Maine School Administrative District No. 35

Board of Directors - Regular Meeting

Marshwood High School

Wednesday, October 3, 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.

7:00 Call to Order

Present: Mrs. Martha Leathe, Dr. William Gilbert, Mr. Ralph Stevens, Mrs. Ellen Breed, Mrs. Susan Pullar, Mrs. Helene Cass, Dr. Jeffrey Bearden, Ms. Gail Sullivan

Also Present: Mr. Randy Stewart, Ms. Vicki Stewart, Mr. John Caverly, Mr. Paul Mehlhorn, Mr. Jerry Burnell, Mr. Mike Zamarchi, and interested

members of public and press

Pledge of Allegiance

Scheduled Audience to the Public: None

Members of the public who wish to schedule an audience with the board should contact the Superintendent of Schools three days in advance of a meeting.

Report of the Secretary

1. Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of Wednesday, September 19, 2007, with changes.

Motion: Mrs. Pullar Second: Mrs. Breed Vote: 5-0 (Mrs. Cass abstained)

Report of the Chairperson:

1. Board Goals 2007-2008 - Mrs. Pullar said that she had started to collect written philosophies and would bring them to a meeting to share with others. Mrs. Cass distributed various letters that she had written on behalf of the Board (either congratulating or thanking various people). Mrs. Cass said that she and town officials will meet on Friday for their luncheon.

Report of the Superintendent:

1. Jump Start Reading Program - John Caverly explained that MMS joined with many others to establish a new Guinness Book World Record for reading by reading "The Story of Ferdinand". He said that after the students read the story they did a piece of writing. He thanked Tami Schoff for the fantastic job she did with this project. Some students wrote poetry in response to the story. Mr. Caverly had three students at the meeting, Julia Burke, 6th grade, Jesse Rice, 7th grade, and Toni Kaplan, 8th grade, who were there to share their poems with the Board and the audience.

2. Update on Central School - Dr. Bearden said that all students were back at Central School and that all but three classrooms are open. Dr. Bearden thanked the principal and the staff for all of their hard work during this difficult time. Dr. Bearden thought that one additional classroom would be open for use on Monday. He has contacted the Commissioner to find out about applying for a waiver for the days missed. Mr. Stewart will give the Board a financial analysis of what it would cost to have students make up that day.

3. Update on School Consolidation - Dr. Bearden said that there were two articles about school consolidation in the Board packets. He has not received any date from the Commissioner about a joint meeting with Kittery and York, although he has read that it will be before the end of October. Mrs. Breed pointed out (in reference to the articles) that we have already done the work and that the barriers are real, not perceived. Dr. Bearden said that the Commissioner is now admitting that there are financial barriers to some districts if they consolidate. Mr. Stevens said that the Skip Greenlaw Petition will be available for signing prior to the election.

4. November Meeting - Mrs. Cass polled the Board about changing the regular meeting date of November 21st because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Board members decided that they would like to meet on November 14th, so the two meetings in November will be the 7th and 14th.

5. DirecTV - Mike Zamarchi described the DirecTV opportunity. He explained that the service was free and that only educational channels were offered. Access to the channels would be available only to teachers and used as a resource for classroom work. The Board agreed to allow the high school to proceed.

6. Ms. Sullivan gave the Board a brief outline of the October 5th workshop. She explained that the morning would be spent on PLC meetings at each school. In the afternoon teachers would report to the high school for wellness activities, then they would proceed to one of four technology workshops. At 2 pm all teachers and educational technicians will meet in their districtwide PLC's to discuss progress on attainment of achievement goals.

Correspondence:

Letter from Marine Corps League - Dr. Bearden said he was in receipt of a letter from the Marine Corps League, Seacoast Detachment #394, thanking the district for allowing teachers and students to greet homecoming soldiers at Pease.

Report of the Committees:

1. Report of the Finance and Facilities Committee - None

2. Report of the Educational Policy Committee - the Committee met last week and some policies were disseminated, but no decisions were made because Dr. Bearden had to leave early to deal with the Central School issue.

3. Report of the Community Relations Committee - Committee members are presently working on the next edition of the Newsline.

New Business:

1. Consideration and action to approve the following nominations:

Margaret Robinson-Henry, Nurse, EES, Step Elem/3, $38,557.00

Susan Goettlich, Grant Funded Reading Coach, MGWS, CAGS 16, $57,802

Motion: Mrs. Breed Second: Mrs. Pullar Vote: 6-0

2. Consideration and action to approve Marshwood Great Works School New Opportunity Points.

Motion: Dr. Gilbert Second: Mrs. Pullar Vote: 6-0

3. Consideration and action to approve the Board of Directors’ Resolution of Mandated School District Consolidation.

Motion: Mrs. Pullar Second: Mrs. Breed Vote: 6-0

Mrs. Stewart wanted to let the Board know that SAD #60's PTO had sent $1,000 to Central School to buy books because of the fire. The Board decided to send a thank you note to them.

Sue Pullar asked that we have a workshop on email sometime in the future.

Mr. Burnell said that the NEASC visit went very well. He shared a story about one of the team members meeting the students and asking them the question, "What do you do about bullies?" The students explained to her that there were no bullies at the school. Jerry thanked the staff for the wonderful job they did before and during the visit.

Vicki Stewart wanted to thank everyone in the district for how they pulled together with the passing of Annette Whicher. Guidance counselors from other schools went over to Central to help with grief counseling. Justin Roy, from MMS, made buttons with Annette's picture on it for teachers to wear during the "Light the Night" walk last Saturday.

Adjournment

Motion: Dr. Gilbert Second: Mr. Stevens Vote: 6-0

The Board adjourned at 7:53 pm.

Attest: True Record

Dr. Jeffrey B. Bearden

Secretary to the Board of Directors