GRAND ISLE SCHOOL BOARD-MEETING
MINUTES
MONDAY 10 OCTOBER 2005
DINNER/WORKSHOP
BOARD ATTENDING:
Herb Durfee, Ira Trombly, Becky Turner, Pat Parker, Scott
Brown
OTHERS ATTENDING:
Dick Taylor
PROCEEDINGS:
Pat provided a delightful dining experience and things got
underway at 5:17PM.
ACADEMIC FAIR: THURSDAY 27 OCTOBER-5PM-7PM
A table & chairs will be provided
in lobby by trophy case;
Staffed by Board members in rotation;
ON
DISPLAY:
GISB Web site & email address;
DRA results;
YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEY-Pat will
do a Power Point of salient points as a handout; (note-this is by county –not by town & there is only
one copy so keep an eye on it!)
Policy Book;
Principal Search Information;
Cookies
Suggestion Pad & Name Sign-Up-
individuals interested in the Budget
Process are encouraged to attend the last meeting in November & the
December meetings.
PRINCIPAL SEARCH
Review & discussion of
advertisement-
5:37PM-Ira moves to adopt
as-written-approved by consensus.
Ad to run 13 October &
8 November & continuously in the Wildcat
Wisdom.
An enlarged version will
be on display at the Academic Fair.
(PROCEDURE NOTE:
Agreed-By-Consensus is ok for less involved decisions-individual voting
will used for more complex issues.)
FORMAL ADVERTISEMENT DISCUSSION:
Dick provided a sample job
description-
-noted that ad should be originated by GISB;
-Academic credentials should be requested;
Ira thought that we may
very well be looking for a 1st time principal or possibly someone moving
up from a smaller school;
Herb- Vermont
Certification is required-licensed w/Masters
Ira-courses are available
to meet the licensing requirement;
Ira-a principal should be
involved w/curriculum management;
3rd Paragraph
discussed & revised;
4th Paragraph
discussed & revised;
Deadline discussion-1 July
06 remains start date;
Submissions will be paper
copy only.
6:48PM-Ira moves to adopt
ad as-revised as draft-to be reviewed at next meeting-2nd by
Herb-approved by consensus.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
BOARD ATTENDING:
Herb Durfee, Ira Trombly, Becky Turner, Pat Parker, Scott
Brown
OTHERS ATTENDING:
Dick Taylor, Brenda Juaire, Beth Hemingway
7:03PM-Herb calls to order.
Agenda Adjustments-
Pat-re November
meeting;
Herb-will there be a meeting w/teachers?
-An email to increase the number of
teachers?
-John P. to attend?
Dick-will ask Mr. Foster to attend & inquire re a date for Board to visit teachers.
MINUTES-28 SEPTEMBER 05:
Reviewed & amended;
7:17PM-Herb moves to adopt
as amended-Pat 2nd-approved by consensus.
Becky had questions re
GISB email management.
BETH HEMINGWAY PRESENTATION:
Dick introduced Beth-she
is Director of Student Services
Beth presented the Pre-Service Plan For Grand Isle-an
annual projection of costs-
This is due Monday to the
State-it is a guideline for the State to estimate reimbursements; A projection
sheet was handed out for review & discussion-
Herb asked how accurate it
was-Dick said that is was reasonably accurate;
Beth indicated that George
Nelson was now involved in this estimating process-especially in the area of
teacher salaries;
There may be more students
included;
Transportation of IEP
students is a major component-
Ira asked how many
students-
The response was 22 from
GIS
2 ILM tuitioned to GIS
13 GI High School Students
37 Total
Herb wondered about a
comparison of Assessment Scores of GI Special ED students with other schools-
Ira pointed out that there
is more variety for regular classroom teachers-
Beth said that there is
strong support for Special Ed at GIS.
Beth noted that the
Department Of Children & Families may be placing one student in a Grand
Isle foster home.
Beth’s presentation then
turned to an administrative issue:
-on July 1st
the Grant was due at the Department Of Education;
-this was being prepared
by Ginny Tomasi;
-the Grant was submitted
on July 29th; & therefore unable to be used for July expenses;
-money left over cannot be
used to pay for July 05 Summer Services;
-therefore the Local Board
has to pick up those expenses;
-in the amount of $ 6369.08
Ira asked if a bill would
be forthcoming-from Linda?
BETH HEMINGWAY PRESENTATION CONTINUED:
Extraordinary child costs
to be identified-Beth will follow-up on this.
EEE budget is coming up.
Herb requested a Glossary OF Acronyms.
Beth will include a
section on Special Education in the Town Report.
This concluded Beth’s
presentation-she was thanked and invited back.
TEACHER MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT:
This item was submitted by
John P. (who was not present) concerning a request for reimbursement for
mileage incurred to attend a summer college course.
John asked that discussion
on this be postponed until his presentation of the issue at the next meeting.
7:48 PM- Ira moves to
table until next meeting-Pat 2nd-approved by consensus.
Ira will consult South
Hero & North Hero Board Members.
Pat asked if the mileage
was not reimbursable could it not be deducted from personal income-
PRINCIPALS REPORT:
EXPENSE REPORT:
Dick noted this Teacher Salary Issue:
Due to increases and
Insurance Buy-Outs, the following areas:
-LA
-PE
-Math
-French
originally budgeted
at $ 590,000 are now $ 639,000.
(Herb said there is a wicked
deficit looming.)
Dick pointed out that one
line item, COBRA insurance, will be paid back to the District and that other
figures are yet to come in-High School tuition, eg.
Herb said that the
financial report document format did not provide enough true hard numbers for
comparison & evaluation-that only certain categories have a bottom line and
what about the column designation “Internal Budget” ?
Dick replied that the
report format is being worked on to provide greater accuracy.
Dick distributed the GRAND
ISLE SCHOOL EMERGENCY PLAN-this will be discussed at the next meeting.
There will be a meeting on
November 15th at Peoples Trust in St Albans to discuss Universal
Access To Preschool (UAPK) which GI does not have. This is for 3-5 year olds
and provided at district expense although block grants are available.
Laura O’Brien has
submitted a request for After School Group Funding. $ 3750 is budgeted for
this, $ 2600 is requested.
8:12 PM-Herb moves to
approve the request-Ira 2nd-approved by consensus.
Additional requests will
be evaluated case-by-case.
Dick noted a typographical
error in the Support Staff contract & requested the Boards approval to make
the correction. The Board concurs initialing by the Chair to authorize the
change in the Contract.
PRINCIPALS REPORT CONTINUED:
Dick noted that the
Teachers will be using a ½ day Release to prepare for the Academic Fair as
provided in their Contract.
There are 2 special needs
students-
-an aide( Behaviorial
Interventionalist) has been advertised for;
-Medicaid funding is
available for this;
-this approach may save
the cost of Alternate Placement.
PRINCIPAL SEARCH:
Judy Tiplady has requested
that 4 teachers be on the Search Committee instead of 2.
-Herb was not in favor of this;
-Pat agreed with Herb;
-Scott suggested the
possibility of rotating teacher reps in order to create greater involvement;
The Board decided to keep
the number of teachers at 2.
Dick will convey this
decision to Judy Tiplady.
Should John P. be the 17th
member of The Committee?
-Ira wondered if the
Committee chairperson is a non-voting member and felt that GISU Business be taken care of first;
-Dick said that John is ok
with the Board process so far;
-Herb felt that the number
should stay at 16;
-John P. was deleted from
the announcement letter;
-Pat said that all Board
members names should be added to the letter.
Becky wondered if the
responsibilities of a Committee member were as clearly defined as they could
be;
-Herb will revise the list
of responsibilities resubmit to the Board; job description & selection
process will be posted on the GISB website;
-Pat reiterated John P.
reluctance to have students on the Committee;
-Herb indicated that job
description, salary spread sheet, & contract terms will be discussed at the
next meeting;
-Pat suggested that the
next meeting begin at 6:30;
-Ira will research
Principal Certification Qualifications;
FY 06-07 BUDGET (IN PROCESS):
-Dick said that FUTURE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES need to be identified & planned
for-he noted 2 areas of especial need: carpet & furniture; preliminary
carpet cost estimate is $19-$23 per sq yard-@ ~900 SF/classroom=$1900-$2300 per
classroom;
-There was discussion re carpet vs hard surface flooring;
-Scott inquired about the
spec and bidding process; & offered to research a performance spec rather
than a proprietary spec in order to solicit multiple bids;
-Herb said that a Capital
Improvement Line Item should be included in the Budget;
-Ira said we need a
Capital Plan;
-Much discussion of
Capital Expenditures ensued;
TEACHERS
CONTRACT:
-Will roll over another
year;
BUSING:
-Ira inquired about the
Busing Report being prepared by the Superintendents Office;
-Herb wondered how to couch
the request-is the information defined?
-Ira will send JP an email;
-Herb said that the GISU
Committee On Busing found that 3 towns were unwilling to participate-but a
contact person form each Board had been established although no timetable for
meetings had been set up;
-Dick said that South Burlington
HS may very well be looking at Island Busing Issues;
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Pat reported $ 14,106.59
due & moved for payment;
9:31 PM-Ira moved to
pay-Pat seconded.
-Approved by consensus.
NEXT MEETING:
26 OCTOBER 6:30PM
-Dick will check on a
meeting with teachers.
9:32PM-Herb moves to
adjourn-Becky 2nd-
MEETING ADJOURNED BY GENERAL
CONSENSUS