Holderness School Board
April 7, 2008
Holderness, NH
Minutes
Board Members Present: Dr. Joseph Casey, Wendy Mersch, Bob Heiner, Jon Stewart, Martha Macomber
Administration Present: William Van Bennekum, Kathy Boyle
Others Present: 8 members of the community
Dr. Casey was sworn in to the Holderness School Board by Laura Rollinson at 5:00PM.
Non Public was called to order at 5:14PM to discuss a personnel issue.
Ms. Boyle opened Public session at 5:18 PM.
On a motion by Mr. Heiner, seconded by Mr. Stewart, the Board elected Martha Macomber as Chair of the Holderness School Board.
On a motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Heiner, the Board nominated Ms. Mersch as Vice Chair of the Holderness School Board.
On a motion by Mr. Heiner, seconded by Mr. Stewart, the Board unanimously accepted with regret the resignation of Ken Mattson, and voted to give Mr. Mattson the agreed upon stipend for his early retirement.
Agenda Review and Disposition - Ms. Boyle added Local Government Center letter under discussion items. Ms. Macomber added an exercise to the discussion items.
Minutes of March 3, 2008 - On a motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Ms. Mersch, the Board unanimously voted to accept the minutes of March 3, 2008.
Privilege of the Floor #1 - A member of the community spoke about the importance of the reading specialist position.
Discussion Items
c. District Meeting Follow Up - Mr. Van Bennekum discussed the "Response to Intervention". Schools are looking at ways in which children are placed in Special Education. Schools are asked to come up with a program in an effort to meet this legislation. Holderness has a full time reading specialist teacher and a .5 reading specialist. Mr. VanBennekum explained the role of the reading specialist, including their skills in testing grades 1 and 2, using AIMS Web, and tracking and evaluating students. A discussion regarding the reading specialist ensued.
On a motion by Mr. Heiner, seconded by Mr. Stewart, the .5 Reading Specialist position was placed back into the budget. 4 in favor, one abstention
Principal's report
Mr. VanBennekum acknowledged the student body for doing well with the additional time added to the school day. He is pleased with student conduct as spring approaches. He has been witnessing firsthand the daily effort and energy the students put into all the requirements of their classes, and Mr. VanBennekum expressed that he is proud of the work that he is seeing.
The faculty and staff continue to work and provide a learning environment. They have embraced the additional time and are using it to their advantage in an effort to make up for lost time. All grade level and core teachers are using the time for instructional purposes, while the unified arts teachers are using the time to schedule the classes they missed due to the delayed openings and cancelled school days. The middle school team has come up with a modified schedule that allows for those students most affected by the missed time to be with those teachers in the afternoon on a rotating bases. Mr. VanBennekum is proud of all the effort and time the teachers and support staff put in each day.
The spring musical is in the final stages of production and will be opening on Friday.
On April 24th, Channel 9 will chronicle the 4th grade students. They visited Squam Lakes Science center on April 2nd, and the segment will be on bird identification.
Mr. VanBennekum recognized the middle school band and chorus students who performed on March 25th for Cultural Arts Night. He thanked Mrs. Hazelton and Mr. Dowd for their combined efforts.
The spring sports teams have started practice. The track team has been practicing prior to the start of the school in the gym, while the baseball and softball teams take turns in the afternoon.
Mr. VanBennekum recognized Mrs. Switzer, who has served as the Kindergarten teacher since the beginning of the school year. She has done a wonderful job for HCS.
Mr. VanBennekum also recognized Mrs. Jenkinson, who returned back to the classroom from maternity leave.
Mrs. Ansara has filled in for Mrs. Funk for most of the year. Mrs. Ansara has done a wonderful job. She came to HCS with her only experience being a student teacher, and is leaving, for the most part, as a first year teacher. She has been a tremendous asset and will be missed by the students and staff.
Mr. VanBennekum welcomed back Mrs. Funk from her long term medical leave. She will take over full time after Spring break.
Mr. VanBennekum also recognized Anne McKenney, the school secretary. Since joining HCS in July, she has taken on the task of organizing the opening of school and putting together the main office. She is the first person many people see, and she is always smiling and welcoming people as they enter the building. She has become a very familiar and welcoming face to the parents and the community of Holderness. She arrives early and leaves late making sure nothing is left undone. She exemplifies a quality employee with an extraordinary work ethic. She manages our schools financial records with perfection for detail all the while making sure she meets the various needs of the principal. Mr. VanBennekum thanked Mrs. McKenney for all she does each day for the children, parents, faculty, staff and principal.
Consent Items
Claims and Payroll -A/P #56 was circulated and signed
Correspondence - correspondence was distributed
Discussion Items
a. Annex - Ms. Boyle reported that the demolition is starting. The final numbers from the insurance company have not come in yet. The school will get some money for some things that were in the annex. Ms. Boyle explained that there is a decision to make; the Board can decide either to take cash with a depreciated value or replace the structure at replacement value. The Board discussed making that determination after the insurance company sends the figures.
b. Roof-snow issues - Mr. Francis will come to the next Board meeting to further explain the issues with the roof. He had a roofing company shovel in February for 2 free days. Then, they came on February 15th, 16th, 29th, March 4th, and 5th. In the past, there were problems in the SAU with roofs being shoveled by inexperienced people and causing further damage.
Ms. Macomber handed out a quiz. There were 4 questions. The Board and the community members were asked about who they thought was responsible for certain school related issues - the Board or the Administration. A discussion ensued regarding the Board's responsibilities, the administration's responsibilities, and joint efforts.
d. Calendar 08-09 - Mr. VanBennekum explained that the school is looking to go to a trimester system next year. This lengthens the grading period for students. Mr. VanBennekum also discussed in service day.
On a motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Heiner, the Board unanimously voted to change May 22nd to a full day of school.
e. Budget 07-08 - Ms. Boyle handed out the re- formatted budget and the abbreviated budget. Ms. Boyle explained that last year, there was $55,000 put into the budget from the floor. If this money was not used, it would go back to the town. However, HCS has been hit with unexpected expenses, which has caused the substitute teaching budget to go well over the amount. It was recommended that the budget become frozen.
On a motion by Mr. Heiner, seconded by Ms. Mersch, the Board unanimously voted to freeze the Holderness discretionary budget.
f. Local Government Center Letter -
On a motion by Ms. Mersch, seconded by Mr. Heiner, the Board unanimously decided to participate in a potential lawsuit by the Local Government Center concerning retirement funding and employer contributions.
Recognition and Awards - This was discussed in the Principal's report.
Privilege of the Floor #2 - A member of the community discussed the lack of attention given to children struggling in math. Ms. Boyle stated that this is a state wide problem. This issue is being looked at as a State and as a SAU.
On a motion by Mr. Heiner, seconded by Ms. Mersch, the Board unanimously entered into Non-Public session at 7:14pm to discuss a personnel issue.
On a motion by Ms. Mersch, seconded by Mr. Heiner, the Board unanimously entered into Public session at 7:50pm.
On a motion by Mr. Heiner, seconded by Mr. Stewart, the slate of nominations was unanimously approved.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:52pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michelle McCauley
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