MINUTES
OF MEETING
PRESENT:
John Harrington, Bonnie Beaubien, Don Gorman, Tom Haley, Kevin Barry, Kevin
Webber,
1. Call
To Order
The March 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
A motion was made by Kevin Barry to accept the minutes of
Mr. Gorman stated that the
minutes on page 3 Par. 3 that read. Mr. Webber stated that Mr. Gorman’s assumption that
the Curriculum for the proposed high school was not presented well was
incorrect. Mr. Gorman stated that the sentence should
read: Mr. Webber
stated that Mr. Gorman’s assumption that the Curriculum for the proposed high
school was challenged.
All In Favor
Motion Carried
Minutes were accepted as corrected.
4. Immediate Business
A. Agenda Review
No
Changes
B. Citizens’ Staff Comments
Chief Turner was present to review and discuss the
persistent problem of parking in the fire lane.
Mr. Harrington informed Chief Turner that the board was in full support
of ticketing
vehicles that used the fire lane for
parking. Mr. Gorman informed the board
that he has ordered the “No Parking in
Mr. Mailot was present to discuss the
Mr. Gorman passed out to the board members a flyer
from the Army National Guard. The
flyer/poster contained information concerning school programs presented by the
Army National Guard such as Health & Social Well-Being, Life Betterment,
Discovery, and Disaster Preparedness
Mr. Harrington stated that Mr. Gorman’s vision of a
Voc. Tech school was outstanding but he was concerned that it did not solve the
current concerns of tuitioning students out of district. This type of proposal still only educates a
portion of the school population.
Mr. Gorman stated that it was his thought to have a
classical educational program along with the Voc. Tech. Program. He stated that this school would have a high
emphasize on trade programs.
Mr. Barry questioned if the facility would be large
enough to accommodate both types of programs?
Mr. Webber stated that the site would be big enough
and the board should continue discussing this matter.
All members of the board agreed that this type of
proposal was valuable and asked Mr. Gorman to continue his research.
Mr. Webber stated that the second of two mailings
was finished and would be in the mail soon.
He passed out a copy of mailer to each of the members. Mr. Webber stated
that even though this is a better financial choice for the town, emphasize
should be that this is right for the school community.
Mr. Barry reviewed with
the board the voter guide that is going to be mailed out to each
household. Extra
copies will be located at the town and school offices. Mr. Barry stated
that the ballot is a total of 12 pages.
D. Electrical Review-Mr. Webber
Mr. Webber stated that he would have more information
at the next school board meeting.
5. Old/Unfinished Business
A. Policy Review and Development – Mr. Barry
Use of School Facilities:
Enclosed in the packets were
copies of the Deerfield School Board Use of School Facilities Policy &
forms. Also in the packet was a copy of
Pembroke’s School Facilities Policy.
Kandy Davitt informed the members of the
board that the school has seen an increased use of the building by the Parks
and Rec. Dept., Town Hearings, Boy & Girl Scouts, Little League, etc. The school building is in use 7 days a week.
Mrs. Davitt asked the board to review
security, fees, responsibilities, application process, approvals, etc.
Bonnie Beaubien stated that the school
building is a community investment and needs to be protected.
Kevin Barry voiced his concerns that by
charging rates certain functions could not be held.
Mr. Harrington stated that he is concerned
about security issues, maintenance, etc.
The board will review the concerns and
continue discussion on the matter.
B. Assistant Superintendent
Search-Ms.Beaubien, Mr. Haley
Ms. Beaubien informed the members that all of the
candidates for Assistant Supt. are from the local area. She stated that it has been a real pleasure
to visit their schools and talk to each about the position.
Mr. Haley reviewed the hiring process with the
members and stated that the Search Committee may not vote on the final
candidate but their input will be a large part of the decision. The Executive Board will be the board that
has the final vote. Mr. Haley stated
that next week he would be visiting each of the schools in SAU 53 with all
candidates.
Mrs. Plater a first grade teacher at DCS wrote to
the board requesting maternity leave.
She is expecting to work up until the birth of her child and then take
the 6 weeks after delivery for maternity leave.
A motion was made by Kevin Webber, seconded by Kevin
Barry to accept the requested leave by Sarah Plater.
All In Favor
Motion Carried
7. Other Business
A. Informational Items-Administrators and Board
Members
Kevin Barry- stated that the
board should try to schedule their meetings when school is in session allowing
the administrators to attend. Mr. Haley
stated that it was Mr. Yergeau’s intent to be present but was not present due
to illness.
Mr. Barry also stated that
he would like to pass along the following information to school employees.
659:44-a Electioneering by Public Employees. - No public employee, as defined in RSA 273-A:1, IX, shall electioneer while in the performance of his or her official duties or use government property, including, but not limited to, telephones, facsimile machines, vehicles, and computers, for electioneering. For the purposes of this section, "electioneer" means to act in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office. Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
RSA 273-A: 1, IX and X read as follows:
IX. "Public employee" means any person employed by a public employer except:
(a) Persons elected by popular vote;
(b) Persons appointed to office by the chief executive or legislative body of the public employer;
(c) Persons whose duties imply a confidential relationship to the public employer; or
(d) Persons in a probationary or temporary status, or employed seasonally, irregularly or on call. For the purposes of this chapter, however, no employee shall be determined to be in a probationary status who shall have been employed for more than 12 months or who has an individual contract with his employer, nor shall any employee be determined to be in a temporary status solely by reason of the source of funding of the position in which he is employed.
X. "Public employer" means the state and any political subdivision thereof, the judicial branch of the state, any quasi-public corporation, council, commission, agency or authority, and the state university system.
John Harrington-noted that in the school board packets were the Deerfield
Projection Report as of
Tom Haley-reported to the
board that the SAU was given a clean auditors report.
Don Gorman – presented to
the board for discussion the following proposal for International Travel.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL PROPOSAL, DCS
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and
narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by
vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's
lifetime." Mark Twain - Innocents
Abroad
There have been several requests made by staff over
the last few years for extended leave during the contract year. These have been
for events that occur during the contract year that cannot be attended at
off-year times. The Board's present position is that we have a contract and
will stick to it. In addition the Board has elected not to be in the position
of trying to determine who qualifies and under what circumstances. Individuals
might request extended leave for an all-expenses paid vacation in
However, due to the strong opinions of some members
of the Board that educational opportunities are being lost because of the
rigidity of the policy, the Board has agreed to review possible changes.
SUGGESTED STANDARDS:
1. It must be
shown that the trip can only be taken during the 180 days and is for
international travel only.
2. The administration must approve the educational
component of the trip;
there must be a potential
advantage to the school, staff and students of DCS. This approval must be given
30 days prior to the event.
3. International travel during the contract year
will only be allowed under the following conditions:
International only;
*Consecutive days for any
travel should not exceed nine days plus one for travel - ten maximum. Note; due
to time constraints, travel to
*Application for
international travel must be submitted no later than
45 days prior to the event.
*Plans for substitutes must be submitted no less
than 30 days prior to the event and approved no less than 14 days prior to the
start of the trip.
*A teacher may use all three personal days, with pay. Up to 7 sick days may also be used. However, the use of those additional sick days shall be deducted from the allowed total of sick days.
APPEALS
Should the original submission to the Principal be
denied, the following appeals are possible:
Appeals 1) to the Superintendent
2) to the School Board - final appeal.
LONGEVITY ??? You tell me. Does / does
not apply after x number of years?
Dear colleagues,
Please remember that the object of this exercise is
to encourage international travel and to make DCS a hub of international
experiences. I think Mark Twain summed it up best! Don Gorman
The board discussed the value of travel but also the
complications that occur due to travel.
Mr. Webber and Mr. Barry stated that this should be
part of the contract discussions and this proposal can become part of that if
the teachers are interested.
Mr. Harrington asked Mr. Haley is this situation is
just prevalent to
Mr. Gorman stated that without this type of policy
in place we are missing opportunities that can be brought back into the
educational system.
Ms. Beaubien stated that the difficulty is in
getting a highly qualified substitute to cover the time the teacheris
away.
The board will continue to review this matter but
the consensus of the board agreed that this type of policy should be included
in teacher negotiations because it should be considered a benefit not a policy.
Mr. Gorman also reviewed
with the members of the board the High School Bus situation for next year. Mr. Gorman contacted Dail Transportation and
was told that behavior problems have decreased for the driver. Dail will continue the bus but are having
problems with
bounced checks, late payments, and
harassment of office personnel.
Mr. Webber stated that
parents are stressed out about getting their children to high school and
Dail is on the receiving end
of it.
Mr.
Harrington-informed the board that Coe Brown is charging an application fee of
$250, which is non-refundable. Mr.
Harrington stated that Coe Brown is doing this because of the
high number of students that say
they are coming to Coe Brown and then change to another school at a later
date. The school district will reimburse
the application fee to parents whose students attend Coe Brown in September.
B. Agenda Preparation-Mr.
Harrington
Travel Policy
Electrical Needs
School Calendar
Facility Use Policy
C. Citizens’/Staff Comments
None Made.
D. Personnel
Matter
At
John Harrington YES
Kevin Barry YES
Bonnie Beaubien YES
Don Gorman YES
Kevin Webber YES
THE MOTION CARRIED
Present in the non-public session
were: John Harrington, Kevin Barry, Bonnie Beaubien, Don Gorman, Kevin Webber,
Tom Haley.
The board discussed a specific SAU
employee contract matter.
At
John Harrington YES
Kevin Barry YES
Bonnie Beaubien YES
Don Gorman YES
Kevin Webber YES
THE MOTION CARRIED
Chair John Harrington noted that no
action had been taken in the non-public session.
8. Adjournment
At
ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
The next Deerfield School Board business meeting is scheduled
for
9. Information Items
None