FRANKLIN NORTHWEST SUPERVISORY UNION BOARD (FNWSU)
MEETING MINUTES
MVU SCHOOL LIBRARY
August 10, 2016
6:00 PM
Present: SU Board members: Jason McConnell, (Sheldon) FNWSU Board Chairperson, Connie Beyor (Highgate), Vice Chairperson, Denis Boucher (MVU), Tim Magnant (Franklin), Julia Callan (Sheldon), John Creelman, Board Clerk (Swanton) Nola Gilbert (Highgate), Gregg Gervais (MVU) Absent from the meeting Tobias Maguire (Swanton)< Jay Cummings, (Swanton), Travis Perry, (Sheldon), Bob Berger, (Franklin), Chris Shepard (Highgate), Bob Irish (MVU), Thomas Gates (Franklin),
Others present: Winton Goodrich, Superintendent; Becky Hart, Business Manager, Lora McAllister, Assistant Business Manager, Jay Denault, Jim Jewett, Steve Beyor and Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary.
AGENDA:
Call Meeting to Order-Jason McConnell called the meeting to order at 6:35pm.
Public Comments and Correspondence: Jay Denault presented a packet of documents that he left with the board. He provided the board with an overview of twenty documents. The following is a short summary of his presentation: Jay noted that on April 10, 2012, he found a statement of support on behalf of the members of the Vermont Superintendents’ Association for consolidation legislation.
He believes Act 46 violates federal law by “Intimidation of Voters”, U.S. Code 52b “Prohibited Acts” and The Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a result, he filed a formal “Criminal Complaint on February 22, 2016 with the U.S. Department of Justice. He referred to Document 5 that “municipalities and local officials may not surrender any of its legislative and governmental functions and powers.” He interpreted this to mean that a board may not delegate its authority or duties granted by statute to another public body. He stated further that Act 46 includes language requiring a 706b study participating district to surrender its ability to vote on and accept the final merger report. He included in Document 6 a copy of the petition submitted by registered voters of Franklin on March 9th, 2016 and in Document 7 is a letter of notification sent by certified mail to legislators more accurately defining the details of the conflict in law. He explained as a point of order, that the citizens of Franklin who signed the petition have not been informed on the disposition of the petition. Further documents indicate his objection to the “lack of process” used to hire Terry O’Shea, and applying for a State Grant with possible “strings attached” to pursue completing the Levenson DMC Study as a convincing argument in not creating a merger. In documents 11-18, he provided information indicating that Levenson has an ongoing relationship with the Vermont Agency of Education. In Document 19, he provided more information regarding the perceived mismanagement of Levenson to implement his educational leadership principles which mirror Act 46. In Document 20, he refers to an appropriation by the State Legislature to provide consulting services to unified school districts in the amount of $250,000. He closed his remarks by recommending that Superintendent Goodrich step down.
Approval of Prior Board Meeting Minutes
Tim Magnant moved, seconded by Denis Boucher, to approve the April 6th and May 4th Supervisory Union board minutes as presented. The Board approved the motion 8-0 vote.
Superintendent’s Report-
Act 46 Independent Study: Win Goodrich explained that Terry O’Shea, the candidate for the Act 46 Independent Study Committee consultant, was not able to attend the board meeting. Win was hoping to have the board meet her and ask questions to determine whether or not she will be a good fit to facilitate the Act 46 Independent Study for the FNWSU. The purpose of the Independent Study is to:
· Research how the FNWSU might best meet the goals of Act 46;
· Consider an alternative structure but keep an open mind that the data might show some benefit for merging all boards together.
The schools/SU have to attest to the State Board of Education in the fall of 2017 that the proposed governance structure meets the Act 46 goals below:
1. Provide substantial equity in the quality and variety of educational opportunities statewide;
2. Lead students to achieve or exceed the State’s Education Quality Standards, adopted as rules by the State Board of Education at the direction of the General Assembly;
3. Maximize operational efficiencies through increased flexibility to manage, share, and transfer resources, with a goal of increasing the district-level ratio of students to full-time equivalent staff;
4. Promote transparency and accountability; and
5. Are delivered at a cost that parents, voters, and taxpayers value.
The scope of the study will cover:
· The pros and cons of merging school boards;
· Measure effectiveness of the current system;
· Rationale for not merging boards;
· Benefits or challenges with moving forward with the District Management Council, otherwise known as the Levenson Study;
· What else can be done to achieve Act 46 goals;
· What was done to explore options;
o With whom? When and for how long? Did discussions occur in open, warned meetings? Keep minutes of proceedings
· Timeline;
· Funding options; and
· Other
Win looked into the $10,000 Act 46 grant to obtain funding but AOE does not feel that the Independent Study meets the criteria. Connie Beyor suggested the Study explore the role that a school plays in each community and the community role in the school.
The Act 46 Committee members are Bob Berger, Chairperson, Tobias Maguire, Bob Irish, Connie Beyor, and Jason McConnell. Jason McConnell suggested that it is an open meeting and board members can attend the Act 46 board committee meeting on August 24th at 6pm in the MVU Library. Win will invite Terri O’Shea to attend the SU Board meeting on September 7th. The SU Board will decide whether to employ Terri O’Shea and make final recommendations on the scope of the Independent Study at that meeting. Win explained that Terri has done a lot of work such as heading up the United Way Campaign and The Little Red School House at MVU. The superintendent and Central Office staff will do much of the work in researching information needed for the Independent Study and may need to seek outside financial analysis assistance.
DMC School Efficiency Audit: Win explained the District Management Council (DMC) completed studies in Franklin West SU and Chittenden South SU, and is currently working with the Rutland City School District. The legislature has appropriated funding of $25,000 to offset the cost of the $50,000 study. The District Management Council study will make recommendations for research based best practices along with increasing efficiencies to save costs. With the Special Education component, it looks at providing support for students with licensed Special Educators and reducing the number of paraprofessionals. Franklin West SU can save up to $600,000 by reducing some of their paraprofessionals. Increasing the group sizes for students receiving services from each Speech Language Pathologist could reduce the number of professionals needed across the SU. Recommends each school district keeping a watchful eye on class sizes from 15 to 18 students could reduce the number of teachers employed. Win recommended that the board members go to the Franklin West SU website to view their DMC report. Connie asked if after implementing these recommendations did Franklin West have a good outcome? Win’s goal for considering whether to convene a DMC study is to be in a good position to apply for the AOE grant. Jason McConnell expressed concern that the quality of schools may suffer with all of the cutting outlined in the Franklin West DMC study and Levenson’s book. He would prefer to do a school board and administrator study using this book as guidance. Steve Beyor, legislator, thinks that there will be changes made to Act 46 in the next session. The SU Board will decide in Sept. whether to convene a Levenson book study and if the board wants to include some of the Levenson research principles within the Act 46 Independent Study.
SU Collaborative Board Meeting: Win proposed hosting the first collaborative board meeting in October with a modified structure. They would have a Supervisory Union Board meeting at 6pm-discuss the budget process. Then the local boards would meet at 7pm. Members of the SU board suggested keeping a light and tight agenda and move at a quicker pace. Suggestions: have a board chair pre-meeting, ensure local board quorums, collaborative meeting discussion and timed agendas. The next SU board meeting will be on Sept. 7th at the Sheldon Elem. School and the Collaborative board will meet on October 5th at Swanton Central.
Contracts: Win presented the board with professional contracts for Jayne Albano, Julie Roughgarden and Allison Narkewicz. Denis Boucher moved, seconded by Gregg Gervais to authorize the board chair to sign the contracts as presented. 8-0 vote
Future Meeting Dates
● FNWSU Board Meeting – Sept 7, 2016 at 6:30pm at Sheldon School
● FNWSU Act 46 Committee Meeting- August 24th at 6:00pm at the MVU Library
Executive Session and Adjournment:
Tim Magnant moved, seconded by Connie Beyor to enter executive session at 8:16pm for negotiations and contract. The board approved the motion 8-0 vote.
The board exited executive session at 9:28pm. The board chair declared the meeting adjourned at 9:30pm.
Respectfully submitted:
John Creelman, Board Clerk
Submitted by Pierrette Bouchard, School Board Secretary