The Lyme School • Lyme, New Hampshire
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School District #76
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Lyme School District
Regular School Board Meeting
 Tuesday, February 26, 2009
Lyme Elementary School
Meeting Minutes
Approved w/changes 4/16/09


Board Members Present: Peter Glenshaw, Audrey Brown, Emily Dentzer, Tom Goodrich, Dan Parish. Administrators Present: Gordon Schnare, Jeff Valence. 3 public attendees. Recorder: Roger Lohr

1. Call to Order
The regular Lyme School Board meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by Board Chair Peter Glenshaw.

2. Public Comments
There was a brief presentation about the Lyme School NECAP results by Peter McGowan. A document was distributed that provided the test scores. It did not provide a comparison context to the state average or other schools or rates of proficient and above proficient test results. The reading score graph showed an increase while the math scores did not fare as well. The faculty will look at the specific areas (such as math computation, curriculum, etc.) to see what might be addressed to improve NECAP scores in math.

3. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to approve the minutes from the January 22, 2009 Lyme School Board Meeting, as submitted and amended. The motion was passed unanimously. Changes include the policy written as DHB is supposed to be EHB.

A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Dentzer) to approve the minutes from the January 22, 2009 Lyme School Board Nonpublic Meeting, as submitted. The motion was passed unanimously.

A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Goodrich) to approve the minutes from the February 2, 2009 Lyme School Board Special Meeting, as submitted and amended. The motion was passed unanimously. Changes include removing the word could in the first paragraph after the word instead; in the sixth paragraph remove the note at the end.

A motion was made and seconded (Dentzer, Brown) to approve the minutes from the February 2, 2008 Lyme School Board Nonpublic Special Meeting, as submitted. The motion was passed unanimously.

4. Communications and Reports
A. Chair Report
Chair Glenshaw mentioned that at the Budget Forum there is public interest in seeing the per pupil cost statistics and in getting more detailed components within the teacher contract. There is also interest in seeing how the return of the fund balance to taxpayers actually works.
The Board discussed preparations for the School District meeting to be held on Thursday, March 5 at 7:00 PM in the Lyme School gymnasium. There will be email communication to residents regarding the upcoming vote and Board members were asked to encourage people to turn out for the meeting and the vote.

B. Superintendent’s Report:
Superintendent Schnare reported that there is a projected $372,000 surplus and the revenues are showing a $19,000 positive amount. The food service at the Lyme School is very encouraging with a recent daily tally record of 142 lunches. The food service deficit is expected to be no more than $7,500 for the year and another grant to cover unpaid lunches was recently accepted.
A report of the food service audit was shown to the Board and one technical correction was requested in the report.

The copy of the Dresden agreement needs to be formally signed.

C. Principal’s Report
Principal Valence mentioned that a company has offered to install solar panels on the school roof and the company will use a grant to cover the entire cost of the project. It was suggested that the school should also look into grants to replace the furnace with a high efficiency model. The Building & Grounds Committee can review these issues. It was also mentioned that the school roof will need to be upgraded.

5. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board discussed creating a Security Committee and Mark Schiffman was to be the representative on the committee. Emily Dentzer said she would also serve this committee. It was also decided that the Wellness Committee would be added to the Board committee list. The Budget Committee’s review of the school budget was discussed. The school budget was favored by the committee in a 6-3 vote and the teacher’s contract was favored in a vote that was 5-4. A comment was made that the teacher’s contract might not have passed if the entire committee had been on hand for the vote.

A document analyzing high school tuition was distributed. It was suggested that an amendment to the Warrant Article on the budget could be suggested to reflect a lower cost of high school tuition at Hanover High School. A cut to the administrative salaries was also considered. The Board decided to recommend a .76 percent decrease ($35,137) in the budget correlating to the decreased high school tuition.

It was noted that there was no Board or Budget Committee notation on Warrant Article 3.

The Board did not receive the policies for a first reading and will deal with them at the next meeting.

6. Business Requiring Action
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to approve the Policy BEDH – Public Participation at School Board Meetings as submitted. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to approve the Policy DIF- Fraud Prevention as submitted and amended. The motion passed unanimously. There was a typo in the third paragraph.
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to approve the Policy EBCDA – Inclement Weather Maintenance as submitted and amended. The motion passed unanimously. It was decided to add the words “grounds” instead of parking lot and “snow removal” rather than plowing.
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to approve the Policy EFC – Wellness as submitted. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to approve the Policy EHA – Copyright Compliance as submitted. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board decided to withdraw the Procedures for Policy EHA – Copyright Compliance for further review.
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to withdraw the Policy EHB – Records Retention. The motion passed unanimously.

7. Non Public Session
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) 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 8:40 PM.
Public session was reopened.

8. Adjournment:
A motion was made and seconded (Brown, Parish) to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 PM.

The manifests were reviewed and signed by the authorized Board members. The School District meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 7:00 PM. The next Regular School Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM.