HANOVER SCHOOL BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2007
7:00 PM, RAY SCHOOL MULTI-ROOM
Minutes
Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Carter, Carpenter, Chamberlin, Fleischer, Rose; Administrators: Gersen, Aubin, Williams; 18 public; Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to Order – Chair Asmus called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
2. Minutes Approval
John Chamberlin moved and Robin Carpenter seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting on April 11 and the nonpublic session on April 11, as submitted with a change. The motion passed with 6 in favor and one abstention (Carter). The change was spelling the name Punam in item 2.
3. Communications and Reports
a) District Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Bill Brown distributed a document that showed the school district’s April cash bank balance and some investment options. Changes to the investments will be considered after the office relocation is completed. There was about $2 million in the account.
b) Report of Chair
Chair Kari Asmus announced that the next Board meeting was scheduled for June 20, 7:00 p.m. at the Ray School Multi. The Board also looked at the Board meeting calendar for the coming year and discussed time limits of the meetings. It was suggested that the meeting agendas should incorporate time headings into them, but the Board should not limit the meeting length. A document outlining the board committees and their respective objectives was reviewed. It was also announced that on June 1 there will be a celebration at the Ray School Gathering Garden at 9:00 a.m.
b) Committee & Liaison Reports
There were no committee reports but, the Chair highlighted the fact that the board committee objectives outlined in the packet were not in priority order. The board Chair reported that the Assistant Superintendent issued an RFP for school district auditors and received only two responses. It was decided to remain with the same auditing firm because their bid was roughly half the amount of the other submission.
NHSBA liaison Chamberlin called for 2008 resolutions, which would be sent to Superintendent Gersen. Additionally, Mr. Chamberlin announced that there would be an open forum about state education legislation options held on May 20 at 7:00 p.m. at Dartmouth College. Board members and those in attendance were asked to contact John Chamberlin at 643-2766 for the exact location, which was not yet decided.
c) Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen reviewed the enrichment grants and the sabbatical awarded to Ray School staff. He also announced that the SAU office is now located at the 1924 building where the old middle school was located at the Hanover High School. Finally, he announced that the Hanover Education Association banquet was scheduled for June 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the Fireside Inn and that Board members could RSVP with the Superintendent.
d) Principal’s Report
Principal Williams announced that the school distributed bookmarks and information about vehicle idling to the students and faculty in an effort to request those driving to the school to turn off their engines while parked. He also announced that a fundraiser is planned for the universal playground equipment with a showing of the movie, “High School Musical,” at 5:00 p.m. on May 18 at the Richard Black Recreation Center. Finally, he noted that a children’s book drive will be conducted on the week of May 21 by Dartmouth medical students to benefit children in the New Orleans region.
Marjorie Rose announced that the Ray School green bags were part of the Earth Week program and she distributed samples of the bags to the Board members.
4. Public Comment
Ned Dwyer, Scoutmaster, announced that Boy Scout troop 45 attended the meeting to fulfill a citizenship requirement. Some of the scouts asked the Board questions.
Annie MacIntosh distributed a report about the universal playground equipment showing that more than $43,000 has been collected and $14,510 is the remaining balance to reach the funding goal.
5. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board discussed the four Board goals for Professional Development, which are used by the faculty to set their own personal goals. The Board recommended some improvements to the goals and Principal Williams will share the revised goals with the faculty to get teachers’ perspectives.
The Parent Survey was not conducted this year because the staff concluded that the faculty should be engaged in developing the instrument to be used. It was suggested that the parent survey developed in conjunction with the teachers should be conducted in March so that the results can be used as part of the goal setting cycle. There may be a synergy with voting awareness, which can be promoted by issuing the survey at that time of year. The Board reinforced its appreciation for the information gathered by the Parent Survey and emphasized that findings from the survey were used by the Board in setting goals and policy.
Principal Williams informed the Board that the Ray School lunch program, which has been priced at $2.85 since 2003, would need to be increased by ten cents. He planned to announce this to parents on the Pink Sheets.
Assistant Superintendent John Aubin reviewed highlights of the 2005-06 Audit, which is produced in full compliance with generally accepted accounting principles. There were no comments made by the auditors regarding the need to alter any internal controls. Mr. Aubin would like to receive the report in a much more timely fashion such as November so that it can be more readily incorporated into the district budget process.
6. Business Requiring Action
Chip Fleischer moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to approve the Policy DFA, Investment Policy, as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Nancy Carter moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to approve the Ray School Handbook for 2007-08 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board discussed the student tuition process. According to policy, the principal decides about the acceptance of tuition students based on the size of a given grade cohort. There are presently two tuition students at the Ray School.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to set the Ray School tuition rate for 2007-08 school year for grades 1-5 at $14,338, and $7,169 for kindergarten. The motion passed unanimously.
Chip Fleischer moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to approve use of the Bridgman Trust Funds for 2007-08 as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
John Chamberlin moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to authorize the Administration to fill teacher vacancies between now and the regular meeting of September 16 by offering one (1) week period to obtain telephone or email votes from Board members and that four (4) affirmative votes must be obtained before a contract is issued. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board discussed the value of having background information when a list of names for salary increases is submitted so there is more context to the Board decision. The Superintendent provided information about substitute teacher pay in response to a question.
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to approve Hanover nonunion salaries as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
The Superintendent nominated Tim Crawford as a fifth grade teacher.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Tim Crawford as a 5th grade teacher at track 2, step 1, salary $39,402 for the 2007-08 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
The Superintendent nominated Russell Ward as a .8 Special Education teacher.
Robert Bruce moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to elect Russell Ward as a .8 Special Education teacher at track 3, step 7, salary $41,730 for 2007-08 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
The Superintendent nominated Katrena Hemenway as Speech/Language Pathologist.
Nancy Carter moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to elect Katrena Hemenway as a Speech/Language Pathologist at track 4, step 12, salary $64,194 for the 2007-08 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
The Superintendent nominated Tara M. Stone for the year 2007-08.
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to elect Tara M. Stone for the 2007-08 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Robert Bruce moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to accept the resignation of Katie Willard effective June 30, 2007. The motion passed unanimously.
7. Nonpublic Session
Robert Bruce moved and Robin Carpenter seconded a motion to enter nonpublic session with RSA 91-A:3 (l.) for discussion of a personnel matter. The motion passed unanimously. The roll call was conducted and the Board entered nonpublic session at 9:19 p.m.
8. Adjournment
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to adjourn at 9:55 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m.
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