MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

                                            March 2, 2004

      Monadnock Regional Junior and Senior High School, Swanzey Center, NH

 

Present: Don Arguin, Dixie Gurian, Chair Robin Marra, Winston Wright, Karen Cota, John Morin, Richard Thackston, William Felton, Gus Lerandeau, Colline Dreyfuss and Bruce Tatro. Absent: Patricia Smith, Alan Gross, Larry Colby and Sam Johnson.

Also present: C. Cardine, Supt., K. Dassau, Asst. Supt., R. Cloutier, Assistant Business Manager, T. Warner, Dir. of Tech. and D. Hodgdon, Curriculum Director.  Principals: B. Tatro, D. Mousette, D. Dahl, K. Craig and D. Stockwell.

 

R. Marra reminded the Board that they are here to strive for the best education for every child. 

 

1.         CONSENT AGENDA:

Minutes of February 17, 2004 Board Meeting. MOTION: W. Felton MOVED to approve the minutes. SECOND: D. Gurian. DISCUSSION: C. Dreyfuss asked why R. Bauries’ comments from the second “Public Comment” spot were not mentioned in the minutes.  R. Marra said that would look into the issue

The Board will defer from approving the minutes.  

 

CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: C. Cardine informed the Board that the students are practicing for the upcoming Grease Production on March 9,10 and 11th.

 

C. Cardine informed the Board that the 8th grade Math Counts finished 1st place in the state.

 

Students from Cutler and Troy made it to the Geography Bee. C. Cardine has sent letters on behalf of the Board to the children.

 

C. Cardine reported that the CCC Center would be meeting for breakfast to discuss the regional agreement. C. Cardine would be informing A. Gross of this meeting.

 

The PTO will be holding a forum for candidates on March 3, 2004 at Mt. Caesar. C. Cardine will not be able to attend he will be in Gilsum.

 

R. Marra informed the Board that there will be a concert to benefit the restoration of the Catholic Church in Troy on March 20,2004.

 

R. Marra informed the Board that this would be the last meeting for three board members who would not be returning.  L. Colby could has been on the Board for three years and always showed passion and concern for children as well as other groups. R. Marra said that he valued G. Lerandeau’s wisdom and observations.  R. Marra said that D. Arguin has been a member of the Board for 6 years and has not missed a meeting. R. Marra figured it out that D. Arguin has attended more than 400 meetings including Policy and Facilities meetings. R. Marra appreciated his continued advice and wishes all three well.

 

2.      STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: No report.

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS: S. Pogorzelski would like to speak at the second public comment section.

5.  Other School Board Business:

 

A.      Board Committee Reports:  

1. Community Relations Committee: D. Gurian reported that there will be a presentation on the Warrant Articles in Gilsum on March 3, 2004. Business cards have been printed and would be distributed. Copies of D. Hodgdon’s newsletter would be distributed and an ad would be in the Keene Sentinel on Friday or Saturday describing the Warrant Articles.  

 

1.  Facilities Committee: D. Arguin reported that it was a “gathering” because they did not have a quorum. The audit of the oil tanks was discussed as an emergency item as the corrections would need to be made in 90 days. The committee would be receiving a proposal from the Maintenance Dept. on March 8, 2004 on what needs to be done. The committee would ask that they are made aware of items prior to the meeting.

 

3. Finance Committee: R. Marra reported the next meeting will be on March 5, 2004 at 5:45 PM.

 

4. Policy Committee: D. Arguin reported that the Policy Committee met March 1, 2004 and continued their work on Section I and current policy items.

 

New Business: Treasurer’s Report on Payments: N. Carlson reported on the district’s receipt of  payments from the towns. She said that most pay regularly. She asked the Board to approve the policy to receive 10 monthly payments from the towns. W. Felton commented that the Board has no authority to enforce these deadlines.  He would suggest posting the names of the towns that are in default like similar to the posting deadbeat dads. W. Wright commented that Fitzwilliam does not like the new schedule. R. Thackston commented that he did not agree with the suggestion to post the towns. R. Marra commented that N. Carlson has met with the selectmen and the members of the towns and has received a fair amount of cooperation. N. Carlson commented that there is some resistance to the 10 payments. The three towns that pay the largest sums pay regularly. She said that when Troy had a problem they worked together. The towns are not being uncooperative they are resisting the change in schedule as some towns invest the money. Three towns said that they are still going to pay in 12 scheduled payments. G. Lerandeau asked N. Carlson how long they have before the new payment schedule begins. N. Carlson said that the new schedule would be in effect in July. D. Gurian commented that the town and the schools are trying to build relationships not public displays.

 

Old Business: Action on Treasurer’s Letter from February 17, 2004: MOTION: W. Felton MOVED to instruct Treasurer N. Carlson to send the new letters confirming the decision to the towns regarding the 10 payments schedule. SECOND: D. Arguin. VOTE: 10.109/0/0/4.891. Motion passes.

 

Lacrosse Proposal for Club Status: R. Marra commented that the information requested by the Board from the Lacrosse Club had been sent in the board

packets. MOTION:  D. Gurian proposed to send the Lacrosse Proposal to the Finance Committee. SECOND: G. Lerandeau DISCUSSION: G. Lerandeau asked if numbers would be available for the finance committee. E. Cronin commented that if the club is approved there is no money involved.  R. Thackston asked if waiting two weeks would be a problem. E. Cronin said “No”. Mr. Magee commented that he would like to schedule the equipment man to come and fit the kids.  He said that if there is no club the equipment would not be needed. This is a self-funded sport the students pay for their own equipment. R. Marra commented that the Finance Committee would be meeting on Friday. W. Felton would suggest that this issue go through the Policy Committee and create a committee to deal with situations like this. VOTE: 7.198/2.135/0.776/4.891. Motion passes. R. Marra commented that this item would be on the Finance agenda on Friday. E. Cronin asked if there was any additional information that the Board would need by Friday. W. Wright would like to have a member from the Lacrosse Team who would be able to answer questions in attendance. The meeting will take place on Friday at 8:45 AM in the Maintenance Building.

 

Rescheduling the Board Meeting: C. Cardine commented that it is more important for him to attend the organizational meeting on March 16, 2004 than to attend the meeting in Concord.  

 

          D. Arguin commented on the fact that the temporary modulars are not temporary.

          They should be used as little as possible. He said that it is not right to have the

temporarymodulars there for 10-12 years.

 

Self-Evaluation of Deliberative Session: R. Marra commented that A. Gross that he thought T. Britton did an excellent job and Officer Kassotis also. R. Marra said that he heard people were concerned that certain sections of the gymnasium were not being counted. K. Cota asked what the protocol was for students being able to speak. She said it was unfortunate that the students had to be verbally insulted by the audience. G. Lerandeau from his perspective as a town moderator that it is the voters’ meeting. C. Dreyfuss was confused because of the pink cards. She understood that in order to enter the gymnasium you had to have a pink card but the students got in without one. R. Marra said that it is not who was allowed to enter the gymnasium but who is allowed to speak.  R. Marra suggests that if a non-voter wished to speak that they should consult the moderator.

 

Curriculum Report: C. Cardine passed out the report from the NEASC along with a letter dated May 6, 2003, a letter dated January 23, 2004, the RSA as they exist on the facility and a map of the proposed changes. J. Butterfield would be working on the report and would be in attendance at the next meeting. C. Cardine asked the Board to review the information and not react tonight. C. Cardine passed out a map of the repairs and a sample explanation on Warrant Article Four and Warrant Article Six. 

  

E.  21st Century Report: No report.

F.      Action on the Manifest: MOTION: G. Lerandeau MOVED the manifest in the amount of $893,275.23. SECOND: W. Wright.  VOTE: 8.988/0/1.121/4.891. Motion passes.  

 

6. Superintendent’s Report: C. Cardine passed out a copy of the annual report to the Board Members. He reported that this report would be distributed to the towns. C. Cardine has added the names and dates on the report to make sure everyone receives one. K. Cota asked about the power energy transportation lab. C. Cardine noted that next year it will be the Electrical and Welding Program using teachers from the technology education department. 

 

7. PUBLIC COMMENTS: S. Pogorzelski commented that L. Biron explained that the non-voters at the Deliberative Session would be sitting on the right side of the gymnasium, the overflow would go to the auditorium and a ballot vote would be used. R. Marra explained that a meeting between himself, T. Britton, C. Cardine, L. Biron and K. Schnyer took place prior to the Deliberative Session to set the ground rules. S. Pogorzelski felt that the episode with the children was an embarrassment and a procedure should have been in order. R. Marra said that these issues need to be addressed for the next year session. D. Gurian commented that the voters and non-voters are allowed to attend a public meeting but the non-voters can not vote.  S. Pogorzelski commented on the NHSBA guidelines and W. Wright explained that the Board may or may not use them. He commented that the non-voters should have gone to the auditorium. D. Connell said that on the radio it said only registered voters could attend the meeting. He is concerned that the rules should have been enforced. He believed this confused the voice votes. He also said that he believed a teacher was allowing students to enter from the door behind the bleachers. S. Pogorzelski said that the voters should have been in the gymnasium, we are talking about a 30 million-dollar budget. R. Marra explained that these are all valid concerns that need to be dealt with a consistent policy needs to be developed with the moderator.

J. Morin arrived at 8:10 PM.

R. Bauries spoke in favor of the paper ballot because of the separation of the voters in two different rooms. G. Lerandeau commented that the voters could have asked for a paper ballot.

 

 8. Board Chair Report: R. Marra distributed information on the number of students and staff that received the meningitis vaccine at the various locations.

 

R. Marra passed out the gathered comments from the Board regarding the self-evaluation. He commented that this information would be useful at the March 27, 2004 workshop. R. Marra commented that C. Dreyfuss had emailed her comments to all the Board Members so he did not incorporate it in this report. He suggested that this be an ongoing effort. W. Wright asked how many Board Members returned their comments. R. Marra said eight Board Members. 

 

9. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:

1.       Swear in New Board Members

2.       Elect Chair and Vice Chair

3.       Revisit revised Minutes from Feb. 17, 2004, approve March 2 minutes and February 7 minutes of the Deliberative Session.

4.       Review District Vote

5.       Meningitis Report

6.       NEASC Report

7.       NCLB Workshop Date

 

W. Wright informed the Board that he would be in Florida during the National School Board Association Conference and would like to attend some of the workshops. There were no objections.

 

D. Arguin commented that the Finance Committee would be reviewing the oil tank situation on March 16, 2004.

 

R. Marra would like to invite the public to share cake which was baked to wish L. Colby, D. Arguin and G. Lerandeau good luck and thank them for their time on the Board. R. Marra presented D. Arguin with a perfect attendance certificate.

 

10. NON PUBLIC SESSION

8:35 PM W. Wright MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of approving the minutes of the non-public session on February 17, 2004, and a legal issue. SECOND: D. Gurian VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion Passes

 

9:40 MOTION: J. Morin MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: D. Thackston. VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion Passes

 

11. Adjournment

9:41 PM J. Morin MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: D. Arguin. VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion Passes

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Laura Aivaliotis

MRSD Board Secretary