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 12, 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), Matt Schibley (MS), Willow Sharma (WS), Jessica Everlith
(JE), Brian Remer (BR), Colleen Savage (CS)
WSESD staff and administration present (includes remote attendance) and
Mark Speno, Frank Rucker, Brin Tucker, Deb Gass, Julianne Eagan, Hannah Parker,
Others present
BCTV, Becca Bahr, F.Levin, Jodi Nutting, Chris Nesbitt, Amit Sharma
Absences
Summary
● The Board voted to approve the submission of the Non-Federal Waiver request for Head Start and the Supplemental Funds for Nutrition and Healthy Eating for Head Start Children and Families.
● The Board voted on the language added to the statement to the Redistricting Task Force.
● The Board discussed and determined to hold the first Summit meetings with the three Boards.
● Committee membership was reviewed for the upcoming school year. Commitment to Leadership Councils (LCs) will be discussed at the next meeting.
● Board goal setting and the development of a district calendar are two topics that are actively being addressed.
● Discussion of the Board’s oversight related to harassment, bullying and hazing was held.
● Members of the Board will craft language for a statement for future Board consideration to provide information to the public regarding Act 73 and ways to learn more.
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 Called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm.
DS is requesting an amendment to the minutes of 7/8/25 (pg 3, motion regarding Board Chair reaching out to legal counsel) – the total of Ayes should be 7, not 8 as AB was absent.
TM would like to amend the minutes of 07/08/2025 related to extending the terms of the Superintendent’s contract beyond the three years.
DS welcomed the two new student representatives, Riley Bristol and Willow Sharma.
II. Student Matters
None brought forth 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 forth at this time.
IV. Request from Deb Gass for Board approval for the following:
– Head Start Non-Federal Waiver Request for Approval
– One-Time Supplemental Funds for Nutrition and Healthy Eating for Head Start Children and Families Submission for Approval
Deb Gass presented two documents that are being presented for approval to submit.
AB MOTIONED TO SUBMIT THE REQUEST TO SUBMIT THE HEAD START NON-FEDERAL
SHARE WAIVER. SECONDED
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Deb Gass reported on potential federal funds available for nutrition and healthy eating, specifically accommodating for allergies and procurement of kitchen equipment, as well as a vehicle possibly.
At this time there is not a request for action. The purpose of bringing this forward is to inform the Board of the opportunity.
V. Board Matters
[Reminder: As of 6/24/25 minutes the revocation date is August 15, 2025 for the Board to resume approval of hiring.]
A. Leadership Council Updates
– Suggestion that Board Members participate in Orientation for LC Chairs
An orientation typically occurs in October, Mark Speno encourages Board involvement.
TM brought forth the topic of board members discussing the role of board members at LC as well as the LC in general, Board Chair DS indicated that this would be a topic of future discussion at a board meeting to be determined.
B. Board Sub-Committees and SU Updates
DS reported The Policy committee will be considering a change in day and time.
RM shared that the Finance Committee will be meeting September 8, 2025.
SU meets tomorrow. A significant topic will be the Redistricting Task Force recommendation.
C. Update on legislative issues related to education (Tim & Jocelyn)
Legislative Update and Webinar. RSCA Motion from 7/8/25 minutes.
– Develop a plan for a Community Forum with legislators to ensure transparency, accuracy, and urgency related to Act 73
JF gave a report on updates regarding legislative education reform. Related to Act 73, there is a tool that is useful and available allowing exploration of surrounding districts when considering upcoming potential changes.
TM shared the resolution that will be sent to the Redistricting Task Force.
TM MOTIONED THAT THE BOARD APPROVE THE LETTER TO THE TASK FORCE WITH THE
ADDED LANGUAGE, “THE WSESD BOARD WILL EXPLORE THE BENEFITS OF COMBINING THE
WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SUPERVISORY UNION, WINDHAM NORTHEAST SUPERVISORY UNION
AND THE WINDHAM CENTRAL SUPERVISORY UNION.”
The resolution should be sent to the Task Force, the local legislators, the press and social media.
A suggestion was made to wordsmith the additional sentence being added to be less specific.
Explore the benefits of combining the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union with contiguous Supervisory Unions such as Windham Northeast and Windham Central Supervisory Unions.
A robust discussion ensued regarding education reform, to see the full conversation please refer to the BCTV recording, found here.
RM REQUESTED A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT TO ADD, “TO EXPLORE THE BENEFIT OF
COMBINING WITH CONTIGUOUS SUPERVISORY UNIONS.” SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED 8-2
NEW MOTION: THE WSESD BOARD APPROVES THE LETTER TO THE TASK FORCE WITH THE
ADDED LANGUAGE, “THE WSESD BOARD WILL EXPLORE THE BENEFITS OF COMBINING
WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SUPERVISORY UNION WITH CONTIGUOUS SUPERVISORY UNIONS.”
SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED 9-1.
RM indicated that the communication council will collaborate with the central office in regards to potential press releases.
TM shared a proposed letter for consideration to send on behalf of the board to the Commons and the Reformer to help educate the public on the changes that will occur as a result of Act 73.
DS noted that as a result of the motion just passed, there is a need to make edits to reflect the new statement just crafted. TM and JF will work on the language preparing a draft ready for the next WSESD Board meeting.
The discussion that follows can be viewed on the recording of this meeting, found here.
Break entered at 7:25
Rose from break at 7:34
The discussion around developing a community forum will be reassigned to the next Board meeting, 8/26/25.
D. Board assignments: Committees, LCs, and SAC
Personnel Committee – AB, JF, CS, Kerri Amidon
Policy and Amendment – DS, AB
Finance Committee – RM (chair), BR, KP, DS
Social Justice Committee – MS, JF
Programmatic and Performance Equity – BR, RM, JE, JF
Communications Council – RM (Chair) MS, JE, Kerri Amidon
WSESU Voting Board Members – DS, KP, AB, BR, Kerri Amidon
Leadership Council and SAC assignments will be discussed at the next Board meeting, 8/26/26.
E. Evaluate the rotation of board meetings – to meet at different school sites
This discussion will be reassigned to the next Board meeting, 8/26/26.
F. Evaluate the 3 Summits as a means of communicating information across 3 boards
Benefits noted included the value of having everyone together to build recognition of the
members of other Boards. It also allows the administrators relief from having to attend
meetings three nights in a row, which can be challenging.
Suggestions were presented and discussion followed. To hear the discussion in its entirety, view
the recording of the meeting, found here.
DS Indicated that the board will move forward with Summit meetings this year, while addressing
areas for improvement.
G. Update re: Board Goals (Kim, Tim, Jessica, Ruby)
JE reported This committee will be meeting on Friday to review the goals that came out of the
retreat with the goal of determining up to three themes. These will be then used to develop
SMART goals.
H. Development of a Board Calendar and District Calendar
– Board volunteers to work with Administrators in creating the District Calendar
RM and TM indicated that they would volunteer to be on this task force. Mark Speno indicated
that central office has distilled information gathered from the retreat to help build a calendar
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 queried what the next steps should be related to the letter submitted to the AOE as they did not appear to have read what WSESD sent.
BR expressed a willingness to drop a note to the point of contact, Tracy Watterson, from the AOE that he has worked with in the past. DS encouraged him to proceed.
The Board would like to request a breakdown of information by school site related to Harassment, Hazing and Bullying to be discussed by the Board in Executive Session.
Another lengthy discussion ensued regarding this topic, for full accounting please review the BCTV recording found here.
J. Review the Board’s annual commitment to the VSBA:
Board’s Letter and VSBA Reply as well as a 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.
This topic will be put on hold until a future meeting. TM highlighted the message from the VSBA there was a note about coming to meet with the Board. It was decided to hold off on scheduling a meeting until future time.
VI. Administrative Report
– Hires, Resignations, Retirements
None at this time
– Other Business
The food service is up and running, and is starting off strong. The summer meal pick ups were well utilized.
The Canal Street School, the Brattleboro Early Childhood Center, has been a focus. This will be the hub for the pre-k classes. The sumer work has been done to improve parking and the curb appeal.
Finally, the staff is receiving a letter from Mark Speno with a welcome letter, professional development and a document outlining the diversity theme, Voices of the People.
Additionally, noting the pocket school calendar and highlighting the portrait of a graduate, Mark made specific mention of appreciation towards Mo Hart for her support on this project.
VII. Fiscal Report
Mark Speno noted that the business office is closing the books for last fiscal year.
VIII. Consent Agenda
– Approval of Minutes for June 23, 2025, July 8, 2025, July 22, 2025
Warrant of July 7, 2025
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1000 in the amount of $1,087.50
FY26 WSESD FAST 1006 in the amount of $35.00
FY25 WSESD FAST 1007 in the amount of $31,057.78
FY26 WSESD FAST 1008 in the amount of $108,397.56
FY26 WSESD REGULAR 1010 in the amount of $1,667.98
Total Accounts Payable $142,245.82
Warrant of July 14, 2025
WSESD CREDIT CARD PYMT 6/30/25 in the amount of $2,695.61
BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1011 in the amount of $16,991.50
FY26 WSESD FAST 1015 in the amount of $19,155.00
FY26 WSESD 1017 in the amount of $11,943.29
FY25 WSESD 1018 in the amount of $45,368.21
Total Accounts Payable $96,153.61
Payroll #1 of 7/11/25 in the amount of $1,476,828.92
Warrant of July 21, 2025
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST1022 in the amount of $11,937.00
FY25 SAF FAST 1023 in the amount of $1,108.00
FY25 WSESD FAST 1024 in the amount of $7,126.94
FY26 WSESD FAST 1025 in the amount of $13,807.85
FY26 REGULAR 1026 in the amount of $158,825.36
FY25 WSESD 1027 in the amount of $32,818.05
Total Accounts Payable $225,623.20
Payroll #1.5 of 7/18/25 in the amount $1,814.97
of Warrant of July 28, 2025
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1028 in the amount of $9,157.00
FY26 WSESD FAST 1029 in the amount of $64,420.80
FY25 WSESD FAST 1030 in the amount of $3,261.52
FY25 WSESD FAST 1040 in the amount of $4,959.50
FY26 WSESD REGULAR 1041 in the amount of $65,251.56
FY25 WSESD REGULAR 1042 in the amount of $24,556.75
Total Accounts Payable $171,607.13
Payroll #2 of 7/25/25 in the amount
of $1,511,266.00
Warrant of August 4, 2025
FY25 WSESD FAST 1044 in the amount of $737.95
FY26 WSESD FAST 1045 in the amount of $3,422.63
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1046 in the amount of $9,085.33
FY25 WSESD FAST 1047 in the amount of $1,650.00
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1048 in the amount of $1,080.00
FY26 BUHS ENDOWMENTS FAST 1051 in the amount of $1,000.00
FY25 WSESD FAST 1052 in the amount of $3,217.49
FY26 WSESD FAST 1053 in the amount of $5,196.98
FY26 BUILDING TRADES REGULAR 1054 in the amount of $5,858.38
FY26 WSESD REGULAR 1055 in the amount of $157,650.05
TOTAL ACCOUNTS PAYABLE $188,898.81
MS MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. SECONDED
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
IX. Unfinished Business
None noted at this time.
X. New Business
None noted at this time.
AB MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING OF THE WSESD BOARD. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:42 PM.
Minutes respectfully submitted on 8/15/25 by Board Clerk with special recognition to Tracey
Drotts, Board Recorder.
A recording of this meeting is available on the WSESU website
