Jackson School Board
MINUTES OF MEETING
JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD
Jackson Grammar School
March 6, 2014
1. Call to Order: The Mar. 6th meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Present were Genn Anzaldi, Keith Bradley, Fred Nemeth, Andrew Kearns, Dr. Carl Nelson, and Principal, Gayle Dembowski. There were three members of public/staff present.
2. Approve Minutes (2-5-14) –Motion was made by Mr. Nemeth, seconded by Mr. Kearns, that the Minutes of the Feb. 5th meeting be approved as circulated. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
3. Citizen Comments: None.
4. Presentation of School Programs/FYI Items:
A. SAU – Other School Board Reports - Dr. Nelson announced an SAU Board
meeting to be held on April 17th at 6:30 p.m. at Conway Professional Development Center.
B. FYI – 2014-15 School Calendar – Ms. Anzaldi noted that the Committee is trying to review the February spring break scenario for 2015-16, looking at having one break in March and no February or April break. She noted there will be surveys distributed for input regarding this change.
Mr. Bradley said he would like to look into the Blizzard Bag program and what it entails, to save us snow days. Dr. Nelson said you have to be able to verify that 80% of your people accomplish the task. He noted Dr. Gadomski had looked into this while he was here and it was determined we would not be able to get the 80%. Dr. Nelson now has the new Asst. Supt., Kevin Richard, looking into it and come up with a plan.
5. Old Business: None.
6. Instructional Issues: None.
7. Consider Personnel Actions: None.
8. Business Affairs:
A. FYI – 2013-14 Budget Status Report – Dr. Nelson provided copy of updated
budget. There were no questions or comments.
9. Administrator’s Reports:
Superintendent – Dr. Nelson noted Jackson School District’s annual meeting is being held tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Whitney Center.
Principal – Ms. Dembowski announced Jackson Grammar School has been selected as a finalist for the New Hampshire Excellence in Education Awards. She provided copies of the rubric they use to evaluate us by. She noted the evaluation team will be here on Monday the 24th, so she will swap the morning all-school meeting from Monday to Wednesday and do some Steam Blast activities. Ms. Anzaldi commented it is an honor and exciting to be selected.
Ms. Dembowski distributed information regarding New English Language Arts and Mathematics Assessments in New Hampshire, explaining we are moving to Smarter Balance testing in the spring so there will be no more NECAPs. They are beginning to align the curriculum for reading and math.
She also provided a packet of the K-6 revised report card which provides student progress. The standards are somewhat condensed, and provide information about behavior, etc. She noted this report card is a result of a couple of years of work. They are working toward a trimester reporting period as opposed to quarterly reporting, and it is quite similar to what the teachers are using anyway. She said because of the breadth of the standards, it was felt there was not enough time for student growth – this allows for more time for the students to be able to develop. It is less labor intensive for staff. It will mean a shift in the way that we track student progress.
Penny Miller commented it also means less contact with parents. Ms. Dembowski said they have discussed having parent conferences in between in the fall, especially at the beginning of the year. Mr. Nemeth questioned whether this is a common report card to the State? Dr. Nelson stated no, it is SAU 9 and will incorporate all the standards. Ms. Dembowski explained there will no longer be letter-graded rating in place for K-6, 7th & 8th grades will continue to use the letter grading on through high school.
Ms. Anzaldi said there is Common Core Standards, but no Common Core report card. Dr. Nelson said the report card is still in the draft stage. Mr. Nemeth said people have spent a lot of time on this; however, science and Social Studies through the year show zero development whereas other academic areas do, and it is his hope those will be further drawn out. He was assured they will.
Ms. Dembowski thanked everyone for a great Skiathon Day. Ms. Anzaldi stated they did great, there were a lot of alumni there and it was good to see them ski with the younger kids.
10. Citizen Comments: None.
11. Board Member Issues:
A. Set Date for Next Meeting – Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.
Ms. Anzaldi advised Penny Miller that the letter she submitted at the Feb. 4th meeting was included with the Minutes.
Mr. Bradley said he had received comments from some citizens recently regarding the tax cap being proposed in Conway and how that will impact Jackson, and questioned if they need to start cutting are they then violating our contract? Dr. Nelson said there is a provision that says Conway must maintain accreditation and approval. Accreditation is through the Accreditation Association, approval is through the State. If they were to cut money out of the budget and sunk below the approval by the State, there is a provision for correcting that. He said also with the accreditation, if they should make a drastic change it has to be reported to the Accreditation Association and they will analyze whether we should be accredited at all.
Mr. Kearns noted it is a 20 year contract and we are six years into it, and there is a penalty. Dr. Nelson stated you have to continue to pay the bond. Ms. Anzaldi said her concern is the length of time to fix it. Dr. Nelson said if, for instance, they did away with all co-curricular and did not provide it, you would have grounds to pursue it. Mr. Bradley questioned whether Conway taxpayers realize they only pay 50% of the bond, the other towns pay the other 50%.
12. Signing of Manifest: Manifests were duly signed.
13. Nonpublic Session: None.
14. Adjourn: Motion was made by Ms. Anzaldi, seconded by Mr. Bradley, that the meeting be adjourned at 6:30 p.m. Carried by unanimous vote.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary
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