NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY MARCH 5, 2008
7:00 PM, MARION CROSS SCHOOL
Minutes
Present: Board members Addante, Callaghan, French, Sachsse, Vitt; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Edson; and 1 member of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order – Superintendent Gersen called the meeting to order at 7:07 PM and he introduced new Board members Linda Addante and Rebecca French. He then outlined how the Board organization and school board officer elections would occur.
2. Board Organization and Officer Election
Superintendent Gersen opened the floor for nominations. Geoffrey Vitt nominated Mary Sachsse for Board Chair and Carey Callaghan seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations for the chair position and the Board voted unanimously to elect Mary Sachsse as Board Chair.
Chair Sachsse asked for nominations for the position of Vice Chair. Geoffrey Vitt nominated Carey Callaghan as Board Vice Chair and Becky French seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations for Vice Chair and the Board voted unanimously to elect Carey Callaghan as Board Vice Chair.
Becky French nominated Geoffrey Vitt as Board Secretary and Linda Addante seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations for Board Secretary and the Board voted unanimously to elect Geoffrey Vitt as Board Secretary,
3. Approval of minutes
Carey Callaghan moved and Becky French seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 6, as submitted. The motion passed with 3 in favor and two abstentions (Addante, French).
Staff Appreciation Week (May 4 – 10)
4. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair
Chair Sachsse announced that the next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2, 7:00 PM at the Marion Cross School Library.
b) Reports of Administrators
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen distributed a report about the Norwich School District election results to the Board and thanked Board members and staff that worked on the budget and the public for its support. He announced that Linda Kelley was appointed to be the principal of Marion Cross for the next school year and expressed appreciation to the members of the Search Committee for their hard work.
The Superintendent reviewed the Auditors’ Financial Report on John Aubin’s behalf. The auditors recognized that the district followed generally accepted accounting principles. The general fund balance on the report was $270,339, which was well above the anticipated school district balance. The favorable balance was the result of higher revenues and higher expenses.
Principal’s Report
Principal Edson reviewed his report emphasizing the sections dealing with enrollment statistics, the Parent Survey, and staff’s work with a math consultant. The Parent Survey has 89 respondents at present (out of about 300 students). He sent reminders to parents that included email links and planned to encourage participation at the Parent Conferences this week. The math consultant is involved with the staff on the common assessment process and to review the new math Investigations program. The Principal participated in the Town’s Corridor Project discussions, which included for example, the fence on the border of school property. A Public Hearing on this project is scheduled for 6 PM on March 12.
Becky French volunteered to serve as Board participant on the Enrichment Grant Committee.
5. PTO Report
Deb Kaplan of the PTO reported on activities. The kindergarten orientation program was held and well attended with 15 student families. Norwich Unplugged is set, with the PTA planning a calendar of events including a snowshoe trek, scavenger hunt, Florabunda, boardgame night at the library, and a family contradance. The PTO gift award program received a record number of requests. The Spelling Bee is scheduled for April 4.
6. Business Requiring Discussion
NECAP Presentation
Principal Edson gave a presentation about the NECAP assessments taken by Marion Cross students which provided background information on the State’s tests on reading, math, and writing that are administered in October. The 2007 results correlate to the students’ prior year instruction. Mr. Edson focused on results of student scores that were proficient or above. There were very few of Marion Cross students that scored below proficient and the staff is already working with those students on an individual basis.
Mr. Edson reported that reading and math scores at Marion Cross have been in the top ten of Vermont schools for the three years that the tests have been administered. Writing test scores are more varied because they are taken by only one grade of students. The Marion Cross results were compared to the state average and to the other top six schools that were consistently within the top 10 in the test results. There were 92 percent of the Marion Cross students that scored proficient or above in the NECAP reading and 84 percent in the math. The writing tests showed that 70 percent of the students scored proficient or better but the state average on this assessment was only 40 percent.
NECAP results raised questions in the LAP about whether the top-achieving students’ needs are being effectively met in the classroom, what is being done to meet those needs, and what could be done to improve meeting those needs.
7. Executive Session
Becky French moved and Carey Callaghan seconded a motion to enter executive session in accordance with Title 1, Section 313 for discussion of negotiations.
The motion passed unanimously. The Board entered executive session at 8:07 PM.
7. Business Requiring Action
Becky French moved and Linda Addante seconded a motion to accept the resignation of teacher Eliose Ginty effective at the end of the school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Gersen nominated staff members listed and attached to the original meeting minutes for the 2008-09 school year.
Carey Callaghan and Linda Addante seconded a motion to elect staff members for the 2008-09 school year as listed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Becky French moved and Carey Callaghan seconded a motion to appoint Rebecca Daniels as an Occupational Therapist, salary $38,186, for the 2008-09 school year. The motion passed unanimously.
Linda Addante moved and Carey Callaghan seconded a one year leave of absence for Leslie Dustin. The motion passed unanimously.
8. Adjournment
Becky French moved and Carey Callaghan seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:40 PM.
The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM. |
