MINUTES OF MEETING
JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD
Jackson Grammar School
September 23, 2014
1. Call to Order: The Sept. 23rd meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Present were Chair, Genn Anzaldi, Keith Bradley, Jerry Dougherty, Andrew Kearns, Dr. Carl Nelson, and Principal, Gayle Dembowski. There was one member of the public present.
2. Approve Minutes (8-20-14) – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Dougherty, that the Minutes of the Aug. 20th meeting be approved 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 stated the SAU Executive
Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 25th at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Joint Boards meeting at 6:00 p.m., at the Conway Professional Development Center.
5. Old Business:
A. Whitney Center – Mr. Kearns reported having had a successful meeting with Trish Hanlon, Ann Bennett, new Friends of Whitney Treasurer, Sara Kimball, and Linda Gray of NH Charitable Foundation, at which it was decided that a template is needed as a guideline, and it was established that the Friends of Whitney is the fiscal agent and Ms. Bennett and Ms. Gray are to work on wording for a Memorandum of Understanding designating the Friends of Whitney as the fiscal agent. Mr. Kearns said they reviewed the amounts received from Whitney Trust for the last four years as follows: 2011 - $11,172; 2012 - $10,324; 2013 - $9,904, and 2014 - $10,273. He noted they have been estimating the anticipated revenue at $8500 and there was the feeling that that could be upped. He said in reviewing
priorities, Ms. Gray felt she knew what Betty Whitney really wanted and her priority was the capital reserve for maintenance and improvements, and then programming. It was noted the contract says if there is money left over it goes to general operations.
Mr. Kearns explained, to make a template easy for future boards, if you have an anticipated revenue of $9,000, 50% would go to capital reserve, 35% toward programming (about $3150), so slightly over 15% would go to general operations. He said on top of that, every 3 to 5 years the Whitney Center Oversight Committee does a review to look at how much is being spent on programming.
Mr. Bradley questioned what the Whitney Center generates for income, noting he feels it is pretty low and we should match it as regards what we give back to them. Mr. Kearns stated the majority of what goes on at the Whitney Center is free; there should be more of a push to bring people in. He questioned whether there is someone from the Whitney Center who could be paid a stipend to go out and find programs, market the building, get programs in. Ms. Dembowski said the person who was doing it was getting paid by the school, including withholding, workmen’s compensation, etc. Mr. Dougherty said there is nothing to keep the Friends of Whitney from doing that. He said he is in favor of taking the rest of the revenue and giving it to Friends of Whitney for whatever they want to do with it,
stating what we anticipate for revenue has nothing to do with the Friends of Whitney – he would not want to see in a template what we anticipate for revenue, he does not want to put in our budget an estimated revenue every year. He stated he also has concerns with the 501©3 status. Mr. Kearns suggested that is something that Linda Gray might help with.
Mr. Bradley said he also likes the idea of the template; however, his concern is we should stop giving the building away for free because ultimately we are paying for it. Mr. Dougherty said his concern with that would be making sure it is not putting extra work on Ms. Dembowski. Ms. Dembowski stated who it puts a lot of work on is the custodial staff. She said as regards the use fee, if we were to charge, for instance, the fitness people what we said on paper we would charge, they would not be able to afford it. Mr. Dougherty commented when we have a building that is not accessed enough, we do not want to make it more difficult for people to use. Mr. Bradley said we are not charging people enough money and someone else is profiting from it - we should not lose money if someone else is making
money on it. Ms. Dembowski said the Friends of Whitney have always wanted to keep the rates low so it was suggested they start underwriting it. Mr. Kearns suggested making it known what our costs are. Mr. Dougherty suggested Mr. Kearns bring it back to them, let them know we have discussed the Friends of Whitney underwriting part of the cost, noting the template is just a guideline to use. Mr. Kearns stated we have to have a line item in the budget for it. Mr. Bradley requested Mr. Kearns to bring in the rate schedule. Ms. Dembowski will get estimate of actual use.
6. Instructional Issues: None.
7. Consider Personnel Actions:
A. Election of Alyssa Walker as World Language Tutor – Motion by Mr. Dougherty, second by Mr. Kearns, that the Board elect Alyssa Walker as World Language Tutor effective September 2, 2014. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
B. Election of Elizabeth Gaschott as Part-time Sp. Ed Teacher – Motion by Mr. Dougherty, second by Ms. Anzaldi, that the Board elect Elizabeth Gaschott as Part-time Special Ed Teacher retroactive to Sept. 11 through Oct. 3, 2014. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
C. Election of Megan Johnson as Half-time Sp. Ed. Teacher – Motion by Mr. Dougherty, second by Ms. Anzaldi, that the Board elect Megan Johnson as half-time Special Ed Teacher and 20% Enrichment Teacher effective October 8, 2014. Mr. Kearns wished clarification that it is 20% enrichment. Ms. Dembowski stated the part-time person who has been filling is temporary so there is no overlapping of services. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
D. Election of Bill Burns as Half-time Custodian – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Dougherty, to elect Bill Burns as half-time custodian effective October 8, 2014. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
E. Election of Gail Yalenezian as Mentor – Motion by Mr. Dougherty, second by Mr. Bradley, that the Board elect Gail Yalenezian as Mentor to the newly hired Special Education Teacher. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
8. Business Affairs:
- FYI – 2014-15 Budget Status Report – Dr. Nelson commented they are still
in good shape. There were no questions or comments.
- Authorize Credit Card Resolution – Motion by Mr. Dougherty, second by
Mr. Kearns, that the Board authorize purchasing card authorization resolution. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
9. Administrator’s Reports:
A. Superintendent
1. Budget Direction for 2015-16 – Dr. Nelson requested budget direction for 2015-16, assuming the Board would want a “needs” budget. The Board was unanimous in seeking a needs budget. He said if there is anything new he will separate that out, and if reducing anything he will separate that out as well. Mr. Bradley stated it would be great if Gary could do an inspection of the school - a fresh set of eyes to see what is needed.
A comparison of starting salaries for school districts’ from the region was provided. Mr. Kearns noted it has been three years since we approved a 9% increase to be spread over three years. Dr. Nelson stated you do not have a salary schedule, you have a hiring schedule. Mr. Kearns stated when we did that it was with the understanding that we are still going to be behind. Dr. Nelson questioned where the numbers came from. Ms. Dembowski stated they came from 2013-14, keeping in mind that they are starting salary figures and noting we do not have a step salary schedule, only a starting pay schedule here in Jackson. Dr. Nelson suggested having the Personnel Committee look at it and Ms. Anzaldi said we want to look at it – see where we are, where we want to go, maybe come up with
another plan. It was noted that Messrs. Kearns and Dougherty are on the Personnel Committee. Mr. Dougherty said regarding needs budgeting, we are all happy with how in-control the budget is.
B. Principal
1. Summer School Data – Ms. Dembowski reported, as was suggested, a survey was handed out to parents at the end of the first week. No scores were under 4 (1 being least, 5 being greatest). She noted there was not a huge return, but overall they were very positive. She stated they had three new young people who worked really well together and did a great job. They had mostly younger students; it is broken down as to Jackson residents each week and out of town participants each week – they had about 20 overall.
2. Lead Soccer Coach – Ms. Dembowski suggested the Board accept the willingness of Mr. Dougherty to accept the position of coach for the Soccer program this year. Mr. Dougherty declined the stipend that would have been awarded to him, wishing instead to use it to purchase new soccer shirts. He said the kids are a lot of fun this year – it has been very rewarding.
10. Citizen Comments: Penny Miller questioned last year’s population as compared to this year’s. Dr. Nelson said as you reduce the number of kids, the per pupil cost gets higher. Mr. Kearns said they projected for 2016-17 we will have 12 going into the high school as opposed to 8 the year before. Ms. Dembowski said last year JGS had 51 students, this year 47; they anticipate a small income of Kindergarteners, the year after they are aware of six. Ms. Miller noted 51 and 47 includes teacher’s children and questioned whether those numbers are being used in the budget. Dr. Nelson said it does not get affected by anything but the Bartlett tuition or the Kennett tuition. Ms. Anzaldi said we have a cap so if we get to a
certain head count in a class where we would have to hire additional personnel the staff students do not affect our budget. Ms. Miller said when discussing staff children it was stated that they were not going to be included in the stats – they should not cost us anything. Mr. Bradley said we do not look at it like what it costs per pupil in this school. Ms. Dembowski stated we have only one staff member with a child attending. Mr. Bradley stated we do not include them in the projections. Dr. Nelson suggested the number be defined by showing staff kids in parenthesis.
11. Board Member Issues:
- Set Date for Next Meeting – October 20, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. Joint
Bartlett/Jackson Board Meeting at 5:30 p.m. in Jackson.
Mr. Bradley questioned the Blizzard Bags Program. Dr. Nelson said we can gain two days back. He stated he has Kevin Richard working on it toward being able to implement it this winter. Mr. Bradley questioned whether there is a way Jackson could be the trial run for people. Mr. Kearns agreed, but said he does not think Jackson would be an appropriate sample for SAU #9. Dr. Nelson said we will continue to work on it.
Ms. Anzaldi thanked the two PTO members (who had then joined the meeting) for holding their meeting on the same night as the School Board meeting as it makes it much more convenient. The PTO members were advised that the School Board generally meets on Mondays.
12. Signing of Manifest: Manifests were duly signed.
13. Nonpublic Session: None.
14. Adjourn: Motion was made by Mr. Kearns, seconded by Mr. Dougherty, that the meeting be adjourned at 6:40 p.m. Carried by unanimous vote.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary
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