Falmouth School Board Minutes

Falmouth School Board
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

 

  1. CALL TO ORDER:  The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers.  Present were Chairman Beppie Cerf, Linda Cote, Karen Farber, Beth Franklin, Kathy Hillman-Reed, Mark Terison, Student Representative Steve Hebson, Superintendent George Entwistle and approximately 38 others. (Lydick and Bennett out)
  1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:  All in attendance recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

  1. SWEARING OF NEW SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS:

      Newly-elected School Board members Linda Cote and Mark Terison were sworn in by Town
      Clerk, Kathleen Babeu.

      4.   NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF BOARD CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR:  (Out of Order)
            Superintendent Entwistle called for nominations for the Board Chair.   Mrs. Hillman-Reed with a second from Mrs. Franklin nominated Beppie Cerf as Chair of the School Board.  The nomination passed 6-0.

            Mrs. Cerf called for nominations for the Board Vice Chair.   Mrs. Cote with a second from Mr. Terison nominated Mrs. Hillman-Reed as Vice Chair of the School Board.  The nomination passed 6-0.

       5.  RENEWAL OF SUB-COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:  Mrs. Cerf announced the leadership positions as follows:
                                                Chair:  Beppie Cerf
                                                Vice Chair:  Kathy Hillman-Reed
                                                Facilities Sub-Committee:  Mark Terison
                                                Finance Sub-Committee:  Kathy Hillman-Reed
                                                Policy Sub-Committee:  Beth Franklin
                                                CPAC Representative:  Karen Farber
                                                PATHS Representative:  Mark Terison
                                                Finance & Policy Committee Members:  Linda Cote, Scott Lydick
                                                Legislative Liaison:  Linda Cote

  1. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA:  Superintendent Entwistle requested that under 13g, Joy Halligan be added to the Schedule C assignments; 13j be added to approve the employment of Jack Sarmanian, the addition of 13k, approval of Schedule B Fall, 2007 coaching assignments; and the addition of 13l, approval of employment of 4 new Fall, 2007 coaches—Mike Ridge, Greg Scott, Liz Koharian, and Gary Powers.

 

  1. MINUTES:
    1. Mrs. Hillman-Reed with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board approve the minutes of May 21, 2007.  The motion was approved 6-0.

 

  1. RECOGNITION (Out of Order):
  1. The Falmouth High School Hockey Team was recognized for receiving the Class “A” West Sportsmanship Banner.  Coach Rousseau stated he was very proud of the team and each team member introduced themselves.  Several team members thanked the Board and district for their support.
  2. Falmouth Middle School students Melina Bergkamp, Lila Reid and Jacob Merson were introduced and congratulated for being winners in the “Letters about Literature” national writing contest.

 

  1. COMMUNICATIONS: 
  1. Maureen Carney was introduced by Stephen Hebson as the new student School Board Representative.  Maureen was asked to join Stephen at the front of the room for the remainder of the meeting.
  2. The Robotics Team was introduced by John Kraljic and a very interesting and impressive demo and slide presentation was given by the team members.  Mrs. Cerf graciously volunteer to participate in the demo.  The team had received the team spirit award at the recent competition.
  3. Wellness Report and Evaluation – Marybeth Bachman (Chair) gave an informative presentation and PowerPoint presentation regarding the great progress the Wellness Committee has made and also the work that remains.  Karen Farber commented on the tremendous progress the committee has made.
  1. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC:  There were none.

 

  1. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:

A.  Superintendent Entwistle announced we have submitted two grant applications. 
      The first involves creation of a model to serve as a substitute for suspension and/or         expulsion (JJAG Alternatives to School Suspension and Expulsion Grant).  The second,         Healthy Maine Partnership- School Health Coordinator Grant, would provide Falmouth             with funds to hire a School Health Coordinator.  Dr. Entwistle then provided a    consolidation update accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation.  He explained the law,            the “exceptions,” and the timeframe currently in place.  He indicated that all        reorganization plans are subject to voter approval.

  1. LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEMBERS’ REPORTS:

A.  Lunt School:  Mr. Flaherty announced that he was going to highlight a few of their         proudest accomplishments including the “Six Pillars of Character” and the expansion of          the RTI Program.  They have planned and initiated a 2 ½ day kindergarten “pilot      program” for 2007-2008.  Lunt School received twice as many requests from interested        families than they expect, so they held a lottery for this pilot program.

B.   Plummer-Motz:  Mrs. Boffa discussed the celebration with 3rd grade students and
      their senior teachers at Ocean View.  They compiled a book of reflection sheets and      presented it to the senior teachers for their library.  She reviewed the lists compiled on             what students had given to their senior teachers by visiting and what senior teachers had       given back to the students.  “Ten things we gave the senior teachers:”  1. Time with         them, 2. Fun, love and joy, 3. A chance to learn what children do now, 4. Friendship, 5.         Cooperation, 6. Our help, 7. Old songs with new words, 8. Poems, 9. Memories, 10:       Respect.  “Ten things the senior teachers gave to us:”  1. Their time and love, 2.             Knowledge about the past, 3. Opportunity to learn history from people who lived        through it, 4. Facts and stories about their lives, 5. Advice on how to get through hard             times in life, 6. An excellent audience with good applause, 7. Laughter, 8. Respect, 9.      The realization that we have many things in common, 10. Age does not matter –       everybody is a human being.

    1. Falmouth Middle School:  Mr. Rodman informed the Board that the new schedules are complete and students were signing up for enrichment courses.  Mr. Rodman listed the staff members who were leaving the middle school and publicly thanked them for their contributions. 

 

    1. Falmouth High School:  Mrs. Hutton recognized the 152 seniors that are leaving and mentioned that they had a very busy week last week.  It was announced that the Class of ’07 worked over 10,000 hours of community service.  Mrs. Hutton thanked Ogden Morse and Lynn Powers for all their work on Sr. Discovery.  Mrs. Hutton announced the High School summer hours.  Mr. Terison commented on how great graduation was and that he was very proud to be on the School Board.
    1. Assistant Superintendent:  Mrs. Powers introduced members of the literacy review team and they provided very insightful information.  Patty Sullivan gave an update on the reading curriculum and showed a grade 6 template.  Linda Crumrine and April DeCourcey spoke about the importance of vocabulary.  They reviewed the K-12 vocabulary reading blocks.  Julie Scammell reviewed RTI work at Lunt and the 3 categories students fall into.  Joy Halligan discussed the 3 tiers of instruction.  Gary Spring was also introduced and reported on the progress of the social studies review.   

 

    1. Director of Student Planning and Learning Options:   Mrs. Palfrey reported that this is her last update as Director of Student Planning and Learning Options.  She discussed the two Moodle courses that are being offered this summer, which will be taken by Ogden Morse, Peter Vose, Gary Spring, Lisa Tibbetts, Mark Melnicove, Cathy Stankard, Sue Leonard, Emily Stuart, Rebecca Hayes, Sarah Spring, Sue Krauss, Gail Turner and Peggy Becksvoort.  Mrs. Palfrey also announced that 10 technology related workshops are being offered at the Celebration of Teaching.
    1. Director of Finance and Operations:  Mr. O’Shea was not present.

 

    1. Special Education Director:  Ms. Crowell discussed the multi-age class committee and their review work on the program.  Adjustments are needed to accommodate the range of students who require this unique programming option.  Ms. Crowell reinforced how special the recent graduation was, especially seeing several special education students graduate.
    1. Athletic Director:  Mr. Hurley was not present.

 

  1. COMMITTEE REPORTS:

A.  Finance Sub-committee:  Mrs. Hillman-Reed reported that the school portion of the    municipal budget passed with a 6 – 1 vote.  She indicated that FY09 should prove to be        a challenge with consolidation.  No next meeting date has been set.  It was requested    that the Board tentatively set a July date in case it is needed with regard to         consolidation.

B.   Facilities Sub-committee:  Mr. Terison mentioned that Dan O’Shea’s report gives a   good summary of the public forum that took place recently.  He announced the next    meeting of the Elementary Facilities Committee will be June 21.

C.  Policy Sub-committee:  Mrs. Franklin reported to the Board the second reading of the            Code of Conduct and internet policies will take place tonight.

  1. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION:

A.  Current Openings:
                              Assistant Varsity Football Coach
                              Elementary Resource Room Teacher

  1. UNFINISHED BUSINESS:  There was none.

 

  1. NEW BUSINESS:

           A.   Approval of the Leadership Position Nominations for 2007-2008 (See Items 4 and 5).
           B.    Mrs. Franklin with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board approve Linda
                  Jensenius as RTI Teacher (.5 FTE) for the 2007-2008 school year.  The motion was
                  approved 6-0.
           C.   Mrs. Franklin with a second from Mrs. Hillman-Reed moved the Board approve the
                  employment of Ellen Lowery as Spanish Teacher (Gr. 1, 5 and 6) for the 2007-2008                school year.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           D.   Mrs. Cote with a second from Mrs. Franklin moved the Board approve the
                  employment of Sarah Maloney as Social Worker (high school, part-time) for the 2007-             2008 school year.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           E.    Mr. Terison with a second from Mrs. Farber moved the Board approve the job share
                  agreement for Catherine Mullaney and Virginia Howe (Lunt School) for the 2007-
                  2008 school year.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           F.    Mrs. Cote with a second from Mrs. Farber moved the Board approve the 2007-2008
                  Co-Curricular Assignments.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           G.   Mrs. Franklin with a second from Mrs. Farber moved the Board approve the
                  2007-2008 Schedule C assignments.  It was noted that Joy Halligan should be added
                  to the list as the Mixed Grade Level Facilitator.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           H.   Mrs. Franklin with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board adopt policy JICIA                          Weapons, Violence, Bullying and School Safety.  The motion was approved 6-0.
                  Mrs. Franklin with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board adopt policies IJND/
                  IJND-R Website/Guidelines, IJNDB/IJNDB-R Student Computer and Internet Use/
                  Rules.  The motion was approved 6-0. 
                  Mrs. Franklin with a second from Mrs. Farber moved the Board adopt policy JIC                           Systemwide Student Code of Conduct.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           I.     Mrs. Farber with a second from Mrs. Franklin moved the Board approve the meal cost                   waiver request.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           J.     Mr. Terison with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board approve the employment
                  of Jack Sarmanian, Social Worker (part-time, high school) for the 2007-2008
                  school year.  The motion was approved 6-0.
           K.   Mrs. Hillman-Reed with a second from Mrs. Farber moved the Board approve the
                  2007 Schedule B Fall coach assignments.  The motion was approved 6-0.
         

 

       L.        Mr. Terison with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board approve the new fall
                  coaches:  Mike Ridge, MS Football – Head; Greg Scott – MS Football – Assistant;
                  Liz Koharian – JV Field Hockey; and Gary Powers – Head Volleyball.  The motion
                  passed 6-0.

17. EXECUTIVE SESSION
           A.   Mrs. Franklin with a second from Mrs. Hillman-Reed moved the Board enter
                  Executive Session as per 1 M.R.S.A § 405(6)(D) to discuss labor contract
                  between Falmouth School Board and Secretaries and Educational Technicians
                  Unit of the Falmouth Education Association.  The motion was approved 6–0
                  and the Board entered Executive Session at 9:55 p.m.

                  The Board came out of Executive Session at 10:07 p.m.  Mrs. Franklin with a
                  second from Mrs. Hillman-Reed moved the Board  accept the contract proposal
                  between Falmouth School Board and Secretaries and Educational Technicians
                  Unit of the Falmouth Education Association.  The motion was approved 6–0.

     B.          Mrs. Farber with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board enter
                  Executive Session as per 1 M.R.S.A § 405(6)(D) to discuss labor contract
                  between Falmouth School Board and Food Service Employees.  The motion was                            approved 6–0 and the Board entered Executive Session at 10:08 p.m.

                  The Board came out of Executive Session at 10:19 p.m.  Mrs. Franklin with a
                  second from Mrs. Farber moved the Board  accept the contract proposal
                  between Falmouth School Board and Food Service Employees.  The motion was                            approved 6–0.

  1. ADJOURNMENT:  Mrs. Hillman-Reed with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board adjourn.  The motion was approved 6-0, and the Board adjourned at 10:21 p.m.

 

                                                                                    Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                                    George H. Entwistle 3rd
                                                                                    Secretary

 

Last Updated: 8/16/07