Stratham School Board Meeting 10/15/25

001All right, everyone. We'll call us to order at 6:00 6:01 and we'll do the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Great. Um, so it looks like today we're going to start with student council report. >> Woohoo. >> So if you guys want to just come up to the microphone, [Music] >> you can go together. >> One paragraph flows into the other. >> Good evening. We are excited to provide you with your first student council report update of the 2526 school year. Hi, I'm Emily Lane representing Mrs. Okane's class. The Halloween how is coming soon on October 24th 25. PreK to 1st is at 5 to 6:00 p.m. and

002grades 2 to 5 is at 6:00 to 7:30. It is a super fun party that we do a week before Halloween. Most of the kids wear Halloween costumes, but you don't have to. You cannot bring any toy weapons to the dance. There are plenty of food in the cafeteria, amazing m amazing music in the gym, and lots of decorations inside. There will be a costume contest and coloring also in the calf. I will be going to the Halloween house. Alice from Alice in the Wonderland. This is a really fun experience for kids and I recommend going to it. Hold up. Hi, I'm Emma Richie. I'm in fifth grade. I am the 5MH representative and a part of the Stratam cross country team. Cross country is the only sport SMS has and fourth and fifth graders.

003We are coached by head coaches Mr. Harrison and Miss Midow. We also have assistant coaches like Miss Quinn and Miss Fitcho. Parents also volunteer at meets mostly, but also practices. During practice, Mr. Harrison clocks our times, which is telling us when we finish what what time what lap what time our lap was. We also we also stretch. We do we also do a m a mile run and then depending on the race that's coming up, we will work on something specific for that race. Example, if the upcoming race has a big hill, we will practice running up and down hills so we are ready. Over the whole course of cross country season, we had five races. At each meet, we will have three heats. New Market Course is one of the RA was one of

004the races most people set their personal record at. I set my personal record there, which is 623. Personally, cross country is my favorite. Hi, I am Callie Baria and I am a student council member member from Miss Hergan's class. In early October, some of the fourth and fifth grade students made slideshows or speeches to get on student council. Some teachers allow campaigning. You can make posters, buttons, bookmarks, and more. We have meetings every Wednesday in the learning comments with Miss Baler and Miss Healey. Our first meeting was last Wednesday. We talk about responsibilities, and if you are late and missing a lot of meetings, you could be asked to step down and have your alternate alternate step up. We also got our buddy classes and they are Miss Benyan's first grade class and Miss Gettison's

005surrogate class for me and Emma. We got to meet our classes and set time to go visit. Our first big project is to gather food drive, which happens in a few months. If we get money from our food drive at the end at the end at December or January showcase, we get enough money before to go together. We will go to the grocery store. Each grade has an assigned items to get. It's not a requirement, but a requirement, but we will figuring these details out soon. Thank you for listening to our report. Please let us know if you have any questions. We are accepting all spirit week ideas for our sp our first spirit week this fall. Yay. That was really amazing. Thank you. >> Anyone have any questions? >> Sorry, did you say you

006ran a 623 mile? >> Excuse me. Way to go. That's awesome. >> Emma, can you talk to us about how how many kids run cross country and what it's like to actually run with that many people? >> So, it's really fun to run cross country with like all the kids because everybody is like representing Stratam and every kid like runs. every kid goes to practice. It's just fun to see all the kids like setting their records and just making their times faster and faster. And it's cool to see like each kid from fourth and fifth grade. Like say they set say I start at the start of the year with like an 8-minute mile at the end of the year they're going down to like 7:30. It's just cool to see like everybody go down

007and like have faster times each time. >> Yeah. >> Perfect. Awesome. All right. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you guys so much. >> Good job. >> All right. Um, okay. We're going to start with um approval of the minutes. Did anybody have any edits to the minute, the public minutes of September 24th? I had a couple of um comments. One was um section 4.4 before was an incomplete sentence. I know that's kind of nitpicky and small. >> Um >> I mean no. Yes. >> And then so I'm not sure where that sentence was going. And then I was curious about the placement of the non-public minutes cuz it was at the top and I felt like it should have been where the rest of the non-public section was. >> So that was kind

008of confusing. And I was also um not sure about what it meant that the minutes were not sealed. M >> so we can get clarity about those things. >> Okay. >> Um do you know I saw minutes being sealed is on the agenda. Did you want to talk about that or >> Yeah. So as a board you always have the right in nonpublic to seal your minutes and you can seal them for any length of time that you want and then they have to be reviewed periodically. That's what I'm going to uh talk about tonight is that we have sealed minutes that have been sealed for a long time. A law was passed that you have to review sealed minutes. So the way we can handle it when we get to that point is that

009you can have a member or members of the board or you can have a member work with me. We can review the minutes and then we can decide this should be information that we do not want to share or uh information that should remain sealed because of the information that's pertinent to it. Then bring those recommendations back to the board and the board make a full um decision on those sealed minutes. >> What does it mean to be sealed versus not sealed though? >> So you can actually put more information into it. You know, you know how we keep our public mint and non-public minutes pretty pretty vague. Yeah. >> Uh some people in previous boards have not and so it's almost like a a full board meeting and there's a lot more names, a

010lot more explanations there, but then they choose to seal it. So therefore, it can't be seen at all. >> So the minutes don't even get posted. They get posted as sealed minutes. Sealed non-public minutes. >> Can board members see them? Future board members? >> Not unless you have a a policy in which to review them. So Stratam has seven sealed minutes. um that we would have to go back and look at. Now, there's one that's in those sealed minutes that it says >> u the board wishes to have these unsealed once a um a court case had been finalized. So, that one would be the wish of that board to unseal them at that time. But while that court case was happening, they asked to seal all minutes. Um there can be personnel decisions that

011are happened even part of the discussion that you don't want that wouldn't be pertinent um or you'd want out for other people to be able to review. So that is the the rationale behind a board making seal minutes. Typically we don't. So we keep them very vague. We don't have to seal them. >> I'm like there's no point in sealing these. Yeah. Okay. Did that answer your question? >> I um kind of So if we didn't seal them that then Sharon would publicize publish the notes from our conversation publicly or No, >> you could. Yep. So if they're not sealed anything that's in just how we put our minutes. So you know how say or discuss a personnel matter. >> Oh sure that but everything we discussed in non-public would remain if we write minutes

012that way. So previous in previous laws they would write them that way. So it almost look like public minutes. So there was a lot of information there. So they would write it that way and then they say and we want to seal them. >> Yeah. >> You know so that that information >> and would they do that like in big situations like maybe a principal is being replaced or you know like big >> Yeah. Yeah, it could be a personal decision that it was a hearing that was done um and then they sealed it based on the hearing because it was a non-public hearing. It could be a uh student discipline issue that you hear in non-public uh and they took all the minutes and then they they look to seal them. >> Okay. >>

013Yeah, I noticed that um that half phrase. So maybe we'll just ask Sharon to take a look at that. Maybe she was typing it up something got caught. Yeah. Mhm. Um, any other notes or um, edits on the public? All right. What about the non-public minutes? Because I think we were here for both of those, so we can vote on both at the same time. Any non-public edits? >> Oh, you were saying I >> just the placement of the >> number two. Yeah, it was a little It was weird to me. >> Sharon's trying something new. >> Thanks, Sharon. You're the best. Make sure. >> Yeah, that's it. >> Okay. >> For me, >> are you saying you would like it to go back to the way it was the previous month? >> Yeah, sure.

014>> Okay. All right. See, no other comments. Um, let's vote. Can we vote on both the public and non-public minutes of September 24th? Um, I'll move to approve. Do I have a second? I'll second. Thank you. All right. All in favor, please say I. I. >> I. >> Anybody opposed? All right. 5 0. >> Thanks. Um, okay. I will start. I left my phone in the car. >> Can you um help me with timing? >> Um, we'll start um public comment. I'll do maybe 15 minutes now and then 15 minutes at the end um before we move on to the superintendent report, um the SMS administrative report and board reports. Just so you guys know what's coming up. Is there anybody that would like to do a public comment? Okay. Well, we will leave the

015timer on for 15 minutes and we'll do 15 minutes towards the end as well. All right. So, starting with superintendent report. Thank you. So, um there are just two manifests. I think Jennifer has them right in her hand. >> Um if you want to sign them, one I believe is a payroll and one's an account payable manifest. Um, in your board pack is a current year financial. This is the first financial of the year and we have to have it in the board pack a week in advance and then we have to do our reviews for the week before then. So, it really really is just starting to get to know the students at this point in time. Um, so we do try to encumber as much as we know. Um, but we're still also

016remembering things like um encumbering snow plowing. I mean, it was just 80° the other day, so we didn't we haven't finished encumbering everything. Um, but it is the start and next month you will see the comparison to the prior month. So, the comparison to what we submitted for this board pack. Um, and those incumbences will grow as the year progresses. But at this point in time, did anyone have any questions on that? Okay. Um we are working hard with um principal Lucas to get the FY27 budget started. Um we are just as a reminder you are going to see the grants appropriated in each of the districts and next Monday you're going to see in the joint board how we're not appropriating the grants as part of the SAU and that change we've talked about

017several times. Um and also just um as a heads up we are going to see some sizable increases on health insurance. I believe Dr. Andy sent out the increases to most people. Um, so we are looking and scrubbing other areas to help mitigate that increase. >> Did anyone have any questions? >> Has there been any change in the financial advisory committee? I know we talked about that every time there's been any progress on that. So, >> you're still waiting for the >> still waiting for the appointments. Um, as soon as back to I I've >> as soon as I get the people who are appointed, I will do an introductory meeting and go through roles, responsibilities, expectations, um, and then invite them to be part of our November board hearing when you're hearing the budget

018so that they can be there to hear it at the same time and then we can set up meetings with them to look at it and review. Um, but I'm still waiting for the appointments. >> Okay. >> U, I talked to So Dave Emanuel appoints them. I talked to him on Sunday and he's like, I'm just going to send the email, but >> I think he's been traveling a lot for work and stuff. So, um I'll follow up again. >> Yeah. >> Thanks, >> Molly. Maybe maybe I missed something. Can you just explain what you just said about grants one more time? >> Yeah, >> sure. So, um for many years, we've been appropriating grants as part of the SAU. So even though grants are money is given to us that we don't have to

019raise in taxation, you still has have to appropriate every dollar you spend. >> So we have to appropriate the funds to be able to expend the funds and then we receive the grant revenue from the state or federal government to offset the expenditure. So there's no money raised in taxation. But that was all processed through the SAU. So, in prior years, the joint board would review the SAU budget and we would always say and add $4 million for grants um with the understanding that any money expended with grants would be received as a revenue net to net zero in taxation. We for several years have been getting audit findings that the districts need to be the ones that appropriate because the districts are the legal owners of the grants. The SAU is not. Um, and

020so that's why we're making that change this year and you'll hear a little bit more about that in the joint board meeting on >> Okay, thank you. >> Sorry, >> is it premature to look at what the health increases would be for SMS? >> Um, I don't have the total value, but um, the health increase ranged anywhere between I think it was 14.8 and 20 something >> most okay 20.1. um most of the the districts were in the 15.5 to 17% range. So it is high. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Um looking at goals. So just a quick note. I um you guys had done so much work and track changes on the document. So, I just took it and made it into goals with actionable items underneath it. Um, I don't think I changed

021the wording too too much, but happy for your edits. I just thought this would be faster. We don't need to do it >> here in front of everyone. And um, you know, any edits, send it to me. Do we want to say like any edits by Friday just so we can kind of finish this up? >> Sure. >> And I'm happy for any edits. I don't feel territorial about it. Sounds good. >> Okay. School district clerk. >> We did not have anybody apply. >> Um so I resent out the letter. Uh and the town is helpful to be able to disperse that. I gave it till the November board meeting so we can get it. >> Okay. >> And I think some people uh don't totally understand the job. So, I'm going to ask an

022expert sitting to my left who is doing it last year. If Kathleen doesn't mind just talking a little bit about the roles and responsibilities because it's not a huge time crunch except during voting season. So, Kathleen, if you just mind telling the public what you had to do, what your responsibilities are, and uh hopefully we can gather some interest. >> Sure. Um the main responsibilities were during the voting um period for the town. Um there was a few things here and there, but they were quickly answered by emails and it was not um that much work, but during the voting period, um they did send the ballot to me. I did have to just make sure that it was appropriate with everybody that was running for things on it. They had my signature on the

023ballot saying that I had approved it. Um during the school district meeting, I did take notes and submit those to the SAU. so that they would have those and that included the basic notes that we do for the school board. So, um who was in attendance from the school board etc. and I can share those with anybody that would be interested. Um but again very straightforward that one meeting and then um on the voting night I was there to assist with um the verification of um the elections and then I just sent a few emails to different administrators with the results. That was about it. Very straightforward. And I know board members like if you guys are you guys know anyone I've been trying to talk it up to people too. So just the personal

024touch. >> Okay. Sounds great. >> Do you want to keep going? >> Yeah. So just I would be looking for the board to nominate someone to review the sealed minutes with me. Um it can be up to two. It can't be the quorum because it could be two and myself. Come to the SAU review the seven sealed minutes that we have on file. Uh, and then we take a look and then we'd make a recommendation and bring it back to this board of of keeping how many sealed or not sealed based on what we find in those minutes. >> Okay. Yeah, I'm happy to do it. Does anybody want to do it? >> I'm happy to help. Okay. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> All right. Um, so maybe you and I can talk after and

025figure out a time to go. >> Okay, >> great. >> Sounds good. >> That'd be great. Thank you. >> And we'll just come in person to the office. >> Yeah, come in person. We'll look at seven and then we'll make a decision and we can bring it to the board. >> Okay. Oh, schedule changes. >> Yep. So, we're asking for two of our board meetings. November board meeting and the February board meeting if we could make changes to that. Um the November board meeting is really important because our whole administrative team will be at a PLC conference with um staff members. That meeting was originally scheduled for the 12th um and meeting with them this morning. Either could we move it to the week before or the week after her? So, November 5th or November

02619th. >> I'm fine with either. The 19th is a bit better for me, but what's going on with you guys? >> Yeah, same. >> Yeah, I go with the 19th. That would be better for me. >> You guys, >> I know Molly and I were just talking about budget and in terms of moving it up a week right now just feels tight. We could certainly do that and if that's what the board's request is 100% we can do that. It just creates a little bit of more a tater time period. >> Okay. >> Um so the 19th but if that doesn't work for people we will absolutely have it ready by the 5th. >> Sounds fair. Y >> you got a how to planned. >> I have howl to show up and help out. >>

027That's true. Um all right. So the 19th Eric >> Okay. >> Thank you for November 19th and then February. Uh unfortunately I am at a national conference with a couple of other uh members from senior leadership team. So we can't couldn't cover this meeting um because typically I wouldn't want to change it but uh could we either change the February 11th meeting to the day prior February 10th or the following week February 18th? >> I don't have any preference at this point. Um I would prefer February 18th. >> Sure. But I can make anything work if anybody because I haven't submitted my schedule yet for the hospital. >> Okay. I mean, I'm fine with 18. >> Thank you. We'll go to February 18th. So, just to confirm, November 19th and February 18th. Thank you for

028that flexibility and accommodation. >> Cool. Okay. Oh, transportation. >> Yep. Yep. So, we try to give a transportation update. again hearing really good things about overall transportation. But one thing just to address, there is some questions about preschool transportation and and preschool is not required for all students um unless there are students that have been identified and until they turn six. uh we provide transportation um from students when they turn three to five to be able to get to our preschool if again if they're identified when they turn six then it's determined do they can need to continue with with specialized transportation or are they able to take um our transportation provided by first student and again that's part of the IEP team and in the decision um so the question came up well could

029other people you know ride the bus that bus fluctuates so much and it's something that we already pay for if we were to add and promise students and we would be adding um transportation lines to our budget that we don't budget for um right now. So again, it it's typically we don't provide transportation unless it is a student who requires special services and that is required by the ages of 3, four, and five while they're attending our preschool. And again, once they turn five or once they turn six, then it's a determination. Do they need to continue with specialized transportation to get to school or are they going to be riding um the provided transportation from first student? So, just wanted to to put that out there to clear it up that that that is,

030you know, part of how transportation is looked at, budgeted, and then also the requirements. Oftentimes that that specialized transportation can go up and down as we have kids turn three and then they qualify for our preschool services. So, it changes the numbers on that bus quite frequently. Uh, so again, it's it's not, hey, we've got an open spot for X amount. It would be a lot of transitions back and forth. >> Yeah. Chris, when you say um I just want because I understand what you meant, but I just want to clarify when you say >> um I think you used the word identify for the three, four, and 5year-olds that are in preschool. Can you just elaborate? >> Yep. Those are students who have been identified for special education services that to come in so

031that they get services in our building so that they can um get the you know the tools so hopefully that they're when they're entering as a kindergarter they're getting as close to caught up as their peers as possible or continuing to get the support that they need um in our facilities >> and those are the only preschoolers that are provided transportation. >> The peer models do not we do not provide transportation. >> Thank you for that clarifying. Yeah. And I guess I also hear you saying it's not like a carpool situation, right? Just because a bus goes somewhere, you know, it this is highly like specialized buses that are going to places, you can't just hop on and hail ride. It's >> um you have to prepare and plan and kids are coming on and

032off all the time. >> Correct. >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Transportation is, you know, a major driver of our budget. We talk about it every year. These buses are expensive. finding bus drivers is very challenging. Um you know it's it's of course we understand the need for transportation but um >> yeah it's it is a huge expense and something that you know we want to plan for >> and a lot more complicated than it seems. >> Very complicated. Thank you. >> All right. Great. um looking at SMS report. So I don't know if you guys had Do you want to do the um facilities and technology update or do you have questions from just the submitted SMS admin update that was in the packet? >> Um I just had one question about um you're talking about

033special ed and you're talking about Marlo Ryan. >> Yeah. >> Oh yeah. I I put it that in the she's been the administrative assistant for a long time. I think 30 32 years. >> Okay. >> So, I just put that in at the end cuz super helpful. >> I love hearing your name. So, that's great. >> Yeah. >> She keeps us all in line. >> Okay. >> She was like she's like the wealth of historical knowledge and you're like, "Hey, what was that years ago?" She like on September 13th 20. Perfect. Thank you. Amazing. >> I feel bad every time she has to chase me around. >> Oh, she's good at it. She's very good at it. >> Should see. Yes. Thank you, Steve. >> And I also noticed you guys did a newspaper enrichment

034class. That's cool. >> Yeah. Okay. Good. >> Up and running. >> Okay, great. Um, anybody have any questions about the report? >> All right. We'd love to hear about facilities. I am trying. Oh, it's up there. Sorry, guys. Um so this is just um a quick update and then Arthur is here to answer any specific questions because it's clearly not my area of expertise but we wanted to sort of highlight a few things um similar to the format that we've used in the past. Um so obviously the big thing with regards to facilities right now is the building renovation um and just the exciting buzz that is happening around that and the work that's happening and then obviously our partnership with the um architectural construction firm um and just the other day Megan Murphy who's

035one of our first grade teachers um shared with me the illustrations and the students are doing creative writing about the project and like it's been they're kind of like weaving it into what they're doing which is really cool. >> It's really cool. um one of our kindergartener kindergarten students in Amy Boschain's room was looking out the door and he's like that's going to be the coolest pump track. >> So it's it's built its own little buzz which is really cool. >> Um so in terms of like the interior of our building um one of the highlights is or things that we think is worth mentioning is we're currently into our second full year of a contract with Citywide which is an organization that provides our custodial services. Um, we continually have the position posted and

036we always seek out to have our own full-time um, custodians. They're just really difficult to find right now. Um, it's it's not just a like a stratamist. You weren't going to say you 16. It's a pretty it's a national thing certainly in New Hampshire. Um, citywide has been a great partner. Um, we can call and be like we need to adjust this or we need to increase that and they're great and really flexible and responsive which is fantastic. There's a typo there. Um the other two big things we wanted to talk about is that um a number of years ago um we realized that the ducts had never been cleaned in the entire entirety of the history of this building. And so now we have our building broken into five zones and basically for the

037duration they'll be cleaned each zone once a year. So that you're on a 5-year cycle and it's always just repeating itself so you don't end up with this huge price tag. So >> um the company usually comes in the summer but they'll be coming over our December break. And then something that we continue to do is to replace the carpet and the old tile in the building. And one of the largest projects you guys did as a board was the cafeteria last year. Exterior of the building. So big things that are happening. Um they've replaced the roof of the building. Um the foundation, as you can see, uh phase one has been completed. So they poured the foundation, they did the back fill, and then um they also put the buried the propane tanks because

038we're going from oil to propane. So, we have these uh a new huge propane tank and they already put it in um and back filled and covered it and they're working on the connector so that connectors so that they can equally access all the propane with one system. >> And then the piece that is here, which I looks funny to everybody right now, but that's called the fascia of the building. And if you go back to our original facilities analysis in 2018 and 2019, that was one of the biggest issues in this building was the fascia of the sophet um and the rot that was happening and it was allowing water to get in. So, that's one of the large thing that's being done. Um, and obviously sits under the roof and it's front facing.

039And this is an example. It's a mockup of what it'll look like when it's done. So, it's this really nice tan concrete material that's painted and then the sophet is underneath and it's got air air vents underneath to prevent some of what we were experiencing before. So, this is the mockup. Um, and then they'll get the official like product and they'll start doing the whole building. It'll look really nice and be really much better for they're going to do new insulation under there. So, it's like really um part of the energy efficient energy efficiency part of the building renovation. Those are our new boilers. The on the right um so the left >> the left is was the three giant um oil burning huge boilers that were wildly intense and loud and big and clunky

040and they have been replaced. You can see the cement slab is the same. So, in terms of like the size and the and the we call these like the Ferraris now. Um, and they are like self-regulating which is really really cool. And they talk to each other and that's really exciting and you know high efficiency and all of those things. So, um, we're excited about that. I think that's probably the company's biggest excitement too. Like they're all super excited about it. So, that's really cool. Um, and then additionally, as you know, we've the installation of the PAS treatment system is completed and done and which is fantastic and really important. That was another one of our systems that was addressed the grounds. So, I don't I was um not here this summer when they were

041taking the trees down and I zoomed in for a meeting and they're like, "Oh, we've taken a few trees down." And I was like, "Oh, the green the very limited green space we have. What do you mean?" and they were like and we need to take down some more. So that morning I drove the next morning I drove like really early because I wanted to see what they were going to do and it was already done. >> Um and I get it like they needed to do it. It's absolutely necessary and especially when we think about the addition spaces you want sunlight to come in but it was like shocking to me. Um that said when we met as a team it's already the conversation is like hardcaping landscaping in order to restore some of

042what is lost in order to to build a renovation space. Yeah, I was thinking about so obviously kids don't wait out there anymore, right? There's no shade. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Um there is I think I don't think we are already talking about like what is that going to look like in the future. Um and they were like really thoughtful in the sense there was a bench out there been dedicated about 28 years ago and they were like even thoughtful about like that like save the plaque like things like they're just really nice to work with and like want to be thoughtful about those things. Safety and security. Um the board last year really did a um was outstanding in supporting um Homeland Security about our door locking system inside the building. Um if you

043remember correctly, they had like a push and turn, but it was like a three-piece push and turn was really really hard to manipulate. Um even in like the best of circumstances was really hard to manipulate, which made it really um more complicated in in the instances that we would ever need to lock our doors very quickly. And so based on Homeland Security, you guys replaced a lot of those throughout the whole building um which has been fantastic. And then you guys also the other picture is um you had several other doors put onto our fire alarm system so that they can remain open um and then they will automatically shut should there be an alarm to go off. So that's another safety feature that's been really great. And then as you can see in the

044left picture, um we did a number of uh additional cameras that are superior quality but also have 360 views. And so you'll see those in parts of our building as well, which has been another important piece. And then what's next? Um so obviously we have all this exciting um elements of the building renovation that's happening. And um part of what the board has talked about for a number of years is like how do we avoid kicking the can down the road and ending up where we ended up now. And so, um, as we're building budgets and we're trying to be really fiscally responsible and be really thoughtful, we also do have to continue to think about the things that have to be replaced. The building is 35 years old. And so, um, the building committee

045um, and the companies that we're currently working with are still talking about windows and doors and how that plays out, if if it can, how many can like what does that look like within areas um, within the already allotted Warren article. Um, interior, we know we need to do bathroom upgrades. everything from faucets to toilets to doors in all of our interior bathrooms. Um, we're continuing with the replacement of the tile and the carpet. Um, and then mill work. We have a variety of cabinets and closets that are reaching expectancy and are not safe. So, we have to work on that. And then we do have a furniture concern. Grounds, playgrounds. Um, so the preschool playground will be directly impacted by the building renovation that's talked about the building committee and what that will look

046like um on the on the outside of that, but also um the playground outback as well. We'll need some renovations. So landscaping, hardscaping, paving and curving, which was talked about throughout the entire building renovation project since 1819. And then um technology within the building, safety and security, sound system, PA system um and heating controls is one of the goals hopefully of the building renovation. Um it will depend on, you know, where we end up with budget at the end, but it is a focus if there's available funds for that. So that is a facilities update and then I obviously have no expertise in things like um pneumatic heating controls. So if you have questions about that, they should be directed to Arthur. Anybody have any questions? >> I guess I just have one question about

047the you mentioned the controls. That's obviously separate from the HBCAC work they already did is like a different What is that like to distribute them throughout the building? >> Um it's so that you can access control them from anywhere, right? So right now you have to be in the building to do a lot of that stuff. And that's one of the things that you want is to be able to control them from anywhere just like we would our cameras or you know if if there was a snowstorm or something happened at 2 o'clock in the morning you'd want to be able to access that and not be able to have to drive >> right >> an hour to get here in order like those kind of things and then you can set them over vacations

048and things like that and then they work more seamlessly versus like something bad happening and waiting too long to adjust it and stop it. It can really kind of access those things and have control of it from home. And do you know if there's any like efficiency payback on that for like the zones and that sort of thing or >> I don't that one I'm not sure because it would just be the control. It's not the biggest efficiency that we're going to get back replacements that are 95% efficient now as opposed to the old one which I believe. >> Okay. >> So the biggest >> Okay. and the 2 in of additional >> insulation that they put under the roof. They put an additional two inches of insulation under the roof which will be a

049big they feel like a very big factor in >> um >> do we have any sorry do we have any projection on financial savings from those things. >> So we actually talked about that the building committee and they were like you're not really going to know until you live at two or three years because you're also going from oil to propane. So there's already a savings in that regard. So you're really not going to know until you can see longitudinal studies about it because you're not talking apples to apples are changing systems. I think you had previously said that there was that was a standard thing was to do that study after the change. Is that correct? >> Yeah. You want to look at it every two to three years and then we can project

050what our cost savings would be in our budget. >> Okay. >> So nice to hear you talk about that facility report because I felt like we were looking at that for so long. And how long have you been here at SMS? >> Since January. >> January. Yeah. So you're jumping in and jumping into this big project. So, thank you for coming to the board meeting. Really appreciate it. So, you feel like as we go through that facility report, you're kind of checking stuff off that. Yeah. >> Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for for your work there. >> One just Yeah. >> And I can't remember. So, you'll have to help me remember. We were going to do something with being able to communicate out doors like out towards the >> So, that is

051under next step. Yes. So, under the next steps, um, that does talk about that. So, we had we did some like troubleshooting with some of our speakers in the building because there were some dead spots. >> I don't know if you can see the speaker over there right above you. Like that's kind of what we're working with. Like some So, we're we're like troubleshooting, but we haven't adjust the talked done the whole system. However, Chris and I actually just had this conversation. Um, and Jason Hills, who's the SA16 IT director, um, as we get further along in this project and those things start to talk about like what are we going to do? he will come in and talk about like is this something that we do in phases? Is this the replacing of the

052entire system? Like how does that then work with safety and security but also the other alarm systems that we have in the building? >> Do I did we like appropriate for that last mile? >> I'm I'm just kind of I was I'm just lost cuz I know you're talking about the ability to to um communicate outside. There was an area outside. We did do that last summer. Um >> it was we replaced one giant speaker >> that got done. Yes, that got done. >> It's just all the inside and connecting >> and it's only a few of them. Like for example, this case is really trouble. The Zen is not working great. But like I can be in the hallway and hear things great. It's like it's not the whole system. It's parts of the

053system. I think the conversation is the system is really old and at what point do we not try to replace old things and actually replace a system that can actually work and then we're not always like testing it every vacation to make sure we don't have dead spots. It was that stuff. But you're right, you did you did attach a much bigger speaker out back so we could hear it on the >> most of the playground. >> Yeah. Yeah. Right. >> Gets pretty loud out there. >> Yeah. >> So, going forward, is the plan that like the budget recommendations will include the yearly maintenance so that we're not in that. That's what I was just thinking. I'm like, I don't know if we should be talking to facilities folks regularly about that when I meet

054with them all the time. >> Yeah. I'm assuming you probably >> um So, I can give you an example of that. That happens every year. We talk about like the things that would be fit into an operating budget and the things that are so sizable they would need to be their own warrant article and I think that was one of the tough decisions the board had to negotiate last year through the whole building renovation is what things they took off of the building renovation in order to get really the high leverage items knowing that we would have to build into our operating budgets on things like last year the board um reduced furniture which we know we're going to need it so that's going to be back in the budget this year like we have

055an extension to a cafeteria you're going to have to have the cafeteria table so like the goal will to be get on a better replacement system for So it doesn't go 20 years, but we're really strategically thinking about a small portion every year so you don't have this huge large sum of money out of the blue, but more um evenly spread out things that you can do. Kind of like the duck work. That's what we did with the duck work. We were like, let's just do oneif of the building every single year and just get on a rotation because originally it was like an $85,000 project. Now it's a $10,000 project or $12,000 project every year. Well, and I think I heard a lot of feedback last year from people saying, "Oh, you know, we

056understand we got to project those costs and like want to do that going forward so we don't have the 11 million whatever." So, I just I think, you know, starting now we we'll have I mean, I think we will have to do some PR work to say like, well, this is how we maintain the investment we just made. So, >> I'm just looking forward to that. >> Yeah, >> for sure. >> Okay. Anything else? >> All right. And then we had technology. >> Thank you. >> With Mr. G. >> I don't think he needs his own computer. [Music] >> I did. >> All right. So, you're in for a treat. >> Unlike years past where I've presented in a boring way with the slideshow and everything like that, I have a video for you. Okay.

057Sorry you don't have popcorn or anything. >> Oh, did the PTO snacks go away? >> Where's the PTO snacks? >> We left them out. >> So much candy. >> We left the PTO snacks out. The PTO does snacks for us on one staff meeting a month. They're eating them. >> There's a ton of candy. It's really good. >> Peanut butter Snickers. I don't know. >> You should go. >> I think I might have put those in my office. >> They're so good. >> The world is changing faster than ever. You got to wonder, how do we get our students ready for what's next? Well, today we're going to take a look at how our school's tech strategy is doing exactly that. Building a modern, future ready learning ecosystem from the ground up. Let's dive in.

058So, it all really boils down to this one big question. What does a 21st century school actually need to succeed? And as you'll see, it's not just about having the flashiest new gadgets. It's about having a really smart strategy behind them. Here's how we're going to break it all down. First up, we'll peek inside the modern classroom to see the tech our students and teachers are using every day. Then, we'll go behind the curtain to the smarter and safer systems that keep everything running. After that, we'll explore how we're learning beyond the textbook. And finally, we'll wrap up by looking at the big picture with designing our future. All right, let's start with the foundation, the modern classroom toolbox. And we're not just talking about a random list of devices here. This is the essential

059hardware that really unlocks daily learning and creativity for every single student. So, what's inside? The strategy here is pretty simple, but it's powerful. A onetoone device for every single student. For our littlest learners in kindergarten, it starts with iPads. Super intuitive, right? From there, first graders get tablet style Chromebooks, which are a perfect bridge between a pure touchscreen and keyboard. And then for grades 1 through 5, it's a full-on Chromebook program. The big takeaway here, every student has their own dedicated tool, which just levels the playing field for everyone. Of course, it's not just about the students. Our teachers need powerful tools, too. The New Line interactive boards have become the dynamic part of our classrooms, and we even added a new mobile this year for extra flexibility. For our staff, we're in year three

060of a 5-year MacBook lease, which means they have stable, reliable, technicon. You know, it's all about thinking ahead and making sure our teachers have exactly what they need to do their best work. Okay, so we've got all this great hardware, but how does it all work together? That brings us to the systems, the stuff happening behind the scenes to make everything run smoothly, simply, and most importantly, safely. Before we talk about any software, we have to talk about security. It's a total non-negotiable. Here's the deal. Any company that makes software that handles student data has to sign what's called a data privacy agreement or DPA. It's a legal contract that guarantees our students personal information is protected. It's really the bedrock of our commitment to digital safety. So with all these apps and programs, how

061do you keep from going crazy with passwords? That's where Class Link comes in. It's a single sign on system and the benefit is just simple and powerful. You get one secure login and that one login gets you into all your apps. No more trying to remember a dozen different passwords. It's just faster, easier, and way more secure for everybody. So, we've covered the tools and the systems, but now we get to the really exciting part. How is all this tech actually changing the way kids learn? Let's take a look at how we're moving way beyond the traditional textbook. This little equation right here, it really says it all. We're totally rethinking what a school library can be. By matching it up with the maker space, we're creating something brand new and so much more dynamic,

062the learning commons. So, what does that shift actually look like in practice? Well, think about the old library. It was a quiet place for just consuming information, mainly books. The new learning commons, though, is this busy hub for creating things. We're moving from a place of consumption to a place of production. The curriculum isn't fixed anymore. It's flexible. It responds to what students are excited to build and explore. It's a total transformation. And speaking of hands-on learning, check out this number. $11,075. That's how much we received from the New Hampshire Robotics Grant. That is a huge boost for our STEAM programs. So, where does that money actually go? It goes right back to our students. This grant is what lets our fourth and fifth graders compete in big time robotics competition. It's funding upgrades to

063our Lego Spike Prime kits and all sorts of other robotics gear. At the end of the day, it's just expanding all these hands-on steam opportunities and supporting everything from project-based learning to digital boot camps. This is an investment that makes a direct impact. All of these things, the tools, the systems, the programs, they're all building blocks. But what are we actually building? Let's zoom out and look at the big picture. The strategic vision that is guiding everything we do. This timeline tells a really powerful story. The last district-wide tech curriculum was written back in 2011. I mean, just stop and think about how much the world and technology have changed since 2011. That's exactly why we are hard at work right now reviewing and updating all of our Steam, tech, and library competencies. Keeping our

064curriculum relevant isn't just a nice idea, it's absolutely essential. And if you need just one reason why that update is so urgent, this is it. Right now, artificial intelligence is the number one topic in all of educational technology. This isn't just another fad. It's a massive shift, and we have to make sure our students are ready for it. Which of course leads us to the biggest question of all. How in the world do we prepare our kids for jobs that don't even exist yet? And the truth is, we don't have a crystal ball. But by building a strong foundation of critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability, empowering it with the right tools and a forward-thinking curriculum, we're giving them the best possible map for whatever future they choose to build. >> So, I'll go from that

065video, which was made by AI, I should say. The book LM is one of the AI tools that uh teachers are exploring and using in our district. uh to u I'm going to give you a few more notes from a little piece of paper here that didn't make that video. Um one is that we're using AI actually with students. There are a few um applications like Canva, Adobe Express uh that we can actually have students do and play around with and start to understand what AI is. Um we also re um we restored our school technology social media committee. Uh so we're a group group of teachers who are meeting monthly. Um we're looking at the use of technology in the building. Uh right now we have a survey out for teachers to fill in

066as to what they're doing with technology and then we'll look at all of that and make some recommendations or or or whatever from there. Um and then also with just the AI and the you know part of my role is is just promoting it and mentoring other people. So, I'm super excited that I'll be working with some teachers uh this school year um helping them to get AI up for not just their students but for themselves as well. Um so, I think with that uh that's my update. Are there any questions? >> That's great. >> Do you guys know about Notebook LM? >> No. >> So, it's a it's Oh my gosh. >> I have a quiz for them. >> Okay. Can I mention one thing out of this? Can can I just make one

067say one thing you didn't mention? So, one of the things if you um we've talked a lot about and many of you came to ourformational sessions about our framework. So, our multi-tered system of supports and we've talked a lot about at the board level. Um and a foundational a foundation uh a foundational pillar of that is the idea of universal design for learning and that we are always um looking to remove barriers that are preventing students from accessing their learning. And um one of those principles is like how do we use technology to make it more accessible to students. And so one of the things that we talk about is like students often many times who may struggle and have a a reading um maybe something dyslexia or other similar um reading complications. And so

068they can have a ton of crystallized knowledge and know a ton about a topic, but accessing more information through text about that topic can be really hard because they're still really working um at the decoding level. And something like this, we can put in like in here, you can put in articles, you can put in videos, you can put in your own notes um into notebook and then it spits out what you just saw. And so when we think about in class, a fourth grade class is studying something like like ecosystems and a student might still be reading at the first or second grade level, but they've got a ton of knowledge. They can access all of that information in a really rich way and participate in the class with all of their same age

069peers um in a way that just advances the learning of everybody in that class and enriches that environment. because we've made it accessible to them. So like the beauty of technology in that regard has substantial impacts on our students and it's really exciting to have that opportunity. And so he put in a bunch of information and it spits that up. Sorry, >> that's okay. But in the interest of time, if we wanted to, I could give you a a quiz on what you just heard. Um it also creates flashcards for a student who wants to do some studying. Um there's a podcast part to it. That's >> it's amazing. Britney used it in the coolest way. There were like all these leg legislative updates, right? And you have to like read through everything. But you

070can also take the document from the state. Put it in there and just be like, "Play me the podcast." And two people are sitting down like, "Okay, let's talk about these New Hampshire changes, right?" And you can even interrupt the podcast and ask a question. Hey, I've only got five minutes. Can you give me the details? And they'll It's amazing. >> So weird. >> We had our preschool teachers do a really creative um It's about picking your nose. Um, and because that's going on in preschool right now. And so they used the respect the booger book and they dropped it in there and it made a whole presentation about respecting the booger and why you don't pick your nose. And it was perfect, right? And then there's a podcast and kids can access it in

071a variety of ways. Um, so it's kind of like sky's is the limit. I think Oh, sorry. >> I was just going to say I I'm not scared of AI. I Everything you guys are saying is also stuff I'm doing at work. I I think one of the things I've noticed is like there was a period of a couple months where my kid would come home and she would ask Chad GBT basic questions like write me a funny poem or um make a survey for my dad, right? So, but I want her to make a funny poem. And so, um I guess it just like this elementary it's such a interesting point for being critical thinking. Um, like everything you're talking about I think is super cool, but how do I, you know, I want

072my kid to be more critical and to think and not take, >> right? I think this is a huge transition time. >> Teachers are just trying to wrap their brains around it. Um, you know, you always hear about the cheating aspect of this whatever. I had a huge I swear to you a huge conversation last night with my daughter who's a senior at course of high school about use of AI and what her friends or people that she knows and >> um she's a pretty you know academically oriented kid >> um and she feels like you know some kids are like taking advantage of it and she's putting in more hard work. So there's a whole >> I've had this conversation too. I think there's a couple points though that you bring up that are

073really valid from the elementary perspective like the teacher. So, um we have an SA6 like guidance document around AI that a ton of um educators throughout SAU 16 worked on to like really support the whole of our system as we learn and grow through this. >> And one of the things that's specific for grades three through five is the idea of helping students like fine-tune how you talk to a bot to get what you want to make sure it's accurate to ensure that they're getting multiple resources. the bot is getting multiple resources. So, you can be looking at things that are more valid versus just the random stuff that actually isn't true. Um, and then the second part is that there's um a software, an AI software that allows the teacher to actually see what

074all the kids are doing from their computer. So, the kids can be doing things and we do this is a safe place to experiment, right? This is the time to make mistakes and to flub it up and so that we can support that and coach into that. Um, and that's been our philosophy all along is like this is the safe place for kids to take risks because the consequences aren't dire and we can help and teach into those moments and be really supportive and collaborative around that. >> That's the same with AI. Like it offers us the opportunity as a teacher to see from behind the scenes like what they're doing and sort of like >> coach in what's trending in my fourth grade classroom. What are the things I really need to be, you

075know, targeting my lessons to when it comes to AI because they aren't using it responsibly because they're not really sure what they're doing with this, right? >> Um, so there is that that piece that I think is really important. Um and we had a great presenter last week who came and spoke to us sau um talking about like yes these dangers are real and yes these are the things that we can do to offset that as a system as families as communities and so I think as we grow through it and become more comfortable with it the more we'll be collaborating with families around it as well >> is that is the notebook LM like a sandbox sort of like is it protected like environment so >> it's a part of our Google workspace package

076>> okay so it's like oriented towards education or >> well it's part of the Google education package so it's embedded in like we if you hit the waffle >> we also have Gemini we have like all of the Google products that are offered >> and they pass the um New Hampshire >> EPA >> yeah thank you >> that privacy >> so it's a product of Google >> Wow I didn't know that >> it's fascinating >> I was just gonna ask And it's related to your point. >> Yeah. >> And because I think that like at work, that's the thing I don't do well anymore. I'm not as creative as I used to be. Right. >> Right. Because I can proof something else that somebody else does. I'm more like an editor than a >> creator.

077Right. >> And I think we still do like tons of stuff that's creat where where we're getting kids to be creative. But have you noticed anything yet in terms of kids? >> Yeah. Exactly. >> Right. Because I think that's that's what we want to make sure. >> Yeah. I think as a board we want to say we still emphasize >> creative >> creativity of the kids and >> so I think >> if you see a problem like >> we'd love to know about it or a trend. Yeah, >> we're not at a place where so first of all like our technology is like the use of technology in our building, right? It's like I think like Steve said it's like we're avoiding the consumption and really looking for production number one, but number two like

078it's meaningful, purposeful, and the teacher has to feel comfortable with it like right. So like some things they might be doing with Steve and Ashley they're probably not doing in the classroom. So there's opportunities to be creative in that way, but then there's also opportunities to be creative in this way like and those are monitored and teacher led and facilitated. Um, and our kids are still and maybe in four or five are excited about that, but during the day they're they've got a book in their hand. They're not, you know what I mean? They're not or they're collaboratively writing or I mean like I was in Sam Lo's fifth grade classroom and it was really cool. All the kids >> it put up a picture and they all had to write like a quick paragraph

079about what that was and they had to do like catchy introductions and every kid was doing it. It was like two and a half minutes and then it pauses it and then it puts the most catchy ones up there and the kids vote. So like all of that's creative. That's not AI. That's them doing those things. So we look at how we balance that, but it is also our responsibility to expose them and help them learn how to do it ethically. Um because if we don't do it here, the consequences are so much more dire as they age. >> Yeah. And the creative aspects of this could be making a video, doing other things with the tools. And >> I'm assuming, right? >> I mean, they're starting images and they get to like input what

080they want and then fine-tune it. I mean, those are all their creative juices. It's just creating the the actual image. It's really cool. Cool. >> And the uh the people that still are learning comments are all still together. So, we've got Ashley, myself, and Danny, and we're working together. Great. And love what we're doing. >> Thank you so much, >> Thank you. >> I won't play the podcast for you. >> Thank you. >> Hey, before you go, can I ask one one more question? My my son who's in the middle schools was describing to me and I was like, "Wow, the district's actually like ahead of where I thought they would be from a technology perspective and he said that the teacher is able to like observe what they're doing on their Chromebooks and then

081like chime in on that. Is that something that's used here?" >> We don't have that currently here. I don't know, Chris. Is that >> you do with school AI though? The AI software I was talking about Delo. >> Yeah. So, speaking of the AI, um um we just mentioned Delado. Delado is our um is our filtering software for students. Um and it's AI. So, it's it's just crazy how it's all >> and we are we the AI software I was just talking about if the kids were all using it because part of that three through five guidance is kids learning how to properly input prompts into the bot to get it to do what it wants. And so that's part of the curriculum is like how do we do that with kids to really fine-tune

082otherwise they're going to be all over the place really like it's a skill that they're we are all developing right now. How many times have you refined what you're doing? >> Um >> well I was going to say in school AI >> it has the ability >> create a chat. So let's say you're learning about electricity or something like that. Teacher can can create a chatbot >> that the students can access and have a conversation with about electricity and learn about electricity by asking questions. And then the script that the student speaks um with the chatbot that's that's observable by the teacher. >> So that's this that's the observing part of school AI which >> and then it limits it to just whatever is in the curriculum. >> If it gets off topic it won't

083respond or it'll say >> the teacher or if it asks it to do too much please write that for me and sound like it it'll kick back like nope. No I can't help you with that. >> It's amazing. And if a student asks silly questions, the teacher's going to see it in their >> in their view. >> I feel like it's wildly different than other technology, but it's the same process for schools to go through when something new revolutionary comes out in technology. I mean, everything from email 20 years ago, like it's all that same stuff. It's like, how do we create the environment where kids can experiment and play with it in a safe way that isn't going out to the world that isn't I mean, isn't going to have dire consequences, but also

084gives them the opportunity and the freedom with some guidance and instruction to learn to use it well. All right. >> Thank you. Thanks so much. >> That's really great. >> Okay, why don't we turn our timer back on? We have 15 more minutes. Um I before we go into board reports, can everybody do we have the right committee assignments here? Is anybody incorrect? I know for a while we were switching all around so just wanted to make sure we're looking at >> I think Cameron is on communications and community engagement with me. >> Okay. >> Yeah, I think you have that on. >> I don't have you there right now. So >> Oh, and then >> it's in the in the body of it. It says that. >> Okay, great. All right, moving through. Is

085there anybody that would like to make a statement or public comment? Okay. Um, building committee. >> Yeah, no major updates. um because Kate did covered most of it which is awesome. Um so that's exciting and I'm going to um one of the weekly meetings per month. So I'm going to start going to the weekly meeting um directly before our board meeting. So I went yesterday. They're on Tuesday mornings. >> So I went yesterday. It was great to just hear from everybody what was going on. And um I brought my one-year-old Charlie. So he's just snack. He's snacking away. He's Yeah. Just wanted to make sure the future students knew what was going on. Future student rep. Um yeah, but everything was awesome. The only other thing I think that wasn't mentioned is that the first

086um renovation, the first wing is delayed slightly because the steel um is we're waiting for the steel delivery. So, we were originally hoping that would be done, you know, around the December break, but now it's looking more like February. >> Okay. And then yeah, then they'll move to the other phases being like the cafeteria and the other wing. >> Okay. Is >> there any concerns on like the procurement of stuff like that as far as price fluctuations and like I don't know what needs to be imported for steel. Is that something that has to be looked at? >> Um I don't know steel is not the procurement, it's fabrication time. >> Oh, okay. By the time they got the drawings submitted and approved, it takes six to eight weeks to fabricate parts off. >> Okay.

087>> That's why it's it's back. >> So, it's not like the price on that can go. It's already been procured. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Wonderful. Um Kathleen, any update on superintendent evaluation? Um, we have a meeting on the 31st to finalize the evaluation tool for the superintendent evaluation. So, I'll have more information after that. >> Okay, >> sounds good. Um, safety and security. So, you guys just met, I think. >> I'm going to delegate that to Dr. Andrew. >> Okay. >> Yeah, we did meet um and we've got on the calendar so Cameron or Kathleen can meet going forward. Um, director of of safety and security, uh, Rich Kane had most the agenda. Uh, we did have representation of of, uh, a lot of, uh, first responders from all of our communities there.

088Just talked about the updates that we've been working on. Um, not a lot in, uh, safety and security grants as we had seen previously. >> Um, which is a concern. Um, but we've, you know, went through our buildings in really good spots with safety and security. Just reminded that, um, anything that we want to talk about safety and security should be done in non-public. So that you know again we're not dis you know divulging too much information for people who shouldn't have that information. >> Uh so that was something that brought up. Uh I know SMS has a huge tabletop that they're going to be going through which is something that we really tried to push with all of our schools. Um SAU just did one today which was very helpful in responding to a

089critical mass incident. So you just think about all the things that you need to know so you can respond to it. So it was really helpful for our team was the first one we had ever done as a senior leadership team. So really excited with with Kate and her administrative team of what they're doing. And so we've tried to highlight that. Also talked about getting our our um first responders into the building, not just to respond here for an emergency, but get here, walk our building, know the nooks and crannies. >> Um and then if you want to sit down and read with our kids, sit down and read with our kids. So we want it to be a place where we are we're doing that cross collaboration, but also reminding our first responders that

090we do have kids who have trauma from first responders because of home situations or involvement. So the more we can get them here and more we can recognize that the more that they can understand and be become that that even greater community partner. So a lot of it was about updates and and looking forward and then you know what can we do as things in the future. So um it was a again I think they're always productive but um it was good good conversation with everyone. >> Is that a conversation you're having with the fire department or police or both? >> Yep. So we invite all fire departments. Unfortunately, um Kensington was the only fire department that was represented at this meeting. So again, we'll try to get all of our fire departments there. It's

091really important. Sometimes their view between police and fire are contradict. So we like to have them in the rooms to say, okay, when they do, how does the school get get, you know, work through these situations so that we always like to be on the same page. So again, we'll put it out there and hopefully we can get all of our communities. >> Yeah. If you need me to nudge the Stratam Fire Department, my husband's on the volunteer. We'd love for any nudges for them to be part because they they bring value that we don't always think about. >> Is there anybody paid on the Stratam Fire Department? No. >> Um yeah. >> Oh, there are >> Yeah, they have paid day staff and then nights and weekends are volunteer. >> Okay. >> All right.

092Ian, it seems like you've had a couple incidences and seems like it was handled. Yeah, I feel like um so a number of procedures were updated in over the summer and the last spring and so that's part of like when we roll out our days in August and then we've used them the staff it's part of like introductory days in August and so we've had to use a couple of them. They've gone really well. >> Okay. >> Um the tabletop that Chris mentioned so we've done tabletops here at the building level for a number of years now with Rich and in our safety committee. Um, and this one is actually going to be at the fire fire station with the fire department, the police department, homeland security, and SMS, which will be a larger scale,

093which will be really great. I'm looking forward to it. >> Great. Thank you. Um, okay. Communications. >> Yeah. No real update. Kim, do you have any legislative updates? >> I did I did bring a legislative update this time. So, the I know I'm sure you've heard all this already, but the legis uh the filing period for the 2026 legislation closed in o or has just closed and then we'll know in December what is going to be new, but I did pull out a few things that were carried over because they were like relevant. Um, so some of them were in the budget and they were removed or they were vetoed, but they were retained for the next session. So, we're going to see them again in January. Um and one of them was uh HB675

094which is the one to restrict authority of school districts to make appropriations. So you would have to stick to the statemandated budget. That one's going to show up again. SB33 is um regulation of public school materials which requires a school to form a board to or form a committee to review material and allow people to object and then it goes through the administration. And so that's another one that's coming back. And then the last one was uh House Bill 741, Senate Bill 101, which was the open enrollment, and that one was retained. So we'll see those all again in January. And I think they're all relevant budget wise and in other places here. >> I love the timing of those. >> January seems like a great time. >> Cam is the um open enrollment. So,

095from what I read was that it was going to keep on expanding. Oh, wait. That was the voucher. Never mind. I had read about the vouchers. So, there was supposed to be um with the vouchers, they capped it at a certain number and then as it's written now, it's going to keep expanding. But I think somebody submitted that they wanted to keep it at a cap. So, I'll look up more information for that. So you mentioned that last week at the they expanded the cap on that, right? >> Yep, they did. >> Okay. >> And that's written to I don't know if it's just year-over-year. Does that continue to increase? That's what you're saying. >> They looked Yeah. >> Okay. >> One thing just to mention to Cam, there is also a um LSR out

096there to create a commission to study open enrollment so that there is no more so that they can look at the financial impacts, okay, of both sending and receiving towns. And that was a recommendation that came from many different SAUs. across the state as well as some other national organizations, NEA. Um, so that I think will have some traction so that they can actually study the financial implications because you're hearing more and more uh representatives that may have supported open enrollment at the inception. They're like, "Wait a minute, what's that going to mean to my town budget, my school budget, >> that's not how I thought or presented it." So, I think that is getting traction in a positive way to actually study it, which would probably be an 18-month study to actually look at

097it. So, um, having more conversations with our local representatives as we did back in September, and we will do it again and cross over in December and January to to give you more information is has been really helpful. >> I think that's so great. >> Oh, I did want to I forgot to mention this too on that one about the school board um appropriations. If that is revived and passes, it changes the to be able to modify the budget requires a twothirds majority of the town meeting going forward. So, that's a pretty significant change. >> Thanks, Cameron. That's really helpful. >> Do you want any of that in the um notes for the public that I put out? >> Uh yeah. Do you want me to send you that or >> Well, I can't put

098all all of that. >> Oh, no, no, no. I know. I just Oh, yeah. That's Oh, that's fine. Whatever you want to do. >> Yeah. >> Or just do it maybe at a high level like mention I don't know. Or maybe we'll mention it after January when we know more. Yeah, >> I might do that. >> Yeah. >> Um, okay. Chair update. I I don't really have too much. Um, I guess one of the things I was thinking about is I think um I would love to know who's in the audience like um is it >> Yeah. >> Um because I Are you guys staff? >> Yeah. So, do you mind just telling me who who you are so I can put names with faces? >> I'm know you. Thank you. I'm a special educator

099for grades three to five. >> Okay. [Laughter] >> Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you guys so much for coming and um I appreciate you being here very much. It's a solid question. >> All right. Great. Um, I think the only other thing I wanted to mention is, you know, obviously with Molly's report about healthcare, you know, we have the building renovation, we have the teacher contract, um, you know, I'm thinking a lot about the operating budget and, uh, you know, as chair, like I guess I just want to offer my support or help or, you know, um, obviously it's my role to be critical of the budget, but I just wanted to also just I know you guys are going to start doing some hard work, >> so I just wanted to acknowledge that

100And it's just something I've been thinking about a lot. >> Saints. >> Yeah. Okay. Um I think that's all I have for me. So, uh strategic planning committee. >> Um yeah, we are going to meet um November. >> That's that's the goal. So, >> okay. >> Yeah. So, tomorrow um we've the senior leadership team has taken a lot of feedback from our administrators as well as the committee. Um we've rewritten some of the metrics. Hopefully, it makes much more sense. is more simple of what we're trying to measure so that we can report out to your community, they can understand it and it's not in uh education lingo as much. >> Um, tomorrow we'll present it to all of our K12 administrators so we can get their feedback one one last time and then our

101goal is um in mid November to bring it back to the committee to be able to get their final feedback so that we can bring it to the joint board in June. I think we're in a much better place. Okay, >> I'm feeling much uh better about it, less anxious about how we could all explain it and um it makes much more sense from the different people we've been able to get feedback from. So that's the timeline that we're we're working through right now. >> Okay. >> Sounds great. All right. Policy, everyone's favorite committee. >> So I'm a little I'm a little confused on this one to be honest with you. I should have asked in advance. So I think we had a meeting on the 18th was a policy committee of September and we

102met on the 24th here. We talked about JICJ >> and AB and we haven't had a meeting until our next meeting is tomorrow. So I don't know where these where J and IKB got inserted. We can just re like it wasn't it's nothing I can report on because we didn't have a meeting. >> We can okay >> read these. We could consider them to be a first read. >> Yeah, I think first read. But I also don't understand why in particularly those other ones since we voted on those if they've been changed since and I I didn't I didn't do the delta on was there any change to JICJ and AB since we voted on them at the last meeting. >> Right. >> Is that you see what I'm saying? >> Yeah. So I can

103just give you a quick update on that. Okay. So there was just if there was anything with JICJ um that came back from uh public comment from any of the boards that we wanted to talk about but we had already met and you already made a motion on that. So you're good with both that one and also for AB parental bill of rights. There was some boards that wanted just to put a precursor that you know I think they put an opening statement in there that because of this law we are have to do the parental bill right so that it didn't change the impact here didn't change the sentence by >> uh so that was the only two feedback so kept it on this just in case the board wanted to revisit it or

104look at it um but again you've already taken motions on both of those and approved them so you're fine um and in good standing and if you want to take another look at it that's why they're here just because we did meet then the uh whole policy committee met after our meeting to give those updates So you guys can do whatever you want with that on J and IKB. I can ask questions tomorrow. >> Yeah. >> And bring feedback if you want to do a first read or whatever you guys want to do on that. >> Yeah. I think let's just do a first read of those two and then just take the other two off the agenda, >> right? Because we've already gone through them. >> For J. This was a nitpicky thing, but

105there was there were bullet points and then it it went to number six. I will I will bring that up tomorrow. >> Great. Thank you. >> Policy committee. >> That's just how they identify the policies by like JJ. >> I don't really understand. >> It refers to like what? Is it referring to students? Is it referring to staff? How they're organized? >> There's like a taxonomy to it. >> Okay. >> The Dewey decimal system. >> Okay. >> All right. And finally, negotiations. Cameron, do you want to report out on that? >> These are teacher contract negotiations. >> Yeah, I don't know. This one's always tough because it's like I don't know what it's ongoing. I guess my concern or something that I think we should start prepping the community for is the fact that the

106confluence of all these things we talked about with the healthcare, the bond payment starting this year, you know, and I think we discovered last year, well, I discovered because I didn't know that there's not a lot of levers in the operating budget. So I I think there's some PR work for us to do to try to explain that like yes that contract has to be renewed in the same year as these other things and that's unfortunate from that perspective but I think we just need to start prepping everybody for the reality of that. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. I think I mean I've been talking about it with everyone that will talk to me. >> Um Molly and I we hugged at the cross country meet because we feel very strongly about it. Yeah, it's definitely

107going to be something that um we're going to have to talk about a lot and I was noticing like on Facebook Exitor was talking about their town budget because their town budget is going up and there were all the usual comments but then I also noticed people were saying like we're also we don't have state funding and so I like that there was like that kind of communication going on >> um because you know that is a reality um and but yeah I agree there's definitely going to have to be some and I think >> we talked about a um fireside chat in February >> about it, right? >> Um so I'd like to get a date for that nailed down sooner rather than later so I can make sure that people know about it

108well ahead of time. >> So I don't know if we want to do that now. Um so I can put it in every update, you know. >> Oh yeah. >> As a reminder this is going to happen. >> Um >> well I guess like at what point we'll have a sample budget or kind of budget next month. Mhm. >> Yeah. >> Uhhuh. So, um, that's going to be the 19th. So, we can't do anything till after that of November. >> We can't What do you mean we can't do it? >> Well, I mean, we're not going to have any kind of budget to even talk about until after November 19th, >> right? I'm just setting I'm talking about setting a date to have the fireside chat. >> Because we would want it closer to the

109vote, >> I think. So, >> I would think so. >> Closer to the district meeting. Um, >> I think if we talk about it now, it's going to be, you know, >> Yeah. >> six months from now. >> Mhm. Yeah. >> So, >> I mean, we should obviously get that conversation going. >> All of a sudden, I realize I have no friends anymore. >> What's that? >> No friends want to talk about the operating budget. >> Oh my gosh. >> Well, that's what I was saying. It's like I have we do have these expenses that are real expenses um necessary and then like Kate hasn't even bought any pencils yet, you know? So we got to figure that out. >> Can we say the furniture? I saw the furniture. >> Can we say how much

110healthcare has gone up? >> So it went up um somewhere between 15 and 17%. It depends on what it used to be. >> It all right. So I'll just say around 16% between 15 and 17. >> Yeah. Um, most people are the 15.5 or the 17. >> I have you want me to pull it up? >> And then what about um the bond payments? Can you remind me of that? When taxpayers will have to pay that this year and what? >> Sure. So, we have a bond schedule that I can send you. There are two payments per year. One is principal and interest, one is just interest, but your budget has a full year of appropriation. So those costs show up in our operating budget. >> So that's what I mean. Our operating budget is

111going to show an increase even though administration has not added anything. Do you understand what I'm saying? >> Well, sure because of inflation. >> Well, nonetheless, but >> well, the cost of the bond is now we have to pay it in the operating budget. >> So it's going to raise the So it was a warrant last year, but it's going to be in the operating budget going forward. I didn't realize that. Okay, >> got it. >> So, last year we just appropriated the funds and if you remember the war article it was like to raise or to appropriate the million and further appropriate 233,000 school year you have to raise the tax rate the amount. >> Yeah, I guess yeah that makes sense. So for this year, will it be both? Yeah, I'm just trying

112to trying to simplify for the for a taxpayer reading a summary >> what to say in the board notes. >> What's the most helpful thing that we can tell taxpayers in regards to the bond and to prepare them for the cost this year? So it will be the first year of the year bond >> and they'll see that in their tax bill this November. >> They will see it wouldn't be the because the first year is not as much as this technically is our first year but it is just one payment this year. So then next year will be the first year. Okay. So, it's just a smaller payment that just on interest. >> So, we have our first payment in February. We just got the money, right? And so, we have in February and

113then starting with fiscal year 27, which starts on July 1, we'll have an August payment. >> Okay. So, the first payment will be >> So, the first payment is February 15, 2026. And it's uh it's 28 When will taxpayers have to pay for that? >> So that's part of your tax rate. So your tax rate is set this year. >> I Yeah, I get that. But >> will they be paying that? The the payment that's due in no February, will that be in the November bill? Do you see what I mean? >> When do tax rolling? It's all rolling. So what happens is your budget gets set in the spring and then in the fall the revenues are set and the re any money not covered by revenue which is majority of your budget then

114has to be. So your November tax rate is set to fund the budget for this year and the revenues for this year. the November tax rate set next year. So in 2026 will fund the FY27 budget which is your 267 budget and the associated with the associated revenues that year. >> So the tax rate does is not set the same time your school budget counts. It's a >> So when will taxpayers first get the when will they have to pay for the bond first? >> It's this year but the minimum fee of one right next year you have two >> and that will be in this November bill. >> No next this November money for the current >> okay so next November is the first time that they'll have to >> is when the big

115The first >> the first big payment will be >> okay. >> So is the the $286,000 that's part of fiscal year 26? >> Yes. Because payments happen in February and August. So the first payment of the year is August but we just got the money this year so didn't have >> and then February you only pay interest. Every August you pay principal and interest. February. >> So is that SK like you showed the schedule before and I think it was like 1 point something million, right? Is that split across those two dates or does it I mean does it matter? >> The February February 15th 2026 is 286,000. Then um the total for fiscal year seven goes across the right would be 1.12 which I think is what in August we' be paying 849,000 and

116in February 20 you pay principal and interest February. >> Ollie, do they you know how the tax bills come out? You get your first half tax bill and your second half tax bill and sometimes it gets like adjusted to where I don't know if there's like a material change like the second half usually is. Do they consider it will they have this projected out where the first half this impact would be sort of consistent across the two or does it have any impact or >> that's going to be a decision by the >> what does that mean? So the town >> who >> someone from I'm not sure who from strat >> like the like the town clerk tax collector kind of >> probably someone in the finance group. So >> what happens is we

117set your budget in the spring and then in the fall we set the revenues and the delta between those two is what's based in the number. >> Okay. >> The school portion only accept once a year. They just called me yesterday. >> Gotcha. So yesterday I went over the revenues with them for the current fiscal year and then they take the budget as voted on last spring the revenues we have now that we're projecting for January sorry uh July one all the way through June 30th some of it's already known >> July and September. So then I have to project the rest of the year meaning our sales ear investment um special education aid um stuff like that that we're going to get before June 30th and then the delta between your budget and the

118revenue as well taxation. So you're saying the small amount of money that we get from the state and the federal government plus things like food sales and then the rest of that you tell the town and the town decides how to collect that from its citizens. >> So we tell the town what we need as an assessment and so then there's different parts of the school. >> Yeah. >> Does that answer your question? >> I think so. I mean, sort of. But when you say you're giving them numbers about the school and you're talking about the operating budget, I guess you're also going to be telling them about the the money that has to be raised to pay the bond as well. >> That is part of your >> Yeah. So, you're going to give

119them that whole number. You're going to say, "Hey, we're going to have a bill in February that's interest only. Then we're going to have a bill in August. It's going to be interest." >> Yes. That's all. >> But but it's all going to be together and you're going to just give them the numbers. No. >> Yeah. It's all part of your record, right? >> So, it's just all one expense number that they get, >> right? >> Which is your voted appropriation. >> But my point is just the bond is going to raise the budget >> for the whole >> 10%. Right. And then we haven't even say there's $286,000 in the operating budget this year. >> Yeah. >> Next year 1.1. >> Right. Right. Yeah. >> That's >> right. and the importance of articulating that

120that actually isn't just daily operational cost is attributed just to the bond. Right. >> So when you're trying to stay at a reasonable increase over the year before, >> we would have to reduce a significant number of things because of the 1.1 million. >> If you were trying to just Right. Right. You can't cut a million dollars. >> Well, I think last year was so clear-cut because it was operating budget warrant article. And that's my concern going forward to say like, well, hey, this is the thing from last year. Now it's in the operating budget. We didn't just start spending 10% more. >> Right. because we're going to start with I know I don't know what the number is, but we're going to start with a 10% increase, right? And then >> I mean, it'll

121be a line item in here. >> Yeah. Exactly. >> It's a deal entry of some sort. It'll just show up on >> Yeah. Well, I guarantee nobody's going to look that up and go, "Hey, look, it's on line 50." They're going to go, "It's up 10%. I just got my bill." >> Well, that's what everybody does. But >> yeah. >> No, I I'm just saying that like that's why I'm trying to do the PR thing of that because I agree like last year we went through this and there was all these reasons why but >> nobody I mean I I think somebody made a point at the other financial like nobody paid attention to any of that. >> Yeah. >> Well I mean like I said when exit was debating that on Facebook quality debate

122you know people did bring up that those kind of issues. So, I think that's up for us to explain that, >> right? >> And be articulate about it. And >> All right. I'm putting in a a line about that in the um summary. So, if you guys could just check it. >> Yeah. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Let me know. Um so, anyway, back to negotiations. We meet again um before the end of the month and that is our last scheduled meeting. So, um we're hopeful things are wrapping up with the teacher negotiations. Um I think the reason I sort of lapsed into budget is because obviously salaries is the biggest part of our budget and you know right now um you know the teacher contract is will include all of that information. So that's

123where we're going with that. Okay. Um any old business or new business? do not I just have one thing for non-public and >> Okay. Okay. >> Can I ask you a quick question? I just want to ask um I guess it's a question for Britney. I saw and this is just anecdotal I guess but on there was like impacts to special education funding and like administration. Is there any concern that like the school maybe it's a financial question is not going to get the payments for those sort of things? >> Anybody know >> like the whole like the whole country? Well, I mean, I just saw it was like, hey, the the people um responsible for administering the IDA were >> Well, yeah. I mean, I think we got some we got something from uh

124like NASA, which is the program in New Hampshire for administrators talking about I think the country was possibly getting rid of the people in the department to only have two people running a department that used to be like 500 or something. So, I'm not I'm not quite sure. I can't speak to that. >> Okay. Like exactly because I'm not 100% sure what's going to happen dayto day but do you >> well so in talking to the department revenue and sevenyear revenues the other day so every year they come out with special education fee it's based off of this special education study we had prior year and then we have to submit for reimbursement in past years they tell you your entitlement I We've gotten as low as like 69% of the reimbursement or even lower

125maybe 68%. When I was talking to the department of revenue, I actually scaled the numbers assuming we were still 68% and they said that um we're guaranteed a grant. She's talking about something different. >> Yeah. Like that. So I think there was something that came down um where the US department of ed will leave the office of special education programs OAP with only two staff members to implement all aspects of the IDEIDA. >> So you're talking about different funding. She's talking about the IDA grant. >> Two different things, two different funding sources >> or even office the office. So but I'm not 100% sure. I this came through my like list serve and >> well and I know all these things they could like you said could change tomorrow. I'm just yeah >> again trying

126to keep it more in the public record of hey that might be a problem later like once we're doing budgets now and there's a bunch of things like that that we don't know >> at this point and I'm concerned because that happened last year at the uh the SAU meeting about things last mentioned so anyway thanks >> yeah okay all right so um let's go into non-public under >> letter C >> under letter See >> moved. >> Yeah, they'll do roll call. >> Oh, >> I I >> All right. Thank you guys for coming. >> Thank you. >> All right, we're coming out of nonpublic at 7:51. I found my phone. Um and uh we I'm going to make a motion to approve the request for uh conference. Um at the rate of do I

127want to say how much? Oh, you don't have to. >> Yeah. Okay. Um to approve the um proposed conference. Do I have a second? >> No. >> Thanks, Eric. >> All right. Any discussion? >> No. >> All right. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Anybody opposed? >> Okay. So, 5 0. All right. Do you have a motion to adjurnn? >> I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn. >> Thanks, Cameron. All right. All in favor? I. I. Great.