Georgia Board of School Directors

January 6, 2009 at Georgia School Library

Regular Meeting at 6:00 PM

MINUTES

 

Board Present:    Jennifer Petrie, Carl Laroe, Irene Bonin, Casey Hager, Doug Bergstrom

Administrators:    Armando Vilaseca, Frank Calano, Flora Hurteau

Others:                   Chris Sumner, Bruce Chattman (Interim Superintendent)

 

I.          Call to Order                                                                                                     

The meeting was called to order at 6:08PM

 

II.                  Public Comment – A community member read the following letter regarding the single bus run with multiple questions and concerns:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


There was a question regarding the length of the school day.  Georgia has 6.5 hours of school time each day.  This is below most schools in the State.  This is due largely to the bus runs.  Georgia students go to school 179 days per school year.  There were questions regarding drop off and pick up for a single bus run such as cluster stops, after-school programs, etc.  There was a question regarding the episode of the child being left on the bus.  There have been changes put in place such as all buses being parked at the school, the bus driver posts a sign on the rear door and calls in to indicate that the bus has been checked at the end of the run.

 

III.        Consent Agenda

            ●    Minutes: 12/2/08 (Regular Meeting), 12/16/08 (Special Meeting); 11/18/08 & 10/7/08

                           ACTION:  Motion by Irene Bonin to approve the Consent Agenda, seconded by Casey Hager, approved unanimously.

 

IV.       New Business

            ●    Community Forum – No update

            ●    Approve FY08 Audited Financial Statements – There were some suggestions in a letter from the Auditors. 

                           ACTION:  Motion by Irene Bonin to approve the FY08 Audited Financial Statements, seconded by Carl Laroe, approved unanimously.

            ●    Paraprofessional Master Agreement – If a single bus run is decided on, there will need to be changes made to the next paraprofessional master agreement.

            ●    Schedule Meeting with BFA St. Albans School Board – Armando sent a letter to the BFA St. Albans School Board and they will get back to Armando with a couple of dates to chose from.

            ●    Single Bus Run – Chris distributed the three bids for the school buses.  These bids are for 9 runs, which is the single bus run.

                           ACTION: Motion by Casey Hager to go into Executive Session, seconded by Irene Bonin, approved unanimously.

                           ACTION: Motion by Casey Hager to exit Executive Session, seconded by Carl Laroe, approved unanimously.

                     ACTION: Motion by Jennifer Petrie to approve two personnel requests, and granted 1 day of unpaid leave to MJ Mitiguy during January 21-23, 2009 and 2 days of unpaid leave to Mary Chiappinelli to be used during the remainder of the school year, seconded by Casey Hager, approved unanimously.

                  Armando discussed different issues and suggestions regarding the single bus run.  Armando suggests increasing the school day by 15 minutes the first year and an additional 15 minutes the second year.  This will allow for 2.5 more hours face time between the students and teachers once it is implemented to its full extent.

            ●    Annual School Meeting Presentation – Last year’s presentation was distributed to the Board.  Armando is looking for suggestions for any changes to the presentation.

            ●    Approve FY10 Budget & Legal Warning – Chris distributed the most current version of the Budget and explained the changes since the last version.  The budget is currently at 3.82% or $12,024,519.00.  Chris distributed the estimated revenue. 

                           ACTION:  Motion by Casey Hager to approve the FY10 Budget at 3.82%, seconded by Irene Bonin. Motion passed with one opposed.

                  Doug read the proposed Legal Warning to the Board.

                           ACTION:  Motion by Irene Bonin to approve the Legal Warning, seconded by Jennifer Petrie, approved unanimously.

 

V.        Policy Review

            ●    Board Meetings & Agenda Preparation/Distribution Policy

                           ACTION:  Motion by Irene Bonin to approve Board Meetings & Agenda Preparation/Distribution Policy, seconded by Jennifer Petrie, approved unanimously.

            ●    Idling of Vehicles Policy

                           ACTION:  Motion by Jennifer Petrie to approve the Idling of Vehicles Policy, seconded by Carl Laroe, approved unanimously.

            ●    Hazing Policy

                           ACTION:  Motion by Jennifer Petrie to approve the Hazing Policy, seconded by Casey Hager, approved unanimously.

            ●    Full-Day Kindergarten Policy – 1st Reading

            ●    Equipment Policy – Review – Flora expressed her concerns regarding equipment.  Equipment is not loaned to the general public.

 

VI.       Other – Casey brought up the option to go first at Town Meeting Day.  Doug will contact them towards the end of the month.  Doug also talked with the Town regarding the costs of printing the town report.  The format for the report will be looked at more closely next year.  The School Budget will not be credited for the two weeks of lost interest from the tax payment.  There are systems in place now so that this will not happen again.

                           ACTION:  Motion by Jennifer Petrie to approve the tuition rate at $9,550.00, seconded by Carl Laroe, approved unanimously.

                           ACTION:  Motion by Jennifer Petrie to approve early retirement incentive requests made by Patricia Couture, Collette Hebert, and Beverly Mahoney, seconded by Casey Hager, approved unanimously.

                 

            VIII.     Upcoming Meetings

●    Regular Meeting:  February 3rd at 6PM at Georgia School Library