PLAINFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT
Plainfield School Board Meeting
Monday, November 5, 2007
Plainfield Elementary School
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order at 6:33 pm. Present were Board members Reynolds, Forman, Ferguson, Cogan and Bucklin. Also present were Superintendent Collins, Principal Langsner and members of the public.
Announcements, Communications
Board member Ferguson thanked Board member Cogan for the clear and easy to understand, “Update from Plainfield School Board” that was submitted to the October 26, 2007 school newsletter. She asked if he had plans to submit it to PlainFacts to notify the rest of the community of the new budget surplus figure of $191,663. Cogan said he would do that.
Board member Forman commented on the successful Upper Valley Cup soccer tournament held recently at Plainfield School and at KUA and requested a note be sent to KUA thanking them for generously allowing use of their facilities.
Consent Agenda
A. Minutes October 15, 2007
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the October 15, 2007 meeting with the following changes: on page four, change the heading “Health Insurance” to “Professional Development” and change the sentence following to, “Board member Bucklin reported that the next meeting of this committee will occur Wednesday, October 17”; change the second sentence in the third paragraph on page five to, “That dollar amount would allow for additional visual arts activity” and change the last sentence in the same paragraph to, “There was some confusion as to where the earmarked money resided in the budget and the specific purpose of that money being assigned to visual arts activities.” Change the third sentence in the fourth paragraph on page five to, “Further, the Board requested that if the money is used for the visual arts activities, what impact did the expenditure have on the visual arts program?” Add the following sentence to the fifth paragraph on page five, “The Board voted unanimously to move the monies to a more appropriate line in the budget.”
B. Nominations
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the following nominations: Tammy Begin, 7/8 Girls Basketball Co-Coach; Carol Edvin, 7/8 Girls Basketball Co-Coach; Mherdad Didehbani, 7/8 Boys Basketball Co-Coach; Tom Williams, 7/8 Boys Basketball Co-Coach; Conrad L’Heureux, 5/6 Boys Basketball Coach; Blair Sullivan, 5/6 Girls Basketball Head Coach; Lauren Campfield, 5/6 Girls Basketball Asst. Coach.
C. Resignation
Superintendent Collins presented the Board with a letter of resignation from Rebecca Griggs, Education Assistant in grades 1 and 6. The Board acknowledged the resignation with regrets.
Reports
A. Principal’s Report
Principal Langsner reported the following:
· The school will be short-staffed for awhile due to the fact that there are openings for two education assistants.
· The school had a very successful Open House with a good crowd of families visiting.
· A new state requirement states there must be staff trained in first aid and CPR on the site at all times. Consequently, Langsner is making CPR and First Aid classes available to staff during in-service days.
· A recent staff flu shot and health screening clinic was very well attended.
· There has been interest recently in increasing inter-grade activities, for which Plainfield School is ideally suited. The following teacher-led initiatives have resulted: the Reading Curriculum Committee hopes to increase reading fluency by encouraging each grade level to team up with another grade level to read aloud; a study of the amount of trash produced by the school has led to an all-school effort to reduce and recycle with a contest to see which classroom can reduce the most.
· The grade 7 – 8 Math Team won second place last week at their first meet.
· While the eighth grade was finishing up NECAP exams, seventh graders performed the following community service: garden work at the Philip Read Library; fence scraping at Freeman Cemetery; garden work at Plainfield School.
On a side note, Board member Bucklin said the Scavenger Hunt during Open House for the junior high students and their parents was a wonderful idea, encouraging great interaction between parents and children. Board Chair Reynolds commented on how terrific the October seventh grade field trip to the American Precision Museum was. The field trip was created and led by 7/8 grade Social Studies teacher Amelia Lincoln.
B. Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Collins announced that the AREA meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 12 at 6:30 pm. He said that the Grantham Superintendent expressed concern that building plans in Lebanon would adversely affect tuition. Lebanon Superintendent Mike Harris said they will talk about that at the AREA meeting.
Regarding the question of the boundary line between school property and a neighboring property, Collins explained that the school lawyer is looking for a process to resolve the issue amicably.
C. Committee Reports
Athletic Committee – Board member Forman announced that the sport season assessments are live on the school website for parents and athletes to complete. Announcements have been made in the newsletter to encourage parents to fill out a survey and athletes will have the opportunity to fill the survey out during a school computer class.
Facilities Committee – Board member Cogan reported on the October 18, 2007 meeting, where the committee talked about work already completed and work still needed to be done. He mentioned especially the fire alarm panel, which will probably need upgrading in the next five years and could cost between $50,000 to $60,000. Superintendent Collins and Principal Langsner expressed an interest in using surplus bond funds to finish painting the ceilings that received only fire proof paint. They felt that the ceilings should receive a coat of latex paint to improve their appearance. The Facilities Committee is not recommending that the ceilings be painted with latex. Board member Bucklin would rather see the excess funds be used for safety upgrades and save the ceiling painting for general maintenance.
Superintendent Collins mentioned that a person trained for crowd control management needs to be on site for any non-school assemblies that take place in any room that can hold 100 people.
Cogan explained that there are still unresolved issues with the ventilation system master controller. He said it has been difficult getting Pro Control to return to help Bill Fleming with regulating the system.
Cogan said that a meeting has been set tentatively for Thursday, November 8 at 4:00 pm to discuss the parking lot. The Committee would like to have a public forum early in December to discuss and reassess parking lot plans.
Business for Discussion and/or Action
A. Profile
The Board discussed the Profile as presented. Board members Bucklin and Cogan would like to see more space given to the promotion of learning rather than fiscal highlights. A few changes were suggested and upon a motion made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to authorize the Board Chair to approve the amended version, when complete.
B. Policies
Policy JI (Student Rights and Responsibilities) – Second Reading. Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the second reading of Policy JI (Student Rights and Responsibilities).
Policy KE (Public Complaints) – Second Reading. Several changes were discussed. Superintendent Collins will make these changes and bring the policy back for a third reading.
Policy IMAH (Daily Physical Activity) – First Reading. Board member Ferguson explained that this policy is no longer mandated but is recommended. Several changes were suggested for a second reading. Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to pass Policy IMAH (Daily Physical Activity) for a second reading.
Policy JLDBA (Behavior Management and Intervention) – First Reading. This is a new policy required by the state department. There was concern about the sentence, “Exclusion from the classroom should be the disciplinary action of last resort”. Superintendent Collins will take a look at the possibility of removing it. Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to pass Policy JLDBA (Behavior Management and Intervention) for a second reading.
Policy JLF (Reporting Child Abuse) – First Reading. A complete rewrite of this policy was recommended. Collins will bring it back at a later date.
Non-public Session
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to go into non-public session pursuant to NH RSA 91-A:3, II (c) at 8:07 pm.
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to go back into public session at 8:24 pm. No action was taken.
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Annette Moore
Recording Clerk