MRSD School Board minutes

Approved minutes

MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

Monadnock Regional Junior/Senior High School, Swanzey, NH

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

Also present: K. Dassau, Interim Supt., D. Hodgdon, Dir. of Curriculum, and L. Biron, Business Manager. Principals: D. Mousette, K. Craig, S. Rashid, K. Carter and B. Tatro and Joe Smith.

1 CONSENT AGENDA:

Minutes of May 3, 2005 Board Meeting. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to approve the minutes. SECOND: B. Tatro. DISCUSSION: During the discussion under “Charge to Community Relations, K. Cota would like the minutes to reflect the fact that she did not mention Hinsdale but said our neighbors instead. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes.

2. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENT: R. Thackston advised the

Board that T. Parker and J. Tommila felt that it is imperative to pursue a Facilities Manager. They commented that the Board has had successful goals with a Manager in the past and it is urgent for building plans.

C. Dreyfuss informed the Board of the upcoming Spring Concert on May 27, 2005 in the cafeteria. The show is to benefit the Music Department.

S. Rashid commented on Maureen Lord as Teacher of the Year. The Board requested a letter be sent to Ms. Lord to congratulate her.

3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: No representative present.

4. PUBLIC COMMENTS: W. Imon commented that he has not been hearing any mention of the Accreditation. He would like to know if there is a committee on this and he would like to hear a report on a regular basis.

R. Bauries asked C. Dreyfuss what would be on the agenda at the Saturday, May 21, 2005 meeting. K. Cota said that the meeting would be a discussion on the facility needs based on the curriculum of the Middle School.

MOTION: A. Gross MOVED to change the order of the agenda and allow P. Majoy to give his presentation at this time. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes.

Mr. Majoy-Ashuelot Valley Academy (AVA): B. White reviewed the information in the packet presented to the Board from the AVA Committee. She introduced the committee members present at the meeting. The group informed the Board that the AVA is looking at three sites: Troy Mills and two satellite locations both in Winchester one at the Kelly View Farm and one at the ELM Center. The committee asked three requests of the Board. The first request is for the MRSD to become the fiscal agent to the Charter Planning grant. The second request is to have the charter school warrant article on the ballot with the other school warrant articles. The third request is to have a volunteer from the Board to be a liaison to the committee. B. McCulley asked the grade level of the students. P. Majoy said 9-12 grades. T. Aho asked if Thayer High would be used. P. Majoy said no. P. Majoy could supply the Board with a list of names on the larger committee. C. Dreyfuss asked if the charter school would accept Spec. Ed. Students. P. Majoy said that they would be accepted as long as the school was acceptable to them. K. Cota felt that the statement that this school will relieve the overcrowding is misleading because the AVA would not be to full capacity for six years. P. Majoy said that it is their intention to help with overcrowding. R. Thackston informed the Board that the request is to have the MRSD as the fiscal agent. P. Majoy said that the fiscal agent is one of the three requests. J. Carnie asked if they had asked any other Boards and P. Majoy said that they had asked Winchester but because of their agreement with Keene their lawyer advised against it. MOTION: A. Gross MOVED to allow the Board to act as the fiscal agent for the study money for the Ashuelot Valley Academy. SECOND: B. McCulley. DISCUSSION: T. Aho said that he would prefer that the agreement were in writing. K. Cota asked if the MRSD would be responsible for any funds and any employee time. P. Majoy said that it does not bind the MRSD to do anything except write the checks. A. Gross felt that this idea is worth trying out. C. Dreyfuss commented on the group going the easiest way. P. Majoy explained that the easiest way is to eliminate the community in the decision and go directly to the state. The group would like to have the community involved. J. Carnie commented on the fact that on May 4, 2005 the SAU Board refused the request and tonight the Board is voting on a motion that would go against their decision. P. Majoy commented that the job to be fiscal agent is very minimal. P. Majoy explained that the AVA group is responsible to report the funds to the state not the fiscal agent. R. Bauries asked if the School Board approved this request would the AVA be able to tap into the MRPSOC funds. P. Majoy explained that the law is written where a federal grant can not be offered to a charter school. D. Connell commented that he is very much in favor of this request. R. Thackston commented that it is always a mistake not to consider different options. It does not reflect an endorsement but reflects open thinking and an opportunity to explore an option. VOTE: 7.643/4.255/1.114/1.988. Motion passes. R. Thackston informed the Board that he would be willing to be the liaison to the AVA and as far as the warrant article goes R. Thackston asked that the committee to come back to the School Board.

5. SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Board Committee Reports:

1. Community Relations Committee: A. Gross informed the Board that the committee met on May 10, 2005. He commented on the presentation at the SAU Meeting given by M. Sullivan about the Winchester and Hinsdale bond votes. He said that members from those Boards would be meeting with the Community Relations committee to give ideas. He announced that J. Morin was voted in as V. Chair and G. White as secretary. The next meeting is on June 14, 2005 at 7:00 PM.

2. Facilities Committee: C. Dreyfuss informed the Board that they met on May 6, 2005 and would be meeting on May 20, 2005. The committee discussed the Monadnock Fitness Room with Mr. Pickering. The committee chose not to endorse this project until they had all the information. The “Needs Meeting” on Saturday, May 21, 2005 will focus on the curriculum not on space. The committee discussed the Facilities Manager and will bring recommendation under New Business.

3. Finance Committee: B. McCulley reported that the committee met at 6:00 PM this evening and discussed the recommendation from the Facilities Committee for a modular unit. This unit will free up space in the school for the Middle School Autism Program. The committee also would like to make the Board aware of the interest in which the District has to pay on short-term loans because the payments from the towns are late. A. Gross would suggest that the District and the towns discuss the situation.

J. Carnie asked about the adequacy aide error with Troy and Surry. L. Biron passed out a letter to the Board from the NH Dept. of Ed. The letter explained that an error was made by the Dept. of Ed. in the count of the children in the towns for the free and reduced lunch. In the 01-02 school year 67 extra students that should have been in Troy’s count were in Surry’s count. This error was in the amount of $136,278.00. Surry will be paying Troy that amount spread over two years.

4. Policy Committee: G. White reported that the committee met last Tuesday and will be meeting on May 24, 2005 at 5:30 PM. The committee has two policies that they would like to present tonight. Policy EBCE School Closings. MOTION: G. White MOVED to add the following statement to the existing Policy EBCE: the Superintendent will be provided with a written procedure of each school at the beginning of each school year. SECOND: B. Tatro. DISCUSSION: K. Cota asked why not one policy for every school. R. Thackston said one size does not fit all. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes. G. White read the existing Policy BBBE Unexpired Term Fulfillment. MOTION: B. Tatro MOVED the following additions to Policy BBBE: When a school board vacancy occurs the Board Chair will contact the Selectmen in the town where that vacancy occurs to appoint a board member. If the appointment is not filled by the Selectmen within 60 calendar days the vacancy will be filled by appointment from the school board. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: Amendment to the motion. MOTION: G. White MOVED to make the following changes: When a school board vacancy occurs the Board Chair will contact the Selectmen of the town where the vacancy occurred to nominate a board member. If the nomination is not received from the Selectmen within the 60 calendar days the vacancy will be filled by appointment from the School Board. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: G. White said that he was not sure that the Selectmen could appoint but they could nominate that is the reason for the changes. J. Carnie asked what the warrant article stated. G. White said that it did not apply to three of the towns. C. Dreyfuss commented that in the past it was difficult to fill a position. J. Kenyon commented that the amendment would be the same as the original idea that the towns would have no input. J. Carnie read the warrant and commented that he was involved with this warrant from the beginning. C. Dreyfuss read the RSAs and they are conflicting. B. McCulley said that the Board is making a mountain out of a molehill. He would hope that the School Board would listen to the nominations from the towns. A. Gross commented that the Board has gone back to the Selectmen. He said that it sounds as if there is a lack of trust to the Board. R. Thackston commented that the Board should stick to the wording brought by the voters. He said that he would be voting against the motion because it is not what the voters asked for. J. Carnie said that the voters clearly wanted the Selectmen to vote the vacancies. He will be voting against the motion. VOTE on the amendment: 6.851/5.211/.95/1.988. Motion passes. MOTION to amend: R. Marra MOVED to amend the amended motion to change the amount of days from 60 calendar days to 30 calendar days. SECOND: B. McCulley. DISCUSSION: R. Marra stated facts concerning how many vacancies the Board has had and how long they were vacant. He felt that 60 days is too long for a town not to be represented on the Board. VOTE on the amendment: 11.057/1.955/0/1.988. Motion passes. The original motion amended twice was read. VOTE on original motion amended twice: 10.712/2.3/0/1.988. Motion passes.

5. Northern Schools Committee: B. McCulley reported that the committee met last Thursday and will be meeting May 18, 2005 and the next two Wednesdays there after. The committee would request to be on the agenda June 7, 2005 to present a proposal on the committee’s recommendation.

6. The Cheshire Career Center: No report.

7. SAU- Mr. Thackston: R. Thackston reported to the Board that R. Marra was named Chair of the SAU Board.

1. Status of Superintendent Search: R. Thackston reported that the SAU Board put the search into process and has asked Winchester and Hinsdale to choose a member to be the representative on the Search Committee. R. Thackston appointed J. Smith, S. Rashid, P. Bauries and W. Wright to serve on the committee. He was unable to contact C. Kahn but if she is unable to serve he has an alternate. MOTION: R. Marra MOVED to accept the recommendation by the Chair to appoint R. Thackston, B. Tatro, J. Carnie, J. Smith, S. Rashid, P. Bauries, W. Wright and C. Kahn to the Superintendent Search Committee. SECOND: G. White. VOTE: 11.122/0/1.890/1.988. Motion passes.

6.OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:

A. New Business:

1. Mr. Majoy/Ashuelot Valley Academy: Presentation given at an earlier time on the agenda.

School Security Policy: K. Dassau reported that the Policy Committee had an informal discussion on the safety of schools and was not recommending any policy changes.

2. MC2: K. Dassau reported on the questions asked at the last Board Meeting. He reported that the MC2 School has 38 students. Students are required to check in at 7:45 AM. The budget for the MC2 School is $399,543.00. The students can not leave the school and MC2 has the same liability as the whole District. K. Dassau commented that the students leave the building to participate in internships.

3. Finance Recommendation (two teachers): MOTION: B. McCulley MOVED to recommend the replacing of 4 tutor positions with 2 Inclusion Facilitators. SECOND: G. White. DISCUSSION: A. Gross commented that hiring well-educated people is a better way to spend tax dollars. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes.

4. Facilities Manager Discussion: MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to accept the recommendation by the administration to have S. Turner and M. Pratt handle L. Biron’s facilities workload in 2005-2006, to budget for a Facilities Manager in 2006-2007 and to hire a clerk of the works for building proposals in 2005-2006 if needed. SECOND: A. Gross. DISCUSSION: T. Aho commented on the fact that the Board will not be solving any of the problems. The expertise is not there and the Board will be running into the same problems. J. Carnie asked for a point of order. He asked if it was a motion or a statement. K. Cota said that she takes responsibility for the motion and when discussed in the meeting she should have asked to table it. She will not support this motion. She commented that a Facilities Manager is needed. K. Cota read a job description of what she felt the Facilities Manager should be doing. B. Tatro asked if S. Turner and M. Pratt would be receiving any additional compensation. K. Dassau said that S. Turner will be receiving no additional money and M. Pratt will be receiving less than $1,000.00 additional if approved. K. Dassau commented that there are no new projects forthcoming and the Board can budget for the 2006-2007 school year. B. Tatro asked what additional responsibilities would be assigned and if when a Facilities Manager is hire would the extra money be taken away. K. Dassau said that it could be stipulated either way. L. Biron explained that M. Pratt knows more about the district facilities than anyone else. He said that there is not enough work for a Facilities Director at this time. You need one when you have a big project. R. Thackston said that it is not like him not to agree with the administration but he truly believes that the District needs a Facilities Director. MOTION: R. Marra MOVED to postpone the discussion until the next board meeting. SECOND: T. Aho. DISCUSSION: K. Dassau was asked if a job description exists. He said there is a job description. K. Cota asked if at the next Facilities meeting the committee might be able to have the total assets of the total number of buildings and what they represent. L. Biron said that the calculations were done by the insurance company and he would have the old data available. VOTE: 11.991/0/1.021/1.988. Motion passes. C. Dreyfuss asked for a copy of M. Pratt and S. Turner’s job descriptions and what they could turn into.

6. Northern Schools Committee discussion: Postponed till next meeting.

B. Old Business

C. Curriculum Report: D. Hodgdon explained that his report was in the Boards packet. A. Gross asked if in the planning process for the Middle School would there be a homeroom or an advisory. D. Hodgdon said that it would be discussing this with the new principal when they have the meetings this summer.

D. 21^st Century Report: No report

E. Action on the Manifest*: MOTION: A. Gross MOVED the manifest in the amount of $1,499,230.41. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: The Board asked what Kindle Farm and Hampshire Ed. Collaborative were. K. Dassau explained that they were Spec. Ed. placement sites. J. Carnie commented that he would abstain on voting on the manifest until the information he requested from the MRPSOC Grant is provided. K. Cota asked if the Board received a balance sheet. L. Biron passed out the balance sheet. She asked if the balance sheet would be available to go out in the Board packets. L. Biron said it would not be available at that time. R. Thackston said that he would abstain because he did not see the manifest. VOTE: 6.377/1.121/5.514/1.988. Motion passes.

8. Interim Superintendent’s Report: K. Dassau commented on the seating arrangements. L. Biron said that he had the tables arranged in order to have a presentation to showcase the equipment donated by the Class of 2004. Unfortunately the presentation could not occur.

K. Dassau recommended deleting the standing 21^st Century agenda item. The Board agreed.

The SAU Board Minutes were distributed to the Board.

K. Dassau read three resignations. MOTION: B. McCulley MOVED to accept the following resignations: Mrs. Dejnak for June 2007, Marcie Kautz and Brandon Olson. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: R. Thackston said that he would accept the resignations with regret. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes.

9. Board Chair Report: R. Thackston commented on the article in the paper suggesting that the Board needed counseling. He felt it was unfair to the Board. Because the Board has lengthy discussions it means that they are trying to work it out with a good discussion. He said that he will be meeting with the various Selectboards and will ask the three following questions: How do they expect the School Board to handle the building needs, what would they support and what would they oppose. A. Gross would like to attend the meeting with the Swanzey Selectmen.

10. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:

1. 1. Committees Reports

2. 2. Northern Schools Committee

3. 3. Facilities Manager Position

11. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS: None.

12. 9:58 PM Non Public Session. RSA 91-A:3 II(b) –hiring of a public employee. T. Aho MOVED to enter into non-public session. SECOND: J. Kenyon. Roll call: C. Dreyfuss, G. White, B. Tatro, A. Gross, K. Cota, B. McCulley, J. Kenyon, J. Friedman, J. Carnie, T. Aho, J. Hill, R. Marra and R. Thackston. VOTE: 12.765/.247/0/1.988. Motion passes.

13. 10:03PM Non Public Session: Non-public session in accordance with RSA 91A:3II (c). K. Cota MOVED to enter into non-public session. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. Roll call: C. Dreyfuss, G. White, B. Tatro, A. Gross, K. Cota, B. McCulley, J. Kenyon, J. Friedman, J. Carnie, T. Aho, J. Hill, R. Marra, and R. Thackston. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988. Motion passes.

14. ADJOURNMENT: R. Marra MOVED to adjourn at 10:11 PM. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. VOTE: 13.012/0/0/1.988 Motion passes.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Secretary