SAU #70 - Hanover School Board

Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Carpenter, Carter, Chamberlin, Fleischer, Rose; Administrators: Gersen, Aubin, Williams, Roberts; Recorded by R. Lohr

1. Call to Order – Chair Asmus called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.

2. Minutes Approval
John Chamberlin moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of October 17 and the nonpublic meeting minutes of October 17, as submitted with changes. The motion passed with Fleischer and Carter abstaining. The changes on the regular meeting minutes included a typo in item 5 “that,” and in the nonpublic minutes, the Board requested more information and two topics were inserted including potential employee discipline and dismissal of a lawsuit.

3. Communications and Reports

a) Report of Chair
Chair Kari Asmus announced that the next Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19, 7:00 PM. at the Ray School Multiroom.

The Gile Hill Tract developer estimated that there will be about 44 children in the residences when the project is completed. Because the project schedule is uncertain, the statistics are not incorporated into enrollment projections.

The Chair distributed a document regarding the impact of the termination of the Dartmouth payment to Dresden, which was discussed by the Board. It is presently estimated that there could be about a $314 increase beginning in Hanover resident’s 2010 taxes on a $400,000 home. This calculation did not include the Stabilization Fund that will help decrease the potential for a tax increase. The Board also discussed media contact by the Board members on this issue. The document will be reviewed by Assistant Superintendent Aubin and forwarded to the Dresden Finance Committee and posted on the SAU Web site.

b) Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen gave an update about the Faculty Survey in the Ray School, reporting that the survey will be administered at a faculty meeting on November 28. It is hoped that results from the survey will be received by the end of December.

The fiber partnership with the town has been delayed by a lawsuit against the fiber company but the Information Systems Coordinator still expects it to be on line by mid-December.

c) Assistant Superintendent’s Report
John Aubin, Assistant Superintendent for Business reported that the state’s department of revenue administration’s tax calculation is lower than expected (12.15). The adopted school budget had estimated that the rate would be 12.33.

d) District Treasurer Report
The Treasurer’s Report showed the school district funds invested in the New Hampshire Deposit Investment Pool are providing the District with additional interest income. The District is expected to earn about $70,000 from interest income this year.

f) Principal’s Report

Principal Williams reported that he attended a seminar about cognitive coaching for evaluations. In response to a question about the gymnasium availability on the weekends, the principal said that there is no custodian on duty and that it is available for rent that would cover the costs of the custodian.

4. Business Requiring Discussion

2.75% Guideline
The Board discussed a preliminary analysis of the Hanover school budget that compared the bottom line of the K-5 budget and the 6th grade tuition with a per pupil analysis of those budget components. The K-5 budget component did not include the regular education tuition for 6th grade but did include K-12 Hanover transportation costs and K-12 out-of-district special education costs. The Board discussed the means of calculating the 6th grade tuition, suggesting alternative methods that might minimize the annual volatility that mirrors the student enrollment. There is concern about how the 6th grade tuition influences the budget deliberations with relation to the cap when considering budgets for Hanover and Dresden schools. It was reported that the elementary school will see a large decline (30-40 percent) in special education costs and there should be a 9 FTE decrease in educational assistants as a result of that change. The largest effect of the budget guideline would be reducing the educational assistants in each classroom. These assistants have been flexibly used for special education students and regular students. Because of the projected decline in enrollments, the class sizes that have ranged from 19.2 – 20.2 students per class is projected to decline because there will be the same number (25) of sections. The 9 FTE reduction in the number of educational assistants would be added to the middle school budget as those special education costs reflect those students moving to the sixth grade.

There was a first reading of Policy JRC, Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment which focused on completing surveys. The phrase that would be added to the policy involves parent consent if a survey requests information about religious practices. It was suggested that a more descriptive title be considered and that the policy clarify federally funded surveys and voluntary surveys. The Board also expressed concern about the amount of student information we may be providing to the state (NECAP profiles, etc.).

Freedom of Religion Lawsuit
The Board discussed the suit against the school district boards and the United States Congress regarding religious terminology in the Pledge. Dr. Gersen explained that the present state law requires the school set aside time each day to recite the Pledge of Allegiance on a voluntary basis. The US law mandates the Pledge contain the words, “under God.” The school district attorney offered options to deal with the lawsuit. Board members expressed concern that some of the assertions in the lawsuit are not occurring in Dresden schools. The Board requested the school district’s attorney better define the phrase “step aside” as described in one of his options and to inform the Board if there is value or a downside to respond to the lawsuit with regard to the specific assertions.

5. Business Requiring Action

John Chamberlin moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to accept the resignation/early retirement of Jane Metcalf effective June 30, 2008 with regret. The motion passed unanimously.

Nancy Carter moved and Chip Fleischer seconded a motion to accept the resignation/early retirement of Deborah Franzoni effective June 30, 2008 with regret. The motion passed unanimously.

John Chamberlin moved and Robin Carpenter seconded a motion to approve the Friends Grants as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes . The motion passed unanimously.

6. Nonpublic Session
John Chamberlin moved and Kari Asmus seconded a motion to enter nonpublic session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3 (ll.a) for discussion of a personnel matter. The motion passed unanimously. Following the motion, the Roll Call was conducted and the Board went into nonpublic session at 9:55 PM.

7. Adjournment

John Chamberlin moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to adjourn at 10:15 PM. The motion passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 10:15 PM.