SRSD School Board Meeting 9-16-26
The board deferred action on leasing options pending document review. SPEAKER_1 reported community organizations offered $15,000 annually toward costs, but the board awaited lease duration clarity. SPEAKER_3 noted legal restrictions prohibit using taxpayer funds for non-school activities, necessitating the current fee schedule. SPEAKER_6 stated exceeding the two-year lease term requires property improvements. The next School Board meeting is October 7, 2026, at 6 p.m. at Sanborn Regional High School, and the next Budget Committee meeting is September 24, 2026, at 7 p.m. The board entered non-public session via roll call vote (5-0) under RSA 91-A:3-II(a) and (e). Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_6LbY7wDlA
You know, I think that would be important to state. And, you know, I understand things are taking time and, you know, we'll move slowly. I think before we sign anything, we, before you sign anything, you want to make sure that those community organizations are, the options for those are discussed and made public. And I guess what I'm trying to say is before we sign anything, let's get some ideas on paper and stated out in the universe here, you know. It sounded like we were close to making the decision today, and we don't even have leases, you know. So I just want to remind everybody that, you know, a lot of people out there are going to be impacted by this decision one way or another. And I think it would go a long way for there to be some positive discussion about how to make sure everybody's happy, not just one side and not. Steve, there is, just so you know, there is language in the current place that permits the district to not so much sublet it, but engage a third party. Yeah, I did know that. Yeah. And I would wholeheartedly, if I were childless, wifeless and mortgage lists, take over that lease and do everything I could to, you know, keep everything going. I can't help but think, and I know this would never fly, but the next most obvious solution would be for the town of Kingston to take it over just because they have all the infrastructure in place already, you know, so that might be the most obvious partner if there were. going to be another entity to take it over. And our offer as a, you know, community stakeholder or a group of community stakeholders would be in support of whatever organization and would have come forward. So. Thank you. I want to make one comment. I mentioned it. I was remote, but I mentioned I don't know if it was caught. Federal and state law prohibit school districts from spending expending funds that were by taxpayers and a approved budget on activities that are not directly school related. The language I read, and I'm not a lawyer, it says education purposes, which can probably be broadly interpreted, but I think we need to be careful about we can support, but to support financially is a very different characterization of what we're talking about. We can't support financially. Thank you for reiterating that, Ken. and, you know, we've continued to receive letters and input from other community members who have expressed some frustration about the fee schedule, and the fee schedule is our attempt to be in compliance exactly as you described. So I just, for folks who don't understand the why, it is for exactly the reasons you stated. Thank you. Yes, sir. Hi, Scott Rollins from Newton. Something else to consider was, Ken, can you? kind of hit the nail on the head and stole my thunder. But, like, these community organizations, they're saying they want to continue to use this space, but they want the school to fund the foot of the bill. So where, I think all of these community organizations that are doing this need to come to the table and say, hey, we're able to contribute X, we're able to contribute Y to continue to have this facility. If there's so many people and so many community organizations that are able to to do this. Steve, how many people, how many kids in your basketball league? $200,000? $220 times $100. What does that put us in the fees of the overall school, or overall maintenance? You said it's about $40,000 a year? $46 is the average. So, I mean, I grew up playing basketball. I know how important it is to the community. And I also know that I had to pay to go there. So that might be something that we have to look at sincerely in order to keep this facility because there's a lot of things inside the school that we own, that we have to maintain. And that $40,000 a year is going to come real quick with, I mean, we've got HVAC systems, correct, that are going to die. We've got boilers that are going to go. Like, roof, siding, envelope. Like, there's a lot of things that we have to pay for soon. And that money is going to go a long way if we're not taking care of another facility that we don't own. So just food for thought. And Steve has been very vocal about assisting. Yeah. I just want to make sure that that that needs to be said. Yeah. He's going to say it now. Yeah. Sorry, I do want to just state for the record again. the community organizations did come together and come up with hard numbers for each organization, which amounted to $15,000 annually. And we brought it to the facilities committee, and we haven't heard anything back about any of that. And that, so that, we appreciate, of course, the transparency and the attempt to make the contribution, an annual contribution. I think, you know, the, such a commitment on the part of the community organization was made with the intent that this was going to provide some longevity, right? A commitment for the future, right? So one of the reasons we're hesitant, at least I, I won't speak for the whole war, one of the reasons I was hesitant to try and action and say, let's, let's just do this, lock this in right now. they said they would give us X dollars because we didn't know what we were going to be renewing for how long and we still don't exactly know right the second right and it would be you know, I didn't think it would be quite the right time yet to say, okay, this much, this much when it might be the case that I don't know if it's going to be for five years or it's going to be for one year. So there's a lot of moving parts, but I do agree that I think to Jeremiah's point, whatever we end up deciding there needs to be some collective team of people together that are deciding how this is going to go forward. I think there's there's we need more collaboration with community organizations and the district to figure out what the best options are. So that's that. Any other public comment? Mr. Doyle. One more thing, just so we're clear. Sure. Mr. Chimberg was clear that if we go any further than the two-year point, we're going to have to make improvements to that property regardless of who it is. You know, they plan on taking people into that construction site and getting occupancy in November of 2027. So, you know, his goal here is it needs to be improved. in order for him to sell some of those properties and make it look good. So regardless, if we're going beyond the two-year point, we're going to have to put some money into that building. I think we wait for the document. We're just, we're going to wait for the document. To my point earlier in Rick's point, that doesn't seem to conform to what is our current option one is. The language isn't in the current lease, which we have the right to renew. Right. So that's, that's, I want to see what. I want to see what comes. Absolutely. It just caution, right? Like, we do the right to renew. I agree. And, but it also says that we're going to. Yeah, but it's just, it also says if there's capital improvements and they're not done six months, that could, that could, that could cause more problems. Sure. It's just certain. Yeah, it just doesn't say that we are compelled to fund them, which. Yeah, this is, this is a, this isn't a Steve problem or, uh, community problem. This is a, this is a district problem, right? Like, it's, we, we made the decision that that was a solution, a short-term, short-sighted solution a long time ago, and now we're dealing with it, right? So we got to, we got to make quick work and figure out something. But that, that building, I heard you say, it's got, like, save it. There's no saving it. Like, it's not our building. There's no saving the building. Like, people just got to get that out of their heads. There's no save in the building. We have to find a different solution. Okay. Okay. Well, we were already in second public comment. We got it. Thank you. Okay. So the next meeting agenda, just a reminder to everyone, if you want an item on the agenda, if you want an item on the agenda, it should be received by the superintendent, at least seven days prior to the meeting in accordance with policy BEDB, agenda preparation and dissemination for further details. The next Sanborn report. regional school board meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 6 p.m. in the library at Sanborn Regional High School, and the next Sanborn Regional Budget Committee will be held on Thursday, September 24, 2026 at 7 p.m. It does not say where, but I imagine here in the library. Would someone please now like to call us into non-public session per RSA 91A. colon 3, Roman numeral 2, A, E, and E. So it just did. Well, someone do it, please. I'll call us in a non-public session per RSA 91A, 91A. Roman number 2, AC, and D. No, and E. Oh, that's why I did it. Sorry, AC and E? Yeah. A C. Okay. A C and E. Second. Roll call. Let's roll call in. James. Yes. Jeremiah? Yes. Kathleen? Yes. Rick? Yes. Myself? Yes. Ken? Okay. There go.