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Jackson School Board Minutes -- 01/20/2015
MINUTES OF MEETING
JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD
Jackson Grammar School
January 20, 2015
 
1.         Call to Order:  The Jan. 20th meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 4:00 p.m. Present were Chair, Genn Anzaldi, Jerry Dougherty, Fred Nemeth, Keith Bradley, Andrew Kearns, Dr. Carl Nelson, and Principal, Gayle Dembowski. There were eleven members of staff/public present.                                    
2.         Approve Minutes (12-15-14) – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Dougherty, that the Minutes of the Dec. 15th meeting be approved as circulated.  Motion carried by unanimous vote.
3.         Citizen Comments:  None. 
4.         Presentation of School Programs/FYI Items: 

  1. SAU – Other School Board Reports - Dr. Nelson reminded the Board there
will be an SAU Executive Board meeting on Jan. 21st and an SAU Joint Boards meeting on Jan. 22nd , at 6:00 p.m., at which will be discussed the Program of Studies.  Ms. Anzaldi emphasized that this would be a great meeting for anyone to attend as they will be reviewing what’s going on at the high school.
 

  1. Robotics Demonstration - Dexter Harding – Mr. Harding and members of
his 4th Grade class, Gwenn Watts, Ben Dougherty, Joce Anzaldi, Willem Badger and Noah Nowell, joined the meeting to demonstrate their robots.  It was
noted that the robot kits were borrowed from Project Succeed.  A power point presentation was given explaining team work and sharing information: programming, learning language that the robot brain understands, solving problems in building robots.  It was explained how the students made it work.  Mr. Harding stated he had attended a robotics training session.   
 
After the students showed examples of what their robots can do, Mr. Dougherty questioned whether the wheels were programmed in.  One student explained it has
to do with where the weight is, and they are also programmed to sense color.  Ms. Anzaldi expressed that the presentation was phenomenal and questioned whether the students have anything to ask from the School Board.  One student stated it is part of our time to work together to see if we can make something that can move and do things; it is a big help for us to do team work – this is learning and we should keep doing it because of that. 
 
Mr. Kearns questioned whether there is a next level for this grade level. Mr. Harding said they will be having after school something that 5th & 6th graders can do – they are planning a robotics meet with other schools.  One student explained when working with robots it shows we are building a robot that can do amazing things that you do not know until you try – things we need to try and challenge ourselves to do.  Betsy Harding questioned when they open a kit whether it is just parts.  One student said it is a bunch of wires and cords and pieces to build from.  Ms. Dembowski noted they have another set of robots that are different from these, but not as complex. 
 
5.         Old Business: 
 

  1. Whitney Center –  Mr. Dougherty said we need to figure out how we get the
money into the Capital Reserve Fund from the Trust, which we need to discuss with the Finance Director.  He said it would be easier to get it after the Trust receives the money in June or July, get information from Becky in December, and then put it into a warrant article; that way there is no confusion as to what is being appropriated by taxes.  Mr. Kearns said the line item in our budget could be zero for right now.
 
Mr. Dougherty said when we get the money from the Whitney Fund we give all of it to the Whitney, then anything remaining would go back to the town – it will be decided by the Whitney Oversight Committee discussions.  Mr. Kearns said it gets rid of the discussion about percentages.  He said then we would bill them for custodial overtime.  Mr. Bradley said he is not completely on board with it – we would really have to stay on top of fees.  Ms. Dembowski stated it is $25 per hour.  Mr. Bradley stated it comes out to $1.00 or $1.50 per hour - if we are giving all the money to the Friends of Whitney, it is $25.00. 
 
Mr. Dougherty said the Friends of Whitney can decide the amount.  Mr. Bradley stated we have rates and a policy but they are not being followed.  Mr. Kearns stated if it is causing us to pay an overage, then we would bill them for that.  Mr. Dougherty stated the Whitney Center Fund is not ours, we are just the conduit for it.  Mr. Kearns said we can bring up the fee schedule.  Mr. Dougherty said he agrees the rates should be charged evenly, depending on the type of programming – he would like to see more community oriented programming done there.  Mr. Kearns said we first need to find out if we can do it that way. Dr. Nelson said that is revenue coming in to you and the budget is expenditures; if you are going to put it into the revenue side then you have to guess at what it is. 
 
Mr. Dougherty said we have to ask Becky Jefferson if we want to give it all, how we would do that.  Dr. Nelson stated you can do it the same way you do with your Forestry funds - if it is unanticipated revenue, you cannot use it without a vote of the town; if you have an overexpenditure then the Board can decide what they want to do.  Mr. Bradley suggested setting it at a number you know it won’t go below.  Mr. Dougherty suggested putting a figure of $8,000 in the line item.  Mr. Kearns said we should try to find a way that they can come to us and we can give it all to the Friends of Whitney.  He said even though he will not be on the School Board next term, he will be staying on the Whitney Committee.  Mr. Bradley requested keeping the Whitney Center on the agenda and have copies of the rate schedule available for the next meeting.   
 
6.         Instructional Issues: 
 

  1. Consider Second Reading and Adoption of Policy on Remote Instruction
School Days – Motion made by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Nemeth, to approve the Policy on Remote Instruction School Days at second reading.    
 
Mr. Bradley requested clarification as to if we approve these Blizzard Bag days, could we use them (if there is 80% participation) for just Jackson, not SAU-wide.  Ms. Dembowski said the staff is getting ready to put the Blizzard Bags together.  
Mr. Nemeth said whether he is in favor of it or not (he is still on the fence) there are some issues that need to be solved: participation, Special Ed, teacher involvement, internet use.  He said it is not facially apparent to him that the Blizzard Bag is absurd, noting there have been statements in the newspaper to that effect – there are pros and cons regarding the education of our students - it is worth exploring.  He said he has concerns about internet use for our students which goes well beyond Blizzard days.  He is glad we are moving forward with it as a Board.  Mr. Nemeth stated for the record this is his own opinion – he is only speaking for himself. 
Mr. Bradley said he feels it is something we should get out there and have the authority to use that later.  Mr. Nemeth said our students are growing up in a world where virtual work is going to become more of the norm.  Mr. Bradley questioned if we do it, and it works great but we had no intention of using it as a school day, how would we compensate our teachers?  Dr. Nelson said that would count as a work day.  Mr. Bradley noted teachers will be in contact with the students, but what about the aides?  Dr. Nelson said there are some on-line staff development types of programs we are looking at for the SAU. 
Mr. Kearns said suppose we approve it with the wording “the Superintendent may declare up to five days remote instruction school day days due to inclement weather and emergencies each school year?”  Dr. Nelson said your elementary kids would have not used up a snow day, your high school and probably middle school, would have to make that up in June.  Mr. Bradley said he would like to see it say the School Board would be part of the decision as to whether we want to use it as a school day.  He said he would like to see us do one that does not count, as a dry run.  Mr. Nemeth said if we go ahead with it and it counts, but end up not being happy with the results, we can change our policy.  Mr. Kearns stated we are talking about two days and have a whole other year to talk about it.  Dr. Nelson said he is using the model from SAU #13.  Mr. Bradley questioned whether if we approve two days and need more days in the future, can we change that?  Dr. Nelson said he does not know whether we would need further State approval.  It was agreed to keep the days at the higher number (five days).  Motion carried by unanimous vote. 
B.  Consider First Reading of Revised Personnel Policies for Noncontracted Employees – Motion made by Mr. Kearns, second by Ms. Anzaldi, to approve at first reading the revised personnel policies for noncontracted employees.  Motion carried by unanimous vote. 
7.         Consider Personnel Actions: None.
8.         Business Affairs:  Motion was made by Mr. Bradley, second by Mr. Kearns, that the Board consider Items 8, A-C as a group.  Carried by unanimous vote.
A.  FYI – 2014-15 Budget Status Report – Dr. Nelson noted they are in pretty good shape.  There were no questions or comments. 
B.  Review Draft #3 and Approval of 2015-16 Proposed Budget - Upon question of what caused there to be a Draft #3, Dr. Nelson noted it was due to a change in the tax rate page.  He reported the final figure for the budget would be $2,403,254.  Voted unanimous approval 5-0-0.
C.  Review and Approval of Proposed Warrant Articles:
Article 1.  Budget $2,403,254. Carried 5-0-0.
Article 2.  Capital Reserve Fund (School Buses) – $15,000 – Carried 5-0-0.
Article 3.  Whitney Center Maintenance Trust - $5,000.  Carried 5-0-0.
Article 4.  Purchase of a School Bus - $97,000, and authorize the withdrawal of $40,000 from the Capital Reserve Fund (School Buses), the balance of $57,000 to come from general taxation – Carried 5-0-0. 
D.  Consider Approval of Agreement with the Bartlett School District for School Psychologist Services – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Nemeth, to approve agreement with the Bartlett School District for School Psychologist Services.  Carried by unanimous vote.
E.  Set Tuition Rate for Employees for 2015-16 – Motion by Mr. Bradley, second by Mr. Nemeth, to leave the tuition rate for employees the same as the previous school year.  Carried by unanimous vote. 
Mr. Kearns wished to know where we are at with regard to PR trying to bring in out-of-district students.  Ms. Dembowski said we have contacted some papers asking whether they have an Education Section where private schools might advertise; we also put the form on our website. 
 
9.         Administrator’s Reports:
A. Superintendent – Dr. Nelson reminded the Board there is an SAU  Joint Boards meeting scheduled for January 22, 2015 to discuss program of studies, to be held at the Conway Professional Development Center at 6:00 p.m. 
 
Dr. Nelson noted information requested by Mr. Kearns has been provided regarding salary comparison between Jackson and Bartlett, along with NHSBA scholarship information. 
 
Dr. Nelson noted the annual School District meeting is scheduled for March 5, 2015 and the Moderator will not be able to attend so the Clerk will have to open the meeting and a Moderator Protem elected.  He noted the Town Moderator has agreed to serve in that capacity. 
 
B.  Principal
Ms. Dembowski reported the ski programs have gotten off to a good start and thanked Neal Stokes as coordinator of the ESSC Program, and Kayley Kearns as coordinator of the Nordic Ski Program.  She said they will try to access more challenging trails at Christmas Farm Inn.  They are allowing kids to rent equipment and take it home with them.  She said the youngsters do very well in the Nordic Program around Jackson.
Ms. Dembowski said on January 30th there will be an SAU-wide professional development day at Kennett High School, implementing a reading workshop model of instruction and also working on curriculum maps, and common core, and a review of how the new report card went.  It will be a day of collaboration with our valley peers. 
10.       Citizen Comments:  None. 
11.       Board Member Issues: 
 A.  Set Date for Next Meeting – Thursday, February 5, 2015.  Dr. Nelson commented the Board usually has a regular meeting the day of the budget hearing and questioned whether they want to allot time for that.  It was agreed the Board would meet at 6:30 p.m. prior to the 7:00 p.m. budget hearing.
12.       Signing of Manifest:  Manifests were duly signed.
13.       Nonpublic Session:  None.   
14.       Adjourn:   Motion made by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Nemeth and carried by unanimous vote, that the meeting be adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary