NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2004
7:03 P.M., MARION CROSS SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Cheney, Gray, Kaplan, Sachsse, Vitt; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Edson; and nine members of the public
1. Call to order
Chair Sachsse called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
2. Approval of minutes
Linda Gray moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting and executive session of October 6, as submitted. Corrections to the minutes were offered: item 4 - add the word language to the end of the sentence; item 7 - end the last sentence after $8,700. The 10/06 minutes were unanimously approved as submitted with corrections.
3. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair: (1) Calendar - Chair Sachsse announced that the next regular Board meeting will be Wednesday, December 1, 7:00 p.m., at the Marion Cross School Library.
b) Reports of Administrators:
Superintendent’s Report - Superintendent Gersen discussed the Action Plan for Norwich Goals document. As part of the Action Plan for Goal #2, Dr. suggested that the Board participate in a “Futures Protocol” in December. This exercise would be facilitated by Jay Davis. The third goal citing per pupil spending at 125 percent of the statewide average was recognized as being difficult, but the intention is to attempt to apply it to the 05-06 budget in anticipation of the requirement to do so in 06-07 budget.
Assistant Superintendent’s Report – John Aubin discussed the financial report that was distributed to the Board. Mr. Aubin noted that the budget was favorablebut noted that unforeseen expenses could emerge between the present and the end of the year. Mr. Aubin highlighted over expenditures in special education and special education assistant salaries.
Principal - Principal Edson presented a power point overview of MCS’s performance on the Vermont State assessments. He noted that the writing scores are strong; that while reading scores dipped, they remain strong; and that he was concerned by the decline in the amount by which math scores were above the State average. He and the staff will focus on these skills. He discussed how the NSRE compared to the new New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), which will be replacing it in response to the No Child Left Behind legislation. The NECAP test results will be available in February rather than the autumn. He assumed that the different test systems and their reports would provide some means of correlation and some continuity but this issue was not certain in all areas. For example, the NECAP tests do not include a separate problem solving component in mathematics. Both assessment systems are similarly intended to help the staff to understand curriculum and instruction and help to improve school practices but he emphasized that the best student assessment is still from the students’ teachers. Principal Edson commented about the use of tutors and their effect on the students with regard to classroom and the assessment tests. He hoped to survey parents about the tutors and related topics. Edson also reported that the teachers’ in-service day was focused on the writing and math areas. The Power Point presentation on the Vermont State Assessments is available to any parents or staff at the Marion Cross office.
4. PTO Report- PTO Chair, Cinny Benson distributed a written report that provided PTO highlights and she announced that the school directory has been distributed, that Vermont author Tracey Campbell will be at the school next week, that fundraising and other events were successful, and that the annual gift-making festival will be November 20. The PTO is planning a brainstorming session on community/school relations. The last meeting’s attendance included 25 parents. The PTO newsletter will be published every other Monday and the PTO welcomes contributions to the newsletter. The next meeting is scheduled for the first Monday of the month at 8:30 a.m. in the Art Room.
5. Public input – A member of the public commented that she was interested in the development of an all-day kindergarten program. The Board has looked at this issue in the past and will continue to consider it.
6. Business requiring discussion
a) A packet describing the historic staffing analysis at MCS was discussed. One of the charts in the packet computed for mean student to staff ratios across eleven years. The table did not include the librarian and technology staff since the librarian is mandated by the State and the technology position did not exist in the earlier years of the study. The Board thanked the principal and staff for the analysis and presentations and it recognized the review of the special areas as very valuable to future decision making.
8. Business requiring action
a) Linda Gray moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to approve the election of Heather Volpano as a long-term substitute teach at track 1, step 1 salary of $10,740 ($179.01 per diem for 60 days) for approximately 12 weeks. The motion passed unanimously.
9. No future agenda item suggestions were offered.
10. Deb Kaplan moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to enter executive session in accordance with Title 1, Section 313 for discussion of personal matters at 9:15 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
11. Adjournment
Margaret Cheney moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to adjourn at 9:40 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger Lohr
Recording Secretary |
