ROCKINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT
School Board Meeting
January 4, 2010
Present: Joseph Brissette, Timothy Doherty, Michael Empey, Charles Jarras, James McAuliffe
Also Present: Johanna Harpster, Sharon Reynolds, David Lesser, Cheryl McDaniel-Thomas, Bruce Downer, FACT-TV, Mac Jones, Rhonda Williams
MINUTES
Charlie Jarras, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Tim Doherty.
Executive Session:
Title 1, § 313 (3): The Board and Superintendent Harpster entered executive session at 7:02 PM and returned to open session at 7:10 PM. Tim Doherty moved that Charlie Jarras step down as Chairman. Joe Brissette seconded and the motion carried. Tim moved that Michael Empey assume the role of Chair. Joe seconded and the motion carried. Mike resigned as Vice Chair and nominated Jim McAuliffe. Joe seconded and the motion carried.
Review Warrants: The warrants are not available tonight but Charlie has reviewed them. He inquired about the invoice for broken windows at Central Elementary. This is an ongoing problem, particularly on the west side toward the bank, and Bruce Downer and Andrea Allbee will explore installing something on the windows.
Adjustments to the Agenda: Mike added 12b. Affiliation with the Wrestling Team. Johanna added an executive session for a legal matter at the end of the meeting.
Review and Approve Minutes of December 21, 2009: Jim moved to accept the Minutes as printed; Charlie seconded the motion. Joe amended No. 5 to state that Diane Ellis’ presentation was on restorative, not reparative justice. The motion carried and the Minutes were approved as amended.
Visitors:
Bus Report – Mac Jones: Mac was asked to the meeting due to an invoice for repair of Bus No. 6 which the Board questioned as a warranty repair. Mac explained that there are issues which the bus company located in placeStateMaine needs to address and he is waiting for them to visit. Tim suggested having the lawyer apply pressure; Joe suggested that the Superintendent write to the Attorney General first. Effectively immediately, Mac will make notation on bus invoices for which he is seeking warranty reimbursement. Joe moved to ask Johanna to write to Bill Sorrell, Attorney General, concerning problems on warranty bus work we feel are not being addressed.
Communications – Chair: None.
9. Committees and Other Projects:
Transportation Committee: Tim reported the Committee is on standby with no meeting scheduled.
Budget Committee (12/21/09 Minutes enclosed): Jim reported that the Committee met prior to this meeting and approved an expense budget which will be brought to the Board in No. 13b. He complimented the three Principals and Sharon Reynolds on a great job and the progress made over the last three years in Special Ed. Mike complimented the Budget Committee on its work.
Article 6 Study Committee (12/22/09 Minutes enclosed): Tim said the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be presented for approval in No.13a. The next meeting is this Thursday at 7 PM at the SU. Tim said the new members of the Committee have really energized it. Joe added that they have brought a lot of enthusiasm and momentum, and Jim agreed that they are local people, some with children in the school system, and they bring a great sense of community. Joe moved to officially appoint the new members listed by Tim to the Committee; the motion carried.
First Reading of Animals on School District Property (Code G12 enclosed): David suggested adding after Principal “or his/her designee”. Joe wanted to add after school building “on school premises”, and there was discussion of the Principals having to enforce that on school grounds so it was rejected. Jim moved to bring the Policy with the one change for final adoption at the next meeting. Tim seconded and the motion carried.
11. Reports:
Superintendent of Schools
Draft Letter to Associations (enclosed): Johanna has drafted a letter to the WNEA leadership asking them to accept a 1% reduction in salary to offset a tax increase. Joe expressed concern that it will cause hard feelings and should be handled during contract negotiations. Jim moved to have the Superintendent finalize and send the letter. Charlie seconded and the motion carried 3-1 with Joe voting “no”.
Director of Student Support Services: Sharon addressed the Board’s questions about the current year’s financial statement. She and the Principals are working to keep costs down, and the Special Ed savings are considerable. Jim said her work is commendable.
Principals: David reported that the contractor came during the holiday vacation to fix the heat problem in the gym. Parts have been ordered and they made some adjustments so the gym is already warmer.
Cheryl said the Middle School is also experiencing heat issues, but bought the maintenance contract this year.
WNESU (Unapproved 12/16/09 Minutes enclosed): Tim referred to the “Three Musketeers” comment reflected in the Minutes. The next meeting is January 27th and Jim has a conflict. Jim moved to appoint Joe to replace him at that meeting; Charlie seconded and the motion carried.
12. Unfinished Business:
Response to Commissioner Vilaseca’s Letter (enclosed): Charlie moved to finalize and send the letter drafted by the Superintendent; Jim seconded and the motion carried.
Affiliation with the Wrestling Team: Mike received permission from the Board to develop an affiliation policy which will pertain to the wrestling team and other activities.
New Business:
Approve Request for Qualifications (enclosed): Tim explained this would go to architectural firms in the area to submit their qualifications and does not involve any money; the fee would be a separate warrant article. Tim moved to approve the Request for Qualifications; Joe seconded. Jim stated that this would allow the Committee to continue its work pending approval of funding at Town Meeting; the motion carried.
Approve 2010-2011 Proposed Budget: Jim moved to approve the expense budget for FY 2011 of $8,641,454 which represents an approximate 1% reduction from the budget approved last year. Charlie seconded and the motion carried.
Approve Annual Meeting Articles (enclosed): Articles 1-4 are standard boilerplate, and Johanna will insert the figure just approved into Article 5. The amount of $20,000 in Article 6 was discussed and Johanna said there is a surplus of $5,000 which can be applied. There was discussion of the wording “approve the expenditure of”. Johanna will check and if this language is not correct a special meeting will be warned. Joe moved to approve the warning of the Articles as is; Jim seconded and the motion carried.
Approve Announced Tuition: Johanna said the recommendation is to take the previous year’s amount of $11,392 and reduce it by 1% to $11,289. Jim moved to approve the announced tuition of $11,250; Joe seconded and the motion carried.
Other: Joe asked for a status report on Early Ed grant money. Johanna will add this to the agenda for the first February meeting.
Warrant Discussion: Tim moved that Charlie continue to review and sign the warrants. Joe seconded and the motion carried.
Action List Review: Johanna will have an update on encumbrances for the next meeting. Priscilla Lambert will be invited to the next meeting. Jim asked for the worksheets on the homestead tax rate to be brought to the next meeting, and to take another look at the number of students for next year.
Directors’ Comments: Tim welcomed Mike as the new Chair, and thanked Charlie for his service.
Jim said Happy New Year!
Mike complimented the Middle School on their Holiday Concert. He urged parents to get their kids inoculated.
Mike wants information about the language on sexuality issues and the number of incidents presented at a future meeting. Tim added that if a student is punished by serving detention the parent should serve it with their child.
The next meeting will be January 18, 2010 (Martin Luther King Day) at the SU at 7 PM.
Executive Session: Jim moved to go into executive session for a legal matter at 8:42 PM; Joe seconded and the motion carried. The Board returned to open session and no action was taken.
Adjournment: There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy Doherty, Clerk
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