MVSD School Board March 10, 2025

001you can click this now just moveing forward but if you want to get out of there you just hit the ex yeah except I do want to look at so probably keep clicking all right I'd like to uh welcome you to the uh March meeting of the marac Valley School Board um the March meeting is the organizational meeting um therefore that's why you have me on the microphone getting things uh started here welcome to all of our our new board members thank you very much for serving um certainly appreciate you uh stepping up and congratulations in your respective races um so I'd like to start with the pledge Nick could you lead us in pledge to flag the United States of America stand so that you don't have to hear me talk any longer than

002um you would like to I'd like to take this time to accept a motion uh to elect a chair for the marac Valley School Board to nominate Tracy bricky for the chair of the M Valley School Board all right motion has been made to for Tracy Dan second any others do do we nominate one at a time and vote or how do we do it uh no if there's other people who are interested then we'd uh uh they if they were were nominated and second then we would see who there if there's more than one person can can I ask a question sure to to Melissa who made that first nomination can I can I ask what qualifications or the reason your re rationale for that um Tracy has been a member of the board

003for a very long time and this is only her second opportunity she was a board chair last year for the first time and there as with any position there's a learning c um and I do think that she uh deserves an opportunity to continue um refining that scale okay any others any other discussion all in favor of uh Tracy as the board chair please say I I hi opposed abstain okay one exstension thank you thank you very much thank you Melissa now I'd like to um take uh nominations for vice chair please um I will nominate Lissa second if you don't mind no happy to this Ro thank you anybody else for Vice chair all those in favor of Melissa as Vice Chair say I I I any opposed any abstentions Okie do um so

004the so the next is the appointment of the clerk the treasur and an alternate signer the clerk is Christen Bean Warren who does a spectacular job our Louise dpre she also does a great job and Alternate signer is Katie keer who is like the person of all she does everything um so I would like to could you nominate the have a motion to nominate the Slate for clerk Treasurer and Alternate signer so move second thank you Sally moved by Sally seconded by Jess um any discussion okay thanks um all those in favor of the Slate of officers please say I I any oppos Okie do the minutes of the previous meeting um there were three previous meetings February 3rd the Schoolboard meeting February 4th the public hearing and then February 4th the reconvene Schoolboard meeting

005um if you remember February 3D the Schoolboard meeting we adjourned the Schoolboard meeting till after the public hearing then once the public hearing was over we reconvened the school board um meeting so um Sally has uh as is our practice Sally has Sally has given me the um the inundations and um I have forwarded them on to Kristen and Kristen will print them so that they will be um on the uh the permanent record um does anybody have any other anything Sally so just to clarify um for you just kind of getting it on the record the inundations are strictly uh proof reading grammatical sentence level edits you know commas omissions that sort of thing um anything substantive that would change the meaning I would I would bring to the um you know to the

006full table and so they'll actually I do have one thing that I think does need some clarification in the minutes for the reconvened school board meeting uh the second to last item uh the uh second to last entry is a comment from Bill hin and it does need some clarification in that it currently reads uh Bill Hines bosquin to back a prior comment of the district committing fraud noting Randy had admitted a mistake uh was made on a document and would be corrected um I just think that could use some clarification and I believe that what took place like the the conversation was that he had sort of returned to and perhaps walked back the um sort of the intensity of a prior comment regarding fraud so I'm just wondering what like what an appropriate

007um rephrasing would be that would retain the initial you know the the intent the spirit of the Comet without disrupting it I just think that it needs a little bit of clarification so would would walked back a prior comment regarding the district committing fraud I think that's CL okay okay comment was okay would you agree with that bill see yeah you're here okay yeah I just I okay okay thank you so we can use take back or took back back thank you so I would like a motion to uh approve the minut as corrected um move by Julia second seconded by Dan any other discussion all those in favor of the minutes say I any opposed perfect any abstentions I'm gonna Stacy abstained Tom abstained thank you you didn't have to abstain if you had

008read them even if you weren't here if you had read them that would be fine yep thanks thank you I appreciate that okay next on the agenda would be um public comment about things on the agenda comment public anyone okay then so next will be the sa report on MV business and finance I do apologize the uh the printed copy uh appears to have been cut off but everything that you received in the digital packet um is correct and shows all of the information uh with the the overages there was only one addition to uh to those lines on the overages the others some of them have gone down a little bit because you'll see the encumbrance shrink a little and um change that budget balance but um no no major uh changes to the

009overes sheet um happy to try to answer any questions that you may have I have a question yes um do you want to gra the mic um when I was looking over the finances just as a new board member um is there any way for us to have some sort of background on um you know some of the budget balances remaining we in the negative so I think some of them I could guess maybe why but just some sure those are the that's why we do the overages page that's on the front um as you as you scroll down through and see the report summary um so I can I can go through some of the lines you know we're kind of repeating some of the uh some of the things but one of the

010very large numbers uh you may see under psych Services that's where we uh encumbered funds for agency pair of professionals um which was one of the things that led to a freezing of the of the budget back in uh late September early October because we uh by having to hire agency pairs instead of getting our own PA professionals that was a a huge number we can't put them in a salary line because they're not our employees so we chose that that psych line to put that in so that's one that's the major overage that's on that page and for the building improvements is that in regards to the track it is it is okay yep thank you anything else so I will need a motion for to approve the um business and finance report so

011move second thank you moved by Jess seconded by Laura um any more discussion all those in favor of the business and finance report say I I any opposed any abstain abstain just because I really haven't had a chance to to look at it no problem thank you good news so I I well I I'll give it to Randy but um I loved the good news I I always like that's my favorite thing about the board packet when we get it it makes me so happy to see all the things that are happening in our schools I especially love is Jen here yes I especially loved that kindergarten won the PS PES penny wars that cracked me up but anyway so go ahead it was quite the fight was it you know I don't have much

012to add other than that's you know the digital package is 124 page uh document and you'll notice that the if you have the you know printed packet in front of you that's nowhere near 124 pages so it just shows you how much um good news is in there and I it's great that we can get the word out that way and that that people can have access to you know all the good things happening in our schools so anybody else anything about the good news I would love to hear more about the I would love to hear more about the Explorers program when they get through their sessions because it ends in April so it'd be really cool to have that maybe be one of the presentations thank you Melissa I had a question sorry

013um don't be sorry you're fine you can ask whatever you need for a couple of the items in the good news package I was just wondering um is this provided only to community members who have a student in the district just because things like the tiny explorers program or mvlc food bank I was just wondering if there's a way to get that out to the community or if this was just these were intended just for the uh School families so the the sores are on the um sores are the not the these but the the sores are the um online the digital packet and um from each school and they are posted on the school on the on the district website and on the school each School website do you want to say something else

014just um folks can go to individual schools and sign up to be on that list and the um the board packet the public packet that has all that information is put online as well um so last Thursday it went public so folks could get access that way so there are there is ways that people could uh could take a look at that as far as us adding people who don't have connections to the school it's kind of tough because things change they would have to reach out to us but when they do I know they just get added to uh to that sort of list serve if you will okay thank you sure anybody else a lot of coughing yes okay next Nick you're up all right so there is a lot happening in the

015valley um and a lot even more coming up here uh this month so uh real quick I just want to start by saying congratulations to our new board members uh my name is Nick jinus I'm the student representative um so kind of my role here is each month I bring you guys a report of some of the great things happening um around the schools and also if you ever have any questions regarding something something that you're voting on or you would like stud your perspective um feel fre to ask me any questions you might have so we are finally in the month of the mvhs theater production of into the woods we have four show dates Thursday March 27th and Friday March 28th both of those shows will be at 6:30 Saturday March 29th we

016have a mad a at 1:30 and then the night show at 6:30 um tickets for adults are $10 students $7 you can buy online on the mvhs website site or by going onto your online packet and scrolling scrolling down to the mvhs newsletter so pretty much into into the woods is a Tony awardwinning musical written by stepen stime he's a classic uh it intertwines classical fairy tales like Cinderella Little Red Riding Hood Jack in the beanock and Rapunzel into a captivating story about wishes consequences in the unexpected twists of Life the theater department will also be hosting a theater Festival here at the high school this Saturday the 15th we will be hosting four other schools that is Plymouth Lisbon Guilford and kirar they will all bring their their plays that they've done so far

017this year Plymouth will start off at 920 10:15 will be MV then we have some break in the middle and karge 135 230 will be Guilford and 3:25 will be Lisbon so kind of a full day of plays and whoever does the best will move on to state so it's pretty neat the uh mvhs girls varsity basketball senior Kayla Smith reached her 1,000th Career Point on senior night against John Stark she's the 14th member of The 10,00 Point Club in the seventh girls basketball athlete to reach the feat so very great to uh see our Athletics thriving our High School boys basketball players took a trip to Lowden Elementary School a few weeks ago uh to read books to the students and at this PO Point all winter sports are complete in a great season

018for all so everyone's now looking forward to Lacrosse track all that sort of stuff in the spring baseball softball all sorts of stuff sixth grade music students took a trip to every Elementary School last month to recruit band and core students as they um are looking especially mostly the fifth graders as they moving on up to the middle school next year at the Middle School Mrs kilas and a group of students enjoyed a chil day on the ice this past month the group was joined by members of New Hampshire fishing game part of their let's go fishing program who helped the students um and help the students learn about ice fishing and ice safety I remember when I was in the middle school I always looked forward to doing the let's go fishing program High

019School's fbaa future Business Leaders of America group will be attending the annual state conference in Manchester on March 20th and 21st they will compete in business related events listen to public speakers and get to know other FBA members from around the state I will be joining them while I also am seeing the event so I'll bring back some results at the next meeting for you guys Wednesday March 12th will be the District Band concert that is this Wednesday at 6 PM in the auditorium and then the district chorus concert will be next Thursday March 20th also at 6 PM in the auditorium so as you can see a lot happening around the Valley now I have some jokes it's gonna be music related get ready why did the drummer complain about his salad it had

020no beats and what's avocado's favorite music Walk and Roll I know unbearable can I just get the date of the fpla again is it March 20th yes it will be March 20th and 21st thank you two days thanks Nick as always thank you for your jokes any questions for Nick okay uh next committee reports uh the only committees that met were policy and whoa did you meet y so policy met on February 3rd and we did have um policies AC a a R-1 AC a r-2 that we had um reviewed before I believe those are in the packet for tonight yes for a first read I lost track of which ones were in the packet I'm sorry um we also brought JCB the immunization of students um to the Poli uh to the packet as

021well um I think that's were there a couple others that were tied to this that also a first read on jlc oh y and a first read on JCB uh and again these are policies that we've looked at a couple of times went in and did some tweaking with the um editing of like commas making the sentences make sense if they didn't or they were unclear we definitely relied on the Schoolboard Association to guide us on these so we didn't make major edits to content um but they're in the packet for a first read we do have another meeting I don't know where there yet but we do have a meeting set up so when we start talking about committees we'll get that on the books for everybody we can do we can we can

022uh talk about a meeting right now um we're looking at Mar March 24th for a meeting at 5:30 for the policy committee I know we have a couple of new members that might be joining us so I want to make sure it's out there we have quite a few to tackle so can you repeat that date I'm sorry March 24th and at 5:30 and we'll meet in the library because it's right before the it's not meeting we'll still we're gonna meet in the library it's like I was confused because we normally do that only when we have a board meeting coming events got it perfect so those are all first reads um and uh one of them is 18 pages long so um there's a lot of reading to do if you have any um

023comments or uh any questions contact Melissa or Katherine either one um please it would be great to have that feedback if there's anything that you have questions on for the 24th so we can discuss it as a committee before we come back to the board with it yep and there'll be more revisions to them on our end too may I ask a clarifying question so um and I'm not used to committees yep uh usually everything's done at at the board meeting where I am can you explain how um just how the process goes from getting this part to giving feedback to going back to policy to coming back and finally having a vote so we have several subcommittees policy is only one of them but we as a policy committee and we take a look

024at the policies that are recommended for review based on legislation we also review policies that are older so we like to keep them on a cycle to review them um we look for the feedback from the School Board Association if there's relevant feedback for that um we make revisions based on input that we may have already had or discussions we're having on that small committee then we bring one somebody from the committee makes an uh moves it to be brought to the school board it gets put in the packet for you guys to have a first read typically we have a first and a second read before we we um take action to accept a policy um every once in a while there's a policy that we are able to move forward with one read

025depending on what's in it or what the changes were so at the second read is that when the vote is taken yeah typically we' be looking at a second read and then an action to accept the policy if there's a lot of discussion or the policy is still unclear it can go back to the policy committee before and have another read okay is and this is in black and white maybe I can't see it is is there um a way to tell what the changes are from the what was the current policy to the recommended changes is is there a way to tell um we do keep track of that uh most of these changes were all again commas and periods and punctuation so there's no content changes no there were really no content changes

026to these but they're going to have some changes based on some feedback we've gotten with the new legislation that just happened but we want people to have their eyes on them because they are long no and I appreciate that yeah no problem but when it comes back so say we give feedback and it comes back and there's content Chang content change there'll be cross outs and new language we'll make yeah we'll make it very clear what's the new change awesome thank you great question yeah I appreciate that any other questions for Melissa or Katherine about policies okay then new business uh board ethics policy oh went the wrong way sorry sorry about that no you're good so you will find the board ethics policy in the back of your packet it's policy BCA um and

027so it's included in here for all of you to review um tomorrow I will be sending out a Google form asking you to sign it to confirm your uh receipt and understanding of the the board are there any questions for Catherine about the board ethics policy next are um Schoolboard committee assignments I'm taking this this one's yours here sorry I didn't know that's okay that's okay before I um so the uh if you look on the very back page where it says Schoolboard committee assignments those were the um previous School Board assignments and of course um Eric Hansen is not is no longer with us um Peggy Jones Blanchard is not with us and then of course there were the two bosin people who left um in the middle of the year um before I

028ask about uh who would like to be on what committee I know that Melissa had said at one point that she wanted to co to change she thought she might want to change so if there is any any previously sitting board member who would like to change their committee for something else um I'd like to know that now before I look for board members new board members to fist bite over the what are the what are the groups that we need to have a represent representative they all all the Committees need all the Committees need at least one person except for negotiations which is full except that Melissa said that she would like to change so because I would like to stay on policy and um I've been asked to join Finance I felt like

029policy and finance and negotiations would be a little overwhelming with the amount of commitment to that and time commitment so um I wasn't really ready to step down from policy but I feel like negotiations would be something that I would be um okay with letting go of to stay on finance may I just clarify I think Dan you were asking about which committees require uh membership from each of the five I'm sorry Dan I misunderstood your question so Finance just Finance okay and taking a look at uh what I'm seeing here I'm assuming that um members serve typically on four committees is that right okay thank you three or four yes would it be helpful if I offered an overview of of the committee structure for everyone okay so typically we have our board members

030serving on three to four committees um and board members are given the opportunity to identify preferences and and we we do our best to make sure that we're able to ensure that board members at least have one of their preferences met um meetings are held on Monday afternoon evenings at a time that's conducive to the majority membership attendance a quorum is necessary for a committee meeting to be held um and regular committee attendance ensures that we can um be productive and make progress each committee will elect a chairperson annually at the first meeting following this particular school board meeting um meeting minutes will be kept and shared with the full board the committee chairperson will report out to the full board at the following full school board meeting um committees will make recommendations to the

031school board on matters within their purview a a great deal of the work of the board happens within those committees um and committees will obviously be applying with uh complying with all applicable laws and regulations thank you Katherine I have a question yeah yes um for the committee meetings are those also published and available for the public to attend yes okay are they live streamed as well ex except for negotiations I'm sorry yes negotiations not open to the public okay um what about Personnel or policy that's open policy is open policy is open okay but Stacey your question about oh and student ethics is not that yeah but about if live stream yeah and Randy was gonna answer that uh no the committee meetings are not live streamed okay but they are open to the

032public oh I'm sorry I thought that so um I'd like to start with Finance Finance is the one where um it is uh thanks so the committee oversees the district's budget financial planning resource allocation to ensure fiscal responsibility in alignment with educational priorities it reviews Financial reports funding proposal and expenditures providing recommendations to the full board for sound financial decision-making so it needs one representative from each town and the meeting times are um bi-weekly sometimes weekly um from October to December and um there's not a lot of meeting at any other time than that we have an opening for a Salsbury representative and a bosin representative is there anybody from Salsbury who would like to um serve on the finance committee Julia would like to be there if that's okay no may win are you

033got arm russle yeah okay and we need somebody from boswood Tom Stacy would you like to Duke it out with Tom or okay I think you I think you could probably okay then Al righty so so I am looking for um two people to serve on the curriculum committee let me tell you what the curriculum committee is all about for those of you who are new curriculum the committee ensures instructional programs aligned with State Standards District goals and student needs it reviews student performance data supports teacher development and gathers input from Educators parents and the community the the the committee also monitors polic policy changes and examines instructional materials to support effective learning right now Sally H Dickinson Laura Vincent and Dan York are on the committee so David yes please if you need another

034I would Stacy thank you facilities is the next one I have the committee is responsible for overseeing the maintenance and Improvement of school facilities um oh I should have told you that uh curriculum usually meets B monthly so it's not a huge time suck um facilities meets quarterly usually um more frequently as needed you do have to work pretty close with uh Fred though so that [Laughter] so I need two people for facilities anyone anyone David and Lorna next on my list is student ethics um committee is responsible for promoting ethical ethical Behavior among students um there is no Set uh meeting times for that it's sort of a on an as needed basis um I am looking for one person to David thank you very much um personnel and policy you had a little

035introduction to personnel and policy they review develop and update District you already read this but I'll read again update District policies to ensure they align with legal requirements educational best practices and Community needs it also gathers input from stakeholders and recommends policy changes to the full board for consideration and I am looking for one Stacy thank you Stacy long range planning so I'm looking for four so I'm hoping that all four of you will uh only one on the bo I you're the only one so far [Laughter] yes I can say in a year we haven't had a meeting it's down the road how often do they one should give us I should probably tell you longrange planning is responsible for developing and implementing a long range plan for the school district um once or

036twice a year is usually how often that committee meets I can step in for Eric spot where for a long range plan I I'm full oh you got it I'm full all yep so I'm thinking that you will be on uh Transportation Melissa I've done that before I can do that again okay I need two more people for transportation Transportation committee oversees School transportation services to ensure safe efficient and costeffective student transportation it reviews Roots policies and budgets while addressing concerns related to safety scheduling and compliance with regulations um quarterly oh okay so Lorna and Stacy thank you and last but not least would be negotiations committee represents the board in collective bargaining with employee unions ensuring contracts align with District resources and priorities it works to negotiate Fair agreements on salaries benefits and working

037conditions while maintaining fiscal responsibility and educational goals um it is responsible for negotiating contracts with School District employees um it meets monthly mostly from September to December when um the negotiation negotiations are taking place um sometimes a little more often towards the end we need right and thank you yes and it could meet more month more than that I need one person David David that will be great have you at in your in your former life did you were you on the negotiation team in your school district this will be fun it is fun but I say that about every committee Melissa Melissa left um yep I'm sorry yes I like three big ones are a lot oh you did say that sorry okay so um thank you all so much for stepping up to

038be on all these committees um it is it is a lot of work so thank you oops this is my copy thanks uh any questions about committees committee responsibilities do we have any committees that will be meeting besides policy policy remember the meeting has already been set and it is March 24th at 5:30 and it will be here in this room in this I'm sorry I March 24th at 5:30 for policy here in this room anybody else have any questions on policy I have questions about facilities we haven't met in a little while is there a plan anytime soon any other questions Julia question about long range plan do the Committees have chairs to them yes and you will um you will assign chairs you will elect not assign you will elect chairs at the

039first meeting your first next meeting any other questions for your first next meeting smarty pants okay next on the agenda manifest and journal entries can I interrupt a second please mind since we're in new business um I guess my question is as I go through this when are we talking about the public hearing and and the finances and so forth that we get we got work to do uh there'll be a little bit I'll be talking about that as part of my uh report okay thank you thank you so next is manifest and journal entries and um Melissa and I have both signed the Manifest and journal entries electronically you all read them um if you didn't get a chance to read them that's fine it's understandable especially the first time and you couldn't find

040them [Laughter] so it does happen so um I need a motion so Julia so moved actually I will J I said no judgment there about whether you would read them or not um are there any questions on the Manifest and journal entries do we receive those on a monthly basis with the board meeting we do they come they come to you before they come to you at the same time you get your uh packet okay perfect or sometimes a couple days before qu any other questions this is s late I would like us if we can manage it to have some kind of training I mean I feel I need training on the financial system the new and and we have a bunch of new people I think you could have some kind of training

041on it it would be great um to kind of add to that does the New Hampshire School Board Association have any training around this kind of item specific they have a new board member new board member training and stuff like that just so new folks who don't know what I'm talking about we have a membership that's what it's called with the New Hampshire School Board Association me we have access to their training so if there's anything I'm sure that Randy or Katherine could kind of guide you on that there's anything you want to take training in we have the option to do that I can so the school boards Association does have a uh New School Board member training which is really very good um and it's it's over in their building which is across

042um right on the same area as Target it's um right on Triangle Park Drive that's what it's called um it is March 20th nope we'll we'll forward it we'll forward it on to you but you will also probably be getting um updates from the Schoolboard Association your name will go in as the a new Schoolboard member and you'll be getting um automatic updates from the School Board Association so they do have different trainings and um we have a membership so if there is a training that you want do you want to attend um you can contact Katie keer at the superintendent's office or that's who I always have contact so when I want to go so um we still we have a um motion on the table for the Manifest and journal entries to approve

043those um any other questions all those in favor of manifest and journal entries say I I any opposed any extensions Lorna yes and Stacy S I couldn't get access I I don't know if I did click the request access button but I don't know if the request sometimes go up and um check your that you're using the correct um email address because sometimes what happens for me anyway when I realize that that's what's happening it's my T bricky at gmail is the one that like automatically comes up and I don't have access as T bricky at gmail it has to be T bricky at mvs D pride.org so try that and if that doesn't work then we'll try something else next is the um board chairperson's report and um I am going to I don't

044normally give a report but there was a um there are two things I want to do I want to thank the new board members um it's really wonderful to see so many people who ran and I'm very happy that you um were elected I'm glad you're all here and looking forward to working with you over the next year or three um at the district at the annual meeting there was a man on Thursday evening who stood up and wanted to know um wanted to hear from the legislators in the um in the in the meeting or in the audience and what they had done for uh education in New Hampshire and um I don't know the new board members if you know that I am I was elected uh for the first time in November

045as um the representative from Penacook the legisl legislator from Penacook um marac district 15 um I want to say that it the why I ran for the legislature is because public education is important to me and I believe that it is probably the most important thing um in that I could um make a difference at so I just wanted to talk about the things that have happened in education in the state legislature um so this is like my point of personal privilege um but it I'm on the I am on the agenda so um the first thing was House Bill 115 um that my committee is education funding um House Bill 115 is uh University eligibility for efas which are education Freedom accounts which um also have a nickname of vou um it was January

04616th and there were um it was the very first week of the legislature um I believe that it was scheduled at that time so that there could not be um as much uh online testimony because once the hearing has happened online testimony ends House Bill 115 will be in front of the whole house on Thursday so um what this does is if you don't know what education Freedom accounts are um or vouchers they allow parents they um give funds to parents and they allow parents to use them for um things that their children they um for private schools they allow them to use them for religious schools they allow them to use them for um homeschooling homeschool although I have to say that there's a large homeschool population that does not take efas um and

047they're pretty um vocal about that um I think Jeremy I don't see him normally Jeremy margolus who is the um conquered monitor um reporter for Education he is normally here he is doing a series on efas and um so if you have anything that you want to say about efas good or bad um I would say contact your representative and let them know um before Thursday um House Bill two 283 um talked about adequate education it um was the bill that was going to eliminate social studies it was going to eliminate uh technology it was going to eliminate a number of other things um 27,000 people wrote in and had online testimony against that bill and um that bill was uh indefinitely postponed um House Bill 583 those of you um on the board who

048um are friends of mine on Facebook um this was the day that um was my worst nightmare um in my committee it was a bill for Medicaid direct certification for free and reduced lunch um it was a bill that had no cost to the state and it would have qualified 10,000 more students for free and reduced lunch in New Hampshire um House Bill 771 um which is about Open Enrollment um it would allow sending districts to pay 80% of their tuition of the sending District's tuition to the receiving District to take their student even if the receiving District's um tuition was uh significantly higher um House Bill 208 which is certification requirements for schooled nurses it reli it it removes all the criteria for um the state no longer will have to certify School nurses

049they and those School nurses will not need any pediatric um background House Bill 352 dealt with polling places uh firearms in polling places um I uh as those of you who have already been on the board know my position about the polling and the fact that Firearms are allowed in polling places and all of our schools most of our schools are used as polling places um last week House Bill 524 um was repealed the New Hampshire uh vaccine Association and House Bill um which dealt with lead paint poisoning prevention and Remediation so just so you know I um voted against all of those bills um and um Sally will understand this I felt like when we were in covid and um Sally and I or just I would put forth a motion here and we

050were the only two who voted against it and everybody else or voted for it and everybody else was um so just so you know I have haven't won on any of these so uh but just know that I'm out there fighting um I did win on the right to work um bill it was indefinitely postponed so that was that was uh doesn't have a lot to do with education but um it was a win for me so that was a so now that I made y all you know now that I really put y'all up there in a good mood um that's my board chairperson report and I probably won't do that again I just needed to I really was hoping to um that he would have brought it up um on Friday evening I

051know he didn't because it was late and I'm sure that's why he didn't and that was it was understandable but I needed y'all to know that I'm working really hard down there for not just the families and students here in Mar ma Valley but all the families and students in New Hampshire so thank you for listening I really appreciate it thank you for your work thank you thank you Lona and I just want to say um I appreciate when the board chair gives a report so I hope that you will consider at least having something at each of our meetings because your input is valuable to this committee and as your going into your second year I'd like to see you expand that work okay thanks thanks very much next on the agenda is the

052assistant superintendent report and I do not I do now have a report for the board tonight thank you um so I was deeply saddened by the results from Thursday night's vote um as as many of us were uh the Deep cuts that are going to have to occur with the to make up the almost $2 million cut uh going to have some implications for our students and our staff uh we're going to lose some very good staff as a result U beyond the people that are going to be uh moving on there's also as we've seen in some other communities other staff end up leaving because of that feeling of insecurity um you know and the path that we've outlined towards uh Financial well-being is certainly going to be set back a couple of years

053I think we're going to stay true uh to that course but um you know we were hoping that that path forward was going to get us closer to some of the The Dr the Department of Revenue Administration and government Finance officers Association recommendations um but I think that'll take a backseat for a little bit but we are valy strong and I believe that the community will rally and that we'll get through this we have a tough job ahead of us so the proposed um budgetary increases had virtually no discretionary items on the list so it it truly is a full cut um so we'd like to set a board meeting for March 24th at 6:30 and it's at that time that we'll present the board with a plan and the the board's role in this

054will be to um approve that plan that will give us an opportunity uh both before to talk to uh staff to let them know that their uh position may be potentially on the um on the Riff so a reduction in force list uh due to the cuts um so in that March 24th we'll lay out um the different amounts and that that's probably um going to be somewhere between 15 and 20 positions in addition to um some of the different programs that we may be able to um reduce or you know put on the back burner for a year or two um as we um as we make that almost $2 million in the budget cuts so March 24th 6:30 uh the plan will be laid out um and then we can we can go

055through that identify the different parts of that plan show the um you know the financial pieces as it leads up to it and um then we'll uh at the April meeting is when uh one of the reason we have to get this done in March is because the April meeting is when we are going to give the list of nominations for professional positions because contract have to go out um in April by April 15th um I believe and um so we'll take care of that this month and U move forward so we have a tough job ahead of us but we're um we are on it we've met uh already with the administration the union and legal and we'll Circle back around we have many other uh meetings scheduled as as as you can imagine

056it's not just you know take care of this one take care of that one um it's kind of like you know pulling it something on a sweater and um you know things start coming unraveled and um if one person leaves if they have bumping rights over another position that that causes a ripple effect so we have to really um lay all of those pieces out as we're trying to figure things out Jess you had a question yeah I I just had a question um when you're going to present this plan to us um is this going to be like a written plan plus the budget with all of the changes in it we'll have a written plan to show essentially the you know the 1.9 million and some change where each of those dollar amounts

057come from as well as um the the positions that we're will we will be eliminating as part of that and that will be done in public session okay and um will we be receiving that information ahead of time to review over it before the meeting um it's really just to approve the plan um when we once we get the plan laid out because anything leading up to that could still be one of those things that are in in motion so it's the and the purview of the the board is to approve the plan and as we looked at we contacted some other districts that have been go that went through this same thing um some of them didn't even ask for formal approval from the board but we feel that's a necessary step um as

058part of this this process just a quick question also about process um so is what you bring to the board will that be an up or down vote or will there be will it be a conversation in which there are suggestions and emen emendations you know um or is it just you know here is the plan vote Yes or no um I'll have to dig into that a little bit there may be some around the the fringes but as far as the the positional cuts that would be something that we couldn't say well how about this instead of that because then that that creates that whole um flurry again and we would have already been speaking with the people who are potentially on that list prior to that to that meeting just to give them

059a heads up that the board will be voting on the plan um and most of things because there's not a whole lot of fluff there's you know there are just things that we're going to go without and you know if we're saving $200,000 by not having something there's really not another $200,000 thing to do without so there's really um it seems like there'd be a lot of things but most of the moving parts are within those professional positions and the and the support staff positions Dr R might just have a quick question when you talk about like programs and such are we talking more about like like sporting teams or are we talking more about like different like clubs like um FBA or maybe some of the ones like aren't self-funded because I know theater

060we're all like self-funded um because of the people that like come to the show so I know that at least theater will be safe which is good like any of those sorts of things Nick that's a good a good example yeah okay I have a question I have two actually um are you anticipating or planning to anticipate for some Fallout from that because I know it was P pem yeah Penbrook um they had a lot of Fallout so these 15 to 20 positions is not including any of that Fallout that you're anticipating correct there's definitely so Penbrook last year when they had uh 3 million uh over two million of it was staff cuts um and they Rift or reduction in force 27 teachers 25 others left as part of that whole thing which that

061is not something that we can control right um but we think that by you know really we're trying to minimize that I'd rather be closer to that 15 than than the 20 because I think each position that we save provides a little bit of stability which is another reason that we'd like to make sure that we let folks know that this is coming you know prior to the board vote so once we get that uh narrowed down like I said we have many meetings already scheduled because because of those different moving Parts but if we can you know do something to save a position we're going to save the position and look for other places that we can make some of those cuts okay and then one question just because I feel like it's anticipated

062to come I feel like it's inevitable coming from the community especially being there Thursday and Friday and hearing concerns around it and I don't know the exact number I've heard three I've heard five and I've heard six of these positions that are open but not filled um are those intended to be some of the positions to be cut yeah so those aren't positions that are I think there was some confusion the way that people were presenting that those aren't current positions those were what we were planning for next year based on student enrollment numbers and things that we thought we could do so those are definitely part of the 15 so even though I said 15 to 20 positions I didn't say 15 to 20 people so some of those that were going to be

063absorbed as part of that will go on that list but it's so it's 15 to 20 positions not 15 to 20 people thank you yeah that helps there on this report there was um the various towns and what the estimated um tax rate will be yes and I my opinion is $2 million is not going to save people a ton of money on their property taxes but would would there be a way to update this say we're cutting two million and you're going to save 15 cents per thousand yeah we can certainly uh put that that doesn't there's not one of those up on the web or anything it really is just you know an estimate for folks um but I think it would be helpful because I really do feel like people think they're

064going to be saving a ton of money and it's I don't believe it will be on a $300,000 home it'll be about $12 a month right so I think so Bill you can take a look at those numbers but yes I think it's important that we document all the positions and all the cuts we have to make to Cod Services students so that yes this is going to hurt students and we hope we're going to try to minimize the hurt but we do have a list so that we don't hear next year well you did P when we cut two million yeah that'll the plan will clearly articulate what what positions are being cut in programs and what those things do so keep that in writing m so can I chime in please Tom sure

065yeah I I respectfully disagree with what's going to happen um I spent a lot of time this weekend digging into this and I sent you guys an email with some thoughts and ideas and I want to remind everybody the budget is the board's budget it's the board's budget and I think that it would be appropriate I was I was going to recommend that we have a meeting next Monday night on the 17th and actually do the work of the business the work of the district in front of the people I got a lot of questions I got ideas where we can take money from I don't think we need to lose 14 positions I think it can be far far far fewer than that and I think it would be wise to have a conversation

066and talk about some of these lines it's very hard to dig into this completely because we only have function lines and I appreciate you sending me the uh 24 uh budget and actuals um but I don't know if some of those are uh transfers speak because of of the issue but I think that it would be wise for this board come on Monday and you bring suggestions but I I have a lot of things in here that I'd like to talk about that involve uh salaries and you know when you're also reducing salaries you're also reducing F and New Hampshire retirement benefits talk about the health insurance potentially I I mentioned the CIP plan where that's 375 $5,000 you could remove from that I'm sorry Fred but you could do that and you could allow

067Fred to use up to $26,000 from his um me I mean there are ways to do this we don't have to cut that many people but I think we should do this business in front of the people this is and we will on the 26 it's not the perview of the 24th rather it's not the perview of the board to be in that I asked that question specifically about how this should work um so how do we give you how do I share what I have with you Randy because I'm going to bring it up on the 24th how do I share that with you well you can go through the board chair and give her give her your thoughts but um we're going to be digging in and the board is going to approve

068the plan that's the that's the role of the board in this process hold on hold on I yeah um so when you said you asked did you ask legal and legal said that the board does not have control over directing what I asked more than once so that I could gain Clarity on exactly what um what the the board's role is in this process can okay I have another question which might be silly can is there a way is there a on the 24th for the approval process can we and I'm kind of asking you Tracy we can offer almost like an advisory warrant right something similar what we would do at annual meeting as a board and say we would like you to do this that and the other thing if even if legally

069that's not within our position can we still do something like that because this feels a little off to me I don't believe that that is what we can do I will need to talk with Jim oos shanesy who is our legal um person and find out what and I can I will talk to him and I will send out to you what to all of you what he um says to me about the process um my guess is the as Randy had said the reason that it's sort of like a whole plan is because once you do one thing then this thing moves and then this thing moves um it's not like we can say oh next year we're not going to give people raises um those are contractual those are contractual we've already bargained

070those um so um but I will certainly I have not spoken with Jim yet and I will certainly um get in touch with him I have his uh his phone number and his email so I will get in touch with him and ask him those questions David and then Sally yeah I would appreciate it if you could um and then Tom my my major concern right here is the impact on morale in the district and having been through in Private Industry when we had to take salary Cuts or seeing at the years where we didn't get um contracts redo we lost people and one of the biggest things when you lose that is you lose institutional knowledge you have to end up training new people and of course even if it's not dollars and cents

071it's what uh experienced teachers and and faculty people are doing to help the newcomers and that of course impacts the amount of time you have to do your real job which is to be interacting with the students so I'm really for anything that we can possibly do or have a discussion or to find out there's a way that we can somehow mitigate this as much as possible Sally um so just to uh again this is a processing question but um I know that the you know the finals uh that Randy and Katherine you know get to uh put together the plan is there anything that prudes us as board members from saying you know offering suggestions well that's what I had mentioned to Tom that if you know he wants to send it to Tracy

072then after Tracy's discussion with um with legal if if there are things that um is there's a way to you know get the some of the uh board's comments um to be part of that process I think that could that might work okay so but please yes please send them to me Tom but it's not a discussion I mean we build budgets in front of the public this is a budget matter I have so many questions and to send them to Tracy and not be able to dialogue back and forth I'm sorry but it doesn't make any sense to me I think that we need to have conversations and quite frankly to be given a an option and vote Yes or no is is not the right thing to do we should be having these

073conversations for instance I was looking today on the budget here you know the one that was in the packet you have your food service um expenditures say $750,000 but your revenues are $1 m63 so that tells me there's a 313,000 Surplus in food service if we have that then why aren't we using that money for to take out of the fund because Food Service uh surpluses can be used on anything Surplus which includes salaries benefits um CIP projects is there anything can be pulled unless this is incorrect we have Surplus there and there are so many places in here that I would love to talk about and questions that I have as far as attri you you're losing a a first grade teacher at bosquin can we at least have the conversation you have two

074very small classes in first grade and fifth grade at Webster and Salsbury could could we make that one class and have those kids all in one school with one teacher there there are things that need to be explored that need to have a conversation this should take a while I'm confused what you're saying about a first and a fifth grade there's a Webster and if you combined Webster Salsbury first grade for next year okay 20 kids so um we had a uh two years ago two years ago three years ago we had a small school study and um the people in Webster and Salisbury are not willing to combine their schools schools I'm talking about grade levels there's there there's six miles it's the same thing it's the same thing Tom they're not willing to

075so that doesn't happen if we're going to listen to the the people in the communities we need to listen to the people in the communities okay well I I'm just gonna say this with with how this is I'm just telling you what I feel and maybe I'm not right but I'm just telling you at that meeting I heard transparency transparen transparency I just I don't see this as being trans transparent and I don't see how not talking about budget matters here where we can all have discussions and share ideas is not allowed I just don't see that respectfully if I have word from legal counsel and your opinion I'm it's my job to go with the word of legal counsel but I thank you for your input and we had some of those same things

076that you've mentioned on our list so we have believe me we're turning over every every stone to look for for ways that we can reduce the number of positions because that's the last thing that we want to do I wish that that number was zero and that there were ways to cut from from other places so we are looking at all possibilities so can I can I can I speak with you privately can I go through my questions with you privately well like I said do you want to send them to Tracy she said that she would contact Jim and work that out and that's fine that's fine with me we can set up a time to meet AR legal these aren't legal questions we can set up a time to meet Tom that's fine

077let's do it okay let's do it no problem Laura um I'm imagining that this is going to affect the related arts at the elementary level and we had the rotation let's hope not this worked out so nasty I don't I don't want to imagine anything right now but if it does I will vote if I need to I will keep me from voting on the budget but I want to make a statement about how we work to get that and and and really the effect that it would have and I'm just letting you know thank you Laura anyone else can I just say one last thing sure and and we there's a lot of talk about penro penbroke was level funded we get a 3% increase in my 10 years as a principal in this

078District we get two and a half 3% every year and we made it work and I just think that sitting here saying we're going to lose 20 positions it doesn't H it doesn't need to happen it it doesn't there are places that we can take from thank you okay I have one last thing sure I know that you know this is all new for everybody and that we give a lot of our time to this board but I I like Tom I can't really let this go I would really like to have an update publicly be um on where you folks are thinking about um I'm trying to work through this in my head as I'm talking so if we wanted to have a update board meeting with everybody so the public can hear what

079we're talking about or what you guys are thinking rather than just getting it all at once because my concern is that when you share like say you give us a plan right and we get it Friday before or that Monday that is a lot to go through in one thing right and that'd be a lot for the public to adjust to as well and I know and understand that legal says that we don't get a say I suppose but we should still be accepting input on where the the constituents think that they want to do XY or Z so even if it's not a special meeting is there any way we can update online of a statement of where folks are thinking or is there going to be an issue understanding right like that there

080are positions that are could be bumps could be cut it's all fluid but even just a summary statement of what you folks are looking at so that people in the community can give their opinions about what's going on well I think we already said they can give you can give your opinions to Tracy and she can take care of that the problem goes to what David was saying before let's say we started out with that we're going to have to get rid of the 15 positions and we found some other ways to save too but we've already talked with those people that are in that position mhm so um then all of a sudden we've created this sort of unsettling uncertainty about about their position when it ends up not being part of the the

081final plan and that's the problem with meeting on Monday and talking about 20 maybe we get the 20 down to 15 maybe we get the 15 down to 12 but we just told 20 people that they're they're part of that plan and that's where the whole sweater analogy um comes from so I think it's fine to to take feedback and and and present it um you know like I said we're looking at every every possibility um but it it is a big number so I have a question so was the intention then on your [Music] end when we come in on March 24th that you would have already eliminated those positions no so we would have talked to folks and let them know that the board will be voting that way if they if they

082would like to come to that meeting and they wanted to be part of it um we wanted to give them them a heads up coming into that meeting that that the board will be voting um on the on the plan which includes them and then from there we'd be having that more you know formal discussion after the board um votes on the plan and then we'd be putting the nominations forward at that first um the first first week in April okay and then so that's when it would be sort of official if you're asking about those those positions so after the board votes on the plan let's say that we got it down to 10 so there's 10 positions that are going to be and maybe it's positions and not people so maybe there's eight

083people who um were going to have to be part of that reduction in force and that would be those would the people we'd have those discussions with the board approves the plan and then they would be just be removed from the nomination list to get contracts in April so logistically I guess I'm just confused I'm confused if the board has a say but then if there we have to vote on it so you're voting on the plan itself not on individual the individual people on that list and if we were to not get a majority vote what would happen then logistically um well like I said some of the districts have done it without having the board officially vote on it it's more letting the board know what the plan is okay um so I

084would I would hope that you know that would be you know something that would be worked out and that the majority of the of the board would vote to approve the plan and um that would be moved forward from there so just yeah just a quick question I and I don't know if we'd know by the 24th but they were looking into a different insurance carrier yeah that's on the list that could potentially affect things too right or only for the new contracts um no that would be you know so if we're and I think the the number Kathleen had share was like 300,000 and you know Tom's point about food service because of covid we had always been running in the red in food service and covid ended up putting us in the black

085and we had talked about um I didn't know it's up over 300 now but I knew like 250,000 that we can move that to the general fund so that's certainly something that you know hey 250,000 that's you know three positions off of that list so the those are the sorts of things that that we really want to uh dig into Sally and then Julia so this is just um to confirm that the board vote is advisory not finding if okay y jul yeah that was basically my question so even if we all say it's unacceptable to cut anybody because we're basically working with 3% over this current Year's budget you would make a decision on your own and it doesn't matter what we say well we have to cut 2 million from the budget so

086the 6.95 there wasn't discretionary money in there were only a couple of those things that could be considered discretionary like a 100,000 in each of the the lines for facilities the other lines are not discretionary so those I know that that's kind of the angle that you know three% but we had basically required things that were six and a half percent so if we you know I'm just making up the the you know half a percent on you know the couple hundred thousand on on those other lines it was special ed it was benefits it was you know CBA so those numbers combined were higher than that so it's a $2 million cut so we have to find a way to cut one way or the other we have to cut $2 million from the

087budget to stay to stay in those lines no and I understand that but I think most of us here are asking when we show up on the 24th let's just say we all say this is not okay and we all say no the majority says no you can do with that as you like and ultimately it's your decision so we're just being informed of what that you're going to end up doing anyway like I said that some of the some of the places that have gone through this did not even get a board a board official board vote in any way so Randy um I I've played with some numbers here and and I would really like to share them and I know that but like if I just talk with Tracy I'm not I'm

088not talking to nine other people and and um but I will share them with everybody yeah but there but but Tracy I understand and I know you will and I know you'll do a good job with that but that doesn't mean that they'll understand okay um I I played with some numbers here and I'd like to share I mean I have this well over a million dollars without cutting a person without cutting a person um and then I have questions on on other things I just I I think the process I just think the process should be very different I would love the opportunity to to share what I'm thinking and the questions that I have but I I just feel like I'm being shut down right now um and I'm sorry you feel that

089way um but I think that when we I I can't imagine that the people in this the superintendent's office would not also be looking at the same things that you're looking at um in terms of um as Randy said they already talked about the overages in the um the extra money in the um the food in the food program they've already um you know talked about Fred's $200,000 um and5 looking at looking at the CIP um so I think that I as I said I'm totally willing to meet with you and I will share what you say with the board I um I have to believe that we hired people who are knowledgeable and will do the things that you probably have thought of um and when we meet on the 24th they will let

090us know and I I don't know I I really and truly believe Tom that a lot of the things that you've looked at in the budget they will also have looked at in the budget okay so first of all I have no um doubts about Katherine and Randy's ability okay no doubts about their ability they're they very smart knowledgeable people I don't doubt that but I don't know if they thought the same things because I can't have that conversation with them and um just I do this for a living too and and I have dug into this and and I re I would at least like the ability to share it with Katherine with Randy with you and the nine other board members that's all I'm asking I don't think that that's out of line

091I don't think that's inappropriate I think it's I have a question um I've only ever worked with financial companies boards so I I don't know this may be different here but is it within the board's legal purview to call a board meeting if they can yes that's what we're doing on on the 24th to have that to have that meeting yeah no I know but um like a working session board meeting if there were a working set that would be like a non-public meeting and it was suggested that there's really no reason to go into non-public to have that if that's what you're saying like if you're saying a non- meeting or a work meeting like that um so I don't know what that means um about non-public I know nonpublic but could we have

092a work session in non-public uh if I mean there would be a non- meeting but when um when I asked about that as well um it was suggested that it be um you know all of the stuff be put out in public if you're going to have those discussions and it's really just about that plan and not the not the inner workings of those um of of how we get to that to that final plan and I I know I'm being difficult and I don't I don't mean to but I think we need to talk this over as a team well I think Tracy said that she'd reach out and and get some get some more words to me on that no no I no I said she'd reach out to to legal and get

093clarification in fact if I'm not uh presenting things um you know in a proper manner okay um I'm anxious to hear back on this and I'm going to drop it but I I think that we should meet March 17th I was actually about to ask if other folks wanted to meet on March 17th even if it's a non-meeting meeting but um now we're in territory that I'm not familiar with so so I I can ask when I speak to Legal I can ask yeah if that is a possibility I I'm not sure sure that it is um but I I wrote it down yeah and um I will certainly ask my thought is even if it's not a directive meeting um I know other boards in surrounding towns do like retreat sessions like this um

094because I have to have friends who serve on other school boards and even if it's not um you know a directive um having this open conversation amongst all of us is useful for you folks but it's also useful for us to go back to our neighbors who are asking us about this to know where we are in the process and what it what we're kind of leaning down towards so I I I would keep the 17th open for me I'd be perfectly happy to drop everything and come to a a non- meeting meeting that's what we want to call it I will um certainly that it's on my list of things to ask about thank you y y will you be doing that tomorrow Tracy I will try to do that tomorrow okay um all

095tomorrow I am in conquer tomorrow um it all depends on if Jim is available tomorrow I mean I will call him first thing in the morning I don't have to be to conquer till nine so thank you yep I'm just I'm curious is it is it the standard practice of what is happening where essentially we don't have so we never happened before to us this this has never happened to us before so I can't say if it's standard practice or not which is why I am going to contact Jim so that I can find out what that standard practice is you see what I'm saying I do I just think from the feel in the room I just feel like we're really all uncomfortable with yep essentially in the next two weeks somebody's going to

096whoever to 15 people to be like hey you may not have a job next year but we won't know till the 24th Okay then if we all say no may I just add a just a couple of points so I I hear Tracy saying that she is going to be looking into this tomorrow and she is going to be giving that information back to the board um I think something that we heard today that it's it's very important that we have these conversations in public session um and because these conversations are going to we're going to be talking about people people um and it's I think it's very important we felt it's important uh for us to make sure that any person who's possibly being discussed here publicly has the opportunity to know that that

097is happening be before that conversation happens um just so just to kind of clarify where some of that is coming from all I um and just so one more piece I and Tom we we received your suggestions and I I gotta be really honest a lot of them are on our radar um this this is really fresh we just we're just digging in well I shouldn't say just digging in because to be quite honest Randy was digging in at 6: am. on Friday morning we met with the admin today I would ask that we be given the opportunity to do that workc because like you said Tom we we can do this we we want to we have the knowledge of the district we want to do this work and and that's what we want

098to bring before the board so those are just a few points that I I just wanted to clarify thank you Katherine that was very very well said but will say that um I have no plans of talking about spec well I shouldn't say that I'm talking about attrition and not um taking away people's jobs that's what I'm talking about thank you Tom yeah anyone else I have a question I want you to ask you after the okay I will be here so there is one oops I'm sorry Stacy I just I guess and maybe someone can Comfort this nervousness that I'm having but my concern right now is that as a board member I'm going to walk out here tonight and I won't we won't have any further say before people are told that their

099job might be on the line and I just I have such a concern about how that's going to affect the morale and we're not going to just you know it's not an we don't have any more discussion before that happens um so I guess that's my concern and and I'm I know there's probably not a solution to that concern right now but you're right I don't think that there is yeah record um there is of course Melissa we're having a really great discussion and I want to remind people that if you do send anything email do not make it a discussion because then especially if you're sending it to all of us if somebody sends an email they should all go to Tracy otherwise that gets very messy with the right to nose so if

100we want to keep this public please make sure that all correspondents goes through Tracy and she can share with the rest of the board the information that way it's going out to everybody at the same time and it's not a back and forth dialog it's just really important that we keep that in mind because this is a topic that's going to weigh heavily on all of us over the next couple of weeks while we process and for the rest of the year not just the next couple of weeks decisions are right somebody I I might just have one more question uh for Dr Worm so are we planning to like at this point like not really like hire anyone new and just kind of like use what we have within the district to kind of

101move people places because I know um we're currently down two Math teachers here at the high school and like for me most of the classes that was in um this one teachers that left in her class we were having to take vac courses right now and I know for me and for a lot of other people it's just not like the best way of learning and we're having trouble like learning uh VX um because it's just not like I learn with like a teacher in person in the room so I'm just wondering if we're trying to um work on something to kind of fill those positions the best we can because I'd really hate for having more students have to go through this kind of VX learning because it's just like not the best way

102to learn in my opinion yeah so VX is just like an online um learning organization I believe exactly virtual Learning Academy so they have all sorts of different classes you can sign up for them but we were kind of having to uh be signed up if we want to continue the course for the year so that's what that is yeah so even though there may be some you know folks leaving and you know if there's other POS there are positions that we still need to hire for so there's no sort of you know uh hiring frees you know if you will we're still looking for people to fill some of those type of positions so if we had you know we have two math openings for next year we're going to be posting for two

103math openings if we don't have anyone that's in house that might have a math certification there's not many of us hanging around with math certifications to you know slide in we have Mr York in the front and you have me over here but um I don't know that we can pull that off so um so it really depends on the position so if you know there may be you know if there was a you know an elementary level position in one building we're probably going to take someone from somewhere else that may have been one of those that that were you know uh getting rid of you know due to you know our our class numbers and sliding that person over but for things like you know math or science those aren't typical certifications so

104those would still be uh posted and we'd be hiring for those so that that's the confus confusing thing too Nick is that um as part of this if you know as some people get um let's say they part of that that riff and and they're leaving we're still going to have a lot of open positions which is going to seem odd but it's going to be depending on the position um but we're certainly trying to do some of that that sliding over so if someone if we're reducing a position in in one place we want to take that position and fill it somewhere else if we can again to minimize you know because nobody you know I wish the number was Zero that of you know people that we were going to be um looking

105to reduce that that position so perfect thank you anyone else okay so um something that got left off the agenda um topics for the next board meeting um when I say the next board meeting I'm meaning the um April what is it um April 6th the April 6th board meeting um is there anybody who has any topics for Jess yeah um I believe I asked in January to hopefully have by April um maybe um what it would cost to either start live streaming our committee meetings from the SA or live stream committee but live streaming committees um I think we heard a lot about transparency and as um you counil said we do a lot of work in committee like a lot so anyway that's my thought process I'd just like to have make sure

106that's on the April meeting thank you anyone else Tom Yeah couple things um I have a lot I'm just going to give you two uhu I I would like to uh talk about creating a board goal for this year to improve um what we heard at the meeting um openness transparency and Trust I think there's some things we can do around that and I'd also like to uh talk about um having a meeting where potentially we could do some uh planning for the um next school year and talk about teacher contract and budget and academic goals and start thinking about you know that that FY 27 budget and how we want to get there um so I I would like to do a little of that that planning if we could okay thanks Stacy uh

107p Feb backing a little bit off of one of Tom's topics was um something that brought up at the annual meeting that I think maybe we could do something about and that was um the public that comes to these meetings it's really just a public input and there's not really a space right now to allow questions to come to the board in full in session and get an answer and I understand that sometimes there an answer is just not available at that time but maybe just discussing some type of form to get um a solution to get the Public's questions answered as they come up so um yes so this is a Schoolboard meeting and so it's not a you're right it's not a meeting of the public so we would it this is not

108the place for it but we could find a place we can think about a place for it okay okay yep just did you want um no you go ahead Jia piggybacking off of Stacy I was which was piggybacking off of Tom um just a huge piggyback uh at the it's like a pyramid cheerleading no was when I heard that at the the public meeting a thought came in that we do one twice a year so it's not just that one time oh okay I see what you're saying yep I was thinking quarterly but even okay thank you Laura before Co we used to meet like once a year with the Selectmen from other the towns after we did the budget before that in December or November yes I remember that see us maybe go back

109to doing that okay thank you anyone else so next is public comment Louise thank you Louise Andrew Salsbury first of all I'd like to conr congratulate all the new school board members and I hope you good wish you good luck all right next the annual meeting as some of you may or may not know I walked out last week the reason I walked out was I was not going to argue with the moderator now the first time somebody did the point and he come back to me he had an attitude in his voice and when he came back a second time I was not going to argue with him and I walked out I am going to go to the ACLU as soon as I can and if they say have I have a case

110I'm going to file a complaint the person before me wasn't even talking about the amendment and the person after me talked forever and everything was fine I'm not happy with that number two Washington Street School back in 2023 there was a big concern about the Washington Street school and what it would cost to bring it up to date and O October of 2023 a a study had been started with eii and we spent $12,500 and at that meeting in October another $12,500 was spent we need to know and I am requesting a copy of that study and also it was going to cost I don't know how many million to update that building we need to know what's going on with that is are they plans to bring it up to date are we going

111to sell it we going to give it away or what we going to do with it the third thing the deficit in the school district it happened it happened but what's been posted and talked about is not satisfactory we really don't know what went on that cause that kind of a deficit I'm not accusing nobody of anything but we need a detail of what really happened that brought about that $2 million deficit so at this time I am asking the school board for a forensic audit and it's not just me many people in the school district are asking for one and I know there's many kinds of friends that got it and needs to be figured out but we need details and I'll tell you until we get one this subject is not going to

112go away Jen and Jen has a petition that we're going to give to the school board tonight sorry I didn't know I was going to read this um so can I have your name please uh Jen Mercer Lowden thank you dear Schoolboard members we the undersigned taxpayers and concerned citizens of marac Valley School District respect ful request a comprehensive forensic audit of the district's 2024 2025 budget in all pertinent financial and accounting records transparency and accountability are fundamental to maintaining public trust and as stakeholders in this community we believe a forensic audit is necessary to ensure that taxpayer funds are being managed responsibly responsibly and efficiently recent concerns regarding the $2 million shortfall have led to Growing apprehension among residents regarding the allocation and use of District funds A forensic audit conducted by an independent

113third party will help to clarify any inconsistencies identify potential inefficiencies and restore confidence in the district's Financial stewardship our request is based on the following concerns one transparency and accountability a forensic audit would provide a clear detailed review of expenditures ensuring that funds are being allocated appropriately number two financial responsibility with Rising costs and budgetary constraints taxpayers deserve assurance that resources are used effectively to support students and staff number three public trust a thorough review will reinforce trust between the district and the community demonstrating a commitment to ethnical financial management we urge the school board to act in the best interest of the students Educators and taxpayers by approving independent fesic audit we believe that fiscal responsibility transparency should be top priorities in ensuring the district operates with integrity and efficiency please accept this position

114sign from concerned citizens of marac Valley School District as a formal request for immediate action we look forward to response and are eager to work collaboratively to promote Financial accountability within our school system thank you thank you Fred anybody else questions okay okay so I don't do well off the cuff but I had some questions so as things are being discussed can you define the psych Services because I'm confused um where the Paras normally go because when I saw that number on the overages I thought it was high and I didn't realize that that's where the Paras went do they normally go there so this is a time for public comment not um questions but I think that what Randy said was that those are the um pair of professionals that were um counter uh

115that were contracted conted out okay but so then the normal pairs are in a different line item the ones that we hire in salaries is that what it so yes they are but I'm not going to continue to have a conversation with you this is time for you to um okay public comment all right um so then I just want to say I agree with Tom and the others on the board that this is concerning that the school's budget is being taken over by the SAU and they have no real say in what happens with it after that it's concerning thank you thank you anyone else Jeff Leonard lden um I guess I'm kind of concerned because we I think we all thought the school board had a lot more um say in where the

116money goes in to the district and uh from what I'm hearing it's all up to the superintendent and the assistant superintendent um thanks Tom for bringing up all the concerns um I run a business myself and you got to pinch penni sometimes and you've already made a freeze of $1 million into last year's budget or this year's budget um so you're already telling us that there's already a million dollars worth of fluff in there if you're going to take a million dollars and and spend it on the on the on the deficit so you're actually working with another $4 million so I don't understand where a true leader a true leader Mr wormal you should be up there saying I am going to try my damnedest that there is not going to be any Cuts

117or any positions cut unless people cut from anything that's what we we should be hearing but we are not you're saying oh there may be 15 to 20 positions cut we don't want to hear that you have money to work with Tom's already done it in three days he's done research and he's got suggestions but it all has to go through a third party that isn't how things should work you guys should have a meeting and every Schoolboard meeting next uh April 6th half an hour before the school board starts you guys should come here and have let have us dialogue back and forth so we can get some questions answered because there's no way to get questions answered people email never return emails so that would I think would be a good suggestion if

118you open up the meeting even 15 minutes just so some people could get a dialogue back and forth I don't think questions are too hard to answer thank you Jee teres Master Ash loud in New Hampshire I was in finance I was there during 911 I had to work for peridan Washington Mutual and lay people off it is not a good time but I will tell you as a leader I got in front of my team and I said you know what positions don't equal people and I'm going to do everything I can to see that I can't move this person from this department that might be topheavy with Personnel over to this area where we lack personnel and I'm going to make sure at the end of the day I do my darnest for

119everyone to have a position to be talking to people to be sending emails to employees to be putting into the paper that you're going to lose 30 positions when we have done the work we have looked at the numbers and we have seen that there is no reason why this school district should have to lose a single employee and for you to do that in a silo without all of this groups input in collaboration shows more of the concern that we have had as taxpayers for our children in this school district and you think it's just $12 now a month wait until these taxpayers that showed up are going to only grow we have only scratched the surface of people who understand where their property taxes are going next year it will be double the

120size and it won't be last year's budget plus 3% it will be half the budget we need transparency we need to know exactly where the dollars are going if you want our support and for you to scare and retaliate that we're just going to slash positions don't you ever dare touch our budget that's not going to bode well in the end for you we need to work together we work hard for our money we want our children educated we want our schools healthy but if all we have is a bucket of $880,000 for Psy services with no explanation that does not work for us thank you theres anybody else Bill Hines bosquin Randy would you share the your numbers with me it's a genuine question in that yes can can thank you as you probably

121no it sounds like you you know I've shared this with some people it's a significant different number that I've got and I'd really like I'll I'll send you the spreadsheet thank you anybody else I know it's a little regular for board members to do public comment but um I took the weekend to reflect um over um annual meeting and um Tom got a little bit ahead of me as he was talking about transparency and openness and so I've come up with my own set of goals as a board member and I'm hoping that all my other peers here set just one goal for the year um my goal which you know is actually I'm going to be starting up a newsletter I'm going to stand at my website tonight or tomorrow where folks can submit

122their emails and I will send out monthly newsletters so folks know what we're doing here who aren't in District because if you don't have a kid in District it's hard to get this information right even if they can go to the high school sign up that's another step um so I would hope other board members could think of a goal for themselves and us together um lastly I want to say that um I understand and I know that this is probably G to be very very difficult for our SAU for the next few weeks um that you um the changes I've seen in this District since we've had some folks uh move up into position with um you know our teachers and other folks who work here um has been incredibly um beneficial and happier

123I think and I know that you folks are not threatening to cut teachers because it's retaliatory this is the hand that you're dealt and you have to play with that with what you have um so that's and I'm uh I I I know and I trust that you're um working through everything you can to make sure we keep as many people as we can so thank you thank you Jess anybody else for public comment okay um we do not have any reason to go into non-public um so we don't have to return to non-public or have any action from non-public so last thing on the on the uh agenda thank you thank you so Julia and Sally thank you thank you