January 04, 2007 Minutes

Amended M.S.A.D. #11
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
Central Office Board Room
Thursday, January 04, 2007
7:00 p.m.

PRESENT: Mr. Rogers, Vice-Chair, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Dunn, Mrs. Fles, Mr. Hunnewell, Mr. Jermyn,
Mrs. Kelley, Mrs. Shaw (7:15 p.m.), Mr. Shea, Mr. Taylor, Dr. Knowles, Ms. Rebar,
Mrs. Leathers

ABSENT: Mrs. Paradee, Chair, Mr. King

Mr. Rogers asked that an item under Correspondence be moved to the end of the
meeting.

VOTED: Motion by Mrs. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Kelley to approve the agenda as amended.
9 - 0

VOTED: Motion by Mrs. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Kelley to approve the minutes of the Regular
9 – 0 Meeting of December 7.

Recognition and Celebrations

A. Dr. Knowles recognized David Chapman for 15 years of service as a Board member.
He stated David always had children’s best interests at heart. Mr. Rogers presented
Mr. Chapman with a gift.

B. Dr. Knowles recognized Wendy Ault, Executive Director and Stephenie Cook from
the MELMAC Education Foundation. Ms. Ault stated the Gardiner grant was the
poster child for the foundation because of the way the grant was written and used.

The goals of the foundation are to increase college enrollment of students graduating
from Maine high schools and to increase the graduation rates of students at Maine
postsecondary institutions.

She stated the best practices to increase enrollments are: college visits, summer
interviews, enrollment surveys, ensure all students are helped, and grant coaches.
The biggest challenge is engaging parents.

Stephenie Cook stated Gardiner has received $84,000 in grant money. She stated
Gardiner has done as well as any recipient, with 18% of the total number of additional
students going on to post-secondary education. Gardiner has the fourth highest
increase in college enrollment, a 21% increase from 2003 to 2005.

C. Dr. Knowles announced the winners of the Scholastic Art Awards: Timothy Peaslee,

Regular Meeting -2- January 4, 2007

GRMS – gold medal; Lauren Gorham, GAHS – merit award; Kayla Hallett and
Grace Temple, GRMS – silver medals.

Correspondence

The following correspondence was presented to the Board:
A. A letter of retirement from Margo Willette, Grade 2 at Pittston School
B. A letter of resignation from Ed Allen, Custodian at GAHS
C. A letter of resignation from Tom Renckens at GAHS Alt Ed. Program

Committee Reports

A. Policy – no meeting
B. Finance Committee – no meeting
C. Negotiations – Mr. Rogers stated there would be an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss negotiations.
D. Mrs. Fles, Chair of the Long Range Committee, presented the minutes of the
January 2 Meeting. Discussed at that meeting was a new Program Review design and the Randolph/Pittston Forum process.
E. Labor Management – no meeting
F. Energy Committee – no meeting
G. 6-12 Academic Audit Committee – Dr. Knowles stated the Committee is deciding what information is needed in the second round of questions and hope to have surveys ready by January.

General Information

The following items were presented as general information:
A. A letter from Citadel Architectural Products regarding the GAHS siding
B. Hired Patrick McNally as Interim Varsity Boys’ Basketball Coach at GAHS
C. Hired Peter Dixon as Interim JV Boys’ Basketball Coach at GAHS
D. Hired Ernie Martin as Interim Freshmen Basketball Coach at GAHS
E. A letter from Chad Kempton regarding GAHS revised tutorial program. Mr.
Kempton asked that the three hour detention for failure to attend an academic
tutorial be eliminated. He stated less than 10% of the students in the
detention were completing missed assignments and the time administrators
spent on monitoring the detentions was taking away from other responsibilities.
Ms. Pare stated the program did not work and discipline issues were increasing
as Administration was spending too much time with referrals for students who
would not attend tutorials.
F. Hired Jason Cassidy as 8th grade Boys’ Basketball Coach at GRMS.

Regular Meeting -3- January 4, 2007

Old Business

A. Dr. Knowles presented the format for the Randolph/Pittston Process
1. Discuss reasons for being there
2. Tour of building
3. Talking points for decisions that need to be made
4. Audience participation

New Business

A. Ms. Rebar updated the Board on the results of the SAT’s testing. Juniors who took
the SAT’s were 26-29 points below State average. She also presented a list of
neighboring schools to show how the District was doing by comparison.

Mr. Kempton presented an analysis of types of students and how they did on the
test. He stated every junior took the test so the results were lower than before. He
stated boys had done better on tests than the girls. He stated teachers were working
on ways to improve scores such as test examples being in class. Mr. Kempton
stated he would present a plan for improving SAT scores to the Board before
the end of the year.

A. Dr. Knowles stated the budget process was under way. Cost centers will be discussed at Finance Meetings. He stated Mrs. Leathers is working on salary and benefit costs, and principals and teachers are working on the supply requests. He asked if the Board was comfortable with the process and if any thing else was needed.

B. Mr. Warren and Mr. Anderson presented a request for a Cross Country Ski Club.

VOTED Motion by Mr. Jermyn, seconded by Mrs. Dunn to approve the request for the club
10 – 0
D. Mr. Rogers stated he and Mrs. Paradee were working on the GAHS Athletic Policy
Handbook Review Committee. He stated they have come up with some members but
have been unable to contact everyone. He stated the Committee would be announced
at the Bimonthly. He reminded the Board this Committee would be reviewing the
handbook only. The Athletic Program review will be done in the spring.

Reports – Educational/Administration

A. Anthony Anderson, School Health Coordinator updated the Board on activities paid for by the School Health Grant. Goals on the program are to increase physical activity, make healthy food choices and decrease tobacco use. The program sponsors
the walking school buses, indoor walking trails in each of the school buildings, and
Regular Meeting -4- January 4, 2007

the “Run Tobacco Out of Town” trail run. The Wellness Committee applied for and
received the Carol White Physical Education Grant which paid for fitness rooms at the
Middle School, High School and the Boys and Girls Club. The District has also
passed a Wellness Policy and Tobacco Use Policy. fitness rooms at the high school,
middle school and Boys & Girls Club. Teachers are integrating physical activities in
the classroom. Mr. Anderson credited Mrs. Gould, Lunch Supervisor for providing
healthy food choices with salad bars at the Middle School, High School and River
View.

He stated the District has received $841,000 in grants and awards over the past three
years.

Nominations

VOTED: Motion by Mrs. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Kelley to approve the nomination of Patricia
10 – 0 Philbrook as a nurse at GRMS and River View @$30,215.16

VOTED: Motion by Mrs. Kelley, seconded by Mrs. Fles, to go into executive session at 9:15 p.m.,
10 – 0 pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(D) to discuss the progress of negotiations with the Custodians. The Board reconvened at 9:30 p.m.

The Board discussed a written response to the articles in the KJ regarding the basketball coaching situation. It was decided not to respond in writing, but to explain the circumstances of the coach’s resignation to anyone who asked.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.