MINUTES OF MEETING
JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD
Jackson Grammar School
May 18, 2015
1. Call to Order: The May 18th meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Present were Jerry Dougherty, Daniel Mahood, Jessica DellaValla, Dr. Carl Nelson and Principal, Gayle Dembowski. There were six members of staff/public present.
2. Approve Minutes (4-8-15) – Note was made by Mr. Mahood that Pg. 5, Item 11, B, should reflect that Jay Henry’s initiative also caused the lights in the town shed to be installed. Motion by Mr. Mahood, second by Ms. DellaValla, that the Minutes of the Apr. 8th meeting be approved as amended. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
3. Citizen Comments: Penny Miller questioned what kind of things is done in non public session, whether it would be dealing with student concerns, student discipline, and staff performance. Mr. Dougherty explained they have to state the RSA and the reason they would go into non public session. He stated the Board seals the Minutes from that meeting; by law the Board members are not allowed to talk about anything that went on, if they do they can be fined and could serve jail time. He said if they do not seal the Minutes, those Minutes have to be available to the public within 72 hours, noting that generally they do not take verbatim notes as they are not required. Dr. Nelson stated it is regarding personnel, students,
negotiations, or any legal action taken.
Ms. Miller questioned what is brought to the School Board for non public session. Dr. Nelson said the focus is on a specific incident, student, or action, or a staff discipline issue. Mr. Dougherty said under RSA 91-A:3 there are three criteria they can go into non public session for. He said if there is not a quorum, that is not a meeting and does not have to be discussed; if in a meeting they can go into non public session for negotiation of a contract, to protect the reputation of somebody, and a personnel issue. Ms. Miller questioned whether they would ever go into non public session with multiple parents. Dr. Nelson told her no because of the confidentiality issue. Mr. Dougherty stated the only people bound by confidentiality are Board members, so the less people you go in with,
the more prone to confidentiality issue. He said most student issues never rise to the scrutiny of the Board. Ms. Miller stated if it is with only one parent to discuss it, it is kind of ineffectual. Ms. DellaValla explained parents have the opportunity to meet with Ms. Dembowski together - if you put it into a clear format, at some point it will come to the Board if not satisfied prior to that. Ms. Miller said it is hard in this community to not mention specifics, and questioned if we get parents to sign, can we document that? Ms. DellaValla advised her to get it in as clear a format as she can, get it to the lowest person in command, move it up to Ms. Dembowski, and then come to the Board. Mr. Mahood commented if it is a good change for the better we want to hear about it.
Ms. Miller questioned whether there is going to be a discussion regarding the survey that went out regarding after school care. Ms. Dembowski said she would be bringing that to the Board if there is sufficient interest in bringing that forward. Ms. Miller questioned why the survey which involves budget and staff did not go out to a broader constituency. Ms. Dembowski said she had been hearing there are numerous parents calling for after school care, it became apparent to her there could be a need in our community, so the survey was devised to see how our parents are feeling about it and if it is worth taking a look at. Mr. Dougherty said preschool and after school coverage has always been a discussion – it never developed very well. He said as far as when it starts to be talked about in
the budget, we are very transparent and there would be a public hearing. He pointed out in order to be able to know if you are going to consider something, you have to develop a plan.
Ms. Dembowski said the subject had been brought it up a couple of meetings ago to let the Board know about it. She said one of the questions was “what would you be willing and able to pay for this service?” She sent a link to parents and students of JGS. Dr. Nelson suggested Ms. Dembowski prepare a presentation for the June Board meeting.
4. Presentation of School Programs/FYI Items:
- SAU – Other School Board Reports – Dr. Nelson advised there will be a
special meeting of the SAU Board on May 26th at 6:00 p.m. to elect an Assistant Superintendent.
- Reading Workshop – Kristen Groves – Ms. Groves stated she has been the
K-1 teacher for ten years at JGS and this year is Lab Cohort Teacher for Readers Workshop which is being done SAU-wide. She explained it is a workshop model that can be used school-wide from Kindergarten thru Grade 6 teaching thinking strategy, support from peers, giving opportunities that are chosen by the kids and differentiated instruction - it is a new curriculum similar to how they have been doing it for years, but a shift as to how it is presented. She said it consists of three parts: kids meeting together on thinking and comprehension strategies and independent reading. It includes also a writer’s workshop, a read-aloud, and a phonics and word study; independent reading – reading books that are just right for the individual. Ms. Groves said she reviewed Common Core Standards and
this pretty much “hits all aspects of it.”
Ms. Dembowski said as Lab Teacher, Ms. Groves gets twice as much professional development as she has had a group of several educators in her classroom offering feedback. She commended Ms. Groves for a great job.
5. Old Business: None.
6. Instructional Issues: None.
7. Consider Personnel Actions:
A. Accept Retirement of Gaie Mitchell – Motion by Ms. DellaValla, second by Mr. Mahood, that the Board accept with regret the retirement of Gaie Mitchell as Guidance Counselor. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Mr. Mahood called attention to Ms. Mitchell’s retirement letter and her praise of the JGS staff. Ms. Dembowski stated Ms. Mitchell will be missed.
B. Election of Summer Recreation and ESY Personnel – Motion by Ms. DellaValla, second by Mr. Mahood, that the Board approve election of Megan Johnson, ESY, and Katherine Seibel and Megan Johnson as Camp Counselors. Ms. Dembowski explained the necessity of ESY personnel as some students require Special Ed services during the summer months to maintain their skills. She noted also Ms. Seibel works at John Fuller School during the school year, she was here last summer and will return, thus providing continuity, and the students know her. Carried by unanimous vote.
8. Business Affairs:
A. FYI – 2014-15 Budget Status Report – Dr. Nelson stated “we are in good shape.” Mr. Mahood acknowledged that we are right on schedule.
B. Consider Approval of Request for Staff Member’s Child to attend Jackson Grammar School – Motion by Ms. DellaValla, second by Mr. Mahood, that the Board approve application for Kristen Groves’ daughter to attend JGS. Mr. Mahood questioned whether there is something in writing regarding tuition for the first child and whether there is a charge for a second child. He was told there is. Ms. Dembowski explained we had an enrollment committee made up of a variety of members of the public/business community two years ago to address how to keep our enrollment at a healthy level. This was one of the recommendations of that committee and the Board approved it. There is a written policy. Mr. Dougherty questioned where a person would go to get information for these items
between meetings. Dr. Nelson suggested reviewing the Minutes. Ms. Dembowski said also application forms and tuition policy are on the website. Mr. Dougherty asked for a place to research policies. Dr. Nelson advised going to the SAU #9 website and click on Jackson. Ms. Dembowski said she has a hard copy in her office as well. Mr. Dougherty suggested Board members could come to him and he could steer them in the right direction.
Mr. Mahood questioned whether he is right in thinking we are adding a great student and they are not going to increase expenses at all. Dr. Nelson said the object was to expand the enrollment and reduce per pupil cost. Mr. Mahood questioned why there is even a charge. Mr. Dougherty said he was in favor of it if it did not add to the bottom line of the budget. He said the counter to it is the idea it would be hard to justify to the public if adding multiple students from the same family. Ms. Dembowski said we do not have a policy related to other than school employees. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
C. Consider Surplus Items – Motion by Mr. Dougherty, second by Mr. Mahood, that the Board approve disposing of items listed as surplus. Mr. Dougherty explained these are non used items which have been in the closet or basement for many years and we have no use for them. It was noted some items go to the transfer station, some have to be destroyed, i.e. hard drives, etc. They are all obsolete. Ms. DellaValla questioned vacuum cleaners listed. Ms. Dembowski stated they have been repaired a number of times and cannot be used because we can no longer find parts for them. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
9. Administrator’s Reports:
A. Superintendent – Dr. Nelson announced there will be a Joint Meeting of the SAU #9 and SAU#13 Boards on May 21st at 6:00 p.m. at the Conway Professional Development Center.
Kennett graduation will be held on June 20th at 10:00 a.m.
Ms. Dembowski noted that each year the staff looks at configuration: once in the fall and again at the end of the year. She offered the following proposal for the 2015-16 year: K/1 – 10 students, 1 staff; 2/3 – 12 students – 1 staff; 4/5 – 11 students; 6 – 7 students, noting that even though 6th grade would stand alone, they would continue to work together with 4/5 to make sure that all the content area curriculum is covered.
10. Citizen Comments: Ann Bennett said she believes in the initiative of trying to think globally, considering most of our students end up in Conway at Kennett High School. She said also as stand-alone students there is validity in continuing to evaluate on a case by case basis. She said there will be times, as a School Board, members will need to make the decisions that it is not the right thing for the Jackson Grammar School. She said she would encourage the Board to continue to evaluate Jackson’s needs to take its own initiative of certain issues. Mr. Dougherty said he could not agree with her more, adding we are a wonderful school and it is important to maintain that autonomy. Ms. Bennett said she had had discussion today with
the technology person from Bartlett that we can embrace the umbrella philosophy – different schools are going to do it differently. Dr. Nelson noted Bartlett kept their own mission statement, but endorsed the Conway Strategic Planning mission statement.
Ms. DellaValla questioned whether Ms. Bennett has an opinion about the mission statement, referring to adopting the statement at the SAU meeting, noting we are an independent and autonomous School Board. Ms. Bennett said she embraces continuing with the mission statement we have.
Bea Davis questioned whether the Board is going to have some public meetings before we “jump into preschool.” Mr. Dougherty stated yes, at the Bartlett/Jackson joint meeting there was enthusiasm to begin to research the idea, and that is the stage it is at. He stated Mr. Voci and Ms. Dembowski will put together a team to discover more information about it; we will have a public hearing at a Board meeting, probably some time in October. He said prior to that there will be a group to learn about the possibilities of it. He stated we would be happy to hear from you and discuss it. He stated the Board probably will not discuss it much at its regular meetings until October, but it will be publicized.
Ms. DellaValla explained that initiative was brought to us for endorsement as to whether the two Principals should look into it and how that would benefit us. Ms. Dembowski said it is in its infancy; we will be reaching out to other communities, then there will be a draft of a plan we will talk about in the fall – we did not at this point get into facts and figures.
Lisa McAllister said she thinks it is unfortunate that a lot of the townspeople do not come to the School Board meetings because a lot of our taxes are due to the school. She questioned how much we are paying now to send kids to Kennett. Mr. Dougherty said it is somewhere around $28,000, but there are a lot of variables that figure into it. Ms. McAllister said the newspaper said one of the reasons to look at it was to boost the number of kids that are going to the school. She said we need to be aware of the fact that we do not live in a place with manufacturing, it is not a place that is growing with new families – she is not sure going down this path would have the results you [the Board] are looking for. Mr. Dougherty said everybody is realistic about the fact that our State is losing
large numbers of people, especially young people. Ms. McAllister said as a taxpayer, her taxes have gone up substantially; with what we are paying for tuition to Kennett it is a “big ask.” Mr. Dougherty questioned: “wouldn’t it be reasonable for us, if it was going to save us money in the long run, and there is the possibility that could come from a program like that?” - we do not know that until we study it more. Ms. McAllister said it seems like a lot of time in research, noting it was from the teletalk that only person was in favor it.
Ms. Dembowski said it was proposed by someone who is deeply involved in education; we are paying tuition for services to send kids to Conway when we could be providing a high quality of early education and prevent more expenses in later years. She said we were not boosting numbers - we are paying for Special Education and certain therapists at age three. Ms. Davis said “we are paying now?” Ms. Dembowski said for those children that have been diagnosed for an educational need, the town is paying beginning at age three.
Mr. Dougherty said in the paper they posed the question for something that does not exist yet and that is premature – the way it was presented was not accurate in his mind. Ms. McAllister stated this is a great school, but she is concerned about her taxes. Ms. DellaValla said the issue that was presented was sweeping, alluded to so many facets. She said if you have something to add or thoughts on it, please come to the meetings. She said she feels the article misrepresented things, the only decision that night was to have them look into it.
Ms. Miller said she is a huge advocate of early education intervention and it does save money in the long run; she is also concerned about taxes and would encourage the Bartlett and Jackson School Boards to look at the big picture and she does not think this school will survive as it is pictured right now. She said when her kids were young, the population was bigger, younger kids did well; however, as they get older, this school is extraordinarily limited – there are very few after school options. She stated Jackson and Bartlett need to come to the table together and look at how they can get the older kids involved with Bartlett programming. She suggested also looking at private preschools, maybe welcome them into the school and rent out space. She felt right now the small classes are a
detriment. Ms. McAllister said she has talked to a lot of people whose kids wish they had gone to Bartlett earlier – they do not have enough friends here. She said we need to look at the fact that Jackson is a retirement community. Mr. Dougherty said this is a pretty involved conversation and might be better for a Listening Post issue. Ms. McAllister said she her concern is all these things do not get talked about and when we get to the budget meeting for the school, it is too late. Mr. Dougherty commented that generally we do not have more than four people at a budget hearing. He said the people of the town approve every dollar that goes through the school, and the school does a very good job at being transparent about the way the money is spent here. Dr. Nelson agreed a Listening Post meeting is a great idea, in the fall. Ms. McAllister said there were some things in the budget last year which people were upset about – we need
to have a discussion about the future of JGS. Mr. Dougherty stated it is not a new topic, it has been going on for 25 years - we are trying to come up with a fair way to frame a dialogue on how to present it. Mr. Dougherty invited Ms. McAllister to help in putting together a subcommittee to help in this endeavor. Mr. Mahood said the point made at the joint meeting was “if you build it they will come” - that was the only point that was made - he felt that was not going to happen.
Ms. Miller questioned the number of staff’s kids that were tuitioned this current school year. Ms. Dembowski said there was one staff child this year, two are planned for next year with no outside tuitioned students. Mr. Dougherty said we cannot add to the bottom line.
As regards increased enrollment, Ms. Dembowski said our original projection was four for the current year and we actually had seven; for 2016 they are projecting six new kindergarten students, and five in 2017 – projections are generally lower than anticipated based on the births at the hospital.
11. Board Member Issues:
- Set Date for Next Meeting – Monday, June 15, 2015 at 6:00 p.m.
- Consider Approval of Mission and Vision Statements (Conway Strategic
Planning) – Motion by Mr. Dougherty, second by Mr. Mahood, to table Item 11, B until the next meeting. Carried by unanimous vote.
C. Consider Approval of Revised Memorandum of Understanding between the Jackson School District and the Jackson Police Department – Motion by Mr. Mahood, second by Mr. Dougherty, to table Item 11, C until the next meeting. Carried by unanimous vote.
12. Signing of Manifest: Manifests were duly signed.
13. Nonpublic Session: None.
14. Adjourn: Motion made by Mr. Dougherty, second by Mr. Mahood and carried by unanimous vote, that the meeting be adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary
Agenda – June 15th:
Approval of Mission and Vision Statements
Approval of Revised Memorandum of Understanding
between the Jackson School District and Jackson Police Dept.
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