| BSC Permanent Minutes November 17, 2009 |
| PERMANENT MINUTES BOXFORD SCHOOL COMMITTEE (BSC) REGULAR MEETING BOXFORD TOWN HALL NOVEMBER 17, 2009 Members Present: Rusty Chadwick, Cynthia Foster, Rebecca Lundrigan, Pam Messenger (Chairperson) and Cindy Murphy Others Present: Beth Yando, Christine Elliot and Candyce Wainwright (Cole / Spofford), Kaekyn Magee, Alison Salerno (Spofford), Claudette Bellia (Cole parent), Tiffany Stone, Debbie Connery (Cole), Lisa Salisbury and Jane Bonaventura (Cole / BTA), Dr. Bernard Creeden (Tri Town Union (TTU) Superintendent), Kathryn Nikas (Cole School Principal), Lawrence Fliegelman (Spofford School Principal), Ellen Gaskell (Recording Secretary), Karen Hussey (PTO) and Kelly Chung (BEST), Heather Fecteau and Debra Hale (TTU Curriculum Coordinator). ROUTINES: 1. Call to Order: Chairperson Pam Messenger called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Remarks from the Public: None 3. Remarks from Other Committees: a. TTU Regionalization Readiness Study Committee: November 18th: b. Dr. Creeden reported that this will be the first meeting of the subcommittee established at the 10/29 TTU meeting. c. The mission is to have recommendations regarding educational, succession and financial planning and governance (for the TTU) to be presented at the 1/21/10 TTU meeting. d. The meetings will be on: 12/2, 12/16 and 1/6. REPORTS: 1. Report of the Building Principals: a. Lawrence Fliegelman, Spofford School Principal i. Lawrence Fliegelman presented his Principal’s Report, the June, 2009 Parent Survey and an ’08 and ’09 Survey Comparison, copies of which were included in the packet or provided at the meeting. ii. He thanked Facilities Director Steven Clifford and the custodians for finding the hot water heater leak. iii. He spoke of the Parent Survey and said that parents believed the communication about school goals needs improvement. Cindy Murphy agreed, citing On-Line Math League communication. iv. There were fewer respondents in ’09 versus ’08. b. Kathryn Nikas, Cole School Principal: i. Kathryn Nikas presented her report, a copy of which was included in the packet. ii. At the last Professional Development Day, teachers in Grades 1-4 had a Data Driven Dialogue about MCAS performance, using the new growth model. iii. Two recent community outreach events were the Bus Driver and Room Parent Coffees. Performing community outreach with the Council on Aging is also a priority. 2. Director of Facilities Report: a. Dr. Creeden presented Steven Clifford’s report, a copy of which was included in the packet. b. When comparing 10/08 to 10/09 data, energy consumption was reduced at Cole by about 28% and at Spofford by about 9%, due to the lighting retrofits. c. The solar panel project is now on-line; Larry Fliegelman said that data will be released to the website soon. d. Plumbing expense at the Aaron Wood School was unforeseen and will be paid for out of the Revolving Fund. 3. Report of the Superintendent: a. Dr. Creeden presented his report, a copy of which was included in the packet. b. H1N1 Planning Update: i. There was an information session last night. ii. There was a H1N1 Vaccine Clinic on 11/9, targeting pregnant women and direct caregivers; the next clinic on Thursday will target children with asthma and other respiratory system complications. There is still not enough vaccine available for the Tri-Town to hold a clinic for the general public. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Instructional Technology Review: a. School Technology Manager Candyce Wainwright presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding progress on the Technology Plan 2006-2011, a hard copy of which was included in the packet. Also included in the packet was a list of technology accomplishments. After her presentation, there was a discussion period. b. Dr. Creeden asked if the Weatherbug Weather Station at Spofford has a live camera; Candyce Wainwright said it did. c. Ms. Wainwright thanked Hagan Rivers, who redesigned the school website. d. A PTO representative said their organization would like to be involved in the Technology Advisory Committee. e. Heather Fecteau said a depreciation schedule of technology was needed. Pam Messenger agreed and requested one from Candyce Wainwright to use during the upcoming budgeting process. f. A BEST representative said grant money was available to teachers, but they had to write the grants. She also asked if teachers were being trained on the Smart Boards; Larry Fliegelman said teachers were training each other on this during “Wonderful Wednesdays” and that teachers go to Ms. Wainwright for help. g. Cindy Murphy asked Ms. Wainwright for a “wish list” for Technology staffing. She replied that one full-time aide in each building manning the “Help Desk” would free her and Chris Esolen up. Debra Hale suggested having a Data Manager at the Tri-Town level, but doubted that the position could be funded with grants. There was consensus that Ms. Wainwright should only be called to troubleshoot when necessary and that employees should try to solve their problems by themselves first, freeing Ms. Wainwright up to do more management and planning. h. Dr. Creeden spoke of his recent visit to the Philadelphia Public Schools and their use of technology in the classroom. i. Dr. Creeden also wished to direct the Committee’s attention to two handouts included in the packet: Technology Training FY 2007 and the recent Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Technology Plan Implementation Report. 2. School Committee Strategic Plan 2009-2012 Review: a. Pam Messenger edited this document and sent it to Dr. Creeden. b. She plans to add technology goals to the document determined at this meeting: one full-time technology aide per school and a depreciation schedule. Cindy Murphy suggested to also add hiring a Tri-Town Data Manager to this list of goals. c. Dr. Creeden will e-mail the revised plan to Committee members. 3. FY2011 Budget Development: a. North Shore Coalition for School Funding: i. A handout describing the Coalition was included in the packet. ii. Dr. Creeden said that if one Committee member is interested in being a Coalition representative, a motion to join the organization should be an action agenda item for the next meeting. The Committee did not form an opinion on this matter yet. b. FY 2010 State and Local Budget Update: i. Dr. Creeden mentioned that Brad Hill would have office hours at Town Hall tomorrow in the afternoon. ii. There was discussion about the budgets of the other 2 towns in the Tri-Town. At their December Town Meeting, Middleton plans to reduce the town budget by $190K and the school budget by $90K. At present, Topsfield hasn’t asked the schools to reduce their budget. 4. Correspondence: None 5. Other: a. Rusty Chadwick will report on bullying legislation at the next meeting. b. There was some concern about whether the legislature is becoming too involved in the schools by requesting bullying incident reporting. Rusty Chadwick felt that reporting BMI to the DPH was also intrusive to the schools; Rebecca Lundrigan disagreed because she felt that this would help to target potential problems of students who don’t see a doctor regularly. c. Dr. Creeden mentioned a handout related to the legal issues of home schoolers in the packet. d. Pam Messenger stated that the Conflict of Interest training deadline had been moved from 12/09 to 4/10. Dr. Creeden said he hoped employees would be trained by December 11th. He hoped that school volunteers wouldn’t have to do this training and was trying to find that out now. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings: a. October 20, 2009 – Regular Meeting: i. Minutes were reviewed at the 11/3/09 Quorum Discussion - no changes were needed. A motion was made by Cindy Murphy to approve the October 20, 2009 Regular Meeting minutes, reviewed at the 11/3/09 Quorum Discussion, seconded by Pam Messenger. Motion passed 5-0-0. b. October 20, 2009 – Executive Session: i. Minutes were amended at the 11/3/09 Quorum Discussion. A motion was made by Cindy Murphy to approve the October 20, 2009 Executive Session minutes, as amended at the 11/3/09 Quorum Discussion, seconded by Pam Messenger. Motion passed 5-0-0. c. November 3, 2009 – Quorum Discussion: i. Under the Report of the Superintendent, Personnel Report, subsection i., Page 2, change the sentence, Pam Messenger asked if a substitute is in place for this; Dr. Creeden said it was. to Pam Messenger asked if the substitute will remain in place for this; Dr. Creeden said yes. ii. Report of the Director of Finance and Human Resources 1. State FY 10 Budget: a. Subheading i., #1, Line 2, Page 2, omit the word, only. 2. Preliminary Capital Plan Update 2010-2011: a. Subheading v., Line 1-2, Page 3, omit the phrase, costing $200 to $300K. A motion was made by Pam Messenger to approve the 11/3/09 Quorum Discussion as amended, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 4-0-1, with Rusty Chadwick abstaining due to his late arrival at that meeting. 2. Bills and Payrolls: a. A Bill Warrants and Payrolls handout was included in the packet. A motion was made by Pam Messenger to approve BW#10-24, in the amount of $40,649.50, seconded by Cindy Murphy. Motion passed 5-0-0. A motion was made by Pam Messenger to approve BW#10-25, in the amount of $4,367.10, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 5-0-0. A motion was made by Pam Messenger to approve the 10/27/09 Salary Reserve transfer, in the amount of $8,790.00, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 5-0-0. A motion was made by Pam Messenger to approve the 10/30/09 Salary Reserve transfer, in the amount of $41,730.00, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 5-0-0. Motion made by Pam Messenger to approve the Payroll, weeks ending 10/30 and 11/6/09, totaling $291,947.05, seconded by Cindy Murphy. Motion passed 5-0-0. Motion made by Pam Messenger to approve the BW#10-26, #10-27 and #10-28CF, totaling $102,397.25, seconded by Rebecca Lundrigan. Motion passed 5-0-0. 3. Home Schooling Requests: a. These requests, with supporting documents, were reviewed at the 11/3/09 Quorum Discussion. Dr. Creeden said there were no new Home Schooling Requests. A motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to approve the Home Schooling Requests of one child each from the Suleski and Nadworny families, previously approved by the principal(s), seconded by Rusty Chadwick. Motion passed 5-0-0. 4. Acceptance of Donations to the Schools: a. A supporting document was included in the packet. Motion by Pam Messenger to accept the donation of the Letter People Puppets from the Vorrias family, seconded by Rusty Chadwick. Motion passed 5-0-0. 5. 12/01/09 Meeting: Motion made by Pam Messenger to cancel the 12/01/09 meeting, seconded by Cindy Murphy. Motion passed 5-0-0. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 9:30 p.m., a motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to leave the Regular Meeting and enter into Executive Session for the preparation for negotiations with represented personnel, returning to Regular Meeting for the purpose of adjournment only, seconded by Rusty Chadwick. Motion passed 5-0-0 by roll call vote (in favor: Rusty Chadwick, Cynthia Foster, Rebecca Lundrigan, Pam Messenger and Cindy Murphy). ADJOURNMENT: At 9:50 p.m., on a roll call vote, the Committee returned from Executive Session for the purpose of adjournment. Chairperson Pam Messenger moved to adjourn, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Ellen Gaskell Recording Secretary |
