DRESDEN SCHOOL BOARD
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2008
7:00 P.M., HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Addante, Asmus, Callaghan, Carpenter, Chamberlin, Finlayson, French, Spaeth, Sachsse, Vitt, Woods; Council Representative Jovine; Superintendent Gersen; 2 public; Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order
Superintendent Gersen called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM. The Board members introduced themselves and the Superintendent outlined the process to organize the Board and elect board officers.
2. School Board Organization
Superintendent Gersen opened the floor to Board officer nominations.
Mary Sachsse was nominated as Board Chair by Geoffrey Vitt and the nomination was seconded by Linda Addante. Erica Finlayson nominated Kari Asmus for Board Chair and the nomination was seconded by Robin Carpenter. Each candidate made comments to the Board. The vote was evenly split with five votes for each candidate. One reason that the vote was tied was because there were only 10 voting Board members. It was suggested that only Board members who were sworn in should be eligible to vote and the election was conducted again. The second vote had five votes for Mary Sachsse (Addante, Callaghan, Chamberlin, Sachsse, Vitt), and three votes for Kari Asmus (Asmus, Carpenter, Woods). Mary Sachsse assumed the position of Board Chair.
Kari Asmus was nominated as Board Vice Chair by John Chamberlin and the nomination was seconded by Robin Carpenter. The motion passed unanimously.
Steve Woods was nominated as Board Secretary by John Chamberlin and the nomination was seconded by Robin Carpenter. The motion passed unanimously.
3. Committees
Kari Asmus, the Ad Hoc Honor Code Committee Chair, stated that due to Board turnover, three new members were needed. The Board members volunteering to serve on this committee included Linda Addante, Steve Woods, Kari Asmus, and Robin Carpenter. She stated that former Board members Nancy Carter and Marjorie Rose would serve on the Committee as community members.
Board reviewed a document entitled Principles of Academic Integrity. Additional input was requested. Board members suggested a legal review, the need for each school in the district to develop an Academic Integrity Policy within the parameters of the Board policy, that counseling be incorporated in the “Responses and Consequences,” that the recommendations of the Study Circles be considered in the policy, and that some semantics incorporate the range of teacher actions. The Board was split regarding itemizing a student penalty of 20 weeks removal from extracurricular activities in the policy with some feeling it was too prescriptive and others wanting a boundary that could be a deterrent to cheating. It was understood that the committee would not consider the Athletic Conduct Code.
It was decided that Linda Addante would serve as the Board’s Council liaison. This is a non-voting position on the Council. There were questions about developing a Handbook Committee and creating an Education Committee and a Governance Committee. It was also recommended that the Board should develop a Purpose and Scope statement or document for each committee.
Chair Sachsse asked the Board to email preferences on committee service to Mary Davis at Mary.B.Davis@valley.net.
4. Adjournment
A motion was made by Geoffrey Vitt and seconded by John Chamberlin to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM.
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