SAU #70 - Hanover School Board

Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Carter, Carpenter, Chamberlin, Fleischer, Pilchman; Administrators: Gersen, Aubin, Williams; 1 public; Recorded by R. Lohr

1. Call to Order – Chair Fleischer called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

2. Approval of Minutes

John Chamberlin moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 20, budget meetings of January 3 and January 10, and the nonpublic meetings of December 20 and January 10, as submitted with amendments. The changes included on the January 10 budget meeting included the addition of the following, “Joanne Roberts’ presentation included three graphs showing the number of students per disability category, the total number of students receiving special education services in each of the past five years, and the number of students in the current year receiving special education services in each grade. There are currently 70 students, who receive special education services at the Ray School.” On the January 10 nonpublic meeting, John Chamberlin should have been listed among present Board members. The amended motion passed unanimously.

3. Public Hearing

Chair Fleischer opened the Public Hearing for the Hanover School District in accordance with NH RSA 32:5 regarding the line item budget, which contains all purposes and amounts of appropriations to be included for proposed 2007-08 expenditures. A notice for this Public Hearing was published in theValley News on January 9, 2007.

4. Adoption of 2007-08 Budget

The Board reviewed the updated budget document items that were reduced or applied. These changes resulted in a 0.16 percent increase in the total budget. The Board also discussed the Special Education Reserve Fund and the desire to incorporate the activity and status of this and other funds in the Annual Report. In response to a question regarding rental revenues, Bruce Williams explained an exchange between the school and the Montshire Museum whereby the Montshire allows teachers to schedulemore “visit plus” trips to the museum, which incorporate more specific learning experiences for students in exchange for the Montshire’s use of the Colonial House in the summer.

It was suggested that it was a good practice to leave the original budget document on the SAU Web site for voters that are interested in viewing the entire budget process. The Annual Report, which is sent to voters provides a copy of the adopted budget.

John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to adopt the 2007-08 budget in the amount of $9,852,833 to be placed on the warrant and voted on at the Hanover School District Meeting on March 6, 2007. The motion passed unanimously.

5. Approval of School District Warrant

The Board discussed the changes to Article 9 and removed the line from the article regarding the HEA agreement that referenced the total over status quo. In Article 5 regarding the 6th grade tuition fund, the Board requested the wording “smoothing variations in tuition” be added and made other minor corrections. There was also a discussion about whether the Board would be the “agent” for the reserve funds and it was decided to keep the wording in the articles on reserve funds so that the Board will be the agent for these funds.

John Chamberlin moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to approve the March 6 School District Warrant as proposed by the Administration, as attached to the original minutes of this meeting, and to authorize the Administration to make whatever technical changes that might be necessary in order to ensure that the Warrant is legal and accurately addresses the intent of the School Board. The motion passed unanimously.

Board member John Chamberlin made a plea for a Hanover resident to come forward to fill the position of District Treasurer. It was announced that petition articles for the warrant must be submitted by January 25 to be in the printed Annual Report (and February 1 is the deadline for petition articles to be included on the warrant). The public hearing was closed following the approval of the warrant at 8:00 PM.

6. Communications and Reports

a) Report of Chair

Chair Chip Fleischer announced that the next Board meeting was scheduled for February 14, 7:00 p.m. at the Ray School Multi, which is one week early due to the February break.

The Annual School District meeting will be held on Saturday, March 3, 1:00 PM at the Richmond School Gymnasium, This will be the discussion phase of the meeting and no voting will take place at the meeting, The voting phase of the meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM at the Richmond School Gymnasium.

There are two School Board seats that are open in March (Kari Asmus and Robert Bruce), both of which are three year terms. Filings take place any time from Wednesday, January 17 until 5:00 PM on Friday, January 26, 2007. Other positions open include District Moderator, Clerk, and Treasurer, all one year terms. Filings for School Board and School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, Anne Chamberlin or at the SAU Office at 45 Lyme Road, Room 207 in Hanover. There is a $1.00 filing fee.

Dresden School District filing dates are from Tuesday, January 16 through 5:00 PM on Monday, February 5. Filing for School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, DeborahCarter, or at the SAU Office.

Petitions for inclusion in the Hanover School District Warrant must be received by 4:30 PM on Thursday, February 1. Petitions may be presented to any member of the Hanover School Board, or delivered to SAU #70 Office.

b) Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Gersen reported that the guard rail project in the Ray School multi-room has been completed.

c) Assistant Superintendent’s Report

John Aubin suggested that there be some preparation for the School District Meeting and that he would help Board members that will present the articles, where necessary. The Board decided to have: Robert Bruce and Kari Asmus collaborate on Article 10 for the budget presentation, Nancy Carter present Articles 2 and 5; Robert Bruce present Article 3; Kari Asmus present Article 4; John Chamberlin present Article 6; Larry Pilchman present Articles 7 and 8; and Chip Fleischer present Article 9.

Additionally, it was decided that the Hanover Board would communicate about the warrant articles and the budget in the next copy of “The River” newsletter, which will be produced and distributed prior to the district meeting. The Communication Committee will meet to discuss the details of this effort.

The administrators will review the set up and checklist for the District School meeting at the Richmond School Gymnasium. It was also suggested that state legislative representatives be invited to the next Board meeting to discuss state education funding and adequacy.

d) Principal’s Report

Principal Williams said that the new Assistant Principal, Sarah Curtis will attend the next Board meeting to be introduced and meet with the Board members.

e) Committee & Liaison Reports

The Budget Committee’s representative Kari Asmus reported that the Budget Committee met on

January 9 to discuss the budget and the Dresden Finance Committee will next meet on January 18 at 4 PM in the SAU office.

7. Adjournment

Nancy Carter moved and Kari Asmus seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:35 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.