| BSC PRELIMINARY MINUTES QUORUM DISCUSSION*NOVEMBER 3, 2009 |
| PRELIMINARY MINUTES BOXFORD SCHOOL COMMITTEE QUORUM DISCUSSION* BOXFORD TOWN HALL NOVEMBER 3, 2009 *Due to an incomplete posting of this meeting to the Town Clerk’s Office, this is a Quorum Discussion versus a Regular Meeting. Because of this, votes had to be tabled until the November 17, 2009 meeting. Members Present: Rusty Chadwick (arrived at 8:35 p.m.), Cynthia Foster, Rebecca Lundrigan, Pam Messenger (Chairperson) and Cindy Murphy Others Present: Claudette Bellia (Cole School Parent), Maureen Cronin, Jennifer Coffey, Jane Bonaventura and Lisa Salisbury (Cole), Candyce Wainwright (Cole / Spofford School), Amanda Suleski (Home School Parent), Steve Greenberg (Tri-Town Union (TTU) Director of Finance and Human Resources), Dr. Bernard Creeden (TTU Superintendent) and Ellen Gaskell (Recording Secretary) ROUTINES: 1. Call to Order: Chairperson Pam Messenger called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. 2. Remarks from the Public: None 3. Reports from Other Committees: a. K-12 Joint School Committee: i. Cindy Murphy reported that the K-12 School Committee, which is made up of the 3 school committees in the Tri-Town plus Masconomet, met on October 21st. The items discussed were: 1. A “family friendly” school calendar, with compatible elementary school and Masconomet days off and starting date 2. The upcoming Bus Transportation Contract 3. H1N1 Vaccination Clinic plan for middle and high school students 4. Masconomet Superintendent search 5. The Tri-Town Union Regionalization Readiness Report results 6. Budget development for both Masconomet and the elementary schools b. Tri-Town Union School Committee: i. Cynthia Foster reported that the items discussed were: 1. School Committee priorities by town 2. Special Education (SPED) Director Sharon Lyons’ Fall Report – given for the first time at the TTU meeting instead of each of the 3 school committees 3. TTU Regionalization Readiness Report 4. Succession planning for the Curriculum Coordinator Debra Hale’s retirement in January 5. H1N1 planning 6. Body Mass Index Reporting to the Mass. Department of Health (MDH) a. Rebecca Lundrigan asked if parents would receive a letter about BMI, Dr. Creeden said the parents would be asked to agree to send their student’s data to the MDH. The data will be collected when the students are weighed, measured and have the hearing test. BMI data will only be collected on 1st and 4th graders. 7. FY 2011 Budget Development REPORTS: 1. Report of the Superintendent: a. Dr. Creeden spoke of the Massachusetts Student Growth Percentiles (SGP), 2009 District Report: i. This report was in the packet and is also on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website. ii. He spoke of the SGP classified by subgroups, such as gender or ethnicity. He highlighted the difference in SGP for last year’s Grade 4 girls (78) versus boys (45) in English Language Arts (ELA). A SGP of 78 means that the median girl had a SGP of 78, or grew more than 78% of her peers. iii. The alternative assessment students SGP was not included. iv. At the Early Release on October 28th, teachers looked at MCAS results. v. At the end of the week, this report will be on the school website, as will the Regionalization Readiness Report. b. Personnel Report: i. A teacher has requested an extended leave for health reasons; it has been extended to 3/1/10. Pam Messenger asked if a substitute is in place for this; Dr. Creeden said it was. ii. Another teacher will take her maternity leave at the Winter Break, just as another teacher is returning. c. Budget Development: teachers are generating their individual worksheets. d. Conflict of Interest Training: teachers are completing the training. 2. Report of the Director of Finance and Human Resources: a. State FY 10 Budget: i. The good news is that Local Aid (Chapter 70) has not been touched yet; the bad news is that the Circuit Breaker and Regional Transportation have been reduced. 1. The Circuit Breaker, or SPED reimbursement rate, has been reduced from 60% to 40%. This will only be a loss of about $3K in budget revenue. ii. Steve Greenberg asked the Committee to be financially cautious regarding the school budget, even though the schools are financially healthy and the operating budget and revolving account are in good shape. iii. There have been some unanticipated expenses: long-term leave of absence, substitute teacher and hand sanitizer. iv. Steve Greenberg has not asked for an expense freeze yet. v. Dr. Creeden notified the Committee about a Suburban Coalition Meeting on Thursday in Lynnfield regarding budget planning for next year. vi. Dr. Creeden said the state budget seems grim. One of the reasons Local Aid hasn’t been cut is that the governor has to seek the authority to do so. Cuts in state programs will force towns to do more. There will be no Stimulus money in 2011. b. Preliminary Capital Plan Update 2010-2011: i. Steve Greenberg presented this report, included in the packet. ii. His primary message to the Committee was that deferred capital projects (some as old as 2006) are starting to back up and this must be addressed. iii. Pam Messenger, Rebecca Lundrigan and Cynthia Foster all thought Item #5, Heating Plant Controls, was already funded; he said he’d check on it. iv. Dr. Creeden spoke of performance contracting as an alternative way to fund capital projects. Projects could be paid as a fixed amount over time, instead of all at once. v. One of the biggest potential projects is the roof at Cole School, costing $200 to $300K. vi. Item #12, the Emergency Generator, was also discussed; it would be a 6-figure project. c. An invitation to bid on the Transportation Contract has been published; about 4 vendors will submit bids, due 12-17. A related handout is in the packet. 3. Report of the Director of Facilities: a. This report will be forwarded electronically to the Committee. NEW BUSINESS: 1. H1N1 Flu Planning Update (provided by Dr. Creeden): a. At present, information has been transmitted via the newspaper and ConnectEd that there are only 200 doses of H1N1 vaccine in the entire Tri-Town and is available to the high-risk group of pregnant women. b. There will be a H1N1 Information Session on either 11/16 or 11/18 at either Cole or Proctor School. c. Hand sanitizer stations will be installed at the schools. 2. Review of the School Committee District Plan 2009-2012: a. Pam Messenger asked Dr. Creeden if mention of the Director of Curriculum should be dropped from the plan due to her upcoming retirement; Dr. Creeden said no and that an interim Director of Curriculum would be named at the 1/10 TTU meeting. 3. School Committee Annual Report for 2009: a. A copy of the previous Annual Report was included in the packet. b. Pam Messenger will edit this, due 2/10. c. Dr. Creeden will forward MCAS data to Pam Messenger for the report. d. She asked Dr. Creeden if reports published elsewhere should be reprinted in this report; he said yes because it will be available electronically, not in hard copy (so there won’t be a lot of paper wasted). e. Dr. Creeden commented that the Annual Report gives a “moving picture” of performance because it covers calendar year versus school year. 4. Correspondence: a. Dr. Creeden said a letter will be sent to groups such as the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Teachers’ Association, requesting that they serve on the TTU Regionalization Readiness Subcommittee. One member at large from each of the three towns will also be sought to serve; Pam Messenger appealed to the audience, especially those with young school-age children, to volunteer and submit their interest to Dr. Creeden. This subcommittee will meet every other week between now and January and present a recommendation regarding regionalization to the TTU in January. 5. Other: a. Dr. Creeden said the 11/17/09 BSC meeting would be about the schools’ technology plan. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Note: Although none of these items can be voted upon due to reasons stated in the Heading of these minutes, they were reviewed in preparation to be voted upon at the next meeting on November 17th. 2. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings: a. October 20, 2009 – Regular Meeting: No changes needed. b. October 20, 2009 – Executive Session: In the 2nd paragraph, Line 1 change contact to contract. 3. Bills and Payrolls: a. A Bill Warrant and Payroll handout was included in the packet. The Committee saw no changes needed. 4. Home Schooling Requests: a. Home Schooling Requests for 1 student each from both the Suleski and Nadworny families were received and were included in the packet. The Committee saw no changes needed. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 1. No Executive Session because no vote could be taken for reasons stated in the Heading of these minutes. ADJOURNMENT: 1. No Adjournment because no vote could be taken for reasons stated in the Heading of these minutes. The meeting ended at 8:45 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Ellen Gaskell Recording Secretary |
