MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Board Meeting Minutes
February
18, 2003
Mount Caesar Elementary
School
7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER
Present: Don Arguin, Winston Wright, Chairman, Dixie Gurian, Stephen Mettling,
Gene White, Alan Gross, William Felton, John Morin, Robin Marra, Patricia
Smith, Gus Lerandeau, Richard Thackston, Geordie Fifield, Jonathan Kirstein and Larry Colby
Also present: C. Cardine, Supt., K. Dassau, Asst. Supt., L. Biron, Business Manager
and D. Hodgdon, Curriculum Coordinator.
Principals: Asst. Principal Gagne and B. Tatro
1. CONSENT AGENDA:
Minutes of February 4, 2003 MOTION: W. Felton MOVED to approve the minutes.
SECOND R. Thackston DISCUSSION: G.White clarified the fact
that he and A. Gross will be composing individual letters to the Editor of the
Keene Sentinel. VOTE: Unanimous Motion
Passes.
2. CITIZEN COMMENTS: None.
3.
STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: None
4.
CORRESPONDENCE AND
ANNOUNCEMENTS: C. Cardine comment on the recent MRSH Hockey Game vs. Portsmouth he
attended. He was very impressed with the players. To date their record is 11 –2. They are in second place.
C. Cardine commented on the wonderful job being done by the Jazz Band. Six of the members are from Troy. They put on an outstanding show.
5. OTHER
SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:
A.
Board Committee Reports:
1.
Policy Committee: D. Arguin passed a hand out
to the Board Members. D. Arguin explained that the Policy Committee has
reviewed Section B. He commented that
the existing Board will have this meeting and then one more before possibly a
new Board begins to organize. MOTION: D.
Arguin MOVED to accept the proposed
amendments to Policy BBA, School Board Powers and Duties as a first
reading. SECOND: R. Thackston. DISCUSSION:
D. Arguin said that the committee edited the policy for clarification. W. Wright explained that this
is the vote on the first reading and the second reading will be put on the
agenda as policy requires two reads. The second reading will be on March 4,
2003. VOTE: 12.80/0/2.20/0. Motion passes.
MOTION: D. Arguin MOVED to accept
the proposed amendments to Policy BBB-R, Weighted Vote Charts: Monadnock
Regional School District Towns as a first reading. SECOND: J. Morin. DISCUSSION:
D. Arguin explained that the committee realized that the population has
changed from the census and the information needed to be updated on the policy.
VOTE: Unanimous. Motion passes.
MOTION: R. Thackston MOVED to accept
the proposed amendments to Policy BCA-R, School Board Ethics as a first
reading. SECOND: G. Lerandeau. DISCUSSION: D. Arguin explained that
the change on this policy is that the committee added the name of the town
where the Board Members are to sign their name in agreement of this policy.
R.Thackston asked what would happen if you refused to sign. D. Arguin said that
his personal interpretation is that this policy gives the Board guidelines. R.
Marra acknowledged the interpretation that the Board Member would have acted
unethically. R. Thackston commented that if the policy cannot be enforced a
member would not need to sign. W. Felton commented that the Board is empowered
to establish it’s own group of sanctions. R. Thackston responded by saying that
was different from his understanding. W. Wright said that policies protect the
Board and back us up. R. Thackston commented that it was his understanding that
the School Board Members have the same protection as the legislature. There are
no restraints. W. Felton said that the Board would have to look into that. VOTE: Unanimous. Motion passes.
MOTION: D. Arguin MOVED to accept
the proposed amendments to Policy BDE, Committees and Delegates as a first
reading. SECOND: R. Marra DISCUSSION: D. Arguin explained that
policy committee decided to combine the committees into 6 standing committees.
He explained that page two of the packet clarifies the arrangement. The policy
committee felt more people on committees would spread the workload and have
more advantages. He commented that every Board Member is a member of the SAU
Board. G. Lerandeau commented that this process is to get the policy on the
floor for the next meeting. D. Arguin said that he would like comments at this
meeting and then go back and possibly massage the problems with the committee
to return next time resolved. G. Lerandeau commented that bus stop and bus
route should be in the Negotiation Standing Committee not the Facilities
Standing Committee. L. Colby agrees with G. Lerandeau that it belongs in the
Negotiation Standing Committee. D. Arguin said he would move the committee to
negotiations. R. Thackston commented on a wonderful job done by the Policy
Committee to combine the committees and clean things up. He said he supports
the motion whole heartily now and at the next meeting. D. Arguin commented that
the second reading would be at the March 4, 2003 Board Meeting. VOTE: Unanimous. Motion passes. D.
Arguin thanked the Board for listening and thanked the members of the committee
for all their work
2.
Communications Committee: D. Gurian explained that
last night’s meeting
was cancelled because of
snow. The committee has been very busy focusing on the new high school project.
The committee has been making presentations. The next one will be tomorrow at
the MRHS for the teachers then again at night for the general public. A presentation in Troy is scheduled for Thursday.
The committee has been doing phone-a-thons. B. Tatro and a volunteer will make
phone calls to the parents of the students in the district. They will help to
inform the parents if they are not registered voters, how they can do so. D.
Gurian said that there are buttons and green ribbons in support of the new high
school. The funds for this project are from donations, no district funds are
used. There will be an ad campaign of articles in the Keene Sentinel titled
Monadnock Facts. No district funds are used for this purpose. D. Gurian said
that there will be one or two full page ads that will allow the area businesses
to show their support of the project. The Monadnock Shopper will have an ad
with a list of the individuals that support the project. Vice- Chair R. Marra
and Superintendent Cardine will be on the radio discussing the project on
Wednesday at 8:00 AM on 1290 AM. Charlotte
Lesser has constructed an informational web page accessible through
mrsd.org. A. Gross and G. White are
doing a writing campaign. G. Lerandeau commented on what a nice job the
committee was doing and added that if there is a problem with the town clerk,
the person should contact the Secretary of State. A. Gross commented that he is
embarrassed that the group has not agreed upon a letter to the editor in
support of this project. R. Marra said he was going to write one as a citizen.
W. Felton explained that the Board can write individual letters but the same
person has to wait two weeks before his next letter. A. Gross asked if W.
Wright would be willing to write a letter. He said he would write a letter to
the editor. A. Gross asked if anyone would be interested in attending sporting
events to distribute information. He
asked if anyone was interested in pairing up with him let him know.
3. Facilities Committee: G.
Lerandeau reported the next meeting will be on
March 3, 2003.
4
Cheshire Vocational Center: A. Gross reported that the
meeting had been cancelled because of the snow. The meeting has not been
rescheduled.
B. New Business: None
C. Old Business:
Letter to the
Legislature: G. White stated no letter is drafted yet.
School
Resource Officer Report: Wayne Kassotis, School
Resource Officer, gave his annual report. He has been the officer for the past
4 years. He reports the growing acceptance of the program by the students. The
students respect their school more. If
something happens in the building, such as vandalism the students are apt to
report it to him. This was true in the recent bomb scare. He said there are
student issues within the school and so he supports a new high school. He said
that he is working with K. Dassau on the emergency response plan. He will coach
high school football next season. P. Smith asked why he thought we needed a new
high school. He said that he thought the school was extremely crowded and 12
year olds are around 18 year olds. Eight years ago he supported the middle
school. The staff does well to separate the students but they are not able to
do it all the time. There are safety issues in the school and the environment
is not conducive to learning. W. Wright asked if one officer for both schools
would be practical. W.Kassotis said that one officer for the middle school and
one for the high school would be preferable. R. Marra commented on the fact
that when they visited a school designed by the architect the evacuation plan
was color coded. He asked if there where similar plans within our school. W.
Kassotis responded he is working on it. A. Gross asked about surveillance
cameras. W. Kassotis said that the school does not have cameras in the school.
He commented that he would like them for the outside grounds. Supt. Cardine
said it was taken out of the budget last year and was one of the cuts this
year. D. Arguin asked if he wore his uniform every day. He said that he wears
it about 3 out of the 5 school days. He believes he receives the same respect
either way. D. Arguin asked if the jr. high students have some kind of
presentation before entering the high school. W. Kassotis said that he attends
the field day at the beginning of the year and is introduced to the students.
He said that he is more visible in the Junior High. He would like to thank the
Board for their support on this program.
D. Curriculum Report: None.
E. 21st Century Report: C.Cardine explained that K. Carter was stuck in Arizona because of the storm and was not able to attend the meeting. He said that the MC2 Program is in the Antioch building and they are in the process of furnishing the room. He has good news from Senator Gregg but is waiting for more details.. The program has three non-district students in attendance. They contribute $28,000 to the district. Supt. Cardine would like to schedule an upcoming Board Meeting at the MC2 School at Antioch. R. Marra commented that he is a member of the Advisory Board and attended a potluck dinner. He commented on what a great group of kids were in attendance. Every parent was thankful to the Board for the opportunities their children now have.
F. Action on the Manifest: G. Lerandeau MOVED to approve the manifest in the
amount of $901,482.02 SECOND: A.
Gross VOTE: Unanimous. Motion
passes.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: C.Cardine said that he has not had time to set up
the meeting for the 21st Century reunion to be held in April. He will schedule the meeting for this fall.
A vision-to-action meeting
around the Federal School Choice Grant will take place in April or May. This
will be a gathering of citizens from the towns that are part of the grant.
Charlotte Lesser has been
doing a great job on the district web page.
7. SETTING UP
THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:
1. Policy
Committee
2. Communications
Committee
3. Facilities
Committee
4. CCC
5.
Finance
6. Letter
to Legislature
7. Suspension Report
8. Second reading of policies
9. MC2 make up report
8. 8:25 PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to enter into
non-public sssion for the purpose of
discussing a student issue. SECOND:
D. Gurian. VOTE: Unanimous.
8:35 PM D.
Gurian MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of
the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND:
P. Smith. VOTE: Unanimous.
8:35 PM G.
Lerandeau MOVED to enter into
non-public sssion for the purpose of discussing a personnel issue. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: Unanimous.
8:40 PM J.
Morin MOVED to return to public
session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: P. Smith. VOTE: Unanimous.
8:40 PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to enter into
non-public sssion for the purpose of discussing a legal issue. SECOND: W. Felton. VOTE: Unanimous.
8:55 PM R.
Marra MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of
the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND:
J. Morin. VOTE: Unanimous.
9. Motion to Adjourn.
8:55
PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: R.
Marra. VOTE: Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura Aivaliotis
MRSD Board Secretary