Meeting Date:	3/17/05
Minutes Submitted On:	3/18/05
Board Attendees:	Peter May, (PM), Ellen Pratt (EP), Anne Fines (AF), Virginia Scholl (VS), Rebecca Coffey (RC)
Administration Attendees:	Ron Stahley (RS), Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:	Laura Casey, Nancy Mackler, Angela Walton, Jan Blanchard, Frances Holland, Meredith Wade, Mariah Brown-Tirrell, Holly Hammond, Jim Heal, Maureen Ward, Judith Cleveland, Tony Coven

Location:	PCS Writing Room
Meeting called to order at:	4:38
Meeting called to order by:	RS
Finish time:	7:53

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	Approve minutes of February 17 (regular) and February 28 (special)	PM		EP				Passed
Nomination/Election of Chair	Nominate Peter May as board chair		VS		AF		Passed
Nomination/Election of Vice Chair	Nominate Virginia Scholl		AF		RC		Passed
Nomination/Election of Clerk	Nominate Rebecca Coffey		VS		PF		Passed
Nomination/Election of WSESU Board members (3)	Nominate Peter May, Ellen Pratt, Virginia Scholl		PM		AF		Passed
Nomination/Election of members of the WSESU Teacher Negotiations Committee.	Nominate Scott Henry (committee member) and Peter May for WSESU Teacher Negotiations Committee		VS		AF	They will serve as each others’ alternates.	Passed
Meeting Schedule	Move that we meet on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at 4:30 in the Writing Room		PM		VS		Passed
New Committees	None needed. Current School Forest Committee and Early Education Outreach Advisory Committee will continue.
Communications	The Dept of Ed site now has listed both the lower school and the middle school scores for the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment System. Our students scored as displayed on the handout (distributed and now in the school board binder in the school office). Nominations for Teacher of the Year forms came.
Committee Reports: School Forest	Tabled.
Executive Session: Superintendent Review and Personnel Matter	Move to enter Executive Session. (Entered at 4:50. Exited at 5:48)		PM		VS		Passed
Full-Day Kindergarten	This portion of the meeting drew quite a few community attendees. AS said that she would like to get an idea from the board about the extent of its commitment to full-day kindergarten and small class sizes. The formula worked out in a previous meeting was that, if enrollment were 16 or under, for academic year 2005-2006 there would be one full-day kindergarten. If enrollment were higher, there would be two half day sessions. The board acknowledged the fact that the ironic and inadvertent result of such a formula might be that PCS could offer full-day kindergarten until the demand for it became really obvious, at which point it would have to rescind its offer full-day kindergarten. The board and attending community members embarked on a discussion of the value of full-day kindergarten and the value of small class sizes. Some of the community members present at the discussion had been members of the committee that worked with AS to examine the question of kindergarten structure. According to the committee members, “best practice” research suggests that classes should not be larger than 16. The survey that the committee conducted in order to get a sense of Putney needs indicated that full-day kindergarten was wanted by more families than any other structure (half day or extended day). However, the most pressing concern of Putney families was to maintain small class sizes. Present at the discussion were Laura Casey, currently a 1^st grade teacher at Academy, and Frances Holland, currently a kindergarten teacher at Academy. Both strongly urged the board not to let class sizes exceed 16 students in a full day kindergarten. Parents and one day-care provider attending urged the board to have a consistent structure year-to-year and to let parents know well in advance of July of this year what that consistent structure would be. Support for full-day kindergarten was very strong among community attendees, as was support for keeping class size under 16. One community member urged the board to consider the option of extended day kindergarten with transportation and possible for-pay, on-site after-care provided. RC had forwarded to board members by email prior to the board meeting copies of two Brattleboro Reformer articles about the pressing emotional needs that young students are now bringing to the classroom. These articles give weight to the idea that, these days, larger classes may be more of an impediment to learning that they were even five or ten years ago. (The articles are now in the board binder in the school office.) The board discussed the possibility of moving to two full day kindergartens should enrollment for 2005-2006 top 16. While revenue from tuitioned students is never a certainty until the school year begins, PCS will likely see a surge in the number of tuitioned students in the middle school. That revenue plus the money set aside in the FY 06 budget for a teacher buy-out might fully fund a second kindergarten teacher. (No teacher opted to take the early buy-out offer.) In the event that tuition revenue is as strong as it now looks like it might be, the board might continue with its plan to close a classroom in the third/fourth grade cluster while opening a second kindergarten classroom. Rather than lay off a teacher, AS might reassign teachers in the lower school to best match experience/abilities with grade clusters. AS said that the RIF (reduction in force notice) can go out as late as June. AS also said that the board should know from the WSESU by April who the RIFed person would be.
	At this point the board began discussing other items and all community members attending the meeting to participate in the kindergarten discussion left. However, at the end of the meeting, the school board took up the discussion again. The school board expressed its support for the idea of using additional tuitioned student revenues to commit to a full-day kindergarten for next year. It will move on this matter at the March 24 meeting. Community members who would like to give input on this matter before the board moves, should write the board or plan on attending the March 24 meeting. AS has already had one inquiry from a family seeking to tuition their kindergarten student to PCS should PCS offer a full-day kindergarten in 2005-2006. AS will find out from Jim Kane, Business Manager of WSESU, what tuition we would need to charge for out-of-district students attending full-day kindergarten.
Food Service Contract	Tabled until 3/24.
Food Service Prices	Tabled until 3/24.
Putney Rec League: Snack Shack	Brattleboro Rotary Club has given PCS a grant of about $2,000 to support athletic programs in Putney. PCS chose to work with the Putney Rec League on this. The Rec League is recommending the construction of a “Snack Shack” on the PCS baseball diamond. The shack would provide storage for athletic gear and would function as a concession stand. The Rec League has raised an additional $1200 through a 50/50 raffle. They had a public meeting with artisans and members of the community for ideas concerning the Snack Shack and saw an immense outpouring of support. A builder named Mike Begayani (new to the area) has volunteered to build a timber frame Snack Shack and has provided the Rec League with exquisite drawings. While the primary user of the Snack Shack would probably be the Rec League, the Snack Shack would be a community asset, available for use by the school and other community organizations and events like the town picnic. Revenues from food sales at the Snack Shack would benefit the organization using it at the time. The Rec League has done an extraordinary job of project development regarding the Snack Shack. Only a few matters need to be ironed out. The board would like the Snack Shack to be administered by the Rec League so that it does not add to the administrative burden of the school. The location needs to be agreed upon. Possibilities are (1) behind home plate) and (2) where the water fountain is. The second of these might be preferable because there is a water pipe and an electric drop there. The Snack Shack will depend on school water and electricity. Some sort of billing arrangement must be worked out between the Rec League and PCS. Because heavy equipment will be needed to dig a foundation, the Rec League and the board must coordinate timing. AS pointed out that in summer the school will still be used by children. However, not as many will occupy the school then, so summer seems the best time for heavy equipment. The school and Rec League need to work out the details of access and a tie-in for grey water. AS told the Rec League that an account has been set up for the Snack Shack through the WSESU central office. The Rec League should give receipts and bills to the central office. AS will show them how. The board expressed strong support and thanks to the Rec League and wants to be consulted regularly about progress on all of these details. AS and the Rec League will develop a written agreement spelling out the details of cooperation between PCS and the Rec League. Board members did note that, considering the school’s current push toward better nutrition, we do not want to encourage the sale of unhealthy food even at the Snack Shack..
Warrants	Move to approve #1065 FAST for $710.99; #1066 REGULAR for $30,719.77; #1058 FAST for $518.93; #0159 FAST for $2,991.41; #1060 FAST for $2,309.09; #1061 REGULAR for $48,568.84	PM		EP				Passed
Administrators’ Reports	AS got a letter from the Vermont Business Roundtable saying that PCS has qualified as a 2005 Medallion school. Furthermore, it has been selected as a finalist for the middle school category Gold Medallion award. This is the second year in a row that PCS has achieved this recognition. Fourth and eight graders took the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) tests. Their assessors commented to AS that our 4^th and 8^th graders had great manners and attitudes towards testing.. Emergency Planning. AS worked with the staff and Tom Goddard (fire chief) and looked at other schools’ plans. She has revised the Emergency Plan. The board urges the town to look at the issue of grey water because the generator is currently not hooked up to the pumping station. The school has gotten a few small grants. $620 was awarded by Strolling of the Heifers to Angela Walton’s third/fourth grade class for Diversity in our Local Farming Community. (The class will visit farms.) Special thanks to Peg Alden and Angela for their work on this grant. VEHI gave PHACT (Putney Health Action Coordinating Team) $1500 for a coordinator who will run programming throughout the summer regarding the school garden. Many thanks to Peg Alden and Rebecca Golden for their work on this grant. Seven students from Westminster have registered for next year’s 7^th grader. These are in addition to the 5 currently in 7^th grade and expected to continue into 8^th grade. The town of Westminster will pay PCS tuition for all such students. AS distributed the WSESU School Report 2003-2004. It is now in the school board binder in the school office.

Tuitioned Students from Westminster	Move to accept the applications of the seven Westminster students to the PCS 7^th grade.	PM		RC		If all seven come we would have 32 seventh graders (estimate based on current enrollment). Since the application deadline of March 11 AS has received two more phone calls from Westminster families. AS raised the question of whether to entertain post-deadline inquiries. Our policy says that we admit students when space is available so the deadline seems immaterial. The board did discuss, however, the question of “available space.” AS recommends that we not exceed 20 “weighted students” per class and weight students. (Students with an IPE, for example, are weighted by the state more heavily than students with no special needs. Our weighting of middle school students will be consistent with the state’s weighting of those students.) The board gave AS permission to entertain the additional applications and to inform us if she is about to exceed the class size that she recommends. Based on the weighting of this particular group, AS recommends that we shouldn’t exceed 18 per class in next year’s 7^th grade.		Passed
Executive Session: Superintendent Review	Move to go into Executive Session at 5:51		PM		RC		Passed
Upcoming Meetings: March 24, 2005. 4:30 in PCS Writing Room. · Deb Gass of EES will provide an assessment to the School Board of Head Start’s first year at PCS. · Discussion of ADM money and preschool · Full-day kindergarten – motion to use additional tuitioned student revenues to commit to a full-day kindergarten for next year · Sewer pumps · Food service bids and contract.

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.