001All right, we're going to call this meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Um, public comment is open for 30 minutes. Anytime anyone has a comment in that 30 minute window, just raise your hand. Feel free. Um, and there's a sign-in sheet for folks um who are just to show you know that you're leaving town >> to go in order of people who have signed in. Oh, I mean I think it's just to show that they're here. It's not to speak. >> No, it's supposed to be for public comment. >> Oh, it's to speak. >> Yeah. >> Oh, okay. >> Um Okay. All right. So, a non-public session can be called at any time and reported Oh, should I do your you first, Renee? Renee is um offsite >> on Zoom. >> Um so, yeah. So,
002this is Renee Bennett. I'm the superintendent designate for Kensington. I am zooming in. Um, but I am in my office at home alone and there's no one else present. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. All right, welcome. Okay, so a non-public session can be called at any time in accordance with chapter 91A 32 ABCD E or I. The board will be holding a non-public session at the end of the school or meeting under the section 91A 32E. Um, we are going to we're going to move things around in our agenda a little bit. We're going to move our committee reports to the end so you guys don't have to listen to all of that unless you want to. You sure can if you want to. But we're going to do um approve our meeting
003minutes and then we'll jump to the business and financials. So, approval of meeting minutes. Did you guys have anything? Anybody? >> I did. >> Okay. What did you have? >> They had to find it first. You mean the regular >> the 114 meeting notes? >> Yeah. >> Uh.5.4. If we could add uh it's talking about uh KES being the 69th of over 400 elementary schools in the state. Um, and I want to add it to that that uh because I did say that puts us in the top 15% of all uh elementary schools in New Hampshire. >> Okay. Yeah, you said that. Okay, great. >> Noted. >> I had um change to the October 22nd budget. >> Oh yeah. um the budget workshop in the paragraph talking about the pilots it stated we began piloting
004the arts and letters last week and we will start fish tank in this spring. Okay. All right. Noted. Okay. Great. [snorts] So I will make a motion to approve the meeting minutes as amended for October 22nd um November 4th and also the November 4th non-public minutes. >> Second. >> All in favor? I I All right. Wonderful. Okay. So, we're going to jump past our committee reports and we're going to circle back to those at [snorts] the end. So, the next and then just as a for those who weren't here, um public comment is open. So, if anyone has a comment, just raise your hand anytime. Okay. So, business and financials and I will pass it off to Molly. Where are you? >> Great. So, thank you. >> The manifests are circulating and I see we
005have the treasurer in the house too. So, if you want to sign here, then you don't have to come to the office. >> Okay. >> Um, perfect. Um, before we jump into the budget, I did put the current year financial in your board pack. Um, we did have some added expenses from last month and I did not know exactly what those are. At this time, we don't have un any unanticipated revenue because we just set the tax rate. So, did anyone have any questions on the current year financial before we go into the budget? >> No. >> Okay, great. Um so in the board pack was the current year budget as well. Um I did put in on the second page a comparison. So we did have our budget workshop in November and so on
006the second page the chart [snorts] to the right I put what we had in the November meeting and then I put the changes. So we detailed out exactly what changed and I don't know if principal rule wants to talk about any of the changes. What page was that on, Molly? [clears throat] >> It looks It's the one that looks like that. >> Okay. >> Right there. >> Okay. Got it. Got it. Thank you. >> Was it at the end of >> uh 52? >> 52. Okay. Thank you. [snorts] >> All right. Good. >> So, yeah. No, I said if we look at the um budget change column, those are all things that we talked about in um in the budget workshop. Um the biggest driver which we talked at length about was the increase in
007the health insurance which you can see reflected in that column at $95,76. So that is our biggest driver upwards. >> Okay. >> And so I just want to remind everyone on the very first page of the budget we have the general service fund which I forgot an E in general. Um but those were always historically the two funds in our operating budget and we are adding the grants but for grants revenue equals expense. So there's no money raised in taxation. It's just we have to appropriate it part of the district budgets because it was always historically calcul appropriated part of the SAU but the SAU is not the legal owner of the grants. The Kensington school district is okay. So when the tax rate is set, revenue will equal expense with no impact on taxation
008for that additional item. >> Okay. >> I think also of note in the budget change column um which we did talk about at the workshop was the um change in staffing as well. So we're looking at a reduction of a teacher as well as a reduction of um PE, art, and music. So that does include staff reductions as well. >> Okay. And this was like not replacing a teacher. Correct. >> Right. Okay. So, it wasn't like Correct. >> So, it's an unfilled position company. Correct. It's not like a box leaving. >> Sure. >> Yeah. >> And the best part about it from November to now is the budget went down. So, that's good. >> This is true. >> With the staffing cuts. >> Okay. Yes. >> Yeah. Um Yeah. Go ahead. So, state your >>
009Just state your name before you speak. General [snorts] just a point of information is your Can you give us a handout so we can follow along? We >> nothing to look at. >> I don't know. Um >> I would just say right now this is the board's meeting and that they will put the draft on the website when they have finalized it. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Great. Okay. All right, Molly. What else do we need? >> So to know >> if if there's any changes um we can make those changes or if this is the budget you would like to take to the public hearing which will happen in January then we would just need a motion to do so. >> All right. So um I mean since you folks can't
010see this um we could just say that the the increase at this moment is going to be a 4.28% 28% increase um from year to year from the 20 from this year to 26 to 27 is that >> so looking at the food service fund and the general fund [clears throat] it would be a 4.28% increase now you are going to see more money in article one for the appropriation because of the grants but again okay revenue equals expense no impact on taxation but we have to include it as part of the operating budget >> so that so overall the increase would be a 4.28% 28%. >> Okay. So, will um when when they see the grants in the on the um on the ballot, >> it's just it's going to be one number. So,
011the total voted appropriate so the total appropriation in the proposed budget would be 4,849,153. >> Okay. >> And there will be a default. So, the voters will have a choice between the default and the proposed. And the [clears throat] defaults right now is being calculated at 4,697,885. That is 151,000 difference, but 32,000 of it is the grants because per discussion with legal counsel. We can use the FY25 actual grant expenditures as the basis of the default. So, we want to give ourselves room in case we get more grants because we're seeing more safety grants. seeing some grants monies are going down. Yes, like the title grants, but we are seeing more safety grants, more different types of grants and we go after every dollar we can. >> Um, and so [snorts] >> we need to
012appropriate any expenditure spent. So it will not impact the tax rate, but part of the difference of the default is the FY25 actual grant [snorts] spend versus what we're saying for the proposal. >> Right. Okay. >> All right. Go ahead. >> Sorry. One more question. In the budget, is there any plan to use some of the trust fund money that we already have? It's like $170,000 in trust fund with building repair and things uh special education and technology. >> So, right, it I mean it wouldn't reflect in the budget. It's like we would you we may use it for >> No, there's no plan to use it in the budget. So the budget is what we plan for planned expenses. Those trust funds are for >> for we always say a rainy day. Our trust
013fund balances are very low. They're probably the lowest in the SAU out of any district in SA 16. So if there was to be an out of district student in special education, we don't have enough money right now to fund that. So, in the trust funds, there's 77,000 for special education, 77,000 for building repair and maintenance, and 5,000 for technology. So, if a boiler breaks or if a roof leaks, we're not planning on using that money. We're planning to have that money so that if something happens, we can afford to fix the building. >> Something off budget is what you're saying. Correct. Okay. Yeah. >> Thank you. Yep. >> Yeah. Great. Unless otherwise strategically planned. So if we know that there's a large expense coming a few years from now, we can strategically plan to
014put additional money in those accounts knowing that we have a larger expense coming. So that would be a discussion that the board would have if we're trying to strategize towards something that we know. But in order to um make it a lesser impact on taxes if we put a little away each year knowing that we have this expense in a few years that's easier for the taxpayers. >> A great example what principal rule is talking about is not in this budget but the high school that roof on the high school is 5 acres of roof and so when that goes it's going to be a major expense. So that's why the cooperative is strategically pumping up that capital reserve money because that is a lot of roof. Yeah. [clears throat] >> Yeah. >> Great. >>
015All right. Um, any Do you guys have any other thoughts about No, I mean, we really >> Yeah, >> I think we've been working on it for a couple of months. So, >> yeah. >> Great. So, do you want make a motion to move the budget to the fir the budget hearing? Yep. >> In when's the budget hearing? >> It's in January. >> January. And the deliberatives in February. So, I'll make that motion. Move as is. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Great. And we'll be working on videos so everyone can learn about the budget. And if anyone wants a leading role in it, let me know. >> In the videos. >> Yeah, you won't. >> Oh, no. >> All right. >> Um, can I bring up something I've been thinking about,
016though? >> Yes, absolutely. >> You guys are gonna be really mad at me. Um I've been thinking that there's a certain um economic positive to looking to ask Steph and the board chair from East Kingston to get together and talk about what ways they might and you know just to talk are there ways that we can do things that does don't involve the integrity of what our district is doing that we can go forward whether it's sharing resources, energy, whatever it is, >> right? So, >> how do [clears throat] you feel about that? >> Cost-saving thoughts. >> Yeah. Just how can we save cost by getting together on anything? >> Yeah. >> On anything. >> Yeah. Um >> I don't think there's anything, you know, that goes against what we believe to talk to them
017about can we split fuel, can we split paper, you know, I don't know what it is. >> I know. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think it's worth a worthwhile discussion to have with East Kingston >> and we would need Renee. What about a superintendent? >> I can I can facilitate that with the superintendent designate of East Kingston, but I will for the record state that we already do partner with East Kingston to save money. Principal rule and principal friends organize their PD to save money like food. They share uh food service. So it we I think it in interest of your voters and um just double checking but um I can set up a meeting with Stephanie and Kirsten Sroco and the superintendents can be there if the board chair want or don't want but we
018do already do a lot of that as part of the benefit of being part of a big SAU is that we do get to do that and I know that Becky and Brandon work really closely together. Um they they share they have they share some teachers already >> um in food service. Um but yeah I'm happy staff if you want me to do that I'm happy to email you and find a time that works for everyone. >> Yeah and I guess what I was thinking is it would be great to be able to say we got together we talked about everything. We can't find anything else right now. We're splitting the staff. We're splitting we're doing you know but it I think that people are talking about it and let's go and examine it. >>
019Sure. Cheryl, I think it's also worth noting that we flow a lot through the cooperative, too. Meaning, >> we go to BJs with the cooperative rather than the corner store with Kensington Elementary. So, >> we have a giant bus contract that we're able to utilize double runs. So, if we were a standalone district, we'd have to pay for single runs in our district. >> What what I mean by a double run is the buses do the older kids for middle school and high school, they circle back and do our kids. So, we split that. um with the co-op we pay half or if we have our student information system >> that would be a huge expense to Kensington but we go to BJ's with the co-op and we pay the bill through the co-op and
020then we split it to all the elementary schools according to what the percentage is of their usage >> um or things like PD it's not only just East Kingston we really work with the cooperative in all of the elementary schools within the SAU to get as much cost savings as possible >> oh I I I just I [clears throat] think it's important because people have questions questions. We represent them. Let's put everybody together and talk and be able to come back and say, "We didn't find much. >> We didn't find much. We're already doing this, this, and this." I just think that's the >> easiest way to get this off the table right now. Like, we we've done it. And I I I have faith in you, stuff. >> Oh, thank you. [laughter] >> Uh
021that's just my suggestion. >> Yeah. Great. >> Is it still public? >> Yes. Okay. So, um Al again, we The Kensington Volunteer Education Group has come up with a a proposal that's going to be under chapter 195 19518. And I'll give you this. It's in regards to, you know, the committee that we formed was just formed by ourselves. is a formal group in a formal way that the RSA provides a mechanism for the school board and to appoint members to a committee to study. East Kingston is going to do the same. So, what I wanted to do is share this with you in advance so you know it would be coming. Um, and and it's all there's no cost. It's all volunteers, but it's it's driven by the board. So I I think when this
022h hopefully we can get this passed through this the the uh the town warrant to have people to just participate and be part of that process. I I salute you uh Cheryl for considering that. Thank you. And I think this is a more formal way to do exactly what you're talking about. Um, and I think it would be really uh embraced by the community knowing that the board appoints some people to this board and and we study the numbers and East Kingston's doing the same. Um, so I congratulate you. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. >> Oh, we need to move. Yeah, we need to >> uh make a motion to put together >> um just a committee, an informal kind of committee with um >> we don't we don't can I just pause we
023don't need a motion directed >> for the school board chair to reach out to the other school board chair for a conversation. >> Good. Great. >> I don't have to make a motion. >> Thank you, Renee. >> Thanks, Rene. >> Yes. >> We miss you when you're not here. >> Thank you. Okay, great. All right, so [clears throat] public comment remains open for like another I don't know 14 minutes. Um, but we will jump into our committee reports. I think that's the next thing, right? >> So, yeah. Is there anybody here who wanted to make public comments? >> Yeah, go ahead. >> Karen Parker. Yeah. Um on that on that point, um there's there's no need for a motion for this um um the school officials to meet to discuss these, but is there a
024plan to include members of the community in those conversations so that we can learn a little bit more about the [snorts] cost savings that have already been realized and um what areas are being explored um for further collaboration? I can we can report out if the board likes. >> It's up to the board, but we can report out all the ways in which we call cost share and you can have that for your budget presentation at the deliberative. >> Yeah. No, I think we would definitely want to do that. >> Yeah. And we would just want to say what happened at the talks. You know, we went Yes. >> Yeah. >> I'm talking about being part of the process, not just receiving the results of the discussions. >> I I don't think that was my
025idea when I brought it up yet, right? I just wanted to do a very >> investig if they even want to talk to us, >> right? >> We don't know, you know, we can't go by adverse possession and take them over. But I just thought if we reach out and say, do you want to, you know, talk about these things? That's the way to start the discussion. >> It's a good way to start. >> Yeah. Wonderful. Yeah. >> But that doesn't mean going forward it won't and we'll I would think we would report what the discussion came up with. >> Yeah. That's the point. >> That'd be the point of it. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. >> Last question. the is the audit uh the fiscal audit in this in this Thank you so much. >>
026Yeah. Yeah. Y appreciate that. >> Yep. It sure is. It's like 9,000 $9,000 or something. >> Um and that will it's a a few year threeear contract. [clears throat] >> Um >> 10,000 a year I believe. >> Well, yeah, it's >> there was a cost savings if we did a multi-year rate contract. >> Yeah, a little less than 10. But yeah, that'll result in a in a report that will that will go out for everyone who wants >> I'm looking at >> say Will you just say your name before? >> Thank you. >> Uh I'm looking at the draft proposal for the for the budget and obviously it's the wrong numbers. Uh so you haven't released formal draft budget currently. So I think that at this meeting we approve the budget and then it gets
027it gets is that correct Renee? >> We moved that we already did >> this. You voted at the beginning of this meeting to put the fiscal year draft budget out now [clears throat] so that people can look at it and provide public input at your next meeting and then you'll have the deliberative. So we have not this is the number the budget that you guys just voted on today is the one that will go out on the website so that people can look at it and provide public input at your at your um next meeting. >> So the school has not released >> thank you for that. I appreciate the board's effort and uh I'm looking at previous numbers and to be honest with you as a citizen sitting here it's impossible for anyone to
028determine uh the cost drivers that are that are confronting us that are driving the budget at the rate that it is. And uh we'd like to see that because there's no possibility for anyone to contribute cost-saving measures without knowing what the actual drivers are. And uh some of you I [snorts] should have taken note that I defended the the school last year with the budget uh in consideration of the fact that it's such a small population and that there are so many variables yeartoear that the committee doesn't have any control over. Uh we'd like it if possible to have you segregate those numbers that are beyond your control and to rather focus on the ones that are moving uh to try to get a handle on what cost-saving measures the community at large can do
029to improve our situation overall. Uh I for one directly link this to uh facilities improvement and it's unclear to me as I sit here what portions of the facility maintenance upkeep and ownership are falling to the town at large versus what is under the jurisdiction of the board. We're talking about uh I notice that we're talking about a boiler and maintenance systems that are represent larger capital investment uh we don't know how those are fitting in. I feel like they've been put aside and no one's actually taking ownership of them and trying to figure out what cost efficiencies are there. Uh I [snorts] have one more comment which has to do with uh the proposal Mr. Brandano has bring for brought forward. uh it deserves to be looked at given that uh but at the
030same time there are intermediate steps of of consolidation uh that I think that no one has brought forward. So specifically, I find that within New Hampshire statutes, there are provisions for consolidation of support staff between smaller entities and there is substantial potential for savings and buffering, most importantly buffering year to year by doing so. And I would like to propose that you guys put that somewhere at the the top of your considerations for long-term uh cost savings and stability proposals. >> Appreciate it. >> Okay. Thank you for your comment. >> Can I to quickly read through the major changes? >> Sure. Yeah. >> Can I speak to the facilities, >> please? Just um we just recently had a facilities assessment completed by an outside company that's helping us put together a multi-year capital improvement plan.
031the board has had that sort of plan in place before and um that plan is now expiring and we need to to develop a new one. So we've just received that report from um the facilities review just last week. Um so we will be developing that strategic plan for the next 5 to 10 years based on that facilities report. >> The greater concern as a citizen again to the to the board at large is that uh we're under fiscal attack. It's not coming from our community. It's coming from outside. And I don't see that this has been mapped out appropriately. >> And so I I call this uh in business I call this disaster planning. I'm calling upon the board to consider the budgets in disaster planning mode. What happens when you do not get
032the appropriations that you're currently getting from the state of New Hampshire has trickled down and [snorts] what we're going to do about it as a community. is going to get worse. That's my prediction. >> Thank you. >> So, I can quickly read through the major changes. Um, >> yeah, >> just for >> and so just to make sure everyone's on the same page, too. When we when we go to the ballot, we're only voting on one side of the equation. It's only the expense side. So, when we're talking about money from the state, which I think you just alluded to, um, specifically via adequacy, that's on the revenue side. So in the spring you do the expense side only and then in the fall I look at the revenues and then the delta between your
033expenses and your revenues is what's raising taxation. Okay? So anything you plan to spend you have to appropriate. So even um if it's grant money you have to appropriate the funds but so in the springtime we only do half the equation. So I just wanted to put that out there first. So when we talked earlier we said that the budget was a 4.28% increase. Now, that is your food service and your general fund, [snorts] not including the grants part. And so, that 4.28 is $192,493. Okay. So, for salary, because we're removing the unfilled teacher, we're making the changes in gym, art, and music. We are seeing a decrease in salary of 29,451. The health and dental went up $95,76. That is almost half the increase. Psych and PT services, physical therapy services went up a
034thousand. Books and other printed media went up 11,350. Special ed related services for instruction went up $3,900. Computer and computer network equipment went up 12,432. [clears throat] Maintenance and facilities went up 37,83. Audit went up 8,450. Now, that's the change in what we currently pay over what we'd be paying to the firm. The SAU assessment, the overall SAU assessment to all the districts was actually unchanged. We work super super hard to keep that a 0% increase. However, it's divided between the districts on ADM and equalized valuation. So, your enrollment and your property values. So, when those go up, so do your share of the pie. So, we saw an increase of 5 $5,94. The first student is our bus contract that went up $6,949. And then our food service program went up $3,762. That is
035a combination of um all the increase I'm sure you see every time you go to the grocery store. Everything else in the budget was an increase of $7,689. So all of those items that I listed above, those are your major drivers. >> Go ahead. Is there anything that we that you could suggest a change in health insurance that uh that is there any negotiations or anything that's going on in the health insurance side to help offset some of these costs? [clears throat] >> So Renee, I don't know if you have any information you wanted to share on health insurance. Did you hear else's question? Yeah. And um there the there isn't the actually the other options we had were more expensive than what we currently buy into and there is um a collective bargaining agreement
036and a requirement from the district to maintain um the health care contribution. So that's that's [clears throat] a contract. Um and we're everyone in the state has had is hit with this healthcare cost. everyone in the state, every school district in the state and it es and flows and we are right down the middle of the median in terms of the increase compared to other districts that had twice as much and some had a little bit less. So the the department of um human resources is always looking and she will look again but she has not found it to be any cheaper. >> Do you know what's what's driving it? What what is it the cont that's driving it or something else is driving it. >> You know what is >> it's the health it's
037the if the board would like me to answer it is the health insurance companies that set the rates. It's not us. It's what they tell us we have to pay. [clears throat] >> And it's also based off of usage. So during CO we had 0% increases. So for several years we had very minimal and some years were zero. Then after CO when people started going to the doctors they're going to the doctors with stage four cancer. They're not go they're c not catching it at the stage one stage two. So now we're having more people going to the doctors which is great now that we can go to the doctors after co but people are finding that they're having more serious issues and those are more expensive. So that is a big part of it
038as well. >> Sure. Thank you. >> I just I will inject that healthcare is a national crisis. It's beyond this board ability to control. >> Yeah. And uh some of us uh seniors who were forced into Medicare uh I'm very upset this year to find that Medicare insurance that previously was enrolled in has been cancelled. And so a lot of us are being forced to accept a lesser level of insurance than we would like to have and there's nothing we can do about it. Um, you're telling me that you were already at basic level insurance and there's no place to move down, then there's no place to move down and we're just wasting our time to discuss it. I appreciate the fact that that's on the table and mentioned, but this is one of the
039things that I consider is well beyond your ability to influence. >> Yeah, we have about one more minute for public comment. So, you want to say your name first? >> Wendy Oscar. >> Thank you. Um, I learned from a really good insurance agent that the demographics [clears throat] of New Hampshire, the top half of New Hampshire is poorer and tend to be sicker and the lower half carries it and because of that he told me a lot of insurance companies are pulling out of New Hampshire. Sigma just pulled out and what happens is now the rates are going up and he told me 77,000 people will lose health insurance in New Hampshire this year. So it's the demographics of the state >> just to help people understand. >> All right. Any other comments before we
040close? >> I have a quick question. Eric Miller I pre the special ed budget is $30,000. Is that expected to change or is that where is that number relative to other years? >> Um the special education budget is in response to student needs. So as students change in the building and their needs change then the supports that we provide for them is in response to those students. So that can be difficult to predict sometimes a year in advance but this is [clears throat] what we know today um that the supports that will be needed for students next year. And there is some question of this open enrollment where uh students from other towns might be able to come. So if some special needs students were to come, would that that would significantly drive up the
041budget and it would be kind of disaster planning. Is that a possibility? >> I think there's lots of possibilities with open enrollment and we don't know all of the answers to that yet. >> I don't know if you wanted to talk. We've talked a little bit about the line item of open enrollment >> that there's so much that we don't know yet that there's really um there's so many questions that >> my understanding is that you are in the position to reject the special students in open enrollment policies. >> I don't have that same understanding that understanding either that the district the sending district would have to support them here but they can come. I believe it's SB295 you're talking about. >> All right, we'll we'll do one more then. >> Hi. Um Susan Barnwater
042Road. I I just want to go big big picture for a moment. We moved here 40 years ago largely for the schools. We our girls had [clears throat] a fabulous education. I think Kensington Elementary is a gold mine. It really is a treasure and and it is a reason I suspect that many of us came to the town. Um I'm I'm quite concerned that the school is getting blamed for um high property taxes. And that's not where the blame belongs. The blame belongs at the state. The state is not paying its fair share. it's not paying that it's legally mandated to. If the state did pay, then our property taxes would be lower. Um, instead, the state under this current administration and the last administration has um abdicated its responsibility to pay and consequently we
043flip the bill. So um I you know it saddens me a great deal that the school is under such pressure to defend itself when in my understanding you've done a fabulous job and thank you very much. Um I the idea of consolidation just um in my view is not the right solution. The solution is to elect representatives who call the state to task. And there, you know, it's a big mess. Our [snorts] our state has a really regressive tax system and consequently all towns are getting hit as we are. Um, so thank you for everything you do. >> Thank you, sir. >> Great. All right, we do need to close public comment. um 6:38. So, thank you all folks for coming. Um and >> so [clears throat] in regards to the open enrollment, we do
044have to have the rule is you have to have a bud um a line item in your budget. So, we have put a dollar in there because >> for the open enrollment >> just because we are not aware of any other open enrollment schools in the area, but legally we have to have a line item. So right now we put a dollar in >> just not knowing about the unknowns and we don't have any intel on >> anybody that will become open enrollment or >> how process will work or anything. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Great. Thank you. Um okay. So you're all welcome to stay but we are going to move on to some more you know policy matters. So stay or don't. But thank you all for a very exciting job.
045They might want to stay for the reading. >> That is so true. >> Yes. >> But we won't be offended if you leave. >> We also want to make sure people come back for January. >> What are the dates? >> January. >> I just sent I sent you that >> January that went out today. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Just make sure I have the right dates. >> January 6. >> Okay. So that is the next >> Thank you. >> Yes. The save the dates. >> Okay. Yes. So January 6th is the um budget. What is what's the public hearing? The public hearing. >> Public hearing. >> And if anyone wants the leading roll in the video, just >> there will be a video. >> Becky said she did. >> And then February for choice. Ollie,
046we already have the script for the video. I don't know who you're coming in to. >> Well, when you're not here, things happen. Rene, when you're not here, things happen. Okay. We take over. >> Yeah. So, Tuesday, January 6 is the public hearing at 6:00 and child care is provided tonight as well. And then Tuesday, February 3rd is the deliberative session also at 6 o'clock. Um and um I [clears throat] believe there's child care available at that time as well. And then voting day on Tuesday, March 10th. Lots of important Tuesdays coming up. >> Perfect. All right. Thank you so much. Okay. All right. Okay. So, we are now going to do our committee reports. And Wendy, you repent of policy. >> Okay. Um, so there's a number of them and the first one uh
047is BEDH and uh there's the full policies if you've read them or there's also little summaries of each and this one is a review or [snorts] revision of uh public input at board meetings. Huh? How >> that makes sense, right? And u they're giving uh we have [snorts] two two to look at. one is um is a little bit, you know, more involved. The other one is I'll call it the Brentwood model, uh which is the Brentwood school board uses that and it's a little bit more concise. But in both basically the big thing is that there uh we're trying to make it so that it's people that are either residents of the town or stakeholders in the town such as staff members, parents, uh caregivers um uh of children in the town um you
048know have the ability to speak at at uh board meetings. So, um I don't know if either of you had a chance to really read through those. If you had any thoughts, um because we can go with either one. >> You have to pick. Okay. >> I I thought that and my understanding has been that I'm getting older that people in the town always have the right to speak, people who are stakeholders. It was our purview to give permission to people who weren't citizens. >> Right. >> That's how it's always been. Uh [clears throat] we we actually got legal clarity. Yeah. And unless you have a policy that states that >> you can't limit your public comment to anyone. >> So it it there actually it was quite surprising but we did get legal guidance
049around public input and there's nothing in the regs that state it has to be a citizen of the town to speak at the school board member. So that's why the SEU is recommending that all of our school boards add a clause or at least clarify um that you would like to hear from because you have 30 minutes. So prioritizing that you want to hear from your legislative body which are your voters, your citizens makes a lot of sense. Um and it's a pretty common antidote in most schoolboard uh policies. Somehow when we did this around a few years ago, Brentwood was the only one that put that in >> and none of the other boards put it in and so we are recommending that you clarify your public input policy around that. >> Okay. >>
050So that's the Brentwood model. I'm trying to find the word. >> Um and Renee, the the review uh the revision of the current uh does have that in as well, right? I I'm not sure what you mean. Like the one >> the revision uh not the Brentwood one but the >> the one that is recommended has it >> I believe >> right which is the longer one. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> All right. >> So that's the one we would want to >> Yeah. I think more more clarity on it um is better. So I would say yeah the longer. So again, we have the option of going with the Brentwood, which is smaller, more concise, or the more involved one. >> Yeah. >> Personally, [snorts] I think the more involved one is more succinct.
051>> Yeah. Okay. Okay, that makes sense to me. Okay. >> So that's what that is. >> Okay. >> All right. Um the second one, DFGA, is about crowdfunding. Um and basically puts uh that was Molly that was uh why don't you talk on that one because you were all over that one. >> Sure. So Plaza and Sanderson who is our audit firm for everyone except for Kensington currently. They come in every year and they have a checklist and one of the things they ask is do you have a crowdfunding policy? So if we were to have like a gofundme or something like that on the benefit of the school we don't have that policy. I don't have any intentions of ever doing any crowd funding, but we have to have a policy on file. >>
052Oh, okay. If the school were to do it, >> correct? If the school is the only time we ever did anything remotely close to it was during CO when everything was super unknown and we wanted to make sure all the kids were fed, we had donations coming in, but um >> yeah, >> that was the only thing that ever came from. >> Okay, got it. Got it. And um the third one um is just a review how again trying to get onto a sync so that once a year we're reviewing every every policy and there was just some grammatical things that were changed in there. Um that was on purchasing. >> A lot of the fiscal ones are just um recommendations from the audit firm that you have to review it every few years. And
053so the ones that had been reviewing while we reviewed um as well as we did make some adjustments to the purchasing um or bidding policy for each one of us um because as escalation rises so does um the thresholds. >> Yep. And that one is uh the bidding requirements DJ DJ. >> Okay. >> Oh, I see. uh the DJF which is on local purchasing that was just a small change revision uh saying locallyowned businesses as opposed to local business. >> So that was just a very small thing. Um DKC is a revision of just talking about expense requirements. Um that wasn't [snorts] uh they took uh it says they took out of state out of there because it was too restrictive in terms of we have travel that's going to mass and >> so if
054principal rule drove two miles that way she need to get approval from the superintendent. >> Um >> okay >> IHCA is a new policy for Kensington. the other school districts have this already uh about summer activities. Um and it's basically saying how important it is that you know there be learning happening over the summer periods uh summer periods and so forth. So uh that's what that one's about. Um the next one um is from a new education rule IKFG and it's about career exploration which this one's kind of interesting because originally it was just for high school kids but now it's looking to have career explo exploration from kindergarten all the way through 12. So um that's a good one. I like that one. >> That is a good Yeah, I like that. um IMBA.
055Um that's a revision. Again, it's just uh changing the the verbiage. It was called distance education. It's now been changed to remote learning, which is more the verbiage that's used now. And then there's uh some policies that are being withdrawn um AKFA ILBA and I believe that those are being uh brought into other policies. >> Okay. >> Well, I I KFA doesn't really impact us anyway. >> It doesn't. >> We're not going to give fifth grade early graduation [clears throat] petition. >> This is rule. >> All right. So, >> not what I was planning on. >> So, with the exception of the first one, do we want >> do we want to um >> make a motion to accept all except that first one because we got to decide which of the two we want.
056>> So, do them separately? >> Yeah, that makes sense. Should we do them separately, Renee? >> The do the um the public input one as its own thing because we have options. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um do you want to do the motion or do you want me to do it? >> You can do it. >> Okay. I will make a motion to accept policies DFG AA DJ DJ E DJF DKC IHCA I KFG and IMBA as well as withdrawing policies I KFA um as as written. >> Is that good? >> I Yeah, that was great. Okay, [laughter] >> I second. >> All in favor? >> All right. And then um I will make a motion to accept policy BE DH in the is there a word for it? The longer >> the long form.
057>> The long the longer form question. Yes. Uh, what is it about the longer one that you prefer over the >> I think it's it it just outlines everything where the one they have in Brentwood is is like a paragraph, >> which I think >> some of us like that. >> I know. Well, I think it can open you up for it doesn't >> to me it doesn't bring out every single point that we might need at some point. >> It's too against me. It's okay. I'm just a longtime administrator. Give me a paragraph. I like >> I like short too, but I think in this case longer is better. >> Okay. Well, we never disagree. So, we >> And so, [clears throat] >> well, I don't encourage it. No, longer. Um, so as long
058as the longer one says that we are prioritizing >> it does >> citizens and people who are stakeholders. >> Yes, that's what it says. >> All right. Good. Okay. So, I make a motion to accept policy BEDH in the longer format. Um, all in favor? >> I Oh, do no one no one seconded it. >> Excuse me. >> Do you need to second it? >> I second it. >> Thank you. >> No, we did the shortened version just [laughter] >> we got to be accurate. Okay, wonderful. Those are our policies. Um, is there a safety and security update? >> No. >> Okay. Um, superintendent evaluation committee. I have no update on that committee. Um, general correspondence. No, >> any we've received some general correspondence from a citizen um that the board the board has. Um,
059it was around curriculum. It was also around um some of the budget matters which um the board addressed um in in [clears throat] the email. Well, that was those were the correspondence. I don't know if the board wants to speak more about it, but that was the correspondence. >> Okay. I don't think so. We all saw those. [snorts] Um community news submission, Cheryl. >> Uh not yet because we did it in a short amount of time to get it out before the holidays, but >> yeah. So for uh when is the next one due? >> I don't know. >> I get a note and they they haven't sent me the note yet. >> So we want to make sure that we have the dates in there for the >> January. We might we might miss
060the dates. >> Yeah. Because of the turnaround of it, it's not always like >> But I always put the dates in. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Good. >> There'll be something to discuss. I'm sure you'll think of something >> interesting. >> I Yeah, I'll make a story. >> Okay. Um and the strategic plan committee, I do have an update. We met last week, December 3rd. We went over um superintendent um Dr. Anderski went met with all the administrators from all the schools to get the KPIs in in place for each of our goals in the strategic plan. So now there's measurable benchmarks for each goal. Um several of them haven't been measured yet. They're sort of new goals. So the benchmarks and results are going to be calculated in June 2026 and then every June, you
061know, for the next few years as part of the plan. Um, but we'll get a full report on all of the goals and the benchmarks at the January joint board meeting. So you guys will find out all about that. And then also we will talk about how they're going to go out to the wider public. So that there'll be a website that has like a dashboard where the public can look and and follow along with the goals and how they're being um how they are being worked on and what the results are. So all that will be publicly available starting I think in June because that's when the first benchmarks will be added. Okay. So that is strategic plan. Watch for that. Okay. And we did our business financials. Okay. So, next up is the
062principles report. Great. Um the structure of my reports um support the core values of SAU16 which are equity, academic excellence, well-being, growth, mindset, and belonging and connection. Um the first um part I was highlighting under academic excellence was the learning walk that we um participated in last month with a consultant from Ready Math. Pretty math is um a program that we use for our tier one instruction. Um so we spent the day um observing in classrooms and we were looking at the effectiveness of differentiated instruction um in those core one um classrooms and as well as student engagement. So those were the two areas that we focused um on our observations and what we call our learning walk. Um and then we um shared the results of that walk with staff at our staff meeting
063that afternoon. So um we were able to talk a little bit about some of the best practices that we observed in the classroom and share that with each other. Um and then um you know we just continue to prioritize our conversations um around the teaching of mathematics at KES. Um under belonging and connection I had a couple things that I wanted to highlight. The first being our Veterans Day ceremony um which was um really coordinated by our fifth grade class um an amazing group of young girls and boys that um led us that day. We had about 20 veterans in attendance which was great. I'm not sure if any of you were able to attend or not. Um we had a few guests of honor um who were the grandfathers of some of our students.
064So, um, Petty Officer First Class Peter Gould, as well as William Lockach, who I will say as a 104year-old veteran completely stole the show. Um, and I was he was amazing and the stories that he shared with our students um was it was just really inspiring. Um, and I love that he ended his speech with and make sure you listen to your teachers. Um, I was honored to be able to spend some time with him after the ceremony. He joined the other veterans for a light breakfast and um at 10:30 he was still talking to us about a lot of his life stories. And there was no way I was asking this gentleman to leave um because the art class was coming in. we were just going to have to find another place for art
065that day. Um because um he was just really amazing and and we're really looking forward to him being part of the ceremony next year at 105. >> Nice. >> Yeah, it was really a highlight of school so far for me this year. Um we also have one of our guest speakers already set for next year and that's Mr. Mike. He's one of our bus drivers for um bus three and he will be one of our veterans of honor next year and he's already writing his speech. Um, and then I also just wanted to highlight under belonging and connection our coffee with kindergarteners. And this is um, something that we've done in collaboration with the rec department the last few years. Um, and we've had a few coffees with kindergarteners already this year. Um, they do
066different things. They play bingo. They read books. They make crafts together. Um, so it's just a special time with our youngest students in town, with some of our older members of the community, and it's just a time for them each month um to be together. Um, so it really fosters that connection, which is a lot of fun. And we have um our next coffee with kindergartener is planned on Thursday, December 18th. If there's any members of the audience that would like to have coffee with kindergarters, we don't give coffee to the kindergarteners. [laughter] Um I believe that is at 10:00. [snorts] >> Yeah, >> that's great. All right. Thank you. That's great. >> Of course. Yes. >> In connects today was announced that one of the grades is doing pending. >> Yes. our second graders
067who are trying to hone their craft of letter writing >> um in order to have a authentic audience for them to write to. Um yes, our second grade class was searching for some pen pals that they could practice their letter writing >> skills. They need a lot >> I volunteered immediately [laughter] like >> get a little and who doesn't love to get mail like real mail in the mailboxes? Well, I love that they're teaching how to write a letter. >> Yeah, >> that's great. >> Yeah, it's exciting and there's a lot of good skills that come with letter writing and an authentic audience is really important. >> Yeah. >> Great. >> All right. Um, new business. >> I also had the board had requested um some um data review from um assessments. >> So, I
068have that that I can share. Thank you. forgot about the requested. I have um few things that we can also in the minutes. Um, so I I could put this on the screen, but then that requires everyone to turn around and to move the camera. So I'm not sure if we actually want to do that or we can just talk to it. >> I think I think talking to it. >> Okay. >> Um, so I just wanted to give sort of an overview of why do we assess our students? And so the first page really comes from the Department of Education. Um it talks a little bit about um the state law which requires um all the schools in New Hampshire to assess their students and in New Hampshire this test we use we refer
069to as SAS which is um the statewide assessment system. Um so this just talks a little bit about what we're looking for with assessments. We're looking for mastery of content. We're looking um for measuring the degree to which students are on track to high school graduation and to help us inform instruction. So these are reasons why we assess students. Um on the next page, it just talks a little bit about when those assessments happen for New Hampshire. So um in typically in May is when we do our state assessments. Um all students in SA 16 and Kensington and across the whole state in grades 3 through 8 um take the SAS test in English language arts and in math. Um and then additionally students in grade five, eight and 11 take um the science the
070science component. So um all students in New Hampshire are assessed again typically in May. Um there was a shift um that I mentioned here in 2024 um that included participation rate requirements. So you have to have a certain number of students participating in the assessment. Um and then if you fall below that participation rate um then there is a formula in which the number of students that don't participate their scores count as zeros and it's a little bit lengthier of a formula if you don't have a 95% part participate participation rate. We are very fortunate in Kensington um that we we generally do have a 95% participation rate each year. So um usually this does not impact us. Um our families um usually have their students participate. On occasion something does come up in which
071a family does opt their child out, but it doesn't happen very often in Kensington. >> What happens if a child starts a school year here but doesn't end it? Does that count in the 95%. >> Um so I believe everybody enrolled after October 1st. [clears throat] Is that correct, Renee? >> Yep. It's our October 1st numbers is what counts. >> Yeah. >> So, anybody that's enrolled after October 1st [cough] would count towards our score. So, um >> Yeah. So, even if they moved away, they would count for our score. Can I >> ask a question? That mean would bring your your raw score down. So, if a student left after October 1st, wasn't here to take the test in May >> and there was several students like that, would that >> correct? >> Drop your
072score down. >> Correct. So we give you data that would look like you didn't perform well state average would in fact be the case. >> Yeah. >> Well, what's interesting is the people at the state who decided that parents could opt out are the same people at the state who are advertising our data for the when the kids have opted out. It doesn't affect us here, but it does affect schools around the state. >> But the denominator includes all those students. The denominator students will be here October 1st whether they take the exam or not. And I I just say that because there are other schools um for whom their participation rate don't often hit the 95%. So >> especially secondary >> thinking about that as you're looking at scores, >> right? >> It's not
073always a full picture. >> Yes. But again, for our community, we generally do hit the 95% participation. >> Um I talked a little bit about the I Ready Diagnostic. This is another um standardized assessment that we use in SAU16. Um all of our students um grades 1 through five take that both in math and reading in the fall, winter, and the spring. And in addition, KES students take a mid-semester growth assessments in November, Mar in March. So they're doing that in math five times a year so that we can check um their progress. Kindergarteners um take the I Ready Math Diagnostic again fall, winter, and spring. um in math and in reading they just do that at the end of the year as an end of year benchmark for kindergarten. We have other assessments that
074we're using kindergarten as [clears throat] they're learning some of those fundamentals. Um but we do have them do the I Ready diagnostic at the end of the year and reading. Um so then the next slide just talks about a little bit what do we do with that data? Um talking we've talked a lot about PLC teams this year. Um where we're looking at data and we're asking ourselves questions. What do we want the students to be able to know? How will we assess their mastery? How will we respond when students are struggling? How will we respond if students are already excelling? So, that's sort of a loop that just continues to happen. What do we want them to know? How do we know that they're learning it? What do we do if they don't know
075it? And what do we do if they already know it? So, that loop sort of continues um every time we have new data to look at. So the next um chart is the last nine years of um standardized testing at Kensington Elementary School. So the first three columns are our statewide assessment, the SAS scores in um math, reading, and science for the [snorts] last nine years. And then the last two columns are the I Ready scores in math and reading. Um for the last nine well the last four years the SAU did not start using I ready across the district um until the 2122 school year. So we just have four years of data on that districtwide assessment >> and increases 2024 to 2025 across the board. Pretty nice. [clears throat] >> Yes. Um you
076can see pretty consistently um the drop off in standardized testing scores after COVID. >> Yeah. >> Uh that would be consistent statewide, nationwide, that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Um >> and um sort of the trajectory after COVID. I will say every um every year Kes does consistently perform above the state average. Um so while our scores do fluctuate up and down small school sometimes when you're looking at a small sample size just statistically two or three students um performing differently on a test makes a big difference to our percentages um our fifth graders. So the science the column of science scores um it's roughly about 20 students taking that test each year. So it's just one class. need to keep that in mind when we're looking at statistics, I think. >> Thank you,
077Becky. >> Um, yeah, and if there was any other questions about that, I have then more specifically a deeper dive um into just the I Ready scores if you wanted to look at that. Those are the um district assessments. We do take those more frequently. Um, and I know Steph, we've done the exercise before where we've looked at fall, middle, and spring. if you wanted to look at those as well. I have that from last year and then the beginning of year from this year if you want to take a look. >> Yeah. Do you guys want to see that? >> Yeah. Okay. >> Absolutely. >> So, let's look at reading first. Um, [clears throat] so I had learned that if I try to put all three of these on one slide, it becomes very
078small and then you can't read them. So, we'll just look at each one. So, pass all of those down. Yeah. >> And then winter and then just I want to make sure I'm giving you the right ones. Winter fall, winter, spring. Yep. And then fall, winter, fall, winter, spring. Okay. So if you put these fall, winter, spring, these are last year's scores. So if you look at this, so fall, winter, spring. >> Yep. [clears throat] >> Um you will see um and the color coding is really self-explanatory in the growth >> um that we're looking at for students. So, um we have overall um proficiency levels at the top and then at the bottom you see that broken down um by grade level. So, our far fall scores um you would see some green, some
079yellow, some reds as you would expect. Our students aren't yet proficient in those grade level standards. Um that those are usually September scores. Um the winter um scores in the middle, that's usually administered in January. So you see some nice growth. Our yellow bars are getting smaller, our green bars are getting larger, >> and our red bars are getting smaller. >> And then by the time you get to the spring assessment, which again is usually administered in May or June, um you can see some nice progress from our students in their proficiency levels >> across grade levels. And this I Ready is not something that you um that's the statewide or you'd be comparing. >> This is districtwide. So So this is a common assessment in SAU16 schools. Correct. >> Okay. >> Excellent. >> Um
080so that's for reading and I'll show you this is um our reading hall that this is where we started this year. >> Is this the same thing? >> The same that's Nope. That's just this year. the beginning. This is um we haven't done our week assessment yet for reading because I don't have it in too many papers. >> Um so again, similar to last fall's um >> sure diagnostic, we don't expect students to be proficient in grade level standards yet. Um and the goal for us um is growth. And um like I said, we we um look at the data pretty frequently to make sure that that growth is happening. Okay. So now you want to let's look at math. Okay. So we'll do the same. There's fall, winter, spring. [snorts] All winter, spring, winter,
081spring. Okay, >> that's better. >> That's a big improvement. >> Yeah. Yeah. So again, a similar pattern that we'd see um from our f fall diagnostic students who um have not yet um mastered their grade level standards as we wouldn't expect them to um but they're ready to learn them [snorts] and um checking in on their midyear progress and then end of year progress. So, the kids have taken the state tests and then they take these tests three other times during the year. >> They take um these tests three times a year. The math they do five times. >> Oh, okay. >> And then the state test is they just do those once in May. Those are a oneshot deal. >> This is a great way to see progress. So the goal that we've put
082our schoolwide goal that we've put together this year is obviously in mathematics. Um and our our goal is around um ensuring that students hit their typical growth in mathematics. So it's not necessarily looking at proficiency levels but ensuring that we're moving kids um from where they start um to where their typical growth is projected to be. >> Yeah. Which is different for every student. Well, I think they're showing very good growth. >> They are showing really, really good growth. Yes. [snorts] >> Good stuff. And then we just have the beginning of year from um this fall in our mics as well. >> Yep. This is just one. This is just this year's beginning of math. >> Okay. >> Because we haven't done the winter yet. So again, sort of right where we would expect students
083to be at the beginning [snorts] of the year. Great. All right. Great. Thank you for all that. >> Yep. >> Data. No problem. Look at data all the time. >> Are you going to take them back? >> No, you um I can if you don't want them. I can take them back for Okay, great. So, that concludes the principal's report. Um, next on the agenda is new business and um a retirement. Do we do that? >> Don't we have to go with the new question? >> We do have um the retirement letter to Y. >> And do we do that in in public session or is that Yeah. >> Yeah, we can public. [clears throat] Yes. >> Okay. Good. >> All right. >> So, let's see. Where is it? Should I read the letter? Is
084that the best thing to do? I don't know how to read. >> Or you you don't have to read the letter. It's it's to the board, but you can just >> receiving it. >> You can announce who's retiring and then the board can make a motion to accept our retirement. >> Got it. Thank you. >> Um yes. So, we have received um regretfully a letter of retirement from our school nurse um Heather Antel. So she will be retiring at the end of this school year in June. Um she has been here for the last 10 years. So we will miss her tremendously. Um and in particular I will miss her guidance and um I give her a lot of credit um in during those COVID years which were particularly difficult um for everyone and particularly
085for our school nurses. Um, so I really want to thank her um for helping us through those years in particular. >> Okay. Thanks. >> All right. Well, I will make >> Do you want to do it? >> Yeah. Make a motion to accept Heather Antel, school nurse's letter of um retirement, intent to retire with regret. >> All right, I'll second it. All in favor? >> I All right, great. Thank you, Becky. That is that >> was a very good report. Thank you. >> All right. So, any old business? Not sure if there was um any other energy proposals to talk about under old business or are we going to wait for next meeting to talk about that? >> Um we are going to wait till next meeting because our director Brian Sans would like me
086to set up a meeting. >> Perfect. >> You have some questions answered. So that before we um speak with the board. >> Okay. Great. All right. Any pupil related matters? >> No. >> All right. And then any personel? >> Nope. We still are um looking to hire one additional um instructional assistant. So we still are short one stock. >> Okay. >> All right. So now we we are going to go into nonpublic, right? Is that correct? >> Renee, do we are we going into non-public? >> Do we I have no reason to have a reason. >> No, I don't. >> I thought I read it. >> Well, it's just it's under the board will hold a non-public session at the end of the schoolboard meeting, >> but maybe that was from the >> I think
087it's always >> Is that always >> I think that's always just the reminder if we do have to go to non public that would be a reason. The superintendent's office does not have a reason to vote. Fantastic. It's always up to the board. >> Okay. I don't have a reason. >> Okay. Great. So then that is everything. I will um we're going to adjourn. Our next meeting is January 6th, 2026 at 6 p.m. >> The hearing >> and I will close this meeting at 7:16 p.m. >> Well, I'm going to make a motion for us to adjourn. >> Do that. >> Make a motion to adjourn. >> Second. Thank [clears throat] you. All in favor? >> I thank you. >> Thank you for coming, guys. Thank you.