Present: Don Arguin, Dixie Gurian, Patricia Smith, Stephen Mettling, William Felton, Gene White, Robin Marra Vice Chairman, John Morin, Richard Thackston, Gus Lerandeau and Larry Colby. Absent: Winston Wright, Alan Gross, Jonathan Kirstein and Geordie Fifield.

Also present: K. Dassau, Asst. Supt. and L. Biron, Business Manager. Principals: K. Craig, D. Dahl, S. Rashid, and Betty Tatro.

D. Strong, a parent from Surry, asked the Board if any of his concerns were being addressed. R. Marra explained that curriculum was explained and discussed at the last meeting by D. Hodgdon. D. Strong commented that the Communication Committee at the Northern Schools has not yet started. D. Strong asked if there were any curriculum changes. K. Dassau responded that D. Hodgdon has reported to the Board the district’s direction of aligning the curricula with the state standards and enabling teachers to implement the standards. There are no changes to that direction. D. Strong commented that the Board was passing the buck. J. Morin said that it bothered him to think that D. Strong thinks that teachers are doing whatever they want outside of the curriculum guidelines. D. Arguin said that the Policy Committee did not see any curriculum policy changes.

4. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: K. Dassau informed the Board of the NHSBA Collective Bargaining Workshop and a Delegate Assembly Workshop. L. Colby asked what was the procedure for a board member to attend workshops. K. Dassau explained board members should call Terry at the SAU to let her know and she will register them. R. Marra commented that he will be addressing the Board members by their full name because the signs with the Board members names are not available tonight. D. Arguin would like the Delegate Assembly on the agenda as soon as the Board receives the information packet.

1. Policy Committee: D. Arguin corrected the agenda. Policy Committee Policy EEBB, Use of Private Vehicles to Transport Students, was accepted as a second reading at the last board meeting so it is now policy. The next meeting of the Policy Committee will be August 27, 2002 at the Wilcox Building at 5:30 PM. A. Clark from Gilsum asked when the policies get updated on the web page. R. Marra explained that they are updated as soon as practical. L. Colby expressed that a policy change should be on the web page by the next week.
2. Communications Committee. D. Gurian passed out the minutes of the most recent communication meetings to the board members. There are a few items that are blank and she explained that she would like to speak on those. She informed the board that there are now two calendars - one for the junior high school and one for the high school. She also wanted to update the binders that the board members have. REMINDER: Board Members. Please bring your binders to the Sept. 17, 2002 meeting. D. Gurian is asking the board for guidance on talking about a media and grant writing position. G. Lerandeau asked if there was money in the budget. D. Gurian explained that this would not be for this year but next year. D. Arguin asked if this position would be part of the staff. R. Thackston explained that a grant writer is not an expense because the position brings money to the district. He fully supports the idea and would ask that it be explored before the next budget session. L. Colby asked if the position was one for media and one for grant writing or combined. D. Arguin commented that at times grants need to be matched and he would like to make sure that we are in a position to do this. R. Marra said that no one had a problem with exploring this issue and instructed the Communications Committee to move ahead and collect information. The next Communications meeting will be August 22, 2002 at 7:00 AM at the Wilcox Building. D. Gurian said that the committee might be asking the board to participate in having the budget committee join with the board in events. The committee would like thank you cards to go out to citizens who gave a cash gift. L. Colby said he thought it was a good idea to promote the School Board and the Budget Committee working together.

 

3. Finance Committee: D. Gurian explained that many of the school lunch programs have been running with a deficit and that the price for school lunch has had no increase since 1997. The increase at the Elem. level would be from $1.45 to $1.60 and at the high school the increase would be from $1.75 to $2.00. Action on this will take place under old business. R. Marra asked the board if they had received a packet with detailed information about the lunches prior to this meeting. All agreed they had.

L. Biron gave an updated report of the district deficit and the SAU deficit. Two years ago it took the auditors three weeks to do the audit. Last year it took nine days and this past week it took only 5 days. The accounts reconciled to the penny and the auditors realized that what L. Biron and his department were doing was right. L. Biron explained that the deficit is down from $994,755.00 to $15,757.00. The SAU deficit of $63,000.00 has been totally wiped out. After reading the hand out from L. Biron on the deficit R. Thackston wanted to know that because there was an extra $412,693.00 in the budget if there were a default budget next year would that have to be considered. L. Biron explained that it had no connection. MOTION: D. Gurian MOVED to commend L. Biron, the business office, the SAU office and all the administrators for reducing the deficit to $15,757.00 in a very short time. SECOND: S. Mettling. DISCUSSION: K. Dassau credited the board for setting fiscal responsibility as their mission statement. R. Marra would like to thank the teachers, the administration, the board and the SAU. P. Smith wanted to know that because the district had over $400,000.00 left will the taxpayers say that it was money we could have gotten along without. L. Biron explained that at the beginning of each budget session the board starts at a bottom line. The district saved over $400,000.00 but it did not come without a price something had to be sacrificed. G. Lerandeau moved the question. VOTE:10.43/0/0/4.57 Motion Passes.

4. Facilities Committee: The Facilities Committee has not met since the last meeting but will do so before the September’s meeting. No dates have been set.

B. New Business: None

C. Old Business: MOTION: D. Gurian MOVED to increase the school lunch at the elementary level from $ 1.45 to $ 1.60 and at the high school level from $ 1.75 to $ 2.00 which is a 10% and a 12% increase. SECOND:L. Colby. DISCUSSION: P. Smith asked if the increase was done on a monthly basis. L. Biron took the figures from the month of April. The question was asked if this increase would effect subsidized lunches. L. Biron explained that he will need to submit a report after the start of school. L. Biron explained that this was a recommendation from Tom Walsh in order to erase the lunch program deficit. VOTE: Unanimous. Motion Passes.

D. Curriculum Report: As a brief follow up to D. Hodgdon’s report of the last meeting. K. Dassau distributed Dr. Hodgdon’s schedule of chairing curriculum committee meetings for the coming year. There are 12 committees. The intense schedule demonstrates the dedication of staff and Dr. Hodgdon to curriculum development and improvement. E. 21st Century Report: D. Gurian gave an update on the Monadnock Community Connection (MC2). D. Gurian reported that the school is one letter away from having all the permits needed from the City of Keene. There is no home as of yet but the group did visit some sites and agreed upon Stonewall Farm. They have decided that they will have the beginning of school Sept. and Oct. at Stonewall Farm. Laidlaw will still transport the students free of charge. K. Carter, director, and two staff members went to Stonewall Farm for a retreat to become familiar with the surroundings. The school should be hearing on Aug 23, 2002 about the grant they had submitted to the Department of Education. D. Hodgdon will be working with a staff member from Antioch on a grant which is due August 19, 2002. The district should know Sept. 29, 2002 if they will receive the School by Choice Grant which includes Winchester and Hinsdale. D. Gurian passed out the Monadnock Community Connection Newsletter. D. Gurian informed the board that on August 25, 2002 from 3:30 PM-6:30 PM there will be a potluck dinner at Stonewall Farm for the parents and the students of the new program. The donors and the board members are invited. It is a way of connecting the families. R. Marra who is on the MC2 Advisory Board, informed D. Gurian that his name is misspelled. G. White commented that an article in the Sentinel about the MC2 School stated that the original idea came from the MET Program in Rhode Island and that the board had dissolved the connection with the MET. If this is true why was it not done at a board meeting and if it was when. D. Gurian explained why the program is no longer a part of the MET School initiative. G. White would like more information presented to the board. D. Gurian said that there should be more information for the board and that this item should be at the top of the list. R. Marra apologized for not attending the MC2 meetings of the Advisory Board. R. Thackston commented there should be a report once a month to the board. L. Colby would like to receive the cover letter of the grants that the district is applying for.

F. Action on the Manifest: P. Smith MOVED to approve the manifest in the amount of $1,216,621.49 SECOND: J. Morin VOTE: 9.27/0/1.16/4.57 Motion Passes.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: W. Felton asked K. Dassau what is going on with Hinsdale and Winchester and how that was effecting the operation of the SAU. K. Dassau reported that Winchester and Hinsdale were discussing a regional school idea and that Winchester was also exploring the option of sending their high school students to Keene High. Either decision may alter the involvement with the SAU but as of now there is no effect on the SAU operation. L. Biron elaborated on the meetings taking place. The SAU Board will be meeting in November.

7. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:

1. Discussion NHSB ( if packet is received prior)
2. Verbal Report Monadnock Community Connection
3. MC2 Sept. 17, 2002
4. Policy Committee
5. Communications Committee
6. Facilities Committee
7. Finance Committee

8 :30 PM R. Marra declares a recess.

8:40 PM D. Thackston MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing student issue. SECOND: P. Smith. VOTE: Unanimous.

8:50 PM D. Gurian MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: Unanimous.

8:50 PM D. Thackston MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing personnel. SECOND: G. Lerandeau. VOTE: Unanimous.

9:10 PM S. Mettling MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: Unanimous.

9:10 PM D. Gurian MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing negotiations. SECOND: G. Lerandeau. VOTE: Unanimous.

9:28 PM D. Gurian MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: G. White. VOTE: Unanimous.

9. Motion to Adjourn.

9:30 PM P. Smith MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: L. Colby. VOTE: Unanimous.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura Aivaliotis

MRSD Board Secretary