MRSD School board minutes

Non-approved minutes

MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

Present: ï¿½Jonathan Kenyon, Gene White, Karen Cota, Jane Fortson, Winston Wright, Susan Oerman, Ed Jacod, Tim Aho, Colline Dreyfuss, Doug Lyman and James Carnie. Absent: Tim Peloquin, Phyllis Peterson, Ken Colby and William Felton.

Also present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, D. Hodgdon, Assistant Superintendent and K. Chambers, Business Manager.ï¿½ Principals: B. Tatro, K. Craig, L. Sutton, S. Rashid, D. Dahl and K. Carter.

1. CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to accept the September 4, 2007 Board Meeting Minutes as amended.ï¿½ SECOND: J. Kenyon. DISCUSSION: The Motion to set the tuition rate of $11,443.28 for all the Choice Programs failed. The $530,000.00 is the budgeted cost of the MC2 program. VOTE: 9.640/0/1.179/4.479. ï¿½Motion passes.ï¿½ MOTION: K. Cota MOVED that the Board accept the September 4, 2007 non-public minutes as presented. SECOND: D. Lyman. DISCUSSION: J. Carnie commented that the minutes do not reflect what actually happened and the motion to seal was illegal. He said that the chair should have ruled the motion out of order. K. Dassau explained that he has a copy of the non-public minutes as prepared by the secretary. He would be distributing them during non-public session. T.Aho said that there was no time element on sealing of the minutes. K. Dassau explained that he has a letter of opinion on the sealing of the minutes from Attorney Apple. J. Carnie said that he doesnï¿½t care what the Attorney has to say but would like to hear the letter. J. Carnie also read the reasons to seal the minutes as noted in the state statute. He said there is a serious problem. There was no reason to seal the minutes and there was no time element in the motion. C. Dreyfuss read the state statute RSA 91-A5. J. Carnie asked the chair to make a ruling. C. Dreyfuss said that she would not ask the Board to unseal the minutes in public and she felt that the meeting was conducted properly. MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED to table the discussion. SECOND: E. Jacod. VOTE: 7.199/2.605/1.021/4.175. Motion passes.

2. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: K. Dassau thanked the Roxbury Town Selectmen for the use of the Roxbury Hall.

K. Dassau reported that E.Lamouruex a former MRHS student from Roxbury attends college in North Carolina and kicked a 50-yard field goal, which was a new school record.

K. Dassau reported that the Choice Grant has been extended, which is about $500,000.00 and would cover the students already in the Choice Programs.

There will be a special SAU Board Meeting on Oct. 3, 2007. The meeting will be in Winchester.

K. Dassau read a letter from J. Smith reporting on the Student Government. The 9^th graders will be meeting to vote for the student government elections. K. Dassau also reported on the NEASC through the letter from J. Smith. They continue to work on the concerns last Friday a group met to begin to craft the education master plan. There will be an open house on Sept. 20, 2007. Rachel’s Challenge on Oct. 2, 2007 and the Homecoming on Oct. 13, 2007. The NECAP and MAP testing will take place in October. B. Pickering reported on the NEASC efforts. He said that there is active participation from all the staff. Frustrations are put aside and we have asked more of the staff and they are asking how they can help.

Mt. Caesar has been awarded a first place Breakfast Award for NH. The award is in the amount of $5000.00. A special thanks to T. Walsh and Mrs. Ouellette.

S. Rashid reported that a logo created by Danny Whipple as part of a service-learning project has been used on the letterhead he was holding.

3. STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPORT: Reported earlier.

4. Public Comments: J. Craig commented on an event that he attended at the Emerson Elementary School. He worked on the yards around the school with small children and adults. He commented on the efforts of the school and the community members. He would encourage other activities to draw the two groups together.

5. Curriculum Report:

1. AYP Report: D. Hodgdon reported on the Oversight Committee and the District Improvement Monitoring Team. He said that 4 principals and himself would be attending a workshop in Concord on the process for schools in need of improvement. He thanked the Board Members who volunteered for the committees. He is in need of one more member for a committee. He thanked D. Lyman for his attendance at the Oversight Committee Meeting. He would encourage the Board to think about goal setting and AYP in one of those areas.

S. Rashid reported that there would be an open house on Sept. 19, 2007 at Cutler.

S. Rashid passed out an outline to the Board concerning the AYP. He explained to the Board how the Cutler staff would be looking at each child to help them as a whole to improve. They would be looking not only at the children that need help but the whole spectrum. K. Cota asked about the testing in closets and if the environment makes a difference. She asked what could improve to help the environment. S. Rashid said that additional space is the answer.

D Dahl also reported on AYP. He gave a hand out to the Board. He reported that Troy did not make AYP. Although they did not make AYP reported that there has been improvement. The staff and children are going in the right direction. We are targeting the long-range goals and what we can offer the students. He thanked the Board for the Special Ed. teacher. We are looking at the individual child, their strengths and weaknesses. Each child will be tracked. He explained that the 21^st Century Community Learning after school program ties directly to the curriculum. He reported that there are 31 students at the after school program and there is no maximum.

2. NEASC Report: Reported earlier.

6. OLD BUSINESS:

1. NHCTC: K.Chambers explained the changes on the contract, which are as followed: The college would be responsible for the removal of bio hazardous materials, leaving the labs and the classrooms clean, the appendixes have been removed, the MRSD would be responsible if there is any damage done to the microscopes and the Finance has set the classroom rate at $40.00 an hour. MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED to accept the changes and the room rate as proposed. SECOND: D. Lyman. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes. MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the agreement with NHCTC as proposed. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes.

2. Choice Tuition: MOTION: K. Cota MOVED that the per pupil cost on the state web site would be the amount used for all choice programs. SECOND: J. Kenyon. DISCUSSION: T. Aho said that the number should be $14,463.00 and it could possibly go higher. He asked why use the $11,443.00. There is no reason to accept a rate less than our cost. Why should we subsidize other students? The Board voted for the $11,443.00 so that the students would come in droves. We do not want to end up with the state web site changing in a week. C. Dreyfuss said that the $14,000.00 rate is 08-09 rates. If the rate changes on the web site than we will use that new rate for tuition. D. Lyman explained that we have to use the state web site rate; there are 4 exceptions that were read. J. Carnie said that MC2 was to be based on per pupil cost. The correct method is not what is on the state web site. D. Lyman commented that the state statute says that we have to use last year rate. We cannot set it higher. VOTE: 8.119/2.706/0/4.175. Motion passes.

7. New Business:

1. Off-site Program: K. Carter passed out a NHDOE Technical Advisory for off-site programs for review from the Board. She explained that they are looking at health and safety concerns. She said that her recommendation is that she works in conjunction with Mr. Smith to prepare a plan for the Board’s review, including a deliberation of the pros and cons of these two options.

2. RSA 91-A4 part 6-This would be discussed later in the meeting.

3. Refund of Prior Year-Overpayment of Town of Surry: K. Chambers explained that the District owed the Town of Surry $33,940.09, which was an overpayment. She checked with the Auditors and that was correct the mistake goes back to 2001. MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to recommend that the District give back to the Town of Surry the overpayment of $33,940.09. SECOND: J. Fortson. VOTE: 9.646/2.706/0/5.354.Motion passes (C. Dreyfuss missing from vote)

4. Approval of DOE 25 and MS25: K. Chambers handed out the corrected copy of the DOE 25 and the MS25. She explained the corrections to the Board. K. Chambers explained that the governmental indirect rate does not deal only with the MRPSOC Grant. T. Aho asked about the School Board account. K. Chambers explained that the $176,000.00 was the actual expenditure under School Board Services. The amount includes the Board salaries, legal and the deliberative session. K.Chambers passed out the estimated tax rates. T. Aho asked if $920,000.00 would be missing from the total assessment if Surry withdraws. K. Chambers answered yes. MOTION: T. Aho MOVED to wait on the vote for the DOE 25 and the MS25. SECOND: J. Fortson. DISCUSSION: The budgeted break down was asked for from K. Chambers. VOTE: 8.285/2.540/0/4.175. Motion passes.

8. SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:

1. Community Relations Committee: G. White reported that the committee would hold a meeting on Sept. 19, 2007 at 5:30 PM and Sept. 27, 2007. At the Sept. 27, 2007 there would be a presentation on the Accelera Survey.

2. Facilities Committee: K. Cota reported that the committee met twice since the Board’s last meeting. On Sept. 5, 2007. D. King from Kaestle Boos handed out a draft for the summary of the Master Plan and showed two possibilities for expansion options. K. Cota explained those to the Board. A.L. Johnson will deliver a full report and drawings relative to the roofs. On Sept. 11, 2007 it was a work session with Kaestle Boos and the MS/HS principals, teachers and other staff members. After the questions and concerns are answered then the next step is to have the superintendent work with the principals and Kaestle Boos on an educational plan. MOTION: K. Cota. MOVED to accept the Perkins Floor Center bid in the amount of $17,329.40 for the removal and replacement of the Gilsum MPR Floor. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to accept the Perkins Flooring bid in the Amount of $18,680.53 for the removal and replacement of the Emerson MPR Floor. SECOND: S. Oerman. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes. MOTION: K. Cota. MOVED to accept the Elm City Glass bid in the amount of $28,820.00 to include removal of old frame/associated structure, (glass etc.) and replacement of full frame-thermal pane glass,1/2 pane. SECOND: J. Fortson. DISCUSSION: These windows would complete the windows in the building. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to accept the bid from Guy Lounder in the amount of $24,090.00 for the Troy reading room exterior door, for the removal of the old wooden stairs and finish the retaining wall and create more parking. SECOND: S. Oerman. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes. MOTION: K. Cota. MOVED to accept the bid from One Source in the amount of $20,567.80 for the installation of the security and video alarm system. SECOND: S. Oerman. DISCUSSION: It was explained that this is the bare minimum for security. VOTE: 9.704/1.121/0/4.175. Motion passes.

3. Finance Committee: J. Carnie reported that the committee met at 6:00 PM and dealt with the NHCTC issue, the MS 24, MS 25 and the DOE 25. They discussed the Surry overpayment and the Fuel bid from Cheshire Oil. There had been three bids received. The Finance Committee accepted the Cheshire Oil bid. K. Chambers explained the rates to the Board. MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED to accept the Cheshire Oil bid. SECOND: S. Oerman. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes.

4. Policy Committee: G. White reported that they met on Sept. 17, 2007 and discussed revisions on the bidding policy. The next meeting is on Oct. 9, 2007.

5. Budget Committee: The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 25, 2007 in Sullivan.

9. Action on the Manifest: MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the manifest in the amount of $1,882,412.77. SECOND: G. White. DISCUSSION: Easter Seals is a Special Ed. placement. A payment in the amount of $294,626.00 to the SAU #38 is a warrant article. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes.

10. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: There is no need for the grievance non-public.

MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the retirement of Carol Simons SECOND: D. Lyman. DISCUSSION: K. Dassau explained that she is qualified for early and regular retirement. J. Carnie said that the Board would accept to put her in the pool. If we accept the pool we are accepting the terms of early retirement. W. Wright commented that we would be accepting the notification of the contract language. She is qualified for both early and regular retirement. VOTE: 6.728/1.897/2.200/4.175. Motion passes.

11.BOARD CHAIR REPORT:

12.SETTING NEXT MEETINGS AGENDA:

1. Public Hearing – Mt. Caesar grant awarded.

13.SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS:

14. MOTION to enter into non-public Session: MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to enter into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3 II (b) nominations: SECOND: D. Lyman Roll call vote: J. Kenyon, G. White, C. Dreyfuss, D. Lyman, T. Aho, J. Fortson, E. Jacod, J. Carnie, K. Cota, W. Wright and S. Oerman. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes.

MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to go back to public session. SECOND: G. White. VOTE: 10.825/0/0/4.175. Motion passes.

15. MOTION to recess to discuss negotiations: MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to recess for a “non-meeting” for negotiation purposes. SECOND: S. Oerman. Roll call vote: J. Kenyon, G. White, C. Dreyfuss, D. Lyman, J. Fortson, E. Jacod, J. Carnie, K. Cota, W. Wright and S. Oerman. VOTE: 10.049/0/0/4.951. Motion passes.

16. MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 4.805/5.244/0/4.951. Motion fails.

17. Motion to enter into non-public session: MOTION: D. Lyman MOVED to enter into non-public session under RSA 91:A II (e) pending or threatened litigation. SECOND: E. Jacod. Roll call vote: J. Kenyon, G. White, C. Dreyfuss, D. Lyman, J. Fortson, E. Jacod, J. Carnie, K. Cota, W. Wright and S. Oerman. VOTE: 8.623/1.426/0/4.951. Motion passes.

MOTION: K. Cota MOVED to go back to public session. SECOND: S. Oerman. VOTE: 8.928/1.121/0/4.951 - Motion passes.

18. Adjournment: MOTION: D. Lyman MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 10:20 PM. SECOND: K. Cota. VOTE: 10.049/0/0/4.951. Motion passes.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Recording Secretary