BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING |
Members Present: James Bell, Shelly Bennett, Larry Davis, Ralph Eastman, Pam Goulette, Nancy Hall, Cinthia Hoak, Patricia Izbicki, Anita Kain, Lorna Marshall, Susan McAvoy, George Nuite, Michelle Ward and Charles Woodmancy.
Members Absent: Patricia Davis, Melissa Douglass, Donna Littlefield, and Donna Runnels
Also Present: Greg Bellemare, Trisha Kurt, Julie Orton, Jeffrey Aronson and Paul Stearns.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by George Nuite at 7:05 p.m.
Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by James
Vote: Yes~ 14 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0
Public Forum: none
Correspondence: Thank you letters were read from Ralph Eastman and Jeff Stafford. A letter from Nora Murray recognizing NCLB compliance was also read.
Educational Reports: Jeff Aronson discussed the transition to Standard Based Assessment at PCHS
1. Adjustment to Agenda:
A motion was made by Larry Davis and seconded by James Bell that the Board of Directors add the following items to the agenda.
1. Add Thelma Regan under Administrative Reports
2. Add Item 1a – Recommendation to nominate a Spanish Teacher
3. Add Delegate’s Report under Committee Reports
Vote: Yes~ 14 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0
1a. Nomination (2005-2006):
A motion was made by Pamela Goulette and seconded by Patricia Izbicki that the Board of Directors accepts the nomination of Bridget Grant for a probationary Contract to teach Spanish at PCHS.
Vote: Yes~ 14 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0
2. Recommendation to Employ:
A motion was made by Patricia Izbicki and seconded by Anita Kain that the Board of Directors accepts the recommendation to employ Nathan Robinson as the PCMS Boy’s “B” Basketball coach for the 2005-2006 school year (one year contract).
Vote: Yes~ 14 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0
3. Creation of Positions:
A motion was made by Pamela Goulette and seconded by Larry Davis that the Board of Directors authorizes the creation of two Gear-Up Teaching Advisor positions for Grades 7-12 for the 2005-2006 school year.
Vote: Yes~ 14 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0
4. Policy Development:
A motion was made by Pam Goulette and seconded by Ralph Eastman that the Board of Directors approves the first reading of the following policies for the revised SAD #4 Policy Book: BEC, BEC-E, JJE, EBAA, EFE, GBO, JFABD, JLCD and JLCD-E.
Vote: Yes~ 14 No ~ 0 Ab. ~ 0
5. Committee Reports:
Budget Committee Report – Larry Davis reported that 70.2 percent of the current budget had been expended as compared to 69.7 percent at this time last year. He gave an overview of the budget timeline. He reported on various items that might present problems in developing the upcoming budget.
Policy Committee Report – Michelle Ward reported that the committee had met and developed various policies, as noted on Item #4.
Delegates and MSMA Report – Patricia Izbicki attended sessions on nutrition and career preparation. Donna Littlefield attended clinics on student conduct, bullying & harassment, aspirations benchmarking, school law and a round table with the commissioner. James Bell attended sessions on budgeting (communication). He also went to workshops on drugs/alcohol, athletics, energy rebates and executive session law.
6. Administrative Reports:
Crystal Priest (technology):
Arnie has started a tech help team with a group of 7th & 8th graders. They meet after school and learn about computers, troubleshooting, ethical use, how to help others use their computers, etc.
Jay started a computer help desk this year. The help desk is manned by a pair of students every period. They handle the routine check-in of computers, troubleshooting, basic repairs, etc. This is going very well and Jay can spend more time teaching and less time on the smaller problems.
Star testing is pretty much done.
Powerschool - parent and student access is an integral part of this program. For the entire district, 45% of the students and parents have accessed Powerschool so far this year. PCHS 83% of the parents/students have accessed Powerschool, at PCMS 36%, at GPS 11% and at McKusick 7%. The middle school and high school show about 3/4 of the logins are by students.
Robyn Rich and I went to an MLTI update today. They discussed this year's attempt at the MEA online, the current plans for the 7th & 8th grade MLTI program after the lease runs out in June and the current status of E-rate.
MEA Online - they will be doing it again this year on a volunteer basis. They've made many changes to the program since last year. We will probably do a trial run again this year and see how it goes. They did say that on last year's test there was no statistical difference in scoring between the kids that did the online version and kids that did the paper version.
They are trying to get a new RFP out and funding from the legislature to continue the program in it's current form with new equipment for this fall. If that flies then the current MLTI laptops can be bought by the schools for $48 each. If that doesn't fly then they plan on extending the current program for another year with the same equipment that we currently have.
We are still waiting on $70K E-rate funding commitments for this year (along with most of the rest of the country). The E-Rate program is looking iffy for next year. We will need to start the application process for next year in the next month or so. E-rate has paid 80% of our phone bill, ATM bill and annual Firstclass fees for the past few years. E-rate also pays for a significant amount of the MSLN internet connections around the state. Schools and libraries get internet access for free through MSLN. T-1 lines, which we have going into both McKusick and GPS normally cost $1000/per month per building. PCMS and PCHS get their internet access through the ATM connection. That connection runs about $2200 a month.
CLC - the after school programs are ramping up. We are offering a couple of enrichment programs - Jazz dance for 2nd & 3rd graders, video club and watercolor painting for 7th & 8th graders, Yoga at the high school. We also have several academic academy offerings going on. Currently 7th & 8th graders are doing a math program, K's are doing rhyme and rhythm, 2nd and 3rd graders are doing a reading program. 4, 5 & 6 will be starting a math program after Thanksgiving and they are working on a HS math program. From all reports these programs are going very well and the kids are enjoying themselves. We are always looking for more people who are interested in offering programs.
Trisha Kurt (Special Education Director):
Our numbers are going up in Special Education. We have had 20 students move into the district who have special needs and 6 students have moved out: 5 students – HS, 6 students – MS, 9 students - K to 3. We now have 113 students in special education with 5 students in the referral process
Family Literacy Program – “Supper with a Side of Reading” - This is a new program that is being made possible by the CLC Moose Rec Grant. It is for all GPS and McKusick students and their families. The program will run once a month from 6:00 to 7:30 - the first one is Wednesday, December 14th. Supper will be from 6:00 to 6:45 then there will be a short 15 minute workshop presented by our new Literacy Coach to parents while high school students read to the children. The first topic is going to be reading aloud to children. Families will then have an opportunity to check out a bag of books to take home to read with their children. This is a free program and is going to be run by Shelly Johnson (literacy coach) and Charlotte Violette (K-3 librarian)
Greg Bellemare (PCMS Principal):
· A donation of $650.00 was sent to the American Red Cross for the Victims of hurricane Katrina & Wilma.
· Student Led Conferences will be held at PCMS on Wednesday, November 9th and Thursday, November 10th.
· The following PCMS Students attended the District V music festival on Saturday, November 5th: L Carr, A Bowley, L Bussell, T Violette, T Toby, &
· Fall Sports Banquets were held on October 18th & 19th.
· Basketball tryouts are being held the week of November 7th
· 7th & 8th grade laptop meeting. At this time fifty-three 7th & 8th grade students have turned in the necessary paperwork so they can take computers home.
· PCMS Civil Rights Group will be attending the regional conference in
Jeff Aronson (PCHS Principal):
Thanks to every faculty and staff member’s hard work, we continue to make significant strides towards student academic achievement. I also want to thank the Special Education, Technology, Transportation and Maintenance Departments in making the first two months of the school year positive experiences for everyone.
Examples of the activities to date include:
· Parent – Teacher Conferences will be held on November 9 and 15. Two student assemblies were held on September 26 and 28
· Student Council and Class Officers have successfully presented recommendations and solutions to cafeteria preferences.
· Halloween Dance, organized by the Key Club, had great attendance, positive school spirit, and a local student band
· TCTC Future Search Conference during October vacation week
· Career Pathways conference with faculty team
· Veteran’s Day Assembly featuring National Guard Honor Guard and contest winner presentations
· SAU Review process
· Creation of a Virtuoso Team to review science courses at high school and make recommendations
· “Laramie Project” production in
· Linda Packard “Librarian of the Year” and Community-School reading initiative
· Senior transition advisories planned and scheduling underway
· Professional development workshops will be held just before Thanksgiving
· 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 strategies for advisories
· Participation in SAD #4 Administrative Team meetings
· Recommendation for hiring of Spanish position for second semester
· Regular Faculty meetings held on October 17 and 31.
Julie Orton (Elementary Principal/Curriculum Coordinator):
· Parent teacher conferences will take place on the 9th and 16th
· Students enjoyed “Black and Orange Day” activities on the 31st
· Students at McK. enjoyed their Planetarium presentation on Nov 4th and the students at GPS
are waiting for their presentation on Nov 10th. This presentation was made possible by the
HUGS group.
· Members of the High School Key Club presented the students at McK with Safety coloring books today as part of their community service work.
· Teachers are becoming more comfortable using the new Houghton Mifflin reading series that was purchased as part of the Reading First Grant. We have a consultant coming to talk to grade level teams on Thursday, Nov. 10th to answer questions that teachers have, now that they have been using the program for two months.
· In-service days, Nov. 21 & 22 will be used to do Reading First work. Teachers will be reviewing teaching techniques for both reading and writing as well as collaboratively scoring writing prompts.
Thelma Regan (Adult Education)
Thelma Regan reported on the PVEAC startup process which has gone well. She discussed plans for upcoming programs. Thelma emphasized relationships with community members and businesses, including apprenticeship programs.
7. Chairperson’s Report: George Nuite thanked Jeff Aronson, Donna Littlefield and Woody Woodmancy for attending the Tri-County Future Search three day workshop. He also gave commendations to the three board members that attended the Fall MSMA Conference.
8. Superintendent’s Report:
MSMA Conference was attended by Donna Littlefield, Jim Bell, and Patti Izbicki.
Elaine Howard on Career Pathways: PCHS is gaining a reputation of leadership in the career pathways/career prep area due to our beginning work in this area. The next steps in implementing a career pathways approach involve much communication, discussion, staff development, building links to the community.
Volunteer athletic coaches will be added to agendas for approval by the board.
The CDS service center in Dover-Foxcroft seems to have been spared for another year, according to a letter received last week from the Commissioner of Education. She does intend to bring the education of three and four year olds into the public schools in the not-so-distant future. There are many unanswered questions as to how this will affect services, budgets, and children.
Gear Up will be up and running soon, providing services to qualified students that could lead to scholarship opportunities for them upon graduation from high school, as well as provide support for them in the development of a post secondary plan. The current 7th graders (class of 2011) will be the last wave of Gear Up students.
Schedule for Administrative Evaluations:
December - Stearns
January - Kurt, Bellemare
February - Orton
March -Aronson
TCTC funding meeting with the commissioner has been rescheduled for December 1st. It appears there may be no more total dollars allocated to the
New instrument for consideration to be used for evaluation of Superintendent in ’07 (handout)
I am in the process of scheduling a meeting with the co-presidents of the SAD #4 teacher’s association – Shelley Connolly and Brian Holton
Mike Young of Sewall’s has worked up cost estimates to go with the RRF applications to the state. We are also exploring the feasibility of having a limited service agreement with Siemans to provide emergency boiler service, air quality testing, inspections, cleaning, annual maintenance, and technical support.
I met with MCF regarding setting up a foundation to support SAD #4 students and programs. Attorneys are looking at procedure and 501(3c) implications.
Copies of the Administrator Recertification Plan, Affirmative Action Plan, and Personnel Plan are being distributed. These are part of the Comprehensive Plan, which consists of 26 separate required plans. I will keep forwarding sections of the plan to the board for approval on a regular basis, and – at some point – will ask for approval of the comprehensive plan.
9. Adjournment:
Paul A. Stearns
Superintendent of Schools
SAD #4