PLEASE
NOTE THAT THE MINUTES WILL NOT BE FINAL UNTIL
THE
BOARD HAS APPROVED THEM AT ITS NEXT MEETING.
April
17, 2008
The Board of Directors of
The following Directors were present: Kim Totten, Chair; Maryane Burns; Dorothy
“Dee” Carrier; Dorothy Gardner; Robert W. Hill; Scott McKernan; Jane
Meisenbach; Joanne Reinhart; Joanne M. Rogers; Donald A. Russell; Rebekah
Stimpson; Gwen Thomas; and Roland Tufts.
Not present was David A. Johnson.
Also absent were Sam Prindall and Lisa Rogers,
student representatives to the Board of Directors.
1. Call
to order
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Totten
at 6:35 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
Agenda adjustments
were noted as follows and integrated appropriately into the agenda.
{correct spelling of last name to Karl}
6.7 To accept Ronja Karl of Frankfurt am Main,
Germany, as a tuition student for the 2008-2009 school year
{out of order}
5.3 This
item will be addressed before Item 5.1.
3.1 RECOGNITIONS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Ø Jennifer
Talbot, Helene McGlauflin, Barry O’Neil & Diane Stahl Winners of 2008 Big Carrot Award
Ø Prime
Time Parents – Mrs. Rogers commended the two recent performances
of this group.
4. To
take action relative to accepting as printed the minutes of the April 3, 2008,
regular meeting of the Board of Directors
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier, seconded by Mrs.
Rogers, and VOTED (644 yeas, 0 nays, 289 abstentions, and 67
absent) to accept as printed the minutes of the April 3, 2008, regular
meeting of the Board of Directors.
Voting yea were Ms. Burns, Mrs. Carrier, Mrs.
Gardner, Mr. McKernan, Mrs. Meisenbach, Mrs. Reinhart, Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Russell, and Mrs. Totten.
There were no nay votes.
Abstaining from voting were Mr. Hill, Ms. Stimpson,
Ms. Thomas and Mr. Tufts.
Absent was Mr. Johnson.
5. OLD
BUSINESS:
5.3 {taken out of order)} To approve
a proposal for
Assistant Principal Josh Ottow and
Principal Craig King were present to complete the process of securing the
Board’s approval for the high school’s participation in the Chinese Guest
Teacher Program.
It was moved by Mrs. Rogers,
seconded by Mrs. Gardner, and VOTED
(unanimously) to approve a proposal for
5.1 To
consider a recommendation from the Board Finance Committee for a budget for the
2008-2009 fiscal year
Finance Committee Chair Carrier
thanked administrators and the Finance Committee members for their work on this
year’s budget. She specifically thanked
Sally Loughlin and Peter Gray, who filled in for Superintendent Wilhelm in making
presentations at the public hearings.
She thanked Superintendent Wilhelm and acknowledged that he had spent
many hours “fine tuning” necessary reductions.
Mrs. Carrier moved and Mrs. Rogers
seconded that the Board approve a recommendation from the Board Finance
Committee for a budget in the amount of $35,967,526 for the 2008-2009 fiscal
year.
Superintendent Wilhelm announced that
the Board today received a petition signed by 28 community members, requesting that
the one music position not be eliminated from the
budget. He requested that the petition
be acknowledged by the Board.
Mrs. Gardner expressed her appreciation
for all the work done by staff and community in preparation of the budget. Stating that she will support the budget, she
expressed personal unhappiness with the proposed reductions in health
education.
Mr. Hill would like to see the Board
approach the budget process in a more systematic way next year. He hopes that the Board is not creating
problems with the proposed budget reductions.
Chairman Totten indicated that later
in the meeting Mrs. Rogers will present a suggestion regarding next year’s process.
Mrs. Carrier assured the Board that
all comments made by citizens had been “heard.”
She acknowledged that Superintendent Wilhelm and Middle School Principal
Brenda Brown spent much time discussing proposed reductions. Mrs. Carrier indicated she’s comfortable with
the proposed budget.
Ms. Burns wants the petitioners and
others involved to continue the discussions early on next year. She feels that the Board needs to involve
administrators earlier in the process.
Mr. Russell stated that any time
there’s a decrease from the previous year, there are built-in problems to face
the next year. He would like to see an
earlier start to the process next year, acknowledging that the “perfect storm”
this year {with reduced subsidy} presented the Finance Committee and Board with
a difficult situation and praised the work of the Finance Committee.
Ms. Thomas clarified that only two
under-enrolled music classes were lost in the process. She feels that Board “bent over backwards”
working with the music teachers.
Superintendent Wilhelm confirmed that
class enrollments of fewer than ten will not run, pointing out that it’s hard
to justify running such classes. He
feels that students who were enrolled in those two classes will have options
elsewhere to acquire the courses.
Superintendent Wilhelm reiterated that the
Board must look at economics of scale for reductions and that the District
needs to function in the best interest of the students – educationally.
Ms. Stimpson commended the efforts of
the Finance Committee, as well as Superintendent Wilhelm’s ingenuity. She acknowledged that the landscape of
educational funding has changed, preparing the Board to be more creative next
year.
Mr. McKernan commended all involved
for thinking “outside the box.” He
praised the District’s administrators as “incredible.” He feels the Board has done an admirable job,
taking into account all “voices” while presenting a quality product under
difficult economic circumstances.
Mrs. Totten agreed that there are
aspects of the budget about which all Board members are concerned. She stated that if there are disruptions to
the educational program caused by the reductions, the Board will revisit next
year the areas impacted by the reductions.
Superintendent Wilhelm expressed
gratitude and appreciation for Business Manger Peter Gray’s work on the budget.
The motion made by Mrs. Carrier and
seconded by Mrs. Rogers that the Board approve a recommendation from the Board
Finance Committee for a budget in the amount of $35,967,526 for the 2008-2009
fiscal year was VOTED (866 yeas, 0 nays,
67 abstentions, and 67 absent).
Voting yea were Ms. Burns, Mrs. Carrier, Mrs. Gardner, Mr. Hill, Mr.
McKernan, Mrs. Reinhart, Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Russell, Ms. Stimpson, Ms. Thomas,
Mrs. Totten, and Mr. Tufts.
There were no nay votes.
Abstaining was Mrs. Meisenbach.
Absent was Mr. Johnson.
5.2 To
establish dates for a District Budget Meeting and the Budget Validation
Referendum
Superintendent Wilhelm reiterated
there must be three working days between the District Budget Meeting and the
Budget Validation Referendum, as the District must operate under the current
law.
He noted that a proposed amendment to
allow 14 days between the District Budget Meeting and the District Validation
Referendum will not be enacted by the Legislature in time. He stated there is a 45-day requirement
between the time the towns receive the referendum article and the vote. It’s proposed that the District Budget
Meeting be held on June 7th and that the Referendum be held on June
10th. If the budget fails,
the District will have time to turn around with a new budget before the July 1
deadline for having a budget in place.
Mrs. Rogers feels that it will be
difficult for some members of her community to attend a daytime meeting.
Mrs. Carrier estimated that the
meeting would take two or three hours to complete.
Mr. Hill conceded that attending a
District Budget Meeting will be difficult for everyone, but he prefers an early
start.
Mrs. Carrier agreed that it is hard to
set a time which is agreeable for everyone.
It was moved by Mr. Hill, seconded by
Mr. McKernan, and VOTED (unanimously) to
establish Saturday, June 7, 2008, 2:00
p.m. at
In response to a question of how the
meetings will be publicized, Superintendent Wilhelm noted that all parent
groups will be contacted, ads will be placed in various publications, and that
the Foundations Newsletter with budget information will be published. Also, the District will produce and publish
the budget book.
Harpswell is also planning a
newsletter on the budget. Mrs. Carrier
suggested, since all towns receive Harpswell TV broadcasting, that a service
announcement be aired encouraging public participation.
6. NEW
BUSINESS:
6.1 To approve
a request to use $25,000 from contingency to support the Food Services Program
in the 2007-2008 budget year
It was
moved by Mrs. Carrier, seconded by Mr. Hill, and VOTED (unanimously) to approve a request to use $25,000 from contingency
to support the Food Services Program in the 2007-2008 budget year.
6.2 To
authorize the Superintendent of Schools to enter into a follow-on agreement
with
It was moved by Mrs. Rogers, seconded
by Mrs. Gardner, and VOTED (unanimously)
to authorize the Superintendent of Schools to enter into a follow-on
agreement with
6.3 To hear a
report from Chris Shaw, Director of
Facilities and Projects, on the status of the performance contract with
Honeywell
Mr. Shaw
briefly reviewed the history of this project.
In early March a meeting was held
with Facilities staff. From this, Honeywell
will develop a final list of options for proposals to be reviewed by
Administration and the Board’s Facilities Sub-committee. By mid-May all applications which are felt to
be worthy of being approved by the Board will be submitted to Efficiency
Between June 12-26, the full Board
will act on the Facilities Sub-committee’s recommendations for projects to be
considered.
Mr. Shaw noted that the last project
to be done this year will be the high school locker project, which will begin
as soon as school is out and spring sports have finished.
7.3 {taken out of order} Curriculum
Committee
Curriculum Committee Chair Hill
reported on this evening’s meeting, wherein two items were discussed – the
Elementary Writing Committee’s recommendation for adoption of Calkins’ Units of
Study for Teaching Writing and the Middle School algebra program.
Judy Moody presented background on
the 12-month process of finalizing the recommendation to adopt the Calkins’
Units of Study. Funds to purchase the
materials are available in the 2007-2008 budget, and the materials will be in
the hands of teachers this summer to be used beginning in September.
It was moved by Mr. Hill, seconded by
Mrs. Reinhart, and VOTED (unanimously) to
approve the Curriculum Committee’s recommendation for adoption of Calkins’
Units of Study for Teaching Writing.
Peggy Brown reported on a
presentation made to the Curriculum Committee regarding algebra at the middle
school. An appeals process is in place,
as well as good communication skills regarding the math program.
6.4
To undertake a first reading of a school calendar
for the 2008-2009 school year
Board members had been presented a draft
of the 2008-2009 school calendar.
Noting that the new negotiated
agreement with the teachers association reduced the number of student days to
175 and increased staff development days to eight, Superintendent Wilhelm cited
assumptions contained in the draft calendar.
August 27 and 28 will be used as
staff development days, with the first student day being September 2.
October 10th will be a
staff development day. Superintendent
Wilhelm noted that this date has been set aside for vocational school staff to
receive staff development at the state level.
He noted that the State wants very little difference between vocational
school calendars and the school systems.
The calendars of the sending schools –
February 13 and May 26 will be staff
development days. November 26 will be a
“comp” day for all schools. March 30
will be a “comp” day for elementary and middle schools, while it will be
utilized as a staff development day at the high school.
June 15 is the projected last day of
school, and five snow days are indicated on the calendar, so that people don’t
plan anything before it’s known whether those days have been used.
The draft calendar had been sent to faculty,
and some responses had been received.
Some oppose the use of Friday, February 13, as a staff development day. Five teachers are not happy with December 24th
as the beginning of winter break.
Mr. Hill commended the Calendar
Committee for considering how to maximize instructional time for students. Superintendent Wilhelm indicated that
Assistant Superintendent Loughlin had taken into account when this year’s snow
days were used, when making suggestions on alignment of trimesters.
The eighth staff development day will
be used as flexibly as possible.
6.5 To accept
the resignation of Lancy Swanson, middle
school special educator, effective at the conclusion of the 2007-2008 contract
year
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier,
seconded by Mrs. Gardner, and VOTED
(unanimously) to accept the resignation of Lancy Swanson, middle school special educator, effective at the
conclusion of the 2007-2008 contract year.
6.6 To accept
the resignation of Beth Kocsis, middle
school 6th grade teacher, effective at the conclusion of the
2007-2008 contract year
It was moved by Mr. Hill, seconded by
Ms. Burns, and VOTED (unanimously) to
accept the resignation of Beth Kocsis, middle
school 6th grader teacher, effective at the conclusion of the
2007-2008 contract year.
6.7 To accept Ronja Karl {correction noted} of
Frankfurt am Main,
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier,
seconded by Mr. Hill, and VOTED
(unanimously) to accept Ronja Karl
{correction noted} of Frankfurt am
7. COMMITTEE
REPORTS:
7.1 Finance
Committee – This item had been addressed earlier in the meeting.
7.2 MVR 10
Cooperative Board – Superintendent Wilhelm reported briefly, noting that enrollment
information had been provided, a resignation accepted, and that the proposed Region
Ten budget had received its first reading.
He announced that staff member David
Giroux has been nominated as Teacher of the Year.
In a year of “flat funding,” the
Region has eliminated the horticulture and business program, but it is
investigating the use of funds still in the budget to start up a public safety
program.
7.4 Negotiations
– Mrs. Rogers reported that the Negotiations team met with support staff and
have reached agreement on two minor issues but was unable to agree on the main
issue.
7.5 Other –
Mrs. Rogers proposed forming another Board sub-committee to work on planning
ahead for budget strategies. She
foresees it functioning similarly to the Finance Committee, composed of one
representative from each community with District Office administration. She feels the Board could be better prepared
going into the new year, which would be beneficial to all.
Mr. Hill wondered whether the
Comprehensive Planning Committee could serve this purpose, adding that the
membership needs to be increased.
Superintendent Wilhelm told the Board it needs to decide whether
specific representation from the Board is desired.
Superintendent Wilhelm cautioned that
the Board needs to insure that a newly-created sub-committee doesn’t overlap
the responsibilities or purposes of another.
He would like to meet with Mrs. Rogers and anyone else interested to
develop a “charter” for a new sub-committee.
This meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m., Monday, May 5, at the District
Office.
8. SUPERINTENDENT’S
REPORT:
8.1 Financial
Report – Business Manager Peter Gray presented this report.
Mr. Gray asked Board members to sign
the warrants authorizing the District Budget Meeting. He noted that absentee ballots for the
Referendum must be ready seven days before the referendum, and Mr. Hill
commented that this disenfranchises military personnel who are stationed
outside the country.
Mr. Gray asked Finance Committee
Chair Carrier to read aloud the motion that needs to be entered into the
minutes.
It was moved by Mrs. Carrier,
seconded by Mr. Hill, and VOTED
(unanimously) that the warrant for the District Budget Meeting presented to
the meeting be approved and that a District Budget Meeting be called for June
7, 2008, for the purpose of voting on the annual budget for the District for
the 2008-2009 fiscal year;
(and
further voted) that the Warrant and Notice of Election for the
District Validation Referendum be called for June 10, 2008, for the purpose of
approving the budget adopted at the District Budget Meeting for the2008-2009
fiscal year;
(and
further voted) that the form of Notice of Amounts Adopted at
Budget Meeting presented to this meeting be approved, and that the Secretary of
the District be authorized and directed to complete said Notice by adding the
amounts approved by the voters for each expenditure category and the total
school budget summary expenditure amount, all in accordance with the District
Budget Meeting on June 7, 2008, and to deliver attested copies of said notice,
as completed, to the clerks of each municipality in the District for posting at
all polling places for the June 10, 2008, District Budget Validation
Referendum.
Mr. Gray noted that Becky Brillant, a
District resident, will courier out to each town the necessary forms on Friday,
April 18.
8.2 Navy land
– Superintendent Wilhelm reminded Board members that it has recently been
notified that the federal Department of Education has approved the District’s
receipt of land (upon closure of BNAS in 2011) abutting the Annex housing. Some of that land overlaps some of the land
beneath the housing (leased by GMH Corporation), but he thinks this can be
resolved quickly.
Mr. Hill stated that GMH can’t lease
the ground, only structures above the ground.
Superintendent Wilhelm stated again
that it’s believed this can be resolved.
9. ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was declared adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
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