WSESD Board Meeting Minutes – April 9, 2024

Note: These proposed minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved

by the board at a future meeting.

WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SCHOOL DISTRICT (WSESD) BOARD

TUESDAY APRIL 9, 2024

REGULAR BOARD MEETING – 6 PM

CUSICK CONFERENCE ROOM, WRCC, BRATTLEBORO

DRAFT MINUTES

Summary

● Motion was made to find local venues that are cost effective for the Board & Admin Retreat in June in advance of the new school year.

● Four new hires for FY25 were approved.

● Two resignations were accepted.

● The Board approved the Warrants and Payroll presented.

● Policies F22, G1 AND H2 were re-adopted.

● The Board entered Executive Session involving the discipline of students.

Present

Sean Murphy (SM), Anne Beekman (AB), Deborah Stanford (DS), Eva Nolan (EN), Matt

Schibley (MS), Kim Price (KP), Colleen Savage (CS), Ruby McAdoo (RM), Tim Maciel

(TM), Brian Remer (BR)

WSESD staff and administration present

Mark Speno, Frank Rucker, Paul Smith, Brin Tucker, Julianne Eagan, Keith Lyman, Kate

Margaitis, Kelly Dias, Mike Kelliher

Others present

BCTV, Deb Gass, Hannah van Loon, Katey Everest

AGENDA

I. Call to Order

DS called the WSESD meeting to order at 6:04 pm.

The statement was read regarding holding the hybrid meeting.

II. Student Issues

No students brought forth and comments or issues.

III. Board Matters

Moving forward, the Board Matters will be addressed earlier in the evening’s agenda. Time keeper will let the speaker know at 1 min 30 seconds that their time of 2 minutes is wrapping up by bouncing a ping pong ball.

A.Leadership Council Updates

Mark Speno shared about the orientation that is being planned for 4/16/24 with the chairs of the leadership council. A discussion was held wondering if Board Members should be involved, and welcome to come. It was decided to ask the chairs of the Leadership Councils about their feelings of having Board Members present.

Jody Normandeau, Dummerston resident, expressed frustration that the issue that occurred at the Dummerston School Board election continues to be a topic of conversation in the public.

B.Board Sub-Committees

The Finance Committee met at 5 pm just before this board meeting and began reviewing the slated work for FY25 outlined on the Capital Plan.

C.End-of-Year Appreciation (to be determined)

Looking ahead to the end of the school year, the Board began a discussion about ways to express appreciation for the staff. Ideas of ways to express appreciation without significant expense were brainstormed. This is a topic that will be revisited.

D. Professional Development – Summary Reports to the Board (Policy D2: Professional Development)

Policy D2 as it is currently written indicates that the Superintendent should provide a report to the board about the Professional Development (PD) occurring for the employees. A discussion ensued about what specifically the report about the PD occurring might look like and how to best express what is happening as there are so many layers of PD at all times. Mr. Speno took the opportunity to shared the PD calendar for the 23-24 school year with the Board. Paul Smith shared that according to 16VSA §261 (a)(5) states that the body of the oversight of PD is the responsibility of the Supervisory Level (WSESU). A recommendation was made to return this issue to the policy committee to determine what exactly the ask is of the Administration as related to reporting about PD to the WSESD Board. When the merger occurred, the policies were all adopted (August 7, 2019). A suggestion was presented by RM to take this larger opportunity to review and identify what is being outlined in a policy. It is not a quick fix. This could be included in the Board Retreat.

Emily Marker, Putney resident and kindergarten teacher at Academy, spoke about how the substitute issue is creating a challenging situation when attending PD within the district.

E.Discussion of Annual Meeting and IBRC Report

● 2024 Annual Report and Proposed FY ’25 Budget pgs. 55-60 impact of poverty on academic proficiency scores

This is on the agenda as the Annual Report provides a lot of data. Taking time to discuss what the Board’s goal would be related to the data. Are we using the data well, and it is presented in the way that the Board wants. DS suggested that as this is a large topic, it may be better to put this on the agenda for the 4/30/24 so there is sufficient time for this discussion. Jody Normandeau, Dummerston resident, asked for information from the school. Brin Tucker noted that pages 59 and 60 have that information in the Annual Report.

● Details regarding potential 2% freeze per school site

Clarification was asked about this agenda item. It was shared that this is an important step following the Annual Report. Considering the use of data and our district’s performance to discuss how the data is used and how it is impacting the work we are doing in our district. It was decided that this agenda item be put on the April 30th agenda.

F. other Topics for Discussion

May 3rd will be the Board Retreat from 5 – 9 pm. The location is to be determined at a location in one of the district’s buildings.

The Board will be using Doodle more. A discussion ensued about this platform and other platforms available. It was determined to try out a Doodle account ($7 / month).

Another topic brought forth is around the ability to view the details of the warrants. The board approves the warrants, but it was asked if there was a way to see the entire list of the checks for each warrant. It was highlighted that reviewing the warrant is the job of the Finance Committee on behalf of the Board. It is a tedious but important task, and when expenses are unclear, the Finance Committee asks for clarification from Mr. Rucker. Jody Normandeau, Dummerston resident, asked for the ability to see the warrant in its full form as well. RM noted that if someone from the community came to her with that request, she would forward them back to the Central Office.

Honoring when a community member speaks to us, TM brought forth a recommendation from Stephen Dotson, Sustainability Coordinator for Brattleboro, that a few teachers be supported to attend an Environmental Education conference Albany, NH. Following discussion about this opportunity and ways this PD might be funded, it was requested that the conference information be forwarded to Paul Smith and Mark Speno about this opportunity.

Break started 7:37 pm

Meeting returned to session 7:46 pm

IV. Administrative Report

Board Members were given the Panorama raw data in advance of the presentation that will be given at the 5/14/24 meeting

Update:

– Kuzmeskus Bus Company Updates

There has been a change in the leadership roles at Kusmeskus. These roles will be filled by: Tonia Newton – Transportation Coordinator, Charity Noyes – Transportation Coordinator, and Jonathan Harris – Operations Manager.

– Shortage of Substitute Educators

This school year 41 new substitutes have been hired and currently have 35 who are going through the background check process putting the substitute pool at 75.

Shortages in substitutes is a nationwide issue. The fill rate for WSESD is 70%; the goal is 100% fill rate. The search for subs includes all types of positions (ie. paras, special education, custodians, etc.). Also, it was suggested that there is a continued effort to monitor the reason for turnover.

Emily Bristol, Putney resident, spoke about the issues with obtaining a substitute for all positions. There was an issue with the Absences and Substitutes program that was brought forth to the Central Office on 3/4/24, and has been corrected.

– Admin/Board Retreat: Date, Location, Agenda

Determining the best location for the Administrative Retreat in June is ongoing. Currently the proposed date is June 18, 2024. The Hermitage is available and the venue works well. It was asked that due diligence be conducted to see if there is a local less expensive option that can be considered. Bethany Ranquist, Brattleboro resident, asked that space in our owned buildings be explored. Jody Normandeau, Dummeston resident, seconded the comments of Bethany Ranquist. Kerry Amidon, Vernon Board Member, suggested considering a middle ground that is not a school site but is affordable.

TM MADE A MOTION TO HAVE THE BOARD REQUEST THE ADMINISTRATION PRESENT ALTERNATIVES FOR A LESS EXPENSIVE LOCAL ALTERNATIVE SITES FOR THE JUNE 18TH RETREAT, INCLUDING THE FACILITATOR.

Discussion ensued about balancing the expense of this retreat with the work that is slated to be accomplished. The space where a meeting is held is important to consider.

A VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

This information should be presented April 30, 2024. The Vernon Board asked that this be shared with them so they have a voice in this as well. Suggestions are welcome from the Board.

– Family Engagement / Wraparound Services

Family Engagement presentation (slides from the presentations from EES, Academy and Dummerston)

-Katey Everest shared the support families receive at EES

-Kelly Dias shared opportunities that are being provided at Academy School.

-Julianne Eagan shared about the programs and highlighted the Family Involvement Team and student led conferences at the Dummerston School.

Fiscal Report

There is no fiscal report this evening

Addition of New Hires for approval. Being presented are:

Emily Walsh, First Grade at Putney

Paige Starkweather, Third Grade at Academy

Chelsea Parzych, Kindergarten at Academy

Alison Taverna, Academic Support at BUHS

AB MOTIONED TO ACCEPT THESE HIRES. MOTION WAS SECONDED. VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Chris Day has decided to resign from his leave.

Traci Lane has resigned from her position assistant principal at BUHS.

AB MOVED TO ACCEPT WITH REGREAT THE RESIGNATIONS OF CHRIS DAY AND TRACI LANE FROM THEIR POSITIONS FROM WSESD. VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

V. Consent Agenda

Clerk’s Report – Approval of Minutes March 26, 2024

DS MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MARCH 26, 2024. VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

– Warrants and Payrolls

Warrant of March 11, 2024

Arbiter Sports ACH Pmnt 3/4/24 $ 340.00

Warrant No. 1312 in the amount of $ 25.00

Warrant No. 1313 in the amount of $ 6,008.92

Warrant No. 1319 in the amount of $ 3,234.00

Warrant No. 1320 in the amount of $ 4,404.44

Warrant No. 1321 in the amount of $ 56,765.64

$ 70,478.00

Payrolls March 8, 2024 $ 1,569,871.26

Warrant of March 18, 2024

Warrant No. 1322 in the amount of $ 2,191.25

Warrant No. 1323 in the amount of $ 63,861.20

Warrant No. 1324 in the amount of $ 6,294.11

Warrant No. 1325 in the amount of $ 189,487.58

$ 261,834.14

Warrant of March 25, 2024

Warrant No. 1327 in the amount of $ 268.85

Warrant No. 1328 in the amount of $ 205,397.94

Warrant No. 1335 in the amount of $ 10,057.34

Warrant No. 1336 in the amount of $ 4,842.25

Warrant No. 1337 in the amount of $ 200,835.03

$ 421,401.41

Payrolls March 22, 2024 $ 1,690,796.71

Warrant of April 1, 2024

WSESD 3/5/24 ACH Purchasing Card

Statement

$ 20,383.93

Warrant No. 1339in the amount of $ 1,250.00

Warrant No. 1343 in the amount of $ 190,317.84

Warrant No. 1345 in the amount of $ 8,889.61

Warrant No. 1346 in the amount of $ 1,184,564.58

$ 1,405,405.96

DS MOVED TO APPROVE THE WARRANTS. VOTE CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

DS MOVED TO APPROVE THE PAYROLLS VOTE CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VI. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items

DS read a statement regarding the Public Comment on Non-Agenda Item portion of the meeting.

Bethany Ranquist, Brattleboro resident, expressed that finding things on the WESEU website is challenging to navigate. Also expressed that it appears that emails to the wsesdvt.org email are getting held up or not being to the person they are sent to.

Jody Normandeau, Dummerston resident, has questions about the athletic department, wondering if there is a way to eliminate expenses by reducing the expense for equipment (can the player provide their own equipment) and the expense of the bus transportation.

VII. New Business

A. Policy & Amendment presents the following for 1st Reading [5 Minutes]:

• B1 Board Member Education

• D1 Personnel Recruitment, Selection, Appointment and Background Checks

• D2 Professional Development

These policies are presented for a 10 day reading period. They will come up again on the 4/30/24 meeting.

VIII. Unfinished Business

A. Policy & Amendment presents the following for 2nd Reading

• E6 Emergency Closings

• E7 Safety and Security of School Facilities

• E8 Tobacco/Nicotine Prohibition

• F12 Transportation

• G14 Animal Dissection

• G15 Title 1 Comparability Policy

These are presented as a second reading. They will be presented on 4/30/24 for re-adoption.

B.Policy & Amendment presents the following for Re-Adoption

• F22 Student Assessment

• G1 Curriculum Development and Coordination

• H2 Family Engagement Policy (Parental Involvement Policy)

KP MOVED TO RE-ADOPT F22, G1 AND H2. MOTION WAS SECONDED. VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

IX. Executive Session

1VSA §313 (a)(7) the academic records or suspension or discipline of students

AB MOVED TO FIND THAT PREMATURE GENERAL PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE WOULD CLEARLY PLACE THE PUBLIC BODY OR PERSON INVOLVED AT A SUBSTANTIAL DISADVANTAGE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE WILL BE A MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER 1 V.S.A. § 313 (A)(7) THE ACADEMIC RECORDS OR SUSPENSION OR DISCIPLINE OF STUDENTS. ALL VOTED IN FAVOR OF MAKING THE FINDING.

The general topic involves the discipline of students.

AB MOTIONED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER 1 V.S.A. § 313 (A)(7) THE ACADEMIC RECORDS OR SUSPENSION OR DISCIPLINE OF STUDENTS. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Mark Speno, Mike Kelliher, Keith Lyman and Kate Margiatis were invited into the Executive Session. There will be no action following this Executive Session.

The board entered executive session at 8:58.

The board rose from executive session at 10:21, taking no action.

AB MOVED ADJOURN THE MEETING. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:23.

Minutes submitted by Board Clerk on 4/16/2024 with special recognition to Tracey Drotts for her assistancegb