From the desk of Mary Beaudin, Landaff Select Board:

Landaff School Advisory Committee Minutes
August 26, 2025
Landaff Town Hall

Present: Brenda Dodge, John Barth, Mary Beaudin, Dale Locke, Deb Erb, Francie Kinney, Joe Wiggett, Jamie Jarvis

Public:  Ben Peters, Travis Peters, Molly Culver, Matt Culver, Michelle Beaudin. Karen Bradstreet

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm.

Public Input:  None

Approval of minutes: After discussion to include the previous discussion about non-public sessions.  Also, a discussion ensued about whether Sam Natti has a conflict of interest on the committee.  Concerns about it were voiced.  Francie claimed that everyone on the committee has a conflict of interest. Dale pointed out that Sam is the only one paid by the Lisbon District. It was reiterated that Sam is a Landaff taxpayer. In the approval of last meeting’s minutes a discussion also ensued about when was the proper time to edit minutes. Mary stated that minutes can be edited by email prior to the public meeting, Dale and John opposed this opinion.


Old business:  The legality/ regulations of non-public sessions.  According to 91-A-2 non-public sessions are permitted by town committees if necessary for a specific purpose.

Numbers and costs will be discussed at the next meeting when Toni Butterfield is there.

In looking at numbers from the Department of Education regarding test scores, several observations were made.

Joe:  Profile has far superior numbers.

Deb: Lisbon may be the choice for people who need to stay local and need the transportation.

Joe: Transportation could be provided to Profile, if that was the recommendation.

Jamie:  Lisbon does not have someone certified for early childhood education and special education. (They have someone working toward certification.)  Landaff does.

New business: Creation of surveys of each of the schools.
Dale: We need to find out specifics of educational opportunities, AP classes, Running Start classes, field trips, cultural enrichment, sports, other extra-curricular activities.

Mary: There may be other programs to support learning as well, mentoring, foreign exchange students, social support programming.

Survey must have the same questions for each school. Ensure the accuracy of the course catalogue.

Discussion ensued about how to present information to the town.

John: We can say we make our decision based on these things.
Dale:  All data should be shown.
Joe:  It will need an explanation.

Schools to survey:
High Schools- Lisbon, Woodsville, Profile, Littleton
Middle Schools- Lisbon, Profile, Haverhill Coop MS
Elementary- Landaff, Bath, Lisbon, Lafayette, Littleton, Woodsville Elementary

Inclusion of St. Johnsbury Academy in the survey was voted down by a vote of 5 to 3.

Jamie:  How many home school students might be interesting to know. Reasons for home schooling can vary.

There should be a cover letter for the surveys.

Finding out the strengths or weaknesses of Blue School kids from 5th and 6th grade teachers was discussed.

Mary:  It is the school board’s duty to know that information, not the duty of the committee.

Dale agreed with Mary.

Surveying 5th and 6th grade teachers was voted down.

John:  House bill 771 regarding school choice may change the scope of the committee.

Jamie:  Can one of the options be to postpone the choice until the following school year to get a clearer picture of the costs?

John: Option 4 could lead to a continuation of the committee for another year to better understand HB771, school choice, and the ramifications of Lisbon having their new SAU.

Financials are planned for next time. Next two meetings are September 9 and September 23.

Public Input:
Michelle Beaudin- In looking at the course catalogue online, be specific about what was actually taught.  With extra curricular activities, what was actually done?

Karen Bradstreet- She has a long history of family members attending Lisbon, but is currently displeased with education at the school. She reiterated her concern about Sam’s conflict of being on the committee.

Matt Culver- Cited regulations 91A: 1-A and 91A: 3 about non-public sessions.  Stated that there is no pre-K special education certified teacher at Lisbon, according to the Bureau of Certification. The elementary special education person at Lisbon is a certified para-educator under the indirect supervision of a beginning teacher.
He also stated the home school numbers at the end of 2025 school year were 19 students from Lisbon alone, 6 going to other schools, for a total of 18.8% home schooled or going elsewhere.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:51pm.