PEMBROKE SCHOOL BOARD

PEMBROKE ACADEMY

PEMBROKE, NEW HAMPSHIRE

TUESDAY, June 13, 2006

 

Tom Haley, Gerry Fleury, Clint Hanson, Tom Serafin, Rick Mitchell, Ry Weisiger,  Peter Warburton, Deb Bulkley, Mona Kraus, Jonathan Burnham, Sandy Valine (recording secretary), Cory Meloon, Michael Reardon,

 

1.       CALL TO ORDER

Chair Clint Hanson called the meeting to order at 7:03PM in the PA Library.

 

2.       MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

A motion to approve the meeting minutes was made by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Mr.

Weisiger.                                  ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

3.       IMMEDIATE BUSINESS

          A.      CITIZENS’ COMMENTS

Cory Meloon is a boy scout searching for an Eagle Scout Project. He would like to propose to build dugouts for TRS for his project.  He is seeking permission to build.  Corey has not discussed the possibility of building the dugouts with Ms. Bulkley at this point.  He wanted to make sure that it would be ok from the board’s point of view.

 

The board would like to know about the scope of the project, and recommends that he touch base with administration regarding the project and the location of dugouts, and then develop written plans with a sign off from principal/maintenance director.

 

It would be difficult to approve of the idea without seeing additional plans, but the concept is good.  The board recommends that he work out logistics with Mr. Burnham who has done this type of project with students in other districts.

 

Someone would need to go through planning board to get approval or the go ahead.

As he would like to build this summer, if he could develop a proposal before the goal setting meeting on June 26th the board could take action.  Otherwise the board doesn’t meet again until August 15.

 

          B.       ENERGY ANALYSIS

Mr. Burnham sent a Request for Proposal to a company in southern NH.  The proposal would include replacing single pane glass, and looking at the potential savings of modern controls on heating systems.  The company wanted quite a bit of background information, which Mr. Burnham has provided.  No proposal to date has been received.  An estimate sent from the company was not to exceed $12000 to do the analysis and approximately $500 in expenses.  The details won’t be available for a few days. 

 

Mr. Haley stated that he believed that funding could be done through the current budget.  There was discussion about the financial information at this point.  The district appears to be running a surplus in the appropriation line at this time.  Trusts should be fully funded this year.


This audit would allow for additional information which would be helpful in preparing next year’s budget.  It would also provide information about and some control over what we currently have in the district. 

 

A motion to reorganize available and unexpended lines in the 2005-06 budget in order to allocate $12500 (not to exceed cost) for the above energy survey was made by Mr. Fleury and seconded by Mr. Serafin.

 

Engineering becomes valuable in finding additional information make decisions and to share with the community if necessary about being able to get the costs back due to better energy efficiency in the district. 

ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

          C.       CONSENT AGENDA

  • Request to bargain in accordance to the requirements of RSA 273-A

There was discussion about why the EAP is choosing to wait until late summer/early fall.  Last time the EAP and Board agreed to start much earlier.  The budget process will be beginning much earlier in 2007-08 and information would need to be included to be presented to the School District. Around Labor Day were dates that the Board representatives would be available to meet.

ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

          D.      CIP COMMITTEE REPORT

Mr. Serafin reported on the CIP Committee.  There will be a meeting every Monday throughout the summer at Town Hall.  School representatives will be scheduled for August 17.   Information in the packet regarding the meetings and process was shared.  Points for potential collaboration were also shared.

 

There was discussion about the Waste Water treatment systems.  There are ground water concerns and limitations to the systems.

 

The town owns 30 acres across from Center Road.  At the time of TRS building exploration, the feeling was that that area could be developed.  This might be used for recreational facilities. 

 

4.       OLD/UNFINISHED BUSINESS

          A.      LACROSSE WAIVER

In the packet is a memorandum from EAP President Margie Poznanski outlining the EAP’s position regarding this topic as requested at the previous meeting.

 

A motion to change the status of the lacrosse team to Junior Varsity and Varsity as outlined at the previous meeting was made by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Mr. Serafin.

ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

          B.       MUSIC PROGRAM UPDATE

The board reviewed the curriculum summaries provided by music instructors.  Mike

Reardon discussed initiatives the district is pursuing for the upcoming year to enhance

the music program.

 

The board asked that an update of the program be provided about midway through the

2006/07 school year.

 

5.       NEW BUSINESS

          A.      STAFF RESIGNATION

One staff resignation was in the packet and a second was distributed to board members.

Both people signed contracts and now have changed their minds.

  • Denise Gridley       PA  Spanish
  • James Den             PA  English

 

A motion to accept these resignations with the standard caveat of finding suitable replacements was made by Mr. Weisiger and seconded by Mr. Fleury

ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

          B.       NOMINATION/ELECTION OF STAFF

One resume was in the packet, and two additional were presented tonight.

  • Harold Elliot                   PA Physical Science
  • Manuela Bittner-Shuey     TRS Special Education
  • Virginia Nicols       PA Math

 

A motion to elect the above candidates was made by Mr. Serafin and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.

 

There was discussion related to the population of students served and the reasons behind the change of personnel in this nomination. 

ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

          C.       STAFFING UDPATE

In the packet there was information about changes in staffing issues.

  • Currently there are 3 vacancies at PA
  • TRS is fully staffed with teachers at this time.
  • Hill/Village is also fully staffed at this point.

It is not unlikely that there may be one or two openings over the summer.

 

6.       OTHER BUSINESS

          A.      CITIZENS’ COMMENTS                             None at this time

          B.       NEGOTIATIONS WITH COMCAST

Mr. Fleury updated the board on the negotiations.  This process has not been going very well.

Digital phone, cable, internet may be “unbundled” in the future, a limited number of connections, as well as many other changes could be part of the new proposal.

We may lose connections if the contract goes through as proposed by Comcast.  There will be a public hearing at the end of next week.  If this contract goes through, we will need to pay for connection lines that are currently free.  The selectmen are also not happy with the proposal.  Mr. Fleury, the school board representative on this committee, is very unhappy with the Comcast proposal, as are many others involved.

 

If turned down, what’s next?  This is not unprecedented.  We are very fortunate to have Dan Crean working on this contract!  Mr. Fleury will send copies of the contract to board members who are interested.  Mr. Weisiger stated that he would like a copy.

 

          C.       GRADUATION

Mr. Hanson outlined the options for hearing this topic.  Parents requested non public session.

 

 

At 8:10 P.M. a motion was made by Ry Weisiger, seconded by Rick Mitchell to enter non-

public sessions under RSA 91-A:3II(c) to discuss a student-specific matter.  On a roll

call, the school board voted:       Clint Hanson                    YES

                                                Gerry Fleury                   YES

                                                Rick Mitchell                   YES

                                                Tom Serafin                    YES

                                                Ry Weisiger                    YES

THE MOTION CARRIED

 

Present in the non-public session were: Clint Hanson, Gerry Fleury, Rick Mitchell, Tom

Serafin, Ry Weisiger, a student and parents, Peter Warburton, Mike Reardon, Tom Haley.

 

The school board heard an appeal of the district’s policy regarding graduation

participation.

      

At 8:40 P.M. a motion to end the non-public session was made by Tom Serafin, seconded

by Gerry Fleury.  On a roll call, the school board voted:

                                                Clint Hanson                    YES

                                                Gerry Fleury                   YES

                                                Rick Mitchell                   YES

                                                Tom Serafin                    YES

                                                Ry Weisiger                    YES

THE MOTION CARRIED

 

Chair Clint Hanson noted that no action had been taken while in the non-public session.

 

A motion was made by Gerry Fleury, seconded by Tom Serafin, to waive the district

policy based upon the specific set of circumstances presented by the student and

parents, allowing participation in graduation ceremonies.

4 IN FAVOR

1 OPPOSED

THE MOTION CARRIED

Immediate Business (Cont.)

       C.  Consent Agenda

 

At 8:56 P.M. a motion was made by Tom Serafin, seconded by Ry Weisiger to enter non-

public sessions under RSA 91-A:3II(a) to discuss employee contract matters.  On a roll call, the school board voted:

 

 

                                                Clint Hanson                    YES

                                                Gerry Fleury                   YES

                                                Rick Mitchell                   YES

                                                Tom Serafin                    YES

                                                Ry Weisiger                    YES

THE MOTION CARRIED

 

Present in the non-public session were: Clint Hanson, Gerry Fleury, Rick Mitchell, Tom

Serafin, Ry Weisiger, Peter Warburton, Mike Reardon, Tom Haley.

 

A contractual matter was discussed.

 

At 9:40 P.M. a motion to end the non-public session was made by Rick Mitchell, seconded

by Ry Weisiger.  On a roll call, the school board voted:

                                                Clint Hanson                    YES

                                                Gerry Fleury                   YES

                                                Rick Mitchell                   YES

                                                Tom Serafin                    YES

                                                Ry Weisiger                    YES

THE MOTION CARRIED

 

Chair Clint Hanson noted that no action had been taken while in the non-public session.

 

A motion was made by Ry Weisiger, seconded by Tom Serafin, to approve the request for

a fourth early retirement benefit request.

0 IN FAVOR

5 OPPOSED

THE MOTION FAILED

7.    Adjournment

At 9:42 P.M. a motion was made by Gerry Fleury, seconded by Tom Serafin to adjourn the

meeting.

ALL IN FAVOR

THE MOTION CARRIED

 

The next Pembroke School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at

7:00 P.M. at Pembroke Academy.

 

Goal setting is scheduled for Monday, June 26, 2006 at 8:00 A.M. at Susanne Whitbeck’s

home.