Newfound school board to hold 2nd ratification meeting Oct. 26

BRISTOL — The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, after approving the Newfound Area School District’s annual meeting ratification in June, has ordered the district to hold a second ratification meeting before the state sets property tax rates this fall.

At its Sept. 21 meeting, the Newfound Area School Board set a date of Monday, Oct. 26, to meet the requirement, and expressed frustration at having to spend more money from its already-strained budget for another special meeting.

The school board also approved the makeup of a superintendent search committee and a memorandum of understanding with the Newfound Teachers Union.

Explaining the need for the October procedural defect meeting, Chair Melissa Suckling said, even though the DRA accepted the results of the June special meeting, the state later pointed out the board did not sign the MS 22 form to certify the information “is true, correct and accurate to the best of their belief,” and they had to hold another special meeting.

Interim Superintendent Brian Connelly noted the form now carried the necessary signatures, but said, “The DRA will not accept our MS 22 until we have this procedural defect meeting.”

“We did it the exact same way this time as we did last year, and they never said anything about signing anything,” Suckling said.

She was referring to the special meeting in November 2025, when the district had to ratify that year’s annual meeting results, because of missed deadlines for filing the proper state forms. The previous administration missed the deadlines again earlier this year.

The special meeting slated for Oct. 26, like the one in June, will act on a single article: “To see if the district will vote to legalize all actions [taken] at the January 31st, 2026, and March 10, 2026 [school district] meeting.” Two weeks prior to the special meeting, on Tuesday, Oct. 13, there will be public hearing to discuss the necessity and what the meeting will accomplish.

Other business

Connelly, who also serves as superintendent of the Hill School District, is filling a one-year interim position until the school board selects a successor to Paul Hoiriis, who left for a position with the Merrimack School District in July. At the time of his hiring, Connelly expressed interest in continuing in a permanent role.

To get the formal exploration underway, the board, on Sept. 21, approved a structure for the search committee. It will include two school board members, a district employee, a principal, a teacher from each school, two support staff members, and a parent. The board is asking anyone interested in serving on the committee to email msuckling1@sau4.org.

The memo with the teachers’ union reduces the number of early release days designed for professional development by two as a concession after their negotiated contract did not pass, having fallen short of the two-thirds majority required, because costs exceeded the district’s tax cap.

The agreement cancels an early release day before Christmas vacation, and another on the last day of school. Instead, a half-day professional development period scheduled on Friday, Oct. 9, will become a full day, and students will have the day off.

“It will have little impact in terms of student time with the classroom,” Suckling said. She added she asked the curriculum coordinator to make sure there is sufficient professional development time, even with the reduced number of work days.

In other action, the school board accepted a $500 grant from the New Hampshire After School Network to support the Lights On After School Campaign, part of Project Promise.

The board also approved a new consent form that will allow a student to drive a personal vehicle to attend a course not offered by the school district.

“Generally, we don’t advocate for students to drive," Business Manager Michael Limanni said. 

In cases involving career technical centers, the NH Department of Education has created an option for reimbursement of a student’s transportation costs. Based on guidance from its insurer, Primex, Newfound developed a form for a student and parents to acknowledge that use of a student’s car is their choice, with no liability on the school district.

“We don’t have the budget to just pay $80,000 to have one student take a course,” Limanni said. “However, we are flexible on options, and the Department of Education still wants to make these courses available, even if maybe the scheduling can be very difficult.

"We can’t have a bus for a single individual, right? So this is an option under career technical centers that allows for the reimbursement for students [when] you don’t provide transportation.”

Last spring, when the school board agreed to move fifth grade classes to Newfound Memorial Middle School, it agreed to install speed bumps in the driveway to help protect students using a new playground. During the public comment period on Sept. 21, a New Hampton parent complained the speed bumps were not there, and asked when they would be installed.

“I didn’t see a budgeted expense for this. I will say it’s been brought up. I talked to the principal about it. We’re looking for money within their budget to cover the cost. I told them, you know, essentially it’s, ‘Where do you take it?’ The district came in $700,000 over their appropriation last year, so you don’t get to just have unfunded costs like this, and not take it from somewhere" else, Limanni responded.

The school board has debated the liability risk from speeding cars using the middle school as a shortcut from North Main to Lake Street, and even going the wrong way in the one-way parking lot. Limanni suggested it would be more useful to rely on security cameras to identify and punish those abusing the route.

“Let’s actually look at it before we pull [the cost] out of field trips or something like that,” he said, “but that choice is being looked at right now.”

Newfound Regional High School Principal Jason Robert, along with English teacher Sarah Cutting and Amy Yeakel, director of extended learning, gave a presentation on the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation process, and the educational improvements that come out of it. The next accreditation visit will occur in November 2027, and they explained how they are preparing for it, as well as the steps completed in response to the last visit, and their own internal assessments.

They are focusing on a growth plan based on the internal review and comments by the visiting team, as well as creating a “vision of a graduate” that describes the attributes for seniors to develop.

“We wanted to look at equitable learning experiences throughout the building, and these were the two big core components that we had to focus on,” Robert said.