Now on view through May 31, 2020

Amherst School Board Update

To the editor:

      We would like to begin this letter by thanking our voters for approving both the Amherst School District budget and warrant article on March 10th. Your support allows us to move forward with our goals. We are excited to get started and will provide updates as the projects take shape.

      As a Board, we want to express our appreciation to John Glover for his dedication to the Amherst School District during his tenure as a school board member. John is a passionate member of our community and we are hopeful he will continue to be engaged in the district. We will miss his diligent note taking during meetings and his passion for balance.

      We welcome Josh Conklin as the newest member of our board and look forward to Josh’s involvement. We are also excited to welcome back Terri Behm’s energy, commitment, and enthusiasm for another term. 

It’s remarkable how much has changed since we visited the polls on Tuesday, March 10th. Our district, our community and the world has transformed. We hope that at the reading of this letter, you and your family continue to be healthy and safe as we all adjust to this new reality.

      Virtual Learning: As you are aware, learning is no longer happening inside our buildings, as all buildings have been closed and learning have been moved to an online format.  This change has been a big shift for our staff, students, and families.  We continue to be amazed at reports of how well the process is going.  The Board would like to thank the teachers for completely reworking their teaching styles to allow our students to continue to learn through this disruption to our school year.  We also want to applaud our students who have taken to learning virtually with excitement and amazing flexibility. Lastly, a thank you to the parents who have suddenly had to become assistant teachers to their kids while balancing the demands of life and full-time jobs.  You have all done a phenomenal job.  Patience will be important in the weeks ahead as there will be frustrations and celebrations, and your school board members, teachers and administrators are here to support you as needed.

      Next Meeting: In an effort to have all districts work more closely together, the April meetings will look a little different.  Any topic that pertains to more than one district will be discussed at the SAU meeting.  The individual board meetings will address topics that only pertain to their specific district.  The next meeting for the Amherst School Board (ASB) is scheduled for April 13 at 6 p.m. immediately followed by the SAU meeting at 7:30 p.m.  In our April meeting the ASB will be taking one last look at the plumbing project at AMS.  We will review what was completed as part of the project, test results from after the project, and see if there is any further work that should be completed. All funds that were appropriated for this warrant article that have not been spent as of June 30 will be returned to taxpayers.   

      Emergency Meetings:  We want to take some time to explain how board meetings will be happening for the foreseeable future.  Due to current situations with social distancing and the current stay-at-home order imposed by the governor, all boards, committees, and groups that are governed by RSA 91A (the Right to Know Law) are to hold all meetings as “emergency meetings”. Emergency meetings allow for less than quorum to be physically present at the meeting location and for board members to attend the meeting electronically.  This week the governor took it one step further with emergency order No. 12.  This order temporarily suspended the clause in RSA 91A that requires a physical meeting location as long as the Board meets the following conditions:

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1. Provides public access to the meeting by telephone, with additional access possibilities by video or other electronic means;

2. Provides public notice of the necessary information for accessing the meeting;

3. Provides a mechanism for the public to alert the public body during the meeting if there are problems with access; and

4. Adjourns the meeting if the public is unable to access the meeting.

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      We are still working through the technical details in order to comply with this order , and will share as part of the ASB agenda, which is posted on the SAU 39 webpage, www.SAU39.org, 5-7 days before any meeting.  

As always, please contact the Board with any questions or comments you may have at ASB@SAU39.org.  If you have a hard time accessing the agenda once it is posted please email us and we would be happy to email you a copy. 

 

Thank you

Elizabeth Kuzsma, Chair

Terri Behm, Vice Chair

Josh Conklin

Tom Gauthier

Ellen Grudzien