Draft Minutes August 17, 2026 REV.1
The Board approved the Consent Agenda (5-0), including July 20 minutes, professional nominations, and manifests. Ms. Cevasco welcomed Mr. John Clary as a Board member. The Board approved budget line item transfers (5-0) to reallocate funds from the 2800 and 2900 groups to reflect actual usage and state requirements. For the Blue Light Safe Brand Project, the Board rescinded the previous bid to ENE Security (5-0) and awarded a new bid to B&S Integrated Security for $49,908.69 (5-0), reimbursable by an $80,000 grant. Three policies moved to policy on second reading: Student Discipline (5005), Temporary Alternative Work Program (2420), and National Competition Donations Guidelines (5100), all passing 5-0. The Board waived the second reading for Bullying Prevention Policy (5009) and moved it to policy (5-0) to comply with state law effective August 1, 2026. The Board announced goals set at its retreat would be shared at the next meeting. Source: https://4.files.edl.io/d48c/08/28/26/180901-26b5f782-d92f-491f-b1aa-5f2ca8071809.pdf
MILFORD SCHOOL BOARD 1 Milford High School – Lecture Hall, Room #182 2 (Zoom Access) 3 August 17, 2026 4 7:00 p.m. 5 6 1. CALL TO ORDER 7 8 Board Members Present: 9 10 Ms. Karin Cevasco, Chair 11 Ms. Amy Clark Canty, Vice-Chair 12 Mr. Ryan Freed, Secretary 13 Mr. John Clary, Board Member 14 15 Participating via Zoom: 16 17 Ms. Tara Davoli, Board Member 18 19 Also Present: 20 21 Ms. Christi Michaud, Superintendent of Schools 22 Ms. Jan Radowicz, Executive Director of Teaching & Learning and Federal Projects 23 Mr. Benjamin Kilar, Business Administrator 24 25 Ms. Cevasco noted that as Ms. Davoli was participating via Zoom, all votes would be taken by 26 roll call. 27 28 Ms. Cevasco read aloud the Milford School District’s vision statement as follows: 29 30 The Milford School District will be an inspiring community where deep learning, and strong 31 relationships empower all students to become designers of their own story. 32 33 The primary goal of the Milford School Board is to provide a free and appropriate public 34 education to Milford students and to realize the district's mission statement. 35 36 The primary purpose of this meeting is to conduct the business of the Milford School Board. 37 We publish our agenda in advance of our meeting, including all exhibits, to give the public notice 38 and ensure you know what to expect this evening. 39 40 2. PUBLIC COMMENT 41 42 MOTION: Seeing there was no public comment, Ms. Cevasco made a motion to close the 43 public comment portion of the meeting. Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 44 45 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 46 47 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 48 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 49 50 Nay: 0 51 Milford School Board Page 2 August 17, 2026 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 52 53 3. CONSENT AGENDA (*Exhibits attached to meeting agenda) 54 55 a. *Approval of Minutes: July 20, 2026 56 b. *Professional Nominations & Hiring Report Approved by the Superintendent 57 c. Approval of Manifests: PR25.1, PR1, AP26, & AP2 58 59 MOTION: Ms. Clark Canty made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented. 60 Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 61 62 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 63 64 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 65 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 66 67 Nay: 0 68 69 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 70 71 4. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS (*Exhibit attached to meeting agenda) 72 73 a. Board Member Comments and Committee Reports 74 75 Ms. Cevasco, on behalf of the School Board, welcomed Mr. John Clary as a member of the 76 Board. 77 78 Mr. Freed stated that he attended the Policy Committee meeting earlier that day, where he 79 shared that a few pressing changes were needed. 80 81 Ms. Cevasco stated that the public would hear the Bullying Prevention Policy, which needed to 82 be updated based on new legislation that redefined bullying. Ms. Cevasco stated that in the 83 past legislative session, the legislature considered 215 Bills related to education, with 38 of the 84 Bills being signed into law by the Governor. She said that when a law was passed, the School 85 District administration and the School Board had less than 30 days to update the policy before 86 the start of the school year, such as with the new Bullying Law that went into effect on August 87 1, 2026. She said in some instances, the quality could be compromised when that happened. 88 She said she did not think the policy and procedure process should be rushed, and she asked 89 the legislature and the Governor to consider that when deciding what education issues to 90 address, how many Bills were being forwarded all at once, because the quality of the policies 91 was far more important than quantity. 92 93 Ms. Cevasco also shared that the School Board had its retreat that day, where they reflected 94 on the 2025 – 2026 school year and set goals for the upcoming school year. She said the goals 95 would be shared with the public at the next School Board meeting. 96 97 98 99 100 Milford School Board Page 3 August 17, 2026 1. *Board Committee Assignments Reorganization 101 102 Committee March 2026 August 2026 Capital Improvement Planning Committee Karin Cevasco Susan Smith Karin Cevasco John Clary Community Engagement & Communication Committee Ryan Freed Amy Clark Canty Amy Clark Canty John Clary Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment Committee Amy Clark Canty Tara Davoli Amy Clark Canty Tara Davoli Facilities Committee Ryan Freed Karin Cevasco Ryan Freed Karin Cevasco Finance Committee Karin Cevasco Amy Clark Canty Karin Cevasco Amy Clark Canty Policy Committee Karin Cevasco Susan Smith Karin Cevasco Ryan Freed Wellness Committee Susan Smith Tara Davoli Amy Clark Canty Tara Davoli MESSA Negotiations TBD TBD Amy Clark Canty Tara Davoli NHSBA Assembly Delegate Tara Davoli N/A Special Advisory Committee on Enrollment Projections & District Organization Susan Smith Karin Cevasco Karin Cevasco Tara Davoli School Board Representative to the School Budget Advisory Committee TBD Ryan Freed Amy Clark Canty 103 2. *Seeking Community Volunteers for Board Committees 104 105 Ms. Cevasco commented that the School Board sent a letter to Milford School District families 106 and community members asking whether they would like to serve on one of its subcommittees. 107 108 • Facilities – Policy 2137: Reviews district buildings, facilities, infrastructure, and 109 proposed improvements, and makes recommendations to the School Board and 110 Capital Improvement Planning Committee. Meets: Monthly at 6:00 p.m. 111 112 • Community Engagement & Communication – Policy 2138: Helps strengthen 113 communication and engagement with staff, students, families, and the community. 114 Helps identify opportunities to improve public understanding of School Board and 115 District priorities, as well as to expand community voice and participation. Meets: 116 Bi-monthly at 6:00 p.m. 117 118 • Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment – Policy 2139: Works with the 119 Curriculum Coordinators and Executive Director of Teaching, Learning, and 120 Federal Programs to monitor curriculum development and maintenance while 121 supporting the development of assessments for competency-based reporting. 122 Meets: Bi-monthly at 3:30 p.m. 123 124 Milford School Board Page 4 August 17, 2026 Ms. Cevasco stated that interested individuals should email schoolboard@milfordk12.org. 125 126 3. *HB1300 Information 127 128 Ms. Cevasco explained that House Bill 1300 was signed into law by Governor Ayotte and would 129 take effect in November 2026. She said HB1300 would require that every town and ward in a 130 city must include a tax cap question on its general election ballot in November 2026 and 131 November 2028. She said the question would require a three-fifths majority vote to pass. 132 133 Ms. Cevasco said the new law did not mandate a tax cap, but it does require the question to go 134 before voters in November. She added that the Bill had two main parts, with the first stating 135 that the local tax levy may not grow beyond the prior year's amount adjusted for inflation using 136 the CPIU Northeast region and the percentage increase in the municipality's taxable property 137 value attributable to new construction. She said that was directly from the RSA. 138 139 Ms. Cevasco stated that the second part of the question asked whether voters wanted to limit 140 SAU central office spending to no more than 6% of the total school district appropriation. She 141 said it was two parts in one combined question, and they had to be voted on as a package. She 142 said an individual could not say they would like to cap SAU central office expenditures but not 143 cap district expenses that affect student programs. She noted that it was all or nothing. 144 145 Ms. Cevasco explained that the law included two exceptions. 146 147 • Bonded capital costs are excluded from both limits. 148 149 • Caps may be overridden, as provided in RSA 325-I, and adoption of the override 150 requires a three-fifths majority vote. 151 152 Ms. Cevasco said they all had many questions about the new law, and they anticipated guidance 153 from both legal counsel and from the state. 154 155 Ms. Clark Canty asked whether, if it passed, it would be in place for two years. How long does 156 that last? 157 158 Mr. Freed asked how they would arrive at that cap if one were instituted. Ms. Cevasco replied 159 that they could request an easier-to-understand explanation. 160 161 Ms. Clark Canty asked if the school district was allowed to put out information regarding it. Ms. 162 Cevasco replied that the legislation stated that nothing prevented the school district from holding 163 a public hearing on it before the election so the public could have a hearing about it. 164 165 5. REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS/ACTION ITEMS (*Exhibits attached to meeting 166 agenda) 167 168 a. Superintendent’s Report 169 170 Superintendent Michaud stated that the School Board was asked to review two documents 171 annually: the annual review of the Sports Injury Emergency Action Plan and related procedures 172 and protocols. She said it had been updated for the start of the new school year and was in their 173 Milford School Board Page 5 August 17, 2026 mailboxes for review. She said the other document for the Board’s annual review was the Code 174 of Conduct for each student. 175 176 Superintendent Michaud congratulated the coaches and athletes after they received notification 177 that the spring sportsmanship ratings for the Division II schools had been shared, and Milford 178 High School came in second place in the state for sportsmanship. 179 180 Superintendent Michaud also said they were making final preparations for the start of the school 181 year. She noted that the schools looked great and she thanked the maintenance and custodial 182 teams. She added that almost all vacancies had been filled; a few interviews were still 183 scheduled for the next couple of weeks. She welcomed everyone back for the new school year! 184 185 b. *Teaching & Learning Report 186 187 Ms. Jan Radowicz, Executive Director of Teaching, Learning & Federal Programs, addressed 188 the Board and provided the following presentation, as summarized below: 189 190 • Ms. Radowicz provided an overview of the summer programs. 191 192 • Jacques Memorial Elementary School had two playdates, one in July and one in 193 August, to help new students coming in meet other new students, meet some of 194 the staff, and families prior to the first day of school. 195 196 • Ms. Radowicz said they also did Kindergarten Blast-Off the first week of August, 197 and this was for all the incoming kindergartners to give them an overview of what 198 it was like to be a student at the Jacques Memorial Elementary School. She said 199 they reviewed their three priorities, “Be Safe, Be Kind, and Be Responsible.” 200 201 • Heron Pond Elementary School had a 3-week program, July 7th through July 23rd, 202 which was for the rising 1st through 5th graders. They had 73 enrolled students, 203 and they worked on literacy, reading, writing, and also some math skills. 204 205 • Ms. Radowicz commented that the Milford Middle School Program was also a 3- 206 week program. She said the students who participated had very consistent 207 attendance and were strongly engaged throughout the program. She said all the 208 students worked on the book The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and they worked 209 on reading, writing, math practice, and they did some science and STEM work. 210 211 • Ms. Radowicz said the summer program at Milford High School was a 5-week 212 program where they had 18 students who attended. She said 15 of those students 213 were able to recapture course credit, and one successfully passed an actualization 214 exam, which is a high school graduation requirement. 215 216 • Ms. Radowicz said the extended school year had approximately 93 students from 217 pre-k through 12th grade. 218 219 220 Milford School Board Page 6 August 17, 2026 • She said the program was for students who were eligible for special education 221 services and supports during the summer months. 222 223 • She said they worked on reading, writing, math, arts and crafts, music, and some 224 STEM work. 225 226 • Ms. Radowicz stated that administrators also had some summer work. She said 227 six administrators participated, and she was one of them. She said they went to 228 the Principal Academy at the beginning of the month, which was sponsored by the 229 Drummond Woodson New Hampshire School Law team. She added that they 230 reviewed this year's new school laws, noting that 63 were education-related. 231 232 c. *Business Administrator’s Finance Report 233 234 Mr. Benjamin Kilar, Business Administrator, stated that they were still waiting on the final June 235 30 MS9, which was the report on the status of trust funds. He said the revenue portion of the 236 report will rejoin starting in September. 237 238 Mr. Kilar said he would update the grant report format to reflect various commitments that may 239 or may not have been made on the grants. 240 241 Ms. Cevasco asked whether the balance spend would decrease after that commitment. 242 243 Mr. Kilar replied that the invoices were in and the next report would reflect the balance. 244 245 1. Budget Transfer 246 247 Mr. Kilar stated that the requested transfer was intended to do a couple of things: 248 249 • To largely shut down the 2800 group, which they had discovered was being 250 counted as part of district administration for all of its uses when they used it for a 251 variety of things. This transfer attempts to move those funds to the functions the 252 state says more accurately describe what they were doing with them. 253 254 • Mr. Kilar said, to the extent possible, they would like to close out the 2900s as well. 255 He said the 2900s were not permitted for end-of-year expense reporting, and were, 256 in most districts, discontinued years ago. He added that the transfer would 257 distribute the dollars budgeted to that function to the various functions in the 2900s, 258 which are used primarily for staff benefits, health insurance, dental insurance, and 259 other staff benefits tied to it. He said it attempted to move those budget amounts 260 to the functions that match the locations of the employees that were actually 261 using/receiving the benefits. 262 263 • Mr. Kilar reviewed the Budget Transfer form with the School Board. 264 265 • Mr. Kilar said that they had to submit an end-of-year report to the state, which had 266 specific requirements about what had to go in certain spots. He explained that if 267 something was in the wrong place, they would have to move it to the correct place. 268 269 Milford School Board Page 7 August 17, 2026 • He further explained that many items under the SAU needed to be spread out to 270 the actual schools or departments, or wherever they needed to go, but not the 271 SAU. 272 273 MOTION: Mr. Freed made a motion to approve the budget line item transfers on the Budget 274 Change Form, as presented by Mr. Kilar. Ms. Clark Canty seconded the motion. 275 276 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 277 278 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 279 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 280 281 Nay: 0 282 283 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 284 285 6. OLD BUSINESS/ACTION ITEMS (*Exhibits attached to meeting agenda) 286 287 a. *Blue Light Safe Brand Project 288 289 Mr. Kilar stated that in May, Mr. Cooper had presented the School Board with a proposal to 290 install blue lights at a few locations around the fields in the district as part of the SAFE grant. 291 He said the project had two components: installing the call stations themselves, and the 292 electrical connections, trench work, etc. 293 294 Mr. Kilar said at the May 5th meeting, the School Board accepted a bid for $30,951. He added 295 that the vendor informed them that, due to a quoting error, they could not proceed at that price, 296 and the error was almost $20,000, which took the price to north of $50,000. 297 298 Mr. Kilar presented the Board with a revised proposal from three different vendors that were 299 previously presented: 300 301 Mr. Kilar said they checked with and confirmed that the second-lowest bidder's quote was still 302 valid. He asked the Board if they wished to proceed. 303 304 Mr. Kilar pointed out that, as the Board considered this, the total dollars allocated in the grant. 305 306 for this project are $80,000; with that, they could choose ENE or BNS, and the cost impact to 307 the Milford taxpayer would be none. 308 309 Mr. Kilar recommended awarding the project to the lowest bidder, B&S Integrated Security, in 310 the amount of $49,908.69. He added that the grant would reimburse the project. 311 312 MOTION: Ms. Clark Canty made a motion to rescind awarding the bid to ENE Security for the… 313 blue light call stations. Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 314 315 316 317 318 Milford School Board Page 8 August 17, 2026 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 319 320 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 321 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 322 323 Nay: 0 324 325 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 326 327 MOTION: Ms. Clark Canty made a motion to award the bid for the blue light call stations to 328 B&S Integrated Security in the amount of $49,908.69. Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 329 330 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 331 332 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 333 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 334 335 Nay: 0 336 337 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 338 339 7. NEW BUSINESS/ACTION ITEMS 340 341 a. *Policy Proposals 342 343 1. Policy 5005 (JICD) Student Discipline and Due Process (2nd Reading) 344 345 MOTION: Ms. Clark Canty made a motion to move policy5005 (JICD) Student Discipline and 346 Due Process to policy. Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 347 348 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 349 350 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 351 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 352 353 Nay: 0 354 355 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 356 357 2. Policy 2420 (GBGD) Temporary Alternative Work Program (2nd Reading) 358 359 MOTION: Ms. Clark Canty made a motion to move policy 2420 (GBGD) Temporary Alternative 360 Work Program to policy. Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 361 362 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 363 364 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 365 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 366 367 Milford School Board Page 9 August 17, 2026 Nay: 0 368 369 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 370 371 3. Policy 5100 (JJBB) National Competition Donations Guidelines (2nd Reading) 372 373 MOTION: Ms. Clark Canty made a motion to move policy 5100 (JJBB) National Competition 374 Donations Guidelines to policy. Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 375 376 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 377 378 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 379 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 380 381 Nay: 0 382 383 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 384 385 4. Policy 5009 (JICK) Bullying Prevention-Pupil Safety & Violence Prevention 386 (1st Reading) 387 388 Superintendent Michaud explained that a law was passed and took effect on August 1st, and 389 needed to be in place for the beginning of the new school year. She said the New Hampshire 390 School Board Association recommended bringing the policy to the Policy Committee as soon 391 as possible, which they did. She said the School Board should review the policy and consider 392 waiving the second reading so they could put the policy in place for the new school year. 393 394 Superintendent Michaud said that the law requires that, to the extent practicable, we involve all 395 of these stakeholders in developing the policy: pupils, parents, administrators, school staff, 396 school volunteers, community representatives, and local law enforcement. 397 398 Superintendent Michaud said the new law made substantial changes to the bullying prevention 399 policy. She said it removed elements from the definition they had become accustomed to, such 400 as imbalance of power, actual and perceived personal characteristics, behaviors, and beliefs. 401 402 Superintendent Michaud also pointed out that the new law included very specific definitions of 403 cyberbullying that were not previously in our policy, false accusations, new language on 404 anonymous reporting, retaliation, and other changes. 405 406 MOTION: Mr. Freed made a motion to waive the requirement for a second reading and move 407 policy 5009 (JICK) Bullying Prevention-Pupil Safety & Violence Prevention to policy. Ms. Clark 408 Canty seconded the motion. 409 410 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 411 412 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 413 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 414 415 416 Milford School Board Page 10 August 17, 2026 Nay: 0 417 418 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 419 420 Ms. Cevasco stated that it was important to remember that the policy would be revisited and 421 could be further revised, but it was important to have it in place for the new school year. 422 423 8. PUBLIC COMMENT 424 425 Mr. Mike Thornton, North River Road, addressed the Board and stated that if HB1300 did not 426 get support, you could have more than 6% to the SAU. He said, fortunately, the law did not 427 prohibit private donors. He said the town’s CIP had done two things; they found out that they 428 only represented 28% of the property tax collection and expenditure, and both the CIP 429 Committee in the town and the Economic Development Advisory Council had invited the school 430 to have at least a liaison, as I used to do for the Budget Committee. 431 432 MOTION: Seeing that there was no further public comment, Ms. Cevasco made a motion to 433 end the public comment period. Mr. Freed seconded the motion. 434 435 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 436 437 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 438 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 439 440 Nay: 0 441 442 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 443 444 Ms. Cevasco stated, as a friendly reminder, that parents and members of the Milford public may 445 contact the School Board via email at any time between meetings with questions or concerns. 446 She said the full Board could be reached at schoolboard@milfordk12.org. 447 448 9. ADJOURNMENT 449 450 MOTION: At 8:16 p.m., Ms. Clark Canty made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Freed 451 seconded the motion. 452 453 A roll call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: 454 455 Yea: Ms. Clark Canty, Mr. Freed, Mr. Clary, 5 456 Ms. Davoli, and Ms. Cevasco 457 458 Nay: 0 459 460 MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0 – 0. 461 462 463 464 465 Milford School Board Page 11 August 17, 2026 466 467 ____________________________ __________________________ 468 Karin Cevasco, School Board Chair Date of Approval 469 470 471 472 Respectfully Submitted, 473 474 475 Trish Gedziun 476 Recording Secretary 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484