Fairfax Board of School Directors
Monday, September 25, 2006
Regular Board Meeting at 6:30pm
Fairfax Community Library
Present: Chairperson Peg Stewart, Greg Beeman, Jeff Loller, Rachelle Howard, Lauri Fisher, Dustin Howard, Clara Pedley, Scott Lang, Thomas Walsh, Lisa Delorme, Armando Vilaseca
Public: Carolyn Branagan, David Lounsbury, Chris Santee, Colin Santee
1. Call to Order - Peg Stewart called the meeting to order at 6:30PM.
2. Approval of Minutes
Action: Jeff Loller moved to accept the Regular Meeting minutes of September 11, 2006. Greg Beeman seconded. Passed unanimously.
3. Correspondence – Scott Lang received a copy of an email that Gary Gilbert sent to Rick Potash concerning Tongues Untied.
Peg Stewart read a letter from the Selectboard in response to the letter that was sent to them regarding the contract for the Town’s occupancy of the white house.
4. Public Comment
a. Presentation of American Flag – Dave Loundsbury, from Woodmen of the World, presented the School Board with two American Flags.
b. Rep. Carolyn Branagan –Carolyn praised the students of BFA who were part of the meeting with the governor last week. She spoke on the governor’s proposed cap on property taxes and reminded the Board she is in Montpelier to represent them and to bring any concerns to her. She would also like to meet with Tom Walsh to encourage 8th graders to apply to be pages at the statehouse.
5. Reports
a. Principals’ Report –
Lisa Delorme reported on the Enrichment Committee meeting this week. Karen Amerault will be an artist in residence in the elementary this year through enrichment funding. Nancy Gross began her job as the technology educator working in the elementary this week. The elementary’s annual Hike Day will be on October 5th with a rain date of the 6th. A school-wide open house will be held on October 12.
Scott Lang reported he has been asked to be a part of the New Generation Task Force. The Steering Committee met and looked at the two year NEASC report.
Tom Walsh reported he held his first Parent Advisory meeting of the year. All of the middle school’s activities are listed in his letter to parents that the Board received a copy of.
b. Financial Report – Armando Vilaseca passed out a financial report.
c. Superintendent’s Report – Armando Vilaseca stated he will soon be looking at the demographics of the Supervisory Union to get a picture of where the school is headed in their population. There will be an Article on the November ballot that needs voter approval. To qualify for a possible 30% reimbursement on the summer roof repairs, the taxpayers need to vote on it. Armando has been enjoying visiting the classrooms. He, Doug Reaves, and Steve Davis are planning on visiting some IT departments at other schools.
d. Board Reports-
Clara Pedley gave an update on Hannah Duprat’s proposal regarding credit requirements. She attended Tongues Untied gathering with the governor.
Dustin Howard advertised for the upcoming NHS blood drive on October 9th.
Rachelle Howard commented on the low cost of enrichment at BFA and all the school receives for this investment. She will be attending the VSBA regional meeting next week.
Lauri Fisher will attend the upcoming library meeting and they will be working on the Internet Usage Policy.
Greg Beeman reported attending the Steering Committee meeting. He has yet to meet with Joey regarding the field work.
Jeff Loller reported on the Safety Committee meeting and on 7/8 grade soccer.
Peg Stewart also attended the Steering Committee meeting. The Safe Routes to School members have organized a bike fair to be held on Saturday, the 30th from 10AM to noon following the Recreation Path’s ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:15.
6. Old Business – Peg Stewart questioned the status of the student government. Scott Lang reported that Jean Anne Branch and Rhonda Siemons have agreed to be the Student Council advisors and will have it up and running soon.
7. New Business
a. Develop Budget Parameters & Timeline – Rachelle commented that she appreciated last year’s process. Lauri felt that the process doesn’t allow the Board to get a feel for the teachers’ needs. Tom stated that the administration can be sure to be clear what items are actual teacher requests. Greg expressed that Boomer will need to come up with a multi-year plan that addresses building needs. The Board discussed budgeting an amount of money each year to be put in a fund to be used towards building improvements. Administrators will put together a draft budget as they did last year. The Board decided to hold a community budget input session at the meeting on November 13th from 6:30-7:30 to get input from the community on budget planning. Lauri suggested the Board hear more from other areas this year and not spend so much time on capital improvements since there will be a plan in place.
b. SU Goals – Armando stated that the upcoming FWSU meeting will be focusing on goals and ways to end some of the duplication that is happening in the district.
- Other – Lisa Delorme requested the hire of a .67 FTE kindergarten para-ed to serve as an additional floater. The kindergarten teachers are feeling overwhelmed with class sizes of 20. There is currently a savings due to staffing changes in the elementary that could be used to fund this position.
Action: Greg Beeman motioned to allow Lisa Delorme to hire a .67 FTE para-ed for kindergarten. Jeff Loller seconded. Passed unanimously.
Peg Stewart received a notification from the Town declaring a tax rate of 1.1845.
Tom Walsh received a request from St. Lukes Church to use the school on a Sunday in November for their annual turkey dinner. Because of the tree nut allergies and all the work that has been done to guarantee a nut-free environment, the church will need to sign an agreement and have a member of the Abbey staff come in and be present to guarantee the area is nut free. The church will also be encouraged to hold the event on a Saturday when a custodian can be on duty. Due to the changes regarding the nut allergies, the Board will need to look at the Building Use Policy again.
9. Policy Review
a. Transportation Policy–
Action: Greg Beeman motioned to accept the Transportation Policy with two clerical corrections to be made. Jeff Loller seconded. Passed unanimously.
b. Co-Curricular Activities Policy– 2nd reading will be at next meeting. Armando will make some changes to the procedure section.
c. Internet Acceptable Use Policy – 2nd reading next meeting
10. Upcoming Meetings
October 9, 2006 :: Regular Meeting at6:30pm in the Fairfax Community Library
September 27, 2006 :: FWSU Board Meeting at7:00pmin the Fairfax Community Library
11. Meeting adjourned at 8:30PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Julie Filiberti
