Lyme School District
Organizational and Regular School Board Meeting
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Meeting Minutes
Approved as is 5/28/09

Board Members Present: Audrey Brown, Lou-Anne Conroy, Peter Glenshaw, Dan Parish, Mark Schiffman, Kate Semple Barta. Staff Members Present: Gordon Schnare, Jeff Valence, Elaine White. Recorder: Kate Semple Barta.

1. Call to Order: The regular Lyme School Board meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Board chair Mark Schiffman. Principal Valence presented his report on the ongoing development of school curriculum. The report detailed the school’s attempt to address the academic needs of students who will grow to hold various occupations across numerous disciplines. The new approach to curriculum will attempt to teach skills the students can use in every occupation, as opposed to only relaying content relating to subject specifics. The curriculum changes will be implemented at an institutional level, a classroom level, and an instructional level. The goals of these changes are to: apply neurological understanding in teaching; create a continuum of curriculum from grades K-8; focus on universal skills and requisite knowledge; anticipate the needs of students; create clear benchmarks for achievement; and disaggregate the reporting of achievements. The staff has begun to apply new curriculum approaches gradually, by subject areas. A new database has been implemented to track students’ progress. There are currently two report card formats; eventually only one will be used. Currently grading is relative to a traditional standard of what students should be achieving in each grade; eventually the standard of achievement will be re-evaluated, relative to the school’s end goal outcomes. The faculty meetings are now focused on curriculum development, as are in-service days for faculty.

2. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Parish) to approve the corrected minutes from the February 26, 2009 Lyme School Board Meeting. The motion was passed, with one abstention. (Schiffman). A correction was offered to section 5, paragraph 3. The following language: “A cut to the administrative salaries was also considered”, was corrected with: “A reduction in the amount of pay raises offered to non-union employees was considered.”
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Parish) to approve the minutes from the February 26, 2009 Lyme School Board Nonpublic Meeting. The motion was passed, with one abstention. (Schiffman).
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Glenshaw) to approve the corrected minutes from the March 26, 2009 Lyme School Board Meeting. The motion was passed unanimously. A correction was offered to section 3 C. A tuition kindergarten student from Thetford inquired about enrollment, rather than “is expected.”
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Brown) to approve the minutes from the March 26, 2009 Lyme School Board Nonpublic Meeting. The motion was passed, with one abstention. (Parish).

3. Communications and Reports
A. Chair Report:
• Committee Assignments
Board members have agreed upon the following assignments:
Personnel Committee - Glenshaw, Chair. Parish and Conroy, members.
Academic Committee - Semple Barta, Chair. Brown, member.
Policy Committee- Brown, Chair. Dentzer, member.
Facilities Committee - Dentzer, Chair. Semple Barta, member.
High School Committee - Parish, Chair. Conroy, member.
Finance Committee – Schiffman, Chair. Glenshaw, member.
• Summer Meeting Schedule
It was noted that the SAU office may be moving in July, therefore two meetings may be required in August.

B. Superintendent’s Report:
Superintendent Schnare distributed the Spring 2009 Policy Update of the New Hampshire School Boards Association. A budget surplus of $281,173.00 was noted. The food service portion of the budget has a current $2,300.00 deficit. There is still uncertainty about the availability of Federal Stimulus funding, and whether it would fit the school’s needs. A known category that may be appropriate for the Lyme School is approximately $50,000.000 in funding for IDEA Special Education, which could possibly be used for training. However, there is no certainty that this funding will be available. It was noted that there has not been a significant loss of state funds, with the exceptions of loss of building funds and interest income.

C. Principal’s Report:
Principal Valence reported that the enrollment is 195. It was noted that 2 students will definitely move out of the district before the end of the school year, and perhaps 5 more will leave the district. 21 students are expected to enroll in kindergarten next year. Chair Schiffman noted that it is very difficult to predict incoming kindergarten class size. There will be 28 graduating eighth graders.

D. Facilities Committee
• Solar Energy Project Update
The suggestion that the agreement to complete this project be described in writing, and the written proposal that was obtained since the previous Lyme School Board meeting were discussed as being helpful developments. The first day of construction is set as the day after the last day of school. The intention is to have the community come to learn about the project before it begins, and to have some Lyme School Board members present at this event.
• Other
It was discussed that other options to a new boiler need to be explored, for example making sure there is adequate insulation throughout the building. Superintendent Schnare offered to assist Principal Valence with this project. A change of the current phone system was also discussed, as there are safety concern with the current digital system that does not work periodically.

E. Personnel Committee
• Updates will be reserved for the Non Public Meeting.

F. Policy Committee
• Updates will be discussed in Business Requiring Discussion.5.

Business Requiring Discussion
A. Academic Program reorganization, an overview
Principal Valence’s presentation. See details in Section 1, above.

B. Other
Brown reported on a parent-initiated review of the middle school math curriculum. The parent has concerns that the standardized math scores are going down for this group of students, while the reading scores are rising for the same group. Laszlo Bardos assisted with data analysis and interpretation, and participated in meeting with the concerned parent. It was noted that the math scores in question are 25% above the state average. Discussed were the drawbacks to using standardized tests to evaluate achievement, the consideration of limiting extra-curricular activities that cut into math education time, as well as the apparent focus of extra-curricular activities on non-math topics.

6. Business Requiring Action
A. 2009—2010 School Calendar
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Brown) to accept the proposed calendar for the 2009-10 school year, as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. It was discussed that the year would start with a 3-day week, followed by two 4-day weeks, with a long weekend included for the Labor Day holiday.

B. Manifest Signer
A nomination was made and seconded (Parish, Glenshaw) to appoint Lou-Ann Conroy the third manifest signer. The nomination was approved unanimously.

C. Administrative and Support Staff Nominations
Superintendent Schnare placed in nomination the list of administrative and support staff members for the 2009-10 school year. It was discussed that support staff job assignments may change throughout the school year, depending on needs.
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Conroy) to accept the list of administrative and support staff members for the 2009-10 school year, as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.

D. Policies
The Board discussed Policy GBRIA Employment Benefit/ Leave School Year Support Staff and Policy GBRIC Employment Benefit/ Leave for Administrative Staff regarding health insurance repayment responsibilities, and the establishment of HMO Health Insurance for staff. It was discussed that currently, 2 staff members are grandfathered into Point of Service (POS) health insurance policies by a previous contract. An additional 2 staff members are currently enrolled in POS policies, but are not grandfathered. It was determined that specifics relating to individuals on staff should be discussed in Non Public Meeting. It was discussed that the requirement of repayment of health insurance costs for staff that leave the school at the end of the school year should be included in staff contracts.

Policy DIG was discussed, as to whether the term for non-service of regular lunches due to failure to pay was too short. It was discussed that the limit of 10 meals was designed for families with multiple children enrolled, so that the arrears of payment do not accumulate to a very large sum. It was discussed that education of staff members regarding policy would be needed. It was decided that specific dollar amounts included in parentheses throughout the policy would be removed, as 2009—2010 prices were not yet determined.

Procedures for EHA were discussed, as to whether this policy would disturb current practices at the Lyme School. Principal Valence did not believe it would do so.

A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Brown) to adopt policies GBRIA, GBRIC, DIG, and Procedures for EHA, as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.

7. Non-Public Session
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Brown) to enter nonpublic session in accordance with RSA 91-A3 ll (c) for discussion of matters relating to personnel and pupils. The motion passed unanimously. The Board roll call was conducted and the Board entered nonpublic session at 9:06 PM.

Public session was reopened at 9:22 PM.

8. Adjournment: There was a motion and approval to adjourn the meeting at 9:23 PM. (Brown, Parish). The motion passed unanimously.
The manifests were reviewed and signed by the authorized Board members. The next Regular Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 7:00 PM.