Lyme School District
Organizational and Regular School Board Meeting
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Meeting Minutes
Approved as is 1/28/09

Board Members Present: Kate Semple Barta, Audrey Brown, Lou-Anne Conroy, Emily Dentzer, Peter Glenshaw, Daniel Parish, Mark Schiffman. Staff Members Present: Gordon Schnare, Jeff Valence, teachers Jane Officer and Meg Franks; 2 public attendees. Recorded by R. Lohr

1. Call to Order
Chair Schiffman called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM.

2. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Conroy) to approve the Lyme School Board regular meeting minutes for November 19, 2009, as submitted and amended. The motion was passed with 6 in favor and one abstention (Glenshaw). The change on item 4b should reword the second sentence: “Due to speech services, the special education account is expected to be over budget this year.”

A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Semple Barta) to approve the Lyme School Board non-public meeting minutes for November 19, 2009, as submitted. The motion was passed with 6 in favor and one abstention (Glenshaw).

A motion was made and seconded (Semple Barta, Dentzer) to approve the Lyme School Board regular meeting minutes for December 3, 2009, as submitted and amended. The motion was passed unanimously. The change on item 2, the 5th section should begin “The employers’ share of retirement costs…” and on item 2, in the 7th section replace the word favored with approved.

A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Dentzer) to approve the Lyme School Board non-public meeting minutes for December 3, 2009, as submitted and amended. The motion was passed unanimously. The change on the reference to the New Hampshire law for going into nonpublic session should be RSA 91-A:3, ll (c) the Board discussed budgetary issue related to personnel.

3. Communications and Reports
A. Chair’s Report:
Chair Schiffman commented about the Budget Committee meetings stating that the some Committee members were voicing interest in zero budget increases or reducing budgets. He was uncertain about how the Committee as a whole would respond and vote on the proposed school budget that will be submitted.

B. Superintendent’s Report:
The Superintendent distributed and discussed the school financial and various budget reports. He noted that the November CPI number has increased to 0.2 percent. It was further reported that the bus company has the ability to meet the school district rerouting requests. He and Principal Valence will finalize the bus routes and notify Lyme student families about the new route. It was announced that the tuition waiver student has moved into town. Additionally, the Personnel Committee had met to discuss the contract.

4. Business Requiring Action
Superintendent Schnare nominated Maryann Stanford as ELL Tutor.
A motion was made and seconded (Semple Barta, Glenshaw) to approve the hiring of Maryann Stanford as a Lyme School ELL Tutor for the 2009-2010 school year. The motion was passed unanimously.

5. Business Requiring Discussion
2010-11 Budget
Chair Schiffman provided an overview of the issues of Lyme School Budget that were highlighted in the last Board meeting. The Board discussed various options as a targeted budget goal related to the uncontrollable costs including special education, high school tuition and the teacher contract. The Spanish program is another area that impacts the budget expenses but it is completely offset by donated funding. The November CPI was used as a benchmark for the budget goal, which according to the guidelines resulted in (2 percent plus 1 percent) a goal of 3 percent increase not counting special education and high school tuition.

Other issues included that the Thetford Academy tuition is slightly lower and the Hanover High School tuition is still not accurately known. The Superintendent and Chair have clarified the number of Crossroads Lyme students going to high school. There will be some shifting of teacher positions at the school including the addition of a 1.5 FTE music teacher. Other small reductions have been made to the budget and there are also some other revenue offsets.

The Board discussed the number of high school students across a longer term in Lyme and considered transferring different amounts from the High School Reserve Fund. The suggested transfer amount is currently $115,000. A warrant article is unnecessary for the Board to make that transfer and it can wait until the summer to decide the amount of the transfer from the High School Tuition Reserve Fund.

The schedule of computer equipment replacements was also discussed. There are some older computers still in use, but the school was able to apply surplus funding toward getting ahead in the schedule.

The Board decided to increase support staff salaries by two percent in the 2010-11 budget. It was also suggested that perhaps a grant could cover the cost of specialists, who can help students and teachers such as the language arts/writing specialist. The specialist has worked very successfully at Lyme School.

The Board decided to cut the following areas and amounts:
Contract services (B & G) $5,000
Library aide $8,700
Furniture $250
Fuel $1,500
ELL moved to SPED $5,500
Food Service $1,500
Building renovations $10,000
Health consult $300
Fine Arts Enrichment $1,000

The Board considered other cuts but decided to not reduce the following areas at this time:
Electricity $3,500
Computer equip $18,000
Writing specialist $5,000
Field trips transp $5,500
SAU supplies $500

Recent history showed that in 2008-09 the Lyme School budget increase was 3.74 and the goal was 3.2 percent; in 2009-10 the budget increase was 5.41 and the goal was 5 percent; and 2010-11 the budget will increase about 3.13 and the goal is 3 percent. The Board discussed how to communicate to the town about the future of the school budget with regard to the cutting that has taken place to meet tight budget guidelines.

A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Brown) to authorize the superintendent to submit to the Lyme Budget Committee the Lyme School expenditure budget not to exceed the amount of $4,816,000 for the 2010-11 school year, which allows to reach the target of 3.2 percent increase not counting the Special Education and high school tuition costs. The motion was passed unanimously.

A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Semple Barta) to allow the Lyme School Board to extend the meeting past 10 PM. The motion was passed unanimously.

6. Non-Public Session
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to enter non-public session in accordance with RSA 91-A3 ll (c) for discussion of matters relating to personnel and pupils. The motion was passed unanimously. The roll call was conducted and the Board entered nonpublic session at 9:50 PM. The roll call was conducted.
The board returned to public session at approximately 10:10 p.m.
A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Brown) to deny a teacher’s request to waive notification deadline for track advancement. The motion was passed unanimously.

7. Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made and seconded (Semple Barta, Dentzer). The motion was passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.
The next Lyme Budget Committee Meetings will be held on Wednesdays, January 6, 2010 and January 13. The next Lyme School Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 7:00 PM.