JOINT SAU BOARD MARCH 23, 2026 DRAFT MINUTES.pdf
The Joint School Board reorganized unanimously, electing Jim Curran Chair and Jake Stephan Vice Chair. Sarah Groleau and Shauna Peterson were designated Manifest Signers, with Ed Robinson appointed Treasurer and Jim Curran Deputy Treasurer. Cheri Stackpole was named NH School Board Association delegate, and Joyce Watson nominated for the SAU 9 Budget Committee. Bank account updates were authorized to remove a deceased member and add Robinson. The FY26 fund balance shows expenses running within budget, though preschool revenue is down $8,000. The Board unanimously voted to destroy microfiche records. An RFP for FY27 auditing services was released. The 2026-2027 budget passed by 20 votes. A superintendent search committee will be formed with three members from each district; Shauna Peterson will Chair it. Following non-public session, the Board approved paying the Superintendent’s unused vacation time on a per diem basis and an amended nomination list for 2026-2027. Future meetings are set for April and May. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16QQ-vDs58069ZOaL3kuVACo3KY7sMdfe/view
SAU13 Joint School Board Meeting March 23, 2026 Page 1 of 6 SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT 13 1 Joint School Board Meeting 2 Monday, March 23, 2026 6:00 PM 3 Freedom Elementary School 4 MINUTES - Draft for Board Review 5 6 7 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS ATTENDING: 8 Devon Ames, Jeremy Cox, Jim Curran, Todd Giles, Sarah Groleau, Siena Kaplan-Thompson, 9 Debra Parsons, Shauna Peterson, Adrienne Pitts, Ed Robinson, Cheri Stackpole, Jake Stephan 10 11 OTHERS ATTENDING: 12 Superintendent Michael Whaland, Business Administrator Heather Sherwood, Principal Heather 13 Woodward, BCBA Jennifer Bent, Madison Food Service Director Janet Cox 14 15 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 16 The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 17 18 CALL TO ORDER 19 Superintendent Michael Whaland called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. 20 21 REORGANIZATION 22 VOTE: Motion by Sarah Groleau to nominate Jim Curran as Chair, seconded by Todd 23 Giles. The motion passed unanimously. 24 25 VOTE: Motion by Todd Giles to nominate Jake Stephan as Vice Chair, seconded by 26 Shauna Peterson. The motion passed unanimously. 27 28 VOTE: Motion by Todd Giles to nominate as Manifest Signers (2 members and 1 alternate) 29 Sarah Groleau and Shauna Peterson, with Jim Curran as alternate, seconded by Debra 30 Parsons. The motion passed unanimously. 31 32 VOTE: Motion by Debra Parsons to nominate Ed Robinson as Treasurer, seconded by 33 Todd Giles. The motion passed unanimously. 34 ● The Board authorized updates to the New Hampshire SAU13 bank account ending in 35 X894 held at Camden National Bank: 36 ○ Remove a Joint Board member who passed away 37 ○ Add Treasurer Ed Robinson as signer 38 39 VOTE: Motion by Sarah Groleau to nominate Jim Curran as Deputy Treasurer, seconded 40 by Todd Giles. The motion passed unanimously. 41 42 SAU13 Joint School Board Meeting March 23, 2026 Page 2 of 6 VOTE: Motion by Ed Robinson to nominate Cheri Stackpole as NH School Board 43 Association delegate, seconded by Jeremy Cox. The motion passed unanimously. 44 45 VOTE: Motion by Todd Giles to nominate Joyce Watson for SAU 9 Budget Committee, 46 seconded by Sarah Groleau. The motion passed unanimously. 47 48 APPROVAL OF AGENDA 49 Heather Sherwood added microfiche and auditor update to her report. 50 VOTE: Motion by Todd Giles to accept the amended agenda, seconded by Debra Parsons. 51 The motion passed unanimously. 52 53 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 54 Regular Joint School Board Meeting: 11-27-2025 55 Clarifications were offered. 56 VOTE: Motion by Todd Giles to approve the amended minutes of 11-27-2025, seconded by 57 Debra Parsons. The motion passed unanimously. 58 59 Special Joint Board Meeting: 03-04-2026 60 VOTE: Motion by Sarah Groleau to approve the minutes of 03-04-2026, seconded by 61 Shauna Peterson. The motion passed unanimously. 62 63 CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT 64 CALENDAR 65 Madison School Board Meeting: 04-06-2026 66 Freedom School Board Meeting: 04-13-2026 67 Tamworth School Board Meeting: 04-16-2026 68 Joint SAU 9 & SAU 13 Board Meeting: 05-28-2026 69 Joint SAU 13 School Board Meeting: 06-22-2026 in Madison 70 71 ACCEPTANCE OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS 72 Expenditures 73 Revenues Report 74 VOTE: Motion by Siena Kaplan-Thompson to approve the consent agenda items, seconded 75 by Debra Parsons. The motion passed unanimously. 76 77 BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR REPORT 78 FY26 Fund Balance 79 ● Page 21 in the packet 80 ● Amount is estimated, and is expected to change, but not by a substantial amount 81 ● Preschool is not billing as much, anticipate revenue will be down by $8,000 82 ● Expenses are running within budget, with savings on the para benefits line 83 SAU13 Joint School Board Meeting March 23, 2026 Page 3 of 6 ○ Inquiry on SAU paraprofessional staffing for FY27, if staff would be following a 84 student 85 ○ Paraprofessionals who work 1:1 with students are employed by the district of the 86 student’s residency 87 ○ SAU paraprofessionals support the entire SAU preschool 88 Microfiche 89 ● Invoicing researched by the business office 90 ● Document storage of historical information that has now been digitized in redundant 91 formats 92 ● Is there a compelling reason to continue to pay to store the film? 93 VOTE: Motion by Sarah Groleau to destroy the microfiche, seconded by Adrienne Pitts. 94 The motion passed unanimously. 95 96 Auditor Update 97 ● Request for Proposal (RFP) for auditing services for FY27 has been condensed into a 98 succinct document, and sent out 99 ● None of the four SAU 13 entities require a single audit certification 100 ● State of NH prefers audit firms to have experience in NH School Finance 101 ● Inquiry into the Freedom School District ballot position of auditor 102 ○ Unique situation in Freedom 103 104 SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (6:20 pm) 105 New Hampshire School Board Association (NHSBA) Trainings 106 ● Trainings for School Board members are available online and in person 107 ● Chair Jim Curran stated that he has done both styles of training, and thinks in-person 108 training as a full Joint Board would be the best option 109 ● Superintendent Whaland will research pricing, and perhaps sharing the training 110 opportunity with other districts 111 ● June 22, 2026 Joint Board Meeting may be a possibility 112 113 Draft School Year 2026-2027 Calendar 114 ● Page 23 in the packet 115 ● Discussion regarding SAU 9 / Conway’s approved calendar 116 ● Superintendent has shared the draft calendar with the collective bargaining units 117 ● Feedback has been received on a few items: 118 ○ Start date of school 119 ○ NH Primary 120 ○ December 23 121 ● Admin Team meets next week 122 ● Discussion on SAU 9/ Conway use of “days” and SAU13 use of “hours” in calculating a 123 full school year. Conway’s 2026-2027 schedule continues to include many half days for 124 professional development 125 SAU13 Joint School Board Meeting March 23, 2026 Page 4 of 6 ● Discussion of scheduling of conferences and voting day in Freedom 126 ● Inquiry on schedule of 2026-2027 School Board meetings 127 ○ Draft 2026-2027 School Board meeting calendar will be available soon 128 ● Recent Conway School Board meeting included discussion of a potential March vacation, 129 and/or potential re-alignment with traditional New Hampshire February school vacation 130 131 SAU 13 Budget Voting Results 132 ● Budget passed by 20 votes 133 134 SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS 135 New Business 136 Superintendent Search Process 137 ● Advertisement is posted 138 ● Search Committee will be made up of three individuals from each district plus some SAU 139 staff 140 ● Each school district will determine the selection of the three individuals to serve on the 141 committee at their next board meeting; interested staff or community members should 142 contact their school board 143 ● Shauna Peterson is willing to Chair the Search Committee 144 145 School Board Cross District Meetings 146 ● Debra Parsons inquired if there is a Joint Board policy regarding members participating 147 in other town’s meetings? 148 ● Chair Jim Curran stated there are very few policies at the SAU level 149 ● Debra Parsons questioned if one should be considered, further stating that she was not 150 happy how things transpired at the Madison Budget Committee 151 ● Other Joint Board members asked for clarification 152 ● Debra Parsons stated that individuals of the Madison School Board and Joint Board made 153 a presentation without her knowledge, and it did not feel good 154 ● Sarah Groleau stated she was invited by the Madison Budget Committee Chair, and she is 155 not sure there needs to be a policy 156 ● Shauna Peterson stated we are all on the same team 157 ● Shauna Peterson commented on Debra Parson’s public social media post 158 ● Sarah Groleau stated she went to the meeting as a member of the Freedom School Board 159 ● Debra Parsons stated she would have enjoyed being part of the process 160 ● General discussion on assuming positive intent, being a united group, and the spirit of 161 communication and collaboration 162 163 PUBLIC INPUT (6:52 pm) 164 ● Principal Heather Woodward inquired if livestream or recording of Joint Board Meetings 165 has been considered? 166 ○ Chair Jim Curran will investigate options with MADTV 167 SAU13 Joint School Board Meeting March 23, 2026 Page 5 of 6 ○ Tamworth School Board will be researching their options 168 ○ Infrastructure of each town and each building is different 169 ■ Sarah Groleau suggested holding Joint Board Meetings in Madison where 170 infrastructure exists 171 ○ Jenn Bent inquired about little public participation of meeting attendance in 172 Freedom? 173 ■ Ed Robinson stated very few public members attend the SAU Joint Board 174 meetings 175 176 NON-PUBLIC SESSION 177 VOTE: Motion by Cheri Stackpole to enter non-public session to act upon a matter or 178 matters referenced in the following provisions of RSA 91-a: 3, II (a), (b), & (c), seconded by 179 Shauna Peterson. 180 On a roll call vote the board entered non-public session at 6:58 pm: 181 Devon Ames - aye 182 Jeremy Cox - aye 183 Jim Curran - aye 184 Todd Giles - aye 185 Sarah Groleau - aye 186 Siena Kaplan-Thompson - aye 187 Debra Parsons - aye 188 Shauna Peterson - aye 189 Adrienne Pitts - aye 190 Ed Robinson - aye 191 Cheri Stackpole - aye 192 Jake Stephan - aye 193 194 The Ayes have it. 195 Others attending: Michael Whaland, Heather Sherwood 196 197 Personnel Matters 198 Negotiations 199 200 The Board entered into Executive Session with the Superintendent at 7:52 pm 201 The Board ended their Non-Public Session 202 203 ACTION AS A RESULT OF NON-PUBLIC SESSION: 204 ● Negotiation matters discussed 205 ● The Superintendent’s unused vacation time will be paid on a per diem basis 206 ● The Board approved an amended nomination list for the 2026-2027 school year 207 208 ADJOURNMENT 209 SAU13 Joint School Board Meeting March 23, 2026 Page 6 of 6 VOTE: Motion by Ed Robinson to adjourn, seconded by Jeremy Cox. 210 The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned. 211 212 213 Respectfully Submitted, 214 215 Jennifer Huckman 216 SAU13 Joint School Board Secretary 217 218 219