February 1, 2007 Minutes

M.S.A.D. #11
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, February 1, 2007
7:00 p.m.

PRESENT:Mrs. Paradee, Chair, Mr. Rogers, Vice-Chair, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Dunn, Mrs. Fles, Mr. Hunnewell, Mr. Jermyn, Mrs. Kelley, Mr. King, Mrs. Shaw (7:35 p.m.), Mr. Shea, Mr. Taylor, Dr. Knowles, Ms. Rebar, Mrs. Leathers

Mrs. Paradee called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and declared a quorum present.

Alexandra Fish, Student Council President, updated the Board on activities at the high school. The Snowball will be held on Saturday, February 3 and the Council is planning Winter Carnival activities for February 16.

Mrs. Paradee added the following items to the agenda:
1. Women’s Lacrosse proposal under New Business

VOTED: Motion by Mrs. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Kelley to approve the agenda as amended.11 - 0

Mr. Hunnewell asked that the January 4 minutes be amended to reflect that Mr. Kempton would come back to the Board before the end of the year with a plan to improve SAT scores.

VOTED: Motion by Mrs. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Fles to approve the Regular Minutes of January 11 – 0 4, as amended, the Bimonthly Meeting of January 23 and the Special Meetings of January 18 and 23.
Recognition and Celebrations
None

Correspondence
The following correspondence was presented to the Board:
1. A letter of retirement from Norine Leathers, Business Manager

Committee Reports

A. Mr. Shea, Chair of the Policy Committee, presented the minutes of the January 9
Meeting. He stated Policy GCOC- Evaluation of Administrative Staff was being removed from the policies coming forward for approval, and would be sent back to Committee for further review.

VOTED: Motion by Committee to approve Section G of the Policy Manual. This comes as a 12 – 0 second reading.

VOTED: Motion by Committee to approve Section H of the Policy Manual. This comes as a 12 – 0 second reading.

VOTED: Motion by Committee to approve IHBEAA -LAU Plan. This comes as a second 12 – 0 reading.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, Feb 6 at 6:00 p.m. at Central Office. The Committee will be discussing Section I.

B. Mr. Hunnewell, Chair of the Finance Committee, presented the minutes of the January 16 Meeting. Discussed at that meeting were the following:
1. Projected 2007/08 salaries of $11,895,856
2. Draft proposal for budget review areas
3. Update on siding issue at GAHS
4. Lease purchase schedules for all leases owed
5. Debt Service schedule for all building projects

Mr. Hunnewell asked Mrs. Leathers to add the Revolving Renovation loans and the
QZAB loan to the debt service schedule.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 13. The Committee will be discussing
the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan and the maintenance schedules with Jon
Stonier, Director of Plant Operations. In March the Committee will be reviewing
transportation costs.

C. Mrs. Fles, Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee presented the minutes of the January 2 meeting. Discussed at the meeting was the Freeport Public School’s
Program Review Plan. Ms. Rebar and the CCC Committee will take the Freeport
model and the current MSAD #11 model and combine the best of both into a new
MSAD #11 Program Review Design.

The next meeting will be on Monday, February 26 after a Board meeting with the
District’s attorney, Harry Pringle, Esq. at 7:00 p.m..

D. Mr. Rogers, Chair of the Negotiations Committee, stated there had been a preliminary meeting with teachers and had exchanged ground rules. He stated there would be an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss Central Office salaries.

E. Labor Management – no Meeting

F. Energy Committee – No meeting

G. Dr. Knowles stated the 6-12 Audit Committee is revising surveys and will be having
a meeting on February 14 at 12:30 p.m. to continue the work.

H. Mr. Kempton stated Ms. Perry will be setting dates for the GAHS Athletic Handbook Review Committee. Dr. Knowles stated the handbook was included with Board backup and asked Committee members to familiarize themselves with the handbook.

Board members who have any concerns regarding the handbook should notify Mr.
Rogers or Mr. Jermyn.

I. Mr. Shea updated the Board on the January 29 Meeting of the CCC Meeting.
Curriculum needs for next year were Science kits, Handwriting without Tears for
Grade 3, extension of the Spire Program to Middle School and Social Studies books
for Grade 4. The Promotion/Retention/Acceleration Committee will bring a final
policy recommendation to the CCC Committee on March 26. The Standards Based
Report Card is being rolled out to elementary school for use next school year. Ms.
Rebar is putting together a summer school proposal for approval by the A Team and then the Board.

General Information

The following items were listed as general information:
1. Transferred Lou Ann Castonguay, Grade 4 at T. C. Hamlin to Grade 2 Pittston
for the 07/08 school year.
2. Appointed Matt Hanley as the GRMS Wrestling Coach
3. Hired Frederica Shorey as a non-route bus driver
4. Approved a GRMS Advisor/Advisee overnight field trip to Rockland.
5. Transferred Jessica Norton, Math Teacher at GAHS to Business/Technology/
Career Prep Teacher at GAHS
6. Transferred Jennifer Havey, Grade 5 at River View to Grade 4 at Hamlin for
07/08 school year.

Old Business
A. Dr. Knowles stated the Randolph/Pittston forums were very productive and positive. He stated the next meeting will be a combined meeting with additional information including visual charts being provided. The next meeting will be on February 15 at 7:00 p.m. in the Pittston Gym. Mr. Hunnewell asked when the enrollment study would be completed. Dr. Knowles stated it would be available at the March meeting.

Mrs. Fles stated financial information is important, but she would like equity for all students emphasized also.

B. Dr. Knowles updated the Board on the condition of the siding at the high school. Water has seeped in through channels around the panels and has compromised the plywood underneath. He stated a very preliminary estimate for replacing the siding is $500,000. Steve Blatt, the District’s Architect is working with the State on methods of financing and Bill Stockmeyer, the District’s lawyer is researching the matter to see if there are any legal avenues of address. He assured the Board that all avenues are being actively pursued and he will return to the Board when there is more definitive information.

New Business

A. Mrs. Paradee introduced Sharon Treat, State Representative, who talked about the
legislative perspective regarding Governor Baldacci’s plan to regionalize Maine
School Districts. She passed out the following:
1. A notice for the School District Regionalization Proposal Hearings
2. A copy of the Governors budget
3. Local Schools, Regional Support initiative
4. Proposed savings achieved through LSRS Administrative Restructure

She stated the Governor’s proposal is including as part of the budget, but most
legislators feel the Education Committee should be looking at all the bills and
come out of committee with a “committee bill” She stated there was a wide range of
proposals.

She stated legislators are studying at least five proposals in addition to the Governor’s proposal. She asked Board members to contact their representatives with suggestions for what would work.

Dr. Knowles stated he felt the plan was made with no input from people in the trenches. He stated there certainly is room for savings, but cannot be done in too short a time. He said the District had been sensitive to the need for change and savings for taxpayers and has closed a school, reconfigured two schools, and gave back money to the taxpayers.

Mr. Hunnewell expressed frustration that all the assessment work the State had mandated, and Districts had spent hundreds of hours on, is now withdrawn.

Ms. Treat stated her mail and e-mail has been running heavily in favor of doing something. She stated legislatures are looking for advice of what would work.

Mrs. Paradee suggested meeting with surrounding school boards to discuss what can be done to share services other than being part of a super district.

B. Dr. Knowles presented a proposed calendar for 2007/08. He stated this calendar was the closest the CATC Committee has come to a common calendar. He stated the Committee tries to minimize the days that CATC is in session and the high schools are not.

Mrs. Fles asked if a calendar could be considered where school starts after Labor Day.

VOTED: Motion by Mrs. Dunn, seconded by Mr. Jermyn to approve the 2007/08 school 11 – 1 calendar.

C. Dr. Knowles suggested appointing a School Construction Committee which would
deal with issues such as the high school siding and the possibility of new construction across the river. He suggested using the current Energy Committee members who would meet only when needed.

Mr. Shea suggested waiting to see if the Board was going to apply for new construction before establishing a committee. Mrs. Kelley stated any construction committee should have representatives from Randolph and Pittston on it.

Discussion of a committee was referred to the Policy Committee.

D. Mr. Kempton presented a request for a Women’s Lacrosse team on a club basis. He stated he has seventy-five girls who have expressed an interest and several volunteers who will be willing to coach.

Mr. Kempton stated there would need to be conversations about fund raising for equipment, and use of fields but he wanted to get permission from the Board before these conversations took place.

VOTED:Motion by Mr. Rogers, Dunn to support the request for Women’s Lacrosse as a Club 12 - 0 Sport.

Mr. Hunnewell stated he would like to have the Long Range Planning Committee
discuss the possibility of a field behind the Middle School.

VOTED: E. Motion by Mrs. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Hunnewell to go into executive session at
12 – 0 8:45 p.m to discuss negotiations with Central Office, pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. §495(6)(D). The Board reconvened at 8:55.

VOTED: Motion by Mr. Rogers, seconded by Mrs. Fles to approve the Superintendent’s 12 – 0 recommendation for Central Office salaries.

F. Motion by Mr. Jermyn, seconded by Mr. Shea to go into executive session at 8:55 p.m. to discuss a letter of retirement, pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § (405) (6)(A). The Board reconvened at 9:00 p.m.

Dr. Knowles stated there would be a Special Meeting of the Board on Monday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m. to meet with the District’s attorney, Harry Pringle, Esq. That meeting will be followed by a Long Range Planning Committee Meeting.

Mrs. Paradee informed the Board that she would not be running for Chair in April and asked the Board to start thinking about a replacement.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.