WATERBURY-DUXBURY SCHOOL BOARD

“APPROVED” MINUTES FOR MARCH 9, 2010

Meeting Held at Thatcher Brook Conference Room

 

IN ATTENDANCE

BOARD: Dale Smeltzer, Ben Smith (arrived 6:23 p.m.), Reed McCracken, Scott Rathke, and Steve Odefey

ADMINISTRATORS: Brigid Scheffert, Tom Drake, Don Schneider, Barbara Tomasi-Gay and Cathy Knight       

 

1.                  CALL TO ORDER – Brigid Scheffert called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m.

 

2.                  COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC – There were none.

 

3.                  BOARD REORGANIZATION

A.    Brigid Scheffert opened nominations for Chair.  Scott Rathke nominated Dale Smeltzer for Chair.  Reed McCracken seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.  Dale Smeltzer then took over the meeting.

 

B.     Dale Smeltzer opened nominations for Vice-Chair/Clerk.  Dale Smeltzer nominated Scott Rathke for Vice-Chair/Clerk.  Steve Odefey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

C.    Dale Smeltzer opened nominations for three WWSU Representatives.  Reed McCracken moved to appoint Dale Smeltzer, Ben Smith, and Scott Rathke, as W-D’s WWSU Board Representatives. Steve Odefey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

D.    Dale Smeltzer opened nominations for two WWEC Representatives.  Reed McCracken moved to appoint Dale Smeltzer and Ben Smith as the WWEC Representatives.  Steve Odefey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. 

 

E.     Steve Odefey moved to designate Reed McCracken and Steve Odefey as alternates for the WWSU Board, and Scott Rathke, Reed McCracken and Steve Odefey as alternates for the WWEC.  Ben Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously. 

 

F.     Reed McCracken moved to appoint Barbara Tomasi-Gay as Truant Officer.  Scott Rathke seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

G.    Steve Odefey moved to designate the Times Argus as the newspaper of record.  Reed McCracken seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

Ben Smith arrived at 6:23 p.m.

 

H.    Dale Smeltzer suggested that to reduce the confusion about where meetings will be held, that they be in one school for six months, and then the other school for the following six months.  Steve Odefey moved to set the regular meeting date as the second Tuesday of each month and that the location for board meetings be at TBPS for March through August, and at CBMS for September through February.  Reed McCracken seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

 

I.       Reed McCracken moved to authorize Steve Odefey, with Scott Rathke as alternate, to review and sign Waterbury-Duxbury School Board Financial Orders on behalf of the School Board prior to the regularly scheduled meetings and to report the information at the next meeting for inclusion in the minutes. Ben Smith seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

J.      Ben Smith moved to designate Georgeanne Baker as Recording Secretary with a stipend of $60 for the first two hours of meeting time, and $20 an hour for the following hours.  Steve Odefey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

K.    Reed McCracken moved to approve the following Board assignments:

                              a.            Maintenance/Facilities – Scott Rathke

                              b.            Policies – Reed McCracken

                               c.            Support Staff Negotiations - Dale Smeltzer, and Ben Smith

                              d.            Teacher Negotiations - Dale Smeltzer, and Reed McCracken

                               e.            Remaining TBPS Renovations Issues - Dale Smeltzer, and Scott Rathke

Ben Smith seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

Scott Rathke left at 6:50 p.m.

 

4.                  DISCUSSION

A.    Leave of Absence Request – Don Schneider reported on a request from Adrienne Magida for an unpaid leave of absence starting a day before the April vacation in 2010 and extending through the rest of the 2010 school year, for the purpose of a bike trip across the country.  He noted that this would be 34 days, or 20% of the school year.  Dale Smeltzer asked what the recommendations of the administrators were regarding this request.  Don recognized that Adrienne Magida has many years of service in the District and is a highly professional teacher.  He said that for the students this is a lot of days for a teacher to be gone, and that there are many ramifications, especially with it being the last part of the school year as well as being for 20% of the school year.  He noted that, if granted, it might be possible to hire a student teacher intern as a substitute, since she often has interns in her classroom.  Brigid Scheffert said that she had mixed thoughts but feels decisions can’t be made with individual staff members in mind since to be fair it will have to be given to any other staff at any other school under the unified contract.  She suggested that the board consider whether this is a standard we would want in place for any teacher, that is, to release them for a pleasure trip.  She noted that from the taxpayer perspective there is already a lot of time off in the school world.  She suggested that leaves of absence should be granted only for an emergency or health need circumstances.  There were then questions, comments from board members, and a lengthy discussion.  Dale then informed board members that the board would need to take action at their April meeting.

B.     NECAP Update – Tom Drake reported that Cathy Knight and Barbara Tomasi-Gay have been doing NECAP 101 sessions for parents.  Cathy and Barbara then provided a PowerPoint presentation for the board, reporting on the parent communications, background as to why NECAPs are given (No Child Left Behind), and more data on scores from multiple years for all grades.  They noted that AYP results will be ready in a few weeks, for the two subgroups where we have been an identified school (IEP, SES).  Brigid informed the board that the school district data workbooks will be ready for her to present to the board in April, which will provide considerable further data.

C.    April Board Meeting Date – Due to the need to issue employee contracts before April 10, it was agreed to move the April meeting date to April 6, 2010 for that month.

D.    Staff Contracts – This discussion was postponed to the April meeting.

E.     Board Retreat – Dale confirmed the plans for the Board Retreat on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, from 8:30 to 12:30 at a room provided by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.  The exact location will be provided on the agenda.

 

5.                  PRINCIPALS REPORT – Board Feedback – There were no personnel items needing board action.  There was brief discussion of the latest State Farm plans for land adjacent to CBMS, and the handout which had been provided by email titled “Strengthening a Systems Approach to Learning” for TBPS.  Tom reported that the four principals (WD4) have been meeting to prepare for the board retreat on the Strategic Plan.  Tom reported that the bid opening for the CBMS Solar Grant would be the following day, March 10 at 3:00 p.m.  He showed the board the criteria that would be used to evaluate the bids.  There was discussion as to whether the full board needs to meet to authorize the contract with the winning bidder, and it was agreed that the chair could be authorized to do this on the Board’s behalf based on the recommendation of the small group that has been working on the RFP.

 

6.                  OTHER BUSINESS – There was none.

 

7.                  ACTION ITEMS

A.    Board Minutes – Steve Odefey moved to accept Board minutes dated February 9, 2010, and February 25, 2010 (Annual Meeting), as written. Ben Smith seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

B.     Board Orders - On the recommendation of Sherry Knudsen, Ben Smith moved to confirm the Board orders dated February 12, 2010 for $40,694.91, and February 26, 2010 for $145,431.00. Steve Odefey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

C.    April Meeting Date – Reed McCracken moved to change the regular April meeting date to April 6, 2010.  Ben Smith seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

D.    Awarding Bid for CBMS Solar Project – Reed McCracken moved to authorize Dale Smeltzer, as chair, to sign a contract with the successful bidder for the CBMS Solar Grant Project as recommended by the small group that has written the RFP.  Steve Odefey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

8.                  EXECUTIVE SESSION – Ben Smith moved to go into executive session at 8:42 p.m., with administrators invited, to discuss a personnel matter.  It was agreed to come out of executive session at 9:10 p.m. with no action taken.

 

Reed McCracken moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:11 p.m.  Steve Odefey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

Minutes recorded by Dale Smeltzer