PEMBROKE SCHOOL BOARD
TUESDAY, March 4, 2008
PRESENT: Tom Haley, Clint Hanson, Tom Serafin, Ry Weisiger, Jonathan Burnham, Mona Sandberg, Deb Bulkley, Tammy Boucher, Ryan Quinn, Sandy Valine (recording secretary), Rick Mitchell,
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
A motion to approve the minutes of the February 12, 2008 meeting was made by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.
ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
3. IMMEDIATE BUSINESS
A. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS None at this time
B. HONEYWELL PROJECT UPDATE
Mr. Burnham reported that the project is already progressing. They are spending money and saving money as proposed in the plan. They are actively working on various projects throughout the district.
Some of the work to date includes updating the boiler in the Greenhouse, pipe insulation, fans in all four gyms, completed lighting retrofit at Hill/Village in all sections except the gyms. The lights in the Hill/Village are on hold until a lift can be arranged.
The majority of the work is completed at night during school sessions in order to limit the amount of disruption.
Honeywell Project is projected to be completed 90% by beginning of heating season.
Mr. Serafin asked if paying the workers to work on second/third shift worth the saving. Mr. Burnham reported that it still would be a problem to work in summer due to amount of use of the buildings. The costs of second/third shifts are built into the project costs and program description.
There was discussion about using local subcontractors when possible or feasible.
Locker Rooms are completed 99.9%. They are waiting for some panels for the lockers. It should be completed shortly. All construction in the locker rooms has been completed.
Mr. Burnham reported on the decision to close Hill and
The issue at the
Both buildings closed for at least Wednesday. Although the
There has not been any evidence of structural ceiling damage so far. The amount of snow from the last 2 storms was significant. Snow drifts were very high during the last storm.
Could the maintenance department monitor after each snow storm?
There is heightened knowledge of what has been happening in other areas with roof collapses. In the area of the Hill School, the section of the building compounds the problem. Icy conditions forecasted for the next couple of days also compound the problem. They tried various scenarios to avoid closing the schools such as relocating classrooms. There was available space to temporarily relocated only 6/10 classrooms.
There was discussion about the possibility of extending the school year for Hill/Village longer than TRS/PA due to the cancellation. Mr. Haley spoke with EAP President regarding the issue and it appears that there would not be any contractual issues with the problem. Additional expenses were identified including the cost of extra bus rentals and paying drivers.
There was discussion about using the remaining Teacher Workshop days used to make up days or school vacations. There are also problems with each of those ideas, but they could make that decision. The School Commissioner could waive the days especially since it was related to safety issues.
There was discussion about tree work around the holidays. The Horticulture program was removing some of the trees they had planted years ago.
C. L.G.C. DEFENSE FUND REQUEST (
The
Mr. Hanson recommends that the board appropriate funds
($1800 +/-) should a law suit be filed by
Mr. Haley recommends, if the board moves forward on this issue, to look at this closer at the end of the current school year, or at the beginning of the next fiscal year. The cost of litigation won’t be assessed until the next fiscal year.
A motion to pledge the money to be allocated should the law suit be filed was made by Mr. Weisiger and seconded by Ms. Boucher. The issue is a constitutional issue regarding the unfunded mandate and who would pay for it.
ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
D. CONSENT AGENDA
·
Change in existing bus stop from 17 to
Ms. Beaudoin (transportation coordinator) recommends the change.
A motion to approve the bus stop change was made by Ms. Boucher and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.
ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
· Request for non-resident enrollment
At 7:35 P.M. a motion was made by Tammy Boucher, seconded by Rick Mitchell, to enter
non-public session under RSA 91-A:3II(c) to discuss a student specific 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: Clint Hanson, Tammy Boucher, Rick Mitchell, Tom Serafin, Ry Weisiger, Tom
Haley, Deb Bulkley, Mona Sandberg, Ryan Quinn, and Sandy Valine.
The board discussed a student matter.
At 7:43 P.M. a motion to end the non-public session was made by Tom Serafin, seconded
by Ry Weisiger. 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
Chair Clint Hanson noted that no action had been taken by the board during the non-
public session.
A motion to approve the non resident enrollment request was made by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Mr. Weisiger.
ZERO IN FAVOR
ALL IN OPPOSITION
THE MOTION CARRIED
4. OLD/UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
A. DISTRICT MEETING PLANNING
School District Meeting materials were reviewed.
There is a mistake in the warrant article 8. It was posted with the mistake. School Attorney was contacted and Mr. Haley has corrected the error and made a notation on the information packet. David Freeman-Woolpert (MBC Chair) was also contacted.
The note is as follows: Article #8 incorrectly lists appropriation totals rather than the lesser amount of the operating budget minus the other warrant articles. As discussion of Article #8 begins, voters will be asked to approve amended amounts of $22,247,206 (Budget Committee recommended) and $22,477,206 (School Board recommended).
There was discussion about the deficit appropriation warrant article. It is still very difficult to actually project students’ needs and number of students who have been moving in and out of the district.
A request for a census of the board regarding the level of appropriation request was made. There was discussion about the highlights of the year and accomplishments.
There was discussion about potential areas of cuts.
B. SCHOOL CALENDAR
There was discussion about the school calendar.
A motion to approve the calendar, as presented, was made by Mr. Weisiger and Ms. Boucher.
ALL IN FAVOR
THE MOTION CARRIED
5. NEW BUSINESS
A. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
There was discussion about the NHSBA’s Legislative Bulletin.
Mr. Hanson will speak about the updates at the School District Meeting.
Mr. Serafin suggested that the School Board should invite the state legislative representatives and other town officials to a meeting to discuss issues that affect the schools and town they represent.
B. DISTRICT RE-STRUCTURING PLAN
Mr. Haley shared some thoughts on the preliminary discussions about the how the structure might look. The administrators are looking at the restructuring of the
grade structure of Hill/Village. This is purely informational at this point.
Mr. Quinn stated that there is some lack of consistency between grade level placements in terms of building structures and developmental milestones. In many districts a K-2 combination is more common than K-1. They are looking at and considering the possibility of restructuring the elementary school.
As part of this process, space issues and programming were discussed, and then that led to what a better plan might look like. A handout was shared with the board. One possibility looked more feasible during their discussions.
Playgrounds are geared for the current levels. There is a community level playground.
Ms. Sandberg reported that RTI (Response to Intervention) is very successful for K-1. It is a hard transition to make it as successful at grade 2 especially when grade 2 is in a separate building. Ms. Sandberg would likely move to Hill as work has been done with K-1 team and to provide consistency, and Mr. Quinn would spend more time in the 3-4 building at the Village. However Mr. Quinn would like to be more involved and aware of the K-1 people, program and students/families. They would continue to share buildings like in the current structure.
Some pieces of the playground might need to be moved depending on what might happen with the structure. PALS might need to be contacted regarding their donation and work on the playgrounds over the years. If presented in the right way the parents might be very supportive of the change.
Mr. Quinn stated that switching buildings is going to create problems for some.
He wanted board approval for the concept before sharing the idea with staff.
Mr. Serafin said he should tell the parents as soon as you tell the staff as it is going to get out.
Mr. Hanson stated that the board didn’t have any problems with the concept or plan. As the administrator of the buildings and with the support of the board, if this is in the best interest of the schools and program, then he could just do it.
6. OTHER BUSINESS
A. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS None at this time
7. ADJOURNMENT
NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
The next school board meeting is Tuesday, March 25 at 7 PM TRS
A motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Boucher and seconded by Mr. Weisiger at 9:03 PM Without objection, the motion carried.
8, INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
NHSBA has developed a scholarship program. This is the 1st year with funding for it and the funding is to be continued.
The Assistant Superintendent search is going well. There are visits to schools for final candidates being scheduled. Interviews are scheduled in the near future with the SAU Executive Board