DEERFIELD SCHOOL BOARD

DEERFIELD COMMUNITY SCHOOL

DEERFIELD, NEW HAMPSHIRE

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011 6:00 P.M.

Members:

Members present: Chair, Don Gorman, Gregg Williams, Peter Menard, Maryann Clark, Kevin Barry, Superintendent Dr. Jack Billings, Assist. Supt. of Curriculum, Helene Bickford, Paul Yergeau, Kandy Davitt, Members of the Public.

Public Hearing:

1. Call to Order – Mr. Gorman, Chair

Chairman, Mr. Gorman opened the public meeting at 6:00pm regarding House Bill Chap 224 Laws of 2011 regarding the return of monies to the Deerfield School District.

2. Immediate Business

A.  Unanticipated Revenue Discussion – Mr. Gorman, Dr. Billings

B. 

The purpose of the public hearing was to inform citizens that the school board would be returning $6,433.87 dollars to the town and to allow public discussion regarding the return of the funds.

Mr. Barry informed the members of the board that the new tax bills were sent out and due to the diligence of both boards (Board of Selectmen and the DCS School Board) the amount per thousand was $1.51 decrease.

B. Citizens’ Comments

None were made.

3. Close of Meeting

The Public Hearing was adjourned at 6:07.

November 2, 2011 School Board Meeting

1. Call to Order – Mr. Gorman, Chair

The Chair, Mr. Gorman called the November 2, 2011 school board meeting to order at 6:07 pm.

2. Pledge of Allegiance – Mr. Gorman

Mr. Gorman, led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Minutes of Previous Meeting – October 5, 2011 and October 19, 2011

A motion was made by Kevin Barry to approve the minutes of October 5, 2011 as written, seconded by Maryann Clark.

A motion was made by Kevin Barry to approve the minutes of October 5, 2011 as corrected, seconded by Maryann Clark.

ALL IN FAVOR

MOTION CARRIED

A motion was made by Kevin Barry to approve the minutes of October 19, 2011 as written, seconded by Maryann Clark.

ALL IN FAVOR

MOTION CARRIED

(Mr. Barry Abstained)

4. Immediate Business

A. Citizens’ Comments

Mr. Jack Wedemeyer, the owner of “Jack’s Driving School” which instructs students in the Deerfield area presented to Mr. Yergeau a check in the amount of $500 to be used for educational purposes.

Mr. Yergeau and the members of the board thanked Mr. Wedemeyer for his donation.

B. Agenda Review

Mrs. Maryann Clark asked that time be given to go into Non-pubic session.

Added to the agenda under Old Business-MBC discussion

Added to the agenda under New Business-River of Oyster River High school visit.

C. Administrators Report – Mr. Yergeau

Mr. Yergeau informed the members of the board the following:

DCS was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award for Volunteerism. Mr. Chouinard and members of the PTO attended the Blue Ribbon breakfast.

The Deerfield Boys’ and Girls’ Cross-Country Team won the NH State Championship for Small School’s. The boys and girls cross-country team also won the Pumpkin X-Country meet.

The DCS boys came in 2nd in the Southeast Soccer Championship.

The recent snow event had little impact on the school day. The NH Co-op had electricity

supplied to the school as early as Monday morning so the generator was only in use until early Monday morning.

The board requested that on their behalf a letter be sent to the Jack Wedemeyer for his gift.

D. Adoption of Curricula – Science, Art, Library Media, ELA-Writing

Maryann Clark moved that the board post-pone their vote on accepting the Science, Art, Library Media, and ELA-Writing until the next board meeting, seconded by Kevin Barry.

All In Favor

Motion Carried

5. Old Business

A. Concord High School – Mr. Gorman

No Report

B. Oyster River

Mr. Gorman noted that he, Dr. Billings and Maryann Clark toured the Oyster River facility and discussed generalities with the Principal.

Currently, the towns of Durham, Madbury, and Barrington send their students there.

Mr. Gorman, informed the members that the Principal is very interested in continuing the discussion regarding having Deerfield send their students to Oyster River. It was

Also brought forward in the discussion that Oyster River does not have an “in-house”

Vocational Center but sends students to Exeter. Current enrollment at Oyster River is 883 students and tuition to Oyster River is a flat rate of $12,500.

The board asked Dr. Billings to contact the headmaster of Coe Brown for further discussions and for now the board is gathering information. The board discussed establishing a “Viability Committee”.

6. New Business

A. 2011-12 Budget Update/Adjustments – Dr. Billings

Dr. Billings informed the members of the board that the bill for the septic system has been paid in full using the monies from the trust fund.

Dr. Billings noted that the Deerfield Community School as of today’s meeting has a surplus of $199,270.

B. Appointments and Resignations – Dr. Billings

None reported.

C. Video Policy Review –Dr. Billings

This was the first reading of the Video Policy and the board will approve the policy at their next meeting.

D. MBC Report

Mrs. Clark informed the members of the board that the MBC received the Cost Analysis Report. The members of the MBC would like to review Special Ed. Costs, the number

of students receiving services outside of the district, the breakdown of IEP’s and 504’s.

The next MBC meeting will be November 29th.

Dr. Billings stated that he discussed with Patti Sherman, Assistant Supt. of Special Ed. Services about having an internal audit of Deerfield Special Ed. Services. Dr. Billings noted that this would help the school determine if the number of special ed. students in the district is an anomaly or are there procedures that the Deerfield Community School might be doing or not doing during the special ed. Process.

A motion was made by Gregg Williams to have the SAU take the directive to complete

an internal audit of the Deerfield Special Ed. Program, seconded by Maryann Clark.

All in Favor

Motion Carried

7. Informational Items

A. Citizens’/Staff Comments

Mr. Barry noted that November 3rd, there will be a SAU Board meeting held at Allenstown Elementary library to review the SAU budget and November 17th there will be a Public Hearing at 5:30 pm in Pembroke Academy library.

8. Citizens’ Comments

None were made.

9. Non-Public Session -NH RSA 91-A:3, II., (none anticipated)

A motion was made by Don Gorman to go into non-public at 7:25 according to NH RSA 91-A:3, II C, seconded by Gregg Williams.

Roll Call Vote required/recorded:

Yea / Nay
Don Gorman / Yes
Kevin Barry / Yes
Maryann Clark / Yes
Gregg Williams / Yes
Peter Menard / Yes

All in Favor

Motion Carried

A motion was made by Don Gorman at 8:00 pm to come out of non-public, seconded by Gregg Williams.

Roll Call Vote required/recorded:

Yea / Nay
Don Gorman / Yea
Kevin Barry / Yea
Maryann Clark / Yea
Gregg Williams / Yea
Peter Menard / Yea

All in Favor

Motion Carried

Chairman, Mr. Gorman noted no decisions had been made in non-public

10. Adjournment

A motion was made by Kevin Barry to adjourn the November 2, 2011 school board meeting at 8:00 pm, seconded by Maryann Clark.

All in Favor

Motion Carried

Next Scheduled Meeting: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 6:00 P.M. Deerfield Community School

The Board may enter a non-public session during this meeting pursuant to a motion properly

made and seconded in accord with #NH RSA 91-A:3, II., a, b, c, d, e, i, or j.