School Board Update 4/26

Message from School Board Re: Special Meeting on 4/26
Hello everyone, 

Since our last special meeting, conversations I’ve had with people along with correspondence the board has received/answered prompted me to meet with our legal to review the current warned articles for ReVote day. Mark will be available with us to offer any clarity on intention, and legality towards the issues at hand. 

At the top of the agenda is an executive session to immediately fill in the other board members on that above discussion and review / revise the articles if necessary. Unlike our prior special meeting, I expect this executive session to be timely and faster. Why is it before any public comment or other agenda items? And why not be public about that discussion? The intention is to have the rest of the board fully informed about the above conversation before addressing everyone else. The heart of the issue is not about transparency but, unfortunately, about risk and liability to the district, to everyone. We as representatives must ensure that we advocate for minimizing any potential risk or liability for the entire district. I do not take this lightly. We have received threats of legal action, not to mention an activist campaign to Montpelier, concerning the articles we prepared and motioned approval at the last special meeting. I fully support seeking counsel and activism, but also view this as a last resort. My desire is for there to be steps between a concern and resolution through litigation. The district has been in contact with those with concerns and their legal. We also do not take lightly any feedback – if our articles as presented are a cause for concern, we want to know. This goes for legal interpretation but also any work we need to do in clarifying our position. 

So after any changes to agenda and public comment, we have set the rest of the agenda for updates on our approved budget to acknowledge developments in rental opportunities, and then review / approve the revised articles with everyone, if any. Additionally we have recently received our final FY23 Audit Report which needs to be acknowledged and approved for any proposed spending of surplus capital in the next coming year.

Please join us if you can, see the attached for details, and enjoy the nice sunny day today!

Daniel Roth
Vice Chair
Windham School Board