right, that better. Good. Okay. Yeah, our insurance costs went up considerably this year, which we have no control over. And we did add one thing, one more one thing to the budget. We're looking to hire a janitor to take care of all the town buildings instead of having individual uh companies do it, which we have two right now. It'll end up being cheaper in the long run, but we had to put that in the budget. A lot of the departments had maybe 20% unspent when we're asking for an increase. Right. >> Don't want to get just curious on the logic behind. >> Right. Well, again, like the road agent was a big one, but after the last few weeks that what we thought we had left over is no longer
078there because of the weather, which is unpredictable. >> Thank you. >> Is there any further discussion? question. >> You want to hit the button? >> Thank you. >> Any further [clears throat] discussion? There being none, all of those in favor of article 7 as drafted, show of cards and opposed. It will pass as written. Article eight to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $17,000 to be added to the existing re-evaluation capital reserve fund established in 1991 at the town meeting for the purpose of the next re-evaluation of the town as required every 5 years by New Hampshire RSA 758A. Any discussion? this uh re-evaluation every five years. I know that's required by law and I understand why the property value is going up. >> I'm sorry. They just
079>> Oh, Norman Cton Maple Veil. [laughter] >> Norman. No, >> last name. >> What's the last name? >> Carlton. C A R L E T O N. >> Thank you. So, do we have any uh input to the organization that does this that they can just add the cost in and we'll just pay it out of our fund that we're putting together? You know, we is there any push back on the cost of that? I know I know when they come to my house they want to come in and inspect everything inside even though the building has not moved and uh and that's very so I don't know how the the I know everything goes up but uh this their cost can they reduce that so it comes back or they just they can pass
080on the increases and then every five years we pay more. Is that cost going up? That's what I'm trying to get at. >> And is your concern the cost or who does it or both? >> Really the we would should choose the one that would give us the best value. Okay. >> Uh but are are the costs going up each every five years that they're hitting us with? >> Okay. Why don't we ask the selector to address that >> first? We're in a five-year contract with this company. It's Avatar. >> Yes. And the way they do it is they go and they check the real estate in the area for those years and that's what determines the value of your home. They go by square footage and what have you. And that's how the value
081goes up or it can come down. It depends on what's happening in the market. And quite honestly, market prices are starting to drop. Not a lot, but they are dropping. They're adjusting. But in saying that, you need X amount of dollars to run a town. So if the price of value of your house goes down, the cost per thousand's going up. It's a balance. I understand that >> is the cost that they charge to do. >> That's a contract for five years and then we can renegotiate with somebody else. >> Okay. I hope you look at that carefully. >> Oh, we we we do. >> I'm sure. Thank you, Joe. >> You're welcome. Bam. >> Hi, Abby Mills 139 depot. Um just quick question on the 5-year contract. Is there any provision for a statistical
082update halfway through to perhaps adjust for um proportionality issues that may I mean five years is a long time and I think a lot of the shock the um residents especially you know particular areas see is because we wait 5 years and by law technically the assessor should be updating if the ratios if our equalized ratio is way you know over or under and I guess my question is are they doing those adjust investments outside of the five years. >> They can if you request, you know, to have your property looked at that you can you can >> No, but not me. Like the town, >> the whole town >> like there there's a there's an option called a statistical update. >> They do data verification annually >> every year, right? >> Every year. >>
083Yeah. >> But are so adjusting the values annually? >> They do data. >> Yeah. They start they go out. >> They do data. But do they do a reassessment? Like so they're collecting data, but are they putting that proportionality back into play? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Any [laughter] further? >> Any further discussion? >> There being none, if we could have a show of cards in favor of article 8 as written and those opposed, it will pass as written. Article 9 to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $25,000 to be added to the existing building preservation expendable fund established at the 1993 town meeting for the purpose of preserving townowned buildings. This sum is to come from unassigned fund balance and no amount to be raised from
084from taxation. Is there any discussion? >> Much is in that trust today. If you could just step up so we can hear you. >> Bob Nigello to Pinewoods Road. How much is in that fund today? >> This question nine. >> Yeah, Grace. Grace has she has >> 137 364 >> $137,364.93. Just a follow up. >> What would you like that fund balance to be before you stop asking for additional funds? >> What would we like the fund to be before we stop asking for additional funds? >> We never know what the fund's going to be because it could change year. If you spend it, then you have to replace it. >> He's asking whether there's a floor that you would be >> I don't think we've ever discussed that. I'd recommend you do >> and
085there's a recommendation that we have that discussion. >> Any further discussion? All of those in favor of article 9 as drafted and opposed. It will pass as written. Article 10 to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000 to be added to the existing library building maintenance expendable trust fund established at the 2010 town meeting for the purpose of funding long-term maintenance. >> Is there any discussion? >> Same two questions. How much is in it? What do you want as a cap? >> The question is how much is in it and what should the cap be? $70,291.90. >> And what's in cap? Oh, here she goes. >> Sarah Corain, one stage coach. I'm the treasurer of the board of library trustees. Um, we rerun those numbers periodically to figure
086out like how much are things going to cost and we plan out like, okay, if the roof needs to be done in 10 years, 25 years, whatever, we try to update those numbers based on inflation and all of that. Um, I believe right now, and Zoe can correct me, we're targeting about 90,000 to cover everything we anticipate coming down the pike. Um, there have been years where we ask for nothing to be added because we have reached the ceiling and then like Joe was saying, like you have to spend it down and then when it gets spent down, we look at the numbers again and we only ask for what we need to bump it up. But I think it's about 90 is our target. correction when we just reran it this year. Um Zoe
087tells me in our spreadsheet where our target is 115. >> Thank you. >> 15. >> Is there any further discussion? All of those in favor of article 10 as drafted and opposed shall pass as drafted. Article 11 to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $50,000 to be added to the existing fire apparatus capital reserve fund established at the 1999 town meeting for the purpose of acquiring fire apparatus. Is there any discussion? >> Same question. >> Same two questions from Mr. Nigelloo. >> What's in that fund is 46373688. Uh the limit is the the whole idea of this is to be able to purchase fire apparatus without having to ask uh without paying interest, without having payments on it. >> Can everybody hear him back there? >> Yeah. Um
088the the limit has we've knocked this down quite a bit. We usually ask for 65,000 but we tried to cut it down and we actually skipped a year to try to you know you always think that this one year is going to be f the bad one then we get better after that. We found out it never really gets better. Um right now to replace our smallest, lightest duty truck, um 750,000. So, we're trying to get to a number where we can purchase the truck without having to have a payment on it. We're running on average uh we're exceeding the NFBA recommendations. We're we're keeping our equipment d more than double the expect the uh recommended time frame trying to stretch things out. >> Um quick question, Chief. Are you running up against the same
089challenge that other fire departments are as far as ordering apparatus like four three or four years in advance because it's taking that long for them to >> out a new chassis? >> Yes. Portsmith just ordered a ladder truck that was $2 million and they told they were told it's five to seven years out. >> So would it behoove us and I hate to use the word more to appropriate or allow you to borrow funds so you can order now so that you can pick it up in 5 years? Because if we're already double our lifetime of these trucks, we don't want it to fail when we need them. We've done that with our ambulance. We anticipate the revenue coming in per year and um we ordered an ambulance three years ago because we knew the
090time frame was coming in. So the ambulance new ambulance is due in about 6 months and we're going to pay cash for it because we planned ahead. >> So you're doing the same thing here. >> We're doing the same thing here. We're trying our best. >> Okay. Thank you. Let us know. I mean if it's going to take 5 years then maybe we should order it now. >> Um we can open an account right now and you don't have to pay for it till it comes in. I the fear the fear I would have is if we don't have the cash in hand we would have to take out a bond to pay for it when it comes in >> of course >> any further discussion there being none a vote for all of those
091in favor of article 11 is drafted and those opposed it's unanimous it will pass as drafted article 12 to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $15,000 to be added to the existing SIS hydrant repair replace capital reserve fund established at the 2018 town meeting for the purpose of repairing or replacing existing sisterns or hydrants. >> If I can anticipate Bob's question [laughter] uh it's a it's a valid question. It's great. $119,42474 47 cents is in that account right now. problem we're having is uh we are doing minor maintenance to the dry hydrants that we have. Now, if you're not familiar, we do not have any pressurized hydrants. We got to bring water with us or pull it out of a pond or or a sistern. Sistns right now,
092I've got a couple that need work. One of them is really on the edge. And a sistern right now um is 135 to $140,000. So, I don't have enough money in that account yet to even replace one system, let alone anything else. So, everybody says that's a huge number. It is a huge number, but it's not a big enough number to actually use to do anything. We are using I think we used four or 5,000 out of it last year to uh do routine maintenance on some of the smaller ones that are dry hydrants and not sistns. But we we got to we got to realize the systems we have the big companies put in when they do developments, they don't last forever. We're going to have to repair them or replace them. I have
093a question. >> So last year there was a proposal to add $65,000 to that sistern fund because there was one that was going to fail. It appears that that maintenance has not happened. So is that another one year, two year, three year, four years out? The hope is to do it this year, this coming year when the weather gets warm. The company we were looking at stopped doing it. So we're using the same company that some of the other departments use and seeing if we can get it done this year. And how much is that? >> They're estimating 135,000. >> And you have 115 plus the 10 will wipe out that account. >> It'll wipe out that account, but it'll it'll uh get the system replaced. >> Is there any further discussion? All of those
094in favor of the article as written and opposed. It's unanimous. It will pass as written. Article 13 to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000 to be added to the existing fire department emergency operations center land and/or buildings capital reserve fund established at the 2012 town meeting for the purpose of the acquisition of land and/or buildings or construction of building for a fire station emergency operations center. Is there any discussion? Same question if you wouldn't mind. >> Okay. $139,952.72 is in that plan. Currently the goal is to get enough to actually build one. Um we have or I have I'm sorry as as fire chief now. I'm sorry. Um I have talked with many people at the state level. Janet Stevens executive council has been a huge help.
095Um we have a place to put the station now. of the land out behind the existing fire station um was given to the town for the purposes of building a new fire station. We added andor other town building so we're not locked into just one thing. Um problem is talking to Janice Stevens um grants AFG grants out there you have to have a shovel ready plan and they don't accept shovel ready plans from anybody. The average cost Kingston when they built their station 5 years ago, the plan was five. Just the plan was $550,000 just to develop the plan that you can use. For whatever reason, I don't understand that world. So, please forgive me. You can't have a regular guy that does house plans all the time or even commercial buildings all the time
096do this plan. They are they want people that are in the fire protection world and that's what they do with fire stations. I don't completely understand that, but that's the only thing if you're going for a grant that they'll accept. So the first part of this is to have enough money to pay for the plan itself for the biggest step was where we going to put it if we ever did it because you couldn't put one where the existing fire station is right now. It just couldn't happen. Um so to answer Bob's question, the first initial goal here is to get enough money to get a plan together so we know what we're working on. >> And do people understand that the town doesn't specifically own where the fire station is now? >> No. You've
097got well over almost $2 million worth of equipment in a building you don't own or maintain. >> Does everybody understand that? >> Travis quartermos 107 depot. Who owns the land then? >> It's act the well with the fire station is is be honest with you. It's it's kind of confusing. It's split up in three different ways. back in the 70s when they were building a nuke plant, the center dispatch area was built by um Seabour Brook station because we're within what they call the EPZ, emergency planning zone. Okay, so we have to have it. The building to the left where the officers are now used to be the fire station. That part of the building is owned by the town. The center part is uh primarily owned by the town and Seabrook Station jointly. The
098furthest to the right is owned by the fire association. They built it in 19 I forget whether it was 48 or 58. I'm sorry to tell you. I forget. It's either 1948 or 1958. I will tell you, I've had state inspectors come out and tell us that that building is a known cancer-causing building and they recommend we do something with that building sooner than later. I've always he was hesitant about doing um a bond on our own. I was desperately trying to figure out a way to get somebody to help us pay for it and we're still working on that goal. >> And is there a concern with the size of the building, for the size of equipment today? Um, the last two trucks we bought, we had to pay an extra $80 to $100,000
099to have them specially built to fit in that building because the size is so small. If you walk in that building right now, you can't open the doors, all the doors to the trucks while it's inside. So, couple of trucks you have to pull them out. The driver can get in there, but the other people have to wait till the truck gets outside before they climb in. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor of article 13 is drafted. Show of cards. and opposed. It's unanimous. It will pass as drafted. Article 14 to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $25,000 to be added to the existing Powow Riverbank Restoration Capital Reserve Fund established at the 2025 town meeting for the purpose of restoring and preventing future erosion of
100the Powow River Bank to create an improved town beach. Is there any discussion? >> Same two questions. How much is in there and how much? >> Mr. Nigello has the same two questions. >> $25,218.36 is currently in there and the other answer is coming to the podium now. [laughter] >> Uh Dennis Quintel, 43 Main Street, uh chairman of the conservation commission. uh this area of town property which is near the railroad tracks uh down near the overpass uh and number of years ago uh over a period of time people were using it to go swimming and a small area it's not a very big area the size of the length of these tables or whatever but over the years people going in and out of the water uh would cause erosion of the sand area.
101It's 4 to 6 feet above the water level and people getting in and out of the water level would cause an erosion uh of the soil and the sand and whatever would go into the water. So we talked about in the conservation commission of stabilizing this bank uh along with the erosion problem. there was a number of trees that were uh established there that wound up falling into the river and not a good thing. So, we looked at trying to uh do something about that and stabilizing the bank bank and still make it available for people to go in and out of the water plus having a a flatter area at the top where they can have some function and functions and be able to sun themselves or whatever on the beach uh beach area.
102Um but primarily what this is for is just to stabilize the bank so that minimizing the erosion and minimizing the amount of trees that fall into the into um the river. Um so we needed to in order to actually do that work you need to get a permit from the state. So the conservation commission hired an engineering company to do a plan. The plan was done uh three or four years ago. Uh we put it out to bid uh two years ago. We got a bid of $107,000. Obviously, we didn't have the money to put into that uh to to get it done. So, it was not uh uh it was not built at that point in time. Uh last year uh we were fortunate enough to get the amount of money 25,000 last year
103to put toward uh toward eventually getting this work done. Um last year we did put it out to bid again and we got a bid of just over $70,000. So, cuz we made a few changes on the design, we're hoping to put it out to bid again and hopefully there'll be more biders involved and perhaps with the money that uh we have in the account now versus what this is, we'll be closer to what we c we need to have to get the work done. And if we can get a contractor to do the work for that kind of money, then perhaps it can be done this year. If not, we'll be back next year and I'll be here to tell you more about it then. >> Thank you. >> So hopefully that's help helpful
104for you. >> Thank you. >> Any further discussion? >> There being none, could I have a show of cards for those in favor of article 14 as written and those opposed? It will pass as written. Article 15. Shall the town vote pursuant to RSA 41 col46A to adopt a three-year term for the supervisors of the checklist electing one supervisor each year over a three-year cycle. If this vote passes, [clears throat] this shall not affect the terms of the office of supervisors of the checklist presently in office. Is there any discussion? Sherry Castle, 70 Sanborn and supervisor of the checklist. Um, I'd like to thank the board for getting this warrant article on the ballot this year. Um, this RSA passed in September. Um, and the rationale behind it is a six-year term for supervisors is
105just a bit too much for people to chew. Um, and so a lot of towns are having a tough time recruiting. So, of course, I approve this warrant article. I am going to vote yes. Um I do have one correction. Uh the change will not be effective until March 2028, which is when the 2-year term will come up. And that I talked to the state about that. So um that's the only correction. Thank you. >> There you go. >> So will that affect the article as written? Are you asking for an amendment? Just informing people. >> Fair enough. Any further discussion? There being none, those in favor of article 15 as drafted and opposed, it's unanimous. It will stand as drafted. Is there any further business that anybody would like to address or questions people
106have? >> I was I wasn't here earlier otherwise I would have asked it. Um so on South Road we installed a speed sign uh electronic speed sign and uh for the past I don't know three or four months it has not been working. Just want to know if you have money, put money in this year's budget to fix that speed sign so I don't continue to speed because there's nothing there to remind me to slow down. >> Is that one for the chief? [laughter] >> I'm glad I wasn't going to say anything. B. [snorts] >> According to the chief, he's not sure if it's a charging issue or a sign issue. >> Yeah. >> Hey, Chief, you got to come up. We can't hear you up here. >> Hopefully. Yeah, I missed what he said.
107>> He can't. >> Okay, got it. >> Are you clarified on that? >> Yeah. >> Good. We got it. >> Carrie, can the fire chief say something? >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> Hi folks. This is your fire chief talking, not a selectman. Uh Ed Warren, 31 Main Street. Um, been the fire chief since 2009. Been on the department since 1985. Um, just want to try to do this feel-good moment for you or to maybe educate some people that have been in town forever that maybe don't realize how much the town really has grown and how much we're doing. Uh, when I joined the department in 1985, we did 64 calls that whole year and we didn't do any transport of our own. This past year, we did 525. We're averaging almost two calls a day.
108Yesterday alone, we had five. Um, it's not unusual for us to get multiple calls at the same time. So, when people say, "What do you guys do?" It's a whole lot more. We just don't advertise that we do it because not only HIPPA reasons, it's just it doesn't come across well when we're telling everybody what we do all the time for some reason. So, I got to curb some of my post, I guess I should say. Um, but we're always looking for people that want to help. if you know people that can do anything to help any organization in the town or the fire department. Um I guess the biggest thing that surprises me since 1985 is when I joined everybody on the fire department was a resident of East Kingston bar none. Now there's
109six of the 30 people on the roster only six actually live in town. Um so that's why we're doing pdeium shifts and everything else because you haven't got time to wait for somebody to come in from two three towns away. So, we're doing predium shifts and everything else. Um, last couple boards of selectmen have been very supportive and understand and very concerned about safety. I just don't I hear some of the talk that why do we need this, why do we need that? Uh, you have no idea and I don't mean that in a derogatory sense and I apologize if it comes out wrong. You have no idea how much we're running, how much how busy we are. Um, so if anybody can do anything, if for any organization in town or if you have
110younger people that live in your house that might want to do it, please ask them to get involved somehow with any organization in town. Now, we've had a couple of people from town that on the younger side, and I guess it's a culture change, and I haven't quite I'm not smart enough to figure out how to address it yet, but I will eventually that have joined the department and they wanted to get involved, but their concern was we couldn't tell them what time the next call was going to come in. You're right. It's 911 service. I have no idea when the next call is coming in. Uh the last individual worked at Market Basket. And this is just an example. Uh he said, "But at 3:15 I go to break for 10 minutes. At 4:00
111I go home. Uh I have to do this. They have a set time schedule." Emergency services doesn't work that way. It can't work that way. It's when an emergency comes in. Every call is an emergency. Some people say, "Oh, you went out for a lift assist." Yes. Well, that's not an emergency. It is to the person that called 911. And we got to remember and respect that. That's why we're there. Um I think most people that interact with us have a very positive outcome and have a very positive feedback for us. Uh that doesn't make us perfect that makes us needing more help. >> Just question for you. You say have all these calls. Elaborate on how much work is paper is involved after each call. question was can I give elaborate on how much
112time is involved after the call basically um phenomenal if we have an ambulance run that's two hours of paperwork per run because we have empa work to do the the state reporting system is just been changed it used to take us about an hour hour and 15 minutes this new system which is wonderful they say uh takes about 2 and a half hours per call and we have less than 24 hours to get them done to meet state and federal guidelines um so the amount back office time is incredible and you're not supposed to let somebody else do the report for you because if they weren't on that call now it's a HIPPO violation. So who only person that was on that call can actually do the paperwork that's required. You can't send it to
113an office and say can they help out with that? Can't really do that. Does that answer your question? >> Can I do a followup on that? Is this another example of the state of New Hampshire legislators and senate downshifting to the towns because you now have added one one hour and now it's two hours. Correct. >> With no compensation from the state of New Hampshire. >> Correct. >> Did everybody get that back there? >> Um, but it's it's it's not a case of why do we we don't have a choice. We have to, right? [laughter] Um, but believe me, there's nothing more important to any of us than serving the people in the town and helping. We will do whatever we have to do. I'm just trying to enlighten you as to how many of
114those calls we have now compared to the 65 when I joined in 1985 to now and how much time they all take. So, I mean, if somebody has a few hours a week that can commit an inventory or my EMS closet, right? I mean, these there's a so much stuff that gets done in the background that I don't expect everybody to be able to run into a burning building. I don't expect everybody to be able to do CPR on somebody, but maybe you could help us or some other organization in town. I thought the library did a great thing last week or the week before, whatever it was about the career day. Um, pretty good response to that. I wish more people showed up, but I think that I don't know if that was the
115first time done or not, first time I was involved with it. So, I thought it was a great idea. Hopefully, we'll do more stuff like that in the future, but I'm trying to figure out a way to get the word out to get more people in town involved. We all love, myself included. We all love to [clears throat] and complain, right? But when it comes time to stepping up and helping solve the problem, well, they should have enough people to do that. Well, when we say have enough people to do it, we're either hiring people and costing taxpayers money or the people in town are going to step up and help it. There's only two ways it can happen. So, I plead with you to get involved and help and try to be understanding when
116you see things happening. There's a lot of things going on behind the background, whether [snorts] it be with the PD, the fire, EMS. The breakdown typically on calls, fire versus EMS nationally and specifically New Hampshire is your average department, 70% of their calls is EMS, 30% is fire. Here in East Kingston, our breakdown, and I just finished it, but I didn't have time to print it out and bring it. Um, we're at 60/40. 60% of our calls are fire, 40% are EMS. Um, but the average is, what's that? >> Accidents counted as fire. >> Accidents are counted as fire. Um, and we are well known throughout the entire county and at the state level is we don't have little accidents. When we have an accident, it means something and we get everybody's attention. So, thank
117you for your time. Thank you for listening. I appreciate it. >> Wait a minute, Ed. You started out by talking about young people who were coming. And if you look at the demographics, there's not a ton of young people. No offense for anybody sitting here. >> You're absolutely right. That's why I said if you know I I I started out by saying if you know anybody or if you have any younger kids, right? Because I didn't expect anybody here to put on an air pack and run into a burning building. I mean, just to give you an example of um I think Bob can remember when he was one of the selectmen, we were almost in a panic with our air packs. We were only allowed to use air packs for 10 years. Even if
118it's brand new in great shape, you cannot use an air pack that you take in the building in 10 years. Uh it's just the way it works. Same with your fire gear that you wear. Once it hits a 10-year mark, it has to be destroyed. It can't be used. Period. Even if it's still in the sealed package, that's just the way the rules are. So, I was in a panic and some of you might have been at the meeting at the selectman's office where it's $400,000 to replace our air packs. And you we used to be able to do them a little bit at a time. Well, you can't do that anymore because they're changing the design and the packs every six months to a year. So, if I get five that work this way
119and five that work that way and have two different types on the trucks, you have to relearn, retach yourself each time depending on what truck you're riding in. So, they've all got to be the same and you got to have one air pack for each riding position. We've been struggling for about eight years trying to get a grant and they keep getting denied. They say we do the paperwork perfect. It's just there's 10 times the amount of money requested than is available. So, we keep getting denied. I've hired outside companies. I've done it myself. We've gone in with regional grants. Last year, we got out a denial letter for the regional grant. Somehow, I don't know how and I just thank the Lord above. Um, they relooked at ours and sent us a member. We
120got that grant. They re reconsidered it. So, Hampton, Kensington, and East Kingston are all getting a grant for $759,000. And the packs are already ordered. We should have them within the next three or four months. So, we're doing the we are turning over every stone and talking to every person we can think of at the state level, town level, local level to figure out how we can fund everything before we come to the taxpayer. >> Thank you. >> Any further discussion, questions, comments to adjourn. >> Is there Is there a second? [laughter] All those in favor to adjurnn. Who seconded that? >> It will pass. Thank you very much.