MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING OF March 16, 2023
Current Board Members-
North Berwick- Lauren Janousek, Kate Whalen, Lynn Manley
Berwick- Travis Doiron, Elva Lovejoy, Denise Mallett
Lebanon- Victoria Travers, Stephanie Hagenbuch, Nancy Neubert
Student Representative- Echo Balistreri
A meeting of the Board of Directors was held in person in North Berwick, Maine on March 16, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. with all members attending except Ms. Travers.
Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to go into executive session for review of contract negotiations pursuant to 1 MRSA 405 6 B. All members voted in favor and the motion passed. In at 6:32 pm. Out at 6:48 pm
Ms. Travers entered the meeting at 6:38 pm.
The regular meeting started at 7:00 pm.
There were 48 in the audience.
The vice chair shared the public input statement.
Public Input: None
Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to approve the minutes of March 2, 2023 as amended. All members voted in favor except Ms. Mallett and Mr. Doiron who abstained and the motion passed.
Student Report: Ms. Echo Balistreri, student board representative, shared with the board the student report:
The Language Department held its Cultural Fair on Wednesday evening. The event included music performances and projects relating to the language individuals are enrolled in here at the high school.
Seniors are applying to the local scholarships that were just released. The Noble 2023 instagram account has been recognizing those who have committed to their plans for next year whether that be attending college, joining the military, workforce, or taking a gap year.
There was an informative meeting held for juniors/seniors interested in becoming a part of the National Honors Society. Prospective members are now filling out applications and gathering teacher/staff recommendations for the panel to review.
The Spanish Honors Society Induction Ceremony is being held tonight to welcome its newest members.
Mr. Aaron Moore, Noble Athletic Director, shared a brief overview and introduced our two new state champions, ESports and Wrestling.
Mr. Brett Saucier, ESports Coach shared: This is our 3rd year of esports at Noble. in that time we won two state championships and had two second place finishes for the state of Maine.
We currently compete in 3 different games- League of Legends, Rocket League, and Super Smash Brothers.
Our program started with 8 kids our first season and has grown to 20 kids this Spring (15 boys / 5 girls). We started an 8th grade club this Spring which has 24 students signed up for it, which is hopefully a sign of huge growth for the program in future years.
4 of our original 8 kids are still with the program and have been apart of both state championship League of Legends teams.
Esports has been a great outlet for our students. Providing them a place to compete while doing what they love.
Fall State Champs
Ryan Baccon 12
Evan Chandler 12
Kaitlyn Chase 11
Henry Chasse 12
Chris Dube 12
Emily Mitchell 10
Mr. Kevin Gray, Noble Wrestling Coach shared the following: We had a fantastic ending to our season with a state duals runner up finish, a Class A state championship and 11th place finish at New Englands out of 167 teams. He highlighted the following athlete accomplishments:
Hannah Perro 100lb. Girls State Champion
Brady Oullette 106lb. Class A state champion, All state champion 5th place New England England Finish SMAA and Portland Press Herald State first team.
Kaden Dustin 138lb Class A state champion. All state champion, 6th place New England finish SMAA And Portland Press Herald All state first team
Derek Cote 152lb Class A state champion All state champion, 4th place New England finish. SMAA And Portland Press Herald All state first team. Undefeated in Maine his entire career at Noble.
Mr. Moore shared the following regarding athletics throughout the district: We introduced Girls Volleyball in the Fall of 2022 and had 32 participants make up a JV and Varsity roster. Field Hockey hosted their first home playoff game since the early 2000’s. Boys Basketball finished their season with their best record since 2014 (7-11). Boys Indoor Track placed 4th at the Class A State Championships. Competition Cheer placed third at Class A State Championships and Noble wrestling had their first female State Champion since the MPA sanctioned girls wrestling in 2019. We’ve had six Maine All-State athletes, a Gatorade Player of the year finalist, six individual State Champions in their respective sports and a wrestler named 2023 Maine Boys Wrestler of the Year.
Employment Update:
The Superintendent shared the retirement of Mr. John Baker, math teacher at Noble Middle School, Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to accept the resignation of John Baker with appreciation. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Superintendent Update:
Lebanon’s kindergarten screening dates
April 11-13
Berwick Kindergarten screening dates
April 24-26
North Berwick
May 17-19
All District Chorus Concert was held last Wednesday evening… first time since we the concerns with Covid. All went really well and it was noted that it felt wonderful to have it.
The Superintendent shared her appreciation for the custodial staff in handling the overload of snow.
The bus driver that drove the bus that was in an accident was praised for keeping that bus on the road and really handled the situation incredibly well.
The Unified Basketball team won their last game.
Currently June 23 is our last student day. It is a half day and a full day for our teaching staff.
Graduation is set for June 9, 2023. The time will be 6:30pm,
Other:
The Superintendent shared the audit information to the board and shared that the auditors will be coming in on April 8th to update the board on how we are looking.
Second Public Input: None at this time
Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to adjourn the meeting. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Adjourned at 7:26 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Audra Beauvais
The board then moved into a budget workshop.