August 19, 2009
A meeting of the Berlin Board of Education was held in the Berlin High School library beginning at 6:00 p.m. Present for the meeting were Martha Laflamme, Nicole Plourde, Nathan Morin, Corinne Cascadden, Marion Huntley, Gary Bisson, Beverly Dupont, Dan Record, Amy Huter, Jane Provencher, Roland Pinette, Cheryl Pinette, Ken Proulx, Amy Cascadden, Carrie Poirier, Craig Melanson, Steven Binette, Richard Sheehan, Nancy Forestall, Meg Rajala, and members of the press.
MINUTES On a motion by Nicole Plourde, seconded by Martha Laflamme, the Board voted to approve the minutes of the July 22, 2009 meeting, public and non public sessions. The motion passed unanimously, with Brian Leclerc abstaining.
WARRANTS A motion was made by Martha Laflamme, seconded by Nicole Plourde, to approve the warrants dated August 3 and August 24, 2009 for the amounts of $6,156.62 and $277,861.46. On a roll call vote, all members voted in the affirmative.
FINANCIAL REPORT The Board reviewed the Financial Report.
COMMENTS Steve Binette requested permission to have his daughter who is in the fifth grade at Milan Elementary be allowed to participate in the field hockey program at Hillside School.
Amy Cascadden spoke in favor of changing the name of Brown School to Berlin Elementary and presented the Board a petition with signatures endorsing this change. Amy Huter stated she had only seen one letter and two emails against the change with all other responses being in favor in response to her letter to the editor. She also spoke to Father Rich regarding his experience with the changing of his parish name when the churches in the city combined into one. Mrs. Huter would like to start the year with the new name and a new mascot.
EARLY GRADUATION On a motion by Nicole Plourde, seconded by Brian Leclerc, the Board voted to approve the early graduation request by Daniel Sheehan and his parents with the support of the administration at Berlin High School. The motion passed unanimously.
BHS DIPLOMA On a motion by Nicole Plourde seconded by Brian Leclerc the Board voted to approve the implementation of two types of graduation diplomas at Berlin High School. The State of NH requires 20 credits to be eligible for graduation and Berlin High requires 26 credits. One diploma would be issued as a state diploma and the other would be issued as a Berlin High School diploma. The motion passed unanimously.
CAPITAL IMPROV The Superintendent updated the Board on the 2011-2016 CIP for the district.
ALT ENERGY The Superintendent gave the Board information on efforts with BERC regarding a report that will be forthcoming on the advisability/feasibility of alternative energy for our facilities. This is funded by a Tillotson Grant. The Board gave their support of this study.
BOILER On a motion by Martha Laflamme, seconded by Nicole Plourde the Board voted to award the boiler replacement bid for Brown School to Honeywell. The motion passed unanimously.
SUPER REPORT The Superintendent gave the Board an update on the status of Bartlett School.
The Superintendent gave the Board a summary of the Focus Monitoring Program.
A School Board training session will be held on September 30, 2009 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Berlin High School for the Board and administrators.
Congratulations were extended to Berlin High School on the sportsmanship letter they received from NHIAA.
The Superintendent extended kudos to Jane Provencher on her being informed she had one of the best grant applications in the state.
The Superintendent updated the Board on the H1N1 virus preparation.
A meeting with GRS Coop and Milan Boards of Education will be held on September 9, 2009 at Gorham High School. After some informal discussion, the Board decided that they would like to see an agenda for this meeting before committing to attend. They will decide if they will change the time of their Board meeting already scheduled for that time in order to attend this meeting. They will confirm their attendance electronically.
The Superintendent invited the Board to a district-wide gathering to be held on August 31st from 7:15 – 8:30 a.m. in the Berlin High School Café.
COMMENTS Gary Bisson commented on the excellent job the staff has done at Berlin High and other buildings preparing the buildings for the new school year.
NEW BUSINESS Nicole Plourde thanked Steve Binette for coming in with his request to have his daughter play field hockey at Hillside School. She spoke in favor of his request but would like to leave the decision to the administration to determine if it would be feasible or recommended. This issue will be placed on a future agenda.
NON PUBLIC On a motion by Nicole Plourde, seconded by Martha Laflamme, the Board voted to go into nonpublic session at 7:25 p.m. in accordance with RSA 91-A3II (a), (b), (c). On a roll call vote, all members voted in the affirmative.
On a motion by Martha Laflamme, seconded by Nicole Plourde, the Board voted to come out of nonpublic session at 9:00 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. No additional votes were taken in nonpublic session.
STAFFING On a motion by Nicole Plourde, seconded by Martha Laflamme, the Board voted to accept the following staffing changes with an amendment made during non public session:
TEACHER NOMINATIONS:
Heather Hackeman – Science - BJHS
Maria Johnson – Grade 3 – Hillside
Randolph Messineo – Grade 6 Special Education – Hillside
Rosemary Rancourt – Reading Specialist – Brown School
Jake Moore – English - BJHS
NOMINATIONS:
Ted Pacheo – Library Educational Assistant – BHS
Marcy Heinemann – Individual Aide – Brown
Deborah Dupuis – OMS/Portfolio Manager – District
Karen Wood – Individual Aide – Hillside
Wayne King – Individual Aide – BJHS
Niome Pelletier – Individual Aide – BJHS
Catherine Rarick – Individual Aide – BHS
Amber Donato – Individual Aide – Hillside
Joli Smith – Individual Aide – Hillside
Julia Cloutier – Individual Aide – Brown
Brandon Steady – Individual Aide – BJHS
Kimberly Dube – Individual Aide – Brown
Sara Lefebvre – Individual Nurse – BJHS
All nominations are contingent on the applicant passing a criminal record check.
BROWN SCHOOL On a motion by Martha Laflamme, seconded by Nicole Plourde, the Board voted not to approve the request to change the name of Brown School to Berlin Elementary. The motion passed unanimously.
ADJOURN On a motion by Martha Laflamme, seconded by Nicole Plourde, the Board voted to adjourn it’s meeting at 9:06 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Secretary, Berlin Board of Education
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