Meeting Minutes of August 29, 2006

Regular Meeting of the RegionalSchool Committee

Tuesday, August 29, 2006, 7:15 p.m.

High School Library

 

Present:            Marianne Jorgensen                                 Jere Hochman, Superintendent

                        Elaine Brighty,
Chair                                Robert Detweiler, Dir. of Finance
& Operations

                        Andy
Churchill                                         Wendy Kohler, Exec.
Director of Program Dev.       

Alisa Brewer                                           Debbie Westmoreland, Recorder

Michael Hussin                                                            

Maureen Ecclestone

 

Absent:             Tom Flittie, Sonia Correa Pope, Michael Katz

 

1.  Welcome                                                                                        8:45 p.m.

A. & B.  Call to Order/Agenda Review—By
roll call vote, the Regional School Committee voted to enter Executive
Session for the purpose of collective bargaining at 7:15 p.m.  At 8:45
p.m., Ms. Jorgensen reopened the regular session. 

C.  Reorganization—Dr. Hochman noted
that a reorganization of the School Committee is necessary since Ms.
Jorgensen announced at the last meeting that she will not serve as
chair during the 2006-2007 school year. He asked for nominations for
chair of the Regional School Committee. Ms. Brewer nominated Elaine
Brighty.  Mr. Hussin seconded.  The vote was unanimous.  Dr. Hochman
thanked Ms. Jorgensen for her many years of service in leading the
committee.  Ms. Brighty asked for nominations for vice-chair. Ms.
Jorgensen nominated Mr. Hussin. Ms. Brewer seconded and the motion
passed unanimously. Ms.  Brighty asked for nominations for secretary. 
Ms. Jorgensen nominated Alisa Brewer. Mr. Hussin seconded and the
motion passed unanimously.  Ms. Brighty then reviewed the agenda.

D.  Minutes—None  

 

2.  Announcements and Public Comments                                        None

 

3.  Superintendent’s Update                                                              8:55 p.m.

Dr. Hochman asked Mr. Detweiler to report on the
RegionalSchool District’s bond rating review by Standard and Poor’s. 
Mr. Detweiler distributed an analysis by the financial auditor, noting
that the district received a rating of A+.  Dr. Hochman stated that a
number of meetings occurred over the past few weeks in preparation for
the opening of school.  He noted that tomorrow morning is the back to
school assembly for all staff and faculty at 8:30 and the students
return on Thursday morning.

 

4.  Unfinished/Continuing Business                                                  9:05 p.m.

A.  FY07 Budget Vote—Mr. Detweiler
reviewed the memo explaining that a vote is required to accept the new
FY07 budget amount to reflect the additional Chapter 70 and
transportation reimbursement funding that was received in the amount of
$216,348.  Ms. Jorgensen made a motion that the operating budget for
FY07 for the Amherst-PelhamRegionalSchool District shall be amended to
$26,688,485, which does not effect any assessment to any member town. 
Mr. Churchill seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

B.  District Goals/Organization—This item was tabled for a future meeting. 

 

C.  Policies for Approval—Wellness Policy: 
Dr. Hochman reviewed the edits he is proposing to the draft of the
Wellness Policy submitted by the Wellness Committee.  He noted that he
kept wording that refers to state or federal guidelines in the language
of the policy.  Ms. Ecclestone asked that the acronyms contained in the
policy be spelled out in the final version.  Mr. Churchill suggested
adding back the bullet point regarding interdisciplinary nutritional
education to read “Work to provide sequential, interdisciplinary
nutrition education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating” and
deleting the bullet point reading “Promote and plan to provide
interdisciplinary coordination and cooperation across school
districts…”  Ms. Jorgensen asked that “Seek opportunities to offer
physical activities and/or nutrition services or programs designed to
benefit staff health” be edited to read “Promote physical activities…” 
Mr. Churchill requested that “Provide sequential physical education in
each grade from preK to 12 consistent with National professional
(NASPE/AAHPERD) and state standards” be amended to read “Provide
sequential physical education in each grade from preK to 12 consistent
with National professional (NASPE/AAHPERD) and state standards to
foster lifelong habits of physical education.”  Ms. Jorgensen made a
motion to adopt the wellness policy with the amendments made at this
meeting.  Ms. Ecclestone seconded and the motion passed unanimously. 
Ms. Jorgensen made a motion to make the wellness policy as voted
effective on September 1, 2006.  Ms. Ecclestone seconded and the motion
passed unanimously.  Ms. Brighty expressed the thanks of the committee
to Mr. Flittie and the Wellness Committee for their work on this
policy.

Policy 420.01 Conduct of Students: Student Conduct: 
Ms. Brighty reviewed the changes that were made to this policy based on
discussions at the last school committee meeting.  It was agreed that a
reference must be made at the bottom to explain the numbers in
parenthesis.  Mr. Churchill expressed concern about the wording “We
aspire to high standards of compliance with authority” noting that he
feels there is no context for such compliance.  Ms. Jorgensen made a
motion to adopt policy 420.01 as amended.  Ms. Ecclestone seconded and
the motion passed with Mr. Churchill abstaining.

410.12 Students: Student Suspension: 
Ms. Brighty reviewed the changes that were made to this policy based on
discussions at the last school committee meeting.  She noted that it
now matches the language in the High School student handbook.  Mr.
Churchill made a motion to approve policy 410.12 as amended.  Mr.
Hussin seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

410.13 Students: Student Expulsion: 
Ms. Brighty reviewed the changes that were made to this policy based on
discussions at the last school committee meeting.  Ms. Ecclestone made
a motion to adopt policy 410.13 as amended.  Ms. Brewer seconded and
the motion passed unanimously.

Policy 410.15 Students: Sexual Harassment of Students: 
Ms. Brighty reviewed the changes that were made to this policy based on
discussions at the last school committee meeting.  Ms. Brewer suggested
changing the second bullet point to read “Sexual epithets, jokes,
written or oral references to an individual’s sexual conduct, sexual
orientation, or gender identity…” Ms. Hussin made a motion to approve
policy 410.15 as amended. Ms. Brewer seconded and the motion passed
unanimously.

Policy 420.02 Conduct of Students: Guide to Dress and Grooming: 
Ms. Brighty reviewed the changes that were made to this policy based on
discussions at the last school committee meeting.  Ms. Jorgensen asked
if there is policy regarding staff/faculty dress and grooming. Dr.
Hochman stated that Kathy Mazur is currently working to develop a draft
of such a policy.  After some discussion, Mr. Churchill made a motion
to approve policy 420.02 as amended.  Ms. Ecclestone seconded and the
motion passed unanimously.

Policy 420.04 Conduct of Students: Corporal Punishment: 
Ms. Brighty reviewed the changes that were made to this policy based on
discussions at the last school committee meeting.  Ms. Ecclestone made
a motion to approve policy 420.04 with the contingency that it will be
brought back to the committee when the physical restraint policy number
is added.  Ms. Jorgensen seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

D.  Policies: First Read—Ms. Ecclestone
pointed out that the policy on Non-Custodial Parents Rights is based on
law, including all of the wording.  She requested that the School
Committee vote on this policy tonight.  Ms. Jorgensen made a motion to
approve new policy 400.14 Non-Custodial Parents Rights as written.  Ms.
Ecclestone seconded and the motion passed unanimously.  The other three
policies presented for first read were tabled until the next meeting.

 

5.  New Business                                                                                9:48 p.m.

A.  Meeting Date for Long-Term Debt Approval—It was decided that the committee will meet at 9:00 a.m. on September 5^th in the Superintendent’s Office to vote on the long-term debt approval.

 

B.  The Common Application for College—Dr.
Hochman distributed copies of the current and new common college
application.  He noted that currently students are asked to self-report
on discipline issues on their college applications, and the High School
has never given discipline information as a matter of record.  The new
common application asks that the schools now report discipline
information.  He stated that due to the nature of schools there is
great inconsistency in discipline issues from district-to-district,
school-to-school which makes it inequitable for schools to report this
data.  Dr. Hochman then distributed a memo including two draft versions
of a proposed statement regarding why the school will not report
discipline data. The approved statement would be included as a sticker
on the college common application.  He noted that the drafts have been
given to Regina Tate, district counsel, for review.  Ms. Jorgensen
asked if any other school districts are choosing not to comply with
this portion of the common application and whether it will adversely
affect our students.  Dr. Hochman said he has emailed superintendents
and the responses have all been that they have never given discipline
information. He stated that this issue is not yet on the radar screen
for most schools, and he anticipates hearing more from other districts
once school is back in session.  

 

6.  Reports                                                                                          None

 

7.  School Committee Planning                                                          None

A.  Sub-Committee Reports

B.  Calendar Review

C.  Items for Upcoming Meetings

 

8.  Adjournment                                                                                  10:00 p.m.

Mr. Churchill made a motion to adjourn at 10:00 p.m.  Mr. Hussin seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Westmoreland

 

Approved 9-12-06