BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT

ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT

PRESS/OTHERS

1. CALL TO ORDER

   By Chairperson Valentine at 7:05 p.m.

2. COMMENTS BY PUBLIC

   none

3. PRELIMINARY ACTIONS

   1. Announcements: none

   2. Commendations: Superintendent Carroll commended Laura Smith, Mast Way School (MW) teacher, for the program run on Sept. 11 & 12, for parents of Title I program students. The program is called "Sit & Learn". He indicated it was a "marvelous program" and Ms Smith would like it to continue. The program was paid for from "Chapter One" funding. Ms Smith is to be commended for putting the project together, and for her enthusiasm for it.

      D. Christie commended the superintendent and computer coordinator for the new technology program offered by the district.

      Richard Tappen, president of teachers guild, commended the administration for "a fine beginning of school", especially at the high school (HS). The opening days were smoothly orchestrated. Tech people were working all summer to get ready for the new school year and deserve commendation for their efforts for the opening of school.

   3. Approval of Minutes: S. Thompson moved to accept the minutes of the September 9, 1998 meeting, second by P. Gray, as amended:
      page 1, commendations - S. Thompson was chairperson of the Soccer Jamboree, and $1,500 was raised that day;
      page 2, first line, delete "Lee and Madbury";
      page 2, fifth line, amend sentence to "The topic of the workshop on 11/3 is Special Education"; page 3, bottom of first paragraph, third line up, change word "ceiling" to "target";
      page 3, last line of first paragraph, the motion was not seconded by Valentine, it was seconded by P. Gray;
      page 4, IX, A. change the second sentence to read "Superintendent Carroll noted the second meeting in November is on the 18th and asked if the board is opposed to the 17th.".
      VOTE: 7-0, motion passes.

      Approval of Minutes: S. Thompson moved to accept the minutes of the September 16, 1998 meeting, second by D. Christie, as amended:
      The fourth item, which begins with "After discuss ....", change to "After extended discussion to see if the board adequately explored a plan in the ball park of a $10M proposal, the board took the following action:". VOTE: 7-0, motion passes.

   4. Approval of Manifests: None

4. BOARD ACTIVITY

   1. Committee Reports

      P. Gray informed those present that the Negotiations Committee met with the Teachers Guild yesterday and an update will be given during the nonpublic session.

      It was mentioned that the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) met yesterday for the last time and a report will be given this evening.

   2. NHSBA Resolutions

      S. Thompson suggested the board members look at the NHSBA Resolutions, especially those supported by the local school board. She also suggested the board members need to discuss the resolutions and give her direction. The meeting is not until October 24th. After some discuss, D. Christie suggested that in light of the large number of resolutions, it is difficult to form a judgement. He suggested the board trust her judgement and if there are any resolutions she has a problem with, for her to bring it up to the board. This item will be discussed again at the next board meeting.

5. ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

   1. Principal Harrington - Moharimet Report

      Principal Harrington began his report by noting that Allison Ruben, physical education instructor at Moharimet School (MOH) since 1989, has been named the NH Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation's "teacher of the year" for 1998. She will be receiving the award in November. In addition, he showed two brief video clips, with the point he was trying to illustrate the integration of "everything we do, students, parents, teachers ... functioning at as high a level as possible".

      Principal Harrington asked the board to consider, when looking at the budget, the average class size is 23.4 students. 13 of 27 students come in from outside the district. If the trend continues, the class sizes will increase to be too large, even to a 26/1 ratio. MOH is still committed to an "effective elementary school for children".

      Results from a recent survey from teachers indicated four areas of collaboration, in the interest of and planning for children. One of the areas the staff will be looking at is displaying children's works. An initiative undertaken by the staff was to reduce the amount of time children were waiting on the playground in the morning. Bus coordinators and administration have "chopped off" 15 minutes on the wait, a major improvement. Another area being addressed is the need for common assessment practices. As a staff, there is a need to select common assessment documents, across the grades, and to talk better with staff and parents, use a "common language".

      Principal Harrington indicated a block has been reached in the area of how to involve the tax payers in the schools. He did however announce that Warren Daniels, of the Bagelry, has committed to supporting weekly "early morning dialogues" by providing bagels for the staff. "That's called meaningful community involvement", he said. He also mentioned the Foster Grandparent Program already in existence at MOH.

      He also added he and Principal Ross will be attending a workshop in Concord. The workshop deals with the use of "hard data" from state assessment tests and traditional standardized test.

      P. Gray asked if there is grant money available to focus on the point about school and community link. Principal Harrington indicated there perhaps is grant money available, however this needs time to research and do, and that it is difficult to find time and place for this in an already overloaded schedule. P. Gray suggested perhaps Al Elwell can be asked to help think this situation through.

      At this time, Principal Harrington introduce the MOH staff members present. Those members present include School Psychologist Carol McEntee, Joan Whittier, Jean Lapierre, and Marion Tucker.

      J. Valentine thanked Principal Harrington for this report, for the efforts of the staff, and for the success with implementing the plan.

   2. Middle School Music

      Superintendent Carroll reported that the 7th and 8th grade band and the jazz band at the Middle School (MS) have not yet met this year due to scheduling problems. The shared music teacher of last year is now full time teacher at the HS, and that teacher is no longer available to the MS.

      The superintendent recommended that the board approve an additional .2fte position specifically assigned to work with the band program. Funds are available to fund this .2fte because of the number of one year leave positions. The anticipated band program is for three regular instrumental classes per week, and two jazz band classes per week, which is the normal process for instrumental programs. They would occur before or after school. There will be no classroom time, as the former band instructor used to do.

      J. Collins asked about the frequency of band meetings during past years. Principal Ross indicated this is not a reduction but a change in the jazz band. The jazz band has grown over the years mostly due to the efforts of the director and the time he created with the children. She added that bands are an extension of the music curriculum. Regular band had been two days per week, and now will be three days per week. The jazz band will come more in line, and meet two days per week. J. Valentine asked about student participation in the bands. She was told that 40 students participated in the jazz band. At the HS level, there are two bands with almost 50 students total.

      D. Taylor asked what will happen to Jazz band, which has been a hallmark of the district. Principal Ross indicated the district has supported the band, but not financially. There will be significant change in the style of the program and this may not be the time to recreate this program. There has not been a lot of time to discuss this as yet.

      Discussion ensued about the direction of the jazz band, keeping the programs going to help at the HS levels in the long run, band at the 5th grade levels, and the limited facility available to offer the program.

      J. Valentine suggested the program be reevaluated at mid year and at year end. Principal Ross indicated this has been a very difficult situation to address, in light of the fact that the administration has tried to have no "surprises" at the MS at the start of the year. This has been difficult to explain and deal with and has been "disheartening".

      A motion was made by S. Thompson, second by D. Lamont, to approve the .2 fte position specifically for the band program at the MS. Discussion: none. VOTE: 7-0, motion passes.

   3. Technology Plan

      Superintendent Carroll reported that the District Technology Plan has been approved by the state. It was also asked to be used as a model plan. The two key components are the newly configured District Technology Committee (that will be meeting next Monday), and the District Technology Planning Committee. This second committee will be meeting soon to discuss recommendations for budget priorities. A District Technology Coordinator is a key topic to be discussed.

      A. Elwell reported the full report from the state should be available soon and will be given to the board when it arrives.

   4. District Improvement Plan

      A. Elwell reported about the District Improvement Plan. This project will get going more so around October 15th. A draft report will be available for the board by mid December. This plan is critical, as it is a prerequisite for a series of funding opportunities such as Goals 2000. Funding for this project is available from Goals 2000 funds.

6. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

   1. Community Advisory Committee Report

      Jay Flanders, cochair of the CAC, is present for this evening's presentation. Marty Gooze, the other cochair, is not available this evening. Mr Flanders thanked the school board for the opportunity to serve on the committee, and thanked the committee members for their time.

      He reported the committee does consider this the final report of the committee. However, many members of the committee are still interested in helping.

      D. Christie asked if the CAC had the opportunity to review the newly designed plan. Mr Flanders indicated the report does not address this most recent change. Their last meeting was spent finalizing the report for the board.

      J. Valentine expressed the appreciation of the entire board to the committee, for the committee's efforts, time, and thanked Mr Flanders for serving as cochair. D. Taylor expressed his appreciation as well, saying it was a special experience.

      Discussion ensued about the continuation of the committee. P. Gray indicated she would like to see the CAC continue on, with a clear purpose and focus. She would like time to think about what this might me. Prior to that, she believes the school board needs to talk about "where we are and where we need to go". Mention was made about asking for committee members input as to what they would like to do.

      A motion was made by J. Collins, second by S. Thompson, to accept the report of the Community Advisory Committee. Discussion: none. VOTE: 7-0, motion passes.

      After brief discussion, it was mentioned that a letter could be sent from the SAU office, to the CAC members, to determine the committee members interests. This letter will be sent along with a letter of appreciation, from the board, for the work of the committee.

   2. Long Range Planning Committee

      Superintendent Carroll introduced the next speaker, Tim Burke, who gave a report for the LRPC. Mr Burke explained the reason why the state's enrollment projections are higher than local projections is because the state uses a different model. The local model includes birth rates and the number of new housing starts. The state model does not include housing starts to predict enrollment. He also explained the housing figures are always a year behind and the projections do not take into account the direction of the economy.

      Superintendent Carroll indicated the larger challenge "is looking at the turn over of real estate of existing housing. With no census, it is still difficult to predict".

      Brief comments ensued. J. Valentine thanked the committee for its work.

   3. High School Building Project

      Superintendent Carroll reviewed proposed changes to the building plans, adding the board need to discuss the changes so he can report back to Team Design. The changes include looking at eliminating the cafeteria from the back of the building, moving the cafeteria to the current location of the cafeteria and enlarging it to house 475 students, and pushing the gym wall out further.

      J. Valentine noted these changes seem to address some of the concerns previously expressed. Further comments ensued.

      Mention was made about the athletic storage space. Superintendent Carroll indicated that space would have to be relocated. A proposal is being considered to have the garage that is currently in the back of the school rebuilt by students at the HS, and have the new garage also have an area for athletic storage.

      J. Valentine said it "seems to be consensus from the board to further explore these ideas, Plan B Prime".

      Superintendent Carroll reviewed with the board, the questions submitted by Team Design were next reviewed:
      Auditorium seating capacity acceptable at 500 (brief discussion);
      Gymnasium seating capacity at 800 (with seating all on one side, for supervision purposes);
      Size of gymnasium will be adequate, with a third teaching station;
      Cafeteria seating capacity should be 475, one large space;
      Outside storage space needs to be further reviewed;
      Gathering area for students is addressed with the plan revisions.

      Parking spaces planned for 400 to 450 cards, divided into two areas. Extended discussion ensued about who would park where in the new design/scheme, the number of students currently bringing cars to school, family issues dealing with students driving cars to work, day use versus night use of the facility, why 400-450 parking spaces are needed, and options about student parking and permits. Results still pending further review;
      Bus looping areas need to plan for 12 busses;
      Library space is adequate but could look at reconfiguring book shelves to make better use of space.

7. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

   1. Transportation Update

      Mike Everngam reported the first day of school went well, but the second day did not go as well. A lunch time run has been added for the kindergarten classes. The typical child gets home within 30-35 minutes, but not all students do because of the lengths of the bus runs. He reported that the administration has always been successful at busing projections, but the new housing construction has expanded the bus runs and created time/distance problems. He added that there are "more than 135 miles of roads in the school district, well over 2,200 miles per day on bus runs", and the board may need to looking at supporting more bus capacity in the budget.

      Addition to agenda:

      Food service. Mike Everngam gave a brief report about the food service participation numbers for this year, compared to last year. Student lunch is up 9%, large increase in breakfast to 59%, and total meals up about 13%. He also indicated Hy Batchelder is a good food-service director, and does a good job at trying to make good meals for the students, and make good use of food as much as possible. He is happy with her program.

      J. Valentine thanked M. Everngam for the information he presented.

      Superintendent Carroll indicated these two reports "say a lot about two services for our district" and the quality of those services.

   2. Set Preliminary Dates for Public Forums

      Discussion ensued about how many forums to have, how large they are to be, when to begin the forums, the format of the forums, how to present relevant information, and how the advisory committee may play a roll in this.

      Discussion about the role or a charge for the community advisory committee also continued. D. Taylor believes the committee should not be one to present the bond, as that is the role of the board. To further discuss this matter, a board workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 6th, 7:00pm at the SAU office.

      Mention was made that S. Thompson and R. Lamont are representatives from the board to be present at meetings with the architects.

8. AGENDA PLANNING

   High School Space; Field Trip Policy; Long Range Planning Committee and Staff Development Committee Reports on 10/21

9. CLOSING ACTIONS

   1. Future Meeting Dates:

      School Board workshop 10/06 SAU Office
      Regular School Board Meeting 10/07 Middle School
      Regular School Board Meeting 10/21 Mast Way School

   2. Special Activities/Committees:

      School Board Academy 10/23
      NH Delegate assembly 10/24

10. COMMENTS BY PUBLIC

    A member of the audience, no name given, asked a question about the cafeteria design discussed earlier, and about the technology committee.

11. NONPUBLIC SESSION

    At 10:15pm, J. Valentine called for a nonpublic session for personnel matters, acquisition of real estate, negotiations, under RSA 91-A: II a,b, c, and d, and approved by roll call vote of those present.

    Respectfully submitted,
    
    __________________________
    Claire Blaisdell
    Recording Secretary
    

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