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New Milford School District board meeting, Sep 15, 2026

55 min

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 55 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Board approves $500,000 Waste Management Fund request for high school tennis courts 32:55

  • The board also approved the budget position dated August 31st, 2026, the 2026 Board of Education and district goals, and the 2026 tuition rates. 21:09
  • The board voted to request $500,000 from the Waste Management Fund toward the New Milford High School tennis court project and to reappropriate $500,000 of the original $1.1 million toward HVAC and security updates, subject to approval by Town Council, Board of Finance and town meeting. 32:55
  • A district staff member gave a presentation on summer facilities work, including sidewalk repairs, an underground storage tank replacement and work on the Scaticoke gym. ~40:28

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and public comment 0:10
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and public comment. 0:14
    • A speaker at public comment said the year had started well but raised a lack of district communication about ICE and asked what the district's plans were. 0:55
    • A staff member said the board usually does not answer from the dais and that the staff member would follow up with the parent. 2:00
  2. Employee recognitions 2:08
    • A staff member recognized paraeducator honorees and Teachers of the Year for 26⁠-⁠27 from each school. 2:20
    • The staff member said the district Teacher of the Year would be honored at the Bushnell in Hartford on December 2nd. 6:49
  3. Approval of minutes 13:38
    • No PTO report was given, and student representatives were not yet set up. 13:38
    • The board took up motions to approve the special and regular meeting minutes dated August 18th, 2026, with some members abstaining. 14:01
  4. Superintendent report 15:11
    • A staff member said the district was in its 4th week of school and the year had started smoothly. 15:13
    • The staff member read student representative reports from each school, including an attendance effort at Hill and Plain and homecoming on the 18th at the high school. 15:13
  5. Board chair report and legislative update 18:09
    • The chair reminded board members not to contact the board's attorney independently and said contact runs through the board chair or subcommittees. 18:09
    • A staff member said a state representative would give an update on the last legislative session on October 20th. 18:59
  6. Subcommittee reports 19:41
    • Policy and committee on learning reports were skipped because those committees did not meet. 19:41
    • A speaker reported the operations agenda included tuition rates, the tennis court design study and a possible funding motion. 20:36
  7. Budget position and transfers 21:09
    • The board took up a motion to approve the budget position dated August 31st, 2026, Resolution D-809 and requests for budget transfers. 21:09
    • A speaker said the purchase resolution was updated to include photos, as several board members requested. 21:40
    • A speaker said the town contribution for the turf field had been updated to $1,078,000. 22:21
    • The chair said all members voted in favor. 23:02
  8. Board and district goals 23:02
    • The board took up a motion to approve the 2026 Board of Education and district goals. 23:02
    • The chair said all members voted in favor. 23:19
  9. Policy discussion on athletic participation 23:19
    • A speaker said the item was for discussion only and described a June U.S. Supreme Court decision on West Virginia and Idaho policies barring transgender girls and women from girls' and women's sports. 23:41
    • The speaker said the board cannot change that policy. 24:17
  10. Tennis court design contract 26:03
    • The board took up a motion to approve RFPE-2627⁠-⁠001 for New Milford High School Tennis Courts A and B, and a speaker asked that the motion name BSC Group as the firm. 26:03
    • A speaker said the board needed to award the design work to get the plan going. 27:22
  11. Tennis court funding request 27:49
    • A speaker suggested using the Waste Management Fund for half the tennis court cost to free up money for HVAC equipment. 27:49
    • A staff member said $50,000 to $80,000 had been spent on the tennis courts every 5 years. 30:44
    • A speaker said the tennis courts are $1 million. 32:04
    • A motion to request $500,000 from the Waste Management Fund for the high school tennis court project and reappropriate $250,000 toward HVAC replacement improvements and $250,000 toward security updates drew a vote announced as everybody in favor. 32:55
  12. Tuition rates 34:06
    • Wendy Faulenbach said the rates were $15,765 for New Milford High School, $13,568 for Scaticoke and $13,306 for K-5 schools. 34:41
    • A speaker said the board sometimes rushes through agendas and that the speaker asks questions to inform the public. 34:54
    • One board member said they took offense to the suggestion that some members rubber stamp items. 35:59
    • The vote was announced as everybody in favor. 35:33
  13. Items of information and reports 36:36
    • A staff member said the meeting schedule for the 2027 calendar year was in the packet, with budget hearings listed separately. 37:00
    • In response to a question, 39.4 unfilled positions were reported, 9.4 of them certified. 38:22
    • A staff member said kindergarten enrollment was above projection because of legislation on kindergarten start age. 39:13
  14. Summer facilities work presentation 40:28
    • A staff member said the district spent $100,000 on sidewalk repairs this year. 43:58
    • The staff member said a 20,000-gallon tank installed in 1991 at Scaticoke was removed and replaced with a 12,000-gallon tank. 44:31
  15. Adjournment 54:33
    • The board took up a motion to adjourn. 54:34
    • The motion to adjourn was announced as passing with everybody in favor. 54:34

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “New Milford Public Schools, BOE Meeting 9/15/2026”