Joint meeting between PCS School Board and PCS Staff

December 5, 2006

MINUTES

 

Board members present: Peter May (PM); Benji Cragin (BC); Ellen Pratt (EP); and Anne Fines (AF)

Meeting called to order by PM at 4:05 pm.

 

PM said that the board is interested in making this joint board-staff meeting an annual event. As the board enters budget season it welcomes staff input.

 

The board reviewed its goals with staff. The board goals for 2006-07 are:

 

  • To increase volunteerism in the school;

 

  • To increase enrichment activities, including foreign language instruction; and

 

  • To explore the creation of a school endowment. 

 

  • The board also affirms its commitment to early education and agrees to continue to learn more about creative financing.

 

A staff member asked whether all volunteers are subject to a background check. Amelia Stone and Ron Stahley (Superintendent) are looking into this but it appears that if volunteers are not supervised by staff that they would need to go through this process.  The board welcomes volunteers in the school and believes that by having more people involved in the school we strengthen school-community relations.  

 

The staff asked where the board is in its research about creating an endowment. PM said that he is researching this and will speak with Jim Kane (Supervisory Union Business Manager) about it by January. One question is whether it would be an endowment solely for the school, or for the community.

 

The board expressed its opinion about No Child Left Behind (NCLB). PM said that Ron Stahley (Superintendent) is very supportive of teachers and principals as they try to meet the NCLB requirements.  The board is trying to focus on the good parts of the law (helping all children succeed) and on providing teachers with the resources they need.

 

The board and staff discussed foreign language instruction. Some staff expressed concern that we not jeopardize current essential programs in order to add foreign language instruction. Several staff stressed that we should begin this instruction with younger children first.  The board has asked AS to develop creative options for scheduling of music, art, library and PE to see whether we might fit foreign language instruction into the school day.  AS is also checking whether a foreign language teacher would have to be certified. The staff wondered whether foreign language would be an elective for children, or a requirement.

 

The idea of sharing resources with other local schools, e.g. Dummerston was discussed. Perhaps we could share a foreign language teacher or a Health Educator with Dummerston. Several staff, including Jane Sbardella (nurse), stressed that we need a Health Educator.

 

Kathy Bartlett reported that we now have 100 children on the free/reduced lunch programs (this represents about ˝ of the school population).

 

The board expressed its gratitude to the middle school teachers who have helped make the middle school program attractive to families outside of Putney who then tuition – in their children.

 

Staff mentioned that Marlboro and Guilford schools own their busses and wondered whether this is an option for Putney. One benefit to owning busses is that we wouldn’t have to schedule around the bus schedule.

 

All agreed that we need to work on public relations to get the word out about how great the school is. The board said that it would highlight where we get funds for special projects (e.g. Snack Shack, Japanese Garden, preschool playground) at Town Meeting. These are not funded through the school budget but are funded through grants or in-kind resources.

 

Meeting adjourned at 5 pm.