Resident says school would not post town housing charrette flyers; board to seek superintendent approval

Mark Kennedy, land-use administrator for the town of Brentwood, told the Brentwood School Board during public comment that he was rebuffed when he tried to post flyers about a town housing charrette at Swayze School.

"I was not mentally prepared for what happened, quite frankly. I felt like they didn't really want to talk to me," Kennedy said. He told the board he had placed posters around town and at the Brentwood Recreation Center but was told any advertising in the school would have to be approved by SAU 16.

The comment drew several responses from board members, who said the district has an existing advertising policy and that the superintendent must sign off on school postings. "We do have a policy KHB, advertising in school. In the very last section, all advertisement distributed through the schools must be approved by the superintendent," the board stated during the discussion.

Kennedy said the posters are informational, direct residents to the town website via a QR code, and are intended to spur discussion about local housing and student enrollment. "I would just like to display these posters… Your student population has been consistently dropping. And I think the important question is is why? Why is that?" he said.

Board Chair Brian Duffy told Kennedy the board would pursue a prompt resolution. "I will contact you tomorrow personally after I talk with Doctor Asbell," Duffy said, referring to Superintendent Asbell.

Board members discussed whether the policy could be clarified to let schools approve routine, noncommercial town postings locally, rather than routing all requests through the SAU. One board member suggested allowing the superintendent to designate a local designee to speed approvals; another suggested a policy amendment to distinguish commercial advertising from town notices and school-related announcements.

The board asked staff to bring the matter to the superintendent and to consider a policy-committee review to clarify when the SAU must approve postings and when local staff may act. The board said it would also explore posting town notices in the school’s weekly communications or on the town website to boost timely public awareness.

Kennedy asked that the posters be allowed at the school entry so parents and visitors could see them; board members said they would pursue approval and report back.

Ending: The board did not make a formal decision at the meeting. Chair Brian Duffy said he would contact Superintendent Asbell and follow up with Kennedy; the board signaled interest in clarifying policy KHB so routine town and school notices could be posted more quickly in the future.