MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

May 18, 2004

Monadnock Regional Junior and Senior High School Library, Swanzey, N.H.

 

Present: Chair Robin Marra, Tim Aho, Karen Cota, Colline Dreyfuss, William Felton, Jeff Friedman, Alan Gross, Dixie Gurian, Sam Johnson, John Morin, Bruce Tatro, Richard Thackston, Gene White, W. Wright  Absent: Marianne Mathis

Also present: C. Cardine, Supt., K. Dassau, Asst. Supt., L. Biron, Business Manager, D. Hodgdon, Curriculum Director, T. Warner, Technology Director.  Principals: D. Mousette, D. Dahl and Kim Carter.

 

R. Marra reminded the Board that the Board’s mission statement is “to strive for the best education of every child.”

 

1. CONSENT AGENDA:

Minutes of May 4, 2004 Board Meeting. MOTION: W. Felton MOVED to approve the minutes. SECOND: R. Thackston. DISCUSSION: K. Cota noted that at the last meeting she had asked about the involvement of guidance in establishing programs or courses within the district. Several members noted incomplete  sentences in the MRPSOC Grant Update under New Business. W. Felton and R. Thackston agreed to amend the motion to approve the minutes with the exception of that section.  VOTE: 13.012/0000/1.179/.809 Motion passes.

 

2. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENT: C. Cardine announced:

there will be a Senior Beach Bash at the Best Western;

Diane Nichols has been awarded a trip to France from the French embassy. Congratulations Ms. Nichols.

Kim Carter has received a First Amendment Grant.  These grants are designed to foster an understanding of citizenship and the responsibilities of U.S. citizens to participate in their government.  MC 2 is one of 6 schools nationwide to receive the grant.  The amount of the grant is $12,000 annually for 3 years;

a donation for $10,000 has been made by the Hanrahan Foundation to improve the MRHS gym floor.  This grant is a challenge to the community to raise the money needed for this repair.

Two students – Chris Hall and Steven Brisson of Surry have earned their Eagle Scout rank.  Mr. Cardine sent a letter of congratulations and will attend the court of honor for these two new Eagle Scouts.  Monadnock Regional Junior and Senior High School has five Eagles in the student body.

 

C. Cardine distributed the information he used not to recommend the acceptance of the Thayer High School Seniors. The information was requested by the Board at the last meeting.

 

R. Marra distributed copies of the Right-To-Know law to the board.

 

3.   STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: No report. 

 

4.   PUBLIC COMMENTS: N. Moriarty asked the Board to reconsider their decision                 to include the DocStar and the Win School software in the 2004-2005 budget.

 

5.      Other School Board Business: R. Marra asked for a change in the agenda to allow the Board to hear the Service Learning report prior to Board committee reports. R. Thackston MOVES the agenda change. D. Gurian SECOND.  VOTE: Unanimous for those present.

 

Curriculum Report: Service Learning: Wayne Bartels, Tech Ed. teacher, used a PowerPoint presentation to describe the application of Service Learning throughout the district. Service Learning is an educational method where students learn the curriculum through identifying a community problem and design and implement a solution. He showed examples of some service learning projects – the most recent being the SAU 38 sign in front of the administrative building. W. Bartels offered as a conservative estimate at least 200 service learning projects have been done by students and community members throughout the district. He concluded his presentation by requesting the board commit to funding service learning as a line item in the district budget. Service learning literature indicates it is a good investment as service learning projects may return four-times the program costs in goods and services to the community.  The Board thanked Mr. Bartels for his work and presentation. L. Biron on behalf of the SAU 38 Board thanked Mr. Bartels and his students for the SAU sign.

 

A.      Board Committee Reports:  

Community Relations Committee: D. Gurian discussed the MRSD Board member informational binders. She asked the board if they would like the committee to continue to annually update and provide the binders. A CD version is available.

The committee is exploring doing a school publication similar to Keene’s Board Notes.

D. Gurian announced that Bill Felton will be the legislative representative.

The semi-annual planting day is coming soon.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 at 5:30 PM in the MRHS Board Room.

 

2.  Facilities Committee: B. Tatro reported that the committee met on May 1, 2004 and discussed the resurfacing of the track, locker rooms, cafeteria plans, current project list, a mobile structure for the Cutler School, the “Level D cuts, and a needs survey for the building principals. The next meeting is on May 21 at 9:00 in the Board Room.

 

3. Finance Committee: W. Wright informed the Board that the committee will meet on May 28, 2004 at 8:45 AM in the Board Room.

 

4. Policy Committee: Committee chair W. Felton reported that he had met with R. Marra and administration on May 8 to set a process for reviewing and updating board policies.   B. Felton MOVED to approve the revised policy on Sexual Harassment Staff (Policy GBAA**), Sexual Harassment Students (Policy JBAA**), Anti-Harassment Staff (Policy GBAAB**), and Anti-Harassment Students (Policy JBAAB**) distributed at the last meeting. R. Thackston SECOND. No discussion. VOTE: 14.191/000/000/.809 MOTION PASSES.   The next policy committee meeting is scheduled for June 7, 2004 at 5:45pm in the board room.

 

5. SAU Committee Report:  R. Marra stated that the committee had met on May 11 to prepare for the SAU board meeting on May 19.  The committee will request a SAU committee meet to research the mechanic of RSA 194c: 9-a. D. Gurian MOVED to propose the committee to the SAU board. D. Thackston SECOND. VOTE: 14.191/000/000/.8091 MOTION PASSES.

 

6. Negotiation Committee: R. Marra reported that the committee had met and will be bringing a recommendation to the SAU board.

 

B.     New Business: Track Update.  B. Tatro, committee chair asked the Board to forego the bid process as the committee has researched the request and believes the offer is reasonable and from a reputable firm.  A. Gross MOVES to forgo the bid process and accept the offer as recommended. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. Discussion, None. VOTE: 14.191/000/000/.8091 MOTION PASSES.

 

C. Old Business: 

1.   Adequacy Funding Report: C. Cardine passed out information on adequacy funding. The information was compiled with Janet McCullough of Troy.       

 

2.   MRPSOC:  Conversation follow-up to the board presentation of May 4. K. Cota asked about the impact on existing facilities if new programs are added and effect on students not enrolled in the new programs. C. Cardine responded the Art Academy is presently planned as one dance class located in the Moving Company in Keene. K. Cota asked the connection to higher education. C. Cardine responded the program would offer course credit. C. Dreyfuss asked if this is a new program why was it not presented to the school board for approval according to board policy.  C. Cardine stated he would review the board policy. R. Marra requested that policies IGA Curriculum Development and IGD Curriculum Adoption be added to the meeting agenda.

 

3.   Non-Public Session: R. Marra distributed the Right-to-Know law and discussed the non-public process. R. Thackston MOVED to set Board practice consistent with the legal requirements. SECOND: A. Gross. Discussion: R. Marra proposed the board also set a process to de-classify past non-public sessions. VOTE: 11.833/000/2.358/.809 MOTION PASSES.

W. Felton MOVED to review past records and recommend to the Board the unsealing of minutes. SECOND: J. Morin. Discussion: None. VOTE: 14.191/000/000/.809. MOTION PASSES

K. Cota MOVED to appoint R. Marra and C. Dreyfuss to review past records with the asst. superintendent and recommend to the Board the unsealing of minutes. SECOND: S. Johnson. Discussion: None. VOTE: 13.012/000/000/.1.988. MOTION PASSES

 

D. Curriculum Report: Service Learning: See report above.

  

E.        21st Century Report: K. Carter, MC˛ Director distributed information on
MC2's portfolio and exhibition process. She then took the opportunity to inform the Board of the receipt of a First Amendment Center Project school grant. The First Amendment Center mission is to preserve and protect First Amendment freedoms through information and education. The grant is a three year award that will provide the MC˛ school with $12,000 each year in addition to technical support. K. Carter also distributed informational literature on Public Achievement. Public Achievement is a civic engagement program that focuses on citizenship and public work. She believed that the relationship of MC˛ with Public Achievement was a strong factor in the awarding of the grant.  R. Marra thanked K. Carter for the work done by the MC˛ school. The grant will need to be reviewed and
approved by the Finance Committee for acceptance.

 

F.         Action on the Manifest: MOTION:  W. Felton MOVED the manifest in the amount of $836,046.19. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss DISCUSSION: T. Aho asked questions on COSTA, charges from the superintendent, Follett, and attorney fees.  VOTE: 14.191/000/000/.809. Motion passes.  

 

6.   Superintendent’s Report: C. Cardine distributed a list reporting on the amount of books in the elementary school libraries and the average age of the collections prepared by C. Lesser, Director of Elementary Library Services.

       

        D. Thackston MOVED to extend the meeting past ten o’clock.  SECOND: J. Morin. DISCUSSION: None.  VOTE: 11.041/2.447/.703/.809 Motion passes.  

 

 7.  PUBLIC COMMENTS: None.

 

8.   Board Chair Report: None.

 

9.  SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:

1.      Committee Reports

 

10. NON PUBLIC SESSION

10:12 PM C. Dreyfuss MOVED to enter into non-public session in accordance with RSA 91-A: 3 for the purpose of discussing personnel, and approving the non-public minutes of May 4, 2004.  SECOND: B. Tatro. VOTE: 13.07/000/000/1.930. Motion passes

 

10:42 MOTION: W. Felton MOVED to return to public session. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion Passes.

 

11. Adjournment

10:42 C. Dreyfuss MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: K. Cota. VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion Passes

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Ken R. Dassau