CTES Board Minutes 3/20/12 Mtg/Agenda 4/17/12 Mtg

Cavendish Town Elementary School Board Meeting Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 5:30 p.m Minutes

Present:
Board: Dr. Bont, Sharon Huntley, Jim Ballantine, Jessica Goodman, and Stuart Lindberg
Administration: David P. Adams-Superintendent, George Thomson-Principal, and Meredith Austin-Business Manager
Public: LPCTV, Virginia Walsh Mack, Mike Ripley, and Peggy Svec

Call to order
David called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

Comments from the Community None

Board Reorganization
Election of Officers
Elect Chair: David asked for nominations for board chair. Sharon made a motion to nominate Dr. Bont as board chair. Motion approved. David turned the meeting over to Dr. Bont.
Elect Vice Chair: Dr. Bont asked for nominations for vice chair. Jim made a motion to nominate Sharon Huntley as vice chair. Motion approved.
Elect Board Secretary: Dr. Bont asked for nominations for board secretary. Jim made a motion to nominate Jessica as board secretary. Motion approved.
Elect 3 Representatives from CTES to Supervisory Union Board – Title 16 §266: Dr. Bont gave background on the S.U. board. Jim made a motion to nominate Stuart, Sharon and Dr. Bont as representatives from CTES to the Supervisory Union Board. Motion approved.
Set Date & Time of Meetings: Jim made a motion to set the meetings on the third Tuesday of the month at CTES at 5:30 p.m. Motion approved.

Approval of Minutes of January 26, 2012
Sharon made a motion to approve the minutes of January 26, 2012 as presented. Motion approved.

Request to Raise Minimum School Lunch Price to $2.50 to Comply with Federal Lunch Program Regulations –David gave the board background on the Federal Lunch Program. The CTES food price is lower than what is appropriate for the guidelines. He recommends the board set the price at $2.50. Discussion ensued. This could go into effect after April vacation. Jim made a motion to raise the student lunch price to $2.50 and the adult price to $3.50, to take effect May first. Motion approved.

Finance
Federal Jobs Fund Grant: David gave background on the Federal Jobs Fund Grant. The grant is required to be spent on teacher salaries, professional development and/or retirement. The recommendation is to use the dollars saved on teacher salaries to invest in the school. The staff parking lot is not paved and David said the board may want to address this issue by paving the parking lot. The grant is $25,429.00. An estimate for paving would be $20,000. Discussion ensued. The technology needs have been addressed in the budget. All the funds need to be spent by September 30th. The state is recommending the dollars be spent by June 30th. The board said they think the parking lot should be addressed but not necessarily have it paved. The administration will report back with options for repairing the parking lot.

Joint Supervisory Union Merger/Consolidation Update
Dr. Bont gave background on the meetings regarding the WSWSU and RWSU merger study. The towns of Landgrove, Londonderry, Peru and Weston voted to form a Regional Educational District (RED) and by forming a RED FBUS has been allowed to move from WSWSU to BRSU on July 1, 2013. The merger discussion is to dissolve WSWSU and RWSU and create a new SU. The question of what would happen to each of the high schools has not been discussed at the meetings. The planning committee has focused on the administrative savings this merger would provide. The state board of education has to approve this merger. The legislature approves the funding for the merger. The state board of education could approve the merger and the legislature could vote not to provide funding.

Principal’s Report
George gave the board a budget summary. There are no big surprises. George explained the format of the budget.
George reported: There has been a fair amount of illness at CTES; they have confirmed cases of the flu. He said Amy Jones is actively working on the yearbook. He would like to have a discussion with GMUHS regarding bussing. The trimester is over and report cards are going out. Ann Thompson was recognized for the Presidential award she received earlier this year. The back playground will be cleaned up. On Friday, David Leiban, an expert on literacy and reading, is coming in with a film crew from America Reads to put together some video for professional development for teachers. Up and coming events: bingo on Friday, the play is next Thursday at 6:30 p.m., the variety show will be held April 13th.
The bus needs repair so a bus from GMUHS will be borrowed for tomorrow’s runs.

Superintendent Report
David gave the board a copy of a letter from the VSA, VSBA and the VPA to the Legislature regarding multiple pathways for learning and increasing student opportunity, school choice, the appointment of the commissioner, the future of the state board of education, and school district and supervisory union mergers.

GM is the site for a board member training on April 16th from 6-9 p.m. David gave the board a copy of the board training agenda that was held at the central office last week. The annual WSWSU meeting is May 2nd at FBUS at 6 p.m.
David gave the board a copy of an article called the Five Keys to Principals’ Success.

Other Business
George described the issues with the roof and said he is dealing with the adjuster to get it fixed.

Executive Session
Sharon made a motion to go into executive session at 6:55 p.m. to discuss personnel and to invite the administration. Motion approved. The board came out of executive session at 7:29 p.m. Sharon made a motion to accept with regret Donna Bonang’s resignation effective June 30, 2012 to include her request to take advantage of the $15,000 retirement incentive offered earlier this year with full payment on June 30, 2012. Motion approved.

Adjournment
Jim made a motion to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 7:31 p.m.




Respectfully submitted,

Virginia M. Walsh Mack
Recording Secretary

Cavendish Town Elementary School Board Meeting Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 5:30 p.m.

AGENDA

1. Call to order

2. Comments from the Community

3. Approval of Minutes of March 20, 2012

4. WSWSU Transition Planning

5. 2012/13 Calendar

6. Joint Supervisory Union Merger/Consolidation Update

7. Principal’s Report

8. Superintendent Report

9. Other Business

10. Executive Session – (If necessary)

11. Adjournment