Board Meeting Minutes
Present: Robin Marra, Richard Thackston, Colline Dreyfuss, Bruce Tatro, Alan Gross, Karen Cota, Bruce McCulley, Jonathan Kenyon, Gene White, Jeff Friedman, Jason Hill and Tim Aho. Absent: Charles Johnson, James Carnie and John Morin. .
Also present: K. Dassau, Interim Supt., D. Hodgdon, Dir. of Curriculum, and D. Most, Assistant Business Manager. Principals: D. Mousette, K. Craig, D. Dahl, and B. Tatro.
R. Thackston explained the
agenda, which will be followed tonight. He summarized the Board’s action to
this point. D. Arguin would give the presentation the Board had received in
Presenter: D. Arguin explained that the committee had a
charge from the School Board and they did what was asked and delivered a
recommendation by June. D. Arguin proceeded with the power point presentation
that B. McCulley had given in
1. PUBLIC COMMENTS: W. Brown commented on the statements of declining enrollment in Surry. He said that it is due to the fear of closing the school and how the SAU is running the district. He said that the building projects are not passing and the accreditation is in question. He said that he attended the NSC Meetings and was allowed to comment but not participate. He commented on the good Surry test scores and asked for the Board to consider a transition year.
F. Conroy said that he has two children who have done very well in the triple classrooms. He would agree with W. Brown to have a transition period. The school holds the community together. He said that he is not buying in to the fact that it is not a financial problem.
E. Winter asked about the rush to
make a decision and questioned the lack of a transition period. The town wants
to have a meeting and find ways to keep their school open. He asked if the
F. Breton asked if the Board had
moral permission to close the school. The Town of
B. Bigelow said that he had questions that he would like a response to. R. Thackston said that the Board policy is to try and avoid point/counterpoint scenarios. B. Bigelow said he would wait until everyone on the list spoke.
D. Arguin asked for B. Bigelow’s questions.
B. Bigelow asked about the 15-20 students per class, as recommended. He asked if research was done to support the need for such a class size. D. Arguin said that the 15-20 students came from the administration and the staff. He said that academically and socially the triple classrooms are not good. No other school in the state has triple classrooms.
D. Arguin underscored the difficulty with change. He commented on the process, saying that Surry was represented and there was ample opportunity to speak at the meetings. The committee thought that this recommendation was a district solution and educationally sound.
W. Brown said a school should not be taken away from its town. He asked if there were any avenues that the Board could use instead. He said that the townspeople need more time.
BOARD COMMENTS: K. Cota is disturbed that a motion was made on
T. Aho said that his kids went through double classrooms but that is not the point. The point is the triple classrooms. Providing a teacher for Surry is not solving the problems for Gilsum and Sullivan.
C. Dreyfuss explained why the Facilities Committee made the recommendation to choose Sullivan as the second school.
J. Friedman explained that, when
the Northern Schools Committee voted their recommendation, he was in
A. Gross commented on how Surry
is an amazing community and how happy the children are. He would suggest
protecting what is great in our district. He will be making a motion later for
the use of the
B. McCulley commented on the difference between a town with a school and one without. The Board has issues to deal with and the perception of how the community feels about the Board.
R. Marra explained that he formed
the AD HOC Committee and out of that
committee they had a public meeting in October of 2004. The meeting was well
attended and a draft was presented concerning the Northern Schools. A member
asked if there would be a school closing in 2005-2006. The answer was no. On
R. Thackston said that he
suggested a few years ago that the Board close
B. McCulley apologized to R. Marra and the committee for not focusing on the transition year. He said that he felt somewhat pessimistic that the committee would come back in June. That is why they did not focus on the transition period.
MOTION: A. Gross MOVED to
allow a year of transition before implementing the plan of the Northern Schools
Committee. SECOND: J. Friedman. DISCUSSION: C. Dreyfuss asked what the
recommendation of the NSC is. R. Thackston explained that it would be to have
Gilsum house the K, 4, 5, and 6 grades and either Surry or Sullivan would house
1, 2, and 3 grades. C. Dreyfuss commented that the motion does not speak to
which school to close. A. Gross restated the motion. MOTION: A. Gross MOVED that
the District act to implement the recommendation of the Northern Schools
Committee and Facilities Committee by consolidating classes for the 3 Northern
Towns into Gilsum and Sullivan buildings effective September 2006. SECOND: J. Friedman. DISCUSSION: C. Dreyfuss commented that
the motion is saying to defer the plan for 12 months and for what purpose. The
Board has decided. She said that she does not understand why the extra time is
needed. A. Gross commented that the time would allow a committee to come up
with an alternative use for Surry and not the Board. B. McCulley commented that
the motion makes a clear affirmative action and states the Board’s intent. The
Facilities may want to take the role to find an alternative use. J. Kenyon said that he does not see what will
be gained over 2 months versus 12 months. They know based on the motion that
2. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS: W. Brown
said that he was very disappointed that the Board did not listen to the Town of
K. Sportello said that she was very disappointed in the Board’s decision. She said that Rt. 12 A is not a problem and that there is not a lot of difference between the two schools. She commented that Surry is an excellent school.
B. Bigelow said that he was disappointed and has always been in support of the children and building plans. He felt as if there were a lot of hidden agendas in the decision making.
C. Winter said that property values in Surry are going up and he will not dispute that, but the constant threat of closing the school is attracting the retired people. The town needs young families as well. He said that he is disappointed in the Board and would ask them to reconsider.
A parent commented on the fact that triple classrooms have worked wonderfully for her children.
F. Breton commented that he hoped the Board realizes that he will not support the budget, any building projects or students attending Surry that are not from Surry.
F. Conroy asked how the Board could take a vote tonight, when they had already voted for the one-year transition previously.
A Sullivan parent was upset to
hear the comments about
R. Thackston suggested that an alternative use discussion for Surry be an agenda item.
3.
SETTING THE
AGENDA:
1. Committee Reports
2. Formation
of a
3. Action on the manifest
4. Dir. of Facilities
4. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to adjourn at
Respectfully submitted,
Laura L. Aivaliotis
MRSD Secretary