Lyme School District
Regular School Board Meeting
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Meeting Minutes
Approved as amended on 8/27/09

Board Members Present: Audrey Brown, Emily Dentzer, Peter Glenshaw, Daniel Parish, Mark Schiffman, Kate Semple Barta. Staff Members Present: Lisa Damren, Gordon Schnare, Jeff Valence.

1. Call to Order
Chair Schiffman called the meeting to order at 6:09 PM.

2. Approval of Minutes
Discussion of and voting on the public minutes for May 28, 2009, was tabled until later in the meeting. (See section 7, below.)
A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Brown) to approve the Lyme School Board non-public meeting minutes for May 28, 2009, as submitted. The motion was passed with one abstention.

3. Communications and Reports
A. Chair’s Report:
The Board congratulated Principal Valence on this year’s graduation ceremony and his speech.

B. Superintendent’s Report:
The Superintendent presented a financial report estimating a projected surplus of between $265,000 and $285,000, which includes $50,000 in encumbrances for infrastructure improvements, upgrades to the District’s new office space in the library building, and software improvements including new accounting software. The District currently uses QuickBooks, a small business software program not designed to do fund accounting. The current system is inadequate for District needs, and has been identified by risk assessment as a potential liability to the District. The Superintendent investigated accounting software programs and presented two to the Board. The two recommended companies— Unifund and ADS— offer programs that are essentially the same and similar in cost. The Superintendent initially estimated the cost of the upgrade to be less than $25,000; however, it seems likely that the actual cost will be about $32,000.
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Parish) to waive the requirement of Policy DJE: Purchasing of Goods and Services (requiring publicly-advertised, sealed bids for purchase contracts involving expenditures of $25,000 or more) in light of the Superintendent’s good faith estimate that new accounting software would not exceed $25,000 and due to the necessity that the current accounting program be replaced in a timely manner in the current fiscal year. The motion was passed unanimously.
A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Semple Barta) to authorize the District to spend up to $32,000 to purchase financial accounting software from either Unifund or ADS to replace the current accounting system before July 1. The motion was passed unanimously.
Food Service did remarkably well this year; the current projected deficit is only $5,000.
The District’s 2008 audit is just now being completed.

C. Principal’s Report
The principal discussed enrollment for the next school year and it is expected that it will be 190 students. There will be two sections in 7th grade math and two sections in the eighth grade. Summer meetings are scheduled to address issues that were not handled during the year. Two ITE grant proposals (math differentiation and yoga) have been recommended and are pending Board approval.

D. Committee Reports
The Personnel Committee met and discussed the process for contingently replacing the superintendent position for the time that Superintendent Schnare will retire. The committee will research the SAU functions, talk with other people experienced in the position for the Lyme School, develop a position description, and prepare some alternative options for the Board to consider by the October Board meeting.

The Academic Committee met with the principal and discussed the prospective foreign language program.

The Facilities Committee met with Mr. Nichols to discuss the school’s heating system and it was decided that an energy audit should be conducted at the school. Principal Valence is looking into getting such an audit done.

4. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board discussed Policy EBA Life Threatening Student Allergies and it will be brought back to the Board August meeting for adoption.

Superintendent Schnare recommended that the lunch and milk prices at the Lyme School remain the same for the start of the 2009-10 school year.

Policy JFAB Non-Resident Students was discussed and the purpose of this policy is to avoid the community’s responsibility for special education costs that should be legally bourn by the non-resident student’s community. The Board addressed the concept and semantics of the policy. The staff will investigate potential insurance coverage that might be offered to non-resident student families.

Foreign Language Program
Principal Valence explained the proposed foreign language program and how the teacher hired for the program would be integrated into the grades and fit into the school structure and curriculum. If a full time position is created it will include the development of a second language branch in the middle school. The principal has spoken with three candidates for the position and the staff will expand the advertising to acquire additional candidates. The Board discussed the process needed to approve the program and a July Board meeting was scheduled.

Building Security
The Board has already approved the expenditure of $18,000 for this building improvement but it was thought that it will cost about $15,000. Four doors will be involved and two of the existing doors will need to be replaced to meet code. The system will provide a myriad of services such as recording who enters and exits, locking or unlocking all the doors instantly, and programming the system. It was felt that the Board should be prepared to discuss the need for the security system with the town or student parents.

5. Business Requiring Action
A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Dentzer) to approve Policy EBBB-A Automatic External Defibrillator (s) as submitted. The motion was passed unanimously.

A motion was made and seconded (Semple Barta, Glenshaw) to approve Policy IFA - Selection of Instructional Materials as submitted and amended. The motion was passed unanimously.

A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Brown) to authorize the Superintendent to hire staff during the summer that would be nominated and approved by the Board at the August meeting. The motion was passed unanimously.

A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Schiffman) to approve an increase for the Board recorder payment for meeting minutes to $85 per meeting. The motion was passed unanimously.

A motion was made and seconded (Glenshaw, Schiffman) to approve the ITE grant programs (math differentiation and yoga) as recommended by the ITE Committee. The motion was passed unanimously.

6. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Brown) to approve the Lyme School Board regular meeting minutes of May 28, 2009 as amended. The motion was passed unanimously.
The changes included on item 3B that the rent of the SAU office in the Library basement was to be $1 per month; on item 3B the second paragraph the food service was “projected” to have a deficit; on item 4 eliminate the last sentence in the second paragraph (it was felt); on item 4 the fourth paragraph change the amount of FTE from “at least’ to “up to;” on item 7 change the date for the next meeting to June 18.

7. Non-Public Session
A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Semple Barta) 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 8:50 PM. Present were Brown, Dentzer, Glenshaw, Parish, Schiffman, Schnare, Semple Barta, and Valence.
At approximately 9:30 PM, a motion was made and seconded to return to public session (Brown, Glenshaw). The motion was passed unanimously.

8. Business Requiring Action
The Board discussed authorizing payment to the Superintendent for days worked in excess of his contract.
A motion was made and seconded (Parish, Glenshaw) to authorize payment to Superintendent Schnare for 4 1⁄2 days worked beyond those specified in his contract. The motion was passed unanimously.

9. Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn was made and seconded (Brown, Parish). The motion was passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:40 PM.
The manifests were reviewed and signed by the authorized Board members. The next Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, 2008 at 8:00 AM.