Meeting Date:	4/14/05
Minutes Submitted On:
Board Attendees:	Ellen Pratt (EP), Anne Fines (AF), Virginia Scholl (VS), Peter May (PM), Rebecca Coffey (RC)
Administration Attendees:	Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:	Mike Mrowicki of Putney Family Services

Location:	PCS Library
Meeting called to order at:	4:41 pm
Meeting called to order by:	PM
Finish time:	7:05 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	Move to approve both minutes		AF		PM		Amendments: Meeting minutes of 3/24/05: Under “other business,” EP did not bring in sample contractual agreements for preschool programs.
	Move to approve amended minutes		PM		AF				Unanimous
Communications	We received a copy of the letter from the WSESU to the teacher named in the Reduction in Force (RIF). That teacher received a notice that his/her teaching position would be eliminated and the contract not renewed for the 2005-2006 school year.
Committee Reports: School Forest	Met on the second Tuesday of the month, which is the regular meeting time. Met with Pip Bannister as representative of the Putney Bicycle Club to talk about riding on the trails in the forest. Also discussed at that meeting planning for the Spring After-school Forest Program. It will meet Mondays and Tuesdays from 3:15 – 5pm for 6 weeks starting April 25 and 26. To-date the program has received 24 applications. There are only 24 open slots. At AS’s suggestion, the Committee is also working on a School Forest Day for PCS in September or October. ATV users have been using the trails. Neighbors have complained about noise. The board wants to follow an inclusive policy while encouraging the neighbors in the area of the School Forest to have a forum through which all town people can talk about use of the forest and matters such as noise. PM will look at potential liability to the school in the event of accidents by town people on school land.
Kindergarten tuition rate for nonresident students	AF called the private schools in the area and asked about enrollments, cost, and length of program. She called Grammar School, St. Michael’s, Hilltop, and Neighborhood. Tuitions for full-day kindergarten range from $4,000 - $9600. Enrollment: 77 students are in kindergarten in those four private schools. Class sizes can be as high as 18 or 20 with an aide or as low as 11 without an aid. Decision on setting a rate tabled until April 28. In the meanwhile, AS will get input from Jim Kane, WSESU Business Manager.
Warrants	Approve warrants #1073 FAST for $69.00, #1076 FAST for $833.67, #1077 FAST for $179.00, #1078 FAST for $450.00, and #1082 REGULAR for $8,575.63		RC		VS				Unanimous
Administrators’ Reports	Current enrollment is 208 students. Today was kindergarten registration. At this point it looks like as many as 15 students might enroll but that the enrollment is likely to be a little lower, perhaps as low as 12. (According to AS, one or two families are hoping to move into Putney and enroll their students. Housing is tight, however, and this year as in other years those families may not find housing.) Given that it seems that enrollment will not exceed 16 students, it is unlikely that PCS will need to employ more than one kindergarten teacher in 2005-2006. The board did discuss whether, even in the absence of the need for a second kindergarten teacher, it wanted to offer a contract to the teacher who had received the RIF notice. While there is no doubt that the school could make excellent use of a teacher not necessarily assigned to a particular classroom, the board elected not to offer the teacher a contract unless kindergarten enrollments exceed 16 by the end of July. There were three deaths in the school community this past week. The children and teachers have shown a lot of caring. PCS hosted a Volunteer Appreciation Day. Volunteers had coffee and light refreshments before school and then some joined All School Sing. AS is considering proposing that some 1% Funds be used in 2005-2006 to pay a small fee to a Volunteer Coordinator. This morning there was an Administrators’ Meeting. The Curriculum Coordinators distributed a draft summary of “Proposed School Quality Standards” developed by the Vermont Dept. of Ed. This document is in the school board binder in the school office. But it is also on the Dept. of Ed web site. Public comment is invited by the Dept. of Ed. and there are ways on the Dept of Ed web site to contact the Dept. of Ed. Electronically. Angela Walton, Mike Beardsley, Marsha Hansen, Mary Beth Porter, Dan Seiden, Cliff Adler, and Lynne Borofsky went with AS to a Professional Learning Communities Conference. We’ve now had 13 staff members attend one of these conferences. All have had professional development on the matter in-school. One of the outcomes of this process is that teachers in the elementary program are now working in teams and looking, as teams, at outcomes, assessment methods, and responses to students who struggle academically. AS is exploring the idea of recruiting volunteer tutors to work one-on-one with students in “enrichment sessions.” The board expressed thanks to AS for bringing the Professional Learning Communities approach to the school. AS received a letter from a PCS family moving to East Dummerston by the end of the month. The child in that family will enroll in Dummerston School for the 2005-2006 school year. In its letter, the family requested that the child now at PCS finish the year at PCS, though the family is unable to pay a fee. AS recommends that we allow the child to stay and waive any additional fees. There would be no budget impact. This is the tact that the board took the last time that such a request was made.
	The deadline is tomorrow for community members, parents, and teachers to express interest in working as a volunteer on revisions to the School Action Plan. No one has volunteered. AS will approach members of the faculty to determine whether they are interested. She would like to get the commitments by the end of the year. AS would like to have the Action Plan ready for distribution by the Fall. For following years the schedule would be different. AS says that she would like to see programmatic improvements in the school for children who are not meeting the academic standards or grade level expectations specified by the New England Common Assessment.
Request by a PCS family moving to Dummerston to have PCS allow their child to remain enrolled at PCS for the remainder of the school year and to charge no tuition.	Move that we accept the proposal from the family in the letter dated April 11, 2005 and that the student be allowed to continue through the end of the school year without additional charge	PM		EP		There is no budgetary impact to this decision. The board wishes the student well in the new school next year.		Unanimous
Policy on Non Resident (Tuitioned) Students	The issue is that the school board wants to have as much flexibility as possible without making itself open to discrimination lawsuits. First reading is scheduled for April 28.
Town Plan regarding PCS	PM brought a Town Plan document from Select Board member Lyssa Papazian. AS will revise the description of the school in that document so that it more accurately reflects the school. PM will clarify with Lyssa what her expectation is regarding the document and what the timeline is on input from the School Board.
Further discussion on Head Start	Suggested amendments to the proposed contract: · Language specifying that EES will pursue licensure for its head teacher. · Change “three year” term to “two year.” The board originally discussed “one year” but AS advocated for a two-year contract at a minimum so that the school and teachers can know that the commitment is real and that the integration of the program into the school can mature. The board did feel that a three-year contract is too ambitious given that the town is only now embarking on its Town Plan, which needs to incorporate an early education component. Some community-based child care providers have continued to express hesitation about the idea of Head Start at PCS accepting non Head Start-eligible students. Board members are considering adding language to the contract that restricts enrollment in the program to Head Start-eligible students at least for the first year of the suggested two-year contract. The board believes that much will be learned by the board and by community child care providers about town needs and preferences in the near future (specifically, at the forum on early education that it is trying to coordinate with the Select Board and certain community groups). The board expressed comfort with a two-year agreement that limits enrollment to Head Start-eligible children. AS will bring to the next meeting projected enrollment numbers for 2005-2006, which she will get from Deb Gass and the board will move on this item at the next meeting.
Other	The board continued to express interest in co-sponsoring a forum about early education in Putney, preferably in early June. The board is interested in working with the Planning Commission, Putney Family Services, the Select Board, and other agencies on such a forum. The Planning Commission needs to finish its revised Town Plan (which must include a plan for Early Education) within 6 months. EP and AF are meeting with Kim Friedman of Windham Childcare to draw up a draft agenda for such a forum.
Executive Session	Move to go into ES on a personnel matter at 6:55. Out at 6:58.	PM		RC
April 28. 4:30 in Writing Room at PCS. (Board chair, Peter May, will be absent.) · Move on next year’s Head Start agreement. · Mike Mrowicki will give an update on Putney Family Services’ current collaborations with PCS · Set kindergarten tuition rate. · First reading: Policy on nonresident tuition students. May 12. 4:30 in Writing Room at PCS · Review food service bid. · Separation agreement · PM will present on possible liability issues regarding School Forest. Second Meeting in November · Presentation to board by Jim Kane or VSBA about school budgets

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.