DEER ISLE – STONINGTON CSD SCHOOL COMMITTEE

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

April 26, 2005

 

Board Members Present: Walter Kumiega, Jim Adams, Aimee Eaton, Joseph Babbitt,

and Skip Greenlaw at 6:37 p.m.

Board Member Absent: Mike Cormier

Staff Present: Mike Wood, Catherine Ring, Penny Wendell, Anne Douglass, Dennis Rollins and Robert Webster

Citizens & Guests Present: Gregg Eaton and Isaac Kestenbaum

 

1.      Call to Order/Quorum

Chair Kumiega opened the meeting and declared a quorum at 6:33 p.m.

 

2. Moment of Silence

A moment of silence was observed.

 

3. Citizen’s Comments

There were no citizen comments

 

4. Approval of the Agenda

Motion by Eaton, second by Babbitt, to approve the agenda with the addition of an action item on the junior high athletic field improvement proposal. Vote: 4 Yes; 0 No.

 

5. ACTION ITEM

A.    Employment of Special Education Ed. Techs.

Webster recommended employment of Anne Hardie as an educational technician in the high school Life Skills Program at $9.70 per hour for the remainder of the 2004-05 school year. Eaton questioned Wendell about the specific assignments of the ed. techs. in the Life Skills Program. Wendell replied that both ed. techs. would be cross trained to work with all students in the program. Motion by Adams, second by Greenlaw, to approve the employment of Anne Hardie as recommended by the superintendent. Vote: 4 Yes; 1 No (Eaton).

 

Webster recommended employment of Melissa Raftery as an educational technician in the high school Life Skills Program at $9.70 per hour for the remainder of the 2004-05 school year. Motion by Greenlaw, second by Adams, to approve the employment of Melissa Raftery as recommended by the superintendent. Vote: 4 Yes; 1 No (Eaton).

 

               B. Commendations for Chess and Odyssey of the Mind Teams

Motion by Greenlaw, second by Eaton, to commend the K-6 and K-3 chess teams and the Odyssey of the Mind team for winning state championships. Vote: 5 yes; 0 no. Kumiega remarked on the outstanding effort and behavior that the chess teams displayed at the national chess tournament in Nashville, TN. Webster will write letters to team members congratulating them on their success.

 

 

 

 

               C. Junior High Athletic Field Improvement Proposal

Junior high school baseball coach Dennis Rollins presented a proposal to the school committee to upgrade the boys baseball field behind DISES. The school committee asked Rollins to get quotes from other island contractors who could do the work within the quick timeframe needed and present those to the school committee at the May meeting. Rollins agreed to follow up on the school committee’s requirement. No action was taken on the matter.

 

                       Prior to entering executive session, Mike Wood and Anne Douglass presented a specific plan for technology purchases in the 2005-06 school year. The primary features were upgrading the high school’s wiring infrastructure, purchasing a robust server to meet current and future needs and purchasing replacement computers for twelve business education lab computers. The replaced machines and the existing COW laptops will be used to establish a computer lab with enough computers so that teachers can take an entire class to the new lab. The school committee asked questions about the proposal and was supportive of the plan as presented.

 

6. Executive Session

Motion by Greenlaw, second by Babbitt, to enter executive session at 7:37 p.m. for review of probationary teacher evaluations pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(F). Vote: 5 Yes; 0 No. Eaton, Babbitt, Kumiega, Greenlaw, Adams, Ring and Webster participated in the executive session. The school committee returned to regular session at 8:08 p.m.

 

7. DISCUSSION ITEM

A. 2005-06 School Budget Draft #3

        Webster distributed copies of the third draft of the budget proposal. After the announcement of new health insurance rates by BC/BS-Anthem, he was able to cut additional funds from the health insurance accounts. Other cuts were made in support personnel wages and benefits due to the employment of entry level ed. techs. who replace more experienced personnel higher up on the wage scale. An additional $20,000 was cut from the budget creating an increase of 2.88%. The school committee was satisfied with Draft #3. Greenlaw asked that the Improvement of Instruction tuition accounts and the amount budgeted for the replacement of the Marine Trades building roof be reviewed again at the May meeting. Eaton departed at approximately 8:15 p.m.

 

        There was additional discussion about topics for the April 30^th School Board retreat.

        Webster distributed a CSD 13 enrollment history and projection and drafts of proposed school district mission and vision statements.

 

8. Adjournment

Motion by Greenlaw, second by Babbitt, to adjourn the meeting at 8:37 p.m. Vote: 4 yes; 0 no.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

___________________________________

Superintendent of Schools