Minutes of the Regular January School Board meeting

Cavendish Town Elementary School Board Minutes

January 10, 2006, 6:00 p.m.

Present

Board: Mike Ceravole-Chair, Dr. Bont, Mark Huntley, Jim Ballentine and Jesse Goodman

Administration: Ed Brown - Superintendent and George Thomson - Principal

Public/Staff: Paulette Martel, Peggy Svec, Duncan Love and Jane Pixley

1. Call to Order: Mike called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.

2. Approval of Minutes of December 13, 2005: Dr Bont moved to approve the minutes of December 13, 2005 as presented. Jim seconded. All approved

3. Reports:

a) Superintendent: Ed discussed Jane’s letter to the school board. Ed said he wanted to put the minutes of the executive board minutes in context regarding possibly moving bookkeeping duties to the central office. Ed said the only duties that would have been discussed with this board would be Irene’s bookkeeping duties. He assured Jane there was no intent to interfere with her duties. Discussion ensued. Tomorrow night is the WSWSU semi annual meeting at CAES. The board will be approving the WSWSU budget, the Opportunities in Learning Program budget, the Early Education Program and the EEE budgets. Ed asked that three board members attend. Legislature news: The Governor wants to lower the Homestead Exemption. It is currently $80,000.00 a household. The VT NEA is pushing for binding arbitration. Ed said it takes local control from teacher contracts. He urges people to contact their legislators regarding this. Dr. Bont asked how much of Irene’s time is spent doing the bookkeeping duties? George said it varies week to week. Discussion ensued. Ed said this was meant to free up Irene’s time to do other things. It was not meant to reduce her hours.

b) Principal: Amy Jones had a baby boy. The Holiday program was enjoyed. The friends of music committee are meeting on the 31^st at 4:30. The ski program got off without any problems. They are working on a mission statement and goals for the early education collaborative. Discussion ensued. George will be out next Tuesday and Wednesday. Jen Harper will be out January 21^st as part of her Teacher of the Year award. George asked the board to approve contributing $500.00 to the Arts in Education Festival Series from CTES’s trust funds. The combined interest in the trust funds is about $5,200.00. Dr. Bont moved to approve contributing $500.00 to the Festival Series. Jim seconded. All approved. George talked about what is going on in the classrooms. Robin Long is looking into writing a grant for an outdoor classroom. Dr. Bont discussed some details. He and Jesse said they are very enthusiastic about it. Reports are due for the town reports by the 20^th. George talked about how this budget is going to look different. Dr. Bont asked about a report on the test scores. George said he and Ed will talk to Linda Waite about when she will make a presentation.

c) Board: Dr. Bont said he and Jim spoke about having a system to address any problems that may occur in the building in a timely manner. Ed said they should have a list of areas that may need annual maintenance. Jim said maybe they should do a walk through a couple of times a year.

d) Committee Reports:

4. Photo Copier Lease: Ed said Meredith is ill and this will have to be postponed. He said Meredith has gotten bids for new copiers. Jim moved to table article four until the next meeting. Jesse seconded. All approved

5. Final Budget Approval: Ed said the budget is $1,506,305. George went over changes. Health care costs reduced. Mileage reimbursement was reduced. Supplies in maintenance reduced. The budget has a 2.8% increase. Discussion ensued. Mark made a motion to accept the 2006-2007 budget figure of $1,506,305. Dr. Bont seconded. Approved.

6. Approval of Annual Meeting Warnings: Ed read the warnings. Discussion ensued regarding the wording in the warnings. Ed said he will check to see if he can make the changes.

7. Oil Tank Discussion: Jim said he has no idea when or if the tank has been replaced. Discussion ensued. Ed said they need to get more information and discuss this at another meeting. Discussion ensued.

8. Public Discussion: Jane asked to use the Art room for voting. George said yes. Mark’s term is up in 2007.

9. New Business: Jesse said some parents have concerns with the “blanket permission form”. She said some information was omitted from some of the “Cavendish Corners”. Discussion ensued. She thinks there should be a better policy for informing parents of field trips. George said he will work on it. George passed out budget summaries.

10. Executive Session: None

11. Adjournment: Dr. Bont made a motion to adjourn. Jesse seconded. Meeting adjourned at 7:29 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Virginia M. Walsh Mack

Recording Secretary