PEMBROKE SCHOOL BOARD

PEMBROKE VILLAGE SCHOOL

PEMBROKE, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

 

PRESENT:  Tom Haley, Clint Hanson, Peter Warburton, Mona Sandberg, Tammy Boucher, Mike Reardon, Deb Bulkley, Tammy Boucher, Tom Serafin, Ry Weisiger, Ryan Quinn, Bill Stanyan, Mary Rubega, Jon Burnham, Tina Courtemanche, Rick Mitchell, Sandy Valine (recording secretary), Gerry Fleury, Sue Seidner,

 

1.       CALL TO ORDER

At 6:30 PM Chair Clint Hanson called the meeting to order in the Pembroke Village Music Room.

 

2.       CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT

Ms. Boucher introduced Bill Stanyan and Tina Courtemanche from the Capital Improvement Program Committee.

 

A draft of the 2008-2013 CIP was shared with the board.  Highlights of the CIP were shared.  Roads are becoming an issue around town.  Recycling and Trash topics were reviewed.  Landfill closure will be finalized.  The Salt Shed should also be completed.  Information related to the fleet of trucks and town vehicles was also shared.

 

School District items included roof replacement/repair and technology upgrades. Rating scales of high/medium/low priority are still used.  Roof Repair/replacement was rated high, and technology was rated as medium.  There was discussion related to the planning of technology purchases.  Technology upgrades are necessary, but there were some recommendations as to deciding how to make further recommendations about what types of technology to purchase.

 

Mr. Haley introduced Mr. Burnham and Ms. Rubega to the members of the CIP. 
Ms. Rubega shared information regarding the plan for the technology upgrades.  She has been in contact with Mr. Fleury about any potential concerns.  First year expenditures include wireless connections and storage area network upgrades.

 

Mr. Fleury stated that he doesn’t disagree with what is trying to be accomplished, but has some concerns about the approach that may be used.  The question is related to the best way to accomplish this goal, and how will that meet the needs and demands for the schools and the students.  He has concerns about the bottom line cost of the technology.

 

Mr. Weisiger requested additional information about other options that would accomplish the same thing for similar prices. 


Ms. Rubega stated that she didn’t disagree with Mr. Fleury; but what we know about what types of software are coming up and their own demands to store information may require additional pieces of technology and/or significant changes in planning.  There are really two initiatives in the 2008-09 budget, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to spread it out over multiple years.

 

Mr. Hanson suggested that we look at phasing in these items over two or three years.

He is not hearing as much disagreement as earlier in the process.

Mr. Weisiger wondered about the technology traffic at each of the schools.  PA and TRS are definitely the higher use/need schools.

 

Mr. Serafin shared information regarding his own work place and what they are doing.  He thought that he would be able to provide additional information at a future meeting.

 

Mr. Haley shared information from the State Dept. of Education regarding the regulation of all students’ digital portfolios.  This will take a huge amount of storage space.  As always, the district is looking at funding sources through various grants.

 

Mr. Stanyan knows that these items are needed.  If it’s a good start to go with those dollars, then the CIP will support it.  If the expenses can be broken up through phases then that will help the town cover the expenses.  The dollar amount isn’t as scary as the prospect of buying outdated technology.

 

Mr. Haley thanked the CIP Committee for all their work and for coming to share information with the School Board.

 

 

          MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

A motion to approve the amended minutes of the October 9th meeting was made by Mr. Serafin and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.

A correction was noted on p. 3.  The correction was related to a missing word.


ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

4.       IMMEDIATE BUSINESS

          A.      CITIZENS’ COMMENTS                   None at this time

         

B.       DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

 

The Delegate Assembly is scheduled for November 17.

If board members have specific questions or concerns, they should let the representatives know prior to the meeting.

 

          C.       PROGRAM REPORT

 

Mr. Haley shared information related to the status of AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) and asked the principals to update the board as recommended.

 

Ms. Bulkley shared the NECAP Program Report

History of the state’s adventure in testing and reports was presented.

  • Students may be part of multiple groups.  Ie. Students in special education from low socio-economic groups would be counted in the reports for the whole school, special education group and low socio economic group.
  • TRS Test Results and progress were highlighted
  • Improvement Plan was discussed

 

Mr. Quinn shared information with the board regarding the third grade test in 2006.

Information is available that can help specifically target skills for specific students. He is working on getting that information available for teachers to improve instruction.

 

Is information available for parents?  Programming changes can certainly be shared with parents.  Areas of needs, strategies, and what we can do to improve can also be shared readily with parents. 

 

There was discussion regarding the Elementary Secondary Education Act 

Possible changes will probably not be in effect until the 2009-10 fiscal year, although there could be changes that are put into place before that.

 

Great deal of dissatisfaction regarding NCLB and how students with special education program/needs are dealt with through this type of testing.  By 2014 all students are expected to be proficient, however by definition students in special education can not be working at grade level.

 

          D.      CONSENT AGENDA                 None at this time

 

 

5.       OLD/UNFINISHED BUSINESS

          A.      FRIENDS OF HOCKEY REQUEST

A request was received from the Friends of Hockey to use the school district’s tax id number. 
Materials were distributed to the board related to this topic.

Legal counsel recommends that the group receive their own tax number, rather than use the school district’s tax id number.

 

A motion to take the motion off the table was made by Mr. Serafin and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.     

ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED

 

A motion to approve the request was made by Mr. Weisiger and seconded by Mr. Mitchell.

 

ALL IN OPPOSITION

THE MOTION FAILED

 

          B.       TRIMESTER SCHEDULE

There is a conversation with the EAP to discuss the Trimester Schedule topic scheduled for 10-29 in the PA Library beginning at 5 PM.  This is a conversation that relates to negotiations.

 

6.       NEW BUSINESS

          A.      BUDGET REVIEW AND PREPARATION

Mr. Haley distributed a proposed budget, electronic copies are available and a status update will be sent to board members.

 

Initiatives are not included in full in the budget.

The Honeywell project is not included, but it should come out as “budget neutral”.

Trusts are not included, although they are also considered impacts to the budget.


Three areas- certified contract, special education, and benefits are associated with the major increases.  There are items that are up in the budget and items that are down.

Catastrophic aid is not included in this project.

 

7.       OTHER BUSINESS

 

          A.      CITIZENS’ COMMENTS                             None at this time

 

          B.       NON PUBLIC SESSION

At 8:32 P.M. a motion was made by Tammy Boucher, seconded by Rick Mitchell, to enter

non-public session under RSA 91-A:3II(e) to discuss a student matter.  On a roll call,

the school board voted:

                                                Clint Hanson                    YES

                                                Tammy Boucher                YES

                                                Rick Mitchell                   YES

                                                Tom Serafin                    YES

                                                Ry Weisiger                    YES

THE MOTION CARRIED

 

PRESENT: Mr. Hanson, Ms. Boucher, Mr.  Mitchell, Mr. Serafin, Mr. Weisiger, Mr. Haley,

Mr. Warburton and Mr. Reardon.

 

At 8:55 P.M. a motion to end the non-public session was made by Mr. Serafin, seconded

by Mr. 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 by the board during the non-

public session.

 

8.       ADJOURNMENT

          NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING

 

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at PA 7:00

Budget “Bloody” Saturday is tentatively for 12/1/07    (back up dates were also included in the discussion.  They include 12/8/07, or possibly 11/28)

 

The meeting was adjourned without objection at 9:05

 

9.       INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

Honeywell is working on a proposal and will present information at the 11/13/07 mtg.