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08-04-26.pdf

The Colebrook School Board met August 4, 2026, moving a request regarding homeschooled sports participation to the August 18 nonpublic agenda. Board members unanimously approved the CAES Student, Faculty Handbooks, and Program of Studies. Financial votes included approving the Encore Fire Protection Agreement for $1,300; Cameron Seal Coating lot work for $15,600; and calendar magnets for $375. The board approved the lease agreement for the CTE site. Following nonpublic discussion, they approved Wicked Clean Windows for $600 and Yetti Yard Man for $8,785 to soft wash buildings. Superintendent Dana Hilliard reported SAU 7 received a $23,000 Tillotson Grant for a system study, which will present proposals in 15 weeks. The board rescinded Policy JFBC and Procedure JFBC-R regarding Education Freedom Accounts. The next meetings are August 13 and August 18. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bw0SlYpvGhsrH6LLbUBeyBlUwPzvqWxX/view

Document

Colebrook School Board
Meeting Minutes

Date
08/04/2026
Time
6:00 pm –School Board Meeting
Location
Colebrook Academy & Elementary School library
Chairperson
Tim Stevens
Attendance
Attendance Legend: P - Present E - Excused A- Absent R - Remotely
___________________________________________________________________________________
School Board Members

Principal
SAU Members
E Tim Stevens
P
Cayenne Amey
P
Kim Wheelock
P Dana Hilliard
P Robert Murphy
P
Julie Brunault

CTE Director
P Bridget Cross
P Rhonda Lyons
P
Rick Bagley
E
Elizabeth Griffin
P Chris Paquette
E Mary Jolles

Public in Attendance: Jason Rella, Christine Sullivan, Steve & Colleen Clogston, Andrew Krouse, Linda
Kuhn

Minutes
Item Subject
Action
1.
Roll Call: The meeting was called to order by Vice Chairman Robert Murphy at 6:01
pm and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance

2.
Agenda Adjustments: RSA 91-A:3, II (i) New Bus Stops

3.
Hearing of the Public:
Vice Chairman Murphy opened hearing of the public at 6:02 pm
Steve Clogston introduced himself and his wife Colleen to the Board. He stated that
they are residents of Lemington and they have a 14-year-old son who is
homeschooled. He has expressed interest in playing sports for CAES this year.
Colleen stated that they have a document that they created which includes House
Bills for New Hampshire, school board policies, bylaws from NHIAA and bylaws
from VPA which is the governing body of athletics in the State of Vermont, all which
they believe support their son’s request. Julie stated that she would like a chance to
review the information that the Clogston’s provided before making any type of
decision. It was suggested that this item be moved to the next CAES School Board
meeting which is on August 18th.
R. Lyons/R. Bagley: Motion to move this item to the August 18th meeting agenda
under nonpublic.
The Clogston’s left the meeting at 6:09 pm

Jason Rella stated that he was attending the meeting to answer any questions the

VOTE:
Motion
Carries

board may have regarding soft washing the building. Dana asked if he could stay
until this item comes up on the agenda.
Christine Sullivan asked if the quotes that are on the agenda could be shared with the
public. Dana explained that they could be reviewed once the board has had a chance
to see and review them. They will approve them this evening and then they will
become available to the public. Dana stated that he would be happy to reach out to
the district’s attorney and ask the question.
C. Amey/R. Bagley: Motion to end 15-minute public session at 6:13 pm.

VOTE:
Motion
Carries

4.
Reading of the Minutes –
C. Amey/R. Bagley: Motion to approve the minutes of June 23, 2026, with
corrections.

VOTE:
Motion
Carries
5.
Special Reports - None

6.
Kim Wheelock – Principal
Some changes to the handbook include MTSS, updated calendars, updated bell
schedule, program of studies for the new state requirements, updated flow of
communication and updates to bullying and cyberbullying.
R. Lyons/C. Amey: Motion to approve the CAES Student Handbook, Faculty
Handbook and the Program of Studies.

Kim stated that since she sent out her principal report (July 17th) that now CAES has
had 5 more students enrolled.

VOTE:
Motion
Carries

7.
Elizabeth Griffin – CTE Director
Dana stated that he could not be more pleased with the work that Elizabeth has done
since she officially took over in July. She has really moved the program forward.

8.
Dana Hilliard – Superintendent
August Superintendent Report - It has been a very productive summer. Everyone is
excited to be back to start off the school year.
Dana brought up the two laws that the governor has recently signed into law, HB1300
and HB564. HB1300 will be on the general ballot in 2026 and 2028, which would
impose a tax cap locally, and would impose a tax cap at the SAU level. There is a
range of a cut from the $1.6 million which runs the SAU operations from anywhere
from $200,000 to $568,000 that would be cut from the SAU budget if this were to
pass. If a cut of $568,000 was needed to the SAU 7 budget there will be major
implications.
HB564 separates the one Warrant article into two Warrant articles. One for the local
budget and then a Warrant article for the SAU budget. The last town to hold their
town meeting will be the ones that get to count all of the ballots from all five towns.
So, all ballots will be sealed up and given to Columbia at their town meeting to have
them count them and announce how the Warrant article on SAU 7 turned out. Under
HB564 if the majority vote for the SAU budget does not get approved then we default
to last year’s budget. This would mean no increases on any line items including
benefits, salaries, etc.

HB1300 is devastating as it will have effects on operations. HB564 will have the
same type of effect but on people and longevity.
SAU 7 was awarded the Tillotson Grant of $23,000 in order to study our system. The
system that runs from Columbia to Pittsburg with 5 towns and 3 schools will be
studied from top to bottom. The facilities, the budget, staffing, busing and every
component of this school district will be studied and in 15 weeks they will present 4
proposals. One of the options will be to do nothing. The difference between this
study and other studies is we have not appointed people or elected people to sit at the
table with their own preconceived notions. All of us, including SAU staff, has
backed off and we are only here for support if the consultants need access to certain
things. They will do the deep dive and provide us with the other 3 options.
The admin team will be off site tomorrow to take the goal setting document and turn
it into a strategic plan for the Colebrook School District.
We do have a title change for the assistant principal which will now be called the
Student Support Coordinator, and we will discuss this more in nonpublic.
9.
Bridget Cross – Business Manager
C. Amey/R. Bagley: Motion to approve the Encore Fire Protection Test and
Inspection Agreement for $1,300

Jason Rella from Yetti Yardman is here tonight to give insight on what soft washing
is. Soft washing is killing the algae and growth on the building without using high
pressure which can damage and have water intrusion

C. Amey/:Motion to accept the bid from Yetti Yard Man for soft washing the SAU
building and Colebrook Academy and Elementary school.
Rick suggested that this discussion be brought into nonpublic session. Dana asked if
the consensus was to move this discussion into nonpublic and the board agreed to do
that.

Bridget explained that we reached out to several different vendors for the sealing and
striping of the parking lot. There was not a lot of response.
C. Amey/R. Lyons: Motion to approve the seal coating and striping quote from
Cameron Seal Coating for $15,600.00

C. Amey/R. Bagley: Motion to approve the quote for the calendar magnets from
Colebrook Copy Center for $375.00

Lease Agreement – legal counsel drafted the lease for Colebrook School District. All
the work that was required by the different agencies has been completed. There is
one last item to do, which is building the walls out for the ADA accessible bathroom
which Carl will work on next week.
There has been a staff change on the state side for facility approvals. They are in the
process of hiring someone so we will be taking pictures of everything and sending
those pictures to the state so hopefully they can give us written approval so that we
are all set to start on the first day of school. They can then visit the facility at a later
time.
So far everything has been minimal cost-wise that has had to be done. Rhonda asked

VOTE:
Motion
Carries

how much the handicap bathroom will cost to have installed. Bridget explained that
we took the toilet from the old tech building and repurposed it and we took the safety
bars and are having them installed as well. We are reusing items to help keep the cost
down. Carl will be building it so that will help save money as well since we won’t
need to hire a contractor. We are still working out the logistics of transportation for
students to the new tech building.
J. Brunault/C. Amey: Motion to approve the lease agreement for the CTE site

Certificate of Vote – Robert has recused himself from this vote.
C. Amey/J. Brunault: Motion to approve Dana (Superintendent) to sign all
agreements for the SEED Grant and all other federal grants for the 2026/2027 school
year.

VOTE:
Motion
Carries

10.
Unfinished Business: None

11.
New Business:
C. Amey/J. Brunault: Motion to rescind Policy JFBC and Procedure JFBC-R
Education Freedom Accounts

Policy DFA Investments has been reviewed by the Colebrook School Board

VOTE:
Motion
Carries

12.
Information:

13.
Hearing of the Public:
Vice Chairman Murphy opened the hearing of the public at 7:08 pm
R. Bagley/C. Amey: Motion to end 15-minute public session at 7:08 pm.

VOTE:
Motion
Carries
14.
Non-Public Session –
C. Amey/J. Brunault: Motion to go into nonpublic sessions RSA-91-A: 3, II (c) at
7:10 pm
Dana Hilliard, Kim Wheelock, Bridget Cross and Chris Paquette were invited into
nonpublic session
C. Amey/R. Bagley: Motion to come out of nonpublic session at 7:47 pm

J. Brunault/R. Lyons: Motion to approve Wicked Clean Windows bid to soft wash
the SAU Office for $600.00.

J. Brunault/C. Amey: Motion to approve Yetti Yard Man bid to soft wash the
Colebrook Academy and Elementary School building for $8,785.00

C. Amey/J. Brunault: Motion to go into RSA -91 -A:3, II (i) at 7:49 pm
Dana Hilliard, Kim Wheelock, Bridget Cross and Chris Paquette were invited into
nonpublic session

C. Amey/J. Brunault: Motion to come out of nonpublic session at 7:52 pm

VOTE:
Unanimous
Roll Call
Vote
VOTE:
Unanimous
Roll Call
Vote
VOTE:
Motion
Carries
VOTE:
Motion
Carries
VOTE:
Unanimous
Roll Call
Vote
VOTE:

C. Amey/J. Brunault: Motion to approve bus stops discussed in nonpublic session
Unanimous
Roll Call
Vote
VOTE:
Motion
Carries

15.
Meetings:
SAU Joint School Board Meeting Thursday, August 13, 2026 @ 6:00 pm CAES
Library
Colebrook School Board Meeting Tuesday, August 18, 2026 @ 6:00 pm CAES
Library

16.
Adjournment:
C. Amey/R. Bagley: Motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:53 pm.
VOTE:
Motion
Carries

Respectfully Submitted,

Billie Paquette

Board Adopted: August 18, 2026