Moretown Elementary School
School Board Meeting

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Present: Board members Lisa Ransom, Deb Hunter, Jay Pilliod, John Schmeltzer and Amy Bolger and principal Roberta Barone

Absent: Superintendent Bob McNamara

The meeting was called to order at 6:10 pm by Deb Hunter.

Faculty Contract Negotiation Report

John and Jay attended today’s meeting at which ground rules were established. Dates were set for the bargaining team to meet. These meetings will be warned, but will be held in executive session.

Washington West Executive Committee Report

John noted that the meeting has yet to take place and there is nothing of note to report at this time.

WWSU Consolidation Committee Report

Jay and Roberta stated that at the last meeting, the group brainstormed and discussed ideas (e.g., the school day could be extended; instructional blocks could be reorganized privatization measures could be considered) but no conclusions were drawn as yet.

Jay reported that he and his spouse Dara Torre recently completed a grant to Loew’s, due October 15^th,  for $5,000.00.  If awarded, the money would be used to landscape in front of the school and repair the sidewalk. Volunteers would be solicited to form a committee which would work in conjunction with a landscape architect to complete the work.

Moretown Multi-board Meeting at MES

Deb reminded board members that a meeting of the Select Board, the Planning

Board and the School Board will be held on Monday, October 16 at 5:00 p.m.

Representatives from WSI, the state forestry department and others will be in attendance. The boards are convening to discuss a joint proposal relating to a deeryard mitigation easement and the uses of the municipal land on which the deeryard would be located.  Amy, Lisa, Deb and Jay will attend.

Budget Preparation Workshop

Deb reported that she and Amy had attended the previous evening’s budget preparation workshop and that it was useful.

Superintendent Bob McNamara joined the meeting at 6:51.

Snowplow Bids

Roberta circulated a memorandum from business manager John Pike stating that bids for snowplowing were opened on 9/20/06; three parties subsequently bid. Roberta stated that she conducted extensive reference checks by phone on applicants. After much discussion John moved to accept the lowest bid , Jay seconded and the board voted unanimously to have Griffin & Griffin provide snowplowing for MES this year.  The board noted they wished to thank Eric Howes for the competent, professional service he has provided in past years.

Superintendent’s Report

Bob had nothing extraordinary to report but noted that a lot is going on, and all appears to be going well.

Principal’s Report

Roberta reminded board members that the corridor from Rte. 2 in Middlesex village to Maynard’s farm has been designated a Vermont Scenic Byway. The Scenic Byway Committee recently received funds for signage, kiosks, etc., and approached Roberta to assess what the school would like to do as part of the project. She suggested that the one room school house currently owned by GMP could be restored, and they agreed! We will need to craft a proposal to use student, parent and community volunteers. Roberta is soliciting assistance with this.

On September 29^th , Roberta took six students to Colchester to participate in a student leadership conference. As a result, a student issues committee will be formed to survey the school community regarding  the MES climate and culture.

Roberta reported that our recent literacy skills assessment confirmed that 40% of MES students are not at the level of fluency that they could be. Our literacy groups will continue to address this issue.

In the wake of recent school tragedies, Roberta said that school administrators met with state emergency management experts to assess our facility and plans. Staff will be practicing a lockdown and have replaced door locks.

Roberta noted that we need to post school property during hunting season. She will talk with Mary  Nowlan, who was involved with this last year, to investigate how this should best be accomplished and will report back.

Finally, Roberta reported that the NECAP testing has concluded.

Hearing on “Policy on Wellness, Nutrition and Physical Activity”

On a motion by Deb, seconded by Lisa, the board unanimously voted to accept the policy discussed at the September MES board meeting.

Board Orders

In a motion by Jay, seconded by Amy, the board approved the following board orders:

# 20 for $33,097.15; #21 & #22 for $12,724.80; #23 for $5,004.21; and #24 for $33,808.02, all dated 9/27/06. Also, #25 for $34687.65; #26 & 27 for $12,919.25; #28 for $4,662.04; and #29 for $14,188.19, all dated 10/11/06.

Other Business

Board members set or rescheduled the following 2006 and 2007 meeting dates to work on our next school budget:

November 2^nd: The Nov. board meeting will be held from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at Harwood. It will precede a 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. joint meeting of all school boards focusing on analysis of  budget-related data.

December 6^th:  The Dec. board meeting will be held from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at Harwood, to precede a second, joint meeting of all school boards from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

December 12^th: This will be a MES special budget preparation meeting, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

There will be two budget-focused meetings in January 2007 as well, January 4^th and January 16^th , times to be determined.

Adjournment

On a motion by John, seconded by Deb, the meeting adjourned at 8:02.

Approved:____________________________________________________________

Clerk Amy Bolger

Date: ________________________________________________________________