WATERBURY-DUXBURY SCHOOL BOARD

“UNOFFICIAL” MINUTES FOR OCTOBER 25, 2007

Meeting Held at Thatcher Brook Primary School Library

IN ATTENDANCE:

BOARD: Dale Smeltzer, Susan Flynn, Dawn Poitras, Michael Roche and Sherry Ziemke

ADMINISTRATORS: Barbara Tomasi-Gay, Ken Page, Bob McNamara, and Don Schneider

PUBLIC: Georgeanne Baker,

1. Ms. Smeltzer called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

2. Mr. Page announced that Mr. Matt Clancy had passed away unexpectedly today. Mr. Clancy was the instrumental music teacher at CBMS until 2005, who led this District’s young musicians to great heights. The W-D School District has lost a dear friend. The Board and community send its condolences to the family of Mr. Clancy.

Mr. Page left at 6:05 p.m. to begin a phone tree to inform his staff of Mr. Clancy’s passing.

3. Ms. Smeltzer confirmed the agenda.

4. There were no comments from the public.

5. DISCUSSION ITEMS

A. GOAL: Strategic Plan – Final Wording, Timelines, Expectations – Ms. Ziemke provided copies of the Waterbury-Duxbury School District Strategic Plan – Draft – October 25, 2007. Ms. Ziemke reviewed the changes made since the last meeting. The Board and administration accepted the draft wholeheartedly and thanked Ms. Ziemke for taking charge of the project.

Next, Ms. Ziemke distributed the Broad Expectations and Timelines for Developing Action Steps for the Strategic Plan, Draft, October 4, 2007. Mr. Schneider thought the February 7, 2008 presentation to the Board by the administration might be unrealistic.

Mr. Page returned at 6:20 p.m.

A discussion ensued addressing how to best present this living document to the community. The group agreed that the timeline could be flexible with the Educational Leaders’ report at the first meeting of each month to include updates.

B. GOAL: Review School Comparison Data; Develop Questions – Ms. Smeltzer provided an overview of her comments from the last meeting for those in attendance. She led a discussion about staffing changes and implications in the short term/long term future of the District. The Final Report: Waterbury-Duxbury Multi-Year Budgeting – Staffing Review dated September 27, 2007 and a compilation of information gathered to support the report was given out. Specifically, Ms. Smeltzer had raised the question about more core time for students at CBMS. Mr. McNamara and Board members suggested the following questions be answered through the investigation:

i. How could we offer more core time?

ii. How might that affect academic achievement?

iii. What would we give up?

iv. What are the pros/cons of more core time?

v. What role does planning time between teachers play?

vi. Are any of the 7^th/8^th grade teachers dual certified?

vii. Are 5^th/6^th grade teaching positions being looked at?

viii. How do enrollment changes affect teaming and staffing decisions?

ix. Why are we offering FACS at 5^th/6^th?

x. If you choose to eliminate a program, does that eliminate that particular teacher (implications of Reductions in Force contract wording)?

xi. How does the decrease in enrollment affect all professional staffing positions?

The Board will need to base decisions on student instructional needs not the staff currently hired. The administration will begin looking into answers to these questions.

C. Preschool Program – Understanding Costs – Ms. Smeltzer and Mr. Schneider prepared a handout dated October 25, 2007 entitled Preschool Program, Understanding Types of Costs and a Summary of TBPS Preschool Enrollment. The document was reviewed with the entire Board. A discussion ensued regarding funding, implications for future budgets, and services being provided. Mr. Schneider and the preschool staff made proposals for future preschool programming. These recommendations will be discussed at a later meeting. Everyone agreed that decisions and communication to parents regarding placement should be done in a more timely way this year.

6. REPORTS

1. Financial – Mr. Page presented the financial report stating that the budget is tight. He provided the Board with a Summary of Revenues and Expenditures – FY 2008 and a Summary Statement of Expenditures – FY 2008 dated September 30, 2007. The Board asked questions related to the costs of the home/school coordinator(s), advertising, and psychological services.

7. OTHER BUSINESS

A. Community Concerns – Ms. Flynn was asked by some community members about the parking sign posted saving a space for the TBPS administrative assistant and groups meeting in the hallway at TBPS for reading and other instructional times. Mr. Schneider explained that the administrative assistant leaves mid-day to do errands or for lunch. He also said that the instruction is happening in the hallway to give instructors and students more room for meetings and voices. Ms. Baker pointed out that it will important to make sure the collection of “stuff” that once lined the hallways out of necessity doesn’t find its way back. A brief discussion ensued.

8. ACTION ITEMS

1. Board Minutes – Michael Roche moved to approve the September 20, 2007 minutes as amended. Susan Flynn seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

2. Board Orders – On the recommendation of Susan Flynn, Sherry Ziemke moved to confirm the following Board order dated October 16, 2007 in the amount of $551,858.63 ($1,000.00 was subtracted for the TBPS Home/School Coordinator stipend to determine this amount). Ms. Flynn reminded the Board that the practice of paying the TBPS Home/School Coordinator a $1,000 stipend has been discussed for the past three years as inappropriate and possibly could place the District in a difficult position when the books are audited. Mr. Page explained the history of the practice. Mr. Schnieder said that he should have followed up on this issue last year and did not. Members of the Board were uncomfortable authorizing this expenditure given the directives to administration in the past, but there was also concern about having provided ample notice to the employee regarding the changd. After some discussion, the following amended motion was voted on.

Mr. Roche amended the motion for the Board order dated October 16, 2007 to include a $500 check for the TBPS Home/School Coordinator to be processed according to proper tax accounting and to be noted to the contracted employee as a final payment. The final amount to be voted on was $552,358.63. Ms. Ziemke seconded the motion and it passed with three yes votes from Ms. Ziemke, Mr. Roche, and Ms. Smeltzer; and two no votes from Ms. Flynn and Ms. Poitras. Mr. Schneider will speak to the contracted employee and write a memo addressed to Marilyn Spaulding regarding the transaction.

3. Board Order - On the recommendation of Ms. Flynn, Sherry Ziemke moved to approve a Board order in the amount of $15,944.78. Michael Roche seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

4. Strategic Plan Approval - Susan Flynn moved to approve the Waterbury-Duxbury School District Strategic Plan dated October 25, 2007. Dawn Poitras seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

5. Contracts – Susan Flynn moved to approve a contract for Jamie Spaulding, a .60 FTE IA at TBPS and accept a resignation from Andrea Thompson Petrasch, a 1.0 FTE IA at TBPS. Dawn Poitras seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

9. Executive Session – Michael Roche moved to go into executive session at 8:48 p.m. to discuss contracts. It was agreed to come out of executive session at 8:52 p.m. Michael Roche moved to approve an unpaid leave of absence, for up to 12 months, for Ron Wormer (TBPS Custodian), and confirm a contract for Adam Moultrop as a full-time, temporary custodian at TBPS during the leave of absence, conditional on passing a criminal record check.  Susan Flynn seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Susan Flynn moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:54 p.m.  Sherry Ziemke seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

These minutes are unofficial until approved by the Board of School Directors. They are, in my opinion, substantively correct. Minutes completed by: Georgeanne Baker