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School Board Meeting Minutes |
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back to School Board meeting minutes archive BARRE TOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT Minutes are not official until approved by the Barre Town School Board BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: ADMINISTRATORS: Guests: BOARD SECRETARY: Donna Holden 1. Call to Order The Chairperson, Brenda Buzzell, called the Wednesday, April 15, 2009, meeting to order at 6:04 p.m., which was held in the Barre Town Middle and Elementary School Library, 70 Websterville Road, Barre Town, VT. A flag salute followed. 2. Visitors and Communications Mrs. Buzzell thanked everyone involved at the school for their hard work and the success in hosting the April 1, 2009, Winooski Valley Middle School Music Festival. 3. Consent Agenda
On a motion by Ms. Moore seconded by Mr. Tewksbury, the Board voted to approve the warrants, and regular meeting minutes of April 1, 2009, as submitted. 4. Board Action Items
David Harrington, lead negotiator for the BTMES Board, Val Collins and Revelle Allen, Co-Chairs of the BTEA, and Shelby Binaghi, BTEA Union negotiation team member, all appeared before the Board to witness the signing of the two-year Master Contract. Along with the Board and Dr. Bacon, Mrs. Buzzell thanked all the parties involved for their respectful, mindful, and cooperative work in reaching a very successful and timely conclusion to the negotiations, which resulted in the contract. Along with Mrs. Bignahi, the Union negotiators were Venus Allen, James Carpenter, and David Ferch. For the BTMES Mr. Harrington was joined by Mrs. Buzzell and Dr. Bacon. Mrs. Buzzell also noted this would be the last contract negotiated with the BTMES Board, pursuant to VT State Law; all future teacher contracts would be negotiated at the Supervisory Union level.
On a motion by Ms. Moore seconded by Mr. Kirkland, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Second and Final Readings of School & Personal Property Replacement/Restitution Policy (ECAD), Vandalism Policy (ECAC), Hazardous Materials Policy (EBAB), Buildings and Grounds Inspections Policy (EBA), as submitted, and the Second and Final Reading of Buildings and Grounds Inspections – Inspection Log (EBA-E) for removal, as submitted. With the Board’s permission, items on the agenda were taken out of order. 5. Old Business None 6. Regular Reports to the Board
Mr. Crowley reviewed several current and upcoming events. For additional information on these and other events, visit www.btmes.org. Mr. Crowley also advised that 25 children were enrolled in the YMCA April Vacation Camp next week.
Dr. Bacon provided a brief oral report including details of the final regional school calendar, agreed upon by the Superintendents of Barre, Montpelier, U-32, and Washington West school districts. He noted that there were some variances based on contracted number of student days, etc.; however the start date and February and April vacations were identical. Dr. Bacon also advised that after meeting with Union leaders, it was agreed that parent/teacher meetings would be held after school and evenings to avoid a loss in student instruction days, and held in the fall and spring at the high school. Dr. Bacon advised the Board the SU-wide student management data system, “Power School”, was being implemented with staff and teacher training planned for the end of the summer. He also distributed a copy of the overtime policy being reviewed and adopted by the SU Board. Upon the Policy Committee’s review and future recommendation, the Board agreed to consider adopting a similar policy, if language was not already incorporated into each of the non-teacher contracts. Dr. Bacon advised the Board that the State recently required each school to have a policy regarding background checks for unsupervised volunteers that have direct contact with children, including coaches, mentors, etc. The Board agreed to review their existing policy, and to consider, upon review, whether the fee for background checks could and/or should be paid by the school, which as discussed might impact regularly scheduled volunteer participation.
The Board briefly reviewed the written report provided in the packet.
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. Board Discussion Items
Town Manager, Carl Rogers, and Jeff Blow, Select Board Chair, appeared before the Board to discuss the $30K shared expenses charged annually to the school budget. Mr. Rogers distributed a cost sharing spreadsheet, prepared by Town Treasurer, Donna Kelty that revealed expenses of $28,831.60, of which $1,278.60 was related to financial service, $1,412.50 for the Town Auditor services and Annual Report printing, and the balance of $26,140.50 related directly to the cost of the separate, March Town Meeting day, school budget vote and elections. The Board asked whether the Town would consider, for efficiency sake and to reduce overall Barre Town taxpayer costs, to move the Town budget voting, and other ballot items, to the March Town Meeting date. Mr. Blow indicated if the school wanted to bring the issue to the Select Board he would put it on the agenda for a discussion, however, it would also require a change to the Town Charter. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Blow discussed their opinion of the merits involved in the Town’s May budget vote. The Board also reviewed and discussed the Town Bus Fund expenses, which included expenses for administration, garage, repairs (including maintenance and operation), and bus purchases totaling $387,745 for FY ’10. The Board agreed to discuss the costs further at a round table and/or the Finance Committee. Mr. Kirkland advised Mr. Rogers that in an effort to reduce costs, the Facility Committee, in cooperation with Dr. Bacon and the Administrators, were seriously examining the BTMES bussing program, which could potentially result in contracting with an outside vendor for bussing, bus maintenance, etc, and even a single-wave transport schedule. Mr. Rogers asked to be informed as timely as possible of any changes to the current arrangement as it would dramatically impact the Town’s budget. Mr. Rogers also reviewed and left the 2008-2009 Lease Contract for signature, which he noted had been overlooked and never signed for the current fiscal year. 8. Other Business None 9. Executive Session
At 8:20 p.m. on a motion by Ms. Moore seconded by Mr. Kirkland, the Board unanimously voted to enter into executive session, pursuant to Title 1 § 313, to discuss a real estate and personnel matter, bus contract, and the superintendent’s evaluation. Dr. Bacon and Mrs. Prichard were invited into the executive session. At 9:45 p.m. the Board exited executive session. On a motion by Mr. Tewksbury seconded by Mr. Kirkland, the Board unanimously voted to authorize the Chair to sign the agreement, as discussed. 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: May 6, 2009 – 6:00 p.m. 11. Adjournment On a motion by Mr. Kirkland seconded
by Ms. Moore, the Board unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:47 p.m.
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