Meeting Date:	2/9/06
Minutes Submitted On:	02/13/06
Board Attendees:	Ellen Pratt (EP), Anne Fines (AF), Virginia Scholl (VS), Peter May (PM), Rebecca Coffey (RC)
Administration Attendees:	Ron Stahley (RS), Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:	Benji Cragin

Location:	PCS Writing Room
Meeting called to order at:	5:12 pm
Meeting called to order by:	PM
Finish time:	7:00 pm

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?
Prior Meeting’s Minutes. Approval of Minutes – January 12 (regular meeting), January 31 (special meeting)	Move to approve as amended	PM	VS	Amendment: On page 4 of the January 12 meeting minutes, “American Friends Service” should be replaced with “American Field Service”	Unanimous
Communications	Communication from a parent to AS, copied to the board, regarding a need for better organization of 7/8 grade after school sports Communication from a community member asking the board to consider possible cost savings of moving the middle school to BAMS. The board took up the discussion and asked RS for experience of other WSESU towns. RS reported that Guilford examined the question regarding their 44 students. He said that even after they laid off middle school staff, sending students to BAMS would cost them an additional $100,000. Guilford. For 44 students it would cost them more than an extra $100,000 to do that. RS said that, on a cost basis, such a move only starts to make sense when you have a middle school population of about 30. PCS has a middle school population of about 47 students (exclusive of the students tuitioned in from Westminster). Were we to close our middle school we would have a negative budgetary impact comparable to the one projected by Guilford. In addition, we would lose the tuitions that we are currently collecting from Westminster students. Communication from a parent thanking RC for her service to the board and suggesting that trasportation money could be saved if studnes waiting for the bus at Town Hall walked to school. One of the ski instructors today at Ascutney said to a board member/parent who was chaperoning. “What is it that’s going on in Putney? They’re great kids – the best” PCS is currently participating in a mentorship program between a pedagogy/practice class at Landmark and 7/8 grade PCS students. The Landmark students have expressed admiration for Lynne Borofsky’s work with students.
Committee Reports: WSESU Negotiations	In Executive Session. Move to enter at 7:02. Seconded by PM. Passed unanimously.
Warrants. Approve/Ratify Warrants:	Move to approve/ratify Warrants: Warrant No. 1058 (fast) in the amount of $35,453.32 Warrant No. 1059 (fast) in the amount of $643.40 Warrant No. 1060 (reg) in the amount of $13,576.38	VS	PM		Passed
Administrators’ Reports	AS: On 2/9, while students participated in the Winter Sports Program, PCS teachers had an in-service program with Ron Reuben, affiliated with VT Dept of Education and with UVM. He talked with teachers about core values, school climate issues, harassment issues, etc. In preparation for the meeting teachers were given a piece to read called “The Circle of Courage,” about four core values (belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity). The article was about these values at the heart of Lakota Indian culture. The discussion was about those values as they relate to elementary school education. All of the licensed teachers and the nurse and school counselor participated. Today was supposed to have been our last Winter Sports day. Nancy Gagnon did a phenomenal job organizing the program. Benji Cragin has done yeoman’s service riding the bus with the kids. There is a chance of doing one more day in early March. Will there be enough parents to chaperone? Will the weather cooperate? Will too much momentum have been lost? What would teachers prefer? Ascutney is available that week, but is Grafton? AS will continue this conversation with Nancy Gagnon and other parent volunteers. The board asked AS to make the decision after those conversations and just inform them at the next board meeting. AS met with the regional manager from Café Services to go over the financials. Things are looking very good. Participation is high. The cook is wonderful to work with. Adult meal sales have been much higher than they anticipated. A la carte and vending machine sales are down, but that may mean that kids are eating the planned meals. The board asked AS to schedule a meeting with the cook to express our pleasure with the services and to ask how we can make further improvements in the program. Early Ed Advisory Council met last week with Amelia Struthers, the new EEOC coordinator, who works with Putney Family Services in programs that they provide for children. She has been doing some web research on early education and what is being done on the state level. She has met with Janice Stockman of the Head Start Collaborative Office, Jan Blanchard of PCS, and Holly Tippett of EES. She helps out with various pre-school activities and programs in the community. She will speak with Cami Elliot-Knaggs, the prior EEOC, about a preschool fair. She is locating kids, finding who needs programs and services, and referring to programs. She will also attend monthly meetings of the Early Childhood Council of Windham County. She is interested in getting licensed in preschool education. There was a middle school open house on Tuesday night. Only two families came. RC offered to make a movie about the middle school program, which PCS could use to promote its program to potential students from other towns. RS: RS distributed the WSESU Annual Report 2005-2006. It shows that PCS spends less than most other WSESU towns per equalized pupil. BUHS annual budget approval meeting is this Tuesday (Feb 14) at 7 in the high school gym. The next WSESU board meeting is March 13 from 5 – 8pm, probably in Vernon.
New Business
Review of Principal’s Modifications of the 360º Principal Performance Evaluation Survey	AS passed out the 360-degree feedback distributed last year. Last year’s survey didn’t quite make sense for parents. From last year’s survey she would continue 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.7, 1.9, and 1.11. She would continue 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, and 2.7 and would change the language of 2.5 to “Has earned the respect of staff, students and families.” She would continue all of the 3.x measures. She would continue 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4, deleting “resources” from 4.4. The board suggested that AS add back 1.3 but also modify it so that it says “collaborates with appropriate staff, parents, and community members in decision making” and to add back 1.5. The board also suggests that 1.8 be reinstated. 3.3 will be changed to “Has positive relations with students and families.” AS will print out the entire survey in smaller typeface and copy it on two sides of one piece of paper. Teachers and board members will get the same survey that was distributed last year.
Early Childhood Grant Possibility	EP: The Early Childhood Council of Windham County (ECCWC) has received an RFP from the Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative regarding potential help in making preschool programs eligible for state ADM money. EP believes that there is interest in applying for a “bridge grant” if there are schools that want to participate. If PCS were to participate in applying for the bridge grant (and if the Early Childhood Council of Windham County received the grant) PCS could support efforts in the preschool programs to meet the criteria that would allow the school/community to draw down ADM money. Deb Gas from EES talked to the Early Education Outreach Committee (EEOC) last week. PCS has already met 5 of the 8 criteria. We still really need local caregivers to want to participate. EP and AF are calling childcare programs in Putney to determine their level of interest. The application needs to be submitted to VCPC by March 1 so ECCWC needs to hear from PCS about its interest as soon as possible. EP recommends that, if local providers are interested in participating, PCS indicate its interest to ECCWC as soon as possible. The board did not see many risks in encouraging the EEOC to explore this further. However, according to RS, the legislature is considering a bill on this issue and the state Board of Ed is discussing this issue, both with a “lot of heat.” Some feel that preschool ADM money should only be used for at-risk children. There are no risks in RS’s opinion to us pursuing this. It could just be that eventually the legislation restructures the use of ADM money gleaned from preschool populations and PCS loses a source of revenue that it had come to rely on. Subject to EP and AF finding one or more providers in Putney interesting in working with PCS on this, the board asked EP to pursue this and indicated its willingness to participate. EP made clear that, in our agreement to participate, the board is agreeing to use ADM money to support early care and education and not, for example, to support the general fund. EP made clear that the board’s decision to support the bridge grant application has no implications on the Head Start agreement and the HS program’s approach to non-Head Start eligible children.

Senior Walkers	Have met Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:30 to 9 am and walked in the gym. 8 sessions so far. Average of 4 people attending. They stay for breakfast some times. It makes a huge difference to have an inside walking opportunity for people who, for health reasons, cannot walk outside in the Winter. The seniors have toured the Head Start program and toured the library. Some have stayed for a bit of all school sing Thanks to AS for encouraging the senior walking program.
Board Clerk	The current board clerk is retiring from the board. The new board will elect a new board clerk at its first meeting. However, the board realizes it is improbable that any new board clerk will take board meeting minutes in the style that the board has supported for the last three years. The board would like to hear from volunteers in the community who might want to help the board with its meeting minutes.
Town Meeting	Café Services on behalf of PCS will be offering lunch for sale at Town Meeting. Ken Brautigan has volunteered once again to provide free child care during the school portion of the meeting (the afternoon). Parents interested should call the school office at 387-5521 and reserve a spot for their children.
Upcoming Meetings	NEED TO BE SCHEDULED: § Review of transportation bids March 2, 2006. 7:00 in Writing Room. § Approval of minutes of February 9 and January 17 (special meeting) § 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. § Planning for Town Meeting § Approval (if necessary) of Bridge Grant submitted to VCPC March 9, 2006. (Ellen Pratt will miss the meeting.) § Election of board officers § Consideration of Head Start contract for 2006-2007. March 23, 2006 § Discussion of 4-Day Week § Follow-up items from meeting with staff, including the possibility of a PCS endowment April 13, 2006 § Presentation from RS on progress to-date on Brattleboro Town Schools Foreign Language Program

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.