MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING OF April 11, 2024
Current Board Members-
North Berwick- Lauren Janousek, Kate Whalen, Joshua Tabor
Berwick- Travis Doiron, Elva Lovejoy, Peg Wheeler
Lebanon- Victoria Travers, Jeridene Basko, Nancy Neubert
A meeting of the Board of Directors was held in person in North Berwick, Maine on April 11, 2024 at 7:00pm with all members attending in person except Mr. Doiron. Ms Wheeler was present remotely. There were approx. 10 in the audience.
The chair asked for a motion to rearrange the board agenda. Ms. Basko made a motion to move items 6, 7, and 8 up underneath 3 and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert all members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Ms. Whalen made a motion and it was seconded by Ms. Travers to add an item addressing the graduation date to the end of the agenda. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Public Input
Vice Chair Ms. Nancy Neubert of Lebanon read the public input statement.
Mr. Jonathan Hall, North Berwick, shared with the board his concerns regarding the use of the word equity and how it has been utilized by the board of late.
Minutes:
Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Mr. Tabor to accept the minutes of March 21, 2024 meeting as amended. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Mr. Tabor to accept the minutes of March 28, 2024 meeting as amended. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to accept the minutes of April 2, 2024 meeting as amended. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Sign Budget Warrants FY ‘25
April 11, 2024
Mr. Josh Tabor:
Motion: I move that the Vote entitled, “Vote to Call and Approve the Warrants for the Budget Meeting and the Budget Validation Referendum and to Authorize the Notice of Amounts Adopted,” be approved in form presented to this meeting and that a copy of said Vote be included with the minutes of this meeting.
VOTE TO CALL AND APPROVE THE WARRANTS FOR THE BUDGET MEETINGAND THE BUDGET VALIDATION REFERENDUM AND TO AUTHORIZE THE NOTICE OF AMOUNTS ADOPTED
VOTED: That the warrant for the Maine School Administrative District No. 60 (the “District”) Budget Meeting presented to the meeting be approved and that a District budget meeting be called for May 23, 2024 for the purpose of voting on the annual budget for the District for the 2024-2025 fiscal year;
That the Warrant and Notice of Election for the District Budget Validation Referendum presented to the meeting be approved, and that a District budget validation referendum be called for June 11, 2024 for the purpose of approving the budget adopted at the District budget meeting for the 2024-2025 fiscal year; and
That the form of Notice of Amounts Adopted at Budget Meeting presented to this meeting be approved, and that the Superintendent of Schools of the District be authorized and directed to complete said Notice in accordance with the District budget meeting on May 23, 2024, and to cause copies of said Notice, as completed, to be delivered to the municipal clerks of each municipality of the District for posting at the polling places for the June 11, 2024 District budget validation referendum.
Mr. Tabor read the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to approve the Vote to Call and Approve the Warrants for the Budget Meeting and the Validation Referendum and to Authorize the Notice of Amounts Adopted. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
SRRF Financing
The board then discussed the options available to support the extra funding necessary for the SRRF funding specifically at the Knowlton School. The options were discussed. The board had a lengthy discussion about the best option. Ms. VanCampen, business manager, answered questions and made suggestions. Most board members felt that they would prefer to budget this overage in the FY 26 budget but agreed that a safety net through the Maine Municipal Bond Bank seemed warranted. Keeping options for as long as possible seems prudent.
Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to accept SRRF Financing version 2. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
VOTES TO BE ADOPTED BY THE
SCHOOL BOARD OF
MAINE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT NO. 60
AT A MEETING ON APRIL 11, 2024
VOTED: That the warrant and notice of election of Maine School Administrative District No. 60 presented to the meeting be approved and that a referendum election for the District be called for June 11, 2024 for the purpose of approving the issuance of bonds or notes of the District for minor capital project purposes as described therein.
FURTHER VOTED: That the Notice of Public Hearing presented to the meeting be approved and that a public hearing on the issuance of bonds or notes for minor capital project purposes be held on May 16, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. as provided therein.
Approval of 2024-25 School Calendar
Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to accept the 2024-25 School Calendar as presented. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
The board then discussed formalizing the graduation date of Friday, June 7th at 6 pm. Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded to set the graduation date of Friday June 7th at 6 pm. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Employment:
New Hire:
Audrey Kenison, Grade 9 Writing Teacher at Noble High School (One Year Only). Ms. Kenison is currently an intern at Noble High School. Ms. Kenison will be graduating with her Master’s degree in Education from University of New Hampshire in May 2024. Mr. Tabor made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to approve the employment of Ms. Kenison. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Celebrations:
Superintendent Beauvais reported on celebrations that are happening throughout the district.
Celebrations
4/10/24
Noble High School:
8th graders are on the tail end of their DC trip and will be returning home Friday night.
Freshman and juniors are in the midst of job shadowing and visiting businesses as part of the career exploration process.
The theater group performed a few weeks ago (March 23) and did very well. They needed to stay over an additional night due to weather but the director and bus driver were prepared for that possibility.
Mary Hurd Academy:
MHA recently partnered up with local small business Soul Shine Screen Printing and Dyeworks for an artist in residence experience where students honed in on drawing skills and learned about metal works by creating various pieces. Off campus, students attended pottery classes at Chases Garage in York. Chases Garage was repurposed to house art studios and ceramics and printmaking facilities.
Noble Middle School:
Collaborated with 18 community partners who helped present and talk about careers across many fields such as engineering, farming, teaching, banking, towing and automotive to name a few. Students attended 4 25-minute sessions.
The STEM Club recently brought home two trophies. The STEM Club built an underwater robot to participate in the SeaPerch competition. The SeaPerch Competition is held on a yearly basis for teams to showcase their robot. There were over 50 teams competing with 18 schools represented and Noble Middle School placed first for the challenge course and second for the obstacle course. They finished second overall among middle schools.
Knowlton School:
Knowlton’s fifth graders have been raising endangered Atlantic Salmon. We have invited a team from Knowlton to an upcoming board meeting to discuss their work to date, but in the interim, here is a summary of the work they have been doing. Each day the water temperature, eggs and fry and water quality are monitored. The exciting news is that all the eggs hatched even with the power issues last week! In late April and early May students will travel to the Saco Salmon Restoration Alliance and Hatchery to learn about the restoration and conservation of the Atlantic Salmon fishery in Maine.
Hussey School:
Hussey School third graders worked on a culminating Lighthouse Project as part of the state of Maine studies. Students from each grade level and families were invited into the school to see the wonderful display of research on the various lighthouses through the state of Maine. BCTV was on hand to film projects and interview students about their learning process.
Earlier this week Hussey School held a spring music performance called Mighty Meter Gnome. The performance touched upon themes of friendship, teamwork and music concepts such as tempo, beat and melody. This performance was well attended and all students enthusiastically participated in the evening event.
Hanson/LES:
4th and 5th graders performed in collaboration with the Strafford Wind Symphony which was a huge success.
Tomorrow 2nd through 5th grade students will participate in a Career Day with presentations from community members and in the afternoon fifth grade students will present their “passion” projects during the “Genius block”. Families are invited in to watch and listen to presentations.
North Berwick Elementary School:
As part of the community building and building clear behavioral expectation initiatives staff have been giving out bedazzled bear paws which has boosted student morale. Each week, one student is selected and celebrated in the classroom and on the intercom for being an excellent bear by modeling core values. Students are proud and the teachers and staff have seen a decrease in behavioral incidents as a result. As an extension activity, the administration covered lunch duties yesterday and had students fill out bear paws for teachers and staff which will be distributed on Friday. Over 400 bear paws were collected!
Adjournment:
Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Whalen to adjourn the meeting. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Adjourned at 8:03 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Audra Beauvais