Kensington School Board Minutes

December 11, 2003

 

The Kensington School Board met on Thursday, December 11, 2003. In attendance were: Mrs. Cheryl McDonough, School Board Chairperson; Mrs. Sue Belanger, Mrs. Dana Donovan, School Board members; Mr. Paul Flynn, Associate Superintendent of Schools; Barbara Switzer, Principal.

 

Mrs. McDonough called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

 

The monthly manifests were signed and the financial report was reviewed.

 

Mrs. Belanger moved to approve the minutes of the November 13th School Board meeting. Mrs. McDonough seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.

 

Mr. Scofield was present and inquired about the use of the multipurpose room for girls softball. Mrs. McDonough stated that the board is in the process of developing a building use form for the use of the room. Mr. Flynn will check with other SAU schools and bring back a Building Use Form for the boards approval. Insurance issues will be addressed as well as issues associated with non-profit organizations vs. profit making organizations using the space. Mrs. Belanger stated that using the multipurpose room for baseball/softball could be an issue. Mr. Scofield assured Mrs. Belanger that only whiffle balls would be used and the focus of the practices would be on skills.

 

Mrs. Mower noted that she has received some color samples for the lettering on the outside of the building. Mrs. Switzer will make the determination as to its location and color in next few weeks.

 

Mrs. Switzer gave her report as follows:

·         Mrs. Switzer reported that Friends and Family Day was most enjoyable for staff, visitors, and students. Mrs. Switzer thanked the Kensington Police Department for their help in traffic control. Visitors enjoyed seeing the new addition.

·         December 3rd was a scheduled early release. Mrs. Switzer stated that some staff completed the Intel Course and the remaining staff gathered to discuss Every Day Math. Mrs. Switzer noted that it was a positive experience for all.

·         Grades 3 and 5 visited the Science Education Center on December 10th and found the interactive experience very exciting.

·         The Holiday Concert is scheduled for December 17th. Mrs. Switzer thanked the PTO for their recent purchase of risers for the multipurpose room.

·         Rob Rossel, Artist in Residence, will be at school on January 7th to meet with all the classes regarding the tile mural and will be at KES on January 26-28  to work with students. Family Clay Night is scheduled for January 30th. After-school Enrichment classes begin at the end of January and Spanish and French will be offered.

·         Barbara Greenwood and Susan Hill are working with staff relative to the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The focus for all activities will be Diversity.

·         Mrs. Switzer met with Fire Chief Simpson to review the new evacuation route for staff and students. Chief Simpson asked that no three-dimensional art projects be placed on the walls or bulletin boards and that all classroom doors remain closed.

·         Mrs. Switzer gave the board a draft of the new guidelines for viewing movies, videos, and DVD’s. Mrs. Switzer had contacted several SAU schools to check their guidelines and determined that all schools contacted required that movies be curriculum based. Mrs. Donovan moved to adopt the guidelines after a grammatical revision. Mrs. Belanger seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved adopting the new guidelines.

 

Mr. Flynn gave his report as follows:

·         The Joint Board will meet on December 15th to finalize the SAU budget as well as the 2004-2005 School Year Calendar.

·         Tom Fosher is a finalist in the Principal of the Year award.

·         The Cooperative Middle School has scheduled a Visioning Summit for February 4th.

·         Mr. Flynn stated that teacher certification issues might be problematic at the COOP and High School levels because of requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act.

·         State Wetland permits have been received for the new High School Project.

·         Mr. Flynn reported that the SAU is investigating the piloting of a Charter School for 8th, 9th, and 10th, grade level students. The Charter School will feature alternative project-based curriculum.

·         Mr. Flynn presented the board with an overview of some of the punchlist items left relative to the new addition.

1.      Lack of hot water in the new addition

2.      Lack of heat in parts of the original school

3.      Phones not working properly

4.      Foul odor in the new addition

5.      Air handler in multipurpose room

Mr. Flynn stated that an Air Quality Technician would be at school on Monday December 15th to check the air quality. Brookstone Builders is in the process of addressing the aforementioned items.

 

Mr. Flynn noted that the town is plowing the new parking lot.

 

Mr. Flynn stated that the budget development workshops have taken place and noted that an additional teacher will be needed for the 2004-2005 school year. Mr. Flynn anticipates a 7% increase in the operating budget and attributes the increase to Special Education costs, Health Insurance, utility increases, and the additional teacher.

 

The use of the new addition was discussed and it was determined that school sponsored activities will take priority, then town sponsored activities such as the Board of Selectmen, the Recreation Dept., KYAA etc. KES will need to see a Certificate of insurance for non-profit as well as profit making groups using the building. Mr. Flynn will also examine a possible fee schedule for profit making groups. The Building Use Form will be reviewed at the January Board Meeting.

 

The Public Hearing on the budget will be held on January 15th at 7:00 PM followed by the regular monthly School Board Meeting.

 

Mrs. Donovan moved to adopt the following 17 policies presented at the November School Board meeting as the second reading: BEC, CA, DFA, EB, EBBC, EEAE, EGA, EGAH, EHB, EHBA, GBAA, GBAA-R, IHAK, IHBA, IJ, IKB, JICI. Mrs. Belanger seconded the motion. A vote was taken and was in the affirmative. Mrs. Donovan moved to adopt the following policies as a First Reading: BA, BAAA, BB, BBA, BBAA, BBA-R, BBBC, BCA, BCA-R, BCB, BDA, BDB, BEA, BEDB, BEDH, BFE, BG, BGA, BGC, BGE, BHDA, BHDB. Mrs. Belanger seconded the motion. A vote was taken and was in the affirmative.

 

Current enrollment figures were given to the board.

 

The board will discuss the dedication of the new addition over the next few months.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Margaret Ruggeri, School Board Secretary