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Bath - 2026-6-15 - DRAFT Minutes

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Bath School Board Meeting DRAFT Minutes for June 15, 2026 
 
Board Members Present: Matt Smith, Sara Lang, Cori Elliott 
Administration Present: SAU 23 Superintendent Dolores Fox, Kathryn Ducharme, Taryn 
Noonan-Johnson (incoming Business Administrator) 
Staff Present: None 
Public Present: Steve Rood 
1.​ Call Meeting to Order: Matt called the meeting to order at 6:01 pm. 
 
2.​ Sign Manifest: Done 
 
3.​ Agenda Review/Adjustments: Vacancy notice for part time IA and playground 
equipment discussion added to Non-Public session. 
 
4.​ Approval of Minutes of MAY 18, 2026: Motion by Sara, second by Cori to 
approve the minutes. All were in favor. 
 
5.​ Public Input: Steve Rood had some budget questions about the amount of the 
decrease in Title I and Adequacy Aid funding from the state. For the full budget 
picture, Kathryn said he should look at the year-end report. Steve offered his good 
luck to Kathryn and welcome to Taryn. 
 
6.​ Recognize Bath Graduates: None were able to attend, Board offered their 
congratulations and recognition of award winners. 
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Saint Johnsbury Academy graduates: Lauren Brown, Alexander Elliott, Devlyn 
David 
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Woodsville High School graduates: Jada Brill, Josie Drake, Felix Garcia, Katie 
Houston, Dylan Reynolds, Gabriel Roy, Jillian Roy 
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Lisbon Regional School graduates: Miles Lackie, Marissa Spooner 
 
7.​ Administrator Reports: All Submitted 
James Marshall - Technology Director: No questions from the Board. 
 
Steve Emerson, Facilities Maintenance Manager: Steve discussed paving 
progress on the bus loop and suggested that what has been done so far can be paid for 
using this year’s budget. He has no figures yet for future paving work.  
 
He is currently working on a 5-10 year plan to prepare for future maintenance needs 
before things fail, such as replacing the roof, the boiler, gym HRV, classroom faucets 
and countertops. This will assist in budget planning, such as adding money to the 
Building Trust Fund each year to plan ahead. Steve is also working on a complete list 
of all of the equipment, etc. that the school owns and the Board will sign off on the list. 
 
Kerri Reilly, SPED Director: No report submitted. 
 
 

 
Megan Jones, Principal: (report submitted, Megan not present). Megan reported 
on the graduation held for the twelve 6th grade students. From her report: We will 
miss this group of students but wish them well as they head to middle school!  
 
Cori asked for an update about the 5th and 6th grade survey results; 5th and 6th grade 
students were to be asked about their experience for the school year in a multi-age 
classroom, and the 6th grade was also to be asked about their expectations for their 
middle school experience (exit interview). Karen Bellidoro administered those surveys 
and the Board will follow up with her about the results. Cori commented that it would 
be very helpful to also figure out how the multi-age classroom concept may have 
impacted student educational results for the 5th grade.  
 
Kathryn Ducharme, Business Administrator: Kathryn discussed the General 
Fund Revenue and Expenditure Summary Report as of June 4th.  
 
The audit had no findings; Kathryn passed on recommendations to the Principal and 
Secretary. A cyber security policy review is to be developed. 
 
Dolores Fox, Superintendent: Taryn Noonan-Johnson, the new Business 
Administrator, was introduced and welcomed. Dolores is waiting to see which bills get 
signed/vetoed by the Governor. If HB 1300 (tax cap) becomes law, the financial 
impact to the school and to the SAU would be uncertain. Voters would vote during the 
General Election in November 2026 whether or not to set a tax rate cap, vote must be 
60%. The School Annual Meeting could override. If it becomes law, Board plans to get 
information into the voters’ hands about the impact to BVS and SAU 23. Mailing a 
flyer and posting on FB would be two options. Another bill to be considered by the 
Governor involves retained fund balance percentages being reduced from 5 to 2.5 or 3. 
 
Any comments about either of these bills should now be directed to the Governor. 
 
8.​ Resignations, New Hires, and Open Positions: Open position discussion 
moved to Non-Public. 
 
9.​ Authority to Hire: Motion by Sara, second by Cori to give the SAU Superintendent 
the authority to hire between June 16th and August 17th. All were in favor. This makes 
hiring non-instructional staff more efficient over the summer. The Superintendent 
can share application information and answer questions that the Board may have. 
Board can ask for an emergency meeting if needed.  
 
10.​ Summer Workshop date: July 17th @ 2 pm. Topics of discussion include 
recruitment and retention of staff (salary schedules) and health insurance options. 
Dolores asked for any additional discussion topics be submitted to her by July 1st.  
 
11.​ Tuition Policy - Adoption: Motion by Matt, second by Cori to accept the JFB-High 
School Tuition Policy Bath School District as a 2nd Read.  All were in favor. Board 
discussed ways to find out as soon as possible which schools the 9th graders are 
selecting to attend so the budget process can be efficient. 
 
 

 
12.​ CTE Request: Board discussed a parent request that their student attend a Career 
and Technical Education (CTE) program other than River Bend. Dolores explained 
that the school needed to be accepted/verified in New Hampshire as an accepted CTE; 
she will look into that for the school in question. Other considerations include that 
transportation is not included, whether a school has the capacity or the program that 
the student needs, and whether a sending or receiving school will accommodate each 
other’s scheduling.  
 
13.​ Public Input: Steve Rood had some additional questions about the retained fund 
balance bill and the timeframe of the Governor’s actions on bills – unknown. Steve 
commented that the tuition cap decision struck a good balance between what 
happened historically and the effort to address taxpayer concerns. He also commented 
on the preschool student numbers being good and that taxpayers might consider the 
tuition rate for Landaff to be below the market value of other schools. Sara and Cori 
responded that this is a partnership between the towns that we want to nurture and 
any higher tuition rates make us less competitive with other school choice, such as 
Lisbon. Landaff made the commitment to pay tuition for their pre-schoolers for the 
next 2 years and the tax cap they set for that is still more than we are charging so that 
also makes us competitive. 
 
14.​ Next Meeting Date: August 17, 2026, @ 6:00 pm.  
 
15.​ Non-Public Session per RSA 91.A:3 (as needed): Motion by Matt, second by 
Cori to enter into Non-Public session at 7:26 pm. All were in favor. 
 
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Public session reconvened at 7:45 pm. 
 
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Motion was made by M Smith to authorize Steve Emerson to spend ​
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upto $60,000 this summer on items on VS 5-10 year facilities plan. C ​
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Elliott 2nd. 
 
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Motion passed.  YES - 3, N0 - 0, abstain - 0 
 
16.​ Adjournment: Motion by Smith, second by Elliott to adjourn the meeting at 7:53 
pm. All were in favor.  
 
 
Respectfully submitted,  
 
Judy Tumosa, Secretary, Bath School Board