School Board Members:    Barbara Coish, Beverly Donovan, Mark Brockmeier, Michael Hatem, Bruce Anderson (7:55 p.m.)
Superintendent:  Dr. Frank Bass
Assistant Superintendent:    Roxanne Wilson
Business Administrator:    Toby Eaton

Barbara Coish opened the public hearing at 6:50 p.m. regarding RSA 186-C: 18, III. Mrs. Coish noted this was required by the district in order to provide special education services during FY 08 that were unanticipated.  Barbara Coish noted that the public hearing will remain open for one hour.

Barbara Coish called the public session of the Windham School Board Business meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.  All those in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Good News

Beverly Donovan – Windham Middle School – congratulations to the 7th and 8th grade bands and choruses along with the Select Chorus and Jazz Ensemble for doing an outstanding job at the Great East Festival.  Seventh and eighth grade bands each received a platinum rating – the highest marks in the festival and a first in Windham Middle School history.  Choruses once again swept with gold.

Mike Hatem – Windham Middle School – field days are scheduled for June 6, 9th and 10th.  These will be all day events for the students to play a variety of games and celebrate another completed year of school.

Board Buddies

Windham Center School – Principal Desrosiers introduced the DI teams.  Marilyn Jasper, Coordinator, addressed the School Board stating the teams finished their global finals in Tennessee.  They placed the highest of all the teams who competed in the State of New Hampshire.

Golden Brook School – Transition student Neil Rae, Emily Atkinson and Noah Callan spoke of GBS fitness fundraiser, step up day and field trips to Ordione and the Nesmith Library.

TGIF Presentation

TGIF is a teacher’s grant incentive program in which teachers write grants of the projects they would like to complete that enhances their curriculum.  Paula Renda, second grade teacher at GBS spoke of her trip to Utah.  She presented a video pictorial entitled Digging for Dinosaurs in Utah.  She learned about survival tactics and team building experiences.  She brought what she learned back to her classroom.

PTA Presentation

Holly Breton and Laurie Sweetser gave a wrap up of this years membership amounts, noting most of the money went to fund presentations this year.  They spoke of the tens of thousands of volunteer hours that are put into the schools.  They also spoke of Windham Middle Schools upcoming Academic Recognition Night.

Mrs. Breton stated it is the PTA’s wish to ensure that their work continues at the new Windham High School.

Booster Club

Beth Lippold spoke of the start of a new Booster Club for WHS.  She stated they would like to model themselves after the successful Booster Club at SHS.  She noted the club is just getting started and that there is a lot of enthusiasm.  A Booster Club could help support the Athletic Department at the new high school.

Regarding WMS, Mrs. Lippold spoke of the formation of a Communications Club.  She noted there were a lot of students who expressed an interest in this type of club.  It is the hope of the club to highlight all the great kids at WMS.

Mike Hatem stated he felt athletics and academics go hand in hand and that he was pleased with the formation of the club.

Windham High School Deans

Mary Fries, Dean of Math/Science Technology (not able to be in attendance); Karen Sayward – Dean of Fine Arts; Kelly Steward – Dean of Guidance and Bill Raycraft – Athletic Director and Lisa Roeder - Dean of Humanities all spoke of their excitement about opening WHS. 

Principal Manley spoke of curriculum guidelines and how proud he was of the planning team members.  He stated he felt confident that they would be able to take the curriculum guidelines and present them to the community in the upcoming months.

Motion to close public hearing at 8:20 p.m. was made by Beverly Donovan with a 2nd by Mark Brockmeier.  Approved 5-0.

Ambassadors Program

Dr. Bass spoke of a request by a current high school freshman at SHS to provide a connection to the new Windham High School by working with the incoming freshman next year.  It is the goal of the program to mentor and connect with them and aid in the transition process.  The program will begin this summer setting guidelines.  Principal Becht and Mrs. Lichtman from WMS are both in support of this program.

Dr. Bass spoke of a kick off event at SHS during the first week of school which would address Windham students by telling them what will be done month by month at WHS as a way to excite them about coming back to Windham for their sophomore year.

Other Business

Mrs. Siri Wilbur-Kamien spoke of her effort to start a tennis club for the 7th and 8th grade girls as a way to have them learn about what is required at the high school level.  She stated existing high school tennis players will volunteer their time to make the club a reality.  The Board wished her well with the start of this club.  It will take place at Griffin Park.  This is not a school program.

High School Project Update

Glenn Davis, Owner’s Representative, spoke of some items for the project that would require the input of the new Deans.  He stated he will be looking for input from them regarding curriculum specific items.

Mr. Davis spoke of the parking expansion project at WMS.

Motion to have Glenn Davis go forward with submitting the 50 space parking plan to the Planning Board was made by Beverly Donovan with a 2nd by Mike Hatem. Approved 5-0

Mr. Davis noted the Rte 111 traffic light at the high school entrance would be installed in a couple of months but that it would not be in operation until the school opens.

Regarding the purchase of defibrillators, Mr. Davis stated the purchasing of these would be combined with the Town’s purchase.

He noted the state gave their approval of the septic fields today.

Mr. Davis discussed an open house for town residents.  He noted they will need permission from the Fire Chief as life safety equipment will not yet be installed at the school.  The Board discussed the anticipated large number of people that would attend.

Bruce Anderson spoke of having escorted tours.  It was noted the architects are enthusiastic about that.

Mr. Davis noted he was a little disappointed with the grading of the football field.  He stated an ATV went up to the site and ripped the field up.  This required re-grading.

Beverly Donovan requested the status of the fencing for the fields.  Mr. Davis stated they are not here yet which is one of the issues they face.  He noted the incident had been reported to the Windham Police Department.

Mr. Davis stated the land behind WMS that the School District is donating to the Town will need to be verified before continuing the process through the Registry of Deeds.  He stated they have done their due diligence on this.

Mr. Davis spoke of drawings that were submitted regarding the proposal for change orders for teacher workrooms. 

With regard to the potential swapping of audio equipment in the auditorium, he noted there is a limited window of opportunity to make changes.  It was noted that Dean Sayward and Mark Brockmeier are working together to see if some equipment needed to be changed.  Mr. Brockmeier stated that if they swap out equipment there cannot be an increase in costs.

Rick Sweetser, an audio professional and Windham resident, addressed the School Board.  He sated he would love to offer his area of expertise to the high school project.  He stated he had a meeting at the SAU regarding audio installation at WHS and compiled a short list of suggestions he had in this regard.  Mr. Davis responded by noting it was good to have another set of eyes looking at these types of items.

Mr. Sweetser suggested having more than one microphone, noting one is really not enough.  He also suggested upgrading the console technology for relatively short money to serve the school well over the coming years.

Bruce Anderson was thankful for the input and requested pricing of said items be brought before the Board.

Summer Workshop Schedule

Roxanne Wilson provided an overview of the Summer Workshop Schedule.  She noted the activities were sponsored with Title II money, except for the Windham Summer Institute.  She noted the Institute is part of the teacher contract.

Dr. Bass made note for the Board that Mrs. Wilson coordinated the workshops at each school level and acquired the funding.

Updated Planning Team Timetable/Schedule

Dr. Bass distributed a draft of the Advisory Program which will be discussed at length over the summer.  He will come back with a report.

Second Reading of JRA

Motion to accept updated student records policy JRA with a date of June 3, 2008 was made by Beverly Donovan with a 2nd by Mike Hatem.  Approved 5-0.

Windham School Board 2008-2009 Calendar

The calendar of scheduled School Board meeting dates was noted.  Barbara Coish noted she would like to have the option of having the 2nd meeting of the month televised if possible.

Motion to accept WSB calendar as written for 2008-2009 was made by Bruce Anderson with a 2nd by Mike Hatem.  Approved 5-0.

Cat Aid

Mike Hatem noted that he felt they should not borrow funds, stating he feels they can use monies without incurring any legal costs. 

Motion that School Board borrows funds under the provision for RSA 198:20-d in anticipation of receiving Cat Aid in FY 2009 was made by Beverly Donovan with a 2nd by Bruce Anderson.  Approved 4-1 (Mike Hatem in the negative)

Consent Agenda

Motion to approve as amended the non-public minutes from May 20, 2008 was made by Beverly Donovan with a 2nd by Mark Brockmeier.  Approved 4-0-1 (Bruce Anderson abstained).

Motion to accept as amended the public minutes from May 20, 2008 was made by Beverly Donovan with a 2nd by Mark Brockmeier.  Approved 4-0-1 (Bruce Anderson abstained).

Barbara Coish noted the vendor and payroll manifests for signature.

Motion to approve the vendor and payroll manifests was made by Mike Hatem with a 2nd by Beverly Donovan.  Approved 5-0.

Motion to accept the resignation of Jennifer Branch with gratitude for her service to the district was made by Mike Hatem with a 2nd by Beverly Donovan.  Approved 5-0.

Motion to accept the medical leave of absence of Elizabeth Jodoin was made by Bruce Anderson with a 2nd by Beverly Donovan.  Approved 5-0.

Old Business

Mark Brockmeier questioned if there was a date set for the Master Planning Workshop.  Barbara Coish stated this workshop usually meets all day on a Saturday.  A late July date is a possibility. 

Dr. Bass stated the goals of the Windham School Board and the SAU should be outlined/discussed at the June 16th meeting.

Correspondence

Beverly Donovan discussed sending a letter to the State which would ask the State to consider what Windham is facing economically and how the town had not had the economic development that they thought they would by now, along with mandatory kindergarten and a slow real estate market.  She stressed they need the state to help Windham acquire back some properties lost to the Rte. 93 project.  She will forward a draft letter to the other Board members first.

Wiggin & Nourie Letter – Bruce Anderson noted the district is filing a lawsuit against Doucet Engineering.

Administrative Monthly Reports

Toby Eaton noted the standard monthly review from Harvey and the building fund payments.  The WHS budget cost update was also noted.  He stated contingency of the project still remains very strong.

Bruce Anderson questioned why they have a WHS fund balance discrepancy with Harvey’s fund balance.

Mr. Eaton responded by stating he thinks Harvey was provided with some erroneous information prior to him starting.  He stated he has provided an extensive audit to them so that they know exactly how much money we have.  Mr. Anderson noted his surprise that Carl Dubois had not updated his sheet yet.  Mr. Eaton stated Mr. Dubois has not taken any monies out of contingency yet and noted that he and Mr. Davis have tracked this very accurately.

Barbara Coish questioned how long it will be before they know about the amount they need to borrow.  Dr. Bass responded – noting there were two issues – cash flow and balancing the books.  He stated that Mr. Skinner feels we will be fine with the cash flow.  Dr. Bass stated they will give a more precise rendering of where they stand at the June 16th meeting.

With regard to the maintenance expenditure sheet, Barbara Coish stated her concern about having to remove money from the emergency fund.  Dr. Bass noted the purpose of the fund is to provide support if needed, but to deplete it would be problematic – he stated their goal is to not go to that fund as a source as there are other means available to them.

Barbara Coish questioned insurance reimbursement as it pertains to maintenance expenditures.  Toby Eaton responded by stating insurance will cover the flood at GBS – all but the $1,000 deductible and any upgrades they had done.  Insurance will also cover the leak in the heating system and the roof at WMS – excluding the $1,000 deductible.

The vaporizer fire at GBS was an emergency situation.  Both vaporizers had to be replaced.

Mr. Eaton noted his concern that some maintenance items have been neglected over the years – stating the sprinkler pump had not been inspected in over three years.  He noted this line item is sparse and encouraged the School Board to invest in its town’s schools.

Mark Brockmeier reminded everyone to have things in place for next year’s budget with regard to maintaining the schools.

Superintendent Report – Dr. Bass noted there will be an anticipated 50 more students at WMS next year – and noted there was an additional teacher hired but that the numbers are getting up there.  At WCS the 5th grade class numbers are also going up – as this is pushing the School Board Policy with regard to how many students they should have per class.

Mike Hatem noted his concern about Middle School – he stressed there was not a lot of space and that some teachers would be on carts next year.

Dr. Bass finished his report by stating they will be attending various events continuously through June 20th and that they are looking forward to these events.  He invited the Board to attend also.

Board Members Reports and Concerns

Barbara Coish – attended WCS School Council’s last meeting for the year.  She noted a lot of students from Windham received academic awards at Salem High School’s academic award night.  Mrs. Coish will check with Betty Dunn regarding the formation of the SAU Withdrawal Committee.

Mark Brockmeier – spoke of a wonderful Memorial Day parade.  He also attended, as School Board Liaison, meetings regarding fine arts at the High School.  He noted he and Mrs. Sayward will be working closely regarding fine arts and will keep the Board apprised.  He also commended Beth Valentine for the incredible amount of work she did previously in the fine arts area for the High School.

Beverly Donovan – spoke of the WMS play and what a great job the kids did.  She noted, through fundraising efforts, there is a $700.00 fund which is intended to help funnel money to purchase some lighting equipment for the Middle School for such events.

Bruce Anderson – stated Mike Hatem and Glenn Davis along with himself will be getting a handle on facilities in the next few weeks.

Barbara Coish – spoke of purchasing, along with the town, defibrillators at the High School.  Both the town and the school district are working together on this.

Future Meetings

•    Strategic planning with the town
•    Setting the summer meeting schedule
•    Café services for the WHS lunch program
•    WHS policies that will need to be written

Motion to go into non-public session under RSA 91-A: 3II (b) (c) at 10:30 p.m. was made by Beverly Donovan with a 2nd by Mike Hatem.  Approved 5-0.  Beverly Donovan –aye; Mike Hatem – aye; Mark Brockmeier – aye; Barbara Coish – aye; Bruce Anderson - aye.



Respectfully Submitted
Diane Figaro