| BSC Preliminary Minutes August 25, 2009 |
| PRELIMINARY MINUTES BOXFORD SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING BOXFORD TOWN HALL AUGUST 25, 2009 Members Present: Rusty Chadwick, Cynthia Foster, Rebecca Lundrigan and Cindy Murphy Others Present: Kathryn Nikas (Cole School Principal), Tiffany Stone (Cole School/Boxford Teacher Association (BTA)), Lisa Salisbury (Cole School/BTA), Lawrence Fliegelman ( Spofford School Principal), Steve Greenberg (Tri Town Union (TTU) Director of Finance and Human Resources), Susan Bodewell (TTU Director of Food Service) and Dr. Bernard Creeden (TTU Superintendent) and Ellen Gaskell (Recording Secretary) ROUTINES: 1. Call to Order: Acting Chairperson Cindy Murphy called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. 2. Remarks from the Public: None REPORTS: 1. Reports from Other Committees: Dr. Creeden reported on the recent Collective Bargaining workshop for the Tri Town school committees conducted by Attorney Naomi Stomberg. 2. Report of the School Nutrition Director: a. Susan Bodewell presented this report with input from Steve Greenberg, a copy of which was included in the packet. b. The state average for students purchasing cafeteria lunches is 50%; Boxford schools exceed that average. c. Less than 1% of students received subsidized lunches. d. All meals are prepared in line with the Federal Dietary Guidelines. e. Steve Greenberg said that there is no need to raise the current lunch price from $2.00 to $2.25 in FY’10 and the milk price will remain $.60; no action needed on this item. f. Cindy Murphy asked if there will be cafeteria staff reductions due to declining student enrollments; Steve Greenberg said there would be no need to do this in FY’10, but that the issue should be revisited in FY’11. g. Ms. Murphy told Sue Bodewell that the Student Council was concerned about food waste; she acknowledged that there was and it depended on the meal. She agreed to meet with the Student Council to address their concerns. Cindy Murphy asked if all Tri Town cafeterias have the same menu and if so, were purchases made in bulk? Ms. Bodewell said the menu was the same at all the schools and that the Tri Town was part of a food collaborative to purchase in bulk. 3. Report of Superintendent: a. Dr. Creeden presented his report, a copy of which was in the packet. b. Personnel Update i. Leslie Bilosz will fill in for Shauna Hickey in the Speech Pathologist position. ii. Spanish Teacher Vacancy 1. Kathryn Nikas communicated with 22 people of interest, interviewing 18 of them, but the position is not filled yet. 2. Second Grade Teacher Terry Marcille is interested in the position, but hasn’t passed the certification test yet. 3. The position covers all of Cole’s instruction and some of Spofford’s. 4. The Department of Elementary and Secondary School Education (DESE) said a waiver for Terry Marcille could be obtained for 1 year because Ms. Nikas has documented the search process and Dr. Creeden believes that a “due diligence” search has been conducted. During the year, Ms. Marcille would have to pass the certification and take additional coursework. 5. Dr. Creeden then detailed the waiver process; it can be extended up to three years, but the application would have to be reapplied for each year. 6. Kathryn Nikas said that a possible scenario would be for Ms. Marcille to start the school year in her present job teaching Grade 2 and then switch to Spanish several weeks after the beginning of the school year while another teacher takes over her class. Ms. Nikas felt that the Grade 2 position would be easier to fill than the Spanish position. 7. Dr. Creeden said that the procedure is to notify the BTA about teacher vacancies first, but this could be bypassed because the Grade 2 position must be filled quickly. Rusty Chadwick agreed that the position must be filled as soon as possible. 8. Cindy Murphy asked how quickly the DESE waiver could be obtained; Dr. Creeden said it was a quick process. 9. Dr. Creeden said that if Ms. Marcille gets the job, due to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), she won’t be considered “highly qualified” and parents will have to be notified. 10. Cindy Murphy thought a teacher with a prior relationship to the students like Ms. Marcille would be good at building enthusiasm for the Spanish program. iii. Grade 4 Teacher Sharon Fenderson requested a Leave of Absence (LOA) for Family Medical Reasons; Valerie Albanesi will substitute for her. iv. Grade 4 Teacher Diane Matteson requested a LOA for Medical Reasons. Cynthia Foster asked if a substitute will be in place by the beginning of the school year. Lawrence Fliegelman said that Mary Mann would set up the classroom and may be able to cover some of Ms. Matteson’s leave. v. New Teacher Orientation is 8/31/09; a handout was included in the packet. vi. Dr. Creeden said that there is talk of a uniform school opening date being instated, probably the week before Labor Day. c. Regionalization Study i. The report will be made available to school committee members for their perusal. d. Readiness for School Opening i. At this point, Dr. Creeden presented a Body Mass Index (BMI) memo that will be sent to parents. He asked the Committee members to review it. He wants its tone to be as friendly as possible. School nurses will conduct BMI checks later in the school year in certain targeted grades. ii. He then spoke of a H1N1 Virus memo. There will be a seasonal and “targeted group” flu clinics. Previous guidelines about H1N1 on the TTU website are now obsolete; new guidelines will be set and posted. iii. There is a “No Idling” policy for vehicles on school grounds. A special provision to waive this policy may possibly be given in cold weather. e. School Opening Enrollment Update i. 6/25/09 PreK to Grade 6 enrollment was 940; that number is 899 as of 8/25/09, a decline of 41 students. A handout was included in the packet. f. Summer Facilities Projects Update i. A report written by TTU Facilities Director Steve Clifford was presented by Dr. Creeden and included in this packet. All projects are on schedule, except for the Smart Board technology. That equipment has been ordered, but not delivered yet. g. Fall Town Meeting i. A memo from Town Administrator Alan Benson, included in the packet, was discussed. Any proposed articles from the Committee should be sent to Selectmen’s Office by 9/10/09. The Committee determined they had no article requests as of this time. 4. Report of the Director of Finance a. Steve Greenberg presented this report. b. The FY’09 Budget has been closed out. c. Bus routes for the school year have been posted, a copy of which was included in the packet. The routes remain intact and there have been very few special requests. NEW BUSINESS: 1. School Committee Planning: a. School Handbook 2009-2010 i. Lawrence Fliegelman completed the revision of the handbook. ii. Dr. Creeden said the handbook would be posted on the web page to minimize printing. Parents would be sent a sheet to indicate that they’ve viewed the handbook. iii. A small amount of handbooks will be available in the office. iv. Cindy Murphy questioned the “Field Trip Food Memo”; she wondered if the “no nut policy” should be included in the memo. v. Ms. Murphy also asked if there was a cell phone policy; Mr. Fliegelman said there was on Page 19 of the handbook. 2. H1N1 Flu Planning: a. This topic was covered earlier in the meeting under the Report of the Superintendent. 3. Correspondence: a. Cindy Murphy received a letter from a Boxford Girl Scout troop regarding playground safety at the Cole School; she gave it to Kathryn Nikas. b. Dr. Creeden distributed a Bullying Resources handout to the Committee. 4. Other: None CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Minutes of Previous Meetings: a. July 27, 2009 – Regular Meeting i. Under New Business Section, Paragraph 4b, Line 2, Page 3, change Barkins to Barton. ii. Under New Business Section, Paragraph 4c, Line 2, Page 3, change bulleting to bulletin. A motion was made by Cindy Murphy to approve the 7/27/09 Regular Meeting Minutes as amended, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 2-0-2. (Note: Rebecca Lundrigan and Rusty Chadwick abstained due to absence.) b. July 27, 2009 – Executive Session i. Paragraph 4, Line 3, Page 1, change Marcal to Marcille. A motion was made by Cindy Murphy to pass the 7/27/09 Executive Session Minutes, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 2-0-2. (The reason the same 2 Committee members abstained is listed above.) c. There was discussion as to whether a quorum was needed to approve a motion; Dr. Creeden stated that only one vote was needed for approval. 2. Bills and Payrolls: a. Bill Warrants i. A sheet with bill warrants and payrolls needed for approval was included in the packet. A motion was made by Cindy Murphy to pay BW#10-05 to BW#10-07, in the total amount of $64,873.01, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 4-0-0. b. Payrolls A motion was made by Cindy Murphy to pay the payroll, weeks ending 7/24/09 and 7/31/09, in the amount of $41,629.51, seconded by Rebecca Lundrigan. Motion passed 4-0-0. Another motion was made by Cindy Murphy to pay the payroll, weeks ending 8/7/09 and 8/14/09, in the amount of $254,848.92. Motion passed 4-0-0. 3. Waiver of the Enrollment Prior to Residence Policy a. Since there have been no waiver requests, no action taken. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 9:00 p.m., a motion was made by Cindy Murphy to enter into Executive Session for the purposes of preparation for negotiations with represented and non-represented personnel and potential litigation, seconded by Cynthia Foster. On a roll call vote, the motion passed 4-0-0 (in favor: Cindy Murphy, Cynthia Foster, Rebecca Lundrigan and Rusty Chadwick). ADJOURNMENT: At 9:51 p.m., on a roll call vote, the BSC returned from Executive Session for the purpose of Adjournment. Cindy Murphy moved to adjourn, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 4-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Ellen Gaskell Recording Secretary |
