Maine School Administrative District No. 35
Board of Directors - Regular Meeting
Marshwood High School
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - 7:00 p.m.
CITIZENS ARE INVITED TO MAKE COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA USING THE CARDS LOCATED NEXT TO THE AGENDAS. A BOARD MEMBER WILL RESPOND TO ALL WRITTEN COMMENTS WITHIN A WEEK.
Present: Mrs. Martha Leathe, Dr. William Gilbert, Mr. Ralph Stevens, Mrs. Ellen Breed, Mrs. Susan Pullar, Mrs. Helene Cass, and Dr. Jeffrey Bearden
Also present: Mr. Paul Mehlhorn, Ms. Vicki Stewart, Mr. John Caverly, Mr. Jerry Burnell, Ms. Margaret Shepherd, Mr. Randy Stewart and interested members of public and press
7:00 Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Scheduled Audience to the Public: None
Report of the Secretary
1. Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of Wednesday, October 17, 2007, with changes.
Motion: Mr. Stevens Second: Mrs. Pullar Vote: 6-0
Report of the Chairperson:
1. Mrs. Cass reminded the audience that the Board decided to discuss elements of their goals at every meeting. She said that the Community Relations Committee met at 6:30 and decided that the Board Goals will be in the next newsletter. Dr. Bearden said that we have gathered information from past graduates about their educational experience in MSAD 35 and that he will get that information and share it with Board members (this relates to another Board goal).
Mrs. Cass also mentioned that the Policy Committee was reviewing policies regarding ethics, which also relates to a Board goal.
2. Meeting with Town Managers and Municipal Officers - Dr. Bearden and Mrs. Cass met with the town managers and municipal officers to discuss consolidation. They also discussed having a light at the entrance to Marshwood High School. Jeff Grossman and Terry Oliver told us that if we choose to do anything about the safety at the entrance of the high school that it must first have DOT approval and that anything we did would be at our own expense. They also discussed the new voting procedure and how the warrant articles will be presented. The issue of parking at the Marshwood Great Works School was explored. The town of South Berwick offered labor if we would pay the approximate $20,000 in material costs to create additional parking space. Mrs. Cass said that the town chairs would meet the last Friday in November and Dr. Bearden will meet with Jeff Grossman and Dan Blanchette.
3. Martha Leathe reported on the three panel discussions that she attended at the MSBA conference. She attended sessions on school consolidation, school finance, and student aspirations. She also attended a session on how a district could start a world language program. Mrs. Leathe reported that all resolutions were passed at the conference.
Report of the Superintendent:
1. Dr. Bearden referred Board members to the reports from each school regarding their efforts to recycle. This ties into Board Goal #3. Mrs. Leathe asked what the Board wanted to do with the information from the schools. Dr. Bearden said that he will research what other schools are doing in terms of a districtwide recycling plan.
2. Dr. Bearden has had several meetings with our district neighbors. He has summed up the proposed efficiencies in the handout that the Board received. Dr. Bearden discussed the meeting last night in Kittery with Mr. Rier from the Department of Education. Mr. Rier said that there is pending legislation to remove financial barriers to consolidation. This pending legislation would ensure that districts could merge and be cost neutral. Dr. Bearden said that he felt that the Board should give Kittery a clear answer as to whether or not we would be interested in merging with them if the legislation passed making it cost neutral. The Board discussed pros and cons of joining with Kittery and the conclusion was that we wish to stand alone.
3. Dr. Bearden introduced the presentation on test results by commending the administrators, teachers, students and their parents for the excellent achievement results that we have. All five principals did a presentation showing student achievement on the MEA's and on the Stanford tests.
4. Dr. Bearden said that the Career Tech Advisory Board requested that they be able to do a presentation at our December 19 Board meeting. At this meeting they will discuss the proposal for a new vocational school in York County.
We will have a joint meeting with MSAD 60 and Kittery on either December 11 or 12 to hear a presentation from Bruce Smith from Drummond, Woodsum and MacMahon on email.
Correspondence: Article “Beyond Repair”
Report of the Committees:
1. Report of the Finance and Facilities Committee -The committee met today. The Marshwood Middle School roof project is finished and it came in under budget. There will be a new tank for drinking water at MMS. We discussed bids for lighting. We discussed the potential savings of switching from oil to gas at the high school. The Finance Committee had a proposal from Jerry Burnell about purchasing new Everyday Math books now in order to save 50% of the cost that we would incur if we waited to order next year. The Finance Committee approved purchasing new Everyday Math books for MGWS and Eliot Elementary School.
2. Report of the Educational Policy Committee - None
3. Report of the Community Relations Committee - None
New Business:
1. Consideration and action to approve the Marshwood Music Boosters fundraiser (calendar raffle).
Motion: Dr. Gilbert Second: Mr. Stevens Vote: 6-0
2. Consideration and action to approve the Letter to the Commissioner requesting a waiver to not make up five days at Central School.
Motion: Mrs. Breed Second: Mrs. Pullar Vote: 6-0
3. Consideration and action to approve the following nomination:
One Year Only Gr. 2 - Central School, Heidi Frankow, BA0
Motion: Mrs. Breed Second: Mr. Stevens Vote: 6-0
Adjournment
Motion: Mrs. Breed Second Mr. Stevens Vote: 6-0
The Board adjourned at 9:12 pm to enter into a Board Workshop to discuss the Superintendent Evaluation Tool. The Board decided that due to the lateness of the hour, they would postpone the workshop.
Attest: True Record
Dr. Jeffrey B. Bearden
Secretary to the Board of Directors