Non-approved Minutes

MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Board Meeting Minutes

May 20, 2008

Monadnock MS/HS, Swanzey, NH

 

Present: Gene White, Colline Dreyfuss, James Carnie, Jane Fortson, Phyllis Peterson, William Felton, Doug Lyman, Susan Oerman, Ed Jacod, Robert

            Smith, Karen Cota and Kristin Goodenough.

            Absent: Tim Aho and Winston Wright.

            Also present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, D. Hodgdon, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and K. Chambers, Business Manager. Principals present: K. Craig, D. Dahl, D. Mousette, L. Sutton B. Pickering and B. Tatro.

 

            G. White read the Mission Statement.

 

            MOTION: J. Fortson MOVED to go into the Public Hearing per RSA 198:20-b the purpose of the public hearing is to consider the acceptance and expenditure of unanticipated funds. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. VOTE: 12.407/0/0/2.593. Motion passes. K. Cota explained that the Facilities Committee has established a sub committee for the “Be True To Your School Grant”. M. Hoefer explained the terms of the donation requirements. He explained that the money is for visible improvements and involvement from the community. He encouraged the Board to accept the gift. K. Chambers explained that if the Board accepts the donation then two revenue accounts would be established.  One account for the Board and one account for the donors. It would be explained to the community that if the requirements are not met the funds from the community would not be returned but used for the  intended purpose. M. Hoefer was asked about a time frame and he said it is the hope of the donor that it could be accomplished from now to June 2009. M. Hoefer would be getting clarification from the donor on the questions from the Board. K. Cota reported that the Facilities sub committee met with students to encourage them to bring more students to the next meeting on May 28, 2008 at 4:00 PM. G. White declared the Public Hearing closed. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to the acceptance and expenditure of the unanticipated funds from the Be True To Your School Grant. SECOND: K. Goodenough. VOTE: 12.407/0/0/2.593. Motion passes.  

 

  1. CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION: P. Peterson MOVED to accept the May 6, 2008 Board Meeting Minutes as amended.  SECOND: J. Fortson. DISCUSSION: Minutes corrected on file. VOTE: 12.407/0/0/2.593 . Motion passes. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to accept both April 15, 2008 Non-public Meeting Minutes as presented. SECOND: J. Fortson. VOTE: 9.086/0/2.256/2.658. Motion passes.

 

  1. STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPORT:  

 

3.   CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: B. Pickering reported that Andy Harrison was honored by the NH Tech. Comm. System for his participation in the Running Start Program.                     Phil Crotto has been recognized as the outstanding band director in NH. The official recognition will be awarded in July.  Monadnock has been awarded $1000.00 from the Hannaford Community School Partnership.  On May 20, 2008 the Science NECAP Testing took place. There was a lot of work and preparation done by the staff.  The Destination Imagination Team has landed in Tennessee. The school anxiously awaits the results.    There will be a retirement gathering at the KSC Camp on May 30, 2008 at 4:00 PM for the Middle and High School Staff Members.  The weight room is officially in use. There would be a ceremony on May 31, 2008 at 9:00 AM. The Wood Family will be present. A plaque would be presented in Jamie Wood’s memory.                                                                                       B. Pickering reported that on June 11, 2008 the academic awards would be passed out to the students. There were 172 high honor and honor roll certificates handed out.      On May 30, 2008 Mt. Caesar would be recognized as being a school where 100% of the students have insurance coverage. It was mentioned that the graduation schedule is in the Board packets. If anyone plans on attending let the building principal know.  K. Craig thanked the Board for the Staff Appreciation Day bagged lunches. It was well received. G. White received 40 emails and letters expressing the appreciation. The Board thanked Food Services for a wonderful job.

 

4.   PUBLIC COMMENTS: N. Moriarty commented on fixing the nurses office. He said that the surplus money would be well spent. He commented that the work should be done quickly and suggested Linwood Patenaude to do the job. R. Bauries spoke as a Monadnock Taxpayers Association Member. He said that difference in the insurance savings should go back to the taxpayers. If they do not get the money back it would have an effect on the credibility of the School Board. He commented that in a Default Budget you could not write new contracts. You can only continue. You can not hire new people and you can not increase salaries. He said that he would be meeting with the Attorney General on these issues. He said that no one is interested in a middle school project. He commented on the raises at the SAU saying that money is being passed out like candy bars.                                                                                               P. Bauries commented on the tour that members of the Board took with Governor Lynch and Molly Kelly. She is concerned that there was no signing in at the office, she would like to know what happened and who attended. G. White explained that this is the “Public Comments “ time and there would be no debate.  Dr. Kaplan commented that the teachers are paying their fair share of the health insurance cost. K. Craig commented that Emerson and Sullivan did make AYP.  J. Carnie asked when the Board would respond to P. Bauries comments. G. White commented that this is “Public Comments”. This is not the intent of “Public Comments”. MOTION: W. Felton. MOVED to terminate the discussion. SECOND: K. Cota. DISCUSSION: G. White explained that this could be done with a friendly motion but to keep it short. E. Jacod commented that this is not a question and answer time. D. Lyman commented that the Board Members are members of the public. W.Felton and K. Cota withdraw the motion. J. Carnie asked K. Dassau who was invited to the meeting and he said not everyone. He said that these types of meetings should stop. G. White explained that it was invitation only. G. White and K. Cota were the only board Members in attendance. The governor did not want a lot of people.  

 

5.      NEW BUSINESS:

 

1.               Budget Transfer: MOTION: C. Dreyfuss. MOVED to accept the budget transfer recommendation from the Finance Committee for $8584.00 for the math textbooks at the Middle School. SECOND: S. Oerman. VOTE: 12.407/0/0/2.593. Motion passes. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss. MOVED to accept the budget transfer recommendation from the Finance Committee for $15,438.00 for a portable computer lab and laptops. SECOND: S. Oerman. DISCUSSION: K. Chambers explained that this figure is the new figure. VOTE: 12.407/0/0/2.593. Motion passes. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to accept the budget transfer recommendation of the Finance Committee to the replacement of one classroom set of science tables. SECOND: S. Oerman. DISCUSSION: K. Chambers explained the figure on the sheet. D.Lyman pointed out a negative on the sheet. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to table the science table discussion until an explanation is complete. SECOND: J. Fortson. VOTE: 7.602/3.626/1.179/2.593. Motion passes. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to accept the budget transfer recommendation of the Finance Committee in the amount of $14,000.00 for the replacement of much needed computer equipment. SECOND: J. Fortson. DISCUSSION: MOTION: D. Lyman MOVED to table the budget transfer of the replacement of much needed computer equipment until an explanation is complete concerning the negative number. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. VOTE: 7.602/2.477/2.358/2.593. Motion passed.

2.                21st Century Grant for 2008-2009: Jeremy Miller explained to the Board that Swanzey did not receive the NHDOE 21st Century Community Learning Grant this time. The NHDOE would encourage Swanzey to apply again. Hinsdale did receive the grant for two sites in Hinsdale. J. Miller explained the summer program being proposed at Troy. The program would collaborate the Monadnock 21st Century Program, the Troy Summer Program and the Troy Recreation Committee. He is also proposing that the three Districts share the cost of the administrator. G. White thought that maybe the Finance Committee should review this information before the Board votes. J. Miller is asking the Board to accept Hinsdale to the program a savings to each District when sharing administrative costs of $7228.50. MOTION: D. Lyman MOVED to accept Hinsdale to the program and the redistribution of the $7228.50. SECOND: K. Goodenough. VOTE: 11.386/0/0/3.614. Motion passes. (S. Oerman missing from vote). D. Dahl is requesting the merge of the Troy Summer Program with the 21st Century Program and the Troy Town Recreation Program. Combining the programs reduces the personnel and leaves more money for the kids. He explained that he met with the Troy Selectmen and they signed a memorandum of understanding. The Towns portion of the program is $13,400.00. It was explained that in order to make the food issue an educational piece there would be nutrition lessons and food prep. They have planned to finance the meals through revenue. D.Dahl explained that the maintenance projects scheduled for the summer come first. The program has arranged to use the town buildings when needed. MOTION: D. Lyman MOVED to accept the Troy Summer Program collaboration as presented. SECOND: P.Peterson. DISCUSSION: The program would be operated by the 21st Century. K. Chambers explained that there is no food service staff during the summer. T. Walsh came up with this concept as part of the program. They will not be subject to food prep requirements. They will be cautious about food prep. The Troy Summer Program is already in the budget. VOTE: 10.577/0/1.830/2.593. Motion passes.                                                   

3.                Goal Setting: K. Dassau explained that 2 Board Members submitted ideas for Board Goals. He explained that the Board usually dedicates a day to set goals. Action is a goal. G. White commented that this should be a joint project with the principals. K. Goodenough suggested doing this in one day and having a facilitator. MOTION: C. Dreyfuss. MOVED to hold a goal setting session on June 26, 2008 at 5:00 PM and to have a facilitator. SECOND: P.Peterson. VOTE: 7.907/1.121/2.200/3.772. Motion passes. (K Goodenough not present for vote).   

 

6.      OLD BUSINESS:

 

1.      Default Budget: K. Chambers explained that the Committee is working on the Default Budget with three more meetings scheduled. J. Fortson reported that the Finance Committee listened to D.Dahl to realign teaching for next year and approved the realignment. D.Dahl would like to use the funds from a ˝ time position retiring and aide position retiring to hire a full time teacher. This is due to a change in class size. He is looking to improve student leaning. He believes that smaller class size and a certified teacher would have more impact than a ˝ time reading teacher. MOTION: J. Fortson MOVED to approve the request from D.Dahl to realign the teaching at Troy. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. VOTE: 10.477/0.809/1.121/2.593. Motion passes.

 

7.      CURRICULUM REPORT:

 

1.      NEASC Update-B. Pickering: B. Pickering reported that he is meeting with the AYP Teams. The teachers are offering extra help with math during study hall for the students. The students are currently doing MAP Testing. The staff will analyze the data for the fall.

2.      AYP Report-D. Hodgdon: D. Hodgdon reported that there is basic information showing that there are positives concerning the AYP Test scores. Two schools Emerson and Sullivan strongly made AYP. There has been a lot of hard work by the principals and there has been some improvement. J. Fortson asked if the students are properly coded. K. Craig commented that we do know child by child. We have specific guidelines. J. Carnie commented on the graph presented by D. Hodgdon. He asked what is happening at the high school with the 82% and 18%. D. Hodgdon commented that we have to recognize that this is the first test. L.Sutton commented that the proportions are not the same in the 8th and 11th grade. The elementary has multiple grades. K. Craig commented that this includes all the special ed. students. J. Fortson commented that she heard the students are tired of taking tests and are just filling in the bubbles. D. Hodgdon commented that they hope to see a steady improvement. This is a public test and we take it very seriously. D. Hodgdon explained that Cutler has a school improvement plan. He has met with S. Rashid. When the school improvement plan is implemented they would be digging deeper into the data. The plans are not very far along. He would be able to see the individual student, track them and see where they are struggling.

 

8.      SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS:  

 

1.      Community Relations Committee: C. Dreyfuss reported that the committee met this evening at 6:00 PM. They discussed what notices that they would be able to put in the students progress reports. They would be including the Be True To Your School Grant information in the progress reports. They would like to offer to the principals any information they would like sent out to the PTA, PTO and various groups. The next meeting would be at 6:00 PM prior to the next Board Meeting.

2.      Facilities Committee: K. Cota reported that the committee met on May 14, 2008,  KBA gave a presentation on the new middle school design and renovations to the high school. KBA would be taking back the suggestions from the committee and changing the plans accordingly. KBA would be presenting the plans to the full Board on June 3, 2008. B. Mitchell gave the committee his ideas on making a pedestrian path along the side of the school. The bids for the gym floor would be available on May 28, 2008 for the Facilities Committee to review and for the Board to accept on June 3, 2008. The renovations to the nurse’s station still being worked on are affecting the offices PA system. B. Mitchell is bringing back information for the Middle School to have their own system. Brett would be providing the information being requested by the Finance Committee. The information is a report of the percentage of the work completed on the special projects. The Facilities committee toured the weight room and thanked the people involved in the renovations. They would like to especially thank the Wood Family. May 24, 2008 is the start date of the roof replacement. The next meeting is on May 28, 2008 at 7:00 PM. 

3.      Finance Committee: J. Fortson reported that most of the information had already been discussed. The Finance Committee would be meeting on May 22, 23 and 29, 2008.

4.      Policy Committee: The next meeting would be on June 2, 2008.

5.      Budget Committee: The next meeting is on May 27, 2008 at 7:00 PM.

6.      Cheshire Community Center: K.Dassau reported that B. Pickering, W. Wright, K. Dassau, D. Gagne met with Jim Logan, CCC Director from 10:00 AM-1:30 PM. They discussed the contract issue. There are no significant changes. They would like to figure out a way to attract more students from Monadnock to the CCC. The involvement of the 9th and 10th graders is an ongoing conversation.

7.      Education Committee: J.Carnie reported that the Committee met last Thursday and the next meeting is on May 30, 2008. The Committee would be setting up a meeting with B. Pickering. MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED that the Education Committee follows the NEASC recommendations and that the NEASC is our accreditation agency. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: C. Dreyfuss explained that we presently follow this principle but it was discussed and recommended by the Education Committee. VOTE: 8.284/0/4.123/2.593. Motion passes. MOTION: J. Carnie MOVED that the Board take a look at the NEASC and/or any other accreditation agencies that may be helpful to what we are doing. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: The Committee is investigating other options. W. Felton asked if there were any other agencies that do this. E. Jacod commented that we need to know what is out there. K. Dassau said that he did not know of any other agency but he suspects there are some. J. Carnie explained that he does believe that there are other agencies and that it is in the Board’s best interest to look at others. VOTE: 10.049/2.358/0/2.593. Motion passes.

 

9.      Action on the Manifest: MOTION: S. Oerman MOVED to accept the manifest in the amount of $1,063,292.23. SECOND: C. Dreyfuss. DISCUSSION: The Keene Sentinel and the Brattleboro Reformer are monthly bills. D. Dahl explained the curriculum material for K-3 that had been questioned.  VOTE: 11.386/0/1.021/2.593. Motion passes.

 

10. Superintendent’s Report: MOTION: K. Dassau informed the Board that the SAU Business Manager Search Committee would be meeting on May 22, 2008. K. Dassau reported that Attorney Apple informed him that the hearing for the request for a special meeting should be set soon regarding the Teacher’s contract. K. Dassau passed out a letter from the Sullivan Selectmen explaining that they would pursue defeating the upcoming petition for a Special School District Meeting. They encourage the other town selectmen to do the same. K. Dassau reported that there would be three non-public sessions.

 

11.  BOARD CHAIR REPORT:

 

12.  SETTING NEXT MEETINGS AGENDA:

 

1.      KBA Update

2.      Default Budget

3.      Budget Transfers

4.      Update on Skills Tutor Program

 

      13. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS:

 

14.  NON-PUBLIC SESSION: MOTION: C. Dreyfuss MOVED to enter into a non-public session under RSA 91-A:3 II(b) nominations: SECOND: S. Oerman. Roll call vote: E. Jacod, P. Peterson, J.Carnie, K. Cota, K. Goodenough, W. Felton, C. Dreyfuss, R. Smith, J. Fortson, D. Lyman, S. Oerman and G. White. 12.407/0/0/2.593. Motion passes.

 

15.  NON-PUBLIC SESSION: MOTION: J. Carnie. MOVED to enter into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3 II © Residency Issue: SECOND: C.Dreyfuss Roll call vote: E. Jacod, P. Peterson, J. Carnie, K. Cota, K. Goodenough, W. Felton, C. Dreyfuss, R. Smith, J. Fortson, D. Lyman, S. Oerman and G. White. 12.407/0/0/2.593. Motion passes. 

 

16.  Adjournment: MOTION: R. Smith MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 10:20 PM. PM. SECOND: J. Fortson VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion passes.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Recording Secretary