From the desk of Mary Beaudin, Landaff Select Board:

Landaff School Advisory Committee Minutes

October 21, 2025

Landaff Town Hall

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

Public:  Molly Culver, Matt Culver, Michelle Beaudin, Paul Varcak

Meeting called to order at 7:02 pm.

Public input:

Paul Varcak asked about the minutes from the September meeting.  They were approved during this meeting.

Minutes of September 9, 2025 approved with amendment. “Bath has agreed to a tuition increase of 5% per year for the next 5 years.”

Minutes of September 23, 2025 approved.

Survey results from possible sending schools were shared with the committee members. Woodsville Elementary School and Haverhill Cooperative Middle School did not submit survey answers.

Other schools responded with varying degrees of depth.

Discussion ensued about developing a clear, concise approach for presenting our findings to the school board and then to the town.

The presentation will have 5 to 10 slides.

1. Explain why we chose option 4 (to continue without a decision for another year)
2. Focus on information that we don’t have
3. Include solid information that we do have
4. Do not give any numbers out because that would mislead the taxpayers
5. Even though we suggest continuing as we are for another year, clearly state that we have not chosen option 1 at this point
6. Inform people of information we have gathered, including quality of education data

A handout was shared by Deb Erb that reflected the changes in tuition costs made by Lisbon over the course of six months. Sam Natti noted the tuition changes were due to bad advice from the previous superintendent.

We need to find out the costs relating to Lisbon leaving the SAU, pending legislation regarding school choice, the statewide educational property tax (SWEPT), and changes in our contribution to SAU costs.

The next meeting will be November 5 at 5:30 pm, to present to the school board, with a work session following to iron out details for presentation for the town. Meeting is at the town hall.

January 5, 2026 at 5:30 pm presentation at first budget meeting at the town hall

Meeting adjourned at 8:23 pm.