Essex Westford Educational Community Unified Union School District

Transcription

1 12 Essex Westford Educational Community Unified Union School District Regular Board Meeting ~ Essex High School Library Essex Junction, VT Tuesday, March 21, 2017 ~ Minutes Board Members Present : Al Bombardier, Diane Clemens, Marla Durham, Kim Gleason, Martha Heath, Brendan Kinney, Wes McClellan, Keeley Schell (arrived at 7:21 P.M.), Liz Subin Administration Present : Superintendent Judith DeNova, Superintendent Mark Andrews Others Present : LCATV Absent: Andre Roy Meeting Called to Order Martha Heath called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. There are no Public Comments this evening. Opening Remarks Any board members willing or interested, please attend the budget information meeting in Westford on April 3rd at 6:30 P.M. The meeting will occur in the common area of the school. There is a VSBA sponsored workshop on March 28th. Please contact Ben Dickie to sign up. Martha amended the agenda as follows: At the beginning of School Board Business, add Appointment of a Professional Position. Consent Items Brendan Kinney moved to approve the Consent Agenda to include the Meeting Minutes of March 7, 2017 with revision: On page 4, under Policy Task Team, remove On August 21. and change to read On March 21. Motion approved (Keeley Schell and Andre Roy were absent for this vote.) Minutes can be found on the EWSD website Unified Union School Board Business Appointment of a Professional Position Information about this position was sent to Board Members prior to the meeting. Al Bombardier moved to approve Katherine McKelvey as a School Psychologist pending reciprocity of her license from Massachusetts to Vermont as discussed. Motion Approved (Keeley Schell and Andre Roy were absent for this vote.) 1

2 22 Budget Communication Plan The Board Chair will share the FY18 Budget presentation that she and others have designed for the upcoming budget meeting on April 4, The slide presentation was sent to Board Members prior to the meeting. Discussion Slide: Projected Future Savings - Westford Tuition The slide needs some clarification on some of its information. May wish to add/change the last sentence to read: Westford students who presently don t attend EHS are grandfathered. As they finish high school, EWSD will no longer have to pay for tuition after these students graduate. No additional EHS staffing is expected to accommodate this increase in enrollment. Slide: Transition to More Efficient Operations The net savings for the Park Street school transfer is incorrect If the transfer occurs the net savings will be $9,087 ($14,087 - $5,000 Parks and Rec lease payment). Slide: Proposed Capital Spending Should be IS structured, not WAS structured. Slide: Capital Plan Effect on Projected Tax Rate *this may be changed before the end of the legislative session Martha will post on all Front Porch Forums a link to this PowerPoint. Will there be a section on FPF to where people can submit questions? Martha will have people submit questions directly to her. It was mentioned at the last meeting that Board Members take responsibility for a portion of the budget and be prepared to explain. How do we break it up? It is suggested that the acting CFO be at the meeting as a backup for questions. Martha will ask if Kathy Barron is available to come to the meetings. It is also suggested that categories with a large difference have a summary detailing what has changed. (Function and Object codes have changed as previously discussed.) The Annual Report will go to the printer on 3/22/17. Thanks to Ben Dickie for doing an exceptional job on the cover. Approve School Bus Transportation Bids Two bids to provide transportation service to K-12 students living in the village and 9-12 students living in Westford have been received and discussed between members of the administration and the two prospective bus transportation contractors. Reference attachment 1 below. How are we dealing with the fuel? The bids include fuel but the district may wish to purchase to save? Further negotiation will happen after the bids are accepted. Kim Gleason moved to approve the School Bus Transportation Bids as follows: 2

3 32 The Administration recommends that the award for the transportation contract for 9-12 students from Westford to and from the high school be awarded to CCR of Westford in the amount of up to $108,207 for FY18. The Administration recommends that the award for the transportation contract for 9-12 students from Essex Junction to and from the high school and K-8 students from Essex Junction to and from elementary schools be awarded to Student Transportation of America (Mountain Transit) in the amount of $295 per day per bus ($299 per day for a handicapped accessible bus) for FY18. The administration anticipates the need for eleven buses for FY18. Motion approved (Keeley Schell and Andre Roy were absent for this vote.) Approve EWECUUSD School Calendar School leaders in ETSD and CCSU have created two EWSD school calendars for the school year: one calendar for CTE and one common calendar for the remaining 9 schools in the UU. CTE follows a slightly different calendar given its relationship with the business community and sending schools in the region. Reference attachment 2 below. Overview The Superintendents have the authority to make the calendar decisions but Mark and Judy have always gone to their respective boards to get their approval. Why is the calendar important? 1. Student learning - focusing on good instruction and maximizing days 2. Staff learning - staff and leaders educational development 3. Retool - reflect on practice then resume (summer and breaks) 4. Promotes family time Goals Allow for time for the staff to come together and learn. To create a common calendar without deviating from traditional vacation, holiday, and summer breaks. Recognizing the difficulties in securing childcare for ½ day releases and limiting lost instruction time due to early releases or late arrivals. CTE has a slightly different calendar While the Tech Center has a similar calendar to the other 9 schools in the district, there are a few days that are unique to CTE such as Saturday and evening school times. Discussion One change is that February break went on two days longer for CCSU than ETSD. For this calendar it is a 5 day break across the district. There used to be town meetings during the day and now they are generally held at night. There is really no reason to have Monday and Tuesday off any longer. The change results in 2 more days of student instruction time. On the October 18th footnote, it seems to be missing EMS for Early Release/Parent conferences and is EHS really having a full day with night conferences? Also, EES and FMS have been missed for the flexible conference day between 10/ It is an error. It should read, Early Release/Parent Conference for ADL, EMS, EHS and it should read, HIA/SUM/EES/FLE/FMS/WES have flexible conference days between 10/16-10/27. 3

4 42 When will the calendar go out? It needs to be shared with the staff first then it will be put on the CCSU and ETSD websites. Is there any reason why P.M. early release days are on Mondays vs. Fridays? What about late starts? It is easier to make it a 3 day weekend if it were on a Friday. On Monday, families are back in the swing of work and school and less likely to result in a lost ½ day of class time. The breakfast program to feed kids in the mornings was more important than late starts. Al Bombardier moved to approve the draft EWSD - CTE School Calendar as presented. Motion approved (Andre Roy was absent for this vote) Brendan Kinney moved to approve the draft EWSD (not CTE) School Calendar as presented, with a change in the footnote for October 18, Motion approved (Andre Roy was absent for this vote) Communications Task Team Update The team met for preparing the budget presentation. Voices for Education met on They updated their proposal and changed engagement time frame from November to September and October. There are now 2 students on the team and they will be introduced along with the rest of the VFE group in May. Ben and Kim will be attending a secondary school consortium which has a presentation on engagement. They will be able to bring some good information back to us. Transportation Sub-Committee - Brendan Kinney In anticipation of the approval of the bids, Brendan and Ben worked to come up with a meeting time for the sub-committee. Next steps will be to draft an agenda for the meeting, setting the date as to when the engagements will start, and importantly getting the school principals involved and get their input and buy-in. Suggestion: It will be good to get the engagement date determined and out to the public as soon as possible. Policy Task Team Due to the full board agenda, the PBLGR presentation with Amy Cole has been rescheduled for April 18, The team plans to meet and start working on their next steps. Local Board and State Updates Essex Town - Still meeting monthly. PC Board - The next meeting is April 10th and the Reorg meeting is April 13th. Westford The Westford Reorg meeting was last Monday. There is a group of people in Westford that are concerned about a lease for parcel 2. Mark Drapa is working with the selectboard. Another vote is not needed but there are folks pushing for one. 4

5 52 State News - Martha previously shared a draft of the letter she is sending to local representatives and senators regarding a request to change to unified union statutes. Dylan Giambatista has been communicating with Martha, Kim, Mark and Judy regarding a House Education Committee proposal that was passed regarding education funding. The proposal will be helpful to districts that spend less than average and more of a burden to those that spend more. It is intended to be more simple and fair across the board and not intended to be a cost containment measure. VSBA will put out principles on what the framework would need to look like to make a new funding system worthwhile. Dylan and some other House Education Committee members are working on a narrative but don t yet have all the information they need from House Representatives. Superintendent Work Plan The transportation bids and proposed school calendar will serve as the Superintendent s update for this meeting. Meeting Evaluation and Next Meeting Agenda Board Agenda items for Tuesday, April 4, 2017 Informational meeting for the budget Board Agenda items for Tuesday, April 18, 2017 Local Board Updates Task Team Updates Superintendent Work Plan Update Executive session regarding negotiations PBL presentation Discuss the results of the vote Communications to the public will include: Calendar Budget presentation Transportation Executive Session Kim Gleason moved to enter Executive Session at 8:17 P.M. to discuss Contract Negotiations. Motion Approved (Andre Roy was absent for this vote) The board moved out of Executive Session and re-entered open session at 9:10 P.M. No action taken as a result of the Executive Session. Judy informed the board about the loss of an EHS student on Tuesday evening due to an unexpected medical condition. Martha Heath adjourned the meeting at 9:20 P.M. Respectfully Submitted by, Kimberly Kedzierski EWECUUSD Recorder 5

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8 82 Attachment 2 (2 pages) 8

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