SPAULDING HIGH SCHOOL UNION DISTRICT

James Baril, SRO Don McMahon, Special Services Director

Tom McSweeney

Board Secretary: Donna Holden

1. Call to Order

The Chairperson, John Santorello, called the Monday, December 21, 2009 meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., which was held in the SHS & BTC Campus Library, 155 Ayers Street, Barre, Vermont.

2. Announcements and Awards

None. Campus and other general information may be viewed at www.shsbtc.org/.

3. Public Comment

None

4. Approval of Minutes

A. December 7, 2009 Regular Board Meeting

On a motion by Mrs. Malone seconded by Mrs. Pope, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of December 7, 2009 regular meeting, as submitted.

Mr. Storz arrived at the meeting.

5. New Business

A. SRO Incident Report

In addition to providing a written report, Officer Baril addressed the Board advising he felt his main responsibility was to serve as liaison between the students, school, and Police Department. He said his presence provided opportunity to solve many matters within the school before they escalated, and to assist his fellow officers in resolving some cases happening within the community outside of the school. Officer Baril stated, in his opinion, the relationship with the administration was very cooperative and that he expected communication and roles to be better defined as the position gained longevity. Mr. Baril said he attended as many extracurricular events as possible, whether on duty or not, to maintain a presence and support the students.

B. Truancy

Mr. McMahon advised the Board he was a member of the Local Interagency Team (LIT). He said the Committee applied for a truancy grant and created a “Truancy Task Force”, of which he was also a member. He said its eventual objective was to create a policy and work with neighboring communities to create a model for regional monitoring, tracking, and sharing of data. Mr. McMahon said the Task Force felt strongly that addressing behaviors, issues and interventions at the elementary schools would best serve (and deter) students at the high school level.

Mr. Phillips advised the Board according to the 07-08 data the SHS drop-out rate was 3.23% vs. the state average at 3.25%. He and Mr. McMahon also advised that the current format and data reports provided from the Student Management System was not very useful, and needed to be refined to be more useful for the Task Force. Mr. Phillips said the Technology Director was working on that matter.

The Board asked for continued information and an update on this issue at the January 18^th meeting.

C. Draft Warning for March 2, 2010

The Board agreed to move this item to Old Business, Item B.

D. First reading of Pupil Privacy Policy – Code F27

E. First Reading Educational Support System Policy – Code G7

Mr. Phillips advised the policies presented were required polices and models from the Vermont School Board Association. Mrs. Malone volunteered to research policies and language from other schools.

On a motion by Mrs. Malone seconded by Mr. Storz, the Board unanimously voted to postpone the First Reading of Pupil Privacy Policy – Code F27, and Education Support System Policy – Code G7, until a future date and pending additional information.

6. Old Business

A. FY 2011 Budget

Along with the Board Ms. Chamberlin reviewed the BTC FY ’11 (Draft #4 dated 12-17-09), which revealed a proposed budget of $2,870,937, an increase of $138,980 or 5.08%.

Ms. Chamberlin also reviewed a number of adjustments that impacted the final budget proposal, which included a revised tuition rate recommendation at $9,880, a slight increase from the current $9,100+ rate.

Mr. Phillips and the Board reviewed the SHS FY ’11 (Draft #4 dated 12-17-09), which revealed a proposed budget of $11,205,953, an increase of $847.17 or 0%.

Mr. Phillips described a number of adjustments that impacted the final budget proposal, with total reductions of $559,133 from the initial drafts presented to the Board.

The Board acknowledged that even with a level funded budget, due to a decrease in student enrollment, potential adjustments to the CLA, and the proposed 2.2¢ statewide property tax increase that the Barre City tax rate would increase by nearly .04¢, from .3616 to .3996. Dr. Bacon stated the Barre Town increase was very similar, however, agreed to provide the Barre Town estimated tax rate information to the Board, as timely as possible.

B. Draft Warning for March 2, 2010

The Board reviewed the proposed warning. They acknowledged there were no SRO expenses in the proposed budget, which meant the Board needed to decide whether to add a special article (as approved in FY ‘10) to support a continuation of the SRO position.

The Board discussed the proposed language for Article II, which sought permission to reserve up to $100K of the fund balance for the roof fund. The Board agreed to add clarifying language that permission to dedicate the funds to the roof fund would not increase local taxes.

Dr. Bacon advised the Board that the State’s audit of the Special Education funds revealed several discrepancies, which were under appealed. He explained, however, if the appeal were un-successful the SPED reimbursements received during FY ‘10 would be reduced, thereby potentially creating a current year deficit situation. He said the request to dedicate funds from the unreserved surplus could be much lower than the $100K, depending on the impact to the fund balance.

However, Dr. Bacon reminded the Board $108,000 from prior year surplus funds was reserved for tax stabilization.

7. Other Old Business (if needed)

None

8. Reports to the Board

A. Superintendent

Dr. Bacon provided an oral report advising negotiations with teachers and paras commenced with four follow-up meetings scheduled for January. He said custodian talks would also begin in January.

Dr. Bacon reiterated his comments on the SPED audit, and advised the FY ’09 regular spending audit would delayed until the SPED matters were resolved. Dr. Bacon could not answer questions regarding the volume of dollars involved in the SPED discrepancies, or when the appeal on matter would be heard by the Department of Education.

Dr. Bacon advised the Board he was in possession of a copy of the December 2009 State Board of Education report Opportunity To Learn, which would be made available to any Board member that wanted to view the report. He noted it contained recommendations to restructure, unitize, and/or consolidate school districts.

Ms. Chamberlin also advised another interesting and informative report titled Roots to Success, was also available on the DOE Website at http://education.vermont.gov/new/html/mainpubs.html

B. Curriculum Director

A written report was provided in the Board’s meeting packet.

C. Committee Reports

Finance Committee: meeting scheduled for January 18, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

Facility Committee: meeting scheduled for January 28, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

Curriculum Committee: meeting scheduled for January 7, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

Personnel Committee: May 2010, to be determined.

9. Future Agenda Items

Mr. Santorello asked members to contact him with other agenda items.

10. Executive Session

A. Personnel Matter §313(1)

At 8:12 p.m. on a motion by Mrs. Pope seconded by Dr. Pizzo, the Board unanimously voted to enter into executive session, pursuant to Title 1 § 313, to discuss a personnel matter.

Dr. Bacon, Ms. Chamberlin, and Mr. Phillips were invited into the executive session.

At 8:42 p.m. the Board exited executive session.

11. Adjournment

On a motion by Dr. Pizzo seconded by Mr. Storz, the Board unanimously voted to adjourn at 8:43p.m.

Next meeting Date:

Meetings are regularly scheduled for the first and third Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted. The first meeting is planned as a business meeting; the second meeting is conducted as a policy review and working/discussion meeting.

· The Board will hold a regular meeting on Monday, January 4, 2010.

· The Board will hold a policy review/working session meeting Monday, January 18, 2010.

Upcoming dates to remember:

· Phoenix Graduation - January 19, 2010 at 8:45 a.m. in the Wall Street Complex location.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna Holden