Note: These proposed minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved by the
board at a future meeting.
WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SCHOOL DISTRICT (WSESD) BOARD
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2024
REGULAR BOARD MEETING – 6 PM
WRCC CUSIC CONFERENCE ROOM
DRAFT MINUTES
Present: Deborah Stanford (DS), Kim Price (KP), Anne Beekman (AB), Laiba Eager (LE), Tim Maciel (TM),
Ruby McAdoo (RM), Shaun Murphy (SM), Brian Remer (BR), Colleen Savage (CS), Matt Schibley (MS),
Theia Wepaloki (TW)
Absent: Eva Nolan (EN)
WSESD staff and administration present: Mark Speno, Frank Rucker, Paul Smith, Tate Erickson, Stacey
Sawyer, Mary Kaufmann, Nancy Wiese, Kerri Beebe, Kate Margaitis, Brin Tucker, Keith Lyman, Kelly Dias,
Julianne Eagan, Hannah Parker, Brandy Levesque, Whitney Lynde, Janet Slesinski, Jodi Nutting
Others present in person or virtually: Hannah VanLoon, Jody Nomandeau, Jessica Nelson, Kerry Amidon
Summary
● The Finance Committee reported that they have been meeting to discuss the budget development, specifically reviewing the Elementary and Secondary budget drafts.
● Engaged in a discussion to plan for Teacher Appreciation this school year.
● Discussed the uptick in people reaching out to resources nationwide related to mental health as it relates to injurious language and targeting.
● Began a discussion related to the value of sharing a common read – Board and Administration.
● Accepted the resignation of Kristina Colton, 0.5 FTE Instructional Coach, Academy School.
● Approved the partnership between WSESD and Kids in the Country Childcare and Preschool as part of the publicly funded PreK.
● The AOE Education Secretary, Zoie Saunders, will be at BUHS on 12/3/24 for a Listen and Learn opportunity. There will be a closed session with educators from 4:00-5:30 pm followed by a public session from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Board members are strongly encouraged to attend the public session.
● Board entered an Executive Session
DS called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm.
DS read the hybrid meeting statement
Agenda
I. Call to Order
If appropriate, agenda items are subject to Potential Action.
-If any Board Member feels that an item on the Consent Agenda warrants discussion, that item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be set aside for discussion. In this way the Consent Agenda will be approved in one motion. That request should be made now – or before the vote on the Consent Agenda.
-Amendments to the Agenda
DS announced that there will be an Executive Session at the end of this meeting related to 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(1)(E) pending or probable civil litigation or a prosecution, to which the public body is or may be a party, inviting in Mark Speno.
II. Student Matters
None noted at this time
III. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items
-This is a time for the Board to listen and to take notes. It is not a time for the Board to respond to comments or to engage in dialogue with the public. If appropriate – the Board and Administration will work on next steps.
None brought forward at this time
IV. Board Matters
A. Leadership Council Updates
At the most recent meeting, the Putney LC meeting where the fall climate survey was reviewed. A Chair was voted on at this meeting. This LC is working to determine a signature event. Also planning on working on after school activities.
The Academy LC is excited about the events that have happened to date, and are looking forward to those that are planned. The LC is focusing on Family Engagement work, recognizing the value of this effort on the growth students. Also, the food service has been a topic of discussion.
The BUHS LC has altered their regular December meeting to attend the AOE Listen and Learn opportunity happening on 12/3/24. They will participate in that opportunity and resume regular meetings in January.
The Dummerston LC spent time discussing the concern related to the uptick of supports being sought by the LGBTQ+ community. They are in the process of intentional work towards supporting students who feel marginalized.
The EES LC has a vacancy in Board representation. They meet on the 4th Wednesday. If you are interested in stepping up, please reach out to DS.
Mary Kaufmann brought up the inquiry from the LC regarding the ability of 16+ aged students to vote on the budget at the Annual Meeting. RM suggested that this might lie with the town clerks.
Mr. Speno emailed one of the town clerks directly to inquire about this and will report what he finds out.
B. Board Sub-Committees and SU Updates
The Finance Committee has been meeting to work on the development of the FY26 budget. On the budget timeline, we are on item 15. SM expressed appreciation for the hard work of Mr. Rucker and the Administration towards this effort, and the time spent with the Finance Committee reviewing and discussing the draft. The next Finance Committee meeting will be on 12/5/24 at 5 pm at the Cusick Room.
AB shared that at the WSESU meeting, the draft budget on the General Instruction and Administration was reviewed. The WSESU Board has requested information on the use of consultants by the district (number of them, costs, number of hours they work).
C. Plans for Teacher Appreciation for 2024-25
The Board would like to begin planning earlier with an eye to other times in the year to be able to express appreciation. Suggestions:
● Earlier in the week when bringing it so if there is any left, it does not sit over the weekend
● March is a long month – that might be a good time to consider
● Possibly include Leadership Councils and Principals of the schools for ideas in order to be meeting the needs of the individual school cultures.
● Food is always greatly appreciated
● After having some time to gather information and ideas and then revisit this topic at a January Board meeting
● Suggestion of making a donation in honor of the staff to a local food pantry as an idea as opposed to purchasing food
D. To what extent are our school communities, especially our students, impacted by the apparent increase in targeted injurious language?
The Trevor Project saw a 700% increase in calls to their suicide hotline. Targeted comments and actions making people feel unsafe. The Board is wondering if we are seeing similar issues in our schools, and what types of supports are being provided.
Ms. Wiese indicated that there was some political rhetoric after the election that died down very quickly. Knowing what is going on depends on what students report, which unfortunately is not something we can control. We know that social media, unsupervised areas on campus, locker rooms, etc. are places where negative interactions occur that may not be observed by staff.
Paul Smith referenced statistics from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) as related to this topic.
Dummerston is doing a survey of teachers about their comfort addressing issues related to this topic. It is a developing effort by the Dummerston LC, so at this point, they are not inclined to expound on it at the moment.
Mr. Speno highlighted the need for teachers and staff to be aware of what is happening in the news, both locally and nationally, in order to be best prepared to address what comes up in their classrooms or in the school.
Mary Kaufmann noted that the work of Black Lives Matter Year Long Project is actively underway in the schools. This work touches on these issues in very intentional ways.
E. Value of a common read – potential recommendations from the Board
Last year the Board committed to reading The Governance Core along with the Administration. It resulted in valuable intentional discussion. Keeping this idea going, the DS encouraged the Board to offer possible books, articles, etc. to continue this work. TM recommended considering Educational Quality Standards issued by the AOE (Click here for the link). The information is important, and the discussion would be valuable work in his opinion. This will be reviewed for consideration, and other ideas can be shared.
F. Other Business
None was brought before the Board.
IV. Administrative Report
A. Hires, Resignations, Retirements
Mark Speno presented the resignation of Kristina Colton, 0.5 FTE Instructional Coach, Academy
RM MOVED TO ACCEPT, WITH REGRET, THE RESIGNATION OF KRISTINA COLTON AS
INSTRUCTIONAL COACH FROM ACADEMY SCHOOL. SECONDED.
VOTE CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
B. New Universal PreK Provider: Kids in the Country
MS MOVED TO SUPPORT AN AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WSESD AND
KIDS IN THE COUNTRY CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOL. SECONDED
VOTE CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
C. AOE – Listen and Learn at BUHS 12/3/24
Zoie Saunders, AOE Interim Secretary of Education, will be coming to BUHS for a Listen and Learn opportunity. From 4:00-5:30 pm a closed session will be held for Educators only. This will be followed by an open forum from 6:00-8:00 pm which the public is invited to attend. Mr. Speno will inquire if the Board members are allowed to attend the first session from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. A question rose wondering if there would be a virtual option for the public meeting on 12/3/24 – CS noted that there is a virtual meeting on 12/10/24.
Board meeting entered a break at 7:02 pm
Rose from the break at 7:12 pm
D. Presentation: Fiscal Oversight / Fiscal Responsibility
Mary Kaufmann, Tate Erickson, Stacey Sawyer and Frank Rucker presented the “Fiscal Oversight / Fiscal Responsibility” slides (attached above). Mark Speno highlighted that the information presented coupled with the CIP goals is what drives the FY26 budget development the district is currently undergoing.
Discussion followed.
V. B. Other Business
No new business was brought before the Board.
VI. Consent Agenda
Approval of Minutes from November 12, 2024
MS MOVED TO ACCEPT THE CONSENT AGENDA. SECONDED
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
VII. New Business
A. Policy and Amendment presents the following for a 1st Reading:
● F21 Policy on the Use of Restraint and Seclusion
● F29 Multilingual Learners
Policy and Amendment meets next on 12/11/24 at 2 pm at the Central Office.
VII. Unfinished Business
Any Other Topic for Unfinished Business
No topic was brought before
VIII. Executive Session (If needed)
DS CALLED FOR A MOTION TO FIND THAT THE PREMATURE GENERAL PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE
WOULD CLEARLY PLACE THE PUBLIC BODY OR PERSON INVOLVED AT A SUBSTANTIAL
DISADVANTAGE WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT A MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION
UNDER 1 VSA §313 (a)(1)(e) PENDING OR PROBABLE CIVIL LITIGATION OR A PROSECUTION, TO
WHICH THE PUBLIC BODY IS OR MAY BE A PARTY, inviting in Mark Speno.
KP SECONDED THE MOTION.
VOTE CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
TM MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER 1 VSA §313 (a)(1)(e) PENDING OR
PROBABLE CIVIL LITIGATION OR A PROSECUTION, TO WHICH THE PUBLIC BODY IS OR MAY BE A
PARTY. SECONDED.
VOTE CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Exited executive session at 8:44pm
AB MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING OF THE WSESD BOARD MEETING. MOTION
SECONDEDVOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:46 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted on 11/27/2024 by Board Clerk with special recognition to Tracey
Drotts Board Recorder.
A recording of this meeting is available on the WSESU website
