Meeting Date:	May 11, 2006
Minutes Submitted On:	May 12, 2006
Board Attendees:	Ellen Pratt (EP), Anne Fines (AF), Virginia Scholl (VS), Peter May (PM), Benjamin Cragin (BC)
Administration Attendees:	Anne Rider, Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:	Deborah Smith, Paulina Essunger, Nancy Mackler, HennyWalsh, Pat Mousel, Maureen Ward, Sarah Tirrell-Baker, Amelia Struthers, Beckie Coffey, Heather Maples, Connie Fitch, Moriah Brown-Tirrell, Laurie Clayton, Cheryl Struthers, Linda Kerr, Brian Stone, Michelle Jones, Mike Mrowicki

Location:	PCS Writing Room
Meeting called to order at:	4:32 pm
Meeting called to order by:	VS
Finish time:	6:30 pm

AGENDA TOPIC	MOTION	MOVED BY	SECONDED BY	DISCUSSION	PASSED
NOTE: These minutes should be considered a draft that awaits approval and possibly amendment by the board at its next scheduled meeting.
Prior Meeting’s Minutes	To approve minutes	BC	AF		yes
Communications	From parent of first grader re: concern that class sizes in the primary grades not exceed 15 students/teacher Letter from Primary Team teachers expressing their desire for the board to hire another teacher for the primary grades
Committee Reports: Finance/School Forest/Early Education Outreach Advisory Committee	AF reported on school forest committee. 32 children enrolled in school forest program which runs 2 afternoons/week for 6 weeks. 10 trails now in the forest. Committee met on May 9. Two classes from Antioch come regularly to the forest. Putney School also uses the forest.
Warrants	To adopt warrants # 1092, 1094 , 1095 Fast, totaling $58,942.59 and 1086, 1087, 1089, 1090, Fast and 1091 Regular, totaling $49,965.98.	PM	EP		yes
Administrators’ Reports	AS reported that the we have 23 kindergartners registered for next year. We anticipate 12-14 kids in first grade next year and close to 30 second graders. She handed out several options for class configurations (attached to minutes in binder). She met with Supervisory Union staff about whether we might have the funds to hire an additional teacher for the primary grades. She will be able to give the Board more details about the budgetary impact of hiring another teacher on May 18^th (the Board will hold a special meeting to discuss this topic further). AS estimates that it may cost about $70,000 to hire an additional staff; it could cost more. If we hired another teacher, we would probably have to reduce our primary para support from 3 to 1.5. The board will hold a special meeting on May 18 7-7:45 pm to discuss this further and to vote on whether to authorize the expenditure for hiring another teacher. AS said that another possible configuration for the primary grades would be to have a preK/kindergarten multi-age classroom. AS said that this type of classroom would support the incoming kindergarteners who would benefit from a year of readiness before kindergarten. AS will discuss with Jim Kane (Budget Director for the Supervisory Union) how we might fund this position. AS will present this option to the board at its May 18 special meeting. AS reported on the 1% funds proposals. The board will vote to approve the fund allocations next week.
Old Business Darrow Scholarship				AF reported that 2 students applied for the Darrow Scholarship prior to the deadline. The board received another application for the scholarship today. There is $650 to award this year in the fund. The board will decide on the allocation of the scholarship at its May 25
Executive Session	To enter into Executive Session at 6 pm to discuss a personnel matter.	PM	VS	No action taken. Board exited at 6:05
Personnel Matter	To accept the resignation of Lynn Thrasher.	PM	BC	AS reported that Lynn Thrasher notified the Superintendent that she will retire effective June 30, 2006. The Board expressed its appreciation for Lynn’s more than 25 years of service to the teaching profession at Putney Central School. Plans are underway for appropriate recognition.	yes
New Business				Café Services staff (Michelle Jones, Brian Stone) passed out the operating statement for the Café Services contract with PCS through April. Participation in the school lunch program is up about 15% from last year. Café Services is not recommending price increases for next year. They may have to increase staff next year. They reported that they do quarterly inspections of the kitchen. These inspections are not warned This week the State Bd. of Health made an unannounced inspection of the kitchen. The kitchen was rated 97 points out of 100 (best health inspection we’ve ever had). Brian reported that Café Services is working to purchase local produce. Black River Produce is one of our vendors. AS is working with Café Services to buy local produce when possible.
	To accept AS’ recommendation to accept one non resident incoming kindergarten student for next school year.	PM	BC		yes
Meeting days/times				Discussed possibility of changing meeting day to Tuesday or Wednesday for the next several months. The board will discuss this at its May 25 meeting.
Upcoming Meetings	May 25: Deb Gass reports on Head Start Program Decision on Darrow Scholarship allocation 1% Fund request approvals Use of Medicaid funds at PCS June 8: Discussion of foreign language instruction and possible establishment of Steering Committee Discussion of use of possible ADM revenue from the pre-school population Update on District Assessment June 15: Board Retreat 3:30-5:30 at the Putney Inn June 22 meeting cancelled. Jan 2007(second meeting): Ensure that preparations for 360 degree survey to be distributed are underway. NEED TO BE SCHEDULED: ·      Flo Nester, Enrichment Coordinator in Brattleboro to report on enrichment curriculum possibilities   (possible presentation in fall when board discusses programming) ·

Respectfully submitted by: Board Clerk

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