WINCHESTER SCHOOL BOARD WINCHESTER SCHOOL LIBRARY AUGUST 20, 2015

Transcription

1 WINCHESTER SCHOOL BOARD WINCHESTER SCHOOL LIBRARY AUGUST 20, 2015 Board Members Present: R. Horton, K. Bazan, J. Cardinale, T. Croteau Administration Present: Jim Lewis, Beth Stevenson and Elisha Jackson The meeting was called to order by Chair, R. Horton at 6:33 pm. CITIZENS COMMENTS: Cindy Ryder asked to be introduced to new staff members. J. Lewis introduced Beth Stevenson, Assistant, Principal; Damon Klempner, part-time afternoon Art teacher; Ryan Pymm, Computer teacher; Mike Krikorian Focus II; Nancy Dziedzic, Kitchen Director and Elisha Jackson, Business Manager. MINUTES: J. Cardinale MOVED to approve the public minutes of 7/21/2015 as printed, SECONDED by: T. Croteau, VOTED: 4-0 MOTION PASSED. GUEST SPEAKER J. Stanway: J. Stanway distributed information to the Board and reviewed. J. Stanway discussed the Smart Boards; doing eight head replacements in October and replacing them with Epsom s. Hopefully will do eight more next year and then discuss with staff what should the replacement be of that Technology. It is getting a little long in the tooth. The oldest ones are being replaced. J. Stanway advised got a new switch. Should see vast improvement over the network; no more buffering. It has a longer line coming in. J. Stanway advised can replace the whole lab for $1,500. Would like to take the 25 old machines out and put one in each classroom. Didn t get to move to Office 365; was just too much. He will plan to do it during December break. He will reach out to teachers when ready. The Board gave the okay. J. Stanway will slide the new ones in as he gets them built. Hopes it will be in the next couple of weeks. K. Bazan asked if there is room on the elementary side for a lab. J. Lewis depends on how many rooms are already being used. J. Stanway will ask the company about additional machine since they are buying 25 machines already. J. Stanway wishes to remove USB drives; will encrypt data. Explained can t remove or block data until we have another option. With 365 we will have one. Servers are starting to show age. They will be eliminating a lot. They should be down to about two when he is done. PBX J. Stanway advised right now the phone system is showing eight to ten years of age. Parts are harder and harder to get. Do we want to host or go to the cloud and have them host it? R. Horton advised the Board will want information during budget season. J. Stanway has reached out to First choice; will check with Fairpoint and maybe Comcast. For the next meeting he will send three quotes on the system to be replaced. R. Horton advised if this is the direction they are going, want a plan. R. Horton asked about personal devices. J. Stanway advised if in our network and subpoenaed they can take the machine. If outside our domain, have no authority. The Board will review information and questions to J. Stanway. R. Horton asked to have an update at the next meeting. J. Stanway will schedule a Tech meeting probably the first Wednesday of each month. E. Jackson advised the temperature upstairs in the lab is about 85 degrees. J. Stanway advised it is unbearable in the Summer. E. Jackson mentioned to him about maybe getting an air conditioner like they have at the SAU. The Board thanked J. Stanway for being at the meeting.

2 OLD BUSINESS: J. Lewis introduced members of the Finance Committee and alternates who were able to be at tonight s meeting; Diane Willis, Stephen Fucile and alternate Jenny F. He explained it will be different than in the past. It is now an advisory committee that will help the School Board put forward the budget to the deliberative session; will be different than for the Town. R. Horton explained once they have the budget done and ready, will bring it to the advisory committee and get feedback. Parking Lot is all sealed and ready to go. J. Lewis advised now have four new visitor spots. Thinks they should see how that works. J. Cardinale advised there are rules and regulations on handicap spaces. Not sure two for that size lot is okay, by code. J. Lewis A temporary space will be up for the van. Jenny F. advised it is now there with a handicap sign. FINANCIAL E. Jackson: E. Jackson started in her new position this week. Advised there are lots of parts to the office. Met with J. Lewis and direct reports; needs to know how to prioritize things. There is a lot to learn. R. Horton advised as they move forward, would like a new organizational chart. He asked E. Jackson or J. Lewis to do it or to work together on it. T. Croteau asked about the website. J. Lewis advised Beth Stevenson will be working on that. R. Horton advised there is a looming deadline for the MS22. J. Lewis advised it is due September 1 st, but they have leeway. R. Horton asked if they can have it by the end of September. J. Lewis Yes. The Board reviewed the Manifest and asked questions. K. Bazan MOVED to approve the Operating Manifest in the amount of $134,921.95; SECONDED by: J. Cardinale; VOTED: 4-0, MOTION PASSED. *E. Jackson advised she is working on the audit. The auditors will be here again on August 31 st. K. Bazan asked how far through the audit they are. J. Lewis advised unsubstantiated, he would say 20% complete. *J. Lewis advised they need to get Grants in; have secured a good chunk of money today. Have worked with Mel Harrison and will be working to clean up the rest of the year. Mel Harrison will work with E. Jackson; need to be on time with Grants. Mel Harrison appreciates the work. Advised she will help in any way she can to make it go smoothly. E. Jackson advised she can schedule time into the calendar to take care of it. *Talked with Jill regarding E-Rate; there is a possibility of capturing $22,000 from last year. She will get the bills to her. E. Jackson explained they could audit us. Beginning with the school year, it will be a ten year capture instead of five years. Do we need to look at a service to have records digitalized and sent to a secure server? J. Lewis feels yes, if the building burnt, etc. would need the back-up. R. Horton Will be a budget item. E. Jackson Could get hardware replaced as J. Stanway asked about. It could take five to six months. E. Jackson advised the challenge she is having is getting access to certain things. *Have received three bids for transportation. All companies we contract with have gone up. R. Horton knows E. Jackson has a lot on her plate; advised her to let the Board know if she needs help. PRINCIPAL S REPORT: Beth Stevenson thanked the Board for allowing her to be part of the Winchester School District. She introduced herself and reviewed her professional background. Wants to update the website and keep the Facebook page regularly updated. Feels it is an important informational tool. Beth Stevenson advised she would like to get Nature s Classroom available to students again. She talked with the person that handles it and got the figure down pretty significantly. Will talk to the team and look at that. Thinks kids should get every experience. The price would be $6,600, which for 44 students is $150 per student. The Board was very pleased. J. Lewis advised they may be looking at it this Fall. J. Lewis advised it will go out in the opening day packet.

3 SUPERINTENDENT S REPORT: The Board received J. Lewis report. *J. Lewis advised they are ready for the new school year. It has been a busy Summer. There have been lots of new hires, interviews, background checks, research on everyone; it is hard work. *Distributed pictures of the playground; it is coming along. *New copiers are working well. J. Stanway has called someone to take the old copiers; hasn t heard back. *They have the latest version of Power School now. R. Horton asked if parents will see something different than in the past. J. Lewis No, changes are more internal. R. Horton thought maybe they could do a handout for parents to make sure they have their passwords, etc. R. Horton asked what the deadline is for getting grades in? J. Lewis advised they should be entered by the Wednesday of the following week. *Workshops for new teachers are next Thursday and teaching staff is next Friday. All staff will be on the 31 st along with open house. T. Croteau asked about Robo-Call for open house. J. Lewis advised they will do that. *Oil bids J. Lewis advised companies are calling us. We are in no hurry to make a decision. His recommendation is to sit on it and if they see prices move they can ask financial people and act if needed. Don t necessarily need to buy 38,000 gallons at once. *Newsletter will probably go out Tuesday of next week. R. Horton advised that the letter that went home to the high school kids was a great piece of information on scholarships, community service, freshmen orientation and the tutor program. R. Horton asked what the plan is for proof of residency. J. Lewis advised there is a packet going home and it will be in the newsletter. J. Cardinale - Could you put it out before the open house and maybe on Robocall? E. Jackson advised that Marie Braley said things get better attention if it goes in a packet with the report card, etc. T. Croteau asked about the posting for the vacant board position. J. Lewis advised have received one response of interest and one inquiry. R. Horton need to appoint someone and the Board would like to move swiftly. J. Cardinal thinks whoever shows interest should come to the next meeting. J. Lewis will do that at the first meeting in September. K. Bazan asked if there was any mention of free lunch in the newsletter. J. Lewis advised no; it can go in the first day information packet. They are moving forward with this. Beth Stevenson advised she can put that information on the website. Mel Harrison asked if adults are getting free lunch too. Nancy Dziedzic No. Bambi Truesdell thinks it would be a nice gesture if paras were offered it. J. Lewis advised it is not available through this program. R. Horton advised we would have to fund it in our budget. Nancy Dziedzic advised Liz Bouchard will be sending the list to E. Jackson of unpaid past-due lunch bills. Explained there really is not that much; little ones that add up to $2,000. E. Jackson advised they still need information for free/reduced lunch as it needs to be used for Grants. T. Croteau asked if we get 300 kids instead of 80, will you need more help. Nancy Dziedzic No; may have to order just a little more. Jenny advised the kids bring their breakfast with them from the cafeteria to finish. R. Horton advised they had discussed that no one should bring their food out of the cafeteria. He asked J. Lewis if he would work on that. J. Lewis advised he would. Facilities: J. Cardinale and K. Bazan took a walk around the building. J. Cardinale had made a list that was turned into J. Lewis two years ago. Some things were addressed; a lot were not. There are now some new issues. J. Cardinale advised there is a large hole in the plywood in the walk-in cooler on the elementary side. It needs to be addressed now. It was reported to D. Chamberlain two years ago or so. SAU air conditioner wires are showing. Water is coming down the side of the building; several lights out back are broken or missing and there is an issue with gym light. E. Jackson thinks maybe they need to walk around the building with D. Chamberlain. She knows D. Chamberlain does have the list.

4 J. Lewis feels may want to go into non-public for discussion on that. K. Bazan advised was told need to get the oil tank buried and could get barriers for it. R. Horton advised he and J. Lewis attended a meeting with Keene today; started out very contentious, but turned out okay. They needed to clear the air. Current Keene administration was not sure of the history. R. Horton advised started to discuss problems we ve seen with tuition rate and exclusivity. Keene advised they don t treat our students differently; don t single them out. R. Horton advised they are different, because they show up late and have to rush to class. Advised there was some compassion and understanding; know there are some challenges. R. Horton advised it turned out to be a much nicer meeting than it started as. They encouraged us to look at different schools. Discussed rate increase; puts a burden on the school taxpayers can t pay it. R. Horton feels if we want to renegotiate, need to do it at the board level and send it to them. R. Horton advised they discussed Sped tuition; the high cost they pay no matter what the child needs. Ege Cordell advised he will look into it. R. Horton advised they discussed exclusivity; can t look elsewhere for any students unless KHS can t provide the same education for them. Keene likes the money and needs to budget for our students. R. Horton asked Keene what if we guarantee a certain percentage to them; looking at ways they can negotiate. Advised by the end of the conversation felt Rob Malany and Ege Cordell sympathized and understood, though didn t say in so many words. Advised need to do what is in the best interest for the Winchester School District. R. Horton would look towards notifying them that we want to renegotiate a new contract. J. Lewis will check with our attorney to see if he can give the Board help. It was a good conversation. *Superintendent of Pioneer will be here tomorrow. T. Croteau, R. Horton and J. Lewis will be there. R. Horton advised there is an Educational Committee meeting next week at Pioneer. COMMITTEE REPS: Negotiations: R. Horton advised they have had a structural meeting; have some things set. Selectboard: R. Horton reached out to Roberta Fraser to advise they are trying to build a relationship with the Selectboard. Problems shouldn t be happening. Advised he hasn t heard back. Energy Conservation: R. Horton asked J. Cardinale to get information on motion switches for the bathrooms. J. Lewis advised it depends on wattage. R. Horton Can start in a few bathrooms. R. Horton feels they still need a conversation on south facing classrooms; they get very hot. J. Cardinale Could also gain heat in the Winter. J. Lewis thinks the issue is it is a brick building; the heat reflects off the bricks. R. Horton are awnings an option? Helmet Policy JLIBA: J. Lewis distributed the approved policy to the Board. It will be in force from day one. K. Bazan Maybe we can coordinate with the police department for helmets on the first day of school. J. Lewis advised he will add the RSA to the Helmet Policy. Joan Franklin asked if the school is going to buy six air conditioners for the elementary school. R. Horton advised didn t come to a decision. There are six up there. R Horton thinks they need a different type of blind. Damon Klempner wondered if maybe a circulation or paddle fan would help. Mike Krekorian asked about Keene s Special Ed cost of $29,000. Is that Kindle Farm, too? R. Horton thinks Kindle Farm is in the 50 s. E. Jackson advised some private tuition costs are less than Keene. R. Horton advised the problem they tackle with is all sending districts are based on our contract. J. Cardinale MOVED to go into non-public session at 8:16 pm; under RSA91-A:3(b) SECONDED by: T. Croteau yes, K. Bazan yes, R. Horton yes, J. Cardinale yes, T. Croteau, MOTION PASSED. J. Cardinale MOVED to leave non-public session at 8:54pm; SECONDED by: K. Bazan, VOTED: T. Croteau yes, K. Bazan yes, R. Horton yes, J. Cardinale yes, MOTION PASSED.

5 R. Horton advised while in non-public session the Board signed contracts for the morning library position, afternoon library position and fourth grade teacher. Damon Klempner signed his contract at the meeting. In non-public the Board discussed a Personnel issue. J. Cardinale MOVED to seal the minutes of the non-public session regarding a personnel issue; SECONDED by: K. Bazan, VOTED: 4-0, MOTION PASSED. J. Cardinale MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 pm; SECONDED by: T. Croteau, VOTED: 4-0, MOTION PASSED. Respectfully submitted, Peggy Higgins School Board Secretary