Note: These minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved at the next Policy
and Amendment Committee meeting.
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Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) Policy and Amendment Committee
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Regular meeting 2:00 p.m.
Hybrid meeting: WSESU Central Office, 53 Green St., Brattleboro, VT and
Remotely via Zoom
DRAFT MINUTES
Policy and Amendment Committee members present: Deborah Stanford (DS, Chair), Anne Beekman (AB)
WSESD/U Staff and Administrators present: Superintendent Mark Speno (MS), Mo Hart (MH), Bethany Bechard (BB), Shannon Kelly (SK), Mikaela Simms (MSi), Hannah Parker (HP, via zoom), Janet Slesinski (JS, via zoom)
Guests: Liz Adams (LA, via zoom)
Call to Order
DS convened the meeting at 2 p.m. and read the hybrid statement.
Approval of Minutes and confirmation of next meeting date
The minutes of 9/24/25 meeting approved by assent.
The Policy and Amendment Committee meets on second and fourth Wednesdays, from 2-4 pm at the WSESU Central Office and on Zoom. The next meetings are scheduled for:
October 22
November 12
Policies
Note: The committee did not review two policies that were at the top of the agenda (the proposed Asthma Friendly Schools policy and D15 Travel Reimbursement) as the invited guests were unable to attend the meeting.
Gender Freedom in Schools
The committee reviewed and discussed the final section of the policy, School Activities.
–Minor edits made for clarity.
–SK requested adding a sentence back in that had previously been struck: “Where boys and girls teams also exist, transgender and gender expansive students will be able to play on the team that most closely aligns with their identity at any point during the school year.”
–SK has cleaned up the footnotes and definitions and those updates have been given to MH.
–Regarding lawyer comment about possible discrimination in all-gender sports teams, SK noted that all-gender teams generally don’t hold tryouts.
–SK consulted with stakeholders about possibly renaming the policy, given lawyer’s suggestion to do so. Although the title may trigger reactions, stakeholders felt that it was important to keep a strong title.
Next steps:
–At the next meeting, review the full policy once more, with all edits in place and all text in a single color, and then send it for a first reading.
Gender Freedom ON HOLD until 10/22/25.
C7 Board Relations with Administrators
The committee reviewed C7 line by line and made the following changes:
–Use caps for “Board” and “Superintendent” throughout the policy.
–Number 1, opening sentence. Since there are no written guidelines, delete the first sentence and reword the second: “Board relations with administrators should take into account:…”
–Number 1, second bullet. Reword as: “When Board members need information from school administrators, the request must be communicated through the Board chair. The Board chair, at their discretion, will communicate with the Superintendent.”
–Number 2. Remove the word “renewal” since the Superintendent does not bring contract renewals to the Board, only non-renewals. Reword as: “…and makes recommendations to the Board in the event of an anticipated non-renewal of employment contracts…”
–Number 4. Specify SU Board: “…and will seek input from the Supervisory Union board.”
C7 ON HOLD until 10/22 to review with edits.
G17 Proficiency-Based Graduation Requirements
Invited: Hannah Parker and Janet Slesinski
At the last meeting, the committee made a series of edits in consultation with HP and JS. Today the policy was reviewed with those edits in place.
–First sentence of the introduction. For clarity, move “transferrable skills” to the end of the sentence.
–Delete the one-sentence section “Monitoring of PBGR Implementation.” This is understood.
–The committee discussed the changes implicit in the move to proficiency-based graduation requirements (which took place some years ago). MSi situated it as an equity issue.
Proficiency-based graduation requirements are based on learning rather than seat time.
G17 will go for a first reading at the 11/4/25 Board meeting.
C8 Board Relations with School Personnel
The committee reviewed C8 and made the following changes for clarity and consistency:
–First section, At School Board Meetings. Reword sentence as “The Board will request that the Superintendent invite school personnel to School Board meetings to discuss student achievement related to their programs.”
–Second section, Relations with the Principal. Strike this entire section, as it is covered in C7.
–Third section, Relations with other School Staff. Change heading to “Relation with School and District Personnel.”
–Bullet 2. Reword as “Board members will adhere to the established chain of communication
(Board Chair to Superintendent to personnel) when discussing matters of school business with staff members or district personnel.” (Now bullet 1.)
–Bullet 3. Reword as “The authority of the full board is required before making any commitments to school personnel.” (Now bullet 2.)
–Bullet 1. Reword as “The authority of the full board is required before communicating with school personnel about contractual matters or evaluations.” (Now bullet 3.)
–Bullet 5. Reword as “Board members will adhere to procedures required by Vermont statute and Board policy related to collective bargaining and teacher evaluation.” (Now bullet 4.)
–Bullet 4. Reword as “The Board will encourage and facilitate staff participation in the development of educational and personnel policies.” (Now bullet 5.)
The committee discussed the proposed new first paragraph and felt that it encouraged casual communication in a way that is at odds with the rest of the policy. The suggestion was made to keep the final sentence of the proposed intro, so that the opening would read: “It is the policy of the Windham Southeast School District to encourage School Board interactions with school personnel while respecting appropriate reporting relationships. This policy is intended to foster productive, collegial, and professional relationships while clarifying roles and responsibilities.”
C8 is ON HOLD until the next meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 4:01 pm.
Notes taken by Anna Monders (recorder)
Submitted by Anne Beekman (vice chair)
