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Falmouth School Board Minutes |
Falmouth School Board
Regular Meeting
Monday, December 12, 2005
7:00 p.m.
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. in the Town Hall. Present were Chairman Beppie Cerf, Linda Cote, Karen Farber, Beth Franklin, Scott Lydick, Kathy Hillman-Reed, Mark Terison, Student Representatives Rachel Bennett and Chris Murry, Superintendent George Entwistle and approximately 14 others.
2. Pledge of Allegiance: All in attendance recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. Adjustments to Agenda: Item 13b, Acceptance of Proposal from NESDEC for Comprehensive Facilities Study, was added.
4. Minutes:
a. Mr. Terison with a second from Mrs. Cote moved the Board approve the minutes of November 28, 2005. The motion was approved 7-0.
5. Communications:
a. A letter was sent to the Falmouth Education Foundation from the Superintendent thanking them for their generous grants totaling $46,000.
b. Superintendent Entwistle introduced Meg McGoldrick, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent.
c. The Board thanked retiring Executive Assistant, Donna Bell, and wished her well.
6. Comments from the Public: There were none.
7. Recognition: These will be incorporated in the Principal Reports.
8. Superintendent’s Report: Superintendent Entwistle encouraged Board members and students to read the article enclosed in the packet on student voice and join the workshop on January 9th when student leaders will be invited to engage in a discussion of student voice as we move towards the March 24th Community Dialogue. The Superintendent shared his top 10 “to do” items this year noting that all are either under way or completed.
9. Leadership Council Reports:
a. Lunt School: Mr. Flaherty noted that progress report revisions have been completed for reading and writing, Math will be completed before the winter break. Karen Burke, literacy professor, will present two mini workshops during the January early release day. Mr. Flaherty commended Donna Gibbs, Student Assistance Team (SAT) Coordinator, for her efforts to help students in need. The Winter Craft Fair was held on December 3rd. School Nurse, Sue Raatikainen, has organized a weight loss program for staff as part of the wellness program.
b. Plummer-Motz School: Mrs. Boffa recognized Dianne Rossi for her work with 3rd grade students on getting slide shows on the web and Dianne Barth, for her work organizing a book donation project for a library in Gulfport, Mississippi. She then congratulated Janet Anderson and Kathy Earle for achieving National Board Certification as well as Jennifer Merrifield who was unable to be present.
c. Middle School: Mr. Rodman shared the peace poster of grade 5 student, Jade Russell-Johnson, which won at the local and regional levels and is now moving to the national and international levels. He thanked FEF and PTO for their support of students with their generous grant programs and he thanked the music teachers and students for two wonderful concerts held last week.
d. High School: Mrs. Hutton reported that on December 8 students participated in student-led discussions regarding drug/alcohol issues. She attended a meeting at Scarborough High School regarding the transition from the MEA to the SAT. Mrs. Hutton congratulated Jon Radtke who also achieved National Board Certification.
e. Assistant Superintendent: Mrs. Powers highlighted item No. 4 on the district’s Top 10 “To Do” list: Focus even more intently on the diverse needs of all of our students and their wide-ranging interests, and create new opportunities for both supportive and advanced coursework. A new initiative will survey Falmouth High School graduates from 2004 and 2005 on how well they were prepared for college, what worked for them, and what did not work for them. The graduates will also be invited to attend the January 4 meeting when a committee of parents and staff will convene to study the possible need for strengthened curriculum and/or more advanced coursework at the high school level.
f. Director of Student Planning & Learning Options: Ms. Palfrey provided an overview of the Student-Centered Team. The process has been tested with seven cases to date and working documents have been revised. The team is also working with new students.
g. Business Manager: Mr. O’Shea reported there is ongoing work on building security and safety. Emergency radios were purchased to provide better communications between school administrators and town emergency personnel. Walkie talkies will soon provide intra-school communication in emergencies. The district is looking at proposals for surveillance cameras. Lock-down and evacuation training have taken place at all the schools. The first meeting of the Wellness Committee whose charge is to develop a wellness policy for Board approval was held recently.
. h. Director of Special Services: Ms. Crowell explained the Special Services Department is already looking at next year in preparation for budget planning. The ALL Tech meetings have concluded and will hopefully identify assistive technology that might work for our special needs students.
i. Athletic Director: Mr. Hurley provided the number of participants for several winter sports and added that Girls Basketball will have a freshman team for the first time. It was requested that Mr. Hurley provide participant numbers for Middle School activities and Board members questioned which coaching positions were funded by the boosters.
10. Committee Reports:
a. Finance Subcommittee: Ms. Franklin reported the committee received an update on the budget development process. Budget packets were distributed to the administrators on Wednesday. On January 30th the Board will meet with the Town Council to discuss the budget. The committee talked about NESDEC providing better information for facilities planning.
b. Facilities Subcommittee: Mr. Terrison explained the committee discussed safety and security concerns, the Falmouth/Woodville Road intersection which is in the hands of the State and Town, the high school mediation scheduled for December 19 and the proposal from NESDEC to work on a consulting basis to develop a long range facilities master plan.
c. Policy Subcommittee: Ms. Franklin reported that some nursing policies and the Code of Conduct are being prepared for Board consideration.
11. Items for Information:
a. Article titled “Students as Co-constructors of the Learning Experience and Environment: Youth Engagement and High School Reform”
b. Revised School Board Meeting Schedule
c. Support Teams for 2005-2006
d. Enrollment Update
12. Unfinished Business: There was none.
13. New Business:
a. Approval of Schedule B Appointments:
1. Diana Hansen Theatre Vocal Director
2. Dan Strange Theatre Pit Band Director
3. David Halligan Varsity Boys Basketball
4. Jamie Hilton J.V. Boys Basketball
5. Paul Pekins Gr. 9 Boys Basketball
6. Bob McCully Gr. 8 Boys Basketball
7. Richard Smith Gr. 7 Boys Basketball
8. Ed Rogers Expansion M.S. Boys Basketball
9. Maureen McInnis Varsity Girls Basketball
10. Jessica Mayol J.V. Girls Basketball
11. Cooper Higgins Gr. 9 Girls Basketball
12. Bob McCully Gr. 8 Girls Basketball
13. Richard Smith Gr. 7 Girls Basketball
14. Ed Rogers Expansion M.S. Girls Basketball
15. Scott Rousseau Varsity Ice Hockey Coach
16. Richard Golden Assistant Ice Hockey Coach
17. Ben Fraser J.V. Ice Hockey Coach
18. John Keyes Head Swim Coach
19. John Keyes Middle School Swim Coach
20. Joshua Plati Asst. M.S. Swim Coach
21. Toppan Kimball Head Alpine Ski Coach
22. Stephanie Brooks Neal Asst. Alpine Ski Coach
23. Emily Stuart M.S. Head Alpine Ski Coach
24. Elizabeth Bradford Asst. M.S. Alpine Ski Coach
25. Michael Schwartz Head Nordic Ski Coach
26. Louise Abramson M.S. Co-Head Nordic Ski Coach
27. Cynthia Talbot M.S. Co-Head Nordic Ski Coach
28. Lindy Grigel M.S. Asst. Nordic Ski Coach
29. Jorma Kurry Head Indoor Track Coach
30. Daniel Paul Asst. Indoor Track Coach
31. Mark Dissell M.S. Indoor Track Coach
32. Rick Hogan M.S. Asst. Indoor Track Coach
33. Tiffany Patch M.S. Asst. Indoor Track Coach
34. Jeffrey Graffam Volunteer M.S. Expansion Basketball Team
Mr. Lydick with a second from Ms. Franklin moved the Board approve the Schedule B appointments as listed. The motion was approved 7-0. There was some discussion regarding the number of coaches and the number of participants and it was determined this would be discussed further during budget deliberations.
b. Comprehensive Facilities Plan. Mr. Terison moved that the district hire NESDEC and accept their proposal for a comprehensive long range master plan for the Falmouth Schools to be conducted in February and March of 2006 at a cost of $23,000 to come from our capital reserve fund. Mrs. Farber seconded the motion. Mr. Lydick felt this study could be done locally for less money and he did not want to take the money out of the capital reserve fund. Other members felt it was money spent wisely. The motion was approved 6-1 (Lydick).
14. Executive Session:
a. Mr. Terison recused himself from the first Executive Session meeting at this time. Mr. Lydick with a second from Mrs. Hillman-Reed moved the Board go into Executive Session pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. §405 (6) (B) to discuss a student issue. The motion was approved 6-0 and the Board took a short break at 8:42 p.m. before going into Executive Session. Mrs. Cerf explained that no action would be taken following this Executive Session but that there would be action taken after the second Executive Session.
b. Executive Session as per 1 M.R.S.A. §405 (6) (A) for the purpose of discussion the annual evaluation of the Superintendent. Mr. Terison returned for this Executive Session.
The Board came out of Executive Session. Mrs. Farber moved to rescind a motion made and voted on in the Executive Session because the Board should not have taken action within that session. Mrs. Cote seconded and the Board voted 7-0 to rescind the motion.
Mrs. Farber made a motion that the School Board will offer Dr. Entwistle a 3% salary increase and a $5,000 one-time contribution to his 403 (B) plan as part of the delivery of his 2005 performance evaluation. Mrs. Cote seconded and the Board voted 7-0 to approve the motion.
15. Adjournment: After motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously approved, the Board adjourned the meeting at 10:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
George H. Entwistle 3rd
Secretary
Last Updated:
1/7/06
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