NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9, 2006
7:00 P.M., MARION CROSS SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Cheney, Gray, Vitt; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Edson; and 4 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order – Vice Chairperson Geoffrey Vitt called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM.
2. Approval of minutes
Linda Gray moved and Margaret Cheney seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of June 7, the Special Meeting of May 24, and the executive session of June 7, as submitted. The motion passed unanimously. Linda Gray noted that she did not attend the May 24 meeting.
3. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair
Geoffrey Vitt announced that the next regular Board meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday, September 6, 7:00 p.m., at the Marion Cross School Library. A Board Retreat will be scheduled when Mary Sachsse returns.
b) Reports of Administrators
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen summarized the Parent Survey results noting that 194 parents in Norwich completed the survey and 63 percent rated Marion Cross very good or better. The most significant issues that the survey revealed will be discussed at the retreat. The results of the Parent Survey are available on the SAU 70 Web site.
Assistant Superintendent’s Report
Assistant Superintendent Aubin distributed the June 30 financial report, which showed $504,912 as the un-audited final balance. The audit is conducted by early September. The projected balance was roughly $225,000 better than expected, primarily because the expenses were about $162,000 under the anticipated amount. Special education was under budget and not all of the amount budgeted for teacher enrichment grants was used, which reduced that budget line. John Aubin reported that the school tax rate (1.4832) was also lower than originally expected.
Margaret Cheney moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to authorize the Treasurer of the Norwich School District to utilize any of the following banks for deposit of funds for school district investment purposes: Lake Sunapee Savings Bank, Mascoma Savings Bank, Ledyard National Bank, Merchants Bank, Chittenden Bank, Citizens Bank, and TD BankNorth. The motion passed unanimously.
Principal’s Report
Principal Edson reviewed his written report, highlighting the enrollment projections for next school year. The 311 students were 14 above projections and were the highest enrollment in the last four years. The Board discussed third grade class sizes which Rob Edson noted as approaching a size that exceeded the District guidelines. The Board expressed its support for the principal to address the issue, if necessary and that it was best to do it prior to the start of the school year. The Board authorized the Principal to hire a full time educational assistant for the third grade or consider other options to alleviate the high class size. This would be discussed at the retreat, if necessary.
4. PTO Report
PTO Chair, Deb Kaplan reported that the PTO is lining up class representatives, developing events for the early school year, scheduling a school yard clean up, and initiating work on the student directory. There will be a coffee orientation for new parents and parents of kindergarteners and first graders. The PTO meeting is scheduled for September 11 at 3:30 PM in the Art Room.
5. Public Input
There was not public input.
6. Norwich Energy Committee Presentation
The Norwich Energy Commission initiated discussion about three projects, the wood chip burner, solar lighting, and the use of biodiesel fuel.
The wood chip boiler project appears to be cost effective enough so that it would be eligible for 90 percent state cost sharing. Adam Sherman of the Biomass Energy Resource Center prepared a memo for the Board describing the preliminary findings of an unfinished report. The Board asked if a final report could be delivered by September 1. Mr. Sherman said the report could be ready by then and would have four options including installing a semi-automated heating system that would be more labor intensive compared to an automated system, upgrading the existing school heating system, full replacement of the existing system, partial replacement of the system, and the feasibility of connecting Tracy Hall to the system. Mr. Sherman mentioned that one school that had such an analysis done was surprised by the construction costs that were bid and subsequently decided to not invest in the project. The cost of labor required to load the wood chip system daily would be incorporated into the report and cost analysis. The state funding application requires that the town vote to approve the project and that the project meet certain life cycle costs and savings. At the present price of oil, the project appears to be eligible. Mr. Sherman noted that the 90 percent cost sharing offer will change to 75 percent on January 1, so he urged the town to decide prior to that date, to qualify for the higher cost sharing. The Board would need to schedule a hearing on the project as part of the October Board meeting. The Norwich Energy Committee will communicate to the town about the Tracy Hall option.
The school solar and lighting upgrade project specs are available but no bids have been requested. This project has been put on hold until the other facility work in the Dresden School District is completed.
Another issue raised by the Norwich Energy Committee was about school busses that are used in town. There are six busses that annually use about 17,000 gallons of diesel gasoline. Changing to a blend of biodiesel fuel would eliminate 41 tons of carbon dioxide and lower other emissions. It was estimated that biodiesel fuel would annually cost the District about $7,000 more compared to regular diesel fuel. The Board discussed the idea and suggested approaching First Student about using biodiesel fuel and retrofitting the Norwich busses to drive cleaner. Since two Board members were absent, this topic will be discussed further at the September meeting. A retrofitted soot trap that could capture 85 percent of pollutants for each bus would cost about $500. The staff believed the Board would need to cover the cost for the soot trap installation.
7. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board discussed possible topics and the format for the planned retreat. It was suggested that the teacher leadership group be welcomed to the meeting and the meal.
The Dresden Finance Committee met and drafted FY 2008 guidelines for the school board. The Board discussed the Budget Committee’s proposed parameters and suggested that tying the budget to a specific index does not account for the many fixed or uncontrolled expenses. The Board also believed the taxpayers should be helped to understand the quality of education in a presentation at the town meeting, but to avoid basing any comparison on student test scores since there is no clear correlation between spending and test results. The guidelines will be considered again in September and adopted in October.
8. Adjournment
Margaret Cheney moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:45 PM. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM. |
