Lyme School District
Regular School Board Meeting
Monday, August 29,
2011
Meeting Minutes
Approved w/changes 9/22/11
Board Members Present: Kate Semple Barta, Stephanie Clark, Bruce
Hammond, Sue Hanlon, Heidi Lange, Scott May, Mark Schiffman. Staff
Members Present: Mike Harris, Teresa Thurston, Jeff Valence. Recorded
by R. Lohr
1. Call to Order
Chair Mark Schiffman called the meeting to order at 7:12 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made and seconded (Kate Semple Barta, Sue Hanlon)
to approve the Lyme School Board regular meeting minutes for June
20, 2011, as submitted and amended. The motion was passed with
5 in favor and 2 abstentions (Scott May, Stephanie Clark). The
changes were the day in the document heading and ending should
be “Monday” and in item 3B the new trust fund should
be titled “Enrollment Changes.”
A motion was made and seconded (Kate Semple Barta, Sue Hanlon)
to approve the Lyme School Board non public meeting minutes for
June 20, 2011, as submitted. The motion was passed with 5 in favor
and 2 abstentions (Scott May, Stephanie Clark).
There was no meeting minutes for the Board to approve from the
July 11 presentation to the Board. Board Secretary Stephanie Clark
was asked to submit a document of the minutes that would include
the time that the meeting was called to order and adjourned with
a copy of the power point presentation.
3. Communications and Reports
A. Chair’s Report
Chair Schiffman asked Principal Valence to review the enrollment
issues. The current enrollment is 202 with 24 students in the
first grade, 23 in the third grade, and 23 in the fifth grade.
There is not enough space to create additional classrooms and
the larger classes will be addressed by managing the teacher/student
ratio and using the available space. The differentiation instructor
and special educational assistant will be used for example to
“pull out” groups of students for English and math.
Chair Schiffman cited the recent Valley News article and asked
the administrators, staff, and other Board members to forward
such communication to the Board chair or superintendent. While
there is no Board or SAU 76 policy on this type of communication,
it was suggested that media requests for statistics should be
deferred and sent via email following any phone conversation with
the media. This will allow the statistics to be vetted, if necessary.
B. Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Harris distributed the document of the Lyme School
District Budget Review to the Board members. The variances were
cited in accounts for special education and the SAU administration.
The final end-of-the-year fund balance was an $113,000 surplus,
which will be used for the $50,000 transfers to the reserves for
High School and Enrollment Changes, respectively. The Food Service
deficit was $20,000, which was incorporated in the report.
Summer Work
The water pipes have been laid and the school is projected to
be hooked up to the Lyme Water Association by the end of September.
One of the LWA water wells failed a test for bacteria and then
passed when it was retested.
Food Service
The Board discussed the food service program and feedback from
a survey (30 parents and additional student response) about the
issues. The food purchasing budget is $36,000, which is less than
last year. The revenue budget would require 121 daily lunches
be sold. The lunch scholarship program amount appears that it
will be much less and it is uncertain that it will reach the same
level as last year. The Board also discussed the quality of food
and the fact that students have negatively responded about changes
to the taste of popular menu items. It was felt that the healthy
menu options were not at fault for the decline in lunch sales,
but clearly there is a difference between student and parent food
choices. It was suggested that more self-serve ala carte items
be made available. The Board decided to set a more realistic revenue
goal and investigate what else could be done on the expense, menu,
and marketing aspects of the food service operation so that it
not exceed a $7,000 annual deficit on the account.
Audit of 2010-11
There was a small adjustment in the financial accounting for 2010-11
and a finding by the auditors about the deposit system, which
will be addressed.
Lyme School Enrollment
The enrollment is 202 and there are 96 high school students. It
is expected that the next five cohorts going to high school will
be smaller than recent cohorts.
C. Principal’s Report
Principal Valence reported on the summer initiatives including
new spaces created at the school. A new document about the curriculum
will forwarded to the Board for review. There will be a strong
focus on reading, writing, and spelling in the K-4 curriculum,
fifth grade writing, and middle school math programs. Upcoming
fall events include the opening ceremony and bell ringing, open
houses, and the Hulbert day for eighth graders. The next teacher
in-service day is scheduled for October 11. An intern will be
working with Jane Officer in the social studies class.
The principal also discussed the NECAP and annual yearly progress
and the planned differentiation efforts to improve scores to increase
the student proficiency ratings.
D. Committee Reports
The High School Committee survey about high school selection will
be discussed with the Board at the next meeting. There is interest
in having presenters from different high schools talk to the eighth
graders in a special class about high school life.
The Board’s committee assignments and responsibilities were
reviewed by Chair Schiffman.
The principal reviewed the changes to the school to create more
spaces. There are plans to build a cold storage so larger food
quantities could be purchased and stored, which must be reviewed
and go before the Zoning Board. Copies of the building audit that
was conducted have been received and the Building and Maintenance
Committee is analyzing the report.
4. Business Requiring Action
Superintendent Harris nominated Martha Shaw as a part time instructional
assistant for math.
A motion was made and seconded (Heidi Lange, Sue Hanlon) to hire
Martha Shaw for a 26 hour week for fifth and sixth grade math.
The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent Harris nominated Brian Atkinson as a special educational
assistant for an IEP.
A motion was made and seconded (Scott May, Stephanie Clark) to
hire Brian Atkinson for a 31 hour week as a special educational
assistant. The motion passed unanimously.
5. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board discussed an unbudgeted $214,000 of special education
expenses that include an out-of-district resident placement, a
day placement, and staffing for a new special education student
at Lyme School. There are also new expenses for the district’s
contribution for teacher retirement and the responsibility for
retirement contributions for paraprofessionals employed by the
district. There will be state catastrophic aid projected at $76,500
associated with the special education expenses that would be received
next year and there are currently two unanticipated revenue sources
for a total of $61,000 from state adequacy aid and the Ed Jobs
Federal Stimulus to be received this year.
Chair Schiffman presented three scenarios to the Board for consideration.
The District could address these unexpected special education
expenses by a combination of drawing funds from the Special Education
Reserve Fund, applying funds from a hoped-for surplus, and/or
garner savings from changes to the personnel and savings from
other expenses in the existing budget. The Board expressed concern
for allowing the reserve fund, which is currently $227,000 to
get too low in case there is an additional need for those funds.
Another option is for the town to hold a special meeting to vote
on increasing the school district appropriation. This year the
state has made it easier to hold such a meeting, but a 21 day
advance notice to the public is required.
The Board discussed various ways of presenting the situation to
the town’s Budget Committee to ask for advice and support.
The unanticipated income could be accepted if there is a special
school district meeting to increase the school appropriation.
It was suggested that the Board have some flexibility in solving
the unexpected expense.
Chair Schiffman polled Board members to extend the regular Board
meeting to a later hour. Some of the Board members did not want
to adversely affect the regular education program in response
to a special education need. After additional discussion, it was
decided to hold a special school district meeting to ask for an
additional $100,000 appropriation to the school budget and while
it does not require a Budget Committee recommendation, the committee
will be asked for advice.
The Budget Committee meeting is scheduled for September 7. The
Board can then hold a special Board meeting to make final plans.
The special school district meeting would need to be announced
by the second week of October so the meeting could be held in
early November.
7. Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made and seconded (Stephanie Clark, Kate
Semple-Barta). The motion was passed unanimously. The meeting
was adjourned at 10:50 PM.
The next Lyme School Board regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday,
September 22, 2011 at 7:00 PM.
