Approved minutes

MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

February 6, 2007

Monadnock Regional Middle/High School Library, Swanzey, NH.

Present: Colline Dreyfuss, Jonathan Kenyon, Gene White, Karen Cota, Tim Peloquin, Kenneth Colby, Gerald Mazza, William Felton, Phyllis Peterson, Doug Lyman, Bill Felton and James Carnie. Absent: Susan Oerman, Chuck Johnson and Tim Aho.

Also present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, D. Hodgdon, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Technology, T. Warner. Principals: B. Tatro, K. Craig, S. Rashid, D. Mousette, Joe Smith, D. Dahl and K. Carter.

1. CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION: K. Colby MOVED to accept the January 16, 2007 Board Meeting Minutes as presented. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 8.987/0/2.293/3.72. Motion passes.

2. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: C. Conkling from Troy has been nominated as guidance counselor of the Year.

The Fish and Game have once again thanked M. Morrison and his class for their help.

K. Carter informed that Board that D. Gurian, a student from MC2, a teacher at MC2 and herself would be conducting a presentation to the US Dept of Education on MC2.

T. Stark is skiing in Sweden with the US Ski Team.

Author Archer Mayor will be visiting the high school and doing presentations and workshops for the students.

B. Tatro informed the Board that it was day 100 and the school was busy with activities.

S. Rashid explained to the Board that his 5th graders had gone to Hannafords on a field trip. S. Rashid received a letter from the store telling him how well behaved, respectful and great listeners the children were.

D. Mousette explained to the Board that the Granite Gorge gym days have started. The attendance is at 100% on Wednesdays.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPORT: Sara and James informed the Board that the Student Government has joined the NH Associations of Student Councils. They have nothing to report as of yet.

Public Comments: Jan Ray Thompson commented on an article in The Valley News. She said that she disagreed with the article in the Keene Sentinel.

K. Craig commented on the article written by W. Felton about multi-aged classrooms. She explained that there is data to support multi-aged classrooms.

N. Moriarty commented on the NEASC Report and the fact that there are major errors in the report. K. Dassau commented that N. Moriarty has contacted him with the comments and would be getting back to him soon. C. Dreyfuss commented that it is not our report to correct. J. Carnie said that he would agree with N. Moriarty. The Board has a duty to correct the report.

Curriculum Report: J. Smith explained that the English Dept. looked over their decision as the outcome of a previous meeting. They will continue with honors track, college track, traditional track and the language arts track. We are keeping honors and expanding the opportunities. K. Cota asked if there was a way for the Board to be more informed about decisions being made in the curriculum. D. Hodgdon explained that he could make the Board aware of topics in curriculum being brought up. C. Dreyfuss asked that information be put in the packet prior to the decision. D. Hodgdon explained that the curriculum is K-12. There are teachers from each school that look at this process. C. Dreyfuss asked for more information on the combined classes.

Public Hearing: K. Dassau introduced R. Randall and G. Hendickson from Markem. He also introduced H. Wolhandler, President of Accelara Research. The group is interested in helping a non-profit with the techniques that they use at Markem. The dollar amount for the process is $14,000.00. There are 4 donors that are willing to contribute. K. Dassau explained that this is limited funding. If the Board likes it they may want to budget this next time. A few of the Board Members questioned the people being surveyed. K. Colby explained that K. Dassau has kept the CRC advised. It has been a real positive experience. On behalf of the CRC he would like to thank K. Dassau, R. Randall, G. Hendrickson and H. Wolhandler. He would like to challenge the Board to proceed. D. Lyman asked if the Board would have the final approval on the questions. H. Wolhandler explained that he would not want it to be bias. He would invite the Board to contact him by phone. The goal is to understand the points of view out there. J. Carnie commented that he has a problem with the presentation. He said that you have reached a faulty conclusion. He is convinced that the voters have reached the right decision. J. Carnie asked the Board if we want to do this. J. Kenyon said that we have the opportunity to ask the public what they want. He does not have a problem. M. Haffer said that the project is neat. The product is a warrant article the School Board and the Budget Committee has worked very hard on. S. Rashid gave his hat off to K. Dassau and the group. This is what education is all about the community working together. D. Lyman asked who owns the data after it is collected. H. Wolhandler said that it is confidential and anonymous. He said that he would turn it over to the client if requested. MOTION: K. Colby MOVED to close the Public Session. SECOND: W. Felton. VOTE: 11.28/0/0/3.72. Motion passes.

MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to accept and expend unanticipated revenues for the Accelara Custom Research Proposal. SECOND: K. Colby. DISCUSSION: C. Dreyfuss asked the Board to email her if they would like to speak to H. Wolhandler. VOTE: 10.159/0/1.121/3.72. Motion passes.

NEW BUSINESS:

Deliberative Session: The Board did a great job. Thank D. Hodgdon for the budget publication prior to the vote.

Preparation for ballot session: K. Cota explained that they would like to rent a ballot machine to count the ballots this year. They would be borrowing some machines from some towns but would need to rent some, program the machines and train the people using the machines. She felt that the total amount is about $3100.00. Without K. Chambers here she is not positive. K. Chambers had explained that the funds could come out of the School Board Account. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to spend up to $3500.00 for renting, programming and training of the ballot machines. SECOND: J. Kenyon. DISCUSSION: K. Cota explained that the ballots could be counted by hand but they have to be done that night. It has to be a continuous process. J. Carnie asked if we have something in writing that we have to finish that night. K. Cota explained that it is illegal to count the ballots the next day. D. Lyman suggested that there be one machine in Swanzey and a police person from each town bring the ballots to Swanzey and put them through the machine. K. Cota explained that she also thought of that but it would not work with the Town budgets on the same night. VOTE: 7.256/4.024/0/3.72. Motion passes.

8. SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:

1. Community Relations Committee: K. Colby reported that Time Warner is dragging their feet on the point of origin issue. There is no CRC meeting set at this time.

2. Facilities Committee: K. Cota reported that the committee has met twice since the last Board meeting. They have interviewed 4 architects for about 1 hour each. They had the same set of questions for each firm. The next step is to review the likes and dislikes of each firm. There is a boiler issue at Emerson. A temporary line was put in. More work will need to be done in the spring. The next meeting is Feb. 14, 2007 at 6:00 PM.

3. Finance Committee: MOTION: J. Carnie reported that the committee met and reviewed the status of assets report. K. Chambers was not in attendance and not available to answer questions. The committee will be meeting prior to the next Board Meeting. D. Gurian will be attending the March 6, 2007 meeting.

4. Policy Committee: MOTION: G. White MOVED to accept the procedure presented by the Policy Committee. SECOND: K. Colby. DISCUSSION: D. Hodgdon explained that there are about 22 MC2 out of district students and 5 or 6 at the high school. T. Peloquin asked if the cost for the out of district students was going to be the same as our pupils. G. White explained that we are going to be using the state average, which is $12,000.00. G. White explained that the difference would be paid by the child’s guardian or district. J. Carnie mentioned the cost of the students at MC2. C. Dreyfuss explained that the Board had agreed to use the $12,000.00 for each student. J. Carnie read a part of the minutes of the Saturday meeting. K. Carter explained that the cost of the MC2 students is $8,000.00. J. Carnie commented that the program is $600,000.00 divided by 16 students is not $8,000.00. K. Dassau commented on the $327,000.00 in revenue. J. Carnie commented that the cost per pupil at MC2 is $35,000.00. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to change the first procedure on the second page of the procedure dated Dec. 4, 2006 as follows: The sending school district (Keene or Hinsdale) or the parent/guardian must agree to pay the tuition rate difference set by the state formula for participation at the level of the program. SECOND: J. Kenyon. DISCUSSION: This procedure is for the currant students. J. Carnie commented on the per student cost he said for MC2 and the per pupil cost. G. White asked when we started charging for different programs. VOTE on amendment: 8.922/2.358/0/3.72. Amendment passes. VOTE: on motion as amended: 8.922/2.358/0/3.72. Motion passes. (The amended procedure will be in the next Board packet.)

5. Budget Committee: J. Kenyon reported that the Budget Committee has not met.

6. The Cheshire Career Center:

7. Surry Withdrawal Committee: T. Peloquin reported that the vote for the Surry Withdrawal request had failed. The committee adopted a combined report from the two attorneys. There are no further meetings set. T. Peloquin reviewed what was in the report. The minority report will be submitted by the Town of Surry and after review the state will decided if Surry is allowed to withdraw.

OLD BUSINESS:

9. Action on the Manifest: MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to accept the manifest in the amount of $2,753,215.27. SECOND: K. Colby DISCUSSION: J. Carnie would like to request the manifest detail for the MRPSOC Grant for October 2006.

10. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: K. Dassau informed the Board that there is a Level C Grievance. The Board has decided to conduct the grievance on Feb. 13, 2007 at 7:00 PM.

11. BOARD CHAIR REPORT:

12. SETTING NEXT MEETINGS AGENDA:

1. Update on the attorney charges

2. Computers from MRPSOC (March 6, 2007)

3. D. Hodgdon Presentation

13. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS:

14. Adjournment: MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 9:40 PM. SECOND: K. Colby. VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion passes.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Recording Secretary