DRESDEN SCHOOL BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2005
7:00 P.M., HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Asmus, Carter, Chamberlin, Cheney, Fleischer, Gray, Kaplan, Pilchman, Sachsse, Slaughter, Vitt; Student council rep Creighton; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Gillespie, Finer; and 7 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order – Chair Cheney called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
2. Approval of minutes
Linda Gray moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of April 26 and the nonpublic meeting of April 26, as submitted with corrections. The motion was passed unanimously. Changes:On regular meeting minutes item 4, lines 12 and 13 the comment was stated by Superintendent Gersen rather than the principal.
3. Agenda Reorder
The Board decided to reorder the agenda so that the Athletic Fields Committee report and the lunch program would be addressed earlier in the meeting.
Athletic Fields Committee Report
Athletic Fields Committee Co-Chair Peter Krass reviewed the process that the committee has been undertaking. He asked the Board to review the materials he emailed earlier in the week and to then provide input and preliminary questions in advance of the committee’s public hearing on various alternatives on June 7. He announced that updated information about the committee’s work can be seen on the Dresden Web site. The Board will receive the committee’s recommendations at the June Board meeting. Peter Krass also announced that the committee was planning a trip to see synthetic turf athletic fields in other towns.
John Chamberlin reported on a meeting with town officials regarding sharing fields between Dresdenand the town. He anticipated that the town would prepare a memorandum of understanding on this issue in the near future. John Chamberlin also said that Option 2 of the committee’s document, which called for a fourth field on the Lebanon Street site, was no longer under consideration.
Business Requiring Discussion – School Lunch Program
John Aubin, Assistant Superintendent, reviewed a status report he prepared on the lunch program, which has had deficits since FY 01-02. John Trautlein, Food Service Manager outlined the challenges facing the program at the high school which include: the cost of staff benefits; the speed of service; competition from the Co-Op; the loss of the captive RMS students to the new school; and the relatively high costs for healthful food. At present the staff total for the current program, which serves both RMS & HHS, is 6.35 FTE. He indicated that he understood that the program was expected to be financially self-sustaining. While this year’s deficit is $26,000 through the end of April, he noted it was $18,000 through the end of October, an indication that losses are being minimized. He indicated that he planned to increase prices about 10 percent next year. The Board recognized the challenges faced by the lunch service, especially during the renovation. The Board discussed initiating a debit card for school food that could be purchased on the Web.
John Aubin announced that the RMS food service would be operated as a separate entity in the new building under Ken Thompson. The challenge at the new middle school is to offer appealing food choices that are mostly natural or prepackaged.
4. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair:
Chair Cheney announced that the next Board meeting date had been changed to June 21, 7:00 p.m. in the Hanover High School Library. She announced that the Dresden Athletics Field Committee would host a public meeting on June 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hanover High School library.
b) Reports of Administrators
Superintendent’s Report – Superintendent Gersen reported on a meeting held with Dartmouth officials regarding the cost sharing of a drainage system that runs under the current site of the Richmond Middle School and handles the rainwater for much of the Dartmouth campus adjacent to the school site. After hearing details about the system, Dartmouth agreed to contribute $70,000 toward the project. As part of the agreement the easement Dartmouth has to the drain on school property will be updated. The work on the drain will begin June 1 and it will cost Dresden $150-170,000 by time it is completed.
Larry Pilchman moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to authorize Margaret Cheney to sign an easement with Dartmouth College to replace the drainage under the old Richmond School building on Lebanon Street pending the review by the Board attorney. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen also reported on a meeting with Hovey Lane residents and abutters to the high school regarding the parking lot proposals, renovation schedule, and athletic fields, which was attended by roughly 25 people. He referenced an email from Bob Riessen regarding safety issues associated with the design of the parking lot. Mr. Riessen’s email emphasized that Dresden did not need to provide much additional parking to meet the minimum number of parking spaces required by the town. Dr. Gersen indicated that the Board would consider the parking issue after it receives the Athletic Fields Committee report, reminding the Board that there will be Hanover Planning Board timelines involved with these decisions. Gersen reviewed a document regarding the timeline for HHS renovation and he stated that the timeline will evolve based on the results of some of the project work such as soil removal.
Gersen also reported that 20,000 yards of soil needed to be removed from the site of the T and I wings after their demolition. He suggested that given the tentative plans of the Dresden Athletic Fields Committee, this soil could be used to raise the field hockey field. In order to use this soil for that purpose, however, Dresden will need to go to get permits from the Hanover Planning Board. In the discussion that followed, Board members noted that in addition to the field hockey team needing interim provisions, physical education courses using the ropes course, the cross-country team, and neighborhood walkers would also be affected by this decision regarding the hockey field. The Board consensus was that the staff should proceed with its plan to approach the Hanover Planning Board with the plan to determine its feasibility.
Assistant Superintendent’s Report – John Aubin reviewed a memo in the packet regarding tuition rates and how the debt increment affects those rates. The tuition rate for the high school was $14,678. The Middle School tuition rate was set at $15,832. John Aubin also updated the Board on the bid process for the high school renovation, noting that bids were lower than anticipated. Aubin also reported on the outcome of his appeal to the Hanover Selectboard regarding the sewer connection fees. He indicated that his request for a waiver for the connection fee at the new Richmond Middle School facility was denied but there was a downward adjustment on fees (about $8,000) associated with the number of showers at the school. A similar sewer connection fee is not expected for the renovation of the high school. He also reported that it appears that Dresden will not receive the town’s preferred rates on paving. John Aubin also reviewed a memo he prepared outlining the additional costs associated with town requirements. He calculated that the town requirements added nearly $650,000 to the costs of the middle school and high school. The Board felt that safety issues such as additional fire pipe connections had to be done, but that the staff and perhaps, the Board attorney might review some of the other requirements. The board also felt the staff should convene a meeting of the Building Committee to discuss the additional requirements.
Principals’ Reports – High School Principal Gillespie announced that a new student council has taken office and she introduced the new student council representative, Alex Creighton. She reported that a letter regarding the end-of-the-year activities would be sent to families soon. Ms. Gillespie reported that the drama department’s production of “The Secret Garden” was very successful. She updated the Board on the hiring of new teachers, indicating that the only remaining vacancy is for the debate program. Ms. Gillespie announced that the Spring Fling is scheduled for June 10 and will include awards, a barbeque, talent show, free breakfast, common ground meeting, and an exam review with teachers. Ron Eberhardt, Linda Addante and Jo Henderson are coordinating the event.
RMS Principal Finer reported that the staff is continuing to prepare for the move to the new middle school. She expressed her appreciation for the student activities organized by the Hanover Recreation Department, the League of NH Craftsmen so that middle school students have something to do when school is dismissed early. She announced that Board members could tour the new building with the Middle School faculty members on June 13 or 14, promising to contact the board once the final date is set. Three Board members, Chamberlin, Carter and Kaplan , volunteered to work with Susan Finer to brainstorm official opening festivities for the new school.
c) Report of Council Representative
Alex Creighton reported that the elections for 2005-06 are over and that he will distribute an official list of the newly elected student council at the June meeting.
d) Reports of Committee Representatives
Quality of Education Committee
This committee met and spoke with a consultant regarding value-added assessments to measure each student’s annual gain. The committee meets on the first Friday of the month at 9:15 a.m. at the SAU office.
5. Business Requiring Discussion
High School Handbook
The handbook revisions were limited to date-oriented changes and a new school policy on academic honesty. The council developed the principles behind academic honesty. A board member suggested that the community service information be incorporated into the handbook as well as the school calendar.
Norwich Field Update
Superintendent Gersen presented background information on the Notice of Alleged Violation document that Dresden received from the State of Vermont relative to work completed on the Norwich Fields area. He reported that one consequence of the NOAV memo was that the district needed to submit an Act 250 application earlier than expected. The application will need to include plans about the fields, parking and irrigation. He then outlined a proposed trade-off whereby a contractor would execute the complete design for both the baseball/hockey field and the multi-purpose field in exchange for 3-5 unobtrusive acres on the Norwich site for use as a staging area. At the conclusion of the five-year interval the abandoned staging area would be available to the district and could be converted into an additional multi-purpose field with minimal work. If the board wishes to pursue this possibility, they would need to go through another permitting process with the town and incorporate this arrangement in the Act 250 submission. There was a Board consensus to explore this idea and to include it in the Act 250 submission. John Chamberlin indicated that in his capacity as one of the Board’s liaisons to the Athletic Fields Committee he was scheduled to speak with the Norwich select board later in the week. He told the Board he would contact fields committee member Buff McLaughry regarding the particulars of the proposed exchange, who had background information on this issue.
6. Business requiring action:
Board meeting calendar
Linda Gray moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to approve the Board meeting calendar for 2005-06 as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Computer lease
John Aubin reviewed a document regarding the Apple computer lease and the needs that would be addressed (120 total computers). It is a lease that allows for level budgeting across three years. The school purchases the computers at the end of the lease for a dollar.
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to resolve that the Dresden School Board hereby authorizes the administration to enter in to a lease purchase arrangement of not more than three years with Apple Corporation for the purpose of acquiring computer equipment in a principal amount of approximately $125,000 and an annual payment of approximately $53,000. The motion passed unanimously.
7. Consent Agenda
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Amy Kono as Math teacher at HHS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Amy Kono as a .4 Math teacher at Hanover High School at track 4, step 10, salary $22,993 (40% of $57,483), for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Jennifer Hilbert as Physical Education teacher at RMS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Jennifer Hilbert as a .6 Physical Education teacher at Richmond School at track 4, step 1, salary $23,905.80, for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Erica Wright as Math teacher a RMS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Erica Wright as a .6 Math teacher at Richmond School at track 4, step 5, salary $28,609.80 (60% of $47,683), for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Jessica Eakin as Media Specialist at HHS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Jessica Eakin as a Media Specialist at Hanover High School at track 4, step 2, salary $41,803, for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Tammie Patten as Technology Coordinator at HHS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Tammie Patten as Technology Coordinator at Hanover High School at track 4, step 4, salary $45,723, for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Christopher Seibel as a Social Worker at HHS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Christopher Seibel as a Social Worker at Hanover High School at track 4, step 14, salary $65,238, for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Kenneth Thompson as Café Manager/Chef at RMS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Kenneth Thompson as a Cafe Manager/Chef at Richmond School, salary $30,000, for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen placed in nomination Abigale Pelletier as School Nurse at RMS.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Abigale Pelletier as School Nurse at Richmond School, salary $39,000, for the 2005-2006 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to approve the resignation of Pamela Smith effective June 30, 2005, with regret. The motion passed unanimously.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to approve the Dresden nonunion salaries for the 2005-06 school year as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to authorize the Administration to fill teacher vacancies between now and the regular meeting of September 27 by offering a one (1) week period to obtain telephone or email votes from Board members and that six (6) affirmative votes must be obtained before a contract is issued. The motion passed unanimously.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to accept a $2,350 donation for the replacement of an outboard motor for the crew motor launch and $1,500 toward the purchase of a concert grand piano. The motion passed unanimously.
8. Non-public Session
The Board voted to enter nonpublic session with a Roll Call at 10:00 p.m.
Matt Slaughter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to enter nonpublic session in accordance with RSA 91-A:2(I.b) for discussion of negotiations, and RSA 91-A:3(II.a) for discussion of personal matters. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board re-entered public session at 10:29 p.m.
9. Adjournment
John Chamberlin moved and Kari Asmus seconded a motion to adjourn at
10:29 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
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