MINUTES

STRATHAM SCHOOL BOARD

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

STRATHAM MEMORIAL SCHOOL 

 

BOARD PRESENT:  Mark Poirier, Katherine McDonnell, Bob O’Sullivan, Luke Breton, Jim Dubela

 

ADMINISTRATION PRESENT:  Tom Fosher, Meg Driscoll, Mary Ellen Palmer, Nathan Lunney, Skip Hanson

 

 

1.       CALL TO ORDER – The meeting was called to order by Chair Poirier at 6:05PM.  He explained that the meeting was planned with an early start for a non-public session with Superintendent Hanson to discuss evaluation of the superintendent and SAU services.

 

2.       NON-PUBLIC SESSION – On a motion by Katherine McDonnell, seconded by Luke Breton, the board unanimously voted through a roll call vote to enter non-public session at 6:07 PM under Chapter 91-A:3, II (a).

 

Jim Dubela arrived at 6:32PM during the non-public session.  After returning to public session at 6:50PM, Superintendent Hanson commented on a conversation he had with Dr. Mark Joyce, Executive Director of the NH School Administrators Association and Dr. Lyonel Tracy, Commissioner of the NH Department of Education concerning House Bill 664 which seeks to make all public school districts in the state into open enrollment schools.  The board engaged in discussion about the subject.  The Superintendent left the meeting at 7:00PM.

 

3.       APPROVAL OF MINUTES

3.1      On a motion by Luke Breton, seconded by Katherine McDonnell, the board voted unanimously with no further discussion to approve the minutes of the December 12, 2005 budget workshop and the minutes and non-public minutes of the December 12, 2005 meeting.  

 

4.       VISITORS – Laura Batchelder, SMS physical ed teacher, offered concerns about the condition of the SMS gymnasium, especially on Monday mornings, following its weekend and evening use by the recreation department and other outside users.  After some discussion, the board agreed that Jim Dubela would address the issue with the recreation department, coaches, etc.  It was agreed that SMS teaching staff should not be required to spend mornings cleaning the facility to make it safe and usable.

 

5.       GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE

5.1      Verizon – Principal Fosher reported to the board the receipt of a letter from the Verizon Foundation awarding a check for $500 to SMS for the music program.  The award was made possible by Mark Ward, an SMS parent.  Tom has responded with a letter of gratitude.

5.2      Timberland – Tom reminded the board of the donation from Timberland Company of the emergency backpacks at SMS.  Tom has received a letter from Celina Adams, Community Investment Manager, recognizing that the award was made on behalf of Elizabeth Ambargis, a SMS parent and Timberland Company employee.  The value of the gift was over $3,000.  Tom has responded with a letter of thanks.

 

6.       BOARD REPORTS / POLICY

6.1      Legislative update – The board continued their conversation about House Bill 664.  Much discussion ensued about the numerous problems and potential negative impacts perceived from possible passage of this legislation.

 

6.2      Joint Chairs meeting – Luke Breton attended the December 14th Chairs meeting.  He reviewed the minutes from that meeting and noted topics discussed including:  SAU budget, SAU music initiative, the planning for a state-wide virtual charter school, the RUS grant, transportation, and the SAU 2006-07 calendar.

 

6.3      Policy Update - Policies for 1st Reading – Luke reviewed the policies as revised by the SAU Policy Committee.  The board discussed adding language to policy JH.  Luke will carry that feedback to the committee for further review and for amendment of the policy for this board.

6.3.1    BIE – Board Member Indemnification

6.3.2    JH – Attendance, Tardiness and Truancy

6.3.3    JICH – Drug and Alcohol Use by Students                        

 

7.       CURRICULUM

7.1      Spelling Bee – Principal Fosher explained that the Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee was initially adopted by the board as a project.  The board members traditionally serve as judges.  All are invited to participate on February 22nd at 6:30PM.

7.2      Write Traits – This training is upcoming on Thursday and Friday, January 19 and 20 from 8:30AM to 3:30PM at the Stratham Municipal Center.  The training relates closely to the building goals around language arts and writing.  All are welcome to attend.

 

8.       SUPERINTENDENT / ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT REPORT

8.1      SAU Update – Nathan reported to the board including the following items:

8.1.1    The RUS grant was awarded in a ceremony last Friday, January 6th.  The award is for $499,330 from the USDA Rural Development Initiative and will be used for distance learning and telecommunications.  The grant was a shared venture with Farmington, NH and Orleans, VT.

8.1.2    The Grade Reporting Task Force will be meeting at the end of January.  The primary purpose of that meeting will be to review recent survey results.

8.1.3    PowerSchool has been chosen as the new student information management system.  Staff are working on financing and initial implementation is planned as early as this spring and fall.

 

9.       SMS Administrative Team

9.1      School Activities – Principal Fosher updated the board on activities at SMS.  Dental Education program is going on now.  A student group is going to the Portsmouth Music Hall.  TJ Wheeler is coming to work with Grade 3.  Leslie Smith will be performing January 25th at the Cooperative Middle School.

9.2      High School Transition Presentation – The PTO is hosting a meeting on January 24th at 6:30PM with Victor Sokul, EHS Principal, who will discuss plans for the transition to the new high school.

9.3      Blood Drive – The blood drive is part of the Grade 4 curriculum each year.  This year’s drive will be on Wednesday, February 8th from noon to 8:00pm.

9.4      Special Education – Mary Ellen Palmer reported that there have been two new referrals in the last month.  Seven referrals are currently in the process of evaluation.  Meg Driscoll reminded the board about the continuing process of the renewal of IDEA.  The final regulations are not expected to be available until this summer, maybe early fall.

 

10.    EMPLOYEES

10.1   Retirements – Principal Fosher announced to the board that two notices of retirement have been received from staff.  Charlene Gelineau and Penny Claire have stated their intention to retire effective June 30, 2006.  On a motion by Bob O’Sullivan, seconded by Luke Breton, the board voted unanimously with regret to accept the retirement notice of Charlene Gelineau and Jennifer “Penny” Claire.

10.2   Permanent Substitute – Principal Fosher reported that successful interviews were conducted in the search for permanent substitution.  Two were hired: Marcia Gagnon has experience at SMS; Rebecca Audet spent a year in the Exeter elementary schools and a half year in Massachusetts.

 

11.    BUILDING AND GROUNDS

11.1   Water Damage – Principal Fosher updated that board on recent water damage in three classrooms.  Water leaked under the exterior fire doors as result of an extremely hard rain and the ice buildup on the concrete pads outside the doors.  The rooms have been cleaned up; they were unused for three days prior to the vacation week during cleaning.  Weather stripping under the doors was upgrade to prevent recurrence.

11.2   Recess – Principal Fosher shared with the board that SMS uses an outdoor temperature of 18 degrees Fahrenheit, including any wind chill, as the standard for deciding on inside versus outside recess.  He also reported that there is new equipment on the hardtop to entertain at recess.

 

12.    PUPIL RELATED MATTERS

12.1   Suspension – Was held for discussion in non-public session.

 

13.    OLD BUSINESS – Principal Fosher reminded the board that staff is working on information relevant to the

space-needs conversation from past meetings.  He will report on this at the next meeting.

 

14.    NEW BUSINESS – Principal Fosher updated the board on the project to extend cable into the main office.

 

15.    BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL – None.

 

16.    CLOSING STATEMENTS

On a motion by Luke Breton, seconded by Bob O’Sullivan, the board unanimously voted through a roll call vote to enter non-public session at 8:51 PM under Chapter 91-A:3, II (a).

The board returned to public session at 9:04 PM.

 

On a motion by Bob O’Sullivan, seconded by Jim Dubela, the board unanimously voted through a roll call vote to enter non-public session at 9:05 PM under Chapter 91-A:3, II (b).

The board returned to public session at 9:06 PM.

 

On a motion by Katherine McDonnell, seconded by Luke Breton, the board unanimously voted through a roll call vote to enter non-public session at 9:07 PM under Chapter 91-A:3, II (c).

The board returned to public session at 9:10 PM.

 

17.    NEXT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING:         Wednesday, February 8, 2006 at 6:30PM.

 

18.    ADJOURNMENT - On a motion by Katherine McDonnell, seconded by Jim Dubela, the board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 PM.

  

Respectfully submitted: 

Nathan Lunney, Assistant Business Administrator