MILAN

Minutes of School Board Meeting

Thursday, January 4. 2005 at 6:30 p.m.

Milan Village School, 11 Bridge Street, Milan, NH 03588-9702

Phone 603 466.3632      Fax 603.466.3870     Web http://schools.ncia.net/milanvs

 

Milan Members Present

Sarah Sarette, Principal

Milan Village School

 

Andrew Mullins,

School Board Chairman

 

Jacqueline Quintal,

School Board Member

 

Patricia Shute,

School Board Member

 

Left to right: Andy Mullins, Pauline Plourde, Patricia Shute, Patrick Low, Jacqueline Quintal, Sarah Sarette

 

 

Others Present:

 

Patrick Low, Superintendent,

SAU20

 

Pauline Plourde, Business Administrator SAU20

 

Malcolm Shute, Recording Secretary

 

 

 

Agenda Item No./Subject:

I.          Call to Order             

            Andrew Mullins called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m.

II.        Approval of December 7, 2004 Regular Meeting Minutes and

            Approval of December 9, 2004 Regular Meeting Minutes

Meeting on December 7th was postponed until December 9th due to icy roads so there are no minutes. Malcolm Shute noted that the first occurrence of the word “student” in the edited version of the minutes under Section VI, Principal’s Report, item C., Tuition, should be deleted.  Pauline Plourde will take care of this in the approved minutes.

            Motion by Patricia Shute, seconded by Jacqueline Quintal.

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Motion:    To approve the minutes of December 9, 2004.

            Vote:        All in favor.  Motion passed.

III.      Public Comments       IV.Communications/Written           V. Communications-Visiting Guest Presents

            None.                                 None                                                 None.

VI.       Principal’s Report

            A.  Testing

Sarah Sarette said some testing is going on and that a representative of will be visiting the school this Friday, January 7th, to discuss fourth-grade testing.

B.  Personnel

Cheryl Cloutier will be taking a leave-of-absence for medical reasons for                                beginning on February 15th and extending for two to three weeks in March.  She    will be using one week of her vacation. Kari Goulete is pregnant and is due in mid August. Pauline Plourde said that NH state law provides for a 12-week maternity leave.

C.  Flashing Yellow Light

Giselle Oulette called Sarah Sarette and asked if these lights could be left on all day. Patrick Low and Pauline Plourde said this is illegal and he will discuss this in Section VII, Superintendent’s Report, item H., Street Safety Flasher.  Sarah Sarette said Giselle Oulette also questioned whether the crossing guard’s salary was a budget item for the Milan Police department as it is now or for the Milan School Board.  Apparently, it depends on whether or not the Milan Police department comes under the Berlin Police department in the future, because crossing guards in Berlin are paid by the Berlin School district not the Berlin Police.

            D.  Health Report

Copies of the Milan School Health Report for December  2004 were passed out.

 

E.  Awards Foundation Pre-School Grant for $5,000

A letter was received awarding this grant to the Milan Village School.   Additional grant proposals have been sent to several other sites for pre-school grants.

            F.  Mentoring After-School Program

Sarah Sarette said she is working with Big Brothers and Big Sisters to get this program started.

            G.  Additional Grant Funds

The DOE web site in Washington, DC has grants up to $2,000,000 available for qualifying school districts. Two phone calls have been made to Washington to pursue this by Sarah Sarette.  The initial application is due in February with the final application due in April.  This probably would require the participation of the Berlin school district because Berlin qualifies for the grant considering their risk factors.  Other school districts in Coos county may need to be included as well in order to qualify. She will continue to pursue this.

            H.  Purchasing Additional Guided Reading Books

The Primary Team has $629.16 in their budget and they would like to transfer the $1,300 that is in the Supply line item (#6100) to the Great Books line item (#6410).  Pauline Plourde said that this would be done.

            I.   Report of Percentage of time for Core Subject Areas

Jacqueline Quintal asked about this and Patrick Low said the request came from the

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SAU-20 office and that all SAU-20 schools are being asked to provide this

information.  It should be provided by the end of the third marking period so that it is available in the summer for inclusion in SAU-20 reports when the schools are closed. It will be used to insure that the correct amount of time is being devoted to these subjects most of the time.

J.  Curriculum Inventory

 Jacqueline Quintal also asked about this and Patrick Low said that they are working with all of the school districts to discern what curriculum pieces they are using, both hard copies and soft work curriculum, etc.  About 80% of this has been accomplished in Gorham.  The high school has all of their course syllabi in green binders for core subjects.  The Middle School should be done by the end of the school year.  It will basically provide an overview of the course, objectives, teaching approaches, field trips, guest speakers and resources that are used.  It will be used at the start of a class for the students and their parents, for open houses and to provide when new students and parents are looking over the area to re-locate.

K.  Special Education Program Approval Visiting Team January 28th

Patricia Shute asked if school board members were expected to participate in this. Jacqueline Quintal said that Rebecca Hebert-Sweeney, Director of Special Services SAU-20 had asked her to participate and be available to answer questions.                      

L.  Student Behavior

Sarah Sarette reported that a teacher ignored playground rules during a single recess and allowed students to break the rules. This has caused considerable confusion in the school about what is and what is not allowed. It will take several weeks to undo the damage.

VII.           Superintendent’s Report

      A.  Gift of Piano to Milan Village School

Patrick Low said the Gorham Middle/High School has a surplus 35-year old upright piano that they wanted to donate to the Milan Village School.  The school board accepted the offer and said they would take care of getting the piano tuned.

      B.  Student with no  Mailing Address   

     Patrick Low will contact a student who is apparently living in MIlan with his grandparents but

     cannot provide a valid mailing address.

      C.  Financial Report (month ending December 4 , 2004)

Pauline Plourde reviewed this report with the school board and provided the following information:

·        Expenditures are about $6,000, which is 70% of funding.

·        Medicaid fees are slightly ahead

·        Tuition for Gorham Middle School is ahead but is a little short for the Gorham High School.

·        SPED tuition is lower than anticipated.

·        Legal costs have increased.  John Garvey was supposed to contact the insurance company regarding the Milan School bond with WREN, but Pauline Plourde has not heard from him.  There is no progress on the bond issue. Patrick Low mentioned that there is no incentive for the underwriters to settle and Milan has no leverage to force settlement.

·        Fuel oil costs are being paid monthly on a pay-as-you-go basis. Irving granted 17,000 gallons at the pre-paid rate even though Milan does not pre-pay.

·        Patrick Low asked Sarah Sarette if the visit before Christmas vacation took place.  She said Brenda went to the Family Resource Center to meet with the mother, the child and Rebecca Herbert-Sweeney; however, the mother cancelled the appointment. She is scheduled to return in mid February.  Patrick Low said he would follow up.

·        A microphone is needed for a SPED student who is hearing impaired.  It cost $91.00 and Pauline Plourde said the money could be transferred from account 6125-15 to 7340-15.

      Motion by Jacqueline Quintal, seconded by Patricia Shute

Motion:    To approve the transfer of $91.00 from account 6125-15 to account 7340-15.

                                    Vote  All in favor. Motion passed.

·        Title V money has not been approved yet because the State needs one last final thing, per Sarah Sarette.

·        The Benefits Package is on the agenda for the February Milan School Board Meeting.

·        A first draft of items to be presented on the Milan School warrant was distributed for a first reading for review and comment. The Milan/Dummer budget hearing is on March7th and the Milan Town meeting is on Tuesday, March 8th.

·        The 504 trust fund has $638.00. 

·        The cost for repairing the Milan Village School roof is $11,733.

·        A warrant item will be added to explain how the Grant Funding that was awarded to the school at last year’s Milan Town meeting has been used.

·        The General Fund was discussed.   

      .     D.  Purchase Orders, Monthly.Consensus

                  No discussion.

            E. Winterization/MVS-Performance Bond Update

Patrick Low congratulated everyone who participated in the winterization of the Milan Village School.  Heat is fine in all areas of the school.  He said to call him 24/7 if help is needed during the remainder of the winter season.

            F.  AREA Agreement/Review Process

Patrick Low will check with John Moulis about having the MIlan School Board meet with the Berlin School Board to review their AREA agreement Milan can do this by attending Berlin's next school board meeting on Thursday, January 20th.  Jacqueline Quintal said she had some issues to discuss at that meeting.  Patrick Low also suggested that the Milan School Board meet next Monday, January 10th with the Dummer School Board at the Dummer  Town Hall to discuss their AREA agreement.

      G.  Grant Funds in Use MVS  

 No discussion.                                                      

            H.  Pre-School Special Education Certification Application

This was submitted and Patrick Low thanked everyone who worked on it.  Several questions were answered by e-mail after the application was submitted

.          

 

            I.  Benefits Package (full, part time & support staff)

A preliminary draft describing these benefits was passed out for review and comment.  A meeting will be scheduled before summer to embellish some of the language in the draft and to incorporate comments.  Jacqueline Quintal said that if the benefits package is to be given out along with the teacher contracts that it needs to be finalized before March.  Patrick Low said it would be discussed at the February Milan School Board meeting.

J. Street Safety Flasher (parts order/Pauline)

Pauline Plourde spoke with Mr. Frank Sullivan at the Department of Motor Vehicles Signal Section about training Dennis to program this flasher. Patrick Low said the DMV stated that the flasher can run a total of 90-minutes per day, generally for 45-minutes at the beginning and ending of the school day for maximum effectiveness and awareness by the driving public. RSA:265, paragraph 2A, stipulates the requirements.   Pauline Plourde also said that Mr. Sullivan felt that flashers were not needed on Bridge Street or at the Route 16 end of Milan Hill Road because stop signs are placed there.

K. Furnace, Archive/Service Files/Pauline

Pauline Plourde tried to verify that Honeywell serviced the furnace this past summer. Patrick Low said part of the service has been verified and they are waiting for another part.

L. NWEA/MAPS + In-service Day 1/17/05

Agenda been passed for this day.  Don, the in-service presenter, is coming from Indianapolis, IN.  He and Patrick Low modified the length of some of the presentations to give participants more time.

M. Foreast Transportation - Video camera request, tapes

Patrick Low said he met with Mike  Fortier on New Year's day  to discuss video cameras on the buses and delivery of video tapes  to the school on daily basis. A work session has been scheduled with Mr. Fortier to address these issues with the school board at the Milan Village School on Thursday,  January 13, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. following the Budget Work Session.  Patrick  Low said that he and Sarah Sarette discussed a student discipline problem stemming from  an incident on a bus, as reported to her by Mike Fortier and later  denied. This issue will be discussed at the work session on January 3th. Andrew Mullins  asked if Mike Fortier was using the sign-in sheet at the school.  Sara Sarette  said he was not using it. Andrew Mullins and  Jacqueline Quintal asked if Mr. Fortier could be made to use the complaint form that the school provides to document incidences.  Patrick Low  agreed and said the form should be sent to the Superintendent, all school board members, the school attorney dated and signed by Mr. Fortier and provided to Sarah Sarette. Sarah Sarette said Mr. Fortier has his own form but does not use it.  Patrick Low also felt that telephone conversations with Mr. Fortier should be documented and then read back to him. Most answering machines allow conversations and memos to be recorded for this purpose.  E-mail messages can also be acknowledged citing the content of the original message and sent back to Mr. Fortier.  .Jacqueline Quintal asked who had the final authority to keep students from boarding a school bus.  Patrick Low said he would check into this.

  N. Bus Stop, Policy Language-EEAEC, Review/Discuss

Patrick Low proposed that wording, such as the following, should be added to   the Student Handbook and be reviewed by Ted Comstock, the SAU lawyer:  It should also be added to the EEAEC regarding Student Conduct on school buses in the Milan School District Policy, dated November 1999.

"Bus stops in the Milan School District (pick-up and drop-off sites) servicing two or more students will be considered an extension of our school campus; there-fore, for health and safety reasons, all school rules will apply.  Milan Village School cannot be responsible  for monitoring such bus stops but will necessarily follow-up on all reports of any inappropriate student/constituent conduct. Sadly, on occasion, you have adult behavior which is inappropriate at bus stops."                     

  O.  Curriculum Inventory

  This was discussed previously in Section VI, Principal’s Report, item  J, Curriculum Inventory.

                                                                                               

  P.  Core Subject areas, Percent of Instructional Day

                    This was discussed previously in Section VI, Principal’s Report, item I,

                    Report of Percentage of time for Core Subject Areas.                   

            Q.  Emergency Response/Crisis Response Plans-Classrooms

Patrick Low asked Sarah Sarette if all of the teachers and/or key people had a copy of  the Crisis  Response Plan.  She said they had copies. Patrick Low suggested that they all administrators should carry a set in the car, at home and at school. He said he had recommended to the Gorham School admin-stators that they also carry copies of the staff rosters and an area telephone book in the same locations.

R.  Other

                         1. Student's Questionable Residence

Patrick Low asked if this student's situation had been resolved.  Pauline Plourde said it has been resolved; the student moved to Berlin.                                                            

                        2. Electric Rates

Patrick Low said that Public Service of NH has requested a rate increase of $3.00/month for residential and commercial use.                                                                                                            

                        3. Snow Storm School Closing/Delay Response

A lengthy discussion was held regarding methods for notifying students and parents about school delays or cancellations due to safety considerations because of snowstorms.  The following decisions were made:                                                                                                                                                   

·        A phone tree will be established for calling parents of students who attend the Berlin High School, the  Gorham Middle School and the Gorham High School.  

·        Berlin school closings/delays will be posted on the SAU-20 website (www.sau20.org).

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·                                                                                                                                         

·        Milan school delays or closing will be the same as Berlin schools unless Milan elects to open when Berlin is closed or delayed.                

·        Milan Village School radio announcements of delays or closings will be aired on WLTN, WMOU/WLPN, WOKQ/WPKQ and WHOM, as well as TV Channel 6, WCSH, and TV channel 9, WMUR, in Milan.

·        Berlin Middle School and Berlin High School radio announcements of delays or closings the will be aired on WOKQ/WPKQ and WHOM  as well as Channel 6, WCSH,  Channel 8, WMTW, channel 9, WMUR, and,  Channel 13, WGME in Berlin.

·        An information letter regarding school delays/closings will be given to all  Milan students on Friday to bring home to their parents.          

·        Andy Mullins said he would contact state snow plow drivers, Rob and Raymond, by radio to determine the safety of the roads and would convey this information to Patrick Low.

·        If Milan delays their school opening, school buses will not transport Milan students to Berlin. If  Berlin stays open, the Milan students will be excused for the day.

·        If the Milan School has a delayed opening, the Milan Village School kindergarten children will excused for the day.                                               

VIII.    Authorized Regional Enrollment Agreement (AREA)                                           

The Milan/Berlin AREA agreement contains the following paragraph, which will be added to the Milan/Dummer AREA agreement, per Jacqueline Quintal.

                    "costs for special education services for individual students will be calculated into the payments of the sending school to the receiving school.  Any additional costs incurred as a result of the needs of an individual student, i.e., educational aide, will be billed to the sending district in addition to the regular tuition amount."Jacqueline Quintal said she will include this in draft #3 of the Milan/Dummer AREA agreement.  The school board agreed.                                                   

 

            RSA 198:19 regarding Adequacy Funding given by the state of NH based on ADMR  was discussed.

            In the Milan/Berlin AREA agreement under Part M, it says that:

"the receiving district assumes responsibility for providing facilities, curriculum and a staff for a comprehensive high school."

The school board agreed that they should also receive monthly school board reports, student handbooks, monthly administrative reports and curriculum guides from Berlin. Jacqueline Quintal said she will include this in draft #3 of the Milan/Dummer AREA agreement.  The school board agreed.          

IX.       Budget Development

            Pauline Plourde said the Milan budget looks good and then she summarized the

            following updates.                                                                                                        

·        The bond issue for the Milan School gymnasium is finished.

·        Tuition for regular education has increased by about $190,000; however,

      the total increase is only $60,000 because SPED tuition to Berlin is down.

·         Summer school is up at $21,000 because there will be a new SPED student.

·          Physical and occupational therapy is contracted out at $10,000.

·        The Capital Reserve Fund has $11,733 for the roof repair and $638.00

               under Section 504.  The school board agreed to add $4,000 to the fund

                                 for any contingencies.

·      The teacher improvement (account #2210) has decreased by $14,000 from 

                    last year because laptop computers are not being purchased this year.

·      Building custodial is up $21,000; however, $13,600 of this is for an increase

                    in  fuel heating cost.

·     Regular students and SPED students transportation has decreased because

                  of fewer students needing transportation.                                                                            

·     Debt service of $60,962 is for the school addition bond.                                   

X.      Non-Public Session

            Not needed.    

XI.     Other

            A.  SAU-20 summer hours

                    Patrick Low said that the SAU-20 office in Gorham will close at noon on

                    Fridays for the summer.

            B.  Principal Sarette's Contract

Sarah Sarette said she felt that her contract should be changed with a   reduced salary commensurate with taking time off in the summer. The Milan School Board disagreed and told her to take off six weeks in the summer with her full annual salary.  She will be off for the month of July and for the first two weeks in August.  Her contract will be modified to reflect this          change.

            C.  Well  Water for Milan School

Andrew Mullins said that he spoke with the school neighbor who was going to supply well water to the school and the man has changed his mind and no longer wants to provide water from his well.