MONADNOCK REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Minutes

July 16, 2002

Monadnock Regional Junior and Senior High School Library

7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER

Present: Winston Wright, Chairman, Don Arguin, Dixie Gurian, Patricia Smith, Stephen Mettling, William Felton, Alan Gross, Gene White, Jonathan Kirstein, Robin Marra, John Morin and Larry Colby. Absent: Richard Thackston, Gus Lerandeau and Geordie Fifield.

Also present: C. Cardine, Supt.; K. Dassau, Asst. Supt.; L. Biron, Business Manager; and D. Hodgdon, Dir of Curriculum. Principals: K. Craig, D. Mousette, K. Carter, D. Dahl, S. Rashid, and JC Russell.

 

1. CONSENT AGENDA:

Minutes of June 18, 2002 MOTION: R. Marra MOVED to approve the public minutes. SECOND L. Colby VOTE: 9.66/0/0/5.34 Motion Passes.

2. CITIZENS CONCERNS: None

3. STUDENT COUNCIL CONCERNS: None

4. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Troy School is receiving coverage from the paper for the student's work on the Channel 8 Program.

There has been notification that Monadnock Regional School District will participate with the State of New Hampshire's Department of Education in a grant to improve the teaching of American History. Monadnock Regional School District is a partner in the grant application.

A thank you note was sent to Hannaford's for the gift of the bonds to the Troy School.

C. Cardine read a letter from a student of Mrs. M. Baldwin's. The student wanted to thank her for her help, understanding, patience and direction while he was attending her classes. She was a teacher that he could come to for help. He thanked her many times in the letter.

A letter to Mr. Stockwell from Mrs. Butterfield commended three teachers that her daughter had. Mrs. Bove, Mrs. Fay and Mr. Babonnis were highly commended for their work with her daughter.

W. Wright asked that the next item be Item E - 21st Century. (See Item E)

5. OTHER SCHOOL BOARD BUSINESS:

A. Board Committee Reports:

    1. Policy Committee: D. Arguin responded to the parents who had questions about the grading that is being done at the Northern Schools. He explained that he met with members of the administrative team, four principals were in attendance as well as C. Cardine and K. Dassau. He reported that the grading at the elementary level is consistent with board policy. D. Arguin also responded to the other question the group had asked which was are the Northern Schools moving toward an integrated curriculum. D. Arguin said that they are trying to make more connections with the community. R. Robidoux asked if the question was how they are being reported or how they are achieving. K. Dassau responded that there are variations in reporting but all reports are based on the curriculum that is the same throughout the district. Director of Curriculum, D. Hodgdon will comment further under his curriculum report.
    2. MOTION: D. Gurian MOVED to go into non-public session NO SECOND. K. Craig explained that when teachers have a passion for a certain topic they concentrate on that subject but teach all parts of the curriculum. K. Kenney asked if the parents would know what was going on in their child's class. K. Craig said that the communication would be there but not every day. C. Cardine explained that when hiring a teacher the principal tries to hire the best possible candidate. When the teacher has a certain expertise they will use that in different subjects. The principal does not want to restrict the teacher. D. Arguin stated that the district is not mandating the implementation of an integrated curriculum. K. Kenney asked C. Cardine if the final Tera Nova tests have come back yet from this past spring. C. Cardine responded no. MOTION: P. Smith MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing personnel for no longer than 10 minutes. SECOND: S. Mettling. VOTE: 11.54/0/0/3.46. MOTION: L. Colby MOVED to return to public session. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: 11.54/0/0/3.46.
    3. MOTION: J. Morin. MOVED to accept Policy JICA Student Dress Code with the corrections and deletions as presented as a first reading. SECOND: R. Marra. VOTE: 10.40/0/1.14/3.46 MOTION PASSES. MOTION: D. Gurian. MOVED to accept Policy KF Use of School Facilities, the new document as a first reading. SECOND: A. Gross. VOTE: 10.76/.78/0/3.46 MOTION PASSES. W. Felton asked why the first reading. W. Wright explained that the first reading is like a warning. The first reading lets the public know when they can comment if they choose. MOTION: D. Gurian. MOVED to accept Policy EEBB Use of Private Vehicles as a second reading. SECOND: L. Colby DISCUSSION: C. Cardine would like to make sure that when stating the policy state the name of the policy as well. G. White wanted to know if the policy is talking about adults or students. The response was the number of buckles in the vehicle. N. Mitchell, parent, asked if she would need extra coverage to transport her own child. The response was that this policy was for school personnel and parents transporting students through arrangement by the school administration. VOTE: 10.40/1.14/0/3.46. MOTION PASSES. MOTION: D. Gurian. MOVED: to have a second reading to delete Policy EBBC First Aid. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: 11.54/0/0/3.46. MOTION PASSES.

    4. Communications Committee. D. Gurian passed out an action plan for the objectives to support the five different areas. The sheet shows the how, the who, and the when. She would like the Board to take the sheets back and read them for the next meeting. She points out that in some areas the Board members are asked to help. D. Gurian hopes to have thank you notes in David Hodgdon's parent newsletter. The committee has established two calendars. One for the junior high events and one for the high school events. A. Gross extends appreciation to D. Gurian on a job well done.
    5. Finance Committee: W. Wright explained that there would be an increase in the school lunch cost. This change will effect every school in the district. There has not been an increase in the school lunch since 1997. The Board has not received the spreadsheet of the increases. The Finance Committee has received the spreadsheet. The recommendation is $1.45 will increase to $1.60 and $1.75 will increase to $2.00. MRSD Food Service Director Tom Walsh has been struggling to run the program in the black. The reason being is that the bigger schools are carrying the smaller ones. L. Biron explained that as of June 30, 2002 $343,659.00 was left on appropriations. The revenues are $553,000 to the good. After the audit there should be between $600,000 and $700,000 to apply toward the deficit. W. Wright commented that the reason the deficit is down is because of the efforts of the people working for the district. He thanked all for doing a wonderful job.
    6. MOTION: D. Gurian MOVED that the Board resolve to apply to the NH Department of Education for a Renovation and Technology Grant in an amount not to exceed $217,225.00. SECOND: A. Gross DISCUSSION: D. Gurian explained that this was a portion of the overall monies coming from the federal government to the State of New Hampshire. D. Gurian also explained that $137,000.00 would go to renovations and $80,000.00 would be used for technology. The Antioch building for the MC2 School would not be eligible only the MRSD. L. Colby asked what "strings" were attached and the response was none. VOTE: 11.54/0/0/3.46. MOTION PASSES.

    7. Facilities Committee: The Facilities Committee met this past Monday to discuss the insurance issue that deals with PTOs. The previous policy holds. If an organization has its own bi-laws and checkbook it needs to have its own insurance coverage. R. Robidoux, the president of the Gilsum PTO, explained that they have no bi-laws but have "guidelines" and the checkbook needs to have two signatures, one of which is a staff member. D. Mousette explained that it is important to have two signatures as a precaution against misuse. L. Biron explained that the insurance policy guides what the district is doing. It is not the Board's intention to drive a wedge between the parents and the school. R. Robidoux asked if the checkbook was to be turned over to the school and the principal was willing to take it over, would that be the solution? A. Gross said that a simple solution would be that the PTO joins the National PTA who offers liability insurance. A parent commented that there are too many dues to deal with. R. Clark suggested that the district help with the PTO coverage and may receive a better rate. L. Biron explained that he has spoken to the NH Municipal Association/PLIT staff and they do not offer such a policy at this time. W. Wright explained that the Board would continue to work on this problem. D. Gurian reminded that comments and questions need to go through the board chair, W. Wright.
    8. CVC Committee: A. Gross reported that the Cheshire Vocational Centers name has been changed to The Cheshire Career Center. The committee had voted to expand the Center last December and the project should be completed in the summer of 2004. Computer technology, certification courses, Day Care and Nursing are two programs in which they wish to include and expand.

B. New Business: The MRSD will be applying for a federal grant in which Judd Gregg has been pushing for. MRSD will apply jointly with Antioch, MC2, Winchester, Hinsdale, and Keene. The amount of money is between 2.5million and 5.0 million. The grant is the Public School Choice Initiative. The schools need to meet and discuss how they wish to write the grant. Judd Gregg informed Supt. Cardine that the MRSD sounds very good.

C. Old Business: None.

D. Curriculum Report: D. Hodgdon informed the group that he was responding to the questions that were asked from the parents. The main question was if the district had an integrated curriculum. He explained that the Curriculum Coordinating Team (CCT) sets up district standards. It is what the students need to know at a certain grade level. The attempt is to align the curriculum to the state frameworks. The process of making connections among disciplines and the real world enables teachers to teach in many ways.

MOTION: R. Marra. MOVED to extend the meeting past 10:00PM but not to exceed 11:00PM. SECOND: J. Morin. VOTE: Unanimous.

W. Felton asked how a multi-classroom could accomplish the requirements. D. Hodgdon responded that it is a challenge but works. A. Gross asked about the Terra Nova scores in spelling and math for the Gilsum students. D. Hodgdon said he was pleased with the overall district scores. He did not have the results with him. J. Morin asked about the curriculum committees. D. Hodgdon responded by saying that there is a representative from each school and a long process is done in order to come up with curriculum that can then be presented to the board for approval. K. Dassau commented that D. Hodgdon is on 16 curriculum committees that meet once a month. A parent commented that her student was receiving spelling words on one subject. She asked if there should be guidelines set on what and how many subjects are being taught. D. Hodgdon said that it is a worthy discussion and that the process needs to be looked at. R. Clark asked if a parent had a concern what procedure would be used. D. Hodgdon explained that the process would be a conversation with the teacher, the principal, the superintendent and then the board. D. Hodgdon said that anytime his expertise was needed on curriculum the superintendent may ask for his help. J. Kirstein commented that the skills learned in practicing spelling are a means of learning no matter what the subject. W. Wright responded that if there are further questions for Dr. Hodgdon to call his office.

21st Century Report: 21st Century Report: K. Carter, the principal of the Monadnock Community Connection School (MC2) gave an update to the Board. Since July 1, 2002 she has been interviewing students and their parents. Twenty-two students are enrolled, two of which are out of district. She has hired another teacher. She has met many people at Antioch. On a personal note she explained that because of her family, she will be commuting but will be moving to the area. The building space is an issue that they are looking at and an answer could be brought before the board this month. Baybutt Construction has been working hard to find the answer to the bathroom situation. The city will let them know if they need to build bathrooms. They are looking into temporary housing at Antioch. Once the project is underway it will be completed in 6-8 weeks. The final cost for the project will be between $262,000 and $285,000 dependent upon the bathrooms. So far $125,100 has been raised by private donations. She is very optimistic that the Dewey Grant will come through. This will be known at the end of August. Laidlaw will provide the transportation of the students at no extra cost. The enrollment now is 4 girls and 18 boys, ages 13-16 and at a 9th grade level. C. Cardine told the Board that the money was being raised as part of Antioch's Capital campaign and not by the District. He told the Board that two private donors gave $60,000.00 each. D. Arguin asked how many applicants had applied. K. Carter responded 26. The application deadline has been extended until the enrollment quota is reached. A. Gross mentioned that having students out of district would be an advantage. W. Felton asked if you fill out an application does that mean you are accepted. K. Carter responded that the student and the parents need to be committed and willing to work on this for one year. She informed the Board that given the number of applicants all the applications to date had been accepted. J. Morin asked if the slots would be filled. K. Carter said she would not accept a student only to fill the slot. L. Colby asked what the process was and K. Carter responded that it was a 45-minute interview and a required essay. She did mention that she thought the essay questions were too vague and needed to be worked on. Rebecca Robidoux from Gilsum asked what would happen if the student does not have the support from home. K. Carter responded that it is important to have the parent involvement because the parent will help write the program and do the assessment.

F. Action on the Manifest:

A. Gross MOVED to approve the manifest in the amount of $2,026,633.37 SECOND: D. Gurian DISCUSSION: The $191.00 is for Day Timers which are assignment books. VOTE: 10.80/0/.74/3.46 Motion Passes.

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: C. Cardine passed out the Mission Statement and Goals for the Monadnock Regional School District (2002-03) to the Board Members. This will be discussed in September. C. Cardine also passed out the reaction from the United States Dept. of Education on the school vouchers.

7. SETTING UP THE NEXT MEETING'S AGENDA:

  1. Policy Committee
  2. Communications Committee
  3. Finance Committee
  4. Facilities Committee
  5. 21st Century
  6. Non-Public - Negogiations

10:40 PM Chair Wright declares a recess.

 

8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION

10:45 PM D. Gurian MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing personnel. SECOND: P. Smith. VOTE: Unanimous.

11:00 PM D. Gurian MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: R. Marra. VOTE: Unanimous.

11:00 PM R. Marra MOVED to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing a legal issue. SECOND: P. Smith. VOTE: Unanimous.

11:05 PM J. Morin MOVED to return to public session and to seal this portion of the non-public minutes indefinitely. SECOND: R. Marra. VOTE: Unanimous.

9. Motion to Adjourn.

11:06 PM S. Mettling MOVED to adjourn. SECOND: R. Marra. VOTE: Unanimous.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Laura Aivaliotis

MRSD Board Secretary