Attached and pasted below are the unapproved minutes from the Moretown School Board meeting Aug. 25.



MORETOWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Regular School Board Meeting
Wednesday, August 25, 2004


For Approval

Present:
Board members - Carolyn Egan, Karen Horn, Deb Hunter, Mary Nowlan, John Schmeltzer
Superintendent Bob McNamara
Principal Roberta Barone
Teacher Association Representative and Moretown teacher Jeff Isham
Bus Barn Manager Ray Staskus and Assistant Manager Bonnie Solon
Local daycare providers Amy Bolger and Tracy Drury
Parents of children in Bolger/Drury daycare

Meeting called to order at 5:32 pm by Chair, Deb Hunter.

Approval of Minutes
On a motion by Karen, seconded by Mary, the minutes of the regular July 19 board meeting were unanimously approved. On a motion by John, seconded by Carolyn, the minutes of the special August 19 meeting were unanimously approved.

Approval of Board Orders
On a motion by Carolyn, seconded by Karen, the following board orders were unanimously approved for payment: #3 for $1,090.46; #4 for $5,240.19; #5 for $10,836.00; #6 for $5,789.96; #7 for $10,782.17; #8 for $88,326.46.

Bus Routes
Amy Bolger and Tracy Drury, co-directors of a new daycare on Hurdle Road, requested the board’s help with solving the logistical problem of how to transport children to and from school. Because there will only be one daycare provider at the center at any time, and many of the children are toddlers, it is impossible for the single employee of the daycare to walk the school-age children to school. For safety reasons explained by Ray Staskus and Bonnie Solon of the Bus Barn, busses cannot enter Hurdle Road or stop at the intersection of Hurdle Road and Route 100B. The board declined to change the district-wide policy regarding bussing safety rules, and offered some suggestions as to how to find others who could walk the children to and from school.

Amy Bolger, Tracy Drury and the parents of children in the daycare left the meeting at 6:10.

Roberta reported that she had received a request from the Learning Ladder in Duxbury that the bus route be altered to stop on Main Street in Duxbury. As the daycare in on an already existing route and the alteration will cause no significant change in time, money or distance, and as there is available space on the bus, on a motion by Karen, seconded by Mary, the board voted unanimously to grant the request to allow the bus to stop at the Learning Ladder on Main Street in Duxbury.

Bonnie Sullivan and Ray Straskus left the meeting at 6:30 pm.

Development Review Board Update
John Schmeltzer thanked board members for their comments about his draft letter to the Development Review Board regarding questions about traffic safety and health issues. John indicated that he intended to leave the school board meeting early to attend the DRB meeting at the town hall. After some discussion concerning the content of the letter, the board authorized John to distribute the letter at the meeting. John left the meeting at 6:42 to attend the DRB meeting.

New Superintendent
The board welcomed new superintendent Bob McNamara. Bob indicated that things have been going very well and that he has been impressed with the strong work ethic of local administrators and school boards.

WWSU update
Karen distributed two draft polices concerning student attendance and grade advancement. The board will review the policies and approve wording at its next meeting.

Karen indicated that the following topics would be addressed at the next joint meeting of local school boards (to be held Sept. 21 from 7-8 pm at Harwood): transition from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school; bullying; and the data sharing consortium.

Karen also announced that business manager John Pike’s contract had been extended through the end of the fiscal year, June 30. She also indicated that the board had requested that John provide monthly finance reports to each school board.

Select Board Meeting
Deb indicated that she had attended the most recent select board meeting to request a joint meeting to discuss per pupil spending limits set by Act 68. The select board was amenable, with a date to be set soon. Also, she inquired as to how MES could secure a permit for a light for the parking lot. The permit is now being completed.

Deb also reported that signs are being posted forbidding people to walk their dogs on school property.

Special Education Funding Application
Deb announced that the application for reimbursement of our unusual special education costs was submitted to the state education department in August.

Teacher Response Discussion
At the end of last school year, the board asked teachers to comment on areas in need of improvement at Moretown School. Roberta reported that as a result of those comments, the staff has created four committees to address the following topics: all-day kindergarten; equity issues among staff; technology issues; collaboration and communication in general and specifically between regular and special ed. The committees will meet every Thursday for one hour.

Proposed Ski Program
At the board’s request, Roberta asked area principals about their opinions regarding the ski programs at their schools. All reported that they are very happy with the programs and indicated that they would implement them again if given a choice.

In order to investigate the feasibility of starting a Moretown ski program, Mary agreed to speak to the Bus Barn about bus availability, cost and scheduling; Carolyn will speak with the PTN about their feelings about such a program; and Roberta will solicit teacher opinions. All will report back at the next meeting and a decision will then be made regarding starting such a program in Moretown.

Principal Update
Roberta reported that at the last staff meeting she distributed articles concerning methods for teaching better reading strategies for fully comprehending text. By Sept. 10 the teachers will decide whether they want to pursue that topic in learning communities or offer a different proposal.

Preschool Providers
On a motion by Karen, seconded by Carolyn, the board authorized the Chair to sign a contract with Spring Hill School to provide preschool services to Moretown children who cannot be accommodated in our preschool due to full enrollment.

Adjournment
On a motion by Mary, seconded by Carolyn, the meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm.



APPROVED

Date:  __________________              _________________________________________
                        Mary Nowlan - Board Clerk