MINUTES
OF MEETING
PRESENT:
John Harrington, Bonnie Beaubien, Don Gorman, Tom Haley, Kevin Barry, Paul
Yergeau,Gigi Klipa,, Kevin Webber,
1. Call
To Order
The February 2,2006 DCS Board meeting was called to
order at
2. Pledge
of Allegiance
Mr. Harrington led the school board and
others present in the Pledge of Allegiance
3. Minutes of Previous Meetings
The January 18th minutes (pg. 1) should
read: Don Gorman was not able to attend
the January 18th, meeting due
to a prior engagement on Wednesday. Mr.
Gorman was attending
a School Board Assoc. workshop.
A motion was made by Kevin Barry
to accept the minutes of
All In Favor
Motion Carried
A motion was made to Table the minutes of
4. Immediate Business
No Changes
None made
C.
Deliberative Session Planning-Mr. Barry
The board reviewed who would
be present at the Deliberative Session,
Mr. Webber stated that there
would be handouts available concerning the proposed junior high/high school
proposal . The board also decided to run
200 copies of the proposed warrants, the para-contract, and budget.
Tuition Costs per/pupil are:
P.A. $8,063.00 (7 students), Coe brown $9,991.00 (39) Central $6,700.00(189),
Pinkerton Aca. $7,840.00 (1), Raymond $9,326.02 (5)
Mr. Barry shared with the
board an e-mail from Doug Leavitt (School District Moderator) with responses
from Attorney Gordon Graham.
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1) UNDER SB-2 DELIBERATIVE SESSION LAW, ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL RULES OR PRQCEDURES FOR DEALING WITH A BOND ARTICLE? CAN IT BE AMENDED? WOULD AMENDMENT BE BY MAJORITY VOTE? |
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2) AT A DELIBERATIVE SESSION, CAN THERE BE A MOTION TO RECONSIDER AN ARTICLE PREVIOUSLY Y DISCUSSED? CAN VOTERS RESTRICT RECONSIDERATION? |
There are no special
procedures for dealing with bond articles at a Senate Bill 2 Session. As you
know; Session 1 has the same authority with respect to all the articles that
appear on the warrant that a traditional meeting has with one exception.
Session 1 in a SB2 district cannot finally adopt the article. As a result, the
regular rules of procedure with respect to amending and discussing bond
articles govern. A bond article may be amended within the boundaries of the
requirement that only those issues that were properly “warned to the District
in the District's warrant can be considered at the District meeting. As a
result; the purpose of the article cannot be amended. Also, as with.
traditional meetings, an amendment can be made by a majority vote.
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Your
second question relates to motions to reconsider articles previously
discussed. There is a specific provision regarding reconsideration at Session
1 of a Senate Bm2 meeting. R8A 40: 13 IV governs restriction of
reconsideration at Session 1 of a SB2 meeting. That provision states that
"a vote to restrict reconsideration shall be deemed to prohibit any
further action on the on the restricted article until the second session of
the meeting and RSA 40: 1 0 II shall not apply." As a result, if voters
vote to restrict reconsideration of any article on the warrant, it cannot be
reconsidered at Session 1 and a vote to reconsider would be out of order.
'Prior to a vote to restrict reconsideration, reconsideration of action
previously taken at the meeting could be properly considered. |
D. Department of Education memo-Mr. Gorman, Mr. Harrington
The
following memo from the Dept. Of
Ed. was shared with the board
members.
Mr.
Gorman stated that he has been reviewing with the House the authority and
funding of new and additional duties that have been passed down to the local
level and will be meeting with the Mr. Tracey the Commissioner of Ed for the
State of NH on Friday to discuss this issue.
Memo
From: Lyonnel B. Tracy-Commissioner
Sarah L.
Browning-Special Assist. To the Commissioner
This memo is in response to concerns raised by some local school board
members in your district that members of the school district staff were being
overworked and underpaid by new requirements ordered by the state department of
education without authority and
without the necessary
federal or state funds. Such a claim is so broad that it would take an
inordinate amount of time and reams of paper to fully research and document. We
agreed to narrow this claim to look at four issues; SASID, Free and Reduced Lunch,
English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and federal testing and Highly
Qualified Teachers (HQT).
1. State Assigned Student Identification (SASID)
Authority: RSA 193-E:4 et seq .
This
is a new statewide database that will allow the state and local districts to
track
individual students
throughout their public school attendance without violating student
confidentiality. Like any new system, the first year has created additional
work for those identified by the district as the contact for this program. In
converting 200,000
students,
statewide, to this system we had to ask for a considerable amount of data at
one time (2004-05
end of year and
academic data, 2005-06
beginning of
year and free and reduced lunch data). In subsequent years this will be done
periodically as it has been done in the past, with the advantage that it will
now be done electronically.
The advantages to the districts
will be the elimination of some of the old reports that are now submitted where
the information has to be gathered manually, and the ability to provide labels
for student booklets for the statewide assessment test rather than having
teachers bubble in the information. In the NECAP test that was administered
this fall, 1525 booklets of the total 1812 booklets (84%) necessary for SAU 53
had labels provided by this new system. In addition, because of the information
collected, we have been able to eliminate 9 of the 12 questions (75%) that
teachers had to bubble in answer to on these test booklets. While the
department is using federal resources to create and maintain this system, we
have also provided technical assistance to the districts via telephone and
e-mail contact with department staff and site visits to the districts by
distinguished educators selected by the department to assist districts. Each
district decided how much or how little technical assistance they .needed.
2. Free and Reduced Lunch
Authority: 42 usc 1751
SAU 53 received $223,735.47
in federal and state funds last year through this program. Participation in
this program is strictly voluntary and management is totally within the control
of the district.
3. English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
Authority: 20 use 6601 et
seq
This program provides
services to qualified students. If a district has no students, it has no
obligations and receives no federal funds. SAU 53 has a total of 9 ESOL
students (7 in Epsom and 2 in Pembroke) and the state has allocated $1,727.42
of federal funds to assist with their education. Only eighteen of the eligible
districts have applied for their allocation. Epsom and Pembroke did not apply.
The money that remains from allocations not applied for is redistributed to the
districts that applied.
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4. Highly Qualified
Teachers (HQT) Authority: 20 use 6801 et seq A total of $169,031.37 in
federal resources has been allocated to SAU 53. The breakdown is: . |
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Allenstown |
$40,344.15 |
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9,369.24 |
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30,608.33 |
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Epsom |
44,821.00 |
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Pembroke |
43,888.65 |
It is up to the district to submit an application describing how this money will be used to prepare, train and recruit highly qualified teachers. While the federal law requires all teachers of core subjects to be highly qualified, it does not prohibit the employment or require the firing of personnel that are not deemed to be highly qualified. The plan submitted by the New Hampshire Department of Education provided a strong rationale, backed by data that demonstrates its certification program, re-certification process and post-secondary teacher preparation programs generates highly qualified teachers that meet the requirements of the federal law.
5. Old/Unfinished Business
A. Policy Review – Mr. Barry
Deerfield School
District-Investment Policy was reviewed by the school board.
No changes were made.
A motion was made to
reaffirm the Deerfield School District-Investment Policy by Kevin Barry,
seconded by Kevin Webber.
All In Favor
Motion
Carried
Deerfield School
District-Transportation Policy, School
Bus Scheduling and Routing was reviewed by the school board.
No changes were made.
A motion was made to
reaffirm the
All In Favor
Motion Carried
Note changes. Checks will be
mailed to parents 3 times a year.
A motion was made to
reaffirm the
All In Favor
Motion
Carried
Deerfield School
District-Copy right Policy was reviewed by the school board.
No changes were made.
A motion was made to
reaffirm the Deerfield School District-Copyrightt Policy by Kevin Barry,
seconded by Bonnie Beaubien.
All In Favor
Motion
Carried
The board reviewed
the current Non-Certified Benefit package and discussed the request by the Full
Time Year Round Non-certified Employees to add to their contract that the
A motion was made by Kevin Webber to add to the
Non-Certified Benefit package, seconded by Kevin Barry that the
C.
Electrical/Heating Studies-Mr. Harrington
The board reviewed with Mr. Gorman the situation
that has initiated the board to review the electrical situation at DCS. Mr. Harrington stated that a transformer box
for a keyboard in the music room was taped together causing a shortage. The fire dept. was called in due to the
intense smell. Chief Tibbits, came to
the last school board meeting and stated that after the call he inspected the
building and was concerned by the number of power strips and ext. cords. The board continued discussing the situation
and agreed that the building’s electrical needs should be reviewed by an
Engineering firm. Mr. Webber will
contact Lauer and Assoc. for information
The board reviewed the proposed 06-07 Deerfield
Calendar, NH Model School Calendar, and the
7. Other
Business
Mr. Gorman shared
with the board members about his recent trip to
Mr. Yergeau spoke
to the board about his “My Space .Com” and the information that students are
putting on it. Students are putting
names, addresses, and personnel information which can be seen by anyone who
subscribes to “My Space”. Mr. Yergeau
stated that this is an area that he will continue to work with students and
parents.
B. Agenda Preparation-Mr.
Harrington
January 4 & 9 2006
meeting minutes.
School Calendar
Post meeting for the
Deliberative Session
C. Citizens’/Staff Comments
A
motion was made by Don Gorman to adjourn at
All
In Favor
Motion Carried
The next Deerfield School Board business meeting is scheduled
for
8. Informational Items
None