DRESDEN SCHOOL BOARD
REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006
7:00 P.M., HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Chamberlin, Cheney, Fleischer, Gray, Kaplan, Pilchman, Sachsse (8:50), Vitt; Council Representative Creighton; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Brush, Finer; Gillespie; and 6 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order
Chair Cheney called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Linda Gray and seconded by John Chamberlin to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 24 and the budget meeting of January 17, as submitted. The motion passed unanimously.
3. Communications and Reports
a) Chair Report
The chair announced that the next School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 28, 7:00 PM, at the Hanover High School library. The Dresden Organization Meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 14, 7:00 PM in the Hanover High School Library.
The Dresden Annual School District Meeting will take place on Thursday, March 2, 7:00 PM in the Richmond School Gymnasium for the discussion phase, and March 7, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM for the voting phase. Hanover voters will vote at the Richard Black Community Center in Hanover and Norwich voters will vote at Tracy Hall in Norwich.
Board member, John Chamberlin announced that there are corrections to the Hanover School District Annual Report. He emphasized that the Town Meeting format is discontinued which means no amendments to the warrant articles would be allowed at the Saturday, March 4 meeting. He also noted an error in the dates for the Hanover Town Meetings. They are scheduled for Monday, April 3 for the Pre-town meeting and Tuesday, May 9 for the Town Meeting.
b) Council Representative Report
Alex Creighton of the Student Council reported on Council activity. He indicated that the High School Technology Committee spoke to students about controlling computer abuse at school, emphasizing practices such as gaming or downloading music. The committee members also provided students with information about MySpace.com. The Council defeated a bylaws revision in which proposed Council motions would go to Common Ground groups before a final Council vote. The Council suggested that Council meeting minutes and upcoming meeting agendas be announced at Common Ground to encourage the two way flow of communication. The Council is also reviewing a bylaws change supporting an annual Martin Luther King Day assembly. Council elections for 2006-07 members will take place in April; it hopes to ensure that the number of delegates from each class is fair. The proposal for a bus to/from Lyme is still being worked on.
c) Superintendent Report
Superintendent Gersen reviewed a NH Department of Education Technical Advisory regarding new requirements on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) courses. Technology teachers will review the existing coursework as compared to the advisory.
Dr. Gersen briefed the Board on the work planned for the lower fields behind the high school. He reported that the Hanover Planning Board will have a walking tour of the fields on the first Saturday in April to consider trees to be left standing and ones that might be removed. Additionally, before that date, the adjacent neighbors to the fields have been invited to walk the fields to discuss plantings and tree removal and provide feedback on installation. He indicated that it is possible that the dirt that is needed for the lower fields will be brought from the Norwich field site and then dirt that is expected to be donated by Dartmouth College in June will be taken to the Norwich field site. This will enable work to begin on the high school field site earlier so that it is ready for next fall.
Dr. Gersen also flagged an article about No Child Left Behind included in the Board packet, which indicated NH was seeking an alternative method of measuring student progress. Dr. Gersen reported that he expected the NECAP test results would be made available in VT on March 22 and possibly on March 21 in New Hampshire. The NH results will be formatted to show a comparison of school test scores, but the format was not likely to provide interpretive analysis. In Vermont, the results will not be formatted to readily compare different school test scores. Dr. Gersen indicated that since the tests were taken in October at the beginning of the school year, the test results will be framed as a report on the performance of the previous grade. Thus, the tests taken by seventh graders will be shown as a measurement of their sixth grade performance.
Dr. Gersen announced that Joan Collison is relinquishing her position as Dresden, Hanover and SAU District Treasurer. Her name will remain on the ballot because it is too late to change. The position will be filled as soon as the Board can appoint someone after the balloting.
d) Assistant Superintendent Report
Assistant Superintendent John Aubin requested that any of the Board members that need help with any of the Warrant Articles contact him as soon as possible so he can help provide whatever information they need.
e) Facilities Director Report
Jonathan Brush reported that the renovation work on the Hanover High School is ahead of schedule.
f) Principals Reports
Principal Gillespie reported that there was a 9th grade open house and there would be one last play in the old auditorium. Recently, the high school conducted a parent program regarding risky behavior, including involvement with MySpace.com on the Internet. This was followed up by a Common Ground program about safety on the Internet.
Principal Finer commented that the Friends of Hopkins and Hood Museum presented an award to Celeste Wilhelm for her work with the annual Richmond School Renaissance Festival.
Mrs. Finer reported that the cafeteria deficit at the Richmond School is about $40,000 and there was substantial email feedback from student parents regarding the challenging fiscal problem. More than 300 lunches, 150 breakfasts, and 50 snacks are served daily. It will take time to fully understand the deficit and consider ways to alleviate it. The prepayment system that is used may prevent the measures such as increasing prices from influencing the deficit very much. The deficit may have more to do with staff and benefit costs.
g) Committee Reports
Dresden Finance Committee – Kari Asmus, the Board’s representative to this committee, reported that the committee is interested in participating on the HEA-Board Alternative Compensation Study Group. She indicated the committee planned to give a presentation following the Board presentation at the District Meeting.
4. Business Requiring Discussion
Margaret Cheney noted that the Board expressed its interest in memorializing Greg Hemberger, the architect and designer of the Dresden schools, at the Richmond School and Hanover High School. Board members and Stu White, Greg Hemberger’s partner,
suggested the high school theatre and middle school auditorium corridor as appropriate. The issue will be put on a future Board agenda.
Update on Board Goals
The Board conducted a mid-year review of goals set at the beginning of the school year. The first goal, to develop a plan to identify and provide skills necessary for a global society, will be addressed with a number of surveys planned in the coming months. Dr. Gersen reported that the renovation project is proceeding as planned and much time has been devoted to curriculum assessment in all of the subject areas.
HEA-Board Study Group
Margaret Cheney reported that four Board members asked to serve on this group (Fleischer, Chamberlin, Gray, Bruce) and that the 10 member committee would include five appointments each from the Board and HEA. Dr. Gersen suggested that local experts could conduct presentations for the group instead of serving on the committee. Dr. Gersen indicated that he planned to serve as facilitator, and indicated that he has developed a folder of information related to alternative compensation concepts. It was decided that the Board members who are interested in the group would meet with HEA members to decide about participants. If the School District vote is approved, other members for the group could be solicited. Final decisions could be made at the March 14 Board Reorganization Meeting.
The Board discussed a recent article opposing the District budget and teacher contract agreement. The Valley News has offered equal space to the Board and district administrators to make a case for voting in favor of the Warrant Articles. This will be accomplished. The Board agrees with the Finance Committee’s concern about the budget escalation but it also feels that the issues have been oversimplified in a time when enrollment has declined, prices of health insurance and fuel have increased, and the bond associated with the school projects is underway.
5. Business Requiring Action
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Kari Asmus to accept the resignation of Maya Thiagarajan effective June 30, 2006. The motion passed unanimously.
It was suggested that exit interviews be conducted regularly for all personnel that retires from the School District.
6. Nonpublic Session
The Board voted to go into nonpublic session at 9:54 PM.
A motion was made by Linda Gray and seconded by John Chamberlin to enter nonpublic session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3 for discussion of personnel matters. The motion passed unanimously. The roll call of the Board was conducted. The public session was reopened at 10:52 PM.
7. Adjournment
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Kari Asmus to adjourn the meeting at 10:53 PM.
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