MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING OF October 21, 2021
A meeting of the Board of Directors was held in person in North Berwick, Maine on October 21, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. with all members present except Ms. Travers, Ms. Mallett, Ms. Neubert. The student representative was absent.
Public Input: Ms. Jere Basko of Lebanon, shared her concerns regarding critical race theory, what is being taught to students in regards to DEI, etc. The Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent shared with Ms. Basko that they would set up a separate meeting to talk to her more in depth about this topic.
The board reviewed the minutes from October 7, 2021.
Mr. Doiron made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Hagenbuch to approve the minutes of October 7, 2021 as amended. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
The Business Manager, Denise Van Campen, shared the financial summary for the month of September. She gave the overview and noted that we are right on track. The only area that we are spending aggressively is in the area of transportation for athletics. This is due to the lack of spare drivers who can do the athletic runs and therefore we need to hire outside charters to get the teams to their games.
The board then had a discussion regarding continuing live streaming or allowing it to be recorded and put it out later. The board members talked back and forth about whether to continue it or not. There were members of the board who felt that due to the disruptive nature of the meetings it would be beneficial to allow the recording of the meeting and have it be delayed by 24 hours. Other members felt that it doesn’t make much of a difference. Ms. Hagenbuch made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to delay the airing of the board meetings by 24 hours going forward. All members voted in favor except Mr. Doiron and the motion passed.
The Superintendent then discussed with the board the membership of the Facilities and Finance Committee. Mr. Doiron, Ms. Manley will continue to be on the committee and we will follow up with Ms. Neubert to determine if she’d like to continue on the committee. Members scheduled a meeting for the Facilities and Finance Committee on November 10, 2021. The Building Committee will meet on November 3, after the Bond Referendum.
The Superintendent provided some educational updates:
The board discussed the pool testing program more thoroughly to determine if they should consider it further. An updated survey went out and the following results were gathered.
Pool Testing Survey: After this last survey the number of supportive responses were as follows: NBES: 47 of 301 students, Lebanon Schools: 43 of 412, Hussey: 60 of 372, ELKS: 25 of 201, NMS: 55 of 458 students, NHS: 155 of 1243 students. In reviewing these results the board felt that they had done their due diligence in regards to investigating parent interest in the program. It is apparent that more are not interested and therefore we will discontinue the conversation,
Employment:
Nomination of Jason McCann as a Special Education Case Manager at NMS. Deinse Nadeau, North Berwick Elementary School Response to Intervention and Ms. Karlita Gerry as the NBES Behavioral Interventionist. Mr. Doiron made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to approve the nominations of Ms McCann, Ms. Nadeau, Ms. Gerry. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Mr. Doiron made the motion to accept the leave of absence of Ms. Shawna Street of North Berwick Elementary School. No board member seconded.
Ms. Hagenbuch made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to not accept the leave of absence request of Ms. Shawna Street. All members voted in favor, except Mr. Doiron and the motion passed.
Other Business:
Ms. Stanton shared with the board the delegate information and the changes that were being discussed. She asked for folks to review the information and give her feedback prior to her need to vote.
Ms. Hagenbuch asked about the mailing that went out about the construction project and the referendum vote in November. Those did get mailed out and there are quite a few areas of all of the towns that received their mailing, but there were also areas of the towns that did NOT receive their fliers.
Mr. Doiron asked about the utilization of the school buildings for afterschool and weekend activities for outside communities. We will work with our administrative team next week to talk this through one more time. There is concern about using the buildings on the weekends when staff is not as available.
Ms. Hagenbuch asked about the shortage of educational technicians and how we can help. Can we utilize volunteers more in terms of prepping materials? Perhaps PTOS would be willing to volunteer.
Ms. Stanton expressed her dismay about the North Berwick Selectman’s decision to recommend a “no” vote on the Building Referendum.
Mr. Doiron asked about changing lunch menus. He asked if it is possible to get the information to the families. Ms. Van Campen shared that the Food Service Director is having daily memos about products that are not being delivered and they have to change the menus daily. Ms. Hubbell, the Nutrition Director will share some information about this difficulty shortly with the board.
Mr. Doiron made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Hagenbuch to go into Executive Session Pursuant to 1M.R.S.A. §405(6)(D) Labor Contract Discussion- Support Staff In at 8:12 pm. Out at 8:30 pm
Mr. Doiron made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Hagenbuch to go into executive session pursuant to Executive Session Pursuant to 1M.R.S.A. §405(6)(A) Evaluation of Officials/ Appointees/ Employees In at 8:30 pm. Out at 8:55pm
Ms. Lovejoy made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Whalen to go into executive session for Executive Session Pursuant to 1M.R.S.A. §405(6)(A) Evaluation of Officials/ Appointees/ Employees. In at 8:56 pm. Out at 9:06
Ms. Hagenbuch made a motion and it was seconded by Ms. Lovejoy to adjourn the meeting. All members voted in favor and the motion passed. Out at 9:07 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Audra Beauvais