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FMRSD (SAU60) School Board Meeting - August 24th, 2026

Video

Good afternoon.
Seeing that it is 5:30, I call this
meeting of the board to order. If you'll
join me with the pledge of allegiance.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
All right. Our first order of business
is the approval of minutes from August
10th, both public and non-public. Can I
have a motion?
>> Second.
>> Any changes, updates, questions?
Seeing none, all in favor?
>> I I
>> Thank you. Uh, next order. If we could
have our SEO report. Chris.
>> Yes. Good evening, everyone.
Um,
let me grab the mic.
Today was our officially our first day
uh welcoming back all staff. Last week
it was just teaching uh Thursday and
Friday. Today was everybody. We had our
opening remarks within the auditorium
this morning uh before going back to the
buildings. It was a great morning seeing
everybody um and seeing smiling faces
and the climate um again was very high
energy and they're ready to start.
Uh just so everybody knows we are
finishing up our summer projects that
has been ongoing throughout the summer.
We will be doing a report out of our
summer projects next board meeting.
I'd like to take a minute uh last year
we spent uh in the curriculum world we
spent a lot of time talking about
competency based education as you can
see up on the screen uh this summer um
we have been working on a curriculum hub
for elementary middle and high school
this is our new location for all our
competencies as we move forward uh this
is a much needed
um center place to be able to find all
our materials. As you can see, they are
outlined by every grade level, every
content area, and is laid out by not
only competency, but then also priority
standard. At this moment, only uh
teaching staff are going to be seeing
this. We are going to be simplifying
this down to be able to reboard out to
parents but right now um it's too
the level is of such detail that it may
confuse uh the general public. So what
we are doing in the near future is
working on a more general um list to be
able to share with the public. Um but
this is something that was needed for a
number of years and now it's all within
one place, one-stop shopping as we like
to call it. Uh just another couple, we
have kinder uh school starts this
Wednesday
for everybody grades
grade 1 through 12. I had to give some
thought to that. Kindergarten is
actually starting uh August 31st. That
would be that following Monday. And then
our prek is starting September 1st, that
following Tuesday.
And last reminder is our Fall Mountain
Cooperative Review Committee due to a
number of conflicts in the near future
is going to be meeting Wednesday
um September 9th as our next meeting.
That's due to Labor Day and um
elections. So that's why that committee
chose that day.
That's it for right now.
>> Any questions?
>> Curriculum. Um,
>> oh,
Al's in one meeting, Mike's in another.
Uh, my questions regarding curriculum.
Um, did you say it is it's final or
you're working on finalizing it with
staff? the staff uh is going to be
finalizing as we move forward. The next
big components uh is assessment and
reporting. So looking at report cards,
looking at assessments, what goes into
that as we move forward. Uh different
grade levels are going to have different
expectations moving forward. Uh just
looking at our K4
um report cards needs to be updated
because they have not been updated for
probably approximately 15 years. So that
needs to be a priority.
>> Mhm.
>> Um but the middle school may be a little
less of a priority. So we're going to
branch off into uh specific areas and
try to tailor it to exactly what they
need as we move forward. Okay. Thank
you.
All right, seeing no other questions. Uh
that's a tremendous amount of work for
the last year and so I do appreciate it
especially as you move into this next
role. So look forward to seeing it on
the parent side as well. All right. Next
order of business is our uh BA Lori
Schmidt with a food service update.
>> Okay. Um so this is this on Okay. Sorry.
It's like you don't hear it in here. Um,
so several months ago, uh, we talked
about, uh, whether or not we should, you
know, how much we should be increasing
our pricing for lunches and meals. Um,
and there was some talk about like what
does price sensitivity look like for our
meals and wanted some data. Um so first
thing I want to point out is that I did
confirm with the state that we are able
to uh increase our meal pricing at any
time during the year. Um what was
critical in the spring was that we were
trying to work on a budget uh with our
uh food service management company and
that is of course based on pricing for
meals. Um, so the the budget that uh was
presented and that was submitted with
our um lunch application was based on
the the 15 cent increase that we applied
to both um to all of our lunches. Um we
can do that again later in the year. We
just have to revise our um amend our
applications so it's not a huge deal. Um
so I I provided um some slides uh that
just I you know I threw together a lot
of data. We looked at free and reduced
uh rates looked at free breakfastes
breakfast consideration that was free
breakfast and that lunches and the
pricing for the lunches. I went back to
um before COVID um because um during
COVID we had free meals for about two
years. And so of course when we
implemented uh charges again there was
um a huge um price sensitivity to that
because you're going from free to all of
a sudden, you know, over $3 a meal
again.
Um so I wanted to see what it looked
like prior to uh CO as well. Um and then
it it extended through um this last
school year. Um and interestingly enough
um
we have offered free breakfast for a
number of years and the uh justification
that has been provided to me all along
was that well um when we offer free
breakfast our participation rate at
lunch is higher. Um what the analysis
showed us was that actually when we had
our changes in uh lunch pricing um our
free breakfast dropped off our our
lunches dropped off there is some price
sensitivity. So there was a reduction in
our our lunches served also to our
breakfast. So it was um there is a
correlation but it wasn't what we
anticipated seeing. Um yes. So
anyway, there so so there is there is a
price sensitivity. I my recommendation
right now would be that we stick with
the 15 cents for now. We are requesting
um that our budget for the following
year be prepared sooner rather than
later so it can be aligned with our
budget process and we'll have that then.
And I think that we should talk about uh
what it would look like to increase
prices um for the following year because
we are going to have to increase it um
you know at least the minimum. Um but
right now our PLE tool is showing that
our prices our lunches should be at uh
$416 on a weighted average um between
all of our schools. And right now we're
charging for the high school this year
will be 3.65 and elementary middles will
be at $3.40.
Um so there is a substantial spread
there that we need to look at. However,
when I looked at um pricing uh
throughout the state, um Portsmith is at
about that rate. Um but not our pricing
is higher than a lot of the schools in
our region. Um so I want to dig into
that some more. um you know before I'm
making a recommendation to go you know
in excess of the the 10 cents that were
required to increase um
so in the the data that I I showed um
did aggregate that there was um part of
our decrease in uh the meals number of
meals served um is directly related to
our decline in enrollment which you know
I wanted to make sure that that was
separated um so that is shown separate
from uh price sensitivity information.
Um
there's a slide in here that shows uh
the number of lunches and breakfasts
that have been served over the last six
years
uh six or seven years. Um
and again, you know, you can see that
the participation was was it increased
quite a bit uh when meals were free. Um
there's also a slide in here that talks
about um some basic uh fundamentals of
the the lunch program. Um in order for
us to have uh reimburseable meals, we
have to have uh five key food groups. Um
and that you know it's requiring um
specified portion controlled um servings
of fruit, vegetables, grains, protein,
and milk. So those are what are offered
and you have to take um I believe it's
three that this the students have to
have at least three um so you know we we
offer they get to choose what they want
but it's within a a portion control uh
situation and they have to have um the
number of components in order for it to
be a reimburseable meal. Uh so um
something that is important to
understand about that is that um
excuse me milk is not free if you just
grab milk on its own. It's it's a it has
a charge to it. Um so a lot of our
smaller schools um staff is in you know
in the morning they they send off the
count and milk comes they're served and
um it all comes out in the wash later
when it gets charged to the account um
because we don't have somebody on site
necessarily monitoring that. Um so
that's a surprise to parents when that
happens and it can add up. Um
the the the breakfast standards are
different than the lunch standards. Um
the caloric intake is is prescribed by
age range and and group. Um and we have
to comply with all of that so we can
have a reimburseable meal and a
reimburseable program. Um and our
contract with the food service
management company um is such that they
are on the hook to um be responsible for
that. um with the menu planning um the
oh what is that called? They have they
have sheets where you know they have the
prescribed recipe and ingredient list
and everything um to track all of this
information. Uh
we have to comply with our by American
provisions. Uh there are smart snack
rules. So if meals or or snacks are sold
outside of um sold in the school, they
can only be sold within a certain time
frame, which is uh
like half an hour after school ends. And
to compete with the lunch, um if we have
um any programming um fundraisers, bake
sales, anything like that during the
school day, they should be complying
with the smart snack uh rules and
guidances. um and our our uh wellness
policy. Um and then the state agency
does um administrative audits and
reviews and we have one coming up. We
have a a administrative review coming up
as well as a procurement review coming
up. Um so that will be it's always a
delight. and they come in and they look
at uh all of the applications and um
work, you know, the food service company
provides us with labels and their
production sheets and um all of that
data. So, they do assist with that, but
those are things that we have to to
conform with to have a program and and
receive reimbursement.
I'm sorry, I'm jumping around a little
bit here. Uh there was um also let's see
so because we do not have a f food
service director um and we contract out
um we are still responsible for
everything. We need to um monitor the
food service. We we need to review the
contract and monitor it and audit it. We
have to do um site reviews during the
course of the year. We have to have um
uh we have to go visit each lunch
service. Um and we have to visit at
least 30% of the breakfast services and
we have to have that done um by February
1st. Um and so the goal would be to do
it early enough so that if we find any
compliance issues that the site would
have an opportunity to resolve that and
we could document that that you know
because we would have to go back and
revisit. Um the food service management
company assists us with preparing the
claims. Um but we have to verify the
data. Um they provide us um reports from
the the point of sales system showing
how many meals were served. Um but we
have to look at the number of days of
operation and that that is in uh powers
school um and our enrollment and
everything and verify the accuracy
there.
we have to go through a verification
process and that is that um as of
October 1st we look at all of the
applications that we have um in the the
that we've received and processed and we
do a sample testing where we reach out
and we ask for documentation to support
their application. So they have to send
us some sort of form to uh document the
income and then we re-evaluate whether
or not they comply and um with the
benefit that they were level that they
had been previously um awarded. Um we
the the state maintains a database
that's called direct search. So if
you're a SNAP benefit or uh homeless or
uh foster student or anything, you're
you're on this list where you're
automatically eligible. uh we download
that that monthly to make sure that that
is that data is included uh in our
system to try to maximize our free and
reduced uh claims.
Um there's a monthly claim process um
and uh we have that submitted to the
state by the 10th of each month uh so
they can review it. Um and um then we're
working on our collections. So as you
know we had updated our collection
policy. I came to you um towards I don't
know May April or May last year maybe it
was May
to talk about um the situation in which
we were in. So I have some updated
information um that I would like to
share with you. Um so at that time
we had reported out that we had
uh about we had receivables of about
195,000. Um of course there was
subsequent meal activity during the
course of the remainder of the year um
and collections and payments. Um and
right now we're at 123,000. Um so some
of that was write offs that we had
discussed with you at that time. Um, we
sent out uh 265
certified mailings to families. 61 of
those were not deliverable or picked up.
Um, and the balance that was related to
those 61 is about $33,000.
We've been able to connect with 10 of
these families. Um, we've been making um
phone calls and making attempts to try
to connect them. Some numbers have been
discontinu or disconnected. Some just
aren't picking up.
um we've been able to collect about just
about $2,300
uh from that $33,000.
Uh the 204 mailings that were delivered
has resulted in about $30,000 being
paid.
Um when we do connect with people, um we
have been trying to um get a signed
payment plan. Um and people are not
necessarily willing to sign a formal
agreement. Um we have had 26 informal
agreements and that people have made
with us of which 18 have been followed
per the agreement.
let's see. I feel like I left something
out here. So
we've been able to collect about 43,000
in payments since the beginning of May.
We send out a weekly uh phone call uh
reminder to people that your balances
are getting low or that it um was
between, you know, was a negative up to
I think it's $100, that will be changing
to $20 uh for this upcoming school year.
So, it it aligns with our uh collection
policy. um in the next month now that um
all of our principles are back and we're
in the back into the groove here. We're
going to be meeting with them to um try
and connect with families that we've not
that have not been responsive um to see
if we can get some payments uh schedules
set up. Um
we are going to um if we're if we're not
able to connect, we're going to uh send
out um a more aggressive letter um
letting them know that the next steps
will be to take them to collections,
whether that's small claim court or or
some other uh
uh method. Um we are also um calling the
uh welfare officers in the towns to see
if that if there's any way that they can
assist with us or like if they are aware
that there are people in their
communities that they think would
benefit from this that they can work
with them and help encourage them to um
complete the free and reduced
applications. Um once we receive a free
and reduced application, we can't go
backwards and do and make any changes
retroactive. It takes effect when we
receive it. um it can be submitted
multiple times during the course of the
year. So if a financial situation
changes um that you know if someone
reaches out immediately we can get that
uh resolved for them. Uh so that is the
information that I have at this stage.
So I don't know if uh I know that Steve
you had asked a lot of the questions
about the price sensitivity and data. I
don't know if this um addresses
>> your concerns.
>> Do we know how much we lost last year
>> in
>> not counting bad debt just from
operations?
>> I do not know. I don't have that right
now.
>> Meal volume is a week or a day or year
or any you want to measure.
>> Um
we
see I think that was in one of the
slides.
That's averages. We do we do have that.
I do have a spreadsheet with that
information. I don't know it off the top
of my head.
>> Working just from the numbers from this
document. It looks like it's somewhere
in the neighborhood about 200 maybe 225
a day because it says we're serving an
average of 585 meals a day. Then it says
we have 415 free or reduced
participants, although not everyone is
going to draw a meal every day.
>> So if you assume there's maybe only I
don't know 385 out of the 415 that are
drawing a meal, then that leaves about
200 paid meals a day. And 200 paid meals
a day is 36,000 meals a year. And even
if you raise the lunch price by a dollar
and assuming nobody, you know, price
sensitivity was zero, still only going
to raise $36,000.
So, uh, I don't know what we lost last
year. I don't certainly getting on top
of the bad debt is very important,
>> but I think we got a bigger underlying
problem that we're going to have to
start thinking about. I'm not sure how
to solve it. I know that
>> I'm sorry. I know that the
it's called the National School Lunch
Program, I believe, not the National Hot
Lunch Program. So, one option is to look
at the possibility of talking to our
vendor to find out what kind of savings
there would be if we switch to a not hot
lunch program other than maybe some soup
in the winter. Um, you know, that would
cut things down. Uh, if we're losing
money and we lose volume, then
technically we're making money because
you're losing less money on less volume.
Um, it it didn't amount to much. I
looked at it this year and
we were down we read price 8.4% 4% the
volume dropped by 5.2%.
So just on the paid meals because that's
the only one that's factored in. We
produced about 3,000 more in revenue. We
had probably lowered our food cost by
about $3,000 accordingly because we
served less meals. But on the other
hand, we probably lost about $1,000 in
federal and state, you know, subsidies.
So that price increase only produced
about $5,000. Mhm.
>> That's a problem, you know, because it's
not going to get us if in fact we lost,
I don't know, $150,000 last year.
>> We got to be thinking about something
else because we're taking dollars out of
the classroom, you know. It's it's and
and the kids that are on free and
reduced, they're covered. So, who are we
subsidizing here? You know, um I'd much
rather see the dollars going to the
classroom. That's where the learning
takes place. So, I'd rather see us look
at a different structure, possibly not a
hot lunch program. Um
I the feds are giving us looked like
from the internet $4.30 a meal and God
knows they've never paid us what it's
really worth. So it's probably costing
us more than that. So you know I I don't
see any reason why we shouldn't be
charging more. Uh people buy a latte for
$4 and change and think nothing of it.
But feeding your kid apparently is
another story. uh and and uh but even
then if we as I said even without any
sensitivity it's only going to raise
$36,000. So we we've got a pretty good
size problem here and I'm not quite sure
how to resolve it but possibly changing
the structure of the program would go a
long way. Meals could potentially be
prepped the night before with a crew
maybe here at the high school and I
don't know if it gets transported or how
it would work but I'd like to talk to
the vendor about it. See if they have
any ideas.
Okay.
I don't know if you can connect me with
them or what
I think that's all I had.
>> Question.
>> Um I have a question on uh slide uh
slide five. It says um district
eligibility stands at 29.54%
for enrollment. Um, and it says screen
reduced eligible students. 415 students
are eligible for free reduced meals. Um,
is that based on people that have that
have put in applications or is that
based on a uh data analysis of the the
um of the the student population?
>> Um, that was based on um the analysis of
the population. So it doesn't
>> so that out of those 450 410 students
have applied
>> 410 students qualified for
free or reduced.
>> Okay. So, we've we've been doing pretty
well with getting application getting
the applications in
>> and the and the numbers have um
well, I shouldn't say so so there's been
a rec a decline year over year, but from
the beginning of the year to the end of
the year, we have been increasing our
number. So it's it's uh slow at the
beginning of the year and then it does
increase um because um people when their
their carryover status um expires we get
more and then of course situations
happen and and again we do pull the
direct search list monthly. So you know
we try to capture that.
>> I'm I'm glad that people are are putting
their putting the applications there.
>> That's that's a good thing because we
we've really struggled with that. Mhm.
>> So, I'm I'm trying to like Yeah,
>> I know. I know. Um we'd be happy to um
support electronic applications um at
school open houses. Um my concern I I
haven't figured out how to do that
without um identifying people. I mean,
they would have to still want to come to
us. So, I don't know if we can be set
into a separate room or
>> Yeah. And it could be a station or a
stop that people could come into, but
like Scott and I would be willing to um
like tag team. Um so, you know, there
are a couple of Chromebooks set up or
whatever. Um and that we could assist
people with that process if they wanted
to do that. Um we just need to we need
to talk to the principles. I think that
their open houses are already set and I
don't know if they overlap, but
Um, in that instance, I wonder if parent
teacher conferences would be a more
appropriate time because they are very
individualized.
>> And then parents would have no privacy
issues.
>> How when is our first in the year?
>> Usually October, correct?
>> So it still would be early. Okay.
So, I have um one question, but I also
had another thought and I don't know if
our vendor has other options for their
prepayment because my son does take uh
he gets hot lunch, we go through the
app, we have to but we have to prepay
it. And so I can see how that would be a
hardship to for people to come up with,
you know, a hundred bucks or however
long and have to refill it regularly and
then there's a fee when you refill it
because it's credit card charge. Like it
gets cumbersome. Um, is there an
opportunity somewhere to have it
connected to a checking account or a
savings account so that it's like a
debit card where they wouldn't have to
prepay it, but it could be, you know, a
$3 lunch
>> instead of a $100 charge that they then
take it off of and have it sitting. I
don't know if that's an option with our
vendor, but I'm I think that would help
alleviate some of the crunch for a lot
of people who just
for whatever reason um have a harder
time coming up with a big chunk of
money.
>> So, um by vendor, are you meaning the um
the app service or are you because our
>> box is for the app and I don't know how
that's connected. I don't
>> so so that is so so uh food service
management company manages the cafeteria
and everything else and then they they
coordinate with the software that the
district has chosen to utilize. Um so we
utilize Mosaic for our po uh point of
sale and um all of that and then my
schoolbox ties in with the Mosaic for um
the payment options. Um
I
will look into it. I'm not I mean like
I've I've
as a parent I've worked with link and
some other options. I I worked with my
school books years ago as a parent. Um
I've not seen anything that had the
option for like a AC like a direct
withdrawal from your your your bank
account. Um but I can look into that.
Um, as far as the fees are concerned,
because they are credit card fees, we
don't have um an opportunity to
influence that at all. And um, we're not
able to um, assume
>> covering those costs on behalf of the
the
>> No, it's completely understandable that
that would be the case. I know I know
adds up for people if you're putting $10
on and you have a $3 fee adds up.
>> Absolutely.
>> And there's so many companies out there
with the new technologies that aren't
really new anymore. like you go to
Irving and you have debit pay. It's just
connected to your debit card. So, I
would like to know if there was an
option like that that would alleviate
the crunch for parents.
>> Um, and then my next question, um, these
audits and reviews that we have to do,
>> um, do we have recourse if we're finding
out because we're not setting the menus,
like what happens if they're not meeting
our needs in order for us to get
reimbursement?
That is a great question. I've not run
into So, when we had our last
administrative review,
um, we did run into
maybe a couple small items that that uh
the label wasn't quite right or
something and and so we we did get a
little bit of a write up, but I don't
think it was anything that required um
an action plan, corrective action plan.
Um, I think that I'd have to go back and
look at the contract, but I think that
there would be recourse if if uh we
don't pass an administrative review
because of the way they're purchasing.
>> I would like verification of that,
please.
>> And then um my last question is those
when do uh we get audited and reviewed
for that? Like you said it's coming up,
but I would like to know when it is so
that we can then follow up.
>> I would like to know when it is too.
They give me like six weeks notice.
>> Okay. If you could just keep us
>> they they have told us that we are we we
are one of the privileged uh districts
for this year.
>> It's like a three threeear cycle. Um so
um we're we're on deck this year. Um but
I don't know the dates yet. They've
asked for the contact information um
because then they'll they'll give us
directions for uploading data. Um but I
don't have dates yet.
>> Okay. Well, I look forward to knowing
that when you do.
>> Couple more questions. Um, from the
data, it looks like about half the
children bring their lunch with them.
Does that sound about right?
>> So, um, even those that bring lunch, we
we find that they eat lunch as well, and
that's a surprise to parents.
>> Well, okay. But they I mean, we don't
prohibit them bringing food in from
>> Oh, no. We don't prohibit that at all.
No.
>> And we and I heard you say we dropped
the threshold from $100 to $20.
>> Yeah. because our our um meal um
collection policy does require that they
you can't charge over $20. So, we'll be
sending out that um
the policy I believe require it. It says
that we're going to send certified mail
for over $20. Um which I that might be a
little prohibitive, but we're definitely
we're sending out the voice uh calls as
well. Um and until we revise the policy,
we will comply with it and send out uh
certified letters. So, if a student has
more than a $20 or has a $20 balance,
>> can he still keep spending money?
>> Unfortunately, yes, because we can't
identify students and the way the the
the requirements for the lunch program
is is that that uh charging uh station
is at the end of the line. Um so, you
can't grab something after paying. Um
so, you will have come through the line,
you've grabbed all your meals, and you
get there and you have a bal a negative
balance. they're not going to um take
your food away and tell you you have to
get something else um or say you can't
um be fed. And if you're K through
eight, we're required to feed you
anyway. And studies have shown that like
they I I don't know if studies have been
shown it may be strong. Um what they say
is that
preparing a meal that is um like taking
the choice away and preparing a meal.
We're going to give you a sandwich so
you're fed so we meet that obligation.
We've identified the students um and
it's it still is um a cost. It it
doesn't save a lot in the cost.
>> I can only go back to 20 years ago. We
used to give them government surplus.
>> So there wasn't any cost
>> and uh
>> government surplus is built into the
whole menu. It's not
>> but I mean they would get a sandwich or
something like that.
>> Um so they can still rack up enormous
amounts of debt.
>> Has changed?
>> Yeah. I mean by by law we're required to
feed them and and we're required to not
identify them.
But if you report them to DCYF, then
it's doesn't nothing happens.
>> Well, so if if a parent um we can't I
don't think we can report them to DCYF
just because there's a balance. However,
if the parent says you cannot feed my
student, we can't feed that student.
It's noted on their account, but then if
the parents not sending a meal, then we
can call DCF.
It's all I got. It's all I've got.
>> Go ahead, Chris.
>> Lori, just to confirm, um, how much bad
debt do we currently have?
>> So, the debt that we have right now is
123. I wouldn't classify all of that as
bad debt. Okay.
>> I haven't done that analogy.
>> Potentially receivable.
>> The receivables. Yes. 123.
>> Who says we have to feed them? Is it the
state of New Hampshire?
>> Federal law.
>> Federal law. And and and the state, I
believe,
>> but they don't send money to cover the
debt. They just tell us we have to feed
them.
>> We have to feed them and we have to pay
for it because the feds don't send any
money associated with the law.
Unbelievable.
Ridiculous. I'm sorry. It's They want to
send money. That's a different story.
>> Well, I'm
Since CO there's been
>> there's been prop
>> I said it's one of many unfunded
mandates.
>> Yes.
>> Yeah. It's just another unfunded
mandate. That's what I was alluding to.
It's an unfunded mandate.
>> So every year there's legislation
proposing free meals for all and every
year it fails in New Hampshire.
Massachusetts, I believe, is is has
implemented it. Vermont has implemented.
I'm not sure about Maine, but every year
New Hampshire votes it down
>> because the state would have to pay for
it.
All right. Any other questions for Lori
regarding school lunch?
Seeing none. Thank you, Lori. That was
informative and I look forward to the
next one.
All right. Uh, next order of business is
the personnel list. Can I have a motion
to approve?
>> So moved.
>> And a second. Any
discussion?
>> Yeah, a question. Um, it has to do with
the position, not anybody, but um, how
many school nurses do we have at FM and
how many are we required? Just curious.
>> We have currently we have one full-time
nurse and one call nurse that is not
complete fulltime.
>> Okay.
And the current and the current hiring
position is for
>> I do have a question.
>> I do have a question about one of the
positions might be related to a
reporting position. So, I don't know if
that should be taken offline or
discussed here.
>> Oh, sorry. Can you say that again? I'm
sorry.
>> Pardon me.
>> Can you say that again?
>> I I have a question about one of the
positions that
um could be reporting to someone that
they're related to.
>> Um we'll remove that and take it in
non-public.
>> Yeah.
>> Thank you.
So we So we should wait.
>> I was going to say if if that is the
case, I'd recommend holding off,
right?
>> All right, then we will table that until
later in the meeting.
All right. Next order of business is uh
visitors and public comment. We do have
someone here, Wes Vickers, to speak.
Good evening everyone. I'm Wes Vickers
from Walpole
and we I just wanted to give an update.
I haven't been before you in about two
years. We had a uh safety school safety
committee. Um I'll put this down. I'm
just going to give you our last
this is the last meeting minutes that I
had handed out the last time that I was
here which again was probably about two
years ago.
Thank you.
Yep. Thank you.
So, I have to say to you that um
I'm somewhat perplexed and uh you know,
I think sometimes we get complacent
and you know, you sit around and you
watch the news and I was watching the
news about a week ago and they said,
"Oh, school shooting in in uh Virginia,
five people shot." and you say to
yourself,"Well, you know, is that really
it's in Virginia?"
And you move on to the next thing and
you and you've heard it so much that
we've all kind of become I don't
insulated to it somewhat.
>> Can I just say that I don't believe
there's anybody in this district who's
comp become complacent with anything of
that sort. I just want to put that right
out there before that inference is made.
that that I
you know I I I'll say to you tonight
um I'm not complacent about this. I had
an opportunity my grandson was playing
soccer. I missed that. I know two board
members have sons playing soccer.
>> I thank you for for for coming here and
taking care of this because it needs to
be. Um, so but I want to say to you how
close this is to us just because some of
you are new and maybe you're not aware
of the history.
February 10th, 2012.
We had a Walpole school lockdown. We had
a student that shot a rifle in the
cafeteria.
State police full lockdown. Uh, and to
show you how close it is, this young
gentleman used to stack wood from me. 5T
away from him was a teacher who was my
son's best friend who played soccer from
me from Aworth. And Ben said to me, Wes,
it was the worst day of my life. Uh, and
and I don't know if you're familiar with
that situation, but
you know, he he was spurned by a girl
for the Walhole Junior High dance. And
you know, we don't even know how much of
a hero maybe that Sam Jacobs was because
Sam grabbed the gun. And u,
fortunately, no one was killed, but it
did a lot of damage to his face. Uh 911
2019,
Walpole School under total state police
lockdown again. Helicopters, SWAT teams.
We had somebody that went crazy, stole a
car, abandoned the car in the field
across the street from the Walpole vet.
They didn't know where he went. They
thought he maybe went to the Walpole
primary building and he ended up
swimming across the Connecticut River.
But again, another state police lockdown
in the little town of Walpole
2022 roughly. Now, this is this is uh
and I I have a board member that will
uh I I had the opportunity to bring
somebody with me today. I did not.
2022,
we had a student with a concealed
handgun on a bus that caused the bus
driver to resign from the district.
Uh I I mean I think that's a pretty
serious situation, a concealed handgun.
And
uh we all know these people. Uh they're
my neighbors. I've known them for 30
years. Very good people. Uh and she
resigned. She she said she wasn't happy
with with the way that it was handled.
Uh and then unfortunately
uh March 12th of this year we had a
tragic suicide in Alston. Um so these
are all things that happened
here
and
you know I'm not casting anything on any
I'm just saying these are things that
happened. They're a cause. So now what
can we do? So if we go down this list,
you can see that we had a safety
committee and it shows who was
attending. Uh Walpole police chief,
Walpole fire chief, Walpole emergency
management principal, uh the Fall
Mountain building supervisor at the
time, a school board member. So it was
well attended. It wasn't a school board
approved committee, but it was a
sightbased approved committee. Um, so
some of the things that we got done,
uh, 3M safety windows film was completed
on all walkable schools. I believe that
it's been completed on all district
schools. Um, and I won't go into I think
most of you know what that is, but
um, so that that's a big safety upgrade
and that's that's what we're looking
for. All I know that in the Walt Bold
buildings they all now have new security
doors that will lock
I believe with a central locking. Is
that right, Chris? And I believe I I
believe Charle Town has those. I'm not
certain about violence, but I I think
that we should again be sure that we
have those in all the schools. The
security camera system
uh which had been upgraded in Charles
Town, the Walpole system was $63,000
at the time we put in for a grant and I
had been talking to our state senator uh
Dunovan Fenton and the last time I heard
from one of his leg legislative
assistants and they she told me that
they were probably not going to fund in
that session but that she would push
the next time around. Well, round four,
the district received $180,843
in January of this year. So, hopefully
all of those things are now up to speed.
Mobile communication system. I haven't
spoken to Justin, but that was an app
that was being tested in Walpole that
the teachers would have an app on their
phone that they could contact the police
department through the app. Um, and I
don't know where that went, but but
again, we should be looking into those
things. The vehicle blockade in in
Walpole was completed on September 2024
and um and SRO again that was on uh
Chief Sanctuary's wish list. Um, but
I'll again I'll say I don't think it's a
bad idea. And you know, I have a friend
that's a state trooper
and I was just talking to him at the
soccer game
here and Peter said to me, you know
what, I'm going to retire and I'm just
looking for something to do. You know,
if you hired somebody like that to maybe
do the whole district, you know, maybe
he was spent a little time here, spent a
little time in Charletown, a little time
in Walpole, Vas Aworth, and he's a great
guy. He's like a big teddy bear. Um,
anyway, I don't even know. I don't know
that I didn't mention it to him. I'm
just saying there are people like him
around. Um,
and then this is the the
one of my big topics,
the say hello program through Sandy
Promise. And I sent this out. I was
planning on playing it
at this meeting. Told you can't. I don't
understand that totally, but it was it
was sent to all of you for review. It's
a fantastic program. The state of
Georgia has enacted it for every school
in recently. Uh, and if you look at it
now, I I have a son-in-law
that was in char he he worked for HCRS
back in the when we had this the uh
shooting in Walpole. He was in charge of
the Southern District of A. He had 12
clinicians that work for him. He
recommends this program highly. you're
you're I I don't know if you watched the
videos I sent you, but it's free and
um you know it it will take care of a
lot of these things. Um
and it happens to be that September 21st
through 25th is the say hello program
for them. They also have another
program, nobody eats alone.
Um, again that they they have a really
good handle on things and I'm just going
to hand this out because I know again I
sent the video. Um, you can pass that
down around. I'll take one.
you know, hopefully you get a chance to
watch the video.
but again they're nationally recognized.
Um and and this is again this is not
just pure statistics.
It if if you looked at it it's a great
program. The kids have an app on their
phone. They can call a phone number.
They can email and they can report. Hey,
Johnny's talking about bringing a gun to
school. Hey, Johnny's having thoughts of
suicide. Hey, Bobby is is having child
abuse at home. Uh, and this is all
anonymously. Now what it's done, you can
see here they have 1,269
confirmed young lives saved from
suicide, 8,100
students helped during mental health
crisis,
403,000 anonymous tips, 19 planned
school shootings avoided, all from this
program. That's free. But we I I don't
know. Again, I brought this up, as you
know, it's been I've been talking about
this stuff for 8 to 10 years,
and uh
it I I don't know. I don't know. I mean,
it's free. It It looks to me like it's a
great program. I' I'd be interested for
feedback to what what the issue is with
it. But, um
there you have the the flyer. Again, I
recommend everybody watches the videos.
I think it's a great program. They have
a a a call center with crisis managers
there that will speak to a a young
individual at any time, 24 hours a day.
Uh as my son-in-law said, you're not
going to get that anywhere.
Um so moving on from that, you know, I
don't want to take up a lot of your
time. The next thing that we have, which
again has been a constant is one of the
reasons why I started with this is
secure building entrances.
now. And at that time, when was the last
time you got this? I said that I was
going to be meeting with Dr. Spence,
Steve Horton, and I did meet with Lori
and Dr. Spence.
Um, and if you don't know Steve Horton,
he's a vice president of engineering for
McMillan Company, which is now bought
out by I don't even know their name, but
they're out of Burlington, Vermont. But
I believe you'll find that that Steve
had a hand in building a lot of this
building.
Uh I think when the roof caved in they
did it and he was the engineer. Steve
stay in the edge.
>> Oh yeah.
>> Uh at the time we met with Dr. Spence at
the time we met with Dr. Spence Steve
was Steve is now working as an
independent consultant.
He was working on doing entrances on two
buildings in Vermont.
So that's what he he was doing the exact
entrance safety entrances in Vermont. He
offered to do the Walpole buildings
gratitude
we got $10,000 approved
in last year
to do upgrade them to the high school
entrance. I just saw Steve I said have
anybody contacted you? No, I haven't
heard from anybody.
So,
I mean, here we have somebody that, you
know, I've known him. I went to high
school with him. His daughter went to
high school with my son and his
granddaughter goes to school with my
grandchildren. And he used to be a
school board member. He's offering to do
it free.
So, I don't know why we why we wouldn't
pick take him up on it. Um,
I I
think that we've made some good
progress. I'll tell you on a positive
side of things,
the last time I was here in in 2023,
school shootings peaked at 352
across the country. So, you know what
what's that about seven per state,
This year so far, there's 80. So, it's
not like they've gone away. Um, so if
you ask me what what's my objective, my
objective is is is if you want me again,
we kind of put our mothballs on our
committee. We haven't met. We kind of
threw it back. The last time I was here,
we were throwing it back to the school
board because there was only so much
that we could do. Although
I I will say to you, if you had grants,
the the next round of grants is coming.
So if you had a project set up for like
changing the school entrance at the high
school, changing the Waffle
primary building and elementary
buildings, which both need to be
upgraded, Steve's already looked at
them. We've all looked at them and
everybody agrees. And again, as you
know, Homeland Security looked at all
the buildings and I don't know about the
other town's buildings, but I know the
wall I wasn't privy to the report, but I
know the Wallful buildings failed
because they don't have a double lock
system. So, what I'd like to see is that
we at least
get a a plan and and get a warrant
article because a warrant article, I had
one of the select board of Walpole say
to me, why do why are we spending
$100,000 to look at adding on to
classrooms on the back of the primary
building that we don't do? Why don't we
use that money to fix the safety issue
we have with the buildings? And I said,
you know, I don't know. I'm not I'm not
in that position, but I don't disagree
with you. But I'm saying I think that
I I'll speak for Walpole. I think that
Walpole if it went if that went up and
said we need to upgrade our buildings,
it would be voted boom, no problem. So
I'm looking for that we as a school
board that you put forth a warrant
article to upgrade the two entrances.
I'd like to see the high school entrance
upgraded and I'd like to frankly see
every building in the district looked
at. Um
>> well, I certainly appreciate that and
that is certainly something we can add
to our agenda coming up as we plan
budget and as we plan more articles. Uh
the next item on the agenda is committee
updates and we do have a facilities
committee that we can um have look at
things like that. So, I certainly
appreciate your passion for this
project. Um, as you yourself noted, many
of these projects on your list have been
done and they will continue to be looked
at and made safer. Um, we certainly go
through the process for um all of the
drills and all of the things to keep our
kids safe here. We certainly look at uh
the Homeland Security reports and things
like that and those are all taken into
consideration. And so, um, the more
people we have who care and have concern
for these things, the better off we are.
But I assure you that these are being
taken care of.
>> Yeah. And again,
I I would volunteer and I would say to
you that anybody on my committee that
would have volunteered to look at these
things throughout the district. Uh I
mean the last round of funding that we
received in January
uh it was for you you could have got up
to $150,000 for school.
>> There were every school in this district
has applied for those safe grants and
they don't always get approved. And so
this it's not a matter of just not
applying. It's that we're not always the
ones receiving the money. And so we will
continue to do so every time it is
opened. I assure you.
Again,
I'm not throwing I'm not throwing
stones. I'm saying this is an issue.
It's a cause effect. What's what's the
what's the solution?
>> Totally understood. I want you to know
that we hear you and that these things
are uh of utmost priority to all of the
administrators, all of the leadership,
and to this school board. And so, um,
having this conversation is incredibly
important, not only from the safety and
security concerns that you brought up,
but also the, uh, social and emotional
learning and the opportunities we have
to take care of each other and
especially our youngest. So, I certainly
appreciate the most important.
>> They are very much so.
>> So, anyway, that's my concern. I'm not
again, I note that some of this is a a
raw issue. I I would have come earlier
except for the tragedy because I and
it's not throwing any stones at anybody.
>> I would appreciate leaving that one uh
where it's at
still um something that didn't happen
in school.
>> Well, again, I just wanted to update
where we're at. We have had some
movement um in in extra grants and other
things completed but we still are not
quite there yet.
>> We will continue to work towards things
for sure.
>> Thank you everyone.
>> Thanks Wes.
At this time, uh, we do have committee
updates on our agenda.
We don't have Oh, actually, Christa, do
you want to start with budget committee
updates?
>> Sure.
>> I don't really have any updates. Um,
they're happy with all the information
they've been getting. They've I
Everything's been going fine. You guys
were at the last one. Um, Chris is going
to step in for me next time cuz I have
um a conflict. Okay, fantastic.
>> Curriculum committee, I think Chris
Young um elaborated on that uh earlier.
>> So, Steve and I are on the policy
committee. We met with Misty. Um had a
really good meeting with her. um she
provided us with uh information and
document uh that she's been working very
hard on and she had she's already done a
lot. Um so we're uh getting up to speed
with with what she has done looking at
her documentation and um we agreed to
have our meetings um every first Monday
each month at 3.
cracking on our own. We did the first
two sections and then you know we
understood that it's a little bit
different process and now we're working
with Misty and Chris uh going forward.
So
>> that does raise a pretty important point
though that it is important for all of
us on this board being that policy is
one of our uh main tenants that we are
familiar with them. So all well spent
time. Yep.
>> I apologize Chris did join us as well.
Um the uh tech committee um I missed the
first meeting of the River Valley
Technical Center. Um but um we meet they
meet um their board meets the uh first
first Wednesday of every month. So I
will be able to give you an update next
month.
>> Okay. and I will give you the link for
that.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Cooperative review committee. You want
me to talk about it?
>> Somehow I ended up being the chair.
>> Much appreciate that. Thank you. Um,
I think it's going well. Uh, to be
honest with you, uh, uh, um, the
facilitators doing a good job. Um, I
would say that it's time to start
picking at the meat on the bones. Um, I
think there's a little chomping at the
bit from a number of the folks that are
uh, in the committee uh, because they
have experienced and they've talked
about it for a number of years. So, I
think that's kind of the focus is is um
coordinating with Chris hopefully this
week and figuring out um the homework
assignment for the committee and um
starting to really um I think iron out
some of the details and and those
questions that are going to be coming
I don't think it's going to be as easy
as people think.
So, um, I started really to rack my
brain around it. I'm like,
there's Yeah. So, we're looking forward
to it. Um,
yeah, that's all I have to bring for
that at this point.
>> All right. Real quick on legislative
committee. Jamie and I have not met yet,
um, but we will be in the next few
weeks. The state just had veto um,
override day. I guess I'm not exactly
sure what it's called. So, they will now
be getting into the next phase of their
process. So, there will be more coming
that we need to be aware of. Uh
certainly things that affect this
district very very soon, especially um
for the November election. So, I'll have
more on that later.
>> The negotiations committee is on here,
but I don't I'm not really sure how I'm
supposed to share or what I'm supposed
to share. We can just say the
negotiations have started and that the
process is moving along well at this
time.
>> All right. And the only other committee
that we haven't discussed is facilities
committee um
starting September 10th. Fantastic.
>> It's about time.
>> It is. I
>> just want to put that on the record.
>> I don't think anybody will disagree with
you. Looking forward to it. Um, I will
say I will just second that facilities
um are starting to really look bright
and perky for the school of the year
coming up. It's really nice to drive
down this driveway and see fresh paint
and fresh art that I understand our high
school principal um put on right as
you're driving in. So, it's starting to
really look good. So, I'm looking
forward to more from that. Anything from
any of you that you want to add?
>> Okay, perfect.
Anything else from the board?
Seeing none. Um, treasurer's report is
on the agenda, but that is actually for
the next meeting. So, there is no
treasurer's report today. And the only
other agenda item we have is uh to enter
into non-public for uh the purpose of A,
L, and K. So, may I have a motion?
>> And I'll take a roll, please.
>> Christa votes yes.
>> Christopher votes yes.
>> Karen, yes.
>> Steve, yes.
>> Sarah, yes.
>> Alissa, yes.
So, we will be going into the other
room.
>> All right. Um, at this time, can I have
a motion to approve the personnel list?
>> We already have a motion. We just tabled
All right. All in favor?
>> Any opposed?
>> The motion passes. Can I have a motion
to adjurnn?
>> All in favor?
All right. Thank you.