MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

April 4, 2006

Troy Elementary, Troy, NH

Present: Colline Dreyfuss, Jonathan Kenyon, Gene White, Karen Cota, Kenneth Colby, Bruce McCulley, Richard Thackston, Bruce Tatro, Charles Johnson, William Felton, Phyllis Peterson, Jeff Friedman and James Carnie. Absent: Jason Hill and Tim Aho.

Also present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, D. Hodgdon, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and L. Biron, Business Manager, Tom Warner, Dir Computer Tech. Principals: D. Mousette, K. Craig, B. Tatro, J. Smith, D. Dahl, and S. Rashid.

C. Dreyfuss called the meeting to order at 7:08 PM.

1. CONSENT AGENDA: The March 28, 2006 Minutes were not available.

2. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: S. Rashid passed out information to the Board about the upcoming presentation that will take place in two weeks at Cutler. The presentation will be about a service learning project.

K. Craig reported that Emerson had a team that will be attending the State Imagination Destination competition. She announced that Kindergarten and Preschool registration would begin next week. She also reported that on April 12, 2006 at 7:00 PM Elaine Merrifield would perform her last show before her retirement and after 40 years of service to the district.

J. Smith reported that the Middle School and the High School also have teams representing Monadnock at the State Imagination Destination competition. He announced that the Monadnock Technology Association students came back from Lincoln after competition with about 10 awards.

K. Dassau mentioned that there are two vacancies on the Budget Committee. The vacancies are in Roxbury and Surry.

C. Dreyfuss reported that Surry attorney R. Todd spoke to her regarding the list for the withdrawal committee members.

3. STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPORT: A. Dreyfuss reported that the Student Government passed around a petition to the students in order to have the Senior Service Day restored. The petition was given to the principal and will be presented to the teachers. The next meeting will be on April 10, 2006, after school.

4. Public Comments: P. Bauries commented on the action taken by the Board at the last meeting in regards to her suggestion of an Education Committee. She would like the Chair to comment monthly on what strides the Board is making to assure the accreditation. She also commented that the first vote the new members took was against education. C. Dreyfuss commented that the new members were not voting against education but the committee. Let the Board do the education.

5. Curriculum Report:

a. Staff Development Master Plan for approval: D. Hodgdon gave the Board information on the master plan. He explained that this information would go to the SAU Board. He decided to give each Board the opportunity to review it prior to the SAU meeting May 3, 2006. He explained that the State would not approve the re-certification until the plan is complete.

b. New England Common Assessment Program: D. Hodgdon handed out to the Board some of the results from the state testing. He explained that in his power point presentation there are some discrepancies in the charts. He said that the information was an overview of the types of tests being given to the students. The “Follow the Child” initiative is in conjunction with the new state standards. He explained the school years in which the different grades will be tested. He explained the 4 levels of proficiency. He gave samples of the subgroups and samples of the curriculum strands. This information is helpful for the long term but not the short term. He reported that student performance is very poor across the state. The state commissioner of Education is promoting the Follow the Child initiative, which is a more personal approach. This will allow the growth to be monitored and to develop a plan for each child. K. Cota asked about the testing in the fall. D. Hodgdon explained that the issue is being debated. W. Felton asked about the multi-classrooms. D. Hodgdon said that has not been discussed. That is at the local level. C. Johnson asked if it would require more demands on the teachers and more money. D. Hodgdon explained that there would be no extra aid. C. Dreyfuss commented that she moved the Curriculum Report up on the agenda because the Board is an education Board.

6. OLD BUSINESS:

a. Surry Charter School Facility Request: Frank Conroy from the Surry Village Charter School explained to the Board that the State approved the charter school on March 14, 2006. The Board had received a packet from the Surry Village Charter School. He explained that the school would be receiving $450,000.00 over the next three years for the school. The Surry Village Charter School would like to lease the Surry School for their school. They said that they would be willing to make improvements to the building and pay for the rent. They did not come up with a figure yet. He said that it is a win- win situation. The Surry Village Charter School will maintain the Surry School and is asking for a 1-year lease. He said that he would appreciate an answer tonight because they would like to start their school year in the fall. R. Thackston asked what kind of grant it was. F. Conroy said that it was a federal grant. C. Dreyfuss asked if the $450,000.00 was a total or for each charter school. F. Conroy explained that the $450,000.00 was for their school. MOTION: C. Johnson MOVED to allow the Surry Village Charter School to lease the Surry School. SECOND: K. Cota DISCUSSION: K. Cota would suggest that the Surry Village Charter School sit down with K. Dassau and L. Biron and work out the details and to have the Facilities Committee be part of the decision. Then that information would go to the full Board to be finalized. B. Tatro commented that the recent vote said that the voters do not approve of charter schools. This motion would go against the voters. C. Johnson said that he would disagree. He said that the Board is not approving the school but filling the empty building. F. Conroy commented that they are willing to put the money into this building and asked that the Board put aside the animosity of Surry and the MRSD. R. Thackston commented that the district might need the building. He commented on the fact that the public schools will not receive the $450,000.00 that they would have. He said that it is a vote against public education. W. Felton commented on the children in the Northern Schools getting the same as the children in the southern schools. He commented that if this is a solution it is no where near it. J. Kenyon asked if the district spoke to an attorney. K. Dassau explained that several issues have come up. The renting and the withdrawal are two separate issues. The Surry Village Charter School would like to make this a positive thing. B. McCulley said that the motion is premature. Not knowing the terms or answers. MOTION: B. McCulley MOVED to table the motion until the next meeting. SECOND: K. Colby. K. Colby would withdraw his second and B. McCulley would withdraw his motion. DISCUSSION on original motion: J. Carnie had commented that people had wanted to speak prior to the motion to table. He commented that all of a sudden the discussion on MC2 has stopped. He said that there is an empty space and possibly for the MC2. He said that this is where we really need an education committee. He said that the Board has not looked at if the district can better utilize the building. J. Friedman commented that it is not about charter schools or taking away money. The building is to far away for the MC2. We need to see kids playing again. K. Cota commented that she does not approve of charter schools but she does approve of leasing. She said that they had this discussion about the building but it was pushed aside because Surry wanted to withdraw. The building is empty. MOTION to amend: K. Cota MOVED to have the Surry Village Charter School meet with K. Dassau and L. Biron in regards to the leasing of the Surry School and bring a proposal back to the Board. SECOND: P. Peterson. DISCUSSION: R. Thackston said that the problem is that the Board does not have a plan. We do not know if we need the building. We need to know what our needs are. B. Tatro commented that for years the Board has been trying to have building expansions. How can we go to the voters if we are not using what we have? We are overcrowded in the schools. B. McCulley commented that the motion authorizes the exploration of leasing but it does not commit the Board. C. Dreyfuss commented that she had a problem with there not being any numbers. She did say that the amendment made more sense. She commented that even if the lease information came back to the full Board it does not mean that the Board would approve. P. Peterson withdrew her second on the amendment. K. Cota withdrew her amendment. K. Cota withdrew her second on the original motion. C. Johnson withdrew his original motion. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to allow the Surry Village Charter School to enter into discussion with K. Dassau and L. Biron on information regarding leasing the former Surry School building and to bring back the information to the School Board in the next weeks. SECOND: C. Johnson DISCUSSION: R. Thackston is still opposed to the motion. He said that it is short sighted. He said that if the Board rushes into this it would put the district in long term jeopardy. C. Johnson pointed out that Surry was closed last June and the MC2 situation should have been discussed then. R. Thackston said that he was not connecting the two. B. McCulley is concerned that we are not taking our time. F. Conroy commented that Attorney Wrigley is willing to come and discuss this issue with K. Dassau and L. Biron. F. Conroy commented that on the ADHOC report it said that a charter school or school of choice was on the list. J. Friedman commented that nothing else has started to use that building. We are only talking about negotiations. MOTION: J. Friedman MOVED to move the question. SECOND: B. Tatro. VOTE: 6.252/4.558/1.121/1.890. Motion passes.

b. Set MRSD Board Committee appointments: C. Dreyfuss passed the appointments to the Board Members and asked that the Facilities and the Finance Committees to discuss the Surry Building when they meet. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to accept the appointments as presented. SECOND: W. Felton. DISCUSSION: J. Kenyon asked to be added to the Policy Committee and come off the Finance Committee. J. Friedman would rather be on the Negotiation Committee than the Policy Committee. VOTE on motion with the corrections: 11.931/0/1.179/1.890. Motion passes.

c. Ten minute recess to organize the committees and set dates.

7. SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS: The following times and dates are scheduled for the following subcommittees: Community Relations Committee will meet on Mon. April 17, 2006 at 5:30 PM. Negotiations will meet on Thurs. April 13, 2006 at 7:00 PM. Facilities will meet on Tues. April 11, 2006 at 6:00 PM. Policy will meet on Mon. April 10, 2006 at 5:30 PM. Finance will meet on Tues. April 18, 2006 at 6:00 PM. C. Dreyfuss asked that the chairs pay attention to the attendance and anyone not attending may need a new appointment.

8. OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:

New Business:

a. Discussion Board Orientation. The Board decided to hold a Board Orientation on Saturday, May 6, 2006 from 9:00AM- 12:00PM. The Chair, Vice Chair and the Superintendent will prepare an agenda.

9. Action on the Manifest: MOTION: R. Thackston MOVED to move the manifest in the amount of $1,457,891.27. SECOND: C. Johnson. DISCUSSION: The Board asked about the following items on the manifest, which were answered by L. Biron: Peakon Resort, P. Majoy, Tucker Transportation and Arnones Pizza. VOTE: 11.068/0/2.042/1.890. Motion passes.

10. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: K. Dassau informed the Board that there would be two non-public sessions. One non-public for teacher nominations and the other non-public for a student issue. K. Dassau explained to the Board that he has received a letter of retirement from K. Trubiano as of June 2006. MOTION: C. Johnson MOVED to accept K. Trubiano’s retirement as of June 2006. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 13.110/0/0/1.890. Motion passes.

11. BOARD CHAIR REPORT: No report.

12. SETTING THE AGENDA:

1. Tech Report - T. Warner

2. NEASC Update

3. Discussion of Board Goals

4. Follow the Child Model - Dr. Hodgdon

13. Public Comments: R. Thackston, speaking as a taxpayer commented on the revenue that would be lost if the charter school is formed. He said that he is opposed to under minding public education. The Board needs to consider all aspects.

14. MOTION to enter into non-public session: B. Tatro MOVED to enter into non-public session under RSA 191-A:3 2C a student issue. SECOND: R. Thackston. Roll call vote: C. Johnson, P. Peterson, J. Carnie, J. Friedman, K. Cota, K. Colby, W. Felton, J. Kenyon, B. Tatro, G. White, B. McCulley, R. Thackston and C. Dreyfuss. Motion passes.

15. MOTION to enter into non-public session: K. Colby MOVED to enter into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3- Teacher Nominations. SECOND: W. Felton. Roll call vote: C. Johnson, P. Peterson, J. Carnie, J. Friedman, K. Cota, K. Colby, W. Felton, J. Kenyon, B. Tatro, G. White, B. McCulley, R. Thackston and C. Dreyfuss. Motion passes.

16. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 10:13 PM. SECOND: C. Johnson. VOTE: 13.110/0/0/1.890. Motion passes.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Secretary