HANOVER SCHOOL BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2006
7:00 P.M., RAY SCHOOL MULTI-ROOM
Minutes
Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Carpenter, Carter, Chamberlin, Fleischer, Pilchman; Administrators Gersen, Principal Williams; one member of the public; Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to Order – Chair Fleischer called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of February 15, as submitted. The motion passed unanimously.
3. Agenda Review
The agenda was not changed.
4. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair
Chair Chip Fleischer announced that the next Board meeting was scheduled for April 12, 7:00 p.m. in the Ray School Multi-room. This meeting will be held one week early because of school break. The election results (officers elected and eight other articles) of Australian balloting on March 7, 2006 were read into the record and were attached to the original meeting minutes. The chair welcomed Robin Carpenter to the Hanover School Board and Mr. Carpenter introduced himself.
b) Reports of Administrators
Superintendent’s Report – Superintendent Gersen provided a background of the NECAP assessments and reported that the results are expected on March 21. Administrator training for interpreting the test results will be on March 30 and there are plans for the NECAP test results to be included in the Principal’s report at the April Board meeting.
Principal’s Report –Principal Williams thanked the community for its support of the Ray School and its budget. He reported that enrollment remained the same for the past month. He reported that he was beginning the process of recruiting a guidance counselor and explained the role of the counselor and school psychologist at the Ray School.
c) Committee Reports
Finance Committee Report
Kari Asmus said the committee is presently working on town budget issues.
5. Public comments
No public comments offered at this point.
6. Business Requiring Discussion
a) Board Committees
The Board reviewed its committees’ goals and membership. Chair Fleischer suggested each committee should decide who would act as chairperson and offered to appoint a chair if the committee was unable to make this decision. He hoped each committee would fine tune its goals and set agendas/timetables for the year. He reminded Board members that in order to have meetings posted in a timely manner, SAU staff should be notified of committee meetings by Thursday in the previous week of the scheduled meeting, and he hoped committees would provide minutes that would include a list of meeting attendees and a synopsis of the meeting agenda items and decisions. Mary and Jean at the SAU office will post the committee meeting information in town and on the Web site.
In the course of the discussion about committees, Bill Mlacek, a community member raised the issue of busing, noting that it not only affects the budget, but also effects local traffic, fuel consumption, and environmental quality. He observed that bus ridership is declining while the cost is increasing. With a new bid for bus service presently under consideration, the Board indicated a desire to consider the issue more closely. Doctor Gersen indicated he would ask John Aubin to provide more information about the bus transportation issue at the next Board meeting. Board members encouraged public participation on this issue.
Educational/ Long Range Planning Committee – Nancy Carter, chair; Robert Bruce; Larry Pilchman. This committee will help prepare a presentation on special education for a possible joint meeting with the Finance Committee.
Budget Committee – Kari Asmus, chair; Robert Bruce; Robin Carpenter
The Board discussed the budget timetable and linking the budget process to long range planning. It was suggested that a month-by-month calendar be established for the budget process and that there be more effort to increase community awareness of budget issues and the process.
Communication Committee – Robin Carpenter, chair; Kari Asmus, John Chamberlin
It was suggested that the committee’s goal to review Web site effectiveness be limited to the school district portion of the SAU web site. Additionally, it was recommended that the Technology Committee help set up a blog using software such as “Groove” to communicate Board committee work, topic discussions, public awareness, and to encourage people with additional expertise to participate.
PTO Liaison – John Chamberlin
The Board discussed the PTO and how it might help solicit public participation in School Board activities. The PTO Newsletter, which is published periodically could be linked to the SAU Web site. Bill Mlacek, a community member in attendance, requested that the agenda and information that supports the Board meeting packets be made available with the meeting agenda via the SAU Web site prior Board meetings in an effort to provide more background for meeting topics. He announced that the new PTO Web site is www.rayschool.org.
Finance Committee – Kari Asmus
It was recommended that more Board members attend some of the Finance Committee meetings and review the meeting activity available on the SAU website.
Technology Committee Liaison – Nancy Carter
Board members suggested that Cam Cross, the Ray Technology teacher, be invited to give a presentation to the Board on technology and future school and educational applications. The Board would indicate to Cam its specific areas of interest. It was stated that the different school technology staff has a K-12 group that meets and tries to coordinate techno-harmony between the schools.
NHSBA Liaison – Kari Asmus
b) Summary of Practices/Policies of Teacher Evaluations at the Ray School
Principal Williams gave an overview of the process he uses for teacher evaluations. He indicated that he believes the main purpose of evaluations is to promote inspired teaching to enhance student learning. He noted that the evaluation process is governed by the HEA Teacher Contract and state law. The criteria for evaluating teachers are in accordance with standards adopted by SAU best practices. In the first three years of employment, teachers are required to have a formal evaluation with three observations per year. After the third year, each teacher is required to have a formal evaluation once every three years. The other evaluation methods that teachers may select when they are able to choose their options include Critical Friends Groups, self-directed study, or peer coaching. The principal (and assistant principal) is trained to conduct these evaluations professionally and he incorporates additional daily encounters with teachers such as faculty and team meetings, parental conferences into his evaluation.
A letter of evaluation is required to be completed by the principal for each teacher by March 1. The list of teachers to be nominated is then submitted to the Superintendent and the School Board. After working for three years, teachers are eligible for a continuing contract, which entitles them to due process and a fair hearing if confronted with job termination. April 15 is the letter of evaluation deadline for teachers that are under the noncontinuing contracts.
School Board Oversight
The Board discussed the process of accepting teacher nominations. The teacher nomination process is defined by state law so that Board members are required to officially vote on the teacher nominations. Some felt that Board members are not qualified to judge teacher evaluations and that the principal and superintendent are responsible and professionally trained for that process. Other Board members felt that they should have more information available to be able to make decisions about the teacher nominations. The Board desires an improved way to be engaged in the nomination process. It was suggested that in the future, the Principal could create a one page synopsis on each teacher, which could be forwarded to the Board in November. There are privacy issues involved and questions unanswered on this matter but the staff will consider the ideas and concerns that were discussed.
7. Business Requiring Action
John Chamberlin moved and Larry Pilchman seconded a motion to approve the 2006-2007 school calendar as presented and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to accept the resignation of Hanover School District Treasurer, Joan Collison, effective immediately. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen distributed a letter of interest for the Hanover School District Treasurer
position from Karen Clarkson and the board discussed her credentials.
Nancy Carter moved and Larry Pilchman seconded a motion to appoint Karen Clarkson as Hanover School District Treasurer, until the March 2007 Annual School District Meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
8. Nonpublic Session
John Chamberlin moved and Kari Asmus seconded a motion to enter nonpublic session at
10:32 p.m. in accordance with RSA 91-A:3 for discussion of a personnel matter. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote.
The public meetingwas reopened at 11:35 p.m.
The Superintendent placed in nomination for the 2006-07 school year staff members listed and attached to the original minutes of the meeting.
Robin Carpenter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect staff members for the 2005-06 school year as listed and attached to the original minutes of the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
9. Adjournment
John Chamberlin moved and Kari Asmus seconded a motion to adjourn at 11:36 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 11:36 p.m.
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