Meeting Date:	12/9/04
Minutes Submitted On:	12/12/04
Board Attendees:	Ellen Pratt (EP), Anne Fines (AF), Virginia Scholl (VS), Peter May (PM), Rebecca Coffey (RC)
Administration Attendees:	Ron Stahley (RS), Amelia Stone (AS)
Community Attendees:	Mary Anne Deer (PCS staff), Gerry Gatz (PCS staff), Nancy Mackler (PCS staff), Angela Daprato (PCS parent), Sue Kochinskas (PCS parent)

Location:	PCS Writing Room
Meeting called to order at:	4:36
Meeting called to order by:	PM
Finish time:	7:10

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	Page 2 under “Communications.” The meeting minutes read, “AS received a communication notifying her that PCS met the standards set out by No Child Left Behind.” The minutes should read, “AS received a communication notifying her that PCS met the requirements for adequate yearly progress set out by No Child Left Behind.” Page 2 under “Committee Reports.” The meeting minutes read, “15 children participated” The minutes should read, “29 students participated.” Page 3 under “Administrators Reports.” The meeting minutes read, “AS and custodian Tony Coven would like to seat an ad hoc principal’s “building committee” that would meet 2 or 3 times and develop a possible….” The minutes should read,” “AS would like to convene an ad hoc principal’s building committee that would meet 2 or 3 times and work with custodian Tony Coven to develop a possible….” Page 5 under “Old Business: FY06 Budget Discussion.” The item “Creative” should be omitted.
Prior Meeting’s Minutes	Minutes approved as amended.	AF		VS			Unanimous
Communications	Beth Muskat emailed with a concern about enrollments and their impact on this year’s budget. Michael Mrowicki of Putney Family Services sent an email noting that mention of Putney Family Services had been omitted from meeting minutes regarding Parents Night Off From Cooking. PFS primarily staffed and funded the event. Lisa Chase wrote a letter asking the board not to cut funding or programs. She suggests that PCS will lose enrollment at an even more rapid rate if program cuts are made. She asks the Board to demonstrate to the town (by preserving programs) the kind of commitment that the Central School gets from the locality.
Committee Reports: Nutrition Committee	Nutrition Report from EP: The committee is AS, Jane Sbardella, EP, and two students. At its last meeting, the committee talked about how to approach the snack program and how to reduce fat content. Outside of the committee, EP spoke to Lisa Ford of the Brattleboro Coop’s Feed Your Head Committee. Lisa is very interested in speaking to the teachers, possibly at a staff meeting. Early Ed Outreach The Committee will ask Janice Stockman of the Head Start Collaboration office to come to Putney and hold a forum.
Warrants	Motion to approve warrants: 1032 REGULAR for $300.00; 1033 REGULAR for $742.50; 1034 REGULAR for $56,664.86; 1035 FAST for $957.75; 1036 REGULAR for $15,385.99.		EP		VS			Passed. RC opposed on grounds of insufficient information.
Administrators’ Reports	Amelia Stone Holiday Bazaar took place on 12/8. Thanks to the volunteers it was a joyful event. April Sprague and Nancy Brennan have long coordinated the Bazaar. Ellen Pratt and Felicity Ladd are taking over as co-chairs next year. Professional Learning Communities: Teams are now working on revising parts of the School Action Plan. All teams are devising specific, measurable objectives in reading, writing, and/or math. All School Sing is scheduled for 12/22. The Middle School Team has developed a process timeline for Westminster students: · October: informational meeting · November: call families and encourage visits · December: letter of invitation to all Westminster parents inviting to open house · January: open house. Remind families to have children visit and give out forms. · Before February break: forms due back. · Counselor, principal, and special educator will meet with teachers in Westminster to determine whether students meet “good standing” standard. · March: accepted students get letters of acceptance. They also get school handbooks. · May:. Westminster students are invited to join the 6^th grade for a day (in which they could meet their next year’s peers). Community participants suggested to the board that they create a buddy system for students and possibly even for families so that Westminster students/families have a “buddy” to lean on as they adjust to PCS. Ron Stahley The WSESU Board meeting is Thursday the 16^th at 6pm in Dummerston. Budget will be adopted. The WSESU board will also discuss the possibility of building competency training in keyboarding into middle school programs. RS got in touch with David Gartenstein, the former town council, about some of the issues raised during the board’s discussion of principal evaluation procedures. RS suggested that David Gartenstein would outline from the Vermont Statutes Title 16 some of the issues around performance evaluations and the school board’s role. RS will invite him to the 1/13/04 meeting.
Unfinished Business	Move to adopt Policy C7 “Board Relations with Administrators”		RC		PM			Unanimous
Unfinished Business: FY ’06 Budget – Discussion	RC noted that, beginning in the meeting of 09/09/04 the WSESU has not produced warrants with full information on the cover sheet. As part of any budget discussion it is important to look at actual current spending. Question for Business Manager Jim Kane: What is the status of full information on warrant cover sheets? Another Budget FY06 question for Jim Kane: What percentage of the total increase in the budget is due to the increase in health care costs? What is the cost to the town for the health insurance? What is the cost to the community (teachers’ plus district’s contribution)? RS noted that the last contract for salary and benefits brought the WSESU into parity with the surrounding districts in terms of salary and benefits. (The WSESU still does not offer what Keene and nearby areas of Massachusetts offer. So, relative to Keene and nearby Massachusetts, PCS is a disadvantage in attracting faculty.) The board examined the entire budget line by line. The board briefly mentioned the longer-term (beyond FY06) possibility of converting to wood chip heating and of doing an energy audit on the “long hall.” (The anticipated fuel increase for FY06 is 28%.) AS passed out a document titled STAFFING/ENROLLMENT PATTERNS REVISED 12.7.04. It is in the school board binder in the school office.
Upcoming meetings: Tuesday, December 14, 4:00 – 5:30 · FY06 Budget · Question for Jim Kane (Business Manager) What percentage of the total increase in the budget is due to the increase in health care costs? What is the cost to the town for the health insurance? What is the cost to the community (teacher’s plus district’s contribution)? · Question for Jim Kane: What is the status of full information on warrant cover sheets? Thursday, December 16 at 4:30. Writing Room at PCS. · AS presentation of recommendations to board re: kindergarten. Second meeting in January (most probably January 27, 2005) · NSRE tests (Vermont Standards scoring). Feb 10, 2005 · Fitz-Vogt Quarter Report

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.