marlboroschool.net

Attending:  Lauren Poster – chair, Andy Reichsman – vice chair, Gussie Bartlett – Sec’y, Francie Marbury – Principal, Wendy Houlihan – WCSU Superintendent,

Meeting called to order at 6:05pm.

We discussed Board member use of e-mail with Wendy.  We decided not to initiate a blog.  We will use e-mail for informational purposes and not to deliberate issues.

Wendy presented her WCSU report.  See attached below.

Lauren moved to accept the minutes of July 16th, 2008.  Gussie seconded.  The motion passed.  Lauren moved to accept the minutes of July 28th, 2008.  Gussie seconded.  The motion passed.

Francie gave the Principal’s report.  See attached below.

Lauren moved that we pay our building engineer for the additional 30 hours of work he did this summer.  His contract called for 200 hours in the summer but we budgeted 300 hours so this is not an increase in our budget but is above the contract figure, which stated the 200 hours figure.  Gussie seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

We will review the structure of that contract during budget season.  Regarding this year, we accept that this position will entail up to 40 weeks instead of the 37 we budgeted.

Meeting adjourned at 8:37 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Andy Reichsman

Pay Orders:           8/1/08        $    9,554.47
8/15/08        $  43,492.30
8/29/08        $123,804.46
9/12/08        $  42,665.48

Future Meetings:  Monday, October 13th at 6:00pm; Monday, November 10th at 6:00pm; Monday December 8th at 6:00 pm.

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
September 15, 2008

Student Learning
MES learning together (Professional Learning Community) August 20-21
Beginning of year assessment to plan for instruction
JH – early stages of planning for solar panels for school

Policy or Regulation Implementation
WCSU Teacher Supervision and Evaluation Plan

Buildings and Grounds
Playground structure completion
Summer work and revision of building engineer contract
Summer work – additional 30 hrs  ($30x$14/hr  $420)
Contract – increase from 37wks/yr plus 200 summer hours
to 42wks/yr  (additional $2100)
continue 200 summer hours (~20 hrs/wk) with planning in June for summer work that may go beyond the 200 hours

Finance/Accounting

Enrollment/Staffing
Enrollment – 80
Exchange student in JH October 7 – December 5
New Hire
John Donaldson – One-on-one assistant in kindergarten

Superintendent’s Report

Windham Central Supervisory Union
“WCSU will provide member districts with the leadership and resources to ensure a strong education system for all students”
Marlboro Elementary School  9/15/08

Student Learning/Curriculum/Instruction                                                                                                             During the summer, teachers worked with Janine on K-6 math curriculum, and with Tina on writing.  That work will continue during the school year.   Tina and Janine have sent a professional development calendar out so everyone can see the schedule of meetings and plan for the year.
All teachers and administrators spent Monday, August 25,  with Bruce Wellman, learning skills to facilitate learning conversations between colleagues that are focused on student work and teacher practice.  Bruce is an award winning author, and a presenter who works with schools around the country and Canada, but he is first and foremost a teacher.  He modeled practices that are immediately transferable to the classroom as well as to adult team meetings or faculty meetings.
At the administrators’ retreat on Monday, August 18, the team decided to continue work on our goals to develop better understanding about roles and responsibilities,  to clarify essential learnings and develop common assessments,  and to implement and then revise (where necessary) the supervision and evaluation plan.                                                                                                                                                             Policy/Regulation
The WCSU Policy committee met on. September 10, to examine potential newly required policies.  Minutes from the meeting will be out by tomorrow.  Please let me know if you find an area where a policy might be helpful, and I will take that back to the WCSU Policy Committee for discussion.
Finance
Brad James (DOE) just sent the cash-flow information, and it is attached.  Frank also sent it out to Board Chairs via email tonight.
Frank also put a bid out for heating oil, and that bid came in at $3.69/gallon from Irving Oil.  WCSU burns approximately 2300 gallons.
Human Resources                                                                                                                                               Thanks to the wonderful work of teachers Julie Dolan, Marcia Wells, Janet Hamilton, Tammy Bates, Rachel Boyden and Keith Lyman, and administrators Susan Mach, Deborah Leggott, Roberta Stradling, Steven John and Laura Hazard, we have a new teacher Supervision and Evaluation plan for use across the supervisory union.  You might recall that this was one of the administrative team’s goals set last August. We are all very excited about the new plan.  As with any significant change, we will gather feedback after its first year of implementation to determine whether revisions need to be made to the plan for the next year.  Ruthann has sent the plan to all Board members for your information.
We also now have a Performance Review plan for para-educators, something that has been sorely lacking.  Over the summer, we have made some progress on revising (or creating in most cases) job descriptions, and we will continue this work over the coming year.
Matt Martyn, Systems Administrator, has been very busy working on various issues in our technical systems:    PowerSchool, SPED DOC, First Class (including researching new options for hosting) MAP Testing, Datateam (business office program).  Additionally, he has developed a relationship with an academic software provider, developed an asset tagging and inventory system and developed a purchasing plan for Special Ed and general office purposes.
WCSU Strategic Planning                                                                                                                                                Board members from Brookline, Dover, Jamaica, Leland and Gray, Marlboro, Newfane, Townshend, Windham and Wardsboro, along with the central office administrators, met for a day of strategic planning on Wednesday, August 27.  Working toward a strategic plan, the Executive Committee had approved core values last August, and brainstormed vision ideas last January.  Wednesday’s wonderful work built on that earlier work.  As a result of thoughtful, collaborative conversations, the team developed (and the Executive Committee approved) a mission statement and vision statement.  The team also began the process of brainstorming areas for strategic goals.  You’ll see the new mission statement above.  The WCSU vision is as follows:
“The collective effort of our WCSU school community is dedicated to creating and sustaining programs that result in all students being engaged, enthusiastic and successful lifelong learners.”
We will continue the work at the Board/Administrator retreat in October.  Dates for that meeting and the WCSU meetings for the year are attached.
Place students at the center of decision-making                                                                                                                                                                           Build trust and respect by acting ethically, transparently, and with integrity                                                                                                                                         Operate as a community of learners, committed to developing the skills and capabilities of all                                                                                     Collaborate, share and seek creative solutions