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 SEPTEMBER 9, 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), Riley Bristol (RB). 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, Brinn Tucker, Julianne Eagan, Hannah Parker, Eileen Aarama,
Brandy Levesque, jgagnon, Kate Margaitis, Kerrie Beebe, Mary Kaufman, Nancy Wiese,
Stacey Sawyer,
Others present
BCTV, Jody Nutting, John’s iPhone, Keith’s Personal phone, Kerry Amidon, Curtis Clough,
Gretchen Harvey
Absences
None noted
Summary
● Amendments to the WSESD Board meeting minutes from 8/26/25 were presented and approved.
● The Board voted to include a ‘parking lot’ on the minutes to capture topics for further discussion that arise during meetings.
● Following a discussion considering the Board’s alignment with the VSBA, a vote passed to remain members at this time.
● The Board reviewed and voted to accept three Board goals,
1. Enhance oversight of the prevention of Hazing, Harassment, and Bullying
2. Understand and implement District Quality Standards and Educational Quality Standards
3. Improve two-way communication and engagement with district Stakeholders
● The Board adopted the Admin/Board Calendar and determined to include alignment of the newly adopted Board Goals to this tool.
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
DS requested that section G, discussion of NEASC, be moved to a future agenda to be determined at that point in the meeting
.
TM MOTIONED TO AMEND THE MEETING MINUTES MAKING THE FOLLOWING
CORRECTIONS:
● Delete the noted “absence” of a student board member whose official term begins tonight
● On p.3, 1st line, change “TS” to “TM“
● On p. 3, change “JE” to “JF”
● Bottom of page 3, teacher panorama survey to teacher perception of students survey (TPOS) and add discussion of how FERPA may or may not limit Board access to results. BT will follow up.
● Add: “Discussion of Spring Panorama School Climate Survey. Low favorable response rate in Gr 6-12 to item asking “How well do students follow the rules of your school?” Request for further inquiry, perhaps at SAC.
● Add: “Discussion of timely release of survey data to the board. MS explained out of respect to principals, there would always be a delay in release to the board and public. BT suggested that development of board/admin calendar with survey dates may help resolve the issue.”
● Question regarding gauging teacher morale was raised. RM suggested closer look at teacher exit interviews. DS said she would follow up.
● At bottom of p. 3, add link to BCTV recording, preferably direct link to the discussion.
Add discussion of timely release survey, MS explained that there will always be a
MOTION WAS SECONDED.
DS brought up the challenge of linking to a specific portion of the recording related to the meeting agenda item. Also, the link to the recording of the meeting is noted several times in the minutes. TM disagreed as it can be cumbersome to find the specific spot in a lengthy recording. AB noted that on the BCTV webpage, it is broken down by minute identifying the topic being discussed.
RM MOTIONED TO REMOVE #8 FROM THE REQUESTED CHANGES FROM THE
8/27/25 MEETING. VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED 9 – 1
TM MOTIONED TO MAKE 7 CORRECTIONS TO THE 8/26/25 MINUTES. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
II. Student Matters
RB, Dummerston resident, commented about the response to the new cell phone policy at BUHS. To date, the student response to the new policy is mixed, but the overall response seems to be positive.
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.
Curtis Clough, Lebanon resident, president of Teamsters Local 597 spoke about negotiations with Beacon Mobility. Following the lockout lift, most drivers and monitors have returned. Discussions are nearing resolution which will result in a contract for 5 years, but there is still work to be done.
Elieen Hayes Arama, educator in the district, shared a statement regarding episodes of Anti-Semitism expressing concerns related to topics being taught and omitted in the district.
Her statement can be found here.
IV. Board Matters
A. Board Minutes – Parking Lot (Matt)
MS MOTIONED THAT A PARKING LOT BE INCLUDED IN THE MEETING MINUTES,
BEGINNING TONIGHT. SECONDED.
Following a discussion related to the best location for the parking lot to be held (minutes vs. agenda), it was determined that putting them on the agenda could make the topics noted appear to be business for the meeting.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
B. Leadership Council Updates
Review of Board Member responsibilities as presented in H7 Leadership Councils Also note Article 15 in Articles of Agreement (which establishes role of LCs)
Discussion was held related to the Policy H7. RM shared some history related to this when the Leadership Councils were established. To review the discussion, refer to the BCTV recording found here.
C. Board Sub-Committees and SU Updates
The policy committee is not meeting tomorrow, 9/10/25 due to lack of space due to the audit being conducted by RHR Smith. The meeting will be moved to 9/17/25 and then the following meeting on the regularly scheduled date of 9/24/25.
The finance committee met last night, 9/8/25. Review of the preliminary results of FY25 and
The WSESU Board meets tomorrow, 9/10/25, so there is no update this evening.
D. 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. Finally 8/26/25 email from VSBA.
Robust discussion ensued, for full account of the discussion please see the BCTV recording found here.
RM MOTIONED THAT THE WSESD BOARD REMAIN WITH THE VSBA. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED 8 – 0 – 2
E. 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
JF shared that the district taskforce is meeting tomorrow, 9/10/25. They will be utilizing a rubric to help consider viable options. WNESU has decided to stay with the SU structure. TM noted that things are happening fast.
Friday 9/19/25 at 1 pm the Rural School Community Alliance will be hosting a meeting for Superintendents. Unfortunately Mark Speno has a conflict, but knows this will be an ongoing discussion.
Discussion about the press release, “What We Will Lose Unless You Speak Up Now”. Some thoughts were:
● Should it only be submitted if all Board members put their name to it.
● Is it more of an opinion editorial piece than a press release
● Engaging community members in this discussion feels important
● Engaging administration in discussion to ensure there is alignment is necessary
Following this discussion, TM stated that he would submit this statement as an opinion editorial piece under his name as opposed to presenting this as a press release.
DS indicated that the discussion related to the engagement of the community related to the upcoming merger would be incredibly important.
F. Update concerning Board Goals and WSESD Task Force re Redistricting (Draft) (Jessica, Ruby, Kim, Tim)
Three goals were drafted, which can be seen on the document “Board Goals” linked above.
DS asked for discussion about each goal separately.
A lengthy discussion regarding Board goals ensued, please see BCTV recording (linked here) for full accounting.
KP MOVED TO ACCEPT THE FIRST GOAL FOR THE BOARD IN REGARDS TO
HHB. SECONDED
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Entered break at 7:17 PM
Rose from break at 7:25 PM
RM noted that the VSBA conference is October 29th and 30th and the great value in attending. A query was taken for level of interest: response was
yes – RM & DS
Interested, but not yet certain – JE, CS, KP, TM, MS
unavailable – BR.
Mark Speno will request Mo Hart reach out to Board members about their interest.
KP MOTIONED THAT WE ACCEPT GOAL 2, UNDERSTAND AND IMPLEMENT
DISTRICT QUALITY STANDARDS AND EDUCATIONAL QUALITY STANDARDS.
SECONDED.
Brin Tucker suggested that there is a training presented by the VPA that was informative and valuable that members of the Board might want to attend. She will forward information about this opportunity to the Board.
A discussion about the timeline outlined in this goal. It was noted that dates can be adjusted as appropriate. Taskforce volunteers: TM, RM, KP, JE.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION 10 – 0
KP MOTIONED THE WSESD BOARD ACCEPT GOAL 3, IMPROVE TWO-WAY
COMMUNICATION AND ENGAGEMENT WITH DISTRICT STAKEHOLDERS.
SECONDED.
JE shared that there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the walking trail at the Dummerston School thisSaturday 10/4/25 at 10:30 am. All are welcome to attend.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION WAS PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
TM noted how monumental it is to have adopted Board goals this evening.
G. Discussion of New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation process from BUHS: NEASC
– NEASC Summary 2024
– NEASC Full Report 2023
DS requested approval to move the discussion of NEASC until a future meeting.
V. Administrative Report
– Hires, Resignations, Retirements
There are no hires, resignations or retirement to announce this evening. Of note, Mark Speno noted the reduction in new hires from last year to this year, which shows stability in our school community.
– Admin/Board Calendar
Mark Speno, Brin Tucker and Stacey Sawyer and some Board members have reviewed the notes from the Board / Admin retreat to review notes to determine the calendar this year.
Discussion was held related to the value of having protocols on the meetings, and committing to a maximum of 35 minutes followed by 15 minutes for conversation and questions. Mr. Speno noted that a correlation to EQS work is identified for each presentation. The calendar was shared with the Vernon Board, and they are working on a similar calendar.
The summits are scheduled for October 28th, February 9th and June 10th.
A discussion ensued related to how to align the Admin/Board Calendar with the newly adopted Board Goals. Refer to the BCTV recording to view this discussion in its entirety.
JF MOTIONED TO ADOPT THE ADMIN/BOARD CALENDAR. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
RM asked for access to the calendar to incorporate the Board Goals on this document.
VI. Fiscal Report
Frank Rucker shared that at the finance committee yesterday, 9/8/25, and gave a fiscal report and discussed the audit by RHR Smith that will begin 9/9/25. To review his report in full please see BCTV recording found here.
VII. Consent Agenda
– Approval of Minutes for August 26, 2025, September 3, 2025
– Approval of Warrants for August 25, 2025, September 2, 2025 and Payroll of August 22, 2025, August 29, 2025 (The minutes from August 29, 2025 will be updated to reflect corrections the Board voted to approve)
Warrant of August 25, 2025
WSESD FAST 1073 in the amount of $66,346.95
WSESD FAST 1078 in the amount of $752.56
SAF 1079 in the amount of $49,600.00
WSESD REGULAR 1080 in the amount of $1,373,276.66
Total Accounts Payable $1,489,976.17
Payroll #4 of 8/22/25 in the amount of $1,503,346.76
Warrant of September 2, 2025
WSESD CREDIT CARD PYMT
8/07/25
$16,216.95
WSESD ARBITER SPORTS PYMT
9/02/26
$300.00
WSESD FAST 1083 $2,607.00
BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1084 $1,087.50
WSESD FAST 1086 $4,500.01
SAF FAST 1089 $626.45
WSESD REGULAR 1090 $126,881.90
TOTAL ACCOUNTS PAYABLE $152,219.81
Payroll # 4.5 8/29/2025 $35,129.25
MS MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
VIII. Unfinished Business
Policy and Amendment Committee presents for 2nd reading
– D12 Prevention of Harassment of Employees
– E19 Behavioral Threat Assessment Teams – Required
– F37 District Equity Policy
– G13 Responsible Computer, Network and Internet Use
IX. New Business
No new business was brought forth.
AB MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING OF THE WSESD BOARD. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted on 9/14/25 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.
WSESD PARKING LOT
Date put in parking lot
Key People Parking lot item
09/09/2025 Mark/Deb Board Members attending VSBA Annual conference
