MRSD School board minutes

MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

September 20, 2005

Roxbury Town Hall, Roxbury, NH

Present: Tim Aho, James Carnie (vice-chair), Karen Cota, Colline Dreyfuss, Alan Gross, Charles Johnson, Jonathan Kenyon, Bruce McCulley, John Morin, Bruce Tatro, Richard Thackston (chair), and Gene White. Absent: Jeff Friedman, Jason Hill, and Robin Marra.ï¿½ï¿½

Also present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, D. Hodgdon, Dir. of Curriculum and L. Biron, Business Manager.ï¿½ Principals: K. Carter, D. Dahl, S. Rashid, J. Smith, B. Tatro, and M. Young.

R. Thackston called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M.

1ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ CONSENT AGENDA:

Non-public minutes of September 6 meetings.ï¿½ MOTION:ï¿½ J. Carnie MOVED to approve the minutes and seal them.ï¿½ SECOND:ï¿½ J. Kenyon.ï¿½ VOTE:ï¿½ 9.305/0/2.764/2.931.ï¿½ Motion passes.ï¿½ Minutes of September 6, 2005 Board Meeting. MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to approve the minutes.ï¿½ SECOND: K. Cota.ï¿½ DISCUSSION: T Aho added to the sentence, ï¿½C. Dreyfuss said that the committee prioritized the maintenance projects to secure the funds,ï¿½ under the Facilities Report ï¿½ ï¿½from $80,000 under renovations. VOTE: 10.89/0/1.179/2.931. Motion passes.

CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

D. Thackston read a letter from A. Gross thanking everyone involved with the Husky Hoopla event.ï¿½ He also referred to a letter from a parent objecting to the celebration of Halloween at one of the elementary schools and handed the letter to K. Dassau.

3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: No representative present.ï¿½ J. Smith explained that elections were scheduled for October 18 and responded to a question from C. Dreyfuss about the members from last year that a restructuring of the student council had delayed the election.

4. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Betty Tatro highlighted the memorial at Mt. Caesar for Charlie Powell.ï¿½

5.ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:

A. Community Relations Report: A. Gross reemphasized the positive nature of the Husky Hoopla activity and requested that his committee be informed of events in the district.ï¿½ The next Community Relations Committee is scheduled for September 29 at 7 p.m.

B. Facilities Report: C. Dreyfuss reviewed the September 15 meeting, which focused on the bid contracts for the new septic system, responses to questions posed to the maintenance department, and representation at the Hoopla event to communicate whatï¿½s happening at the high school and the process at the needs meetings.ï¿½ Please see the attached sheet for additional details.ï¿½ The next meeting with Loren Belida from HL Turner is September 21 at 6:30 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting to prioritize the project list for the 2006-07 budget is October 10 at 6:30 p.m.

C. Finance Committee: B. McCulley reported on the options for funding a building program – a bond with declining payments and interest and the addition of state reimbursement; pay as you go; and reprioritizing the assets within the existing budget, addressing solely the first year of a building program. The committee believed that it was premature to be specific until the program details are available. B. McCulley also indicated that the administration had made a financial proposal for the Facilities Director position and committee members were using a listserv to inquire about this subject. The committee was concerned about the cost of oil, the septic system bid and costs, and the overrun of the operating budget.

K. Dassau explained to the board members that 2 manifests were being circulated to expedite the reading of the manifest. The pink copy should not be signed.

D. Policy Committee: G. White informed the Board that the committee was reviewing the policies on the website with the intention of updating them. J. Carnie requested that G. White explain the meeting procedures. G. White explained that the policy on board vacancies was revisited and the members voted not to change the policy. K. Dassau commented that new policies from the New Hampshire School Boards Association, prompted by the No Child Left Behind act, would be presented to the Policy Committee along with policies prompted by the new state standards. The next meeting will be held on October 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the MRMS/HS conference room.

E. The Special Committee to Study the use of Surry School: J. Carnie explained the committee held its first meeting and reviewed some ideas for the use of one of the buildings among the northern schools. The two more feasible ideas were to house the MC2 program or offer a special needs program. J. Carnie also mentioned a proposal to have a k-8 northern school program, bringing the Gilsum, Sullivan, and Surry seventh- and eighth-grade students to the northern schools. The configuration might be k, 1, and 2 at Surry; 3, 4, and 5 at Sullivan; and 6, 7, and 8 at Gilsum. K. Cota expressed concern about this proposal undermining the recommendations of the northern schools committee, wondered about the state requirements for kindergarten, and asked a question about a middle school at Gilsum. J. Carnie had doubts about the restrictions on the interpretation of room sizes for kindergartens and posited that talking about a building project while closing a school is problematic. All possible proposals remain open for discussion. C. Dreyfuss wanted clarification on whether or not it was all of the seventh- and eighth-grade students being proposed to be moved to Gilsum or just the northern school students. J. Carnie explained that it was just the northern school students.

F. Cheshire Career Center (CCC): A Gross highlighted the decline in the number of students at the CCC during the last decade. Wayne Cotton, the director, speculated that programs like the Law, Public Safety, and Security pathway and the internships might be affecting enrollment at CCC. J. Smith mentioned a four-year special education program, which may coincide with the larger numbers. N. Moriarty commented on the need for tradespeople in New Hampshire and encouraged a tour of the school. J. Morin expressed concern about the district being charged for unused Monadnock slots at the CCC. J. Carnie requested that, when W. Cotton comes to the board about renewal of the contract, the board have the opportunity to ask questions.

6. OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:

A. NEASC High School Reaccreditation: J. Smith gave an overview of the reaccreditation process, including the seven standards, the rubrics to assess the standards, the mission statement, the expectations, and the presentations to and votes of the faculty on the different standards. J. Smith also requested assistance from the board on a progress report due on November 11, since it requested an update on the steps the school intended to take to resolve significant overcrowding as well as the alternate plan if a building program should fail. D. Thackston offered to draft a letter to be reviewed by K. Dassau and the board.

T. Aho asked about whether or not MC2 would be part of the reaccreditation process and J. Smith said “no,” since MC2 wasn’t directly under the direction of the high school principal. K. Carter explained the distinction between the NH Department of Education designation of programs like MC2 being designated programs rather than schools, although the new state standards allow alternative programs to be designated as schools if the school boards wish to request such status. NEASC defines them differently, since a program like MC2 has a separate governing organization from MRHS. K. Cota sought clarification of the timeframe, if the school were placed on probation; C. Dreyfuss asked about the areas of concern during the last reaccreditation process, to which J. Smith highlighted several items including curriculum alignment and facilities. J. Morin asked how a designation of probation would affect accreditation and J. Smith responded that the college only knows that the school is accredited, not that it is accredited with probation

J. Smith also offered to email the board copies of the new state standards. He indicated that they support the educational model that MC2 has developed. J. Smith will be seeking policies to guide alternative credit options, as specified in the standards.

C. Dreyfuss reminded board members about the special meeting on September 26 at 7 p.m. to vote on a septic system proposal.

B. Old Business: MC2 – Board Questions: D. Thackston explained the procedure for this question-and-answer period about MC2. Each member would be allowed to ask two questions. MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED that, in anticipation of going beyond 10 p.m., the board was authorized to go beyond 10 p.m. SECOND: A Gross. VOTE: 12.069/0/0/2.931. Vote passed.

K. Carter indicated that all MC2 students take district and state standardized tests; the school is administered by K. Carter, who reports to the Superintendent and the school board, and is subject to all of the school board policies. The school itself was expected to reach 100 students, 25 per year, although the school has not reached the anticipated level of enrollment because of issues with communication with the high school and the public, the threat of the possible closing of the school, an unwillingness to leave friends, and perceptions about the school (initially that it was an easy program, but, as J. Smith pointed out, the actual challenges of engaging in the program).

K. Carter has secured grants, as expected when she began her tenure, but has postponed pursuing grants recently until she knows the will of the school board and budget committee. The MC2 staff have provided their experiences as members of the study committees for reaccreditation at the high school, shared rubrics with staff members, and collaborated on special education practices.

When the grant has ended, the decision about supporting students at MC2 will be an important school board consideration – both the Monadnock students and students from other districts. The classes are developed by the teachers in collaboration with K. Carter. MC2 is not part of the reaccreditation process because the NEASC officials determined that MC2 was not officially governed by the high school principal – this in contrast to the state definition that MC2 was a program in the school district. K. Carter explained that the new state standards would allow programs like MC2 to be considered schools, if the school board supported such an idea. K. Carter invests about twelve hours a day in her current role, supervising staff, recruiting students, overseeing the development of the MC2 program, and collaborating with other administrators at the SAU and throughout the district.

Other items discussed included the intentionally nontraditional design of the school to provide a true alternative for students, bringing costs in line with the costs of other schools in the district when the school choice grant ends, providing an internship list, and the value of innovative ways to reach all children.

There was much discussion about the budgetary implications of MC2 and the need to define per pupil cost – to be able to make fair comparisons of the costs of MC2 with the high school and other schools in the district. J. Carnie focused on similar accounts for MC2 and the high school and observed what he perceived to be the high costs of MC2. K. Carter explained how the budget was setup differently at MC2. Several members expressed the benefit of agreeing on a way of determining per pupil cost for MC2 with implications for schools throughout the district. D. Bauries underscored that a working group to determine the per-pupil cost for MC2 would go a long way toward persuading the voters who voted against MC2 to support it. MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED to convene a meeting of the board to arrive at a workable definition of per-pupil-cost calculations. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 11.048/0/1.021/2.931. Motion passes.

C. Curriculum Report: D. Hodgdon mentioned the report in the school board packet on the tenth-grade state testing. He reminded them about the testing of students in grades 3 through 8 beginning on October 3. The last tenth-grade spring testing will be administered in May of 2006. In October of 2006, eleventh-grade students will participate in a pilot of a new test, which will be administered to the eleventh-grade students in the fall of 2007. The science tests, required by the federal government, will be administered to students in grades 4, 8, and 11 beginning in the spring of 2008. A pilot of this assessment will be administered in the spring of 2007.

D. Action on the manifest: MOTION: J. Morin MOVED the manifest in the amount of $1,474,272.93. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: B. McCulley asked about an item paid to Really Good Stuff and A. Gross explained that it was a company specializing in teacher items such as pencils with student names. J. Morin asked about Servpro (utilized to clean the floor at MC2), T. Aho asked about Dr. Play Associates and Pearson Education, both of which L. Biron will check on, the number of Platinum Plus for Business payments, the Goodnow payment evoking a request that the services provided by the lawyer be specified, and the number of Laidlaw buses used for middle school and high school sports. VOTE: 9.869/0/2.2/2.931. Motion passes.

7. Superintendent’s Report:

K. Dassau reminisced about the first meeting he attended at the Roxbury Town Hall, thanked D. Hodgdon for taking the minutes, complimenting the band for their fine performance at the homecoming game, and highlighted the method of tracking the budget for 2005-06 to ensure that the board and administration will be able to keep track of the spending during the current year. C. Dreyfuss asked about whether or not the district was truly in a deficit and K. Dassau explained that, according to J. Fortson, Budget Committee chair, until the budget is closed, the district has technically not incurred a deficit, although he did emphasize that the district has spent more than it appropriated. B. Tatro questioned where to find another $500,000, to which K. Dassau explained that the administration would be looking at the revenues and discussing options with the administration at an upcoming administrative team meeting. J. Carnie mentioned other expenditures such as an increase in oil costs and B. McCulley queried about the rules that govern the budget and appropriations spent. A. Gross commented on the need to provide programs to bring special education students back to the district to save the out-of-district costs.

The final item from K. Dassau was the EEE concern, which has created a concern about evening events. J. Smith has rescheduled night games and activities until the first frost makes the mosquito danger less of a concern.

8. Board Chair Report:

R. Thackston commented on the excellent functioning of the board during the meeting. He mentioned that the Surry select board was the only group he hasn’t had a chance to meet with.

9. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING’S AGENDA:

1. Committee Reports

2. High School Scheduling

3. High School in the Morning

4. K-8 and the Middle School Concept – a Report by D. Hodgdon

5. The Selection of Lawyers in the District

10. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no public comments

11. NON-PUBLIC SESSION: The board agreed not to go into non-public session. K. Dassau announced that, at the October 4 meeting, a non-public session would be necessary to hear a grievance.

12. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION: T. Aho MOVED to adjourn at 11:11 P.M. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: 12.069/0/0/2.931. Motion passes.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. David G. Hodgdon

Acting MRSD Secretary