PLAINFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT
Plainfield School Board Meeting
Monday, November 21, 2005
Plainfield Elementary School
APPROVED MINUTES
The meeting was called to order at 6:37 pm. Present were Board members Reynolds, Houde Hardy, Ferguson and Cogan. Also present were Superintendent Collins, Principal Langsner and members of the public.
Announcements, Communications
Board Chair Reynolds informed the Board that she received a letter from Carl Strong, which she included in the Board packet.
Consent Agenda
A. Minutes November 7, 2005
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the public and non-public minutes of November 7, 2005
B. Nominations
Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the following nominations:
Kerry Keaser 7/8 ‘A’ Girls Basketball Coach
Todd MacDonald 7/8 ‘A’ Girls Basketball Asst. Coach
Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted 3 in favor, one abstention to accept the following nominations for Open Gym Supervisors, with compensation to be decided by the Superintendent:
Mherdad Didehbani
Greg Hardy
Dan Cantlin
Peggy Hollander
Reports
Facilities Committee – Reynolds reported that Steve Halleran met with the Facilities Committee (FC) about the parking lot expansion. Halleran was sure that the town would most likely provide equipment and fill for the expansion. She said the FC may recommend adding a soccer field at the same time that the parking lot is expanded so as not to waste valuable loam that will be moved for the parking lot. The request for the parking lot expansion will be at the 2007 annual meeting.
Reynolds reported that Halleran and the FC also discussed purchasing a generator for the school. A generator would cost approximately $60,000 and would be purchased by the town so the school could be used as an emergency shelter.
Reynolds requested that Bill Taylor of the Meriden Village Water District supply the Board with updated estimates for putting in new water/sewage connections.
Business for Discussion and/or Action
A. Facility Committee Recommendations
The Facility Committee recommends that the Capital Reserve Fund be kept at $50,000 and be used for true emergencies. Instead of adding to the Capital Reserve Fund each year, they recommend that an additional $20,000 be allocated (in additional to the current $9000) to bring building repairs up-to-date. Since the Capital Reserve Fund is currently at $76,000, they recommend the sewage update be paid for with the Capital Reserve Fund. The last estimate for the sewage update was $30,000 (Bill Taylor has been asked to bring this up-to-date) which would reduce the Capital Reserve Fund to $46,000. Additional funds would have to be added to the Capital Reserve Fund this year to return it to the recommended $50,000 mark.
Reynolds asked the Board how they felt about this plan. She said another option would be to do all the work at once and use a bond to pay for it. Board member Cogan asked what the FC proposed to do about projects that are estimated to cost more than $20,000. Reynolds replied that she thought they planned to phase those projects over a period of years. Board member Ferguson thought that $30,000 per year was a reasonable target for building repairs. Reynolds emphasized that the repair work suggested by the FC is not just to make the building safe and habitable, but to also impact learning with better lighting and heating systems.
Reynolds felt that the Board will need to have the budget completed before they can comfortably authorize these recommendations, but notes the FC will continue to work on the plan outlined above. Superintendent Collins recommended that the FC have their recommendations, including the building repair list, ready to be included in the Town Report.
B. Administrative Structure
The Board looked at results they received from interviews they conducted in five schools (Lyme, Grantham, Gilmanton, Goshen/Lempster, Whitefield) on their current administrative structure. They compared Plainfield to these five schools in the following categories: enrollment, cost of School Administration, cost of parks and recreation, Principal hours, Principal Secretary hours, School Secretary hours, Athletic Coordinator hours and Facilities Manager hours.
Board member Cogan thought that Plainfield has more in-school athletics than many schools. It has always been the feeling in the Plainfield community that athletics should be run by the school rather than by the town. He asked Principal Langsner how much time she felt was given to athletics in the school office. Cogan suggested one way of easing the work load in the office would be to move athletics to the town level, as has been discussed in the past.
Principal Langsner and Superintendent Collins suggested that there may be a way to find time for a part-time Assistant Principal when schedules are restructured for the 06-07 year. A new teacher will be hired to replace a teacher who is retiring after this school year and that may be a good opportunity to restructure.
Superintendent Collins spoke of the need to have extra help in the summer months so that there won’t be such a crunch time at the beginning of each school year.
Board Chair Reynolds said that the exercise of interviewing all members of the Plainfield administrative and supervisory staff and comparing Plainfield to five other towns administrative and supervisory staff will provide important context in which to assess any suggestions that come forward on how to improve Plainfield’s administrative structure.
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 (c) at 8:15 pm. Discussion on student issues concerning incidences of bullying and harassing behavior took place. A parent joined the session to express her concerns on the issue.
Upon motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to go back into public session at 9:40 pm. No action was taken
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:41 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Annette Moore
Recording Clerk