Exeter Region Cooperative School Board Meeting MINUTES

Tuesday, November 6, 2007 – 7:00 PM

EHS - Roy Morrisette Alumni Room

 

 

Present:          Sally Oxnard, Kris Magnusson, Ray Trueman, Lucy Cushman, Kim Casey, Patty Lovejoy, Townley Chisholm, Tomasen Carey and Barbara Collins

 

Absent:  N/A  

 

Administration: Arthur Hanson, Victor Sokul, Tom O’Malley, Andy Littlefield, Tony Baldasaro, Bill Perkins

 

Guests:  John Cronin, Senior Research Associate, NWEA

 

 

1.      CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:  Chair Oxnard called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM followed the Pledge or Allegiance.  Board members introduced themselves.

 

2.   ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC INPUT: None

 

3.   CHAIR’S REPORT

3.1  Presentation by NWEA – John Cronin:  Tony Baldasaro, CMS Curriculum Coordinator, introduced Dr. John Cronin and gave an overview of the variety of people that Dr. Cronin worked with at CMS during the day.  Dr. Cronin distributed a handout regarding his report on the Virtual Comparison Group Analysis of Growth in the Cooperative Middle School (see Attachment #1 pdf).  Dr. Cronin analyzed three years of test data from students at CMS and used a virtual comparison to track the progress of CMS students against students from across the country who live in similar socio-economic areas and who attend comparably sized schools.  The comparison included this year’s Exeter High School’s ninth graders who were the first students to go through three years at CMS with flexible grouping, with the exception of mathematics which is ability grouped.  Below are the main points of Dr. Cronin’s presentation:

·         High achieving students are the only group of students meeting or exceeding the growth of the Virtual Comparison Group (VCG)

·         The growth has been the same, regardless of the type of instructional group they have been placed in

·         The low and middle class achieving students are not performing as well as students in their VCG

·         It may be appropriate, at this time, to examine the program (MathScape) and how this is working

·         The middle achieving students should pose the most concern for the school since these are the students that should also be on a college track

·         Rather than looking at grouping, the board and the CMS staff should focus on the aspirations of students and family

·         The national trend for math is that if they test at a score of 235 or higher on NWEA math tests, they are eligible for algebra in 8^th grade.  At CMS, students with scores of 240 or higher are eligible for algebra.  Dr. Cronin suggested that CMS examine this practice and perhaps open up algebra for students with scores of 235 or higher versus a 240 or higher score.

·         Examination of male/female achievement

·         Encouraging students to understand challenges of choosing academically rigorous courses

 

Dr. Cronin recommends that the CMS teachers and administration develop a plan that is meeting the needs of all students.  The important aspect of this is to be certain that there is a consistency constancy of purpose, i.e., to allow the plan to go forward for a period of time rather than trying to address certain aspects of the program in a “crisis mode” as he maintains is currently happening.

 

Tony Baldasaro shared the thoughts of CMS teachers and administration in hopes that the mixed ability grouping issue will be put to rest so that the staff and administration can concentrate their efforts on curriculum and assessment.

 

 

4.   SUPERINTENDENT/ADMINISTRATION REPORT

      4.1 Principal’s Reports: Principal Sokul reviewed his report and talked about Varsity Girls Soccer winning the state championship and that several girls from Indoor Track Team are competing at the New England level.  After his report, Mr. Chisholm stated his strong opinion that A/P Calculus should be included in the new courses coming forward.  Principal O’Malley discussed the value of parent volunteers with nurses’ screening of all students, the Book Fair and the Parent Partnership.  He also noted the school board breakfast and Ed Pease’s work with the Builder’s Club.

 

     

5.   COMMITTEE REPORTS: Due to the lateness of the hour, Chair Oxnard deferred all committee reports to the December meeting.  Mr. Trueman requested that the Superintendent Search Committee representative give a brief update to the board.

 

5.1 GBeCS Report: deferred

 

5.2  Seacoast school of Technology: deferred

 

5.3 SAU Policy Committee: deferred

 

5.4 SAU Technology: deferred

 

5.5  Superintendent’s Search: Mr. Chisholm gave a brief report noting that the applications close November 13, 2007; the committee will interview selected candidates the first week of December to determine who to bring forward to the SAU Joint Board; and that site visits will occur the first part of January 2008.

 

6.  Old/New Business: Considerable discussion took place regarding the role of the school board and the superintendent with the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS).  See Attachment #2 pdf.  Ms. Magnusson made a motion that the ERCSD Board hire independent legal counsel to advise the board of its legal and fiscal responsibilities relative to the application and motion unanimously made by the NH State Board of Education to grant the charter of the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School to the Exeter Region Cooperative School District as made at their meeting on May 9, 2007 not to exceed a cost of $2,000 without further approval of the ERCSD Board.  Mr. Chisholm seconded the motion.  After further discussion on this motion, on a motion by Ms. Lovejoy, seconded by Ms. Casey and voted 4-3 (Magnusson, Trueman and Chisholm) to move the question.   Abstain by RigordaEva.  Motion passed to move the question.  Chair Oxnard called for a vote on the original motion: 3-4 (Cushman, Casey, Lovejoy and Carey); Abstain by RigordaEva.  Motion failed.  Mr. Trueman queried Chair Oxnard regarding her not voting on this motion.  The chair indicated that if she did vote, she would have voted with the majority. 

 

7.   Public Input: Jim Johnson, Brentwood, spoke of the Special SAU Joint Board meeting on October 29, 2007.  Anne Sloan, Stratham, thanked the board for their support of the Great Bay eLearning Charter School.

 

8.   APPROVAL OF MINUTES

      8.1  October 16, 2007 Minutes: Motion by Ms. Cushman, seconded by Ms. Tomasen and unanimously voted to approve the October 16, 2007 minutes as presented. 

 

9.   NON-PUBLIC SESSION: None at this time.

 

10. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion by Mr. Chisholm seconded by Mr. Trueman and unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:55 PM.

 

 

Minutes taken by,

 

Arthur L. Hanson, Superintendent