Maine School Administrative District No. 35
Board of Directors - Regular Meeting
Marshwood High School
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 - 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. Helene Cass, Mrs. Ellen Breed, Mrs. Susan Pullar, Mrs. Martha Leathe, Mr. Ralph Stevens, Dr. William Gilbert, Dr. Jeffrey Bearden and Ms. Gail Sullivan
Also present: Mr. Jerry Burnell, Mr. Randy Stewart, Mrs. Vicki Stewart, Mr. Paul Mehlhorn, Mr. Tony Bourbon, Mr. Rich Buzzell, and interested members of the 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.
PUBLIC INPUT - 2008-09 BUDGET - None
Report of the Secretary
1. Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of Wednesday, February 27, 2008.
Motion: Mrs. Breed Second: Mrs. Pullar Vote: 5-0 (Dr. Gilbert abstained)
Report of the Chairperson:
1. Luncheon with Town Officials: Mrs. Cass said that she had the luncheon with town officials last Friday. The main topic of discussion was the budget. Town officials were pleased with the proposed 4.1% increase.
2. Board Goals 2007-2008 – Mrs. Cass said that from now on she would touch on the Board goals at every meeting.
· Goal #1 is being addressed tonight by the discussion of a future workshop.
· Energy conservation is addressed in the budget.
· Ethical behavior is addressed in policy.
· Newsline survey - no responses yet.
· Consolidation of services - ongoing
Report of the Superintendent:
1. Dr. Bearden gave a warm welcome to the student athletes, their parents and guests. He said that Marshwood had an outstanding winter season. He then turned the meeting over to Athletic Administrator Rich Buzzell. Rich asked the Cheering team captains to step forward.
Cheering - The Cheering team captains introduced themselves and the team. The girls who spoke from the cheering team were: Kara Metcalf, Sammi Sargent, Kaitlyn Schneider & Mikaela Hodge. The other team members in attendance were: Kayla Estes, Kayla Patterson, Erin Zickefoose, Simone Lewis, Candice Metcalf, Shelby Rall, Thea Shanholtz, Avrie Russell, Jen Baker, Jen Leach, Lateaka Brewster, Connor Janes, Maddie Smith, Libby Pallazetti, Taylor Matthews, Taylor Berube, Erica Sedler, Shelby Minihane, and Becky Bolstridge. Captains said they lead by example and they look at themselves as servant leaders. They were state runners up. They thanked Coach Rowan and said that one of the reasons that they were academically successful was that Coach Rowan required them to attend mandatory study halls and wanted to see biweekly progress reports.
Wrestling - Jimmy Demetracopoulos, captain of the Wrestling team, thanked the Board for inviting the team. He said that they had a lot of injuries during the season, but they overcame them. He acknowledged that Matty Rix had his 100th win. He thanked Coach Matt Rix for everything he’s done for the team. He noted that John Hussey, who has never lost a match, was absent because he was training for a New England tournament. Jimmy said that it was an honor to get the Good Sportsmanship Award this year. Also introduced were Josh Perschy, Matt Rix, Matt Jenkins, Joey Emerson, Jake Rasque, and Dan Dwyer.
Skiing – The three captains of the girls Ski team: Annabel Wold, Hanna Howell, and Blair MacDonald, introduced their team members: Tyler Bacon, Tyler Billipp, Justine Collignon, Emma Collins, Bryan Dumont, Logan Greenblatt, Jordan Guy, Hanna Howell, Pierce Howell, Sarah Kumin, Steven Lachance, Chris Lee, Mike Lee, Betsy Manero, John Manero, Blair McDonald, Garrett Morrow, Colby Nixon, Tucker Nixon, Tad Olsen, Cody Pritchert, Magill Smith, Erin St. Pierre, DJ Strada, Alison Wiechert, and Anabel Wold. They thanked the Board and Dr. Bearden for inviting them to the meeting. They thanked their coach, assistant coach and then introduced the team. They said that they had a really successful season; they won the State Championship and SMAA Championship. They’re having their banquet next Thursday at Spring Hill and invited the Superintendent and the School Board to attend.
Mr. Buzzell showed a slide show which was a compilation of pictures of all of our athletes for the winter season. Dr. Bearden thanked Mr. Buzzell for all that he does as our Athletic Administrator.
2. Mr. Burnell said that he reviewed the NEASC Report with his staff today at a faculty meeting. He said that they were particularly pleased with the commendations about school culture and the level of professionalism of the staff. One recommendation that they didn’t agree with was the one that suggested that they change their mission statement.
3. Mr. Bourbon introduced Sarah Camp and Kathleen Ring, MMS Counselors, who did a Powerpoint presentation which explained the various elements of their jobs. Ms. Ring stressed that communication and follow-up is extremely important. When they plan schoolwide assemblies, they spend time in advisory preparing students for the event. After the assembly, they spend time in the advisory to further discuss the important points.
4. Board workshop proposal on curriculum development and adoption – Dr. Bearden said that he would like to know if the proposed workshop with Mary Jane McCalmon should be planned for March 26th. Two Board members said they probably wouldn’t be available at that time, so the workshop is now scheduled for April 9th.
5. Dr. Bearden reviewed the budget workshop schedule with the Administrative Team to be held on March 15th. The Board was in agreement with the proposed agenda.
6. Dr. Bearden reminded the Board of the discussion they had about the Commissioner’s proposed high school reform. He stated that she has now placed a moratorium on this proposal and it will be revisited next January. Representatives from the schools of southern York County had written a letter to the Commissioner expressing their concerns about her proposal; in particular, the amount of time and money it would take. We also asked that we be included in any future planning of a major statewide educational reform plan.
Dr. Bearden said that he would be attending the Rotary meeting in the morning.
Dr. Bearden reported that a preliminary subsidy report was received on Monday, March 3, 2008 from the Department of Education. Dr. Bearden asked Board members to take the next couple of weeks to consider the budget proposal he presented on February 27, 2008 along with the preliminary subsidy report. He requested that by the March 19th meeting Board members give him some direction on a budget amount they would find acceptable for their consideration. If the current proposed amount needs to be adjusted, Dr. Bearden stated that he needed to have some time to review budget requests with the Administrative team and revise the proposal.
Correspondence:
Dr. Bearden said that he has received two letters of retirement: Ruth Trites, Central School teacher and Janet Gould, Marshwood High School teacher. He said that he wishes them well and that we are sad to see them go.
Report of the Committees:
1. Report of the Finance and Facilities Committee - None
2. Report of the Educational Policy Committee – Mrs. Breed said that they met last Friday and put together a number of policies, including a policy on tuitioning in students.
3. Report of the Community Relations Committee – in our next issue of the Newsline we will be including a survey asking for input about how to improve communication.
Mrs. Stewart said that Central School held their 100th day celebration last week. The students collected over 2500 items that will be donated to the food pantry in South Berwick.
Mr. Mehlhorn said that the “We the People’ competition will be held in Portland this week. Mr. Mehlhorn noted that they had their One Act Play performance and that the play was written by Blake Cass, a Marshwood graduate and the son of Mrs. Cass.
Mr. Burnell said that they had a schoolwide "I Love To Read" day. It was a wonderful celebration of the joy of reading.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn: Mrs. Breed Second: Mr. Stevens Vote: 6-0
The Board adjourned at 8:31 pm.
Attest: True Record
Dr. Jeffrey B. Bearden
Secretary to the Board of Directors