PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MINUTES WILL NOT BE FINAL UNTIL
THE BOARD HAS APPROVED THEM AT ITS NEXT MEETING.
The Board of Directors of Maine School Administrative
District No. 75 held a regular meeting
at Mt. Ararat High School on
The following Directors were present: Joanne Rogers, Chair; Maryane Burns; Dorothy
“Dee” Carrier; Marie Dickson; Caroline Eliot; Dorothy Gardner; Robert W. Hill;
David A. Johnson; Jane Meisenbach; Andrea Najarian; Jeffrey Rowe; Jeffrey
Steinert; Kim Totten; and Roland Tufts.
Also present was Sara Todd, student representative to the
Board of Directors. Student
representative Tasha Cornish was absent.
1. Call to order
The meeting was called to order
by Chairman Rogers at
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
Agenda adjustments were noted,
as follows:
(delete)
6.2 To
approve a request from Barbara Greenstone for a leave of absence for the
2006-2007 school year
(add new)
6.7 To
consider contracting with a lobbyist to shepherd L.D. 1953 to a positive vote
(add new)
6.8 To
consider approving a set of principles to guide the District’s negotiations
with the Harpswell Withdrawal Committee
3.1 RECOGNITIONS &
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
√ Welcome
Marie Dickson – new Topsham representative to the Board of Directors – Mrs.
Dickson has been appointed to fill the vacancy created by Edward Cook’s
resignation.
√
√
√
4. To
take action relative to accepting as printed the minutes of the February 9,
2006 regular meeting and the February 16, 2006 special meeting of the Board of
Directors
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier,
seconded by Mrs. Gardner, and VOTED
(unanimously, of those present) to accept as printed the minutes of the
February 9, 2006 regular meeting and the February 16, 2006 special meeting of
the Board of Directors.
Mrs. Meisenbach had not yet arrived.
5. OLD BUSINESS:
5.1
To hear a report on the appraised value of a
portion of
… At
This report is a follow-up to the
Board’s request for an appraisal of the property. Superintendent Wilhelm noted that one option
is to view the opportunity for the dollars-to-be-gained only, and another would
be to look at it as a chance to have some development done. He acknowledged that there had been an
interest in using some of the money gained (from a sale) for improvements, as
in school playing fields. He affirmed
that the
Business Manager Ron Lavender stated
that the District cannot execute an outright sale of the property but would
have to be a like-kind exchange.
Superintendent Wilhelm understands the Board is saying it wants an
access road and probably improvements behind the Police Station. Ms. Eliot suggested the Board would want to
retain a deeded right-of-way as part of any agreement. Mr. Lavender stated the Board needs to
exchange “real property for real property” so that it isn’t treated like an
unwanted school.
Mr. Hill suggested that this issue
be referred to the Board’s Facilities Committee.
It was moved by Ms. Eliot,
seconded by Mrs. Gardner, and VOTED
(unanimously) that the Board grant responsibility to the Facilities
Committee for coming back to the full Board with a proposal.
Dr. Wilhelm asked for assurance
that the Facilities Committee has ample direction to make a recommendation, and
Mr. Johnson reminded all that meetings of the Committee are open to anyone who
wants to attend.
Mrs. Meisenbach offered to provide
some comparables to the Facilities Committee.
5.2 To
consider a second reading and adoption of the Financial Conflict of Interest
Policy BBFB
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier,
seconded by Mr. Steinert, and VOTED
(unanimously) to accept a second reading and adopt the Financial Conflict
of Interest Policy BBFB.
6. NEW BUSINESS:
6.1 To
accept the resignation of Peter Slaski, Middle
School Math teacher
Mr. Slaski, currently on a leave
of absence to teach in
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier,
seconded by Mr. Johnson, and VOTED (923
yeas, 77 nays, 0 abstentions, and 0 absent) to accept the resignation of Peter Slaski, Middle School Math
teacher.
Voting yea were Ms. Burns, Mrs.
Carrier, Ms. Eliot, Mr. Hill, Mrs. Gardner, Mr. Hill, Mr. Johnson, Mrs.
Meisenbach, Ms. Najarian, Mr. Rowe, Mr. Steinert, Mrs. Totten, and Mr. Tufts.
Voting nay was
Mrs. Dickson.
There were no
abstentions, and all Board members were present.
6.2 To
approve a request from Barbara
Greenstone for a leave of absence for the 2006-2007 school year
This item had been deleted from
the agenda. The request will be
presented at a future meeting.
6.3 To
consider a request from Leslie Lemieux for
an unpaid leave of absence, for the remainder of the school year, following her
maternity leave
It was moved by Mr. Steinert,
seconded by Mr. Johnson, and VOTED
(unanimously) to approve a request from Leslie Lemieux for an unpaid leave of absence, for the remainder of
the school year, following her maternity leave.
6.4 To
hear a report from the Superintendent regarding proposed staffing changes for
the 2006-2007 school year
Superintendent Wilhelm recommends
changing Reading Recovery/Literacy teacher position to Literacy Teacher Leader
positions and proposes to make the positions more District-oriented.
He highlighted changing
demographics in school population, with the District having lost 450 students
over the past six years. The
administrator-student ratio has been analyzed, with a recommendation being made
to reduce the Harpswell Islands School principalship to a half-time position,
with the second half of her position remaining in the building in an
administrative capacity to coordinate the District’s need to develop a program
for four-year-olds within two years.
Dr. Wilhelm pointed out that
federal funding requires equitable distribution of resources.
Mr. Steinert asked if the EPS formula
contains pupil-teacher ratio recommendations.
Dr. Wilhelm will secure a copy of this.
A similar analysis of equity in
ratios of guidance/social worker and educational technician hours has been
accomplished. Dr. Wilhelm also outlined
instances in which elementary pupil-teacher ratios are on the “cusp” (of
perhaps needing to be adjusted) or are predicted to remain stable.
Ms. Eliot suggested that if the
District had the flexibility, some resources could be moved about. Dr. Wilhelm stated there has been
administrative discussion regarding the flexibility of resources.
6.5 To
eliminate 6.4 elementary Reading Recovery/Literacy Teacher positions at the
conclusion of the 2005-2006 fiscal year and to create 6.4 District-wide
Literacy Teacher Leader positions at the elementary levels as of the 2006-2007
fiscal year
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier,
seconded by Mr. Steinert, and VOTED
(unanimously) to eliminate 6.4 elementary Reading Recovery/Literacy Teacher
positions at the conclusion of the 2005-2006 fiscal year and to create 6.4
District-wide Literacy Teacher Leader positions at the elementary levels as of
the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
(Note: Following an amendment made on Page 8, the
amended motion reads “It was moved by Mrs. Carrier, seconded by Mr. Steinert,
and VOTED (unanimously) to eliminate 6.4 elementary Reading Recovery/Literacy Teacher
positions at the conclusion of the 2005-2006 contract
year and to create 6.4 District-wide Literacy Teacher Leader positions at the
elementary levels as of the 2006-2007 contract
year.
6.6 To
hear a request from the high school to alter the school calendar for juniors
taking the SAT as the MEA on
Juniors will be required to take
the SAT (instead of the MEA) on
Dr. King proposes that juniors be
given an excused day off on Thursday, April 13.
Friday, April 14th, is a staff development day; and the
following week is the Spring break.
Dr. King said the test must be
taken on a Saturday and until a short time ago, it had been anticipated that
the students would have to take the test in another school system, but the
District has succeeded in having
It was moved by Mrs. Gardner,
seconded by Ms. Najarian, and VOTED
(unanimously) to approve a request from the high school to alter the school
calendar for juniors taking the SAT as the MEA on Saturday, April 1, 2006 (as
outlined by the high school administration).
6.7 To
consider contracting with a lobbyist to shepherd L.D. 1953 to a positive vote
Superintendent Wilhelm noted that
it is sometimes difficult to get telephone calls returned by legislators with
correct information regarding timelines for hearings, testimony, etc. It’s expected that the Appropriations Committee
will be making a recommendation on this legislation before the end of
March.
Superintendent Wilhelm noted that Newell
Auger will offer the District a special rate (as a non-profit). Dr. Wilhelm estimates that $2,000 from
contingency will cover the cost of the service to be performed by Mr. Auger.
It was moved by Mr. Johnson,
seconded by Mr. Steinert, and VOTED
(unanimously) to approve contracting with a lobbyist to shepherd L.D. 1953
to a positive vote (as outlined by Superintendent Wilhelm).
Mrs. Meisenbach asked whether
there were other districts with which we could share this cost, like Kennebunk/Kennebunkport. Dr. Wilhelm noted that
In response to Mrs. Meisenbach’s
request, Dr. Wilhelm will provide Board members the names and addresses of
those legislators whose support the District should encourage.
Business Manager Ron Lavender
interjected his opinion that there appears to be no need to utilize contingency
funds for this request, as there are sufficient funds in the insurance and
legal fees account.
Mrs. Carrier voiced her opinion
that the Commissioner of Education needs to be held accountable for statements
she made relative to the legislation.
Mrs. Rogers asked whether it would be appropriate to amend the motion,
to include a letter expressing the Board’s concerns about the Department of
Education taking responsibilities for comments made by the Department.
Mrs. Rogers feels that the
Department needs to be reminded that an appeal was made in February 2005 and
that this Board has been heavily involved in this issue since.
Mr. Rowe agrees that the Board
should “lean on” the Commissioner but reminded his fellow Board members they
should also be encouraging the support of the Appropriations Committee.
It was moved by Mrs. Rogers,
seconded by Mr. Johnson, and VOTED (unanimously)
to send a letter to the Commissioner of Education expressing the Board’s
dismay at the Commissioner’s response to the District’s position in this issue.
It was moved by Mrs. Gardner,
seconded by Mrs. Meisenbach, and VOTED
(unanimously) to approve contracting
with a lobbyist to shepherd L.D.1953 to a positive vote, and to send a letter
to the Commissioner of Education expressing the Board’s dismay at the
Commissioner’s response to the District’s position in this issue (This is the amended motion.}
6.8
To consider approving a set of principles to guide
the District’s negotiations with the Harpswell Withdrawal Committee
Chairman Rogers read the proposed
principles, which are being recommended by the Withdrawal Committee to the
Board for adoption.
It was moved by Mr. Steinert,
seconded by Mr. Hill, and VOTED (933
yeas, o nays, 67 abstentions, and 0 absent) to approve a set of principles
to guide the District’s negotiations with the Harpswell Withdrawal Committee {copied into minutes below}.
M.S.A.D. No.
75 Board of Directors
Withdrawal
of Harpswell: Guidelines for
Negotiations
A failure of the withdrawal agreement to
adequately and fairly address the financial, administrative and educational
impact on M.S.A.D. No. 75 would irreparably harm the students currently
enrolled in the District, the District’s bondholders and the taxpayers of
Topsham, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham.
In light of these concerns, the
following is a recommended list of guidelines for negotiations:
● The
withdrawal of Harpswell shall not impair the current quality of education
provided to all District students.
● The
withdrawal shall not have a negative impact on the District’s long-term
financial obligations such as the District’s indebtedness and lease agreements.
● The
withdrawal shall not increase the taxes of residents of Topsham, Bowdoin or
Bowdoinham and thereby impact community support for education.
● The
withdrawal agreement must reflect a fair settlement of District assets and
liabilities.
● The
withdrawal must not result in the lay-off of the faculty and staff that are
integral to providing students with a quality education in the District.
● The
withdrawal shall provide for the continued education of Harpswell students at
M.S.A.D. No. 75 schools through an exclusive contract for school privileges
which shall be approved by District voters.
Voting yea were Ms. Burns, Mrs.
Dickson, Ms. Eliot, Mrs. Gardner, Mr. Hill, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Meisenbach, Ms.
Najarian, Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Rowe, Mr. Steinert, Mrs. Totten, and Mr. Tufts.
There were no nay votes.
Abstaining from voting was Mrs.
Carrier.
All Board members were present.
6.5 At
the recommendation of Business Manager Ron Lavender, it was moved by Mrs.
Rogers, seconded by Mrs. Carrier, and VOTED
(unanimously) to amend the vote taken on Item 6.5 changing reference to
“fiscal” year to “contract” year. The
recorder has made the appropriate change to the motion on Page 5.
7. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
7.1 Finance
Committee – Mr. Steinert reported on the February 27th
, March 2nd and March 6th meetings of the Finance
Committee.
7.2 Withdrawal
Committee – Mrs. Rogers has been chosen Chair of this committee and will
present future reports.
7.3 Sports
Done Right – Superintendent Wilhelm reported on the March 1st
meeting.
7.4 School-based
8. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:
8.1 Legislation – L.D.
1953 had been discussed earlier in the evening.
8.2 Adult
Education review – Board members will receive a copy of the State’s Adult
Education review at the next meeting.
8.3 Negotiations
with support staff – Superintendent Wilhelm expressed the hope that these
negotiations can be accomplished in a way that doesn’t compete with Board
members’ already-stressed time schedule.
8.4 Policy
Committee meeting – The Policy Committee needs to meet to discuss graduation
requirements.
8.5 Board
representative to Region Ten Cooperative Board – Mrs. Meisenbach volunteered to
take Mr. Cook’s place in this capacity.
8.6
Mrs. Rogers reminded the Board that the March 23rd
meeting will be held at Region Ten, with dinner served beforehand.
9. ADJOURNMENT:
At
Immediately following adjournment of the regular Board meeting, the
Board met in workshop session with Middle School administration.
/bb/agenda392006