DRESDEN SCHOOL BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2007
7:00 P.M., HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM
Minutes
Present: Board members Bruce, Callaghan, Carpenter, Carter, Chamberlin, Fleischer, Gray, Rose, Sachsse (left at 9:00), Vitt, and Williams; Council Rep Jovine; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Gillespie, Nourse, Eberhardt, Jackson. 62 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order – Board Chair Robert Bruce called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Nancy Carter and seconded by John Chamberlin to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of June 26, the special meeting of July 6, and the nonpublic session of June 26, as submitted. The motion was passed with 8 in favor and 2 abstentions.
3. Agenda Reorder - Business Requiring Discussion
It was announced that the meeting would address the events of June 2007 at an early point in the meeting to ensure an opportunity for public comment and Board action as early as possible.
4. Communications and Reports
a) Chair Report
Chair Bruce announced that the next regular Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 25, 7:00 PM in the Hanover High School Library. The annual school district meeting timeline was recognized and Chair Bruce announced that there will be a Grand Opening of the new athletic fields at 6:30 PM on Friday, September 7.
b) Council Report
Olivia Jovine reported that the Council held its annual retreat. Among the topics discussed at the retreat was the cheating incident in June 2007 and the creation of various committees. She expected the Council to have a formal statement about the incident in the early part of the school year.
c) Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen announced the status of work by the Faculty Survey Committee, indicating each school will conduct the survey by November. The Committee will help design survey questions and consultant Kim Williams will put together a survey draft to be reviewed by the Committee and the Board.
The Superintendent reviewed the points he made in his opening address, which included an explanation on the forthcoming special education regulations that require the use of measurable performance benchmarks for annual learning, the need to expand the use of technology to provide the faculty and community with greater access to information, and the need to carefully examine the way we intend to use our local assessments.
Finally, the high school reopening was reported as a success. The Superintendent singled out Jonathan Brush for his work for the District on the school renovation project.
d) Principal Reports
Principal Nourse of the Richmond School reported that he met with the staff for two pre-service days. The meetings reflected on goals, integrating curriculum, educating students and staff on interpersonal skills, reviewing means of internal and public communication, and reading/writing across the curriculum. The principal reported that there are about two dozen new students at the middle school.
Principal Gillespie outlined the steps taken by the school in response to the cheating incident that occurred in June. Guidance counselors and the school psychologist have been involved in detailed discussions on how to serve students in light of this incident, and the school and Council will consider the issue in depth in the weeks ahead. She reported that the staff was upbeat and that the incident, though taxing will provide a chance for the entire community to come together to discuss academic honesty. She reported that she had met with Aine Donovan, the Director of Ethics Institute at Dartmouth College, who has offered to share her expertise on this issue.
Ms. Gillespie also reported that the results of the senior survey were in and are very positive. They will be shared at the October meeting of the Dresden Board.
She also reported that the entire school community read the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder, and there will be an assembly featuring a speaker associated with Partners in Health to discuss the book.
The March Intensive is being organized and there will be a link on the school Web site about the program and course alternatives.
Bill Hammond presented “math teacher best practices in the USA and Asian with student perspectives of those practices.
Finally, Ms. Gillespie reported that enrollment is higher than projected with about 10 additional students in the freshmen class.
e) Committee Reports
It was decided that the Board would postpone the Assistant Superintendent and Committee reports until the next meeting so that the Board could focus on the cheating incident.
5. Business Requiring Discussion
Cheating Incident
Chair Bruce outlined the process for the discussion of the cheating incident in what was the first time the school board was to address the issue in public. Each of the board members was asked to make a comment about the situation. After the Board discussion, it was to be open to the public for comment and discussion. Mary Sachsse read the Draft Statement of the Dresden School Board. The Board Statement is attached to the minutes.
The Board expressed individual opinions about the Board’s responsibilities regarding the incident and how it was to be handled. Discussion centered on doing best for the school and the community and whether the Board should make an effort to encourage quick completion of the case or if it should remain neutral. Most of the Board members were wary about taking a stand on the case without the complete details and they felt that it was not within their sphere of responsibilities to influence the case. Some members of the public expressed a desire for leniency in police charges, but others expressed a desire for full enforcement of the law. Residents who had concerns about the sentencing were given information on how to contact the prosecutor regarding the case.
Ms. Gillespie reported that the school investigation of the incident would be undertaken in keeping with the procedures in the school handbook. She did not believe that many students would volunteer to speak out for fear that what they say mightbe used against them in the criminal case.
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Geoffrey Vitt to accept the draft statement as presented at the Board meeting to deliver the statement to the prosecutor, the parents of the students involved, and the students that were directly involved. The motion failed with 2 in favor and 7opposed.
A motion was made by Robin Carpenter and seconded by Chip Fleischer to amend the statement by deleting line 15 (“And we hope”). The motion failed with one in favor (Carpenter), and 8 opposed.
A motion was made by Robin Carpenter and seconded by Chip Fleischer to amend the statement by changing the sentence in line 6 (“complicated by”) to include “the severity of charges and penalties.” The motion failed with 2 in favor (Rose, Carpenter) and 7 opposed.
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Geoffrey Vitt to accept the draft statement as presented at the Board meeting. The motion passed with 8 in favor and one opposed (Carpenter).
The Board discussed methods of delivering the statement and it was decided that the administration would handle it via email, on the SAU70.org Web site in a prominent manner, and, if possible, through the Valley News. The Council would also disseminate the statement to the students.
Budget Guidelines for 2008-09
The Board discussed the Budget Guidelines. Assistant Superintendent John Aubin stated that to meet the 2.75 percent increase in the budget, assuming typical cost increases in each budget line, there would need to be roughly $280,000 cut from the projected rollover budget, which would be equivalent to about five FTEs. The Board discussed combining the school budgets to meet the guideline and also considering the budget without the uncontrolled expenses such as special education, compensation, and benefits.
The Finance Committee approved the Budget Guidelines with recommendations offered to decrease the item one placeholder to 2.3 percent and to change semantics in item 2 from “without compromising” to “while striving to improve.”
There was a discussion of the CPI index and other possible ways to measure the increase in the budget. Mr. Aubin explained that the CPI was selected because the different indexes were statistically similar and that most people are familiar with the CPI.
In framing the budget parameters with a 2.75% cap, the Board is effectively asking the administration to describe the consequences of such a budget increase and the principals’ recommendations on how those cuts might be achieved.
The Finance Committee was asked to send their Budget Guideline recommendations to the Budget Committee prior to its next meeting.
Superintendent Gersen announced that an Executive Session would be held regarding collective bargaining on Tuesday, September 11 after the HEA discussion. Feedback would be give to the Negotiations Committee.
6. Business Requiring Action
The Superintendent Gersen nominated Uwe Goodall-Heising as a German teacher and Nathalie MacArthur as a French teacher at Hanover High School. For the Richmond Middle School, the Superintendent nominated Craig Charles as a Learning Specialist and Brianna Barnes as a Physical Education teacher and all of the nominations were for the 2007-08 school year
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Nancy Carter to elect Uwe Goodall-Heising as a 60% German teacher at the Hanover High School at track 4, step 4, salary $28,601 for the 2007-08 school year. The motion was passed unanimously.
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Nancy Carter to elect Nathalie MacArthur as a 60 % French teacher at the Hanover High School at track 1, step 6, salary $36,775 for the 2007-08 school year. The motion was passed unanimously.
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Nancy Carter to elect Craig Charles as a Learning Specialist at the Richmond Middle School at track 4, step 7, salary $53,948 for the 2007-08 school year. The motion was passed unanimously.
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Nancy Carter to elect Brianna Barnes as a Physical Education teacher at the Richmond Middle School at track 1, step 1, salary $37,526 for the 2007-08 school year. The motion was passed unanimously.
A motion was made by John Chamberlin and seconded by Nancy Carter to accept the coaches as submitted and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion was passed unanimously.
The Board discussed a proposal from Athletic Director Mike Jackson to address increased enrollment on fall sports teams. The Board authorized the athletic program to handle the transportation aspect of the increased expenses by using a portion of the athletic participation fees that increase proportionately with increased enrollment. Mike Jackson reported that he is monitoring the girls soccer teams enrollment where numbers may warrant an additional team.
A motion was made by Nancy Carter and seconded by John Chamberlin to accept recommendations to add a 4th level boys soccer team at a cost of $2,808 and a 3rd assistant Cross Country coach at a cost of $2,466. The motion passed with 8 in favor and 1 opposed (Carpenter).
7. Adjournment
A motion was made by Nancy Carter and seconded by Robert Bruce to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
The Dresden School Board meeting was adjourned at 10:58 PM.
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