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08022026 School Board Meeting

Video

We will call the school board meeting to
order 601.
John Ellis and principal Middle
School
>> board.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands one nation
under God
and justice for all.
Thank you.
Looking for approval of the school board
meeting minutes, specifically the
minutes of August 27th, 2026 school
board meeting.
Questions, comments, or concerns?
Seeing none, those in favor? I
feel like we just
we'll move on to the agenda review
something. Can we add under the action
approve our renewal of the Omni contract
is forbes
that we offer to our employees and we
recently reviewed that contract. So uh
it's a 200
it's 150 pages. I put it in the um
folder for you. I didn't want to make
120 page copy but it's something that
we've done for years and years. It's
just a renewable time.
Moving on to public 4. Uh, seeing what
we're hearing from the public, we will
continue to move
school updates.
We're going to move on to SCBS.
Okay. Well, since last we had three
schools. Uh, routines are really
starting to settle in and diagnostic
assessments that would start the year
are taking place.
During these early days, we work with
our students about our soar
expectations. So that's an acronym for
stay safe, own our actions, always
responsible, and respect everyone. And
staff members have worked with students
at various stations throughout our
campus to review what soaring at Suni
Central Elementary School looks like in
different settings. So, taking groups of
students to the playground or the
cafeteria or the office and in their
classrooms and just talking about that
expectation in different spaces and
orienting them for the new year.
One of our strategic plan goals is to
continue to expand our co-curricular
offerings and we're looking forward to
getting going with our homework hub. I'm
really excited that this year we're
going to be able to offer that four
afternoons a week instead of just the
two um that we had last year. So very
appreciative of staff stepping up to
really help with that important offering
for our students. We also have some
teachers putting together some really
great ideas for other clubs and an
enrichment night in the fall to bring
families and students into the school.
So stay tuned for some more details
about that. Um but just lots of great
energy and neat ideas about how make
this year really special for our kids.
And as a side note, we also had the um
close-up fundraiser rubber duck race for
the close-up trip in November. The Santa
Fire Department was a big help to us.
They always set a boom for the finish
line, but this was our second race in a
row where the river was literally not
moving and the wind was potentially
blowing the ducks backward. So, we had a
a good plan, having experienced that in
the past, and got very creative with
pool noodles and rope. And um the fire
department was there as our backup plan,
and the kids were fantastic. So, we did
the race in about an hour or so and then
cleaned up and the ducks are all rested
and dried off and stored away till they
come out again. But we had um many
community sponsors who are really
grateful for and the help of the fire
department was really key.
>> How many students do you have for this
year?
>> So, right now we have 19 who've
expressed interest and have made a
deposit. The next is um September 10th
is like kind of the next marker of
you're really in. So we'll see after
that.
>> Yeah. Thanks.
>> Questions at SHs.
>> It's always busy, but uh it's a a good
start to the school year. You know, I
talked to Mr. Holden the other day. Um
our numbers are large, like in a good
way. Um, I don't think we're, you know,
we certainly can handle that. Um,
we have fewer tuition students in the
middle schools, so that though, um, we
still, they still certainly exist. Um,
we love our tuition students, but it was
interesting just we have more residents
um, who been coming through. So, our our
numbers are bigger than have been in
quite a while. Um, and again, the
projections were there that that would
likely happen. Um, but we've been able
to uh, integrate quite well. uh a good
freshman class. Um and we're starting to
get asked to share with Mr. Holden. Now
what we're seeing is we have large
classes now or larger classes that have
a lot of tuition students who then leave
and they graduate, you know. So, you
know, some years we have like one or two
tuition students leaving, we bring in a
class that 12 or 13 and you have this
huge move where now I think we're steady
on that. Um really smooth start the
school year. uh we had no turnover and
we're so thankful that we don't have um
you know each year we're not scrambling
with six teachers and one of the
teaching and we have enough you know
classroom space. Um so we have no new
teachers. We literally have one new
person to the district in the building
who used to teach here and then the
community here and went to high school
here as well. And then we have two pairs
new from the elementary school of all
their their kids. So just a lot of
consistency which lends itself um to a
school start school year. kids are
adapting well. Um, you know, they're on
board. They know why they know why
they're here. The parents know why
they're here and it shows.
>> How's the math program coming this year
with the sub last year?
>> Yeah. So, it's it's funny you asked that
because um that was that was a challenge
last year, right? So, so, um, last year
we had to do the first quarter, um, with
essentially Khan Academy, um, and so
next time not to have to do that this
year. So, um, we have that in place
where it was the best solution, not a
great solution last year, but now where
we want to be that. So, um, we do have
some full math classes, but we have a
couple math classes that have 25 kids in
them, which for us is pretty large. Um
but um you know teachers are working
hard. They're also looking at we talked
about last meeting looking at some
potential classes they might be able to
do next year and um you know so we're
we're still like I said we're good but
we're going to get better.
So you feel that with board and the
residents coming in we still have room
for tuition students. We're not like
peing yet, but do you see will we
potentially get enough where we have to
turn away the tuition students?
>> Yeah, I think this was the first year.
Um, it's a good question. We actually
took a couple tuition students out of
the condition we couldn't put them out
in the class, you know, we just we're
just local. Um, and so I was like, you
know,
um,
they wanted to be here enough that that
was that that was okay. They were going
to have to go not I wouldn't call it out
of sequence. Um, but we just weren't
comfortable doing that. We have a little
more flexibility in the elementary
school in the elementary school cuz
they're
very realistically are going to be like
we only have to do this so many kids we
have a grade and we can't do more where
what we can do um actually I took a
tuition student the other day and it was
conditional again of I can put you in
for these classes where I would have
done that in May but they wanted to come
in late and I'm like I can set you up
for this class. I can send you up to
this class. I can send you to this
class. So, I can I can accept you so
long as you're happy with the schedule,
but if you were like, I need to take
this class, I need to take this class.
Um, and Mr. Lis and I discuss it. I just
wasn't comfortable um putting a 25th
student in to a class who came in
as a tuition student in the last August,
if that makes sense. So we we do we do
we have we have some flexibility but
this was the first year where we where
we did that and I have a it's
interesting I'm a a parent already which
is good eighth grade student our largest
class right now it's the seventh grade I
believe
>> oh eighth grade sorry eighth grade is
our largest class it's an existing
eighth grader really wants their their
student to come next year and is already
getting the application in because like
they know that um I could take 50 in the
freshman class depending on what that
looks like. But there there's a version
of the world where I can see myself next
year. If we had if we had 20 kids try to
get into ninth grade next year, I don't
think that will happen.
So those are coming like if if that were
the case. So I don't think that many
will be there, but we're in a place now
where we're where in some grades we have
to be more thoughtful. I think we do
better than that.
>> Just excited to hear that there's more
residents because as you know year after
year we just constantly have
held in here about our residents are
dropped drop dropping. It's nice to see
them come back up. I know it's going to
be a wave.
>> Yeah. And house, you know, we have a lot
I have people call this old and I'm
talking about this. I have people all
the time want to come here. They can't
find house. They want to be here. They
can't find a house to get here. Um and
and so you you you have that. We still
have what I will see the elementary
school, right? The third grades I know
like come on in like we have. So you
might have a second grade with 29 and
then a third grade with 41. That's
that's the nature of what we've been
able to do well is take some of our
really small classes and we'll be able
to supplement them. So all of a sudden
it's not a really small class and we fit
that in. Again, I think it worked well
this year with some of our late ones
where we're like we have a class we call
we can put a 13 in. We're not going to
we're not going to go from 25 to 26. And
you guys, we talk about this every year,
the work you do in the spring to slate
those classes so that they're there for
those students at the time of day. You
know, that puzzle I can't even process
in my head. So imagine if you hadn't
done that work. So I have to believe you
guys are thinking three years ahead at
this point. Like I didn't realize the
eighth grade class is so big. So the
senior class is really big. Eth is big.
>> It's three classes that are big. Um
yeah, we have uh give me one second.
I'll get it for you.
Um,
>> I love how we say big, you know, 4. Oh,
dear.
>> Yeah. So, our senior class is 41, our
sophomore class is 44, our eighth grade
class is 44. So, of those, but really
the classes of is there
is the eighth grade because we know
we're like we're not going to lose many
and we're going to get more. So, it's
that that sophomore class of 44
realistically is going to say
like it might go to 45. It might go that
that 44 in the eighth grade could go
could go to 54, right? We'll see what
that looks like.
>> I don't love the idea of going over 50.
I will say that.
>> Super good.
>> I'll just hop on hand. So at the
elementary school we have 12 new
students who came as new residents to
Sun and five new tuition students. So
like when you're looking at that balance
of numbers and I know we'll talk
attendance and enrollment at another
time but just for context our new kids
most of them were new residents to hear.
These are these are great conversations
and I really appreciate we're digging on
in on them because the administration
and I had these conversations and had
them a lot more this year. Let's not
ever forget our first priority is to the
families and children of this community,
right? And we've talked that we've tal
had those really hard conversations
about do I take the 45th, do I take the
21st
at any point in time throughout the year
family and of moves in they're our
responsibilities. So we make sure and we
passed policy last year to ensure that
when we left Rome to that if those
things happened we could we could bring
on those kids. Johnny kind of put it up
on a T form. He talked about housing.
So, Monday night I got to attend the
town's uh strategic planning I'll call
it their strategic planning um sort of
forum that they held and they have uh
developed and working with an outside
vendor to develop sort of what this this
plan for the town I won't call it a
master plan but it's similar to a master
plan looking at 10 years from now 5
years from now two years from now and
potentially next year's budget they have
about 60 people there was a good turnout
at the at the library. They have eight
focus areas and one of the focus areas
was housed. And so I went to the housing
uh focus area. There were probably 8 to
10 people there. The town plan, the
Thomas Chessa, um selectman came in and
out and it was really talking about
affordable housing in this community and
and what is affordable housing. Um and
there was some good conversation about
you know there's do we build affordable
housing? Do we build cottage units? Do
we build 55 and up units out of the
plots of land that that we could have?
They talked about the density issues
they try to get past through zoning both
both in the harbor and down here on
lower main street to try to create some
more of those dwellings. They talked
about not the short-term rentals but now
people are putting the leaseable
property on their property put one other
dwelling that they can I guess lease out
or somewhat out. Um, so it was a really
interesting conversation to to be a part
of and and I'm glad I attended and you
know we'll wait to see what comes out of
some of that. But coming out of that
that specific area, it was almost the
understanding that there's not a lot we
can do currently right now that we can
certainly look out 10 years and and say
that we'd like to have more 55 plus
homes or affordable housing. And let's
define affordable housing. What's what's
affordable housing? Right? Is that going
through a the HUD? Is it a federal
program? Uh we talk about mini homes and
even some of these mini homes that
people are making of small cottages. You
know, they might be $450,000 just to
build something like that, right? That's
not necessarily an affordable home. Um,
we talked about the Prospect Hill, uh,
the old apartment to the Manor, I guess
was there. And, you know, 14 or whatever
14 $730,000
condos, three floors, right?
Three floors, three bathrooms, whatever
it was, kind of garage.
>> There's a lot of second homes here.
There's a lot of short-term rental
people here. Um it's a community that we
live in and and you know Sean really I
think said well people love to get here
but they have to get here and that's
always been a challenge but we are
seeing more families get here. We are
seeing more families be able to finally
in and get their kids into the school.
We're seeing some of that the kids have
been tuition kids from orchard or unity
or whatever and they end up they end up
finding a place and they just kind of
stick to it and they find it. Um and and
that brings me to my next point. So on
Saturday morning, uh, Ed and myself, the
town, uh, Peter White and Anthony Dolan
received an email from Peter Hostra.
Peter Hostra is asking for us to look at
affordable housing. Um, which is very
interesting that this was happening
Monday night. And so he references a
project that that went on over in
Lebanon. And I put some information on
your desk in front of you about the Boss
Prodigy. And as you read about Boss
Street cottages, you know, it's
something they've been working on since
2022. They haven't been been built or
agreed to be rebuilt or had somebody
build them. Um, but they're really
looking at, you know, four, six little
cottage units, 900,000 square ft, and
they're trying to build them for
potentially first people who live and
work in people who work in town, right?
So, we started having that conversation
Monday night as well. Well, who in town
has to works in town works for the town
and has to live here? Well, the town is
cast, right? The police chief can live.
I think there's a radius. I think uh the
the highway director, there's a radius.
And so, when you start really looking at
some of that stuff, do we need to have
affordable housing for people who work
for our town in our town? uh the Ben
across the street from the SAU last year
when it opened. They were trying to
attract nurses from Dartmouth or
teachers. And our teachers, some of our
teachers looked at it and it was
reasonable. You know, $2,000 is kind of
the going rate right now for for for
rental. But they also said, I don't
really want to live down the street
where I'm a teacher, right? Uh and so
Peter in his email suggests that we
start looking at something like that
Baroski project in Lebanon. And his idea
was for the school to sell the land out
of property specifically on SAU back to
the town, have zoning change it density
rules and then put four units in there.
And then he recommended that he takes
the SAU and puts them in our school. Um
our schools don't have room for their
SAU. And again, given that the town has
really put this as part of their 10-year
strategic plan, I think this is a town
zero priority. I'm not sure as a school
district we would really take this on at
this time. I think it's something that
the town sure the town wanted some other
land that maybe the school owned or
behind the school. Certainly looking at
availability and probability and
accessibility for some of that land.
Let's not forget going through looking
at our building projects that land back
there was told to us that is going to be
your most expensive place to build
because it's on a ridge it's on a hill
and there's a lot of rock and stone back
there that won't be really conducive of
building but that kind of was a school
not a school I can imagine many homes
homes would be the same sort of outcome.
So, um, I invited Peter to, uh, I wrote
back to Peter. I didn't Peter where, you
know, I I'll make the board aware of
this. Peter would like to be put on the
agenda. We don't necessarily take
requests to come to the agenda. We'll
get permission. I'll let Peter know that
he's welcome to come at our next October
school board meeting and tweak a public
comment. Everyone's welcome to do that.
But at this time, the board's probably
not interested given our constraints
with the SAU and the sizes of of classes
as we just went over and our capacities
in our school, but also knowing that the
town's really looking at this from a
much more bigger perspective from a
strategic plan, zoning, and towns.
And I think that one of the things is
that look when they say sun everybody
looks at this central part and you know
Georgia Mills obviously is getting
extended a little bit because we have
sewer and we have water over there and
we also have that whole other end of
Lake Santi over near Penrook Path and
103 and that's not getting developed
even though there's a lot of land there
because there's no southern water. So,
you know, when you talk about taking the
present things and started breaking them
up like that, um what they really need
to do is focus on extending the sort of
water. I mean, you can't even get water
up to the uh town um safety safety,
>> you know, to the town.
>> So, you know, I think,
you know, if I if I'm the man who's
serious right now, I'm happy to stay in
the audience. I spent 18 months with
another group talking about housing and
sun. And that group of private group
citizens stopped and said it's a town.
There's too much dumbing. There's too
much in the
hindrance to make it happen. Until in
this point, it's sewer and water. Sewer
and water. Like those are the things.
And we purposely stepped back after
speaking with the town who was going to
take the lead because until certain
things change in town, there's not a lot
we can do. even if I said, you know,
I'll buy it. I'll buy that lot from you.
It doesn't matter. So, I think
unfortunately,
and to your point, if we're already
worried about students, I don't know how
we would I mean, just thinking of the
layout of the building, be able to
distinctly put the SA here without
disrupting student. You have to put some
sort of addition or
>> what you sell for the building. You're
going to spend that addition.
>> I'm encouraged that the town is taking a
look at encourage the town understands
housing. It's not just our town too.
It's the whole state. So,
>> it's absolutely
>> which is good.
>> Um, I'm going to jump this for a little
bit. We had a great conversation last uh
board meeting about AT1300.
Uh I've taken some time on my own and
put together a little PowerPoint for
you, a little movie for you. Uh but I
also want to sense you all last night
there's been an injunction filed to keep
us from the ballot. And so I was at a
few meetings this morning and I can tell
you that DRA, the Secretary of State,
Department of Education are all saying
we don't know kind of how this is all
going to work. And guess what? We're
printing ballots within the next two
weeks. So, we don't know what to do.
We're looking at some sort of direction
and they're not getting a lot of
direction. So, this injunction was filed
by um two individuals and a lot of one I
know and we'll see what happens. The
injunction is to stop this from going on
the ballot in November because some
clarity gets sort of put behind it. It's
a better understand. So, with that
though, I'd like to just show you this
and see what you think. Again, you folks
took um made a recommendation not to uh
support this this this ballot question.
>> Many people in our community may have
heard about HB1300
while others may be hearing about it for
the first time. HB1300 was proposed in
the New Hampshire House this year. It
passed the House and Senate and was
signed into law by the governor on July
16th, 2026. As a result, a question will
appear on the November 2026 general
election ballot in municipalities across
New Hampshire for Suni. The war question
will ask, "Shall the town of Suny limit
property tax growth for Sun School
District under RSA 32 col 5. If adopted
for a 2-year period, one, the local
property tax levy may not grow beyond
the prior year's amount adjusted for
inflation and new construction. Two, SE
central office spending may not exceed
6% of total school district
appropriations. And three, bonded
capital costs are excluded from both
laws. These caps apply only to
administrative operations of the SU
central office and do not affect
classroom instruction, school-based
services, or other municipal
expenditures. These limits may be
overridden as provided in RSA 32 5.
Adoption requires a three-fifths
three-fifths majority vote. If approved
for a 2-year period, the measure would
establish two significant limitations.
First, the local property tax levy could
not grow beyond the prior year's amount
adjusted for inflation and new
construction. Second, SCU central office
spending would be limited to 6% of total
school district appropriations. Bonded
capital costs would be excluded from
both limits. The law also states that
these limits can be overridden through
the process established in RSA 32 col 5
I, but doing so requires a three-fifths
or 60% vote. It is important to clarify
that this question is being placed on
the November ballot as required by state
law. The school board did not create the
question, does not control where it
appears on the ballot, and does not
control the wording. Our responsibility
as a school board is to help our
community understand what the question
means and what its potential
implications could be for Suni schools.
The question establishes two separate
caps. One on the overall school property
tax levy and another on central office
expenditures. There are still questions
about how some expenses will be treated
under the 6% ASU population, including
certain technology costs and potentially
benefits, retirement, health insurance,
and dental insurance. Ultimately, if the
referendum is approved, the tax cap
would remain in place for 2 years.
We'll get to
>> We believe it is important to understand
the difference between how Sunipe
currently develops its school budget and
what would change if the HB1300
referendum is approved. Today, our
budget process begins with our
educational and operational needs. We
consider questions such as, is this a
year when we have a teacher contract? Do
we have a significant capital expense
that needs to be addressed? Do we need
to update curriculum? Are there new
state requirements? Are there programs
or services our students need? The
administration works with teachers and
staff to develop the proposed budget.
The school administrative unit reviews
the overall budget and the school board
considers the district's priorities,
strategic goals, and financial needs.
Our community then has multiple
opportunities to participate. We have
public budget meetings, advisory budget
committee meetings, budget hearings, and
a deliberative session. Residents can
ask questions, make changes at
deliberative session, and ultimately
vote on the budget and warrant articles.
That is local control. SunP voters
decide what level of investment is
appropriate for our schools. HB1300
changes that process by establishing a
state formula that determines how much
the school tax levy can grow. If the cap
is exceeded, a 60% vote would be
required to approve the amount above the
cap. For example, suppose the state
formula establishes a 5% cap. If the
proposed operating budget represents a
3% increase and a teacher contract
warrant represents another 3%. The
combined amount would exceed a 5% cap.
The portion that exceeds the cap would
require 60% voter approval. That is a
significant change from the traditional
50% threshold used for most school
budget and warrant decisions. As a
school board, we believe it is important
to look at Sun's history before deciding
whether an additional state imposed
limitation is necessary. Our community
has demonstrated that it can make
responsible decisions about its schools.
We have maintained educational
excellence while making strategic
investments in our facilities,
technology, programs, and students. We
have also consistently worked to balance
the needs of our schools with the
financial impact on our taxpayers. Our
annual budget increases have generally
been modest. Over the past 14 years,
increases have generally ranged from
approximately 0.9% to about 3.2%.
There was a year when a building project
resulted in an increase of approximately
6%. Without that building project, the
increase would have been below 3%. Suni
also operates with a relatively lean
administrative structure. We do not have
layers of assistant superintendent or
numerous central office administrative
positions. Our administrators and staff
wear many hats and we work to direct
resources towards students and
classrooms. We also generate significant
tuition revenue from students who attend
some schools from outside the district.
That revenue helps offset the local
property tax burden. These results have
been possible because Suni voters have
historically made decisions about the
appropriate level of investment in our
schools. That local decision-making
process has served our community well.
To understand HB1300,
it is important to understand how the
proposed cap would actually be
calculated. The formula is based
primarily on inflation and net new
taxable property growth. The maximum tax
levy is based on the previous fiscal
year's property tax levy with bonded
capital costs excluded and then adjusted
using the applicable inflation rate and
net new taxable property growth. The
inflation component is based on the
one-year change in the consumer price
index for the northeast region. Net new
taxable property growth can be either
positive or negative. This is important
because the formula is not based on what
it actually costs to operate our
schools. Instead, it establishes a limit
based on factors outside of the school
board's control. There are also
questions about how the new growth
calculation will ultimately be
determined and applied. The legislation
directs the Department of Revenue
Administration to establish the
methodology. As this new law is
implemented, there will be details that
municipalities and school districts will
need to understand. This is where we
have concerns as a school board. A
formula based on inflation and property
growth does not necessarily reflect the
actual costs of operating a school
district. For example, utility costs can
increase significantly. Special
education costs can change based on the
needs of individual students. Health
insurance and retirement costs can
increase. School safety requirements can
create new expenses. These costs do not
stop increasing simply because a tax cap
has been reached. We are still
responsible for providing required
services. We still have to heat and
maintain our buildings. We still have to
provide transportation. We still have to
provide special education services. We
still have to meet state and federal
requirements. So the question becomes,
if those required costs increase faster
than the state formula allows, where
does the school board make the
reductions? That is the concern we want
our community to understand. If the cap
limits revenue growth below the actual
growth in operating costs, the school
board would have fewer options, the
reductions could eventually reach areas
that directly affect students. That
could mean larger class sizes. It could
mean fewer electives. It could mean
delaying new programs. It could mean
reducing enrichment opportunities.
Today, Suni has the benefit of
maintaining two sections in several
elementary grades. If financial
pressures force us to remain below and
post cap, we may have to reconsider
staffing levels and class sizes. That
can mean larger classes or combining
sections that we have historically kept
separate. We could also have to delay
investments in new programs or services.
Another concern is technology and
building maintenance. We work on regular
technology replacement cycles so that
students and staff have reliable tools.
We also budget for ongoing building
maintenance because delaying maintenance
often results in higher costs later. If
a cap restricts our ability to respond
to these needs, those investments could
be delayed. The law says the caps do not
directly apply to classroom instruction
or school-based services. However, the
reality is that if required costs
consume an increasing portion of a
limited budget, the school board has
fewer discretionary dollars available.
That is why we believe students could
ultimately be affected. As one school
board member put it, the required costs
still have to be paid. If we have to
reduce spending, the reductions
eventually reach the opportunities and
programs we provide to students. The
second limitation in HP1300 is a 6% cap
on school administrative unit central
office expenditures. At first glance, 6%
may sound like a generous limit, but the
legislation defines what must be
included in the population. Our school
administrative unit budget includes
services that are necessary to operate
the district and meet our legal
obligations. These include
superintendent services, business
administration, payroll, human
resources, federal and state reporting,
brand administration, technology
support, and other central office
functions. Our current school
administrative unit expenses are
typically around 3% of the overall
school budget. However, the new law
specifies which costs must be included
in determining the 6% population. There
are still questions about whether
certain benefits, retirement costs,
technology expenses, and other
expenditures will be included. For a
small school district, that matters. If
the calculation brings us closer to the
6% threshold, we would have to determine
what services could be reduced or
eliminated. Would we reduce peril
capacity? Would we reduce technology
support? Would we reduce administrative
support? Would we reduce the services
necessary to manage federal and state
reporting requirements? The concern is
not that the current school
administrative unit budget is excessive.
The concern is that the state is
establishing a limit without necessarily
accounting for the actual administrative
needs of each individual school
district. Our priority as a school board
is to make sure some of you voters
understand what they are being asked to
decide. The HP1300 question will appear
on the November 2026 general election
ballot. The argument made in support of
placing a question on the November
ballot was that more people participate
in a general election and that this
creates greater local control. We
understand that perspective. However,
Sun residents already have significant
opportunities to exercise local control
over their school budget. Residents can
attend public meetings. They can
participate in budget discussions. They
can attend deliberative session. They
can propose changes. and they can vote
on the school budget and individual
warrant articles. Our concern is that
placing a relatively complex school
finance question on the November ballot
could make it difficult for voters to
fully understand the long-term
implications of the decision. The
wording on the ballot is necessarily
limited. That is why we believe it is
important for voters to learn more
before they cast their ballot. Our goal
is not to tell anyone how they must
vote. Our goal is to ensure that every
voter understands what they are being
asked to approve. The Sun School Board
does not support the referendum on the
November 2026 general election ballot.
Local control has served Suny well for
generations. Our community has made
decisions about its schools based on
local needs, local priorities, and the
financial circumstances of our
taxpayers. Those decisions have allowed
Sunview to maintain strong educational
programs while being responsible
stewards of taxpayer dollars. We believe
those decisions should continue to be
made by the people who live in and
support this community. The future
direction of our schools should be
determined by informed Sun voters, not
by a one-sizefits-all formula imposed at
the state level. That is why the school
board believes preserving local
decision-m is important. Ultimately, the
decision belongs to the voters of Suni.
Our responsibility as a school board is
to provide information, answer
questions, and make sure our community
has an opportunity to understand the
potential consequences of this
referendum. We encourage residents to
learn about HB1300,
ask questions, participate in community
discussions, and make an informed
decision when they vote in November. We
also ask that you share this information
with your neighbors, friends, and fellow
taxpayers. The more informed our
community is, the better equipped our
voters will be to make this important
decision. The Sun School Board believes
that local voters, not a state and post
formula, should continue to determine
the appropriate investment in our
schools. Thank you for taking the time
to learn more about HB1300 and its
potential impact on the Sunview School
District.
So, it's a lot. Um, but I think it's it
sort of took what we've been talking
about, what I've been digging into for
the last month and a half and condenses
it, although it's a 12-minute condense.
Um, there are some things that John and
I are working on, try to shorten a
little bit also, so it doesn't say vote
no. It says s school board does not
recommend. Um, which you took that that
pledge on. What I'd like to ask that we
do is could we pick maybe a couple dates
to set some dates to do forums and we
can advertise. We can probably show
this. We can clean it up a little bit,
show it at the forum and then take some
general questions about 1300. I have two
dates in mind. I had September 22nd and
October 13th. They're Thursdays and we
could do a 6:00 p.m. I don't necessarily
think the entire school board needs to
be there. Uh but maybe a representative
if somebody wanted to take one night and
somebody wanted to take another night.
Um again we can we can offer Sean. Do
you have your open house when
>> 17?
Yeah 17.
>> So I mean and I'm going to speak at
that. So maybe we don't need to do one
in September. Maybe we just look at the
October one. Um I just think let's see
where this injunction goes one.
Obviously, I don't want to get too far
down the road here. Um, but I think we
have to continue to get the word out to
people. I think although this is long, I
think it's really explains it well. It
explains the opinion of the school
board. It lays out the concerns on both
ends of this and it doesn't say vote no.
It says we don't recommend this this
thoughts.
Right.
>> So I think starting out with this slide
and that discussion just like glazed
over my
>> I think the we need to hit them right up
in front with um preserving power to
decide. That slide to me was very
powerful and and is the is the start of
it. And then, you know, if you if you
feel a need to to put in the RSAs and
everything, you know, I just think
people uh don't understand that language
anyway. So, it's kind of tough and and
like you said kind of show because some
of it is is a little repetitive. Um but
the repetitive part should be the
preserving power to decide locally and
that can be you know really established
like in two or three different So that
you're you're coming back to that every
time because that's that's the killer on
this is that it's going to be one
sizefits-all and it's going
going to be um you know something that
doesn't fit Pierce Arch doesn't fit Sy
doesn't fit Newport. It's it's just a
you know and there wasn't a lot of care
put in to the bill. Uh that's one of the
things with this lawsuit is they're
saying the bill is just terrible. it's
it's almost impossible to to work out.
Um the other point would be that in the
SAU budget I believe the vouchers
started out with 10% given to uh
administrative uh work and obviously
they don't comply with a lot of things
federally or local state that that cost
us money and and cost your reporting. Um
I think they've dropped it to 8% but
that's still above the 6% that they're
seeing. So, you know, in one one side of
the table, the state said, you know,
this is okay and and we're not even
going to look at why they had eight or
10%. And a lot of that goes to
advertising, but on the other side,
we're saying, you know, so that's
>> no great feedback. Thank you.
>> I just have some points. You can correct
me on this, but I just see where this is
dangerous for the town. One of the areas
One of many I wrote down here is
um for instance just tuition students. I
know that we have many members of the
community that laughs at the 17,000 and
should be charging the $32,000.
But if if they're putting caps on this
and we end up having to due to cost that
we can't control, gas, fuel, we have one
special ed student that comes in that's
on a on a high dollar value. Um, and we
can't exceed that. And you start talking
shortening classes. Just what we were
talking about. What's the first kids
that are going to go? They're our
judicial students. So um on one hand I
think the community if we don't have the
power to be able to control this and we
lose how much money would we lose at 50
tuition students go because we have to
cut 50 tuition kits out because we have
growth. I mean that's a big amount of
money that we're not going to be able to
control because of other expenses. And
then we all know that the state loves,
which I've learned many years on here,
to change policies and procedures that
puts a dollar value. So they make a
state law that requires a dollar value.
That one state law could be 3% of what
we have. Exactly. I mean, it's almost
dangerous in my opinion for that to go
for that to go forward. Um and again to
me it's just the state where they should
be responsible to assist our students is
once again passing the clock to the town
and I'll just leave it as as uh
principal Moahan said 15 new students in
town is great but what the community has
to realize is 15 students probably means
two parents which is two voting which is
30 more people on the ballot.
They're concerned about our budget. I
constantly hear them say, "The only
reason the budget passes is because the
only people that show up is the parents
of the students." So, they're going to
want to keep the school. They're going
to want to pay for those kids. So, we
could go 32,000 per student to 44,000.
And now the taxpayers who are screaming
at our cost pupil is screaming and it's
all because of something they voted in.
I just see that as very dangerous for
for our smaller school.
>> Just some thoughts.
>> Great.
>> Any other questions?
>> So again, just try to keep those dates
the 22nd, the 13th. Let's see how this
unfolds over the next week and uh as we
get to maybe to the end of next week, we
can secure things up or not. And and
I'll keep working on this and see if we
can piece it together a little bit. But
I really appreciate the feedback that
too. Thank you. And then also the one
page I put on your um in front of you
that was that last slide.
I think it's over there. Um it's a color
the color one. Yeah.
So that's kind of that one pager. Again,
we can't can't make photo copies. We
can't send them home to kids. But if
we're feeling like that's in a place we
probably can post it on our on our
website. Um, we'll probably get somebody
to put that on our Facebook account and
then connect connect that back to our
Facebook account. And it's just a real
short night, I think, before we maybe
have a public forum or we can post
something like that. It might encourage
some people to try to come out and learn
information because we come get
informed. We uh 1300 on September 22nd,
6 p.m. some just hear some just quick
information.
Okay.
Thank you.
Uh, school board topics. So, we can wait
till October, but remember last year you
can start thinking about the things that
you wanted to see, right? Whether it's
presentations or certain areas of our
buildings that you really want us to dig
into. We obviously will have some
presentations for you. If there's
anything specific, why don't we think
about that? We'll make a list of them.
We have two actuators. Uh go with the
first 26 27 SM positions.
>> For a motion, please motion for a motion
to accept the 26 27 SH positions.
>> I move to accept.
>> Questions, concerns? Seeing none, all
those in favor.
Correct. Would you like to approve
renewal of the Omni vendor contract for
403bs?
Make a motion to approve that.
Any questions, comments, concerns?
Seeing none, all those in favor?
Information items? Opening dates.
>> I think we've gone through opening
dates. We talked about forums. We know
about our next meetings. And unless
there's any other updates that anyone
has perfect motion to approve the
manifest specifically
motion to approve the manifest
questions, comments, concerns,
seeing none, all those in favor
next.
>> Yep. October we have a moment for you
all that
>> we have no request to go on public
session and looking for a motion to
move
second.
>> Thank you. Thank you folks. Appreciate
it.