Board Meeting Minutes
Present: Richard Thackston, Robin Marra, Colline Dreyfuss, Tim Aho, Jason Hill, Alan Gross, Karen Cota, Bruce McCulley, Jonathan Kenyon, Jeff Friedman, Gene White, B. Tatro and James Carnie. Absent: Charles Johnson and John Morin.
Also present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, D. Hodgdon, Dir. of Curriculum and L. Biron, Business Manager. Principals: J. Smith, D. Dahl, K. Craig, K. Carter, M. Young, D. Mousette and B. Tatro.
R. Thackston called the meeting to
order at
R. Thackston read the mission statement:
“The
1 CONSENT AGENDA:
Minutes of
Minutes
of
2. CORRESPONDENCE
AND ANNOUNCEMENT: R. Thackston informed the Board that he had received a
letter from the Roxbury Selectmen and would take this issue up under “New
Business.” MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to address the letter from the
Roxbury Selectmen at this time in the agenda. SECOND: T. Aho VOTE: 10.179/1.179/1.114/1.988.
Motion passes.
D. Jewett informed
the Board that a mistake had been made on the MS1 and the
K. Dassau informed the Board that there is a request from the attorney for Surry to address the Board under “Public Comments” R. Thackston asked if she is a voter in the District. K. Dassau responded no.
3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: No representative present.
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS: G. Bednarski had signed up to speak, but would wait until the attorney for the Surry group arrives.
P. Bauries asked if the information she had requested at the past SAU meeting was available. L. Biron said that he did not have that information with him but would give that information to P. Bauries.
D. Bauries had signed up to speak, but would hold his comments.
K. Dassau informed the Board that the meeting is being taped by Bob Lund.
5. SCHOOL
BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Board Committee
Reports:
1. Community Relations Report: A. Gross informed the Board that the committee has not met but should be setting a date by the end of this meeting.
2. Facilities Report: C.
Dreyfuss informed the Board that the committee had not met since the special
meeting on
3. Finance Committee: B.
McCulley reported to the Board that the committee met at
4. Policy Committee: G. White passed out a letter from Attorney Hatfield on School Board Vacancies. This is a letter of information and requires no action.
5. The Special Committee to
Study the use of
6. OTHER
SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:
A. Action on the Manifest: MOTION: T.
Aho MOVED to set the manifest aside
until later in the meeting. SECOND: J.
Hill. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes.
B. New Business: Discussion on the
Facilities Director and Vote: C. Dreyfuss was concerned with the decision
from the Finance Committee on the Facilities Director. By not funding it, the position
was in effect non-existent. C. Dreyfuss asked about the research for the
decision. B. McCulley stated that the current budget is not adequate to cover
what they have now so it would be inappropriate to add more expenditures. C.
Dreyfuss thought that the committee was asked to come up with a compensation
package. B. McCulley said next year. C. Dreyfuss said that there is no figure
for next year’s budget. R. Thackston asked if anyone would like to discuss the
job description. K. Cota commented that the Facilities Committee did their job
and the Finance Committee has skirted around the issue. She said that the Board
needs that information. She would like the Board to charge the Finance
Committee to come up with a compensation package. R. Thackston asked what the will of the Board was. At least half of the
process has been completed would anyone like to move the adoption of the job
description. MOTION: C.
Dreyfuss MOVED to accept the job
description for the Facilities Director as presented. SECOND: J. Hill DISCUSSION: T.
Aho asked if the Finance Committee received a copy of the job description. C.
Dreyfuss said that she sent a copy to the Chair and Vice Chair. VOTE: 10.777/0/2.235/1.988. Motion passes. R. Thackston asked if
anyone would like to make a motion on the compensation. MOTION: A. Gross MOVED to
accept the recommendation of the Finance Committee. SECOND: B. McCulley. DISCUSSION:
K. Cota expressed concern about the Finance Committee’s decision and said
that the numbers need to be created for the next budget. R. Thackston said that
the motion does not prohibit the Board from asking the Finance Committee to be more specific with a salary and
benefits package in the future. The Finance Committee has acted within their
charge. R. Thackston commented that he would be voting against the motion. A. Gross
said that he spoke to administration and principals and half said that this was
not a priority and to have it in the next budget. T. Aho commented that there
is a deficit because we are overspending. B. McCulley commented that it would
be irresponsible to spend what we do not have. We need to find ways to balance
the budget. J. Carnie commented that he did not vote for or against the motion at
the Finance Committee meeting. He said that we have a budget that we need to
look at to avoid overspending and recommended that the school board look at
this for the middle of January. J. Kenyon said that most of the problems with the
overspending are with construction. Although he does not support overspending, a
Facilities Director is needed to oversee construction spending. The Finance Committee needs to come up with a
benefits package to deal with the real numbers and find a spot when to hire. K.
Cota commented that, if we knew what the compensation package would look like,
we could form a committee and hire within the next ½ year. R. Thackston asked
the Board to reconsider and restate the motion and ask the Finance Committee to
develop a compensation package for a Facilities Director. B. Tatro asked for a
point of order and commented that the motion deserves to rise or fall on its own merits. B. McCulley commented that
the committee is not opposed to creating the position. The committee has the
task of looking at the budget’s shortfall and will work on the compensation
package in due time. C. Dreyfuss stated that in the
C.
Old
Business: Discussion on the septic: B. Tatro talked to the Swanzey Sewer
Commission and will be attending their meeting tomorrow. They told him that
they are ahead of schedule. B. Tatro suggested that the Board take a serious
look at hooking up now. C. Dreyfuss commented that she did talk to SVE and did
receive a proposal in June. B. Tatro said that the engineer commented that they
plan to extend the line as far as they can and will let the Board know. K. Cota
commented that the Facilities Committee has been working on this since June and
it would have been nice to have received this information before. She asked
that the information be in writing.
R. Thackston
informed the Board that he has been informed by the Swanzey Select board that
they have not been paid for the building permits from the district. A. Gross
asked if they would like it retroactively. R. Thackston said that they would
like to be paid for what they have there. A. Gross asked what the past practice
has been. R. Thackston said that the Board has not had to pay the full price.
R. Thackston said that it is several thousands of dollars that they owe. J.
Carnie asked to get the opinion of the attorney. He informed the Board that
there was land behind the town hall that the schools gave to the Town of
D.
Curriculum
Report: D. Hodgdon included information in the Board packets and went over
the highlights with the Board. He explained to the Board what curriculum work
is being done during the summer. He mentioned the mentoring program which he believes
is very important because there will be a number of teachers retiring during
the next several years. He informed the Board that a national presenter would
be offering a Writing Training Session, which is well subscribed. The Middle
School Task Force met for three days in July and decided that it had completed its
tasks. D. Hodgdon shared a map of the components of a middle school in
Monadnock and a continuum for each component identifying the ideal, acceptable,
and unacceptable. M. Young, the Middle School principal, has decided to form an
advisory group representing teachers, staff and parents to serve some of the
purposes of the Middle School Task Force, which will be suspended.
K. Cota asked about the balance sheet. She said that she was not familiar with the format. L. Biron said that it is an example of what the real balance sheet would look like. K. Cota asked where the Capitol Reserve was. L. Biron said that it has not been loaded. L. Biron read the amounts in the Capitol Reserves. K. Cota commented that the Capitol Reserve had dropped. L. Biron said that it reflects the warrant articles and interest. J. Carnie said that he did not see the MRPSOC information. L. Biron said that he did not give it to Kathy. R. Thackston asked where it was in the manifest. L. Biron said that it was a single item in the manifest. L. Biron said that it is a timing problem.
7. Superintendent’s Report: K. Dassau informed the Board that they will enter into non-public session for litigation and hiring on employees.
K. Dassau informed the Board that they are invited to opening day at MRHS on Friday, August 26.
K. Dassau informed the Board that they have been invited to participate in Board Training sponsored by the MRPSOC Grant. Information to be forthcoming.
K. Dassau wished to thank the Board for supporting his appointment to the Superintendent position. An ad for the position of SAU Director of Special Services will be coming out soon. He hopes to then appoint an Assistant Superintendent for Monadnock through internal restructuring. He is assessing the SAU support positions as well. He will plan to have a report to the SAU Board in October.
8. Board Chair Report: R. Thackston explained that he has completed his visits to the surrounding Select boards all except Surry. He has been asked to compile the notes for the Board and Select Boards.
9. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:
1. Committee Reports
2. Report from Business Manager (Lounder and Cushing questions.)
3. Project Director MRPSOC Programs
4. Report from B. Tatro on Swanzey Sewer Commission
10. Action on the Manifest: MOTION: R. Marra MOVED the manifest in the amount of $1,244,239.17. SECOND: G. White. DISCUSSION: T. Aho questioned a check in the amount of $.03. He also asked about a check to Cushing and Sons and one to Lounder. L. Biron said that he would look into those questions. B. McCulley asked about the Platinum plus card. L. Biron said it is a Bank One MasterCard. T. Aho mentioned Lounder and Cushing because he did not see any bids. He said that the bidding process had not been followed in the past. C. Dreyfuss commented that it was standing policy for $5000.00 or more. R. Thackston commented that the motion could be amended. L. Biron said that Lounder was a 5% retainer from Gilsum, which we agreed to pay after the settlement. It was an agreement. B. McCulley commented that, if we release the checks then we are not following policy. J. Carnie suggested paying the vendors and then get the answers. VOTE: 10.812/1.021/1.179/1.988. Motion passes.
11. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS: G. Bednarski asked G. White, the Chair of the Policy Committee, what the lawyer told him about the policy regarding vacancies and the copy that was sent to R. Thackston. G. White said that he does not have it.
G. Bednarski commented on an article in the Sentinel regarding the quality of education. He commented on the triple classrooms in the Northern Schools.
W. Brown requested that Attorney
Rebecca Todd be able to read a letter on behalf of the Surry Education
Evaluation Committee. MOTION: J.
Friedman MOVED to allow Rebecca Todd
to speak on behalf of the Education Evaluation Committee. SECOND: J. Kenyon. DISCUSSION:
It was commented that some of the Board’s attorneys are not voting citizens
in the district and are allowed to speak. T. Aho asked if there was a copy of
the letter. The answer was yes. B. McCulley said that he felt it appropriate
because she was speaking on behalf of the Town of
A. Gross commented on the excellent article in the Keene Sentinel. He commented on the multi-grades and the test scores in Surry.
R. Thackston asked for a 5-minute recess.
12. 9:50 PM Non Public Session. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to enter into non-public session
for the purpose of hiring new employees under RSA 91 A3II (a). SECOND: J. Kenyon. Roll call: J. Kenyon, A.
Gross, J. Carnie, B. McCulley, K. Cota, C. Dreyfuss, J. Hill, T. Aho, G. White,
J. Friedman, B. Tatro, R. Marra and R. Thackston. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion
passes.
MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED to
extend the Board Meeting past
13. 10:02 PM Non-public Session. MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED to enter into non-public session
for the purpose of hiring new employees under RSA 91 A3II (a). SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. Roll call: J. Kenyon, A. Gross, J.
Carnie, B. McCulley, K. Cota, C. Dreyfuss, J. Hill, T. Aho, G. White, J.
Friedman, B. Tatro, R. Marra and R. Thackston.
VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes.
R. Thackston asked J. Friedman to leave as he was one of the Surry citizens who signed the petition against the district.
14. 10:18 PM Non-public Session: MOTION: R. Marra MOVED to enter into non-public session
for the purpose of litigation’s under RSA 91 A32:E. SECOND: J. Kenyon. Roll call:
J. Kenyon, A. Gross, J. Carnie, B. McCulley, K. Cota, C. Dreyfuss, J. Hill,
T. Aho, G. White, B. Tatro, R. Marra and R. Thackston. VOTE: 12.309/0/0/2.691. Motion
passes.
R. Thackston informed the public after the non-public session that no action was taken during non-public session.
15. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION: T. Aho MOVED to adjourn at
Respectfully submitted,
Laura L. Aivaliotis
MRSD Secretary