MINUTES OF MEETING
JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD
Jackson Grammar School
June 18, 2013
1. Call to Order: The June 18th meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Present were Genn Anzaldi, Keith Bradley, Andrew Kearns, Dr. Carl Nelson, and Principal, Gayle Dembowski. There was one staff member present.
2. Approve Minutes (5-28-13) – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Bradley, to approve the Minutes of the May 28th meeting as circulated. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
3. Citizen Comments: None
4. Presentation of School Programs/FYI Items:
- SAU – Other School Board Reports - Dr. Nelson announced KHS
graduation will be held on Sat., June 22nd at 10:00 a.m.
B. FYI – Lighting Retrofit for Jackson Grammar School - Proposal has been made to upgrade lighting to more energy efficient fixtures and bulbs. It was noted the project will pay for itself within 3.5 years and will be paid for out of reductions in the electricity bill (there will be no added cost to the budget). It was reported that savings were obtained by buying power from other places, the result of an energy audit.
5. Old Business:
A. Excellence Committee Report – Ms. Dembowski provided copies of a parent survey which was conducted over the internet. She reported the staff has reviewed it and, for the most part, our scores are quite high – there was some curiosity because of the redesigned website. Mr. Kearns noted the new website is great. Ms. Dembowski said next year it is planned to bring in a person who is trained in this in order to keep it more up to date. Mr. Bradley questioned whether we got multiple surveys from the same household; Ms. Dembowski did not believe so. She reported there were 16 responses; last year they had a lot higher return and note was made that that was a pencil and paper survey.
Ms. Dembowski noted the school looks nice, the plants are nice, it is a welcoming environment – morale and relationships have been good and complaints down. Ms. Anzaldi agreed the atmosphere coming in and out of the building is very positive. Ms. Dembowski said the Excellence Committee is going to meet some next year to make sure goals are met and they are headed in the right direction.
B. Policy for Electioneering – It was noted a meeting is scheduled with the town attorney and school attorney for June 28th regarding the Electioneering Policy. This will be addressed at the August meeting.
6. Instructional Issues: None.
7. Consider Personnel Actions:
A. Election of Joan Heysler as Enrichment Teacher (20%) – Motion by Mr. Bradley, second by Ms. Anzaldi, that the Board approve hiring Joan Heysler as Enrichment Teacher (20% position) effective 8/27/13. Ms. Dembowski explained it is a one day a week position, with a one year contract. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
B. Approval of Agreement with the Bartlett School District for Library Media Services. Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Ms. Anzaldi, to approve agreement with Bartlett School District for Library Media Services. Ms. Dembowski reported she will come to JGS one day a week and Mr. Voci has offered to let it be Tuesdays so they will not have to move anybody around. She noted Ms. Laplante will be working at the Jackson Library during the summer so will be seeing a lot of Jackson children. Ms. Anzaldi questioned whether it will be a loss of time compared to having Meredith here. Ms. Dembowski stated no; however, Meredith was here for other accommodations – this will be just the one day a week.
Ms. Anzaldi suggested next year this be monitored as to any cons to this arrangement and as to hiring it out again. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
C. Approval of Agreement with the Bartlett School District for Family Support Liaison Services – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Bradley, to approve agreement with Bartlett School District for Family Support Liaison Services. It was noted this is the end of our first year with the Family Support Liaison, there has been no negative feedback, there is a small increase in pay. Ms. Dembowski said Ms. Garland has been great, they have worked well together and it has saved her time as well. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
D. Approval of Agreement with the Bartlett School District for OT Services – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Ms. Anzaldi, to approve agreement with Bartlett School District for OT Services. Ms. Dembowski noted this is a new position; Ms. Lamneck has been working for Bartlett, we have some incoming children whom she has been the OT for, so it seemed like a good transition. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
8. Business Affairs:
- FYI – 2012-13 Budget Status Report – Dr. Nelson reported they anticipated
having about $125,000 to turn back to offset taxes, now there is an additional $42,000, or a total of $167,000. He noted there were some Special Ed things budgeted for that did not happen.
9. Administrator’s Reports:
Superintendent – Dr. Nelson deferred to George Bordash who presented two proposals for paving. He noted direction was to come up with estimates for doing repairs on the driveway and top coating the entire school play yard, figures for which would be $4,515 for the driveway repair; to redo the whole play yard for $7800 which will eliminate all the puddling. He noted the town crew, which plows, have complained about the manholes. Mr. Bordash noted when doing the 1990 addition, everything outside was paves and the original plan left the parking lot as gravel. The School Board then decided to pave that as well; as a result the granite curbing was off-grade and the paving company decided to just pave it as it was without any remedial work. He has obtained an estimate
from GMI Paving to bid on the same job and lift the granite curbing. He reported that figure was considerably higher so, to be fair, he asked Perm-A-Pave to rebid that part of the work as well. He stated some of the work would involve excavating the granite and removing all the bad material and doing some regrading as well. He said Perm-A-Pave could do all of it for about $9,000 less than what GMI bid.
Mr. Bordash said they have also asked for top coating of the whole parking lot. He stated because we have already budgeted the $12,325 for the basic work, we could do the extra work for $7800 and, probably, for not more than $20,000 could get the whole thing top coated. It was noted Perm-A-Pave does work for the town also.
Upon question of completion date, Mr. Bordash said they have one window for completion because the auditors have requested that no expenses go beyond the second week in July. It was pointed out that this will not conflict with the summer program. It is intended to take about four days. Ms. Anzaldi asked that if any of the workers would need to be accessing the school building to make sure they use the Whitney Center instead as no one will be in the school. Dr. Nelson stated there should be no access to the school building. Mr. Kearns questioned whether the pavement needs to sit for a few days if it is very warm. Dr. Nelson suggested barricading it off; Mr. Bradley expressed the need to “go overboard” on limiting access. Motion was made by Mr.
Kearns, seconded by Ms. Anzaldi, that the Board approve expenditure for Perm-A-Pave up to $20,000. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
- Principal – Ms. Dembowski reported that at a meeting of the Enrollment
Committee a staff member suggested a special tuition rate be established for children of staff members; it is up to the Board to set what they are comfortable with. Ms. Dembowski said staff members were in favor of a lottery approach.
Mr. Kearns questioned, regarding special services (which would be incumbent upon the family to pay for), whether there is anything that is going to be too much for the school to handle. Ms. Dembowski said we have clauses in there to decide whether it is a good fit. She noted because we have RTI there are some services that everyone would get anyway.
It was reported they have not established a recommended figure yet - $8,000 has been suggested. Mr. Bradley asked Dr. Nelson to come up with a cost for staff members’ children only, not to include building costs. Dr. Nelson stated they are presently at about $20,000; however, he will make a guess. Ms. Dembowski pointed out they are not adding teachers. Ms. Anzaldi noted in looking at other schools, it seems to be anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000.
Dr. Nelson said they do not anticipate doing this until Sept. 2014. Ms. Anzaldi said she would not be opposed to holding a special meeting to “hash it out.” Dr. Nelson said the idea was to start taking applications the second half of the year. Mr. Bradley said he would not be against having a special meeting if a staff member is pushing for next Sept. – possibly the 2nd or 3rd week in July - to consider 50% to free. Mr. Kearns suggested confirming what other schools do. He thanked the Committee for doing all the extra work.
10. Citizen Comments: None.
11. Board Member Issues:
- Set Date for Next Meeting – August 19, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.
Ms. Anzaldi requested that the Personnel Committee review the Reduction in Force Policy by the Aug. 19th meeting. It was noted Ms. Synnott and Mr. Kearns are the representatives to that Committee. Dr. Nelson noted it has to include evaluations. He explained the four categories, noting anyone scoring unsatisfactory would be the first reduction, basic would be second (if more than one person it the category, would use seniority); then proficient, then with distinction. Ms. Anzaldi said she simply wished to know what we have on the books.
B. Consider Donation to Friends of Whitney Community Center – Motion by Mr. Bradley, second by Ms. Anzaldi, to consider Donation to Friends of the Whitney Community Center. Notation was made that this is in addition to the $3,000 donated last year in unanticipated fees. Ms. Dembowski explained they budgeted $8,000 for the year; however, because of the stock market it was more than anticipated so they gave it back. Mr. Bradley wished to know where the $1404.24 in unanticipated revenue came from. Ms. Anzaldi said last year it was because the stock market did well, the endowment made more money.
Ms. Dembowski said we are going to request in the next budget cycle to require the Whitney Center be painted throughout the interior, noting cleanliness of the building was measured by what was budgeted. She said when doing Whitney Center events they charge for it outside their regular time to make sure we can maintain the building in order to keep it up to the standard that it needs to be. It was agreed to table this until Dr. Nelson researches as to where the money is coming from.
12. Signing of Manifest: Manifests were duly signed.
13. Nonpublic Session: At 6:50 p.m. Motion was made by Mr. Kearns, seconded by Ms. Anzaldi and carried by unanimous roll call vote, that the Board adjourn to nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II.
Nonpublic Session Minutes
The Board discussed a request made by a parent regarding a child. Dr. Nelson answered questions. The Board decided to wait until the entire Board is present and will re-evaluate this in July of 2013.
Mr. Bradley moved to return to public session and adjourn. The motion was seconded by Mr. Kearns and passed unanimously at 7:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary
August Agenda Items:
Electioneering Policy
Whitney Center unanticipated funds
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