Board Meeting Minutes
Present: Chair Robin Marra,
Also present: C. Cardine, Supt.; K. Dassau, Asst. Supt.; L. Biron,
Business Manager; and D. Hodgdon, Curriculum Dir. D. Mousette, K. Craig, A.
Noel, D. Dahl, E. Tatro, J. Smith, W. Kassotis, C. Kahn, B. Pickering
R. Marra reminded the Board
of its mission statement: to provide the best education for every child.
1. CONSENT
AGENDA: W.
Wright MOVED to approve the public
and non-public minutes of the
2. CORRESPONDENCE
AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: C. Cardine distributed
the following information to the board: journal articles on data driven
decision making and student enrollment decline and growth; the fall edition of
R. Thackston announced that the realtor agents of Thackston’s Century 21 have made their second donation for
a total of $5,000.
3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: No report.
4. Board Committee Reports:
1.Community Relations Committee: D. Gurian reported on the
events planned for the Fall Celebration scheduled during Homecoming weekend Friday
and Saturday September 24 and 25. A meeting is scheduled for Thursday,
September 9 in the MRJr/HS cafeteria.
2.Facilities Committee: B. Tatro reported that met on
September 3 and recommended that the Policy Committee review the practice of
acquiring project bids. The committee
heard reports on the
3. Finance Committee: W. Wright reported that the
committee met on
Thursday, Sept. 2. The
committee was seeking a consensus to reduce the 2005-2006 operating budget. The
discussion will be placed on the next board agenda. The committee requested
that the administrators prepare a two year audit of the MRPSOC grant and a
three year audit of the MC² school. W. Wright
clarified that “audit” was a summary of the account. Lastly the committee was
requesting that the administration consider a configuring of the three Northern
Schools in a manner similar to
4. Policy Committee: W. Felton reported that the Policy Committee
will be meeting to discuss the updated NHSBA Bullying policy and the bidding
policy as requested by the Facilities Committee. The next committee
meeting date to be determined.
5.
Ad Hoc Advisory Committee: R. Marra will be contacting the board chairs to set up the next
meeting.
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None.
6. Other Board Business:
A. New Business:
1.
PE/Health and Nutrition. Physical Education Dept. Head
Brian Pickering updated the Board on
the scheduling of PE classes and activities. Presently the requirement for
junior high students is a 9-week daily period each year, and two semesters in four years is the
graduation requirement. Space and scheduling are on-going issues. K. Cota commented on students being allowed to watch movies
when unable to participate due to space. B. Pickering agreed to explore other
activities. S. Johnson asked about the size of the PE classes. B. Pickering
responded the average class size is 25-30. B. Pickering commented that he would
be sharing the board’s concerns with J. Breckell the
Wellness Committee chair. C. Kahn commented that the Wellness Committee meets
the first Friday of each month at
2.
Scheduled Retreat: R. Marra suggested
Saturday, September 11 as the date of the school board and administrator
retreat to discuss the district goals and objectives. R. Thackston MOVED to set the date as suggested. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. VOTE: 13.44/0/1.56/0 Motion
Passes.
3.
Handout on Grouping: C. Cardine responded to
questions and comments on the material prepared by Dr. Hodgdon. C. Cardine said
the practice of grouping is under discussion with the A-Team. A further
conversation on the issue will be held at the board retreat on Saturday.
4.
Schedule of Grievance
Hearing:
The Board set the date of Wednesday, September 29 at
B. Old Business:
1. Principal Search Committee. R. Marra appointed board
member Marianne Mathis and himself to serve on the MRHS principal search
committee. K. Dassau,
search committee chair informed the board that the committee membership is
still being set. He anticipates the first meeting of the search committee in
late September or early October.
2. Middle
School Principal: C. Cardine summarized the request for a
middle school principal discussed at the last board meeting. A middle school task force will be building the foundation for the middle
school model that the new principal will be working with. The first meeting of this group of elementary
and secondary teachers and administrators and board and community members will
take place on Thursday at
Motion
Passes.
C.
Curriculum Report: Director of Curriculum Dr.
David Hodgdon reported on the grouping materials included in the board packet.
E. 21st Century Report:
1. Opening Day Enrollments: C. Cardine distributed the September 2004 opening
day enrollments and responded to questions from the board.
F. Action on the Manifest: MOTION: D. Gurian MOVED the
manifest in the amount of $1,419,313.16 SECOND:
J. Morin. Discussion. T. Aho asked about expense paid to Antioch New England. C.
Cardine will follow-up. VOTE: 13.89/0/1.11/0. Motion passes.
6. Superintendent’s Report: No further report.
7. Public
Comments: None
8. Board Chair
Report: R.
Marra shared his observations on the positive opening day interactions he
observed between the
9. SETTING UP
THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:
1. Committee Reports
2. Board Retreat Report
3. Wilcox Program
10. NON PUBLIC SESSION
VOTE: Unanimous 15/0/0/0. Motion
passes.
10:20 PM A. Gross MOVED to
return to public session. SECOND: B.
Tatro. VOTE: Unanimous for those
present. Motion
passes.
10:30 PM J. Friedman MOVED to
return to public session. SECOND: D.
Gurian. VOTE: Unanimous for those
present. Motion
passes.
11.
Adjournment
10:30 AM J. Friedman MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: A. Gross. VOTE: Unanimous
for those present. Motion Passes
Respectfully submitted,
Kenneth R. Dassau
Assistant Superintendent