PLAINFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT
Plainfield School Board Meeting
Monday, December 4, 2006
Plainfield Elementary School
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order at 6:32 pm. Present were Board members Reynolds, Ferguson, Cogan and Forman. Also present were Superintendent Collins, Principal Langsner, Beth Bierwirth and members of the public.
Consent Agenda
A. Minutes November 20, 2006
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the public and non-public minutes of November 20, 2006 with the following amendments: on the first page in the paragraph under Principal’s Report, change the second sentence to, “Lisa Pixley headed the fundraising and did an incredible job.”; in the third full paragraph on page 3, change the second sentence to, “The Board asked that Superintendent Collins retain a fire protection engineer as soon as possible.” and following that, add, “The fire protection engineer will develop a plan to modify the building to meet the criteria reported by the state’s Fire Marshall.”; in the fourth full paragraph on page three, change the first sentence to, “Board Chair Reynolds asked if the six-year revision cycle is flexible and responsive enough to meet changes in state guidelines that may occur in the interim.”; add the following to the end of the fifth full paragraph on page three, “A discussion ensued, and the following revisions were made to the curriculum committee guidelines: (1) In April or May of Year 2, all preliminary draft curricula (not just those with major changes) will be presented at a School Board meeting in order to familiarize the board with the curricula up for approval in the following year. (2) In April or May of Year 3, the final revised curricula will be presented for School Board approval at a regular school board meeting. As with all school board meetings, the community will be invited to attend. In addition, as set forth in the guidelines, in Year 6, parents and older school children will be surveyed along with staff as part of the curricula evaluation process. The curricula revision process was approved by the board with the above revisions.”; add to last sentence in the seventh full paragraph on page three, “…and the works authored by Buckalew.”; change the sentence under A.R.E.A Meeting summary to, “Discussion at the A.R.E.A. meeting focused on the pupil tuition rate, which is decreased from the present year to $11,043 per pupil (a reduction of $200 per pupil) and a new middle school facility.”
Reports
A. Principal’s Report
Principal Langsner reported that there will be a ceremony tomorrow morning to dedicate the new bridge built by the Plainfield Trailblazers. All staff and students will attend as well as many from the town. Langsner added that the Lebanon cross country ski team has been given permission to practice on school property and in return they will groom the trails.
Langsner also mentioned that the school is having some difficulty finding substitute teachers and that it is almost impossible to find a substitute for the nurse. She attributes this difficulty to the low rate the school pays substitutes, compared to other schools in the Upper Valley. She suggested that the board consider increasing substitute pay with the next budget. For aide substitutes, Plainfield School pays $9.50 per hour for a six-hour day and Lebanon pays $70 per day. Lebanon pays $125 for a nurse substitute where Plainfield only pays $75 per day. Plainfield pay for substitute teachers is on a par with Lebanon this year, but Langsner mentioned that Lebanon has put in to increase pay for both substitute teachers and substitute aids next year.
B. Finance Report
Beth Bierwirth reported that all board members received a first draft of the 2007-2008 budget. She pointed out that after the draft was printed she received news on the insurance rate increase, which came in at a 6.1 % instead of the 10% that was predicted and put into the draft. The adjustment for the new rate will be put into the next draft.
C. Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Collins gave board members a memo on the timeframe for events leading up to the District meeting in March. Board Chair Reynolds asked if he had coordinated the schedule with the schedule for the town meeting and Collins reported that he had been in contact with Steve Halleran.
D. Facilities Committee – Superintendent Collins reported that all board members received a copy of the state Fire Marshall’s report. Collins said that the fire protection engineer, Robert Cummins, visited school last Thursday. He toured the school with Superintendent Collins and the Facility Manager, Bill Fleming and addressed the following concerns of the state Fire Marshall:
§ Because of the way the library lights are hung, a sprinkler would have to be hung both above and below the platform the lights hang from. Would it be cheaper to find a different way to hang those lights?
§ The current windows will not need to be replaced if a sprinkler is installed
§ A sealant between the boiler room and the gym was recommended
§ The paper storage closet will not need heat detectors installed if they are installed with sprinkler heads
§ The wooden interior walls will need to be painted with a special “no flame” paint
§ Fire resistant shades are being priced
§ Art work on the walls must not exceed 20 % but with sprinkler installation, that increases to 50%
§ The stoves in the classrooms are not used commercially and may not need to comply with regulations
The fire protection engineer has the school’s blue print and will put together the specifications for a sprinkler system. Superintendent Collins will report to the state Fire Marshall when the smaller concerns are addressed. At that time, he will report the plan for installing the sprinkler system, using the specs from the fire protection engineer, which should arrive in early January.
Collins reported that he spoke with the bond bank to receive rates in case the board decides to pursue a bond for the sprinkler. He reminded the board that they need to receive a 2/3 vote at the district meeting in order to pass a bond. He also obtained the paperwork from the state to put the school on the list for the 30% state aid for building improvements.
Business for Discussion and/or Action
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing Amendment #1 to the Plainfield School 403 (B) Plan Documents as follows: the name of the 403 (B) plan administrator has been changed. The following shall replace “Business Manager” as the name of the plan administrator throughout the plan document: Budget/Finance Specialist
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing Amendment #2 to the Plainfield School 403 (B) Plan Documents as follows:
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to approve a certificate of resolution authorizing Gust II Amendment to the Plainfield Education Association 403 (B) Retirement Plan.
Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to approve a certificate of resolution authorizing EGTRRA Amendment to the Plainfield Education Association 403 (B) Retirement Plan.
B. Principals’ Job Description
A few changes were made to the job description. Board member Forman asked to put off approval until the next meeting. He has some suggestions to add to the document that will take some time to discuss. Superintendent Collins said he will assign thirty minutes to this issue at the next meeting.
C. Safety Plan
No changes were made to the Safety Plan, as presented by Superintendent Collins at the last meeting. Upon a motion made and seconded, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the Safety Plan.
D. Administrative Presentation of 2007-2008 Draft Budget
The School Board looked at the preliminary proposed budget for 2007-2008 year and they went through it line by line, discussing increases, decreases and changes from last year’s budget. Some of the issues discussed were:
§ to replace Denis Reisch, presently a .55 fte teacher, with a full time teacher. They will also have to hire a replacement for Sue McGee. Principal Langsner feels that the best thing to do would be to hire two teachers that are dual certified in both language arts and social studies. She reminded the board that every other grade has two full time core teachers except the junior high.
§ an additional $37,000 has been added due to a mandatory retirement requirement
§ to increase a special education teacher from .8 fte to 1.00 fte. This year the school is having to hire this teacher as a tutor on her day off to keep up with the work load.
§ the special education contracted services line is increasing due to an increase in student need. Principal Langsner feels that these contracted services have prevented the school from sending some children to outside placement, which is very costly.
§ to add .33 fte for an athletic director. This will allow the Athletic Director, Brandon Feid, to have the last two periods each day for A.D. duties. Another P.E. teacher will need to be hired to teach those classes.
Superintendent Collins noted that .5 fte for an Assistant Principal will be requested in a separate warrant article, as it was last year. He has put the increase for the Athletic Director and the increase for a junior high teacher into the budget because these positions already exist, and in the past, additions to existing positions have been put into the budget and not in a separate warrant.
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:41 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Annette Moore
Recording Clerk