NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2007
7:00 P.M., MARION CROSS SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Gray, Sachsse, Vitt, Williams; Administrators Gersen, Aubin; and 9 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order – Chair Mary Sachsse called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.
2. Approval of minutes
Linda Gray moved and Stan Williams seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 4, the budget meetings of January 11 and January 18, and the executive session of January 4, as submitted with amendments. The motion passed unanimously. The amendments included: in January 11 minutes the second and third lines in item 2.1 were eliminated and the tax rate number was eliminated in item 4. On the January 4 minutes the Upper Valley Teachers Institute wanted to express its appreciation to Wendy Thompson for excellent work and in item 7 the words “teacher” and “intern” were eliminated. On January 18 in item 3, the word “and” was eliminated.
3. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair
Chair Sachsse announced that the next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 7, 7:00 p.m., at the Marion Cross School Library. The Dresden Annual School District meeting will be held on Thursday, March 1, 7:00 p.m., at the Hanover High School Gym. This will be the discussion phase of the meeting and no voting will take place at this part of the meeting. The voting phase of the meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Richmond School Gym for Hanover residents and Tracy Hall for Norwich residents.
b) Reports of Administrators
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen reported that the leaders of the Vermont legislature and the Governor issued a statement outlining a framework for containing property tax increases related to education. The framework included concepts like imposing growth caps and school district consolidations. Linda Gray was appointed as legislative liaison to the Vermont School Boards Association and she will keep the Board abreast of details from the legislature.
Dr. Gersen also mentioned that the NECAP results were released in the news but he noted that the newspaper headlines focused on only one aspect of the tests – the writing tests that were the only ones that declined. He indicated that Principal Rob Edson will give a presentation on the NECAP results at a later board meeting.
Assistant Superintendent’s Report
Assistant Superintendent John Aubin reported that he was working with board members Stan Williams and Linda Gray on the mailer on the Norwich School budget that would be sent to residents.
Principal’s Report
Chair Sachsse reviewed the principal’s written report as he was participating in a special program in Africa. On behalf of the Local Action Plan Committee, Stan Williams urged parents of students at Marion Cross to complete the LAP survey at the Web site SAU70.org under the Marion Cross section.
4. PTO Report
Deb Kaplan of the PTO reported that the skating party was successful with about 150 people attending and she thanked all of the volunteers involved. The public library display of Marion Cross student work will run through the end of February. The PTO is hosting an event for kindergarten student parents to meet the principal on February 15 at 7:00 p.m. The Spelling Bee will be open to 36 teams and applications are now being accepted for the March 30 event that will be held in the Marion Cross gym. Admission will be charged this year. Registration for the Spelling Bee is at the school or Tracy Hall.
“Norwich Unplugged” is a month for students and parents to turn off their electronics. The PTO has a calendar of ideas for families to pursue once the plugs are pulled. Bulb-Squared is a fundraiser for Environmental Stewardship where flower bulbs and CFL light bulbs will be sold supporting the PTO’s theme of environmental stewardship. The PTO is working with the curriculum committee to enhance the science curriculum.
5. Public input – there was none.
6. Business Requiring Discussion
As a follow-up to the Board decision in December to postpone design and construction of a wood-chip hearing plant, due to concerns about particulate emissions, Ames Byrd of the Norwich Energy Committee reported that he is investigating air quality monitoring in Norwich. The cost of this potential project ranges from $5,000 to $80,000. The Board suggested he contact the Vermont Air Quality Control Board to identify the kind of research the state will use to certify air quality. The Board believed it would be appropriate for the Town government to share other funding such a project. An update will be planned at the April board meeting.
On the matter of using biomass fuel for the boiler project, Linda Gray offered to consult with the school district attorney to see whether it is possible to substitute grass pellets for a wood chip burner within the parameters of the vote that was passed in Norwich.
The solar lighting project in the school is slated to be completed this summer.
It was announced that the First Student bus company planned to switch bus fuel to B20 biodiesel fuel on April 1. It was also reported that First Student was contractually due to replace the buses this year and that the new buses will include new air pollution technology.
7. Business Requiring Action
Linda Gray moved and Stan Williams seconded a motion to grant a leave of absence to Leslie Dustin beginning on April 23, 2007 through the end of the 2006-07 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Stan Williams moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to grant a leave of absence to Jen Varney beginning on June 1, 2007. The motion passed unanimously.
Stan Williams moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to accept the resignation of Heather Cook effective June 30, 2007. The motion passed unanimously.
8. Future Agenda items – How to schedule the transfer of Vermont construction aid monies into Norwich annual revenue in future years; perhaps for April, since the Finance Committee may consider this topic by then.
Linda Gray moved and Stan Williams seconded a motion to enter executive session in accordance with Title 1, Section 313 for discussion of a personal matter. The motion passed unanimously.
9. Adjournment
Linda Gray moved and Stan Williams seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:30 PM.
The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM. |
