Members Present:  James Bell, Larry Davis, Patricia Davis, Nancy Hall, Cinthia Hoak, Patricia Izbicki, Anita Kain, Donna Littlefield, Lorna Marshall, Susan McAvoy, George Nuite, Donna Runnels and Charles Woodmancy.

Members Absent:      Shelly Bennett, Melissa Douglass, Ralph Eastman, Pam Goulette and Michelle Ward

Also Present:              Greg Bellemare, Trisha Kurt, Julie Orton, Jeffrey Aronson and Paul Stearns.

Call to Order:             The meeting was called to order by Larry Davis at 7:03 p.m.                                    

Approval of Minutes:  A motion was made by James Bell and seconded by Patricia Davis that the minutes of the September 13, 2005 Board of Directors meeting be approved as printed.

Vote: Yes~ 12 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0

Public Forum:             none  

Correspondence:       none

Educational Reports:             MEA Reports - Mrs. Orton has met with the middle and high school principals to discuss MEA Data.  They have also met with, or scheduled meetings with teams of teachers K-12 to examine the data and discuss strategies for improvement.  Mrs. Orton explained the variances in scores from year to year. Math, in particular, is being scrutinized as to why there appears to be a downward trend from Grade 4 to Grade11.

1.         Adjustment to Agenda:  none

2.         School Bus Purchase for 2006-2007:

A motion was made by Larry Davis and seconded by Anita Kain that the Board of Directors authorized the Superintendent to purchase a school bus for the fiscal year 2007, funded by the fiscal year 2007 budget.

            Vote: Yes~ 13 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0

3.         Yearbook Advertisement:

A motion was made by Patricia Davis and seconded by Nancy Hall that the Board of Directors sponsors a full page advertisement for the amount of $200.00 in the PCHS 2006 yearbook.

Vote: Yes~ 13 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0

4.                  Recommendation to Employ:

A motion was made by James Bell and seconded by Lorna Marshall that the Board of Directors accepts the following recommendations to employ for the 2005-2006 school year (one year contracts):       

Jamie Russell – Varsity Boy’s Basketball (PCHS)
Russell Tracy – JV Boy’s Basketball (PCHS)
Brian Gaw – Varsity Girl’s Basketball (PCHS)
Merle Gilbert – JV Girl’s Basketball (PCHS)
Lorraine Stutzman – Ski Team (PCHS)
Helen Morrill – Cheering (PCHS)
June Presley – Cheering (Volunteer @ PCHS)
Rex Webb – Boy’s A Squad Basketball (PCMS)
Coralynn Todd – Girl’s A Squad Basketball (PCMS)
Jill Taylor – Girl’s B Squad Basketball (PCMS)

Vote: Yes~ 13 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0

5.         Committee Reports:

Curriculum Committee – Julie Orton

Julie Orton reported that the Curriculum Committee had met and discussed MEAs, curriculum mapping and the electronic storage process.

Communications/Student Personnel – Lorna Marshall

Items discussed were: 

1.                  Reviewed student profile form

2.                  Mr. Aronson  walked the committee through the student handbook

3.                  Advisor Program

4.                  Non-voting student representative on the Board of Directors

5.                  Advisory Program at PCMS

6.         Administrative Reports:

            Trisha Kurt (Special Education Director):

STAR Reading and Math testing has been done K-8.  The high school is still working on doing STAR reading and math testing.

Due to the reading first grant, all students K-3 did the DIBELS.  We are going to training on how to interpret the DIBELS at the end of October then we will meet with grade level teams to go over the data.

There has been a lot of work done with Title I teachers this year to make Title I services more effective.  Students will be receiving reading and math Title I services.

Greg Bellemare (PCMS Principal):

•           October 7^th in-service staff worked on communication skills in regards to bullying.

•           Health Curriculum (CSHE Grant): we are in the process of continuing our development of the K-12  curriculum.  We will be using discoveryhealth.com to help elementary lessons.

            •           School Pictures were taken on October 3^rd.

            •           SAT is in the final stages of preparation and we will try to be functional by November break.

            •           Mid terms will be going out this week.

•           Athletics are winding down and we will be holding banquets Oct. l8th for girls soccer; Oct.l9th for boys soccer and Oct. 20th for field hockey. 

•           I met with Dr. McDermott, Robyn Mayo (PPHC) and Sheri Gaudette, John Diernbauer of M.S.A.D. # 68 & Shirley Wright of M.S.A.D. # 41 on the 5-2-1-0 initiative.  We will be giving a panel discussion at the State Health Conference on November 29th.  Our part in the discussion is the initiative by Joe Gallant using a program designed to give parents information on body mass index and activity patterns of children.

            •           We finished our magazine drive and were moderately successful.

•           Teddy Orton and I are meeting with all academic groups to determine a course of action for our students using MEA data and star data.

•           The 8th grade is going to put on a huge veterans appreciation day on Nov. l0th.  We are in the process of setting it up.  We will invite all the area veterans in to honor them at an assembly.  We will have the 8th graders greeting, escorting, providing food etc. for them.  We'll also have an assembly.  We will have each grade do something in the assembly for the veterans.  The 8th grade is also in the process of doing a community service activity in conjunction with the veterans groups to clean the cemetery head stones. 

Jeff Aronson (PCHS Principal):

Thanks to every faculty and staff member’s hard work, we completed our first marking period of academic achievement. I also want to thank the Special Education, Technology, Transportation and Maintenance Departments in making the first six weeks of the school year positive experiences for everyone.

            Examples of the activities to date include:

·        Parent and Family Forums on Standards-Based Assessments and Grading were held on   October 4 and 6. Notices were mailed home to PCHS families and email announcements were sent to all students.

·        Two student assemblies were held on September 26 and 28

·        Pep Rally was held on September 30; this included the first performance of the Pep Band

·        Student Council and Class Officers successfully ran the Spirit Week activities prior to Homecoming

·        Homecoming Parade, Bonfire and Dance benefited from good weather, great attendance, positive school spirit, and two local student bands

·        ASVAB career planning assessments administered to all juniors, with follow up meeting to review individual results

·        Senior transition advisories planned and scheduling underway.

·        U-Maine National Center for Student Aspirations advisory meeting scheduled for October 17.

·        U-Maine Farmington led faculty workshop on Engaged Learning on October 7

·        Continue process of establishing budgetary needs for 2006-07

·        Regular meetings of Senior Management Team (Principal, Assistant Principal, Guidance Counselor, District Tech Coordinator) to meet operational and administrative needs of the school

·        Regular meetings of faculty/administration Leadership Team on academic strategies for standards-based classrooms

·        Participation in SAD #4 Administrative Team meetings

·        Renewal of advertisement for Spanish position for second semester

·        Successful if rain-delayed completion of field hockey, boys/girls soccer, boys junior varsity soccer, cross country and golf team seasons

·        Regular Faculty meetings held on September 5, 17, and 31

Julie Orton (Elementary Principal/Curriculum Coordinator):

•           We will have a representative from the Red Cross coming to GPS to receive our Hurricane Katrina funds during the week of October 17th.

•           Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for November 9th and 16th from 3:00-6:30.

•           We will be celebrating Bus Driver Appreciation Day on the 21st.  The McKusick School will have T-shirts for the bus drivers and GPS will have coffee and donuts delivered to the garage

•           Last week was Fire Prevention Week.  Members of the Guilford Fire Dept. visited all classes at both GPS and McKusick.

•           Bus Safety performances are scheduled for both schools this coming week.  PCHS students are participating in the performances along with some of the bus drivers.

•          Midterm was October 7 and reports will be going home with children on Friday, October 21.

7.         Chairperson’s Report:  no report

8.         Superintendent’s Report:

Maine Power Options:           brokered price of 10.3 cents per kh for  3years                                                            
advantage over standard offer
no downward trend in sight
100% increase over present rate
Constellation New Energy – supplier / CMP – delivery
Price set on 10-12-05

TCTC:  No cooperative agreement – pending solving funding issue due to EPS
                                    “circuit breaker” system is gone

no change could result in an increase of approximately $25,000 for the ’07 year in order to cover a shortfall predicted to be between $175,000 and $200,000.  This is assuming that everyone would stay in the cooperative group.  Meeting with the commissioner of education on November 8^th to discuss the issue.

                                                ’06       SAD #4           53,886
                                    proj.     ’07       SAD #4           76,795             (no growth)

The tech center roof was completed at 75,000 less than what was approved for bond.   The remainder will be returned to the bond bank (taxpayers)

TCTC future search is under way – 2.5 day process planning for the future of the center.  SAD #4 Reps are:  Charles Woodmancy, Donna Littlefield, Sandra Emerson, Jeff Aronson and Paul Stearns

Migrant Program:      Program is under scrutiny from the Federal Education Department.   We stopped the program in December of  ’03.  We will wait to see what the state does regarding previous years funding and paying the feds.

CDS:   Meeting with the commissioner this Friday to discuss the schools taking on the role/housing of CDS centers by 2009.  The plan is to offer seamless special education services from birth – 20.  They would close down many centers and keep 7 open.

Boiler: Distribution pumps gone at PCHS - two new ones have been ordered.  Boiler project must take place this spring.  The RRF proposal has been submitted to the state along with 8 others.

DOE Learning Results Visit:  SAU team has met and will meet again October 18^th – state visit is on October 25^th – surveys to teachers and principals part of process

Central Office Clerk: Excellent applicant pool – interviews have started – hope to have someone on board by November

MSMA Conference

Jim Bell, Patti Izbicki, Donna Littlefield and Paul will attend 2 days – Oct. 27 and 28 in Augusta.

9.         Adjournment:

Paul A. Stearns
Superintendent of Schools
SAD #4