MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING November 5, 2020
A meeting of the Board of Directors was held virtually and in person at Noble High School on November 5, 2020 at 7:00 pm, with all members present. Virtually present: Ms. Manley, Ms. Schaeffer, Ms. Corliss and Ms. Hagenbuch.
Ms. Neubert shared the public input statement.
Public Input: None at this time
Ms. Potter made the motion and it was seconded by Mr. Doiron to accept the minutes of October 15, 2020 as amended. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
The Assistant Superintendent introduced Lucas Monroe, a senior at Noble High School. This summer
Lucas created, collaborated with others, collected and delivered masks to all of the schools in various
sizes to accommodate the need for our students and staff. Thank you Lucas for your dedication and
support!
The board then reviewed a Memorandum of Understanding with the board of directors regarding Covid-19 specific situations. Mr. Doiron made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Potter to approve the MOU. All members voted in favor, except Ms. Hopper, who abstained. The motion passed.
The Superintendent discussed with the board the notion of moving to remote learning for inclement weather rather than calling full snow days. We surveyed our staff to determine that a majority believe that the District should limit the number of snowdays. MSAD #60 will have 2 snow days and there are any other inclimate days, those days will be District remote days.
The Superintendent then shared an educational update:
Ms Beauvais noted that the Star Assessments have been completed for all students grades 2-10 both remote and hybrid. We will be analyzing the data as we go. We are preparing our district newsletter and it will focus on Literacy K-12. We are also providing staff with the Distance Learning Playbook and the administrative team will also work through the Administrators District Learning Playbook as well. This will hopefully provide more support to our staff as we navigate these strange times. The playbooks align well with The Skillful Teacher which a large portion of our staff and admin team have taken the course.
Nutrition... In October we provided 2300 meals for breakfast per week and 4300 per week for lunch. About 310 students are receiving remote meals weekly. (Those meals vary depending on how many days they are in school). Our free and reduced lunch percentages are 25% (down from 27% last year).
Transportation… Our bus referrals are lower this year than in the past. There are currently no students on the waitlist. New students are generally able to be placed on a bus within 24-48 hours. Elementary runs are more filled than the middle and high school runs.
Athletics… approximately 220 students are participating in fall sports. Teams are playing against very locally placed teams. All teams will be able to play under the lights. Football is currently 1-0, girls soccer is 3-0, field hockey tied their first game and is playing tonight.
Maddox Johnson has qualified for the state meet.
Golf Team had some exhibitions but their season had come to a close earlier than it had been scheduled to.
Attendance: In this current week, our lowest number of attendance across the district was 91%, highest was 99%. The average attendance is 98%. For staff the attendance is still very strong.
Enrollment: Our elementary enrollment is 1265 Middle School… 479 High school 1279.
Ms. Mallett shared with the board her experience at the Maine School Board conference on Friday, October 30th. The keynote speaker was excellent. She shared overviews of her sessions and spent some time on the MSBA resolutions that were agreed to. Ms. Hagenbuch shared some of the overviews of her sessions as well. She spent quite a bit of time in a special education session.
Resignations: The Superintendent shared the resignation of Ms. Melissa Ortiz, Occupational Therapist. Mr. Doiron made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Potter to accept the resignation of Ms. Ortiz. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Superintendent’s Report:
We have another current situation with one classroom at the Hussey School under quarantine. This occurred over the weekend primarily on Sunday Nov. 1st and impacts a classroom. We were able to isolate the students who are impacted and minimize the whole school impact.
We have had 8 cases in total, 2 that didn’t impact students at all. The organization between the administration, the nursing staff, the teachers has been incredible. It has made our positions much easier to navigate these very difficult situations. We have our process down with the standard operating procedures.
Other Business
The Superintendent discussed with the board the plan going forward between Thanksgiving and the New Year and what the board would like to think about regarding increased travel etc. for our community members. The board members suggested that we stick to the current plan to remain in our hybrid model and adjust if necessary based on what is occurring in the community. The board discussed this and agreed that we should stick to the plan at this point and go forward with continuing in our hybrid program. If we do indeed go out, it will be for an extended period of time.
Ms. Mallett shared that the information that was shared at the workshop was very well presented and very helpful and informative. Thank you to the high school administrators for doing it in such a thorough way. The plan sounds great and is very much appreciated. She has also heard from other community members that it was also very helpful.
Noble High School is implementing changes to the hybrid plan. Mr. Doiron reiterated the information and asked about a timeline. The Superintendent noted that the leadership team had met this week and the full staff meeting will be on Monday and the plan will be shared with staff. Parents will be informed next.
Ms. Neubert made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Potter to go into executive session for a personnel matter pursuant to 1 MRSA 405 (6)A. All members voted in favor and the motion passed. In at 8:39 pm. Out at 9:04
Ms. Doiron made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Neubert to adjourn. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Audra Beauvais