STRATHAM SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES
Members Present: John Hazekamp, Katherine McDonnell, Bob O’Sullivan, Mark Poirier, Ann Sloan (arrived at 7:10)
Administration: Tom Fosher, Principal, Katherine Nichol, Assistant Principal, Meg Driscoll and Mary Ellen Palmer, Co-Directors of Special Services, Ray Raudonis, Interim Assistant Superintendent
1. Mr. O’Sullivan called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.
2.
NON-PUBLIC SESSION: none
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Mr. Hazekamp moved to approve the minutes of the September 8, 2004 board meeting. Mr. Poirier seconded. Motion carried 4-0.
4. Visitors:
4.1. Vicki Avery spoke on behalf of the Heritage Commission informing the board of the opportunity to purchase a town flag (limited first edition) which is a replica of the first town flag created by Margaret Barker in 1974. Mr. Poirier moved, Ms. McDonnell seconded, the purchase of a flag for sixty dollars. All members in favor.
4.2. Ms. McDonnell introduced Representative Rogers Johnson. Representative Johnson discussed a variety of issues including educational funding, building and catastrophic aid, increased property values of NH communities, Medicaid and health care, and prudent health care consumption. The board appreciated his informative remarks.
5.
General
Correspondence: none
6. BOARD REPORTS/POLICY:
6.1. Legislative update: Ms. Palmer informed the board of the formation of a committee regarding the reauthorization of IDEA.
6.2. Chairs meeting – Mr. O’Sullivan noted that the next SAU16 Chairs meeting would be on October 20th, 2004, and that Mr. Hazekamp would attend in his place due to a business commitment.
6.3. Space Committee Appointments and Charge. Mr. Hazekamp moved to accept the nominations and the committee charge (attached). Ms. McDonnell seconded and the motion carried 5-0.
6.4. Board Committee re: Assistant Superintendent position. Ms. McDonnell explained that she and Mr. Hazekamp have met with Mr. Raudonis regarding the job description and monthly meetings were scheduled to complete the task.
6.5. Policy Development. Mr. Hazekamp described the process used by him and the SAU16 Policy Committee to create proposed policy BDF Advisory Committees to the Board.
6.6. Review of Policies: First Reading
6.6.1. Proposed policy BDF was given first reading.
7. CURRICULUM
7.1. Data Driven Decision Making Survey. The board discussed possible questions to be on the Stratham version of the survey which is scheduled for distribution in February/March. Mr. Raudonis and Mr. Fosher were asked to draft two questions: One regarding community interest in challenging adademic after school programs on a fee for service basis. The second question would be asking for feedback relative to the transition from grade 5 to 6 including placement issues, curriculum issues, staff and parent involvement, etc.
7.2. Curriculum Night. Mr. Fosher described events at Stratham Memorial School’s annual curriculum night.
7.3. NWEA Testing. Mr. Fosher gave the board copies of the “Parent Toolkit” distributed during the curriculum night describing the NWEA testing program.
7.4. NECAP Testing. Mr. Fosher apprised the board of the pilot testing of this instrument in grades 3, 4, and 5 that will be taking place in October. The pilot is designed to test the reliability and validity of the tests and not to provide student data. Grade 5 students will also be given a writing sample in January as part of the pilot.
7.5.
Write
Traits. Dr. Fred Wolfe will be working with teachers at SMS on Thursday and
Friday (October 14th and 15th).
8. SUPERINTENDENT/ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT REPORT
8.1. SAU 16 update: Mr. Raudonis spoke to the board about the Great Bay eLearning Charter School open houses, the Grade Reporting Task Force being formed, the high school principal search, and the high school building project.
8.2.
Enrollment: Student
enrollment has reached 650 students; an increase of eight since school began.
9. SMS ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM:
9.1. Assistant Principal Nichol described the many activities scheduled for the month and noted that October was “safety month” with many initiatives directed toward safety issues.
9.2. Special Education update: Ms. Palmer discussed the special education enrollment data, new referrals, etc.
9.3. In-Service Day October 8, 2004. Mr. Fosher described the variety of team meetings, including team budgeting, and Linux software training that took place.
9.4.
Transportation.
Mr. Fosher noted that two buses were still arriving late in the morning and two
are still arriving after 3:15 in the afternoon. Mr. O’Sullivan asked that the
COOP board be informed of the impact on Stratham Memorial School that COOP
schedule changes have had.
10. EMPLOYEES:
10.1. New Teacher Contract. Mr. O’Sullivan presented the proposed changes to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. He highlighted language changes in articles VII B4b, IX G, IX J, XII B, XII G, XII I, XII J, XII K, XII O, XII P, XIV A, XIV D, XVI D, and XVI (the salary schedule). Mr. Poirier moved to ratify the contract as written. Ms. McDonnell seconded his motion and the vote was 5-0 in the affirmative.
10.2.
Board Meeting
with Paras/support staff. Mr. O’Donnell appointed Ms. Sloan to represent the
board in meeting and conferring with paraprofessionals and support staff
regarding salary and benefits.
11. BUILDING AND GROUNDS:
11.1. Mr. Raudonis spoke to establishing a safety committee at Stratham Memorial School. Mr. Fosher recommended using the existing faculty committee for this purpose. Mr. Raudonis suggested that a safety audit could be conducted by PRIMEX. Mr. O’Donnell asked if the consultant working on security measures for the new COOP High School could assist us in examining security improvements at SMS .
11.2. AM Drop-off procedures. Mr. Fosher described newly implemented (and successful) a.m. drop-off procedures that had been suggested by a traffic planner/consultant.
12. PUPIL RELATED MATTERS: None
13. OLD BUSINESS: None
14. NEW BUSINESS: None
15. BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
15.1.
Mr. Raudonis
discussed the schedule for the preparation of the 2005-06 budget.
16. CLOSING STATEMENTS:None
17. NEXT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING:
17.1.
The board will
meet on November 10, 2004 with a budget workshop at 5:00PM and a regular meeting at 6:30PM.
18. ADJOURNMENT: Ms. Sloan moved to adjourn, Mr. Hazekamp seconded and the motion was unanimously approved at 9:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted:
Ray Raudonis