Meeting Date:	March 23, 2006
Minutes Submitted On:
Board Attendees:	Ellen Pratt (EP), Anne Fines (AF), Virginia Scholl (VS), Peter May (PM), Benjamin Cragin (BC)
Administration Attendees:	Ron Stahley (RS), Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:	Meredith Wade, Holly Hammond,Linda Kerr, Beckie Coffey,

Location:	PCS Writing Room
Meeting called to order at:	4:30 pm
Meeting called to order by:	PM
Finish time:	6:45 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	PM moved minutes of March 9.	PM	VS		Yes
Communications	Beckie Coffey emailed the Board requesting that the Board put discussion of kindergarten for next year on the agenda. Specifically, she asked that the Board discuss whether they think the school will provide a half or full day kindergarten for next year. After some discussion about the potential for various configurations of the primary grades, including multi-grade classrooms, to accommodate full-day kindergarten, the Board members expressed their desire for a full day kindergarten. Members of the Kindergarten Study Committee who were in attendance also reminded the Board of their recommendation that the staff/student ratio in kindergarten not exceed 1:16. The Board expressed their intent to stay within that ratio. The Board also asked AS to look into how/whether PCS can change the date of its Kindergarten registration (to an earlier date) so that parents have enough time to make decisions about where they enroll their kindergartners. Kindergarten Committee member, Meredith Wade, urged the Board to consider multiple options for kindergarten, including a full day with ½ day option. Beckie Coffey emailed the Board asking for clarification of the following points from its last meeting: 1. Make clear that the Board’s Annual Retreat is open to the public. The Board Retreat is an open session. The Board will work on goal and objective-setting for the next year. There will be no other formal agenda and no action will be taken at this meeting. The Retreat is tentatively scheduled for May 1, 2006, 4-7 pm at the Putney Inn. 2. What are the amounts for the warrants passed at the last meeting? They are: No. 1072 $3,736.61; No. 1073 $1.430.00; No. 1074 $470; No. 1076 $9,092.83. 3. The email address for communicating with the board is: delivertoboard@yahoo.com 4. The All Boards Meeting and the New Board Member orientation meetings are open to the public. Only one PCS Board member will be attending the New Board Member orientation meeting. The All Boards Meeting will be warned as a district-wide, public meeting. 5. What will the board do now that the 360 degree surveys from parents (re Administrator’s review) aren’t due until after RS makes his recommendation on the Administrator’s contract renewal? The Board acknowledged that in future years the timing of the survey distribution should happen earlier in the year. The Board expressed its intent to distribute the 360 degree surveys earlier next year. See upcoming meeting agendas below. Beckie Coffey emailed the Board with a proposal to make a video about the PCS middle school. The video could be used to market the middle school. The Board thanked Beckie for her proposal to make a movie promoting the PCS middle school and agreed to move forward with the project as outlined in Beckie’s e-mail. The Board reminds parents, staff and community members that copies of Board communications are available in the Board Binder in the PCS Office.
Committee Reports: Finance/School Forest/Early Education Outreach Advisory Committee	None.
Warrants	To approve warrants # 1077 fast ($720), 1079 fast ($30,778.60) and #1080 regular ($59,658.72)	PM	VS		Yes
Administrators’ Reports	Teacher Appreciation Week is May 7-13. AS complimented the middle school teachers for finding creative outlets for PCS’s middle school students (e.g., math and vocabulary competitions). New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) results are out: in reading PCS students rank in the top third of the state. In math and writing we’re in the middle third of the state. Teachers will have student-level data. Mid April AS will have more information to share on the NECAP results. There will be a “parent report night” later this spring that will give parents an opportunity to discuss the NECAP with school administrators and teachers. The staff worked with a professional developer, Ron Rubin from the Dept. of Education. His comments back to the staff are that the school is warm and welcoming; he’s impressed with the school climate. He visited individual classrooms and with teaching teams; the staff will be meeting to discuss his ideas about how we can further our good work. Winter Sports committee will meet next Monday March 27 at 6:30. Anyone is welcome to attend to discuss next year’s program. The Early Education Outreach Committee will meet Tuesday, April 4 at 6 pm in the Writing Room. At 6:33 PM moved to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter. BC seconded and the motion was approved. The Board came out of Executive Session at 6:40 pm.
Old Business
New Business
Superintendent meets with Board and Administrator to provide Progress Report to Board with respect to Administrator’s process against Administrator’s professional goals for the current year.	Administrator’s contract renews annually for another 2 years. RS handed out AS’s Professional Goals for 2005-06. (Copy can be found in the binder containing board minutes in the PCS office). RS sees no issues that would negatively impact AS’s contract renewal. The Board also reviewed preliminary summary data from the 360 degree surveys that have already come in. Board members will have access to the compiled data by 1April and may review the raw data by appointment with the WSESU main office. When complete info is available, RS and AS will review the data together and AS will present her thoughts to the Board on the results, as part of the upcoming formal annual review that RS conducts and into which the Board will have an opportunity to provide input.
Board Retreat Planning	The Board Retreat is tentatively scheduled for May 1 4-7 pm at the Putney Inn.
Upcoming Meetings	April 13: Presentation from RS on progress to date on Brattleboro Town Schools Foreign Language Program Report on Model Wellness Policy meeting that BC attended. April 27: Plan for the Board Retreat (date of retreat tentatively scheduled for May 1 4-7pm). Retreat will include PM’s report on his discussion with Jim Kane about the possibility of PCS establishing an endowment fund. May 1: RS will give info. To Board on PCS use of Medicaid Jan 2007(second meeting): Ensure that preparations for 360 degree survey to be distributed are underway.

Respectfully submitted by: Ellen Pratt, Board Clerk

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