Non-approved minutes
MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Board Meeting Minutes
March 19, 2002
Monadnock Regional High School Library
7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER
Present: Winston Wright, Chairman, Don Arguin, Dixie Gurian, Patricia Smith, Gene White, Gus Lerandeau, Richard Thackston, Alan Gross, Stephen Mettling, John Morin, Geordie Fifield, Jonathan Kirstein, Robin Marra, and Larry Colby. Absent: William Felton. Also present: C. Cardine, Supt.; K. Dassau, Asst. Supt.; L. Biron, Business Manager, Tom Warner, Dir. of Technology; and B. Fowler, Dir. of Buildings and Grounds. Principals: D. Dahl, D. Mousette, B. Tatro, K. Craig, D. Stockwell and S. Rashid.
1. School Board Organization. C. Cardine called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. He began by swearing in the new board members from the recent vote. L. Colby, D. Gurian, J. Morin, W. Wright, S. Mettling, J. Kirstein, and P. Smith were sworn in as new board members. C. Cardine also swore in T. Britton as the School Board Moderator. W. Felton, a new board member was sworn in at an earlier date by C. Cardine. C. Cardine continued the meeting by introducing the administrators from the SAU as well as the principals present at the meeting. The board introduced themselves and what town they were representing. C. Cardine explained the voting process and that at the next meeting the board will vote on a new weighted vote (this is done after a census is conducted).
C. Cardine asked for nominations for the School Board Chair. P. Smith MOVED to nominate W. Wright as the Chair. SECOND: L. Colby. VOTE: Unanimous for those present. C. Cardine presented W. Wright with a tee shirt. W. Wright took over the meeting from C. Cardine. W. Wright asks for nominations for Vice Chair. D. Gurian MOVED to nominate R. Marra as the Vice Chair. SECOND: S. Mettling. L. Colby MOVED to nominate L. Colby as V. Chair. SECOND: P. Smith. J. Morin MOVED to nominate R. Thackston as V. Chair. R. Thackston replied: "No thank you." Nominations closed. VOTE for R. Marra: 9.98/1.56/1.16/2.30. L. Colby withdraws as candidate. D. Gurian MOVED to nominate Shirley Heiss from Richmond as the School District Clerk. SECOND: G. White. VOTE: 11.54/0/1.16/2.30. D. Gurian MOVED to nominate Nancy Carlson as School Board Treasurer. SECOND: R. Marra. VOTE: Unanimous for those present.
Committee assignments. W. Wright asked that board members contact him if they would like to be added or taken off to a committee. He also asked the board to make suggestions about the committees to see if some should be added or deleted. The committee appointments will be voted on at the next meeting.
2. CONSENT AGENDA:
Minutes of March 5, 2002. MOTION: J. Kirstein MOVED to approve the minutes with the following correction: Nancy Gagne and Helen Mercer were in attendance at the lunch with Peggy Evans. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: 10.78/0/3.07/1.15 Motion Passes.
3. CITIZENS CONCERNS: A large group of parents from Gilsum, Surry, and Sullivan had many concerns that they wanted C. Cardine and the board to be aware of. Hillary Strong a parent of three children had a concern that her children would be taking a 35 minute bus ride in order to have gym in the Gilsum School. She was concerned with the lack of communication from D. Mousette, the principal of the Northern Schools about the issue. She reported that the teachers are concerned with the lack of communication from the principal. Wayne Brown another parent was concerned that the road in which the children would be traveling to get to Gilsum had no guardrails and was along the river. Kathy Bezio had issues with the cost of transporting the students and the length of the bus ride. Parents also had an issue with concern to the fact that D. Mousette told parents that the meeting on March 27th to discuss student recognition would only be for sixth grade parents. W. Wright assured the parents that this issue will be reviewed by Superintendent Cardine and the board will hear his report at the next meeting. At this time the students will not be transported to the Gilsum School for P.E. and that Mr. Cardine will attend the meeting on the 27th of March. C. Cardine gave his e-mail address in order to continue communication. A notice of the March 27th meeting will be sent by the superintendent. Chair Wright encouraged the citizens to contact the Northern School board representatives.
4. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: There was no student representative in attendance. D. Gurian reminded the board that Destination Imagination will be held on March 23, 2002 and encouraged the board to attend.
5. Correspondence and Announcements. C. Cardine reported he had attended the ceremony for Brian Toye, who received his Eagle Scout Honors this past Sunday. The ceremony was attended by teachers from Cutler School, members of the Senate, members of the House of Representatives and Governor Shaheen. A report was given about Scott Mayfield winning the Josiah Bartlett Award of $5000 and a copy of the essay was passed out to board members.
C. Cardine had received a letter concerning the service project happening at the Northern Schools. D. Mousette explained that Christine Payack, who follows Ted Sizer�s teaching model was hired to do a service project with the children of the Northern Schools. She matched the students with the patients of Woodward Elderly Home. The patients told the students about their lives long ago and the children spoke of theirs. At the end the children wrote an autobiography. This project aligns with all of the curriculum. L. Colby commented that the community connection is great. D. Mousette commented that he was happy to see the Keene Sentinel had covered the story.
S. Rashid announced that on Wed. March 27, 2002 at Cutler School at 6:00 PM The Sights and Sounds of Spring Art Show will be held.
K. Craig thanked Title I staff at Emerson for their presentation of "UP, UP and Away" literary event. Special thanks to Kathy Shanks and Sharon Arnone.
6. OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:
A. Board Committee Reports:
1. Communications Committee: Chair D. Gurian passed out a paper titled "Communications Committee Report on Activities: April 2001- March 2002." Three categories were listed: Making Connection, Providing & Tracking Information and Beautification Projects. She suggested that this report could be placed in the Annual Report.
2. Facilities Committee: Chair G. Lerandeau reported that the next meeting will be on March 25, 2002 at 8:30 AM in R. Thackston�s office. The discussion will be how to move forward with the failure of Warrant Article #4.
B. New Business: C. Cardine passed out a chart for the weighted vote as a proposal for the next meeting. R. Marra also came up with figures for the weighted vote which allowed Roxbury a whole number. R. Thackston doesn�t see how we could vote on any kind of weighted vote without approval of the State Board of Education. The board�s policy says that after a census the weighted vote needs to be redone. It was suggested that this go back to the policy committee. L. Colby suggests that this question goes forward to Concord rather than backwards. R. Thackston suggests that both proposals be sent to the state. R. Thackston MOVED to forward both sets of weighted vote figures to the State Board of Education for adjustments or review and approval. SECOND: A. Gross. VOTE: Unanimous for those present.
W. Wright brought the School Board schedule to the boards attention. The schedule was adopted. L. Colby would like the calendar to go to all posting places and the line added that says "Citizens Welcome." This will also be posted on the web page. R. Marra mentioned that he was on the web page and that it needs to be updated. C. Cardine passed out a form to the board members that will help in that process. T. Warner will update the web page.
L. Biron went over the Warrant Article Review. He passed out a sheet with the voting numbers to the board members. He mentioned that the only articles that did not pass were Article #4 and Article # 9, Capital Improvement and SB2 Vote. J. Kirstein said that the wording sounded like the district was voting to raise the money for Article #4 and there may have been a better way to have worded the article. L. Biron mentioned that he made a report to the Secretary of State on a situation that he believes violated the law and might have negatively impacted the voting. He is waiting to hear. R. Marra mentioned that most of the capital improvements that now can not be done are health issues and that with a signed petition a special meeting might be held. L. Biron and B. Fowler have scheduled a meeting for March 25th to prioritize the capital improvements and the deferred maintenance schedule. L. Biron feels that the board should let the situation rest. L. Biron will be speaking to the State Fire Marshall about postponing the Gilsum sprinkler system for another year.
C. Old Business: Debbie Brnger, a kindergarten teacher at Fitzwilliam along with Karen Mattson another kindergarten teacher, gave an update on the Pre-school initiative. This is a transition program for the children who will be entering kindergarten. The program has a lot of parent involvement such as parent nights when the child and parent come to the school and enjoy a supervised activity together. Communication includes home visits and newsletters. It gives the children a welcoming face at the beginning of the new school year. A survey went out to the parents of the students in the program and then that was passed out to the board. L. Colby asked if the parents are welcome in the school? The teachers responded parents are welcome but it would be helpful if they call ahead.
D. Curriculum Report: None
E. 21st Century Report: D. Gurian suggested that the board have a goal setting and orientation meeting on April 13, 2002. Many board members could not make that meeting. Agreed to April 10, 2002 at Cutler School at 6:00 PM for the goal setting meeting. The orientation meeting for the new board members will be with C. Cardine at a designated time and place. The orientation for new board members is to be separate from other meeting. C. Cardine will bring proposal for next meeting.
F. Action on the Manifest: L. Colby MOVED that the manifest be approved in the amount of $931,091.70 SECOND R. Marra VOTE: 11.95/0/1.90/1.15
7. SUPERINTENDENT�S REPORT: See items 1 and 5.
8. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING�S AGENDA:
8. Non-Public Session
9:10 PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to go into non-public session for the purpose of discussing personnel. SECOND: R. Marra VOTE: Unanimous for those present 9:55 PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: L. Colby. VOTE: Unanimous.
9. Motion to Adjourn.
9:55 PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to adjourn: SECONDED: L. Colby. VOTE: Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura Aivaliotis
MRSD Board Secretary