School Board Meeting 11-4-25

001Uh, welcome to the meeting of the London School Board to be held on Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 at 700 p.m. in the cafe at Londereerry High School, 295 Mammoth Road, Londereerry, New Hampshire. The meeting will also be broadcast on local cable access channel 8 as well as the district YouTube channel. Could we please rise for pledge of allegiance, please? >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. We'll jump right into our consent agenda and go down to um we have one retirement Kim Kaponei for director of student services. Um and we'll jump into 3.3. Uh November 25th, 2025 will be a budget presentation right here in the cafe at 7 pm. December 4th, 2025 will be the budget

002workshop right here in the cafe at 7 p.m. And on December 11th, 2025 will be another budget workshop here in the cafe at 7 p.m. And on December 18th, 2025 will be a budget workshop along with the regular schoolboard meeting here in the cafe at 7 p.m. Uh, could I have a motion to approve the consent agenda, please? >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second. Second by Amanda. All those in favor? >> I 5 Z. Thank you. >> Uh jump into public comment. If anyone's here for public comment, come up to the mic and state your name and address, please. This is like Tony Dight. [laughter] There we go. I got it. You would think I'd know how to handle a mic better than that. Uh Kevin Smith, 6 King Phip Drive. Uh

003I'm here tonight. Uh I just wanted to stay for the public comment part because I know there's going to be a presentation in a few minutes on the uh firefighting class that was offered in the high school this year. Uh I'm not here on behalf of my son Tommy who's in that class, but I'm here as his parent. Uh he was supposed to be speaking tonight about it, but the football team's in the playoffs, so now he's at football practice this evening. Um but as a parent, I just wanted to tell you, um I don't think I've ever seen him so excited for a class uh every single day. Um he is not someone who uh likes sitting in a classroom and learning out of a book. He's very hands-on. He likes to learn that

004way. and I can't tell you how much he's had to say about his enjoyment in this class. Um, so hats off to Tony Mack who has done an outstanding job, Miss Sullivan who has been guiding all of the students. Um, thank you to the administrators, to to Rick for uh allowing this to happen. And uh I would only encourage you to have more of these kinds of classes uh in the future because I think as you'll probably hear tonight uh it's been an overwhelming uh success for the students that have uh participated in this. So >> great. >> That's what I wanted to say. Thank you. >> Thank you, Kevin. >> Anyone else? >> Seeing none. No one. I'll close public comment and we'll jump into committee reports and welcome our student representative. Good evening.

005>> Hi, good evening. Um, unfortunately Lex Lexi can't be here, but I still wanted to show up and talk about some of the big student council events coming up. Um, we have our Waterville Valley Student Council leadership conference and that is a statewide conference where all a whole bunch of high school student councils come together and they talk about different leadership techniques and what they do in their schools to promote school spirit and other stuff. Um, the people going are really excited to go. Um, and then we have our teacher teacarts, which is it's my personal favorite event that we do. And it's not next Friday, but the Friday after. It's the 21st. We go around to teachers. It's a teacher uh parent teacher conference day. And we go around and we go to all

006the teachers and we offer them tea, coffee, um, baked goods because they don't want to be there in the morning. Um, but we make it a little bit more enjoyable and we make sure that they have a good day. >> Awesome. >> Um, other than that, I was able, me and Lexi both went to the Prism shows for the Legendary Music Department this past weekend and those were also really nice. So, we just wanted to give those a shout out. >> Awesome. Thank you so much. Appreciate the update. All right, jumping into schoolboard leaison. Man, >> lots going on at Moose Hill. So, um, registration for kindergarten is this month. Uh, there's no school on November 11th for Veterans Day. On the 12th, um, we're going to do or they're going to do Alice drills.

007Um, something should have gone out about that. Um, 20th and 21st, uh, closed for conferences, parent teacher conferences. Um, the 25th we have the Thanksgiving feast for kindergarten. Um, and then of course Thanksgiving break. There's also a book fair from November 10th through November 14th and then the winter community event um on December 5th from 5 to 7. [clears throat] >> Thank you, Amanda. Sarah, >> uh middle school, the next PTO meeting is on November 12th. No school on 11:21 as we managed with the parent teacher conferences. The conferences are on the 20th and 21st. Um, parents should have received a link via email to sign up for the conferences. Um, we have the ski program at Pat's Peak uh coming up. Again, parents should have received an email on how to sign up for

008that. And on December 20th, we will be having the music concerts um in the gym. For the high school, same thing. We have conferences coming up on the 20th and 21st. Uh, senior awards night and graduation dates have been posted. The awards nights will be June 10th. Graduation ceremony is on June 12th and progress reports were posted to the portal today. >> Thank you, Sarah. >> All right, for Matthew Thornton, um just wrapped it I have a update from the PTA. Uh we just wrapped up the month of October after a successful fall festival, book fair, and the Halloween parades. And now we're moving into November. Uh this coming Friday, November 7th at 7:15 PM, we have the um upcoming hockey night partnership with UMass LOL. Uh going to be a great opportunity for families

009to come together and show their school spirit. Um down at Sus Arena. So that's at 7:15 p.m. Uh on Monday, uh we'll have the annual Veterans Day assembly at Matthew Thornton at 9:00 a.m. Scott Zakard, the assistant principal there, always does a great job putting that together to honor the veterans of um that are relatives of the Matthew Thornton students and go through each one of them and honor them. So um that's always nice to attend. And as we head into the holiday season, um, new events including what they're calling the Jingle Mingle, which is going to be, um, from 1 to 3:00 p.m. followed by a showing of Polar Express and Mac Dorton gym from 4 to 6:00 p.m. And time of that, that is on December 6th. >> Thank you, Jim. Kevin >>

010uh from the North School PTA, there's uh upcoming on the 5th and 6th of uh November are the reflections workshops for paint workshops. Uh first and second grade on the 5th and then 3rd, fourth and fifth grade on the 6th. Uh and then the following week 12th is the next U PTA meeting at 700 p.m. um for North School. Uh, and as Tim mentioned, December 6 also happens to be when North School is doing their um Santa breakfast that they've been doing yearly for as long as I can remember. Uh, and they are starting that planning and looking for volunteers to help and uh, contribute. So, if you're interested, they're looking. >> Thank you, Kevin. And a couple updates from our council. They have uh believe it or not started into their budget [clears throat]

011and had a six and a half hour budget presentation on Saturday and uh continued last night and uh myself, Ammon, and Dan will attend next Monday night to the council for the district office uh project to go through the warrant article with the town and uh go through that uh the presentation that we did here as a joint meeting and also I was able to attend the school care uh seminar yesterday, get some more information which I know AMD and Lisa will update us later in the agenda. And uh as some know the capital committee met again tonight uh for an hour discussing the um capital project of the turf field project. So that that is continuing on um and stay tuned for uh updates on that. That's all I have for liaison. So we

012will jump right into announcements and presentations. Mr. Parent. >> Uh yes, I have one. Um 93 London High School students from the class of 2026 participated in Apply New Hampshire Day. Uh and they submitted a total of 255 college applications uh to New Hampshire colleges and universities and those were all for free. Uh so 28 and a half% of that class took a big step towards their their future. And as a a father of one of those seniors, I can't tell you how much I appreciate, I'm sure the parents appreciate um the counseling staff and Caitlyn Birkhart's leadership and the administrative leadership at London High School to put this day on working with the college representatives and the volunteers to offer uh an experience for those kids to submit applications for free. Those applications run

013anywhere from $30 to $80 when you're putting it out to those schools. So, for them to have that opportunity is incredible. I just want to thank the counseling department, the administration at LHS, and Caitlyn Birkhard in particular. >> Thank you, Jason. All right, jumping into 6.1, fire safety ELO interns update. Miss Sullivan, >> welcome everyone. >> Welcome. >> Hello. And like Mr. Smith said, we're missing a few of our fire our firefighter interns because the football team did make playoffs. So, they're out there right now practicing in the underneath the lights. So, we'll excuse them for tonight, but they did want to be here. So, I just want to make sure that uh you know that Bradley Higgins, Tommy Smith, Brock Sil, Austin Callahan, and Gemma Murray, who's at her field talking banquet, would be

014here tonight, but there there was other things going. So, with me tonight is Summer Butler. Summer Butler, Ashen Pru, and Kayn Kaylee Ruo along with myself and Lieutenant Macaron. So, we thought we would start with a video just so you can get a little taste of what these kids have been doing since August 28th and then we will open up and have some comments and questions. Enjoy. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [clears throat] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Don't want to wait till tomorrow [music and singing] another day. One by [music] one build [singing] up and stand in our way. One step behind it. Now you got [music and singing] to run [music] about yesterday. Come on. [music] Turn this thing around [singing] right now. Hey, show tomorrow. Right now. Come

015on. It's everything [music] right now. Take your magic moment right here and now. You need [music] everything. You lose a rhythm and [music] nothing falls in the face now only mission [music and singing] a little on your face [music] you get the more you [singing] want just [music] working so hard to make it easy [music] [music] around. Hey, it's your tomorrow right now. Come [music] on. It's everything right now. It's a magic moment to [music] right here and now. It [music] means everything. [music] What are you waiting for? Oh yeah. [music] [music] >> So that gives you a glimpse of our life of Lieutenant Macaron and I's life from August 28th and until now. So, we thought it was a great time to come and just give you an update because when Lieutenant Mron and

016I came in the middle of the summer and begged you guys for this program and the support and the budget, we just wanted to give you a little piece of what we live with this crew. We started with eight individual students, juniors, and the the commitment and the bond and the relationship and the teamwork that this group has um has turned into could is bigger than what we imagined. And not only are they learning the online course and the hands-on um but it was the other day when Lieutenant Mro did the town safety fire safety day and these kids were just coming over just to observe and he got them right in the gear and they were doing all the presentations for the community in their gear and you didn't know if there was interns,

017the firefighters or who. So the Lieutenant Macaron has done an amazing job adopting this crew into the whole fire department and I think the fire department has adopted them as well and it's a really nice community um involvement. and I can't thank this guy enough and the staff from the fire department. So, we're just going to pass it over and the kids just want to say a few things. Hi, my name is Summer Butler. I'm squad leader 2 of the fire ELO program. And my favorite part about this program is being able to see how much grit and discipline it takes to be and just become a firefighter in general. And this program has definitely helped me grow my leadership qualities and my leadership skills. and I'm so grateful, so is everyone else, um, of

018all the opportunities that we've had as a team and yeah, I can't wait for all the future opportunities to come. Hi, my name is Ashlin Pru and I'm a a member of the firefighter ELO class. Um, I enjoyed the hands-on experience at the fire station to see what the job is really like. And some things that I learned uh during this class was to be more confident and independent when taking on new challenges. I'm so grateful to the firefighters for taking their free time to enhance my learning and make this experience more memorable and valuable. Hi, my name is Kaylee Ruo and something that I have grown from in this program is respect and discipline and what it takes to be a firefighter. And something that I've really loved from this program is being able

019to go to the firehouse and do hands-on activity and take what we learned online and be able to apply it to real life situations. And we'd also all like to personally thank Miss Sullivan and Lieutenant Macarron for all the time and dedication that they put into this program because we all love it so much and we wouldn't be where we are today without them. And we also want to thank everyone that supported us. So, the town and the school board for making this opportunity happen. And now we're just here to ask or have you guys ask us any questions that you would like to know about the program. I have a question. Did you guys all um climb that really tall ladder? >> No, we didn't. >> Okay, that was really tall. I was going

020to ask how tall that is, but great job anyway. >> Okay, >> I'm going to need some pictures of that. >> Do any of you think you might have a um a future in this profession? >> That's great. I think at the beginning of the year it was more of like a question like is this going to be something that I want in my future? But now like after experiencing everything and going through a lot of the processes of what like real firefighters need to do to become one, I think that now it's definitely a strong possibility to be something in my future. >> That's great. Keep us updated, please. >> Yeah. Yeah, of course. >> I think that's fantastic everything. >> Thank you. I'm going to ask you a question. Right. >> Okay. >>

021So, um, how much excitement has this brought to your school year rather than a conventional of going to to to our scheduled classes 8 to >> whenever? It like it brings a lot of excitement because it's like especially when we go up to the firehouse, it gives us like a break from doing school work and being able to do hands-on activity and it like just like calms my brain down like during the day even in the morning and it wakes me up in the morning and I'm ready to go the rest of the day and I feel productive and I feel like I did stuff during the day and it makes me feel really good. Yeah, I um really look forward to this class and I love like being with um these friends that I

022have really grown to be closer with and it's just like a really great way to start my day and make school um more exciting. >> Awesome. So, I would say we we need to put more of these programs in place for other students, correct? >> Yes. >> And hopefully continue the fire program as well. So, >> great job ladies in that and uh wish the others were here, but I know they're busy. And Miss Sullivan, Mr. Macaron, I I can't thank you enough >> uh for what you're doing, for the opportunity for these students. >> Uh just to see the excitement and the pictures that Miss Sullivan shares with us of you guys. Um, and hearing how the enthusiasm, you know, from go able to go across the street to your fire class, come back

023in, do your schoolwork and your co-curriculars, how it just makes your day whole now. So, great job. Great job. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Good work. [applause] And while they're taking a seat, I'm just going to go to the next item, which is the veterans breakfast. I'm just here um personally to thank the school board administration, town council, town members, and everybody who's involved in it. It started as a small little thing in 2011 with 30 veterans. I say this same speech every year, but it doesn't get old for me. So, in 2011, I started this little veterans breakfast with my dad and a bunch of his veteran friends. And this year we the kids, my pay it forward kids called over 250 veterans that come year after year and they made 250 personal

024phone calls to all the veterans who attend and I would say 98% of them said yes. So we're going to be we're going to be filling this cafeteria here on Saturday and I can't be more excited to host the veterans breakfast again. Personally want to thank Serge Bolio who's been with me since the very beginning and his amazing musical talent that he brings. I know it's a the veterans absolutely look forward to it every year. So, Serge, thank you immensely for for being there every year. Um, and I just want to again say thank you for your support on it. And for those of you who are watching, it is this Saturday, November 8th. The breakfast starts at 8, but the veterans will start showing up at 7:00. Um, and the ceremony starts at 9:00

025and will be done around 10:00, 10:30. So, thank you for your support on the annual veterans breakfast. Katie, thank you for what you do. That is quite a quite an event. If anybody can come by and see that on Saturday, it's a quite a tribute to to the folks that have made it so we can do what we do every day. So, thank you for all your time >> and thanks to And thank you. Well, that's not on, but and thank you to Charlie Sullivan, my father, who's pushed me to do this many years ago. So, a special shout out to my father who continues to push me to be a good person to our veterans. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Katie. >> Thank you. All right, moving into 6.3. We'll continue on with

026AI committee. Welcome. All right. Yeah, I got to pull it closer. Okay. So, thank you so much for having us tonight. I'm here to briefly recap how our district's AI task force has been quite pragmatic in integrating AI in our schools. Um, if you don't know who I am, my name is Caitlyn Bennett. I am the digital learning specialist for our elementary schools, but I am also fortunate to be the AI task force chair. Um on our task force we are focused on integrating AI in sustainable practical real world ways um that our educators and our students need to know for their futures um rather than jumping quickly to the next tool. I think um it is quite a thing as a person who's in the tech industry who enjoys technology tools, but I also

027acknowledge people that do not enjoy our technology tools. And our goal as the task force is to really be that guiding lighthouse for our district. Um and so just to give you a recap of how we got to where we are, because I know you all have lots of things on your plate, so you might not remember our timeline. Um by the end of the 23 24 school year, we established a task force. Um it's made up of a lot of administrators in our district as well as the DLS team and the middle school and high school librarians. Um we also by the end, we can't remember the specific date, but we know by the end of that school year, we had our human AI spectrum developed. Um and that's the graphic you see here.

028Um and we really hearkened on that for that year of how can people use AI? What are different ways that they can utilize AI within their um professional planning in terms of the teachers but also our kids and where might our kids integrate AI and where might our kids also encounter AI and when should they be using it. Um, and so a quick note about this presentation. We wanted to highlight um, our use of um, we gave you a little arrow. It's red. It didn't print great on my PDF, so I hope it came through on the packet. Um, we gave you a little arrow. We looked as the DLS team, myself, Melissa, and Paul created these slides. Um, but what we did first was Melissa and I spent a little bit of time first,

029okay, what do we want to tell the school board? What should we update the school board on? So, we drafted um an outline in Canva, and I know Canva used to throw it into a slide deck. It doesn't do that anymore. Welcome to the world of using AI. Things constantly are changing. Um, so we threw that outline into a few of our AI tools and we wound up using the slide deck that school AI, which is one of the tools we're piloting. I'll tell you a little bit about that. And the reason why we chose that one was because it was formatted properly, it wasn't as wordy, and it gave us a pretty template. Um, so it saved us some time. Um, so now to talk about where we're at in the 2425 school year,

030the DLS team, which is myself, Paul Petramo, and Melissa Braille, um, we have really focused in on AI tools and how can they help our teachers and educators professionally with their professional duties, but also how can they help instructionally um, with different strategies. We've also been thinking about different ways to collaborate. There's an amazing idea about uploading our curriculum maps to help special educators write really personalized goals for their IEPs. Um, but turns out we've got really um detailed curriculum maps. So, we're not too sure what our AI tools can do for us there, but I think that's a great idea of how we can really personalize our use of AI. Um, and then, um, in the summer, this past summer, huge kudos to Melissa Braille. Um, she really kept our feet to the fire

031on learning AI over the summer. We had about 22 people participate asynchronously of six weeks of activities. And then we concluded, I think it was two days before the school year started. We had over 20 educators here at the high school library who were here on one of their very last days of summer break. And it was really great conversations about AI, what they had learned, what our different resources had taught us, and kind of some of those next steps. Um, and then since then, since our summer PD kind of concluded, we've done a lot of work in our task force and it made me really be thankful and also in a way congratulatory of how far our task force has come. Um, we did things like the middle school and the high school have

032larger copies of the spectrum. Thank you to Teresa for winning that for us. um of printed copies of the spectrum that are more uh larger um yeah for classroom use um that the kids and uh parent not kids and teachers can reference more easily. Um thank you to Ryan O' Conor for specially delivering them all at the high school. He brought Sophie around to meet people the therapy dog with the spectrum. So those are all in the classrooms. And we also launched an AI tools pilot and I'll share more on that in a moment, but I forgot a really really important omission here. Um, so over the summer we were alerted that New Hampshire's DOE partnered with a lot of educators and they finally published their AI guidance for schools framework. Um, and what was

033so great to read out of that is that we are right on target people. Um, so that was really affirming. Also, Melissa and I have participated in a lot of fall AIPD and again we're doing the right things. We are being pragmatic. We are putting function before form um and really truly being thoughtful about this integration. So, we're quite proud of that work. And to that point, um we are thankful that we're kind of winding down as a task force. The task force is made up of a lot of admin which thank you so much to all the admin but we are really truly um winding down because we have the policy in place we have handbook procedures in place and it's just a matter of well which tool which I'll get to in a

034moment with the pilot which tool might we choose as well as how can the DLSS stay up to date on what is happening. Um, okay. And then so a couple of quick slides about our pilot. I gave you some screenshots here on our planning document. Um, huge kudos, thank you to Jason and Nicole Treadway for the amazing elementary literacy pilot. We are using that as a really solid model of how we can utilize our teachers voice and our teachers expertise in selecting some programs. Um, and so we are using School AI and Magic School as our two pilot tools. Um, and again, grateful for Melissa's guidance on utilizing Google Classroom. We have about 40 participants that are actually participating. And what we've asked is that they use the tools weekly for professional duties, but then

035also a total of four student instructional activities from August, maybe September through the beginning of December. So, four student activities and then as much professional duties as they can with the goal of exploring these premium features because both have free uses, but we purchased um premium licenses for our teachers to utilize both tools. Um we're having teachers log as much of their knowledge in a standard rubric and note sheet. And then at the end of December, Michelle, Melissa, Paul and myself get back together. We analyze the notes. We see how people are doing. Um, and then we'll bring it to Dan and Jay of what our summary of findings is. And then the last slides that are in your packet are various quotes um to highlight perspectives of LMS and LHS teachers as well as

036LMS students of how they've utilized AI. And I think I hit everything that we had talked about as a task force. Um, so I would appreciate your time and let me know if you have questions, >> questions. >> I think this is fantastic, by the way. I think this is an incredible amount of work you put into this and it's spot on. Um, I guess my next question is just more for going from here. Uh and this might be more like for Melissa and Kim perhaps is maybe are we looking are we starting to explore like a tighter integration into our curriculum for these for AI based courses classes but in the realm of technology writing things along those lines. >> So right now we actually already have an exploring AI class as a related

037arts opportunity for eighth graders um that's taught by one of our computer science teachers. So that was our start. So, we're already there. Um, and you know, it's a choice right now for the kids to take, but they are taking it, learning the aspects of it and also learning, you know, when is it appropriate to use it and why sometimes it's not. Um, and really just navigating, you know, the ins and outs of the ones that are approved for uh the building. But having a computer science teacher know the, you know, the logistics behind it, integrating the uh spectrum and things like that's really important. >> Fantastic. Anyone else? >> Well, it's still pretty scary to me. I know when you presented it a year ago, it's uh but I see everybody evolving with it.

038I think it's going to be very helpful, especially with the training and the process you guys have put this through and um and that I think it'll be very helpful to the students as well as long as it's done in the right manner like you said. So appreciate your due diligence on, you know, bringing this forward and bringing it to the next level and continuing to add it to to their everyday use and and that. So truly appreciate all the time of of the committee as well as the staff, you know, trying to learn and navigate uh how to how to implement this in the everyday classroom. So thank you so much for for all your time and effort for this. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. All right, moving along. 6.4 LHS program and studies.

039Mr. Barnes, Miss Susi, and Miss Burkhart. Welcome. All right, good evening. >> So, we'll jump right into things. Um, obviously this is our program of studies annual updates. Uh we've done a number of consolidations and um eliminated some courses is all part of the every year we just want to continue to refine our offerings within our master schedule while still maintaining that balance that we always strive to seek with comprehensive offerings for our students. So I'm going to start things off by turning things over to our director of music here in the district uh Mr. Serge Ble. >> All right. Um so for the 26 27th school year we are looking to add two new elective courses into the music program. Um the history of rock and roll and music in film. Um these are

040two courses that we discovered some other schools um offer. Especially music and film I guess is a really popular popular one. Um, and we're hoping that this is attractive to the students that need to that may not be part of our performing ensembles, but just need to get their fine arts credit before they graduate. And this offers a non-performing um elective for them. Uh, right now we have basic piano and basic guitar that, you know, require them to be able to play an instrument. Um, and so we're hoping these two courses are attractive to those to those students that want to just get a music that are interested in music but don't want to actually perform an instrument. Um, so speaking of which, courses that we are going to eliminate to sort of make room

041and sort of narrow the choices down for the students are piano fundamentals and guitar piano ensemble, both of which had pretty low enrollment this year. Um, and then the next big change is um making making it so that our upper level ensembles um receive honors credit. And um we put a lot of thought into this. We um went back and forth with a lot of different um ideas and um we decided that the upper level groups so that would be um our symphonic band, chamber choir and jazz ensemble all of which require a higher level of musicianship um definitely have a um more rigorous literature that is required for them to play um deserve honors credit and so that we make it equitable for other students students in the event of uh for example scheduling

042issues. Um if students are in grade 10 through 12 and they're in these standard level ensembles, they can apply for um honors credit and um they have to apply um practice and prepare them their the material for New Hampshire All State, which is really rigorous material. And at the beginning of the school year, they need to do a informal audition with one of the music teachers to show that they've made progress with the music over the course of the summer. And um and of course then eventually they need to try out for the All State, which is later in November. And then in the spring, they would have to do a um a recital. So that's an honors option that's open to those students that are in the standard level ensembles, which would be concert

043band, concert choir, an orchestra, which doesn't have two levels of of um orchestra. So um it gives them the opportunity to be able to get that honors credit. And the other big thing is we're limiting the number of courses that they can take. So, in the rare event that a student might be in three music ensembles, um we just thought it would be fair in terms of, you know, GPA for the rest of the school that they only be able to um enroll in two honors level courses um with music. Did I cover everything? Yeah. Oh, and also the other big thing is we're we're hoping that this encourages students to try out for All State. um with this being part of the requirement for the standard level groups if the students do decide to

044purs pursue the honors credit they would have to try out for all state and um you know that's a like I mentioned before it's pretty rigorous material to learn um it's like sometimes three to four pages of 16th notes and um but it can be a really great thing for our school to see those numbers go up and it's a great experience for our students. Um, and then the last piece is the uh, music theory course for years has always run as a fullear course. Unfortunately, it hasn't uh, run for a few years. So, we're hoping that if we change that to a halfyear course, um, we're hoping that the students can fit that into their schedule. And, um, so other than the curriculum has sort of been narrowed down to a one semester, the

045description is pretty much the same as it has been in the past. And I think that covers all the music stuff. Yeah. >> Thank you, Mr. Bolio. And I'm going to turn things over now to our director of curriculum here at the high school, Dr. Linley Susi. >> Thank you. Good evening. I'll go through. We have a lot of material here, but I can go through it pretty quickly. We are looking to add additional courses to better meet the needs of our students and eliminate some of the courses that either have been unders subscribed over the past few years or in some cases we have merged some courses together. So we have taken well we'll talk about those but we've taken some courses that are very similar put them together into one course to better

046serve all our students needs. In terms of science, we had mentioned a year ago that because of the additional requirement for science graduation, we were going to be adding in some additional electives. We added in geology this past year. Very successful. Kids took a field trip recently to Rugles Mine and the director there said they were the best school group he has ever seen. It's the only time they've had a school group that actually knew what they were talking about. He said, "Normally, it's kind of a day out for kids and it's fun." He said, "These kids really understood what they were doing," which was awesome. So, we're going to take that geology course. We're going to expand it to a fullear option. We have enough students who are saying that they are loving this

047course, and that will give students an option that is a very accessible option in science. So, for students who maybe aren't scientists in the making, this is a course where they can really get into it and literally work with their hands and enjoy it a little bit more. perhaps for some of them. We're also going to be adding in a zoology elective. Our teacher who has put together the course description for that actually works part-time at the New England Aquarium. So, she has a very strong background in zoologology, and we think that's going to be a very exciting elective for students. In terms of world language, we've added in some honors opportunities in Spanish, French, and German. So, for those students who want that additional challenge, they will have that presented to them. We've made

048a title shift in our German courses. Right now, once you complete German level two, you go on to in [snorts] alternating years either German composition and literature or German conversation. A college looking at those courses really has no idea what that means. For us, that's German 3 and German 4. But we decided that that really was not helping our students as they're looking to advance on and to be able to show colleges they've taken four years perhaps of a world language. So we have shifted so that we will now have our German one, two, three, four as well as an AP alternative. The AP course we added in for this year was approved by you folks last year and we are hoping to see that number increase. That number is still very small. So right

049now that will just be taught simultaneously with our German level four. So students who are taking the AP level, the teacher will be differentiating so that they have that opportunity. PE in health, physical education and health have been two separate departments over the years, which really is an artificial breakdown between the two courses and the two departments that work together all the time. So, we're looking to combine the departments, which also aligns with the idea of streamlining our courses and putting an emphasis on wellness so that our department will be PE, health, and wellness. So, we put everything together under one department under one heading. It also will make it easier for students when they're looking to take courses to see all the courses in one place. Right now in the program of studies, it's

050alphabetical. So you've got health courses and then much later in the program of studies, you've got vised courses. So this will put it all together. We are also going to look at our health course and just make a shift in the title of the course. So we're going to emphasize the wellness aspect of it because that's really the skills-based course that it is is looking at helping students have more wellness in their lives. So, we're going to shift that into just health. We're going to add in that wellness component. We're going to take the former year-long course that was called wellness that was kind of a catch-all and a hodge podge and we're going to separate it out so that we go back to the more old school way of separating out one semester each

051with the new ideas of bringing together as lifelong wellness. So little shift there really won't make a lot of changes but I think will make it a lot clearer for students and families to understand what their students are taking. In mathematics we're looking to add in that second year of our algebra 1C. You may remember last year we added in year one of algebra of 1C students who struggle in math who need to fulfill that algebra requirement because as you know both high school as well as the state of New Hampshire require a full year of algebra in order to graduate and get a diploma. For some of our students, that's very, very challenging. So, we used to have an integrated math course that moved them over three years to get that algebra credit. Three

052years is a really long time for a kid who doesn't love math to get that algebra requirement. So, our teachers did a lot of work for a lot of hours into how do we streamline that and make that a two-year program, which is much more doable by students, much more enjoyable because they know it's a two-year requirement. So last year we started we have 35 students taking our algebra 1C currently year 1. So we're adding algebra 1C year two for next year with your approval adding to our list of classes in the program of studies that count as math electives as you may know not math excuse me math experiences for graduation. As you know students need three years of a math course that fourth year can be a math experience. So, we went back

053and looked at a number of our courses, not new courses, but courses we're currently offering and aligned the competencies in those courses to the requirements to have that count as a math experience. So, we've added in some additional electives there for students who can now use those things such as, for example, our physics 2 class was not listed as fulfilling math requirement. Obviously, physics, AP physics 2 certainly does meet all the requirements of math. So, we just need to quantify all those and put those together. um other courses such as our exploring woodworking, very heavy on math obviously, but have not been on our list. So, we've got all kinds of courses that we're now looking at there. Um English, we have some updated course descriptions. What on paper may look like a big shift,

054we think is going to really work out well for our students. We right now offer four level four years of English, a course that we call English 9, 10, 11, 12. That's for our students who have historically had the most difficulty with English language arts. However, because it was labeled 9, 10, 11, 12, students at the end of that first year, that n English nine class, if they were working hard, they got moved to that English 10. But for some of those students, that developing literacy was still not really there yet. And so we were kind of pushing them on because they were trying but we were missing afraid that we were missing pieces so that our students were completing English English 910 112 and we weren't really convinced they had those skills down the

055way we wanted them to have before they left us. So what we're doing is adding in a place of English 9 10 11 12 we will have developing literacy and then an advanced literacy course and our developing literacy course will meet the students where they are still fulfill all the core requirements to have English credit for that course but it will be a way for those students to perhaps move on to a developing literacy level two in the sophomore year. Then perhaps in their junior year they're going into advanced literacy. And for some of those students, they might move into a practical level English class their senior year. Or for some students, they might stay at that level throughout their four years. So better meet the needs of our students rather than feeling we have

056to put everybody through a more traditional 9, 10, 11, 12. This gives us more options. And then also, as I mentioned in English, we are moving some merging some of our electives. We've had contemporary lit and world lit, very similar courses. We're going to put those together into one course, make it a little bit more authentic, hopefully a little more exciting for the students, and instead of having two different electives, which get decent signups, we're hoping by putting those two together, we'll have much greater signups for those courses. Also, in the program studies, you'll see some updates for the English speaker, the course for English for speakers of other languages, just more aligning with what the state expectations are for that course and the amount of credits that students take for those courses. for our

057students who are new English speakers and for that course that for some of them they take a second year and then they work without with our ESOL teacher for the rest of their time at the high school. So just made some tweaks in there to better align that course. I think that's everything from my end. Turn it over to Caitlyn. >> Good evening. Thank you. Um as Dr. Limly Susi referenced uh we just have a general revision of language throughout the document um to update and enhance clarity regarding graduation requirements, prerequisites and other general information. Um we plan to include course descriptions for the CTE programs um by having their the program of studies from the respective schools available and linked through our program of studies. So we'll have those included as they are available

058from the other schools. Our current wording related to special education 504 and MTSS supports is being revised to align with phrasing used consistently across the district. Uh we will be we'll be sure to review and submit uh any new CP courses for NCAA approval. Uh and then regarding the course withdrawal process, we've just added a brief line to include that students may not add courses after 10 days into the into the semester um just due to the nature of missed work. [clears throat] And then also you'll see we've included just a brief statement outlining the minimum course requirements for both underclassmen and for seniors. So, this this concludes our summary of the updates. Um, we're happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Any questions? >> Yeah, looks great. >> Good. >> Um,

059great update. I like the English, you know, with that 9 10 11 12 having that one and two and three. So, that'll really help those students to your point, Kim. So, I appreciate you adding that. Um what is the uh as we we seen how excited the ELO was. What are our plans for next year with ELO options? Anything on the horizon here real soon? >> So quite a bit. I don't know if I want to steal our superintendent's thunder, but we've been talking a lot about some major um structural changes that I think will unfold probably through the the budget process. Part of it will be to meet that that demand. Um but we've had robust discussions too with um the London Fire Department about looking at the EMT course um and the cost

060associated with that and in addition to how we can continue to fund and increase funding for the London area the fire program that we currently have because that's been an absolute home run. So um and we wanted it's just to see the just sitting there is probably one of the proudest moments I've had certainly as principal Londere High School seeing the way that came together with it's the people that are putting it together that it's really make it special. So, we want to continue to make those create those opportunities for our kids. Um, and and we will do that. And we've there's a number of conversations I've had. I could go on a lot, but it'll it'll come out, you know, as we go through the budget process of the places we're looking to expand

061in certain areas. But, yeah, this is only the beginning really. It truly is only the beginning um as we go through. And we um certainly appreciate this board's support as we've gone through the last, you know, now coming up on the third year. These have been really big structural changes to the high school's course offerings. We're really pleased with the way we're able to streamline these things and a lot of it too if you go through we didn't talk about there are a number of courses that we just eliminated so that we could then start to smooth out our numbers. So we stop we want to try to reduce the numbers of the teaching 20 10 and then 15 or trying to by doing this we'll slowly get there and see okay this is where

062we these are our resources and we can make decisions on how to better direct those um and really move into that but yeah big big big exciting changes on the horizon that we're going to that will be unfolded in the process. Alcho what you said, Rick, about being excited to see those students here tonight that it it just the excitement for them to come to school. That's what we're all looking for, right? Is to achieve these students that want to go to school again. You know, they don't want to stay home and they want to learn and be able to participate in that ELO by doing well in all of their other classes. So, I appreciate all of your attention to shifting that gear because times have changed uh over the years and I I

063think we have to change with it to be successful and give every every student that opportunity. So, I truly appreciate it from >> from the superintendent on down. So, to you guys. >> Yeah. So, you know, so where we're at, you know, we're not quite done with the budget yet. Um but right now there's a pool of money uh that that is currently allotted. Um, and I think what we learned from this fall is obviously the fire science program, huge success. >> Yeah. >> Um, I think what we've learned too is we have to go slow to go fast. Um, what most high schools do that kind of really build ELO programs or even CTE centers is they have to come up with a rate of pay >> for anyone that works with us. >>

064We didn't do that this time around. We just kind of went dove right in. So, I think what we're trying to do is structurally think about, okay, what's the right way to do this moving forward so we can expand. So, we have a couple options. Um, I think it'll still probably take us, you know, even after the budget season to kind of figure out, but I think we are going to see expansion. Um, we think that'll make the final cut for the budget. We're not we're not there yet. We're not there yet. Um, but then then we'll see some expansion that uh Rick and the whole team can be proud of in a few weeks. >> Yep. Very exciting times and we appreciate everyone's support. Any other questions? So, I imagine you want a an

065approval of this for year 2627 for So, if I could get uh a motion to approve the LHS program of studies for year 2627, please. >> So, moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Tim. All those in favor? >> I 50. Thank you folks. >> Thank you very much. >> All right. Moving on to 6.5 ever five presentation. Megan and Miss Lanch. >> All right. Good evening. Um, and thank you for the opportunity for allowing us uh to present tonight. I'm Megan Nason, curriculum coordinator at Londereary Middle School, and I have with me Jen Le Branch, who is an eighth grade math and algebra teacher on the Hailtorm team. And we are here tonight in an effort to present our new financial literacy pathway at LMS. Um, so for many years at LMS, we

066have offered students a financial literacy experience by students participating in what we called CU for reality. Um this slide basically describes our CU for reality what it was and where we are heading. Um so we had teamed up with St. Mary's Bank for students to experience a real budgetlike situation and many of you have um come and seen our day um and experienced it with our students um which it's based on students um choosing a career choice and then they work on a budget. what is it like to live on uh that salary that you have, rent or buy a home, have a dog, you know, um vet bills, things like that. Um students then take in the beginning they take a career survey. So we try to um have this built on interest, things

067that they um will potentially want to do as an eighth grader. Um they research that career, they develop the budget for those life choices, and it's basically a two-day experience. So, um, Saints's Bank would come in and they offer some lessons for our students and then we would move ahead with our, um, actual in-house field trip. Um, what we have done though this year in an effort to increase our financial literacy offering is we have added something called EverFi. Um, EverFi is a multiple modules of short experiences and Jen will discuss what those are. Um but it's an online platform that is free for schools. Um and this one is in particular for middle school students. Again, it's about four to five modules for students to participate in to learn different aspects of what financial

068literacy is. [music] Um so like Megan said, this program is free. Um it's supported by the Mass Mutual Foundation and it helps students grades six through eight build confidence in money through interactive age appropriate lessons. Students learn spart smart spending habits, explore entrepreneurship and make real world connections to their math and social studies curriculums. So this slide describes um future smart. Um this is the first unit that we started with our students and sorry second yes um financial literacy foundation helps students develop the knowledge and confidence to make smart financial choices interact in the real world participate in activities guide them with budgeting saving and planning for education and career goals. And as you can see on this slide it's very um studentfriendly. it has a almost like a gamified appeal to the students as

069they participate in this module. >> So, as we mapped out um CU for reality, I've been doing CU for reality for a long time, years. When we started it, we actually went to the credit union museum in Manchester and did our fair there. Then we got too big for them. Um so they started coming to us. But so when we started this, we all thought this was great, but it was one day, two days out of the year. So we wanted to add more. So the first um kind of four uh five blocks are from EverFi. So the vault is the one the students started with this year. Um they dive into the virtual world and learn basics of ins and outs of finance. They talks about wants and needs um things like that. Then

070um they did future smart. In future smart students act as the mayor of their town. They help the citizens solve financial problems um through life. Then um the next one those are the only ones that the students have done so far this year. They will do save up. Students develop strategies for budgeting, emergency planning, saving and set and setting smart financial goals. Um smart economics is a digital course that empowers students to analyze the um the economy and identify factors that impact uh prices of consumer goods. And then the last part of EverFi is the venture. It's an entrepreneurial expedition. Students start their own food truck business. They learn how to write a business plan, hire a team, hone their pitch, and balance a budget all at the same time. And then um the final

071culmination is the CU for reality fair um which we usually do the Monday before we leave for Washington DC. So, in addition to making connections to our math classrooms, um we just wanted to show that this is connected to the national jumpstart standards for spending, saving, economics, and state and academic standards for math and social studies. But it really is tied to many aspects of our portrait of a graduate. Um for engaged citizenship, it talks about how do students get their first job? And in eighth grade, once they turn 14, we we have a lot of students talk about, you know, they want to get a job, they want to have a paycheck, they want their own spending money. Um, so how do they, you know, what do they do with their checks? How do

072they open an account safely? How do they manage, you know, those paychecks that they receive? Through communication and collaboration, they're talking about real world application, career and college readiness, and having positive comm uh conversations about finance at home. Um, through self-direction, they're talking about money management, safe risktaking with money, loans, credit cards, and it's been some interesting conversations uh within the classroom about what they thought um some of those things were. um and then what the real reality of that uh world is. And then it's all about problem solving and critical thinking, making good decisions, having those safe risk-taking uh conversations around money, and then really thinking outside the box. So, it's just allowed us to to take this um awesome thing that we have done for many years through C for reality and really

073expand it um to make some connections to our portrait of graduate with our students. Um, so I asked some of my students kind of like we've done two of them so far, like what did you think? And they're like, well, you know, it was fun, it was hard. Um, but the biggest thing, the biggest takeaway that most of them have said is because they ask me all the time. I've been teaching eighth grade a long time. When am I ever going to use this in real life? So here is the opportunities that they're actually talking about things that they are going to use in real life. And some of them have had conversations with their parents about it and be like, does your do you get direct deposit? Like what is that? You know, so

074it's opened some conversations up at home. It's opened some conversations up at school. And so now I feel like when we go to continue to do this and then we get them to really think about what do you want to do for CU for reality, they're already starting to think about the outside of the box things rather than just putting it in a one day pick a job and let's do that. >> And so that is our um experience. If you have any questions, we'd be happy to answer them. >> Any questions? Now, I've said before, I really like the CU4 reality burn and it's great to have the real life examples for them, especially when they're on the precipice of getting their first jobs to see that this is the real world and it's

075not like you actually have to earn some money to be able to spend on >> Y. That's great. Thank you. >> I don't have any questions. I also think this is great. We've talked a lot about different kinds of life skills tonight. And I think, >> you know, to your point, Jen, like them learning like exactly how they're going to use some of this stuff and how it matters to them um is just going to serve them well in life. I remember getting my first uh student loan bill after college and being like, "Wait a minute, I have to pay this back. Like, no one told me I had to pay it back, you And so to to hear them talking or being being made aware of that um obviously hugely important and something I

076wish that I had, >> but here we are. >> Yeah. As someone that when I went to my father, I vividly remember when I said I wanted a car and he said, "Well, you get a job." So >> yeah. >> It's reality. >> Yep. And I think what they think their paycheck's going to be versus what it actually is sometimes or >> Yeah. That day, especially in the gym, is a rude awakening for some of them. >> Yeah. You must see you must see a big difference from when you start the session and then by the by the last week getting through just the knowledge that they've learned because a lot of people don't understand the the money concept or what they have to do their next step in front of them. So I'm sure

077this opens up their eyes wholly in that. I mean the entire eighth grade participates in this. Um, and this Everfi program has allowed us to they've all all of our students have always been included, but this Everfi extends a little bit to where um, the vault is the lowest one. And so it allows us to include all of our students who may be in a lower level math or struggle included all the way up to our higher advanced math students in the eighth grade as well. So we're touching upon everyone from start to finish. >> That's that's awesome. Great job. Well, thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> [clears throat] >> All right, moving along to 6.6. Uh, William Broken School sign at LMS. Come on up. >> Marquee. >> I just want to um

078if I could real quickly just give you an updated page. >> Okay. replication. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> What if it was 50% less? >> Oh, that would be nice. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Do you want one? >> I sure do. >> Um I won't take too long. Um, one of the things I just kind of really tonight want just to bring to your attention if you haven't noticed and some people in town may have noticed that one side of the marquee stays blank. It's the side that faces uh the high school as you're moving up. Um, so I'll go through that just a little bit, give you a little background. Joe and I did meet with somebody about signs and so forth. We did get a quote. We got one quote and then

079we went back and we said that's not going to work. We need something else. So, um, there's two that are in front of you. um and they're just really exploratory to start thinking about what really to do with the sign uh and so forth. So, let me just move right on through here. So, apparently the background to this is I asked Matt Blanchett, who's been in the building for quite some time. I think we believe that the current marquee was actually installed in 1996. I think it was the year that the middle school edition was put on and they went from a junior high to a middle school. So it must have a change the sign at that time. So that's an estimated maybe 20 29 almost 30 years old the sign's been out there.

080So it's you know it's had it it's definitely been um used over the years. Okay. Uh the current condition of the marquee and really what's broken right now is one side the side that I said actually faces the high school. I guess the best way to look at that no longer holds the block letters. Um it it has what's known like a plastic rivet. I'll show you a picture in just a minute. And it holds the holds the track in place against the marquee face. Um and that's come apart. So essentially what happens if you put letters in them, they just all fall to the bottom. And that's what's been happening and that's what happened kind of near the end of the school year last year uh and so forth. The both the interior faces,

081those are the big white plastic backgrounds you see, um both are off the tracks. They're loose. They're not attached to the frame no longer. So, actually when you change the sign, the sign kind of moves back and forth like this. Um, I think a lot of over the years maybe damaged wind and so forth, rain, so forth like that. Um, and all four of the locks no longer really close. This is always worrisome to me. I probably shouldn't say this publicly, but I always wondered if someone got inside the sign and rearranged the num letters. That would not be really favorable for us. But fortunately, it does secure. Um, part of it has to be pushed in and and kind of jimmied in place. Over the summer, um, what I had to do on one

082side, I actually just put tape up just to hold letters for the summer just so we had both sides. But anyways, that's part of what's got me here today with you guys. So, if you take a look, um, you'll notice in these two pictures, those are the tracks on that one side. In the picture on the left, and we talk about that little plastic rivet, that's where the track has come off of the uh, background. And you kind of can see that pretty well in there. And that's all the way up on that one side. The other side that actually is working um has for the most part all the tracks are in place except for a few of the rivets. And I think just what it is honestly I think it's kind of like

083over the years it's dry rot. It's just rotted away and you can't really fix it. You can't glue it. You can't stick it in there because it's plastic. Okay. So that kind of gives you a side angle if that helps a little bit. This is the back portion of the marquee. You'll notice that the big plastic white part comes apart from the actual lighting component of the marquee itself. Okay? And you can see where that's kind of kind of loose right there as well. But what does work on it and there are some things that work. So that's always a positive. Um one side is functional and some of the rivets like I said are kind of uh broken away. Both sides continue to illuminate. So really at night it's it is really bright. It's

084just that one side doesn't have anything on it. Okay. And then really um because it's old, it has there's a component to it that I think over time most of us who change it just get used to it. It actually has two very large openings and the only way that you really can get the letters you have to stand underneath it and it really just leans against you. It probably needed at some point some kind of hinge that would lock into place. But the glass or the plexiglass is too large for that. It's really a heavy piece. Um, and I think over the years what's happened is as a person releases it, you know, it comes down and kind of kind of hits and over years it just kind of wears away. Okay. Um, and

085kind of finally, there are really two options. I gave you kind of a breakdown. Joe and I did meet from a gentleman um from uh in Hudson. He runs these signs and awnings. There aren't a lot of people who do this work around here. They're really kind of uh limited. He did go through with us though. basically what he'd like to do for an improvement. He did state to us that you can't replace what's currently there. I don't think it exists. Um obviously their big push is going to be for LED uh virtual lighting mares. That's what they're going to do. That's what they would like to put in place because I think that's where those types of things are today. Um, even the one that's at the high school that has that white and

086black lighting isn't really a popular model they go with very much today because it's not really what's selling. But really, this is kind of um it's kind of really out there for us to decide. You know, it's not an emergency. It's not as if, you know, it's it's, you know, to a point where it's it's make or break it sort of thing. It just one side doesn't work. I'm more conscientious about the aesthetic piece of it. The marquees on the main drive of Mammoth Road. I mean, ours is the first everybody sees. Fortunately, if you're going south, you see one side, it works, but if you go the other way, you don't. Um, and it can't be fixed. That's the problem. So, at some point, we probably have to make some kind of decision. Um,

087what I did this year is I did put um the lowest cost into my budget as for the school. Okay? So, we do go through the budgeting process, then we can always, you know, again, talk about it a little bit, present it when the uh budget committee is here as well. Um, but at least to give you prior to that because it's a kind of a strange item to have in a budget, just be aware that that at some point we we probably got to figure out what to do. Okay. Um, but the two costs to really look at is one that's digital, which is really bright lights and I know there's some some um, you know, some um, governance around those types of things. But if you look at the top, the first is

088the cost down. The cost breakdown really has to do with a no digital display. But it's the repairing of the sign itself and creates almost what's like two boxes. It takes it cuts it in half and the top part would say London Middle School and half of it then would be a regular marquee that could we could use the current letters we already have. Okay. And even that is not inexpensive. It's still 125 to just to put what we have in place, but a newer version of that. I know there's a picture attached to this. You may have it in your second page. Up in the top right hand leftand corner, you'll see what that would look like, a rendition of that. It's in the smaller picture above the the virtual uh the uh digital

089one. And it basically almost looks the same. They're still going to use the granite post because they're they're solid. They work well. Um they can use the cord the power that runs to it to illuminate it. It's fine. But they would have to really take down the current one and then they would create and build a newer one that would look similar but more more um more together. Okay. The um bottom cost is and it's to have a cost of what that would be like to have a digital display um gets to be very pricey as you can see around $27,000. And most of that goes into that LED computer lightboard for both sides of the marquee. And that's a fully functional, you know, bright lights, colored colored uh lights, and so forth. It can

090be changed anywhere. It can be done with your phone with an app. It can be done at home. It can be done at school. Uh that's a nicer feature. Um, but I think what's really more important is really what we want to put out there because it is kind of the insignia of the school and it's a it's a, you know, it's used to display lots of messages throughout the year. Okay. And there, as you can see, there's a nice color. The color display of the digital one, you can see is a little larger, a little brighter. I think that's a marketing tool for us, but that's okay. That's nice. Okay. Um, and then finally, uh, just a quick thank you. So, just a really quick update about that. Um, I know some people may

091inquiring why one side is not lit or really but the letters don't stay out. >> Okay. Are there any quick questions I can ask for you or Joe and I can answer too? Sorry. >> Oh, sorry. >> Nope. >> What is the governance surrounding? I thought there was like some fuss with the sign about lighting and not putting lights on and then it was okay. But like what is it? We need like special permission for that if we were to have a light up. >> I mean, you went through it. Go ahead. >> I I don't have that. as though they someone has to >> we're kind of exempt [laughter] as a school system, right? >> Yeah, that was one graduating class did this, right? >> Correct. This was a class gift. Um there was

092there was great concern uh because this is really the first sign of its kind. Okay. >> Um and we really wanted to preserve um the aesthetic of the town and have it an understated uh message board where they didn't want it to look anything like Vegas there. So we really um again to Williams point we used the columns that existed the top of the signary high school we already had there and then we tried to make it as understated. We matched some of the things to the facade of the school um and and eventually um you know on the board support uh for this but it was gifted by one of the city classes. >> So there's no like town ordinance that says we can't have lights flashing lights and colors. >> Yeah, there is.

093My understanding is there is we can't have them but because we're a school system we're exempt from the ordinance but you want to weigh the fact that there is an ordinance like my understanding was you guys can >> can do it but >> right >> but we want to work with the town if you went that route >> that's going too Dan yeah I believe some of the students of the graduating class actually went to a planning board meeting for a council meeting and presented it and got their approval correct >> to do it before they we were told we could do it but they wanted to follow protocol >> and get the blessing across the street. So I would probably if we go this direction I would do the same thing is presented to

094the town and >> and I and I think in all fairness too I mean we've talked to one company if we were going to go to like a digital type of board it would be worthwhile at least explaining with at least one more to come out and take a look too but >> but I generally I don't think there's many. >> Yeah. Yeah, I was more just curious if we shopped this around. I see we have one company listed. Could we at least look at three? >> Yeah, I think yeah, definitely we went to the higher cost if we were looking at that way. Definitely have to even if we had to reach out to those across our borders too to see just aren't many around, but >> there's enough that I think we can

095at least get another a couple bids to see that we were going that way. We're happy to do that too. >> Sure. um you know even with the other even with the other other reasonable cost which is still you know still still a piece of money to put just the regular one we use letters which may be fine too I mean it's a middle school you know it's it's a marquee board >> have we reached out to the PTO to see if this is a project they can sponsor >> so we could um the I guess somewhat speak for the LMS PTO they are not they're really not in a position we're not doing any really big fundraising through the PTO partially is because most Most of the fundraising in our building really is around

096Washington DC and it's really difficult. Um they'd have to really do a really large type of fundraising event maybe over multiple years uh to really gain that much amount of money. Most of the money they generate is usually from dues that are being paid from parents and you know maybe the book fair we make some money and a couple of the ice cream socials and things. >> Um but it's really difficult with DC because it's such a large piece of our school and and the class hits pretty hard. So >> that makes sense. Something brought to their attention >> even with the fundraising. >> Yeah. So >> I know the elementary schools will do their fundraisers over a few years for the recess equipment and whatnot. So I don't know. >> Yeah. I mean, you

097know, I think uh William is someone who appreciates aesthetics, you know, so I I'd be curious if you could find something that's similar to what's at the high school because I worry about an arms race. What is Matthew Thornton gonna ask for next? You know, you know, kind of those things. But I think I mean we we definitely see that it's broken. We we have to come up with a solution at some point. >> Yeah. >> And I think if I'm not I think New Hampshire signs did this one out front which they're from London >> and that off of Bodwell Road. So you may want to just look at have someone look at that sign. They probably have their name on it and he I mean we're happy to do that process. >> Yeah.

098I think Joe tried I think it was this first one first. But definitely we could go back to the original person if he's there. >> Yeah. they did the whole process and they might be able to give you a similar similar style as what's out there >> um and that. So that might be and it might be you know a lot less where they're from town. >> Yep. >> So I would um do that and then you know come back to us. >> Yeah. >> So we can explore like I said different options. Um but I just want to at least get it up in front of us so if it does come up kind of the reason why still. >> Okay. >> You got it. Thank you so much. Any questions? Appreciate it. >>

099Thank you. You're back. >> Thank you. All right, we will jump into deliberations with some policies. Um, I know Dan, you sent some followup on a submitt that Tim had sent to put in the packet today. >> Um, I can honestly tell you I haven't looked at it. I apologize. I know you tried me, Dan, and I was running short on time so I didn't get back to you. Um, so what I'd like to do is let um Tim go over what he submitted on these policies and you go over what you submitted and then we'll just table it to the next meeting. So we can all I don't think any of the board's really been able to see your memo in fairness and Tim can explain what he sent in the packet. So if

100you want to give a little overview. >> Yeah, just a quick synopsis of what I had sent out to the board uh last week. uh the essence of those two policies in particular between K and KB that had to do with public complaints. Um just reading through the language of it irked me a bit because as a board member I always want to make sure that I am making myself available to the people that we represent. Um, so if someone really confides in me, and this happens all the time, people confide in us because they're the ones that elected us. They view us as their representatives. So if someone wants to confide in me an issue they're having with the school, I always want to make myself available. And this is why I think it's

101important that we just go through the language of this individually between now and the next meeting, too. is even looking back at some of the comments I made, some of the language that's proposed in here in these policies, I get that it's talking about that the board shouldn't take any action before it goes through those channels that we have in place. I absolutely agree with that. >> Um I just don't want it to be so restrictive that I can't even avail myself to people for them to express problems to me as an individual. I know obviously as one of five I can't take any action because I don't have that power but I always want to make myself available to then convey any issues even if it's not that individual story but just a problem

102that seems to be bubbling up that gets presented to me by members of the town. I want to be able to present that to the board. Um, one particular question I had for you, Dan, and I didn't get to go through all the language that you had here because I was working. Um, but it did look like there was a lot of reference to legal ease and is the current KL policy we have not in compliance with New Hampshire law. >> Yeah, I mean I think I think our issue is um, you know, so it was written in 1978. >> There's been lots of updates of 91A since then. Mhm. >> Um, you know, so I I think I think Tim, to your point, >> you guys can make yourselves available. >> People can come

103talk to you. >> It's just we need to come up with a procedure and a process of what then happens with that information. >> Sure. >> You know, and and that that's the only thing that's what I was trying to capture between uh, you know, the memo I wrote today is so what does that procedure look like? Um, you could you could definitely make statements in there that says, you know, the school board um is here uh to listen to the public. The school board is here, you know, what what you know, some aspirational thing. >> Yeah. Which I feel like in KL, even though it was written so long ago, does make sure it >> Yep. >> it harps on that directly, right, in the >> Y and then you just want to find

104a way like when this information comes in, how are you compliant with 91A? is to to protect yourselves. You never want to be in a position where someone can say, "Did you guys have a meeting outside of the public meeting?" >> Sure. >> Where did that information go? So, you you just want to you want to come up with a way to protect yourself and how how is that information how is that information funneled through the system? >> Um, you know, and I and I I brought this too because this is done really well. >> Yeah. And we always talk about that and >> not even just to make sure we're in compliance with 91A. Yeah. but also to be as efficient as possible. Like if there's a problem, go directly to the source first

105and try and snuff it out. >> And then if it needs to escalate, then move forward. >> Correct. >> Um but that was the general idea I was trying to get at with what I sent you guys. And then >> the third policy I had referenced beedh. Um when it came to public comment, I had some more issues with that too when it came to just Yep. making sure that we're allowing people to speak freely as much as possible and [music] staying in compliance with the law. >> I made no I made no uh I made no memos there. Um you know like you know as as I kind of alluded to in in the email today, we're in substantive work now. You know, there are no easy policies that are kind of hanging out

106there. Um I think I think you're right. Um we have to be very careful with free speech. >> You you really can't limit it. Um I think >> I don't want to. >> Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. Yeah, you don't want to. But I think I think um I think some of the issues that are hit at here is what do we do when decorum goes ary five or six years ago we had lots of problems with that you know so maybe maybe it's more decorum and how people behave and not so much free speech right >> because I know there was a free speech case um I think it was New London I forget where um but you know someone got up in last couple years and you know the the the school board chair

107kind of gabbled them down and then the school board lost you're not allowed to kind of gabble someone down. So, yeah, I think we do need do be careful with with free speech. It's just how do you guys want to approach uh when the quorum is not there and hopefully we we're never there again. >> Oh, I'm sure future board will be. >> Yeah. [laughter] Well, we haven't had to deal with that thankfully over the last few years, but >> Yeah, >> I got you. So, yeah, we can dig into all this >> on those five policies next time. Yeah. >> So, if everybody could review what Dan gave, he kind of referenced some of the 91A laws to to those points. And thank you for that information, Dan. It was uh >> just getting

108it today and and not being able to get to it. I just uh >> so what I'd like to do is take from 7.1 to 7.5 and we'll table them to the 25th. And if it's too much that night, Dan, let's just move it to the next meeting, whatever. because I know that's budget night and that's when do we take off for Thanksgiving. >> Sure. >> So, if you want to wait, I don't think we have a problem. I don't think >> much is going to happen between now and then on these few policies. So, whatever we think with the agenda for the 25th, I know we try to just focus on budget, but if you feel as though we should bring it back up, just let let us know. >> Sure. Okay. >> You

109got to uh add Lisa to this. Say again. >> Lisa needs to be added to this little bad boy. HR. >> HR. >> You're right. >> I I think >> I might have the old one on my desk. Yeah, there there is a better one somewhere. I have the old one. >> It's correct on social media. >> Sorry. >> All right. So, we've got um 7.6 to 7.13 is all third readings. Any changes on the district side? >> Nope. >> Any changes on board side? >> Nope. So, we'll just go through um and uh put these into the final reading for approval and uh be done with this uh group of uh policies. All right. 7.6. I'll look for a motion to approve the third reading to resin policy JFB, foreign exchange students, please. >>

110So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Kevin. All in favor? I >> I 50 7.7 Look for a motion to approve the third reading to resend policy JF abb foreign [music] exchange students please. >> So moved >> motion by Sarah >> second by Amanda. All those in favor >> I 50 7.8 Eight. I look for a motion to approve the third reading to adopt policy JHC, student early release precautions. Please. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Tim. All those in favor? >> I. 5-0. [snorts] >> 7.9. Look for a motion to approve the third reading to adopt policy JLCK, special physical ed physical educ. Sorry. >> So moved. Motion by Sarah, >> Second by Kevin. All those in favor? >> I 50. >> 7.10. I look for a motion

111to approve the third reading to adopt policy JLDBA, behavior management and intervention. Please. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Amanda. All those in favor? >> I. 50. >> 7.11. I look for a motion to approve the third reading to adopt policy JLCA, use and location of automated external defibrillators. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Tim. All those in favor? >> I 50. >> 7.12. Look for a motion to approve the third reading to resend policy EBA use of automated external defibrills. So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Kevin. All those in favor? >> I I 5 Z. >> 7.13. I'll look for a motion to approve third reading to resend policy EB AED incident report, please. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second

112by Amanda. All those in favor? >> I 5.0. Thank you everyone. and we'll jump into the superintendence report 8.1 school care update. Lisa and AMD. >> Yeah. So, I'll start us off. Um, you know, Bob and Tim opened the door by meeting with school care up in conquered um, which allowed Lisa and I to reach out to them to follow up and to get um, the presentation that that you guys had seen um, and to talk about some of the terms and where some of our terms um, were um, where we weren't real comfortable as far as interest and things like that. So, we had a very positive meeting with them. They were very honest. We talked through, they said they had heard a lot of, you know, um, districts asking for different ways to

113repay, but they were like, "What does that look like?" So, we spent some time discussing what those terms might look like. Um, and we came up with the idea they needed to have a third of the funds um, for their own security to know what was going on. So, we talked about the potential of us paying a third by that um end of the year deadline and then coming up with our own way of paying off the two/3 so that we would earn the interest off some of that um and not that organization. Um and they were really good about explaining that they aren't looking to earn interest off of us. It was more of a way to be able to sustain, but they felt better now that some of the districts had already paid

114and and knowing what was going on. So we actually since this memo was composed we have gotten word from school care uh that they are in their board of directors has approved a payment plan like that so we can have an interestfree payment plan. Um we can discuss more about that in December as it gets closer to to what we need to give and how we want to give it. Um but a a very positive meeting overall with that and Lisa has more of the specifics. >> Yes. So thank you very much. Um I do have the we included the presentation that you all received when you went up to conquer Bob and Tim. Um they made the same presentation to us. I don't want to go through it in detail. I just want to

115give you the highlights if I could in the interest of time. Uh just a reminder for the public's edification that school care is not an insurance company. Rather it's a risk pool made up of members like districts all over the state, some municipalities, other public entities. So, it's a nonprofit organization and basically we all pay premiums, if you will, contributions, those are intended to cover the medical claims. In good years where we end up paying more than claims incurred, we get money back. um in years like this one which is the first one that they have experienced um in their 30 years the money that they collected from all the member members did not cover the claims. So that's why the assessment occurred. So basically you share in the good years you share in the

116bad years. So having said that, just a little bit about the structure, the governance structure of school care. They have a 10 member board that um is made up of employees and employer representatives. And in fact, our very own chair uh Mr. Slater has now been appointed as an employer director. So he will be sitting on the board of school care um as one of those 10 board of directors. And then the membership council, there's an employee and an employer representative from each member. So the district has an employer representative. That's me. And then we have an employee who also serves as a representative. That that's the larger body body politic that votes on things as well. >> [music] >> So Bob and I just attended along with our employee representative the annual meeting of

117school care this week where they talk about you know the future the the um benefits offered that sort of thing and get the membership's input. Okay, having said all of that um I just want to direct your attention if you could Jay I know you're scrolling through for me if you could go to slide 11. Um, this just is intended to demonstrate that since 2012, um, school care has actually returned to the district a total of a little over $7 million in those surplus years that I was telling you about. So, this assessment of $2 million obviously has come at a time that none of us would choose. But if you look at the the length of our history with school care, we have, if you will, netted $5 million back um in the contributions

118that we've made. One benefit of school care for the district has been that the increases, our annual increases um have been very manageable. So our 5-year average, the last five years have been just have been 5.8%. Our 15-year average has been 4.5%. That's very low in the realm of insurance. But of course, as we all know, this is not a problem that just school care is facing, but all of us are facing. No matter what risk pool or insurance plan you're participating in these days, health care costs are sky sky skyrocketing. It's a systemic problem. So, um, having said all of that, as AMD said, um, we had a great meeting with the executive director and another member of school care and we were able to suggest these terms and they adopted them and they

119did give London a shout out in their uh, annual meeting as well for leading the charge on um, coming up with a payment plan that all districts and members can utilize. And um just to hit on a little bit that AMD and Lisa just hit on is um to see those rates um you know the the highest rate increase we had over 15 years was like 8.2% everything was like between 3.2 and and 6%. Um, so yeah, this $2 million didn't come in a a really good time, but they've never experienced this and they didn't have triggers in in place to kind of react quick enough to because everything just went in about a 6 to 8mon time with claims, prescription prices. Um, so I kind of got intrigued with this with the first meeting

120when myself and Tim went up to the state in the presentation of Lisa from school care. Um, and then came back and talked with AMD and and Lisa our Lisa and I think they found the same thing. They're they're very honest people. This is just something that that that's out of the norm. and looking at the rates and we hear all the other rates on Health Trust and and that throughout that you know even this year there still we're going to have a a rate increase higher than we've ever had but it's going to be I believe manageable. They're not quite out yet. They're supposed to be out by the 10th. She was hoping of November but said maybe the 11th. Um but some districts are going to be at 35% increase. >> Wow. So

121the range was 8 to 35 on an average of about 17.5 where we should be on the lower end of that spectrum. Um but even you know health trust and that are up in those uh they're up into the teens and 20s with most of their school districts and they have been for several years. So um kind of being involved a little bit we can kind of you know see what's coming down the road. I know we're looking at other alternatives as well as a school district because we can't just rely on one major uh thing something else happening to this magnitude. So I know Lisa is doing Lisa and Amity are doing their due diligence in other areas that we can look at uh moving forward as well. Um but I think all in

122all school care is the better deal out there in the insurance brokerage is basically what they are is you know Sig is the main carrier. Um but they do look out for the schools and keeping those costs down. So, um, you know, I didn't need anything else on my plate, but I felt as though we should know and hopefully we'll know what's going on and some have some words of wisdom from time to time that may help them do things better. So, that's that's the reason I applied for it. So, but I think we're in a in a good spot and thank you both for uh meeting with them and and working out this this uh this plan. So, um it was nice to hear it yesterday with their largest participation in a long time.

123She said about 138 members were there and um they used the London area and conquered as the the catalyst to get this off and off the ground and running. Um, and they did say about 43 districts had paid their bill. >> Um, and I'm guessing that's because of fund balance and that that those districts had no choice. They had to allocate before they filed for >> the DRRA number and that they were able to do it or resend whatever they had. So, I'm sure that's where a lot of that came in where we had already processed it. So, um, but thank you both for working that that out with them. Spectacular. Thank you. All right. Uh 8.2 full day kindergarten survey and kindergarten registration. Dan. >> Yeah, I'll just give you a super quick update

124if Jay wants to find the PowerPoint. Um you know, so we had a a roundt discussion. Um maybe go two more slides. We had a roundt discussion with parents is heavily attended probably about 50 parents again. So it was nice. Lots of good questions. Um I think uh parents are excited to kind of be part of this process. um and you know what a brief little um explanation of public finance and how warrant articles work and things like that. I think I think everyone kind of understands um what's going to be in the budget where um article two our K to5 system will largely be the same in both budgets and really that budget will change based on our 6 through 12 budget of the departments and there'll be this warn article um around full

125day kindergarten and if Jay goes to the next slide oh I'm sorry you say that my bad you can stay in that slide u go back go back up um I you know we're not done with the budget yet um unless something dramatically happens in the next seven days. I I think we're in a good place to say that if the voters voted for the full day kindergarten warn article, that would lower the operating budget and increase uh our revenue. And we on on November 25th, we'll have numbers what that means. That'll be our first estimate. And then if you go to the next slide, what we're trying to do right now is we're trying to figure out how families are going to navigate all this because I think, you know, some some families are

126probably okay with uncertainty. Some families will will choose to go somewhere else. Um the nice thing is we've had about 140 families um fill out the survey. We're going to push out u registration tomorrow and then we'll start to see how everyone acts. Um, but within that, I think what we're starting to see is we can build a more accurate budget and then by December 18th, uh, which is the the budget meeting where we normally go over Warren articles, we can get into more details of what we think that budget would look like. So, that number could change between November 25th and December 18th, and it might change one more time before we hit the public hearing just to make sure we got it right based on the number of kids and families we're seeing.

127So there'll be that'll that'll be probably a little bit different than when we normally do stuff uh in the past, but we're just trying to figure out how families are are going to kind of fall into this. Some will register no matter what. Um some might seek to register somewhere else, but might come back if it's if it passes. And some just want to talk to us. And uh I've been doing my best to kind of email every single family that put that down and, you know, put them in in contact uh with the principles. So, I I think we're in a good place to un to explain it uh publicly and and kind of move ahead. I don't if you guys have any questions. Any questions, I think we're good. >> Okay. All right.

1288.3 digital budget books for 2627 budget process. >> We confirmed with the town manager that they are going entirely digital uh with their budget books. >> That sounds spot on for Sean. Y it is we are happy to go that route with the school board and and budget committee. We could definitely make books for individuals that want them. So we're just trying to get a sense of the room of what you all want to do. I know the business office would save lots of paper time and money the more the more digital we go. But it doesn't mean we can't have paper copies if we need them. >> Digital. >> Yeah. Save the trees. >> Digital. >> And I'm going to stay traditional. I need my books. Okay. [laughter] >> I have every book for

129the last eight years, nine years and all my notes of everything are in it and I file it and >> and that. So, for only that reason, you know, I would like to to have a book. So, >> if you don't mind, I'd like one, too. I like to write notes. >> Yeah. >> But if the power goes out, we're going to be hanging over your shoulders down [laughter] there. >> I think the rest are okay. And I I think the budget committee would be fine. And I I guess you could reach out to Joe and and just ask if anyone would want one. >> Yeah. >> So, >> but I if the town's going it then yeah, if we can find ways to >> save some money and save our copers being overused. >>

130Well, now that we have paper cut, none of us want to be on the list of having the most copies. >> Uh so, >> oh, you got to track. >> Yes, that's right. >> All right, seeing that that kind of ends our regular meeting. Anything else, Kevin? >> Nothing here. >> Tim, >> good. >> Amanda, Dan, anything Jay? All said, Lisa. All right. With that, we will close out our regular meeting and I'll look for a motion to go into non-public session requested under RSA 91A 3 section 2B, please. >> So moved. >> Motion by Sarah. >> Second by Amanda. Roll call vote from my left to right, please. I Kevin Gray. >> Hi, Tim Porter. >> Hi, Bob Slater. >> Hi, Sarah Laughlin. >> I Amanda Butcher. >> Good night, Lenary.