Norwich School Board Meeting 09/02/2026

Speakers are labeled SPEAKER_N. This transcript is machine-generated.

Recording

Send a review.
And we'd like to address board.
Go right ahead.
Say your name and
My name is Jane Farrell.
I live on 59 Cotch Road.
And my daughter just started marrying cross last week.
It's been wonderful.
I'm here because I just want to follow up about a conversation
that we started in the spring around pre-K,
both the policies regarding the sibling preference
and also the possibility of making it an actually universal program,
just knowing that, you know, number of four years.
that a number of four-year-olds didn't get in at the end of last year.
It seems like demand is really high.
I'm constantly hearing from parents with kids in my age bracket about concerns about capacity
and whether or not they're going to get in.
And I also know that the, you know, the school is off to a busy start.
Everyone's busy dealing with other things.
And I just don't want to get to a point in the spring where it's too late to discuss the prospect of expanding it.
So I'm trying to figure out today, one, kind of who are the decision makers, who are the stakeholders,
what needs to happen and on what timeline to both have a sense of what the cost would be to start,
you know, I don't know if this involves engaging people in, like voters in Norwich at this stage,
or reaching out and seeing who will be interested in pre-K a year now, you know, doing that earlier.
But I just know that the months go very, very quickly,
and it seems like it's something that needs to happen soon.
So I think there's going to be some kind of working group, but I don't know when that's happening.
happening and I would just love to bring a little bit more sense of urgency to this,
because I think it's a really, really important thing. I think it's something that Norwich can get done and should do.
So yeah, I would love to just get a little bit more information about that to the extent anyone here has that
and figure out what, like concrete next steps we can take.
Thank you for your public comment. I too remember that discussion.
prior, has any work been done at the staff level?
So I thought we had a discussion of what option to go to us.
If you could update us on that, that would be great, Robin.
Okay. We have had meetings over at the end of the last school year
between the two schools around the eight discussions of preschool.
We will start our budget process very soon.
We begin having meetings in the next couple of weeks, and we will start our budget process very soon.
weeks and we'll develop budget guidelines and then we will begin discussing things like preschool
and and they actually do look at numbers fairly early on to see what the demand is.
So that is that's something that they have starting to interrupt.
They have a sense of pre-K numbers.
I guess I understand like if you're someone in pre-K, you know if you're going to go into kindergarten.
Yeah, kindergarten.
But is pre-K kind of like we don't know about those students?
We do know, but we'll know more.
more about next year's class soon.
Sean is here too.
Okay.
Great.
Okay.
Sean is on one and has his hand up.
Sean is like to respond.
Yeah.
Thanks.
We are at the school level looking at what it would look like to put a third pre-K session in.
We've done some work around what we would do cost-wise and numbers and how that would look as far
as enrollment and
which students would the priority list.
So that work has begun.
We were just letting the school year get underway
and then we've got the pre-K teachers and some parents
who have volunteered to be on the committee to look at that with us.
So our hope is to bring something to the first
budget meeting to start talking about it.
And yeah, and just to understand,
so you presented a proposal saying, you know,
it would cost X to add a third classroom,
and that then goes to the budget committee?
Is there anything else, like any other stakeholder input that you would need?
Or like, how would parents who want to expand pre-K
or make sure that it's universal that there's a third classroom
kind of advocate for that at this stage and not, you know, in January?
Yeah, so I want to make sure that is an excellent question
and to the extent the way I hear it is, to the way to the extent,
parents and community members want to follow that policy development discussion,
advocate and contribute to that policy discussion.
It would be workgroup, workgroup feeds up information to budget committee,
budget committee feeds up information to the board.
So that's why I have that trajectory, right?
Sean doesn't know this, I'm looking right at him.
I'm looking at the members of the budget committee,
and as I do that in about one minute, I'll hand the meeting over the chair.
That does answer my question.
It's very helpful.
And how would people know, I apologize for interruption,
when those work group meetings occur, shot?
Yes, we'll advertise them in the school in our newsletter,
Who's Wise Words?
I also have a group of parents who've reached out to me
that I've told them I will get back to them to be part of the group.
Awesome, thank you.
And Robin, thank you for the update.
Sure.
Any other public input?
Since you work car industry, this is like the other
the pendulum swinging the other way.
I wasn't talking about sixth grade.
As I came to you, last year, I think I wrote letters
to the North School Board,
and I attended a
addressed in board meeting, so I'm just coming back,
so it's kind of a simplification of that.
I just want to share my voice in the
standpoint of student engagement and opportunities
where I believe this conversation and discussion
needs to begin.
A good old fairness and expectation.
and expectations for children across the district.
So at its core, my support really lies within our older students at Norwich
who need to receive key developmental opportunities
that are both appropriate and necessary for the continued growth at the stage in life.
And the student services, and this is kind of,
kind of pairs nicely.
At MCS, they have been shifting to younger learners at
we've had the expansion of pre-K continue to consider that.
Like, that's wonderful.
And I respect that, but I think some of the unintentional consequences
have been the shift of resources that have gone from the older students,
leaving them fewer opportunities to develop independence,
special teachers, their times, electives.
I can kind of go on through world languages and things like that.
I just think RMS is such.
us is such, it's a key environment.
It's designed like that, it's developed,
and I know this has come up over and over,
and I just want to keep kind of bringing the spell
what I think it would mean from supporting our students
within the district having that equitable stance.
I just think it's so critical and important.
Thank you.
My mom, I get my password going.
Okay.
Thank you.
I would say thank you for that comment,
I think I shared at least one time.
I am fully in support about that.
But as a board, there's not been the majority of support
among the school boards.
I think as we develop our budget proposals again,
it's always a good time to put that on the list
of things to consider because there's obviously
both on a programmatic impact but a financial impact
to that type of decision.
Other members of public wish you should speak.
We go to reports.
As soon as Gary, it's fully online, he's both in the chair, but you know,
get off the key report.
Mara, are you operating a PCA report?
Yes, I am.
Nice to hear all you again.
Good summer.
I'm Mara Child, I was on Turnpike Road.
I'm the full president of the PTO again this year.
And I think a year ago I sat in his chair and said
we were about to file an
for articles of incorporation and become a full independent nonprofit.
And I'm happy to say that we've done that.
So, in early August we filed the
of incorporation with this state, and we got an official public status.
We have an initial board of directors, which includes the current leadership team.
We've adopted the corporate bylaws, all the different steps that we need to put in place.
So now we're in the process of applying, or we have the AIA number,
and are applying for federal exemption, so it's become an official by-o-1s-see-through.
So we're taking all of those administrative and operational steps,
and also now focusing on our operations, so we built into bank account.
thanks to Teresa Taylor and the SAU 70 admin team.
We now have the funds that they've been released from SAUC7 and just deposited them today.
And we're setting up all of our accounting systems and really launching or trying to build out the back end of the nonprofit
while also implementing like the normal activities of the PTO.
So, yeah, just wanted to say thanks to the school board in SAU70 for years of support.
I think it was about 25.
I'm not sure exactly that was established.
fun.
Yeah, so we want to continue to have the same role or just, you know,
our mission maintains the same.
It's just now the type of entity we are.
And so hopefully with some of this flexibility that we'll have might be able to supplement
or raise more funds, for example, and maybe be a little flexible with some of our activities,
but very much want to stay in line with the mission of the school and the school district.
And, yeah.
Thank you.
Any questions for more?
Just thank you for continuing the future.
It's a lot of work, so thank you.
Yeah, it's a very rewarding to do there.
So we're going to be setting up like some official committees,
the fundraising committee and events committee,
and we're talking about having a fall fest in September on the MCS grain.
So I don't know if anyone was,
attended the Norwich Baseball Association or heard about this big event back in the
for the kickoff for the field didn't.
Opening game, we don't kickoff and baseball.
Oh, yes, sorry.
Correct.
Also, Board President Michael Cawcett,
we have the more baseball association,
a similar, like, friend-raiser event in which we're having activities
for families and just really trying to focus
on some special community building.
So continue to appreciate your input and your suggestions.
And yeah, we'll have to give more updates next time
that's done to do with operations.
with operational.
Thank you.
I guess the only question I have is, okay, so
kudos to staff to getting the PTO everything they needed
to be able to pull the launch.
Is there anything else that you need for this board
or the administration as the PTO continues to grow?
Yeah, I think to continue to be a sounding board.
Like we, as we're trying, one of our goals is to incorporate
or provide more opportunities for parent involvement and community engagement with the
through the school board of the district.
So, for example, last year during budget season,
we mobilized a lot of parents to come and give input.
And so to the extent that we can continue
to be a bridge between the administration
and cooperation with Sean and the staff,
but trying to bring the voice of the caregivers
in the community, if we want to really maintain that
and potentially be increased a little bit more
if we have some more resources
to build out our website and things like that.
Thank you.
Any of their comments?
Okay, hearing none.
We'll move on to our business requiring discussion.
The first time is reading of a policy.
This is a new policy regarding digital literacy.
Robins is multiple times in here.
This is a, is this one that we're doing district-wide now?
I don't recall somebody there, as far as taking it over you.
I know.
I look at it now, I think.
I think.
Which is Brian might put this on there and I didn't catch it.
Yeah.
It's the first reading.
Yeah.
It looks like it's a digital literacy policy.
We can read it and I'll take a follow up to ask Ryan
if this is a state, a new state mandated policy,
or if this is something that we're implementing
to be consistent with something over on the New Hampshire side.
I don't remember time with this a policy.
I don't know.
I know.
It does look like it would be some additional educational resources with regards to things
like the businesses upon my safety inside falling.
Michael?
Just that point of information, has this gone before the policy committee?
Not that Rowan and I can recall.
I have to be challenged to that.
Yeah.
Remembered us, but you know, maybe it was several months ago.
I'll tell you if people have comments on.
If people have comments on it, let me know.
Otherwise, and I make me note now to check with Brian Ann
as far as what the purpose of this is.
Yeah, I guess, I mean, my comment matches that this
doesn't feel like it went through the policy committee
because it's really, it's wordy,
and I'm not, I think I know what it's trying to say,
but I can, I think it would say it in far fewer words.
It just doesn't feel like something that would have come
from our policy committee because I know those people did great
report.
And I usually remember our policies.
Yeah, they're going to have a
having way of policy.
It's tremendous.
Lyndon Dr.
I did attend the policy committee.
Policy committee?
Of course.
We did talk about tenors of AI.
I remember Robin and they were.
Yeah, we were talking about screen policy, which this
says it's screen policy, but we have not
talked about this.
This policy.
I don't think.
I haven't talked about this policy map discussion
has been started out, I guess, in this.
That's why I'm looking at us, like, where has come from?
And I've missed the last one to see.
Yeah, no, we can't talk about screening.
I don't remember talking about this.
Okay.
I'll tell you, because no one's really prepared for this,
I apologize.
When we move on from this, if we have to, if it is something back,
we can bring it even back for our first,
at our next meeting.
I want to give some clarification on it.
Okay, I'll move on to our budget timeline.
This year, the budget timelines are a little bit different based on the committee that met last year,
but here is the budget timelines.
The first meeting for the SAU budget meeting I know is, and that's just the SAU budget committee,
right?
This is a district-wide budget meeting tomorrow morning.
Right.
So there's one tomorrow at eight for the SAU.
for the SAU, that's the first of all the budget committee meetings.
The idea is to get the SAU budget completed quickly and early.
And then there is a, sorry, the strategic alignment budget committee meetings,
the one that's on the 17th.
So it's really going to be the first one where all the board members come together.
Yeah.
And meet Michael.
Yeah, and having served on that committee, I mean, at first plus you look at the doctor,
you look at the document that's posted in assembly and you think there must have been some sort of fire and only more color coding would put it out.
But the simple problem that the committee was trying to solve was, hey, we have these multiple school boards.
Is there any way to try to align them so they're all considering the same factors?
While acknowledging that there are different schools.
The people of Norwich may have a different opinion than the people of handover when it comes to funding.
to funding elementary education, as JBT used to say.
If people hand over, what about golden egg,
underneath the chair of every student handover,
they can vote to do that, but people ignore it.
So that's the problem we've tried to solve.
This is going to the first time through this process,
and we're going to find out whether the process adds value
or whether it's tedious, because there is a lot there.
Fundamentally, we're trying to make sure that we're all considering
the same cost drivers, the same pressures,
the same pressures,
in curriculum, so we have a more aligned approach,
and then trying to have deadlines so we don't have a bottleneck.
And the SAU budget can very much serve as a bottleneck,
because people feel they need the certainty of the SAU budget
to be able to move on the other budget.
So hopefully we can try this, road test it,
and we have to be really sensitive about whether it's make work for staff
or actually add value work.
We're a lot of concern about that.
I think that potential criticism is well-time.
well-timed and we'll find out this year, hey, whether this works and whether we need to modify it.
But we're mostly just trying to seek looking at the budget from a shared set of, you know,
priorities and viewpoints.
And Michael, do you recall, so, you know, normally at this point we would have met as a Norwich board
to have our budget guidelines discussed to bring before the board,
and I see here that I think our budget guidelines are supposed to adopt them at the October meeting.
meeting.
Yeah.
But we don't have a Norwich budget meeting on the...
Because we're waiting for the strategic alignment budget meeting,
the all-hand meeting to happen on the 17th.
Don't have a Norwich budget.
Okay.
What do we think, Robin?
One thing we also talked about was doing a special call meeting before our SAU and, right?
Tristan meeting just to approve the budget guidelines.
if we haven't completed for the 17th because that meeting is on and I think.
Yeah.
And I believe that the committee had determined that the budget guidelines was going to be district-wide guidelines
versus having Norwich and Driston and Hanover guidelines.
Is that correct?
So we actually aren't going to have a Norwich budget guideline anymore?
Oh, that's been, I'm like, thinking all the way back.
I mean, Mr. Chairman.
To when we're discussing this in the spring, I don't think there's, I think each budget committee needs to have their own guidelines.
It was just kind of be informed by the needs across the district.
There's no way for one school board to take away the ability of a different school board to have a budget guidelines.
Right.
I think there was concerned about it was the process flow.
And, hey, if we're working across purposes, that would be a problem.
You have a comment.
I have a comment.
I wasn't on the committee.
I can't speak to what was on the committee.
I can speak to what it feels like to be on three boards when you're a member of the Norwood School Board and the Dresden and the SAU.
And I am cautiously optimistic and encouraged that we're trying to work more collaboratively as groups or boards on how we budget for our unified school district.
I had a dollar for every time I spoke about the specialness of this school district to people who live outside of this area.
would not need to work anymore because I think it's really exceptional.
And I think it is exceptional and challenging because Norwich and Hanover can choose to do different
things for our elementary schools. And yet, I think the more we can be aligned and strategically
thoughtful and how we work, I think as a district, we can be more successful.
So I guess I'm going into this with a lot of cautious optimism that we're going to not get it perfect,
but we are going to solve for some of the challenges.
of time and commitment that we ask of our staff and also of our board members.
So I just want to say that on the record.
I can also send Renee and know who's the chair of that committee and ask her when we're supposed to be meeting.
Because right now there really is no meetings for...
I see draft guidelines September 17th, 8 to 10 a.m. is that when the guidelines are supposed to be done?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
So then that means.
if our meeting is after that, would that mean that Norwich would have had time to put them together?
Or am I getting confused?
No. I think that's the hope is that you would be able to develop the budget guidelines during that meeting
and then present them at either the October meeting or potentially have special call.
The only other, if I may, I am the representative from Norwich.
from Norwich on the Teacher Negotiation Committee for Dresden.
And having this forward-looking budget work is certainly going to be helpful to that committee,
so we can be as prepared as possible on making sure we know how we are making investments
in the teachers and in that process.
We're going to be a slide in there, but I mean, at the end of the day,
the meetings that need to happen now in any reason,
so there's two yellow internal meetings between the principals before we actually get dropped.
we actually get drafted of the thing that's missing here, I think, is really our first Norwich
budget meeting.
We would kind of review that first cut of the budget.
Yeah.
Which doesn't really need to happen if I'm correct, Neil, into October anyways.
I have to go back and look at our old.
Yeah, why don't, I would say, why don't you and I check schedules and see if it might make sense
to get a Norwich budget meeting on the books, either just before.
or just after this combined one just to make sure we've got our ducks for it like we know we're doing.
Maybe we do it just after, but I think the intent of this all-hand meeting is to kind of help everyone understand,
all the budget committee members understand what's going on district-wide.
So when we're then drafting our guidelines, we kind of know what might be coming down the pike from other folks,
and at this point already know where the SAU budget might land a little bit given the fact that meeting starts tomorrow.
tomorrow.
Yeah.
That's fine.
That's the intent.
Okay.
Sorry.
Okay.
On to our items, any other discussion items on that?
On to our AP approvers.
I guess we can change them now.
It's kind of working.
I'm okay keeping it as is for the next.
Yeah.
I'm not having an issue with it.
I have an idea about this.
about this on the agenda.
I'm thrilled if you want to keep it on.
But I think we appoint two people, and I wondered if instead of having both people feeling the responsibility of checking,
and maybe the point is that you have two people looking at it, should we appoint two people
where one person is the lead and the other is the backup?
And this way, every quarter, only one person is actually feeling the heavy responsibility,
and then one person is the backup.
But I could be totally off base here in that.
here and that the reason we have two is that two people are looking and approving.
But if the point is to make sure at least one person does it, we could be clearer on who's playing
the role of lead and who's the backup. But tell me, again, I'm still kind of new to the board, so.
Do two people have to approve it?
Yeah, as far as...
Got it.
It should have two people back.
Okay.
Then I forget that idea to make it more efficient.
So...
Could have an AI agency?
agent do it.
That would be very efficient.
Lisa, do you remember how long we'll be doing this for?
I think we've been doing it for, well, at least two rounds.
So we'll just go for three.
Three-sided bucket number.
And then we'll start in 2020.
Okay, maybe we'll do it.
Okay, why don't we appoint a point in a new,
a new approach that night?
I think we'd cut this down the camera.
If you've prolonged that part of it, it might be, maybe not be guys.
But for the office staff to have somebody for six months, as opposed to every time to turn around,
it's easier?
It's just easier?
Yeah.
Okay.
All right, why we go for one more round then?
And then we get 20-20-set and off.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
All right, on to item number D,
this is for the meeting.
This is for the meeting.
Sorry.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is for the annual, I did receive some things from this Engageify.
Just we know, is that a new system?
Yes.
Okay, because I received one email and it literally had just a link to Engageify from the, and I was
a little hesitant to click.
Me too on it.
Yeah.
And then there was one that just came in last, like, really like the past day or so.
It was like a proper email with Engageify and this kind of thing.
So anyways, I think if, now that we see this, Engageify is, we all have to set up new accounts
it looks like.
Yeah.
Engigify?
Okay.
So everyone needs to log in to Engadify, and that's basically, it looks like, our communication tool
with the Vermont, ESBA.
Right.
My understanding is that Neil O'Dell is going to be our proxy, right?
Yes.
What is that.
What is said?
That's a turn.
Really, tonight is to be the, is, I mean, this is,
I mean, this is looking way ahead at the board meeting that's coming up in October, right,
this Sunday, at the end of October, for our BISB proxy.
Oh, sorry, this is the BISB annual meeting.
This is not the BISB annual meeting.
It's just the two happen at the same time.
They just happen at the same time.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
So tonight you all are just, I guess, voting to authorize me as the BISBIT's delegate
so that I can cast a vote at that meeting.
at that meeting.
And then the second piece of this, we sort of commingled things.
There's the VSBA resolution update as well too.
My recommendation we just were board members to review the proposed resolutions and then be prepared
at our October meeting to determine how you would like the voting delegate to vote on those resolutions.
And these resolutions are being presented so tomorrow that looks like is where they're going
to be presenting what some of the draft resolutions.
No, so there's a webinar scheduled for tomorrow and you've registered the webinar through the Engageify thing.
Yeah.
So that's the change there.
The webinar is just a presentation of all of the resolutions that will come before membership at the annual meeting for voting on.
So if you're looking for a quick way to be spoon-fed the resolutions and what they're about,
you know, spending an hour of your time is, you'll get them delivered to you that way.
Alternatively, I believe the last VSBA weekly email came to, had a link to it.
We just wanted to read through them.
But then what I would recommend is at our October meeting that we review each one of those resolutions
and then just determine how you want your voting delegate from this board to cast their votes.
And yes, I assume the voting delegate will be me.
Unless somebody else wants to take this.
Okay. Any other discussion on the Senate?
I think we can still keep that as consent.
consent vote, we can just add the item, sorry.
I would actually just split it out.
I wouldn't include it as part of the consent agenda,
so I would just split out E separately and vote on separately.
Okay.
Perfect.
Okay.
Moving on to that, then we'll...
The other thing, we, in your absence, we added your finance committee MOU to discussion
if you wanted to do that now?
Yes, actually.
If you refresh, it might be there.
Yeah.
Sorry.
Yeah, we edit that.
pretty tight ship this chair.
I was going.
I was going.
I'm going.
Chair Fahombeen would be known that I let Vice Chair Costa know that that should have been added to the agenda.
That was not an idea that he originated himself.
Smart enough to take it to the case.
That's good.
Back up on there.
I was trying.
Yeah.
Is it come back for anyone else?
It is.
It's five to eat, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree.
by email.
Oh.
So it's a lock on it.
I don't know why it's locked.
Oh, it's locked.
You know why?
Because I forgot to log in, but really why.
Okay.
So I don't know if any of them
there, but I can see it.
Okay.
I did not log in.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, it was locked too, so that's why I have got.
Yeah.
I think we can't unlock it for the public.
Yeah.
I think we can unlock it for the public.
Okay.
As a quick background, as folks, and may recall, we have been out with out of Norwich Finance Committee for a very long time.
There is a Norwich Finance Committee that was formed. It was formed under the direction of the Select Board.
I think, you know, some of the Norwich Finance Committee members came to our public meetings last year for the Norwich Budget meeting.
I think a lot of them are quite, you know, all of them are well qualified.
However, there was some discussion in our previous meetings that the
process by which the Norch Finance Committee was formed by having the Norch Select Board,
form the committee and then direct the committee to review the Norwich School Board budgets
was a little not exactly correct and a little out of order, I guess.
I'd do the best way of putting it.
So I have been working with Steve Hepburn, who had offered to try to try to
helped this out, had been working with the select board.
And we had come up with the, so we did,
we started with the original MOU and charge, which was approved
by this board back in, I've got the dates on here,
in 2020, sorry, I just named them red line.
But these were approved by us back when Tom Cannon was the chair,
and I'm not sure it was
might have been here at that, I don't know it was.
So it never did get adopted by the select board, though.
So back then there actually was no Norwich Finance Committee.
So what we did do is we moved ahead to change,
just to start with those, rather than reinventing the wheel.
So I'm not sure if we want to go forward with those.
The charge, we at Steve's recommendation,
I didn't disagree with them, significantly reduced
reduced it, simplified it.
And then a couple of the edits here was just with regards
to the fact that I believe that they need the town treasurer,
the town treasurer is a member of that board.
We do, we will need to work with Steve and the select board
to interview the members.
Okay.
From a practical standpoint, I mean, they have all kind of self-selected.
They've been approved by the select board.
And I think at this point, we would probably move to meet with them as members.
And if everyone approves of the current group, that that would become the formal Norwich Finance Committee.
So I think this would be short-circuited a bit as far as the application process and the approval process,
since the board has kind of already come together, or that I should say the committee.
So I attached the red line to the original.
the red line to the original one as well as a clean version. And then the charge, like I said, it was, the charge was a little messy back in 2020, so it is kind of like, you know, streamlined it as far as, you know, what we're asking them to do. So does anyone have comments on these, Neil?
I understand you've been working with Steve on this. Is that at the direction of the select board?
Yes, and sorry, I'm blanking, let me just pull. I'm curious why we're not just working.
working directly with the select board on this since the MOU is with us and now.
I misspoke a little bit there.
It's been, so he took this exact document as well to the select board for approval.
Okay.
And do we know, is that still in flight or have they?
It says my last email was from Brendan.
It includes me and Steve and Brendan and it says,
of course, I'll propose it as an agenda on the select boards.
on the slideboards Wednesday, second, monthly meeting,
dash September 9.
I'm not sure.
So I'm guessing it's like this,
it's gonna be at the September meeting.
I was supposed to meet with them at the Norwich Inn
to talk about this and we had some family things
that came up and whatnot,
so I had to cancel that meeting spur of the moment.
But, okay.
There's been the three of us,
but Steve has been kind of the one that took the pen
just because I had made some edits.
He had made, he had,
sent something over originally that we got passed by you, Neal, we kind of said,
this doesn't really work. He said, okay, what should we do now?
So I took some others to this one here. He said, okay, let's start with that then.
Okay, no, as long as that, I just want to make sure that select board is like that,
this wasn't some, you know, like finance committee thing,
and the select board was unaware that this.
No, Brendan's been the one, I think Brendan is he, sorry.
He's vice chair. He's vice chair.
He's vice chair. According to this draft.
Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm going to set aside just maybe just, maybe
discussion on process at the moment because I want to think about approach you the
suggestion that we approach this that the select board has already appointed these
folks and that the only interviews and voting necessary right now are on the
school board because well I mean I think the fun I think the agreement to this
MOU sort of fundamentally changes the the appointment process and that we might
ought to start over again it very well could be you could end up with the exact same
members again but I think beginning
in the process from the beginning with an advertisement so that if there are other community
members that might be interested in serving on this community that they have the opportunity
to put their names forward and to do so.
I'll set that aside.
When I look though, there's one particular thing here and I'm not sure if this was intentional or not.
In the redline version points the MOU, the Memorandum of Understanding and the Red Line version, the Memorandum of Understanding and the Red Line version.
There's a section here that has two bullet numbers on it four and five that are sort of collapsed together.
But I don't know if it's me, but the way that I read the change I think is fundamentally different than what the original language was.
The way that I read the change would almost indicate that for the members of this finance committee, the policies of the
the select board and school board do not apply.
Am I misinterpreting the language change here?
So this was for the conflict of interest policy.
I believe that this is supposed to say that for these members,
that those policies apply.
So the town conflict of interest and the school board conflict of interest
policy is applied to the finance committee members.
compliance committee members, is that not what this says?
Well, I guess, yeah, that's what I'm questioning.
I don't think it says that.
For it's sufficiently confusing enough that I think different people could have different interpretations of it.
And I will also add that in the other, in the charge document, it reads a little bit different
is that I would anticipate that the same policies do apply to members of this committee.
So there, I think it kind of got it right there.
kind of got it right. This one to me just seems confusing, and I almost like the original language a little bit better.
But if I'm the only one that is confused by this, I'm willing to stand down.
I would agree it doesn't, it's not clear what it means other than it's, I think in reference to those policies,
I mean maybe what is the conflict of interest policy that is it that the chair, the board, the select board can't be members?
It's not like if I'm a fourth grader, I don't understand what
that says, but often these things read, like, legalese, and so it doesn't make my read it to a fourth grader.
That's why I think that, see, if you look in the right-hand column where it shows that Steve had deleted it,
and what he deleted, I think the original language, to me, it just is cleaner.
Which says, Levin, that's for, where it says person's nominee?
Yeah, NFC, here under, she'll be subject to all town of Norwich policies, out of political town officials, as well as to the schoolwork policy, policy.
Okay.
my classes.
Gina, I've got to print it out a coffee shed help.
Okay.
Yeah, that is clear.
I agree.
I thought that fourth grade test.
And I think it's what Steve intended.
I think it is correct.
And it was a little bit confusing, because that's why I actually added in, in full disclosure,
I added in that school board, because it only mentioned the select board.
Mm-hmm.
And I was like that doesn't, it said the town of Norwich, Vermont conflict of interest policy.
interest policy. I didn't know if that was just for the select board or if that was also
for the school order.
Okay, so we'll ask to revert back to the original language.
So basically we have an employment process to start over with an advertisement
and then conflict of interest language to revert back.
Wayward committee members be removed.
What's a wayward member?
Well, not every member of a public body or a public committee is constructed.
Oh, got it.
taking sensitive to an unelected person driving,
who's not accountable of voters,
driving a conversation on the school budget
in a direction that is not helpful.
And they are neither, they are not our staff,
they are not our contractors,
and I just don't understand how someone would be removed.
I don't know if that's referenced in a different town policy.
It's just not an MOU.
So I just, I don't know if there's any
a way to remove an unproductive finance committee member.
That has not been contacted either in the original MOU or in this one.
I would support Mr. Custis, I guess I won't call it a recommendation since it was a question,
but I think there should be a provision for removal included in that.
I think we would get draft language for removing a committee member.
Oh, I would bring a committee member.
We could find that online or we could just make it up.
Would it be a simple majority vote at both courts?
Consider it an extraordinary step, and so...
Two-thirds.
Two-thirds.
Or something, I would say, if we added something like that,
it could not be because the majority of people simply don't like your opinion.
It would have to be two-thirds of the body.
And you want to have any reasons?
Or it's just to just be as long as this as a two-thirds vote.
Five votes to select four and the school board?
I think we keep it.
simple.
Okay.
And I would say that, yeah, the finance committee member can be removed by two-fits majority of both
bodies.
Do you have your hand up?
Okay.
I've just been just taking that.
I can turn it.
My only other comment, Mr. Chairman, I agree with Meal's suggestion that a
suggestion that a signed and executed MAOU would start the process again.
So I don't think it's simply a matter of accepting that people.
accepting that people have already been approved by a slideboard.
Okay.
Okay, so that's the MOU.
So basically have three comments.
We have the appointment process will start over on signing,
advertisement, conflict of interest,
we've worked back to the language,
and then clarify how we would remove,
fine skin, can you remove by T3rds,
both boards.
Okay.
I didn't have one other question.
The town treasurer, and pardon my ignorance of the way in which our town governance works,
it is no longer a equal split with the town treasurer as an ex officio member of the board,
because it doesn't say that they're not voting and simply said they get it by virtue of their position in the town.
I just wonder if we're comfortable with that, having, you know, one would not like to imagine a six to five, you know,
You know, it's just wondering whether that, you know,
whether everybody was comfortable with that.
And actually, I mean, they are a voting member, according to...
Yes.
Right, yes.
So I don't know the answer that.
All I do know is that that was something that I believe
when this finance committee came together,
without us involved, that became a topic that was
It was, and I guess to more fully explain my point, I'll at the end of this, I guess,
offer some very brief comments about my general review on this type of advisory body.
But I understand if we're going to go in this direction, why it could be a good thing to have an independent
appointed group.
But we would not say, yes, let's have these five independent people on the committee,
plus a member of the select board, or the town of final.
or the town finance director, right?
And so, to me, it seems to make less sense to have the town treasurer be an ex officio member of the committee.
I'm not sure it's a hill I'm going to die on, but it just seems like that sixth member is different and kind than the other five members.
You say that without any disrespect to the town treasurer.
I think it was a debate item.
This committee came to do that.
This committee came together as far as that goes.
I don't know how they decided that.
Because it is now an appointed body, they can, you know, the select court could decide,
at least in this current incarnation, decided to do whatever they wanted to put on the committee.
Right, that was their purview.
This MOU presents us with the new opportunity to do things.
differently, I would agree with Michael's points.
And I guess the only thing that I would add to that is if,
If the treasurer remains on the committee, you might want to entertain having six board members to make the number uneven in the end,
or four board members, or I mean, sorry, four finance committee, so that you don't end up with an even-numbered board
and then votes that end up being split 50-50.
Because then at that point, what is the guidance from the finance committee?
Or could you be in a situation with town treasurer is a member, but the
vote?
You could absolutely do that.
You know, I would also be concerned,
because this is a really framed scenario,
but what would end up happening,
because the language right now says
that the town treasurer is a member no matter what.
What happens at the town treasurer happens
to be an employee at the school district?
Not be a desirable thing.
If they were non-voting, it would probably be a little bit
less of a suggestion maybe.
I think that, I'm guessing the town treasurer wanting to be part of us,
because of their day-to-day role at this school.
And I mean, they are, they're part of the approval,
they're part of the budget, I mean, they're on the, you know,
she's on the emails, right, for all the approvals,
for all of the, copy on all that,
and of course is the one that's getting the checks over
and making sure that you're getting the funds as taxes come in and all that,
so.
And there's hands up.
Yeah, I would say they sent that we accept this and want,
independent advice, but that group people need some leadership and guidance.
A reasonable compromise would be making the treasurer and non-villate member of that group.
I was going to say,
each that's the same thing.
Except for, I also was looking at the Hanover website while we're sitting here to see who's on the
Hanover Town Finance Committee, which has been functioning for a while.
They have eight members, which seems strange.
It doesn't appear that there, that anyone from the town is on there, although it
not clear if looking at their staff directory exactly who their town treasurer is.
So one of the people listed here that may very well be their town treasurer, but just I don't
know if we want to kind of learn from the people across the river who have been doing this for a while.
But if we're also combining numbers and they have eight, we should make sure that whatever
numbers we have try to make it odd for the Dresden Finance Committee.
At that point, at least I think we were, just January 2, I think we were kind of figuring that the Dresden Finance Committee would come
together and form their own.
It might be a subset or it might be every...
Is that how it reads though?
I thought it said that...
Oh, up to five members, it would be joined.
Okay, so up to five members.
Okay, thanks.
That is that phrase.
I mean, it could be, again, I guess the question,
and I think, Neil, we just got, I think I just,
I think I heard this from you a while back that that incurred me.
The Dresden Finance Committee is kind of up to them.
I guess if they want to take all eight of the Hanover members
and only five of the Norwich members
and then there's a five to eight vote,
I'm not really sure.
I guess that's kind of up to the Dresden Finance Committee
to determine their voting rules.
I don't know.
Maybe, I know the articles of agreement
just specified that the Dresden Finance Committee
consists of the Hanover Finance Committee
and the Norwich Finance Committee.
The language is that simple, right?
Now, I don't know that there was any language that, you know,
allowed that committee to establish their own voting rules.
I, I, it's silent on that as far as I know.
At least there was something, I think at one point there might have been a draft of this
that tried to make that call, and it's just like,
it came from Steve at one point, and iterations ago, a little bit of summer,
I forget.
I mean, it is the, if you think about it for a second,
it is the very reason why not to pick on you,
it is the very reason why you do not have a vote in trust in.
Correct.
Right.
The interstate agreement,
the state agreement,
figured that out, you're like, oh, wait, and then if we take two odd numbers and we add them together, we're going to get an even number.
That means that, you know, votes could come out as simple, so they just remove the vote from one of those members.
All the ways to solve the potential problem.
Okay.
But thank you for all this, Garrett, because this did move quite a bit from the last draft.
I guess moving, if we're down with the MOU, does anybody have any comments on the charge?
I think what you'll see there is the original charge.
charge, it was actually quite lengthy, pretty much pulled the meaty parts out of it,
which were the kind of what the responsibilities are.
Michael had his hand up first.
Michael?
I mean, I like, Lisa said something I was thinking earlier as well, which is, there's an example of a finance committee that seems to be working fairly well in Hanover, and so
does this look a lot like what they're doing?
I think my sense is the Hanover one has been a helpful resource to the Hanover side of the town.
And so I didn't have any comments, but I think it looks good.
I think it looks more clear and the concerns that were raised a few months ago seemed to have been addressed.
So I want us to be collaborative and assume positive intent and all those things to support.
board and people to move forward.
Michael?
I have one drafting thing to flag and one comment we're all.
Though agreeing with Gina that it's much more clear than our previous conversation,
but it was much appreciated.
The second paragraph begins with, it has a sentence that says that
committee shall be directed by the Norwich Select Board and or Norwich School Board and May.
Having a shall in the May in the same sentence, it is a
is, like, I don't think that can happen, right?
You're telling them they have to do these four things,
or we're leaving the doing of these four things
to the discretion of the select board or the school board.
And to me that's really important,
because advisory groups can jump the fence
and start working on whatever they please.
Right, and so I think we need to understand whether,
yep, we have a charge, these four things are what you do,
or hey, you work as called upon by either the select board or the school board.
So I would start with that one.
So I think we'd say that the community shall be direct
better than our school board.
Two.
Select board and just end it with two, right?
Yeah.
If you're going to go with the shall instruction,
then you would be a way to fix that.
Okay.
And then the big picture comment I have is,
I have and I've probably said this before,
both here and in the face of some really been work
by the handover finance committee,
because I think they have,
take their charge really seriously and work hard
of these things and try to give us constructive advice.
I do have a little deep democracy problem
with aligning accountability and authority.
Like, we're the school board, we work on our budgets,
the budget committee works really hard on it,
the board talks about it, we get advice from staff
who works in our direction under Robin,
and then if the voters don't like it, they throw us out.
When you have an independent advisory body,
body, you've broken the link between alignment and accountability.
They're not accountable to us because we don't deploy them.
They're not accountable to the voters because they're not elected.
And I feel odd making this argument because we have a time full of really talented, well-meaning people, right?
But I just, that is my general discomfort with independent advisory bodies.
And I just worry about where one might be dragged by that type of body who goes off throughout.
I know all the evidence I have is that they handle the Finance Committee
Committee is, by and large, you really constructive and collaborative force, and so one hopes that is the case here,
but that is my generic democratic concern with the whole thing.
Other than that, I think compared to where a year ago, the process, the appointment, the charge,
all of that seems much improved and much more rational, so I'm really appreciative of that,
but I just have that little pebble in my democratic shoe.
I mean, I think your point's well taken, because as I understand it, this Norwich Vice Committee,
committee when it did exist many years ago, and again, anyone else on the board, keep
me honest here, but I believe it did have some issues where they would show up to town meeting
and actually, a couple of them actually recommend to vote down, or set some fairly negative
things that maybe recommend to vote down to school budget at one point, which was probably
not the most constructive work.
So there is a chance that you get people on this committee whose entire purpose is to shoot down school budgets, and you end up with that
a difficult thing. I mean, looking at the, I pulled up the duties for the Hanover just so people can understand them.
So this is the Hanover Finance Committee. The duties are to provide advisory view of the town of
Hanover and Hanover, Dresden School District budgets to the Hanover Board of Selectmen, the Hanover and
Dresden School boards, and the residents of Hanover to monitor the budget process of the town of Hanover, the Hanover school district,
and in conjunction with the Norwich, Vermont Finance Committee, the Dresden School,
district review, interpret, and analyze the budget as described above and to provide
a written summary of these analyses to be included in the Hanover Town Report and the Hanover
School District report. That's one thing that in our area, I think we, you know, softened.
There's no need for comment or actual, you know, inclusion in the town reports. To educate
the residents of the town of the town of Hanover on the proposed budgets and their financial
locations, and then the final one was to opine on budgets and other financial
expansion of the town and school districts at their respective annual town and school
district meetings and other public meetings following the adoption of the budgets by
their respective board so that's another area that we softened so we don't require them
or suggest that they opine on these at the meetings they can certainly come
through the meeting and provide an opinion but they're not I take a pine is a
fairly strong word for an accounting term
to make recommendations to the Board of Sleven Town Management School Boards
and School Administration on Financial Matters and to be a resource to the Board
of Select Town Management School Board and SAU on Financial Matters. So that's
that's what we kind of distilled down to these four-arms which I think are
drinking Michael to your point a little softer, not quite as much opining and
writing actual reports included in them.
town report and I don't I'm guessing that these members are also okay with that
just because that adds a lot of extra responsibility as well and so yeah we are really
advising reviewing conducting research and analysis for anything requested and
then providing the non-binding recommendations and financial information to the
boards and to the public I guess my last question is we added this at Neal's
suggestion while I was acting chair to section five but are you also seeking
a vote on it tonight or are you just seeking advice to go back and discuss I think at
this point we'll probably go back to them and have these changes made and then we can
come back to our next meeting actually that's no that's helpful I've no further
comments okay I'm sorry just looking at the original red line charge because the
red line providing independent advice provide independent advice okay I mean the one part
that they did add in to be fair is this provide non-binding
recommendations and clear financial information I mean that's the only part
might look probably I mean there's a point here when it's like you do it's hard
to say it's hard to kind of hide like to say that we don't I mean I'm viewing this
as hopefully it's a constructive group and that we work together yeah but I mean
what's been big visual I am completely in favor of having a finance committee
I think we should I think we should have the finance committee that can join
with Hanover to to reform the dress and finance committee I think I share
Michael's concerns and probably years as well too about sort of how the
democratic process can work in these types of situations I have seen it go off the
rails in the past but I think that's just you know it's just one of the
downsides of the greater benefit that we get of approaching this in the
democratic fashion and we just deal with that when it happens okay all right
So on that will, on the charge at least, we'll change the word, we'll get rid of the
shall in May and then just two and otherwise I think we're here, everybody okay with the charge.
Yeah.
All right.
Make a motion to approve items B through D.
I believe we were going to both the V-bit Proxies separately.
Okay.
I will second it.
Okay.
At least all those in favor.
That is unanimous.
And for item E, the V's bit, visbit proxy.
I do.
I do.
Yeah.
to approve Neil O'Dell as Norwich Visbit Proxy.
This is the second set.
All those in favor?
All right.
Thank you to Neil.
Okay, for the chair.
Obviously, hopefully it's a great start to the school year.
I've been a little bit busy just with getting my oldest off to college.
And when the other two walk to high school and soccer season is off running.
It seems a little crazy.
It's incredible.
And we haven't even ahead of Labor Day yet.
But anyway, it's coming up fast.
I do recommend to the public if they have not been paying attention, we just had a meeting, which
probably might address, but there are a number of things going on over in Hanover on the
New Hampshire side that are a bit concerning.
And that said, it would still be 1500 that we're working.
that we're working with the council and whatnot.
So there are a lot of things going on that are kind of big picture.
And I really, yeah, could be quite concerned.
And obviously, even here in Norwich, you know,
Robin's been working hard and we've been getting updates
of school members with regards to the committees
in the, I'm sorry, the CESA.
So the shared services, which is rapidly,
taking effect as well. So again, as far as everyone paying attention to that,
and then obviously we're rapidly getting into our budget season here,
which will be unfolding quickly.
With that, we'll turn it over to Sean for Principal's report.
Thanks.
You'll notice that I've put us in the correct year this time
and also have read this report multiple times to make sure there are no typos.
We have 321 students, if you look at enrollment.
I'm not going to read through my report, but I will say that we are off to a fantastic start.
We have an outstanding staff at the Marion Cross School,
and that it comes up day after day and all that they do to make kids feel welcome
and have them off to a great start.
I did also want to note that we appreciate all of the visits from SAU employees this year,
So we've had Robin multiple times, Lauren, Tony, Karen Wright, Raff has come over,
and we really appreciate all of the support from the SAU office as well.
And with that, if anyone has questions about my report, I'm happy to answer them.
All right, Sean, thank you very much.
Where did we go, Robin, sorry, the superintendent's report.
With Sean said, we had a great opening.
We at the Marion Cross teachers have been here for over a week now.
They started last Wednesday.
So I was able to attend first drink breakfast here.
And then Monday we had our all-district meeting, and we had a student panel, which is always the highlight,
and did our recognition for 10, 20, and 30-year employees, so that was really wonderful.
And had our all-of-district breakfast.
And then Wednesday, all the students arrived, and it was just, it's so great, too.
have everyone back in the buildings, but it's been a really nice start to the school year.
Very smooth. It was amazing. The first day I was watching students here, already knowing
expectations and doing all the things that they are supposed to be doing, and just the excitement and the
energy in the school was really helpful. So thanks to Sean and his staff, I know he's been
working hard with his leadership team to develop the PD for the school year.
and for the opening and I was able to attend today the Wednesday staff meeting,
which was a review of the survey results for Marion Cross, and the staff had great questions
about that and got to sit in on some of the training around the new ELA program that Lucy was presenting.
So just really impressed with everything that's happening. So thanks for a great start.
I received, we both received an email on this, it was like a CESA, like, check, like, what's called, a, like a, like a, like a,
thought that's something we were supposed to fill us in form. Did you, did you fill that or should I?
Yes, I filled it up.
Okay.
Yeah.
For, um, BSA.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
It was like a survey.
That's what I was looking for.
Okay.
All done.
Great.
And then do, do we, do we, do we get the, like, the professional?
Did they mention in that survey as far as having any?
We, what will happen now is I've attended the first CESA meeting.
And so we established committee members and determined who would receive training.
And now from there, we'll start looking at, you know, we're developing the agenda, setting the dates that we'll meet.
We have, we'll start basically looking at all of the services that we'll meet.
we have and kind of auditing that and bringing that back to the group so and then we'll
start looking at other appointments so and the big part of that survey was asked the number
of questions about are we planning to change our yes yeah so yeah so I'm sure you probably
checked that off yes I said I was hoping that we could move into a CSA that was around
their CTE okay it seemed like that was the majority of it was like three of it
looking around that okay yeah okay all right any questions for Robin Michael yeah
just so in observing Vermont's public policy landscape around education and then
all this stuff into Hampshire right now yeah I think of it in terms of like tectonic
plates moving and sometimes they move and you know you feel like a little rattle
and like that was weird and nothing happens sometimes tectonic plates move it
disastrous things happen yes and so I just
I worry about a situation where either something in New Hampshire or something in
Vermont moves really really fast and something changes and the people just have like
what the heck just happened and so as you begin to cease the work I feel
like I understand particularly given my work in health care conceptually what
people are trying to do yeah and you need to share services
current but what I'm worried about in the Vermont context is that people say what they say
is we really need to share services but what they really are in a rush to do is to
regionalize services like in health care I'm sorry to speak from my professional
experience and trying to figure out how to get the benefits of scale into
world or not without giving up independence and to me that's fundamentally work
about efficiency not consolidation and so just would be useful to know as you
want to cease the journey and like hey is it focused on efficiency like maybe we
could share human resources maybe we could share
a controller or payroll right or is it hey gang like you better hurry up and consolidate
into new school districts now in healthcare I say efficiency is okay we keep
get into consolidation even though all the data is that we consolidate things in health
care people wait longer and get charged higher prices in Vermont's like oh no what
happened to us we're special and so I just think I want to make sure that we talk
about this enough so townspeople who show up and talk to folks like are aware that
these tectonic plates are moving and then make sure that to the extent the state
is outwardly saying that this is about efficiency and sharing resources we're
pushing hard to say okay we're fine having that conversation but you all need to
be good faith actors in that conversation and not just doing it so a year
from now you can say well we tried that but it's really about there's something
magic about having seven school districts or whatever the government is
right and so I'm gonna have to rely on you and Garrett to
he was posed on like what what are like the actual guts like what are
actually what is the actual focus of those groups I think it's hard now
too with the CSA set up because we are with a group that's so far away from
where we are so practically you know when you think about it it does make
lot of sense for us whereas right I also currently work closely without a CTE group
and so we are in proximity to one nine
and we are already talking about sharing resources so it makes more
sense from that perspective and then on the New Hampshire side part of the
discussion around you know SAU budgets is related to the discussions that
New Hampshire has been having and at least people believe around consolidating
districts in New Hampshire too so it's interesting that we're in this
parallel universe in both states in some ways
The other piece of the New Hampshire situation is that we have such a unique situation
with our interstate school district in May Act in Congress that it sort of is totally different
for us.
You know, a lawsuit has been filed in New Hampshire on Monday, but again, the situation for
other school districts is so vastly different from what we are facing is really what we're looking
and is disenfranchising our normal wage voters in the process.
So, so I will keep you posted on all the things that are going on in both days.
As best as I can keep up with them.
Yeah, I just, I made here for three more seconds, I've said this a couple times.
I do think at some point in the coming years there's going to be a moment where you're going to have to kind of rally
everybody in a little moment.
I think putting on the political strategy,
that, you know, Vermont's healthcare system,
unlike the education system,
lost a lot of credibility by every year saying,
oh, it's a change anything is the end of the world.
Now nobody believes it.
And so I don't think we should do that.
I don't think we should go to the legislature every year
and say, you know what, nothing can change ever.
You can't change a light bulb in here.
That was my great grandfather's light bulb.
Like, you know, can't do that Vermont thing.
But there will come a moment where like, hey,
something special about our school districts
about to radically change.
Yeah.
this is how we need to fix those.
And I also believe, and you're the professional
from the education standpoint,
there is power in totally obvious moves.
I watched the state of Vermont spend 10 years
trying to change the theory of how patients
they cared for and nothing changed.
Much of small hospitals decide to purge two oil together.
We all save a bunch of money.
And so like there are some totally obvious things,
perhaps, we can do and we should be open to those,
provided it doesn't fundamentally change
the independence, the character, particularly
the interstate school district.
I agree.
Off my soapbox can be anything.
No, that's good.
And what's happening in New Hampshire is happening quickly.
Yes.
Yes.
So, I mean, honestly, that's one of the biggest concerns
that I have, because they could have a direct impact on
what I'm talking about now.
I'm doing that, obviously, one step of his soapbox.
I'm even more cynical than Michael is on all of this.
I've heard from a lot of school board member.
especially the ones that have begun, both the CESA process and the merger study committee work,
that they're being asked to do a tremendous amount of work with very little resource being provided to them.
Yes.
The cynical part of me said this had been the plan all along.
And the way that it works is by tasking school boards and those communities with doing some very difficult tasks with limited support
so that they end up not succeeding so that they can get blamed for the fact that they didn't do what they should have done in order to make all of this bigger thing work so that they can dismantle the system.
I do worry at this stage that public schools, boards, communities are being set up for failure and the end result is going to be a collapse of the public education system possibly in both states.
And I don't, you know, I am that negative guy, but I, I, this, this worries me deeply.
That, and despite the fact, you could look at this one way and say, our school district is unique because we were literally an act of Congress in order to establish it.
But I think that the way that they're chipping away at this could make the structure just unfeasible, that we would collapse because of the pressure being placed.
being placed upon us by both states that we would be unable to sustain this structure and you know if there are people out there in the community right now that would want to see this district succeed you need to be talking to your state reps and your senators because what what they have tasked school boards and schools and communities with is not right well it kind of goes back to the question I'm asking Robin was have
you know, because you were supposed to get a professional, right?
And it sounds like that person has not showed up yet.
Now, we don't have a big professional yet at this point.
Yes, Linda.
Good. Yeah, hearing you all speak to this, I feel like I just echoing what people were talking about
when it comes to our program concerns, which is where all our hearts are.
And this sounds like a looming deadly danger.
And I'm just trying to figure out where voters can get something to get something to this
digested it because no, as helpful is when you speak ready, board members speaks to this,
I write my notes, I call home, I read it, and then I'm the reception, and then things change,
and I go to board meeting, if you all know that, and I'm having trouble following the bouncing ball.
So I'm going, if we do, I know we have members out there who, this room has been filled with parents
who want to see this district six feet, Mary and they're going to cross-continue, what can they do
to follow this boxing ball? Is there a website or is there something that you could share with all of us
so that, you know, the PTO was very anxious, and I know to support voters know what's going on,
so we can all sort of do our part just right now.
Is there sites we can go to, or?
And you don't have to answer now.
Like, I wish I could say, yes.
There's one site that you can go to and you can get all of the information.
Let me think about it.
Okay.
Okay.
I also feel like there's so much work that's being done right now, trying to figure it out.
You know, when I had my first CESA meeting, there's so little discernible information
that it's difficult to have concrete facts about what exactly we are supposed to be doing.
There are people working on that, like the essay is working on it, and they are trying to
provide the host of information that we need.
We're supposed to get a training, but again, it's, you know, the facts are very limited in
of what's coming out immediately.
So.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thanks, I have to go, and I apologize for that.
It's not because of what the gloomy news is the issue.
But I do want to also point out that complicates this,
is that the districts around this in Vermont are all in really different situations as well.
I'm still working without a contract in a district not very far from here.
and that school board still hasn't told us what our budget needs.
Like the budget finally passed over the summer,
but we haven't been told how that money is to be allocated.
So, you know, I've been told that I have a budget for libraries,
but I don't know what it is.
So I just, it makes it even more difficult because you have a district like this
that has different problems than the district that I'm working in,
and you guys are all on the same CSA.
So I just want to,
add that and thank Robin for the work she's doing on this because it gets more and more complicated as you go
to different types of districts.
So, and everybody's trying to do the best they can for the district that they're in.
So, yeah.
But thank you.
Yeah.
I think what I mean, coming up just so everyone knows,
right, interesting enough, but I mean, November 3 is our elections.
So depending at least here in Vermont, how some of those
highway will elections go, right?
I mean, it's going to be interesting.
it would be interesting because that's where the department.
That's where all that thing starts.
And that's also what caused some of the confusion, at least here in Vermont,
less so than Hampshire.
But as I understand, I mean, there is a constituency at the Vermont state level even
that is much more conservative and much more anti-public schools.
And then there's a bunch of different reasons for that,
whether it be for the private school systems or just, say,
and the New Hampshire's got its whole other issue in there.
Hopefully people are seeing even in the middle of the state and elsewhere,
public schools actually do matter and what's about to happen.
I listened with despair.
My soapbox now is on NPR.
A couple weeks ago, I was laughing because, well, it was actually last spring, I think,
and they had a, they were talking about a survey of people living in New Hampshire,
and I think everyone was saying that the thing that they liked the most was the low taxes,
the thing that they liked the least was the lack of services.
I'm pretty sure that's what it was.
I remember kind of like, oh, okay.
And it was kind of why people were in Hampshire and what they like and don't like about the current system.
And it was kind of like, I don't know how you cross that.
It was pretty much, I'm saying a little bit, it might not be that, it was pretty much that.
My dad is on the actress school board.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Pizza and beer diet less effective than hoped.
Okay.
On to Lauren.
I would like to, I love saying your title now is just so much better with the Director of Curriculum Instruction and Assessment.
Tets.
Yeah.
One word, interim.
That's very easy.
You have my report uploaded.
I will just echo what,
echo what Robin said and what Sean also shared about the joy of reopening the school.
The absolute delight of the student panel that we had during Robins' Pep Reilly kickoff at the SAU.
It shared some of the reflections that the students shared with all of the teachers and all of the SAU staff
that were pretty sweet and things that I hope to continue to go back to.
And remind myself throughout the year, you know, why we do, what we do, and
what is so important about this job and this school system and our service to the community and these families and these students.
I would be happy to answer any questions about what I included in my report.
What was your biggest or most interesting takeaway from the workshop you did with Rafe Steinhauer?
Oh gosh.
I think so the biggest overall takeaway was just the amount of excited folks at Dartmouth.
at Dartmouth who want to partner with all of our staff in the district.
So that's a very global statement, but just to be on the campus and to talk to all of the professors
and attend their sessions and just over and over hear the message of, I have all of these
resources, I've got some knowledge.
You also have a lot of knowledge, like what can we do with this?
And then ending the session with a plenary sort of planning session to talk about where
we are, what we learned today, and then where we hope.
to go that was my biggest takeaway it was like this is just the beginning of something
really neat and the fact that we have this resource right just neighboring us not
even in our backyard there are next-door neighbors right that we need to be thoughtful
and intentional about continuing to foster this but then also I will say too
it was really interesting because sitting in the sessions I thought of you know
our school system as the pre-k through 12th grade
school system right and we're you know bring our experience for pre-k through 12th grade
and then we're working with these folks who then take our students many of our students not all of
them but then take our students and are doing something amazing sort of post high school and the things
that work for us and the things that work for them are really important that we collaborate on and that's
like the pedagogy pieces you know kids are coming from Hanover high school and going sometimes to
universities and they don't stop needing to get up and move around you know they don't
stop needing to have that collaborative time or you know time to engage in productive struggle
and so being able to share that both ways and then to hear from uh Dartmouth you know what they see
when they're accepting students from the pre-k 12 system and you know what we can continue to do to
improve what we're doing but then share what we're doing with them it's just really inspiring
That's awesome.
Thank you.
Yes.
I have two very quick questions.
Arts and letters implementation.
Like, thumbs up, thumbs middle.
Like, any implementation is bumpy, potentially, like any insight on how it's going so far beyond us in your update?
So we're in, what, this is day six.
And so actually, yeah, so actually, in creating the scoping sequences for teachers, we're not doing an official launch.
launch until week two.
So nobody has gone into arts and letters.
The first module has not started.
No arts and letters lessons have been taught yet,
but we're still doing that free work.
So, Robin was at the professional development session here at MCS today,
and then we're gearing up over at the Ray School as well,
and then really launching after we come back from the Labor Day weekend.
Tuesday.
Good.
Great.
And then on page four under other, and I won't believe this,
believe this. It says, let's share, followed by the second annual student panels,
just a few takeaways from our students. And the best kind of teacher is someone who, in the next
bullet is, has a good math curriculum.
Uh-huh. I put that on first.
Good.
Right off the page, that'd be one of the first things mentioned. Do you add any more context to that?
I would love to. I feel free. Yeah, anybody else been attended.
So this was actually shared from a student who is a
rising third grade student at the Ray School.
He was on this panel and you see that that was the question that was asked.
And, you know, that was his answer.
He talked about, I think it was one other thing.
Chess.
What was it?
Chess.
Chess.
Yeah, there has to be chess and a really great math curriculum.
And the entire auditorium laughed and everyone was like,
and everyone was like, this person's going to rule the world someday.
Thank you.
Yes.
Questions?
Thanks.
All right, Teresa.
So I got uploaded my letter and everything else.
Just in the business office, we have spent in the whole summer just kind of like preparing, you know,
floating out the school year, preparing and updating for the new school year and everything else, getting ready for the audit.
it.
We've got the auditors coming next month.
Two reunications, so they'll do two districts to come back at the end of the month and do the other two.
We've been really busy.
And anything else to say, the Lisa State reporting, wrapping that up and everything else.
Food service has been pretty busy this summer, I think, at the last meeting I talked about,
the farm school, and everything else.
I think it's really gaining ground and it's moving into and it's moving into the school.
moving into the other school, so like the pilot, so, you know, this whole thing about the healthier foods,
more nutrition and more scratch cooking and stuff like that.
You have a new Susan James, I guess, Susan James, who will be,
they were going to move Trevor but decide to leave him back over there at Bray School.
So we welcome her and I've got a lot of good feedback.
I have not been able to get into the schools to kind of visit everybody and stuff.
for everybody and stuff like that in the last couple weeks or so.
But, yeah, for the most part, that's pretty much transportation.
It's good as kinks first week or two of school, just like last year.
We'll work those out and let everything else, for the most part's going on.
I'm a little bit confused on timing of auditors and what they're working on because I thought we just finished up with me with auditors.
We did for the FY 25 school year.
The never-ending audit and everything else.
They too have dealt with a lot of, they've had like 15-year members leave.
They've been short-staffed.
So it just seemed like, it seemed like there was a period between November and January
that it was kind of nothing and everything else.
And so again, I just, I just feel like it's never ending.
So when they, yeah, so the ones that are showing up in, you know, the middle of this month, they will be looking at what?
The sooner that just ended?
26.
Okay.
That's probably 26 school year, so they'll come and do their on-site portion and then a great deal of it.
Now they'll do it remotely and after the fact.
Okay.
But I think sometimes, I mean, for me, I think that that's also part of a hindrance,
that because it is remote, your communication back and forth, I mean, it's sometimes
it takes a week to just get a document, something sent back and forth, I feel like, I don't know.
Sometimes I, you know, having them come and just stay and get it done is better than my time going back and forth than others.
Yeah, and sorry, one other questions, is the, um, do we have any flexibility on the, um, do we have any flexibility on the
the timing.
When they come?
Yeah.
Yes and no.
Because I tried to book them like last fall for this summer, but we couldn't get them any sooner.
And because it would be nice to have them come sooner, but I think I spoke about this too at one
of the meetings, but even though, come April or whatever, we said, May, we said, no more
purchase orders.
We're going to shut this down.
I saw a purchase order.
was open from last year that I said, I don't care if somebody didn't get there, I didn't want to get it, or what had happened, they're going to pay for this year's funds.
I have to, there has to be a time that I shouldn't be waiting on an invoice September 1st for something for last school year when my audit was coming in two weeks.
Yeah, because I, yeah, but that was part of what I was wondering is could we have moved it up earlier so that, you know, the exact time when we're busy working on budgets and negotiations and everything else that we don't want.
also have to worry about this.
Ideally that would be the case, but it also depends on making sure that
everything falls into place.
If we can't get things shut down and wrapped up by the end of July,
I can't do an August audit.
But yeah, but by the time, like in the fall, I mean, they, I don't know,
I don't know, people have spoken two years ahead, but, um, but, but, um, but, but by the time, like in the fall,
But those were the dates that they had available time.
Okay.
And your question, just so, you know, as we talked through with food services,
I was interested, so Kara and Paula at Whitsons,
and it looks like you're talking about just kind of avoiding processed foods and all that,
so kind of how is that process, gal, and who are, what's Whitson's?
I can't tell you that the feedback right now, because obviously,
the ideal is that hero in this side of the river,
with the National School Lunch Program, they're going to have a wellness committee anyhow.
So the farmer school has kind of been sort of named to be the same of one, so we're not working
two different groups doing things.
On the other side of the river, they internally, again, will create groups, they don't have to, but they should.
And for this first month, Witsons is putting together the menu per set.
Plus we have items that we're already purchased and things, so they are using some of that up.
some of that up, that these committees should be getting together and students do a moment
and saying this is what we're looking for. They plan on doing taste testing here and stuff like that too.
To help introduce things for students, but there's also a nice booklet that's been put out.
All kinds of menus and everything else and already laid out to them.
So these are the things that they're working towards and stuff like that.
Okay. All right, great.
Okay.
I just want to make sure I understand this. So when you say Whitsons, like, so we have cafeterias in our schools.
Whitsons is a management company like they create us.
Correct.
So we contract with them.
They provide the food service at each of our schools?
They operate, yes.
Okay.
And this year was RMS added?
Yes.
Okay, that was kind of the last independent
Yeah.
Correct.
And it just kind of presented itself.
So they offered, you know, with the resignation.
of the food service manager over there.
It just made sense at that point to look
and see about having them join them.
Okay.
So they now have a culinary contract,
food nutrition service contract.
Correct.
For the whole district.
All right.
All right.
All right.
Any other questions?
Okay.
That concludes our regular course of our meeting.
We do have a need to move into executive session.
I see you brought her sheet.
I don't believe this is a two-part,
because it's a personnel item,
it'll be a two-part.
Okay, I'm going to practice.
Ready?
Ready for it?
Yeah.
Okay.
I move to find that premature general public knowledge
regarding a grievance clearly places the board
at a substantial disadvantage because the board
risks disclosing its strategy
if we discuss the grievance.
grievance in public.
Second.
All those in favor.
As unanimous.
I move to enter executive session for the purpose of discussing a grievance under Title I,
1, Section 3133 or A4?
Oh, it would be A3, I think.
A4.
Okay, A3.
That's it.
Yes.
Thank you.
Second.
All those in favor.
Sorry for my club, sir.
No problem.
That was perfect.
There's no need.
There will be no vote coming out of this, so we will just return to public session quickly to adjourn.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, everyone.
Wednesday, October 7th.
Any agenda talks before then please get it to me.
Before then we'll also be having some of our budget meetings.
We'll probably be calling a special, a Norwich budget meeting between now and then due.
Do I have motion to adjourn?
We move to adjourn.
Gina, all those in favor.
All right, thank you.
Your return.