MINUTES OF MEETING
JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD
Jackson Grammar School
October 19, 2015
- Call to Order: The Oct. 19th meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 7:05 p.m. Present were Jerry Dougherty, Daniel Mahood, Jessica DellaValla, Genn Anzaldi, Keith Bradley, Supt. Kevin Richard, Asst. Supt. Kadie Wilson, and Principal, Gayle Dembowski. There were three members of the public/staff present.
Public Hearing on HB-507 – Video and Audio Recording in School Classrooms
Upon question of the need for this, Mr. Richard advised it is a State law. Ms. DellaValla noted this only pertains to what happens in the classroom, and questioned what about classes outside, for instance, on the playground. Mr. Richard said the definition of classroom is teacher and students, or if you want to video teachers during instruction. Mr. Dougherty explained that in order for it to be legal we have to have a public hearing. There was question of a case of a parent that expressly says they do not want their child’s image recorded. Mr. Richard said it would not be a passive consent form where we need written consent for every teacher or student, it would be one form for the year, every year.
There being no further questions, the public hearing was declared closed at 7:10 p.m.
- Approve Minutes (9-21-15) – Motion was made by Ms. Anzaldi, seconded by Ms. DellaValla, that the Minutes of the Sept. 21st meeting be approved as circulated. Motion carried with 4 votes in the affirmative and one abstention (Bradley).
- Citizen Comments: None.
- Presentation of School Programs/FYI Items:
- SAU – Other School Board Reports –
- Schedule Standards Based Grading Presentation - Mr. Richard reported
that Ms. Wilson visited the PTA to review standards based grading and will be presenting it to the SAU #9 Board on Nov. 12th at 6:00 p.m.
- Consider First Reading of Revised Policy KG – Use of School Buildings -
Motion made by Mr. Bradley, second by Ms. Anzaldi, to approve first reading of Revised Policy KG – Use of School Buildings. Mr. Bradley questioned whether this is for both buildings and was told it is and that it does not take any authority away from the Principal as to use of either building. Ms. DellaValla had a question regarding a clause dealing with use for private gain. Mr. Dougherty explained if there is a group that is charging admission for something, then they are going to have to pay for use of the facility.
Ms. DellaValla questioned Section D under Guidelines, dealing with designation of an adult to be responsible for behavior of those present. Ms. Dembowski said they need someone who knows the building, taking the key and being responsible for closing up. Ms. DellaValla questioned whether that is unless there is negligence. Ms. Dembowski said we are asking folks to stay where they are telling us they are supposed to be. Ms. DellaValla asked whether their responsibility is only limited to that specific area of use. Mr. Bradley stated they have a contract they have to sign. Ms. DellaValla suggested adding the wording: “all designated areas of use.” After some discussion it was decided that section would be deleted.
Ms. DellaValla questioned Section 6, E, under Payments, dealing with an individual signing the Request for Use Form being held responsible for damages, and stated that does not make sense. She questioned whether that person is individually liable. Mr. Richard said if, for example, you are the head of the Boy Scouts, it is up to you. It was agreed the wording “and or entity” would be added after The individual….
After some discussion, it was agreed that for Section 7, A, Penalties, First Offense, to change the wording from “will” result in a warning to “may” result in a warning.
The previous motion and second were withdrawn and Motion was made by Mr. Bradley, seconded by Ms. Anzaldi, that the Board approve the amendments to Policy KG – Use of School Buildings - cited above. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Mr. Bradley cautioned that they need to make sure whatever contracts Ms. Dembowski signs are not contrary to this.
- Skis on School Buses – Mr. Bradley reported that Mr. Voci had told him it
has never been a problem in the past. Mr. Bradley said they have now opened downhill skiing to 6th graders to be on the Middle School team. He said Mr. Voci has said we just need to tell him what day it is going to be and he will meet the bus. Mr. Bradley said we need to make a policy about how they get on the bus. It was noted a parent could do it, but might have to wait for the bus.
Mr. Dougherty said he would like to see a little more concrete plan on that – a list of people stating who has which day – he would like to see a plan. It was noted this is for Nordic skiing and Mr. Bradley suggested maybe there should be a system like we do for downhill. Ms. Dembowski said she likes the idea that if you want to put your child’s skis on the bus, you wait here until the bus comes. Mr. Dougherty said he would be happy to let Ms. Dembowski figure it out.
Motion was made by Mr. Dougherty, seconded by Mr. Bradley, to approve skis on the bus if Ms. Dembowski is O.K. with our policy to allow skis on the school bus provided the parents are at the Jackson building to put the skis on the bus and, on arrival, to take the skis off the bus.
Ms. Ross-Parent suggested a responsible 8th grade skier be asked to help. Mr. Bradley noted the problem is the driver cannot get off the bus to make sure the compartment housing the skis is closed, etc. It was suggested to table this. Mr. Bradley withdrew his second, Mr. Dougherty withdrew his motion. The agreement was to do nothing until someone comes to request it.
Motion was made by Mr. Dougherty, seconded by Ms. Anzaldi, that skis are allowed on the bus so long as a designated adult is there to put the skis on the bus and take them off the bus. Carried by unanimous vote.
- Committee Assignments – Mr. Dougherty provided a list with his suggestions for finalization at the Nov. meeting.
6. Instructional Issues: None.
7. Consider Personnel Actions:
- Election of John Stokke as Maintenance/Custodian – Motion was made by
Mr. Bradley, seconded by Ms. Anzaldi, to elect John Stokke as Maintenance/
Custodian as recommended. Mr. Bradley commented that Mr. Stokke is a super great guy.
Ms. DellaValla questioned whether this changes the budget at all. She was told it could change the cost of insurance. Mr. Bradley said some towns are offering a health insurance waiver if both husband and wife work for a school facility - it could increase the cost, depending on their insurance policy. Mr. Dougherty stated whether it will affect our budget has nothing to do with this vote; it is not valid to ask budget questions regarding health insurance. Ms. DellaValla questioned whether this makes a difference as regards salary. Ms. Dembowski said we have a payroll schedule in our Personnel Policy, Mr. Richard meets with the candidate and decides on the salary. The motion carried with 4 votes in the affirmative and one abstention (DellaValla).
Mr. Dougherty said we have a budget process in which we factor in the amount of employees we need and arrange a salary for those positions; those are outside of who those people are or if the money is needed. Ms. DellaValla said her reason for asking the question was to inquire if we are being fiscally responsible with our budget. Mr. Dougherty said when you are hiring an individual, that is a different process than the budget. Ms. DellaValla questioned then whether it is only when there is a change in the position that it is O.K. to ask about the budget. Mr. Richard advised the appropriate time to ask that question regarding the budget is during the budget sessions. Mr. Dougherty suggested the question could be “are we covered in the budget for the action we just took?”
- Approval of Request by Sarah Rowe for Maternity Leave – Motion was
made by Ms. Anzaldi, seconded by Mr. Mahood, that the Board approve maternity leave requested by Sarah Rowe from January 25, 2016 through March 3, 2016. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
8. Business Affairs:
FYI – 2015-16 Budget Status Report – There were no questions or comments.
9. Administrator’s Reports:
1. Budget Direction for 2016-17 - Mr. Richard stated he will be working with Ms. Dembowski on this.
- Recommendation for Remote Instructional School Day – Ms. Anzaldi
questioned what the rest of SAU 9 is doing. Mr. Richard said Bartlett has chosen not to; Conway will not put it into effect until there are 3 snow days, the next 3 days to be Blizzard Bag days. He said the RSA says you can have up to 5. Ms. Dembowski said she does not know whether there would be any cost benefits to having staff present, the staff is open to going for it. Mr. Dougherty said when we first discussed it, it was that we were looking to see what other districts were going to do. Ms. Dembowski said we felt like our parents have the technology and that would not be an issue. Mr. Richard said in today’s day and age he has a lot of trust in the teachers providing the quality education for the kids and has the utmost confidence in the staff in Jackson and in Ms. Dembowski. He suggested “give them five if they want it.”
Mr. Dougherty stated we do not need to change the policy that we adopted. Mr. Bradley suggested having a meeting so that parents know what we are going to do. It was noted there will be a PTO meeting on Nov. 16th. It was agreed it is Ms. Dembowski’s call.
B. Principal – Ms. Dembowski reported she has been invited to Concord for the Wall of Fame ceremony on Nov. 10th at 4:00 p.m. She explained it is a wall that has a plaque of all the EDDIES recipients. She invited any Board members who would like to go to attend with her.
10. Citizen Comments:
Penny Miller said there was a security system that was brought up and wished to
know if that is on the docket any time soon. Mr. Dougherty stated it has not been
brought to the Board level yet, it will be a decision that the School Board makes. It
is an emergency contact issue, a direct line to the Police Dept. He noted in the event
of an emergency at the school, the procedure now is to call 911. That goes to the
county and they can only handle a certain number of calls - this would be something
on the computer system at the school. He explained the administrators are in charge
of emergency procedures for the school, it is not a Board issue.
Mr. Richard said each school has emergency proceedings and operations and he is
not familiar with this proposal. Ms. Dembowski said this involves the Police Chief
talking to Mr. Richard as it involves using APPS. Ms. Miller stated the Selectmen
for Jackson have already approved it. Mr. Dougherty said nothing has been
proposed to the school or the Board.
Ms. Miller noted it was in the Enews that Mr. Dougherty had commented that no one in the community had commented to him that taxes are high in Jackson and she has expressed, as a community member, that taxes are high. Mr. Dougherty said the majority of the people he talks to do not talk to him about high taxes. He stated if there are people out there that feel they are, he wants to hear it. Mr. Mahood pointed out that is not to say that we are not aware of how money is spent.
11. Board Member Issues: As regards the preschool proposal, Ms. DellaValla said now we wait until Bartlett meets before forming the committee for a workshop on preschool; before we meet with them there are major issues we should discuss, as a town, about whether we want to go through with it. Mr. Dougherty said we are being presented with something that is fairly positive and we should take a look at that. He said he wants to leave it in the hands of Bartlett to parse out the proposal they have given us - Bartlett is either going to want to do it, not do it, or somewhere in between.
Ms. DellaValla wished to recognize all the work that has been put into it. Ms. Anzaldi said she applauds the effort to move things along, but also wants to wait. Ms. Dembowski said it was our hope to know whether we need to do more work; we did not want to put hours of work into it if people do not want it. Mr. Bradley said as a Board we endorse the concept of preschool. Mr. Dougherty suggested watching what Bartlett does and get together after that.
Ms. DellaValla said, looking at the budget, she feels it is missing line items. Ms. Dembowski stated that is basically the cost for a Bartlett child. Mr. Bradley said we are not going to have information to put it in our budget this year. Mr. Dougherty said in order to be comfortable to support something, we have to have a process – a public hearing, etc. Ms. DellaValla said we will wait for Bartlett to have their work session, which will be made public. Mr. Dougherty said he will contact Ms. Kelemen to find out when they will have their work session. Mr. Bradley noted we have a tuition agreement with Bartlett for our 7th & 8th graders. Mr. Dougherty said we do not really have a lot of leverage in that anyway – we need to watch the process unfold. Ms. DellaValla said part of what she is concerned about is, she is not even sure there is a problem.
One citizen asked to be made aware when Bartlett is going to have that workshop session. Ms. DellaValla said she will find out and make that known. Mr. Dougherty cautioned that usually a work session is not intended to give public input.
- Set Date for Next Meeting – Monday, November 16, 2015.
12. Signing of Manifest: Manifests were duly signed.
13. Nonpublic Session: None.
14. Adjourn: Motion made by Mr. Dougherty, second by Ms. Anzaldi and carried by unanimous vote, that the meeting be adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary
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