CORNWALL CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL
Board of Education
September 21, 2016
A meeting of the CCS Board of Education was held on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 4:15 p.m. in the CCS Library. Board members present were Tom Levine, Rachel Matsudaira, Cay Tyson, David Cadwell and Tracy Gray. Irene Hurlburt was absent. Also present were Region One Board representative John Sanders, Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain, Assistant Superintendent Pam Vogel, and Principal Mike Croft. Seven members of the staff and two community members were in the audience.
Ms. Matsudaira made a motion to add two items to the agenda: CABE membership under New Business and Policy Review Committee under Old Business. Motion was seconded by Mr. Cadwell and passed unanimously.
Ms. Gray made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 5, 2016 meeting. Mr. Cadwell seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Written Communications to the Board: Music teacher Alicia Simonetti-Sphur read a letter from the CCS Faculty Association expressing concern about the tone and comments made by Region One board members in a video presented to teachers at the regional back-to-school meeting. A copy of this letter is attached to these minutes and part of the meeting record.
Public Comment on Agenda Items: None.
Parent Teacher Partnership: No report.
Region One: John Sanders read his report, which is attached to these minutes and part of the meeting record. Mr. Sanders pointed out that Bonnie Burdick’s son Tyler and Cornwall’s Beth Dinneen have joined the staff at HVRHS. Mr. Sanders talked about the new system of Personal Learning Portfolios and Student Led Conferences at HVRHS, which will replace the traditional advisor and parent teacher conference format of the past. Mr. Sanders provided details about the fall sports participation at HVRHS. He also pointed out that a video and transcript of the video shown to the teachers at the back-to-school meeting are available on the Region One website.
ABC: Mr. Levine reported that currently there are 38 students in Region One that are English Language Learner (ELL) students, two of which are in Cornwall. As a result of the increase in the number of these students, Mr. Levine said that the Region will look at getting involved in possibly providing programming that would help serve ELL students and support classroom teachers. Ms. Matsudaira asked Mr. Croft if he thought the Cornwall ELL students and their teachers had the support they needed. Mr. Croft said that he thought the combination of the Title One teacher and classroom teachers working together was enough for the students at CCS, particularly because they weren’t dealing with obscure languages.
CCS Building and Grounds Committee: Mr. Hart reported that they had met twice over the summer and once in September. He said that they started the year with $40,950 and have spent most of it already on the insulation project. Mr. Hart said they were looking for a community representative to sit on the committee. Mr. Hart listed all the projects completed in the last year, including the carpeting and asbestos removal over the summer that necessitated using operating funds to pay for it. Mr. Levine and Ms. Matsudaira requested that thank you notes be sent to Ralph Dzenutis, Josh Tyson, Jim Young, Wendy MacFarlane and Northeast Builders supply for all their contributions to recent capital projects.
Board of Finance: No report.
Principal Report: Mr. Croft reported that they had a good, stable list of bus drivers for the year. The soccer coaches this fall are Dan Smith for the boys and Nicky Blass for the girls, and both teams will include students from Falls Village.
Mr. Croft reported on the newly combined K-1-2 class, which is “three rooms, three grades, one class”. He praised Ms. Burdick and Ms. Pramuka for their diligence and creativity in making it all work. He also reported on the LEAPS program, which is for students with developmental disabilities and is now housed at CCS. He welcomed the teachers and program staff: Ashley Bauer, Tracy Bayers, Michelle Decker, Traci Marshall, Michele Patrick, Melissa Perotti, and Ann Smith. Mr. Croft said that the upper grade classes are almost all multi-grade classes, and that there would be no more separate computer classes. Instead, technology use would be integrated into each class subject. Elimination of separate computer classes allowed for an expansion of the Explorations program.
Mr. Croft reported that security updates for the year would be a new visitor sign in procedure, two locked doors at the entry, and that all the doors would get new locks and keys.
Mr. Croft introduced Annie Kosciusko as the new board clerk. He said the position had been increased to 35 hours per week, and that payroll and accounts payable would again be part of the board clerk’s duties. Mr. Croft said that Carol Kesl retired, and her position would not be filled, and possibly eliminated in the 2017-18 budget. Another budget savings will be found in the cost sharing of one of the buses with Region One. A study will be done this fall to see if there could be a reduction to three buses instead of four, and Region One would instead pay for a van to transport some of the LEAPS students. Concern was raised about lengthy bus rides. Ms. Chamberlain pointed out that the limit was one hour, Mr. Croft said that at this time they were well under that, and would certainly keep in in mind if the routes were changed.
Mr. Croft reported that Kathy West’s sabbatical has been approved and it would be cost neutral. He said that Chris Hanley would be on family leave from October 17 to the end of January, and Bridget Taylor, a children’s book illustrator, would be her substitute. Jocelyn Rice will be in the building in a Special Ed capacity, much like Chris Smith had done last year.
Mr. Croft warned that the milk program would be on the agenda for next month, with the focus being the possibility of exiting the federal special milk program. Mr. Croft asked if the board would consider rescinding its informal directive that coaching positions have to be posted externally each year as one year positions. Ms. Chamberlain said that all coaching positions must be posted internally each year, and they must follow CIAC guidelines. Board members voiced approval.
Old Business: Ms. Matsudaira reported that the policy committee lost Ms. Gray as a member, and she requested that the committee resume its work with a new member. Mr. Cadwell was strongly recommended and he graciously accepted. Ms. Chamberlain offered her support to the work on the policies.
New Business: Mr. Croft requested permission to dispose of old or broken tech hardware, most of which was over ten years old, and had been cleaned and stripped of useful parts. The items to be disposed are as follows: six Acer PC’s, nine monitors and keyboards 11-13 years old, three Dell 210 towers, one each 320 and 330 towers and two associated monitors, ten broken Toshiba laptops, five broken Chromebooks, nine 15-inch monitors, and 12 B and G access points.
Ms. Gray suggested contacting the Girl Scouts because they may be interested in recycling them. Mr. Croft said he would look into it.
Ms. Gray made the motion to dispose of the tech hardware items as outlined by Mr. Croft. Ms. Matsudaira seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Croft reported that staff member Sarah Watson requested that her daughter be permitted to remain at CCS despite their planned move out of Cornwall.
Ms. Matsudaira moved to approve the request to allow Ms. Watson's daughter to attend CCS. Mr. Cadwell seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Levine brought up question of the board's membership in CABE. The cost for a yearly membership is $825, and he thought that the cost was too high for what the membership provided. He said the board did get some benefits through the region. Ms. Chamberlain pointed out that to get the full benefits, Cornwall would have to join separately. Several questions were raised for further investigation: Is the $825 the discounted price? Is it a rolling membership or can a school join only during the summer? What members are interested in attending training and will paying the full cost of workshops be less than the membership? Action was postponed until the questions could be answered.
Additional Comments from the Board or public: CCS teacher Jane Hanley spoke about the Region One Board video shown to all staff at the back-to-school meeting. She said she thought the tone of the video caused any explanation or understanding of the Lighthouse Project to be lost. She said that CCS has a great group of teachers that want to do their best and has good direction and leadership under Mr. Croft.
Reports from the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent: Ms. Chamberlain provided a written report for both the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, it is attached to these minutes as part of the record. Ms. Chamberlain outlined some highlights. She said the Region hired 14 new teachers and regional staff members, which was a tremendous amount of work over the summer.
Ms. Chamberlain reported that the state had cut its budget the CEN network in schools. This was to provide a more competitive market as it would allow other internet providers. She said that each school will now have to pay for its bandwith speeds if they choose to stay with CEN. Her report details the potential cost and benefits to remaining with CEN.
Ms. Chamberlain said that the Region One Board is looking at themselves more as leaders, which she believes is a good idea and is looking forward to see what they come up with.
Ms. Vogel highlighted some items in her report. She said that she would be working on the local and state school board policies and updating them. She said that over the summer there was work done on curriculum mapping. She said that Cathy Vatterott would be coming to HVRHS to speak on "Rethinking Grading". Dr. Vatterott will also be doing a presentation to school boards about what she will be presenting to the teachers. She said she would email all the boards with the specific information.
Ms. Matsudaira moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:05 p.m. Mr. Cadwell seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Annie Kosciusko, Board Clerk