Portsmouth School District board meeting, Sep 8, 2026
2 h 54 min · 0 public speakers
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 2 h 54 min.
- Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened
What happened at this meeting
Portsmouth school board reviews CIP projects and annual teacher evaluation plan 17:26
- A district staff member walked the board through proposed CIP projects, including school security entrances, a possible CTE renovation, athletic fields, playgrounds, roofing and paving. 17:26
- The superintendent reported on the school opening and presented a revised teacher evaluation plan under which every staff member would receive some form of written evaluation every year. 1:11:44
- The board took up a set of policies on second reading, and a motion on policy ACA was withdrawn after the board discussed sending proposed new language back to the Policy Committee. 2:20:05
Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →
Item by item (7)
- Opening, announcements and consent agenda 4:15
- Nancy Novelline Clayburgh said a community fridge event was going on at all district schools and that any student who wants a snack or dinner can take food from the fridge. 5:53
- Nancy Novelline Clayburgh said September 22nd is National bike walk to school day and that it would be promoted in the schools. 7:44
- The board took a roll call vote on the minutes from August 11th under the consent agenda, with several members abstaining. 8:14
- A staff member announced the minutes were approved 4 to 0. 9:38
- Public comment 9:45
- No one in the room or on Zoom offered public comment. 9:45
- CIP presentation and discussion 10:02
- A staff member said the CIP is a planning document outside the operating budget and that passing it does not allocate funds for the projects in it. 12:18
- A district staff member said Little Harbor School would be the only school without a secured entrance after Phase 3 of New Franklin, and that New Franklin Phase 2 would start in February with the building weather tight by June of '27. 20:32
- Byron Matto asked to see a more detailed line-item breakdown for the elementary schools and other slides, and another board member asked how mechanical needs at Portsmouth High School could be known while the school's future was still being planned. 25:07
- Superintendent's report on school opening 1:11:40
- A district staff member said the district had 23 positions still to fill, most of them paraeducator positions. 1:20:54
- A district staff member said enrollment had increased at Little Harbor and decreased at the middle and high schools. 1:22:42
- A board member thanked staff who worked during the summer to provide services to students who need them so there would be no regression over the summer months. 1:30:29
- Teacher evaluation plan 1:31:14
- A district staff member said the revised plan gives every staff member some form of written evaluation every year and eliminates the 3-year cycle that a majority of the 288 APT members had been on. 1:34:42
- A district staff member said there would be a check-in with the committee in November and a debrief with the committee in April. 1:42:52
- Jennifer Shump asked whether established faculty members would not have a formal evaluation this year, and another board member raised a concern that some staff who reached the established category may not have been evaluated sufficiently in the last few years. 1:47:08
- Policy second readings 2:11:32
- The board voted on policies EBCA, ECAF, EEBA, EHB and JFABD as a batch and separately on policy AC. 2:20:05
- A board member read proposed language stating that when a student has been denied equal access to educational opportunities as a result of discrimination, corrective measures shall include consideration of educational remedies designed to address the impact. 2:41:07
- Policy JICJ was changed so that personal computers, laptops and tablets shall not be brought to school, and one board member said smartwatches should have the same expectation. 2:43:17
- Byron Matto withdrew the motion, and the second was also withdrawn. 2:42:47
- Committee updates and future agenda items 2:49:04
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
Other meetings
Other meetings of this board
Video: posted by the district as “9.8.2026 School Board”