Note: These proposed minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved as reflected
in the minutes of the next board meeting.
WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SCHOOL DISTRICT (WSESD) BOARD
TUESDAY AUGUST 26, 2025
REGULAR BOARD MEETING – 6:00 PM
WRCC CUSICK CONFERENCE ROOM AND REMOTELY VIA ZOOM
DRAFT MINUTES
Present
Deborah Stanford (DS), Kim Price (KP), Anne Beekman (AB), Jocelyn Fritts (JF), Tim Maciel (TM), Ruby McAdoo (RM), Colleen Savage (CS) Matt Schibley (MS), Willow Sharma (WS), Jessica Everlith (JE), Brian Remer (BR)
WSESD staff and administration present (includes remote attendance) and
Mark Speno, Frank Rucker, Brin Tucker, Julianne Eagan, Keith Lyman, Hannah Parker, Stacey Sawyer, Kerrie Beebe, Mary Kaufmann, Brandy Levesque, Kelly Dias, Tate Erickson,
Others present
BCTV, Keith’s personal phone, Chris Mays, Martha Noyes VernonSchoolBoard, Hannah Tussen, Jodi Nutting, Virginia Rays, Ali, Jon iPhone, Jemez Jobin
Absences
Riley Bristol (RB)
Summary
● The Board voted to rotate the location of the meetings around the district.
● Board representation on the Leadership Councils was determined for this upcoming year.
● The Board determined to have the Policy Committee review and discuss the procedure regarding death that was drafted by BUHS.
● A motion was passed to establish a redistricting taskforce. Six Board members stepped up to serve on this taskforce.
● Three new hires were approved, one full time and two part time teachers.
● The consent agenda was approved.
AGENDA
I. Call to Order
DS called the meeting of the WSESD Board to order at 6:00 pm
– 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
KP read the Board Norms.
DS expressed the appreciation of the Board to the Administration for the work and the conversations at the Retreat in June.
DS again noted the new student representatives
II. Student Matters
Willow Sharma expressed concern about the bus driver strike and acknowledged the work they have done for our community.
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.
Hannah Tustin, Guilford resident, spoke about an issue regarding bussing routes.
Martha Noyes, Brattleboro resident, asked the board to carefully review the budget and seek ways to make cuts to help relieve the stress on the taxpayers. Mark Speno responded and noted that 10 positions were cut from the budget for this year.
III. Board Matters
A. Leadership Council Updates
– DS noted that there will be Board Member participation in Orientation for LC Chairs
No leadership Councils have met as of yet. A discussion was held about the optimal timing for having an orientation for the LC chairs.
B. Board Sub-Committees and SU Updates
DS noted an issue regarding policy committee meeting times, indicating consideration of potential times. Currently the committee meeting time (2-4 pm) is the best time to capture Administration.
DS indicated that policies are brought before the board and public for at least two readings. CS noted she may be able to join the committee in the near future.
RM noted that the Finance Committee will be meeting Monday September 8th at 5 pm at the Central Office conference room.
No SU updated at this time.
C. Update on legislative issues related to education (Tim & Jocelyn) Legislative Update and Webinar.
– Review draft of a press release
– Develop a plan for a Community Forum with legislators to ensure transparency, accuracy, and urgency related to Act 73
DS noted that policy C7, Board Relations with Administrators, should be kept in mind that any actionable should be provided to the Board by Thursday before the next meeting to allow sufficient time to review.
TS suggested that the two page press release be discussed at the next Board Meeting.
D. Board assignments: LCs, and SAC
Academy – JE
BAMS- TM
BUHS- RM
Dummerston- DS
Green Street- CS
Guilford Central- JF
Oak Grove – MS
Putney- KP
EES – BR
WRCC – AB
Student Advisory Committee (SAC)- TM & DS (JE and RM expressed interest in this committee)
Review of the Finance Committee members – RM, BR, TM, KP, DS
A discussion was held about staying with an LC or moving to another council.
E. Evaluate the rotation of board meetings – to meet at different school sites
Consideration of having the Board meeting at the schools throughout the years.
KP suggested having Board presence in the schools during the day to see life in action at the school setting.
The discussion regarding meeting location included considerations:
● Value in knowing the environment (staying at Cusick all year)
● Access to the meeting by community members when the meeting is local to them.
● If an issue is important, community members will travel
● Being present in the schools is important and shows the community they are valued
MS MOTIONED TO CONTINUE THE ROTATION OF MEETINGS AT ALL SCHOOL SITES. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
F. Review BUHS Procedure concerning death and grief
A discussion about the document and the topic was held considering the text in the document as well as the work of the Board related to the procedure as it stands as it was developed for the high school.
The suggestion is to bring it to the policy committee.
G. Discussion concerning Panorama Data:
– Spring 2025 Panorama Survey
– Teacher Panorama Survey
Discussion regarding both of these surveys, for details of discussion please review recording of meeting from BCTV.
Entered a break at 7:33 pm
Rose from break at 7:43 pm
H. Update re: Board Goals (Kim, Tim, Jessica, Ruby)
JE gave an update on the Board Goals taskforce work. Three theme are:
District Quality Standards (DQS) & Educational Quality Standards (EQS) goals
Communications with community
Hazing Harassment and Bullying (HHB)
Related to the redistricting, the Board Goals Taskforce suggests that the WSESD and WSESU join forces to work on engaging the community in this work.
JE MOTIONED THAT A WSESD BOARD REDISTRICTING TASKFORCE BE ESTABLISHED. SECONDED.
A discussion ensued including consideration of the work the taskforce would undertake, who the participants should be (ie. WSESU Board, Administration), and how quickly or carefully the next steps should be taken.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
JF, TM , MS, JE AB and DS volunteered to be on the taskforce.
I. Discussion of Board oversight as it relates to Harassment, Hazing, and Bullying
– Board request for detailed data for each site
– Board’s communication with the AOE Advisory Council on HHB
– Board’s Letter to the AOE and the AOE Reply
DS expressed appreciation to BR for a follow up letter he drafted to Tracy Watterson at the AOE. BR shared components of the letter received in response. The response was less than satisfactory.
Further discussion ensued regarding this topic for full details please see recording from BCTV linked here
J. Review the Board’s annual commitment to the VSBA with respect to October Conference: Board’s Letter and VSBA Reply as well as VSBA Follow-up to 6/23/25 zoom call concerning VSBA advocacy regarding H.454, now Act 73. VSBA Resolution as per 5/27/25 minutes.
DS determined that this topic should be reassigned to the next meeting.
IV. Administrative Report
– Hires, Resignations, Retirements
Andrea Hernandez – BUHS, Part Time Spanish Teacher
Catilin Faiola – Academy, First Grade Teacher
CaroLine Meliones – Putney, Part Time Spanish Teacher
RM MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE HIRING OF ANDREA HERNANDEZ, CATLIN FAIOLA AND
CAROLINE MELIONES. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
– Update on the beginning of 2025-26 academic year
Mark Speno spoke to the concerns related to the bus company negotiations. He confirmed that talks are still happening between the bus company and the union. Mr. Speno will communicate with the families as information is available. Should there not be a resolution before tomorrow, there will be substitute drivers queued up ready to transport kids tomorrow. The Central Office is prepared to help manage the issues that arise.
The district has ramped up for the opening day tomorrow. Central Office staff will be present in the buildings as possible. New Hire Orientation occurred last week. The school had less turn over which shows the health of the district as evidenced by the retention. These last three days have had inservice days run at building level.
V. Fiscal Report
– An update on our current finances
FY25 WSESD Financial Statement Summary – Preliminary (through 6/30/2025)
Frank Rucker reviewed the preliminary document (linked above) highlighting that WSESD had a favorable fiscal result (seen in the green box on page 1). To hear the discussion in full, the BCTV recording of the meeting can be found here.
VI. Consent Agenda
– Approval of Minutes for August 12, 2025
– Approval of Warrants of August 11, 2025 and August 18, 2025 and Payroll of
August 08, 2025 and August 15, 2025
Warrant of August 11, 2025
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1057 in the amount of $3,000.00
FY25 WSESD FAST 1058 in the amount of $3,692.96
FY26 WSESD FAST 1059 in the amount of $118.99
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1063 in the amount of $250.00
FY25 WSESD FAST 1064 in the amount of $8,018.53
FY26 REGULAR 1065 in the amount of $390,910.37
Total Accounts Payable $405,990.85
Payroll #3 of 8/8/25 in the amount of $1,523,526.65
Warrant of August 18, 2025
FY26 WSESD FAST 1066 in the amount of $32,355.47
FY25 WSESD FAST 1067 in the amount of $1,162.00
FY26 WSESD FAST 1069 in the amount of $609.62
SAF 1070 in the amount of $820.00
FY26 WSESD REGULAR 1071 in the amount of $208,600.77
Total Accounts Payable $243,547.86
Payroll #3.5 of 8/15/25 in the amount of $444.25
KP MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
VII. Unfinished Business
Policy and Amendment Committee presents for re-adoption [Action Anticipated]
– F8 Student Medication
AB MOTIONED TO APPROVED POLICY F8, STUDENT MEDICATION. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
VIII. New Business
Policy and Amendment Committee presents for a 1st Reading
– D12 Prevention of Harassment of Employees
– E19 Behavioral Threat Assessment Teams
– F37 District Equity Policy
– G13 Responsible Computer, Network & Internet Use
The four policies listed above were presented to the Board for a first reading. TM noted the work to come as driven by Act 72.
AB MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING OF THE WSESD BOARD. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 PM.
Minutes respectfully submitted on 08/29/2025 by Board Clerk with special recognition to Tracey Drotts, Board Recorder.
A recording of this meeting can be found here as well as on the WSESU website.
