MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

October 1, 2002

Surry Elementary School

 

7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER

 

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

Also present: C. Cardine, Supt., K. Dassau, Asst. Supt. and L. Biron, Business Manager. Principals: D. Dahl,  D. Stockwell, D. Mousette, B. O’Connell, and Betty Tatro.

 

1.         CONSENT AGENDA:

Minutes of September 17, 2002 MOTION: L. Colby MOVED to approve the  minutes. SECOND D. Gurian Discussion: C. Cardine mentioned that the pages of the minutes are now numbered. P. Smith asked if the meeting mentioned on page 5 was for the Board as a whole and the Budget Committee. W. Wright responded that it was a scheduled meeting for all but not a Board Meeting. R. Marra emphasized that a good time was had by all.  VOTE: 11.27/0/0/3.73  Motion Passes.

           

2.        CITIZENS CONCERNS: L. Colby, a citizen from Gilsum, commented that he

had heard that some schools in the state were discussing the possible attack on Iraq. He was wondering if the topic had come up at the high school. D. Stockwell responded by saying that they have not discussed it as a whole school but was sure that it was being discussed in classes were it was appropriate.

 

3.        STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: B. Dahl reported that no meeting had

  taken place so there was no news to report. W. Wright stressed that the Student Council be included in the expansion and renovation process.

 

4.        CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Anne Nichols wrote a

letter thanking the teachers in the high school math department for coming through when the department was without one teacher. The math teachers have been taking an extra class in order to cover the missing teacher’s load. This situation of coverage seems to be working out fine and will continue for the rest of the year.

 

Doug Gagne wrote a letter of thanks to Barry Fowler and his department for the space found for his guidance office.

 

C. Cardine had received another letter from a student at the MC2 School thanking the Board for the chance to attend.

 

The Emerson newsletter and the Surry newsletter were passed out. C. Cardine asked the audience from Surry if they had received the notes previously. The audience responded with a show of hands. They had received the notes. The Curriculum Notes from D.Hodgdon had been given to the Board previously.

 

5.         OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:

A.  Board Committee Reports:

1.      Policy Committee: D. Arguin informed the Board that the Policy Committee will generally be holding their meetings on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at 5:45 PM in the Wilcox Building. Committee member W. Felton proposed a reporting format to the Policy Committee which would clarify new policy information for the Board.

 

2.      Communications Committee.  D. Gurian passed the job descriptions of the media person and the grant writer out to the Board Members.  Any suggestions can be addressed to C. Cardine or D. Gurian.

 

D. Gurian passed out the business cards to the board members that would let the public know important dates in February and March. D. Gurian also mentioned that banners will also be hung to make people aware of the meetings.

 

W. Felton felt that members of the school staff should have some of the responsibilities that the Communications Committee has taken on. D. Gurian said that this is only the job description and that a staff member may do some of the jobs. W. Felton asked if this was going to be two full time positions. D. Gurian responded that she would like to start with the proposed  job description.

 

     3.   Facilities Committee: R. Thackston reported that a Swanzey Citizen and

members from the Swanzey Fire Department came with their concerns on the use of the unscheduled meetings at the Wilcox Building. R. Thackston reported that this is the beginning of new dialogue on the Wilcox Building.

 

The committee has been discussing with Barry Fowler the situation of the $800,000.00 deferred maintenance. The committee is not ready to bring a proposal to the full Board as of yet.

 

The committee discussed the options for the expansion and renovations to the high school. This was only discussion. No decisions were made. G. Lerandeau mentioned that the discussion for the full Board on this topic will be Saturday, October 5, 2002.

4.      Finance Committee: C. Cardine informed the Board that he would need a

motion to accept the grant from the State Department of Education in the amount of $70,000.00. MOTION: G. Lerandeau MOVED to accept the grant as described by C. Cardine. SECOND: R. Thackston DISCUSSION: D.Arguin asked what code these funds would be under. L. Biron responded fund code 2. VOTE: Unanimous.

 

C. Cardine told the Board that there will be good news coming from Washington concerning a grant.

 

B.  New Business: B. Tatro is in search of a board member volunteer to serve on the Best Schools Initiative Committee. B. Tatro informed the Board that the district received a grant which will focus on the preschool aged children. The group has and will be working with the state department to develop a program. The volunteer will need to be available seven  Fridays over the school year and the time will be 8:30 AM-3:30 PM. Anyone interested may get in touch with B. Tatro or W. Wright. K. Sportello asked if the program included a uniformed handwriting program. B. Tatro responded no, but she would like to look into the possibility.

 

C. Old Business: R. Marra mentioned that three meetings ago C. Cardine passed out a letter expressing his concerns about the high school space situation. C. Cardine  wanted each Board Member to come up with ideas and solutions as well as having this be the Board’s main focus. On October 5, 2002 the Board will have a retreat at the Monadnock Jr. /Sr. High School Library. Robert Hopkin, from Antioch will be the facilitator. R. Marra will be sending out the agenda within the next few days. Snacks and lunch will be served. L. Colby asked for a title for the retreat. R. Marra responded that this workshop will examine the Mission Statement, the Goals of the District, and the Building into the Future Process Report. No formal action will take place at this meeting. A proposal will be brought to the Board at the next meeting. 

 

D. Curriculum Report: Surry School tour will take place at the break.

 

E. 21st Century Report: K. Carter was not present. The MC2 Program was having a parent meeting and open house. D.Stockwell reported that the open house for the junior high will be Thurs. Oct. 3, 2002 and the high school will be Thurs. Oct. 10, 2002 both will be at 7:00 PM.

 

C. Cardine mentioined that the grounds  around all the schools in the Monadnock Regional School District looked very nice. He also mentioned the community participation was very good.

 

F.   Action on the Manifest:G. Lerandeau  MOVED to approve the manifest in the amount of $926,542.51 SECOND: R. Thackston VOTE: Unanimous.

 

 

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: C. Cardine informed the Board that they will be receiving the full auditors report at the next meeting. The auditors were very happy with the results. L. Biron reported that there were no surprises and the auditor was pleased that none of his people have threatened to quit because of the process. K. Dassau mentioned that today is the 100th Anniverary of the first school nurse being employed. A round of thanks was given to the school nurses for all they do.

 

7.   SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:

1.      Budget and Board Meeting

2.      Retreat

3.      Policy Committee

4.      Finance Committee

5.      Facilities Committee

6.      Communications

 

7:45  PM Chair  Wright declares a recess. Board tours the SurryElementary School.

 

8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION

8:00 PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing negotiations. SECOND: R. Thackston. VOTE: Unanimous.

8:36  PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: R. Thackston. VOTE: Unanimous.

 

C. Cardine distributed copies of the Right-To-Know Law for inclusion in the board member binder.

 

9.  Motion to Adjourn.

8:37 PM G. Lerandeau MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: R. Thackston. VOTE: Unanimous.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Laura Aivaliotis

MRSD Board Secretary