Saturday, August 23, 2014

Schoolboard Meeting 8/18/14 Minutes

INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOWNLOADING A COPY OF THE MINUTES:
Follow this link: https://archive.org/details/20140818UnapprovedSchoolBoard

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If this does not work for you, you can always copy and paste the text into a Word document. If you have any questions, please email Melissa at: melissa.laurita.kohl@gmail.com


PEACHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING
Monday, August 18, 2014
Peacham School Library
UNAPPROVED

PRESENT:
Board:  Mark Clough, Jenny Land Mackenzie, Wynne Browne
Administration:  Judy Ross, Mat Forest
Staff:  Cheryl Stevenson
Public:  Neil Monteith

1.  Meeting called to order at 6:10PM.

2.  Minutes of June 18 and July 15 approved as written.

3.  Open meeting law review--  Attorney Rick Scholes unable to attend--  this will happen next meeting.  

4.  Board of Civil Authority--  Neil Monteith is the town emergency management coordinator.  The subject of the installation and maintenance of a generator not now in existence was discussed and Neil will follow up with the School on this issue.

5.  Public input--  none.

6.  Administrative reports
A.  Principal’s Report
    --Academic Excellence Goal--  PES is preparing to implement STAR Reading and STAR Math online adaptive assessments for students in grades 1-6;  data will be used to create individualized instruction plans delivered through a multi-tiered system of supports to help students develop mastery of Common Core standards.  PES will be embedding a daily period of remediation/enrichment for all students;  these 6-week periods (called LEAP--  Learn, Explore, Assess, Progress) will be facilitated by staff with specific skills or interests and may be multi-aged small or large groups, beginning in mid-September.  A multi-tiered system of behavioral supports (MTSS-B) will be implemented for teaching and sustaining school-wide expectations to enable focused academic and social success.  PES staff will have training in both systems and have the opportunity to customize them to our specific student and school needs.  2014 NECAP AYP results have been released to VT schools. No school in the state including PES, met AYP goals for either Literacy or Math.  Secretary Holcombe has released statements to acknowledge the incongruity in this data and the actual progress VT schools are making.
    --Effective Leadership Goal--  Judy has attended several summer professional conferences, with staff members and alone, including the VPA 3-day conference focusing on supervision and evaluation of implementation of the CCSS and Next Generation Standards for Science, the 3-day MTSS-B conference to plan roll-out of the new behavior system;  a day-day 21st Century technology skills conference with the new tech integration/library person, Jen Williams.  Judy and Cheryl worked together closely to plan and review progress on building work;  the building will be ready for students on August 25.  Interviews are being scheduled for filling the PES 21C site coordinator position, working with Donna Gaston, the new CCSU 21C district coordinator.  Liz Ruffner is returning as 2nd in command.
    --School Climate and Social Education--  MTSS-B will be implemented with direct instruction as part of the Responsive Classroom platform during the first 6 weeks of school.  Students and staff will develop whole-school expectations for common areas (playground, hallways, bathrooms, cafeteria, bus, and specials.  Each classroom teacher will develop their specific classroom systems of expectations and outcomes.
    --Community Building Goal--  The 2014-15 Back to School Potluck Picnic will by 5:30-7:30 on Fri., Aug 22.  Work continues on the Outdoor Space using local contractors whenever possible.  Instructional units are being developed to emphasize community connections through place-based application of standards in all content areas.  PES will partner again this year with Becky Jensen and the town library to plan student and family events and learning opportunities.  Sean Markey will be assisting with an upgrade to the website to improve communication.
--Professional Community Goals--  Janice Brisco and Hanna Galinat are committed to working together as the Humanities and STEM content specialists for grades 3-6 to provide a vigorous academic program collaborating with Jen Williams,  the new tech integrationist.  Judy, Hanna, Sarah Parker and Jen Williams spent a day collaborating on curriculum planning in early August supported by stipends.  Paid summer curriculum work will be added to next year’s PD budget to acknowledge the professional contributions of the staff.  Teacher in-service are planned for August 21 with the entire CCSU staff at Barnet and for the 22nd at PES.  The focus will be reviewing and fine-tuning systems to ensure student safety and supervision at all times.  
--Arts and Languages Goal--  Ruth Kaldor will collaborate with classroom teachers to find meaningful connections between her program and curriculum goals.   The school is updating the environment and arrangement of the multi-purpose room.
--Other items--  PK-K enrollment is now 15 students, which is capacity.  Whole school enrollment is at about 48 with the addition of two previously homeschooled children in the 3 and 5-year group.  The school always welcomes back other homeschooled students for any and all parts of its program.
   
B.  Superintendent’s Report
    --Administrative Retreat--  the Administrative Team met on August 11 and 12 at Springfield College Campus, planning opening day activities for the faculty and staff on October 21 and 22, and the role of the SU goals.  The goal is to have the bulk of curriculum work completed by March.
    --Curriculum Team--  A CCSU curriculum team has been established to create units of study and common formative assessments in humanities and STEM.  This team will meet monthly.
    --The next CCSU board meeting will be on August 27.   
    --Caledonia Record--  Mat met with Todd Smith on August 5 after hearing from various board members throughout the SU about their concerns with negative press.  The meeting was productive and positive.

7.  Old Business
    --School engineering/energy efficient upgrade--  should collect input from townspeople giving all of the options before laying out a final proposal.  A building upgrade will cost money.  We need input into how the town wants to use the building long term, and the variety of uses it may have.  There is a lot of energy waste from the building, and if it is going to be used, it will need an investment.  The board will call a special meeting this fall to go over information.
   
8.  New Business
-- Marketing Committee.  Sean Markey is updating the website.  Mark proposed setting up a committee to work on promoting the school, and will make calls to set that up.  All info collected will be shared at the regularly scheduled public meeting.
--Mark shared info from the School and Municipal Leadership Conference on Education Property Tax and Funding Reform (August 14 in South Burlington).  Among other topics, there was a focus on towns structuring schools around K-6 local and 7-12 regionalized (as Peacham does).  Towns need common structure (school buildings become multi-purpose for other community uses).  There was a discussion about making more efficient state-wide teacher contracts.  There was a discussion about cost drivers in education, local board control, and Act 68-Funding.
--Building Report--  Cheryl reported that there are now blinds and shades in all windows for a lockdown situation.  There is a new floor in the entryway, and some new painting will happen soon.  The grounds are being made safer and more open for better supervision--  the big play structure is down, with the two towers saved for play areas.  Sand is the correct depth under the swings.  The bushes are cut back, and there was additional trimming and bush-hogging.  There will be further long-term plans for the playground.  Allen Thresher and his crew have helped so much with the work to date.  Raised beds and the shed are still in progress.  Permits for the shed should come soon.  The shed needs to be erected soon for storage purposes.

9.  The board entered executive session at 8:02PM for a legal discussion and to approve a negotiated teacher contract.

10.  The board exited executive session at 8:35PM.  There was a unanimous decision for Mark to sign the negotiated teacher contract.

11.  Meeting adjourned at 8:37PM.  Next meeting will be on Monday, September 8 at 6pm.

Respectfully submitted,


Jenny Land Mackenzie

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