marlboroschool.net » School Board

Minutes – Marlboro School Board Meeting 5/7/12 DRAFT

Pam — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:23:30 +0000

Attending: Jen Carr, Gussie Bartlett, Will Brooke-deBock, Sara Kazemi (parent), Laura Berkowitz (parent), Heather Momaney (parent), Kate Morgan (parent), Steven John — Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Jen Carr at 6:15pm.

The Board discussed with the public the of the work parents’ discussion group on social climate in the school and parental concerns.

Steven John came into the meeting at 6:55pm.

7:10pm Laura Berkowitz left meeting.

7:25pm Kate Morgan, Sara Kazemi and Heather Momaney left the meeting

Jen made a motion: “The Board recommends the administration implement a research-based, K through 8 structured approach to address the concerns of parents regarding the school’s social climate.” Gussie seconded the motion.

After considerable discussion, the motion was approved unanimously with the expectation of a report at the June Board School Board Meeting.

Jen made a motion to approve the 04/02/2012 School Board Meeting minutes be approved with correction of typo. Gussie seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

The Board discussed issues and processes for when pay order cannot be signed by two Board Members.

Jen made a motion to “Direct the Treasurer to process payroll as scheduled even in the absence of two School Directors signatures pending the signatures being recorded at the earliest opportunity.“ Seconded by Will. Motion passed unanimously.

Jen made a motion to “To adopt policies Ell and E12, Investment and Fraud Prevention.” Seconded by Gussie. Motion passed unanimously.

The Board signed contracts for professional licensed staff.

The Board discussed issues about filing and record keeping. We will schedule a work session in the summer to weed our files. This will be a public meeting.

Jen will contact the Town Office regarding archiving electronic versions of Agendas and Minutes.

Gussie moved, “To approve the Request For Bid for the roof re-shingling of the Outback.” Seconded by Will. Motion passed unanimously.

Will moved, “To approve the grant proposal for the bus replacement grant.” Jen seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Gussie will attend the Opening of Bids for the roof-shingling on May 31st at 1:00PM.

Jen moved, “To direct the Superintendent to sign the Building Use form to approve the Tai Chi classes, in lieu of the Principal.” Seconded by Gussie. Motion passed unanimously.

The Board read the Principal’s Report.

The Superintendent’s report was presented.

The Superintendent led discussion of Principal evaluation process. Jen made a motion to go into Executive Session. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

The Board went into Executive Session regarding personnel contract at 9:52pm.

The Board left Executive Session at 10:03pm

Jen moved “To direct Superintendent to offer a contract for FY13 to Francie Marbury as recommended.” Motion passed unanimously.

Meeting adjourned at 10:10pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Will Brooke-deBock

Upcoming Meetings:
June 4th, Regular Board Meeting 6pm

Pay Orders: #21 4/06/12 $55,927.72
#22 4/20/12 $90,121.47
#23 5/04/12 $67,610.44

Our Guiding Principles:
Students will be at the center of our decision-making. We will keep to the agenda. The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item and act as timekeeper during the meeting. Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth. Decisions will not be made hastily.
We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item. Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur before the next meeting. We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.
Implementation Guidelines:
Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.
The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, May 7, 2012

Student Learning
I’m attaching the framework for Outside Works that we developed with the help of Kristina Weeks. This provides a good overview of this unique and important part of Marlboro School curriculum.

The parent meeting on school social climate on April 16 was very thought provoking. Gussie can fill you in – thanks for attending, Gussie. A lot of territory was covered. The two main themes that emerged were the parents’ desire to have a clearer sense of our whole school, K-8, behavior expectations and a more general sense that we would like a school culture where “it’s cool to be kind.” The social climate committee will work with this input at its upcoming meetings in May. I understand that parents will be attending the meeting to discuss this topic. I’m sorry not to be there and have asked one of the teachers from the Social Climate Committee to attend.

The state completed a review of the WCSU 21st Century Grant – our afterschool program, called both Marlboro Ventures and LAFTER. For the most part the evaluation was quite positive. The board may want to consider inviting Rose Watson, our site coordinator, to the next meeting. The 2012-2013 Action Plan will include some of the activities and goals from the Ventures program

Please take a minute to go to the school website and to each of the class’s pages (on the left). The teachers’ notes provide a great deal of information about the learning in each classroom.

Judy Jarzombek Lang will assume the role of teacher leader with regard to our continued work on Balanced Literacy. This means that she will work with other teacher leaders from WCSU and a consultant from Lesley University for four days next year and will bring back new information and strategies.

4th and 8th grade students will be taking the Science NECAP sometime during the window of May 7-24.

Policy or Regulation Implementation
Approval of the Fraud Prevention and Investment policies.

I’ve pulled out some policies which need updating as they were adopted more than 5 years ago. I will leave them in the board mailbox for you to review. Steven, can you help us to prioritize which ones to update? Perhaps you can make notes/revisions and I can have them ready to warn in June.

Building and Grounds
Ed McGrath will be consulting with us to plan summer work.

The Outback roof was put out to bid the week of April 28. Gail will contact you with the date of the bid opening so that you can set a date to approve a bid.

Thermal House is at work as I write. They are completing the EEBCG work in the JH and office areas over the April vacation.

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 4/2/12 89
Staffing
Teacher contracts are ready for your signatures. I have already drawn up and given out agreements for non-professional staff with the exception of assistants. We will wait until mid-May, when we have more information about student numbers and needs, to finalize classroom and Special Education assistant positions.

Informational items
Upcoming events:
4/23-4/27 Spring Vacation
5/1-5/9 Junior High to Costa Rica
5/18 Hogback Day
5/23 Costa Rica Night
5/30 Spring Concert and Art Show
6/5-6/12 8th grade Graduation Portfolios, after school
6/11 Consortium, 7pm
6/14 Graduation, 7pm

Marlboro Realms of Learning
Communication
Problem Solving
Personal Development
Civic and Social Responsibility
Knowledge

Outside Works: Learning in and from the world around us

Guiding principles:

● Quest for Knowledge: Students will gain the skills to observe and understand the world with a sense of curiosity and wonder.
● Connecting to Place: Students will explore natural and cultural heritages through excursions and field research.
● Belonging: Students will develop an active awareness of communities, from the classroom to the world.
● Agency: Students will develop a positive sense of self and actively contribute to their natural and human communities.

Outside Works is a developmental continuum of learning experiences outside the classroom. Through excursions and field research we foster a connection to place, beginning with our school and expanding to the world. Exploring natural and cultural heritages we help students understand the relationship between them and how they shape our lives.

In kindergarten, we begin with an emphasis on here and now, progressing to learning about long ago and far away as students grow. Lessons often go out of the classroom and into the world around us, while the classroom provides the space for reflection, deeper investigation and sharing of the experience.

Learning in and from the world around us is supported by strong relationships with various community individuals and organizations. Teachers get children outside and understanding where they are, which affects who they are and helps shape who they become. Themed studies and interdisciplinary projects provide the integration of curriculum in interactive and engaging ways. Students regularly carry out independent studies, as well as reflect on and assess their own accomplishments within the Realms of Learning.

We encourage students to be creative and express themselves, building a sense of agency to help them grow into a sense of environmental and civic responsibility.

Below is the K-8 Continuum illustrating the Outside Works experience.

Goals: Activities:
K ● Learning is infused into exciting activities.
● Foster a sense of curiosity and wonder.
● Be part of a social group and learn to work mindfully together.
● Empower to give things a try and take risks.
● Learn to rely on our selves and each other.
● Build a sense of community. ● Hogback Hike: To begin the year, K – 4 go on a morning hike at Hogback Mountain to get to know each other, play games, and build the school community.
● Community: Throughout the year we build a classroom community and school community. K runs a post office for the school, make their own stamps, receive and deliver mail. To learn about our wider community we visit important places people go to, such as the post office. We make models of our homes and add them to a map of Marlboro.
● Changing seasons: We learn about the seasons through observations of the natural world and visits to local farms, including apple picking and making applesauce.
● Insects: We observe the life cycle and metamorphosis of butterflies and go on bug hunts to see what we find, draw pictures, and compare our findings from different habitats.
● Farms: To get to know animals, we incubate chicks in the classroom, visit a veterinary clinic, and visit farms.
1-2 ● Encourage a love of learning and observation.
● Nurture respect for the living creatures around us.
● Learn about our neighbors of the forest to foster a connection to Vermont’s wildlife.

● Hogback Hike: To begin the year, K – 4 go on a morning hike at Hogback Mountain to get to know each other, play games, and build the school community.
● Birds: We learn about birds around the school and at Hogback. Students do research about birds and go on observation walks. We visit the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum and they visit our classroom.
● Mammals: We get outside, explore, and observe what’s out there, and find things to investigate further back in the classroom. We learn about the classification of animals, their adaptations, characteristics, traits, and life cycles.
● Spring 2011: We reared salmon eggs as part of the CT River Salmon Project and watched the eggs hatch. We mapped the CT River watershed and released the salmon fry into our nearby tributary, the Rock River.
● Fall 2011: As a fundraiser for the Museum to help build a new enclosure for a bald eagle, we served lunch to the school and made a bird quilt to raffle. With a local quilter, students painted fabric squares and sewed them together.

Goals: Activities:
3-4 ● Build community within the classroom.
● Learn how to ask questions and find our own answers.
● Foster awareness, observation, and connection to the world around us.
● Cultivate appreciation and care for the world around us.
● Provide the tools to figure out what we can do to save our own world.
● Hogback Hike: To begin the year, K – 4 go on a morning hike at Hogback Mountain to get to know each other, play games, and build the school community.
● Garden: To learn about how our food grows, every year we plant in the spring, over the summer families care for the garden, and in the fall we harvest food for classroom meals and school healthy snacks.
● Compost: Our class runs the school paper and food composting, making sure every class has their buckets and knows what they’re for.
● Trees: Students adopts a tree at Hogback. We learn how to identify trees and watch them change through the seasons, document observations, make detailed sketches and write poetry.
● Soil: We learn what our natural resources are, why they’re important and how to take care of them. Through experiments and visits to farms we learn about the threats to soil and how to keep soil healthy. We also make a topo map of VT with salt dough, learning the main peaks and rivers through the state.
● Community: To relate where students live to the larger landscape we create neighborhood maps and place them on a larger map in relation to the school and other important features of our landscape.
● Local History: Looking at pieces of history we can still see, we try to discover what they were and what they were used for, to learn about life in Marlboro at different points in history. We visit the oldest cemetery of Marlboro and the town hall to look through records. Through student independent projects we learn about how the Abenaki used to live here.
● Sugaring: To learn an old art and a natural harvesting technique we tap maple trees and make our own syrup. This experience connects to learning about the Abenaki, present Marlboro farmers, tree studies, and food making.
● Spring 2011: Looking at Hogback as the old ski mountain we created a Quest around the natural and historical features of the mountain.
5-6 ● Build academic and interpersonal skills.
● Work collaboratively and independently on projects.
● Build appreciation of and familiarity with our surroundings.
● Through focusing on the micro students can begin to understand the macro.
● Work takes place outside the classroom, and the classroom becomes the laboratory.
● Understanding of our natural and cultural community extends to the regional scale.
● Woodford Overnight: At the beginning of each year we go to Woodford State Park to get to know each other. We hike around the reservoir, camp in lean-tos, play games about the web of life and explore nighttime ecology.
● Hogback Plot Study: At Hogback Mountain groups of students examine a 3 by 3 meter plot to discover who and what lives there. Students engage in observation, keeping a field journal, identification and classification, measuring and mapping, and detailed drawings. Students then consolidate their findings to create a field guide to their plot. Components of these are used for interpretive exhibits at Hogback Mountain.
● Work in Marlboro: We look at how people of Marlboro make a living now and into the past as part of an ongoing community history project. Students interview community members who live and work in Marlboro to create a collective document as a snapshot of Marlboro now for the historians of the future. The documentation is given to the Marlboro Historical society for their archives.
● Cape Cod field trip: We learn about the how the landscape changes by natural and human forces through exploring estuaries, oceanography, geology, and the history of initial explorers and separatist pilgrims. During the one-week field trip, students interview individuals connected to their individual research topic. Examples: cod industry, windmills, lighthouses. Back at school student create multimedia presentations for their class, school and community.
● NYC field trip: We learn about US immigration history and students take on independent research projects related to NYC guiding the direction of further investigation. During the one-week field trip, students interview a professional in their field of study. Examples: landscape design, taxidermy, theater, department stores. Back at school students create multimedia presentations for their class, school and community.

Goals: Activities:
7-8 ● Foster awareness and appreciation of where we are and the greater world.
● Field trips get us outside the classroom to see something from a new perspective.
● Understand who we were, who we are, and where we’re going.
● Help them grow into a sense of environmental and civic responsibility.
● Understanding of our natural and cultural communities extends to the global scale. ● Mountain climbing: To get to know each other, at the beginning of each year we take a 3 day trip to Mt Mansfield or Mt Chocorua, camp out and climb the mountain.
● Mystery day: As a surprise for students, we go on a day of challenge and fun on the water at the Retreat Meadows, Sunset Reservoir, or South Pond. Activities can include paddling, journaling, building miniature boats, and building their own rafts.
● Class government: To learn the tools of how a small group can make decisions together students form their own class government. It is modeled after town meeting with rules of order and a moderator, but students decide how to make decisions and try out different methods, from direct democracy to constitutional monarchy.
● Revolutionary New England: With a focus on public life we explore politics, government and war. We look at the American Revolution, the Civil war and the history of human settlement, land use and ownership through New England. Visits to Hogback Mountain investigate the effects people have on the land, considering then and now.
● Energy: Studies span from the micro to the macro, investigating the atomic level to the generation of electricity and from our local energy use to the global impact. Students decide on a project that enables them to learn by doing and make a contribution. Examples: A booth at a local event providing information about energy efficiency and lighting. Applied for a grant and installed solar panels on the school. Participated in the trial of a wind turbine at the school. Looked at school energy usage and addressed lighting in all rooms.
● Washington DC field trip: Political and government studies prepare for the one week trip visiting museums and speaking with senators and representatives. Students learn how government works as well as how to have a voice in government. We also explore the difference between city and country life. Students decide on the trip’s agenda, questions, activities and goals. Examples: Addressing a bill at the House or Senate at the time, students have protested with a banner, made statement with a visual splash, created card handouts turning the bills acronym into a metaphor.
● Trade & Empires: With a focus on private life we explore relationships between different people, races and cultures. We learn about Mongolian and Chinese empires, silk roads, African slave trade and 18th century New England trade. A visit to the Hood Museum explores artifacts. Visits to the Bishop homestead at Hogback Mountain consider trade connections for someone living in Marlboro in the 18th century. A visit to Walmart looks at what is imported and issues regarding where things come from.
● Flora & Fauna: We learn about the ecology of our VT wetlands, woodlands and wildlife and their interdependence. Several studies are taken to Hogback Mountain to provide a practical and realistic way to look at what we’re learning while contributing information to conservation organizations. Examples: stream water quality monitoring and investigation of macroinvertebrates, amphibian studies and vernal pool mapping and monitoring, winter mammal studies with a focus on porcupines, fisher and snowshoe hares.
● Costa Rica field trip: Students raise the funds to make this trip possible by harvesting saplings and making rustic furniture and having a cider sale where they pick and press local apples. Investigations into our relationship and connections with Central America prepare us for this special experience. We delve into international trade, fair trade, corporations, coffee, climate change, cloud forest ecology, migratory birds, ecotourism and more. Students decide on their group and individual projects for the trip.

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, May 7, 2012 at 6:00 P.M.
Note: I will be arriving from Windham and may be late due to an executive session.
Student/Staff Learning
1. The Journey East student group returned home to L&G and performed their “road show” on Saturday, May 5 at 7 P.M.
2. Last Thursday, the Grade 5/6 teacher group met to establish Common Core standards for mathematics teaching and learning in the WCSU. Marlboro was not represented.
3. All the principals are working with Matt Martyn to develop school reports that briefly summarize student performance and growth over time. These reports will be shared and combined for WCSU grade level summaries at the WCSU Board Annual Meeting on May 23.

Policy/Regulation
1. E11 and E12 are still under your consideration.
2. All mandatory policies are properly adopted and in effect by your Board, the oldest are D10 in 1979, E08 in 1996, F13 in 1986, G07 in 1991, G06 in 1979. I recommend reviewing your oldest policies, a few at each meeting as we move forward. (This is a repetition from my previous reports.)
3. The WCSU Board Executive Committee met to review the Superintendent’s Evaluation without the benefit of a quorum. (I understand Marlboro was well represented.) This issue will require an executive session on May 23. Please plan to attend.
4. Assuming the legislature adjourned on Saturday, I will share a summary of acts related to education if available.
5. I will share highlights of the RED Committee Meeting on May 2. The committee will consider a second draft of articles of agreement on June 6.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. The Annual Auditor’s Report for WCSU will be reviewed at the Annual Meeting on May 23.
2. The WCEA and WCSU Bargaining Teams have returned to direct negotiations. The next session will be Thursday, May 10 at L&G.
3. Contracts for the WCSU administrative staff will be issued on or before May 15.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. I recommend an executive session for “personnel” (re: principal’s contract for FY13).

Calendar Dates
1. The WCSU Board’s Annual Meeting will be Wed., May 23, 7:00 P.M. at Dover.
2. The WCSU Board’s Summer Retreat will be Wed., August 22 at 5:00 P.M. Location TBA. 5/4/12 – sbj

Minutes – Marlboro School Board Meeting 4/2/12 Approved

Pam — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:21:29 +0000

Attending: Jen Carr, Gussie Bartlett, Will Brooke-deBock, Francie Marbury, Principal

The meeting was called to order by Jen Carr at 6:10pm.

Minutes of 3/12/12 minutes were approved as amended to correct date.

Jen Carr moved to warn Investment Policy (E11) & Fraud Prevention Policy (E12). Seconded by Gussie Bartlett. Motion passed.

Discussion of B03-R: School Board Code of Conduct. We will revisit this document at our next meeting so we can get further information from the WCSU Superintendent.

Administrative Discussions
 Discussion of WSCU Gmail and technology – Will continue discussion at next meeting
 New board packets from WCSU – New School Member, Will Brooke-deBock, did get his packet.
 Keys for school board members – Keys are available to School Board Members.
 Pay order process when members are out of town – Discussion will be held at next board meeting.
 Board calendar of meetings – Discussed calendar of the WCSU and the MES School Board.

Jen will be in touch with Frank, Francie and Will re: updating salary scale excel spreadsheet.

The Board plans to invite former school board Andy Reichsman to September meeting to discuss budget process.

Francie presented the Principle’s Report. Attached. Discussion ensued about a range of topics including social climate and quarterly finance and budget information.

Jen reported on the WCSU board meeting of 3/28/2012.

The board read the Superintendent’s Report for 4/2/2012.

The Board discussed Twin Valley’s offer of Tuition Agreement. The Board decided not to sign the Tuition Agreement with Twin Valley.

The Board read and discussed the “Social Climate Parents’ Group” letter. Francie will follow up with a letter to a group.

The Board read and discussed a letter from Marlboro resident Laura Berkowitz.

Meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Will Brooke-deBock

Upcoming Meetings:
May 7th, Regular Board Meeting 6pm

Pay Orders: #20 3/23/12 $65,092.95

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, April 2, 2012

Student Learning
At this time of year there are many opportunities for students to demonstrate their progress and learning. Student Led Conferences were held Monday, March 26. Students spent time in advance selecting work, reflecting on the learning it represents, and organizing it into a presentation for their parents. Attendance at these was quite high – over 90%.

Junior High parents met with Rachel, Tim, and me to learn more about the itinerary and curriculum for the trip to Costa Rica. Studies in preparation for this trip are in full swing. Students will make presentations about their trip after they return in May.

Social bullying among girls continues to be an issue that requires attention. Tom Hudak and I are offering an informational and sharing meeting for parents on Monday, April 16, 7pm.

Several parents met informally to discuss their vision for social climate at school. They crafted a letter which includes appreciations, concerns, and recommendations. The social climate committee is considering how to follow up on this.

Kristina Weeks, Marlboro resident and Antioch student, has worked with us to develop a framework for all of the learning and study that takes place outside of the classroom. We are referring to this as Outside Works. This process has helped us to examine what we’re doing carefully, to see how work in classrooms builds, and to tease out overarching principles for what we want for students. I’m attaching the documents we’ve created thus far.

Please take a minute to go to the school website and to each of the class’s pages (on the left). The teachers’ notes provide a great deal of information about the learning in each classroom.

I will be attending a workshop on the Common Core implementation on April 11.

Policy or Regulation Implementation
The auditors have approved the Fraud Prevention and Investment policies we sent for their review. I am including these policies as attachments. They are ready to be warned.

Prior to our meeting I will pull out the policies which Steven recommends updating.

Building and Grounds
Consultant – We are contacting Ed McGrath at Leland and Gray to see if he can act as a consultant/coordinator for some of the more complex work needed on the building. ($35/hr) His services will be particularly useful with complex situations such as the septic.

We’ve received an estimate of $37,280 to replace the Outback roof. This will need to be put out to bid.

Thermal House will complete the EEBCG work in the JH and office areas over the April vacation.

Finance/Accounting
Please see Revenue and Expense, Budget vs. Actual, July 1, 2011-March 23, 2102
I will hand these out at the meeting.

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 4/2/12 89
Staffing
No changes

Informational items
Letters to next year’s kindergarten class are bing sent out this week. They will be informed of registration on June 6 (after Ellen has returned) and the partial day (every day until 12:45) schedule for next year.
Upcoming events:
4/3 Art for Water – artist residency and installation with Christine Destrempes
4/11 Learning Fair, 6:30-8
4/23-4/27 Spring Vacation
5/1-5/9 Junior High to Costa Rica
5/18 Hogback Day
6/5-6/12 8th grade Graduation Portfolios, after school
6/11 Consortium, 7pm
6/14 Graduation, 7pm

Marlboro Realms of Learning
Communication
Problem Solving
Personal Development
Civic and Social Responsibility
Knowledge

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, April 2, 2012 at 6:00 P.M.
Note: Sunday through Tuesday I will be learning at the New England League of Middle Schools (NELMS) Annual Conference with five teachers from Leland & Gray.
Student/Staff Learning
1. On April 11 all principals, Frank, Abby, Matt will attend a second information/Q&A presentation on the Common Core Standards at the NewBank Center in Chester. The SE VT Superintendents Association sponsors this conference to enable all administrators in our region to collaborate on the implementation of the Common Core and SBAC (replacing NECAP).
2. The last student instructional day for Windham is projected to be Monday, June 18th, followed by a teacher day on Tuesday.
3. The eighteen Journey East students at L&G left for China last week. Dr. Dorfman recently returned from her educational/diplomatic mission with memos of understanding establishing sister school relationships for L&G with three schools in Zhejiang Province – Yunhe H.S., Yuhang H.S., and the Jinhua (Performing) Art School.

Policy/Regulation
1. Board Reps. from ten districts attended the WCSU Board Meeting, 3/28, with only Wardsboro missing. Thank you Jenn for representing Marlboro.
2. The WCSU Board approved (with one dissenting vote) a letter to Vermont Senators urging them to vote no on H.440, the bill empowering the Governor to appoint a Secretary of Education.
3. E11 and E12 are still under your consideration.
4. All mandatory policies are properly adopted and in effect by your Board, the oldest are D10 in 1979, E08 in 1996, F13 in 1986, G07 in 1991, G06 in 1979. I recommend reviewing your oldest policies, a few at each meeting as we move forward.
5. (This is a repetition from my report last month.)
6. The next RED Study Committee Meeting on April 4. The primary focus of this meeting will the possibility of constructing a new elementary school to serve the towns of Jamaica, Townshend and Windham.
7. The legislature bears watching as a number of significant education bills are being debated this session. I refer you to the latest VSBA Legislative Brief – 2/28/12, emailed directly to all school boards recently. Your opinions can have a constructive influence on our legislative representatives.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. On March 28, the WCSU Board unanimously approved both the Agency Fund and Grants Budgets for FY13. The former was adjusted from the Dec. 7, 2011 proposal to reflect a reduction in music instruction at Marlboro and the transfer of contracts for Sp. Ed. paras from the local district to the WCSU (same financial commitment).
2. The Board also voted 15 to 5 to continue to assess EEE expenses for FY14 by the same method as we have for FY13. The case manager and SLP services for EEE will continue to be shared by the school districts based on ADM % of all elementary students in WCSU. Additional costs for equipment and special services, e.g., 1:1 para, as stipulated in the student’s IEP will continue to be billed directly to the school district.
3. Frank provided copies of the Annual Auditor’s Report for consideration at the WCSU Annual Meeting on May 23.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. The WCSU Board unanimously approved extending Mike McKinney’s contract to provide instrumental music instruction for Windham students this spring.
2. Five additional out of district students have requested to attend L&G as 9th graders this fall under provisions of VT’s public high school choice law. I have contacted the superintendents involved to confirm that no money follows these students.

Calendar Dates
1. WCEA negotiations will next continue with a Fact Finding Panel, the date and time TBD.
2. The Voluntary RED Study Committee will meet Wed., April 4, at 7:00 P.M. in L&G’s Library.
3. The WCSU Board’s Annual Meeting will be Wed., May 23, 7:00 P.M. at Dover. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

3/30/12 – sbj

Minutes – School Board Meeting 3/12/12 Approved

Pam — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:15:35 +0000

Attending: Jen Carr, Gussie Bartlett, Will Brooke-deBock, Steven John – WCSU Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Steven John at 5:05pm.

Reorganization of the Board:

Jen Carr was unanimously elected Chair
Gussie Bartlett was unanimously elected Vice-Chair
Will Brooke-deBock was unanimously elected Clerk
Linda Peters was unanimously elected Clerk
Jen Carr is WCSU Executive Committee designee (by law) with Gussie Bartlett as alternate
Gussie Bartlett was unanimously elected as representative to WCSU Policy Committee
The Brattleboro Reformer is designated the Paper of Record (unanimously)
The Windham County Sheriff is designated as Truant Officer
Regular meeting is designated as the first Monday of every month at 6PM ET at MES

The Board approved the minutes of the 2/6/2012 meeting.

Steven John presented his Superintendent’s report.

Steven John left the meeting at 6:10pm ET

Jen Carr made a motion to be exempt from participating in a State or Federal Breakfast or Lunch Program. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

The board signed off on the Auditor’s Report from Medgett, Jennett & Krogh-Wisner, P.C.

The School Board had a discussion about how to transition to the new board and planning for the year.

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Will Brooke-deBock

Upcoming Meetings:

April 2^th, Regular Board Meeting 6pm

Pay Orders: #17 2/10/12 $61,815.65

#18 2/24/12 $138,496.05

#19 3/09/12 $128,360.12

Our Guiding Principles:

We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item. Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur before the next meeting. We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.

Implementation Guidelines:

Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.

The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board

Monday, March 12, 2012 at 5:00 P.M.

Note: I need to convene Townshend’s Board Meeting at 7:00 P.M.

Student/Staff Learning

On March 7, all principals, Abby, Matt, Sam, Laurie and I attended a Common Core information/Q&A meeting at the NewsBank Center in Chester. The SE VT Superintendents’ Association sponsored this conference to enable all administrators in our region to collaborate on the implementation of the Common Core Standards and SBAC (replacing NECAP in 2014).
As we look forward to next year, I have submitted my Superintendent’s Self-Evaluation form to Emily Long as required by the annual WCSU Superintendent Evaluation Process.
Tomorrow, the ATM will continue developing the format for a WCSU “school report card” that includes student performance outcomes on NECAPs, MAPs, attendance and other indicators as directed by the boards.
The WCSU Professional Development Team (including the ATM) also meets tomorrow to gauge the extent and effect of our in-service and GLAM time this year. This group will recommend a plan for continuing the Balanced Literacy work for FY13.

Policy/Regulation

E11 and E12 are still under your consideration.
All mandatory policies are properly adopted and in effect by your Board, the oldest are D10 in 1979, E08 in 1996, F13 in 1986, G07 in 1991, G06 in 1979. I recommend reviewing your oldest policies, a few at each meeting as we move forward.
You may want to review the “Board Code of Conduct” with any new board members. This is an administrative procedure (B03-R) related to your B03: Board Member Conflict of Interest adopted 6/28/08. I’ll attach a copy of NewBrook’s for reference.
The complete text of all adopted board policies now appear on line for LGUHS #34 and the NewBrook Joint Contract Board. We are working on a table of contents to facilitate searching for a specific topic. My office (Alison, Sam and Matt) will continue to work on this project until we have the policies for all eleven boards posted for public access via the WCSU and school web sites.
The legislature bears watching as a number of significant education bills are being debated this session. I refer you to the latest VSBA Legislative Brief – 2/28/12, emailed directly to all school boards recently. Your opinions can have a constructive influence on our legislative representatives.
On March 9, I attended a VSA Meeting on pending legislation in Montpelier. I emailed my notes earlier and call your attention to S194, S440, S121, S233, and S201.
The next RED Committee Meeting on March 21 should provide a clearer indication of what we may expect from this study. It appears likely the legislature will adopt H753 intended to improve this process (Act 153).

Finance/Accounting/Operations

All school budgets in the WCSU were approved for FY13. Statewide only seven proposed school budgets were defeated this year. The average increase statewide is 2.9%.
Frank has documented the “WCSU Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting Administrative Procedures for School Districts”. See attached to this email.
Following two lengthy mediation sessions on January 31 and February 16, the WCEA and WCSU Bargaining Teams agreed to proceed to “Fact Finding”.

Enrollment/Staffing

See the RED Study Committee “Resources” on the WCSU website for student enrollment projections in the five LGUHS #34 towns. Wardsboro, Dover and Marlboro all expect to hold pretty steady.
The Dover School District Annual Meeting approved paying the full tuition for Burr and Burton students ($14450). This will likely reduce the number of Dover students who choose to attend L&G in the future.

Calendar Dates

WCEA negotiations will next continue with a Fact Finding Panel, the date and time TBD.
The Voluntary RED Study Committee will meet Wed., March 21, at 7:00 P.M. in L&G’s Library.
The WCSU Board Meeting will be Wed., March 28, 7:00 P.M. at Townshend for their annual organizational meeting and election of officers. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

3/10/12 – sbj

Minutes – School Board Meeting 2/6/12 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:36:37 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – WCSU Superintendent

The Board notes that after nine years of service, this is Lauren’s last School Board Meeting. Cards from the board and school staff were presented to Lauren. We are all very grateful for her hard work and dedicated service!

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:25pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes of the 1/24/11 minutes as corrected. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The Board reviewed updates to the Benefits Procedures for Marlboro School District Staff that have been incorporated by Gail Chaine.

In the near future, the Board will work with the school administration on developing a tiered wage schedule for non-professional staff.

A change was made to the benefit for sick and personal days for bus drivers so that this benefit covers all part-time non-professional staff. The benefit includes two non-accumulative personal days and was modified from two to five non-accumulative sick days.

Lauren made a motion that we add to the benefits procedures a category under Unpaid Leaves of Absence called Professional leave stating: Professional Staff who have seven contiguous years of employment may request a leave of absence without pay for up to one year. During this period they may elect to continue their health insurance coverage through COBRA. Upon return to their prior employment status they may be reimbursed up to the value of a Blue Cross Blue Shield Dual Option Single Person policy. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren made a motion that we approve the corrected and amended Benefits Procedures for Marlboro School District Staff 2012 – 2013. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The School Board is very grateful for all the hard work that Gail Chaine put into the modifications of this benefits procedures document.

The School Board is disappointed that we do not yet have our professional audit. We expect to have the draft before Town Meeting and they will have it completed for filing by March 31st.

The Board noted that two of the three School Board Members would be out of town on February 7th when the School Pay Order will need to be reviewed and signed. It was decided that Francie Marbury would sign the Marlboro School Pay Order on behalf of a School Board Member.

Lauren made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss professional bargaining in the WCSU. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed. Executive session began at 9:05pm.

Executive session ended at 9:10pm. No action was taken.

Meeting adjourned at 9:20pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Upcoming Meetings:
March 12th, Regular Board Meeting 5pm
Pay Orders: #15 1/13/12 $33,469.83
#16 1/27/12 $57,241.36

Marlboro School Board Principal’s Report
Monday, February 6, 2012

Student Learning
NECAP scores will be officially released on February 7. I have viewed the assessment results as part of the “verification process” and there is improvement in math and reading. Writing appears to be comparable to last year.

There will be a demonstration of student learning on Wednesday evening at 6:30 in the Outback when first-third graders play several violin pieces and the bands treat us to a performance of their work.

Junior High students will be presenting their I Projects during the week of February 13. I will have a schedule soon. You are invited to attend.

David’s class will present shadow puppet plays based on Greek myths. The students worked in small groups to write these plays, create the puppets and props, and rehearse.

Mid-year benchmark reading assessments have been completed in Primary and 3rd/4th. We use these to track individual student progress and group students for instruction.

The Learning Fair will be Wednesday, April 11 at 6:30.

Policy or Regulation Implementation
We are waiting for the auditors to comment on the Fraud Prevention and Investment policies have been sent for their review.

Gail has done a thorough job of reviewing and revising the Benefits Procedures – both to make changes based on recent School Board decisions and to simplify and create consistency in a document that has been amended many times over the years. This now requires close consideration by the board.

Building and Grounds
The septic system requires work. At this point Tyler Electric has made some repairs. We are continuing to gather information and may need to hire an engineer to help us determine the scope of the project.

Finance/Accounting
We are still waiting on the final report from the auditors today.

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 2/6/12 89
Jen K-8, 1st-3 Judy 1st-6, 2nd-12 Erica 3-12, 4th-7
Matt 5th-12 David 6th-13 Tim/Rachel 7th-3, 8th-12

Staffing — No changes

Informational items
Some thoughts on the relationship between the principal, the teachers, and the board at MES and how these pertain to the budget process, staffing decisions, and program development.

Marlboro Realms of Learning
Communication * Problem Solving * Personal Development * Civic and Social Responsibility * Knowledge

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 6:00 P.M.
Student/Staff Learning
1. MAPs testing is now complete in most elementary schools and we look forward to reporting soon on student learning since last fall in those schools.
2. Fall’s NECAPs results will be released February 8. Math continues to be a major concern statewide at the middle and high school levels. We share this concern and the WCSU Strategic Plan’s action steps are being implemented and revised to improve math teaching and learning. Implementation of the Common Core standards will require significant professional development in mathematics K-12.
3. The ATM is developing the format for a WCSU school report card that includes student performance outcomes, e.g. NECAPs, MAPs, attendance and other indicators as directed by your board.
4. On January 17-18, Marlboro’s teachers with Francie attended the Fountas and Pinnell professional development to improve student writing. As a key element of the WCSU’s Balanced Literacy initiative, this concludes our four-day course for K-8 teachers this year.

Policy/Regulation
1. Consider warning policies E11: Banking and Investment and E12: Fraud Prevention.
2. The Voluntary RED Committee met February 1. I will brief you on the latest developments.
3. The legislature bears watching as a number of significant education bills are being debated this session.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. Bargaining with the WCEA proceeded with an all day mediation session on Jan. 31 at the Three Mountain Inn. A second session is scheduled for February 16 at L&G beginning at 4:00 P.M. I suggest an executive session to answer any questions you may have. You have two teachers presently employed under this Master Agreement.
2. Funding for the EEE Program in FY13 was approved as part of the Superintendent’s Budget. On March 28, the WCSU Board intends to debate the method of allocating EEE expenses for FY14. Your board’s representatives will be asked to make a decision on this issue.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. Nothing new to report.

Calendar Dates
1. The Voluntary RED Study Committee will meet Wed., March 21, at 7:00 P.M. in L&G’s Library.
2. The WCSU Board Meeting will be Wed., March 28, 7:00 P.M. at Townshend for their annual organizational meeting and election of officers. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.
2/4/12 -sbj

Minutes – School Board Meeting 1/24/12 approved

Pam — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:40:05 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,

Francie Marbury – Principal, Andy Reichsman – member of the public & former Board Member, Steven John – WCSU Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:15pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes of the 1/9/11 minutes as corrected. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The School Board discussed a letter from a parent expressing concerns about how the school’s snow days are decided. The Board is satisfied that Francie and Steven John have addressed the parent’s concern.

Lauren made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter pertaining to the budget. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Executive session began at 6:25pm. Executive session ended at 7:20pm. No action was taken.

Lauren made a motion to propose to the Town to authorize the School Board to expend $2,208,271 to defray expenses and liabilities for the 2012 – 2013 school year. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

This budget proposal has been modified since the School Board’s last budget meeting.

Gussie made a motion to approve the Warning for the School District Annual meeting. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

To keep the year-to-year increase in expenditures under 5% the Board made cuts to certain school programs. Poetry was reduced from 43 days to 36 days. Spanish was focused to older grades and eliminated from younger grades. Band and Rhythms were also reduced.

The Board notes that without Special Education increases, the budget would have gone down .6%.

Andy Reichsman left the meeting at 8:20pm.

Lauren emailed the Director’s Report and Warning to the Town Auditors. Gail Chaine will send the Auditors additional budget information, as well as our pay scale that we would like to have included in the School District Annual Report.

Francie left the meeting at 8:50.

Lauren made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss professional contracts. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Executive session began at 8:55pm. Executive session ended at 10:00pm. No action was taken.

Meeting adjourned at 10:00pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jen Carr

Upcoming Meetings:

February 6^th, Regular Board Meeting 6pm

Our Guiding Principles:

Implementation Guidelines:

Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.

The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Minutes – School Board Meeting 1/9/12 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:46:53 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,

Francie Marbury – Principal, Andy Reichsman – member of the public & former Board Member, Frank Rucker – WCSU Chief Financial Officer, Abby Dillon – WCSU Director of Special Education

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:10pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes of the 12/5/11 minutes as drafted. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren made a motion to adopt Policy F17 for Head Lice. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Frank Rucker and Abby Dillon joined the meeting at 6:30pm.

The Board and Andy Reichsman discussed the School Budget with Frank Rucker and Abby Dillon.

Lauren made a motion that the Marlboro School Board present a budget proposal to voters at the Annual School District Meeting of $2,215,318.37. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

We anticipate that this will be a 5.1% increase in the school budget that will result in a 2.1% increase in the Town tax rate.

Andy Reichsman, Frank Rucker and Abby Dillon left the meeting at 8:40pm.

Superintendent’s Report attached.

In the mail the School Board received information from the Town Auditors about submitting the School District Report for Town Meeting. We also received the deadlines for warning and filing reports for Town Meeting from the Town Clerk.

Principal’s Report attached.

Jen made a motion at 9:05pm to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Executive Session ended at 9:10pm. No action was taken.

Francie Marbury left the meeting at 9:15pm.

Jen made a motion at 9:20pm to go into Executive Session to perform the Superintendent Evaluation. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Executive Session ended at 9:50pm.

The Superintendent Evaluation was completed.

The Board will look at a variety of programs under budget consideration at our next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 10:00pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Upcoming Meetings:
Jan 23rd, Budget meeting 6pm
February 6th, Regular Board Meeting 6pm

Pay Orders: #13 12/16/11 $55,022.70
#14 12/30/11 $48,099.45

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, January 9, 2012

Student Learning
Teachers will be participating in two days of professional development on January 17 & 18 with other teachers from WCSU. The focus will be on writing about reading and writing as part of literacy learning and instruction.

The local Farm to School Network will be working with us to improve health and nutrition education and will support our Healthy Snack program by helping us to access more locally grown vegetables and fruits. This will be supported through Action Plan funds.

Junior High students are beginning I-projects. These independent studies engage them in research on a topic of their own choosing and result in presentations to their classmates and interested community members. A schedule of presentations will be sent out to you when it is available.

David and Matt’s classes are in the midst of a study of Greek mythology which will culminate in student written and performed shadow puppet plays.

Erica’s class concluded a “Clay Boat” unit, which combines scientific process with learning about volume and capacity. Students were engaged in making hypotheses and collecting, recording, and interpreting data.

Before vacation Judy’s class took on major efforts in service learning when they hosted a fundraiser lunch for the whole school. The proceeds from this went to the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum at Hogback to support their creation of an eagle habitat. The students had studied about birds and created projects that were on display at the lunch. This class also sponsored a food drive for the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry and the older students delivered the 5 boxes of food collected.

Jen’s class began its new schedule with kindergarten students staying the full day. Before vacation they also created a 3-D map of Marlboro, identifying where they live in relation to the school.

Policy or Regulation Implementation
No new policies – Are we ready to adopt the Head Lice Policy?

Building and Grounds
Thermal House has been awarded the bid for the last phase of the Energy Grant and will complete this work over the April vacation when temperatures have warmed and students are not in the building.

Finance/Accounting
We have not yet received the final report from the audit.
As we review the proposed budget, there are several increases I’d like to explain:
100-110 kindergarten teacher is based on 75 days with 12:45 dismissal and 100 days with students staying until 2:45
100-566 early ed reimbursement to private providers increases from $3200 per student to $3800 per student based on Actual Cost report of $4300 per student from providers
260-622 increase projected based on increased after school use
260-472 increase of $4500 based on lack of donations which we benefited from in the past; possibly shift $2000 of this to MSA request

Abby and I will address the increases in 1200 Special Education and 1210 Essential Early Education at the meeting.

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 1/9/12 89
Jen K-8, 1st-3
Judy 1st-6, 2nd-12
Erica 3-12, 4th-7
Matt 5th-12
David 6th-13
Tim/Rachel 7th-3, 8th-12

Staffing
Spark intern with David, Leah Suter, has completed her work at MES.
Antioch intern, Liz Casarella, is working with Erica three days a week until early May. Her focus is environmental education.

Informational items
I hope to have a draft of my report for the Town Report for our meeting. Areas of particular focus will be the after school Ventures program, the Farm to School work, school social climate, as well as specific examples of student learning.

Marlboro Realms of Learning
Communication
Problem Solving
Personal Development
Civic and Social Responsibility
Knowledge
Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 6:00 P.M.

Note: I have asked Frank Rucker and Abby Dillon to answer any questions as you consider your proposed FY13 Budget. I am unable to attend due to a conflict with the regular board meeting in Townshend.

Student/Staff Learning
1. At the grade 5-6 GLAM last month, I responded to questions about the transition to the Common Core Standards focusing on mathematics. These standards not only increase the expectation for higher levels of mathematical understanding at earlier grades, but also require teachers to expand their repertoire of instructional techniques. David represents Marlboro at these 5-6 meetings and contributes to their collaborative work.
2. With the exception of Dover, all elementary teachers will attend professional development at Townshend for January 17 and 18. The L&G Board approved my recommendation to change the semester break to make up for our late start this fall. L&G classes will be held January 17 and 18, but school will close for in-service on Monday, January 23.
3. I noted Francie’s article in the Marlboro Mixer with a special recognition and thanks to the Junior High Students for picking up around the town’s recycling dumpsters.

Policy/Regulation
1. Consider warning policies E11: Banking and Investment and E12: Fraud Prevention.
2. The WCSU Board adopted E11 on December 7, 2011. Ten of eleven district boards were represented with 21 voting members present at that meeting – and impressive turnout. The proposed WCSU Superintendent’s Budget for FY13 was approved by unanimous vote. My administration appreciates the Board’s direction and support.
3. The VT Standards Board for Professional Educators (VSBPE) adopted new standards for administrators to parallel those adopted for teachers last June. These new standards are closely linked to the Common Core and are more student centered and outcomes based.
4. The Voluntary RED Committee met January 4. See the RED Committee link on the WCSU website for the latest information.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. Funding for the EEE Program in FY13 was approved as part of the Superintendent’s Budget. In March, the WCSU Board intends to debate the method of allocating EEE expenses for FY14.
2. The boards for L&G, Towshend, and NewBrook have approved proposed FY13 budgets to be warned for their annual meetings.
3. Bargaining with the WCEA continues with an all day mediation session on Jan. 31.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. A number of schools have added new students recently. This is a promising development, but L&G’s enrollment is still projected to decline from 390 to 370 over the next three years.
2. The “budget season” always reminds us of the importance of a school’s equalized pupil count and the town’s Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) on the projected school tax rate necessary to provide for our students’ education.

Calendar Dates
1. The Voluntary RED Study Committee Meeting will meet Wed., Feb. 1, at 7:00 P.M. in L&G’s Library. The Committee will also meet March 21 (not on the usual first Wed. of the month).
2. The next WCSU Board Meeting will be Wed., March 28, 7:00 P.M. at Townshend for their annual organizational meeting and election of officers. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

1/7/12 -sbj

Minutes – School Board Meeting 11/7/11 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:56:58 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,

Francie Marbury – Principal, Joe Juhasz – Deputy State Auditor, Rose Watson – Town Auditor, Barbara Adreotta – Town Auditor, Rachel Boyden – JH Teacher/Pay Scale Committee, Lucy Gratwick – Marlboro Select Board, Craig Hammond – Marlboro Select Board, Steven John – Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:05pm.

Lauren gave background about the work of the pay scale committee and also the process that the School Board will use for creating the School District Report for Town Meeting.

The School Board is tentatively planning a narrative report for reporting the new school-teacher salary scale reporting in the report and may print our scale, but not other districts, as there are differences in how various school districts make use of their salary-scales.

Joe explained the statutes about what the School Board and Auditors are respectively required, according to State Statute, to report on in their reports for Town Meeting.

Joe clarified that neither entity has any authority to tell the other what to put in their report.

The Auditors are required to provide a specific report on accounting for the Town. According to the State statute, the Auditors are not supposed to report on School Board information, but most likely would not be prosecuted by law if they did.

Joe suggested the Select board could put information in the Town Report about how to formally request and obtain public record reports.

Joe also suggested that summarized information can also be easier for people to understand that detailed reports. Often the details are not helpful because people do not understand them.

Craig Hammond and Steven John both noted that all groups have different roles and need to adhere to their roles in public office.

Craig Hammond noted that if Town Auditors are being approached by Townspeople with school related questions, they should be directed to the School Board. Similarly if they are approached about Town related questions, they should be directed to the Select Board.

Steven John also clarified that School Board Members can only take action on issues in their School Board Meetings.

Linda Peters, Town Treasurer and School District Treasurer, joined the meeting at 6:45pm.

Rose, Barbara, Rachel, Joe and Lucy left the meeting at 6:55pm.

Linda Peters spoke about the Town’s ability to pay tax money due to the School. The Town is short of usual funds due to the extraordinary expenses from Hurricane Irene and also due to the fact that the Town is still owed $300,000 from the State for bridge work. The Town has also not fully collected all tax revenue.

Lauren made a motion that the School District allow the Town to retain $500,000 of its debt to the School until such time as is needed for the School to meet expenses or until the Town has the funds to pay the School, which ever comes first. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Andy Hauty joined the meeting at 7:00pm. Linda and Craig left the meeting at 7:10pm

Andy Hauty spoke about parent concerns about school bussing to BUHS. Francie noted that timing of the school day was looked at very carefully before making the busing decisions.

Lauren noted that during the budget process Gail MacArthur comes to the school with a proposal for busing for the next year. Concrete suggestions on improving the BUHS bus service can be directed to Gail as part of this process.

The School Board notes that Gail thoroughly researched all busing options before coming to the conclusions for busing this year.

Andy left the meeting at 7:25pm

Gussie made a motion that the School Board adopt Policy F26, the Restrictive Behavioral Intervention Policy. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The School Board decided to consider the Fraud Prevention Policy and the Investment Policy (Policies E11 and E12) at the December Board Meeting.

Lauren made a motion to accept the October minutes as corrected. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Principal’s Report attached. Superintendent’s Report attached.

Lauren made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss School employees compensation. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed at 8:40pm. Executive session ended at 9:25pm. The Board took no action.

Francie will set up a time for staff negotiations. Lauren and Gussie will be the School Board representatives for staff negotiations.

Staff negotiations will be held on Tuesday, November 22nd at 3pm.

The School Board is comfortable that the new pay scale will not adversely affect the staff in FY 2013.

A letter was read from Charly Sperling thanking the Board for supporting the sixth grade Cape Cod field trip.

The School Board is very appreciative when we get letters like this from students.

Meeting adjourned at 9:50pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Upcoming Meetings:
Nov 22nd staff negotiations
Dec 5th, Regular School Board Meeting
Dec 7th, WCSU 7pm at LGUHS, vote on budget and approve agency fund
Dec 19th, School Board Budget meeting, time TBA
Jan 9th, Regular School Board Meeting
Jan 23rd, Budget meeting, time TBA

Pay Orders: #8 10/7/11 $55,968.64
#9 10/21/11 $53,701.14
#10 11/4/11 $364,823.05

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, November 7, 2011

Student Learning
Kindergarten – Kindergartners will attend school for the full day starting December 19. At this point there are nine potential kindergartners for next year. This makes it less likely to have a combination kindergarten-first grade class. Before making a recommendation as to whether kindergarten will be full day next year, I will survey parents of the incoming class.

We are in the process of meeting with Antioch students in the Environmental Studies department to see if during January – April they will work with the school on projects related to Hogback.

David’s class has returned from a week of Field Research on Cape Cod and Matt’s heads out Monday, November 7 for five days. David’s class will host a night for parents on November 17, 6:30, at which each student will present her/his research project.

Jen, Judy, and Erica held parent conferences on October 13. David, Rachel, and Tim will hold conferences in late November and early December.

Marlboro Ventures, our 21st Century grant program, is off to an excellent start with full enrollment for all activities. About 50 of our students are participating. Activities include recording studio basics with “found sound”, mountain biking, circus, clay creatures, wilderness games, and storytime with art. The session will run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for six weeks. The next session will begin after the holidays.

Below are the notes taken by Christine at our first joint Professional Development Committee meeting.
1. Discussion on the regional professional development day: It was generally agreed that the day was better received the previous year’s.
2. We discussed the GLAM meetings and what the expected outcomes for the groups this year should be. There were presentations from last years 1/2 and 5/6 GLAM meetings around geometry and measurement. There was very positive feedback from the district about the Fountas and Pinnell balanced literacy training. Francie reported that the writing part of this training will be held on Jan17 and 18, 2012.
3. Dorrine reported on what L and G had been doing for their literacy training.
4. Wardsboro School had a math training with Mahesh Sharma, which they found to be very useful.
5. Kris Parker Jennings gave the standards board report.

Policy or Regulation Implementation
Policy adoption and approval as noted on the agenda.

The following protocol has been revised as requested at the last meeting:

Communication Protocol for “unexpected events”

The principal receives notification and gathers information.

The principal contacts the superintendent, principal designee (usually a classroom teacher), administrative assistant and, if appropriate, school bus coordinator, by phone.

Confer to determine course of action with regard to school closure, transportation, etc.,.

Identify timeline for further communication – ex. Hourly or daily check- ins.

The principal either phones or delegates phoning of all staff in addition to group e-mail.

The principal sends out AlertNow voice mail to all school families.

If the principal is away, the principal designee becomes the school representative at meetings, as needed.

Building and Grounds
We put the remainder of the energy grant project out to bid and have received several inquiries. There will be a walk-through for interested contractors on Friday, November 11 at 7am. Bids are due and will be opened on Wednesday, November 30 at 1pm. The approval of this expenditure will be on the agenda for the December 5 board meeting.

Finance/Accounting
Our audit took place October 24-26. Using the same firm as three years ago, all went smoothly. We anticipate receiving their report in early December.
The line of credit note is due on November 30 and we will pay it off with the November 18 pay order.

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 11/7/11 85
Jen K-7, 1st-4
Judy 1st-5, 2nd-10
Erica 3-11, 4th-6
Matt 5th-14
David 6th-13
Tim/Rachel 7th-3, 8th-12

Staffing
Morgan English, One-on-one special education para resigned
Joel Eisenkramer has been hired for this position
Increased enrollment in K-1 and 1-2 and the departure of a teacher intern in early December results in the need for the assistant originally included in the FY12 budget. This assistant be shared between these two classrooms. Hiring will take place before December 7.

Informational items
Holiday Concert, Thursday, 12/15; snow date 12/19

Marlboro Realms of Learning
Communication
Problem Solving
Personal Development
Civic and Social Responsibility
Knowledge

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 6:00 P.M.

Note: I am coming from the Windham Board Meeting.

Student/Staff Learning
1. Christine M. represented the Marlboro faculty at the WCSU Professional Development Team Meeting on Oct. 19, the first of this year. This Team now includes teacher representatives from every school, all principals, and the WCSU Administration. This group collaborates to propose, support and coordinate plans for professional development across the WCSU. Francie will report on this meeting.
2. You should have received my notes from the VSBA/VSA fall conference, October 20-21. I welcome your questions and discussion of any issues from this conference. The conference’s closing session was a mock Town Meeting debating articles re: a policy opinion poll. You may find it provocative.
3. Francie and I will be attending two meetings in November that explain the latest developments and status of the transition to the national Common Core Standards to be fully implemented in 2014. One meeting focuses on mathematics while the other on language arts.
4. Governor Shumlin honored Tong Chen, as Vermont’s 2012 Teacher of the Year, at L&G’s all school assembly last Thursday. Following his remarks, Peter opened up the meeting to questions from students. Their questions ranged from, “What’s your favorite color?” and “Did you always want to be Governor?” to “What happening with healthcare?” and “What’s your opinion of nuclear energy (not specifically Entergy)?” After school the Governor met with the faculty for a spontaneous open Q and A session.

Policy/Regulation
1. Consider warning policies E11: Banking and Investment and E12: Fraud Prevention.
2. Although Marlboro was well represented, the full WCSU Board could take no action being one voting member short of a quorum – 14 present, 15 required. Seven district boards were represented. The proposed WCSU Superintendent and Agency Fund Budgets for FY13 will be voted at the Dec. 7 WCSU Board Meeting. I know you already have a lot of meetings, but please make your plans to attend.
3. In a letter emailed to all board members and principals last week, I recommended revising the school calendar in January to complete in-service training for all elementary teachers in Balanced Literacy (Fountas and Pinnell workshop). I also recommend a change in the semester break for L&G.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. FYI: bargaining sessions with the WCEA were postponed pending resolution of the teachers’ strike in Bennington. We hope to resume our meetings as soon as our respective legal counsels become available.
2. Last Wed., the WCSU Board gave Frank and me some general ideas about the conceptual direction of the WCSU Superintendent and Agency Fund Budgets for FY13. Frank and I will have a proposed WCSU Budget for FY13 for your review and discussion.
3. See Frank’s budget development timeline for the big picture of the steps required to prepare the 12 separate budgets within the WCSU.
4. The first (and we intend annual) WCSU bus drivers training for behavior management and student conduct was led by Chris Pratt last Friday at L&G.
5. We have improved the lighting in WCSU offices upstairs and also the building’s security with motion detectors for outside lighting.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. To date, we have been unable to locate a suitable candidate to fill the position of WCSU Administrative Assistant for Student Support Services, i.e., Abby Dillon’s assistant.
2. As we pursue additional leads, we have contracted for a specific task to meet a Special Education reporting deadline. Samantha will assist with Sp. Ed. issues and to support this necessity, I have temporarily hired Alison Hescock (L&G ’05) as our front desk receptionist in the office. On Monday, Nov. 7, Alison will begin her work answering our phones and assisting with communications from 8:00 – 3:30 Monday through Friday.

Informational Items
1. The Voluntary RED Study Committee Meeting will meet Dec. 14, 7 P.M. at L&G Library. This includes the towns of Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane, and Townshend.
2. The WCSU Negotiating Team’s next meeting TBA.
3. On October 26, the WCSU Board Executive Committee (quorum) met at 6:30 P.M. prior to the full board meeting (no quorum) at 7:00 P.M. at Jamaica Village School. The next WCSU Board Meeting will be Wed., Dec. 7, 7:00 P.M. at Leland and Gray to consider and formally vote on the proposed WCSU Superintendent’s and Agency Fund Budgets for FY13.

sbj – 11/4/11

Minutes – School Board Meeting 10/3/11 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:35:45 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,

Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent, Rachel Boyden, JH Teacher & Pay-scale Committee, Dan MacArthur – Pay-scale Committee, Andy Reichsman – Pay-scale Committee, Jean Boardman – Pay-scale Committee, Gail MacArthur – Bus Coordinator

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:05pm.

Lauren gave information about the work that the pay-scale committee has been doing. The group discussed the preliminary pay-scale that the committee has put together.

Jean Boardman joined the meeting at 6:30pm.

The Board decided to use the recommendations of the pay-scale committee when setting salaries for the upcoming year’s budget. The Board will make final decisions about the salary scale when setting the budget.

Dan, Rachel and Andy left the meeting at 7:05pm. Gail joined the meeting at this time.

Gail spoke about bussing from BUHS now that there is a new BUHS start time. When the high school time changed, Gail initially spoke with First Student school bussing service about coordinating with the BUHS buses to meet our bus on Route 9, but this option did not work.

Gail noted that the school does not have a bus to use for the BUHS afternoon bus run and that due to our own MES afternoon bus run, we are unable to get a bus to BUHS until later in the afternoon than other options like the Moover.

Costs of the transportation program were discussed. It was noted that an afternoon bus run dedicated to picking kids up from BUHS and dropping them at their individual homes would take our costs to a level that has never before been put toward high school bussing.

Gail informed the Board of a meeting about high school bussing that happened last week. Four high school families and Gail met to speak about parent concerns about the afternoon bussing from BUHS. Lauren Poster and Francie Marbury also attended this meeting.

After this meeting Gail spoke with the Moover to try to address concerns. The Moover will now be making multiple stops along Route 9 in order to drop the students at more locations than just Sweeties Market. Gail is still waiting for the Moover to get back to her about pulling into MES instead of having the kids cross Route 9.

Lauren made a motion that the Marlboro School District will not be providing an afternoon high school bus run this year. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The Board encourages students to use the Moover that picks students up from BUHS as 4pm.

The Board additionally wants to commend Gail MacArthur for all the work she has done with the Moover to coordinate a free bussing option for high school students in the afternoon.

Jean Boardman left the meeting at 7:40pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the last meeting as corrected. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Francie noted that initially we did not need to access the line of credit from Peoples Bank to cover expenditures, but as the pay orders have increased with teachers’ salaries being paid again, the amount the town was able to forward us was no longer sufficient. On 8/17/11 we drew $80,000 and on 9/21/11 the school directed Linda Peters to draw an additional $70,000.

Principal’s Report attached.

Gussie made a motion that the School Board warn the policy on Restrictive Behavioral Intervention, Policy F26. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren made a motion to allow school employees on sabbatical leave to remain a member of the insurance group at their own expense with the understanding that upon return to the same employment status with the School District they will be reimbursed, less the employee co-pay. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The School board asked Francie to direct Gail Chaine to review the benefits procedures. Specifically we noticed that COBRA is mentioned under parental leave and not in any other leave. Francie will report in the December meeting.

The School Board will review the School Benefits Procedures no later than the December meeting.

Lauren directed that in the Communication Protocol for “unexpected events” that titles be used as opposed to names.

Francie and Gail will put the job out to bid of insulating the school office and JH ceiling. This will be paid for using the rest of the money from the school’s energy grant. It is likely that we may need more money to complete both jobs than what is leftover from the grant.

Superintendent’s Report attached.

The Board will read and consider a Fraud Prevention Policy (Policy E12) and an Investment Policy (Policy E11) for the next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 9:05pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Upcoming Meetings:
*Oct 20 & 21st VSBA Fall Conference Lake Morey, Keynote Speaker Jamie Vollmer
*Oct 26th WCSU Executive Meeting in Jamaica 6:30pm/Full Board 7pm
*Nov 7th MES School Board Meeting MES 6 pm (invited elected auditors)

Pay Orders: #7 9/23/11 $70,348.93

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, October 3, 2011

Student Learning
Kindergarten-First Grade – Jen O’Donnell has spent the first month of school getting to know this group of 9 children and figuring out how best teach them within the current schedule of kindergartners leaving at 1pm. Based on numerous meetings and conversations with parents we have decided that it is in the best interests of the students and the school to extend the kindergarten to a full day. Although there are parents who are not in favor of this, more than half are. It will allow for a less fragmented schedule and more academic time without losing the very important choice time. The tricky transition when kindergartners go home and the rest of the class stays will no longer be an issue. Jen and Judy will continue to work closely together and the students will benefit from the flexible grouping that this allows. This will have implications for the budget I bring to you later this fall as the kindergarten position will go from .7FTE to full time.

Both in our professional learning and in student learning, we continue to deepen our connection with Hogback and focus on environmental education. Water quality monitoring and a study of porcupines are areas Tim and JH students are learning more about through work with BEEC and with George Leoniak. Judy is taking a two day workshop with BEEC to deepen her understanding of the life cycle of animals.

Students will take the NECAP for reading, writing, and math this month.

Science NECAP results have just come in and I will have a brief analysis of these at the meeting.

Teachers participated in a regional in-service day on Wednesday, September 28.

Teachers will be attending SU grade level meetings 2-3 times throughout the year. Part of their work will be to deepen learning from August 25 and 26 on Balanced Literacy (Fountas and Pinnell).

David’s class will conduct a week of Field Research on Cape Cod, the last week of October. Matt’s class will do the same in November.

Policy or Regulation Implementation
Steven sent out a policy about physical restraints developed by LGUHS last year. Please be ready to review this and consider what similar policy we might adopt. A copy is attached.

Specify type of leave in decision made by board in July –“ Lauren made a motion to allow school employees on leave to remain a member of the insurance group at their own expense with the understanding that upon return to the same employment status with the School District they will be reimbursed, less the employee co-pay.”

Consider extending the increased benefit of 5 sick and 3 personal days after one year to all non-professional staff. At the July meeting this was extended to fulltime classroom and special education assistants.

The following protocol clarifies how communication and decision making occurs when an unexpected event arises.

Communication Protocol for “unexpected events”

Francie receives notification and gathers information

Francie contacts Steven John, David Holzapfel, Gail Chaine and, if appropriate, Gail MacArthur, by phone

Confer to determine course of action with regard to school closure, transportation, etc.,.

Identify timeline for further communication – ex. Hourly or daily check- ins

Francie either phones or delegates phoning of all staff in addition to group e-mail

Francie sends out AlertNow voice mail to all school families

If Francie is away, David becomes the school representative at meetings

Building and Grounds
We are initiating a bid for the remainder of the energy grant. Gail will put out the invitation to bid asap. Based on the following information from the Thermal House audit, we suggest taking on the first two areas: offices and Junior High ceiling. We can’t be sure that the prices will be the same almost two years later. The grant and required match from the school will cover $10,200. We will need at least $2300 in addition if the earlier estimate is accurate.

Area Cost Energy $ Savings/Year Years to Pay Back
Offices 5200 / 841 / 6.2
JH Ceiling 7300 / 914 / 8.0
Gym Basement 4500 / 406 / 11.1

Decision: Please approve up to $5000 in total expense (including the 5% match).

Finance/Accounting
Our audit is scheduled for the week of October 24-28.
Discussion needed – Bus transportation to BUHS is an ongoing issue. As we look ahead, we need to find ways to attract new drivers. This might include offering to help with costs of getting a CDL: physical – $175, license – $75, bus clinic – $35, criminal record check – $44.25 total – $329.25

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 10/4/11 84.
Jen K-6, 1st-4
Judy 1st-5, 2nd-10
Erica 3-11, 4th-6
Matt 5th-14
David 6th-13
Tim/Rachel 7th-3, 8th-12

Informational items
• We are continuing to run the third bus to Williamsville and will do so until the bus is able to resume the run all the way down the Auger Hole Rd.
• I will be absent from school on occasional Mondays (once or twice a month) to care for my grandson. I notified the staff as follows: In my new role as grandmother I will be taking some Mondays throughout the year to be with my grandson. I know this can pose challenges for you and I’m trying to anticipate those. David will continue to be my stand-in when the unexpected occurs and Gail will be in touch with me if needed. I will limit my time away from school for professional development but I will continue to attend administrators meetings, GLM’s, and the Local Standards Board meetings. I’ll let you know via the Staff Bulletin calendar when I plan to be gone. Thanks for understanding.

Marlboro Realms of Learning
Communication
Problem Solving
Personal Development
Civic and Social Responsibility
Knowledge

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board

Monday, October 3, 2011 at 6:00 P.M.
Note: I am coming from the Windham Board Meeting.

Student/Staff Learning
1. All schools are now well underway. MAP assessments concluded last Friday, Sept. 30, for all students (except Marlboro).
2. The NECAP Science results from last spring’s testing have been released by the state. Francie will report to the greatest extent possible without identifying any students.
3. Marlboro’s staff participated in the SE Vermont Regional In-Service at Bellows Falls High School last Wednesday, Sept. 28. A panel of teachers and principals from five area schools (including Dover) shared the successful initiatives they implemented to improve student learning based on the research in Roots of Success. This document highlights eight elements common to the most effective schools in Vermont. See the Roots of Success summary previously shared and attached again FYI. I suggest that this document may point to specific goals and means the board may want to establish to direct future planning and budget development.

Policy/Regulation
1. F27: Pupil Privacy and Surveys and E09: AIDS and HIV were both warned on 2/8/10. Were these policies adopted? If so, I missed recording the date.
2. Consider policies E11: Fraud Prevention and E12: Banking and Investment.
3. I will share a recent explanation from the DOE regarding the allocation of Title I funds within a supervisory union. This clarification responded to an inquiry from the Dover School Board.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. We held a bargaining session with the WCEA last Wednesday, Sept. 26 at L&G. I can brief the board in executive session.
2. The WCSU audit will be completed in early October. The Newfane, L&G, and Winhall school districts are also being audited.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. Jenn Chapin, Admin. Assistant for Special Education, resigned to accept her “dream job” in Houston. We are taking temporary measures to complete Jenn’s work on short notice. We advertised this opening and Abby Dillon will lead the selection committee and process to recommend the best candidate for me to hire.
2. The relocation of office spaces at the WCSU building is now complete. Moving always provides a good opportunity to weed old files. We shredded nine boxes of confidential documents that are no longer required by law.

Informational Items
1. FYI: The Voluntary RED Study Committee Meeting will be Oct. 5, 7 P.M. at L&G Library. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the committee’s VSBA Consultant, John Everitt, plans to visit the four elementary schools represented. The date for the committee’s meeting in November is the 2nd.
2. The VSBA/VSA fall conference is October 20-21. I will attend and urge you to consider this opportunity.
3. On October 26, the WCSU Board Executive Committee will meet at 6:30 P.M. prior to the full board meeting at 7:00 P.M. – Jamaica Village School.

sbj – 9/30/11

Minutes – School Board Meeting 9/12/11 APPROVED

Pam — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:51:29 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,

Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent, Rose Watson – Town Auditor, Barbara Andreotta – Town Auditor

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 7:10pm.

The School Board and the Town Auditors discussed a timeline for meeting together before the School District Report is produced for Town Meeting. The board agenda for tonight’s meeting had already included an item to invite the auditors to our November board meeting.

Rose and Barbara left the meeting at 7:20pm. When they left they gave the School Board a letter from Keely Eastly since she was not at the meeting.

Lauren made a motion for the Board to go into Executive Session at 7:25pm. Gussie seconded the motion. Executive session ended at 7:40pm. No action was taken.

The School Board discussed a letter from Nora Wilson. Steven John followed up on this letter by directing Gail Chaine to provide Nora with a list of school employees and their salaries.

The Board came up with a process for checking mail in the summer season when Board Meetings are less frequent or not held at the school.

Francie will try to accelerate the process with the professional outside audit firm in order to ensure that we have a report before budget season.

Superintendent’s Report attached.

In February the Board will assess the five-year plan that is nearing its five-year mark that addressed methods for student assessments. We will also look at creating a new plan that would address student achievement especially as they relate to the Common Core and Vermont’s Framework of Standards.

The administration called to the attention of the Board that we pay careful attention to the amount of funding being spent on pre-K education. We have currently maxed out our budget that was set for pre-K education this year.

Francie reported that the School did not end up needing to use the line of credit from Peoples Bank to cover summer expenditures.

Gussie made a motion to accept the minutes to the July 19^th meeting as corrected. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jen made a motion to add a $500 stipend to Erica’s pay for her to lead all school sing in Ellen’s absence. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Principal’s Report attached.

The Board successfully logged on to their new WCSU email accounts.

Upcoming meetings were discussed. The Board will coordinate about plans for the VSBA conference by email.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jen Carr

Upcoming Meetings:

*Oct 3^rd MES School Board Meeting MES 6 pm (invite pay scale committee)

*Oct 20 & 21^st VSBA Fall Conference Lake Morey, Keynote Speaker Jamie Vollmer

*Oct 26^th WCSU Executive Meeting in Jamaica 7 pm

* Nov 7^th MES School Board Meeting MES 6 pm (invited elected auditors)

Pay Orders: #3 7/29/11 $110,948.47

#4 8/12/11 $21,710.83

#5 8/22/11 $49,961.03

#6 9/9/11 $33,995.27

Our Guiding Principles:

Implementation Guidelines:

Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.

The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board

Monday, September 12, 2011 at 6:00 P.M.

Note: I am coming from the Windham Board Meeting, and will attend Townshend’s as close to 7 P.M. as possible.

Student/Staff Learning

I hope you received a copy of my WCSU Opening Day remarks and two graphs via email. The excel graph reports on math performance for WCSU students over the past three years. The second graph (in the powerpoint) depicts the national trend for student performance K-12. I welcome your questions and discussion.
Friday, Sept. 2, most of our professional staffs were able to participate in the WCSU Opening Day in-service meeting at L&G followed by preparations in each school.
For the time being, I directed all principals to welcome any students to our schools regardless of residency. Some families are likely to be displaced and we want all children to attend the nearest school without question. For any L&G students who are absent due to Irene, every effort will be made to send assignments home. Students will be able to make up for any lost instruction on an individual student basis. Parents and students are encourage to contact L&G (as best they can) to find out what works best for their family.
The boards and all school employees made the transition to Google Apps for email communications, calendaring, and collaboration sharing documents, effective September 6^th. We will use your previous email addresses in addition to your Gmail account for another month, but do switch over for any board business. I am sending this report out on both accounts, so you should receive it twice.
For this school year, we’ll have twelve mentors for all first or second year teachers in the WCSU. Mentor training with a consultant began all day Friday, Sept. 9. This program is endorsed and partially supported by the NEA/VEA. Marlboro will not participate formally in the program for FY12.
Last Friday, I greeted the students and staff in their classrooms in Marlboro, NewBrook, Jamaica, and L&G. Everyone seems relieved and quite happy to be in school. Attendance is remarkable good. I also visited Wardsboro (no school) to support this staff and check out the bus route. All schools will be in session Monday, Sept. 12.
Would you like to share anything you took away from the WCSU Board’s Annual Retreat Meeting last month?

Policy/Regulation

As things stand now, Windham will have 171 student days this year. The state requires a minimum of 175. John and I will consider ways to make up the four student days and make some recommendations to the Board. Remember that our posted calendar contains no snow days. Any snow days will have to be added in June. FYI, it’s too early to apply for a waiver even if you required one for this year.

Finance/Accounting/Operations

As reduced by about $8,000, the DOE approved our WCSU Consolidated Federal Grant proposal for FY12. Contracts can now be offered for CFG funded and 21 Century Grant after-school services.

Enrollment/Staffing

On August 14, Jennifer Connor began her work as the WCSU 21^st Century Program Director to oversee the after-school program at seven schools this fall. Marlboro’s site coordinator is Rose Watson. Mrs. Connor will share an office with Jenn Chapin who assists Abby Dillon.
Last week, the personnel office (Kathy Velsor) moved downstairs at the WCSU. Our clientele should find this location much more convenient. The EEE Program (Claire Nelson) has relocated to Townshend Elementary School to better serve young children in a school setting.

Informational Items

WCSU Negotiating Team meets Monday, September 26 at L&G, 5:00 to prepare for a bargaining session at 6:00 P.M. An additional session is scheduled for Oct. 19.
The Voluntary RED Study Committee Meeting will be Oct. 5, 7 P.M. at L&G Library. Nov. 2 is their date for November.
The WCSU Board Executive Committee will meet at 7:00 P.M. on October 26 at Jamaica Village School.

sbj – 9/11/11

Marlboro School Board

Principal’s Report

Monday, September 12, 2011

Student Learning

On August 25 and 26 all teachers who work the additional days for professional development attended training in Literacy Learning and Instruction K-8. This will be the basis for continuing work in our PLC meetings and during the WCSU Grade Level meetings.

And then Irene struck! After conferring with a number of people I decided to postpone the opening of school until Tuesday, September 6. Most Marlboro teachers did not attend the WCSU Welcome Back at Leland and Gray on Friday, September 2. Though an unofficial workday, on Monday, September 5th the school was full of teachers readying classrooms. Many of them had made their way to school over the weekend as well.

Gail MacArthur developed new bus routes to pick up as many students as possible. We are sending the little bus over North Pond and Sunset Lake roads to the Williamsville store to pick up the 9 students who live below the washed out areas of the Auger Hole. Tim and David are driving this route and are submitting time slips for additional pay. High school students will be brought to Marlboro by the Moover starting Tuesday, September 14.

Decision: I recommend paying Tim and David for this additional work at the hourly bus driver rate.

The first four days of school went smoothly with everyone delighted to be back. On the first day we had a brief assembly which was attended by quite a few parents. New students were welcomed and some of the heroes of the day were recognized: Deacon’s grandfather, Bummy Turner, Roshika’s mom, Lisa Merton, Althea and Leander’s father, Forrest, Camilla’s mother, Susanne, and all the bus drivers.

David’s class went ahead with their scheduled overnight at Woodford State Park. The clouds parted and the sun shone as they pulled away from school on Thursday afternoon.

Erica is working with Tim each week to plan and lead All School Sing.

Decision: I recommend adding the Sing stipend of $500 to her contract.

This year weekly team meetings, in addition to the less frequent meeting of the Educational Support Team, will provide the venue for closer coordination and planning of instruction according to individual student needs. These meetings will start this week.

The 21^st Century Grant programming will begin the week of October 24. Each day’s schedule will consist of 15 minutes of recess and snack, 30 minutes of homework club, and 75 minutes of programmed activity.

Policy or Regulation Implementation

Building and Grounds

The permanent wall between downstairs between Judy and Matt’s rooms was completed on schedule and within budget. It is a great improvement in terms of sound. While the electrician was here to install outlets in the new wall, he also corrected the wiring for the projectors that were hung in all classrooms last summer so that they no longer require extension cords and comply with code.

Hands free sinks have been installed in the five bathrooms with the $7000 secured by Ellen from the Wellness Grant. These funds were also used to make improvements to the parking lot lighting and to purchase a bike rack and a new microwave for the office.

Other summer work included replacing the water fountain in the Outback and the major section of chain link fence along Route 9 (as approved).

Finance/Accounting

Our audit will be scheduled for later this fall.

We did not have to use the line of credit due to the town receiving early tax payments.

The state has informed us that they are backed up and are not currently able to give us the information needed to move forward with using the rest of the Energy Efficiency Grant funds.

Enrollment/Staffing

Student enrollment as of 9/12/11 83; two additional students enrolled today and will begin class on October 4.

Jen K-6, 1^st-4

Judy 1^st-5, 2^nd-10

Erica 3-11, 4^th-6

Matt 5^th-14

David 6^th-13

Tim/Rachel 7^th-3, 8^th-11

We are pleased to have several teacher interns this year from the Spark Program and from Antioch: Peder Rud with Rachel, Leah Suter with David, Courtney Plummer with Judy.

Marlboro College work-study students are in the process of applying for up to 20 hours of work per week as classroom assistants.

Rose Watson has been hired to be the Site Coordinator for the 21^st Century Grant program.

Informational items

Due to the loss of the first three days of school, we discussed the following changes to this year’s calendar. There were many questions about the possibility of taking September 28 as a school day rather than teachers participating in a regional inservice day. We added in two days with October 19 and November 23 as school days. Please see the new calendar posted on the website.

Despite the incredibly challenging and stressful circumstances, the school year is off to a very good start. The Marlboro School staff is outstanding – a talented, passionate, and hard working crew and I appreciate every one of them.

Marlboro Realms of Learning

Communication

Problem Solving

Personal Development

Civic and Social Responsibility

Knowledge

School Board Meeting

Pam — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:50:39 +0000

Warning: The Marlboro School Board will hold its next meeting on Monday, November 7th at 6 pm at MES. The Town’s elected auditors have been invited to this meeting.

Minutes – School Board Meeting 7/19/11 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:19:59 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,
Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent, Andy Reichsman – Member of
the Pay Scale Sub-Committee
The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 10:20am.
Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 6/29/11 as drafted. Gussie
seconded the motion. Motion passed.
The Board reviewed the School Board Guiding Principles.
Francie updated the Board on the process of hiring a new Physical Education teacher.
Francie noted that the cost of the wall being built in the largest downstairs room in the
School building is targeted to come in at about $500 under budget.
Francie will consult with Frank Rucker about the proper way to create a fund that would
create a minimum $5,000 balance to be available when the 21st Century after school grant
is reduced in year four of the program.
Superintendent’s Report attached.
Steven John suggests that the School Board and not the individual members pay for dinner
at the upcoming WCSU retreat.
The Marlboro School is receiving $861.07 less than expected from the State Title 1 grant
because of a Federal reduction in the overall grant.
The Board has resolved to borrow funds using a line of credit from a local bank to cover
expenditures until revenues start coming in the fall. Gail Chaine contacted Merchants and
Peoples banks and expects to receive an agreement within the next 2 weeks.
Addition to the Minutes: On Thursday, July 21
st
Gail Chaine accepted an offer for the line of credit
from Peoples Bank. Gail expects to receive the note on Monday, July 25
th
and will have the School
Board and the Town Treasurer sign it at that time. ~7/21/11
The Marlboro School ended the fiscal year with a deficit of $71,130 and that amount has
been moved temporarily from the Future Tuition Fund to the General Fund, to be repaid
when revenues start flowing again in the fall.
The main source of the deficit came from Special Education spending, over budget by
more than $110,000, but we under-spent in Regular Programs and some revenues
exceeded budgeted expectations, accounting for a smaller deficit.
Andy Reichsman joined the meeting at noon.
Lauren made a motion to approve the Marlboro School Title 1 School wide Action Plan for
2011 – 2012. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.
The meeting recessed for lunch at 12:25pm. Meeting resumed at 12:55pm.
The Board went into Executive Session at 1:10pm to discuss salaries and personnel
matters. Executive Session ended at 1:40pm.Page 2
Lauren, Andy Reichsman and Frank Rucker will do further work on the pay scale and
then bring a proposal for the new scale to the October School Board Meeting.
Andy Reichsman left the meeting at 1:45pm.
Lauren made a motion to allow school employees on leave to remain a member of the
insurance group at their own expense with the understanding that upon return to the
same employment status with the School District they will be reimbursed, less the
employee co-pay. Gussie seconded the motion. The motion was tabled.
The Board went into Executive Session at 1:55pm to discuss a personnel matter. Executive
Session ended at 2:05pm.
Further discussion of the motion followed. Lauren accepted Gussie’s friendly amendment
to this motion to limit the reimbursement to a single person benefit. The Board voted to
accept the amendment to the motion. The Board voted yes to pass the amended motion.
Jen made a motion that we change the amount of sick and personal days for full time
classroom and special education assistants after one year of employment to five sick days
and three personal days. Under this change unused sick days may be accumulated up to a
maximum of 60 days. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 2:25pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr
Upcoming meetings:
-Wednesday, August 24
th
at 5:30pm, WCSU Board retreat
Pay Orders: #2 7/15/11 $54,049.56
Our Guiding Principles:
Students will be at the center of our decision-making. We will keep to the agenda. The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each
item and act as timekeeper during the meeting. Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth. Decisions will not be made hastily.
We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before
moving on to a new item. Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur
before the next meeting. We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.
Implementation Guidelines:
Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.
The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.
Windham Central Supervisory Union
wcsu46.org 1219 Vermont Route 30 Townshend, VT 05353 802-365-9510 phone 802-365-7934 fax
WCSU will provide member districts with the leadership and resources to ensure a strong education system for all students.
Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Tuesday, July 19, 2011, Summer Retreat 10:00 – 2:00 at South Pond
Student/Staff Learning
1. On Thursday (7/7), I met with a group of representatives from law enforcement, Youth Services,
L&G, and the Center for Health and Learning (Cindy Hayford). On behalf of the WCSU, I signed a
letter of support for a planning grant from the Holt Foundation to develop more healthful living in
the West River Valley.Page 3
2. On June 27 and July 8, three principals worked with Frank, Matt and me to analyze student
performance on the Measures of Academic Proficiency (MAP) tests in mathematics. This work will
inform our planning and action steps to improve math instruction K-12 at the administrators’
summer retreat Aug. 16-18.
3. On July 27-29, a group of grade 5-8 teachers (GLAM) will meet to align instruction with grade
level expectations for student performance in mathematics. Sue Newman is coordinating this
working group, and I will facilitate with special attention to our students’ transitions in math from
grades 6 to 7.
Policy/Regulation
1. The legislature did remove the legal limit to the number of pre-k students receiving support for
their education (up to 10 hours per week). This is good news for all elementary school districts.
FYI, no actual pre-k monies flow to the district, but an adjustment is made to the school tax rate.
2. The first meeting of the R.E.D. Study Committee including representatives from Brookline,
Jamaica, Newfane, Townshend, and Windham will be Aug 1 to elect officers, consider consultants
and set the agenda for their future work. The VSBA is advising the boards with this study.
3. I advise taking up the Banking Investment and Fraud Policies after they are considered by the
WCSU at their summer retreat on Aug 24.
Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. I submitted the Title I/Consolidated Federal Grant application on July 1 based on the ATM’s
recommended revisions. You should have received (via email) a summary copy of our proposed
allocations for FY12 along with the ATM notes from our June 20 meeting.
2. Last Friday, I was notified that our Title I grant will be cut by more than $8,000. I will adjust
your school’s allocation based on student count to share this pain across the WCSU.
3. I directed a review of all software programs that support WCSU operations including
requisitions, personnel time sheets, leave requests, professional development records, child incident
reporting, email and online communications. On Sept. 1, we will move to windhamcentralboard.org
for all board public documents on line, communications (email), and calendaring.
Enrollment/Staffing
1. We have posted the WCSU school nurse position to replace Ruth Davies who retired
June 30. I will convene an interview committee as soon as our applicant pool warrants action.
2. Dorinne, Samantha, and I are interviewing candidates for the WCSU 21st Century Grant
Coordinator, the position to oversee the after-school program and site coordinators at eight school
buildings this fall. I hope to publicly announce this appointment on Friday.
Informational Items
1. WCSU Negotiating Team meets Wed., July 27 at L&G, 6:30.
2. R.E.D. Study Committee meets Monday, Aug. 1 at 6:00 P.M. in the Library at L&G.
3. WCSU Admin. Team meets Aug 16 – 18 for its annual planning retreat.
4. The WCSU Board’s Summer Retreat will be Wed. Aug. 24 – 5:00 P.M. at the
Hermitage. Dinner is $25. Please reserve with Samantha in my office 365-9510.
5. The WCSU Board will meet at 7:00 P.M. on October 26 at Jamaica Village School.
sbj – 7/18/11
WCSU will …place students at the center of our 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.

Minutes – School Board Meeting 6/29/11 APPROVED

Pam — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:03:34 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal

The meeting was called to order by Jen at 6:10pm. Lauren arrived at 6:30pm.

Gussie made a motion to accept the minutes of the 6/6/11 meeting with typos corrected. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Francie noted that for the 21st Century grant for the after school program, the WCSU Office will mange the grant funding and ongoing accounting.

Principal’s report attached.

The cap on the number of pre-school students at Meetinghouse School has been lifted. We have received eleven applications and we budgeted for ten. We will take all eleven applicants and operate within the amount that was originally budget for the ten.

Jen made a made a motion to allow Francie to award contracts not to exceed $8,500 to build a wall and install electrical outlets in the largest downstairs room. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren made a motion to approve spending $2,270 to replace the longest section of fence in front of the school. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren made a motion at 7:15pm to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter. Executive session ended at 7:30pm. No decisions were made.

Francie and Gail will investigate special provisos with our health insurance provider as pertains to our benefits procedures.

When we are reviewing benefits procedures at the upcoming retreat, Franice would like us to consider expanding benefits to non-professional employees who have been with us for a few years.

The School is running a deficit between now and October. The Town is not in a position to make a loan to the School as they have in past years. The School will look into postponing as many debts as possible until revenues start coming in October. We anticipate that we may need to borrow from Bank North at a rate of 3%. We are investigating other loan institutions as well. We will have the full information at our July retreat.

Meeting adjourned 8:30pm.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings: -Tuesday, July 19th from 10am to 2pm, School Board Retreat (alternate location is Steven John’s house) -Wednesday, August 24th at 5:30pm, WCSU Board retreat

Page 1

Pay Orders: #26 6/17/11 $142,249.83 #1 7/1/11 $26,030.59

Our Guiding Principles:

Students will be at the center of our decision-making. We will keep to the agenda. The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item and act as timekeeper during the meeting. Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth. Decisions will not be made hastily. We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item. Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur before the next meeting. We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.

Implementation Guidelines:

Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed. The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Marlboro School Board Principal’s Report Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Student Learning

21st Century Grant – This grant has been awarded to the seven WCSU schools that applied and MES will receive $58,000 for the next three years and reduced amounts for the following three years ($43,500, $37,700, and $29,000). We have established a timeline for hiring the program director and once s/he is in place we will hire site coordinators for Marlboro and the other schools (Dover, Newbrook, Townshend, Jamaica, Wardsboro, and Leland and Gray). After school programming will start sometime this fall. We will not have the After School program as it currently exists.

Action Plan – I’m attaching a copy to this report and hope that you will be able to review it before the retreat. At the retreat it can be discussed and adopted. Early Education Collaborative – The cap on the number of preschoolers has been lifted. We already have 11 applicants and we budgeted for 10.

The Literacy Collaborative will be providing 4 days of training for 11 staff members. We will use two of our MES professional development days for this, as well as two WCSU professional development days. This training will be funded through the Consolidated Federal Grant and through the Federal Jobs Grant. The second year will require a commitment of Title I funds.

Policy or Regulation Implementation

No current activity. We will review the Benefits Procedures at the summer retreat. I am gathering information from other schools as a basis for considering changes to the benefits for support staff.

Building and Grounds

Summer building projects include creating a permanent wall in what is now the Primary classroom and extending the work under the Energy Efficiency Grant.

Permanent wall between Judy’s room and next year’s 5th grade room. Don Sherefkin is working on drawings. Brian Johnson, Division of Fire Safety, has given input regarding code requirements. Two contractors who have worked for us in the past are interested in the project. We do not anticipate needing to go through a formal bid process. I request that the board approve spending up to $8000 on this.

Page 2

Fence along Rte 9 – After the fence was damaged last winter, we received insurance. To repair only the damaged area will cost an additional $1300. To replace and improve the entire fence (longer section) will cost $2270.

Finance/Accounting Energy Efficiency Grant – The remaining funds will be used to improve the thermostat relay regulation in the office area and for several of the projects recommended in the Thermal House audit. This will require an extension of the deadline by which funds must be spent and an “increase in scope” of the grant. We will apply for these this summer. The projects we recommend are insulating the Junior High ceiling and the exterior walls in the office area.

After School Program – As directed by the board, the AfterSchool director was given a retroactive raise.

Health insurance

Two matters – one is the request to continue coverage while on leave; the other is a request for dental insurance by a support staff member. I will request executive session to present information regarding these requests.

Enrollment/Staffing

• Student enrollment as of 6/16/11 89 • Chris Brown has tentatively been offered a fulltime position teaching PE at

Whitingham Elementary/Twin Valley Middle School. Our position will be advertised

in the next weeks with interviews on July 18. • Contracts for Matt Chapman and Jen O’Donnell are ready to be offered.

Informational items

Due to the change in BUHS start and ending times MES will start at 8:15 and end at 2:45. High school students will be able to catch the bus to MES in the morning and then down to BUHS. In the afternoon, the Brattleboro bus will bring them as far as the turnaround at the town line on Rte 9 where Jackie will pick them up and drop them off along Rte 9, at the school, and along Auger Hole and Higley Hill on her way to where the bus is parked at Elliot’s garage.

Page 3

Minutes – School Board Meeting 6/6/11 APPROVED

Pam — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:57:59 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:10pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes of the 5/2/11 meeting as drafted. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes of the 5/11/11 meeting as drafted. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The School Board decided to invite the Town Auditors to a meeting in the fall to discuss the School District report.

Steven John joined the meeting at 6:50pm. Principal’s report attached.

The Board went into Executive Session at 7:05pm to discuss a personnel matter. Executive session ended at 7:15pm.

Jen made a motion to pay a part-time teacher, as is the standard in other schools in our Supervisory Union, $120 per day for two days for IEP work that was done above and beyond the usual work day. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The Board went into Executive Session to discuss at 7:20pm to discuss a personnel matter. Executive Session ended at 7:30pm.

No decisions were made in Executive Session. Francie will bring more information to our next meeting.

Francie will get back to the School Board with recommendations for the salary of the after school program coordinator.

The Board discussed the funding that is to come from the 21st Century grant and the accounting processes for this funding. In order to designate funds from the after school program to another fund in the school budget, the School Board would have to warn the item for Town Meeting.

The School Board read a letter from David’s class thanking us for our support of their trip to New York City.

Meeting adjourned 8:10pm.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings: -Monday, June 13th at 7pm, MES Consortium -Tuesday, June 14th at 7pm, MES Graduation

Page 1

-Thursday, June 16th is the last day of school -Monday, June 20th at 7pm, School Board Meeting for Fiscal Year End Review -Tuesday, July 19th from 10am to 2pm, School Board Retreat (alternate location is Steven John’s house) -Wednesday, August 24th at 5:30pm, WCSU Board retreat

Pay Orders: #23 #24 #25

Our Guiding Principles:

5/6/11 5/20/11 6/3/11

$39,180.19 $152,543.75 $37,809.02

Implementation Guidelines:

Marlboro School Board Principal’s Report Monday, June 6, 2011

Student Learning

21st Century Grant – This grant has been awarded to the WCSU schools that applied. The amount of funding is not certain but it seems there will be enough to provide a greatly expanded after school program at MES. Preparation for this will require a great deal of my summer worktime. New York City Field Research – David’s students presented their projects to parents on the evenings of May 9 and 11.

8th grade portfolio roundtables – Thank you for attending so many of these. These are our strongest demonstrations of student learning. The Literacy Collaborative will be providing 4 days of training for 11 staff members. We will use two of our MES professional development days for this, as well as two WCSU professional development days. 3rd/4th grade musical - Erica’s class (3rd/4th grade) will present a musical on Thursday, June 9, 7pm at the Whittemore Theatre. Action Plan – The Action Plan committee has been meeting for the past two months and will have a plan for your approval by the summer retreat.

Policy or Regulation Implementation

No current activity. We will review the Benefits Procedures at the summer retreat.

Page 2

Building and Grounds

Summer building projects include creating a permanent wall in what is now the Primary classroom and completing the work under the Energy Efficiency Grant.

Finance/Accounting

Energy Efficiency Grant – The remaining funds will be used to improve the thermostat relay regulation in the office area and for several of the projects recommended in the Thermal House audit. This will require an extension of the deadline by which funds must be spent and an “increase in scope” of the grant. We will apply for these this summer. The projects we recommend are insulating the Junior High ceiling and the exterior walls in the office area.

After School Program – With our greatly cut back program this year, Rose took a reduction in pay, working 3 days a week instead of 5. We currently have a balance of $6000. Ellen incurred a great deal of extra time and travel expense as part of an IEP development process. The Special Education program will not pay for this. This is a total of 15.5 hours plus travel. I recommend paying her for 2.5 days at the substitute teacher rate of $80 per day.

Enrollment/Staffing

Student enrollment as of 6/6/11 89 Staffing – Jen O’Donnell and Matt Chapman have been hired to fill one year positions in Kindergarten/1st grade and 5th grade. At our end of the year staff party on Thursday, June 16, we will say goodbye to Claire Galya.

Informational items

2011-2012 calendar Gail, Jackie, and I are meeting to consider possible changes to our start and end times if WSESU goes to a later start.

Page 3

Minutes – Special meeting 5/11/11 APPROVED

Pam — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:54:27 +0000

Marlboro School Board Special meeting to get community feedback about the information included in the School District Report Minutes 5/11/11 APPROVED

School Board Members Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Town Auditors Attending: Rose Watson, Barbara Andreotta Community Members: Gail and Dan MacArthur, Michelle Holzapfel, Joan Carey, Lucy Gratwick, Michael Boylan, Lisa Merton, Andy Reichsman, Andy Hauty, Sylvia Johnson, Jane Wilde, Paul Redmond, Marjorie Tudor, Francie Marbury – MES Principal

Special Guest: Joe Juhasz, Deputy State Auditor for Vermont was present at the meeting to discuss the School District’s use of auditors Moderator: Steven John (Steven also serves as the WCSU Superintendant)

The meeting was called to order by Steven John at 7:05pm.

Joe Juhasz spoke about the role of the State Auditor’s office. The office does not tell local towns what to do, however they do have the ability audit.

Joe also spoke about the role of Town Auditors: Reconciling financial reports Statue states that they audit the records of Town School Board once per year if there is no professional audit (the current MES professional audit is every three years.) No power to change actual journals for Treasurer. (School Treasurer is currently same as Town Treasurer) Compiling town report, but not all VT towns have Town Auditors do this

Lauren outlined information about how this meeting came to happen. She noted that the School Board has published the school salary scale for the last two years in the School District Report at the request of the Town Auditors. This is not information included in any other town’s school district report, as far as Lauren knows. The School Board called this meeting to get feedback from the community about the information included in the School District’s Annual Report, to see if people found the new information useful, confusing, or if there might be other information they’d like to see.

The School Board also wanted clarification as to what jurisdiction the Town Auditors have over the School Board, if any, and what information they can dictate to the School Board be included in the School District Report or in the Town Report. When the questions first arose, at the suggestion of our Town Clerk, Nora Wilson, Lauren contacted Kathy Scheele (then DeWolfe), in the office The VT Scetretary of State’s Office. Recently Kathy suggested we get support from the VSBA and Steve Dale, Director of the VSBA connected Lauren with Joe Juhasz, State Deputy Auditor, inviting him to this meeting help clarify information about the School District’s use of Town Auditors.

The School Board will not make any decisions about these issues at tonight’s meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to share information and gather community feedback about these issues in a public forum in order to help inform our decision making process.

Joe noted that certain limited information (reporting of financial expenditures) is officially required in the School District Report. The Town has to decide what information above and beyond the minimum requirements is useful in the report. He also noted that information can be made available through other avenues (ie, school or town website.)

Rose said the Town Auditors felt that the school salary scale was necessary in the report because there had been a number of requests that came to their office for this information.

Page 1

Lauren asked Joe to clarify the respective roles of Town Auditors and the School Board:

Joe said the School Board has overall fiduciary responsibility for the school and responsibility for reporting school finances.

Town Auditors review expenditures. They note if the financial reports are financially accurate and if proper controls are in order. They also have a responsibility to ask for more detail when they have concerns whether the information in the report is correct.

Town Auditors can publicly express their findings about the figures, especially if they find errors, but they do not have authority to infringe upon another Board’s report or compel them to add information. The process he suggested for additional reporting to the community would be on the lines of a public “letter to the editor.”

Further, he said that auditors can suggest changes and communicate ideas, but can’t compel another entity to work differently than they see fit. While Town Auditors can recommend appropriate financial procedures, each entity has domain over their own area. He suggests conversation as the best way to make any changes. Town Auditors should report to the community if they can’t resolve issues through dialog.

Rose outlined the work the Town Auditors do: Each month they review accounts and perform reconciliation. They note checks that stand out and ask questions. They check school accounting against the town ledger. They check delinquent taxes. They compile the Town Report. Town Auditors are paid an hourly wage and they work in the Town Office. It was noted that the have an easier time communicating with officials in the Town Office than with the School Board because of their work location in the Town Office.

Joe said that most Town Auditors do not do as much work as ours. The Auditors estimate spending 6-9 hours per month on this work, but more with preparation of town report.

The Auditors and School Board were asked what they are looking for in terms of audits.

The School Board has concerns about confusion that can be created by non-professional audits. Lauren also noted that it had been recommended to her by Kathy Scheele at the VT Secretary of State that the School Board should be careful of opening up the School District to liability by the use of nonprofessional auditors, and that the Secretery of State’s office has been recommending that town’s of our size move away from the use of elected auditors.

Joe Juhasz noted that many towns are grappling with the issue of using professional versus town auditors. He noted that when towns have a good budget process and budgets that come out evenly each year, that they may not need professional audits each year, but others may need yearly professional audits when there are problems that arise.

Rose Watson mentioned that she thinks if the School Board moves to a yearly professional audit instead of using Town Auditors, that then the Town of Marlboro would also have to eliminate the office of Town Auditor.

Joe says that he does not think that the position of the Town Auditors would be eliminated if the School Board moved to professional audits, but he will follow up to be sure.

A concern was raised about retaliation from the School Board if the Board Members are unhappy with the actions of the Town Auditors.

Page 2

It was pointed out that the School Board can’t eliminate the position of Town Auditors. Changes would have to be made through a properly warned item and a vote at Town Meeting.

Rose is also concerned that professional auditors are not looking specifically for fraud, but that Town Auditors can serve this purpose more effectively.

Lauren noted that our professional auditors do ask about potential fraud during the school audits she has been involved with every three years. She also noted that the School Board has a formal process of checking and providing oversight for the school accounting (two School Board members review all school pay orders.)

Joe spoke about the importance of having a local system of controls over finances. Groups should always perform risk assessments and think about how they can mitigate financial risk. He thinks this is a good role for the Town Auditors.

Joe says Town Auditors do not officially need to be present at professional audits, but they can be and this can be of use. Town auditors serve an important role in monitoring finances and checking for odd behavior that an outside auditor would not notice.

It was asked how expensive a yearly professional audit is. Joe did not state the cost of a professional audit because it can vary greatly. MES has scheduled the professional audit that is performed every three years for this year and the cost is $5,000. However, it likely would not be this expensive if we did it every year since it would be less work doing it annually.

It was asked what is the purpose of professional audit is. Professional auditors tell you what internal controls you are missing and what you can do to correct the situation. Elected town auditors can also do this although they vary in experience and ability to recognize problems.

Joe also noted that the State Auditor’s office can help towns look at financial controls and create policies. They can also provide information and help with arbitration if needed.

Meeting participants spoke about what information they would like to see in the School District Report:

There was no support for publishing the actual salaries of the teachers as it was thought that this can cause adversarial relationships. Was noted that elected officials have their salaries published.

Many people think the school’s salary scale is useful information for the public. It was noted that showing the pay scale in the School District report reflects well upon our teachers and school since we are not overpaying our staff. It was expressed that the salary scale does not overly infringe upon teacher’s privacy.

People like this information because they want to know how our teachers fare in salary as compared to teachers in other districts.

Lauren noted that the School Board (with a committee involving community members) is currently working on updating the school salary scale and is concerned that the current salary scale might be confusing since it looks different than salary scales of other regional schools, especially those that are in professional bargaining agreements.

Page 3

Steven John, speaking as our Superintendent, noted that when he places a new hire on the WCSU’s salary scale he has to subtract 3 years from their work history, and make other changes as per collective bargaining. In many schools teachers join the National Education Association and negotiate their salaries through professional bargaining agreements. MES teachers do not do this. They negotiate directly with the School Board.

It was noted that it is hard to compare our pay scale to other school’s pay scales that are set up differently than ours. MES also has a different amount of days than other schools. For this reason, and others, the School Board is concerned publishing the salary scales isn’t giving as accurate information as one might believe.

It was suggested that in the abstract we could compare our teacher’s salaries to those of other schools. We could profile hypothetical comparisons with random samples of teachers from different districts with similar experience and education levels.

It was suggested that a simplified comparison could be printed every year without taking up so much room in the Town Report. It was also recommended that one year could be a local comparison and one could be a national comparison of salaries.

It was noted that if less information than the full salary scale was printed every year that we could sill make the full information available online, although a concern was expressed that not everyone has easy online access.

It was noted that community members can not be expected to always know what information they should ask for regarding town issues they may not be intimately involved with and that they count on the respective community groups to think about and supply what information the public needs to make informed decisions at Town Meeting.

It was noted that in the beginning of this discussion about the school’s teacher salaries that began two years ago the Town Auditors were concerned that there was a problem with the salary scale that would allow school staff salaries to rise out of control. The concern was that the formula allowed for exponential growth of salaries.

When the salary scale was further investigated it was found that our teachers were actually underpaid compared to other teachers in our region and nationally and the auditors didn’t fully understand how the formula worked.

The meeting participants spoke about appropriate process for dealing with concerns about MES and the School Board, in this instance the example for concern is how the Board is reporting information about school teacher salaries.

Joe Juhas noted that the appropriate process is to have the concerns come to the School Board first, then move outward if the issues are not resolved directly with the School Board. In this example, the members of the public concerned about salaries or the bigger picture of overall MES spending should approach the School Board first and try to have their questions answered before going to the Town Auditors.

Lauren also reminded the meeting participants that School Board meetings are open public meetings. She requested that townspeople please come and talk to the School Board at these meetings whenever they have questions.

Lauren made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded. Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Page 4

Minutes – School board meeting 5/2/11 APPROVED

Pam — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:53:52 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:05pm.

Francie signed and sent paperwork on behalf of the School for the Vermont FiberConnect high-speed internet project.

The Board went into Executive Session at 6:15pm to discuss a personnel issue. Executive Session ended at 6:20pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 4/4/11 meeting as drafted. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jen made a motion that we expand the definition of family coverage as per our health benefits procedures to include “domestic partners” as defined by Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Principal’s report attached.

The salary scale sub-committee is in the midst of revising the pay scale. As we are still working on this issue of salary scale, the School Board is not going to approve the benefits procedures at this time.

Jen and Gussie signed staff contracts for the 2011 – 2012 school year. Lauren will come to the school on the morning of May 3, 2011 to further review the contracts before she signs.

Delta Dental is now offering expanded benefits for dependents up to the age of 26.

Lauren made a motion to allow school parent Sarah Coffey to use the school bus with a rental fee based on mileage. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The Board will review financial entries that Gail Chaine makes in the General Ledger once a year. This will be happen with Gail present when the school’s pay order is done.

Francie wants to note that in the future she will work to inform the Board in a timely manner about staffing issues.

Superintendent’s report attached.

The Board went into Executive Session at 8:15pm to discuss WCSU negotiations with teachers. Executive session ended at 8:25pm.

Steven John gave his feedback about which old School Board documents should be kept.

The Board will do the VSBA’s School Board self-assessment and focus on benefits procedures at the next Board Retreat to be held at the beginning of August.

The Board went into Executive Session at 9:40pm to discuss a personnel matter. Executive session ended at 10:10pm.

Page 1

The Board made a decision to extend the Principal’s contract for FY 2012. The Board asked the Superintendent Steven John to follow up on the details.

The Board asked Steven John to review our present administrative policy for after school use of the school facility and the buses.

Please note pay order #21-22 at the bottom of the minutes. Meeting adjourned 10:15pm.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings: -Wednesday, May 11th at 7pm, Special School Board Meeting -Wednesday, May 18th at 7pm at Windham, WCSU Annual Meeting -Monday, June 6th at 6pm, Marlboro School Board Meeting -Monday, June 13th at 7pm, MES Consortium -Tuesday, June 14th at 7pm, MES Graduation -Thursday, June 16th is the last day of school -Tuesday, June 21st at 6pm, School Board Meeting for Fiscal Year End Review -Monday, August 1st from 10am to 2pm, School Board Retreat

Pay Orders: #21 4/8/11 $54,975.59 #22 4/22/11 $54,998.32

Our Guiding Principles:

Implementation Guidelines:

Marlboro School Board Principal’s Report Monday, May 2, 2011

Student Learning

Learning Fair, Wednesday, May 4, 6:30-8 Please check website for teachers’ letters and homework notes Literacy PD for 2011-12

Policy or Regulation Implementation

Review of Benefits Procedures Consideration of “domestic partnership” with regard to benefit eligibility

Page 2

Building and Grounds

Sara Coffey use of buses Completion of play structure

Finance/Accounting

Use of rest of Energy Efficiency Grant funds still not determined

Enrollment/Staffing

Student enrollment as of 5/2/11 89 Projections and classroom configuration for next year

Informational items

2011-2012 calendar meeting regarding regional transportation – Gail MacArthur attending

Windham Central Supervisory Union

1219 Vermont Route 30 Townshend, VT 05353 802-365-9510 phone ␣ 802-365-7934 fax

wcsu46.org

WCSU will provide member districts with the leadership and resources to ensure a strong education system for all students.

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board Monday, May 2, 2011

Student/Staff Learning

1. In collaboration with the WCSU Professional Development Team, the principals proposed that our in-service days be dedicated to Balanced Literacy. This work will enable our teachers to improve student reading (fluency and comprehension) and writing from k-6 continuing through middle grades and high school graduation. I have approved this initiative to include all teachers in the WCSU through next year with the exception of Dover. This Balanced Literacy work will begin at each school on the afternoon of May 18. (Dover will continue its work on integrating technology with classroom instruction.)

2. The Measures of Academic Proficiency (MAPs) testing window is now open until June 10. Later in June, a small group of principals will meet with Matt to analyze student MAPs scores compared with their past performances. This analysis will inform our planning sessions at the administrators’ summer retreat in August.

3. The NECAP tests for science are scheduled for later this month. Only students in grade 4 are tested in elementary schools. Expect the results to be reported in the fall.

Policy/Regulation

1. At the combined WCSU school district board meetings held last Thursday, April 28, at Townshend Elementary School, Winton Goodrich from VSBA, reviewed the latest developments and clarifications re: forming a R.E.D. Study Committee. Jamaica,Townshend, Brookline, Newfane and L&G board members all participated in the question and answer time for discussion. The next step for boards moving forward is to appoint representative(s) to the R.E.D. Study Committee.

Page 3

2. At their meetings this month, the joint contract Brookline-Newfane, Jamaica, Townshend, Wardsboro, and L&G Boards will consider ratifying a tentative interim (one year) agreement for the professional staff represented by WCEA. As your teachers are indirectly affected by this agreement, I can brief you on some of the details in executive session.

Finance/Accounting/Operations

1. The Federal Education Jobs Funds have been allocated and I signed the required sub-grants to each school district. Francie will give you the details regarding Marlboro’s use of this one time money.

2. In view of the changeable nature of education finance, I will wait until the Vermont Legislature adjourns before adjusting (increasing) any employment contracts issued prior to April 15 that may have involved a Reduction in force (RiF). The deadline for returning signed contracts for next year is May 15.

Enrollment/Staffing

1. Chris Pratt is the new principal for NewBrook Elementary School. On my recommendation Chris was appointed by unanimous vote. An article regarding his leaving BUHS appeared in the Reformer this weekend. The joint board and parent organization invites the communities to a covered dish reception at 6:00 PM on Monday, May 16. This event will give parents and students a chance to meet and speak with Mr. Pratt informally.

2. Dr. Dorfman is interviewing candidates for a counselor to replace Jerry Cassels beginning this fall at L&G.

3. I hope to conclude contracts for all principal and WCSU staff members by the end of May. This will require an executive session for “personnel” at your board meeting.

Informational Items

1. WCSU Negotiating Team meets Thurs., May 5, at L&G in Room A-11 at 6:30 P.M. Future meetings are tentatively scheduled for June 1 and 15.

2. The WCSU Board will meet on Wed., May 18, at 7 P.M. at the Windham School.

3. The WCSU Board’s Summer Retreat will be held Wed. Aug. 24 – time and place to be determined.

4. The last day of school for students will vary across the WCSU districts. Windham and Marlboro are the earliest, while Dover is the latest.

sbj – 5/1/11

WCSU will …place students at the center of our 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.

Page 4

Warning: The Marlboro School Board

Pam — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:53:18 +0000

will have a special meeting to hold a fiscal year-end review on Monday, June 20, 2011 at 7pm at the Marlboro Elementary School. Please note that this meeting has been rescheduled from Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 6pm.

School Board Mtg Minutes 5/11/11 DRAFT

Pam — Sat, 21 May 2011 15:05:59 +0000

Marlboro School Board

Special meeting to get community feedback about the

information included in the School District Report

Minutes 5/11/11 DRAFT

School Board Members Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk,

Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,

Town Auditors Attending: Rose Watson, Barbara Andreotta

Community Members: Gail and Dan MacArthur, Michelle Holzapfel, Joan Carey, Lucy Gratwick, Michael Boylan, Lisa Merton, Andy Reichsman, Andy Hauty, Sylvia Johnson, Jane Wilde, Paul Redmond, Marjorie Tudor, Francie Marbury – MES Principal

Special Guest: Joe Juhasz, Deputy State Auditor for Vermont was present at the meeting to discuss the School District’s use of auditors

Moderator: Steven John (Steven also serves as the WCSU Superintendant)

The meeting was called to order by Steven John at 7:05pm.

Joe Juhasz spoke about the role of the State Auditor’s office. The office does not tell local towns what to do, however they do have the ability audit.

Joe also spoke about the role of Town Auditors:

Reconciling financial reports

Statue states that they audit the records of Town School Board once per year if there is no professional audit (the current MES professional audit is every three years.)

No power to change actual journals for Treasurer.

(School Treasurer is currently same as Town Treasurer)

Compiling town report, but not all VT towns have Town Auditors do this

Rose said the Town Auditors felt that the school salary scale was necessary in the report because there had been a number of requests that came to their office for this information.

Lauren asked Joe to clarify the respective roles of Town Auditors and the School Board:

Joe said the School Board has overall fiduciary responsibility for the school and responsibility for reporting school finances.

Rose outlined the work the Town Auditors do:

Each month they review accounts and perform reconciliation.

They note checks that stand out and ask questions.

They check school accounting against the town ledger.

They check delinquent taxes.

They compile the Town Report.

Town Auditors are paid an hourly wage and they work in the Town Office.

It was noted that the have an easier time communicating with officials in the Town Office than with the School Board because of their work location in the Town Office.

Joe said that most Town Auditors do not do as much work as ours. The Auditors estimate spending 6-9 hours per month on this work, but more with preparation of town report.

The Auditors and School Board were asked what they are looking for in terms of audits.

Joe says that he does not think that the position of the Town Auditors would be eliminated if the School Board moved to professional audits, but he will follow up to be sure.

A concern was raised about retaliation from the School Board if the Board Members are unhappy with the actions of the Town Auditors.

It was pointed out that the School Board can’t eliminate the position of Town Auditors. Changes would have to be made through a properly warned item and a vote at Town Meeting.

Rose is also concerned that professional auditors are not looking specifically for fraud, but that Town Auditors can serve this purpose more effectively.

It was asked how expensive a yearly professional audit is.

Joe did not state the cost of a professional audit because it can vary greatly.

MES has scheduled the professional audit that is performed every three years for this year and the cost is $5,000. However, it likely would not be this expensive if we did it every year since it would be less work doing it annually.

It was asked what is the purpose of professional audit is.

Professional auditors tell you what internal controls you are missing and what you can do to correct the situation. Elected town auditors can also do this although they vary in experience and ability to recognize problems.

Joe also noted that the State Auditor’s office can help towns look at financial controls and create policies. They can also provide information and help with arbitration if needed.

Meeting participants spoke about what information they would like to see in the School District Report:

People like this information because they want to know how our teachers fare in salary as compared to teachers in other districts.

Lauren made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded. Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jen Carr

Minutes – School board meeting 4/4/11 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:57:47 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,
Francie Marbury – Principal

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:20pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 3/7/11 meeting with a spelling error corrected. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Principal’s report attached.

MES is piloting the use of MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing for the math program with a few students. Francie will keep us apprised of other assessment tools in math and we will continue to look at different ways to evaluate our math program.

Lauren made a motion to approve MES’s participation in the Vermont FiberConnect high-speed internet project. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed. The School Board will sign the appropriate paperwork when it comes to the school.

Lauren signed the Tuition Agreement with Twin Valley High School that will provide possible tuition saving next year if any of our students attend this school.

At the next meeting with Steven John the School Board will review which old School Board documents should be saved. Jen will print hard copies of the past year’s School Board minutes and give them to Nora at the Town Office.

Lauren is working to hold the meeting of the subcommittee that is working on the new school salary structure before the next School Board meeting and will report on this meeting at the May School Board Meeting.

At the next School Board Retreat the School Board will review the benefits procedures for all employees at MES.

The Board has agreed that Gussie will serve as our voting member in the WCSU Meeting on April 26th to review the Superintendent Evaluation.

Superintendent’s report attached.

Please note pay order #19-20 at the bottom of the minutes.

Meeting adjourned 8:25pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings: -April 25th at 7pm, Special Informational Meeting
-April 26th at 7pm at Marlboro School, WCSU Executive
Committee Meeting to review the Superintendent Evaluation
-May 2nd at 6pm, Marlboro School Board Meeting
-May 18th at 7pm at Windham, WCSU Annual Meeting

Pay Orders: #19 3/11/11 $147,410.16
#20 3/25/11 $51,867.45

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, April 4, 2011
6pm

Thank You!

Marlboro Realms of Learning
Communication
Problem Solving
Personal Development
Civic and Social Responsibility
Knowledge
Student Learning
MES did make AYP in reading and did not make AYP in math
David’s class to NYC next week
JH to DC May 9-13
Social Climate work continues
NEESC
Vermont Fiber Connect project

Policy or Regulation Implementation

Building and Grounds
Continued fine tuning of heating units
Developing list of summer projects

Finance/Accounting
on target
Use of rest of Energy Efficiency Grant funds still not determined

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 4/5/11 89
Claire Galya – 5th/6th assistant
Kathy Pell – Healthy Snack
Rick Rickards – one-on-one
Patrick Johnson – one-on-one

Informational items
2011-2012 calendar under development
meeting regarding regional transportation
Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, April 4, 2011
Note: The WCSU Negotiations Team will meet with the WCEA Team at 6:30 Monday night at L&G. Unfortunately, I will have to miss your meeting.
Student/Staff Learning
1. Please review the WCSU summary of the AYP status of our schools. I emailed this document to all board members earlier today.
2. The business office has completed three hours of excel spreadsheet training. These sessions included Kathy Velsor, Teri Fletcher, Carolyn Jenness, and Jenn Chapin. Samantha Bovat and Luarie Garland provided the instruction and leadership for this continuing professional development.

Policy/Regulation
1. At the WCSU Board Meeting on March 30, the Board approved purchasing a domain name for board use only, e.g. windhamcentralboard.org. Matt will follow up on this initiative (limited to $100) to provide email addresses to all board members to be used exclusively for all board communications.
2. The WCSU Agency Fund, Medicaid Explorers’ Camp, and EPSDT budgets were all approved unanimously for FY12.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. In a separate email, please find the latest information from the DOE regarding Federal Education Jobs Funds. This included a cautionary note and recommendation from Frank and me.
2. Reduction in force (RiF) letters have be issued to meet the April 1 deadline for notification. Professional (teacher) contracts will be issued by April 15.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. Congratulations to Bruce Garrow, NewBrook Principal, for being recognized as Vermont’s Principal of the Year. This well deserved honor caps Bruce’s 14 years of service to our students as principal of Newfane, and more recently NewBrook Elementary Schools.
2. I will present my recommended candidate for appointment as the “new” NewBrook Principal starting July1, 2011. The Board will consider my recommendation in executive session this Wed. evening. I am grateful to 21 members of the school community who served on the various interview committees to help me find the right person to lead NewBrook School.

Informational Items
1. WCSU Negotiating Team meets Mon., April 4, at L&G in Room A-11 at 6:30 P.M.
2. WCSU Board and Executive Committee will meet in executive session for the Superintendent’s Evaluation on Tuesday, April 26, at 7 P.M. at Marlboro.
3. Next steps to study the creation of a Regional Education District (R.E.D.) will be discussed by the school boards of Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane, and Townshend on Thursday, April 28 at 7 P.M. at Townshend Elementary School. Other board members and the public are welcome.
4. WCSU Board will meet on Wed., May 18, at 7 P.M. at Windham.
5. The WCSU Board’s Summer Retreat will be held Wed. Aug. 24 – time and place to be determined.

sbj – 4/1/11 (with no foolin’)

School Board Meeting Warnings

Pam — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:34:48 +0000

Warning: The Marlboro School Board will hold its next regular monthly meeting on Monday, June 6, 2011 at 6pm at the Marlboro Elementary School.

Warning: The Marlboro School Board will have a special meeting to hold a fiscal year-end review on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 6pm at the Marlboro Elementary School.

Minutes – School board meeting 5/2/11 DRAFT

Pam — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:34:13 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,
Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:05pm.

Francie signed and sent paperwork on behalf of the School for the Vermont FiberConnect high-speed internet project.

The Board went into Executive Session at 6:15pm to discuss a personnel issue. Executive Session ended at 6:20pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 4/4/11 meeting as drafted. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Principal’s report attached.

Jen and Gussie signed staff contracts for the 2011 – 2012 school year. Lauren will come to the school on the morning of May 3, 2011 to further review the contracts before she signs.

Delta Dental is now offering expanded benefits for dependents up to the age of 26.

Lauren made a motion to allow school parent Sarah Coffee to use the school bus with a rental fee based on mileage. Jen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The Board will review financial entries that Gail Chaine makes in the General Ledger once a year. This will be happen with Gail present when the school’s pay order is done.

Francie wants to note that in the future she will work to inform the Board in a timely manner about staffing issues.

Superintendent’s report attached.

The Board went into Executive Session at 8:15pm to discuss WCSU negotiations with teachers. Executive session ended at 8:25pm.

Steven John gave his feedback about which old School Board documents should be kept.

The Board will do the VSBA’s School Board self-assessment and focus on benefits procedures at the next Board Retreat to be held at the beginning of August.

The Board went into Executive Session at 9:40pm to discuss a personnel matter. Executive session ended at 10:10pm.

The Board made a decision to extend the Principal’s contract for FY 2012. The Board asked the Superintendent Steven John to follow up on the details.

The Board asked Steven John to review our present administrative policy for after school use of the school facility and the buses.

Please note pay order #21-22 at the bottom of the minutes.

Meeting adjourned 10:15pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings:
-Wednesday, May 11th at 7pm, Special School Board Meeting
-Wednesday, May 18th at 7pm at Windham, WCSU Annual Meeting
-Monday, June 6th at 6pm, Marlboro School Board Meeting
-Monday, June 13th at 7pm, MES Consortium
-Tuesday, June 14th at 7pm, MES Graduation
-Thursday, June 16th is the last day of school
-Tuesday, June 21st at 6pm, School Board Meeting for Fiscal Year End Review
-Monday, August 1st from 10am to 2pm, School Board Retreat

Pay Orders: #21 4/8/11 $54,975.59
#22 4/22/11 $54,998.32

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, May 2, 2011

Student Learning
Learning Fair, Wednesday, May 4, 6:30-8
Please check website for teachers’ letters and homework notes
Literacy PD for 2011-12

Policy or Regulation Implementation
Review of Benefits Procedures
Consideration of “domestic partnership” with regard to benefit eligibility

Building and Grounds
Sara Coffey use of buses
Completion of play structure

Finance/Accounting
Use of rest of Energy Efficiency Grant funds still not determined

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 5/2/11 89
Projections and classroom configuration for next year

Informational items
2011-2012 calendar
meeting regarding regional transportation – Gail MacArthur attending

Windham Central Supervisory Union wcsu46.org

1219 Vermont Route 30 Townshend, VT 05353 WCSU will provide member districts with the leadership and
802-365-9510 phone  802-365-7934 fax resources to ensure a strong education system for all students.

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, May 2, 2011

Student/Staff Learning

3. The NECAP tests for science are scheduled for later this month. Only students in grade 4 are tested in elementary schools. Expect the results to be reported in the fall.

Policy/Regulation

Finance/Accounting/Operations

Enrollment/Staffing

2. Dr. Dorfman is interviewing candidates for a counselor to replace Jerry Cassels beginning this fall at L&G.

3. I hope to conclude contracts for all principal and WCSU staff members by the end of May. This will require an executive session for “personnel” at your board meeting.

Informational Items

1. WCSU Negotiating Team meets Thurs., May 5, at L&G in Room A-11 at 6:30 P.M.
Future meetings are tentatively scheduled for June 1 and 15.

2. The WCSU Board will meet on Wed., May 18, at 7 P.M. at the Windham School.

3. The WCSU Board’s Summer Retreat will be held Wed. Aug. 24 – time and place to be determined.

4. The last day of school for students will vary across the WCSU districts. Windham and Marlboro are the earliest, while Dover is the latest.

sbj – 5/1/11

WCSU will …place students at the center of our 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.

School Board Meeting Warning

Pam — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:39:09 +0000

The Marlboro School Board will hold its next regular monthly meeting on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 6pm at the Marlboro Elementary School.

Minutes – School board meeting 3/7/11 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:38:09 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent
The meeting was called to order by Steven John at 7:05pm. Reorganization of the board:
Nominated and elected Chair – Lauren Poster Lauren took over as Chair of the meeting at 7:08pm.
Nominated and elected Vice Chair – Gussie Bartlett Nominated and elected Clerk – Jen Carr Nominated and elected Treasurer for the school district – Linda Peters Designated WCSU Representatives – Lauren Poster/main representative,
Gussie Bartlett/first back-up Designated WCSU Policy Committee Member – Gussie Bartlett Designated a Paper of Record – Brattleboro Reformer
The Board went into Executive Session at 7:15pm to discuss a personnel matter. Executive session ended at 7:30pm.
Designated Truant Officer – Windham County Sheriff Chose regular meeting date/time – 1st Monday of every month at 6pm.
Lauren made a motion to exempt the Marlboro School from participating in a State or Federal Lunch program, but maintain the Breakfast/Snack program. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Gussie spoke about a meeting that she attended with Celena Lundsted at the Jamaica Elementary School to look at how they run their school food programs.
The Board discussed the recommendation from Gail Chaine to annually review the General Journal entries. The Board decided that Francie should speak with Gail to clarify this request. The Board will discuss Francie’s recommendation at the next meeting.
Lauren is appointing a committee to help look at the salary scale for the school. The Board has authorized Lauren to appoint this committee. This committee will serve in an advisory capacity to the Board.
The Board has scheduled April 25th at 7pm as a tentative date for a special meeting to discuss financial reporting and auditing for the school. Community members are encouraged to attend this meeting. Lauren will contact Kathy Scheele about this meeting before scheduling the official date.
Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 2/7/11 meeting as drafted. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Principal’s report attached.
Page 1
Francie suggested again the idea of giving thought to possible early retirement procedures to facilitate long-range planning for instructional staff. Lauren will mention this topic in a call to Steve Dale.
Superintendent’s report attached.
At the next WCSU Board Meeting Steven John will recommend that all schools use the FirstClass email account. The Board will consider this at the meeting.
Please note pay order #17-18 at the bottom of the minutes. Meeting adjourned 9:50pm.
Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr
Upcoming meetings: March 30th at 7pm, WCSU Organizational Meeting & Fund Vote April 4th at 6pm, School Board Meeting
April 25th at 7pm, Special Informational Meeting
Pay Orders: #17 2/11/11 $177,970.68 #18 2/25/11 $59,475.35
Our Guiding Principles:
Students will be at the center of our decision-making. We will keep to the agenda. The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item and act as timekeeper during the meeting. Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth. Decisions will not be made hastily. We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item. Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur before the next meeting. We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.
Implementation Guidelines:
Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed. The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.
Student Learning
Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report Monday, March 7, 2011 7pm
March Reading Challenge – Pam Student Led Conferences 3/18 all day Fountas and Pinnell – What every school leader needs to know about good literacy teaching and effective literacy coaching Rachel, Erica, and Pam participating in last round of PLC training Junior High I Projects – change in Social Studies plan to focus on North Africa and Middle East; Drama Night 3/24/11, 7pm at the Whittemore Theatre Kindergarten – Dinosaur dig site – hammers and plaster fossils Primary – preparation for Student Led Conferences 3rd/4th – Vermont geography 5th/6th – Immigration Student writing – what can this writer do? Formative Assessment
Page 2
Policy or Regulation Implementation
Building and Grounds
Heating units all in Roof leak
Finance/Accounting
on target Use of rest of Energy Efficiency Grant funds
Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 3/7/11 87 Inquiry from parent of 3 prospective students
Informational items
Great job at Town Meeting! Thank you!!
Marlboro Realms of Learning Communication Problem Solving Personal Development Civic and Social Responsibility Knowledge
Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board Monday, March 7, 2011 at 7:00 P.M.
Student/Staff Learning
1. I will share copies of the WCSU summary of the fall NECAP test results for grades 3 – 8
and 11. I hope that this information will stimulate some discussion at your meeting. I
look forward to any questions or comments. 2. At gallery walk in Brattleboro last Friday, WCSU student art was on display at the River
Garden. This show continues for the month of March and I encourage you to check it
out. 3. In lieu of Feb. 28, I understand the Marlboro faculty will extend the end of their school
year by an additional day for professional development.
Policy/Regulation
1. I will bring information regarding the Common Core Standards and timeline for implementing the SBAC assessments to replace the NECAP tests. This is a heads up to give you a broad perspective on the future of standards based education across the nation and specifically in Vermont. For even more information see https://sites.google.com/site/commoncoreinvermont/.
2. I will also share copies of two articles addressing the challenges we face across the U.S. in educating rural and remote students – “Finding Fairness for Rural Students”, and “Creating Virtual Classrooms for Rural and Remote Communities”.
Page 3
3. At the WCSU Board Meeting on March 30, I will recommend that all board members use a FirstClass email account (at no cost to you) to conduct all board business and keep it separate from your personal email account(s). This precaution is advised because in the event of any litigation, your personal email account could be subpoenaed by the court. If you prefer, you may establish your own individual email account for the sole purpose of conducting your board communications.
Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. All school budgets for FY12 were approved at Town Meeting or earlier. I commend all the boards for your effective advocacy in support of our students’ education.
2. Frank is completing the requisite summary documentation letters for each school district that was audited last summer.
Enrollment/Staffing
The first round of interviews for the NewBrook Principal Search will be March 7 – 18. The resume review committee considered more than 25 qualified applicants to narrow the field for these initial interviews.
Informational Items
1. WCSU Negotiating Team meets March 28 at L&G in Room A-11 at 6:30 P.M. 2. WCSU Board organizational meeting and agency fund vote will be March 30 at 7 P.M.
sbj – 3/5/11
Page 4

Minutes – School board meeting 2/7/11

Pam — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:38:51 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:05pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 1/20/11 meeting with a typo corrected. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 1/31/11 meeting as corrected. The wording of the second to the last paragraph was changed. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lauren spoke about a phone conversation that she had with Kathy Scheele (formerly Kathy DeWolfe,) the Director of Elections and Campaign Finance at the VT Office of the Secretary of Sate, about financial reporting and auditing for the school.

Kathy Scheele has agreed to come to a School Board Meeting in May to advise the Board regarding financial reports and auditing.

Principal’s report attached.

The School Board and Francie talked about ways in which the Board could be more informed about student learning and student outcomes during the year.

The School Board wants to note our appreciation for all of the excellent work that our school custodian Tim Burnes does for the school.

The Board approved the recommendation from the Francie to award an employee compensation for unused sick leave at the time of her resignation.

Superintendent’s report attached. For next month’s meeting we will warn the topic of Marlboro’s School Lunch program.

The School Board plans to attend the Pre-Town Meeting without an agenda or intent to conduct any business. Jen will warn this.

Please note pay order #15-16 at the bottom of the minutes. Meeting adjourned 8:50pm.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings: February 22nd at 7pm, Pre-Town Meeting March 1st at 9am, Town Meeting

Pay Orders:

March 7th at 6pm, School Board Meeting (Re-organization) March 30th at 7pm, WCSU Organizational Meeting & Fund Vote

#15 1/14/11 $109,010.24 #16 1/28/11 $77,688.09

Page 1

Our Guiding Principles:

Implementation Guidelines:

Student Learning

Junior High I Projects – presentation

2/15 9:25–10:30, 1:40-3 2/16 1:40-3

Kindergarten – dinosaurs, field trip to BMAC Primary – reading take off, Arctic/Inuit 3rd/4th – ice fishing, Vermont geography 5th/6th – Medieval history

Policy or Regulation Implementation

Building and Grounds

Tim Burns doing great job 3 new heaters; 2 to go

Finance/Accounting

on target

Enrollment/Staffing

Student enrollment as of 2/7/11 New students – two in 3/4

one in 6 Withdrawn students – one in K

one in 8th

Robin Patch, school nurse Celena Lundsted, resigning as of April 15

2/17 8:45-10 2/18 10:15-11:45

Marlboro School Board

Principal’s Report Monday, February 7, 2011 6pm

Separate subs for rest of year in Healthy Snack and classroom assistant Use Medicaid reimbursement funds to cover cost difference

Informational items

AlertNow up and running

Page 2

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board Monday, February 7, 2010 Note: I’ll be arriving from theWindham Board Meeting as usual. Student/Staff Learning

1. The fall’s NECAP test results will be released for all Vermont public schools on Feb. 8. The Commissioner will report the statewide results at a press conference that day. See the DOE website for more detailed information. The WCSU Administrative Team will analyze and discuss these results at our meeting on Feb. 14.

2. At gallery walk in Brattleboro last Saturday, the L&G A Cappella Chorus performed in a packed house to thunderous applause. Four other ensembles from BUHS also contributed to this fund raising event for InSight Photography.

3. As of MLK Jr. Day, the archives are now complete and in order for all member districts of the WCSU. (This task took me 18 months to accomplish.)

Policy/Regulation

1. On Monday, 2/7, I am meeting with the other three superintendents of Windham County to develop common language for a G14: Truancy Policy that meets state requirements. I may have this ready for you to consider.

Finance/Accounting/Operations

1. The Marlboro School is included in the Vermont Fiber Optic Connect project with Sovernet to install broadband access to all libraries and schools in Windham County. See my attached copy of a letter from Matt regarding this proposal and a spreadsheet projecting each school’s costs for FY13. A formal commitment by the Board is not required at this time.

2. The L&G Board and I appreciate the voters’ approval of the FY12 Budget.

Enrollment/Staffing

1. Betty Ann Runge is now serving as WCSU Consultant for Pre-K Education. Her role is to assist any school district with their Pre-K programs or contracted services with private Pre-K providers.

2. On Feb. 3, Dawn Petrovsky began gleaning and cleaning the files of special education students including the possible destruction of records when legally justified. Dawn is now working on L&G files before moving on to those of the elementary students.

3. Ed McGrath has agreed to serve the WCSU as my Designated Person (DP) to ensure our compliance with Asbestos Management Plans (AMPs) required by EPA for every school building. In addition to his regular salaried position at L&G, I have contracted Ed on an hourly basis for this intermittent work for other school districts in the WCSU.

Informational Items

1. WCSU Negotiating Team meets February 16 at L&G in Room A-11 at 6:00 P.M. 2. WCSU Board organizational meeting and agency fund vote will be March 30 at 7

P.M. sbj – 2/6/11

Page 3

Minutes – School board meeting 1/31/11 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:35:41 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent, Members of the public: Jane Wilde, Paul Redmond, Rose Watson (town auditor), Linda Peters (town treasurer), Joan Carey

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 7:00pm.

Lauren spoke about the background of the requests the Town Auditors have made for information about School Staff salaries to be outlined in the report for Town Meeting.

Steven John spoke about the role of the School District and School Board to produce their own reports for the Town Meeting. Rose noted that the Auditors are also responsible for producing their own report and can choose what information to include.

The Board and the Auditors discussed the legal reporting responsibilities of each group.

Over the next year, the School Board will be looking at making changes to the pay scale. Lauren has started putting together a committee to work on these changes. Dan MacArthur has already agreed to serve on the committee and it will also include a representative from the staff and one or two others, perhaps from the WCSU if possible. This committee will start work in the spring.

Gussie made a motion that the School Board present to the Town Auditors information about the Marlboro School salary scale for the Town Report. The information will be similar to the information that was presented in last year’s Town Report. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Linda Peters left the meeting at 8pm. Jane Wilde and Paul Redmond left at 8:30pm.

Francie, Lauren and Rose Watson, Town Auditor, made the necessary updates to last year’s information about the salary scale needed to produce this year’s information.

Over the next year, the School Board will be looking at what information regarding the school staff compensation to present in the Annual School District Report. The School Board will welcome public input, including input from the Town Auditors, in this process.

Joan Carey left the meeting at 9pm. Meeting adjourned at 9:15pm.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings: February 7th at 6pm, regular monthly Board Meeting

Our Guiding Principles:

Implementation Guidelines:

Page 1

Minutes – School board meeting 1/20/11 APPROVED

Pam — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:35:08 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:00pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 1/3/11 meeting as corrected. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Gussie made a motion to accept the 1/5/11 minutes as submitted. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

A letter from the Town Auditors was found in the School Board mail box requesting that we add information to the school district report. It is too late in the process for the Board to attend to this. Lauren will follow with the auditors to request that in the future special requests be made in advance of the December Board Meeting.

A letter was received announcing tuition of $15,893 for Twin Valley High school in the upcoming school year.

At Pre-Town Meeting the School Board will discuss the projected tax rate versus the final tax rate and how it alters from the time of Town Meeting to the time it is set.

Gussie made a motion for the School Board to approve a budget recommendation of $2,107,831 for education spending for the Marlboro School District for FY 2012. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jen made a motion to approve the Warning for the Marlboro School District 2011 Annual Meeting. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The District Meeting Warning and the School District Report were signed by the Board. Meeting adjourned at 7:45pm.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Upcoming meetings: February 7th at 6pm, regular monthly Board Meeting

Our Guiding Principles:

Implementation Guidelines:

Page 1

Minutes – School board meeting 1/5/11 APPROVED

Pam — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:07:46 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,
Francie Marbury – Principal, Andy Reichsman – member of the public & former School Board Member, Gail Chaine – School Administrator

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 3:10pm.

Former School Board Member Andy Reichsman joined the meeting to help with the budget process.

The salary scale for MES teachers was discussed. Andy suggested that it might be a good idea to form a committee to work on adjusting the MES pay scale. No immediate action was taken on the teacher salary scale.

The Marlboro School budget was discussed.

Jen made a motion that for FY 2012 the tuition rate for Elementary School will be $10,023. The JR High tuition rate will be $11,352.89 and the Kindergarten tuition rate will be $7,016. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jen left the meeting at 4:20pm. Lauren took over the minutes at this point.
Frank Rucker joined the meeting via speaker phone at 4:25 pm.

Before adjusting for the Common level of Appraisal of .9087 the equalized homestead tax rate is down 3.87% from last year. After the CLA the school tax rate is up 1.13%. Cost per pupil is dropping 2.54% or $320 per student from last year.

In addition, Frank has told us that the base education spending amount is staying flat at $8,544 per equalized pupil, this is a loss of anticipated revenue of $33,000. Marlboro is entitled to $25,000 of Federal Stimulus money that is allocated to secure teacher jobs. We have been advised by the WCSU that we should be wary of putting the full amount in this year’s budget. At this time in the budget process we have allocated $10,000 to our revenues.

Frank left the conversation at about 5 pm.

At the January 20th meeting we will vote on the proposed budget, the warning for the School District meeting, and sign the Director’s report.

Meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr and Lauren Poster

Upcoming meetings: Jan 20th, 6pm Budget Meeting & Feb 7th, 6pm Board Meeting

Our Guiding Principles:
Students will be at the center of our decision-making.We will keep to the agenda.The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item and act as timekeeper during the meeting.Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth. Decisions will not be made hastily.
We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item.Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur before the next meeting.We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.
Implementation Guidelines:
Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.
The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Minutes -School board meeting 1/3/11 APPROVED

Pam — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:06:49 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,
Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:10pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 12/6/10 meeting as corrected. Estimated budget numbers that Steven reported to the State on our behalf were added. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Principal’s report attached.

Francie suggests giving thought to possible early retirement procedures to facilitate long-range planning for instructional staff. The Board will take no action at this time.

The Board has scheduled another meeting for January 20th at 6pm for budget planning.

Superintendent’s report attached.

The School Board read a letter from Isobel Rountree to Governor Peter Shumlin requesting that the State incorporate more physical education into the school day. The letter was very well researched and written. The Board appreciates these types of public comments from students.

Gussie reported on her phone call with the BUHS representative that coordinates the dual enrollment (college/high school) classes. She also discussed with the High School correct placement of students into high school classes.

Executive session was called to order at 7:55pm to perform the Superintendent evaluation process.

Executive session ended at 8:40pm. The Superintendent’s evaluation was completed and Lauren will mail it to Emily Long.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm. Please note pay order #13-14 at the bottom of the minutes.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Pay Orders: #13 12/17/10 $43,579.34
#14 12/31/10 $133,189.74

Our Guiding Principles:
Students will be at the center of our decision-making.We will keep to the agenda.The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item and act as timekeeper during the meeting.Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth. Decisions will not be made hastily.
We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item.Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur before the next meeting.We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.
Implementation Guidelines:
Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.
The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Marlboro School Board
Principal’s Report
Monday, January 3, 2011
6pm

Student Learning
Winter Workshops
parent organized and led
focus on collaboration and community
MAPS for students whose math achievement we want to monitor
Learning Together during Winter Sports – math, realms, CES

Policy or Regulation Implementation

Building and Grounds
WCSU broadband grant?

Finance/Accounting
Budget update – working with Andy and Frank
Increase of less than 1%
Equalized pupils up from 121 to 126.69
Reinstate Artist in Residence $3000

Enrollment/Staffing
Student enrollment as of 1/3/11 86
Staffing – interviewing nurse applicants on 1/12

Informational items
Strings and Band Concert, 6:30 (change board meeting date?)

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board
Monday, January 3, 2010
Student/Staff Learning
1. Most students in our schools were involved with some food/fundraising for their community’s food shelf. The holiday season presents important opportunities for learning —community service.
2. A small group of Marlboro students will take the MAPs tests soon. This will give the staff some indication of MAPs potential as a formative assessment to help improve instruction and learning.
3. I’m still hoping for that Marlboro 3-4 Classroom’s recipe to make kale chips. Yum!

Policy/Regulation
1. On January 15, I will report to the Commissioner on the status of Class Size policy adoption by all school districts in the WCSU. Decisions by Windham and Jamaica Boards are pending.
2. Later this month, a revised Truancy Policy proposal that would meet the state’s requirements will be emailed directly to all board members.

Finance/Accounting/Operations
1. The full WCSU Board approved the WCSU Budget for FY12, December 8. The “local” assessments for each school district can now be included in your budget as definite.
2. I only wish I could give you some definitive word on the federal grant for $19 million. I have emailed you all the latest on the Education Jobs Funds. The good news is that Marlboro may receive $25,056.

Enrollment/Staffing
1. We welcome Darcy Haggerty as special education teacher at Townshend. Darcy will finish the year for Nancy Aldrich.
2. Jennifer Towle is covering a maternity leave for Suzanne Paugh at NewBrook.

Informational Items
1. WCSU Negotiating Team meets January 5th at L&G in Room A-11 at 5:30 P.M.
2. WCSU Board organizational meeting and agency fund vote will be March 30 at 7 P.M.

sbj – 1/3/11

Minutes – School board meeting 12/6/10 – APPROVED

Pam — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:31:00 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair, Francie Marbury – Principal, Andy Reichsman – member of the public, Steven John – Superintendent, Gail MacArthur – School Bus Coordinator

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:10pm.

Former School Board Member Andy Reichsman will be joining a few of the upcoming School Board meetings to help with the budget process. At this meeting he presented an overview of his outlook so far of the upcoming year’s Marlboro School Budget.

The School Budget was discussed. Even though we do not have enough information to determine final numbers, we gave the Superintendent a preliminary estimate of $2,045,500 in expenditures to report to the State. This is -.1% from last year.

Further meetings were scheduled.

We are canceling the meeting currently scheduled for December 13th. The meeting scheduled for January 12th is being changed to January 5th at 3pm. We scheduled a new meeting for January 19th at 6pm. The extra meetings are to work on the School Budget. The next regular monthly meeting is scheduled for January 3rd at 6pm.

Gail MacArthur joined the meeting at 6:30pm. Andy left the meeting at 6:45pm.

Gail and the Board discussed the bus transportation budget.

Gail left the meeting at 7:15pm.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the 11/19/10 meeting with a spelling correction. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Gussie made a motion to adopt the Class Size Policy G-14 as warned. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The School Board continues to be extremely disappointed and concerned that Tony Gordon has not fulfilled his monetary obligation to sub-contractor Dave Manning after repeated requests from the Board.

The Board went into an Executive Session discussion from 7:35 – 7:50pm regarding compensation for personnel at Marlboro School.

Principal’s report attached.

Gussie brought up an article in the paper that discusses the dual credit courses at BUHS that offer college credit for high school classes. Gussie will draft a letter to BUHS parents addressing the dual credit classes as well as class enrollment at the high school.

Superintendent’s report attached.

Page 1

Meeting adjourned at 9:00pm. Please note pay order #12 at the bottom of the minutes.

Respectfully submitted, Jen Carr

Pay Orders: #12 12/3/10 $41,674.01

Our Guiding Principles:

Students will be at the center of our decision-making. We will keep to the agenda. The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item

and act as timekeeper during the meeting. Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth. Decisions will not be made hastily. We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need

in order to make a thoughtful decision?” Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item. Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item. Follow through will occur before the next meeting. We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings. Implementation Guidelines: Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday

kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed. The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting. The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Student Learning

Marlboro School Board

Principal’s Report Monday, December 6, 2010 6pm

Crisis Plan rehearsed 21st Century Grant 3rd-4th grade Compost/Recycle project preparation for Winter Concert – Primary play Kindergarten observing and measuring growth of bulbs (paper whites) Writing “Slice” for PLC class HS Night Jan 20, 7pm 3rd-4th Poetry Reading, Tues, 2pm; recitation at Sing (Gussie) Primary Canned Food Drive – posters, presentation to All School

Page 2

Policy or Regulation Implementation

Class Size

Building and Grounds

Heating units set to be installed on January 17 and over the February vacation Additional funds from the Energy Efficient Grant towards insulation work in office wing

Finance/Accounting

Budget work ongoing

• Tuition rate to include in budget? • Steven – Title I $ for revenue?

Enrollment/Staffing

Student enrollment as of 12/6/10 88 Residency issue – resolved Staffing – advertising for nurse

Informational items

Winter Workshops – parent volunteers Winter Concert – Wed, 12/15, 6:30pm at the Whittemore

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board Monday, December 6, 2010 Although Dover is meeting tonight at 6:30, I’m all yours tonight. Student/Staff Learning

1. I am attending the third section of the Professional Learning Communities course with Francie and Erik S., Dave H., and Tim H. from Marlboro. We are offering this course to all professional staff in the WCSU to have 100% of our professionals trained by June 2011. Teachers and administrators are using these skills in their Grade Level Meetings (GLAMs) and other professional collaborations.

2. This is the season for holiday concerts and the WCSU is no exception. The WCSU Elementary Band and Chorus will perform Thursday, December 16 at 7 P.M. The Leland and Gray Concert Band, Middle School Band, High School Chorus, Middle School Chorus and High School A Cappella Chorus will perform the following evening, Friday, December 18 beginning with a student art show at 6:30 P.M. Both concerts are held in the L&G gym. The public is cordially invited.

3. Congratulations to the NewBrook Spelling Bee Team, our 2010 Vermont State Champions!

4. On December 10, Dr. Dorfman and I will lead a small group of principals and teachers to visit an exemplary K-12 public school system in Rockville Centre, NY. Rockville Centre students are setting very high marks for achievement and we believe we can gain some inspiration and insight from their success.

5. Gussie shared an article with me on an approach to enable poor readers to “catch up” with their peers. I will bring copies for your discussion. This issue relates to item #4 above.

Page 3

6. The Harvest Festival Banquet held in the 3-4 classroom was scrumptious. The kale chips were gustatory delight and a first ever for me. My compliments to the entire class. Where can I get the recipe?

Policy/Regulation

1. Please consider adopting G14: Class Size Policy as warned at your November 8 meeting. AllschooldistrictsarerequiredtohaveaclasssizepolicyadoptedbyJan. 15, 2011.

2. The outcome of your deliberations on your proposed FY12 Budget will be reported along with the other proposed budgets from WCSU school districts on or before December 15. The Commissioner has emailed a spreadsheet to me that Frank and I must use to record each school district’s efforts to meet the Act 146 suggested targets for reducing education spending.

Finance/Accounting/Operations

1. I hope to answer any questions you may have regarding the proposed WCSU FY12 Budget. Overall it is down 1.1% for next year. Please be sure your board is represented (three votes) at the full WCSU Board Meeting this Wednesday, December 8 at 7 P.M. in Wardsboro.

2. Francie will have the latest on the energy project and bid.

Enrollment/Staffing

1. Carol Backus is replacing Nancy Aldrich as Special Educator at Townshend. 2. School enrollment projections for next year are flat or declining in all WCSU schools,

except Windham (23) and Winhall (146).

Informational Items

1. The WCSU Board will meet December 8 at 7 P.M. in Wardsboro to approve a WCSU FY12 Budget.

2. WCSU Elementary Concert – Thursday, Dec. 16th at 7 P.M. at L&G. 3. L&G Winter Concert and Art Show– Friday, Dec. 17th at 6:30 P.M. 4. WCSU Negotiating Team meets January 5th at L&G in Room A-11 at 5:30 P.M.

sbj – 12/4/10

Page 4

Minutes – School board meeting 11/19/10 APPROVED

Pam — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:42:28 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,
Francie Marbury – Principal

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 3:05pm.

Francie and Gail have received three bids for the heating unit ventilator replacement. After reviewing the specific cost breakdowns for work for the different bids and checking references, they are recommending William Heustis of Fleming Oil Company.

The Board reviewed the cost breakdown for the three bids and listened to comments on the references. Gail Chaine joined the meeting briefly to answer questions about the bids. Francie also called William Heustis on the phone with follow up questions.

Gussie made a motion to accept the bid from William Heustis of Fleming Oil for $39,800 to do the replacement on the five heater units/ventilators as per the original bid. Lauren seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Gussie made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from the 11/8/10 meeting as corrected. Lauren seconded. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 3:40pm. Please note pay order #11 at the bottom of the minutes.

Respectfully submitted,
Jen Carr

Pay Orders: #11 11/16/10 $291,830.02

Our Guiding Principles:
Students will be at the center of our decision-making.
We will keep to the agenda.
The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item
and act as timekeeper during the meeting.
Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth.
Decisions will not be made hastily.
We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need
in order to make a thoughtful decision?”
Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item.
Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item.
Follow through will occur before the next meeting.
We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.
Implementation Guidelines:
Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday
kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.
The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting.
The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Minutes – School board meeting 11/8/10 APPROVED

Pam — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 18:36:57 +0000

Attending: Lauren Poster – Chair, Jen Carr – Clerk, Gussie Bartlett – Vice Chair,

Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John – Superintendent

The meeting was called to order by Lauren at 6:05pm.

Francie will follow up on the letter about the speed limit with the Select Board and other schools that have lowered the speed limit in front of their school.

Gussie will follow up with the sub-contractor in hopes that he has been paid by Tony.

Lauren made a motion to accept the minutes from the October 11^th meeting as submitted. Gussie seconded. Motion passed.

Steven John arrived at 6:15pm. Jen and Steven reported back on their time at VSBA conference.

Lauren made a motion that the Board adopt Truancy Policy F25. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

The Board, Francie and Steven reviewed the Class Size Policy (Code G14) and the Class Size Policy Administrative Procedure (G14-R).

Lauren made a motion to approve and warn Class size Policy (Code G14) taking into account that the attached Class Size and Administrative Procedure (G14-R) are to be used as guidelines as the recommendations are not binding and may not apply directly to the Marlboro School. Gussie seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Superintendent’s Report attached.

Steven John left the meeting at 7:25pm.

Principal’s Report attached.

The Board and Francie discussed the MES Science and Social Studies programs as they relate to the Vermont Educational Standards.

The kitchen renovation went slightly over budget, but the extra money is being taken from the balance of the Snack Fund.

The After School Program accounting was reviewed. Gussie will follow up with Gail.

The School received three bids to replace the five unit heaters/ventilators. The School Board requested that specific cost breakdowns be provided for the contractor bids that were submitted for the replacement of the unit heater/ventilator.

The next School Board Meeting will be held on December 6, 2010 at 6pm (the regularly scheduled monthly meeting time.)

Additional School Board Meetings will also be held on December 13, 2010 at 6pm and on January 12, 2011 at 6pm to discuss the school budget.

Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm. Please note pay orders 9-10 at the bottom of the minutes.

Respectfully submitted,

Jen Carr

Pay Orders: #9 10/22/10 $115,180.08

#10 11/5/10 $37,887.54

Our Guiding Principles:

Students will be at the center of our decision-making.

We will keep to the agenda.

The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item

and act as timekeeper during the meeting.

Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth.

Decisions will not be made hastily.

We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need

in order to make a thoughtful decision?”

Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item.

Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item.

Follow through will occur before the next meeting.

We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.

Implementation Guidelines:

Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month with the fourth Monday

kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.

The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting.

The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm.

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board

Monday, November 8, 2010

Please make every effort to use my time well as I am expected to present a budget to Townshend tonight at 7:00 P.M. Ordinarily I could stay but this is the second Monday of this month.

Student/Staff Learning

We are forming a cohort of teachers to take the first step towards National Certification. This professional development uses video documentation and emphasizes reflective practice to improve classroom instruction and student learning. Jerry Cassels, the new counselor at L&G has stepped forward to mentor and guide teachers through the process. At present, Jerry is our only National Board Certified Teacher in the WCSU.
On September 26, the WCSU sponsored teacher training to learn how to better analyze and interpret the MAPs results to improve instruction. Twenty-nine teachers, principals, WCSU staff and technical assistants participated in this daylong training. Deborah and Kris Jerz were among those taking advantage of this opportunity.
The L&G Band and Chorus collaborated with students and teachers from the Performing Arts College of the University of Inner Mongolia on three pieces at their concert (10/30). Our Chinese guests followed with a fabulous series of dances, vocal and instrumental performances.
Last Thursday, November 4^th, was a half-day for students to provide time for parent conferences Pre-K through high school.
John Doty, Dorinne Dorfman, Nancy Baker, Sue Nueman and I attended a “rollout” presentation by the DOE on the Common Core Standards. Having been adopted by the VT Board of Education, the Common Core will supplant the Vermont’s standards for student performance beginning Fall 2014. Thirty-one states have joined with Vermont to form the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) to implement the Common Core Standards. The last NECAP exams will be science in the spring of 2014 followed by the SBAC for language arts and mathematics in spring of 2015.
Our third section of the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) course including Francie and Erik S., Dave H., and Tim H. continues next on November 18.

Policy/Regulation

1. I urge your board to approve the F25: Truancy Policy if you did not do so last meeting. Please also consider warning G14: Class Size Policy as recommended by the WCSU Policy Committee.

2. Legal Counsel for the DOE contacted me for copies of all school district policies for truancy as adopted. I faxed these documents for review last week.

3. Emily Long, Jenn Carr(Marlboro), Frank and I attended the VSA/VSBA Conference on October 28-29. At two break out sessions I attended there was considerable discussion among school board members and superintendents regarding the requirements and opportunities of Acts 146 and 153. I emailed a copy of my conference notes for your review. I welcome your questions and comments.

Finance/Accounting/Operations

Frank broke the middle finger of his right hand on Thursday. This may necessarily delay the release of the proposed WCSU FY12 Budget, but some preliminary figures may be available for you tonight.
The WCSU Negotiations Team will meet with the representatives of the WCEA on November 17. The terms of this successor Master Agreement will apply to Wardsboro, Jamaica, Townshend, Brookline, Newfane, LGUHS, and WCSU teachers. Traditionally, Windham has followed the terms of this agreement.
On October 27 at NewBrook, the WCSU Executive Committee voted compensation for the proposed WCSU FY12 Budget. Their decision calls for no increase (zero) in salary for members of the WCSU Leadership Team and a total of 1% new money for non-certified staff members with any individual increases being granted at the discretion of the Superintendent based on performance. The Committee also voted to extend my contract to June 30, 2012 based on the same terms and conditions of the prior contract.
Sullivan and Powers Auditors returned to our offices to conclude their work last week. I commend Frank and his staff for responding effectively to the numerous requests for more information and detail.

Enrollment/Staffing

Samantha has reworked the phone messages and extension system at the WCSU Office. We welcome your feedback.
On Monday, October 25, Jennifer Chapin began work as our Administrative Assistant for Student Support Services, assisting Abby Dillon. Jenn has a master’s degree in education and comes to us from the banking and mortgage sector.

Informational Items

The WCSU Negotiations Team will meet Wed., November 17 at 6:30 P.M. – L&G.
All day meeting with the principals (ATM), November 19.
The WCSU Board will meet December 8 at 7 P.M. in Wardsboro to approve a WCSU FY12 Budget.

sbj – 11/5/10

Marlboro School Board

Principal’s Report

Monday, November 8, 2010

6pm

Student Learning

Social Studies curriculum and Vermont History and Social Science Standards

21^st Century Grant

Policy or Regulation Implementation

F25 Truancy

Class Size

Building and Grounds

Unit Ventilator project bids

Kitchen renovation completed (almost)

Finance/Accounting

Budget timeline

Anticipated staffing needs for FY12

Class size projections 85

K 5

Primary 17 assistant needed

3^rd/4^th 20 support needed

5^th/6^th 23 support needed

JH 20

Enrollment/Staffing

Student enrollment as of 11/8/10 90

3 students will move in the next few weeks

3 may enroll

Residency issue

Staffing – no change

Informational items

Winter Workshops – parent volunteers

Winter Concert – Wed, 12/15, 7pm at the Whittemore