NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS Minutes Present: Board members Addante, Callaghan, French, Vitt; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Kelley. 8 public attended. Recorded by R. Lohr 1. Call to order – Chair Becky French called the meeting to order at 7:02. 2. Approval of Minutes 3. Communications and Reports a) Report of Chair A communication had been received from the town regarding the tree removal on the green and town plans of the trees were offered at the meeting. b) Reports of Administrators Superintendent’s Report Assistant Superintendent’s Report Principal’s Report 4. PTO Report 5. Business Requiring Discussion The proposed Budget Guidelines for 2009-10 were discussed. It was pointed out that keeping the budget under the state’s excess spending threshold acts as a cap for the Norwich budget that incorporates per pupil net spending. The state rate on the threshold is expected by October or November. John Aubin reviewed a quick estimate document of the major budget influences in three different scenarios (3, 4, and 5 percent increases). It was commented that increased enrollment will be advantageous to the tax rate calculations. There was also a discussion about the quality of education measures and it was suggested that the principal develop a list of last year’s accomplishments at the school. There are existing lists of things that should not be changed and things that might be changed, which the principal will share with the Board. There was a discussion about the influence of salaries on the total cost of benefits and it was mentioned that more than half of the benefits are attributed to health insurance, which increased 5 percent last year and is expected to increase again this year. There was also discussion about filling open faculty positions and the interest to consider the needs of the school with the desire for keeping salary costs as low as possible. The Policy IIB on Special Education Evaluation has been forwarded to Vermont attorney for legal review of the policy semantics. 6. Business Requiring Action Carey Callaghan moved and Linda Addante seconded a motion to approve the rescinding of regulations from the policy manual as stated in the policy that was submitted and attached to the original board meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. Carey Callaghan moved and Linda Addante seconded a motion to approve Policy CH Administrative Procedures Manual as stated in the policy that was submitted and attached to the original board meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. Carey Callaghan moved and Linda Addante seconded a motion to approve Policy GC Personnel Management Manual as stated in the policy that was submitted and attached to the original board meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. Linda Addante moved and Carey Callaghan seconded a motion to approve Policy EGAC-2 requiring all new full time non-union employees in Norwich to have a 10 percent co-pay for health insurance as stated in the policy that was submitted and attached to the original board meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. Linda Addante moved and Carey Callaghan seconded a motion to approve Policy IMB Animal Dissection as stated in the policy that was submitted and attached to the original board meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. Carey Callaghan moved and Linda Addante seconded a motion to approve Policy IHBEA, Programs for Students with Limited English Proficiency that was submitted and attached to the original board meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. 7. Future Agenda 8. Executive Session 9. Adjournment Carey Callaghan moved and Linda Addante seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:45 PM. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM. |
