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 JUNE 4, 2024
REGULAR BOARD MEETING – 6 PM
CUSICK CONFERENCE ROOM, WRCC, BRATTLEBORO
DRAFT MINUTES
Present
Anne Beekman (AB ), Tim Maciel (TM), Ruby McAdoo (RM), Shaun Murphy (SM), Eva Nolan (EN), Kim Price (KP), Brian Remer (BR), Matt Schibley (MS), Deborah Stanford (DS)
WSESD staff and administration present
Mark Speno, Keith Lyman, Paul Smith, Brin Tucker, Ben Lord, Hannah Parker, Frank Rucker, Kate Margaritas, Mary Kaufmann, Nancy Wiese,
Others present
BCTV, Eva Lord, Jean Gilbert, Jgagnon, Jodi Nutting, Lance Neeper, Stacey Sawyer
Absences
Colleen Savage (CS)
Summary
● The Board voted to rotate the location of the Board meetings among the schools again this year
● The Norms of the Board were discussed
● The Portrait of a Graduate work is actively being embarked upon by the district
● Four hires and one resignation were approved for the 2024-25 school year
● As it is hiring season, and the need to approve new hires in a timely manner, the Board voted to give the Personnel Committee authority to approve hires throughout the summer with the caveat that the Board still receive resumes and the committee keep the Board informed of their work
● The Board voted to authorize the Finance Committee to approve the warrants, payroll and to implement Capital Plan projects throughout the summer
● The Consent Agenda was passed
AGENDA
Call to Order
DS called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm.
Statement was read about this meeting being a hybrid meeting.
If appropriate, agenda items are subject to Potential Action
None brought forth for the agenda or the consent agenda this evening.
I. Student Matters
Eva Lord is interested in applying for student representative to the Board. Prior to the meeting, she briefly spoke with Tim Maciel to learn a little about the position and how to apply. She is being encouraged to submit the application, which will be reviewed in the Fall.
Hannah Parker indicated that the same message has been given to other students who have inquired about the position.
II. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items
This is a time for the board to listen and to take notes. It is not a time for the board to respond to comments or engage in dialogue with the public. If appropriate – the Board and Administration will work on next steps.
Jean Gilbert, Brattleboro resident, asked for more information about the expense that the board is considering related to the cost of childcare/eldercare for the board members and the snacks during the meetings. Mrs. Gilbert wanted the Board to explain the reasoning for incurring these expenses knowing that serving on the Board is a community service. Childcare/eldercare and snacks should not be an expectation.
Mary Kaufmann invited everyone to come attend the Canal Street Pre-K open house on Thursday
6/7 from 4:30-6.
Board Matters
A. Leadership Council Updates
With the last Board meeting being a week ago, there understandably is nothing new to report.
The upcoming meeting are scheduled for:
BAMS LC – Thursday 6/6
BUHS LC – Wednesday 6/5
Dummerston LC – Thursday 6/6
Putney LC – Wednesday 6/12
Guilford LC – Wednesday 6/5
B. Board Sub-Committees
Personnel meets tomorrow (6/5) at 12:30 pm
Finance met yesterday (6/3) at 1:00 pm
C. Evaluate Meeting Norms
DS introduced an exercise for the Board to participate in. As groups of two or three, they worked together to determine what they collectively feel the top quality of being a Board member is.
Each group identified a single word they can all agree upon; Group 1 (The Ones) selected integrity, Group 2 (the Humorists) selected community, Group 3 (The Buttercups) selected Ecological Awareness.
The last time the Meeting Norms have been reviewed and updated as a group was two years ago, so this evening the Board spend a bit of time considering the current norms. DS encouraged all to consider what is missing.
● SM – adherence to Robert’s Rules.
● EN – not identifying people by name when disagreeing with another’s point
● RM – addressing the Board Chair (Robert’s Rules). Noted that the norms help to provide guidance on how members
● MS – point 5 – there is an opportunity to state more clearly the practice of consideration of the floor being given first to those who want to share but speak less often when multiple people would like to talk.
● TM spoke about the Shared Responsibility point, a former Board member talked about being a responsible bystander. When there is a motion made, it is the responsibility of all to weigh in, either positively or negatively – silence after a motion is not helpful to move forward.
● RM – would like to see the description of shared responsibility developed more in the norms
● EN – finding opportunity periodically to step into less formal format for more of a conversation on topics.
● TM – noted that the chapter on Discussion Meetings (chapter 8 in The Governance Core) addresses how to allow for more fluid conversation as EN noted
● DS – spoke about what the role of the chair should be when things are veering off course
● RM – talked about how the norms can be helpful to keep the meeting on topic
● SM – the board should not be an “encounter group”, but be a group addressing the work at hand in a more formal manner. The focus of this Board should be student success 100% of the time which will result in the work being meaningful and effective.
● RM – the Board, in many ways, is modeling what we are asking for from our students. The norms provide a framework and guidelines.
● EN – importance of the members of the Board coming to the table with good intentions and with a goal of recognizing all may not always get along, but all can be respectful of one another.
D. Evaluate pros and cons of rotating board meeting sites
Pros Cons
Valuable to go into the different schools and towns.
Being able to tour the school and get a feel for the building and the work occurring there
Visiting the schools has been a success because you see what is happening in a very different way.
It makes it easier for community members to attend when it is in their community.
DIfficult for student reps
Technical issues
Can be an imposition at times to schools,
May discourage board members going during working hours as they have gone already
Reiterated the imposition
Does not expose board to school or students
The goal of making it easier for folks to attend wasn’t always successful
Must make hybrid an option and fixing tech issues is now a must given recent changes in legislation
Student representatives may have a difficult time getting to the other sites.
Ideas/thoughts:
● A principal can invite the Board to have a meeting at their site.
● According to policy D7, meetings have to be acceptable for volunteers. Getting student reps to the meeting can be a challenge.
RM MOVES THAT THE BOARD STAY THE COURSE AND ROTATE THE MEETING SITES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. MOTION WAS SECONDED
In the noting of pros and cons, there are four distinct pros and nine distinct cons.
There are eight school sites (including EES) outside of Cusick. RM noted that the programmatic and equity committee made recommendations for the locations keeping consideration of the weather when assigning meeting locations this past year.
A suggestion for an amendment to the motion could be to go to the schools bi-annually. RM expressed that this does not meet the spirit of the motion, which is making the the Board accessible to the community members.
Clarification: If the motion passes, the meetings will be rotating to other sites. If the motion does not pass, then the meeting will be held in Cusick.
Another suggestion for a friendly amendment noting that the meeting could be held at a school on invitation from the principal. RM expressed that this amendment is not agreeable to her.
MS – Motion was read back.
AYE NAY ABST
AB x
TM x
RM x
SM x
EN x
KP x
BR x
MS x
DS x
Total 5 4 0
The motion passed 5-4
E. Other unresolved issues
A moment of acknowledgement of Paul Smith as this is his last official meeting before retirement. The Board wanted to take a moment to recognize publically the work of Mr. Smith over the years of his tenure. DS expressed her appreciation for his work on the policy meeting.
His guidance, direction, and wisdom have been invaluable.
Break at 7:23
Resumed at 7:30
III. Administrative Report
– Update on Portrait of a Graduate, next steps for 2024-25
Brin Tucker shared about the work being undertaken related to the Portrait of a Graduate. This is an opportunity for the school and the community to gather to provide input about what skills and capabilities we want students graduating from our district with. Part of the efforts of this work is to ensure that the courses being offered at BUHS align with a Portrait of a Graduate.
On Friday 5/17/25 approximately 17 people were present and Jean Phillips from Great Works Partnership facilitated this meeting. Through this discussion, recognition that this is not just work of what a graduate should be expected, but really starts with our Pre-K programs. This was a formative opportunity to guide the work that will be undertaken next year. The goal is to identify the portrait of a graduate next year. Two board members were there. A strong number of people from that group are committed to participating actively in the steering committee this coming year.
The goal of this steering committee would be to identify and clarify our WSESU Portrait of a Graduate a year from now, which would become a compass for the work the district would utilize moving forward.
– June Graduations
6/10 – Putney’s graduation
6/11 all other elementary schools will hold their graduations
6/20 – Senior Award Night, over $200,000 in scholarships will be awarded
6/21 – BUHS graduation
– Updates on Admin/Board Retreat 6/18/24
Mark Speno encouraged all to read the introduction of The Governance Core. Next week the goal is to have the slide deck finalized and distributed in advance of the retreat. Each participant will be assigned a chapter to read. The ask is that everyone reads, at a minimum, the introduction as well as the assigned chapter.
– Hires, Resignations and Retirements
Resignations
Meg Chingery, 2nd Grade at Green Street
AB MOVED TO ACCEPT THIS RESIGNATION. MOTION SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Hires
Kathryn Long – Oak Grove Grade 4
Kristi Kratsa – Academy Counselor
Sarah Noble-Dziura – Green Street School Grade 2
Christa Cozzolino – Green Street School Soc. Worker
AB MOVED TO ACCEPT THE HIRING OF KATHRYN LONG, KRISI KRATSA, SARAH NOBLE-DZIURA AND CHRISTA COZZOLINO. MOTION SECONDED.
It was asked if the people interviewing are asked to teach a demo class. Mr. Speno indicated that is not the norm.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Kate Margaritas asked what the process would be related to hiring related to the fact that the next meeting is at the end of June. It was noted that in previous years, the personnel committee filled this need.
MS MOVED THAT THE BOARD GIVE AUTHORITY TO THE PERSONNEL COMMITTEE TO ACCEPT HIRING AND RESIGNATION RECCOMENDATOINS FROM ADMINISTRATION FOR THE SUMMER MONTHS. MOTION WAS SECONDED.
There was an inquiry about who is on the personnel committee. Currently the committee is AB, KP, CS and Kerry Amidon. Discussion about gathering at quorum from the Board on short notice at this particular time is very difficult.
VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The process of new hires being sent to DS who will then disseminate it to the Board, and the personnel committee will meet and approve hires. Board members can express thoughts in advance of the personnel committee meeting
IV. Fiscal Report
– Overview
The open purchase orders total approximately $9.5 million – most of which are related to salary.
The Business office is preparing for the audit for the fiscal year ending in June. When looking at the budget related to the capital projects, the open purchase orders are for the entire cost of the project. The full distribution of those funds will not occur in FY24, but look like they are going to be a responsibility of FY24. Invoices will be paid, then the purchase order will be closed and reopened in FY25 of the remaining expense.
– Current Bids
All current bids are all approved in the Capital Plan:
● BUHS, Tenney Field Improvement – J. Evans Construction ($372,000). The scope of work will be to replace the turf and restore the baseball diamond. The field area will be expanded allowing more sporting opportunities. It is expected to be completed in September. On a side note, the plan is to re-sodded the football field at the end of the season in the fall.
● BUHS, Tenney Field Grandstand Outdoor Learning Classroom – the only bid received was far above the budgeted amount. The plan is to have a revised bid opening in June and a bid opening in July. As these funds are part of the ESSER funding, which was voted on by the Board and the approval was given.
Discussion about the process for the Capital Plan and how the Board is included in the decision making that occurs around the projects and the bid awarding. Mr. Rucker spoke about the work that the finance committee is related to the development of the plan and the implementation of the plan.
Mr. Rucker spoke about the Business Office following the law which identifies that the Board is included in the pre-qualification of bidders on high cost projects. State law states that the award must go to the lowest bidder in the high cost projects.
The discussion continued about the decision around the type of grass on the fields. There had been a discussion about putting in synthetic turf, but after discussion, the Board made the decision to use grass. There was a touch on the use of organic grass vs. re-sodding.
Liz Adams, Putney resident, wanted to celebrate the way the district has kept up the buildings and grounds. She expressed appreciation for the fiscal responsibility that has been shown by the Business Office and the towns prior to the merger.
● Guilford window replacement – Monadnock Commercial Building Company, ESSER funded. This includes asbestos abatement starting in a couple of weeks. This should be completed before September
● Oak Grove Heat Pump, which will result in an all electric school (the first in the district)
● Oak Grove propane tank installation – L&G Propane
● Oak Grove roof- pending contract
● Dummerston – PCB abatement. It is strictly in utility closets. Fuss and O’Neill ($144,000 contract). This is expected to be fully reimbursed by the Vermont Legislature (exactly how is not yet determined, but Mr. Rucker expects it to be fully reimbursed).
● Putney Playground replacement project – RFP was just distributed yesterday.
● Putney gym roof – in the process
THE WSESD BOARD AUTHORIZES THE FINANCE COMMITTEE THE AUTHORITY TO APPROVE WARRANTS, PAYROLL AND TO IMPLEMENT CAPITAL PLAN PROJECTS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. MOTION SECONDED
It was asked that the finance committee continue to update the Board on the work and
approvals related to this authorization.
VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
V. Consent Agenda
SM MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
VI. Approve Minutes of 5/28/24
Warrants and Payrolls:
Warrant of May 13 2024
WSESD 5/10/24 ACH Arbiter Sports $ 1,235.00
Pmnt
Warrant No. 1395 in the amount of $ 832.00
Warrant No. 1396 in the amount of $ 31,298.98
Warrant No. 1397 in the amount of $ 6,734.00
Warrant No. 1398 in the amount of $ 107.16
Warrant No. 1399 in the amount of $ 1655.61
Warrant No. 1400 in the amount of $ 18,872.99
Warrant No. 1401 in the amount of $ 7,327.06
Warrant No. 1402 in the amount of $ 335,324.48
$ 403,387.28
Warrant of May 20, 2024
Warrant No. 1403 in the amount of $ 6,125.33
Warrant No. 1408 in the amount of $ 2,252.00
Warrant No. 1409 in the amount of $ 181,489.02
Warrant No. 1410 in the amount of $ 2,323.93
Warrant No. 1411 in the amount of $ 2,593.70
Warrant No. 1412 in the amount of $ 1,307,045.84
$ 1,501,829.84
Payrolls May 17, 2024 $ 1,765,252.11
Warrant of May 28, 2024 $
5/20/24 ACH Purchasing Card Pmnt $ 1,773.00
5/20/24 ACH Purchasing Card Pmnt $ 543.00
Warrant No. 1413 in the amount of $ 213.00
Warrant No. 1414 in the amount of 2,215.60
Warrant No. 1415 in the amount of $ 138,665.67
Warrant No. 1416 in the amount of 1,670.69
Warrant No. 1418 in the amount of $ 2,330.74
Warrant No. 1419 in the amount of $ 159,643.34
$ 307,055.04
VII. New Business
KP congratulated Nathan Kim for winning the individual singles state championship.
Speno shared that the baseball team just won their first game in the playoffs.
The girls tennis team just played in States today, and lost.
The boys tennis team is first in the state. They are supposed to play on Thursday.
AB MOVED TO ADJOURN THE WSESD BOARD MEETING. MOTION WAS SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The Board was adjourned at 8:38 pm
