PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MINUTES WILL
NOT BE FINAL UNTIL THE BOARD HAS APPROVED THEM AT ITS NEXT MEETING.
November 2, 2006
The Board of Directors
of
The following
Directors were present: Robert W. Hill,
Chairman; Maryane
Burns; Marie Dickson; Dorothy Gardner; David A. Johnson; Jane Meisenbach; Andrea Najarian;
Joanne Rogers; Rebekah Stimpson;
Kim Totten; and Roland Tufts.
Not present were
Dorothy “
Also present was Sara
Todd, student representatives to the Board of Directors.
Sam Prindall, student representative to the Board of Directors,
was absent.
1. Call to order
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was
recited by those present.
3. To consider action relative to additions or adjustments to the agenda
and to ask for comments from the audience
Adjustments to the agenda were
noted, as follows:
{add}
8.3 Commissioner’s letter to Harpswell
8.4 Stoddard Pond
3.1 RECOGNITIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ø
Welcome from Michael Estes, Principal of
Ø
Marla Blake,
Ø
Reuben Fischer-Baum – National Merit Scholar semi-finalist
Ø
Ryan Freiberger – Named a “scholar” in the College Board’s
national Hispanic Recognition Program
Ø
Timothy Baker, Reuben Fischer-Baum, Sara
Todd, Noah Lumsden
& Greg Vaillancourt – Achieving a score of 5 on 2006 Advanced
Placement exams
Ø
Henry McCorkle – Winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Good Citizen Award
Ø
Emerson & Lane American Legion Post 132
– Donation to
Ø It was noted that today is Sam Prindall’s
17th birthday.
Ø Marie
Dickson was thanked for her service on the Board.
4. To take action relative to accepting as printed the minutes of the
October 12, 2006, regular meeting of the Board of Directors
It
was moved by, seconded by, and VOTED (655
yeas, 0 nays, 132 abstentions, and 213 absent) to accept as printed the
minutes of the October 12, 2006, regular meeting of the Board of Directors.
Voting
yea were Ms. Burns, Ms. Dickson, Mrs.
Gardner, Mr. Hill, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Meisenbach, Ms. Najarian, Mrs. Rogers, Ms. Stimpson,
Mrs. Totten, and Mr. Tufts.
There
were no nay votes.
Abstaining
from voting were Ms. Najarian and Ms. Stimpson.
Absent
were Mrs. Carrier, Mr. Russell, and Ms. Thomas.
5. OLD BUSINESS:
6. NEW BUSINESS:
6.1
To
consider a request by the Middle School to allow a Grades 5-8 Hockey Club to
bear the
Sandy Bickford, Middle School Athletic Director, explained the
rationale of this request. Essentially,
the group is asking that a second hockey team be allowed to use the school’s name. The budget will not be affected.
Try-outs will eliminate some of the students from the “A” team, and the
“B” team will consist of those students plus fifth graders. Superintendent Wilhelm reminded the Board
that a similar arrangement was done with the high school football team.
It was moved by Mrs. Gardner, seconded by Mrs. Totten,
and VOTED (unanimously) to approve a
request by the Middle School to allow a Grades 5-8 Hockey Club to bear the
6.2 To consider the expenditure of approximately $12,000 to complete
documentation of the deficiencies in the HVAC system at
The Superintendent thought the District would have been in mediation by
this time. The Turner Group recommends
that the District have in order as much supporting documentation as possible
when mediation begins. $10,000 has been
spent to date, and the Superintendent doesn’t foresee having to use more than
the requested $12,000.
The contingency account has not been drawn upon, but the Board will
hear a future request for the use of contingency, as the need will arise as the
District anticipates overspending its legal fees with the withdrawal
initiative.
Superintendent Wilhelm stated that the value of the mediation should
outweigh the associated costs.
It was moved by Ms. Najarian, seconded by Mr.
Johnson, and VOTED (unanimously) to
approve the expenditure of approximately $12,000 to complete documentation of
the deficiencies in the HVAC system at
6.3
To
appoint Lindsy Mayo to the position of .5 FTE Service
Learning Coordinator, at Bachelor’s, Step 1, effective October 1, 2006 (prorated)
It was moved by Mrs. Gardner,
seconded by Mr. Johnson and VOTED (unanimously) to appoint Lindsy Mayo to the position of .5 FTE Service
Learning Coordinator, at Bachelor’s, Step 1, effective October 1, 2006
(prorated).
6.4 To hear reports
on the MSMA Conference from Board attendees
Mrs. Totten attended sessions on student
discipline, health issues in school, realizing that much of what was presented
was familiar since this Board is so well informed.
Ms. Najarian attended sessions on Educational
Foundations (non-profits), regionalization of districts, and health and obesity
(at which Mike Wilhelm was a presenter).
Mrs. Gardner attended, among others, a session on Project Impact dealing
with keeping children connected.
Mr. Hill commended the Conference as being well prepared and
organized. He attended seminars on
regionalization, student discipline, technology, and after-school
programming. Mr. Hill feels that the
“best” was the Delegate Assembly and reported that the Assembly had approved an
amended motion of the District’s suggested resolution regarding the EPS funding
formula.
6.5 To hear an
update on District progress toward its goals
The 2006-2007 Board goals are listed below:
1. Focus on and achieve a high level of
learning for all students
2. Provide for greater personalization of
student learning
3. Increase the number of students
applying for and successfully attending post-secondary training and
decrease the number of disaffected students
4. Increase the involvement of parents and
community in our school and our schools in the community
5. Emphasize character development that
sets high standards for tolerance, diversity and democracy education
Assistant Superintendent Sally Loughlin had prepared and forwarded to
Board members a document listing the projected outcomes of each goal and a
status update on the achievement of each.
7. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
7.1
Facilities Committee – Chairman Hill thanked Business Manager
Ron Lavender and Chris Shaw, Director of Facilities and Projects, for the
productive tour.
The Facilities Committee will meet in the District Office on Tuesday,
November 7, at 6:00 p.m. to prioritize the tour’s findings and develop a
strategy for implementation.
7.2
Topsham LRA – Chairman Hill reported that the Town of
7.3
Sports Done Right Committee – The Steering Committee will issue a
report on December 12th with a recommendation that the Board adopt
the principles of Sports Done Right.
8. SUPERINTENDENT’S
REPORT:
8.1
Teacher evaluation – Ms. Burns and Mr. Hill will work with administrators
to review and revise the District Teacher Evaluation process.
8.2 Harpswell Bulletin – Board members
had been provided a copy of a recent issue.
8.3 Commissioner’s letter to Harpswell – Board members were provided a copy of this
communication addressing mediation in the Withdrawal Process.
8.4 Stoddard Pond – Superintendent Wilhelm updated the Board on
the recent situation at the pond and nearby dam, wherein school was closed for
two days with the road being closed while the pond’s level was lowered.
9. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m., after
which Board members met in workshop session to view the video, “The Education
Challenge.”
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