I. CALL TO ORDER APPROVED BY THE PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT #51 PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES Pittsfield School Board Meeting Thursday, July 14, 2016 Pittsfield Middle High School Members Present: Others Present: Mike Wolfe, Chair Bea Douglas, Vice Chair Linda Freese Ted Mitchell Ralph Odell John Freeman, Superintendent of Schools Tobi Gray Chassie, District Administrator Derek Hamilton, Dean of Operations Danielle Harvey, Dean of Instruction Donna Lehmann, Director of Student Services Kathy LeMay, Director of Interventions Ross Morse, Community Liaison Chairperson Wolfe called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. II. AGENDA REVIEW The following items were added to the agenda: Facilities Use Request (Mr. Hamilton) Resignations (Dr. Freeman) Communications from Select Board Member (Dr. Freeman) The following items were deleted from the agenda: School Board Priorities (Dr. Freeman) III. ACTION ON AMENDED AGENDA On a motion made by Ms. Douglas and seconded by Ms. Freese, the Board voted unanimously to approve the amended agenda. Pittsfield School Board 1 July 14, 2016,
IV. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES A motion was made by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Ms. Freese to approve the minutes of the June 16, 2016, meeting. On page two, paragraph four, change Mr. Harvey to Ms. Harvey. On page two, paragraph six, change the last sentence to read for positions difficult to fill. On page three, paragraph three, change two hundred to twenty. On page three, paragraph four change to Mr. Hamilton reported that Darrah Enterprises has removed poles from Drake Field and will remove pavement from the basketball court in the fall. The minutes were unanimously approved as amended. V. PUBLIC INPUT - None VI. VII. STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE - None DEAN OF INSTRUCTION A. PACE Ms. Harvey reported the New Hampshire Department of Education has put forward an application to continue the PACE (Performance Assessment for Competency Education) assessment work. The work that was required to fulfill requirements was arduous, but was accomplished. Ms. Harvey and PMHS administrative assistant, Casey Donini, will find a more efficient way to collect information in the future. Ms. Harvey explained the work planned for the upcoming PACE conference. The work will set the district up for an efficient implementation of PACE for the next year. B. No Grades / No Grades Grant (NG2) Ms. Harvey explained that during the week of July 11 th, ten teachers have joined her, Ms. LeMay, Ms. Chassie, and Ms. Lehmann for training. C. Teacher Recruitment Ms. Harvey informed the Board of the status of hiring for vacancies in teaching positions. VIII. DEAN OF OPERATIONS A. Facilities Request On a motion made by Ms. Douglas and seconded by Mr. Odell, the Board unanimously approved the Suncook Valley Rotary Club s request to use Drake Field for a public screening of the movie The Wizard of Oz on July 22, 2016. Pittsfield School Board 2 July 14, 2016
B. Student Support Specialist Position Work continues to recruit a person to fill the position of student support specialist at PES. C. Technology Transition Mr. Hamilton reported the previous technology integrator, Carin Foss, will be cross training the Information Technology (IT) manager and assistant in the areas of ipad inventory and management, Apple and Google account set-up, and Apple configuration. IX. DIRECTOR OF STUDENT SERVICES A. New Hampshire Special Education District Profile Ms. Lehmann provided the Board with information relative to the New Hampshire Special Education District Report for the 2014-2015 school year. This report provides data on Pittsfield s performance on fourteen federal indicators required in our state performance plan. She reviewed several highlights. X. DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS A. Senior Graduation Update According to Ms. Brown s report, four students did not graduate with their cohort in June. One student completed the HiSET, and the other three are currently completing graduation requirements. B. Scholarship Update Members of the class of 2016 were awarded $35,200 from local scholarships, including $18,000 from the Foss Family Scholarship. In addition, past graduates were awarded $20,000 from the Foss Family Scholarship. C. Post-Secondary Plans According to Ms. Brown s report, of the students in the class of 2016, 22% will be attending four year college/universities, 31% will be attending a two-year college, 13% will be attending a trade school, 4% have enlisted in the military, and 30% are joining the workforce. D. Middle School Retentions Four eighth grade students were retained in grade this year. Meetings with students and their families will be taking place to develop plans for the 2016-2017 school year. Pittsfield School Board 3 July 14, 2016
XI. DISTRIC ADMINISTRATOR A. Communications Team Information regarding the Communications Team will be presented when the Board considers priorities for the ensuing year. B. Good to Great Team The Good to Great Team will be meeting on July 26, 2016, from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m. to continue the work on the evaluation process. C. Reimagine Learning An invitation was received for Ms. Chassie to attend Reimagine Learning s summer convening as a member of their Design Team. Dr. Freeman and student Tucker Wolfe were invited to participate in a panel discussion at the conference. Their presentation was well received and appreciated by the attendees. XII. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS A. Resignations Dr. Freeman explained the master contract allows teachers to be released from their contract up to July 15 without penalty. This is included as a provision in the master agreement negotiated with the bargaining unit. Dr. Freeman presented four resignations: Karen McCue, Title I teacher; Tracy Parker, middle school math teacher; Jessica Place, middle school special education teacher; and Rebecca Towle, middle high school special education teacher. On a motion made by Ms. Douglas and seconded by Ms. Freese, the Board unanimously accepted the four resignations with regret. Discussion ensued regarding the hardship the late date of July 15 for release from contract creates. Also, the turnover rate is unusually high this year. B. Teacher Salary Impact Dr. Freeman reported on the combined impact of having teachers leave the district and report significant salary increases provided by other districts and having few-to-no teacher candidates for some open positions. He provided the Board with two Department of Education reports: Teacher Average Salary and Minimum Starting Salary as reported by districts for the 2015-2016 school year. For average salary, the district ranked #158 of 164 districts, and for minimum salary the district ranked #157 of 159. Pittsfield School Board 4 July 14, 2016
This year, the district is replacing approximately 20% of our non-administrative professional staff. Some are moving out of state or retiring from the profession, so 20% doesn t reflect a significant salary issue. The consideration of time and money spent on training our new teaching staff was discussed. Teachers are leaving Pittsfield stronger teachers because of their Pittsfield experience. This factor, taken along with the reality that new teachers are typically inexperienced, makes efforts at continuous progress in serving our students with a student centered learning experience all the more challenging. Dr. Freeman stated the system of school funding in New Hampshire disadvantages some school districts when compared with others. It is this system that largely causes tax rate frustrations. C. PATCH School Based Health Center Year-End Report Dr. Freeman provided the Board with a copy of the annual PATCH report, which was prepared by Susan Hemingway of Concord Hospital and PATCH coordinator. D. Second Start Student Assistance Program Year-End Report Dr. Freeman provided the Board will the annual Student Assistance Report, which was prepared by Amber Viollette, student assistance program counselor. This program is partially district-funded and partially grant-funded. E. Letter from Select Board Member Dr. Freeman distributed a letter from Carl Anderson, Select Board member and chair of the High School Tuition Study Committee. Mr. Anderson invited Dr. Freeman to join the committee at a meeting on Monday, July 11, 2016. Dr. Freeman did not attend the meeting, but provided his PowerPoint and minutes from relevant School Board meetings. The School Board stated they did not want Dr. Freeman to be a part of the committee, as he had already spent enough time on the issue. F. School Board Priorities Dr. Freeman removed this topic from the agenda and informed the Board that he will be organizing the information for an upcoming meeting. He explained the status of the energy audit, which will become a part of the priority discussion. XIII. SCHOOL BOARD A. Negotiations Mr. Wolfe asked when we could begin the work involved in negotiations with the Education Association of Pittsfield (EAP). Dr. Freeman agreed to continue conversations with Kiza Armour, president of the EAP. Pittsfield School Board 5 July 14, 2016
XIV. PUBLIC SESSION Adam Gauthier thanked the Board for allowing the Suncook Valley Rotary Club to use Drake Field. He asked if they could extend the arrangement to include a trial run on the evening before, to which the Board agreed. XV. NON PUBLIC SESSION At 6:10 p.m., a motion was made by Ms. Douglas and seconded by Mr. Odell to enter into non-public session to discuss a student issue at the request of Adam Gauthier pursuant to RSA 91-A:3, II (c). The Board was polled and voted unanimously (Ms. Douglas, yes; Ms. Freese, yes; Mr. Mitchell, yes; Mr. Odell, yes; Mr. Wolfe, yes) to enter into a non-public session. No action was taken in non-public session. XVI. OPEN SESSION At 6:40 p.m., a motion was made by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Ms. Douglas to exit the non-public session and to re-enter into open session. The Board was polled and voted unanimously (Ms. Douglas, yes; Ms. Freese, yes; Mr. Mitchell, yes; Mr. Odell, yes; Mr. Wolfe, yes) to exit the non-public session and to re-enter into open session. XVII. NEXT MEETING The next School Board meeting is scheduled for August 4, 2016, at 5:30 p.m. at the Pittsfield Middle High School. XVIII. ADJOURNMENT On a motion made by Ms. Freese and seconded by Mr. Mitchell, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 6:47 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tobi Gray Chassie Recording Secretary Pittsfield School Board 6 July 14, 2016