PLAINFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT

Plainfield School Board Meeting

Monday, May 19, 2008

Plainfield Elementary School

MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm. Present were Board members Reynolds, Ferguson, Cogan and Bucklin. Also present were Superintendent Collins, Principal Langsner, Sixth Grade Teacher Brenda Johnson and members of the public.

Public Comments

Town member Dennis Girouard asked the Board if they had any plans to address the shrinking class sizes. Board Chair Reynolds answered that the board discusses and sets goals for the year in August.

Announcements, Communications

Board member Ferguson said she had sent notes of thanks to Fran Hills and to Laura Knight for giving curriculum reports at the last meeting.

Reports

A. Principal’s Report

Principal Langsner reported about the trees that were planted for the Arbor Day celebration and also said that plans were underway for another Beaupre Community Service Day and for the Annual Memorial Day celebration and for Hat and Kite Day.

Langsner said she met recently with the class advisors and they had drafted a survey concerning the annual eighth grade class trip. She asked if the Board wished to incorporate the survey in their own survey or if they wished her to distribute the survey separately. Board Chair Reynolds felt that it would most appropriate to distribute the survey this spring and requested that Langsner not wait for the Board survey. She questioned Langsner about the focus of the survey.

At this time the agenda was reordered.

Business for Discussion and/or Action

A.    Curriculum Presentations: Reading

Sixth Grade teacher Brenda Johnson presented a computer slideshow highlighting programs implemented this year by the Reading Curriculum Committee, including partner reading across the grades, “Read Across America” week and Family Reading night. They also had a character parade where teachers and students dressed as their favorite book character and a Reader’s Theatre. Johnson explained that the emphasis for the year was placed on reading fluency.  The committee is currently working on: a plan to incorporate more non-fiction reading strategies across the curricula; the integration of subject areas; exploring more resources for assessment.

At this time, the Board returned to the original agenda.

Reports

B. Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Collins reported the following:

·         Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) was reported in the papers and Plainfield made the yearly progress, as anticipated.

·         The new tractor will be delivered before Beaupre Community Service Day so it can be used for projects planned that day.

·         He has asked Bigelow Paving to hold their base bid and their alternative bid for paving on the new parking lot until June.

·         An announcement will be in the Newsletter next week for a new Board Recording Secretary.

·         The bids for the erosion project should all be in by June 1. The original estimate of the costs of the project was between $10,000 and $11,000 with the grant paying 75% of that. Unfortunately it has taken a few years to finalize the project and costs have gone up but the grant will still only pay 75% of the original estimate, not of a new (and higher) estimate.

·         Beth Bierwirth, Finance Manager, will be at the next meeting to give the financial statements.

Business for Discussion and/or Action

B. Parking Lot Project

Board member Cogan explained that the town Planning Board is concerned with how much ambient light there is already at the school and that they are worried that the addition of extra lights with the new parking lot will make the situation even worse. The Planning Board is currently meeting with Bill Knight from the Facilities Committee to discuss the situation and Knight will report back to the Board after the meeting.

C. Strategic Planning

Superintendent Collins handed out a packet for each Board member with samples of three different surveys done in past years, two from Plainfield and one from Hanover. Collins said that he feels that the Board has accomplished most of what they wanted to in the last year’s strategic plan but he know that they would like to do a town-wide survey soon and h e wanted to share what has been done in the past to help them formulate a new survey. Board Chair Reynolds requested that each Board member bring ideas that they would like to see addressed in a Board survey to the next meeting. Board member Bucklin would like to see the proposed Board survey finalized at the summer retreat so that it can go home to students with the opening day packet of information. Surveys would also be mailed to townspeople without children in the school.

At this time Facilities Manager Bill Knight arrived from the town Planning Board meeting where they discussed the light issues at the school. Knight explained to the Board that the Planning Board has no jurisdiction over the school but the message from them is that the neighbors would love it if the school could get rid of the security lights. Knight feels that if they have to hire an electrician to put in new parking lot lights, the Board might as well begin to address the issue of making the lighting less disruptive to neighbors. He thinks that Granite State may help with some of the changes to existing lights. He also feels that the layout of the school has changed since some of the existing lights were put in and he would like to take a look at what the lights are used for now to see if some could be eliminated or changed. The Facilities Committee will bring new figures to the Board on the parking lot project for the next meeting.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Annette Moore

Recording Clerk