Keene Board Meeting 9.09.2025

001Okay, thanks. >> Good evening and welcome to the Keen Board of Education meeting for Tuesday, September 9, 2025. If you could please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Uh we'll open with public input. Um, it is 6:30, so we will keep public input open until 7 o'clock. Is there any public that wishes to speak this evening? >> All right, seeing none, we will >> Oh, yeah. Can you come on up to the table and state your name for the public record? >> Thanks, Ben. My name is Stanley Hensley and I I'm here for a merit badge in the Boy Scouts. I

002think it's community uh citizenship in the nation pretty sure and says here address is five Oak Street. >> Uh yeah, Key New Hampshire. >> And Stanley, you want to tell tell the board where you go to school? Oh yeah, I go to K Middle. I'm in seventh grade currently, which is uh >> yeah, so um Stanley's here. He's working on a merit badge and he's coming to learn a little bit more about um local government and communication as it relates to um the requirements of the badge he's working on. So, welcome Stanley. >> Thank you. Thanks, Stanley. For those of you who don't know, I'm also a scout leader. He's in my troop. So, and it's citizenship in the community, Stanley. >> Community. Yep. Uh if any public comes in over the next half hour

003there, uh we will check in and see if they have input. Input can also be um sent via mail or email to central office uh direct to the superintendent and he will make sure that the board gets it. Uh, can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. Second. >> There any documents anybody who needs removed from the consent agenda? Any scribblers errors? >> Uh, yes, please, George. I'd like to request that we remove the um motion for the gift from Granite City Electric. I'll bring that up in finance committee. >> Okay. Thanks. Anything else? All right. Right. So, the vote is to approve the consent agenda minus the gift from Granite State Electric. All those in favor? Any opposed? Carries 90. Thank you. Um Sarah just arrived, but the next

004thing on the agenda is the report of the student representative. This year's representative is Sarah Hon. Am I getting that right? Okay. Yep. >> All right. Go ahead. >> All right. Uh good evening. So, uh we started off student council last week with our first meeting. Um was very successful. We had about 20 new uh kids join. Most of those were freshmen. So that was that was great because we didn't have quite as many last year. Um we started working on homecoming and spirit week which are coming up in early October and we'll be deciding the themes for those next week. Um we had the personal device ban start this year. Um it's been going pretty well. Um minimal incidents I think all things considered that's been going going well. Um, we have our open

005house on September 18th as well as the club fair. So, everything is getting organized for that and we have representatives from I think almost every club at this point um will be coming to that. We have our October SAT coming up. So, lots of lots of seniors have signed up to do that. It's last chance before applications are due. Um, we moved it time to after fourth block which has definitely taken a lot of students getting used to, especially for students with early release. has come up with some some issues about students who don't have fourth block leaving and coming back. Um but working through that and yeah, that's that's all we've got for tonight. >> Thanks, Sarah. Um our meetings go extremely late sometimes. So, if you hit a point where you feel like

006you need to leave and and do your homework, that's fine. We understand. Or if you have another conflict, we we get it. All right. Uh >> too bad you don't have homework. Uh except from us. So, you know. All right. Report of the board chair. Uh, just like to welcome everybody back. It appears the school opening this year went fairly smoothly. Rob is trying to swap his job uh with Sarah's. He'd like to go back to school and let her run the school district. Um, so thank you to administration uh both building level and uh central office as well as our teachers uh and volunteers that helped get the schools going. uh says it's one of the smoothest openings I've seen in quite a while, probably since uh before COVID. So, um that's excellent. We

007want to thank everybody who was involved in doing that. Uh we do have some changes for the board. Uh this is um Heather Gilligan's first full meeting as a board member. Uh and she is going to be joining the education and policy committees. Um Raleigh is stepping off of education. uh he was filling in for Rebecca there and Dylan will be stepping off of policy. Um and again he was filling in there. Um so that will give us uh four members on all of our committees again. Um and Heather will get you those schedules and get you connected with your committee chairs. Uh other than that, the board schedule for the coming month is is back to normal. All of our committees are meeting as needed. um that the regular schedule u which I suppose

008I'll go over since we're starting the year. The first Tuesdays of every month is um facilities first followed by finance. Um the second Tuesday is personnel leading into this regular meeting. The third Tuesday is the education committee and the fourth Tuesday is the policy committee. Um on scheduling uh some of you caught this uh we should have caught this when we approved the calendar. um last May, but we missed it. The November meeting was scheduled for Veterans Day. Uh obviously, we will not be holding a meeting on Veterans Day. Um so, we need to determine if we are going to just cancel the November meeting or if we need it, then we need to find an alternate date for it. Um I don't think we have a bon Well, we do have a bonus Thursday

009in November and that's called Thanksgiving. So, we won't be doing that either. Um, so my feeling is we probably don't want to miss a full board meeting, but I'm not sure the best way to reschedule that unless um we give up one of our committees thoughts. Yeah, Dylan. >> Uh, did you say this was October or November? >> November. Okay, >> Jen. And then Raleigh. schedule to come uh in front of that committee. So, I would be reluctant to give that up um if I don't have to. >> All right, Raleigh. >> I think November 4th is election day. >> Yeah, November 4th is is election day as well. And so, you may have some members of the board that can't make it. >> Yeah, I was just looking like that. So, November 4th is

010election day. 11th is Veterans Day. um 18th. You guys have a busy calendar. We often bail on policy that month, which is the 25th, because uh Tuesday obviously is the last day um for students. They have Wednesday off for Thanksgiving break. Uh so um we generally don't hold policy that time either. Um I'm sort of leaning towards we just can't fit this meeting in. >> Why can't Sorry. >> Yeah, go ahead, Brian. >> Can we piggyback as we have in the past? We've piggy back from ed committee right to a board meeting in the past. >> Do you think that >> Well, >> I really don't want to short change ed committee if it's a busy agenda >> and Jen you can you can um you know strategically since we have the elementary coming in

011it may it may help Ben and I with them so they're not these protracted presentations we had last year. Last year that one meeting lasted almost three hours. very long meeting >> that meeting. >> Yes, I do. >> It enables us to be more strategic with what's presented if we had a time frame in which to work. I'm just if you don't want to lose the meeting. >> Yeah. Thanks, Brad. Yeah, we can be very efficient at facilities and finance, but if we move them both to the 10th because the fourth is going to be a challenge for facilities and finance because of election. What's the 10th? >> Yeah, that's a Monday and we have town board meetings on Mondays, >> right? But assistant superintendent and superintendent can split up for those, right? >> True.

012But when we did a truncated board meeting after that, then you could just say you wouldn't need a standing report again from education and finance because it would happen right beforehand and you wouldn't have to report out on the liaison and you could squeeze that in because Randy runs a very efficient meeting. Jacqueline's but I don't think we can if you can't miss it. I think we could. I'm worried about the fourth anyway. And where would we move to? >> Like we can't miss a facilities and finance in November. >> What about the 12th? It's a Wednesday. >> Instead of going to the Monday, what about going to the Wednesday? >> Well, that's up to you guys. I I'm just suggesting that we can combine those three meetings in one if we're just efficient and

013truncated or we miss. But and I don't care what day. And I'm happy to keep the fourth. I'm just saying if we're going to have a hard time getting a quorum, maybe we just combine them all into a truncated meeting. >> Right. Let's check this first. Who are we missing on election day? I know you're running, so we're definitely missing you. You're running, too, aren't you? >> Yeah. >> I'm an election. >> Okay. >> I'm working the morning shift, but I can be here that night. >> Well, I'm more worried about your committees like if we're missing Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Chris, are you going to be out on the at the polls? Yeah. Are you planning to to be at the polls rather than the meetings if we hold the meetings on the fourth?

014>> Okay. So, you're missing but missing two still hits your quorum. So, I do think we're going to have to move facilities and finance as well. All right. So, November is just awful. All right. Um I do think a truncated meeting for the full board makes sense. We won't do liaison. Um we'll make sure that um committees that are reporting out keep it short. Um education will have their big report out the next month anyway. Yeah. Um so we can manage a shorter board meeting. Um I think what I'd like to do, Tim, is let you guys figure out what night works best for you guys and not try and piggyback facilities and finance with the board. So that way you can work with your committees and find a night that works offline without having

015to try and make everybody figure out calendars. Right here, um, we will limit you guys. What's the possibility of starting education at 5 instead of 5:30? >> Microphone, guys. >> We can do that at five. >> All right. So, we'll start ed committee on the 18th at 5, full board on the 18th at 7. That gives you two hours. That should be plenty of time. >> Yeah. All right. Make it so. No meeting on the 12th. Facilities and finance will find a date that works for them. Um, >> full board on the 11th. >> No full board on the 11th. Facilities and finance will find a date that works for them. Are you going to go to facilities and finance? >> I can depending on when you schedule it. >> The date if we have

016to. >> That's a good point. >> Which will be >> that might be the easier thing to do. >> Okay. >> I'm So yeah, I'm available. If you'd rather do that, we can do that. Uh we will piggyback the full board on the 18th with education starting at 5, full board starting at 7. Personnel can decide what they want to do. if they want to hold a separate meeting or if they need a meeting. >> Maybe we'll save the recommendations from personnel for the full board just for that month. >> All right, we'll give that a try. As it gets closer and it doesn't work, we'll let everybody know. All right. Um, that's enough for me. Report of the superintendent. >> Um, so you guys have a new format this year. Uh hopefully you like

017that. I I can tell in real time that there have been 25 views. I sent it out to 33 board members and 25 have viewed it. Of course, all nine in this room have viewed it already. I'm absolutely confident of that. The one that you have in your board folder is a PDF of the one that I emailed to you. So the one I emailed to you actually gives me analytics on how many views, who viewed it on a phone, viewed it on a computer, where they actually viewed it, not specific to like address or anything like that, but in general, um, it shows me all of that sort of stuff. I want to credit the central office team for helping to build the plane on the fly. This is a new tool that we

018purchased and have available for all of our employees in the district, this um, more newsletter builder. And we currently have about 250 people who are making use of that, using those newsletters for different purposes, whether it's a classroom teacher, a building principal, or central office putting together a superintendent report. It It's a fresher look and it's easier to navigate when you open up the view from your email than it is the PDF. So you can when you open it up from your email, there are actually links that will take you to the different sections. So you can skip right over to that. Um there are a ton of um there's a ton of information happy to go wherever you want to in this report. I want to echo both Sarah and George's comments about the

019opening of the school year being incredibly smooth. It has been remarkably smooth. And I want to take into consideration that we have a brand new transportation company and first weeks of school are always hectic with transportation period. So there was nothing out of the ordinary in that regard. And the the feedback that came in, went to Tim, Brian, uh Ben, they talked to our new transportation provider who have been incredibly diligent at addressing the concerns and making sure they're smoothing things out. They've been working really hard. So, that transition has been working really well. I stopped by their their office, which we've given them some space in this building temporarily until they're able to find their own location. Well, we didn't give it to them. We're renting it to them. Um, and they're very grateful

020for the partnership and the um working relationship that's been established largely led by Tim and Ben and Brian um in that regard. So, that's been really good. So, um Sarah mentioned the uh club and organization fair will be happening really soon. Signups and getting those underway. Athletics is currently underway. Um you know, everything everything's working like it's supposed to be working. We are probably the most staffed that I have seen in my tenure here, which is remarkable. Kudos to human resources and all of our hiring agents, our managers, our principles. Um, they're not waiting until they hit a certain number to start interviewing people. They're actually reviewing it with their committees as applications come in and saying, you know what, we need to bring this person in and we need to make a decision. And

021so, we're in a really good spot right now. Are we 100% staffed? No. But we are definitely more staffed than we have ever been. Um, and that all looks good. So, if there's any questions in the report that I can answer for you, um, you know, and if you could give me feedback with the new format, we got feedback last night from the other two boards. Um, they liked it and have had a couple suggestions that we'll take into consideration for October. Yeah, I do recommend on a monthly basis, uh, board members, um, take a look at that version that Rob will email you with the hyperlinks in it. Uh, it's much easier to navigate. >> Jacqueline, >> uh, Rob, if you wouldn't mind, I think particularly for those, as we always say, watching from

022home. Um, you did a nice little update on some tweaks that are being done with the CBE. Just curious if you want to do a little very brief highlight on that. And then also just wondering um what's happened thus far with communicating that out to families and to students. >> So I'll let Brian go over that. But the with regard to the communication to families and students, this report will actually be posted on the on the website so that it will be available. I'll email it to all of our parents and our students and our staff. I didn't do it yet because I wanted our boards to have first view of this. Um I think it would have been a little arrogant of me to say, "All right, I'm just going to send it to

023everybody before the board even had a chance to um get eyes on it." So I wanted to make sure the board had time to receive it, to view it, to look at it, and by the end of the week or early next week, I'll have it up on the website and sent out to all of our families and staff as well. and Brian the update on CBE. >> Yeah. Then um gonna be updating um the ed committee next week as well. But um in a nutshell um I have a committee that's composed of administrators, teachers at all levels. I think about 25 of us on that committee and we meet for 10 to 12 hours a year. Uh we meet quarterly and we discuss a variety of topics and recommendations come out of that. My

024role on that committee is I'm facilitator. I don't have a vote. Um that we I pose the questions and then they sometimes very passionately debate amongst themselves. So the change is last year we we have a a we use categories um one because if you were to look at a traditional rubric that's a four-point scale and you used any kind of designation say for proficient whether it's proficient or a three and you want to you want to associate that with a letter grade such as a B you're still working with an 101 point number system and there's nobody around this table who can differentiate between an 86 and 87. So we use categories and we have a description in there. You can scroll down, Ben, of what those what those categories uh represent. And um

025from the no evidence which is really a student who is doing absolutely nothing in terms of of academic work and developing the committee wanted to add because they thought to teachers thought from a survey that we did last spring that there was it was too broad between no evidence and developing. we added an emerging um and that's really for the student who when you're talking about developing the kids hitting certain content and certain skills but isn't showing the demonstrating a level of proficiency. The emerging the kid is is really starting to grapple with the content but hasn't grasped the idea yet. So we added the emerging. Another thing that we added u was we used most recent rather than mode. uh mode provided some issues last year because particularly in the elementary schools where a

026lot of it is oral feedback formative assessment particularly when you're getting into discrete skills like counting to 100 by 10 or reciting the alphabet at the K1 level to assess that daily and give it a grade it it you're going to have you're going to have sparse grades in your platform and for a mode you need three grades and if your grades are different and emerging, developing and proficient, you can't calculate a mode. But there is nothing that we do in real life that doesn't utilize most recent whether it's taking the SATs, the LSATs, your driver's test, everything is based on the idea about learning being dynamic and fluid is that you get to be proficient. And we use the mantra learning is the constant, time is the variable. Some kids are going to get

027there faster than the others. Some kids are better drivers than others, but you all get the same license. So the notion that we need to average things together, there is no place where we average things together. We don't do it in teacher evaluation systems. We don't do it on test scores. There's once you reach the whole goal is to reach proficiency. I used I use the analogy, you know, if if Miss Hedings took the ELSATs five times and Mr. and Chris took it once, Chris passed the bar, it took five times for Jacqueline to pass the bar. Jacqueline isn't only doing law in Tuesdays and Thursdays. She can practice law like anybody else, five days a week. So, um, we use most recent now. And there will be anomalies. You know, for instance, a student

028could get developing, developing, developing and all of a sudden get proficient or get proficient and all a sudden developing. That's where there's always subjectivity in grading. And that's where the teacher has to use some common sense and say, "Oh, Ben got five P's in a row, then got a D. What's the anomaly here? He's practicing the same skill. Is there something going on that maybe affected Ben's outcome on this particular assessment?" So those are really the two larger pieces which is um moving from mode to most recent and um adding that emerging category. Um we pulled the staff the other day um around certain elements relative to this. Um, I think the one sticking point that keeps coming up over and over again and it arose out of the survey that we administered a two

029weeks ago to all staff was we had the proficiency with distinction. Now, if you were using the word exceeding and you were in third grade, Jacqueline, the word exceeding means that you should be working on fourth grade level work. The word distinction means that you can take something and you can move it to a higher order thinking category. So the proficiency was distinction. There's some there's some back and forth of whether that is developmentally appropriate for certain grade levels like first and second grade. When the discrete skills are count to 100 by 10, you either can or can't. There is no way to move that to a distinction level. So once you start getting into third grade and beyond, the indicators become more critical thinking oriented and more abstract. So that distinction can be differentiated

030between proficient in another level, but we're having debate. It came back a 50-50 split from the from the teachers who did the survey of where they stood on that. So, we have a CBE committee on the 25th of September and we're going to continue that debate to see where that's developly de developmentally appropriate. Um, you know, so that's kind of where we're at. Uh, we do have a meeting on the 25th. I met with Ben and some uh CBE members today to talk through um something that that Jen and I talked about of how we want to get information on whe whether or not our progress report is giving people enough information about their students learning. Um so we're we're talking that through at a as a CBE level of what that looks like. Um

031because any anytime you do a survey one you need to know your objective and two you have to have measurable outcomes. If you don't have an action to your objective then there's no reason to do a survey. So we have to make sure that we are producing something where we have an objective that we decided on when we met over the summer but now to make sure that any question that we have can be attached to an actionable step. Otherwise, you're getting information for the sake of information and people know that you're not doing anything with it. So, we have to figure out what are those actionable steps to whatever questions we ask. Um, so that's the next layer along with the CBE meeting on the 28th. Um, so that's where we're at. >> Thank

032you, um, Brian for that and I I really appreciate the the analogy metaphor if you will with being able to earn like a driver's license, right? I we know kids who have failed it five times and then passed it and they are licensed. The same thing holds true with our with our educators, right, with the practice exam. We all have know educators who may not have been successful the first time, the second time, maybe even the third time, but they've kept at it and they have hit that proficiency requirement and now are licensed educator as well. So, I appreciate you using those real life examples as you were explaining that um for the viewing audience and for the folks in the room as well. Appreciate that. Other questions for me as it relates to the

033superintendent report? >> Raley had a feedback on the CBE stuff. >> Yeah, thank you Rob. This is really a great step forward in terms of clarity and I appreciate that. Thank you for explaining the additional functionality when you're sending it to us. But even just reading through it, I found myself coming up with questions that I was going to write down, but then you answered it. So it was within the context of this. So it's the format, also the communication and the organization. I thought it was very helpful that you had the board policies for the whole district and the frisal connections there. Is that something that's going to be normal in every report? >> So, I won't I won't put the link to the board policies in every report, but I'll put a link

034to where you can get to all of the board policies in October. Um, you know, and create that awareness so that people will have that. Um, we added the fiscal management um in there by putting all of the most current audit reports for all seven of our districts. I I I think you could probably draw a very educated conclusion of why we put that in as we look around the region and what's help happening in other places and we wanted to be very transparent about that. Um we take great pride in making sure that we audit all of our our financials um annually and we provide those reports to the board. So I wanted to build that into the board report so that when I do publish it, the community knows that too. You look

035at you click on the Keen audit report for the that school year and there is a ton of information in there. Tim, your link is wrong. What >> the link? Yeah, the link to the Keen audit goes to the um >> drive >> the drive for the finance committee. >> Yeah, >> it's the right It's the right Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Rob was expecting the actual report when he clicked the link. >> Yeah. >> See, so your link is >> Yeah. So, like if I click on the Chesterfield one, it takes you directly to the report um the 57page report so that people can see that and I I'll I'll remedy those other links um and re well you all will have access to that. I'll resend it with the correct links as well. Um

036I didn't test all the links. Um Raleigh, appreciate your feedback, but I can't take full credit. It was definitely a team effort. Everybody that works on a piece of this report has and work to make sure that we're being transparent, that we're being very see-through, that we are providing information. Um, we've heard we've heard the concerns, well, what's happening with this, what's happening with that, and we're trying to demonstrate that there is nothing behind the curtain. Um, we're we're showing it. So, I wish I could take credit. I can't. It was a team effort. A lot of people put an effort into creating this. Um, in this room, some who aren't in the room right now have had a part of that and I appreciate all of their efforts. >> Brian, >> I want to

037go back to Jacqueline's initial question about about communication um through newsletters. It's also in the handbooks and then I'm sending out a letter at the end of the week to parents um again hitting on a couple of those topics just so it stays fresh in their mind. Um and then uh open houses will have those conversations as well. Excellent. Thank you. Yeah, you know me, I'm all about communication, so that's good to hear what's ahead for for families. >> All right. Anything else on the superintendent report? All right. It is 7 o'clock, so we are going to close public input. Last call. Does anybody here have public input? All right. If not, we'll close public input for the evening and move on to Are you all set, Rob? All right. move on to a report

038of the standing committees uh building and ancillary services. Mr. Filio, >> thank you. Um as mentioned, we did have a very proficient and efficient meeting as that's how I like to run them. Um we discussed the updates on the building construction which has been going well. Uh we did get an update on the paving project we've had done and the report was most of them came in under budget which is also a good report. Got an update on our event buses that we've been using. they were pretty busy during the summer. That's going to pick up immensely now. And we did get the update, as just mentioned, on the uh the new busing company and some of the hiccups that we went through. And uh you know, hopefully the hiccups are over and uh we're

039all running smoothly and efficiently this week. So once again, a proficient and efficient meeting and um that's the way we like them. >> Any questions for Mr. Filio? All right, seeing none, we will move on to education. Miss Freedman, >> uh, we did not have an official education meeting in August, so I don't have much to report, but we did, uh, set the calendar and set the agendas, um, for the coming year. So, we have a very full schedule and we'll be meeting with lots of people and they will know well in advance um, when we would like to hear from them. So, I feel like we're in very good shape uh, and set the table for the rest of the year. >> All right. Thank you. Um, finance committee, Miss Hedings, >> we also,

040for the record, had a very efficient and productive meeting. Please note in the minutes, um, joking aside, it was uh a very productive meeting. We had a a pretty full agenda. Um, we uh uh heard from via Zoom um our auditor uh who uh gave us a report. It's in your drive. Um, and again, um, Mr. Malay sort of alluded to that, but I just want to reinforce as, um, finance committee chair, um, we we take our accounts very seriously. Um, and I can attest to that having been on the board several years now. Um, and, uh, I just want to put my two cents in as a board member, um, for our taxpayers that, um, we're very conscientious. were um we received transparency not only month-to-month but um it was reassuring you know to

041hear from an auditor. Um just one little point of clarity remember that this audit is for the 2324 fiscal year. Um so it's not last year um >> which is the most current audit right but you would think like it's not last school year it's last fiscal year. Um, another item I do want to make note of, um, we've talked about this multiple times, Mr. uh Downing has we've talked about this during budget season, but it's worth noting um on Roman numeral page four and again on uh Roman numeral page six uh that even our auditors realize that um we are continuing to deal with the pressures of declining enrollment and the impact of state legislation and what it is continuing to push down on local taxpayers. Um so again, just wanted to emphasize that

042that this is not just something that we're just saying in um in our board meetings. This is recognized by our outside auditors. Um and I'm sure they're seeing it with any other school districts that they're auditing even outside of SAU 29. Um but again, we did have a a good audit. Um there was a few areas um with student activities and and sort of money um and proper practices and protocols. Um but again I can attest that um central office business office has con been continuing the past few years with working with and training um the folks in each given building on how to properly manage um it's everything from fundraisers coming in um and then how to account for that. Um, so I I would say also and um Tim you feel free to

043chime in, but some of that too is from that last fiscal year we were still sort of coming out of COVID and a lot of staff turnover. We're seeing more stability now in our buildings with staff that are either let's say club advisors or overseeing fundraisers. So that is is very helpful. Um so again um you know central office Tim you and your team you know have done a great job. you you deal with a lot. So, I'm you know pleased to to see that good report come out. Um we also had our quarterly grant report which is in the drive. Um in terms of highlights, uh one thing we did decide is um at our I think did we land on the IDA? um we would have somebody speak at the October finance meeting

044and then for our November finance committee meeting we will um uh have our new grant manager come in and speak about title one on that regard and Dr. White will be there as well. Yes. Um we also got an update on project keep um that is underway. We've got it at three of the four schools right now. Is that correct? Oh, you've got it now at all four. Excellent. Okay. All right. And um in terms of payments, uh we've got a few families uh that business office is still working with, but that is moving ahead. Uh what else? Um we do have couple of gifts uh in our drive. Let me just do the gifts first and then I'll do budget transfers. Um the first one that's in your drive is a generous donation from

045Granite City uh Electric Supply Company for uh equipment for the um Treasure Career Center and totaling $850 in equipment. Um, so with that said, uh, I'd like to make a motion on behalf of finance committee that the Keen board of education, uh, accept this gift with gratitude. >> So moved with gratitude >> microphone George. Any discussion on that? Right. All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Carries 90. >> Then there's another gift in your drive. Um, Uh this one uh is more recent. This was not with finance committee last week. So for those of you on finance committee with me, if if you're wondering why, that's why it came in afterwards. This is a um generous gift from the Keen High School football boosters club. This uh they we've got I guess a record number

046I don't know if it's a record number. I should say a larger number than expected of uh players on um the high school football team this year. and it's a gift for 20 soft shell football guardian caps. We had 50 on hand, but we have 68 players this year. Um, so the value of uh this gift of the guardian caps is at $1,225. >> Microphone. >> Just going to leave it on before we make a motion on that. Um, I need to point out that that did not hit our drive until yesterday. So, we did not get 48 hours notice. So, if there's any board members that feel that they need more time to review this, um, let me know and we will have to table this one until next month. All right, seeing none,

047go ahead, Jacqueline. Uh, with that said, can I have a motion to accept with gratitude the generous donation from the Keen High School football boosters in the amount of $1,225? >> So moved with gratitude. >> Second it with gratitude. >> All right. Any commentary on that? Concerns? >> I have a concern, Tim, which is they've already expended this Um, now this is a bad example for this problem because we do want the safety equipment on the kids as soon as possible. So, I get why they did that. But this is not an uncommon issue where gifts come to us for approval and they have already been expended or received or whatever the term may be. And there are instances where we have turned down gifts in the past. So, >> agreed. I'll pass that on

048along. All right. >> This one's not as egregious as some because it wasn't money spent. The boosters club can buy it. We can't keep them from buying it. >> And if you guys voted no, >> I'd collect those caps and send them back to the boosters club. So, it's not detrimental, but it is a very salient point. We need to have POS prior to purchase. we need to follow the steps before we accept the gift because oftentimes it's something you can't put back in the bottle. And you you have the duty and the authority to accept or deny a gift. And there's all kinds of reasons where that might happen. So, I couldn't agree more and I will pass that message along. If you want me to do something, I'll do it in in writing

049so that uh we have it marked. >> Yeah. And that's plenty. I'm not looking for anyone to get in trouble for this, especially when we're talking about safety equipment. I'm glad, you know, there's a photo today of the of our football players wearing the new equipment, and that's a good thing. So, um, yeah, go ahead, Raleigh. >> I actually had a question on the, um, on the funds report, but we >> Let's do this vote first. >> Okay. >> All right. Anything else on the gift? All right. All those in favor? Any opposed? 90. All right. Ry, you had a question for the funds report. >> Yeah. Thank you for for Tim through the chair. I noticed that we had a one of the larger amounts that we might have to return is for professional

050education on that grant >> on on your funds. There's it looked like a federal grant funds and it looked like a large amount was unused for educ for professional development on that. >> Are you talking about I gota know which one you're talking There's both a um a financial report and there was also a >> the grant report. The grant I had the same question actually. >> Yeah. >> So >> yeah, >> I saw that too. A larger amount in professional. Yeah. and like 11,000 for CCC. We need to maximize $20,000. So that's unfortunate. So we've addressed it. We had a meeting about it. We think we think they're in a better place, but uh we have met with them about that. >> Right. Nice catch to the two board members that caught those. Thank

051you. All right. Uh Jacqueline, do you have more? >> I do have more. All right. Again, I said we had a very busy meeting this week. Um okay. Next items are um our budget transfers. We've got those up on the big screen. Um we have a number of them because uh they're crossover of both July and August. Um in your drive, by the way, it's labeled as July August 2025. So if you were poking around and could not find it, that is why. Um I'll make the motion first and then we can field any questions in that regard. I'll make a motion on behalf of the finance committee that the Keen board of education accept the budget transfer report data stated August 2025 asformational. >> So moved. >> Did you have comments on it? >>

052Um I did not. It was all um pretty straightforward. Finance committee uh approved these you know. >> Well, yeah. Go ahead. >> This report's gone directly to the board, not to the finance committee first. But you approved all the ones that were required to be approved, >> right? >> And you're the final say. But when they made that policy, I know it's hard and I think it's good to repeat for members of the board. So your policy for budget transfers are >> Rob can approve some if they're over $10,000 or or use uh personnel monies in in any way, >> then they can only be approved by the finance committee as a final final vote. But in the in the policy, it requires that a list of those transfers that went go straight to the

053board each month. So the finance committee haven't seen the list, although they've seen all the ones they had to approve. So I just want to point out that it's hard to remember, but this is a little different and it's probably good to start this year. So this finance this, although Jacine's good to make the motion, this isn't coming from finance. It's directly to you and it's as you said forformational purposes only. But you only approve those that met the criteria for you who would approve. The smaller amount ones or if they didn't they were under $10,000 and didn't have personnel were only seen and approved by Rob. >> Thanks Jim. Jacqueline and I were actually trying to remember exactly how that works and we couldn't remember the dollar value on it. >> Yeah. >> That

054is Yes. That's an excellent reminder for both the board and for folks that are paying attention to this as they watch these meetings. Right. So, uh in summary, that means that uh the fi the transfer report in front of you mostly this is the first time that most of you have seen this. Um and this would be your opportunity to ask Tim questions about any of them that look odd to you. Uh so having said that with the motion on the floor, are there any questions on any of the transfers? All right, seeing none, all those in favor of accepting asformational. Any opposed? Carry is 90. >> Uh may I add one more thing? We approved it in the consent agenda. Um but annually uh what's always presented to finance committee first and then to

055us here in the board is um uh the business office, Mr. Roar presents to us um what will be moved into our reserve which is available as a as you'll see on the consent agenda this year. It's the usual 2.5% which calculates out to $938,450. Um that's available for us to use, but that's only good until June 30 of this year. And then at that point, anything that is unspent then gets returned to the taxpayers. So again, wanted to bring that up for those watching from home. And then if there was any questions from the board, You're right. Philosophically, you're right um that it does get returned to taxpayers, but I don't want people to misconrue that that they're going to get a check in the mail. It gets returned as revenue for the next

056budget. That that's how it gets returned to taxpayers. So, I I don't want folks to think, "Oh, great. If this doesn't get spent, I'm going to get a check in in the mail." That and so that gets a little confusing when we phrase it that way. It's absolutely correct. It is being returned to taxpayers, but it's being returned in the form of revenue for the following fiscal year. So, >> yes, thank you. >> In my interest of trying to keep things tight here on time, I >> was not clear on that. I apologize. >> Thanks, Rob. I was going to make that same clarification. >> No, you're good. You did ask, Jacqueline, you good? >> Yes. Now I believe we're good and we've covered everything. >> All right. Thank you. Uh personnel, Mr. Roberts, >>

057unlike all the other committees, we were quite unefficient. >> And we'll show you how unefficient we were in non-public session. But during the um the public part of it, the um the list of the employees we have is down to one page of short openings. It's one of the best we have, if not the best we've had in quite a few years. And um we still have new people coming in at we had some new people come in today. And so we're looking really good. And also we're not lowering any standards to strike names off the list. >> All right. Excellent news. Thank you, Chris. Uh policy committee is uh my committee and we also did not meet in August. Uh we did have um the annual roadmap meeting for policy. Uh and I'm told

058that it's extensive. We've got which I knew was coming. Um, our primary issue this year is going to be working through all of the changes sent down uh from the state government and a few from the federal government and adjusting our policies to make sure we're in compliance with everything and still being respectful of our own staff and students. Uh, it's going to be a busy year in policy. Um, which I don't like to see, but that's how it goes. All right, school liaison. I know a lot of you have had trouble reaching your uh respective principles uh because of opening of school, but we'll run down the list uh for those of you who were able to. So, um Keen High School Raleigh, do you have anything on top of what Sarah already reported?

059>> I think Sarah did an outstanding job and I do have nothing else to add at this moment. >> Yeah, that often happens to Raleigh. You talk about the high school so much that his report often loses a lot of its content by the time we hit him. Um Chester Career Center, Miss Freriedman. >> Um I believe that uh Richard Town is out on a medical leave right now. Um so I have not been able to get in touch with him, but uh I look forward to chatting with him as soon as he gets back. >> Thank you. Uh middle school, Miss Walker. >> Uh let's see. Middle school. The opening went well. Uh, cell phone ban is being well received. I think the teachers are appreciated because now they can point to legislation as

060opposed to school rules. Um, KMS is having an open house on September 25th. Club signups are next week and this month is suicide awareness and prevention month where they are having flyers outside of the lunchrooms um to support kids. And I believe it happens this Friday. They're having a mindful mosy walk around the building after school tomorrow. Okay, that was Friday. Anyway, tomorrow. >> Tomorrow. Okay. actually. Um, yeah, that's everybody. Okay. And that is all. >> All right. Thank you, Paige. Uh, Franklin, Miss Hadings. >> Uh, I've not had an opportunity to connect with Mr. Crest, so apologies. Nothing this month. >> Fuller. Mr. Filio. >> Yes. I I met with the principal already this morning. Um, we had a really good meeting. actually started off with the they have 275 students this year which

061is interesting because over the year they lost 18 which was to moving out of district moving out of town whatever and they figured two to charter schools which by the way one of them is already asked to come back they gained 18 students once again from other areas they four of them came from local charter schools so the conversation appears to be the peak in my opinion what I'm seeing at least at fuller the charters are peaking um where students that are leaving it are actually coming back and those that had never even been to the public school, they've been in charters are leaving the charter schools to go to public school. So, and she's getting really good feedback um from the parents discussing the difference between the charters and the fuller. And they were

062just across the board mentioning that public schools had more to offer. And unless unless you fit within that little box in the charter schools, if you strayed out of that box at all, they were coming back to the public school. So, we had a good conversation about that and that's something I plan on following up with um with her like bi-weekly. Um, one of the programs we discussed was the EPIC program there, which is pretty much uh, you know, at Fuller. Right now, they have 13 students. What that is, a lot of these are non-verbal students. They're partially non-verbal. A lot of them have autism. Um, this 13, it's pretty close to 50/50. They split them up between kindergarten, second grade, and then third through fifth grade. Um, they have two teachers for it. That's

063where they're one short. That's where we need to fill that one on that list. Um, they have eight support staff, uh, four part-time, four full-time. I discussed with her that they'd really like to see those part-time become full-time, but that's another conversation for another day. In watching this, I stood outside the door and watched these teachers. I'll tell you, you want to watch somebody that must be exhausted by the end of the day. These teachers were phenomenal. Um, so that's uh probably the most challenging thing I've seen in my tours that I've taken at the elementary school. They are uh four teachers short overall at Fuller. So once again, something we want to reduce that page on there. Um, and then I took the tour that I missed a couple weeks ago, tore around the

064building, all the new facilities and rooms and things that were built, the upgrades that were in, you know, the power, the the sprinkler system. So, I took a full tour of Fuller to see the uh the monies that our taxpayers have put into it and um went over the upcoming events. Obviously, that'll be coming up. One good conversation we had that I'm going to look into, um she was asking me about my old school, Roosevelt School, which is now going to be multi-epart buildings, and how many school age students might be going there and where they're going to be split up because obviously Frank Franklin's at capacity right now. So, would these students that are going to go into these apartments wind up at Franklin or Fuller or both? So, that's something I need to

065take a look at because there could be a significant amount of young people moving into those apartments. So, uh other than that, that was about it. We met for about an hour this morning and like I said, we every two to three weeks want to get together and and go up. So, very very proficient efficient meeting. >> Mr. Malay, >> thank you for that. Um you brought up three things that I I would like to just build on, you know, um, first of all, the Epic program, the new space actually allows for a lot more group instruction. So, they're shifting programming there and getting more immediate results than they ever have before, albeit with fewer staff. So that's that's a really positive move that the structure or the the facility itself has kind of shifted

066the programming to a place that's actually supporting students in a better way. Um so I appreciate that. um the housing piece that at one point in time the city did have somebody who would reach out to us and say, "Hey, look, we're we're looking at some housing developments." That hasn't happened in years, >> you know, for for those who might be sitting on the council, just food for thought. Um you know, and that's it. And then the um you mentioned some of the folks who have transferred out for charter schools and are coming back. It was an incredible phenomenon this year. The state made it really easy for folks to go to homeschooling and they don't really have to tell us, but they do tell us and we document it. And when they terminate their

067homeschool program, they tell us and we document that, too. Um, this year I have seen an influx and we're going to put together a report that shows how many students have gone out for homeschool, how many students are now coming back for homeschool because I sign all of those individually. And I was just I said to our homeschool coordinator, which is Kathy, my assistant, um, I I said, "This seems to be a higher volume of folks who are terminating their homeschool program and coming back into our school." She's like, "Yeah, there's definitely a noticeable tick up." Um, so I said, "Well, let's let's put together a report." And so we'll work on a report so that we can show those numbers that have gone out and those numbers that are coming back so that we

068can kind of get a better grasp on that. Um, we're they again, these are just the folks that do report to us. They don't have to report to us. They can go directly to the Department of Education who never tell us. um folks that have signed up for homeschool programming through the department. Um but the ones that we do know and the ones that we are tracking, we document it really well and so we'll put together some numbers for you guys to see. >> Thank you, Rob. Thank you, Randy. Um and I'm gonna cheat and get on my soap box because I can. Um what Rob's talking about for numbers is the homeschooling which we do have some degree of ability to track. Um we get asked as board members frequently um how many students

069are we losing to charter schools and it's not something we can answer because when students leave we don't necessarily know where they go. They're not required to tell us. Some of them do. sometimes their education records get forwarded. Um but frequently we have no idea. Um anecdotally from teachers, uh what we hear is that the numbers, as Randy said, are fairly stable in terms of how many leave, how many come back. Um the challenge that I'm hearing is the number of times that students do that, the number of students that are doing that. Um, those of you who were here during some of the other major conversations we've had uh in the last five to 10 years know that data shows that every transition is comes with um a several month loss in learning that

070you have to make up when you transition. And that does apply as well going from middle school to high school, going from elementary school to middle school. Um, which is, you know, that that lends itself to the discussions about what is your best format. Are you best with a K through eight? Are you best with a K through two and a three to five? Um, you know, that that has bearing on that, but it also has bearing when a kid leaves for charter school and then comes back three months later because they want the opportunities at the high school. they come here from a charter school and then discover that the huge environment is too much and need to go back to a charter school. Every time that someone does that, um there's a loss

071and they have to catch up from from from that transition. And that's one of the drawbacks of the current push at the state level here in New Hampshire to make it easier and easier to make those transitions. Um, and they're also pushing for open enrollment and that will have the same issue. Um, as you make it easier to jump from public school to public school, you still have that transition loss. And that is one of the probably untrackable results of what's being pushed through at the state level that we have to face um at the educational level here. And I'll get off my soap box. Uh, Simon School is me for this month. Um, it will be Heather going forward and I will connect with you and introduce you to the Simon's principle um and

072give you some some uh basic questions you can start with as you start figuring out what your reports should look like. Um I actually have not been able to connect with Susan Grover simply because she's been too busy. Um, and the one thing that they did want me to to let you all know is that their um, all school assemblies have started up again and they do have an open invitation to schoolboard members if you'd like to go attend those. Those are start the day on Friday mornings and um, you can uh, connect with the school uh, to find out if you'd like to go to a given one. Uh, this is after Simons. Sorry, I'm stealing your paper. >> Thank you. Uh, wheelock Mr. Germana. Uh me and Patty are meeting next week, so

073I'll have something for next month's meeting. >> All right. Thank you. Jonathan Daniels, Community Education. Mr. Roberts. >> I was over at Jonathan Daniels. Jonathan Daniels had a very rough summer. It was quite demanding and um they made it through. Right now they have 103 um students. They have a a waiting list. And one of the things that Joanne I talking about is they have openings in the um the classrooms, but they're not openings in the classroom because what she has to do is she's got a list of people of children that will become eligible during the school year. So she has to leave those um seats open. Otherwise, if she put someone in and saying, "Oh, George, your son is going to go in in December," then they would have to kick out the

074person because your son would be because of the needs would be already slotted for that seat. So if some people say, "Wait a minute, you have some openings." that's because they already have a list covering the the whole year when other people will be coming in. And um the the other part is to maximize the amount of um students that can get available services. They have to really work with the um the numbers. So some kids may get two days on a Thursday or Friday instead of that normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday or whatever. But she's maximizing to get as many kids services as possible. It's it's trying. And I went to her and I asked her, "Wow, you look pretty beat." So she's working hard and she putting long hours in to try to make

075everything work. >> All right. Thank you, Chris. All right, that is it for liaison reports. Um, next up is NHSBA. Uh, and one thing that we need to do that we did not do um last month, even even though we knew who our uh delegate was going to be, um, can I have a motion to approve Paige Walker as the Keen School District delegate to the NHSBA delegate assembly? >> Some move. >> Second. >> You can figure that one out, Jen. Um all right and uh a related note they've moved the delegate assembly um to what is it the 25th. Okay, but Paige is still able to attend that. Um so which we're very appreciative of. All those in favor? Any opposed? Carries 90. Thank you. Um we have a number of resolution type items

076in our drive. So, as a refresher, the purpose of the New Hampshire School Board Association, its stated purpose, um, is to advocate for their member districts in front of the legislation on education related bills. Um, which see previous discussion has been a lot in the last couple years, um, in numbering in the hundreds. Um and they do other services for us as well, particularly in terms of policy management. They have some uh trainings which we've taken advantage of in the past, but their their primary purpose is advocating in front of the legislature. Um and they have a governing body of documents called resolutions that they use to know what their member districts want them to advocate for. So there are both standing resolutions which have been approved at past delegate assemblies. Um and there's roughly

077a dozen of them with a bunch of subcategories. Um and there are continuing resolutions which were the ones that were approved last year and that slate has to be approved again this year in order for it to become a standing resolution in the future. Um and so we will be voting on that in a second. And then there are proposed resolutions um which are sent in from member districts um and there's about a dozen of those this year. Um and at the delegate assembly in October uh a representative from every member school district which is not every district in the state. Um I think for example only two of our SAU districts out of our seven are member districts. Um but it's still a good 40 45 member districts that are voting on this and

078they will um debate out each of these resolutions and take a vote and if it passes with a majority of votes um then it becomes a continuing resolution for next year. Um and I could go into a lot more detail because I've been the delegate before but um hopefully that was enough of an explanation for you guys. So, um, the first thing that we need to do is can I have you got the continuing resolutions up there? Thank you. Can I have a motion? Um, oh, I don't know how to word this because we're actually directing or giving direction to Paige on um how she should be voting when she goes to the delegate assembly. >> The motion would be the Keem Board of Education supports the continuing resolutions. Thank you. >> Exactly what I

079said. Second >> or so moved. Excuse me. >> Thanks. Randy was going to move in second. He was excited for this one. Um and those of you on the board last year, we already debated through these. Um as I recall, the delegate assembly pretty much voted the same way that we were going to. Um there was, I think, three resolutions that were hotly debated. Um but they ended up going the same way that the board was looking. Anyway, concerns with the continuing resolutions. All right. All those in favor? Any opposed? Carries. 90. Um, all right. For Hang on, Maria. This is going to take us a while. Um, and I know that the guys have school tomorrow. Um, you can probably We've reached the boring part. We've covered the actual governance part that he needs

080for his merit badge. So, if you guys want to go ahead um and I'll I'll if Mr. Phillips questions it, he can come talk to me about it. >> Yeah. All right. Thanks for coming. >> Thanks for being here. >> All right. We're not going to get through all of the resolutions tonight. Um I know people are already starting to Nope. Or people are already starting to flag. Unfortunately, they did move the delegate assembly. So, we have two months of meetings to get through this, but I don't want to leave them all for October either. Um, so we're going to get through what we can tonight. Um, Paige, the motions are going to read similar to what Rob just did. So, each one will be the Keen Board of Education moves to support and then

081we'll either vote yes or no. If we vote no, then we don't support. But all of our motions are in the positive. You are allowed to vote the other way. We give you this direction so that you know the will of the board. But by approving you as our delegate, that gives you the authority to listen to the arguments on the floor. particularly if it was a resolution that Keen was divided on. Um, and if they have arguments that sway you, you can change your vote. You just need to come back and then explain to us what happened. >> Yeah. >> Um, and this is this came up I think the year that Raleigh was the delegate. We had to make sure that that was clear because a lot of the issues we knew were

082going to be hotly contested that year. Um, and I think that you did have to shift on one if I'm remembering correctly. That was a while ago now. >> Yeah, that's right. All right. So, having said that, Rob's like, "Get on with it, people." U, let me open up the resolutions so I'm not dependent on what's on the screen. And these are the continuing resolutions, which do not help me at all. They're in the same document, right? Ah, written written ones. Excellent. All right. Raleigh printed them out for me. Well, actually for himself, but yeah. All right. Um, the first three numbered 13, 14, and 15, oddly enough, I think that's correct. No, 15 is different. 13 and 14. No, and 15. They're all the open enrollment. Um, they are all about the proposed open

083enrollment legislation. Uh, one of them is from Hanover and Dresdston. Uh, one of them is from Dover and one of them is from Oyster River. Um, who are, you know, basically the same district. Um, and the NHSBA technically opposes all three of them. So they have a board of directors that goes over all of these resolutions and talks them through and then makes a recommendation which we are welcome to ignore or accept. Um and in this case they technically oppose all three of them and propose an alternate wording following the first one from handover and Dresden and they have re uh rationale in there. Um, basically they're avoiding referencing the specific law because if we pass a resolution that says the NHSBA opposes HR, um, it was a House bill, so HB741, then next year

084when the House bill has a different number, um, they technically can't advocate for or against anymore. Um, so they've proposed alternate wording that they believe captures the intent of the three resolutions from the various districts, um, but leaves it more open. Um, and basically their proposed alternative, let me read their proposed alternative. NHSBA opposes any open enrollment legislation that would have the effect of further undermining the reliability of projecting revenues and expenses in setting of school district budgets. U and some more words that mean basically the same stuff. Um basically what they're saying is rather than saying we directly oppose open enrollment, they're saying if you're going to do open enrollment, make it a workable system that school districts can work with. Um, and the reason they're doing this, um, Tim has left, but he's

085talked about this with us before, uh, and it came up in discussion with some of the other districts, uh, that send to us. Open enrollment can exist, but it needs state support because otherwise local districts are unable to deal with the unpredictability in student population and therefore the unpredictability in budgeting. Um and there was some other objectionable stuff in this year's particular open enrollment. Um so their proposed alternative would allow support if open enrollment was presented in such a way that it does not overburden the school districts. Um and I know Massachusetts actually has a limited version of this with state support. Uh and it works pretty well for them. Um, and I assume that that's I haven't talked to Will Phillips, but I assume that that's their reasoning. So, we can either take all

086of these three separately or we can take one motion supporting their proposed alternative covering 13, 14, and 15. Um, and obviously I'm open to either one. If anybody wants to shoot a motion one way or the other, go for it. >> Yeah, I'll I'll make a motion to uh work with the alternatives. Is that the right language? Um, >> Keen Board of Education supports the alternative >> resolution presented by NHSBA >> for 13,4 and 15. >> Yeah. >> Second. >> All right. I know Paige has read through these. I know Rley has read through these. I don't know if anybody else has read them really, really closely because they can be boring. Do you guys have thoughts? >> Yeah. Go ahead. I got your mic. I I can support the motion that's on the floor.

087However, I did find that the Oyster River resolution was very succinct and I also like that one. But I think that the revision overall gives us gives us a little bit more more power and authority to for them to support what we really want to happen. So I I can support it. I guess ultimately the question for each of you is um so this proposed alternative allows or doesn't force the NHSBA to advocate against any form of open enrollment just as a flatout policy which is what Oyster Rivers does. Um, so if if you personally find that you're just opposed to any open enrollment ever, then you probably don't want the alternative and you want to vote no on that. And then we'll vote no on on rather yes on the Oyster Rivers. Um, if

088you're see a board member could vote in the affirmative on the current motion, but then make a subsequent motion to also support >> perhaps resolution 15 if they felt passionately about that. >> That's true. And when this hits the floor at the delegate assembly, they will do it 134 and 15. And if the alternative wording of 13 passes, then their board will lobby to vote down 14 and 15 on the grounds that you've already passed the alternative resolution for 13. But you will at the delegate assembly, you will have to debate all three of them. Um so what Rob says is absolutely correct. um if after we hold this vote, whether it's positive or negative, we can still also hold a vote on whether to support 15. So, any more comments on the alternative resolution?

089Concerns either way. All right, the motion on the floor is to support the alternative resolution on open enrollment. Those in favor? Those opposed? 821. Okay. Yeah, I spent a lot of time thinking about this. >> All right. And Raleigh, did you want to make a motion to support 15? >> Yes. >> I'm making the motion that we support motion resolution 15 submitted by Aster River as is. >> Sorry. All right, Oyster Rivers is really easy. NHSBA opposes legislation that promotes or mandates open enrollment. It's just a simple statement that says NHSBA will push against any open enrollment legislation. And I can certainly can see the thought process behind that because the NHSBA's alternative does assume that people are operating in good faith. Um, and we've seen our legislature in the last 10 years. So, uh,

090commentary on supporting the Oyster River version. >> Yeah. I I fully support 15. I I think that, you know, when has the state ever h helped in any way, you know, it's it's a pipe dream the alternative version of 13. Um, it's not going to happen. So they're if they pass it then it is going to come down to our shoulders. Um and I think we should just be fighting to not you know to not pass it. >> All right. Thanks Jen. Anyone else? Yes. Paige. Um, I liken 15 to uh one of the other ones about the vouchers where they wouldn't take a stand on the vouchers because they didn't want to they didn't want to oppose because that would be taking a stand. Hold on. Here we go. It's uh number 18. So

091they say they don't support it because they um think that if they have any stance on it, it shows that that they whatever think that vouchers there might be a way to make vouchers okay. And it seems to me that what they're doing with 13, 14, and 15 is opposite of what they're saying they're doing with 18. So, I support 15. That makes sense. >> It does make sense and that is an accurate statement about their thought process. Um, as was Jen's statement, they So, it's important to remember that they have that not all of our state is located in our little corner or the sea coast corner. Um, there are representatives from the more conservative sections of the state and the NHSBA really tries to balance those viewpoints. And so their alternative resolutions will

092often appear to be walking the line and sometimes are walking the line and sometimes we as a board have said that line is too far. Um definitely that came up a number of times last year when we sent Jen. We went against their proposed um suggestions. Um I'm not sure the floor went against them, but we went against their proposed suggestions for that reason. All right. Anything else on the 15? All right. All those in support opposed. Carries 90. All right. 16. Submitted by our neighbors in Chesterfield. The proposed resolution is the NHSBA proposes that the state fully fund all state public education aid formulas before the funding of any other state obligation. [Laughter] Your chair your chair hates you. All right. Um, and there's there's an alternative on this one, too, which is actually

093much easier than some of the alternatives. The alternative reads, NHS proposes that the state fully fund all, and here's the change. State, public schools, public school districts, and public education aid formulas before the funding of any other state obligation. Um so uh basically they it's clarifying language that makes sure to include all education mandates rather than just specifically um the aid public education aid formulas. Bless you use a mic next time. Please [Laughter] all right. Um, >> it it occurs to me that, and I just realized this after three years of trying to run this circus, that um, what we probably should do is hold a vote both on the proposed resolution and the alternative resolution because we don't know which one page is going to be asked to deal with. Um, and we can

094support both, but I think that's the way I'd like to to run that. Um, and I've lost track. Did we have a motion on this one? >> No. >> I will make that motion. >> Second. >> All right. And that's for the actual proposed resolution. Um, these are pretty straightforward. Basically, it says, "Hey, uh, you know, pay what you've told us you're going to pay." Um, concerns or questions? Those in favor? Opposed? 90 80 and 81. 911. Which way are you voting? >> I'm voting against it. >> Okay. 81. Thank you. That's because you're going to support the alternative, isn't it? >> All right. Here you go. >> Yes. I'd like to make a motion to support the alternative resolution recommended by the NHSBA board of directors for number 16. >> Thank you, Dylan. Um,

095and as I said, I I agree with Raleigh. I do think the alternative is preferable. Um, but I realized that we're not actually necessarily voting on our own um, preferences. We're making sure that Paige has direction and we don't know which one of these will actually hit the floor when she gets to conquered. So, it's important, I think, to cover both the proposed and the alternative. All right. Um, those in favor of supporting the alternative. Any opposed? All right. That one's nine eight and a half to one. Nine to zero. All right. Are we going to go back to 134? >> Do you want do you want direction on the actual resolutions in case they don't go for the proposed >> 14 and 15? They the actual and the proposed are quite different. >> All

096right. I'll move to No, no problem. Um you're the one who's going. So if you need more direction than we're giving you, please ask for it. All right. I will move that the Keen Board of Education support resolution 13 as presented. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> All right. The proposed resolution is whereas Oh my god, this one's really long. All right, I'm not reading the whole thing. Sorry. But um their resolution includes questions, which is unusual. This is oddly worded. Um but basically they're opposing besides opposing opening enrollment, they're also opposing specific >> um language in the in the HB 741 bill. But other than that, it's it's um Basically, they're opposing open enrollment. And this is the one that the NHSBA tried to create an alternative for. Um, I guess I

097have a problem with it in that it is not clearly worded. I'm not sure. So, where is their actual resolution? It's buried in here. Resolved that the >> Yeah, the No, >> it's poorly written. >> Yeah. So the actual resolution appears to be be it resolved that the NHSBA finds legislation to promote open enrollment raises significant fiscal challenges for school districts and is a solution in search of a problem. Um >> which isn't really >> it's not really yeah it doesn't give them I kind of don't like this. I vastly prefer the alternative to this one because it's poorly worded and does not give them direction to do what we want them to do and doesn't really even define what we want them to do. >> For this one, >> you sorry >> that >>

098the proposed wouldn't actually make it to the floor. >> That is my guess. Um my my hope would be um so Hanover and Dresden are um one of the most liberal districts in the state. Um but they're also very articulate. Um so my guess is that they will be open to um the alternative as long as they feel that the alternative actually does what they want them to do. My suspicion is that they will put the alternative on the floor and offer an amendment to the alternative to make it clear that it opposes open enrollment. is is my guess is to how they're going to proceed because I think that this would not pass on the floor because it's poorly worded and is vague. All right. Any other thoughts on 13 from handover and Dresden?

099All right. So, a yes vote supports, a no vote does not support. Those in favor, those opposed. That fails zero to nine. All right. 14, which I have to scroll down a long way for from the Dover School Board, proposed that state, wait a minute, statewide open enrollment provision in this year's budget was retained, but the legislative push for open enrollment will return in 2026, likely with more political pressure. It is imperative NHSBA has some footing on which to stand when testifying. The language in this resolution deliberately does not address the specifics of the language inserted into the various open enrollment bills, but takes a more global stance in naming the pitfalls of a system as a whole. And so again, they didn't actually make a stated resolution. At least not that I can find.

100>> No, I agree. >> Yeah, Jacqueline. >> Wait, did I get a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. Um I was just going to say if you read after um who is this? Dober. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Um NHSBA's recommendation is to adopt the alternative resolution discussed previously relative to the proposal from Hanover and Dresden. >> Yeah. >> Unless I'm missing something. The recommendation is we we we don't pursue necessarily this one presented by Dover that we we work towards what handover and Dresden have presented. I know this is still going to come, you know, right voting on, but >> yeah, >> correct. That's the NHSBA's recommendation. um like the one that we did support previously. Um this one directly opposes. Um but I I feel like they forgot their actual resolution. >> I was

101going to say for for me personally, I I will be voting no on this because their proposed resolution >> is is telling the story, but there's really no resolution there. They're just sort of making some statements. I think if you're opposing open enrollment, then Oyster River got it right. >> Yes. >> Um, stop beating around the bush and just say here it is. >> All right. Anything further on 14? A yes vote supports their resolution such as it is a no vote does not. Those in favor opposed fail 09. >> Thank you. >> Yes, Rob. >> So, Paige, you're going to have a lot to navigate with those three resolutions. And what they've done was essentially cut off the voice of 14 and 15 by putting the alternative on on 13. So I I don't

102know how it works. and Jen can give you better better um guidance on that. But before anyone proposes the alternative, they should really dispel 13, 14, and 15. You know, act on those three first and then get to the alternative in my opinion. Otherwise, you're cutting off 14 and 15 at the needs before they're even. So, just something to think about. Roly, >> yes I can tell you how we dealt with that before which worked pretty well. We had Oyster River and Keen had very similar resolutions and there was the pressure to combine them. But what we told them is no, we don't want to combine them, but you can move them sequentially. That way we both got to speak on the topic. >> Thank you. All right, let's try and get through a few

103more. I think I'm going to end this at 8:15 so we can continue with the rest of the meeting and have time to do non-public without our brains being toast. Um, well, there is that problem. All right, number 17. Did we do 17? No. Also from Chesterfield, it reads, "The NHSBA opposes the inclusion of amendments to proposed bills that are not gerine to the subject matter of the proposed bill." So I will move that the Keen Board of Education support resolution 17. you can >> I I want to speak to this one because I worked with Chesterfield and and one of the um instances that came up was a really thoughtful piece of legislation that our senator, Senator Fenton, put forward with regard to getting a grip on on cyber bullying. And when that bill

104went to crossover um in the house, they tacked on um open enrollment to that bill which subsequently required a committee of conference and then completely eliminated a good piece of legislation intended to combat bullying because they added open enrollment to it. So that was the genesis of where Chesterfield was coming from. You know, adding non-gerermanine amendments actually wipes out or potentially wipes out other really good pieces of legislation and I just wanted to give you that context only because I had it. Those are known as poison pills. Um and we are seeing them more and more at our state level. They've been very common at the federal level for a long time. Um element of partisan politics. The NHSBA board of directors does not support um their argument is twofold. First, the non-gerermanine amendments are

105required to have a public hearing. Um public hearings have been somewhat of a joke in conquered lately, but they are whether you're talking about amendments to a bill or the actual bill. Um one of our parties votes the way that they're going to vote, regardless of public sentiment. Um, so public hearings are are not really important at this discussion. Their main argument appears to be that sometimes they would want to support a non-gerermanine amendment. Um, I assume they mean that they would advocate for an amendment that's already been proposed by someone else, not that they're advocating that someone puts in a non-gerane amendment. And I would argue that they can still do that. We have not told them this resolution does not oppose the content of a non-gerermanine amendment. It opposes the inclusion of such

106an amendment in the first place. So realistically, it is arguing for a bill that says that legislators have to stop doing this, not that they have to oppose every amendment that shows up on a bill. And I may be getting too lawyerly on this and I know that the legislators would weigh in however the hell they want to weigh in on it. Um I don't know if anyone who has more experience at the state house level wants to comment on that. Um I'm leaning towards supporting Chesterfield personally rather than the board of directors, but I can certainly be convinced. Jacqueline, you had your hand up. I just was going to say just there's a key sentence right there if if anyone missed it and it simply put amendment should improve the focus of the bill

107and that's why I will support this because that's that hits the nail on the head. >> Anyone else? All right. A yes vote supports Chesterfield's resolution. A no vote does not. Those in favor of whatever the heck number we're on. 17. >> This is in favor of supporting Chesterfield. >> Yes. Opposed. All right. Carries 90. Nope. They had no alternative on this one. All right. 18. 18 from the Raymond School Board reads, "Proposed that all schools that receive state and or federal funding shall comply with all applicable state and federal funding laws regarding regarding testing, hiring practices, and special education inclusion." Can I have a motion to support? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Um this is pretty clearly targeted at um the FSA voucher type stuff. Um I know that one of

108the main arguments around that is the fact that there's no accountability and no guidelines that go with that money um such that the the type of guidelines that that we need to follow here in a regular public school. The NHSBA again does not support um and I'm not sure I can I don't I'm not sure I follow their logic quite honestly. If anyone else wants to take a shot at it. >> This is the one that I had referenced before, >> right? >> Where they say they because they unwaveringly oppose vouchers since at least 2005. Their concern is that if the proposed resolution is adopted that it might lend a position or point of view that the NHSBA has no objection to a voucher blah blah blah. >> Thank you. Yes, that does make sense.

109Um and I >> Yeah, that's I I struggle with following their logic quite honestly. You can still oppose vouchers and and demand that the voucher system that we get anyway has accountability. You can you can do both of these things. Rob, >> so the vouchers are here. >> Yeah, I I I agree with George. I I think the rationale I I don't think the proposed resolution discontinues an opposition to vouchers as a whole, but what this resolution is offering is that all right, if you're going to put it in the motion, here's some here's some ground rules for you to follow. So, >> I think it's Sorry. >> Yeah. Go ahead, Raleigh. >> I was going to peak I was going to speak from point of strategy that they have. They may not want to

110boil the ocean. They want to might want to put more of their effort into opposing some of the other bills. So, I mean, I could go either way on that, but if they're not going to put if they're diluting their efforts on some of the more important ones as opposed to something that's already there, I didn't really want to follow them up. >> Yeah. Go ahead, Paige. This is the one that I felt like was similar to 13,4 and 15 where they didn't want to take a stance because then it shows that they're taking a stance and it might be supportive. But I think vouchers are already out there. And I think one of the problems with vouchers that there are no regulations or guard rails or anything holding anybody accountable for these vouchers, which

111makes it difficult for schools to deal with budgets and everything else that goes with the vouchers. So, with all of the problems that we know exist with vouchers, my primary issue has been from the get-go, even before they became the monster that they are now, the lack of accountability. If my, and this is not as a schoolboard member, this is a taxpayer. If my tax dollars are going to support somebody, I want accountability behind that. I want to know I want the testing. I want to know that the outcomes for these students are what they're supposed to be. I want to know that the the institutions receiving my tax money are meeting state and federal laws. Um I don't want my money going into a black hole. It just has offended me from the get-go.

112So I support this honestly more than I support legislation opposing vouchers in the first place. Um but that's you know that's obviously this is a tricky one. Um and I could certainly see the alternative viewpoint on this. Anything else? All right. A yes vote supports Raymond's resolution. A no vote does not. Those in favor opposed carries 7 to two. All right, that was 17. No, 18. All right, 19 also from Raymond. This one's longer and less well written. Um, but basically they're proposing, wait a minute, here we go. We propose a strengthened school building aid program. Um, and then they put actual dollar values on it and a a formula for increasing the growth on that in any given year, which is >> um, >> George, if I may, that Dr. Right. Can you slide

113the to number 19, please? Thank you. >> All right. Uh, I guess first, can I have a motion to support resolution 19? >> You almost seconded before. >> Yeah. All right. Um, NHSBA does not support and they point out that they already have two resolutions that are directly addressing this. Um, and I know that they advocate very strongly for because there is an existing building aid fund and it is woefully underfunded and has been um, for close to a decade now. Um, Cenounu made a big deal about putting money back into it, but that still only brought it back up to like 45 or 50% of where it's supposed to be funded and it only lasted for one year because he used surplus money to do it. Um, it wasn't actually in the budgets. So,

114um, it is very unusual to give the NHSBA something as specific as this resolution where they're basically they've proposed an actual leg well they basically proposed legislation here. They said this is how the legislation should read. And that is a very difficult position for an advocacy body to take. this would be more appropriately directed, I think, to, you know, somebody that actually sits in conquered and proposes legislation. Um, that said, um, the building aid funds are woefully underfunded and I certainly support that. Um, so that's kind of what you're deciding, Jacqueline. Um, worth noting at the bottom of page 10 of the document and on to page 11, NHSBA um, votes not supporting this because there's two existing resolutions already, I guess, in the works, if that's the right way to put it. Um, so

115I'm I'm all for efficiency and let's not >> let's not let a proposal counteract or or completely negate one that's already in in the works. >> Rob, >> I applaud Raymond's effort. I think um that's a really good effort, but I think their course of action is to work with their lawmakers in their in their region because that is, you're right, more written like an LSR um as opposed to a resolution. And great, put that into action, you know, for for the legislature to weigh in on. All right. Anything else on 19? So, a yes vote is in favor of their resolution. A no vote uh opposes it. Those in favor opposed fails 0 to nine. What's 20? Can we do 20 in four minutes? >> All right. 20 is conquered. Uh conquered does the

116wherees. Uh but their actual resolution is submit a resolution to the NHSBA to advocate to the New Hampshire state legislature to create a universal and subsidized meal program for New Hampshire public school students. Can I have a motion to support? >> So moved. >> Second. um NHSBA does not support um because there is an existing resolution which reads supports that the state and federal government seek and provide viable sustainable permanent funding to provide a school breakfast and lunch at no cost to students and at no cost to local school amendments. Uh basically they say that it already exists and I I can't dispute that. It seems to be actually the same wording and >> feels like conquer didn't read the existing resolutions. Uh thoughts, >> Jacqueline, >> just as I said with the previous resolution,

117I'll be voting no on um conquered submission. It's a good one. But again, if we've already got a resolution in motion that exists already, I support going down that path. And so I will not be voting yes on Conquer's new resolution. >> All right. Anything else? A yes vote supports Conquered's resolution. A no vote does not. Those in favor? Those opposed fails 0 to nine. Technically 22, which I can't find, is we're on 21, is the same issue. But it is about gun-free school zones and I feel like this might be a longer conversation. Um there's already an existing >> there is I guess we could start it and table it if it gets complex. All right. So 21 also from conquered a resolution of the conquered board of education supporting the New Hampshire state

118legislation that will enforce the federal gun-free school zone act there bunch of whereases and therefore it is resolved that they say yeah they say the conquered board of education but they mean that the NHSBA opposes or supports opposes current New Hampshire state law that does not require state and local law enforcement ment to enforce federal law of gun-free school zones. Urges wow urges all of the city of conquered elected representatives. Is there a part in here that relates directly to the NHSBA? >> No. >> Urges the New Hampshire state legislature to pass a bill that enforces federal gun-free school and gun-free school zone acts in order to create and maintain a safe education environment. All right. Can I have a motion to support? >> So moved. >> I know it does. >> But a lot

119of these don't apply to what the NHSBA were doing. They apply to what Conquer is going to do. They kind of dumped a whole bunch of stuff into one thing and then said, "Hey, let's give it to the NHSBA." All right. So with a motion and second on the floor, um NHSBA does not support. Their reason for not supporting is um that there are existing resolutions which Raleigh was instrumental in getting past and as he said it took two years and it was a combined effort between Raleigh and Keen and uh Dover, right? >> Yeah. Um and it was it was heavily debated. Um you guys are familiar with New Hampshire. It was heavily debated. Um but there are now resolutions in place that basically do what conquered is asking. Um at issue is the

120fact that the state has said that local law enforcement should not enforce federal gun laws. Um that specifically for our efforts include the schoolfree gun zone. School >> gunfree gunree gunree school zones. Thank you. And all the words just not in the right places. >> Right. And this is why we were supposed to stop at 8:15. All right. Um, yeah, that too. Uh, they'd both be good, actually. Um, so yes, I definitely agree with what Conquered is saying. Um, I also agree that this is what the resolutions that are in place say. Um, I also see what Conquer did. They also are advocating for action from their local school district and their local city officials and they did it all as one motion. And then they said since we've done this and we've included state

121legislation, let's see if we can get the NHSBA to push for this one as well. So that's um why it's here. That's what it's doing. Um, I do remember that they submitted basically the same thing last year. Um, and it did not have a lot of support at the delegate assembly if I remember correctly. Is that right, Jen? >> I read through the minutes. It looked like most people agreed that we've already had this battle. We don't have to have it again. All right. Questions, comments, desires to live in another state. All right. All those Oh, wait. A yes vote supports Conquer's resolution superseding the existing resolutions. A no vote opposes that. Those in favor, those opposed. Fails 0 to nine. All right. And we are not going to continue to 22 because this is

122where they start getting complicated. It's only a couple more, but we'll handle those in October with hopefully fresh brains. All right. Yeah, but one of them is super complex. The last one is >> Yeah, it's super complex. All right, moving on. Um, SAU 29, there's not a whole lot to report. We do have an ad hoc committee that is um going to begin looking at the superintendent evaluation form and hopefully have something um more um appropriate in place for next year. Uh but that is only just starting at this point. Um and that will be keyed by um Eggga Cordell. Um and then Rich and Kevin from Nelson and Westperland. Yep. respectively um will be uh directly involved and I will be um in when I can. Um but it turns out that their their

123meeting times are pretty conflicting with my current work schedule. Um but they're just starting on that now. Um the I guess the big news we talked about at the last meeting um we had previewed um what looked to be a promising uh vendor who supplied um a tool that would have streamlined the process. Uh it would have definitely made Kathy Deer's job a lot easier. Uh but it turns out that the cost is exceptionally prohibitive due to the unusual nature of our super advis superintendent advisory unit. So, um, we won't be going with that tool and they're going back to the drawing board. Uh, the next regular meeting for the SAU that, um, all of you are invited to will not be until November. So, that's got a while before it comes upber. You're right.

124It's very early in December. That's correct. All right. Um, we have no old business on the calendar. We actually covered the new business item. I did have one other new business um which is a direction to facilities committee um to and I think this was already on Tim and Ken's plan this year anyway but to review the uh district of KE's um CIP. Um we are coming to the end of the construction phase on the elementary schools. Um, so I'd like you to have them give an update on how much is left on that, which I don't think is much, but I think there was a revisit on a couple of the buildings. Um, and then we developed under Ed Murdo um a long-term like a 20-year capital improvement plan, but we did that about

125eight years ago. Uh, so it's kind of time to look at that and see where we are. Have we fallen behind? Is there priorities that have changed? That sort of thing. Um, and that's not you don't have to come back next month with that. That's like a a several month if not a full year type thing where you just like next month you just say, "Hey, we got to take a look at this and and then develop a plan from there." >> I'm sure is still available to offer his comments. >> Yeah. Yeah. All right. Any other new business? >> Sorry. >> Okay. >> Mr. um uh Mr. Mle reminded me the outcome of our policy planning committee meeting. Oh yeah. >> Um there are several bills that have come out of conquered that are,

126you know, if if we could wave a magic wand and we got them all buttoned up yesterday, uh great. But that's not the case. Um, with that said, there is a number of them that in our planning meeting, um, it's best that it starts in education committee, but with the timing of them meeting next week, um, it would be prudent on the part of the board for us to um, make a direction or a motion that those uh, let's see, there's about uh, 10 policies alone for ed committee that we need to assign to them. They need to start their work this month. If if we don't do this this evening, then our next full board until October, you see how we've already lost a meeting in this new year. Um >> there's other committees

127affected too, right? >> There there is there's two for facility, there's one for personnel, um and then there's about five that would be um directed to our student services department and central office. Um >> George, >> yeah, go ahead. >> So, the ed committee is discussing um those policies and potential change relative to the 306 rules, relative to graduation um next week. and Cindy and I are meeting Thursday to for an hour to talk about and give an overview uh write up an overview that will be presented to the ED committee next week. >> Do you have all 10 of them though? >> Yes, we have I think we have eight that we've discussed. >> Yeah, we need to get you the full list. >> Yeah, because we're uh meeting Thursday. So, if you have

128that full list um because we're going to have a little little narrative for each one of those to present to ED committee next week. Still with that said, as I've understood it, you know, normally >> well, policies normally start in the policy committee and they redirect, right? But meets after ED committ, >> right? So, but that's not actually um Rob and I looked that up the other day and uh discovered that what we really have to do is this is, you know, super legislative, but we have to review the policies on policies. And if you don't enjoy that, you don't belong in policy committee. Um, but the upshot is um I have the authority to do what I'm about to do as chair of the board, which is direct all of those relevant policies to

129the relevant committees. Um, and Rob, if you can just make sure that they all get >> it right now. >> All right. Make sure uh facilities and personnel get theirs, too. >> And student services. >> And well, he's already done that basically. All right. Any other new business? Thanks, guys. You were supposed to cover that during policy and did not. >> It's actually not really an item of business, just an announcement and an awareness. Um, Ben along with a couple of others are going to the state board of education meeting tomorrow morning to present the work that we did on a portrait of an educator. Just wanted you to be aware of that, that they'll be doing that, representing our district. Many districts have a portrait of a teacher. Um, to our best knowledge, we're

130the only one that has a portrait of an educator that included all of our employee groups as we were developing this. So, it's one of a kind and they're going to be presenting at the state board of education tomorrow morning. So, you are aware of that. >> Very cool. And that is actually frustratingly one of the questions that I have received as board chair is people have seen that we're working on a portrait of a student or a graduate and snarkily people have come back and said well what about the portrait of a teacher and that also is in the strategic plan and is also something that we have been working on but if you're only looking for a gotcha you probably don't know that. Um, so anyway, good work in pulling this together. Um,

131and I'm glad it's going to get some wider recognition. Any other business before the board? Can I have a motion to go into non-public session in accordance with RSA 913 for I have no idea. Staff, student, and negotiations, I think. >> So moved. Second, >> Jennifer. Roll call, please. >> Yes. Yes. >> Roberts. >> Yes. All right. We will uh that concludes tonight's public board meeting. We will recess for uh five minutes and we convene in the back room for a non-public session. Thank you everyone and thank you to viewers at home and thank you to Jen for recording our sparkling conversations.