Non-approved minutes

MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

April 2, 2002

Cutler School Library

7:12 PM CALL TO ORDER

Present: Winston Wright, Chairman, Don Arguin, Dixie Gurian, Patricia Smith, Gene White, Alan Gross, Stephen Mettling, John Morin, Geordie Fifield, and Larry Colby. Absent: William Felton, Richard Thackston, Jonathan Kirstein, Gus Lerandeau and Robin Marra Also present: C. Cardine, Supt.; K. Dassau, Asst. Supt; David Hodgden, Dir. of Curriculum Principals: D. Dahl, D. Mousette, K. Craig, D. Stockwell and S. Rashid.

1. CONSENT AGENDA:

  1. Minutes of March 19, 2002. MOTION: L. Colby MOVED to approve the minutes. SECOND: S. Mettling VOTE: 8.13/0/0/6.87 Motion Passes.
  2. Minutes of February 2, 2002, the Deliberative Session. MOTION : D. Arquin MOVED to approve the minutes. SECOND : L. Colby VOTE : 8.13/0/1.15/5.73 Motion Passes.
2. CITIZENS CONCERNS: Richard Clark from Gilsum had a concern with how the meeting of March 27, 2002 was held. The group demanded a town meeting type forum take place and it was granted. He continued to say that the problems that were mentioned at the last board meeting have not been resolved. W. Wright asked what problems had not been solved as of yet and Mr. Clark said he had a list. W. Wright asked for the list and informed the resident that all information is being gathered by the superintendent and a report will be made to the Board. David Strong another concerned parent, said that he thought that the situations were being sugarcoated. He informed the board that some of the staff in the Northern Schools are in fear of their jobs if they were to express how they feel to the principal. He informed the board that until something is done that the same citizens will be showing up each meeting with the same discussion. W. Wright expressed to the parents that the investigation process needs to take place. Two board members requested the chairman end the discussion. D. Arguin told the citizens that the board has not received a report from the administration. Another parent, C. Kenney, gathered information off the internet under MRHS Board Policies and it states that the PTO and PTA is more than a money raising group. This same parent went into the school and asked to observe a classroom. The teacher requested another time be scheduled. The situation she reported is partially solved.

 

Curriculum Report: Board moved to hear the report from the Emerson students.

A group of students along with their teacher from Emerson presented a Wild Treasures Report. The students have studied nutrition in the cafeteria and have received a State of NH Governors Award. This group of 5th and 6th graders gave a presentation on organic foods, how they are good for our bodies and the earth. They informed the board that they would like to substitute the apples, raw vegetables, milk and yogurt with organic products. They asked the board�s permission to continue this project. They are not asking the board for any money. Funds are provided by a grant through Antioch. The students passed out bookmarks they illustrated supporting their project to the board members. A. Gross MOVED to allow the Emerson Wild Treasures request by the students from Emerson to continue as planned. SECOND: G. White. DISCUSSION: L. Colby asked if the children purchasing these products will have a choice. The students responded that the children will have a choice. He also asked if the $500.00 that the group will be receiving from Antioch is enough. The group responded that it would be enough. VOTE:8.53/0/.74/5.73. Motion Passes.

3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: None

4. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: C. Cardine informed the board that he had received a letter from Jerry Kuhn, the coordinator for Destination Imagination. Jerry Kuhn wanted C. Cardine to know that because of the explosion at Monadnock High School the competition was held at Keene High School. MRHS had four teams competing at the Regional level. Congratulations to all.

The MRHS Technology Student Association (TSA) was represented by sixteen students at the 2002 NHTSA State Conference held in Lincoln, NH on March 29-30. Congratulations to all.

Scott Mayfield who was featured in NH magazine for his academic project will be meeting with Principal Stockwell to talk about putting his project to work.

5. OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:

A. Board Committee Reports:

1. Policy Committee: No report.

2. Communications Committee: D. Gurian wishes to meet with the committee members to review the year and set goals. Possibly the meeting could be on April 17, 2002. D. Gurian would like to send thank you notes from the board to the paper, the teachers, and the support staff because of the recent vote. G. White will be in contact with the radio station about the talk program. A. Gross suggested that the board set up tours before board meetings so the public may come and look at the conditions of the schools. The committee would like to put the schedule of tours on business cards and hand them out. The committee will need to meet with B. Fowler and the principals about the time and day. The committee would like to invite the budget committee members, the PTO parents and other community members to the tours.

3. Finance Committee: W. Wright informed the board that L. Biron is on vacation this week but has reported that the income is okay and hopefully will stay that way until June. A citizen asked if the late buses are going to be canceled? W. Wright answered that the committee will be meeting with C. Cardine next week.

4. Facilities Committee: C. Cardine reported that there had been a explosion at MRHS. This situation involved four people. The people were fixing a water problem and were unaware of a gas leak which caused the explosion. One worker was flown to Boston and is reported in good spirits. C. Cardine commended the quick response of the emergency service personnel. C. Cardine informed the board that Keene Gas is still investigating the situation and hopefully at the next meeting the State Report will be back. W. Wright publicly thanked the emergency services for their quick response. P. Smith mentioned that an article in the paper complained about the process and that an investigation is going on. C. Cardine informed the board that the article should never have gone in the paper and that the person did not have his facts correct.

The committee will revise the deferred maintenance plan list and prioritize. The committee will talk to the state about the Silver Bridge Project Payment. The next meeting will be on Monday the 8th of April at 8:30 AM in R. Thackston�s Office.

B. New Business: Report of the March 27 meeting. C. Cardine reported on the meeting of March 27, 2002 at Gilsum regarding the Northern Schools. He mentioned that the parents in attendance were not happy with the set up of the meeting and so it was changed to a town meeting forum as requested. He said that each Northern School would hold their own sixth grade recognition night. He also said that the parents requested to keep their children in their own schools for PE and that was also granted. C. Cardine has responded to phone calls and e-mails. He explained that this is an information gathering process and he is moving as fast as possible but it will take time. C. Cardine encouraged the staff to contact him by phone, email or off site with their concerns. A parent mentioned that the PE teachers were not informed about assignment changes.

W. Wright passed out the committee appointments to the board members and asked the members to let him know if they would like to be added or taken off a certain committee. A. Gross would like to be added to the budget committee with R. Thackston. L. Colby would like to be added to staff development. S. Mettling would like to be placed on the policy committee. P. Smith would like to stay on the facilities committee. W. Wright asked if anyone would be interested in the negotiation committee, there are normally 4 members. D. Arguin mentioned that by board policy the committee appointments need to be voted on and at the first committee meetings a chair needs to be selected. D. Arguin

MOVED to accept the appointments by the chair. SECOND:A. Gross. VOTE: 9.27/0/0/5.73

C. Old Business: C. Cardine announced that because of the fire at MRHS he was unable to meet with the education commissioner. He will schedule another appointment.

D. Curriculum Report: See above.

E. 21st Century Report: No report

F. Action on the Manifest: D. Gurian MOVED that the manifest be approved in the amount of $758,993.46 SECOND J. Morin VOTE: 9.27/0/0/5.73

6. SUPERINTENDENT�S REPORT: C. Cardine mentioned that some board members have not received stipends for their school board duties because they have not filled out the proper paper work. Board members should contact Diane LeRose.

7. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING�S AGENDA:

  1. Silver Bridge Project
  2. Communications Committee
  3. Facilities Committee
  4. Policy Committee
  5. Weighted Vote

NON-PUBLC SESSION

10:35 PM D. Gurian MOVED to go into non-public session SECOND: P.Smith . VOTE: Unanimous

10:50 PM D. Gurian MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: L. Colby. VOTE: Unanimous.