Meeting Date:	1/31/06
Minutes Submitted On:	2/3/06
Board Attendees:	Ellen Pratt (EP), Anne Fines (AF), Peter May (PM), Rebecca Coffey (RC)
Administration Attendees:	Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:	The PCS teaching staff as well as interns working at PCS.

Location:	PCS Writing Room
Meeting called to order at:	3:50
Meeting called to order by:	PM
Finish time:	5:35

NOTE: These minutes should be considered a draft that awaits approval and possibly amendment by the board at its next scheduled meeting.
AGENDA TOPIC	MOTION	MOVED BY	SECONDED BY	DISCUSSION	PASSED?
The special meeting was called for an open (and open-ended) discussion between the faculty and the board. The discussion included: The suggestion of an endowment fund for the school so that people could leave money to PCS. PM volunteered to discuss this with principals at schools in Vermont and New Hampshire. There are legal implications regarding Act 130 funding . The board gave the staff an update on plans for language instruction at the school. PM asked the teachers for input on allocation of funds. Ideas: --With small classroom budgets it’s impossible to replace noninstructional equipment like white boards and desks. AS said that there is a little money in next year’s budget for such items. The board asked the teachers to put together a list of things in need of immediate replacement so that, in the event of a budget surplus, the board can consider funding them before the fiscal year ends at the end of June. --The variations in temperature in the old wing of the school are significant in the winter. Can funds be expended on fixing the heating system? The board explained that they are planning to commission a study of the heating systems. Such a study may be funded if the board has a surplus at the end of the fiscal year. --Funding field trips. It is very difficult to get volunteer drivers and it is probably not the best use of teachers’ time to spend hours on the phone coordinating the volunteers. Parents work. Also some parents can’t afford the level of car insurance required to transport students. Transportation is a special problem in younger grades because children can’t sit in the front seat of cars and have to use car seats. Can more money be allocated for field trips especially for lower schools? Busses are on average $200-300 for local field trips. AS responded that Heather Chaffee is the new PCS volunteer coordinator and she is going to help coordinate field trips, though her help may not solve the problem entirely. AS said that teachers got a survey at the beginning of the year about how they would use volunteers. Very few got returned. She will distribute the survey again. --Classrooms and students need more computers and training on computers. 7/8 grade has been actively recruiting Westminster students. According to teachers that has worked out pretty well; by and large the students have been a nice addition to the classes. A question was raised about guidelines for admitting students. Currently it is “good standing,” which is part of the statutory criteria. It is possible that a student meeting the “good standing” criterion could still come with emotional or behavioral disabilities that would stretch available resources. The board asked the middle school team to give them some ideas on what kind of criteria they would like incorporated into the policy for admission of nonresident students. Teachers asked about future plans for kindergarten. Jan Blanchard (k teacher) reported that full day kindergarten went well this year because the class was small (13) and the children were relatively old for the class. (About 1/3 of them turned 6 by the end of October.) She and other teachers asked whether the board still supports the idea of keeping full day kindergarten class size small (16 students or under, which is in lines with “best practice” guidelines). The board said that it was. The board thanked Jan for the high quality of the current program. Caller about a new student to the area asked specifically about full day program.
AS reported that both the Chinese teacher and music teacher at PCS have invited community adults to participate in their classes. Community members wanting more information should contact AS at the school.
New Business
Parent request for daughter to ride the school bus from BUHS to PCS in the afternoons	Motion to approve parent request	AF	RC		Unanimous
Warning articles for March 7, 2006 Town Meeting	Move to approve with addition of authorization of a transportation article for a 5-year period.	PM	RC		Unanimous
Communication	The board approved a draft of a letter written by PM on behalf of the board in support of a community member receiving an award.
Upcoming Meetings	NEED TO BE SCHEDULED: § Review of transportation bids § AS report on priority operational goals for EEOC Amelia Struthers First Meeting in February 9 § Meeting minutes of three previous meetings. § Planning for Town Meeting § Review of AS’s modifications of the 360-degree Principal Performance Evaluation survey Second Meeting in February § Superintendent meets with Board and Administrator in Executive Session to provide Progress Report to Board with respect to Administrator’s progress against Administrator’s professional goals for the current year. Purpose is to provide constructive feedback on Administrator’s performance and identify critical issues, if any, that may impact any contract renewal notice dates. Executive Session may be held with Superintendent at Board’s request. § Discussion of 4-Day Week § Planning for Town Meeting § Presentation from RS on progress to-date on Brattleboro Town Schools Foreign Language Program Second March Meeting § Consideration of Head Start contract for 2006-2007 § Discussion of language instruction.

Respectfully submitted by: Rebecca Coffey

This represents my understanding of this meeting. If you have any changes, please submit them at the next board meeting.