HOPKINTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
School Administrative Unit #66
204 Maple Street
Contoocook, NH 03229
Hopkinton School Board
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I.
Chair David
Luneau called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m., the Pledge of Allegiance was
led by Mr. Luneau. Present: Chair
David Luneau, Co-Chair Kim Fuller, School Board member Liz Durant,
Superintendent Dr. Brian Blake, Director of Student Services Dr. Val Aubry, Director
of Technology Matt Stone, Administrative Assistant Tara Graham, Principals
Steve Chamberlin, Michael Bessette, and Bill Carozza, and Student
Representative Emily Sinclair.
II.
Additions/Deletions
to the agenda:
A.
Dr. Blake
added a schedule B position change to X. – Action Items (A-6).
B.
Dr. Blake
added the maternity leave of April Lakevicius to X. – Action Items (A-7).
C.
Dr. Blake
added the resignation of Diane Bennett to X. – Action Items (A-8).
III.
Correspondence
A.
Dr. Blake
received notice from NH Partners in Education that all three schools have
received the Blue Ribbon Award for Volunteerism.
B.
Dr. Blake has
also been in contact with Kevin Foley from Teamsters 633 regarding the
negotiations. Mr. Foley said he
anticipates completion of the process in two meetings.
IV.
Approval of
Minutes
A.
Motion to
approve the 9/16/08 minutes made by Ms. Durant, seconded by Ms. Fuller, motion
passes, one abstaining (Ms. Fuller, as she was not at the previous meeting),
minutes approved.
V.
Public
Comments
A.
None at this
time.
VI.
Staff
Reports/Presentations
A.
Mr. Carozza,
Harold Martin School:
á
Met with Carl
Olsen and Mary-Beth Gelineau to discuss the idea of a fee-based, after school,
foreign language program.
á
Mr. Luneau
asked if Mr. Carozza has brought the idea to the Parent Advisory Council or the
PTA?
á
Mr. Carozza
replied it was brought up in both forums and the PTA President will be
attending planning meetings.
á
This project
will be coupled with the Maple Street School, more information to come.
B.
Dr. Blake for
Mr. Bessette, Maple Street School:
á
Mr. Luneau
asked if there were any questions.
á
Ms. Durant
recommended reinvigorating the Expanding Horizons program, she attended the
staff meeting today at MSS and asked for Teacher volunteers – wanting
Teachers to feel involved and have the program tie into what they are doing in
the classrooms (an extension of the curriculum).
á
Mr. Luneau
thought this was a great idea as well getting the math club up and running
– mathclub.com has some great ideas.
C.
Mr.
Chamberlin, Hopkinton Middle/High School:
á
Mr.
Chamberlin thanked Ms. Fuller for acting as Co-Grand Marshall for this yearsŐ
Homecoming.
á
Mr.
Chamberlin showed an example of what the new 3D printer can do – Mr. Renauld acquired this through a
grant for the engineering classes.
á
The Cardigan
Mountain trip was a great success.
á
Mr. Luneau
stated the 18 females now involved in Project Lead the Way is a record in the
engineering program and something to be proud of.
á
Ms. Fuller
asked if the percentage of students heading to 2 or 4 year colleges is lower
than previous years? Mr.
Chamberlin responded that it is a rolling average over 4 or 5 years and is
about the same.
á
Enrollment is
up! Mr. Luneau asked if there were
any proactive measures that could be taken to bring in tuition students. Mr. Chamberlin said that this was
something that could be explored.
á
Mr.
Chamberlin expressed that he learned a lot from the 2-year report, reflective
of the April 2006 interviews with staff, parents and students. We will be responding to the
recommendations and forming sub-committees. The next round should foster more teacher leadership.
D.
SuperintendentŐs
Report:
á
Mark Tucker
from the National Center on Education and the Economy, had contacted Dr. Blake
re: NH and possibly Hopkinton being part of a pilot study, we are waiting to
here, but expect to hear good news soon.
á
Ms. Durant
asked Dr. Blake to get a status report on the lice situation.
E.
Director of
TechnologyŐs Report:
á
Mr. Stone
reviewed that it had been a very busy summer and a very frantic first few
weeks, they will now be trying to transition from tech support to integration
and curriculum support.
á
Ms. Durant
commented on how wonderful Karen EzenŐs digital portfolio presentation was at
the MSS staff meeting.
VII.
Comments From
The Hopkinton School Board
A.
Congratulations
to all three schools for their blue ribbon awards!
B.
Ms. Fuller
commended everyone involved for SaturdayŐs Homecoming activities. Ms. Durant seconded.
C.
Mr. Luneau
asked that the Treasurer be in attendance for the next meeting so we can
understand what/if any risk exposure we have in funds. Dr. Blake will look into this and find
out where we are with the Hopkinton Schools Foundation.
VIII.
Items For
Board Discussion
A.
Graduation
Requirement Policy:
á
Dr. Blake
noted that the response was favorable and called for any additional comments.
á
One
correction: The Ň2nd yearÓ on the
world language requirement should read Ň2nd levelÓ.
á
Mr.
Chamberlin confirmed that at this point no one can Ňtest outÓ but it may be an
option in the future with competencies being developed. Also, credits are available from NEC
and NHTI that apply to not only the High School credits but also college
credit.
B.
Facilites
Usage Charges:
á
In light of
energy concerns this is being looked at.
Currently there are no fees for non-profit groups.
á
Mr. Luneau
asked for a way to quantify what is being used (energy, custodial time) –
a ballpark – Dr. Blake will look into this as well as what other
districts are doing and how to also quantify wear and tear on the buildings
(gyms in particular).
C.
Unified Arts
Department Chair Position:
á
Dr. Blake
explained that this is a budgeted position – it is actually just renaming
the Computer Departmet Chair position.
The stipend is $2940.00.
Dr. Blake called for any questions, there were none.
IX.
Public
Comments
A.
Merle
Dustin: Expressed concern over
Columbia Hall closing and where the Recreation department would now be holding
their activities. Ms. Durant
responded that she believes they have already found places for most, if not all
of them.
X.
Action Items
A.
Personnel
á
Mr. Luneau
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board accept the maternity leave of
Jaclyn King. Ms. Durant motioned, Ms. Fuller seconded, all in favor, motion
passes.
á
Mr. Luneau
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board accept the nomination of
Philip Ainsworth as Network Administrator for the 2008-2009 school year. Ms.
Fuller motioned, Ms. Durant seconded, all in favor, motion passes. Mr. Ainsworth starts on October 16th.
á
Mr. Luneau
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board accept the nomination of Nini
Allen for Drama, Spring Production, for the 2008-2009 school year. Ms. Fuller
motioned, Ms. Durant seconded, all in favor, motion passes. Stipend is $1743.00.
á
Mr. Luneau
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board accept the nomination of Trish
Underwood as Newspaper Advisor for the 2008-2009 school year. Ms. Fuller motioned,
Ms. Durant seconded, all in favor, motion passes. Stipend is $1504.00.
á
Mr. Luneau
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board accept the nomination of Will
Renauld as Unified Arts Department Chair for the 2008-2009 school year. Ms.
Fuller motioned, Ms. Durant seconded, all in favor, motion passes. Stipend is
$2940.00.
á
Dr. Blake
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board accept the maternity leave of
April Lakevicius. Ms. Durant motioned, Ms. Fuller seconded, all in favor,
motion passes.
á
Dr. Blake
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board accept the resignation of
Diane Bennett. Ms. Durant motioned, Ms. Fuller seconded, all in favor, motion
passes.
B.
Graduation
Requirement Policy
á
Dr. Blake
offered a motion that the Hopkinton School Board adopt the policy as presented
with one edit (2nd level, not year – discussed earlier), Ms.
Fuller motioned, Ms. Durant seconded, all in favor, motion passes.
C.
Budget
Adjustments
á
Dr. Blake
presented budget adjustment 2009-06, in the amount of $8,300 to redistribute
non-sufficient funds from offsite OT and speech services that were needed. As
well as a laptop for the new Psychologist. Ms. Fuller motioned, Ms. Durant
seconded, all in favor, motion passes.
XI.
Ms. Fuller
moved at 7:56 p.m. and Ms. Durant seconded that the Board enter non-public
session as provided in (RSA 91-A:3, II (a)(c)) to discuss negotiations. Motion passed on a roll call vote- Ms.
Durant, Ms. Fuller, and Mr. Luneau, (all) in favor.
XIII.
Following a
motion by Mr. Luneau, seconded by Ms. Durant, roll call vote- all in favor, the
board came out of non-public session at 8:58 p.m.
XIV.
Motion to
adjourn by Ms. Fuller, seconded by Ms. Durant, all in favor.
Adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tara D. Graham
Hopkinton School Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Maple Street School, Hopkinton NH
Non-public minutes
XII. Non-Public
Session (RSA 91-A:3, II (a)(c)).
During the non-public session, the Board discussed negotiations.
Ms. Fuller motioned to come out of Non-Public Session. Second offered by Ms. Durant. Roll call, all in favor. Board returned to Public Session at
8:58 p.m.
HOPKINTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
School Administrative Unit #66
204 Maple Street
Contoocook, NH 03229
Hopkinton School Board
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
XII.
Chair David
Luneau called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m., the Pledge of Allegiance was
led by Mr. Luneau. Present: Chair
David Luneau, Co-Chair Kim Fuller, School Board members Larry Donahue, Liz
Durant and Peter Yunich, Superintendent Dr. Brian Blake, Business Administrator
Michelle Clark and Administrative Assistant Tara Graham.
XIII.
Additions/Deletions
to the agenda:
A.
Dr. Blake
added the nomination of Tommi Salsman (IA at Harold Martin School) to X.
– Action Items (A-2).
B.
Dr. Blake
added the recommendation of paternity leave for Scott Zipke to X. –
Action Items (A-3).
C.
Dr. Blake
deleted from VIII. – Items for Board Discussion, #4 – TreasurerŐs
Report, this will be occur at the next Board Meeting.
XIV.
Correspondence
A.
Dr. Blake
received notice of the NSBA National Conference in April.
B.
Dr. Blake
handed out books to each Board member – ŇBecoming A Better Board MemberÓ.
C.
Dr. Blake
received the preliminary report from the Jordan Institute, they will be
conducting an additional more in-depth energy audit, which Dr. Blake will then
review and bring the recommendations to the Board.
XV.
Approval of
Minutes
A.
Motion to
approve the 10/7/08 minutes made by Ms. Durant, seconded by Ms. Fuller, motion
passes, 3 votes in favor, 2 abstaining (due to absences for the meeting in
reference), minutes approved with minor typographical changes.
XVI.
Public
Comments
A.
Merle
Dustin: Noted to make the
procedure clear that comments are just that, comments, not a Q&A
session.
B.
Lucy
Hodder: Ms. Hodder came to the
meeting along with fellow parent Dr. Ophelia Chang to talk about SEEK. As representatives of SEEK, they wanted
to express the goals of SEEK, those goals being to communicate and support the
School Board and the schools without tapping resources that are unavailable.
They would like to improve volunteer coordination, communication, and possibly
have a future part in assisting with curriculum development. Their goal is for parents to understand
what their child is learning, how to better support their childrenŐs educators
and to better communicate on curriculum needs. Dr. Blake will contact be in contact with the organization,
working on ways to involve and use this resource.
XVII.
Staff
Reports/Presentations
A.
Monthly
Financial Report (Michelle Clark):
á Revenue is as anticipated.
á There are no unplanned expenditures.
á There is a $47,000.00 food service
deficit. Mr. Donahue asked if
there was a sort of Best Practices for food service? Ms. Clark will look into this as well as visit some
comparable local schools to see what they are doing, including Bow –
which is comparable in size and fairing fairly well in the area for a single
community school. This information
will be available for this yearŐs budgeting.
á The general fund balance is $271,000.00.
XVIII.
Comments
From The Hopkinton School Board
A.
Dr. Blake
and Mr. Donahue met regarding H2O.
There is a framework and an expectation to have a fuller picture before
the next Board meeting (and after a committee meeting next week).
B.
Ms. Durant
commended the World Language celebration last week, commenting how wonderful it
was to recognize the kids that have advanced in this area.
C.
Mr. Luneau
noted that Project Lead the Way had a committee meeting today which he
attended, he was very impressed with the tremendous work they are doing there.
XIX.
Items For
Board Discussion
A.
Annual
Meeting Dates:
á November 18th – initial
review at the building levels.
á December 16th – approval of budget.
á January 7th – presentation of budget
to the Budget Committee.
á February 5th – Budget Committee
hearing on the budget.
B.
Budget
Process:
á Each department has to present their
budget to the building administrator, who then brings the budgets to review
with Dr. Blake and Ms. Clark.
á Dr. Blake will make inital cuts, meet and
review with the Leadership Team and then present to the Board.
á There is a hope this year to seriously cut
back on anything that is uneeded or has not been spent over the past couple of
years.
á There is an anticipation of some staff
reductions.
á Cuts should be generously considered
before going to the School Board.
á Also needs to be kept sustainable –
Ňbest bang for our buckÓ.
C.
Tutition
Rates:
á Typically, tution rates are based upon a
schoolŐs previous yearŐs DOE25 – ours is based upon the approved
budget. Mr. Luneau asked for some
comparison numbers, which Dr. Blake had:
¤ Goffstown: $9902.00
¤ Concord: $9149.00
¤ Merrimack Valley: $9685.00
¤ John Stark: $10,770.00
These are numbers for the High School
level, ours is $14,995.16.
XX.
Public
Comments
A.
Merle
Dustin: Expressed concern over
writing capabilities today, wondering if TV, video games, etc. were a factor.
XXI.
Action Items
A.
Personnel
á Mr. Luneau offered a motion that the
Hopkinton School Board accept the nomination of Rena Connor, IA at HMHS. Mr.
Donahue motioned, Ms. Fuller seconded, vote: all in favor, motion passes
– this is a budget position with a slight increase in the rate.
á Mr. Luneau offered a motion that the
Hopkinton School Board accept the nomination of Tommi Salsman, IA at HMS. Mr.
Donahue motioned, Ms. Fuller seconded, vote: all in favor, motion passes
– this is a new student specific position in the preschool program.
á Mr. Luneau offered a motion that the
Hopkinton School Board accept the paternity leave of Scott Zipke, after the
birth of his child. Mr. Donahue motioned, Ms. Fuller seconded, vote: all in
favor, motion passes – there will be a sub, although Mr. Zipke will still
teach his AP stats classes until after the AP exams.
XXII.
Ms. Fuller
moved at 7:58 p.m. and Ms. Durant seconded that the Board enter non-public
session as provided in (RSA 91-A:3, II (a)(c)) to discuss negotiations. Motion passed on a roll call vote- Mr.
Donahue, Ms. Durant, Ms. Fuller, Mr. Luneau and Mr. Yunich, (all) in favor.
XV.
Following a
motion by Ms. Fuller, seconded by Mr. Donahue, the board voted to seal the
minutes of the non-public session for one year. Motion passed on a roll call vote- Mr. Donahue, Ms. Durant,
Ms. Fuller, Mr. Luneau and Mr. Yunich, (all) in favor.
XVI.
Motion to
adjourn by Ms. Fuller, seconded by Mr. Donahue. Motion passed on a roll call vote- Mr. Donahue, Ms. Durant,
Ms. Fuller, Mr. Luneau and Mr. Yunich, (all) in favor.
Adjourned at 8:37 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tara D. Graham
Hopkinton School Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Maple Street School, Hopkinton NH
Non-public minutes
XII. Non-Public
Session (RSA 91-A:3, II (a)(c)).
During the non-public session, the Board discussed negotiations.
Mr. Yunich motioned to come out of Non-Public Session. Second offered by Mr. Donahue. Roll call, all in favor. Board returned to Public Session at
8:35 p.m.