marlboroschool.net

Attending: Lauren Poster - chair, Andy Reichsman – vice chair, Gussie Bartlett – Sec’y, Francie Marbury – Principal, Wendy Houlihan – Superintendent (arrived at 7:55pm). Members of the public: Tom Toleno

Francie called the meeting to order at 7:06 pm. This is a re-organizational meeting. Andy nominated Lauren Poster to be Chairperson. Gussie seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Lauren nominated Andy Reichsman to be vice-chairman. Gussie seconded. The motion passed. Lauren nominated Gussie to be secretary. Andy seconded. The motion passed.

We established The Brattleboro Reformer as our paper of record. We established our regular meeting time as the second Monday of each month at 7:00 pm unless otherwise posted. We delegated Lauren to be our WCSU representative , and Andy and Gussie to be Alternates. We assigned the Constable to be Truant officer.

We reviewed the minutes of January 14th. Lauren moved that we accept the minutes; Gussie seconded the motion. The motion passed. We reviewed the minutes of Feb 4th. Lauren moved that we accept the minutes; Gussie seconded the motion. The motion passed. We reviewed the minutes of Feb 14. Lauren moved that we accept the minutes as corrected; Andy seconded the motion. The motion passed. Gussie abstained.

Tom Toleno came to inform us that he has legally taken guardianship of a child. The child attends BUHS and so we will be responsible for her tuition.

Tom Toleno left at 7:43pm.

Principal’s report (see bottom).

Regarding the flag issue discussed at Town Meeting. Francie told us it was decided to have a two-person crew to raise and lower the flag, consisting of a Junior High School student and a younger student.

Francie talked to us about possible staffing changes for next year, saying it may be necessary to make the Special Education assistant a full time position.

Lauren confirmed with Frank that if MASP is included in our budget, it impacts our cost per pupil. He also said “MASP employees serve at ‘the pleasure of the board.’”

Francie presented an outline of MASP structure for the remainder of the school year (see attached). It clarifies the responsibilities of the principal, the program director, the MASP bookkeeper and the MES bookkeeper. Next year, the program will start fresh under MES’s oversight. Lauren feels proposals regarding the program should come from Francie, and that the Board should oversee the MASP budget in the same way we oversee the MES budget.

The board approved Francie’s proposal. Lauren expressed gratitude for all the work Francie put in toward meeting our requirement to have MASP not incur any further debt.

Francie described to us the Junior High I-projects. The students all used technology seamlessly to present their reports and showed tremendous passion toward their areas of study.

Costa Rica trip is progressing well. Like the travelers before them, the kids are writing a play to be performed in Costa Rica and at Cabaret. Fundraising for the trip is almost complete.

Winter Workshops are complete. The performances and displays showing the accomplishments of the workshops were quite impressive.

We had a discussion about tuition issues in anticipation of the April meeting. Lauren posed the question, “Is there anything further we can do to be prepared for this meeting?” Wendy suggested we get an “official” legal opinion from Patti Page to present at the meeting. Francie will contact Patti about this.

It was reported that Mary Coogan (a resident with extensive Special Education background) felt that if a child developed an IEP, the resident town would be responsible for the special education services. She says this is how it works with Hilltop and other private schools.

Wendy informed us that according to Brad James (Board of Education) “the money does not follow the child”, ie the sending town cannot add the child on their ADM.

Our new understanding of 16VSA subsection 821c is that the sending town WOULD pay tuition and be able to count the child on their ADM (this contradicts Winton Goodrich’s understanding which was that the town would not pay tuition).

Francie informed us that we may be over budget this year in High School tuitions.

Healthy snacks is already running in the black.

Supervisory Union report:
Bruce Wellman, an award winning author and educational consultant, spent time on February 21st with the combined administrator and teacher professional development teams. They worked on developing skills in facilitating professional learning conversations. He will visit again. Funding for this effort comes from Title IIA monies.

Wendy is going to provide Gussie, who missed a policy meeting while in North Korea, with the material from that meeting.

The Statewide calendar idea has been discarded, but the State is requiring a regional calendar. This calendar is supposed to be based on the career center calendar, but that is apparently not feasible in WCSU. The SU districts’ schedules will be very close, but not exactly the same.

Meeting adjourned 9:55 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Andy Reichsman

Future Meetings: April 7th at 7:00pm, May 12th at 7:00pm, June 9th at 7:00pm.

Pay Orders: 2/15/08 $57,380.57
2/29/08 $44,779.38

Principal’s Report
March 10, 2008

How do we follow up with high school students?
How to gather info
Cards followed by phone call
Number of classes taken in last year – who should get that info?
When do we do this?

Outline of MASP Structure
(for the remainder of the school year)

MES principal will support MASP and the MASP director through more direct oversight
• meet weekly with the director
• assist with any hiring of assistant teachers
• monitor budget
• and as detailed below

MASP director responsibilities
• plan curriculum for each program day
• post an activity calendar at least one week in advance
• supervise and mentor the Program Assistant
• supervise and coordinate the efforts of any volunteers and collaborators
• maintain records in accordance with state licensing guidelines
• provide time sheets to MES for payroll
• provide weekly attendance information to MASP bookkeeper
• ensure safe, loving and nurturing care for all students at all times they are in our care
• communicate with appropriate school staff regarding issues of safety, behavioral problems and other concerns
• communicate with parents on a regular basis on each child’s accomplishments, behavior and development ensure that the spaces used for the program are left as they were when the group entered them
• and as detailed below

MASP finances will be handled as followed
• All finances will go though the school bookkeeper
• The MES bookkeeper will hold the MASP checkbook
• All purchases for MASP will require a purchase order signed by the principal
• All MASP bills, including telephone, will be processed through the school bookkeeper in the same manner as school business
• Food and beverage for the MASP snack will be planned and purchased with the help of the coordinator of the school’s Healthy Snack program. She will be paid for an additional one hour per week ($15) for this service.
• The MASP director and bookkeeper will send out tuition bills and statements and submit all revenue to the MES bookkeeper; she will create a deposit statement and submit it to the town treasurer
• The MASP director will sign off on assistant teacher time sheets and submit them to the MES bookkeeper
• The MES bookkeeper will prepare the payroll based on these time slips and the director salary specified in the 2/22/08 agreement with the director
• The MASP bookkeeper will provide the MES bookkeeper with information needed to update the monthly cash flow sheet (which will become an actual at the end of each month)

Long term issues to be resolved
• Determination of costs such as administrative time, custodial services, supplies shared with school (Gail will discuss with Frank Rucker)
• Role of the steering committee
• Budget development for next year (revision of fee structure)
• Clarify job description, salary, and benefits for program director