SPAULDING HIGH SCHOOL & BARRE
TECHNICAL CENTER CAMPUS
UNION DISTRICT
Campus Library
May 5, 2008
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Martin
Prevost, VICE-CHAIR,
John Santorello, CLERK,
Therese Taylor,
Giuliano Cecchinelli,
Nancy
Pope,
Brianna
Baker – Class of ’08, SHS/BTC Non-voting Student Representative
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT:
Gail Conley, Interim Superintendent of
Tom Sedore, Assistant Principal Tom Walz, Technology Coordinator
Chris Hennessey, Assistant Principal Penny Chamberlin,
Assistant Tech Director
Lori Matava BJ
Griffith
GUESTS PRESENT:
Video Vision Tech David
Delcore, Times Argus
1. Call
to Order
The
Chairperson, Christine Conti, called the Monday, May 5, 2008, meeting to order
at 6:00 p.m., which was held in the SHS & BTC Campus Library,
2. Announcements
and Awards
None. Information regarding current
and upcoming events may be viewed by visiting the school’s Web site at www.shsbtc.org/.
3. Visitors
and Communications
None
4. Curriculum
Reports
None
5. Items
for Board Action
A.
Approval
of Minutes:
April
7, 2008 – Regular Spaulding High School Union District Board Meeting
April
28, 2008 – Regular Spaulding High School Union District Board Meeting
On a motion by Mrs. Pope seconded by Mr.
Cecchinelli, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of April 7, 2008 –Regular Spaulding High School Union
District Board Meeting, as presented.
On a motion by Mrs. Pope seconded by Mr.
Cecchinelli, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of April 28, 2008 – Spaulding High School Union District
Board Meeting, as presented.
Mr. Prevost arrived during
the next item.
B.
Cosmetology
Staffing Level for 2008-09
Ms.
Chamberlin distributed a memo listing Tech Center items identified as “holds”
for the 2008-09 year, which would offset the $39K salary expense for reinstatement
of a third instructor (BJ Griffith) to the Cosmetology program.
Dr. Conley
advised the Board a similar list was being drafted by Mr. Phillips to support
any unanticipated changes in the SHS budget.
Ms. Chamberlin confirmed Mr. Prevost’s query that the
“holds” affected the tech center, across-the-board.
On a motion
by Mr. Santorello seconded by Mr. Cecchinelli, the Board unanimously voted to
approve an increase of the Cosmetology staffing level to three instructors for
the 2008-09 year.
Mr. Prevost reiterated that the cuts could not be
sustained, and he would oppose a prolonged erosion of other tech programs to
support the position.
C.
Board Retreat
Date
The Board discussed, and unanimously agreed, to hold their retreat on Tuesday, August 19, 2008,
which would also include the Administrators.
Mrs. Conti will notify the Board at a later date of the location and
time.
D.
Freshman
Orientation Date: August 26, 2008
Mr. Sedore
advised the Board that the very successful practice in the past year was to set
aside one day designated for freshman only orientation. (D, last year was the first time we did
this, to help freshman students get acclimated to the school without upper
classmen around)
On a motion by Mr. Prevost seconded by Mr. Cecchinelli,
the Board unanimously voted to set the Freshman Orientation date on August 26,
2008.
E.
End-of-Year
Schedule
Dr.
Conley advised the Board that five snow days were used during the 2007-08 year but
not built into the original schedule.
Mr. Sedore distributed a proposal for the end-of-year schedule that
included swapping two of the five student instructional days for two in-service
teacher training days.
Dr.
Conley advised that the next school year calendar would include snow days. He also advised the Board he was not in
support of the “swap” plan, as a matter of principle and personal belief, because
he was never in favor of foregoing student instructional days.
On a motion by Mrs. Pope seconded by Mr. Prevost, the
Board unanimously voted to assign two of the five snow days to teacher
in-service training days on June 16th and June 17th.
F.
Administrative
Agreement
The Board referred to the
list of amendments addressed in the agreement signed by Alan Moore on 4/8/08.
On a motion by Mr. Prevost seconded by Mr.
Cecchinelli, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the changes outlined in the
amendment to the Agreement Between the boards of the Barre City School
District, Spaulding High School/Barre Technical Center Union District, Barre
City Supervisory Union, and the Barre Schools Administrators’ Association, as
presented.
G.
Teacher
Resignations
The Board discussed the
resignation of Math Department Chairperson, John Pandolfo, and math teacher
Coralie Collins, expressing their deep regret, and the enormous loss their
leaving will create for the school, and students.
On a motion by Mr. Prevost seconded by Mr. Cecchinelli,
the Board unanimously voted, with regret and best wishes, to accept the
resignations from math teachers, John Pandolfo and Coralie Collins.
6. Items for Information and Discussion
A. Superintendent
Evaluation Process
Mr.
Santorello and Dr. Conley provided background for the SU evaluation plan. There
were no objections and some positive comments. Mrs. Conti asked that any other feed-back
and/or comments on the plan be sent to her and Mr. Santorello.
B. Agenda
Parking Lot Time Lines
The
Board reviewed the Parking Lot items, and assigned dates to the majority of future
agenda items. It was also agreed that a
date would accompany items when they are placed in the Parking Lot, to help
identify how long the item had been outstanding.
C. Annual
Agenda
The
Board discussed and agreed to develop an annual agenda. Mr. Santorello suggested adding class size
report to items for July and November.
D. Administrative
Action Plan
Mr.
Sedore reported at least two meetings to discuss job duties, etc. had been
held. He said part of the June 16th
in-service day would also be devoted to a “Leadership Team” presentation.
Ms.
Chamberlin agreed to provide the Board with a list of the names and roles of
the Leadership Team, their goals, etc.
E. Class Size
Progress Report/Schedule Update
Dr.
Conley advised that in the absence of Mr. Phillips, other than the information
in the Principals report, no other information was available. The Board agreed that the items would be on
the May 19, 2008, agenda.
7. Reports
to the Board
A. Superintendent’s
Report
a. Faculty
Letter Response
Dr.
Conley advised the Board he would draft a response to correspondence received
on January 24, 2008, which inadvertently was misinterpreted as Board
correspondence rather than to him for a response. He apologized to the Board, and writer, and
said he would attend to this matter as timely as possible.
b. Administrative
Contracts
c.
Administrative Evaluations
Dr.
Conley advised that he expected to have Administrative Contracts ready for
signature at the May 19, 2008, meeting.
He said, as promised, he had completed the district’s Principals’
evaluations and that he expected the high school’s Assistant Principals’
evaluations to be completed before the contracts were presented.
d.
Micro-Management vs. Timely Accurate Information vs.
Accountability
Dr. Conley expressed his opinion regarding the
committee structure exercised by the Boards, and said while he supported
committee work, many of the committees seem to have a life of their own; and
that they should be serving in an advisory role only. He said the committees should make
recommendations to the Board for action and that the lines of communication
needed to be clear, particularly with requests to administrators, SU personnel,
etc., which often take up valuable time and resources in an already extremely
busy environment.
Mrs. Pope concurred, and said she looked forward to
the Finance Committee having the “Academic Action Plan”, as a roadmap during
the budget building process.
B. SHS &
BTC Campus Administrators’ Report
The
Board was provided a written report in their packets. Campus
and other general information may be viewed at www.shsbtc.org/.
Ms. Chamberlin
advised the Board the second round of applications were scheduled for May 15th,
and that the
C. Technology
Coordinator’s Report
Mr.
Walz added to his report that he had been working with Mr. Phillips regarding
the NECAP data, which will be presented at the May 19, 2008, meeting.
D. Student
Services Director’s Report
Dr.
Sperry reviewed her report, and the Board agreed to hear comprehensive reports
in the early fall from the alternative program administrators. Mr. Hennessey assured the Board information
would be distributed in advance.
E. Supervisory
Union Report
The
next regularly scheduled meeting will be Thursday, May 8, 2008, at 5:30 p.m.,
in the Central Office Conference Room,
Mrs.
Pope volunteered to serve on the SU Hiring Committee for a new Business
Manager, if requested.
F. Student
Representative Reports
Ms.
Baker provided an oral report advising the Board the replacement process for
her seat would be initiated soon.
G. Spaulding
High Athletic Advisory Committee (SHAAC)
The next SHAAC meeting is scheduled for May 14, 2008
at 5:00 p.m. in the SHS & BTC Campus Library.
H. Facility
Committee
The next Facility Committee meetings are scheduled
for May 15, 2008, and May 29, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. in the SHS & BTC Campus
Library.
I. Finance Committee
The next Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for May
14, 2008 at 7:30 a.m.
8. Other
Business
Mrs.
Conti asked the Board for feed-back within the next few days, on the recent
e-mails distributed regarding staff moral, and committee appointments.
9. Executive
Session
A. Personnel
Matter, Title1 § 313 (a) (3)
B. Administrative
Contracts, Title 1 § 313 (a) (3)
At 7:20 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Prevost seconded
by Mr. Santorello, the Board unanimously voted to enter into executive session,
pursuant to Title 1 § 313 to discuss a personnel matter, and administrative
contracts.
Dr.
Conley and Mr. Sedore were invited into the executive session.
Mr.
Sedore left the executive session prior to their discussions of item B.
At 8:30 p.m. the Board exited the
executive session.
10. Adjournment
On a motion by Mr. Prevost seconded by Ms. Taylor, the
Board unanimously voted to adjourn at 8:32 p.m.
The
next planning/discussion meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 19, 2008, at 6:00
p.m.
The
next regular business meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 2, 2008, at 6:00
p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Donna Holden