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Fairfax Board of School Directors
Monday, April 14, 2008
Regular Meeting at 6:30pm
Fairfax Community Library
Present: Chairperson Peg Stewart, Jeff Loller, Angela Baker, Elaine Carpenter, Robin Freeman, Clara Pedley, Adam Benay, Armando Vilaseca, Scott Lang, Thomas Walsh, Lisa Delorme, Chris Sumner
Public: Dave Buckingham, Dylan Morosini, Chris Santee
1. Call to Order - Peg Stewart called the meeting to order at 6:35PM.
2. Consent Agenda – Jeff Loller motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. Elaine Carpenter seconded. Motion passed.
Minutes – Regular Meeting: March 10, 2008. Peg noted a correction to delete the sentence in #7 in Old business beginning Any major repairs over $5000… Peg also noted a correction in #10b to delete the sentence The school does not currently have a copyright policy. There is a policy in place.
Correspondence -none
3. Public Comment-Chris Santee positively commented on the recent community forum on underage drinking.
4. Reports
a. Principals
Lisa Delorme distributed an enrichment report detailing what the enrichment money was spent on this year. The committee is requesting that the funding amount of $15,000 will be brought back in the next budget. Elementary Drama, funded by enrichment funds, will have their performance this Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Scott Lang reported that Outright Vermont will bring a speakers panel to the school on May 2 with discussion focusing on harassment and bullying in gender issues. Parents have been notified and they have been given the opportunity to opt their children out.
Tom Walsh sent recent letters out with updates on the middle school activities and the upcoming artist in residency and provided the Board with a copy. MS Drama completed their performance last week. The 6th grade’s Perpetual Motion evening is on Wednesday. Cynthia Pease will be here after vacation to work with students on a mandala. Community groups are focusing on climate change and the work on the mandala will tie into it. Tom distributed the safe schools data for the period from February 12th through March 27th.
b. Financial – Chris Sumner submitted a financial report. Peg questioned why the format of this report was different from the past report. Armando will look into why. Peg noted that 50% of the surplus could not be transferred to the capital expenditure fund until July 1st.
c. Superintendent – Armando suggested that the principals give a written report to the Board in the essence of time. These would be reflected in the minutes.
d. School Board Members
Peg Stewart reported out on the recent recreation department meeting. She also complimented Angela on the efforts to present the underage drinking forum last week.
Angela Baker reported out on the evening and thanked all who came together to make it happen. Clara Pedley attended and added that she was impressed with amount of middle school students present. Clara reported that Student Council will be participating in Green-Up Day. She reported on the food drive that NHS and Student Council sponsored. They collected a lot of food but didn’t meet their goal.
Adam Benay reported on HS Drama.
Robin Freeman reported on the town hall meeting on funding at the legislature.
Elaine Carpenter reported on a recent program she attended about keeping the heart in teaching. She stated her concern about having only one meeting per month and would be interested in revisiting that issue.
Jeff Loller reported on the middle school district music festival. He commented on the microphone problems at the underage drinking forum and suggested the school invests in a system that would consistently work.
5. Old Business
a. White House Lease - The lease was reviewed and discussion occurred on various items within the lease. Robin Freeman made some recommendations on some language that should be included. It will be brought back.
b. Adopt School Calendar 2008-2009
Action- Elaine Carpenter moved to approve the Bellows Free Academy Fairfax School Calendar 2008-2009 with the amendment of Two Parent Teacher Conference days will be added. Robin Freeman seconded. Passed unanimously.
c. Graduation Requirements – The Board took part in discussion revolving around the elimination of the PE credit for participation in sports. The Board was reminded that they did not have to approve the whole package of recommendations but could come to decisions on each individually. This will be brought for action at the next meeting and the Board will have the opportunity to decide on the individual requirements.
6. New Business
a. NECAP Presentation – Sheila Rivers gave a presentation on the data from the NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) assessment that was given in the fall. She demonstrated how they are using the computerized data to analyze the trends and to guide improvements.
b. Retract Special Article - Article 3 on the ballot approved $150,000 for the repointing of the bricks in the ’43 wing of the building. This $150,000 was also inadvertently included in the budget.Peg will include an explanation of this error in her article to the Fairfax News.
Action: Angela Baker motioned to elect not to request educational funding for Article #3 in the amount of $150,000 due to an error in the legal warning. Elaine Carpenter seconded. Passed unanimously.
c. Summer Food Assistance Program – Armando is currently researching the possibility of providing breakfast and lunch over the summer to students who are receiving free and reduced lunches.
d. School Meals Program Cost Increases – This item was tabled until next month.
e. Proposed Change to Support Services Personnel Policy – The school will begin to offer a single payer option for health insurance for support service personnel. The change to the policy will be brought for action next month.
f. Review/Approve Air Handling Bids – The Board reviewed three bids for the replacement of the air handling system.
Action: Jeff Loller motioned to approve Mountain Air Systems’ proposal in the amount $15,462. Robin Freeman seconded. Passed unanimously.
7. Other
a. School Board Self Assessment – This topic will be discussed at the summer retreat.
8. Policies
a. Copyright Policy –The 1st reading on this policy will be at the next meeting.
b. Graduation Policy – Changes to this policy are tabled until the graduation requirements are decided upon.
c. Gifts to School Policy
Action: Jeff Loller motioned to approve the Gifts, Donations and Scholarships Policy. Angela Baker seconded. Passed unanimously.
d. Parental Involvement Policy
Action: Jeff Loller motioned to approve the Parental Involvement Policy. Angela Baker seconded. Passed unanimously.
e. Teacher License Expiration Policy – This policy will be brought back next meeting.
f. Criminal Record Check Policy – This policy will be brought back next meeting.
9. Executive Session– The Board entered executive session at 9:35PM.
Action: Angela Baker moved to approve the school administrations’ recommendation regarding a staffing issue, seconded by Elaine Carpenter. Vote: 3 in favor, 0 opposed, 2 abstentions
Action: Angela Baker moved to deny the request by Courtney Boutin for horizontal movement beyond the Master Agreement deadline, seconded by Jeff Loller. Vote: 4 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention
The Board exited executive session at 9:58PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Julie Filiberti
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