Non-approved minutes

MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

                                                 May 15, 2007

                            Monadnock Regional MS/HS Library, Swanzey, NH.

                      

Present: Colline Dreyfuss, Jonathan Kenyon, Gene White, Tim Peloquin, Karen Cota, Phyllis Peterson, Jane Fortson, Winston Wright, Susan Oerman, Tim Aho, Douglas Lyman, Kenneth Colby and William Felton. Absent: James Carnie.

Also present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, D. Hodgdon, Assistant Superintendent, T. Warner, Dir. of Technology and K. Chambers, Business Manager.  Principals: B. Tatro, S. Rashid, D. Dahl, M. Young, K. Craig, J. Smith, D. Mousette, and K. Carter.

 

1.      CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION: W. Felton MOVED to accept the May 1, 2007 Board Meeting Minutes as presented.  SECOND: J. Fortson. DISCUSSION: K. Cota asked under the Facilities Committee that if there are any questions from the Board they can contact K. Cota or K. Chambers and members of the public can fill out a right to know form. G. White commented that under the Policy Committee the policies that they are working on are Admission of Non-Residence and Bidding Requirements. T. Aho commented that he was not at the May 1, 2007 meeting but understood that J. Carnie read a three-page letter to the Board and the minutes are very short on the topic. C. Dreyfuss explained that the minutes explain what was discussed not word for word.  VOTE: 9.849/0/3.221/1.930. Motion passes. 

 

2.      CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: MOTION: K. Dassau passed out a list of the elementary graduation dates. He informed the Board that the Swanzey Selectmen have nominated Wayne Lechlider to the Budget Committee position.

 

D. Mousette informed the Board that the 6th graders from Gilsum had a presentation on plastic. They would like to encourage their parents to use cloth bags instead of plastic. The 6th graders will be doing some fund raising activities to purchase cloth bags for the Northern School parents. D. Mousette explained that a Board Member visited the 6th graders at Gilsum and explained to the children what a School Board Member does. D. Mousette handed T. Peloquin thank you notes from the children.

 

The Keene Sentinel is taping the meeting.

 

K. Carter mentioned that on May 29, 2007 there will be a graduation gateway and on May 30, 2007 there will be a Gallery of Exhibitions. The Board is invited to attend.

 

The Band Boosters passed out complimentary cookbooks to the Board. There will be a Chicken BBQ, which will benefit senior awards.

 

M. Young thanked K. Dassau, S. Oerman, P. Peterson, K. Cota and C. Dreyfuss for chaperoning the Middle School Dance.

 

M. Young commented on the accelerated reading program at the middle school. He said that Grade 7 has read 3144 books with a mastery rate of 89% and Grade 8 has read 2434 with a mastery rate of 87%. He said that he would also have the MAPS data soon.

 

J. Fortson mentioned that the playground at Mt. Caesar would be going up on June 2, 2007 and June 3, 2007. Anyone interested in helping would be great.  

 

3.      STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPORT: Chris Vickery from MC2 informed the Board that the students had an open session, a school gathering. They prepared a master list on their concerns and that will now go to the Governor’s Council.

 

4.   Public Comments:

 

5.      Curriculum Report: NEASC Update: J. Smith explained to the Board that he has finished the letter due June1, 2007 to show cause. He is planning on working and addressing as many of the 23 concerns as he can to respond to the NEASC. He said that the letter is written, there are plans in place, a timeline is in place but they are in need of help from parents, staff, School Board and students. There is a tremendous amount of work that has to be done. S. Oerman suggested asking the selectmen to participate. Some Board Members have asked for a copy of the timeline and a copy of the letter that is due on June 1, 2007.

 

Curriculum and Instruction: D. Hodgdon gave a power point presentation on the information he has on his web site pertaining to AYP. He explained that they are moving toward 100% proficiency. If a school does not make AYP after two years a school improvement plan must be made. The principals have been working on this. They have been focusing on the test results and the data. They have goals and strategies to help with this. Last spring the curriculum coordinating team worked to set goals for curriculum development to connect with the state frame works.  In order to improve student learning we have to work on the curriculum and aligning with the state curriculum. We have been working on this process. We are in the process of aligning the curriculum across the schools at the elementary level. We have not completed this task yet but have made great strides. He would continue to convey as much of the work in progress on to the web site. K. Dassau informed the Board that the principals at the next meeting would be making a 10 minutes presentation to the Board on AYP. K. Cota asked if they were focusing on the subgroups at the expense of the higher groups. D. Hodgdon explained that they are focusing on all students. He does not believe that you have to sacrifice one group. D. Hodgdon explained that ultimately if a staff member or school is not doing what is asked of them it is his and K. Dassau’s responsibility. He feels that we can do what we can to make every student successful. It was asked if colleges would be interested in students from a school that had not made AYP. K. Dassau explained that there are no simple answers to all the questions. A school on probation may be an issue for some colleges. Failure is not an option. There is accountability and a comprehensive web site. C. Dreyfuss commented that this is a continuous process. She commented that she does not feel that the teachers working to rule has affected the children. 

  

6.  New Business: Adding SAU to Property and Liability Insurance: K. Chambers explained that at the SAU meeting to Board had agreed to ask the Monadnock School Board to allow the SAU to be part of their policy, which would save the SAU $8300.00 at no cost to Monadnock. MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to add the SAU to the Monadnock Property and Liability Insurance Policy. SECOND: K. Colby. DISCUSSION: K. Chambers explained that the premiums are not based on usage. G. White gave examples of pros and cons. K. Chambers explained that all other SAUs are doing this except one. VOTE: 10.412/1.479/1.179/1.930. Motion passes.

 

7.  OLD BUSINESS:

1.      Surry Withdrawal Update: K. Dassau explained that there were two candidates for the School District Clerk position. He would recommend the appointing of Susan Farrell. MOTION: K. Colby MOVED to accept the resignation of K. Cota as of May 16, 2007. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 13.070/0/0/1.930. Motion passes. MOTION: W. Wright MOVED to appoint Susan Farrell as School District Clerk effective May 16, 2007. SECOND: P. Peterson. VOTE: 11.891/0/1.179/1.930. Motion passes.

2.      MS-22: S. Oerman explained the line items that had moved and that the bottom line had not changed. MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the revised MS-22 effective today May 15, 2007. SECOND: P. Peterson. DISCUSSION: T. Aho asked about Other School board Items. K. Chambers explained. VOTE: 13.070/0/0/1.930. Motion passes.

 

 

8.  SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:  

1.      Community Relations Committee: K. Colby informed the Board that the committee would be meeting on May 16, 2007. K. Cota asked about getting the word out on the Surry vote.

2.      Facilities Committee: K. Cota explained that the committee has not met. K. Cota and others had a meeting with the educational consulting service, which is a part of the master plan. K. Chambers commented on the meeting that it was a major effort meeting. The next Facilities Meeting is on May 23, 2007.

3.      Finance Committee: S. Oerman informed the Board that the committee reviewed the financial reports. The proposed transfers were passed out to the Board. MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the budget transfers as of May 15, 2007. SECOND: D. Lyman. DISCUSSION: S. Oerman explained that transfers to the Board. T. Aho asked if the $157,000.00 total in the amendment column had anything to do with the PUPS Program. B. Tatro explained that the increase is due to the 40 plus students that moved in the area and are in need of spec. ed. tutors. It is students driven. VOTE: 11.115/0/1.955/1.930. Motion passes. MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the transfer proposal for maintenance. SECOND: P. Peterson. DISCUSSION: K. Chambers explained that the trustees allowed only the interest for the curtains per court order. J. Smith explained that the televisions will be permanently mounted and that they are much larger. He commented that he forgot about the $5000.00 bidding process. W. Felton commented on the 48-hour deadline and the written rational. He said that it would seem that we are operating off the cuff. K. Dassau commented that these issues had taken place in November and are not new. MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to table the maintenance transfers until the next meeting. SECOND: P. Peterson. VOTE: 7.374/4.582/1.114/1.930. Motion passes.   

4.      Policy Committee: G. White informed the Board that the next meeting would be on May 21, 2007.

5.      Budget Committee: This committee has not met. 

6.      Cheshire Career Center: W. Wright missed the meeting but will contact the CCC to get the information that was discussed.

7.      Negotiations: There would be a non-meeting at the end of the Board Meeting to discuss negotiations.

8.      SAU #38-Board Meeting: C. Dreyfuss reported that the SAU Board met on May 2, 2007. C. Duquette is the SAU Chair and C. Dreyfuss is Vice Chair. The Board is forming a committee to review and comment on the procedure manual. They are asking two members from each district. J. Fortson will serve on that committee. Members commented that J. Carnie was also interest but not present tonight. K. Dassau reported that T. Stepenuck would be retiring after 15 years at the SAU. MOTION: K. Colby MOVED to appoint W. Wright to the CRC. SECOND: G. White. VOTE: 12.294/0/0.776/1.930. Motion passes. 

 

9.      Action on the Manifest: MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the manifest in the amount of $ 1,299,181.98. SECOND: K. Colby.   VOTE: 13.070/0/0/1.930.  Motion passes.

 

10. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: MOTION: K. Colby MOVED to accept the resignation of Teressa Drogue as of the end of this school year. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 13.070/0/0/1.930. Motion passes. MOTION: K. Colby MOVED to accept the resignation of Tracy Dion. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 13.070/0/1.930. Motion passes. MOTION: K. Colby MOVED to accept the resignation of Matt Young as of the end of this school year. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 7.562/4.487/1.021/1.930. Motion passes. K. Dassau commented that they would be searching for a middle school principal ASAP. G. White commented that the non-votes were a show of respect for the work that M. Young had done over the past two years. 

11. BOARD CHAIR REPORT:

 

12. SETTING NEXT MEETINGS AGENDA:

1.      Curriculum

2.      Grant Information

 

 

 

 

13. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS: Sharon Beal from Troy commented on a student issue.

 

M. Haffer from Richmond commented on the how well his daughters are doing at Mt. Caesar. He asked that the Board provide the children with what they need for their education.  

 

14. Adjournment: MOTION: P. Peterson MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 9:35 PM. SECOND: S. Oerman. VOTE: 13.070/0/0/1.930. Motion passes.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Recording Secretary