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School Board Meeting Minutes |
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Minutes are not official until approved by the Barre Town School Board BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: ADMINISTRATORS: Guests: Video Vision Tech, Ry Hoffman-Counselor Grades 5-8, Steve Murray, Matt Safford, Carolyn Couture, Robin Cappetta, Carl & Mirla Davison, Valerie Collins, Jack Barnes BOARD SECRETARY: Donna Holden 1. Call to Order The Superintendent, John Bacon, called the Wednesday, March 3, 2010, meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., which was held in the Barre Town Middle and Elementary School Library, 70 Websterville Road, Barre Town, VT. A flag salute followed.
Dr. Bacon opened the floor to nominations for Chairperson. Ms Moore nominated Mrs. Buzzell. Mrs. Buzzell accepted. Hearing no other nominations, the Board unanimously voted to elect Brenda Buzzell to serve as Board Chair. Mrs. Buzzell assumed the role as Chairperson. Mrs. Buzzell opened the floor to nominations for Vice-Chairperson. Mr. Kirkland nominated Ms. Moore. Ms. Moore accepted. Hearing no other nominations, the Board unanimously voted to elect Laura Moore to serve as Board Vice-Chair. Mrs. Buzzell opened the floor to nominations for Clerk. Mr. Kirkland nominated Mr. Tewksbury. Mr. Tewksbury accepted. Hearing no other nominations, the Board unanimously voted to elect Brent Tewksbury to serve as Board Clerk. Mrs. Buzzell asked for volunteers to serve as Supervisory Union Board representatives. Mr. Kirkland, Mr. Paterson, and Ms. Moore volunteered. Mrs. Buzzell asked for a volunteer to serve as Barre Technical Center Regional Advisory Board (RAB) representative. Mr. Tewksbury volunteered. On a motion by Ms. Moore seconded by Mr. Tewksbury, the Board unanimously voted to authorize the Chair to sign teacher contracts approved by the Board. On a motion by Ms. Moore seconded by Mr. Tewksbury, the Board unanimously voted to authorize the Chair to sign other contracts approved by the Board. The Board reviewed and agreed to the following operating procedures:
Dr. Bacon reviewed Confidentiality/FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974), and executive session guidelines pursuant to Title 1 § 313 with the Board. The Board discussed and agreed to the following committee assignments:
2. Visitors and Communications On behalf of the Board Mrs. Buzzell
thanked the community for their support and passage of the FY 2011
budget. 3. Consent Agenda
On a motion by Ms. Moore seconded by Mr. Paterson, the Board unanimously voted to approve the warrants and minutes of February 17, 2010, regular Board meeting, as submitted. 4. Old Business
Mrs. Buzzell addressed the community regarding the flyer distributed in the World prior to Town Meeting, regarding the single wave bus proposal. She clarified many of the erroneous statements and assumptions printed in the flyer, and encouraged community members to contact Board members with any questions. Dr. Bacon also addressed and clarified other misconceptions disseminated in the flyer. Mr. Safford addressed the Board regarding the impact to full-time staff and the potential loss of wages and benefits with a change in the system. Dr. Bacon cautioned that such matters were subject to current contract negotiations and not appropriate to discuss outside that forum. Mrs. Buzzell acknowledged that change was difficult and sometimes frightening, which was why honesty and transparency was required. She stated the Board had a long and proud tradition of being thoughtful and conscientious, which was again being honored through the very diligent process to examine the single wave proposal. She said while keeping child safety paramount, as the elected officials the Board needed to determine what was best for the children educationally, while weighing an appropriate cost for taxpayers. Mrs. Buzzell also noted the declining student population to almost half of an historic 1400+ students to the current 833 students was in-and-of-itself reason to visit the question of cost and whether a more efficient system could and/or should be supported. Dr. Bacon noted the current busing system was being operated at an annual expense of approximately $600-$800K per year, or $60K per bus per year. He said a single wave system with a leasing company could provide savings to the community of approximately $200-$250K per year. Mr. Crowley addressed Mr. Safford and other bus drivers present, sympathizing with their employment and benefit concerns, acknowledged the luxury of a two-wave busing system and the potential loss of it, recognized there were challenges and safety concerns, and how a change (c)would impact the culture of the school community. However, Mr. Crowley also sympathized with the burdens of taxpayers, noted the educational benefits to staff and students to consolidate start times, and encouraged cooperative behavior to promote solutions. Mr. Crowley asked for the bus drivers to be creative and provide their own cost-saving proposal(s), to avoid confrontation, and to cease scare tactics, dissemination of misinformation, etc. while working together for the benefit of the students, staff and community. Ms. Cappetta, a BTMES bus driver, spoke passionately in support of the current system, the capability, dedication, and professionalism of the staff, and vested sense of ownership to the school community as employees rather than being leased for a service. She cautioned the Board not to compromise the safety and concern of the children just to save money. Ms. Moore shared the only comments that she’d received regarding the single wave proposal were more to do with logistics and coordinating the start times of the three schools within the district, to be family friendly. She explained for those parents responsible for driving high school students and putting younger students on a bus, it was necessary to be conscious of the start-time schedules to avoid having to be in two places at the same time. Dr. Bacon reviewed the start times previously discussed (see January 20, 2010 meeting): BCMES student pick-ups would start at 7:30 a.m., with school beginning at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 2:30 p.m., and with all students delivered to stops at the end of the day by 3:00 p.m. BTMES student pick-ups would start at 8:00 a.m. with school beginning at 8:45 a.m. and ending at 3:15 p.m., and all students delivered to their stops at the end of the day by 4:00 p.m. He said students would likely be on the bus less time in Barre City, and that some students in Barre Town would also be less time, while some BT students may travel about the same amount of time. Mr. Kirkland reviewed a number of potential time estimates for some bus runs. A brief discussion ensued of current behaviors at bus stops, and how the anticipated increase in the number of students at stops could impact potential behaviors at particular stops. The discussion led to an agreement that parent supervision and appropriate student behavior were needed for a successful and safe system, regardless of whether it was a single or multi-wave system. Mr. Kirkland also reiterated if a joint contract with BCEMS was not attainable, it was the Board’s intention to proceed with exploring their busing options independently. Once again he encouraged bus drivers to participate and bring forward proposal(s) for cost savings, including educational benefits, and solutions to run a more efficient system. 5. New Business
Ry Hoffman appeared before the Board to review finding from the recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), given to grade 8-12 students bi-annually in cooperation with the Vermont Department of Health and Center for Disease Control. He also discussed initiatives and steps at BTMES to address some of the issues revealed. For more information visit http://healthvermont.gov or http://education.vermont.gov. Mr. Crowley advised the Board a complete evaluation of the TA system would be conducted soon to evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s implementation of the new strategy to maximize opportunities to connect with students. 6. Administrative Reports to the Board
Dr. Bacon provided an oral report. He confirmed Barre City was amenable to participating in a joint busing contract; therefore, would proceed with seeking bids under a number of scenarios. Dr. Bacon also advised he would be preparing a pros/cons report to be used by both Barre City and Barre Town in their community meetings. Dr. Bacon briefly discussed the ongoing meetings with Pre-K instructors from BCEMS and BTMES with respect to their continued work in the area of outreach to three and four-year olds in the district. Dr. Bacon advised that the SU Board approved the soliciting of bids from auditing firms to perform the annual audit. He agreed to provide additional information at a later date. He also noted the 2009 audit results were recently received and would be presented to the Board within the next few weeks. Dr. Bacon also informed the Board recruiting for a Business Manager would commence within a week, which would include “preferred qualifications” as recommended by the BTMES Board and agreed to by the SU Board. He said the job description would be discussed and finalized by the SU Board at their next meeting. Dr. Bacon requested an executive session to discuss a student matter. He explained the matter involved a family that recently moved to Montpelier and was seeking continued enrollment of their kindergarten student for the remainder of the year.
Mr. Crowley and Ms. Worth reviewed information regarding student and staff achievements, along with recent and upcoming events. For additional information on these and other events, visit www.btmes.org. Mr. Crowley also discussed the very successful February “vacation camp” held by the YMCA for 22 BTMES students. He said a Gable Family scholarship was used to pay for one student’s attendance, and read a thank you note from the student. Mr. Crowley also advised the Board through efforts and coordination with the UVM Asian Studies Program, beginning March 14, 2010, five students and an instructor from Thailand would be visiting BTMES for two weeks, and staying with host families in the community. He thanked Dr. Bacon for the suggestion and opportunity to bring the experience to Barre Town School.
All Committee meetings are held in the BTMES 2nd floor conference room. Approved minutes for each Committee can be viewed on the Website at www.btmes.org.
7. Other Business (If Needed) The Board discussed and agreed due to the spring break the week the third week of April, to tentatively schedule its second monthly meeting for April 28, 2010. The Board also discussed the format for upcoming community forums to discuss the single wave busing proposal. The Board agreed with the help of Dr. Bacon’s pros/cons discussion sheet, the forum should address 1.) the single wave concept – including educational benefits, safety issues, etc. and 2.) the contracting and implementation, including financial savings, time schedules, etc. 8. Future Agenda Items
9. Executive Session
At 8:45 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Kirkland seconded by Ms. Moore, the Board unanimously voted to enter into executive session, pursuant to Title 1 § 313, to discuss negotiations. Dr. Bacon and Ms. Worth were invited into the executive session. At 9:35 p.m. the Board exited executive session. The Board agreed to reject the parent’s request. 10. Next Meeting Dates Meetings are held at 6:00 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of the month, unless noted. The next Barre Town School Board meeting dates are:
11. Adjournment On a motion by Ms. Moore seconded by
Mr. Paterson, the Board unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:37 p.m.
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