Georgia Board of School Directors

March 18, 2008 at Georgia School Library

Regular Meeting at 6:00 PM

MINUTES

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

Administrators: Flora Hurteau, Frank Calano, Armando Vilaseca

Others: Early Education Team

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:06 PM

II. Board Re-Organization –

ACTION: Casey Hager nominated Doug Bergstrom for Chair, seconded by

Jennifer Petrie, approved unanimously.

ACTION: Casey Hager nominated Jennifer Petrie for Clerk, seconded by Irene

Bonin, approved unanimously.

The following committees were formed:

FWSU Board: Doug Bergstrom, Casey Hager and Irene Bonin

Nutrition and Technology Committee: Casey Hager

Transportation Committee: Carol Laroe and Jennifer Petrie

Buildings and Grounds Committee: Carl Laroe and Jennifer Petrie

Policy Committee: Irene Bonin and Casey Hager

Community Relations Committee: Irene Bonin

Community Liaison Committee: Doug Bergstrom

III. Town Meeting Recap – It was stated that there were approximately the same number of “no” votes, but the number of “yes” votes was up. There were questions that the Board addressed at the meeting. One being Australian vote vs floor vote. Armando feels that doing so would be moving in the wrong direction. Flora stated that in the fall is when we could benefit most from the public input regarding the budget. She thought maybe the Community Relations Committee could play a role in notifying the public.

There was a discussion about combining the town and school public meetings. Doug stated that creating five-year goals would be beneficial for the Board.

IV. Public Comment – None.

V. Consent Agenda

● Minutes

ACTION: Motion by Jennifer Petrie to approve the Minutes dated February 19,

2008 with a minor change, seconded by Casey Hager, approved unanimously.

VI. New Business

● Preschool Presentation – The Early Education team; Rachel Fightlin, JoAnn Harvey, Heather Grimm, Meghan Demingware, Kristine Jenkins and Pat Chamberlain; presented a presentation regarding the preschool program at GEMS. This presentation is also given to parents. The presentation included pictures from the program and it detailed how the program works to develop reading and writing skills through play, listening and vocabulary. There was a second presentation regarding math and science and the different ways these are presented to the children.

Joanne Harvey presented an overview of the stats of the program. The program has been in operation for 15 years and has grown over that time. GEMS is an

accredited program. The enrollment this year is the largest ever at 87 students.

There are 7 sessions. There are 16 students on IEPs. There are a handful of

students that receive services but do not attend the program. There are 12 staff

members in the program, one of which is full time. There is a summer program that usually runs for approximately four weeks and is geared toward students on IEPs. Every spring there is a screening for the children who are interested in the program. Rachel handed out the evaluation form that they use to evaluate the children. The staff gathers the information and discusses placement of the children. There are Success by Six playgroups to introduce them to the school and introduce them to services as needed. There is an infant playgroup time for moms, infants and siblings. Every year there is a parent survey and the comments have been positive.

The preschool team communicates with the kindergarten teachers and how the

students are transitioning into kindergarten. There is legislation known as Act 62

which will provide funding to early education services.

● Review 2008-2009 School Calendar – Armando distributed the first draft of the

2008-2009 school calendar. There was discussion regarding aligning the calendar with the Essex Technical Center region. Included in the draft, school will be closed on November 4th, national Election Day. Monday, March 2nd will be an inservice day. Currently there is no teacher inservice day during the second half of the year. The first Wednesday prior to a Labor Day will be the first day of school. Armando will include a copy of the law with the next draft.

VII. Policy Review

● Drug, Alcohol & Substance Abuse Policy

ACTION: Motion by Irene Bonin to approve the Drug, Alcohol & Substance

Abuse Policy, seconded by Jennifer Petrie, approved unanimously.

● Copyright Policy – 1st Reading – This will be brought back to the Policy Committee.

This policy has not been reviewed since 1988.

VIII. Other – Armando distributed a self-assessment packet for the Board. Armando showed

the Board a gift to present to Ron King. He would like to invite Ron to the next meeting.

Armando distributed a financial summary.

IX. Executive Session (Personnel)

The board entered executive session (personnel) at 9:00pm, exited at 9:05pm.

ACTION: Motion by Irene Bonin to grant Kristine Jenkins a one-year leave of

absence for 0.4% of her Speech Language Pathologist position for the 2008-09

school year. Motion seconded by Jennifer Petrie, approved unanimously.

X. Upcoming Meetings

A. FWSU Quarterly Meeting: March 26th at 7:00 PM at Fairfax Community Library

B. Regular Meeting: April 1st, at 6:00 PM at Georgia School Library