Georgia Elementary & Middle School

Georgia, VT

August 19, 2003

 

These minutes are not approved until accepted by the School Directors at their next meeting. 

 

Present

Georgia Board Members:  Teresa Stebbins, Chris Mitiguy, Ron Hesson, & Doug Bergstrom 

Administrators:  Phil Higgins, Superintendent;  David Young, Elementary School Principal;  & Frank Calano, Middle School Principal

Transcriptionist:  Candy Granger

Others:  Richard & Casey Mathieu

 1.      Doug Bergstrom called the School Board Meeting to order at 6:05 pm.

 2.      Board Retreat (Separate Agenda):

The Board Retreat was cancelled.

 3.      Approve Minutes:  August 5, 2003

This item will be discussed later in the meeting.

 (skipped to)

 8.  New Business:

  1. Transportation – Mathieu Enterprises:

Richard and Casey Mathieu attended the School Board meeting to reflect on the past year’s transportation.  Some points of discussion were students misbehaving and still being allowed to ride on the buses and also updating bus cameras. 

 Ken Minck arrived at 6:18pm.

 Another item of discussion was a resident having issues when Richard Mathieu drives the bus.   Teresa Stebbins made a motion to have the Transportation Committee write a letter stating that no specific notification will be given to a resident regarding who will be driving the Mathieu Enterprises buses.  Doug Bergstrom seconded.  Motion passed, unanimously.

 The last item for discussion was that G & S Transportation provided transportation for the 8th Grade Field Trip and they only have $5 million of liability as opposed to Mathieu which has $10 million of liability, which makes Mathieu’s costs more expensive.   Teresa Stebbins will research the liability information and Mathieu will research what the savings would be if they reduced their liability insurance and passed the savings onto us.

 Richard & Casey Mathieu departed at 6:52pm.

 (returned to)

4.      Review Correspondence:

There was no correspondence.

 5.      Public Comments:

There were no public comments.

 6.      Reports – Administrative:

  1. Principals’ Reports:

Frank:

-          Monday night, Aug. 25th  students and parents can visit school from 6-7pm

-          Monday, Aug. 25th is Inservice in Fairfax

-          Tuesday, Aug. 26th is Inservice here at GEMS

-          Wednesday, Aug. 27th Grades 5 & 6 only attend

-          Thursday, Aug. 28th Grades 7 & 8 only attend

-          Friday, Aug. 29th Grades 5-8 all attend 

-          Building C is in good shape at this point

-          The hallway walls in Building C have been painted and look great

-          Tod Granger, the newly hired Maintenance Supervisor, took it upon himself to sand and repaint the remaining old lockers and they look wonderful

-          Doc.Chip will be here at the beginning of school

 

David:

-          Tomorrow is the last training session of the Everyday Math, we have had 2

-          Kindergarten orientation will be on Friday, Aug. 22nd

-          Transition between Tod Granger and Paul Waite is fantastic.  Tod is a real asset to the GEMS staff.  He brings great knowledge and excitement to the school.

-          A parent suggested having a bus survey done and David feels like it would be a good idea.   He wanted to let the Board know that this will be happening at the beginning of the year and again near the end of the year.

-          Special Education Assessment Training met today to reflect on the information learned back in June.

-          A new School sign is still being looked into

-          Teachers are in and out of the Building right now.  They are excited and are setting up their classrooms to focus on the children as mentioned in the recent responsive classroom sessions.

 

  1. Financial Report – Chris:

-          Financial information was complied and attached in the Board packet

 

  1. Superintendent’s Report – Phil:

-          Last week the Administrators met regarding School Reports

-          Also met regarding Teacher Leaders

-          Opening day on Monday in Fairfax regarding instruction in the classroom

-          Math Curriculum will be discussed

-          Math Curriculum Committee has met over the summer

-          Mentors have been meeting this summer to be ready for new Teachers coming in

-          Phil called the engineer regarding the Georgia development that would need to be accessed via Milton.  The Milton and Georgia Selectboards are meeting to decide if this would be a town road.

-          Phil will design a letter and return to the Board with it.

-          The retreat will be rescheduled for Tuesday, September 9th at 6pm.

 

  1. Board Reports:

There were no Board reports.

 

7.      Old Business:

A.     Restrictive Behavioral Intervention Policy–1st Reading:

This item will be discussed at our next meeting.

 

B.     Sprinkler System – Continued Discussion:

We are still waiting for the 3rd bid to come in, which should be any day now. David Young would like the School Board to grant permission for the Buildings and Grounds Committee to approve and forward the appropriate paperwork to Chris Boyd at the State indicating that we agree to get the sprinkler work done before the beginning of school in September of 2004. Ken Minck asked for a Buildings and Grounds Meeting at 4pm on August 26th.

Ron Hesson made a motion to have Buildings and Grounds committee to select the sprinkler bid and to write a letter to Chris Boyd.  Motion passed, unanimously.

 

C.     Building Proposal Update:

The Buildings and Grounds Committee will review.

 

D.     Administrative Contracts:

This item will be discussed under Executive Session.

 

8.      New Business:

  1. Fine Tuning of Staffing:

David Young shared information learned and recommended in the responsive classroom training and special education self assessment.  David would like to staff an “opportunity room” for students EE-Grade 4, who are having problems in the classroom situation.  The middle school has a planning room that works very well in these situations.  He explained that it is not a good situation to have these students housed in the office area.  David would like to hire an employee with Medicaid funds that has skills dealing with students with behavior issues, such as a paraeducator.  The Board does not need to approve this structure, but he would like them to support it.  Doug and Ron would both like the students’ parents to be called on the first offense.  Teresa Stebbins made a motion to support the administration and approves hiring a hourly employee to be staffed in the “opportunity room” to monitor the new structure and to return to the Board with information such as attendance, lengths of stay, and number of regular participants.  Chris Mitiguy seconded.  Motion passed, 3 to 2 with Ron Hesson and Doug Bergstrom opposing.      

 

  1. Hire Kindergarten – Discussion:

Phil Higgins brought forth Diane Reilly’s .30 FTE contract for Family Consumer Science.   Chris Mitiguy made a motion to hire Diane Reilly as the .30 FTE Family Consumer Science Teacher.  Teresa Stebbins seconded.  Motion passed, unanimously. 

 

Phil Higgins recommends hiring Joyce Alspach for the .50 Kindergarten position. David Young reviewed what he has done per direction of the Board, such as advertising for the anticipated position, interviewed candidates, and sent out letters informing the families of the Kindergarten restructuring.  Teresa Stebbins made a motion to hire Joyce Alspach as the .50 FTE Kindergarten Teacher.  Motion passed, 3 to 2 with Doug Bergstrom and Ron Hesson opposing.   

                

Phil Higgins informed the Board that the Chittenden Bank needed a motion from the Board to approve Laurie Broe as the School Treasurer.  Doug Bergstrom and Ron Hesson asked if Candy Granger or Chris Sumner could be the School Treasurer and avoid paying the Town any funds for School Treasurer.  Ken Minck stated that Doug could look into that option for next year, but that we’ve already committed to the Town to pay $4,000 for this fiscal year.  Teresa gave Doug information regarding changing the School Treasurer.  Teresa Stebbins made a motion to approve Laurie Broe as the School Treasurer. Motion passed, unanimously.

    

9.      Confirm Meeting Dates:

  1. Regular Board Meeting  – September 2, 2003 @ 6pm in GEMS Library
  2. Building & Grounds Meeting - August 26th, 2003 @ 4pm in GEMS Library
  3. Board Retreat  - September 9, 2003 @ 6pm in GEMS Library

 

Doug Bergstrom made a motion to approve the August 5, 2003 Regular School Board Meeting Minutes with 1 correction.  Motion passed, unanimously.

 

Ken Minck made a motion to enter Executive Session to discuss a Student Issue at 8:57pm.

 

10.  Executive Session – Student Issue:

 

Exited Executive Session at 9:10pm.

No action taken.

 

Entered Executive Session to discuss a Personnel Issue at 9:11pm.

 

Exited Executive Session at 9:45pm.

Action:  Doug Bergstrom moved to increase the salaries of the three Administrators 2.25% for the 2004-2005 school year.  The insurance co-pay increase is to mirror the increase of the professional staff.  All remaining benefits are to remain in place for the 2004-2005 contract year.

Second by Teresa Stebbins.

Unanimously approved.

 

Ken Minck adjourned the Meeting at 9:50pm.