Deerfield School Board Minutes: August 5 2009

Deerfield School Board Deerfield Community School Deerfield, NH August 5, 2009

Members Present: Bonnie Beaubien, Don Gorman, MaryAnn Clark, Kevin Barry, Gregg Williams, Supt. Warburton, Dr. Paludi, Paul Yergeau 1. Call To Order-Ms. Beaubien Ms. Beaubien called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. 2. Pledge of Allegiance-Ms. Beaubien Ms. Beaubien led the board members and those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Minutes of Previous Meeting(s) July2, 2009 A motion was made by Don Gorman to accept the minutes of July 2nd as corrected, seconded by Kevin Barry. 4. Immediate Business A. Agenda Review Additional Items: 1. Athletic Budget-Cindy Hanson-C1 2. Mr. Gorman would like to review an item with the board-Non-Public 3. MBC- New Business 4. Downshifting of stimulus funds 5. Posting of School Board Min. B. Citizens/Staff Comments No Comments C. Jack’s Driving School- Mr. Wedemeyer The school board reviewed the contract with Jack’s Driving school for the 2009-10 school year. The contract runs from September 09 to September 10. Mr. Wedemeyer informed the board that Drivers’ Ed. is running well and that there will be no increase in cost to attend Drivers’ Ed.

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A motion was made by Don Gorman to accept the proposed contract, seconded by Kevin Barry. ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED C1. Athletic Budget Mrs. Hanson (DCS Athletic Director) informed members of the board that the payment for officials has not increased since 2005-06. Other towns such as Northwood are paying $20 more than Deerfield. Mrs. Hanson stated that most officials are very dedicated to assisting the students at Deerfield and spend a lot of time working with the teams. Mrs. Hanson requested that the budget for Co-Curricular activities be increased to allow her to increase the amount that these officials are paid and to at least pay what surrounding towns are paying. A motion was made by Don Gorman to increase the Co-Curricular line by $1,740, seconded by Kevin Barry. ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED D. Maintenance Update Don Nichols the Maintenance Director for the Deerfield Community School spoke to the board concerning the replacement of a maintenance employee who was 40 hours a week with benefits. Mr. Nichols proposed to the board that he would like to split that position and hire 2 people to work 24 hours each. This would allow the weekends to be covered and would make sure that the school was prepared for Monday after the heavy weekend use. The cost would be $35,000 which would be a $5,000-$7,000 savings by not going to a full time position. These employees also would work through the summer eliminating the part time summer positions. It was Mr. Nichols opinion that because of the economy he would not have a problem filling the positions. A motion was made by Kevin Barry to accept the proposal to hire to two part-time employees to replace the one full time position, seconded by Don Gorman. ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED Mr. Nichols informed that members of the board that new counter tops in the 4th grade bathrooms were in with new faucets. Also, Mr. Nichols noted that 1/2 of the supplies/equipment line has been used already and that he sees the need for additional monies to be placed in that line. 1. 96 light bulbs have been replaced 2. 126 ceiling tiles 3. 40 gallons of white paint

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4. 40 gallons of blue paint 5. Other misc. items A motion was made by Kevin Barry to encumber up to $5,000 to be placed in the Maintenance Supply line, seconded by Don Gorman. ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED Mrs. Clark asked if the leaking roof issue for the modulars had been addressed. Mr. Nichols stated that he has called several times but that he has made no headway with the company. The members of the board requested that Peter Aubrey contact the company involved. E. Middle Charter School-Mr. Warburton, Middle Village Board of Trustees Members of the Middle Charter School were present to review with the members of the board where they are currently at with their proposal. Mr. Graykin noted that they currently have been chartered by the State of NH and are reviewing the accessibility of grants and funding. Mr. Graykin spoke about the need for a facility and that the cost for renovating a building can be costly. He noted that the G.B. White building might be an option. Also he informed that board that someone in the community has spoken to them about building a facility that the charter school could lease from them. The board was also informed that Charter Schools are open enrollment schools and there fore they could accept students outside of the district. It was noted that it is better for them to enroll students from Deerfield because the town would insure tuition payment under the current proposal. F. SAKAI Presentation-Mr. Warburton, Mr. Yergeau, Ms. Rubega, Ms. Boisvert Mary Rubega the Tech. Coordinator from the SAU and Debbie Boisvert from the Deerfield Community School were there to present to the board the purpose of SAKAI and how the school board could use it. Ms. Rubega stated that the board could have access to SAKAI and in it would be an area for board use. The members could have access to policies, min, etc. at their fingertips. A motion was made by MaryAnn Clark, seconded by Don Gorman to go forward with the proposal. ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED Supt. Warburton noted that Mary Rubega, Debbie Boisvert and Theresa Schneiderheinze had given much of their personal time and energy to build SAKAI for the use of the schools and boards within SAU 53.

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5. Old/Unfinished Business A. 2009-2010 Goals (draft) Review-Mr. Warburton, Dr. Paludi 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

September Agenda-security Procedure for High School Enrollment Tracking tuition students Special Ed. Update Attending Concord Board Meetings.

The board will review these items at their next meeting. Mr. Yergeau informed the board that he met with a company to review building security. The cost of proposed plan was $16,000. Mr. Yergeau was under the impression that this was more money than allotted by the school board at their previous meeting. Several members noted that $20,000 was encumbered for building security. Mr. Yergeau also stated that Honeywell had called and would be setting up a time to meet with him and write a proposal for the boards review. B. Review Presentation to Concord High School Board re: Survey Results-Mr. Warburton, Ms. Clark MaryAnn Clark reviewed with the board the results of the Concord Survey. She noted that while the majority of parents were happy with Concord High they were concerned with their student’s social preparedness. Mrs. Clark also stated that goals be set in place to address and allow Concord to be part of the solution. Mrs. Clark and other board members asked that information concerning post-procedure for high school enrollment be formulated and brought to the next school board meeting. 6. New Business A. Staff Nominations-Mr. Yergeau, Dr. Paludi Dr. Paludi informed the board that she has met the new candidates and was very impressed by their qualifications. 1. Lisa Bartlett- Math Specialist. It was noted that Ms. Bartlett was familiar with the Math Series used by DCS, which will allow her to implement the program and assist students with Math needs. 2. Susanne Laskowsky-Kindergarten Teacher. Ms. Laskowsky interned with Bruce Turnquist at DCS. She also assisted in Mrs. Knee’s kindergarten class. Ms. Laskowsky knows the school and the kindergarten curriculum. 3. Rebecca McHugh-Spec. Ed. Teacher. Ms. McHugh is coming from administration because she missed working with students. 4. Marissa Rodriguez-6th grade teacher. Ms Rodriguez is returning to NH from Arizona. She has a strong middle school background.

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A motion was made by Kevin Barry to accept the nomination of each of the individuals mentioned, seconded by Gregg Williams. ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED B. Bus Routes Mr. Gorman reviewed the change in bus routes with the board. He noted that the 107 & Mountain Rd. route has been broken up. The previous route was about 45 min. Mr. Barry noted that there were some blank spots in the proposal. Mr. Gorman also informed that board that the Pleasant Hill route still requires parents to meet the bus at the bottom of the hill. The reason for this is at one time a bus could not stop at the bottom and blocked 107. It cannot be guaranteed that conditions on Pleasant Hill will not create another situation like this. A motion was made by Don Gorman to approve the Deerfield Community School’s bus routes as proposed by Dail Transportation and to contact Dail to fill in the blanks in the routes, seconded by Gregg Williams ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED

C. Middle School Discussion-Ms. Beaubien Mr. Yergeau walked through the middle school process with the board members. Mr. Yergeau stated that by law teachers in the 7th and 8th grade have to be HQT in their subject area. His vision for DCS is two teams of Middle school teachers. Mr. Yergeau gave the example of a Math teacher who would teach 8th grade and 6th grade math and then another teacher teaching 7th & 6th grade math. Mr. Yergeau noted that the community must be made aware that 6th grade will no longer be self-contained. Communication to the community, parents and students for this proposal needs to take place. Mr. Yergeau also stated that he envisioned a very unified team so that the 6th, 7th and 8th students do not loose their identity. Mr. Gorman asked what the overall benefit would be for the students at DCS. Mr. Yergeau stated that he was not sure it is a benefit but there would be a savings in space and cost. 7. Informational Items

School Board

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Mr. Gorman requested a non-public session be held for his information to be brought forward. Gregg Williams reviewed with the board members his meeting with the MBC. He noted that there was a lot of discussion around IDEA Title 1 funds and the stimulus monies. Ms. Clark stated that it might be important to put the school board minutes in the Forum once they are approved. A motion was made by MaryAnn Clark to put the School Board min. into the Forum once they are approved, seconded by Kevin Barry. ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED Ms. Clark also noted that in the minutes of the Selectmen’s meeting Rep. Mann discussed the state budget and stimulus funds. Supt. Warburton confirmed that stimulus funs can not be used to reduce the budget. Supt. Warburton passed out to the members a letter that was given to all SAU 53 Board members that explained ARRA Funds In the letter Supt. Warburton clarified the following. Ø The largest pot of money coming to education is the 120 million dollars (over two years) from the stabilization fund that is being used to substitute for state money in basic adequacy. This is not an increase in money for school but a substitute for state money. Ø The next biggest source is Title 1 money. For those who get it the rules are quite strict, in that it must be supplemented services that benefit qualified students only. It cannot be used to supplant. Ø The next biggest source is IDEA money. For those who get it the rules again are quite strict in that it must be supplementing local effort for a portion (50%) of the increase in the amount. A school district that is interested in applying for this purpose must be in compliance with certain standards. Ø All of the expenditures must meet the accountability and audit requirements of the U.S. and N.H. Dept. of Ed. Some of these are yet to be known. The letter continued to state that some municipal and state leaders are rather divisive and even inaccurate in suggesting that schools need to share this new big increase with towns and cities. First of all, for the reason above, the funds are specifically earmarked, and they are governed by different laws ands rules with specific purposes, and secondly, they are only meant to be short-term stimulus resources. A. Citizens’ Staff Comments Peter Menard introduced himself to the members of the board as a member of the MBC who was interested in seeing how the school board allotted money to different needs of the school.

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8. Adjournment At 9:50 P.M., a motion to enter non-public session under RSA 91-A:3II(c) was made by Don Gorman, seconded by Kevin Barry.

ALL IN FAVOR MOTION CARRIED Non-public: A discussion took place regarding contract negotiations. Out of non-public –A motion was made by Kevin Barry and seconded by Marianne Clark to come out of non-public at 10:00 P.M. All in favor-yes; the motion carried. A motion was made by Kevin Barry and seconded by Gregg Williams to amend goal #4 as written on the new draft goals document. All in favor-yes; the motion carried. A motion was made by Kevin Barry and seconded by Gregg Williams to adjourn the meeting at 10:P.M. All in favor-yes; the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:01 P.M.

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