Deerfield School Board

Deerfield Community School

Deerfield, New Hampshire

Thursday, September 20, 2007   

 

MINUTES OF MEETING   

 

PRESENT:  Kevin Webber, Bonnie Beaubien, Kevin Barry, Don Gorman, Paul Yergeau, Tom Haley, Kandy Davitt  

 

1.  Call To Order-Mr. Webber   

 

The September 20th, 2007 DCS Board meeting was called to order at 6:31 PM by Vice-Chairman Kevin Webber

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance   

 

Mr. Webber led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.  

 

3.  Minutes of Previous Meetings    

 

A motion was made by Kevin Barry to accept the minutes of September 6, 2007 as corrected, seconded by Don Gorman.

 

All In Favor

Motion Carried

4.  Immediate Business   

A.  Agenda Review   

     No Changes Were Made

B. Citizens’/ Staff Comments  

     Mrs. Clark addressed the board concerning communication issues.  She stated that    there was information in last week’s Bridge concerning the board, listing the board members, their communication efforts, etc.  She stated that she would be writing articles for the Bridge every two weeks.  Transportation, wetlands, modulers were a few of the topics Mrs. Clark would be writing articles about. 

Mrs. Yurek asked the board about Jack’s Driving School.  She was wondering when the program would be starting for Deerfield residents.  Mr. Haley stated that he would contact the owner of the driving school to determine time and place.

C. MBC Update/Budget Development-Ms. Beaubien

Ms. Beaubien informed the board that the MBC is looking at reviewing the entire school budget on a Saturday.  The MBC is looking at Saturday, December 1st to review the town budget.  The School board members suggested December 15th as their 1st preference and December 8th as their second.  Ms. Beaubien agreed to bring the information back to the MBC.

Mr. Haley stated that the board could start reviewing the 08-09 Initiatives as soon as Mr. Yergeau could gather the information needed which would get the process started.  Mr. Yergeau stated that he would try to do so as soon as possible.

D. NCLB Update-Mr. Yergeau

Mr. Yergeau stated that Deerfield has been designated as a School In Need of Improvement.  Mr. Yergeau informed the board that because of this he has attended a meeting at the SAU for the Deerfield District and Ms. Klipa attended a meeting for the school.  As required Mr. Yergeau is working on establishing a team to review the schools needs, pertinent data, etc.  The membership will consist of a member from the SAU office, an outside consultant, classroom teacher, and others.  A Root Cause Analysis is to be started on Oct. 4th and a plan needs to be submitted by December 12th. 

Mr. Yergeau informed the members of the board that it was rather difficult to find a consultant that had not already been contacted by other districts.  The state will allocate $5,000 for expenses occurred by members of the team such as the cost of the consultant, mileage, copies, etc.  $25,000 will be given to the school to fund the finalized plan and implement it into the school program.  Mr. Yergeau also stated that Title 1 funds (approx. $3,000) would have to be set aside for staff development.

Mr. Gorman asked if $5,000 covered all of the expenses?

Mr. Yergeau stated that it creates additional work for him and other school personnel beyond the typical school day. 

Mr. Gorman stated that while Mr. Yergeau and others are running around working on NCLB issues their primary jobs are not being taken care of and that is an issue all should be concerned about.

Mr. Yergeau also stated that a primary problem with the testing results is that schools were just informed of their areas of need of improvement and testing begins again in October.  Under these circumstances it does not allow schools to change curriculum, review test results, and put a plan in place.  This will place DCS and others schools in the category of Schools In Need of Improvement for two years making it more difficult to design and implement a successful plan.

Mr. Gorman stated that the Federal Government is taking away local control by these mandates and stated that NCLB is totally unreasonable and Deerfield should consider saying no to all of it. 

Mr. Yergeau stated that his major concern is that some children cannot make such large improvements and that the model proposed by the Governor and Commissioner of Education are lobbying the Federal Government to accept a program that looks at an individual’s growth. 

Mr. Gorman asked the members of the board if it would not be prudent to take a pro-active stance such as writing a letter to the Dept. of Ed., United States Representatives, and Senators from NH.  Mr. Gorman stated that NCLB is not serving the community and its’ students.

Ms. Beaubien stated that the School Board Association has made NCLB a priority and has stated many of the same concerns that have been discussed at tonight’s meeting.

Mr. Haley suggested that Kevin Barry who is a member of the NHSBA Executive Board might be the person to bring the concerns of the DCS board to the NHSBA for a response on where they as a board stands and how DCS can proceed.

Mr. Yergeau stated that the process is beneficial but in his opinion that even though many students will do better not every student can meet the expected standard.

Mr. Haley stated that the Governor and the Commissioner of Education are working on a program named “Follow the Child” and diligently putting it forward to the attention of the federal government. 

The members of the board decided that Mr. Gorman with the assistance of Mr. Haley design a letter to be brought to the NHSBA by Kevin Barry and Bonnie Beaubien.

The board will review the letter at their next meeting.

E.      Paraprofessional Negotiations-Ms. Beaubien, Mr. Webber

The board has received a letter from the Deerfield Para Association requesting dates to start the negotiating process.

Mr. Haley will write a letter suggesting October 11th, or October 16th as available dates.

F.  Action Items

Security System-Mr. Yergeau informed the board that the Emergency Management Team is reviewing all options.

Outside Landscaping-Mr. Yergeau stated that Mr. Averell from Averell landscaping met with the Administration and Bill Fowler.  They walked the school property and Mr. Averell will be coming back with a proposed master plan, estimated cost for implementation, etc.

Mr. Yergeau stated that everything should be ready for the October 4th meeting.

 

Parking- Will be discussed at the next meeting.

 

5. Old/Unfinished Business  

A.  High School Agreement-Mr. Webber, Ms. Beaubien

Mr. Webber stated that the intent of the Letter of Agreement is to insure that it covers the sibling issues and does not create new sibling families.

Mr. Gorman requested to suspend the rules to allow citizens’ comments and all board members agreed.

Mr. Webber stated that he spoke to Mr. Harrington about the cost-sharing phrase in the proposed changes to the contract.  Concord has stipulated that if there are three slots open (according to the acting formula which is based on ADM’s and Deerfield’s high school student population) for students and there is a 4th sibling Deerfield will pay Concord 50% of the tuition for that sibling who is attending elsewhere.

Ms. Beaubein asked if the formula used to determine how many students can attend elsewhere was determined to be 2.4 would Concord roll down the number to 2.  It was the consensus of the board that 2 students not 3 would be able to attend elsewhere.

Mr. Webber stated that by all calculations Deerfield might have one, maybe 2 years where they would have to pay 50% of Concord’s tuition for 1 student.

It was Mr. Gorman’s opinion that the proposal for Deerfield to pay 50% for an empty seat was ridiculous.  He stated that Concord is taking a hardball look at the situation and that the Deerfield School District should not consider the cost-sharing phrase of the plan.

It was stated that negotiations for extending the Concord/Deerfield contract would begin when this year’s 5th grade class was in 8th grade.

Mr. Webber stated that there are two important points to this contract change that he wants to make sure are in place.

1.      That the sibling-to-sibling issue is addressed.

2.      That the end date of 2010 be changed to 2011.

Ms. Beaubein stated that it is difficult to justify paying for something that you’re not getting.

Mrs. Yurek stated that as a parent she would pay the $5,500 if it would allow her child to attend Coe Brown.  She also stated that Dover is very flexible with other towns that are contracted to send their students there.

Kevin Webber stated that it was important to move on this item at the 2nd meeting.

Mr. Webber suggested that the board at least have Mr. Haley write a response and submit it to Concord concerning the sibling-to sibling clause and the end date to be changed to 2011.  Members agreed that this could be done. 

As the policy stands now siblings are allowed 1st option.

 

B.  Charter School Update-Mr. Harrington

 

The board discussed the proposed Charter School and wondered if the proposed school was a Charter School or was changed to an Open Enrollment School.  Other questions that were brought forward were:  who would be liable for payments, when the proposal should be placed on the ballot etc.

Mr. Haley provided to the members of the board a summary of RSA 194-B Charter School Regulations.

See Attach. A

Mr. Gorman requested that Mr. Graykin be asked to attend the next school board meeting to answer questions

C.  Negotiations/Surrounding Towns-Mr. Gorman

Mr. Gorman stated that the board should start looking again at all available high school options.  He stated that Manchester is begging for students.

Ms. Beaubien reminded members of the board that Candia/Auburn had to negotiate a 20-year contract with Manchester and that also included monies for capital improvements.

Mr. Gorman stated that the Deerfield District should also start talking with surrounding towns that do not have high schools.  

Mr. Webber stated that letters have been sent out and came back a few at a time. 

Mr. Barry stated that the board should review all of the responses again.

The members of the board agreed that Mr. Gorman should begin to talk to other board members of other towns concerning high school options.

D.  Modular Update-Mr. Gorman

Mr. Haley stated that the District’s lease would on all modulars would be up by July 08.  He also informed the members of the board that the company renting the modulars to the school had inspected them in July.  They were aware of the dry rot and outlet issues.

Mr. Gorman reminded the members of the board that if DCS rented newer modulers they would have to have bathrooms.

Mr. Webber asked if any of the modulars could be removed and that one of the classes might be able to be moved back into the school if space needs could be adjusted.

Mr. Yergeau stated that he would review the modular situation and have Mr. Fowler call the leasing company concerning the repairs..

E.  Policy Review-Mr. Barry

Use of Facility Policy was tabled to the next board meeting.

Hiring of Staff Policy- Mr. Haley informed the board that several Para positions have been vacated and needed to be filled.  As the policy reads currently, replacement para’s cannot be hired until the board reviews the situation.  Mr. Gorman stated that the intent of the policy was to review newly created Para positions.

A motion was made by Kevin Barry to change the wording on line 4 of the Hiring of Staff policy and remove the wording “ all new hires.”

All In Favor

Motion Carried

 

 

6.  Other Business  

A.  Informational Items-Administrators and Board Members

Mr. Yergeau -  informed the board about the current water situation at the school.    He stated that another sample couldn’t be taken until next week and so until then the school is purchasing water from Poland Springs.  This has been an unexpected expense and chlorination should take care of the bacteria that was found in the water.

Mr. Barry stated that the board should be made aware of these issues sooner.

It was agreed that e-mails would be sent out to all members of the board when a situation occurred.

Mr. Yergeau stated that this year DCS tried to have a more unified Open House.  By doing this it would allow parents to meet the art, music, language and other specialists.  There was an Open House for grades 1-4 and 5-8.  The attendance was good at each event.

 Don Gorman-stated that he felt that Policy Well should pay for the expense incurred from the water situation.  Mr. Fowler had deliberately closed the valve to the storage tank to avoid this type of situation and someone from Policy Well had opened it up when the flushed the system.  The school has had several expenses including time spent cleaning out iron particles that have plugged toilets and drinking fountains.

B.  Agenda Preparation-Mr. Harrington

Budget materials

Policy Review

Parent Pick-up/Parking

Well Issues

Charter School/Open Enrollment

Modulars

NCLB

Concord Contract

 

C.  Citizens’/Staff Comments

No Comments

7. Adjournment

 

      At 9:25 P.M., a motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Bonnie Beaubien, seconded by Kevin Barry.

 

All In Favor

Motion Carried

The next Deerfield School Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 6:30 P.M.