MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING OF May 4, 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 May 4, 2023 at 6:15 p.m. with all members attending except Ms. Mallett and Mr. Doiron.
Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to go into executive session for Executive Session Pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A §405(6)(A) Duties of Employees. All members voted in favor and the motion passed. In at 6:17 pm. Out at 6:47 pm
Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Travers to go into executive session for Executive Session Pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A §405(6)(B) Expulsion of Student. All members voted in favor and the motion passed. In at 6:48 pm. Out at 7:10 pm
Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to expel the student under consideration. All members voted in favor and the motion passed
Moving into the regular meeting. There were 15 in the audience.
The vice chair read the public input statement.
Public Input: Mr. Kasten, of Berwick, shared with the board his concerns regarding the reduction of 3 days of service across the district at the elementary level for the excel program. He shared a heartfelt letter with the board and encouraged the board to restore that time.
Mr. Robert Travers of Lebanon shared his good luck and wishes to the AP students who are just in the process of taking their Advanced Placement Exams. He also asked about the test scores being shared as had been previously requested.
Ms. Pat Boisvert, of Berwick, shared her questions regarding when the board made the decisions regarding the budget and if there would be an opportunity to restore the time that has been reduced from the Excel program for the upcoming school year.
The Superintendent responded to the audience regarding the process.
The board reviewed the minutes from April 6, 2023. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to approve the minutes as amended. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Student Report: Over April break the Outing Club hosted a campus cleanup. They filled approximately 8 bags and created a sign intended to bring awareness to students and staff on the waste being improperly discarded.
The French Honor Society welcomed its new members at the induction ceremony earlier this week and tonight the National Honor Society is holding theirs. All new members will sign a book and give a pledge, and the current officers will hand off their role to those they chose through an interviewing process.
Students enrolled in AP courses have been taking their respective tests, of which will continue into next week as well.
District Library Update: Ms. Sharon Taylor, District Librarian, shared an overview of the library status at this point and the Instructional and Library Materials Selection Process and and an overview of the policy IJJ. Instructional and Library Materials Selection Members of the board asked several questions and thanked Ms. Taylor for her time.
Donation Spence and Matthews Project Graduation $2,000. Ms. Hagenbuch made the motion and it was seconded by Ms Janousek to accept the donation with appreciation. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Approval of 2023-24 School Calendar. The board reviewed the 2023-24 School Calendar. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to approve the 2023-24 calendar. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Set time for Graduation June 9, 2023. Graduation is scheduled for Friday June 9, 2023 at 6:30 pm. Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Travers to begin graduation at 6:30 pm. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Finalization of the Teacher Agreement. Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to approve the teacher agreement 2023-202. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Policy First Reading:
JICK-R Bullying and Cyberbullying Prevention in Schools Administrative Procedure
JICK-E1 Reporting Form
JICK-E2 Responding Form
JICK-E3 Remediation Form
The Superintendent updated the board that the policy committee will be reviewing the above policies and will bring them to the whole board for conversation and review.
Budget Update: The Superintendent updated the board on where we are in the budget process
Hearing on the May 25th, Budget referendum on June 13th. Our hope is to also have a joint meeting with all the select boards the week of May 15th in order to provide opportunities for all of our town representatives to ask questions regarding the budget.
Nomination of Probationary Teachers:
Probationary 1 to Probationary 2: Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Janousek to approve the nomination of the presented probationary 1 to probationary 2 teachers. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Probationary 2 to Continuing Contract: Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Hagenbuch to approve the nomination of the presented probationary 2 to continuing contract teachers. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Employment:
Clara Moore- NMS Gr 7 Math Teacher. Ms. Hagenbuch made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to approve the resignation of Clara Moore. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Adrienne Winograd- NMS Special Education Teacher. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Hagenbuch to approve the resignation of Adrienne Winograd. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Jason McCann- NHS Special Education Teacher. Ms. Hagenbuch made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to approve the resignation of Jason McCann. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Corey Carr- NHS Special Education Teacher. Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Travers to approve the resignation of Corey Carr. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Matthew Hosmer- NHS Gr 8 Math Teacher. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Hagenbuch to approve the resignation of Matthew Hosmer. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Lei Luo- NHS Computer Science. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to approve the resignation of Lei Luo. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Stephanie King- Hanson Gr 2 Teacher. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to approve the resignation of Stephanie King. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Gregory Ouellette- Hanson Gr 3 Teacher. Ms. Hagenbuch made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to approve the resignation of Gregory Ouellette. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Reagan Burrows- NBES Music Teacher. Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to approve the resignation of Reagan Burrows. All members voted in favor except Ms. Janousek who abstained and the motion passed.
Andrea Duncan- NBES Gr 4 Teacher. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms.Neubert to approve the resignation of Andrea Duncan. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Natalie Batchelder-NBES Gr 1. Ms. Hagenbuch made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to approve the resignation of Natalie Batchelder. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Courtney Tobey- VEH Gr 3. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert To approve the resignation of Courtney Tobey. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Kaitlin Libby- VEH Gr 3. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Hagenbuch to approve the resignation of Kaitlin Libby. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Lindsey Wood- ELKS Gr 5. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to approve the resignation of Lindsey Wood. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Victoria Small-ELKS Gr 5. Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Neubert to approve the resignation of Victoria Small. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Retirement: Ann Keravich- PDC Secretary 23 years at MSAD 60. No motion needed. The board recognizes her service to the district with appreciation.
Other:
Ms.Hagenbuch asked about looking at the policy for life threatening allergies and have it reviewed by the policy committee.
Ms. Hagenbuch brought up a concern regarding the filters that are on our email system as she feels she has not received all emails that have been sent to her. We will investigate this.
The Superintendent asked the board to choose their summer dates. July 18, 2023 will be the date of the board workshop. We will begin at 4 pm.
2nd Public Input:
PTO updates from North Berwick… Penny Palooza in April raising over $1000. The PTO took the funds raised and supported the teachers throughout Teacher Appreciation week.
Ms. Pat Boisvert of Berwick, shared with the board that she could not hear any of the conversations this evening. She made a suggestion of microphones on the tables.
Julio Mariscal, of Berwick shared his concerns regarding the reduction in excel supports and asked several questions.
Ms. Lauren Janousek of the NBES PTO shared the notes:
NBES PTO has been busy over the last couple months!
In March we had our Penny Palooza fundraiser and raised just over $1,000. The PTO voted to use 100% of the profits from the fundraiser for Teacher Appreciation week to spoil our incredible NBES staff. This included custom lunch orders from NOBO on Monday, hand massages from a Berwick mom on Tuesday, a new microwave with snacks for the teacher's room on Wednesday, an ice cream sundae bar on Thursday, and Aroma Joes' custom orders and homemade muffins on Friday. We also ran raffles throughout the week so almost all NBES staff won a raffle!
For 100s day we donated $100 each ($300 total) to the food pantry, the backpack program, and Big Love.
Reagan Burrows, the NBES music teacher, put on two musicals (K-1st & 2nd-3rd) this year. One was last night and the other is tomorrow at the High School. She had funding requests that the school was not able to cover so the PTO partnered with her to help put on the musicals and helped with funding, volunteers, and costume help. The first show was incredible and tomorrow night's show should be incredible as well! We also ran concessions at both musicals to help recoup the funds we used to support the musicals.
We donated $500 to the NBES family who lost their house in a fire last month.
We are running our flower basket fundraiser right now if anyone needs a hanging basket!
Yearbook sales have closed and we are working hard on putting the yearbook together.
Adjournment:
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 8:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Audra Beauvais