From the desk of Mary Beaudin  Landaff Select Board:

Landaff School Advisory Committee Minutes

August 12, 2025

Landaff Town Hall

Present: Brenda Dodge, John Barth, Mary Beaudin, Deb Erb, Francie Kinney, Sam Natti, Jamie Jarvis

Public:  Ben Peters, Travis Peters, Molly Culver, Matt Culver, Toni Butterfield, Michelle Beaudin, Karen Bradstreet, Madison Bradstreet, Julie LaPierre, Jim LaPierre

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm.

Public Input:

Matt Culver corrected the percentage of homeschooled or students attending elsewhere to 10.8%.

Minutes of August 26 meeting accepted with above amendment.

Accepted the resignation of Dale Locke from the committee. As he was the required representative from the school budget committee, one is needed from that committee. Also, the school board is looking to fill Dale’s position on the school budget committee.

Old business:

Survey additions, corrections, suggestions, logistics were discussed.  The school opportunities survey Jamie created was accepted.  It will need a cover letter, which will explain its purpose.

Toni Butterfield presented a revised study committee options spreadsheet with the caveat that it was “a total estimate, not accurate, just a guess.” Option 2 included tuition, but not some special education. Option 2.5 includes the building also.

Some discussion centered on pre-k parameters.  Molly stated that she does not dictate when or how much students need to attend pre-k.

Sam stated that Lisbon charges $150 per week no matter how many days or hours a student attends. He stated that all preschool students are residents of Lisbon or Lyman. There are 16 students and 10 on a waiting list. Any student with an IEP will receive services required.

With the Blue School as the pre-k option, it was uncertain how many students could attend.  Pre-k is an unknown factor on the bottom line at this point.

Deb:  All options are similar in cost.  It seems difficult to figure with so many unknowns. She would like to see the recommendation by the committee postponed a year.

Jamie asked Toni what would cause the option 3 numbers to go up or down. Toni said that they would not know the numbers until December or January.  Last year the numbers did not come in until January 6.  She believes that the per pupil cost for Landaff is going down around $3000.  The 26-27 numbers are budgeted but not actual. Toni said, “My gut says stay the same until we know the numbers.”

John added, “It is not prudent to decide without all the facts.” With the new laws coming into effect, it is not known how that will impact the bottom line.  We have a solid contract with Bath (for elementary) for $16,500 for 5 years(plus cost of living increase). That is one thing that is known.

Sam said, “Given all the unknowns, extending the committee for another year may be appropriate.”

John- We will have some of the missing variables by next year.

Toni- We can figure out preschool costs and its effect on other costs.

John- Any changes (regarding preschool) would go to the town with a board recommendation.

Francie- With option 3, who owns the building and would those costs be shared? Landaff would bear 16% of the total.

John suggested voting on continuing the committee. If the committee recommends something at this point, it would be based on 8 months of meetings and missing information.

Sam- Continuing would give the school board a chance to meet with other boards to get agreements.

Toni- Lisbon’s revenue would go down under option 3, so their numbers would change. The costs for Landaff are all reasonable and Landaff is being fiscally responsible.

Jamie- Let’s look at the numbers with a Bath- Landaff connection.

Francie- The town wants to know some numbers. They can be explained, and why we would be continuing the committee.

For next meeting:

Figure out what was assumed in the budget. Further work with surveys. Plan presentation to the town. Changing Option 4?

Next meetings: September 23, October 21 (no Oct 7 meeting)

Public Input:

Karen Bradstreet stated credentials should be included on the surveys.

The committee agreed.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.