Cavendish Town Elementary School Board Minutes December 12, 2006, 6:00 p.m. Present Board:  Mike Ceravole-Chair, Dr. Bont-Vice Chair, Mark Huntley, Jessie Goodman and Jim Ballantine          Administration:  Ed Brown – Superintendent, George Thomson – Principal   Public/Staff:  Duncan Love, Connie Kendall, Mike Ripley, Peggy Svec, and Leo Graham 1.      Call to Order:  Mike called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2.      Approval of Minutes of November 14, 2006:  Mark made a motion to approve the minutes of November 14, 2006 as presented.  All approved. 3.      Teacher Presentation – Kindergarten and Brain Gym – Connie Kendall:  Connie explained the Brain Gym activities which are breathing and stretching activities that she does with her Kindergarten class each day.  It helps the students focus.  Connie showed a video of her students performing Brain Gym activities.  Discussion ensued.  The board thanked Connie. 4.      Reports: a)      Superintendent:  Ed said Peggy is on the Principal search committee at Green Mountain.  The Commissioner will recommend school choice for grades K-12.  There are two proposals for early education which will decide if 3 year olds will be included.  Discussion ensued.  Peggy asked about the money following the student.  Ed said he thinks it is unlikely.  He is afraid it may make our schools unbalanced because we have some of the best elementary schools in the state. b)      Principal:  George passed out the budget summaries.  There are no surprises in the elementary budget.  The sprinkler and fire alarms have been inspected.  There was a leak in a pipe that has been fixed.  The crisis response team was scheduled to meet yesterday but the meeting was canceled.  They are revising the plan to include the fire and police departments.  George got quotes for an alarm system.  Countryside Lock and Alarm gave the best quote.  The system would cost $2,050.00 and it would be a monthly cost of $25.00.  Discussion ensued.  George said the money for this is not in the current budget.  He said they have some trust fund dollars.  He said the Bloominshed fund has about $2,000.00.  George said he will investigate this fund and see if it can be used for the alarm system.  He will put this on the next agenda.  George looked into the cost of the “smart boards” and they would cost about $1,800.00 each.  They will look into grants for these.  George said he spoke with someone from the Rotary and told them it would cost about 2-3 thousand dollars a year.  He said the person he spoke to he didn’t think belonged to the Rotary.  George spoke with the water company and said if they got coolers it would cost about $220.00 a month.  Mark said he will represent CTES at the rotary meeting.  Dr. Bont made a motion to allow George to approve the water coolers.  Jessie seconded. Four yes, one abstained. The town office computer crashed and they took the pc from the school office and brought it down to the town so Irene can do payroll. Activities:  They will have a week long work shop with “No Strings Marionettes”.  The American Legion Christmas party is Saturday here at the school.  The holiday concert is next Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.  Basketball is up and running. Discussion ensued.   c)      Board:  None d)      Committee Reports:  None   5.      Budget Update:  Ed suggests the finance committee meet before making any statements.  He suggested the committee set a time.  They will tentatively meet 10:00 Thursday morning. 6.      Superintendent Search Committee Update: George said they have two finalists and the committee is going to do site visits.  There is a press release that has come out regarding the finalists.  After the second interview the committee will make its recommendation to the board.   7.      Professional Courtesy Update/Policy/Negotiations:  Ed asked for this to be tabled until it is decided if this will go into the negotiated agreement or be made policy.  George said most of the schools he asked do not have it as policy anymore; it is in their negotiated agreements.  Jim said this should be done through the policy committee not the principal.  Discussion ensued.  Mike Ripley said the board should look into this further.  He is concerned about the cost.  Ed said he hoped that it would be run like a town tuition where extra costs would go back to the parents.  Mike Ripley said he thought that was discriminatory and illegal.  Ed said he is looking into it.  Discussion ensued. 8.      Request for Tuition Waiver:  Kata Welch the librarian at CTES is requesting the board waive the tuition to allow her son to come to CTES.  Jim said he thinks if you want your children to come to CTES the tuition should be paid or a house purchased in the town.  Ed said they need to look at this.  Mike Ripley said Kata is an employee and she shouldn’t be treated differently.  The board said the teachers whose children are coming to CTES are full time employees.  Discussion ensued.  Ed said he will get back to Kata.     9.      Other Business: None 10.     Executive Session (If Necessary):  None 11.     Adjournment:  Dr. Bont moved to adjourn.  Jessie seconded.  All approved.  Meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Virginia M. Walsh Mack Recording Secretary