MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

                                                 June 27, 2005

                              Monadnock Regional Jr. Sr. High School Swanzey, NH

                      

 

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 Richmond by B. McCulley. He asked that anyone wishing to speak under Public Comments address their comments and concerns about the Northern Schools issue.

 

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 Richmond. He explained that the committee came back with a requested recommendation in June in order to implement it in the fall. He also explained that the committee did not want to lose the third school so they chose to leave it open for future use. R. Thackston stated that it is the opinion of the chair that the Board accepted the report from the committee and now it is the responsibility of the Board to take action. He explained that the Board ran out of time on June 21, 2005 while discussing the Northern Schools and for that reason this meeting was scheduled.

 

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 Surry School was already in the 2005-2006 budget. R. Thackston responded that it was.

 

F. Breton asked if the Board had moral permission to close the school. The Town of Surry has not given them permission. He said that Cutler and Troy are crowded and suggested the use of space at Sullivan, Surry and Gilsum.

 

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 June 7, 2005, which she reread.  She indicated that it sounded as if R. Thackston was saying something different. R. Thackston said that the procedure the Board had on June 7, 2005 was correct. K. Cota felt that the people of the Northern Schools had ample opportunities to go to the meetings. She said that the Roxbury kids travel and do not have a store or post office, but still have a close-knit community, and she does not believe that Surry will dry up and go away. She said that no one said to close the school, but to find an alternative use.

 

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 Connecticut. There was also no selectman from Surry present. He would suggest a transitional period or a total reversal.

 

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 Surry School.

 

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 November 2, 2004 a revised plan was presented and pointed out the transition period in 2005-2006. On February 2, 2005 a charge was distributed to the Northern Schools Committee, stating that there would be a transition period during 2005-2006. He said that he is not sure where the confusion came from. He does believe that the committee brought forth a solid recommendation.

 

R. Thackston said that he suggested a few years ago that the Board close Surry School and the Board did not take action. When the NSC was formed in February of 2005, he had no idea that this would happen. He would tend to think that this recommendation is sound and good. He commented on the fact that in the 8 towns Surry has the higher rate of turnover when it comes to real estate.

 

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 Surry School will be closed. The decision resulted from a process of 5 months and should not be a surprise. The larger classrooms will allow the transition to the Junior High easier for the children. K. Cota commented that she believes that the committee went through the process and came back with an excellent report. The Chair of the committee needs to represent the committee. The NSC looked at a timeline; they did their homework and looked at the transition piece. She said that she would stand behind the committee’s recommendation. B. Tatro said that he sees no purpose to delay the decision a year. He said that the work focused on what is best educationally. He said not agreeing with postponing the inevitable. It is important to move on and find a different use for the Surry School. J. Friedman commented that he felt one year is not going to kill anybody. R. Marra commented that the motion is not adding 10 or 12 months, but asking the Board to agree with the timeline, which was voted unanimously by the school board in November. B. McCulley commented that the NSC went through a 5-month process and the decision was made at the end of the meetings, so that would make the decision fairly recent. R. Thackston commented that the work of the committee was honest, fair and straight- forward. K. Dassau clarified that the transition period was to implement the recommendation of the committee to have time to organize into the Gilsum and Sullivan Schools. VOTE: 5.196/6.695/0/3.109 Motion does not pass. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss. MOVED to accept the Facilities Committee recommendation and select Sullivan School as the second school and Surry School to be used for an alternative use. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 8.895/1.882/1.114/3.109. Motion passes.        

 

2. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS: W. Brown said that he was very disappointed that the Board did not listen to the Town of Surry and allow a transition year.

 

     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 Sullivan School. She said that Sullivan is a good school and asked why the children in Sullivan have to go into 3 classrooms.

 

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 Surry School Usage Committee

3.      Action on the manifest

4.      Dir. of Facilities

 

4. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to adjourn at 8:50 PM. SECOND: B. Tatro. VOTE: 11.891/0/0/3.109. Motion passes.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Secretary