001to the meeting of the Londereerry School Board to be held on January 27th, 2026 in the cafe at Londereerry High School, 295 Mammoth Road, Londereerry, New Hampshire at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will also be broadcast on local cable access channel 8 as well as the District YouTube [music] channel. Could we please rise for the pledge of allegiance, please? >> I aliance 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. >> We've got a few retirements tonight. Uh we'll start with Kristen, please. Miss Kristen Brooks, a seventh grade geography teacher and member of the hurricane team, will retire at the end of this school year. She began her career as a sixth grade learning
002disability specialist on the monsoon team when sixth grade first became part of London Middle School. In 2000, Kristen transitioned to a sixth grade English teacher. But in 2002, she decided to leave the classroom to stay home and raise her two children. Four years later, she returned to fill in for a teacher on maternity leave in the spring of 2006 and subsequently took on a full-time social studies teaching role that fall. Throughout her time at LMS, Kristen has served in various capacities teaching English, social studies, and geography. As she moves on to the next chapter of her life, she will be greatly missed, especially by those who have formed close bonds with her during her tenure. One of her closest friends on staff expressed, "Kristen is like a sister to me. She has worn many hats
003throughout her career, and she has done so with the utmost professionalism. Her passion for teaching and her subject matter is unmatched, and she will be fondly remembered by all. On behalf of Londere School District, we wish Kristen the very best in her retirement, surrounded by family and friends. She's been a tremendous a asset to both the families and the community of London throughout her time as a teacher at the middle school. >> Thank you, Kevin. And Kevin's up next. >> It is with great admiration that we congratulate Mr. Kevin Kunisnney as he heads into a well-earned retirement from London High School. Known affectionately by LHS students as Mr. K. He is wrapping up an impressive 37-year career in education and his impact on Lancer Nation cannot be overstated. Throughout his time at LHS, Mr. K's
004passion for engineering inspired by many student passion for engineering inspired by many students. His classroom became a place where a creativity flourished and hundreds of his students were so influenced by his teaching that they continued to study engineering in college. His ability to spark curiosity and build confidence has left a lasting imprint on our school community. Outside the classroom, Kevin's love for the outdoors, whether hiking or biking, reflects the energy and enthusiasm he brought to his work each day. As he retires, we know the great outdoors is calling his name. Thank you, Mr. K. You will be missed. >> Thank you, Sarah. And Cheryl, please. >> Cheryl Rich joined the business department as finance director in 2022. As always, her timing was impeccable since we were in need of a seasoned school finance expert. Her
005experience helped guide us through organizational changes and was valuable asset to the school district for the duration of her time with us. From the get-go, Cheryl wowed us with her financial knowledge. She jumped right into the role and her professionalism and attention to detail was clear. She made sure we were wellprepared for our audits, that all records were clear and accurate, and that all of our accounts were reconciled. She was an excellent resource for all departments to ask questions and she worked to make sure employees knew financial processes. She was often the first to arrive to work and the last to leave. Though we wish we could have had more time with Cheryl, the time has come for her to retire and enjoy her next chapter. Life in the sun, vacations to Aruba in Ireland,
006and most importantly, many, many craft projects to complete without worrying about school budgets. Thank you, Cheryl, for coming to London when we needed you the most. and congratulations on your well-deserved retirement. >> Thank you, Tim. And thank you to all you retirees. Moving on, we'll jump down. Upcoming meetings on February 6, 2026 will be the deliberative session right here in the cafe at 7 p.m. On February 17, 2026 [music] will be a regular schoolboard meeting here in the cafe at 7 p.m. Uh, could I get a motion to approve the consent agenda, please? >> So moved. Motion by Sarah, >> Second by Amanda. All those in favor? >> I 50. >> And public comment. I'll open public comment. [clears throat] >> And a one visitor. >> Name and address, please. >> All right. I don't
007know who's taking minutes. Christina Shamater, 15 Preserve Drive. First off, thank you guys for everything you do. Um I know budget season's bad. I didn't show up, but I'm sure you did a great job. I think you guys work well together. So, I wish you, Tim, and Bob, all the best in this election because I do think as a board, you guys are you you're up there in this town. We'll just say that. Okay. So, why I'm here, I'm here for the AED policy. As some of you know, it's near and dear to my heart. as a few years ago, we needed an AED at a lacrosse um practice for one of our coaches and he is still here today because of that AED. So, it was brought to my attention that you guys recently
008reviewed and revised this and I apologize for not catching it then. Um I didn't notice it, but I just have a couple questions on the new policy which I don't think you can answer but at least take it back and review. Um the first is on the first part of it is the location of AEDs. So it says the superintendent works with the principal uh the building principal sorry in school nurse to select all the locations. I was just curious if you consult with other experts and no disrespect to say a principal or um Mr. Black but I I just don't think those are their specialty as it shouldn't be. So, you know, do you discuss with a fire department as well as, you know, paramedics or or people where this is kind of their
009thing just like school security to make sure that we have those effectively placed throughout our school. Seconds matter when any a cardiac arrest event occurs. So, if we don't have them appropriately placed, we should probably get them there. So, just a just more a question on if that hasn't been done, we should probably have that evaluated. And I would imagine the people across the street would really be willing to help. My next thing is the authorized employees training of users. Um it a question of how many people in the buildings are trained to use those? What's the ratio to people within the building? And is training offered to everybody? I can speak for my now 12th grader. She has been trained in them since she was a freshman. She got in health class and now
010she goes over to Alurn where they have retrained them every year. So, I know students are trained depending on what they take, which is fantastic in the high school, but how does that work in all the other schools for personnel? Um, and the wording changed on this, and I'm going to be honest, it's not good. So, it states, "Aeds will only be administered by those employees designated by the principal in consultation with the school nurse. Employees will only be authorized after they have received successfully received and completed appropriate training in CPR and AED use provided by the school nurse or his or her designate or from another source acceptable to the school nurse. My issue with that is if you look at the old policy it has a another line. It's important to note that
011AEDs can be utilized by any individual to save a life of a cardiac arrest victim. So, it was changed to say only certain people that work here can do it. What if the nurse isn't here? What if the principal isn't here? What if the person having the emergency is the one that's trained nearby? Back to seconds matter. It shouldn't matter. They I don't know who has been trained on these. It is blatantly obvious what you need to do. They're made so that they tell you what to do and this is what will save somebody's life. So, I really, really, really would love if you guys could change that to be we would prefer somebody trained, but when that person's not around, don't don't put staff in a position to choose their job or somebody's life.
012I'll say what I said to um Mr. Celitus when I requested that an AED go to West Road. He said it would be $40,000 warrant article. And I said, "You can't put a price tag on life." and he called me back two minutes later and said the fire department has an extra one. It'll be going up shortly. So, let's remember that. Um, then I'm at that age where I can't read. And then it says AEDs will be maintained by the school nurse or the designate. I did go out and look at the AED out there and it does have like a company. I just want to make sure that they we our nurses are absolutely amazing. I haven't come across one that doesn't care so much in this district. So adding more responsibility to them
013concerns me at times, but just want to make sure that they're maintained by an outside company um because we shouldn't be maintaining AEDs. There's services for that. Lastly, I've asked this before and I'm back. Is there a public listing of where all the AEDs are? I don't think we need a map, right? There are security issues with that, but North School has one at the entrance and they have one by the gym. I don't know where they are, but just something. It would be great in the high school if you shared that with the students. I asked my student trained in it today and she said, "I have no idea where the AEDs are in school." She should know. She's old enough. Put it part of your active shooter training. Um, but it would be
014really helpful to have on like the main doors, maybe the gym door, the back door, the doors used often, just a list AED in the front lobby, AED by the gym, back to the minutes matter. If you've ever needed one or your family member has, you'll know why. Um, and then lastly on them, I'm asking if I don't know if anybody follows Dr. Beach Jim on Instagram, which I know it's social media, but she is a emergency room pediatric doctor. She recently shared, and I'll send it to anybody if they want it, a post about youth sports in girls and how you just never know when a cardiac incident could happen. um and how girls tend more to have severe repercussions from AEDs because they have to be on the tissue, which means you're taking
015everything from the waist up, cutting it off of a female. Um and she recommended having a towel, a blanket, a sheet, whatever to to have with your AED so you can block sporting events usually have more people. You don't want I mean EMT or paramedic are going to cut off and not think twice. A coach, a mom may may think twice about it. Um I don't think inside ones necessarily need them. You can clear rooms so you can respect females, but on a field it's harder. if I can donate or the school can buy them king-size sheets to just throw in the AED doesn't even necessarily might not be grabbed every time, but if the people know they're there, I just think we need a little bit more awareness of where these are. Make sure
016we have them appropriately placed. I know there was one in the gym that doesn't help me over on the Mat Matthew Thornon field when that gym's locked. Like, should we put one outside on the building in the gym? Maybe there is one. I don't know. But, so there's my 4 million AED requests. But I don't think you can answer any of them right now. >> Yeah. >> My biggest one is change it so anybody can use it and not just who we say please. >> And let me know if you want me to buy some blankets. >> Thank you Christina. >> Thanks. >> We'll get you all those answers. >> I have them all written down. >> We can do some of them now. >> You want? >> Yeah. I mean I mean I'll >>
017um in terms of the ad placement um I don't know you know where where that came from. We can look into that, you know, but >> I what I've seen from, you know, our emergency response committee over the years is there's always a strong coordination across the street. So, that's one we can look into. >> I I I would agree with you. I think everyone who knows in the building, it's a very easy tool to use and it's meant for everyone to use it, you know, so I think everyone understands that. Um, and I think where that language change came from is just more of a liability concern. Um, but, you know, we can look into that. Yeah, this was brought to me by a staff member afraid to speak up. So, I'm here because
018>> who maintains them? So, we we definitely contract with the company to come in and make sure that they're certified and and work every year. So, we've done that. >> I've seen multiple maps, but I have to double check every single >> school maps, but I don't think we have a one. >> I would love one like a sticker on the door. You know, we've printed stuff from the kindergarten. I I know it's like AED in the building, but put lobby gym. >> Very simple. >> Back door by the band. I don't know. >> Yeah. I mean, every school has some sort of map, but I don't I don't know on the ad where map is, you know, every school. Yeah. I mean, I know for South School like they have their school map and
019it's right on and I know it from North School. I I got we got to look at the bigger buildings and kind of figure that out. >> We could do a document. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Something. >> Cool. >> Yeah. And I know we had the fire department at one point when we looked into putting them and I think you were part of it, Christina, once we did West Road. They went around our athletic fields and placed them in certain areas outside, but >> we can do a full-blown >> Yeah, I I know Alurn has one on every single floor. >> Yeah. >> Just from my daughter going there. Um, so again, nothing wrong with just just how this changed it flagged some questions that I want to make sure we have covered. Let
020me know if you want me to donate some king sheets from Walmart. I'll gladly do that. >> Yeah. And with regard to the um Christina [clears throat] brought this up to my attention, the italicized line that was stricken from the new policy when we revised it in November. Um I know from a I know what you're saying from a liability standpoint, but I also certainly don't want it to be the impression of any employees at the district that should an emergency arise and there's no one else around that they're not that there would be risking their job. Yeah. Yeah, >> rather than using that because I mean even looking through the New Hampshire RSAs that's >> they're given >> that um >> flexibility to be able to use that emergency situation and be protected from
021>> No, we have a very high percentage of staff that are trained in CPR >> and that just that kind of covers covers that. >> I just mean anyone like Yeah, anyone can use those if there's no other option and someone's in cardiac arrest. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Great. >> Thank you. Seeing that there's nobody else in the audience, we'll move on to committee reports. Our student representatives couldn't be here this evening. Uh school board leaison, anything from >> Yep. And I'm ready to go today. >> Correct. >> Um so there is um I mentioned before a DPW plow truck ride along uh raffle and that's going on right now. It's being sponsored by the PCA. Um, and tickets are available through February 6. Um, the other thing is that Mousell staff just would really
022like to thank the PTA uh for providing them a January chili lunch. It was very good. >> All right, that's all. Sarah, anything? >> Yeah, I got a few things um for the high school. Tomorrow is the CTE open house at Alurn, 5:30 to 7:30. On February 3rd is the next PTO meeting at 5:00 at LHS. 213. February 13th is wear red day to support cadenial heart defect awareness. All donations will go um to support that. The LHS drama club will be performing Once Upon a Mattress February 12th through the 14th. We have On the Spot Admissions Day coming up on February 18th. And we have Bring Back the Trade Skills Expo coming back again. That'll be on April 18th from 9 to 2. Thank you, sir. >> Yeah, I've got one from Matthew Thornton
023here. A few things. Uh, so PTA uh is happy to announce that they have the new comet spinner installed on the playground for the students and they are loving it so far. They've uh shared a video on the Matthew Thornton Facebook page if anybody wants to check it out. Uh the new swing set they have over there is almost ready to be used. Uh they wanted to say special thanks to Joe Parzik and the buildings and grounds team for all they've done for them. Uh tomorrow they're hosting their second school store of the year for the students. Um shared a lot of new items for the students to purchase and they are trying out a new format in the computer lab during recess as opposed to having students stop or shop during lunch. Uh in
024February, they're looking forward to treating the staff to some surprises on National Book Giving Day, and they'll be hosting their third popcorn day of the year for students. Uh lastly, they'll have new t-shirt designs announced soon to raise school spirits. >> Thank you, Tim. >> Uh from North School, the there is continued love of the new playground equipment. So, that was one that was one point that was brought up. Um a few up few newer things. The my VIP and me which is a daughter dance coming up will be um coming up in the next little over a month from now. And uh this year instead of doing a booster run they're pivoting to a fundraiser through the Harlem Wizards uh which will take place in March. >> Thank you Kev. And on my end,
025I'd just like to uh wrap up with um we finished up all our budget meetings um over the last month and a half with with our administration um doing a great job and I commend the budget committee uh for their time and efforts to to go through things with us and as well as the town um to be in a joint venture with them for the district office project. Um there there's a lot of things happening on the school and town side and I I just hope people um get out there and get informed, ask questions and try to support what's right, you know, on the ballot and that and ask any questions if they have any concerns. But I want to thank the board for all their time and uh all our staff in
026and out of the buildings. Um well done. Nice job with the budget and that. So, I've heard a lot of good compliments um on where we're at and what we've done and and then the full day kindergarten opportunity, which we're going to discuss a little bit later, being able to save some tax dollars this year, uh and implement that. And then the district office project teamed up with the town and using fund balance to save, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest fees. So, um it's it's been a lot of work um and that, but we're at that we're at that last hurdle with the deliberative next Friday and then uh we'll wait for the vote on uh March 10th. But, uh anyone with any questions out there at home, please reach out
027to any board member uh district office uh with any questions, please. Thank you. All right, move into announcements and presentations. 6.1. Filing period for candidates, Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 through Friday, January 30th, 2026. There are two schoolboard members, three-year terms. To file, please contact Amyfine, school district clerk, at afine londereerry.org, or call or text 603339 6872. Amy will be at the district office on Friday, January 30th, 2026 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm for the purpose of final filing. And we'll jump into 6.2 uh schoolboard candidates forum with Londereerry Education Association on February 11th, 2026 at LHS. >> Yep. A similar format to what we've had the last couple years. All candidates that are running are welcome and um I I think we I think uh the LA would kind of keep what they've been doing
028where they every candidate kind of gets the questions and it's it's an open forum for them to kind of share where they're at. >> Great. Thanks, Jim. >> And 6.3 director of student services finalist parent and community forum. >> Yes, I I was hoping to solidify the exact time. I I had not done that. Um but I do have the date and then I'll we'll blog out once we have the exact time. But um we are letting the London day community know that next Monday uh uh Monday night either at 5:00 pm or 6 p.m. probably in the middle school library or the Matthew Thornton Library. A little bit more intimate than this. It's it's kind of a big space. Um if there are any parents or community members or schoolboard members that want to
029meet a potential candidate for our new director of student services, we'd welcome you to come to kind of get to know them, ask questions, and kind of learn about them and learn about their vision for the job. >> Great. Thank you, Dan. >> And 6.4 4 the three house model in Lancer Academy at LHS for 2627 school year. >> Yes, we put a little graphic in the in the board packet. U basically, you know, it was an ongoing discussion for the last couple months and Mr. Barnes and the whole leadership team kind of really analyzed it um in depth and they've decided to make a big structural change next year. Um they're going to move to a three-house model. um and you know kind of traditionally how we've run things uh to kind of react
030to lower enrollment but at the same time we're going to start something new called Lancer Academy which will be a place where we kind of house our career connected learning but also start to take over um our our locally controlled 20 credit diploma. That's that's what you know adult ed will kind of transition into. Um there's a lot of exciting work going on there. The whole leadership team is excited. I got to join Mr. Barnes when he announced it to his staff a couple weeks ago. So, I think we're in a good place and I think we just want to make that public because I know we talked about it on and off over the budget season. So, I figured we'll just make it clear and they've emailed all the parents and the staff and
031full steam ahead. >> Thank you, Dan. I know everybody's uh pretty excited for this to see this program grow. So, I think it'll be a significant change to the high school and a lot more opportunity for our students. So, appreciate it. >> All right. and 6.5 bring back the trades event on April 18th, 2026 at the LH gym 9:00 am to 2 pm. >> So, this is a a flyer we're start pushing out everywhere and and also with other local schools. I think the the first iteration of [clears throat] this last year was very successful um even though the timing was hard. Um so, we're very excited to bring this back again uh at the high school and really push this out and really hopefully continue to build on last year's success. You'll see this
032a lot on our social media over the next couple months to try and get as many businesses and students involved as possible. Awesome. >> Thank you, Dan. All right, we'll move into uh deliberations and we're back to our uh four or five policies that we uh started on back in November. And we'll start with 7.1, the second reading to adopt policy K public complaints >> to kind of dust off the cobwebs here. Um >> exactly. But I I think where K is at is it tried to combine comments from the school board, uh the old policy and a new recommended policy, you know, and I think the the only major guidelines here is we're trying to make sure uh we're cog we're cognizant of 91A um and and just have the right language to make
033sure we describe if public complaints come in. I mean, for example, uh Mrs. Drebeck and I got one last week. uh we we figured it out in a couple days, got right back to that person. I don't know if they got to you guys first, but if they did, it was great because it, you know, that's how things should kind of happen and we solve problems. We get back to people and hopefully uh rest assured that that we look into anything that comes our way. So, we can definitely uh continue to work around the language here, but we'll see where you guys are at. >> Anybody have anything on this policy? >> Uh I will say I I appreciate the changes you made. That's right in line with what I was looking for. >> Cool.
034Okay. And and just so people know out there at home is, you know, this this is on complaints. We do have a process. And so if you go to policy K uh and you approach one of us, one of the school board, you know, we try to guide you to what the process is and we go through that because we need to stay impartial. We need to be the last resort. So we need to let our people do their job and let it get to us if need be. But hopefully we can get resolution to any complaints of that. So we just want people to know that's what this policy is all about. So >> yeah, it's by no means uh is meant to stifle people's ability to come to us on an individual basis
035if they're if that's what makes them comfortable. >> That's correct. >> Um it's really just most importantly to be as efficient as possible in getting to the root of the problem before it has to rise and escalate to our level. >> Any other discussion on this? I'll just add to that that I think it's important to for that reason that you just said, Tim, to allow relationships and trust to be established and continued with the people that the kids are actually going to be around. It's not to say that we're not there. We are, but um just being in that in a role in a school myself um you know, allowing that building administrator to handle it or the teacher is that those are the kids that you're your the people that your kids are
036going to be around. Um and you know we we want there to be trust there and um positive working relationships and if we're just going to you know walk in u to situations it's it's not going to be helpful. We don't have the context all the time. Um so I think it's a really important line to draw that we're here but we want um things to go through their proper channels and allow people to be able to do what they're trained in and do their jobs. It's important. >> Anything else? Good. So with [music] that, I will look for a motion to approve the second reading to adopt policy K public complaints, please. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Tim. All those in favor? >> I 5. >> 7.2 second reading
037to resend policy KL, public complaints. This is what we're replacing with uh K. Any discussion on that? Seeing none, I'll look for a motion to approve the second reading to resend policy KL. Public complaints, please. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Kevin. All those in favor? >> I I 50. [clears throat] >> 7.3 second reading to adopt policy kev public complaints about school personnel, employees, students, or administration. >> Yes. So, this is this is just a a continuation uh with a little bit more guard rails. I mean, because in the end, um as the school board knows, you guys could be part of a disciplinary hearing with staff or or ultimately decide on their contract status. So, this just kind of sets up an impartial way to kind of deal with
038those things along the way [music] um if they do come in. So, you know, def definitely more language here, but I mean, we could definitely look at it some more and and figure out what works. >> Any discussion? Uh, I think just in case the general public doesn't know the nuances of this versus public uh, complaints, I'd say this is even that much more important that we stay neutral because of what you just said, Dan. Um, because people probably aren't aware of what we have to go through if something has to be adjudicated. We have to stay impartial to make our judgment. So if we're notified, the less involvement we have, the better to come to a judicious result. >> Good. >> I agree. Y >> and then all just goes to our part our
039employees being able to do what they're supposed to do and leave us um impartial to any decision that may come our way. So good good points. No other discussion. All right. I look for a motion to approve the second reading to adopt policy KB public complaints about school personnel employees, students or administration. Please >> so moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Amanda. All those in favor? >> I I 5. >> 7.4 second reading to adopt policy BH public comment and participation at board meetings. Dan. >> Yeah. I I don't remember how much we discussed this one in the past, but I think we tried to steer clear of any uh uh free speech issues with with some minor updates, but we could definitely continue to work on this one, too. >> I think
040aid's supposed to say defamatory statements are not encouraged meeting. So that was that's probably the only mistake I see. But I think we tried to stay away from free speech concerns that was in the original New Hampshire School Board Association document, but we can we can definitely take the time to kind of scour this and and make updates. >> Yeah, I had some concerns in seven and um area just just kind of the way it's worded. So if we could just make sure we've got this covered. Um I like the change on eight to your point. um are not encouraged at public meeting. Um but yes, I don't want to infringe on anyone's first amendment. Um and I know we're we're trying to there there's a way to if you have a issue with an
041employee to bring it to you >> um or the board so we can direct them to where they would go um and that rather than at the mic. But um we we want to make sure we're still giving our community members their their freedom of speech. Any other input on this one at this time? >> No, I thank you for striking out the two pieces you did, including the shouting at any time like we discussed. People get >> heated. They're allowed to get heated in a meeting. >> Do we want to include a comment somewhere? Um, you know, no policy the school board would um supersede free speech or something like that. You know, just >> I'd like to get something in there. Yeah. that would not infringe on their free free uh free speech.
042Um it would just be nice to have it there. That would be great. >> So, we can work on that and come back the next time if you guys want to. >> Yeah, let's leave the second um um for some minor adjustments. So, we'll skip over 7.4, four. Bring that back on the 17th and we'll jump to 7.5. Um, well, let's leave that one too because I don't want to change that. That's rescending the old one. So, we'll leave 7.4 and 7.5 >> and move that to the next meeting. And, uh, that finishes up policies for this evening. Um, 7.6 teacher substitute pay rate. M. Dick. Come on out. >> Good evening. U so there's a [music] memo in your packet about um a couple issues having to do with our sub substitute rates. It
043addresses both daily subs. Those are the folks who kind of come and go on a daily basis when needed that we keep, you know, ready to go when we need them. And then long-term subs, which I'm defining as those that [music] are um subbing for us more than 21 days. Usually it's to cover a teacher maternity leave, paternity leave, other long-term absence. So, first with regard to daily subs, as you might imagine, it's difficult to find them and to keep them. Our current uh pay rate for daily subs is $12.86 an hour, which is about $84 a day. You have in your packet in that memo a table of some um comparable daily sub rates across [music] uh local districts. We are definitely the lowest. Um we've also been told anecdotally when we've got someone
044interested in subbing for us, they find out that they can make much more in another local district. So, we're losing out and it's difficult to cover those needs. So, we would propose raising that rate uh to $16.15 cents an hour, which is $105 [music] a day based on a 6 and a half hour teacher day. At the same time, we would propose establishing a long-term per day rate, a perdem sub rate for the long-term subs. Um, right now we are paying them based on where they would fall on our teacher scale based on both experience and education. Um, and that can cost quite a bit particularly when you have retirees who come back and we love our retirees but it does cost the district quite a bit of money. Um, we are not it is
045not the norm to do that to to pay them what they would be on the teacher scale. rather most districts have established a long-term sub rate which is the equivalent of a step one teacher daily pdium. So that's what we're proposing to [music] do by raising the daily sub rate. We would of course likely incur more costs, right? Um, but by lowering the long-term sub rate, we think it would be budget neutral. And of course, depending on need, because you can't predict how many long-term subs you're going to need or for how long since it's based on leaves, you know, as they come up, um, we could either be budget neutral or perhaps even save money. [snorts] >> So, budget-wise, we'd be able to >> Yeah. to to change it at this point of mid
046year. >> Yeah. for for the reason that she says >> because of the bud budget neutral in that >> capping the long term. >> Yep. It's similar to what we've done in other collective bargaining contracts. Even though this is not part of it. Yeah. >> By kind of capping the top here, we'll be saving money that we can spend lower. And it's it it's an improvement. It's still not up with with a lot of our districts. you know, we're we're close, but we're right we're a lot better a lot closer than you know, hopefully we'll get some more, >> right? >> You know, personnel coming here rather than going to another district. So, >> right. >> Any any questions? >> I just want to say subbing is so hard. >> It's already hard to have
047good classroom management and [music] it the kids automatically test the teachers when they come in. >> Yep. And I it's already hard, never mind paying them a rate that they could get pretty much in any other job. I I would agree that >> this is a starting point. Um, and that if >> I would almost want to look at maybe next year looking at upping it again if we can do it in our budget >> to 115 120 more reasonably priced for a whole day, you know, because >> and what what do we consider long term again? >> 21 days or more? >> 21 days. Okay, that's my job. >> I think to circle back to like when you have a sub that can't sub well or effectively, like that's missing [music] instructional curriculum time.
048>> So like you might pay a little more for a long-term sub and have them act >> access a person [music] who's trained versus >> give like you know, >> right, >> giving them meaningful things to do or having, I don't know, having it be distraction reduced and all of all of those things. >> Yeah. Which is why when we have FMLA leaves that last a long time, our retirees are great, right? Because the kids already know them. They know how to teach. They set those they establish those routines right away and things could usually go very well, >> right? >> So in the instances where those retirees come in to fill those long-term slots. Um they would now receive the long-term rate that we established rather than reverting to what the salary that they
049>> makes. Do you think this would deter some people who are subbing to retirees? >> It could, but at the same time though, they're, you know, they're they're collecting a pension. That's still pretty good for a day's work, you know, like and you know, I think our principles do an excellent job kind of >> breeding loyalty >> to and people will come back and help when they were in a pinch. >> But it could it definitely could. >> Yeah. I think I I brought it up to Lisa last week actually, just completely coincidental. I had a client that came in that had been a substitute in the district and she specifically left because she said 1286 an hour is just not worth it. >> Yeah, >> I know. >> So, that was a week and
050a half ago. >> Yeah. >> So, yeah, they've got to be more competitive because in the end, this is the this is what's training or educating our [music] kids. So if you have people that are coming in at 1286 an hour and they're more apt to just throw a video on or something for them to watch instead of giving them actual instruction, it's worth the pay. >> If if we were to go forward with this, but could we look at possibly going a little higher and see what the budget looks like? >> Sure. >> Run some numbers before the 17th. >> The only thing is it then gets into disrupting the ecosystem of other hourly positions that we have too. So you just want to be careful. Yeah, but if we can get it to
051that point where we're okay and it helps us even more because what are we going to wait another year to talk about it because we're already got our budget's already in process. I'm looking at the fund balance the report you're going to give to us later on so we're okay there. Um but I'm just wondering if we can go up just a little more. If you could run some numbers on that to increase it a little more if there's an opportunity now rather than wait a year from now. Are you saying that for like support staff that they might be more apt to >> or cafeteria workers, you know? So, it's like you brought me here to pay >> food service. >> Yeah. >> Yes. So, like doing it slowly and incrementally might >> Well,
052we just got to look at all the numbers and where you're at, right? You know, that's all. >> Yeah. Just lay it out and see where we're at. >> That makes sense. I mean, I think this is a good start to your point in that, but if we could look at it to be where it works and we can attract more, >> can we start here tomorrow and then come back on the 17th? >> Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'd like to move this forward. Okay. Um, if everybody's good. >> At least this way we're competing with our neighbor. >> Yes, absolutely. >> Yes. Yes. >> But if we just let it sit, you know, it's going to be another year or two and then what are we going to wait for districts to
053go up higher and then chase them again? and I want to get ahead of the curve. >> So, could I make one suggestion just for purposes of logistics? [music] It may be better to hold on making any changes to the daily sub rate until you decide on a final rate so that we're not changing everybody's pay rates and [music] then changing everybody's pay rates again in the system. Um because it it does take some logistical work to accomplish that. Okay. >> So, you know, it's up to you if you'd prefer to do that. We can do that. But it if we're going to change them a couple weeks later again, I'd rather not do that. >> That makes sense. >> Point. >> Yep. Okay. >> Just wait till 17th. Okay. >> Does that make sense?
054And we'll see what we can do. >> Sure. >> Can we move? >> Would you like to move forward on the long-term sub? >> Yeah, we can definitely do I'll make a motion on that. Sure. Um, I'll look for a motion to approve the uh long-term sub rate uh at 263.44 [music] per day or 40.53 per hour, please. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Tim. All those in favor? >> I I 50. >> Thank you, Lisa. Appreciate it. All right. 8.1 second quarter financial report. >> Yes. So, we we are halfway through the year officially. Um we are in pretty good shape right [music] now. Um but if everyone hasn't noticed, our winter started earlier and we have gotten more snowfall and frigid temperatures than we have over uh the past
055few years. Um so you know between cleanup overtime increased heat [clears throat] um we'll see the effects of that in quarter three we're sure. Um in addition um keeping an eye on our roofs all of the things that that come when you have a tough winter. Right now our revenues are above about 310,000. Bulk of this is due to two things. Uh one is we got more special ed aid than we expected. We were alerted at when we set the tax rate that this probably would happen. Um so that's great. And then we continue to earn interest on some of our accounts as we go through. So that's where most of that is coming from. Right now our expenditures are are running below with a conservative estimate of about 700,000 to a million. A lot
056of this is related to staff turnover and related savings and benefits. Um with that and then we are still awaiting confirmation of what our retirement numbers look like for this school year. Um, looking at trends, we are conservatively projecting an increase to the general fund at the end of the year in the range of $900 to a million dollars, but we've already budgeted budgeted to use the first $300,000 uh to finance several of the capital reserves on the warrant, the buildings and grounds, equipment capital reserve, the machinery and vehicles, and the establishment of um a health employee benefits capital reserve. So that would leave about $700,000 that we [music] we could have for projected fund balance. Um table one you can see uh the balances of our capital reserves as of December 31st. That is
057with the money that was put in them in July. We have not taken out any for the expenses for this year. We'll come back to you guys in the spring to have that happen. Table two shows where specifically the revenues are at. Um and they were updated after we set the tax rate with the DRA. So those are up to date there. Um again looking at the expenditures um we we feel the impacts most of the excess we have right now are because of the retirements we had in fiscal year 25. We had over 16 retirements. That's pretty high. Um so then you see related savings and salaries and benefits. So you can see the the most of that is $1.7 million in the professional uh support staff and the custodial. Um we are offsetting
058that with some contracted services, especially in assistant positions um that weren't filled. So you'll see some of those are are overrun. Right now we have an open balance of about $280,000 on uh substitutes, but we know we have a lot of them that come in at the spring. So we are anticipating that we would overrun that budget by about $100,000. Um we just talked about the pay rate, so we'll see how that could impact anything that we've spent. Most of our employee benefits are coming in under around 680,000. That um does not encount that the health insurance we're over um by quite a bit of money. That's sitting as an incumbrance right now in the general fund because we have to wait and kind of see where we're at when we get closer to when
059we have to pay the rest of our assessment [music] to school care. Um but those are there purchase services. Um in addition to the support staff, we also have contracted nurses and psych services um that are over about by about 220,000. Um and then increased legal costs that we've seen. Office of the Superintendent is overrun by about $95,000 due to engineering and architectural work in strategic planning for the district office and some of the other projects that we have. buildings and grounds is about $100,000 in repairs and maintenance overages. Various things account for this. Um, a hot water replacement at Moose Hill, various roof repairs districtwide, dor and drain work at the middle school, and a generator and wave detector work at LHS. It is at an overrun of about $55,000. We are getting killed
060by software companies that just keep rising their costs. not like just in midyear or you know what they quote us at budget season is very different what they send the bill in July. So that's that's what we're seeing there. Um and then you can see just another way of of rolling up the budget um and the different amounts that are there. So you can see that the salary accounts and related benefits um and New Hampshire retirement are where we're having our overages. And then table four highlights where we're running over currently with where where we're at. Um and then finally, dining services. Um we ended last fiscal year with a fund balance of about $277,000. That um was really still working off money that we were re reimbursed during COVID. We've spent it down through
061different purchases. Um at one point it was over $600,000, but we've used that money. Um, right now we are looking at a loss of just this year's with $112,000, but that would still leave money um in the fund balance to cover that. We're still looking for ways to collect back outstanding student debts um with the delinquent lunch accounts um as well as getting kids really interested in in [music] buying things from the the cafeterias throughout. So, we're working on that stuff and that's that's where we're at. I think um again if we can get winter to end a little early, we'll be in much better shape for quarter three. >> Any questions for AMD? >> No, looks good. Thank you for that detailed breakdown and uh let's hope mother nature lets lets up a little
062bit on us here and uh spring's six weeks away. So >> you're praying on >> Thank you, AMD. >> Yep. >> All right. 8.2 information sharing on article 3 full day kindergarten article 7 district office project. Mr. Black. >> Yeah. Now that we're uh you know past the public hearing on deliberative session, we're doing our normal things we normally do uh to kind of get as much information out the community as possible uh so they can kind of uh make informed choices. Um so I just released my winter newsletter today. I'm sure there's millions of downloads for that YouTube video and there'll be three more coming the next three days too. Um, but we did make uh two new separate websites just for article three and article 7 so that we can have a good
063dialogue with the community. Um, and we're releasing the infographics. I haven't showing the district office one. Um, and we'll start pushing that out uh through our social media as well. Basically, our social media kind kind of is the echo of everything else we do. So, you'll see us blog it uh then we'll echo it on social media and then, you know, when questions come up and they come to the school board, let us know. so we can kind of constantly update this information so they have all the information they need. Uh for example, at the round table last week, there's a lot of questions around space. We just completed the new infographics on space today. We'll get them up on the website soon so everyone can kind of see how space is being used in
064the three buildings. Um you know, those are the type of things we're looking to do over the next six weeks just to make sure all the voters have all the information they need. I don't know if there's any uh you know any any points or things uh the school board thinks we need to hit uh over the next six weeks. Um >> what's going to what like what are we doing with those infographics? Where are we putting them? >> So we'll blog it. >> Okay. >> We'll social media it. Uh I don't I don't I don't know if there's a group of people that would distribute them for the district office, but I think there are people that want to distribute them for kindergarten. um you know, but but you know, we we told that
065group if if you want copies, we can definitely supply them to you so you can share them with your friends and neighbors or email them out. So, we're just trying to make them as available as possible. And Hammy has one of the space things up uh for South School. >> We have one of those for each of the elementary schools. Um and we're going to put that on the website, too. So, we'll put them in all of our normal spots. So, >> you're going to post it on Facebook. Like, are you going to post this on Facebook, not the link to the blog? >> Yes. Yes. Yes. >> Well, the link to the blog will be there, too, because they automatically go there. But yes, >> it's helpful because then people can screenshot it and
066>> Yes. >> rather than having to click a link, which when people are busy, they're not going to click a link. >> Can we get them into the um over the senior center and places like that as well? >> Sure. >> I think that'd be a good >> place to get that information at senior center maybe. I mean, even local businesses that that that are amendable like OSHA and place like that that have front and center, hey, if you have information, set it out here. >> Definitely. Yeah. Know, I I know there's a number of parents from last week they're interested in doing that. So, that's why so I think we'll see that around table >> and um a lot of good questions came out at the round table last week. Um >> couple of
067good points. I I looked at the website. It looks like you updated it with the district office. There was some questions out there um with Moose Hill if district office was going there. No, this is a complete project by itself. Um Moose Hill will be lead three and four. Um kindergarten will go into the elementary schools for K to 5 and the district office project is a joint venture with the town um totally separate um trying to save our taxpayers. But I I just can't stress enough on on the full day K that the way we were able to do it and um to come in and be able to uh start this and have a negative 12 cents per thousand uh for our taxpayers this year uh and hopefully several years depending on what
068enrollment does in the future because we don't have that crystal ball like we explained to the folks >> and um that was one of the reasons that we brought it forward as a Warren article. So, our our community members support this and um or not knowing what this will benefit them this year and and moving forward. We just don't know. We don't have a crystal ball, but hopefully uh you know, people understand it's significant savings this coming year on the budget. >> Yeah. One of one of the community members reached back out to us. I think we're going to put out a whole separate infographic that tries to explain from what we know now, we're still going to see declining enrollment over the next couple years. Yeah. Because kindergarten coming in is still going to
069be smaller than three, four, and five. >> So because of that, we don't expect costs to go up, right? >> But to your point, do we know what's going to happen in enrollment? We never do. You know, >> we know. We, >> you know, three years ago, we we didn't have enough room. >> Yeah. >> Now we do. >> Changed. >> So to your point, there's a lot of new projects being built. We don't know what the impact is with with children. >> And we don't know how long it's going to take to build out and move in. So that's probably two, three, four years before we see the effects of that. So, um, and please community members, [music] any questions on any one of these projects? Um, they're significant savings to to our community
070for more education and to get out of a long-term lease uh, and get district office back to the center of town. So, please come come with any questions and uh, any board member or the superintendent or business office, please. I've seen a lot of comments online about the revenue from the state and I think it's helpful to I don't obviously you don't want to write a novel when you're doing a post but where that extra money is coming from and the keynote tie in and yep >> I think people are really wondering about that [clears throat] like what this money is just like randomly showing up and that I think if you're not following like we all are >> um it's a valid question like so we're just randomly getting more money and I think
071when you hear about like the why and where it's coming from. It makes sense. >> Um, so be a good video to explain rather than >> Sure. >> showing those real numbers of the adequacy for half day and full day. Good point, >> Amanda. >> And we're trying like every place that we put it, we're trying to say like on the website, please note articles three and seven are no longer related. Um, because I think that is the miscommunication. And unfortunately, we're going to be pushing out both infographics. We're trying to keep them separate, but the more that we can say that they are >> but they are totally separate. >> Totally separate. >> So, all right. Any other questions? Seeing none, that finishes that. Anything new? Anything ke? >> Nothing new. All right. Well,
072this is one of the shortest meetings we've had in many months. So um and that but um with that I will look for a motion to go into non-public session requested under RSA 91A colon 3 section 2B and C please >> so moved >> motion by Sarah >> second by Kevin and I'll ask for a roll call vote from my left to right please I >> Kevin Ray I Porter I Bob Slater I Sarah Laughlin I Amanda Butcher >> good night London