Deerfield School Board

Deerfield Community School

Deerfield, New Hampshire

Thursday, April 20, 2006

 

MINUTES OF MEETING:

 

PRESENT:  Bonnie Beaubien, Don Gorman, Tom Haley, Kevin Barry, Peter Aubrey, Kevin Webber, Gigi Klipa, Paul Yergeau, Kandy Davitt, Cindy Hanson, Diane Arzigian, Rod Dudley,

 

  1. Call to Order- Mr. Harrington

 

Mr. Harrington was not present therefore Don Gorman  (Vice Chair) called the April 20th, 2006 meeting to order at 6:30 PM.

 

2   Pledge of Allegiance – Mr. Harrington

 

      Mr. Gorman led the school board and others that were present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

  1. Minutes of Previous Meeting – April 6, 2006

 

A motion was made to accept the minutes as read, by Kevin Webber, seconded by Kevin Barry,

 

Pg. 3, 5 A.  Use of Facilities Policy-Ms. Beaubien, Mr. Gorman, Mr. Webber (should read:  Ms. Beaubien, Mr. Gorman)

Pg 3, 5B. Facilities Planning – Mr. Harrington, Mr. Webber, Mr. Barry  (should read: Mr. Harrington, Mr. Barry)

 

A motion was made by Kevin Barry, seconded by Bonnie Beaubien to accept the minutes of April 6, 2006 as corrected

 

                                                                                    ALL IN FAVOR
                                                                                MOTION CARRIED

 

     4.    Immediate Business

 

A.     Agenda Review

 

Mr. Gorman stated that he would like to have 5A and 5B to be reviewed as one item. Therefore 5B was moved into 5A to read:  Facilities Planning, Public Awareness

 

B.     Citizens’/Staff Comments

 

                   None Made

 

C.     SB-2 Budget-Mr.Harrington

 

 

The board reviewed Mrs. Tatulis request for a one year sabbatical to work with UNH

Education interns. 

Mr. Yergeau stated that it would be a great experience for Mrs. Tatulis and that the request could not be finalized until now, due to UNH’s schedule. 

The board discussed the issue that it would then place two teachers on sabbatical and that DEA would have to also approve this request.

 

A motion was made by Don Gorman, seconded by Kevin Webber to allow Mrs. Tatulis her request for a 1-year leave from DCS (noting that this one time occurrence will not set precedence).

 

                                                          ALL IN FAVOR

                                                       MOTION CARRIED

 

Mr. Haley reviewed with the board oil bids for the upcoming year.  He stated that Peter Aubrey was looking into working with the state coalition, which would be seeking a bid on 6 million gallons of oil.  There is a 1-day lock in and Mr. Haley stated that he was looking for Board approval to allow Mr. Aubrey permission to act in a timely manner.

 

A motion was made by Kevin Barry to empower Mr. Aubrey to act in a timely manner in purchasing oil for the Deerfield District, seconded by Bonnie Beaubien.

 

                                                          ALL IN FAVOR

                                                       MOTION CARRIED

 

The board members reviewed the recommendations for cuts in the budget that were made at the last school board meeting.  They also reviewed decreasing the teaching staff by one discussing the difficulties that it would create with SB2 in place. 

Mr. Gorman stated that with SB2 the long-term impact under a default budget the position could be lost. 

Mr. Webber stated that by cutting in other areas it would allow the position to remain in tact.

 

A motion was made by Kevin Webber, seconded by Kevin Barry, to move forward with the default budget and approach the DEA to approve a one-year sabbatical for E. Tatulis . (noting that DCS will have 2 teachers on sabbatical for the 06-07-school yr.)

 

                                                         ALL IN FAVOR

                                                       MOTION CARRIED

 

 

 

 

     5.  Old/Unfinished Business

 

A.     Policy Review and Development – Mr. Barry, Mr. Harrington

 

Technology Policy:  Mr. Yergeau stated that the students had not reviewed the board’s previous comments to their suggested policy changes.

 

Facility Use:

 

A motion was made by Kevin Barry and seconded by Kevin Webber to suspend the board’s rules concerning public participation.

 

 

                                                             ALL IN FAVOR
                                                        MOTION CARRIED

 

Mr. Gorman and Ms. Beaubien interviewed individually the following people concerning 

gym scheduling.  Bill Fowler, Debbie Campelia, Joe Manzi, Bonnie MacPherson, Joe Manzi, Gigi Klipa, Kandy Davitt, Paul Yergeau.

 

Mr. Gorman and Ms. Beaubien made the following recommendations.

 

The cleaning/security of the building shall fall under a DCS employee. 

No bats allowed in the gym.

Structure- The proposed structure is designed to define responsibility for the use of the gym to two individuals.

1.      A coordinator of activities within the school system, to be appointed by the administration

                         2.  A coordinator of Parks and Recreation activities

Rules shall be posted in large block letter in no less than 8 places around the gym.

These will include such items as “no food and drink allowed in the gym, no sneakers that leave black marks on the floor, rules for use of the shower, cleanup such as emptying trash, sweeping the floor, lost and found, etc.   Specifics should be worked out by the two co-coordinators with approval by the administration.

Appeals of conflicts shall go through the normal appeal process, which is administration, superintendent, school board.

1400 lock all doors to the gym.

 

Those present spoke about use of the gym during vacations, scheduling issues, etc.

Mr. Webber stated that security is an issue that needs to be reviewed.

 

Without objection from the board, Mr. Gorman tabled the Facility Use Policy for continued discussion.

 

B.     Facilities Planning – Mr. Webber, Mr. Gorman

 

Mr. Webber informed the members of the board that the intended meeting during spring break for a review and inspection of the Deerfield Community School’s electrical needs would not take place due to scheduling conflicts.  It will be done during the summer break.

      

C.     Public Awareness- Mr. Webber

 

Mr. Gorman stated that the residents of Deerfield are MAD and that the message that was sent to the school board has not been discussed. 

Mr. Gorman passed out to the board members an article from Teacher mag. in which there was an article concerning two teachers and a Vocational Tech. program in a Conn. school.  Mr. Gorman then stated that the board needed to take a good look at his suggestion of a Vocational Tech. program/school in Deerfield.  Mr. Gorman stated that the board needed to go down a new road and his proposed Voc. Tech suggestion will not work unless the whole school board is on board.

Mr. Webber stated that no one has not stated that Mr. Gorman’s proposal is a bad one but it does not address the current facility needs.  Mr. Webber also stated, that board members need to be careful when drawing conclusions from the past vote and the board should look at how information is coming in and going out.  Mr. Webber stated that the Para’s were given a raise and that 80 % of the budget is salary. 

Mr. Barry stated that a Voc. Tech is a good idea but that it does not solve the middle school issue at DCS.  He personally does not think the community would support a program that only benefits a small portion of the high school population.

Ms. Beaubien stated that the voters did send a clear message and that message was a revolt for property tax and our taxing system.  Ms. Beaubien stated that in past owning land was a sign of wealth and the more you owned the wealthier you were and the more you paid in property taxes.  That does not hold true for today.  Ms. Beaubien also stated that voters feel that they have no control at the state or federal level and that the only place they can express their frustration is at the local level.  

Ms. Beaubien expressed her opinion that Concord was a good solution at the time and that Deerfield should look at Barrington’s new middle school with grades 5-8 that recently passed.   Ms. Beaubien stated that a Voc. Tech. program is a good idea but needs to be a “regional school”.

Mr. Webber stated that the voters sent mixed messages.  They voted for a Para raise, voted against the budget, but voted in two school board members that prepared the budget.  Mr. Webber stated that the board needed to look at the areas where money is being spent that are not supported by the public.

Mr. Webber stated that Public Awareness had nothing to do with a new school.  The purpose of a Public Awareness discussion is an attempt to get more information out to the community concerning ALL topics relating to education in the town of Deerfield and get more information from the Public coming back to the board.

 

     6.  Other Business

 

            A, Informational Items-Administrators and Board Members

 

                  Paul Yergeau-asked the school board members if they wanted to meet with the Dept.

Heads at their next scheduled meeting.  The board members agreed that they needed to

meet with the following people:  Bill Fowler-Maintenance, Louise Matteson-School Nurse, Deb Boisvert-Technology, Heather Worthen-Special Ed.

                  Mr. Yergeau also reminded the board that a date should be set to meet with the staff for

                  their annual spring meeting.

                  The board members agreed to meet May 4 with Dept. Heads and May 15th with the DCS

                  staff.

                  Kevin Barry- stated that there was a NHSB Association meeting on April 19th.

                  Tom Haley-reminded the board that at the next meeting the board should review their

                  end of year schedule and also their yearly resolutions.

                  Mr. Haley passed out the new contract for the Para’s for the board to review.

                  Mr. Haley reminded the board that May 22nd, the SAU dinner meeting will be                      held and that board members should contact Rita and the SAU office.

                  Mr. Gorman reviewed with the board issues concerning the Orange bus.  Several students have been removed due to behavior issues and the ride to and from school

                  is much improved.

                    

B.     Agenda Preparation- Mr. Harrington

 

Athletic Policy

Facility Use

Budget Update

End of Year Activity Schedule

 

C.     Citizens’ Staff Comments

 

None Made

 

     7.    Adjournment

 

            At 9:00 pm a motion was made by Bonnie Beaubien, seconded by Kevin Barry to adjourn the

            April 20th, 2006 Deerfield Community School Board meeting.

 

                                                                        ALL IN FAVOR

                                                                     MOTION CARRIED