Board Meeting Minutes
Monadnock Regional
Junior/Senior High School Auditorium,
7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER
Present: Don Arguin, Larry Colby, Dixie Gurian, Alan Gross, Chair Robin Marra,
Sam Johnson, William Felton, John Morin, Gus Lerandeau, Richard Thackston, Gene
White, Winston Wright. Absent: Patricia Smith, Geordie Fifield
Also present: C. Cardine, Supt., K. Dassau, Asst. Supt., L. Biron, Business Manager
and D. Hodgdon, Dir. of Curriculum. Principals: D. Stockwell, S. Rashid, and B.
Tatro.
R. Marra explained that he
will remind the Board at each meeting that they have assembled because of its
Mission Statement: “The Monadnock
Regional School District will strive to provide the best education for every
child.”
1. CONSENT AGENDA:
Minutes of June 3, 2003
Board Meeting. MOTION: W. Felton MOVED to approve the minutes. SECOND:
D. Gurian. VOTE: 10.578/0 /1.179/2.129. Motion
Passes.
2. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: C. Cardine will be bringing
letters from students to the
Board at the July 15th meeting.
C. Cardine informed the
Board that he sent the latest NSBA Advisory out on e-mail.
R. Marra read a letter from
a parent of a 6th grader at Surry. Tonight is Sixth Grade
Recognition Night and she was unable to attend. She commented on the deplorable
conditions at the Jr. and Sr. High School and the fact that the voters will be
voting with their wallets not their hearts. She said that fourteen families
from Surry could not attend because of the conflict.
3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: None
4.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: R. Marra began the public
comment section of the meeting by explaining that this was not a debate but was
a time to make suggestions. The Board is looking for ideas. He asked that
everyone who spoke to please sign their name and address on the sign up sheet.
He said that the names would be added to the mailing list for a district-wide
Monadnock in the 21st Century meeting in September. R. Marra then
introduced Vice Principal Joe Smith. J. Smith gave a PowerPoint presentation on
what has happened to the MRHS since 1962, and then the public comments began.
R. Marra asked that each
speaker use the microphone and give their name and the town they are from,
reminding them to sign the sheet after. He also commented on the fact that a
survey had been handed out to the audience regarding the vote this past March.
The following comments were made:
K. Cota from Roxbury thanked
the Board for this public forum and expressed her concern for a plan that will
pass. She commented on the conditions at the school and the fact that she was
in favor of an educational consultant. She explained her disappointment in the
yearbook.
A woman from the audience
commented on the high price of transportation and the fact that three schools
could have been built for that price.
Larry Sicotte, Swanzey, told
the Board that they need to address the needs in the existing school now.
R. Bauries, Swanzey,
commented that he had talked to 1,000 people and they told him that the main
reason they were voting against the new high school was because of the money.
He said that the voters are asking for something to be done but not for 28
million dollars and the fact that they want what they already have be taken
care of.
Colleen Girouard has a
daughter who will be an eighth grader at the MRHS this fall. She said that she
would pull her daughter out if she could. She said she is embarrassed by the
conditions. She thought the vote did not
pass because of the marketing. She
thought for sure that this vote would pass. She said that she would be
attending the upcoming Board meetings.
D. Washburn, a Sullivan
Selectman, commented that he agreed with R. Bauries and feels that the people
in his town also agree. He said that this is a money issue and there was no
choice. It was a take-it-or-leave-it package. He commented that the marketing
was biased and the Board led the voters to what they wanted. He said that the Board
should not have been surprised by the outcome. The school already receives 70%
of what the Town of Sullivan collects. He said that the Town of Sullivan has
been asking for a fire truck for ten years and the Board asks for a new 28
million dollar school in just 120 days. He said that he resents the comment
that if you don’t vote for this you do not like children. He said that the
Board needs to give the voters more choices or “ I fear you will be making good
friends with failure.”
Patty Kiershner, Swanzey,
said that the people who are mad about the price of education should direct
their comments to Concord. We are the ones that are voting for the people in
Concord. This situation is pitting neighbor against neighbor. She wanted to
thank the School Board for its work. She explained that the School Board
members are here to represent the children and the taxpayers take care of
themselves. She said that this problem was not created at the polls; it has
happened over the years because the taxpayers felt that they could not afford
to fix what needed to be fixed.
Bill Kitterman, Swanzey,
commented that the Board was jamming the vote down the public throats. He asked
if anything had been done regarding the warrant article that added money for an
engineering study. L. Biron commented that the money from the warrant articles
could not be spent until the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2003. R. Marra
commented that the Facilities Committee is speaking to the architect and the
figures are still in the works
Jim Carnie, Richmond,
commented that it is a division of two camps and not what he would like to see.
He said that he hoped the Board would realize that a 28 million dollar school
would not pass and all-or-nothing was not the way to go.
T. Parker of Fitzwilliam
commented that he has been watching the arguments for 40 years and said that
the School Board wants a show piece. He said that he was shocked that the
junior high students and the high school students were having dances together;
he felt it was bad enough to have them on the same bus and eat lunch together.
He suggested better teachers, but because of the union you have to pay the good
teachers and the “bums.” He suggested pay as you go and charged that the Board
has never tried to implement the recommendation of the Building into the Future
Committee. R. Marra commented that 2 years ago the School Board had a capital
reserve warrant article that included $249,000.00 as part of a pay-as-you-go
approach and it was the only article that was defeated.
S. Smith commented that this
district does not like to spend money on education. He said that he is a new
teacher in the field, and that getting good teachers costs money. He commented
that people are telling the Board to take care of what they have, but what they
have is older than the fire truck in Sullivan. The Board has been asking for
money to fix these problems for years.
N. Moriarty, Richmond, asked
what is going on with the $60,000.00. He said it has not been discussed at a
meeting.
G. Osbourne asked the Board
to come up with more options that would make sense.
J. Tommila, Fitzwilliam,
commented that he supports education, he served on the School Board and was
chair of the Facilities Committee. He has a concern about the 50/50 formula. J.
Tommila has a plan of his own and he passed it out to the Board and to some
members of the audience. He commented on the use of the Cheshire Career Center
and the Monadnock Community Connection School.
Jed Butterfield of Richmond
has heard that through better management the problems would be solved. He said
that the School Board has directed the administration to separate the 7th
and 8th grades from the rest of the high school. He applauds the
School Board on the decision, but there are problems with this solution (e.g.,
loss of lab time, teachers switching classrooms, and smaller classrooms). He
agreed that the voters need to know the numbers and pay as you go.
D. Connell from Richmond
said that he is self-employed making $25,000 per year with no health insurance or retirement
benefits. He said that he could not vote on a new school. He asked if the
budget has increased about 40 % in the past 4 years. R. Thackston said it has
increased about 33% in the past 4 years. D. Connell asked “where does it end?” He said that J. Butterfield is in the union,
has been guaranteed a job, and receives an increase. The little guy gets
squished. D. Connell commented on a friend who had a concern for the increase
because she would be facing a $600.00 to $700.00 increase on a fixed income.
Mr. McGrath said that he had
heard great comments on the students, the faculty and the administration. He
said that he would support the School Board on their decisions.
W. Bartels, a teacher at MRHS
and taxpayer from Fitzwilliam, said that he was here tonight to find a solution
and was open to all ideas. He commented on the fact that for years the district
has been trying to fix a number of problems, but the budget continues to get
cut. He spoke in support of the maintenance dept. He said that the high school
is in tough shape overused by too many students for too long. He said that he
has never seen a more dedicated maintenance dept. (applause). He was insulted
by Mr. Parker’s comments. The voters and the residents are getting their
money’s worth. The test scores are doing well and the School Board is doing
what they can. The people that will vote down an option are not here and need
to be contacted. We need a new school and we need it now. Even NEASC [New
England Association of Schools and Colleges, the accrediting body] is saying
so. Qualified teachers are not going to teach here. He said that if he was a
new teacher and was told that he would have to teach from a cart, he would tell
them where to put the cart.
R. Marra announced that W.
Bartels was named the NH Technology Educator of the Year (applause).
L. Condon commented that he
voted against the new school because of the way it was presented. He felt that
something was in the works before it was announced. He said that the Board was
pulling the wool over the public’s eyes. He asked the Board to come up with a
workable plan to separate the junior high from the high school. He said it does
not have to be a Cadillac school. He said that he thought something was fishy
and felt that it was a copy of somebody else’s school. Because of this he said
he voted it down.
T. Ellsworth of Sullivan
agreed that there are great kids, staff and maintenance, and that we also have
a great responsibility to the kids to do something now.
Ms. Fox, a mother of four
from Fitzwilliam, said that she did not vote for the new school because of the
questions raised by the presentations and lack of options. She did say that she
was one of the parents who voted in favor of the Emerson PTCO giving the Board
money for communications.
R. Marra declared a 5 minute
recess.
5. Other School Board Business:
A.
New Business: C. Cardine commented that he
is looking at the date of the August
Meeting and August
5, 2003 is better for him. R. Marra asked the Board to review the calendar for
the next meeting.
B.
Old Business: R. Marra announced that at
the last organizational meeting of the
Budget
Committee, W. Hasbrouck was voted Chair and J. Gomarlo as Vice Chair. J.
Gomarlo is also the liaison to the School Board’s Finance Committee. The person that filed for the Roxbury Board
seat has withdrawn. The new deadline for application will now be July 10, 2003.
R. Marra
passed out the results of the weighting exercise. He commented that 11 of the
14 Board members have returned their sheets.
C.
Action on the Manifest: G. Lerandeau MOVED to approve the manifest in the
amount of $2,040,806.62 SECOND: G. White DISCUSSION: R. Marra explained that the LA County charge on the
last manifest was for a conference. This amount of money was offset by a
grant. VOTE: 11.757/0/0/2.129.Motion
passes.
D.
Board Committee Reports: R. Marra asked the Board if
they want to hear the committee reports. MOTION:
R. Thackston MOVED to pass over
the committee reports until the next Board meeting. SECOND: A. Gross. VOTE: Unanimous.
L. Colby asked
if anyone wanted to share any comments about tonight. None. G. Lerandeau wanted
to let the public know of the upcoming committee meetings. Community Relations
July 24, 2003, Finance Committee July 15, 2003, Facilities Committee July 7,
2003 and Policy will meet on June 25, 2003. R. Marra said that the Negotiation
Committee might have to meet.
6. PUBLIC COMMENTS
It was commented that some
people had stayed after to hear a discussion on the Public
issue prior to the Board
commenting to the public.
K.
Cota asked if the Board would meet prior to July 15, 2003 to get the ball
rolling.
W. Wright commented that he made his
vacation plans around the Board meetings.
G. Lerandeau said that each committee will meet and have a discussion and
then a plan of action will take place.
R. Thackston commented that the issue on the $60,000.00 has been turned
over to the committee.
Ms. Gurian said
that she hoped some of this money could be set aside for marketing.
G. Lerandeau said that the Board should get approval from the state on how
we can spend the money. N. Moriarty
said to work on the facility not the consultant. L. Biron said that D. Therrio
said it was difficult to answer and hopefully it will not turn into a court
case.
S. Johnson asked C. Cardine if you could have two warrant articles. The second one saying if the first one fails.
C. Cardine said not when it is a bond issue. L. Colby would like to mull things
over tonight. He said it is time to make decisions.
7. SETTING UP
THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:
1.
Committee Reports
2.
Discussion of Public Forum
3.
August Meeting Date
4.
Suggest Board Meeting at MC2
School
5.
Discussion of Consultants
8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION
9:50PM D. Gurian MOVED to enter into
non-public session for the purpose of approving the minutes of the non-public
session on May 20, 2003 and personnel. SECOND:
G. Lerandeau VOTE : Unanimous
for those present.
9:57 PM D.
Gurian MOVED to return to public session and to
seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: S. Johnson. VOTE: Unanimous
for those present.
9:58 Motion to adjourn. D.
Gurian MOVED to adjourn the meeting. SECOND:
D. Arguin VOTE: Unanimous for
those present.
Respectfully submitted,