MORETOWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Unapproved Minutes

Regular School Board Meeting

Moretown Elementary School library, April 1, 2008

Board members: John Schmeltzer, Lisa Ransom, Jay Pilliod and Amy Bolger

School Administrators: Roberta Barone and Bob McNamara

Matt Strassberg was also present at the meeting.

Chuck Abare was absent.

The meeting was called to order at 6:15 pm by John Schmeltzer, Board Chair.

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes

On a motion by Amy, seconded by John, the board voted to approve the minutes of the March 11 and March 24, 2008 school board meetings.

Bob noted that John Pike, WWSU business manager, is leaving effective 6/30/08. John will be available to mentor whomever is hired to replace him.

Bob stated that at this point in the school year, we’ve used 4 of 5 contingency (snow) days. A proposal is on the table to make Wednesday June 18^th the last school day for kids. Teachers would complete their contractual obligation by working through the 19^th, barring any further snow days.

Bob and John discussed a memorandum from a parent articulating concerns about early release days. Bob noted that there is a question addressing this issue on the survey for parents. Concerns voiced by significant numbers of parents on this or any other issue will be taken into account. Roberta noted that the teachers at the Moretown school have all responded positively to the early release days and said it is really working well. On a motion by Lisa, seconded by Amy the board voted to give John the authority to respond directly to this parent on behalf of the board.

Finally, on a motion by Lisa, seconded by Amy, the board voted to renew Roberta’s contract.

Roberta shared results of the WWSU school climate survey recently given to Moretown students. Roberta will be discussing implications with teachers.

Lisa confirmed that Dick Moser had been hired as the Interim Superintendent and there was nothing else of note to report.

On a motion by Lisa, seconded by Amy, the board voted to give John the authority to sign the Purchase and Sale Agreement on behalf of the board. Closing is planned for 4/7/08.The board discussed what to do with the anticipated proceeds. Jay suggested that we might talk with the Select Board about covering the cost of the redesign and improvement of the parking lot in front of the school. Then, the proceeds would be available to address our many infrastructure-related needs. John will explore the feasibility of this with Paula; Jay offered to be part of the discussion as well. Bob noted that we could also consider going out for a bond for the infrastructure work. The board discussed the need to minimize costs to tax payers. Bob suggested bringing John Pike into the discussion and Jay said he would apprise John of the situation for his feedback.

John shared a thoughtful, comprehensive letter from Ray Staskus at the Bus Barn addressing the earlier voiced concerns about bus safety issues.

On a motion by Jay, seconded by Amy, the board approved the following board orders: #64 for $30,43.06, #65 for $17,780.32, #66 for $709.67, #67 for $156.92, and #68 for $31,262.72.

Jay said that a document is being drafted that will list the specifics of what needs to be included in a request for bids, for hardware. He suggested with Control Tech for the software technology.

A site walk-thru will be occurring in the near future, and three or four contractors will be pricing the work needed to upgrade our electrical systems.

On a motion by Lisa, seconded by John, the board voted to appoint Matt Strassberg to the board to finish out Amy Bolger’s one year term.

On a motion by Amy, seconded by John, the meeting was adjourned at 8:08 pm.

Date:

Amy Bolger, Board Clerk