MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

April 19, 2005

Troy Elementary School, Troy, NH

Present: Robin Marra, Richard Thackston, Colline Dreyfuss, Gene White, Bruce Tatro, Alan Gross, Karen Cota, Bruce McCulley, Jonathan Kenyon, Jeff Friedman, Charles Johnson and James Carnie. Absent: Tim Aho, John Morin and Jason Hill.

Also present: K. Dassau, Interim Supt., D. Hodgdon, Dir. of Curriculum, T. Warner, Dir. of Technology, D. Most, Asst. Bus. Mgr. Principals: D. Mousette, K. Craig, S. Rashid, D. Dahl, B. Tatro, D. Stockwell.

1. CONSENT AGENDA:

Minutes of April 5, 2005 Board Meeting. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to approve all minutes. SECOND: J. Kenyon. DISCUSSION: MOTION to amend the minutes with the following corrections: C. Dreyfuss commented on a newspaper article which commented on the May 2003 letter, an earlier version on the 1996 report did mention the cafeteria and there is no official Budget Committee Member to the Facilities Committee. SECOND: K. Cota VOTE on amendment: 10.752/0/1.114/3.069 Motion passes. VOTE on main motion: 10.817/0/1.114/3.069. Motion passes.

2. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENT:

a. Retirement of Curtis J. Cardine: R. Thackston informed the Board that the SAU Board had accepted C. Cardine’s resignation. This will be taking place on June 30, 2005. R. Thackston read the letter to the Board and explained that C. Cardine is requesting to be paid for the 20 accumulated vacation days in 1999 which he did not receive. MOTION: A. Gross MOVED to grant payment for the 20 accumulated vacation days as requested in the letter from C. Cardine. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: It was asked if the days had been verified. J. Carnie asked if C. Cardine was the principal or a teacher at the time. He was the principal. J. Carnie asked if a teacher would get the paid vacation days. K. Dassau responded the teachers do not earn vacation time. R. Thackston explained that C. Cardine did not take or get paid for the accumulated days in 1999 because the district had no money at the time. VOTE: 10.001/0/1.93/3.069. Motion passes.

b. R. Thackston passed out the composition of the Supt. search committee. Three Monadnock Board Members serve on the committee and he asked for volunteers. C. Dreyfuss, J. Carnie, B. Tatro and R. Thackston volunteered. The Board Members will vote at the next meeting for the three committee members. MOTION: B. McCulley MOVED to table the discussion on the three members to the Supt. Search Committee until the next Board Meeting. SECOND: G. White. VOTE: 11.931/0/0/3.069. Motion passes.

R. Thackston informed the Board that he has had a request from the Chair of the Budget Committee for funding for a recording secretary. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to grant the request by the Budget Committee Chair for funding for a recording secretary. SECOND: J. Kenyon. DISCUSSION: K. Dassau explained that the Board’s recording secretary receives $100.00 a meeting. B. Tatro asked how many meetings they would anticipate. J. Fortson said there would be about 10 or 11 meetings. R. Marra commented that they had to cut the budget so where will the money come from. K. Dassau said that the funds would be coming out of the operating budget. C. Johnson asked why they needed a recording secretary. J. Fortson explained that the member doing the minutes could not represent their town properly. VOTE: 7.280/2.358/2.293/3.069. Motion passes.

R. Thackston explained that he had received an e mail from Peter Majoy asking for time on the agenda to give a presentation on opening a public charter high school of choice in the Monadnock region called the Ashuelot Valley Academy. He asked if anyone objected and none did so he will place him on the agenda in May.

R. Thackston explained to the Board that the Saturday article in the Sentinel quoting references made by him were not recently made. It was well over a year ago and he was never contacted for this recent article.

K. Craig informed the Board that the Emerson Destination Imagination Team came in first in the region and third in the state. K. Dassau was asked to send letters to the children to congratulate them.

3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: No representative present.

4. PUBLIC COMMENTS: S. Rashid explained that he commented at the last meeting that he would like to have instructional assistant’s not instructional teachers as written in the minutes. The minutes will reflect the correction.

5. SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Board Committee Reports:

1. Community Relations Committee: A. Gross handed out the minutes of the last meeting to the Board. He explained that the committee would like the Board to make their decisions on issues early in order for the committee to sell the ideas to the public. He also commented on the fact that communication between the parents and schools as well as the School Board needs to improve. The next meeting will be on May 10, 2005 at 7:00 PM. K. Cota asked about the August time frame as stated in the minutes. J. Carnie asked if they are going with the 22 classrooms. R. Thackston commented that it was hypothetical.

2. Facilities Committee: C. Dreyfuss explained that the committee met on April 14, 2005 but did not have a quorum. She commented on the letter from the NEASC dated April 8, 2005 noting that Monadnock is still being placed on warning. They did say that they were pleased with the progress and would ask for a report due in November of 2005. The next meeting will be on April 22, 2005 in the Maintenance Building at 8:00 AM. R. Bauries asked if the Budget Committee could get a copy of the letter from the NEASC. R. Thackston gave R. Bauries a copy.

3. Policy Committee: G. White reported that the committee met on April 12, 2005 and will be meeting on May 10, 2005 at 5:30 PM. He passed out a copy of the proposed changes to Policy BBBE for review. He would ask for a motion in two weeks.

4. Northern Schools Committee: B. McCulley reported that the committee met last week but he was unable to attend. A. Gross attended the meeting and reported that the committee reviewed the results of the survey. They also discussed more demographic information and cost information. The next meeting will be in Gilsum on May 4, 2005. K. Cota asked if the committee was going to survey the rest of the district. B. McCulley explained that the committee has not made a decision one way or the other on that idea. He said that the original instructions from the Board were to bring a report back to the Board in May. B. Tatro said that he would like to see the results of the survey. D. Mousette said that the survey results would be complete by the second meeting in May.

5. The Cheshire Career Center: A. Gross reported that the renovations to the center have been completed and the NATEF Certification has been fulfilled. The regional agreements will be reviewed soon. A. Gross highlighted parts of the tour at the open house. C. Dreyfuss also commented on the new completed renovations. A. Gross commented on the fact that because of the vans more students from Monadnock have been able to attend the CCC. He also commented on Keene and Monadnock school calendars. K. Dassau added that the district now owns the two vans.

6. OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:

A. Finance Committee Reports:

1. Review Balance Sheet: B. McCulley explained that the committee met

prior to tonight’s meeting and reviewed the financial materials. He said that J. Carnie was named Vice Chair. The committee has agreed to meet a half an hour prior to the regular Board Meetings. Financial information will be sent to the Board Members in the Board packets for review prior to the meetings.

2. Action on the Manifest: MOTION: K. Cota MOVED the manifest in the

amount of $891,171.23. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: J. Carnie requested that the payment to Antioch be broken down and explained each time in the manifest. VOTE: 5.601/0/6.330/3.069. Motion passes.

B. New Business: Negotiation Committee: C. Dreyfuss was named chair of the committee. She explained that the committee met on April 15, 2005 for a planning session. They will be reviewing contracts for the teachers and the support staff. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to request to the Board that they hire Attorney Doug Hatfield for the negotiations. SECOND: K. Cota DISCUSSION: J. Carnie asked how they arrived at this request. C. Dreyfuss said that D. Hatfield has the most experience. VOTE: 7.801/3.109/1.021/3.069. Motion passes.

C. Old Business: D. Hodgdon explained to the Board that the Middle School Principals Search was completed this afternoon and he will bring the information to the Board during non-public session.

A. Gross spoke about the departure of C. Cardine. He said he felt that C. Cardine was passionate and deeply cared for the children. C. Cardine managed to get the District out of a bad deficit, he was instrumental in receiving the MRPSOC Grant, he moved the Middle School Concept forward and he helped establish the alternative high school. He will be missed tremendously.

D. Curriculum Report: D Dahl gave a 15 minute tour of the Troy Elementary. While touring the school D. Dahl noted the fire dangers and the lack of space for the students. The group also toured the Communication Disorders (Autism) room.

8. Interim Superintendent’s Report: K. Dassau introduced D. Most the assistant Business Manager and offered an appreciative thank you to Terry Stepenuck for her work in assisting him and especially for her work in preparing materials for the Board orientation last Saturday. He also thanked D. Hodgdon for his efforts and administrative support. The Board applauded both for their work.

In the future the principals will be providing a informational report in the board packets beginning the second meeting in May.

K. Dassau informed the Board that Louise Nichols a teacher at Mt. Caesar has given her letter of resignation. She wished to thank the Board for her many years of service. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to accept Louise Nichols resignation SECOND: B. Tatro. VOTE: 11.931/0/0/3.069. Motion passes.

K. Dassau informed the Board that there will need to be two non-public sessions.

9. Board Chair Report: R. Thackston informed the Board Members that did not attend the meeting this past Saturday that there are binders available for them. He explained to the people that could not attend that they discussed mostly procedural items. He said it was a good conversation. They also discussed financial issues. He explained to the Board his principal concerns and the mechanics of running the meeting. K. Cota commented that it was a worthwhile meeting.

10. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:

1. Committees

2. Mr. Majoy/ Ashuelot Valley Academy

3. Policy BBBE

4. Superintendent Search Members

J. Carnie asked if there was an annual report on the MRPSOC Grant. K. Dassau

commented that the grant is in the Auditor’s Report from June.

11. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS: J. Fortson thanked the Board for funding the recording secretary.

N. Moriarty commented on the fact that C. Cardine probably had the days coming to him but there should be a policy.

N. Moriarty commented that the District should know why a person would resign after 12 years of service. The Board should keep statistics. He said that this is not a Budget Committee function but a Board function. R. Thackston asked if there was an exit interview. K. Dassau explained that there is an exit interview. B. McCulley commented that possibly the information in the exit interview is not the Board’s business. It is private.

Ms. J. Thompson, a parent of a MC2 student asked about getting on the agenda for the MC2 School. R. Thackston told her to email him but that does not guarantee that anyone will be on the agenda.

12. 8:52 PM Non Public Session. RSA 19A 3 II B Hiring a public employee. K. Cota MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of teacher nominations. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss VOTE: 11.931/0/0/3.069

9:35 PM A. Gross MOVED to return to public session. SECOND:.B. Tatro VOTE: Unanimous for members present. Motion passes.

9:37 PM B. McCulley MOVED to enter into non-public session for RSA 189.14-a to discuss a request for a hearing. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss VOTE: 11.931/0/0/3.069. MOTION PASSES.

9:36 PM K. Cota MOVED to return to public session. SECOND:.G. White VOTE: Unanimous for members present. MOTION PASSES.

Non approved non public minutes attached.

13. 9:36 ADJOURNMENT: MOTION: A. Gross MOVED to adjourn at PM. SECOND: G. White. VOTE: unanimous for those present. Motion passes.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Secretary