Meeting Date:	6/23/05
Minutes Submitted On:	7/6/05
Board Attendees:	Ellen Pratt (EP), Virginia Scholl (VS), Peter May (PM), Rebecca Coffey (RC)
Administration Attendees:	Ron Stahley (RS), Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:

Location:	PCS Writing Room
Meeting called to order at:	4:40
Meeting called to order by:	VS
Finish time:	6:58

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	Minutes of 6/9/05. Move to approve.	EP		PM		Sonia Hewlett’s first name was misspelled as “Sonya” in the minutes. The line “On June 14 run the ad” should be deleted from the Administrators’ Report. On page 5 in the Recess Discussion, it says that “many parents feel that 15-20 minutes …” That was a report of the boys. Neither the board nor PCS has polled the parents.		Unanimous
Meeting Minutes of 6/14/05 Putney Community Forum sponsored by the Putney School Board, Putney Selectboard, Putney Planning Commission and Putney Family Services	Move to approve. (Four school board members attended and it was therefore a warned school board meeting.)	PM		EP		The meeting minutes are on the school’s web site at http://www.sover.net/~putneyc/board.htm		Unanimous
Communications	Communication by email from Jim Kane regarding PTSD Financial Update dated 6/9/05. PCS has a projected end-of-year balance of $21,257.99.  At the same time, PCS had unexpected tuition revenue of $65,892.  PCS apparently overspent the budget that the town allotted it by roughly $44,634. (Board members and AS discussed this and discovered that the overages are primarily in areas such as insurance and utilities – cost items over which the school has little control.) Communication from Jim Kane re: meeting minutes of 1/26/05.  "PM noted that #1042 FAST includes a line item 941 P/E 12/31/1999 Penalties and Interest in the amount of $1,617.57.  He asked RS to convey to Business Manager Jim Kane that we would like information about that item.” This was a penalty assessed by the IRS when the WSESU did not pay the taxes on time. The amount will be fully refunded to PCS by the SU.
Administrators’ Reports	AS: Regarding the issue of liability for vehicular accidents in the school forest, AS distributed a handout from Jim Kane, who is waiting for a written response from school attorney Bob Luce regarding the question of liability. PM wants to re-write the school forest flyer to make clear that we are not “inviting use” by wheeled vehicles. He will communicate with Bob Luce and with Anne Fines (of the board and of the school forest committee) and the board will take this discussion up again at an August meeting. RS: According to RS, Jim Kane discovered that we cannot at this late date revise the ADM numbers for the current year because the numbers are frozen in January. (The minutes of the 5/13/05 meeting reflect a board request of WSESU Business Manger Jim Kane to look into revising the Average Daily Membership numbers so that the school could receive ADM money from the state for the Head Start students currently attending the Head Start program at PCS.) RS: Jim Kane wants us to authorize three board members to review and sign the warrants in the coming week and to give Anita Coombs authority to reimburse the WSESU for the warrant total and for the board to ratify those signatures at its July 14 meeting. AS: Two bids were received for lawn mowing. AS would like to accept the low bid for a trial period this season and to give the contractor guidance and a set of expectations. AS intends to share the information that she received from the 360-degree survey with the staff at the beginning of the school year. The School Action Plan Committee (so far it is one teacher, one board member, one parent, and AS) will start its work in August. The Committee is still hoping to recruit new members. Anyone who wants to join that committee should contact AS at the school. AS will talk to school custodian Tony Coven about what is needed in terms of contracted services on the trim at the back of the building and rot on the exterior of the building.
Warrants	Move to (i) authorize three board members to review and sign the warrants in the coming week and to give Anita Coombs authority to reimburse the WSESU for the warrant total and (ii) to authorize the board to ratify those signatures at its July 14 meeting	RC		EP				Unanimous
Expenditure	Motion to ratify expenditure of $45 to reimburse RC for box ad in honor of Judy Hannum’s retirement	PM		VS				Unanimous
Landscaping/Mowing	Move to accept the bid of Gone Landscaping and Pest Control provided that the initial contract would be on a trial basis for this season and that AS and Tony Coven (custodian) will give Gone Landscaping feedback. If the work is satisfactory AS can offer Gone Landscaping a contract of up to 3 years.	PM		EP				Unanimous
Unfinished Business
Recess Discussion	VS completely supports the idea of expanding recess. Physical activity is crucial. It helps kids learn better. EP, PM, and RC agree. Parents with further concerns about recess should put their concerns in writing to AS, RS, and the board.
Food Service Bids	Bids are due July 5, according to Jim Kane, WSESU Business Manager. The board asks RS to ask Jim Kane to circulate by email a summary of the bids to the board so that at July 14 the board can take action. RC will make that summary available on the PCS web site. (She will put a notice on iPutney.com and email the list of people who have asked to receive meeting minutes, telling all of the availability of the summary document. The full RFP will be put in the school board binder in the board office.)
Policy F14 Move to approve Policy F14 “Non-Resident Students”	Move to approve Policy F14 “Non-Resident Students” (Adoption Action Needed)	PM		EP				Unanimous
New Business
Office Furniture	Proposal to encumber $2400 from projected end of year surplus to buy office equipment					No action needed by the board
Library Acquisition	Proposal to encumber $1400 from projected end of year surplus to bring the library’s acquisition budget up to the state recommendation.		PM		EP		Unanimous
Snack Shack building permit	Move to authorize PM to sign a building permit on behalf of PCS for construction of a Snack Shack by the Putney Recreation League		RC		VS		Unanimous
Livable Wages	EP: Are we paying para educators and the custodial staff livable wages? RS: Based on what other districts in the state do, our salaries and benefits are excellent. www.vtlivablewage.org has further information on livable wages in Vermont.
Head Start and Review of Community Forum on Early Education and Care	Deb Gass offered to share the financial burden of the Early Education Outreach Coordinator. There is an employee at EES who does outreach for EES. The salary would be split 50/50 between EES and PCS but her focus would be exclusively Putney. What Deb heard at the forum in terms of what current early learning providers in Putney would like to see in an EEOC: They liked a lot of the support that Cami Elliot-Knaggs, the outgoing EEOC, gave to the providers, going into their places of business, helping with paperwork, spelling providers. The EES employee would spend more time on outreach and less time on support of early learning providers. According to Deb, at the forum the providers seemed more accepting of the idea of collaborating with Head Start. However, some providers seemed to see a philosophic difference between Head Start and their programs. For example, some object to testing. Some have practical problems – for example, with the hours of operation required by the government. PM asked if EES would be willing to meet with Putney care providers to help them look at creative ways to collaborate and thereby meet the HS requirements. Deb responded that she invites anyone to call her or to come to the orientation. She does acknowledge that the Head Start program and some child care providers in Putney may not be a good match. HS will remain “Head Start” only for the academic year 2005-2006. EP thinks it is important for EES and Windham Childcare to coordinate referrals. We will hire an Early Education Outreach Coordinator in August once we know what kindergarten enrollment is. EP will try to arrange an August meeting of the Early Education Outreach Committee.

Upcoming Meetings

July 14. 4:30 in Writing Room at PCS § Foreign language instruction § PCS outreach efforts § Update on liability issues regarding school forest § Head Start Contract for 2005-2006. Action Needed § IBooks (possible lease on 20 new iBooks and airport capability) § AS report to board on conversation with Tony Coven about contract services for maintenance of trim and exterior of building. § Ratify signatures of warrants signed the week after the June 23 board meeting. August 18. 4:30 in Writing Room at PCS § AS’s recommendations re: recess § Winter Sports funding § Harassment policies and review of related policies § School forest insurance First Meeting in September § Superintendent, Administrator and Board review WSSU District Goals and PCS School Action Plan. Board provides input to WSSU District Goals and PCS School Action Plan. § EEOC coordinator § Livable wage (continued discussion with further information from RS) Second Meeting in September § Review of FY06 budget in anticipation of budget season for FY07. Health, Early Ed Outreach, and Foreign Language will be part of the conversation.) § Superintendent meets with Board and Administrator to present to Board Administrator’s professional goals for coming year, with reference to the PCS School Action Plan. Board provides input to Administrator’s professional goals. Executive Session may be held with Superintendent at Board’s request. Second Meeting in November § Presentation to board by Jim Kane or VSBA about school budgets §

Second March Meeting

§ Consideration of Head Start contract for 2006-2007

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.