PLAINFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT

Plainfield School Board Meeting

Monday, May 2, 2005

Plainfield Elementary School

APPROVED MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 6:36 pm. Present were Board members Cogan, Houde Hardy, Ferguson, Bucklin and Reynolds. Also present were Superintendent Collins and Principal Mellow. The Student Council was represented by three members and their advisor, Jonni Nichols. There were five members of the community present and a reporter from the Valley News.

Public Comments

Community member Dennis Girouard asked for clarification on the issue discussed last month of separating the negotiated salary and benefit increases for staff out of the regular operating budget. Board Chair Reynolds explained that the Board makes the decision on how to present warrant articles. Mr. Girouard asked if it is possible for citizens to petition the Board to make the separation. Superintendent Collins said he would have to get a legal opinion to see if this could be done. Reynolds went on to explain that the Board chooses to present the warrant articles in this way because they feel the teachers are integral to the operation of the school. She understands that presenting them separately in the past led to bad feelings. Carl Strong reiterated his opinion that considering negotiated salary and benefit increases as part of the operating budget takes it out of the hands of the voters who might vote for the operating budget to keep the school running but might be apprehensive about voting for salary increases.

Announcements, Communications

Reynolds reported that she spoke with Steve Halleran about possibly moving voting day to be either the day of the School District meeting or the day of Town Meeting. She found out that Town Meeting is by law on Tuesday. They can postpone the meeting until Saturday, but they can’t postpone the voting also. Judy Houde Hardy reported that she and Myra Ferguson attended the Lebanon High School Board meeting on April 13. She noted that she had a conversation with the Athletic Director at LHS about the composition of their Athletic Council. She thought it would be helpful when the PES Board selects members for the new Athletic Committee. Ferguson announced that 10 servers will be donated to the school to help build the network. They will arrive sometime in June.

Consent Agenda

A. Minutes April 4, 2005

Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the public and non-public minutes of April 4, 2005 with the following revision: to change the first sentence under Announcements, Communications to - Board members Bucklin and Houde Hardy went to Local Officials Workshop sponsored by the Local Government Center. They learned about the history of funding in New Hampshire and about “Funding the Gap”.

Doug Cogan asked for clarification on where meeting minutes are posted. Everyone agreed that approved minutes would be posted to the website and to PlainFacts and that both unapproved and approved minutes would be put on the bulletin board in the entrance to the school.

At this time the Board reordered the agenda.

Student Council Presentation

After the Board met in February with representatives of the staff about “Challenging Every Child”, the Superintendent recommended that the Student Council explore three topics with their classmates and report to the Board. The three topics were: “What are the school’s greatest strengths? What are some of the things we need to consider for the future at PES? Do you feel challenged in your classes and activities? If yes, what are some of the things you consider challenging and if no, what would you suggest to make it challenging?” Three members of the Student Council, Nick Morse, Kelsey Hardy and Olivia Fauver, and their advisor, teacher Jonni Nichols, reported that every class in grades 5 – 8 met with a Student Council representative to discuss the topics. They presented their findings to the Board with a PowerPoint presentation and with a handout.

Reports

A. Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Collins reported that the day after the last Board meeting he was informed that the Program Grant to address the erosion of the river bank adjacent to the soccer fields had to be turned in that Friday. He spoke with the supervisor at the Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service about the grant and then to Board Chair Reynolds. As a result of the conversations, Collins signed the necessary paperwork so that PES would not miss the opportunity to be in the funding cycle.

B. Principal’s Report

Principal Mellow reported the following:

· Grades 2, 5 and 7 completed the Terra Nova Test.

· One More Cow and Read to Feed earned $3300 this year. Librarian Donna Beaupre was selected by Heifer International to tour Honduras villages along with other educators from America.

· Eighth grader Hilary Lynd won the All Star Math Meet held at KUA.

· Seventh grader Jennifer Anderle and eighth grader Julia Moore were selected by their teachers as the PES 2005 Scholar Leaders.

· The opening for the Spanish position has been filled but he is still advertising for a Music and Special Education teacher. The candidate pool is very small.

· The grades 5 – 8 Drama Production, “The Hound of the Clackervilles”, will be Friday night.

· The price of school lunches was discussed at the Parent Council meeting on April 4. 17 people that attended felt that they would not pay more for a school lunch. They also discussed family vacations taking away from school time and academic averages for student athletes.

· Hat and Kite day was successful. Bubbles and kites were sold by the Student Council this year.

· The “Two Fiddles” dance with Dudley Laufman was very successful with around 100 people attending. This may become an annual event.

· The first Spanish Night will be Monday, May 9 where students will exhibit their Spanish accomplishments.

· The seeds started by grades 1, 2 and 3 a few weeks ago are ready to be transplanted to the school garden.

· Grade 6 completed a community service project last weekend where they cleaned up Willow Brook Road and Grade 7 completed a community service project where they helped clean up Cory Taber Field.

· There are three concerts coming up: May 18 – Instrumental Concert; May 19 – Grades K to 2 Vocal Concert; May 25 – Grades 3 to 8 Choruses Concert.

· Principal Mellow and Volunteer Coordinator Stephanie Berman have recently completed the Volunteer Handbook.

C. Finance Director’s Report

Bill Moorman was not present because he was working with the accountants on the new accounting software. Superintendent Collins pointed out to the Board that they had the latest financial statement for the 2004/05 school year in their Board packet, which predicts a surplus of $70, 690.

D. Committee Reports

Health Insurance Committee: Board member Bucklin reported that the committee has been looking at a School Care Plan with higher deductibles and lower premiums. They had a number of questions on this plan which were directed to School Care. Board member Ferguson asked about the history of offering both POS and HMO. Board Chair Reynolds explained that it used to be only POS but HMO was added as a cheaper option.

Facilities Committee: Board Chair Reynolds reported that the energy audit was not completed this spring as expected because the Committee could not borrow the thermal imaging equipment. She reported on the status of the proposed bridge that would connect trails from Plainfield School with KUA trails. Investigations show that the bridge would be on public land and would probably need to be state approved. Reynolds reported on the progress of the parking lot improvement. The Facilities Committee suggests that it would be beneficial to have a forum with a facilitator from Saucier and Flynn to complete the new design. The suggested price to have a facilitated forum is between $500 and $1000.

Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to approve up to $750 for Saucier and Flynn to conduct and facilitate a forum on the design of the new parking lot.

Nutrition Committee: Board member Houde Hardy reported that the Nutrition Committee would like to choose a student to join them regularly for meetings. They are working on a nutrition survey and are working on a policy for the garden.

Best Schools Committee

Board Chair Reynolds reported that the committee continues to work regularly.

Business for Discussion and/or Action

A. Board/Community Communication

The Board spoke about the board web site. They would like to see the Master Agreement, Policies, and curriculum added to the site. Principal Mellow thinks that the site may need to be reorganized as it grows bigger. The Board talked about the large signs used on routes 12A and 120 to notify the community of board events. Board member Bucklin will get quotes to get some better signs made.

B. Community Survey Summary

Board member Ferguson handed out results from the survey conducted this spring on Board communication. Forty-nine surveys were completed and returned. Most of the surveys were completed by non parents and most were completed at Town Meeting.

C. Policy BDDH

Superintendent Collins explained the changes he made to this policy. The Board had several suggestions for other changes including citing Policy BDDC as a reference for non-agenda items raised during public input (item #5).

Policy BDDC

One change was suggested for this policy. Superintendent Collins will bring it back for a first reading at the next meeting.

Board member Ferguson suggested a change be made to policy LBD, Home School. Superintendent Collins will bring that policy forward at the next meeting. Collins suggested that a board member meet with him on a regular basis to review all the policies and discuss recommendations for revision. Board member Ferguson would like to assist him.

D. Athletic Committee

The Board discussed how to select members for this committee. They will run an ad in the Newsletter asking for interested people and they will then decide how to choose. They expect a large response to the ad. They decided that the committee would be made up of the following: Board member, Athletic Coordinator, Principal, two student athletes (one male and one female from grade 7), staff member, two coaches (one representing female athletes and one representing male athletes), and two parents (one with a female athlete and one with a male athlete). The Board and the Superintendent talked about the charge of the group. Superintendent felt that the committee would suggest policy to the Board and would be a standing committee. Chair Reynolds felt that the Committee could also look at other issues, such as the question of should PES be reaching out to other towns for greater coordination in sports.

E. NHSBA New Board Members Workshop

The workshop will be on Thursday, May 26. All the Board members would like to attend.

F. 2004 Forum (per citizen request)

Board Chair Reynolds explained that the phrase “Challenge Every Child” was a result of the Community Forum in January 2004. She reported that the Board has been struggling with this phrase and gathering data to learn what the phrase means to the community. It was discussed at the Board Retreat last fall, the staff reported to the Board what they felt it meant after they had a similar forum, and the Student Council reported earlier in this meeting on the results of the student survey done at the request of the Board. Reynolds reported that the Board has found that “Challenge Every Child” means very different things to different people and the Board does not have the funds to implement every suggestion made. She stated that the Board has been trying to identify what it means to the most people so they can formulate a plan and at the next meeting the Board plans to decide what the next step will be.

Consent Agenda

B. Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to approve the following nominations:

Kevin O’Reilly, Assistant Track Coach

Linda Beloin, Education Assistant

Lisa Scott-MacNeil, Spanish Teacher (1 year)

Shawn McCarthy, Assistant Baseball Coach

Non-public Session

Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to go into non-public session pursuant to NH RSA 91-A:3, II(a,b) at 10:17 pm. Discussion on SAU and Principal renominations took place.

Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to go back into public session at 11:30 pm.

Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board approved unanimously to offer contracts for the 2005-2006 school year to the SAU staff and Principal as recommended.

There being no further business to come before the School Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:32 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Annette Moore

Recording Clerk