EPSOM SCHOOL BOARD
EPSOM CENTRAL SCHOOL
EPSOM, NEW HAMPSHIRE

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2006 6:00 P.M.

MINUTES OF MEETING

 

Present:               

Board Members:     Andrew Turnbull (chair), Gordon Ellis, Barbara Doughty, Bill Yeaton

David Dziura -           Assistant Superintendent of SAU 53 Schools

Patrick Connors –      ECS Principal

Richard Dougherty –  ECS Vice Principal

Tracey Miner -           secretary

 

Citizen/Staff:  Mary Beth Magan, Cindy Daniels, Jane Fargo, Darlene Roy, Jan Santosuosso, Paul Martin, Dawn Gosselin, Lisa Strano, Robin Donovan, Heather Cato, Lori Bryant, Chelsea Jarest, Molly Todd, Megan Todd, Karen Goulet, Bill Wallace, Diane Lewis

 

Agenda Item 1.     Call to Order – by Andrew Turnbull at 6:00 PM

 

Agenda Item 2.     Pledge of Allegiance – lead by Gordon Ellis

 

Agenda Item 3.     Minutes of Previous Meeting – December 7, 2005; December 15, 2005

 

The minutes of the December 7, 2005 meeting were unanimously accepted with the following changes:  Page 1, correction to spelling of “Bauer” and Page 2, first paragraph should read “new wax” instead of “old wax”.

 

The minutes of the December 15, 2005 were unanimously accepted as written.

 

Immediate Business

 

Agenda Item 4A.  Agenda Review

 

Two of the items on the agenda involved invited guests or people that were currently present.  Andrew Turnbull suggested, and the Board agreed, that 6D and 4D be placed next on the agenda.

 

Agenda Item 6D.  School Administration Issues

 

At 6:10PM, Andrew Turnbull made a motion to go into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3II(a).

2nd by Gordon Ellis

             

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                        Bill Yeaton -                aye

                        Gordon Ellis -             aye

                        Barbara Doughty –     aye

                        Andrew Turnbull –     aye

 

Present in non-public session were Andrew Turnbull, Barbara Doughty, Gordon Ellis, Bill Yeaton and Jane Fargo.

 

At 6:25PM, Gordon Ellis made a motion to exit non-public session.

2nd by Barbara Doughty

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                        Bill Yeaton -                aye

                        Gordon Ellis -             aye

                        Barbara Doughty –     aye

                        Andrew Turnbull –     aye

 

No decisions were made during non-public session.

 

Gordon Ellis made a motion to accept Jane Fargo’s request not to be principal next year.

2nd by Barbara Doughty

             

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                        Bill Yeaton -                aye

                        Gordon Ellis -             aye

                        Barbara Doughty –     aye

                        Andrew Turnbull –     aye

 

Agenda Item 4D. Science Standards and Curriculum

 

Science teacher Darlene Roy (who teaches 7th grade science, and one class of 8th grade science) discussed the results of an ongoing process to revise the science curriculum.  Ms. Roy handed out a progress report from the committee.  The curriculum was revised in 1998, and a new revision began in 2003.  New Hampshire will be involved in a tri-state (NH, VT and RI) assessment.  The state will be testing science at the 4th, 8th and 11th grade levels.  The pilot test will be in the spring of 2007, with the goal of being an operational test in the spring of 2008.  The ECS committee developed a chart that depicts the scope and sequence of science teaching at each of the grade levels.  This was developed based on the new state framework for science teaching and testing.  Ms. Roy said that the new framework emphasizes more process skills in science, rather than just having students memorize facts.  She went on to describe how some of the testing would be performed.  The committee is going to get together on Early Release day (Jan. 25th) to make their final changes to the curriculum.

 

Agenda Item 4B.  Citizens’/Staff Comments

 

In light of Jane Fargo’s decision not to pursue the position of principal for the next school year, Mary Beth Magan asked the Board about status/conditions of Jane’s teaching position and Patrick Connors’ principal position for next year.  The Board explained that Jane’s status is now that of any other teacher at the school.  Tenure was discussed.  Dave Dziura clarified that tenure meant having been offered three successive contracts.  By state law, teachers have to be notified by April 15th as to whether they will be offered a contract for the subsequent year.  He further explained that the position of principal, in the eyes of state law, is a teacher, and that tenure in this case is subject to interpretation.  Patrick Connors will remain principal for the 2005 – 2006 school year.  No one has been assigned as principal for the 2006 – 2007, but this is as it always is, as contracts are always offered on a yearly basis.

 

Agenda Item 4C.  Administrators’ Report

 

Patrick Connors handed out an Administrator’s Report, which he discussed.  Mini-course days are the Fridays of January 13th, 20th and 27th.  Identakid went very smoothly.  100 children participated in the time span from 9:00AM to lunchtime.  The Drug and Alcohol Awareness presentation for parents and adult community members will be January 24th at 6:00PM.  Patrick anticipated that daycare would be provided that night.

 

The School Board would like to extend their congratulations to Steven Brasley as the winner of the Geography Bee.  Andrew Turnbull asked for a copy of the 14 questions from the test for review. 

 

Andrew thanked the administration for the questions that were posted on the Board outside on Black Hall Road during the holiday break.  Gordon Ellis asked for a copy of the honor roll, as a copy was not in his packet.  Barbara Doughty asked about the concession money being collected outside of the gym during the basketball games, and how it was going to be used.  Richard Dougherty said that the 6th and 7th graders are working on that together to cover the cost of possible field trips for this year.

 

Patrick presented boiler quotes to the Board:  Hansen-Fox Co. , Inc. $52,985; Armand E. Lemire Co. , Inc. $56,640.  The Board said that that money was written into the budget for this for next year, and would cover that cost.

Patrick presented quotes for the new phone system: 

TDS – they actually came out to the school and gave a faxed quote of $31,172.  The quote would cover:  96 voice mails, 60 telephones, a new box for the intercom, voice mail, lock for local calls only, direct to voicemail during teaching times, wiring installed for any future building extension with the ability to have 8 lines, 12-month warranty on software and hardware, installation, testing and training.  TDS has also installed systems in 5 or 6 other schools in southern New Hampshire.

Williams (currently does the school’s intercom):  verbal quote $33,000 without wiring.

Twin State:  verbal quote $13,000 for basic system plus $700 for each phone (@ 60 phones). 

The Board asked the administration to check into what the fees would be to have the other companies come out to calculate and present written quotes.

 

Patrick Connors requested that the Paraeducator.net program subscription be renewed, as it had expired at the end of 2005.  It is a resource tool for paraeducators.  The funding for this was not specifically spelled out in the budget.  The cost is $395 for the year for all the staff members to use.  The Board agreed that this should be renewed.

 

Dave Dziura said that Mr. Harty has again provided us with life-sized pictures of our soccer champs.

 

Old/Unfinished Business

 

Agenda Item 5A.  School Board Stipends

 

The Board needed to define how or if a part-year member would qualify for a stipend.  After discussion, the following motion was made:

 

Andrew Turnbull made a motion to adopt a policy to pay stipends to Board members, based on a monthly pro-rata share, for those that have served on the school Board for less than a full year, but for more than 6 months.

2nd by Bill Yeaton

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                        Bill Yeaton -                aye

                        Gordon Ellis -             aye

                        Barbara Doughty –     aye

                        Andrew Turnbull –     aye

 

The Board needed to decide how to handle the stipends for Board members that wished to turn their stipend back into the budget, toward specific line items.  After discussion, the following motions were made:

 

Bill Yeaton made a motion to have his stipend placed toward the Principal’s Fund for the environmental camp.

2nd by Gordon Ellis

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                        Bill Yeaton -                aye

                        Gordon Ellis -             aye

                        Barbara Doughty –     aye

                        Andrew Turnbull –     aye

 

Gordon Ellis made a motion to have his stipend placed into the principal’s fund to be used to create a mural, or to fix the gym floor.

2nd by Bill Yeaton

 

Dave Dziura said that he needs to find out if Fund I money can be transferred to the principal’s fund.

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                        Bill Yeaton -                aye

                        Gordon Ellis -             aye

                        Barbara Doughty –     aye

                        Andrew Turnbull –     aye

 

 

Agenda Item 5B. Progress Report:  School Year Committee

 

The state is offering incentives to schools if they convert to an hourly requirement for the school year (as opposed to the 180 day school year), as it is considered a cost-savings measure.  Barbara Doughty spoke with the teachers about the alternative hourly option.  The teachers wanted to keep the 180 days in the teacher contract as it is.  The teacher contract is good for three years.  If they came up with an alternative solution, they could renegotiate the contract.  Barbara said that it makes more sense to put this on hold at this time, and resurrect it about a year before the next contract negotiations come around.

 

Agenda Item 5C. 2006/07 Budget

 

Dave Dziura handed out a revised warrant.  The budget hearings will be January 12th at the town offices.  Dave also handed out the new default budget standard form, and the MS-27 state form used for the deliberative session that the voters will see. 

 

There was discussion about the estimation of the increase in property taxes due to the impact from the school budget.

 

Andrew Turnbull made a motion to adjust the estimated assessed valuation for the 06/07 proposed school budget to 2% higher than the total property valuation in the current year that was used for the 05/06 budget.

2nd by Barbara Doughty

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                        Bill Yeaton -                aye

                        Gordon Ellis -             aye

                        Barbara Doughty –     aye

                        Andrew Turnbull –     aye

 

The Board decided to meet after the budget committee hearing/meeting on January 12th, at either 9:00PM or immediately following the conclusion of the budget committee hearing/meeting at the town offices on Black Hall Road.

 

Other Business

 

Agenda Item 6A. Citizens’/Staff Comments

 

There were none.

 

Agenda Item 6B.  Policy Review/Development

 

Some questions came up during contract negotiations about creating Board policies with regard to job descriptions.  Dave Dziura said that he would pass on some samples of a paraprofessional’s job description to Patrick Connors, so that this can be discussed at a future meeting.

 

Other Business – Gordon Ellis said that the planning Board needs to have enrollment numbers in relationship to percentage of capacity.  Discussion ensued as to what “capacity” meant for ECS.  Gordon said that these results are tied in to the number of housing building permits that are issued.  The Board requested that Gordon contact the town, and get a copy of what was submitted last year, so that they could figure out what next step to take.

 

Agenda Item 6C.  Negotiations Issues

 

At 8:30 P.M. Gordon Ellis made a motion that the Board enter non-public session under RSA 91-A:2I(b) in order to discuss issues relating to negotiations with the Epsom Teachers Association.  Barbara Doughty seconded the motion.

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                                                Bill Yeaton                  Aye

                                                Gordon Ellis                Aye

                                                Barbara Doughty        Aye

                                                Andrew Turnbull        Aye

 

Present in the non-public session were:  Andrew Turnbull, Gordon Ellis, Bill Yeaton, Barbara Doughty, Dave Dziura and Patrick Connors.

 

During the non-public session Andrew Turnbull and Barbara Doughty conducted an item-by-item review of contract language and salary and benefit changes they had negotiated with the negotiations team of the ETA.  Mr. Turnbull and Ms. Doughty answered questions from Board members regarding the negotiated agreement terms.

 

At 9:10 P.M. Gordon Ellis made a motion to end the non-public session.  Barbara Doughty seconded the motion.

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                                                Bill Yeaton                  Aye

                                                Gordon Ellis                Aye

                                                Barbara Doughty        Aye

                                                Andrew Turnbull        Aye

 

Andrew Turnbull announced that the Board had taken no action while in non-public session.

 

Gordon Ellis then made a motion that the School Board ratify the negotiated ESB/ETA agreement with one change:  that in section 14.4 EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE PLAN, the final paragraph under number 3 Option 2, beginning “If the applicant…” be deleted.  Bill Yeaton seconded the motion.

 

Following a brief discussion, Board Chairman, Andrew Turnbull, called for a vote on the motion.

 

THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF

4 AYES TO 0 NAYES

 

At 9:15 P.M. Gordon Ellis made a motion that the Board enter non-public session under RSA 91-A:2I(b) in order to discuss issues relating to negotiations with the Epsom Support Staff Association.  Bill Yeaton seconded the motion.

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                                                Bill Yeaton                  Aye

                                                Gordon Ellis                Aye

                                                Barbara Doughty        Aye

                                                Andrew Turnbull        Aye

 

Present in the non-public session were:  Andrew Turnbull, Gordon Ellis, Bill Yeaton, Barbara Doughty, Dave Dziura and Patrick Connors.

 

During the non-public session Andrew Turnbull and Gordon Ellis conducted an item-by-item review of the new contract language and wage and benefits they had negotiated with the negotiations team of the ESSA.  Mr. Turnbull and Mr. Ellis also answered questions from Board members regarding the negotiated agreement terms.

 

At 10:35 P.M. Barbara Doughty made a motion to end the non-public session.  Gordon Ellis seconded the motion.

 

                        THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 4 - 0

                                                Bill Yeaton                  Aye

                                                Gordon Ellis                Aye

                                                Barbara Doughty        Aye

                                                Andrew Turnbull        Aye

 

Andrew Turnbull announced that the Board had taken no action while in non-public session.

 

Gordon Ellis made a motion that the School Board ratify the master agreement negotiated with the ESSA.  Andrew Turnbull seconded the motion.

 

During discussion of the motion, Barbara Doughty expressed concern with several of the negotiated terms in the agreement.  Andrew Turnbull then called for a vote on the motion.

 

THE MOTION FAILED ON A VOTE OF

2 AYES TO 2 NAYES

BOARD MEMBERS ANDREW TURNBULL AND GORDON ELLIS

VOTED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE

 

Following a brief discussion of what steps should be taken following the vote just taken, Barbara Doughty made a motion that the Board agree to ratify an agreement if the ESSA is willing to make the following changes:

 

(1)     From section 7.3 on page 7, delete the wording “using the evaluation instrument set forth in Appendix C” from the first sentence, and also delete the Appendix D reference on page 23.

 

(2)     Eliminate section 10.7.1 on pages 9 and 10.

 

(3)     Replace the Article XI Reduction In Force with the reduction in force language used in Article VIII of the ESB/ETA master agreement.

 

(4)     In sections 12.2 and 12.3 on page 12, substitute the word “wage” for the word “salary” in the 3 references to salary schedules.

 

(5)     In section 12.10 on page 13, insert the word “overnight” before the words “off site” in the first sentence.

 

Bill Yeaton seconded the motion.  Following a discussion of the motion, Andrew Turnbull called for a vote.

 

THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF

4 AYES TO 0 NAYES

 

Andrew Turnbull informed the Board that he would request that the ESSA consider the suggested revisions and see if a ratifiable agreement could be reached before the SB-2 collective bargaining agreement on Tuesday, January 10.  Mr. Turnbull asked the Board if they would agree to meet on Tuesday, January 10 to ratify an agreement if the ESSA agrees.  The Board agreed to schedule a Board meeting for 7:30 P.M. on January 10, 2006.

 

Agenda Item 7.           [unassigned]

 

Agenda Item 8.           Adjournment

 

At 10:50 P.M., hearing no call for further business to be conducted, Andrew Turnbull adjourned the meeting.

 

Next Scheduled Meeting will on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 at 6:00PM