1. Call to Order:
The meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 6:31 p.m. Present were: Bob Thompson, Peter Benson, Carl Nelson, and Anne Kebler. There was one staff member present. Mr. Benson Chaired the meeting in Ms. Pendleton’s absence.
2. Approval of Minutes:
Notation was made by Mr. Benson that on Pg. 2, 2nd para., Sec. 9,B, the word Chiwanki should have been spelled Chewonki, and on Pg. 3, Sec.10, Ms. McCrave’s first name should have been spelled Cally. Motion by Mr. Thompson, second by Mr. Benson, to approve the Minutes of the Oct. 20 meeting as corrected. Carried by unanimous vote.
3. Citizen Comments: None.
4. Presentation of School Programs/FYI Items:
A. SAU – Other School Board Reports - Dr. Nelson reported there will be an
SAU budget meeting on Nov. 25th at 5:00 p.m. at KHS, followed by the Conway budget meeting. The SAU Executive Board meeting will be held on 12/11/03 at 6:00 p.m. at Conway Elementary, followed by the SAU budget hearing at 7:00 p.m. The SAU Board will meet following the budget hearing.
5. Old Business: None.
6. Instructional Issues: None.
7. Personnel:
A. Consider Approval of Contracted Services of Heather Woodward for Technology Grant Writing – Motion was made by Mr. Thompson, seconded by Mr. Benson, to consider approval of a contract with Heather Woodward for the purposes of contracting her services for the grant writing technology position. Discussion: Mr. Benson questioned whether it is federal. Ms. Kebler noted E-Rate is federal, but quite a bit of the work is done with the State on the application. Mr. Benson questioned whether this was in the budget. Ms. Kebler stated it was part of the $4,000 stipend. She reported Ms. Woodward is working with Ann Bennett, showing her the process so she will have more familiarity with it, toward her transitioning out of it and having Ann more fully involved
in it. She noted that $30 is about half of what we are paying the person who is coming in to do the maintenance work; she does not see it being more than 20 hours of work on Ms. Woodward’s part, or about $600.
Mr. Thompson questioned the way it is written, whether we would be going above and beyond that amount if other grants are being considered. Ms. Kebler stated they would be monitoring it closely; there are details that maybe would be necessary to add to grant writing, but she does not see us doing much more in that way. She stated she and Ms. Woodward are both comfortable with it. The motion for approval of contract services for Heather Woodward for technology grant writing carried by unanimous vote.
8. Business Affairs:
A. 2003-04 Budget Status Report – Dr. Nelson stated the budget is in good shape, with a fund balance of $286,000; not everything is encumbered, but we are doing well on tuition High School and tuition Junior High, showing about $31,000 to the good. Mr. Thompson noted two students have dropped out of KHS, and was told they were counted in the tally.
B. Consider Unemployment Compensation Dividend Distribution – Motion was made by Mr. Thompson, seconded by Mr. Benson, that the $742 dividend from Unemployment Compensation be applied to next year’s premium. Carried by unanimous vote.
9. Administrators' Reports
A. Superintendent – Dr. Nelson reported he and Ms. Kebler have started work
on the Jackson School budget and will set up some meetings in December. It was tentatively agreed that one budget meeting would be held on 12/15/03 at 5:00 p.m. prior to the regular monthly meeting, and possibly one on 12/8/03 at 9:15 a.m. at the SAU Office.
He provided a list of tuition students and bills for 9-12 and 7&8. It was noted there is one student who needs to be dropped (has not been here since Sept., and the parents have not withdrawn), the brother has been dropped because he is over 16 and did not attend.
FYI – The Bartlett/Jackson Cooperative meeting will be held on Dec. 3rd at Jackson Grammar School. Mr. Benson questioned what the process is now for the Cooperative? Dr. Nelson stated they can dissolve or do nothing and, by virtue of not passing the bond, they will be dissolved. It was noted that about $18,000 may be turned back to the voters.
B. Principal – Ms. Kebler reported they had a successful open house, very well
attended, and the kids were excited to show off their work. Teachers are currently scheduling parent conferences.
Thanksgiving Assembly is being held next Wed. Nov. 19th at 2:00 p.m. with a dessert buffet afterward. The holiday concert is scheduled for 12/16/03 at 6:30 p.m. at the Eagle Mountain House. Ms. Kebler noted that Mr. Berry got his new piano, the PTO gave $1,000 toward the purchase of it. It was noted also that the new school bus has arrived.
Ms. Kebler reported the heating system company worked two days last week and the system seems to be working automatically so the heat is going on and off when it needs to and the fans are working properly. She noted they had one problem early on and the company was here quickly to fix it. Mr. Benson questioned the noise level concern reported at an earlier meeting. Ms. Kebler stated the vibration is part of the heating system and is sealed in - there is nothing that can be done about it short of redesigning the system. Mr. Thompson noted that one parent had looked at it and had made a recommendation. Ms. Kebler responded that was addressed with the representative from Siemens. She noted the decision was that they would put on hold the old building piece, and determine
next year whether they want to fix the problem in the long term.
Ms. Kebler reported two new students were enrolled last week, 2nd and 4th graders from R.I. The school now has a total population of 60 students. She noted with interest that the reaction from the new R.I. students was they could not believe how “wicked quiet” Jackson, NH is.
Mr. Thompson questioned how having music and art upstairs is working out. Ms. Kebler stated it is working, there is some inconvenience in that students have to walk through the classrooms on rainy or snowy days. She noted space is still an issue, but they are making it work the best they can. She commented that the noise level is better than when they were on the first floor and there is a room set up for individual attention if needed. The space problem has not been eliminated.
10. Citizen Comments: None.
11. Board Member Issues – Board Discussion:
Set Date for Next Meeting – The next meeting will be held on December 15th.
Mr. Thompson asked for an update on the 4-5-6 classroom. Ms. Kebler stated it is going very well, everyone is on board, a lot of people say their children are very happy, she has not heard any complaints. She noted both Margo and Dexter are feeling that the separate room has worked well, the only time they are separate in terms of grades at this time is during math time – Mathscape Program starts at 6th grade level.
Mr. Thompson pointed out the 3-year cycle will be ending this year. Ms. Kebler stated Kindergarten numbers are high and they need to look at that, they will assess it by student need. She said it is important to note that the configuration has changed and they cannot say at this point whether they will have a 4-5-6 classroom next year. Mr. Thompson explained his concern was aimed more at how the 4-5-6 classroom has worked over the last three years. Ms. Kebler stated they look at it on a yearly basis based on standardized testing and classroom testing; will meet in the spring with Bartlett to make sure there are no gaps, doing an overall evaluation each year; however, people are very happy this year.
Mr. Benson questioned the status of the long-term substitute position. Ms. Kebler reported they have gone to a final candidate which they feel pretty good about and will bring to the December Board after the details have been discussed.
Making reference to the student list, Mr. Benson questioned whether Jackson is being charged for a particular student in the middle school. Ms. Kebler reported that student is there. With regard to the high school, it is her understanding that two students will be moving within the month so will not be in the District much longer; however, this needs to be discussed with the high school.
Mr. Benson questioned whether there has been any more discussion with regard to the bus situation, with those students leaving, and the picking up of that one student at Town Hall Road? Ms. Kebler explained the Bartlett bus picks up that child every other week, but that is apparently all. She is in Tamworth on the off weeks. Mr. Benson suggested it does not seem to be a fair deal for the Jackson District when we are picking up 20 to 30 students ($2,000 is a significant amount for a fairly small school district), and suggested there might be some discussion with Bartlett about quantifying somehow – he is not in favor of just giving up that $2,000. Dr. Nelson suggested asking Jim Hill and Carol Bennett to re-examine it.
12. Signing of Manifest: Manifest was duly signed.
13. Nonpublic Session: None.
14. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary
| 
