Here’s your recap of the Monday, April 14, Board of School Committee meeting. You can find the agenda for the meeting here: https://5il.co/3d9g1. Video from the meeting will be posted online by Manchester Public Television. As a reminder, we provide live updates from full board meetings at https://x.com/mansd_nh.
Webster School students lead Pledge of Allegiance
Monday night’s meeting kicked off with students from Webster School leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Prior to the meeting, students Lillian, Marwa, Murad, Aariyah and Mustafa had a chance to meet Mayor Ruais and check out his office, too.
The students did a great job. As always, we are thankful to Mayor Ruais as well as Board Members Turner and Soule for introducing the students and to Webster Principal Meg Canning for coordinating.
Recognitions
There were a number of recognitions at Monday’s meeting, including stellar student-athletes and a staff member recognized as top of her field.
First up were state champion student athletes from the winter sports season. Honorees included:
Central High swimmer Abigail Gowern, who won the Division I state championship in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle. She also qualified for nationals.
Central High sprinter Cesar Flahn, who won the Division I state championship in the 55-meter dash. He also qualified for All American.
Central High sprinters Cesar Flahn, Kaedin Gagne, Wyatt Fougere and Sean Venator, who won the Division I state championship in the 4-by-200-meter relay, and set a new state record in the process. They also qualified for Nationals.
Memorial wrestler Jayden Kuilan, who won the Division I state championship in the 285 lb heavyweight class.
West High long-jumper Eshaya Lauder, who won the Division II state championship in the event, setting a new indoor record in the process. She has also qualified for nationals.
West High wrestler Colin Taylor, who won the Division II state championship in the 144 lb weight class.
Next up in recognitions is Central High’s Angela Bourassa, who was named NH’s 2025 Extended Learning Opportunity Coordinator of the Year. Bourassa will be recognized at the annual Excellence in Education Awards this June.
You can read more about Bourassa and this recognition here: https://www.mansd.org/article/2144980.
Presentations
While two presentations were next up on the agenda, the board opted to move up discussion of Superintendent Chmiel’s recommendations to address the $9.5 million gap between the mayor’s proposed budget and the one previously approved by the school board.
The recommendations sparked lengthy discussion from the board. At this meeting, the recommendations were informational with no action needed yet. If the Board of Mayor and Aldermen approve the mayor’s budget as is, the Board of School committee would then need to vote to accept the allocation as well as changes to the items in the budget.
The superintendent’s recommendations are outlined here: 5il.co/3dh9i. There is a public hearing on the mayor’s proposed budget tonight at 6 pm in the Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall.
With the discussion on the budget completed, up next were two presentations – the first was related to special education students and paraprofessional staffing and the second was an overview of Title I funding. Given the late hour, these presentations proceed quickly, but you can find all of the slides in the agenda packet. The first presentation starts on Page 2 of the agenda packet and the second starts on Page 31: https://5il.co/3d9g1
Consent agenda
There are no action agenda items, so we are on to the consent agenda. The consent agenda tonight includes items from Teaching and Learning and Finance and Facilities. You can find all of the information in the agenda packet: https://5il.co/3d9g1. All items were approved.
Communications and adjournment
In superintendent’s communications, there are several updates:
High schools are seeing results with efforts to increase SAT participation – all four high schools have seen an increase in participation over last year, with some time left in the testing window. The SAT is a required assessment for both state and federal accountability for districts.
The Welcome Center now has expanded hours. The center is now open until 7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and will also be open from 9 am-noon on the first and third Saturdays of each month. The center is located at 148 Concord Street, in historic French Hall.
This Thursday is the district’s kindergarten registration night at Beech Street School. Families can get in-person help, including language interpretation, to register new students for school next year. The event is from 5-6:30 pm Thursday at Beech Street School, 333 Beech Street.
The district received the District Partner of the Year Award from the Education Alliance for New Hampshire, the organization formerly known as Campus Compact. Education Alliance for NH is the parent organization of GEAR UP, which is now in its second iteration in the District.
Those following the meeting live may have caught some breaking news at the end of the meeting – Kelly Espinola, the current principal of Southside Middle School, was approved as the District’s new Assistant Superintendent for High Schools and Operations. You can find a story on that on our website.
Since there were no reasons to go into non-public session, the meeting was then adjourned. The next full meeting of the board will be Tuesday, May 12.