PEMBROKE SCHOOL BOARD
PRESENT: Tom Haley, Gerry Fleury, Tom Serafin, Clint Hanson, Ry Weisiger, Rick Mitchell, Susanne Whitbeck, Mona Kraus, Deb Bulkley, Michael Reardon, Sandy Valine (recording secretary), Tom Petit (Town Moderator), Linda Beaudoin (bus coordinator), Gregg Brighenti, Mary Rubega,
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Clint Hanson called the meeting to order at
2.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
A motion to approve the minutes of the
There was discussion regarding items that needed clarification.
The board tabled the minutes of the
3.
IMMEDIATE BUSINESS
A. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS None at this time
B. DISTRICT MEETING PLANNING
Copies of all the information was made available to board members.
The Municipal Budget Committee (MBC) will take action Thursday night. Mr. Fleury will email everyone with the results of the meeting.
Board members will need to sign the necessary paperwork. Mr. Haley will let the Board know when the paperwork is ready for signatures.
Mr. Petit reviewed the materials related to the School District Meeting. Typically how many of the warrants are funded each year? In the last couple of years, unanticipated revenue has been able to fund these warrants rather than funding them from surplus. This year there are some additional warrants. The Board reorders the warrants each year, based on need.
The Fire Chief has expressed some concern to the Town
Moderator about the staging at
The voting booths need to be set up ahead of time. We have been able to work around staging in the past. But it may be a safety concern which needs to be addressed. Mr. Haley will contact the appropriate people to determine a recommended course of action.
The auditorium should comply with safety regulations at all times. The drama set up needs to comply with code.
There is another issue related to space available for the School District Meeting: There is another use of the building on the same date. There was discussion regarding the set up for a meeting if the fire chief was ok with the discussed plans.
One way or another, the staging has to be moved for both the
The Drama Dept. should get prices for portable staging which would also be compliant with codes. There also needs to be the understanding that the staging needs to be addressed during meetings or when the building is being used by other groups.
The drama dept. has done a fabulous job with their performances. No one is opposed to the program or performances; the issue is that it needs to comply with fire codes even when there are multiple uses of the space.
In the future the two Saturdays need to be blocked off the Use of Facilities Availability.
C. “STATE OF THE NETWORK” REPORT
Ms. Rubega prepared a status of the network for board members, which was distributed. The infrastructure is pretty phenomenal. If this was not already set up, there’s no way that this district could be in the shape that they are in.
Each building has at least a lab. More impressive- we are now all in one wired network (within the next couple of weeks). Ability to share information within the buildings is now in place. Remote control and remote view is in place. There are some security measures available. Ability to automate inventories is also available. Desktop control is also available. Imaging is one of the best features to the district. The District is able to re-image the machines periodically.
Grading through MMS and parent access passwords allow PA parents to better track kids’ progress.
The district is able to get access at home from a URL site and we are just starting to work on team set ups.
In the future, we know where we’d like to go. Each one of these services takes a great deal of time to set up and become familiar with in order to use efficiently.
Continue to talk about the email system. Begin to utilize open source software. State standards now include digital portfolios. We will need some type of document storage system to house all of these cumulative documents. Patch management is set on auto update due to the number of machines. We currently don’t have a proactive tracking system.
The system is “slick”.
There was a discussion about the possibility of linking TRS to PA through fiber optic cables. We have fiber in the district already from one of the grants. Fiber connects to Ms. Rubega’s office and the Academy. It’s currently in a separate hub with TRS and PA “stations”. We need some type of router to have both plugged in, instead of a switch. This is un-chartered territory for us at this time. Using a router, many of the default gateways would need to be altered.
We don’t have fiber between all of the buildings. If we changed the phone systems to something that could handle both phone and data, that may be one way to address this issue. This could go through Comcast. The renegotiations could address this situation.
Strongly suggest that Ms. Rubega send all the documentation to Dan Crean and get the issue of fiber optics in the franchise renegotiations.
Security issues? This is a problem everywhere. Passed policies to address this with staff in the business world- ie. Fired. Is there something that could be done for students who bypass the security systems? Communicated with the administration regarding violations of the internet policies regarding consequences. In the past students have been suspended.
The filters in place do block many sites.
Is there a paper trail of who is using which computer? In some places there are paper trails but not
many. What will it take to be able to
track these students/staff who breech the system? What is the cost? Tracking where they going? There was a lawsuit in
Should note: there are 520 machines, 10 are P2s, 52% are P3s. It’s a good set up, but they are going to start to die soon. Ms. Rubega would be remiss without saying that. The district needs to be prepared to replace the machines SOON.
Is there a policy regarding the disposal of the equipment? This came up at the Public Hearing. There are a couple of places that periodically send announcements about recycling machines for little cost. However, there has been some notice that this may not continue too much longer.
Is there a domino replacement theory? Mr. Brighenti has been the source of how this gets accomplished. In the last few years, the computers have been placed in the labs first as those places are using the most…. Reshuffling machines is done.
D. HIGH SCHOOL SCHEDULE
Received a request to change the start time for
There has been a great deal of research on the teenage bio-rhythms. This is a sound idea. The problem involves accommodating the needs of Voc-Ed programs, Afterschool programs, co-curricular events, student employment opportunities.
Similar school times to TRS (Which is currently
Transportation needs would also be addressed by parents who DO bring their children to school on their way to work. Having a later start time would impact this. Having kids in multiple schools with the differences in starting times does impact the family as well.
E. CONSENT AGENDA
A request was made due to the weather conditions this winter, the roads have been “bare” most of the winter and would like the bus to come down Jack’s Drive.
We agreed to a seasonal run when the stop was first approved. The family would like the stop to be adjusted to come to Jack’s Drive since the weather has not been too bad this winter.
A motion to reaffirm the current policy regarding the bus stop at Jack’s Drive was made by Mr. Fleury and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.
ALL
IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
A kindergartener does not reside in Pembroke and hasn’t since the fall.
Ms. Kraus has spoken to dad and stipulated that by February vacation the family needs to be residing in Pembroke or they would need to withdraw the child and enroll them in the town that they are residing.
The board discussed the blatant disregard to the residency requirements. The town that the family is living in does not have full day kindergarten. Could that be a motive? There was discussion about billing the family.
A motion to bill the family for costs associated with educating their child was made by Mr. Serafin and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.
ALL
IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
4.
NEW BUSINESS
A. HORTICULTURE PROGRAM
Mr. Reardon reviewed the Horticulture program/Greenhouse Transition Plan as outlined in the information to the board.
There will some changes in the programs offered at PA. The program is not a vibrant program that is accessed by the kids as much as it could be as part of the Vo-Tec program.
A motion to endorse the program as outlined was made by Mr. Fleury and second by Mr. Mitchell.
There would be a budget impact because we would lose the income from the Perkins grant next year and the purchase of new textbooks in the following year.
Operate on an enterprise level. The program could be operated on a much larger scale. Promote the retail side of the program.
ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
5.
OTHER BUSINESS
A. FUTURE MEETING SCHEDULE
3/7 PA
3/28 Village
4/11 PA
No meetings during February vacation this year. This will have an impact on staff reviews
B. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS None at this time
6.
ADJOURNMENT
7.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
A reminder that gifts need to be accepted by the board prior to actual acceptance by the district.
There was discussion regarding Tom’s letter to the Association allowing the
voluntary switch of insurance carriers and the response by Marc Benson (School
Care Program Administrator) calling attention to the Member Participation Agreement.
Provided contract w/ School Care- concerned regarding provisions stipulated in the contract. Mandatory sole participation may not be good for the district. This should be reviewed.
There was concern that a letter to EAP translates to an official response from the provider.
There was discussion related to individuals who have affiliations with contractual agreements. Some type of disclosure should be on record. There may be conflicts of interest. The roles that staff play on other organizations should be disclosed.
This is an extension of the policy regarding benefits….. teachers and field trips.
There may be other issues that the board should be aware of.
There are no fiscal funding clauses in the contract.
Look for another health care carrier to keep competition. There may be a third player at some point.
Health savings accounts may be an important bargaining element over the next few years.
Health insurance coverage has evolved over time. The nature of the product has changed.
This topic is on the radar for collective bargaining.
Congratulations on Gregg being named Asst. Principal of the Year. Ms. McAllister made sure that Mr. Hanson was aware of the award.
The meeting was adjourned at