Swanton School Board

Board Member	Home Number	Email	Term Expiration
Toby Maguire, Chairperson	524-5749	maguire4ssb@comcast.net	2013
Mary Wood, Vice-Chair	524-5446	marywoodssb@hotmail.com	2013
Jay Cummings	527-1227	jayc@image.com	2014
Patti Jo Walker	524-5749	pattiwoj@comcast.net	2012
Gary Thompson	868-2139	gub_t@yahoo.com	2012

SWANTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board Meeting Agenda

Monday, January 9, 2012 6:00pm

Swanton Central School Library

6:00pm Call to Order

6:05pm Citizens and Staff to be Heard on Items not Related to the Agenda

PTO Update

6:10pm Approval of Minutes

Dec. Board Meeting

Correspondence

Old Business

Contracts

6:15pm Business Manager's Report

- Financial Report

- Check Warrants

- Budget

- Budget Informational Meeting Date

- Other

6:35pm Principals' Report

- Enrollment

- Community Development

- Student Learning

- Other

6:50pm Superintendent's Report

- Waiver for Vermont vs NCLB

- Race to the Top States

- Act 153

- Board Self Evaluation

- Extended School Day

- Other

Meeting Dates -Next Meeting - Monday, February 13, 2012 @ 6pm

7:05pm Executive Session

- Personnel

- Legal Issues

- Student Issues

Other

7:25pm Adjournment

SWANTON SCHOOL DISTRICT DRAFT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING MINUTES

December 12, 2011

Present: Tobias Maguire, Board Chair, Mary Wood, Gary Thompson, Jay Cummings, and Patti Jo Walker.

Administration: Brent Coon, Principal, Becky Hart, Business Manager, Lora McAllister, Asst Business Manager and Dr. John McCarthy, Superintendent.

Others Present: Sarah Nielsen, PTO President, Lynn Lane, School Nurse, and Heather Digby.

Call to Order: Tobias Maguire called the meeting to order at 6:02pm.

Citizens and Staff : Tobias Maguire stated that if anyone were interested in running for school board, they would need to file a petition to run by January 20 ^th.

Brent Coon explained that they have received calls regarding the policy around head lice. They have really worked hard to try to keep the school free of head lice so that students do not miss academic time. School Nurse Lynn Lane handed out some information regarding head lice. Lynn has been school nurse for fifteen years and Joan Kemp has been there for thirteen and half years. There is a lot of nursing experience between both of them. With their diligence and the support of parents and staff members, head lice issues are very minimal. There is a social stigma attached to head lice. Head lice are not a health issue and they do not make your home unhealthy. You take care of the problem and then become proactive. There seems to be a concern that parents are not notified every time a student is sent home with head lice. There is a fine line between a student's right of confidentiality and the public's need to know. Head lice can be picked up at a movie theater, trying a hat on in the store, in the airport etc. The plan has always been to send a letter home whenever there are 3 or more students affected in a particular class with head lice, pink eye or strep throat. The school is proactive in keeping an eye out on the classroom. Head Lice can be difficult for families to detect themselves and the lice move very quickly. Mrs. Kemp and Mrs. Lane ask your support in helping us with any head lice issue. They ask that parents check their students' heads once a week. Parents should instruct their children not to share hats, scarves, clothes, combs and brushes. The best approach is to have families be pro-active at home, and in helping us handle head lice in school. Brent Coon recommends that they have a no knit policy in the school. The current policy has a live lice policy only. Dr. McCarthy will research to see if they can have a no knit policy in the school.

Last month, Mary Wood passed out a self-assessment for the board members to complete. It is a self-evaluation of how the board feels they are doing as a school board. Tobias Maguire would like to complete the self -assessment at the end of the board meeting.

PTO Update: Sarah Nielsen reported that the PTO met this month. They had Kathy Kneebone present about the after school Crossroad's program in Swanton. Kathy presented on what is available in the after school program. Robin Trushaw also reported on the yearbook. They had a K-6 yearbook and it was very successful. It sold very well and will continue with that plan this year. The community dinner this month was a great success. The next meeting is January 2^nd at 6pm. The topic is to be announced.

Approval of Minutes Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Patti Jo Walker to approve the Nov. 14, 2011 minutes revising the motion seconded to Patti Jo Walker on the financial report. The Board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.

Correspondence:

Old Business:

Contracts:

Financial Report: Becky Hart reported that in your board packet there was a financial report through the end of November with an increase in the projected carryover due to a change in student placement. The projected expenditures have decrease by about $25,000 and so it was reflected in the carryover. Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Mary Wood to accept the financial report as presented. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Check Warrants: Becky Hart brought check warrants and the payroll expenditures for the board's approval to the meeting. Gary Thompson made motion, second by Jay Cummings to approve the November 2011 check warrants and payroll totaling $563,817.62. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

FY 13 Budget: Becky Hart handed out Draft 2 of the FY13 Budget. She has a cover memo showing the changes since draft one. The health insurance premium has been modified from 5% to 4%. The support staff employee contributions have been adjusted to mirror what has been outlined in the support staff master agreement. The assessment expenses have been adjusted to reflect the revisions in the Supervisory Union budgets as approved at the last board meeting. The $4,000 under boiler maintenance has been moved to repair and maintenance under plant. There is now a 4.06% increase. If the school day were to be extended, it would cost an estimated additional $50,000 for the paraprofessionals to work an additional thirty minutes. Mary Wood would like to have a work session to go over the instructional item details in the budget. Tobias Maguire would like the community to provide input on their expectations of the budget. Tobias Maguire asked if the board members would like to think about early retirement incentives.

Principal's Report:

Enrollment : Brent Coon stated that the enrollment has been very steady.

Student Learning: The K-2 students had an assembly focusing on caring, They had students come up to share how they show caring of their baby brothers, sisters and pets. How they find lost hats for their friends etc. and did a great job in front of the microphone. The fifth grade teachers have revived a past award called the Brag Award. The first Brag Award was December 9^th and recognized students that met the following criteria- responsible attendance, demonstrating enthusiasm for learning regardless of the assignment area, consistently and thoughtfully in and out of school demonstrating our core concepts. The parents came the day of the Brag Award and they took a picture along with a small article in the St. A. Messenger. They would like the principals to eat lunch with the award winners. It was really exciting for them. The third grade completed their flood of coin drive for the flood disaster relief fund and presented a check for that fund for $616.25 and there is a little article in the Messenger with that.

Professional Development: Our classroom teachers are Snapping our students. It is an assessment that classrooms check for students understanding of number concept and they can gear their intervention and classroom instruction to that. The professional staff members that have not been trained will be participating on Dec. 15 ^th and 16^th. All of the Special Educators from Swanton along with other Supervisory Union Special Educators are in the midst of yearlong math training. They are getting professional development from Sandi Stanhope on Laying the Foundation and Building Understanding. Classroom teachers are continuing to build on the professional development from Leah Mermelstein with amazing writing and productive writers workshop times. We are giving our students a voice back in the writing and the Messenger wants to come to talk to teachers about the shift in writing process program in school.

Leadership: Sara Raabe and Brent Coon had a wonderful evening at the community dinner with a wonderful turnout. They would like to thank Kirsten Belrose's class who took on the role as host and wait staff as well as students who came back from MVU. Both administrators attended the extended day forum at MVU and the PTO meetings. It was a busy and enjoyable month for all teachers and staff. Robyn Brislin through former principal Holly Rouelle, found a book company that donates books to schools for a small shipping fee. They gave books to every student from grades K-6 and gave books to preschool. They would like to thank Holly and Robyn for seeking this opportunity to get books.

Roof Specs Update: A group met with Ian of Garland to put some roof specs together. They are in the process of getting that together and will get this information to Becky Hart so that they get put the roof project out to bid in early January. They are not charging the Swanton School District to put together the specs.

Winter Sports : Dustin King is doing a wonderful job as Athletic Director and getting the basketball season up and running. There are two boys and two girls teams organized this year so there were challenges with the scheduling of the gym. They are putting together a Google Calendar so that the Recreation Dept. can see the schedule. Swanton Elementary School will have a scheduling priority, then Town activities that include Swanton Elem. School students, then the MVU junior and high school students, then Swanton residents that do not include students. The sign up is not on a first come first serve basis, there is a priority list. They try to keep the lines of communication open.

Superintendent's Report:

Negotiations : All the schools have ratified the Master Agreement. The Attorney has sent a draft of the Master Agreement. It should be coming out soon.

Review of the FNWSU Meeting: The Supervisory Union Board approved the Early Education, Special Education and Central Office Budget. George Raynak gave a presentation on technology.

Increasing the School Day: MVU has approved extending their school day with the understanding that the two elementary schools also will need to approve it. Highgate Elem. School approved it as well. Dr. McCarthy handed out some of the questions/items from the Community Forum. The after school program had 90 students involved and this year it has doubled to 180 students showing that some parents are interested in an extended school day. Dr. McCarthy shared other area schools length of day. The St. Albans City School has a shorter time for Kindergarten and as he mentioned at the open meeting, there should be an option for parents to pick up their kids earlier if they felt that their students would not adapt to a longer day. In St. Albans Town School, all their times are over seven hours. If younger students were picked up earlier, the Kindergarten teachers could have enrichment and remediation/intervention for students who stayed longer. If the elementary schools do not extend their day, then the additional expense would be prohibitive. Dr. McCarthy supports the extended day but it is the boards' decision. Mary Wood has a list of questions and read the questions to the board. She does support MVU having a longer day however are we doing what is best for our students? Have we had ample time to analyze the additional costs etc.? Our audit reports indicates a need for common team time. Will school events be extended? Is the Union ok with this? Dr. McCarthy explained that during the negotiations process, that the plan was with the additional half hour the first year, it would be for teachers' planning/meeting time etc. and then expand the school day to an eight-hour day the second year (2012-2013) with the additional half hour being student teaching time. The audit time was addressed during the current 2011-2012 school year, when the professional staff increased their work day by an extra half hour. On average, prior to the 2011-2012 school year, the teachers had about 40 minutes planning time per day. With the increased half hour this year, the professionals currently have 1 hour and 10 minutes of planning time for the 2011-2012 school year. So the intent during negotiations was that the teachers would have an additional 30 minutes for the 2012-2013 school year for student teaching time. Otherwise, the professional staff would have an estimated total of 1 hour and 40 minutes of planning/professional time per day. Are we enabling families? Dr. McCarthy explained that in reality, the most difficult time for children especially with working parents is between 3-6pm. Statistics show that between 3-6pm is the most dangerous time of day for unsupervised children to get in trouble. Having the children remain in school an extra half hour is decreasing that time and is beneficial to many working families. However, this is not the real reason that we are doing this, it is for increased academic time. Has schools started to plan already for the 2012-2013 school year with the extra half hour? MVU understands any work being done (such as scheduling) including the additional half hour may have to be redone because they understand that if this additional half hour isn't approved at the elementary schools, it will not go through. Our schools in the supervisory union has actually some of the shorter school days in the state. Heather Digby asked about the teacher day if they would have a 7.5 or 7-hour student contact day. Why can't MVU have a longer day without impacting the Elementary students? Dr. McCarthy responded that they would have to increase three additional buses at a cost of about $90,000. Heather also asked if alternative ideas have been explored. Dr. McCarthy responded that they have explored other ideas. Sarah Nielsen asked about providing teachers extra time to fulfill the audit, to return phone calls etc. Dr. McCarthy stated that was addressed this year with the increased half hour in the teacher day. Has there been a study/research about length of time students can stay on their task? Brent responded that research shows that students can stay focused and engaged around 12 minutes at a time. New studies are showing that the time is diminished to 8 minutes at a time, so the teachers have to adjust their teaching throughout the day and teachers should plan the lesson around this focus. Tobias Maguire inquired about keeping this as a separate line item? Gary Thompson felt that it should be included in the budget because voters will not analyze the benefits and impact on an extended school day on students. Mary Wood would like to see what the extra half hour would look like here at Swanton School. Brent Coon would get a draft together of how they will use the additional thirty minutes in instructional time. Tobias Maguire stated that they would table this discussion until next month.

Power School: Dr. McCarthy stated that the other schools have approved going to Power School instead of Web to School for the 2012-2013 school year. It is their recommendation that all the elementary schools go to Power School align with the high school and Early Ed . Mary Wood made motion, seconded by Patti Jo Walker to approve going to Power School for the 2012-2013 school year. The board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.

Other: for executive session

The next scheduled school board meeting is on January 9, 2012 at 6pm.

Executive Session & Adjournment

PattiJo Walker made a motion to enter into Executive Session at 8:12 p.m. for side letter of agreement, Seconded by Jay Cummings. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote. Patti Jo Walker made motion, seconded by Mary Wood to exit executive session at 8:30pm. Patti Jo Walker made motion to have Tobias Maguire sign the side letter of agreements as discussed in executive session. The motion was seconded by Gary Thompson. The board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.

Toby Maguire adjourned the meeting at 8:32pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Patty Jo Walker, School Board Clerk

By Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary

SWANTON SCHOOL DISTRICT DRAFT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING MINUTES

December 12, 2011

Present: Tobias Maguire, Board Chair, Mary Wood, Gary Thompson, Jay Cummings, and Patti Jo Walker.

Administration: Brent Coon, Principal, Becky Hart, Business Manager, Lora McAllister, Asst Business Manager and Dr. John McCarthy, Superintendent.

Others Present: Sarah Nielsen, PTO President, Lynn Lane, School Nurse, and Heather Digby.

Call to Order: Tobias Maguire called the meeting to order at 6:02pm.

Citizens and Staff : Tobias Maguire stated that if anyone were interested in running for school board, they would need to file a petition to run by January 20 ^th.

Correspondence:

Old Business:

Contracts:

Principal's Report:

Enrollment : Brent Coon stated that the enrollment has been very steady.

Superintendent's Report:

Negotiations : All the schools have ratified the Master Agreement. The Attorney has sent a draft of the Master Agreement. It should be coming out soon.

Review of the FNWSU Meeting: The Supervisory Union Board approved the Early Education, Special Education and Central Office Budget. George Raynak gave a presentation on technology.

Other: for executive session

The next scheduled school board meeting is on January 9, 2012 at 6pm.

Executive Session & Adjournment

Toby Maguire adjourned the meeting at 8:32pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Patty Jo Walker, School Board Clerk

By Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING MINUTES
November 14, 2011
Present:

Tobias Maguire, Board Chair,

Mary Wood, Gary Thompson, Jay Cummings, and Patti Jo Walker.

Administration: Brent Coon, Principal,

Sara Raabe, Assistant Principal,

Becky Hart, Business Manager,

Lora McAllister, Asst Business Manager and

Dr. John McCarthy, Superintendent.

Others Present: Sarah Nielsen, PTO President, and Heather Darr
Call to Order: Tobias Maguire called the meeting to order at 6:03pm.

Citizens and Staff: None

PTO Update: Sarah Nielsen reported that the last PTO meeting was last week. Sara Raabe presented a brief summary of the school audit. They talked about the roof project and encouraged parents to go out and vote. The community dinner is planned for Dec. 7th. They also discussed the second and major fundraiser of the year, called Support a Swan. The Swans will be at community events and at the school for families and businesses to purchase. They will line the walls of the school with the family/ business name on it showing their support of the school. The next PTO meeting is scheduled for Dec. 5th.

Approval of Minutes Mary Wood made motion with the addition of the minutes provided by Patti Jo Walker seconded by Gary Thompson to approve the minutes of the October 10, 2011. The Board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.

Correspondence: Dr. McCarthy had thank you notes to the school board with pictures from the Crossroads’ program to the school board. He also had a letter of agreement for executive session.

Old Business: Tobias Maguire reported that the roof vote passed 129 to 30 and thanked the community for their support.

Contracts: For executive session.

Financial Report: Becky Hart reported there is an update projection in the financial report with an anticipated carryover of $5,189.00. There was some changes in the expenses, updated the health insurance participation, expenses for some additional support staff, an additional CAT worker. Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Becky Hart to accept the financial report as presented. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Check Warrants: Becky Hart brought check warrants for the board’s approval to the meeting. The long-term debt payment falls in October. Patti Jo Walker made motion, second by Jay Cummings to approve the October 2011 check warrants totaling $803,769.59. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Roof Project Update: The roof project did pass 129-30. The plan is that Garland will write the bid specs. Tobias Maguire thought they should review the bid specs before they send it out. Mary Wood made a motion, seconded by Gary Thompson, to direct the administration to contact Garland to write the bid specs for the roof project at an amount not to exceed $500.00. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote. Tobias Maguire thought the board should review the bid specs prior to placing the roof project out to bid. Jay Cummings made motion, seconded by Patti Jo Walker to authorize Becky Hart to submit the bid specs to the board to review and once approved, send the project out to bid. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote. The goal will be review the bid proposals at the January 2012 board meeting to award.

FY 13 Budget: Becky Hart handed out Draft 1 of the FY13 Budget. She has budgeted professional staff salaries as specified in the Master Agreement and anticipated paraprofessional salary increase as outlined in the tentative agreement. She has budgeted 5% for the health insurance increase until VSBIT gives us a final increase. The debt service has been decreased but it does include the final payment on the debt service along with the interest from the anticipated roof bond. They have increased the plant operations to include the parking lot sealing/painting along with summer landscaping. Although the board has not made a decision yet, the budget draft includes the costs of PowerSchool for discussion purposes. There is a new contract that will begin soon for the copier equipment and that will result in a reduction in that expense. Legal Services has been reduced because there should only be the beginning of the paraprofessional support staff bargaining to negotiate. Transportation expense has been budgeted based on the approved one-year extension of the current contract. The other personnel items may be discussed in executive session.

Principal’s Report:

Enrollment: Brent Coon stated that the enrollment has increased by one student, for a total enrollment of 559 students. The bubble class is grade 5.

Student Learning: Sara Raabe reported that the students in grades 3-6 completed their NECAP testing. They have decided to test only one session a day so it extended the NECAP testing to two weeks. They felt that it had less impact on instruction and allowed the teachers to run regular after noon academics.
The Millionaires Club is off and running. The students are very excited about the opportunity to compete with the adults for minutes. The adults are behind 40,000 minutes and will need to step it up so that it remains a closer competition. This is a great connection between math and literacy. They have an amazing website around this Millionaires Club competition.
Joseph and Jesse Bruchac attend school on Wednesday for a day of Abenaki Storytelling and Music in celebration of November being Native American Awareness Month. Students were treated to a variety of stories and songs and even learned some Abenaki language.
They had to take the maple trees down because they were diseased. In May 1972, they put a bottle in the ground near a sapling as a time capsule. They found the bottle with a class list and a teacher’s name that had passed away. They have ordered a 20th century time stainless steel time capsule and plan to bury it on May 2nd, 2012 to recover in 40 years. They will decide what to put in that time capsule over the year.

Professional Development: Teachers continue to use their meeting time with content specialist to refine their instructional practice. They have really changed how their grade level meetings take place. Robyn Brisin is working teachers as they administer Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment. She will then begin to guide teachers in analyzing student data and how to best address issue in their instruction.

Leadership: Both Sara Raabe and Brent Coon have started working on the summative evaluation for the professional staff. Of the 60 professional staff, 23 are on the summative cycle, 32 are on one of the formative cycles and 4 are in portfolio review. Paraprofessionals have also completed a goal sheet that will be used to help prepare professional development opportunities for them. Sara Raabe is in a New Principal’s class run by Brian O’Regan through St. Mikes. This class is a great forum for new administrators to problem solve and discuss current ideas.
The school gardens have been tilled by Chris Venegas from Green Mountain Farm to School. He had help from Camille Freeman who brought volunteers from MVU during one of their mandatory community service days. Camille also brought a donation of organic manure and hay from a family member’s farm to help get the gardens ready for the winter. They currently have garlic planted and look forward to spring planting.

Superintendent’s Report:

Negotiations: The support staff in Swanton has ratified the Master Agreement. So far, Sheldon, Swanton and MVU have ratified their Master Agreement. He has not heard from Highgate yet. Once all four schools have ratified it, the Master Agreement will be written up.

Review of the FNWSU Meeting: They went over the Early Education, Special Education and Central Office Budget.

Power School: MVU, Franklin Central Supervisory union and Franklin Northeast Supervisory have been Power School so that all our systems will align and use the same student information program. They discussed the possibility of setting up a dummy account so that board members can try it.

Increasing the School Day: There are a lot of questions and concerns about increasing the student day such as what happens to sports, after school program and how it affects the busing. It could impact additional time for paraprofessionals. What is exactly happening during that time, will it be instructional time? They will discuss it at an open forum on November 30th from 7-8:30pm possibly at MVU.
Other: Tobias Maguire mentioned the article for the roof should be changed to something like a capital improvement plan. Dr. McCarthy did mention that this is the Babcock roof and still have the Central Building roof, boilers in the other school buildings, paving in parking lot. They thought that they should keep the wording to be more general so it could be used for priority items. They would like to see the top five items that are needed in capital improvement discussed in the next two meetings.
The next scheduled school board meeting is on December 12, 2011 at 6pm. The next Franklin Northwest SU is scheduled for December 7th in Franklin at 7pm. Mary Wood reminded everyone there is a dinner here on December 7th at 5:30pm.

Executive Session & Adjournment
PattiJo Walker made a motion to enter into Executive Session at 7:08 p.m. Seconded by Jay Cummings. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.
PattiJo Walker made motion to exit Executive Session at 8:35 p.m., seconded by Mary Wood. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.
Motions made after executive session:
1.) PattiJo Walker made a motion for Toby Maguire to sign contract as discussed in Executive Session. Gary Thompson seconded motion. Vote 5-0
2.) PattiJo Walker made a motion for the superintendent to write a side letter on contract, for more intensive one to one special needs student. Mary Wood seconded motion. Vote 5-0
Toby Maguire adjourned meeting at 8:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,

Patty Jo Walker, School Board Clerk
By Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING MINUTES

October 10, 2011

Present: Tobias Maguire, Board Chair, Mary Wood, Gary Thompson, Jay Cummings, and Patti Jo Walker.

Administration: Brent Coon, Principal, Sara Raabe, Assistant Principal, Becky Hart, Business Manager and Dr. John McCarthy, Superintendent.

Others Present: Sarah Nielsen, PTO President, Michael Westbaum

Call to Order: Tobias Maguire called the meeting to order at 6:01pm.

Citizens and Staff : None

PTO Update: see later in the agenda.

Approval of Minutes Patti Jo Walker made motion, seconded by Gary Thompson to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2011. Mary Wood would like to omit Rod Russin's name as being present as a correction to the Sept. Board minutes. Although the September board minutes were correct in stating that the CPI restraint method is the only method that may be used in the Franklin Northwest SU, (which is what was said at the Swanton Sept. school board meeting), Jack would like to change the concept that employees/contracted services that work in our school, "to use the restraint method that they have been trained in restraining students". The Board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.

Correspondence: None.

Old Business: Tobias Maguire stated that the Swanton School District roof replacement vote is Nov.8^th and the Nov. 1 informational meeting is at 7pm. Tobias reminded everyone that the website has additional information about the roof vote. Toby will send a letter to the Messenger encouraging people to vote on Nov. 8^th and send a copy of the letter to the PTO about the vote. Garland had stated that we could use the power point information. Tobias Maguire would like to put it on the website under the board section. Swanton could put a disclaimer stating "This is a power point from a company but the board doesn't necessarily endorse this company, it just is a good source of information. The roof replacement will be subject to the bid process." There is an informational meeting on November 1^st at 7pm at the Swanton Central School Library. The vote is November 8 and the polls are open 7am to 7pm at the Village Complex. The board approved the wording for the ballot as follows: " Shall general obligation bonds of the Swanton Town School District in the amount not to exceed $450,000 be issued for the purpose of replacing the roof on the Mary S. Babcock school building?"

Contracts: Two recommendations for special education paraprofessionals for executive session.

Financial Report: Becky Hart reported there is an update projection in the financial report with an anticipated carryover of $11,000.00. Most of the changes are under Instructional programs and transportation. The state reimbursement rate for Special Education should be slightly higher than anticipated and should get some additional revenue. Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Jay Cummings to accept the financial report as presented.

Check Warrants: Becky Hart brought check warrants for the board's approval to the meeting. Gary Thompson made motion, second by Jay Cummings to approve the September 2011 check warrants totaling $443,461.58. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

We are currently group purchasing our photocopiers along with the service and supplies a five year lease agreement with a $2,200 per year on the lease equipment, and another $2,000 in service and supplies. All the copiers will be networked. Last month this was tabled to allow the administration to research more information about the companies supplying the copiers. Mary Wood made motion, seconded by Gary Thompson to approve the proposal for the five year lease agreement along with service and supplies, and authorize the Superintendent to sign the sharing agreement with Missisquoi Valley Union. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Principal's Report:

September Enrollment : Brent Coon stated that the enrollment has increased by seven students, K enrollment is at 69 students with 17 students per session which is on par with our enrollment projections.

Student Learning: The NECAP testing has started and they are now doing one session each morning of testing per day instead of the two sessions per day in the day and extend the window of testing. The school has received the Grade 4 science NECAP scores with 33% of our students being proficient, 45% partially proficient and 22% below proficient. They will continue the focus in Science in the hopes of increasing the test scores. On September 20^th, they had their first K-2 meeting with a focus on core concepts of Belonging and "Be Respectful". They plan to have a second assembly on Oct. 17 ^th with the focus being on being responsible and the third assembly will be in November.

Green Mountain Farm to School was here on September 28^th for all school garden harvest. The students had a great time harvesting and were extremely focused on the task at hand and made a lasting impression on the guest. Some high schools will come back to roto till the garden.

The Math and Literacy Content Specialist and Interventionist introduced the millionaire's club to promote reading at home. The minutes they have read at home must be logged. They are hoping to tally and read a million minutes by the end of the school year. There will be incentives and prizes when they reach the goal.

Professional Development: Leah Mermelsein came back to Swanton to do a demo lesson in each building for our teachers. The feedback from the teachers was positive and the teachers expressed the enthusiasm from the students around writing since using Leah's techniques. The Swanton teachers would like to have her return. The first half day in-service was held on Sept. 30^th. Some of the special educators, both administrators, the behavior team and some of the para-educators participated in a CPI Restraint Training. All the Social Studies teachers (district wide) met to discuss the social studies curriculum. The K-12 music teachers, K-12 librarians, elementary school guidance counselors, nurses and registrars met as district wide groups. Many of our para-educators participated in a half-day training around Study Island with Laura Gonyeau. Overall, it was very productive in-service day.

Leadership: Brent and Sara have been in the classrooms daily with a focus on supporting the new teachers. They have reviewed their supervision and evaluation list, and are beginning to set up meetings with teachers. In addition, they had their first Design Team meeting which was very successful. They invited parents to this meeting to get their input from them.

Facilities: They are waiting to do the final walk through and inspection of the new boiler at the Central Meeting on Friday. The three Maple tress in front of the Babcock building were taken down as they were diseases and were becoming a hazard. They will begin to look at suitable replacements. Mrs. Babcock told them that under the first tree there is a time capsule that was place there since 1972 and they are going to try to find it. Parking and traffic flow pickup and drop off continues to be a challenge. Central Library air conditioner is up and running. They will be installing trays under each unit in the event of another malfunction.

Other: Tobias Maguire inquired about the beginning of the budget process. The process has begun and Becky should be bringing a first draft in November.

Superintendent's Report:

Instructional Audit Report : Tobias Maguire stated it appeared that the staff would like more technology. It was also commented that there were a lot of good things happening and the staff needing an opportunity to meet and have professional discussions. Brent commented that he would value any suggestions and input in problem solving a way to meet. The instructional audit report is a public document however if it refers to personnel and the comment identifies someone, then it should be blacked out. The report should be reviewed with the staff and the board first, then once it is accepted by both groups, it can become available to the public.

Negotiations : The support staff negotiations will be discussed in executive session.

Policies on Web Site: Dr. McCarthy has begun to put policies on the web site. There are about 400 policies in all five schools. If you go to the Franklin Northwest Su website, you will see all five schools listed. If you click on Missisquoi Valley Union, there are currently about 20 policies posted there. The goal will be to go to their own school's website and obtain their policies.

FNWSU Meeting Review: At the meeting, the board talked about going to a longer 7.5 hour student day. With Missisquoi Valley Union going to a longer day, it will impact the busing. It would appear that we would have to add one bus for a estimated cost of $30,000 to be shared by all schools except Sheldon. The teachers' agreement has increased the hours to 7.5 hours in the 2011-2012 school year and to 8 hours in the 2012-2013 school year. It was the intention that when we went to the 8 hour day, that we would increase the teacher/student time to 7.5 hours a day. Franklin already has an 8 hour day with students so as we increased the other school districts hours, we will need an extra bus so as Franklin's day remains at 8 hours. The other issue was the restraint protocol. Linda Chaim did talk about her preferred method is the CPI method, whereas NCSS use Handle With Care. Both of these are approved by the state. The high school uses a student management system call Power-School whereas the Elementary schools use Web To School. People are finding that Power School is more powerful and is better. The first year to get the license will cost $225,000 collectively (for all four elementary schools) minus the $8,000.00 it cost for Web To School. After the first year, the cost is $4.50 per student for Power school, and it is $6.85 per student for Web To School so it would be a savings after that.

Administration Evaluation : Dr. McCarthy has an administrative form that he uses to evaluate principals that include sections such as the relationship with the school board, community relationship, staff evaluation, management of the building, etc, and in each category he has asked the administrators to send the Superintendent two goals by October 15^th. In January and February, he will sit down with each administrator and ask them how they are doing, then write up a final evaluation on what they said with their goals and how they were doing. He is doing something similar with Central Office Administrators. Each October, Dr. McCarthy is to give his goals at the FNWSU meeting and they set up a committee to discuss and creates an overall form of evaluation for the Superintendent. Dr. McCarthy handed out his goals and forms at the SU meeting. He will email the forms to the school board as he did not bring it with him. Dr. McCarthy keeps track of the administrators' evaluations of the teachers on a spreadsheet. This is an overview of the process.

PTO Update: Sara Nielsen reported that at the last PTO meeting they met with Nina from the Abbey Group about the school hot lunch program and the school nutrition. The PTO would like information about the top ten highlights of the audit and not necessarily receive a copy of the whole report. Mr. Maguire asked Sara if the PTO could help get the information out about the vote on November 8^th on the roof replacement.

The next scheduled school board meeting is on Nov. 14, 2011 at 6pm. The next Franklin Northwest SU is scheduled for Nov. 2 in Highgate at 7pm

Tobias Maguire wished to remind everyone that the vote is scheduled for Nov. 8^th and the informational meeting is on November 1^st at 7pm at the Swanton Central School Library.

Executive Session & Adjournment

Gary Thompson made motion for personnel, contracts and negotiations, seconded by Jay Cummings to enter executive session at 7:17pm. They approved the motion on a 5-0 vote. Jay Cummings made motion, seconded by Gary Thompson to exit executive session at 7:43pm. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Tobias Maguire called meeting adjourned at 7:45pm

Respectfully submitted,

Patty Jo Walker, School Board Clerk

by Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary.

July-September Minutes

Tobias Maguire (term expires in 2012) (Chair) 868-5983
Mary Wood (term expires in 2013) (Co-Chair)
PattiJo Walker (term expires in 2012) 524-5749
Jay Cummings (term expires in 2014)
Gary "Gub" Thompson (term expires in 2012)
______________________________________________________

SWANTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING MINUTES
September 12, 2011
Present: Tobias Maguire, Board Chair, Mary Wood, Rod Russin, Gary Thompson, Jay Cummings, and Patti Jo Walker.
Administration:  Brent Coon, Principal, Sara Raabe, Assistant Principal, Becky Hart, Business Manager and Dr. John McCarthy, Superintendent.
Others Present:  Sarah Nielsen, PTO President, Erin Gagne, Robin Trushaw, Peter Garrow

Call to Order:  Tobias Maguire called the meeting to order at 6:02pm.

Citizens and Staff
PTO Update: The PTO Sept meeting was primarily planning. They had a great attendance. The Great American Fundraising is under way. The proceeds are used to support field trips. October 3rd is the next meeting and we have a board member and someone from administration that attends the PTO meetings. One of the items on the agenda is the school website. Parents are inquiring about keeping the website updated.   Sara has circulated a survey requesting what would parents be interested in seeing on the website. Also, The Abbey has been invited to talk about the federal school lunch guidelines and what the school is doing in response to that. The open house is set for September 22nd and the PTO will have a table at the open house.

Approval of Minutes: Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Patti Jo Walker to approve the minutes of the August 8, 2011. The Board approved on a 5-0 vote. Mary Wood made motion, seconded by Jay Cummings to approve the Sept. 6, 2011 as presented. The board approved the motion 4-0 with Gary Thompson abstaining.

Correspondence: None

Old Business: None

Contracts: A contract for executive session.

Financial Report: Becky Hart reported that the new staff and benefits have been updated in the financial report with an anticipated carryover of $33,000.00.   The revenue from anticipated funding from grant sources toward staffing is under about $13,000. This funding has been impacted by the staffing changes as teachers have moved from classroom positions to grant funded positions and other staff members have left. Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Patti Jo Walker to accept the financial report as presented.

Check Warrants: Becky Hart brought check warrants for the board’s approval to the meeting. Gary Thompson made motion, second by Patti Jo Walker to approve the August 2011 check warrants totaling $139,000 The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.
Becky Hart brought a resolution to the board to approve the new signers at Peoples Trust Co. The school treasurer has been replaced and so we need to change from the former name to the new person working at the Town Clerk’s Office.   Mary Wood made motion accept the resolution to revise the signatures to update the three accounts to the Peoples Trust Co. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.
We are currently group purchasing our photocopiers along with the service and supplies. SPC has brought it to our attention that with their current bid, Swanton could save almost $2200 per year on the lease equipment and with the additional savings on service & supplies, the district could save a total of over $4,000.   If we would like to join in the group savings, Swanton will need to approve it at the next board meeting. Office Systems of Vermont would provide the service and supplies. The board will review the proposal and make a decision at the October meeting.

Principal’s Report:
School Website Support: Brent Coon reported that Darlene Alcorn worked on the Swanton website about four years ago. Peter Garrow took the job of keeping up the website running with a small stipend. Crossroads information, school board minutes and any other information must go through Peter Garrow.   There is so much information that needs to be put on the website to keep it current. In order to keep the website updated, Swanton would have to add personnel. Other options could be to contract a company to keep the website up to date. Tobias Maguire felt the board should set a goal as to what they would want and what they would like the website to look like. Tobias Maguire suggested setting up a committee to explore ways to keep the website updated. His suggestion was to have a board member or two, a PTO committee member, a person from the community at large, and perhaps an employee such as Peter Garrow. Toby Maguire and Jay Cummings volunteered to be board members on the committee. Brent Coon will obtain names from others interested in being on the committee and will get back to the board committee members.

September Enrollment: Brent Coon stated that the enrollment is 551 from K-6 which represents a decrease of twelve students as compared to Sept. 2010. The Kindergarten enrollment has a decrease of 10 students as compared to the end of the last school year.   Brent Coon inquired as to whether the board would like to make the kindergarten age change at this time. Mary Wood made a motion, seconded by Patti Jo Walker to roll back the Kindergarten age to on or before Sept. 1st. The board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.

Student Learning: Brent reported that 18 students participated in our summer school program. In addition, about 45 students participated in the SIP program. Both programs were very successful, and enabled many of our students to come back to school ready to learn. The focus for most of the students during the beginning of this school year has been on expectations and community building. Staff members jumped right in with team building activities. On September 20th, there will be the first K-2 School Meeting with a focus on core concepts of Belonging and “Be Respectful.”   Much of the work being done this fall has been with Leah Mermelstein on Writing workshops. Leah will be in Swanton on Sept. 27th doing some demo lessons for the teachers. This effort is being coordinated by Robyn Brislin, Swanton’s new Literacy Content Specialist. Students are excited and engaged about writing.

In-Service Days: Our August In-Service days have been focused on team building and the writing initiative. All of the teachers had two half-day professional development days during in-service centered around the writing initiative.

On July 1st, Brent Coon attended a conference in Boston hosted by Allen November. Allen is a leader in the push towards global education and connecting our students to other learners around the world. The focus of staff in-service and First Day was around a “you matter” theme, which was used to highlight everyone’s importance in our school and community.

Leadership: In August, Sara and Brent attended the VPA summer leadership academy. Brent Coon attend a strand by Ray Proulx entitled “the call for transformational leaders”. This strand focused on collective inquiry in establishing substantive and pragmatic information about leadership concepts and practices that are the framework for successful transformation in schools.   Sara Raabe attended a strand run by administration and staff members from St. Albans City School including Joan Cavallo entitled “Outcome based Supervision and Evaluation”.

Facilities: Brent Coon thanked the custodial team for all their hard work this summer.   Brent Coon would like to see if they could get summer help for the grounds so that the custodial staff can continue to get their inside work completed.

Central Library Air Conditioning: The units in the library backed up and leaked again this summer.   The leak was significant enough to cause damage to books and shelving. They have placed an insurance claim to recoup some of the loss financially. They would like to put in some trays under each unit so as to catch any leakage. Cooper Mechanical will be in here with larger pumps.

Boiler:   The boiler project is near completion. At this time, they are just waiting for the control to be finished.

DOE: The Dept. of Education contracted out through Champlain Valley to audit Swanton for three days. They made recommendations to move forward so that Swanton can achieve adequate yearly progress. (AYP).

Other: Building Use: There is for profit after school programming that has used space in the school in the past and is seeking permission to do so again. There is a fee for students for programming. There are certain events that happen that do not involve our students. Dr. McCarthy stated that the school has to assess cost to the school such as lights, custodians, electricity etc. Many companies have to rent a facility and if we allow a company to use the building space for free, then it is giving a for profit company an advantage over another company that is renting and paying for their space. The board will continue to discuss in executive session.

Roof: Garland came in giving three options for the roof. All of the three proposals include removal of the current roof and insulation. First option: Single ply membrane roof system which has a 15 to 20 year warranty, with 20 year useful life of roof at best for an estimated cost of $250,000 to $300,000 or $10 to $12 a square foot. Second option: Two ply modified polymer built system, $15 to 18 per square foot for a total $375,000 to $450,000 with a 30 year warranty for a useful life of approximately 40 years. Third Option: A standing seam metal roof with framing system: $27 to $32.00 per square foot at $675,000 for a 30 year warranty and a useful life of 50 years. The Swanton School District is not under any obligation to go with Garland, just received estimates from Garland so as to have an amount to use to go to bond vote. Tobias Maguire stated that the board needed to make two decisions. One decision was whether Swanton should go to vote in the Fall. If so, Mr. Maguire suggested a November 8th date and with a 30 day warning, a decision would have to be made tonight or have a special board meeting to make this decision. Mary Wood would like to make a motion, seconded by Jay Cummings that we go to vote a November vote for the roof. The board approved the vote 5-0. The board recognizes that the Swanton Babcock School needs a new roof with the membrane deteriorating and the roof leaking and the amount is more than they can put in one school budget cycle. Jay Cummings made motion that they use the two ply modified polymer built system for the Babcock roof and ask the voters to bond in the amount of $450,000 for ten years. The board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.    The board needs to have an informational meeting within ten days of the vote. Becky will confirm the date with the Town Clerk’s office.

Superintendent’s Report:
Negotiations:   The support staff negotiations will be discussed in executive session.

Policy: Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Jay Cummings to accept the policy of F20 Prevention of Harassment of Students. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Restraint Protocols: Linda Chaim will be talking about the restraint protocols at the next Franklin Northwest Supervisory Union board meeting.    The Vermont School Board has adopted eight different methods of restraint protocols. Linda Chaim feels very strongly about the CPI method. If we have behavior interventionist or other workers from outside agencies, they will need to use the CPI restraint protocol method.

Executive Session & Adjournment
Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Jay Cummings to enter executive session for contracts and personnel.   They approved the motion on a 5-0 vote. Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Jay Cummings to exit Executive Session at 7:56 p.m. The board approved the motion on a 5-0 vote.

Patti Jo Walker made motion to approve the contract, seconded by Gary Thompson. The board approved on a Vote 5-0.

Tobias Maguire called meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m

Respectfully submitted,
Patty Jo Walker, School Board Clerk

by Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary.

SWANTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING MINUTES-Draft
August 8, 2011
Present: Tobias Maguire, Board Chair, Mary Wood, Rod Russin, Gary Thompson, Jay Cummings, and Patti Jo Walker.
Administration:Brent Coon, Principal, Sara Raabe, Assistant Principal, Lora McAllister, Assistant Business Manager and Dr. John McCarthy, Superintendent.
Others Present: Sarah Nielsen, PTO President, Gordon Rossi Jr and Ian Lanpher, Representatives from the Garland Co. Two Selectboard members John Lavoie and Harold Garrett.

Call to Order: Tobias Maguire called the meeting to order at 6:02pm.

Citizens and Staff: Representatives from the Garland Co. were present to give the results of the scan performed on the Babcock roof. Ian Lanpher inquired on what are the board’s goals. The roof was fixed 17 years ago. The roof is retaining quite a bit of water, up to an inch to one and half inches of water over the course of that roof. It is not draining properly, representing an extra 2,400lbs per one hundred square feet, of excess weight and therefore causing leaks. It appears that the insulation had collapsed and the water is penetrating the insulation. Water is on the back side of the drain and not moving towards the drain at all. It is an indication that the building does not have a proper slope. This is occurring pretty much all over. The insulation has bubbled up, the insulation has shifted and therefore water is not draining properly. You could see a pool of water in one scan. There are two roofs up there so you could not build a third roof as you would not be in compliance with code. The water is not getting to where it should be going. By looking at the pictures from the first roof, you can see the water patterns from the first roof have been happening prior to the second roof being added on. Due to the patterns and draining issues, it appears that the issues of the slope of the roof had not been addressed 17 years ago when the second roof was added because the water patterns are the same now as existed prior to the second roof. When they added the second roof, they did not address the sloping issues and just added another membrane to the existing roof. Some of the repairs that had been done using asphalt mastic on a PVC roof which caused a bigger gap, and we are looking at about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick of polystyrene. The scan gives you an idea of what the conditions are. When the second roof was added it simply retrofitted of another roof over the top of the roof. Then the problems came back over time without addressing the real issue which is the slope of the roof. Because the slope of the roof is the issue, by not fixing it, the issue will come back eventually and your maintenance cost will come back.   Garland views the roof as an asset and he expects that the building will continue to exist for another 60 to 70 years or so, so does the board want to replace the roof every fifteen years or look for a longer term solution?   The Garland Co. is a full service certified roof manufacture of liquid membranes, standing seam metal, green roofs, modified systems, restoration projects.   They design and manufacture high performance materials, a U.S. Manufacturer from Cleveland, Ohio. They get involved in comprehensive service of inspections, designs, options and recommendations and have been in business for one hundred years. They project manage everything if the client decides to go ahead with the project. They will provide a web based living document, they write specifications and the scope of work. As a full service manufacturer, they get involved with everything including pre bid meeting, scope of work, specifications, unannounced visits. They are on site three days a week and make sure the contractor is doing it correctly and then do a post evaluation. They inspect the roof annually for the life of the roof. They have preventative inspections to prevent future problems. They hold the contractor to a two year workmanship warranty. They want to make sure that the customer is protected. They have a checklist and make sure that environmental issues are addressed. If you pay a little more, it can prevent headaches down the road and avoid issues for a long term. The materials should be a good quality roof. Replacing the roof and the insulation becomes very expensive.   It is a proactive management program, preventative maintenance, less costly in the long run, reducing liability and costs and a positive environmental impact.   Gordon Rossi is here and has done a lot of work with schools in the Connecticut region, and he can answer a lot of your questions. Gordon explained if you go with a cheaper option a single ply option, you will be dealing with this again in 15 years and then you will be dealing with some of the same issues you are currently experiencing. One of the options is a modified polymer built up roof system, it will give you a 40 year use roof life with a 30 year warranty. He brought pictures of the process to show the board. They remove everything to the deck, all the bad insulation and build up your insulation from there. They adhere the insulation to the deck with fasteners over the top using ½ inch fiber board to cover up the insulation. They can be cold or hot applied. The modified system actually has a roughly two ply system and lay gravel on top of that. If you look at the potential strength of 200 mls of thickness. The slope is built in with the insulation. He believes that in order to do it right, the two layers of roof should be removed and it should be stripped down to the deck and address the slope with the insulation. It will reduce your fuel and energy cost. They built it up, and redundancy built a cap sheet on top of that. The gravel is embedded on there and will take the brunt of the weather here on Vermont. They apply a white coating to reflect the UV rays and protect against the weather. Another option is to make it retrofitted to metal. Gordon has been with Garland for 21 years and showed a picture of a school roof from Connecticut retrofitted to a metal roof. The process is to remove roof down to the decking, bring in a structural engineer to make sure the load of the framing system can withstand the new roof and build according to codes. They tore off the roof to deck, put in a temporary rubber roof to keep the building dry. The framing system is bolted to building framework. The vertical members go up, the horizontal members mechanically fastened and then hurricane straps. The panels were installed are full length panels so there are no horizontal seams 45 foot panels.   It accounts for expansion and contraction. In the attic space, they blew in R36 insulation. All the mechanical units of duct work were raised up through the roof and properly flashed in. Our state has a reimbursement system. They added over flow drains.   Even with bad snow storms in Conn., this roof held a lot snow 50 to 60 pounds per square foot even bending the snow guards and it held up well. The Connecticut school did add solar panels the following summer. They can offer a rendering of the building putting together a photo of the existing roof and building and put together what the roof could look like. It can be done to this building. They can run a ridgeline in front of the gymnasium and run it back to the existing metal roof or you can do a combination. You have two large air conditioning units that may have to be relocated or engineering structurally work around them or maybe leave this as a low slope. Also, you can leave as a low slope.   They will do a snow guard analysis and you may want two rows of snow guards. The other option is to go with another single ply roof if the school district wishes. John Lavoie was present and inquired about who was doing the work and the bid process. As far as the bidding process, they use an engineer and also have a contract with U.S. Communities, a cooperative buying / group purchasing group. They become the general contractor of the job.   They have a full network of architects that they can use to go through that whole process. Mary Wood inquired about the green roof and the incentives. They explained that Green Projects in the State of Vermont is in the red and it could possibly be 4 to 5 years out for reimbursement if eligible. It is a national bid and DBS won the contract. Gordon continued to explain that Garland (doing business as DBS) has a contract with U.S. Communities. Garland will be in charge of doing the testing, and the structural engineers. DBS (Design Build Solutions) would invite 9 or 10 roofers/contractors to bid this project with U.S. Communities. It controls the kind of bidder that would bid on the roof as only contractors capable of doing such a large project are invited.    They will come to the Swanton School District when the bids are received and present them to the board and administration. It protects the school districts as well. It makes it easier for municipalities to work with it. DBS monitors this project to make sure that it is being followed according to specifications on a daily basis. The responsibility falls on DBS. The next step is to get a structural engineer to find out if the roof can take the weight load of all three options. You may have to do some work from the inside if the roof can not accommodate the weight load. Garland was asked if they could put together an estimated cost so that they can have some idea of how much the school district is looking at for cost. They will give Brent some budget numbers.

PTO Update: Sarah Nielsen reported that the PTO met with the administration in July to do some general planning for the upcoming year activities. The PTO will have a presence on First Day and help welcome students and families. They will come in September with an outline of the activities for the year along with fundraising to support the school. Mary Wood thought it would nice if they could pool all of the activities that Swanton has in the community on one site so as to avoid evening/day activities conflicting with one another.

Approval of Minutes: Mary Wood made motion, seconded by Patti Jo Walker to approve the minutes of the May 19th, June 13th and July 21st meeting as presented. The Board approved on a 5-0 vote.

Correspondence: The board received a thank you note from Holly Rouelle for the past year.

Old Business: Tobias Maguire reminded the community that Kindergarten entrance registration age will be considered to be rolled back to September 1st.

Contracts: A contract for executive session.

Financial Report:
Check Warrants: Lora McAllister brought check warrants for the board’s approval to the meeting. Gary Thompson made motion, second by Patti Jo Walker to approve the May 2011 check warrants totaling $357,159.16. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote. Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Mary Wood to approve the June 2011 check warrants totaling $260,404.64. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote. Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Jay Cummings to approve the July 2011 check warrants totaling $317,656.99. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Lora McAllister had paperwork from the bank requesting the signers be changed from Holly Rouelle to Sara Raabe. Patti Jo Walker made motion, seconded by Gary Thompson to authorize the board chair to sign the bank document from the United Peoples Bank to change the signers for the bank.   The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Principal’s Report:
Celebrations:
Boiler Project. The old boiler has been removed. The boilers have been installed and the project is on target.
Lisa Casperson is doing a great job with the help of Lora McAllister from the Central Office. The summer has gone quickly and they are making preparations for the return to school at the end of the month.
First Day Celebration will be held on August 30th. Summer maintenance is going well, the floors were stripped in Babcock. Lanny Brow believes that all the floors and other summer projects will be done in time.

Superintendent’s Report:
Master Agreement: Dr. McCarthy handed out the completed and signed professional agreements.

Negotiations:   The support staff is going to mediation with the Negotiations Council with a federal mediator on August 15th at 4:30pm at MVU.

Policy: Dr. McCarthy introduced a revision to the harassment policy F20 sent from the State to accommodate the changes in the law.   It is now including any incident conducted by electronic means in which the conduct can be shown to pose a clear and substantial interference with another student’s equal access to educational programs. Patti Jo Walker made motion, seconded by Gary Thompson to waive first reading of policy F20 Prevention of Harassment of Students. The board approved the motion 5-0 vote.

Dr. McCarthy wanted to welcome Sara Raabe to the school.
Next School Board Meeting is September 12, 2011 at 6pm. The next FNWSU Board Meeting on October 6th at Swanton at 7pm.
The board would like to have Brent Coon obtain an estimate cost of the three options for the roof project so that the school district knows what they are looking at.   The board is interested in knowing what Garland charges for doing their work.

Executive Session & Adjournment

Gary Thompson made motion, seconded by Jay Cummings to enter executive session for contracts and personnel at 8:03pm.   The approved the motion on a 5-0 vote. _________exit executive session. __________adjourned the meeting at _____________pm.
Respectfully submitted,

Patty Jo Walker, School Board Clerk
by Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary.

Swanton School Board July 21, 2011 Special Meeting Minutes

Attendance: Tobias MaGuire, Jay Cummings, Gary "Gub" THOMPSON
Absent: Mary WOOD, PattiJo WALKER

Others: Brent COON, Dr John McCARTHY

Board Chair Tobias MAGUIRE call the meeting order at 1700.

Tobias MAGUIRE provided board members with feedback he received from two community members in regards to the ongoing Babcock roof repair/replacement planning. He indicated one person thought the board should seriously consider going to vote in November in order to line up a contractor for summer work. There could be an advantage to going to bid in December or January. Tobias MAGUIRE asked boardmembers if he could draft a letter to the Swanton selectboard to update them as to the Babcock roof repair/replacement planning and to invite them to the School Directors August meeting. It was ok'd by CUMMINGS and THOMPSON. MAGUIRE was to sent letter via Swanton Town Administrator Dick THOMPSON. Gub THOMPSON agreed to find out specifics on statutory requirements for calling/holding an election on the roof. Gub was going to inquire with Swanton Town Administrator Dick THOMPSON and have the information at the August meeting for all School Directors.

Gub THOMPSON made a motion at 1716 to go into executive session to discussed personnel. Motion was seconded by Jay CUMMINGS. Motion carried 3-0

Jay CUMMINGS made a motion to exit executive session at 1803, seconded by Gub THOMPSON. Motion Passed 3-0.

Motions out of Executive Session:

1) Tobias MAGUIRE made a motion: To offer a contract to Kristen HANLEY for a paraprofessional position. Motion seconded by Gub THOMPSON. Motion Passed 3-0.
2) Tobias MAGUIRE made a motion: To authorize the principal to offer the employee an amendment to the employee's contract as discussed in executive session. Motion seconded by Jay CUMMINGS. Motion Passed 3-0.

Tobias MAGUIRE adjourned meeting at 1804.

Respectfully submitted

Patti Jo Walker, Board Clerk

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