Lyme School District
School Board Meeting
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Meeting Minutes

Board Members Present: Peter Glenshaw, Mary Beck, Audrey Brown, Kevin Kerin, Maggie Minnock, Dan Parish. Staff Members Present: Gordon Schnare, Jeff Valence; 2 Lyme School faculty. Recorder: Roger Lohr

1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Board Chair Peter Glenshaw.

2. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made and seconded (Minnock, Parish) to approve the minutes from the March 22, 2007 Lyme School Board Meeting, as submitted with changes. The motion was passed unanimously. The changes included: Kevin Kerin should have been on the meeting attendee roster and change Small to Dayno; on item 1, Kathy McGowan assumed control of the meeting rather than Peter Glenshaw; on item 2, limit the reference of the Thetford Academy campaign to a Board discussion; in item 3B there was a community member that expressed interest regarding the choice of high schools; in item 3D the Library Committee will report back to the Strategic Plan Committee.
A motion was made and seconded (Beck, Minnock) to approve the minutes of the March 22, 2007 Lyme School Board Nonpublic Meeting, as submitted. The motion was passed unanimously.

3. Communications and Reports
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Minnock) to appoint Audrey Brown as an authorized signer of Lyme School manifests. The motion was passed unanimously.

A. Chair Report: Chairman Glenshaw distributed a document of Board Committee Rosters and Assignments for the existing year and the next school year. He asked Board members that are committee chairs to communicate to the Board the status of work or issues facing the respective committees by the end of this school year. There is a desire to get recommendations from the committees for the strategic plan by the May Board meeting so that there is an opportunity to complete the plan by the June Board meeting. An outline of issues related to using the Lyme School as a town emergency center was reviewed and discussed.

B. Superintendent’s Report: Superintendent Schnare distributed summaries for expenditures and revenue to the Board members. The budget is expected to be favorable by about $90,000 compared to original projections and $50,000 would be transferred to the trusts while some could be used to reduce taxes. The Board discussed the food service budget and the bus transportation contract.

C. Principal’s Report: Principal Valence reported about school presentations on fire safety and Arbor Day. He distributed a newsletter that is intended for prospective kindergarten parents. The staff has been assessing the NECAP test results, but conclusive decisions are somewhat limited due to the small sample size at the school. In-service faculty meetings are focusing on curriculum and academic assessment. A survey regarding opening day was inconclusive but the faculty supports the calendar that opens the year with 3-4-5 day weeks in succession so the students can ease into the school year.

4. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board discussed policies about student drug and alcohol use (JICH), and fund raising and related procedures (JJE). The faculty reported that the fund raising procedures have lowered the focus on fund raising in the classroom and there are not many problems with planned trips that are paid by fund raising activities. There were some suggested minor changes to semantics to the policies.

It was announced that Mary Beck was going to leave the area and School Board on July 1. The Board discussed the procedure of how it would replace her position on the Board, which is for two years of a three year term. A public notice would be posted and candidate interviews would be held for the position during the summer.

5. Business Requiring Action
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Minnock) to approve Policy JEB on Entrance Age as submitted and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion was made and seconded (Kerin, Glenshaw) to approve Policy IKE on Promotion, Retention/Grade Placement, as submitted and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.

Principal Valence discussed the calendar with regard to the suggested in-service days. The Board discussed various alternatives for parents to deal with the two days of in-service in March.
A motion was made and seconded (Minnock, Kerin) to accept the calendar for the Lyme School 2007-08 school year subject to decisions made about in-service days. The motion passed unanimously.

The bus transportation contract with First Student is for 5 years at $64,400 for the 07-08 school year and is less than the projected budget for the service. The Board expressed interest in requesting that biodiesel be considered for the school busses used in Lyme and the Superintendent will look into it on their behalf.
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Kerin) to approve the bus contract with First Student as proposed. The motion passed unanimously.

6. Non Public Session
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Kerin) to enter nonpublic session in accordance with RSA 91-A3 (II. (a) & (c)) for discussion of matters relating to personnel and pupils. The motion passed unanimously. At 8:50 p.m. the roll call was conducted and the Lyme School Board entered non public session.

A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Kerin) to re-enter public session. The motion passed unanimously. The Board reopened the public session of the Lyme School Board meeting at 8:53 p.m.
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Kerin) to accept staff nominations as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

7. Adjournment: There was a motion and approval to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 p.m. (Minnock, Kerin). The motion passed unanimously.

The manifests were reviewed and signed by the authorized Board members. Next regular board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.