HANOVER SCHOOL BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
PUBLIC HEARING AND BUDGET ADOPTION
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2008
7:00 PM, RAY SCHOOL MULTI ROOM
Minutes
Present: Board members Carpenter, Carter, Chamberlin, Fleischer, Rose; Administrators: Gersen, Aubin, Williams, Curtis; Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to Order – Vice Chair Carpenter called the meeting to order at 7:11 PM.
2. HEA Contract Ratification
John Chamberlin provided a review of the HEA contract highlights. It is a three-year deal that incorporates a three percent increase annually. The track seven on the salary scale has been modified and lowered and existing teachers have been grandfathered to be able to attain the former track seven. Retirees will pay 10 percent of their HMO health insurance for the first seven years after their retirement and 25 percent after seven years. Evaluations will also be influenced by the new agreement to recognize teacher efforts that enhance the entire school community and including administrators and board members on the Central Staff Development Committee.
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion that stated RESOLVED: The Hanover School Board hereby signifies its approval of the proposed tentative agreement between the Hanover Education Association and the Hanover and Dresden School Districts. The motion passed unanimously.
3. Support Staff Contract Ratification
It was stated that the Hanover support staff salaries were below others in the region and the new contract will help them catch up to their peers. Full time qualifications will be met with a 30-hour week rather than a 35-hour week. There are also health insurance aspects that would require higher co-pay participation by the support staff.
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion that stated RESOLVED: The Hanover School Board hereby signifies its approval of the proposed tentative agreement between the Dresden Support Staff and the Hanover and Dresden School Districts. The motion passed unanimously.
4. Public Hearing on Proposed 2008-09 Budget (RSA 32:5)
Vice Chair Carpenter opened the Public Hearing at 7:22 PM on the budget of the Hanover School District in accordance with NH RSA 32:5. Included in the public packets is a line item budget, which contains all purposes and amounts of appropriations to be included for proposed 2008-09 expenditures. A notice for this Public Hearing was published in the Valley News on January 8.
The proposed budget is $10,616,982. The special education budget was $540,000, and no funds were earmarked for the Special Education Reserve Fund. The staff felt this fund could be replenished by unspent 2008-09 budgeted monies in the reserve fund. The Board suggested that the status of special education spending should be reviewed in the 2009 budget season. The Board requested the administrators to remind the Board about this in December.
Superintendent Gersen responded to inquiries regarding his recommendation to not include the “RTI proposal” in the budget. He reported that the staff would use (Title IIA and REAP) grants to cover costs of the “RTI proposal” once it is more clearly defined. The proposal may be brought back to the Board next March for consideration to be initiated next year. This would enable the staff to pilot the program in the 2008-09 school year.
The administrators felt that the Finance Committee and public have accepted that the budget should be considered without the internal school transfer payments within SAU 70. With that perspective, the budgets are reasonable. There was a comment about using the school tax rate as the target for budget process rather than a cap-oriented guideline. Additionally, concern was voiced regarding covering programs or staffing with off line funding or spending because there was budget room available.
The Board discussed the contingency fund and the Special Education Reserve Fund, which both require a Warrant Article to be voted on by the public. The Administration felt that the $50,000 fund balance would be enough of a contingency and this was a good year to eliminate the contingency. This fund has historically been in the budget and in the past has given the Board some comfort to invest in necessary actions. The Public Hearing was closed at 7: 53PM.
5. Adoption of the 2008-09 Budget
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to adopt the Hanover School budget in the amount of $10,616,982 to be placed on the Warrant and voted on at the Hanover School District Meeting on March 4, 2008.
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to amend the original motion to adopt the Hanover School Budget in the amount of $10,636,982 so that the $20,000 Contingency Fund was included in the proposed budget. The motion failed with 2 in favor (Chamberlin, Carter) and 3 opposed (Carpenter, Fleischer, Rose).
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to adopt the Hanover School budget in the amount of $10,616,982 to be placed on the Warrant and voted on at the Hanover School District Meeting on March 4, 2008. The motion passed unanimously.
6. Approval of the School District Warrant
Superintendent Gersen reviewed the warrant articles as drafted. Articles 5 and 7 (Contingency Fund and Special Education Reserve Fund) were removed. The Bridgman Fund was recommended at $60,000. The verbiage about salaries in Article 6 would be fixed. It was understood that Articles 8 and 9 regarding the contracts were projected increase amounts in future years. The administration will check with legal advisory about whether to use the term School Board or School District in the articles. Article 10 does not include the amounts addressed in the other articles.
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to approve the March 4 School District Warrant as proposed by the Administration as attached and amended to the original meeting minutes, and to authorize the Administration to make whatever technical changes that might be necessary in order to ensure that the Warrant is legal and accurately addresses the intent of the School Board. The motion passed unanimously.
7. Minutes Approval
Nancy Carter moved and John Chamberlin seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 19, the special meeting of December 3, and the budget meeting minutes of January 2, as submitted with changes. The motion passed unanimously. The changes on the December 19 regular meeting minutes included in item 5 on the first motion, which repeated that the motion passed unanimously.
8. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair
Vice Chair Robin Carpenter announced that the next Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 13, 7:00 PM. at the Ray School Multiroom. This meeting is a week early due to the scheduled winter break.
The Annual Hanover School District Meeting will be held on Saturday, March 1, 1:00 PM at the Hanover High School Gymnasium. This will be the discussion phase of the meeting, and no voting will take place at the meeting. The voting phase of the meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 4, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM at the Hanover High School Gymnasium.
There are five (5) School Board seats that are open in March. Three (3) are three year terms (Carpenter, Carter, and Fleischer), one (1) is a two (2) year term to finish Robert Bruce’s term, and one is a one (1) year position (Rose), which will complete the three year term of Larry Pilchman, and will return that position to a three year term in 2009. Filings take place any time from today, Wednesday, January 16 until 5:00 PM Friday, January 25. Other positions open are District Moderator, Clerk, and Treasurer, all one (1) year terms. Filings for School Board and School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, Anne Chamberlin, or at the SAU office, 41 Lebanon Street, Suite 2, in Hanover. There is a $1.00 filing fee.
The Dresden School District has filing dates from Tuesday, January 15 through 5:00 PM, Monday, February 4. Filing for School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, Deborah Carter, or at the SAU office, 41 Lebanon Street, Suite 2, in Hanover. Positions open are: Moderator, Clerk, Treasurer for one (1) year terms; two Auditor positions, one for a two (2) year term, and one for a three (3) year term.
Petitions for inclusion in the Hanover School District Warrant must be received by 4:30 PM on Thursday, January 31. Petitions may be presented to any member of the Hanover School Board, or delivered to SAU office, 41 Lebanon Street, Suite 2, in Hanover. Petitions submitted after January 28 may not be published in the Annual Report due to publishing deadlines.
Warrant Article volunteers:
Article 2 (Bridgman Trust)- Nancy Carter
Article 3 (School Buildings Maintenance Fund) – Marjorie Rose
Article 4 (Tax Stabilization Fund) – Kari Asmus
Article 5 (District salaries) – John Chamberlin
Article 6 (HEA Contract) – Chip Fleischer
Article 7 (Support Staff Contract) – John Chamberlin
Article 8 (Budget) – Robin Carpenter
b) Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen gave an update about the Faculty Survey. The plan is to first present school-specific findings to teachers in the respective schools. The teachers invited the Board and the administrators to the school presentations. There will be a public overview presentation for the Dresden School Board on February 26.
c) Assistant Superintendent’s Report
John Aubin, Assistant Superintendent for Business announced that the Board members will receive a call to come to the SAU office to sign the final Warrant Article document. Additionally, he needs to set up a meeting to review for the budget presentation planned to take place at the public school district meeting.
Mr. Aubin also informed the of a mishap with the Ray School heating system as the element was damaged from freezing costing $3,800 to repair. The new school buildings are using propylene glycol in their element that is more of an anti-freeze liquid. It would cost $7,000 to replace the system with this liquid at the Ray School. There will be an insurance claim to cover some of the costs associated with the damage and the Building Maintenance Fund will cover the liquid replacement project.
9. Business Requiring Discussion
Kindergarten Entry Policy
The Policy JBB was discussed regarding the entrance age policy. The K-1 Team is in favor of eliminating any exceptions to the age deadline. The teachers feel that the younger students are not developmentally ready for school and they have seen evidence of this when the school moved the date from September 1 to September 30. The age deadline is also seen by national educational organizations as a rational and fair way to address the issue. Assessments for four-year olds are not seen as reliable. There is also concern that the floodgates would be open for many more families to request the deadline date exception. The principal and vice-principal will provide the administration with more information on the subject and present a policy reflecting their consensus at the meeting in February.
Parent Survey
Marjorie Rose reported about the meeting of the administrators and the survey consultant regarding the Parent Survey. It was recommended that to maintain confidentiality and ensure trust the consultant should filter the information for the School Board and the public. The statistically significant information will be brought forth. The principals and administration use the surveys as a management tool. It was also suggested that some survey questions confirm that previous data collected was acted upon. These would close the loop with regard to showing the value of school surveys. There is interest to have the teachers at each grade level encourage more feedback from parents and students. It was suggested that the Board consider creative incentives to increase participation in the school surveys.
10. Adjournment
John Chamberlin moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to adjourn at 9:50 PM. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 PM.
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