NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
RESCHEDULED REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY DECEMBER 13, 2005
7:00 P.M., MARION CROSS SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Cheney, Gray, Kaplan, Sachsse, Vitt; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Edson; and 7 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order - Chair Sachsse called the meeting to order at 7:11 p.m.
2. Approval of minutes
Linda Gray moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 2, as submitted with changes. The motion was unanimously approved. The changes on item 5, relating to reaching out to residents about going to kindergarten at MSC, the minutes were amended to note that Principal Edson will be going to meet with preschool parents.
3. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair
Chair Sachsse announced that the next regular Board meeting will be scheduled for Thursday, January 5, 7:00 p.m., at the Marion Cross School Library. This is the first of three budget meetings, the other two being Thursday, January 12 and the public hearing/adoption on Thursday, January 19.
Chair Sachsse noted the communications from members of the MCS staff who traveled to Louisiana to assist in the Katrina relief effort.
b) Reports of Administrators
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Gersen reported that the Board would not take action to approve the exemption of breakfast and lunch program because of the postponement of the Board meeting. This issue will be taken up in the next meeting following appropriate posting.
Assistant Superintendent’s Report
Assistant Superintendent /Business John Aubin reported on his preliminary budget work. He reported that a rough estimate of the MSC budget was $4,190,000 while the draft budget for Dresden was $5,900,500. Unfortunately, he had just received a preliminary count of students from the state that showed a drop of 30 students in the secondary level, which, if it is not adjusted, would result in a per pupil cost in excess of 129 percent of the state average. If that is the case, $280,000 would need to be reduced from the budget to attain the 125 percent level. He also noted that the negotiated contracts were not final at this point, which could have an effect on the budget.
Principal’s Report
Principal Edson reviewed his written report, highlighting the holiday concert and the assembly featuring Ukrainian dancers. He distributed a chart of private school enrollment, which showed that 43 Norwich residents were attending private elementary schools.
Principal Edson reported that the civil engineer suggested that the wood chip heat system could be installed in the bus turnaround area and further recommended that the school should switch from a partial steam heat system to a system that only uses hot water heat. He also reported that Jonathan Brush suggested that the District consider an automated feed rather than a manual feed when it examines the installation of a new heating system.
4. PTO Report
PTO Chair, Cinny Benson announced that the next PTO meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 9 at 8:30 a.m. in the Art Room. The PTO was organizing a family skating night.
5. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board discussed the foreign language immersion program that would introduce languages earlier in both MCS and Ray School. Dr. Gersen reported that following a lengthy discussion at the SAU meeting, the Board decided the best course of action was to have the school principals study the ramifications involved including space, staff and the budget if foreign language was introduced at earlier grade levels. Following independent studies on this issue, Dr. Gersen will issue a report on early foreign language for the SAU Board at the May 2006 meeting. It was suggested that if the Board decides to bring foreign language to lower grades, it could be accomplished in the 2007 school year.
The Board discussed the recommended changes to the Facility Use Regulation, EBH. The issue will be discussed by the Dresden Board and should be finalized in the January meetings of each Board.
6. Business Requiring Action
Margaret Cheney moved and Deb Kaplan seconded a motion to adopt the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 Amendment Resolution as proposed and attached to the original meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Linda Gray moved and Margaret Cheney seconded a motion to accept the resignation of Margot Doscher with regret. The motion passed unanimously.
Linda Gray moved and Margaret Cheney seconded a motion to accept the early retirement request of Ceci Tseng in accordance with the “Early Retirement Incentive” Program (Side Bar Agreement) outlined in the Agreement Between the Norwich Board of School Directors and the Norwich Teachers Association, July 1, 2004-June 30, 2006, page 18. The motion passed unanimously.
7. Executive Session
Deb Kaplan moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to go into Executive Session in accordance with Title 1, Section 313 for discussion of negotiations and personnel matters. The motion passed unanimously. The Board went into Executive Session at 8:34 p.m. The Board closed Executive Session at 9:35 p.m. and re-entered public session at 9:36 p.m.
9. Adjournment
Linda Gray moved and Margaret Cheney seconded a motion to adjourn at 9:37 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 9:37 p.m. |
