MILAN

Minutes of School Board Meeting

Tuesday, March 29, 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

Others Present: Patrick Low, Superintendent SAU20; Pauline Plourde, Business Administrator SAU20; Malcolm Shute, Minute Taker

                                                                                                           

No. & Subject (taken from Agenda)

 

I.          Call to Order 

            The Superintendent called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m.and stated that this was an Organizational Meeting.

 

II.        Nomination of Board  Officers

Motion by Jacqueline Quintal, seconded by Patricia Shute.

Motion: To nominate Andrew Mullins for School Board chairperson.

Vote:    All in favor, motion passed.

           

Motion by Jacqueline Quintal, seconded by Andrew Mullins.

Motion: To nominate Patricia Shute for School Board vice chairperson.

Vote:     All in favor, motion passed.

 

Motion by Patricia Shute, seconded by Andrew Mullins

Motion: To nominate Jacqueline Quintal for School Board secretary.

Vote:    All in favor, motion passed.

 

            III.            Approval of March 3, 2005 Minutes

Motion by Patricia Shute, seconded by Andrew Mullins.

Motion:  To approve minutes of March 3, 2005 for public and non-public parts of meeting.

            Vote:       All in favor, motion passed.

 

IV.        Public Comments
        A.  Kitchen Air Conditioner

Louise Sanschagrin, a kitchen worker for MVS, reported that the AC in the kitchen area has never worked properly and needs to be fixed. The Superintendent will contact the vendor to correct this situation.  The Chairperson noted that the AC in the Library also does not work.               

B.  NCIA Hardware/Software Support for MVS Computers

Mr. Jeff Schall, President of NCIA, discussed the types of services his company can provide for computer equipment, including hardware and software as well as learning opportunities.  A lengthy question and answer discussion followed including the possibility of having T1, wireless Internet service for the school as well as parts of the community of Milan.  Mr. Schall agreed to return at the next Milan School Board meeting on May 9th at 6:30 p.m. with a proposal for servicing the computers and for activating T1 Internet service.  The plan is to have NCIA service all PCs at MVS.

            V.                          Communications/Written

·       The Superintendent read a letter addressed to the school board members with a copy to the Superintendent from Mr. Kevin Evans who opposed the reduction in the number of days the school Guidance Counselor is available to the students. The school board will respond to this letter.

 

·       The Superintendent read a letter from Mrs. Julie Evans disappointment with the elimination of the multi class setting.  The school board will respond to this letter.

 

·       The Superintendent said that the May and June meetings will address the mission of SAU-20.

 

·       Karen Cloutier submitted her resignation.

 

·       Motion by Patricia Shute, seconded by Jackie Quintal.

     Motion: To accept the resignation of Karen Cloutier with regret.

Vote:      All in favor, motion passed.

 

·       The Superintendent will send a letter to Karen Cloutier accepting her resignation.

 

·       The formation of a recruitment/search team for new teachers with six or seven members was suggested by the Superintendent. Universities and job placement services will be contacted in order to find and hire new teachers.

 

VI.       Communications-Visiting Staff

             None.

 

            VII.      Principal’s Report

·        The report was distributed prior to this meeting. 

·       A PBIS summary attached to this report reported that Tara Fortner and Barbara Young-Hoffman spoke with MHS students and the staff Pat Agent performed a “set review” and stated that PBIS at MVS was 100% and “ahead of the game”

·       The professional development day on Friday was successful. More training was given in vocabulary development and writing.

·         This is the second year of the comprehensive school reform grant with $50,000 remaining for this program next year. Kathy Krane, a professor at Plymouth State University, was contacted regarding curriculum development. She will be visiting MVS one day a month to evaluate the progress. 

·         A professional development calendar, which included NWEA training, was distributed. The Principal will be working with Kathy Krane for training.

VIII.    Superintendent's Report

A.   Financial

·       The Business Administrator for SAU-20 distributed an Interim Financial Report.

·       There was $189,000 remaining from the 2004 budget that was held over from the General Fund.

·       A quote will be requested from the Turner Group for repairing the roof of the MVS.  This item will be added to the April School Board Meeting agenda.

·       A bid is needed to replace or repair the front steps of MVS facing route 16.

·       A discussion was held regarding ice build up behind the school as well as the need for regrading and providing temporary ditches for water run off.

 

·       Motion by Patricia Shute, seconded by Jackie Quintal.

     Motion: To approve the transfer of $189,000 back to the General Fund in August 2005.

     Vote:      All in favor, motion passed.

                              

                            B.  Benefits Update Report

·        Version 3 of the benefits document is now current.  It consists of the following three sections:

1.  Para professional Personnel

2.  Support Personnel

3.  Professional Personnel (will add information from Gorham School regarding not being

allowed to use personal time to extend normal vacation time).

·       Motion by Patricia Shute, seconded by Jackie Quintal.

     Motion: To accept the Benefits Document for school year 2006, as amended.

Vote:      All in favor, motion passed.

·       Health insurance will be discussed at the August school board meeting.

 

                      C.   NCIA High-Speed Intent Service Opportunity

See Section IV B above.  This subject was discussed again regarding:

·                      How to control access by NCIA personnel to MVS when the school is not in session?

·                      Will Verizon be bundled with NCIA service or will it be alone?

·                      Paul is the preferred NCIA technician for MVS.

 

                      D.   Arts Council Follow-Up

A letter has been sent regarding June 2, 2005.

 

                      E.   Nominations/Employees

      See Section IX. Below.

 

           F.  Administrative Evaluation Tools

       No discussion.

 

                       G.  Calendar/School for 2005/2006

 School Board members felt that it was OK to start the school year before Labor Day.  The Principal                     

                     suggested beginning on Wednesday before Labor Day and continuing on Thursday.  School would                                         be closed Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, resuming on Tuesday.

                       H.  Safety Committee Update Meeting of March 22, 2005

 The Superintendent mentioned that he sent a reminder to all SAU-20 personnel reminding them

                      to stress safety and how to protect everyone in an emergency, such as a tornado.

                       I.   SAU-20 Board Meeting May 10, 2005 at the Birches Restaurant

No discussion.

                       

            IX.                         Nomination of Employees for 2005/2006

See Section XV., non-public session.

 

X.       Building Renovation Update 

                      No discussion.

 

            XI.                        Policy Development 

            The Student Handbook has been changed to reflect the new wording for behavior at bus stops.  It will be re-printed this summer.

 

XII.     MAPS/Testing/Pilot

·       Virus protection needs to be added to the MVS server before NWEA will download their software.

·       The Superintendent will provide NWEA passwords and IDs to NCIA to interface with MAPS.

·       The Principal reported that the second grade students enjoyed doing this.

·       The Superintendent felt that a tech support person needs to be on-site during future testing.

 

XIII.    Special Education

A report on SPED was mailed to all school board members.  The Superintendent spoke with Rebecca  Hebert-Sweeny, the Director of Special Services for SAU-20, prior to this meeting and they agreed that there needs to be a  policy to help SPED students transition from MVS to the Gorham schools.

 

XIV.    D.O.E. School Improvement

The Superintendent offered some ways to help with the guidance of MVS students as follows:

·       Use PBIS.

·       Involve teachers, parents, and counselors.

·       The Superintendent will provide copies of the document used by the Gorham schools for information to the MVS.

·       The document for DOE needs to be finished by the end of June.  The sections on handicapped accessibility, health and fire have been completed.           

            XV.      Non-public Session

The meeting went into non-public session at 9:40 p.m. per RSA 91-A: 311 to discuss and approve the Nomination of Employees.

Motion by Patricia Shute, seconded by Jacqueline Quintal.

Motion: To approve the Nomination of Employees document dated March 29, 2005 for 2005-2006, as amended.

Vote:      All in favor, motion passed.

The public session resumed at 10:00 p.m.

 

            XVI.    Other

·       Advertisements will be placed to hire a Physical Education instructor, a Guidance Counselor, and a Media Specialist.

·       A self-evaluation form was given to the school board members for their information. It is to be used by the Principal to help evaluate teachers and support staff.  They are to be rated on a scale of 1 to 5.  A checklist should be created for this.

 

            XVII.   Next  Regular  Meeting

Milan School Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 9, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. at Milan Village School.

 

            XVIII. Adjournment       

Meeting adjourned at 11:00 p.m.