MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING OF September 7, 2023
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 September 7, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. with all members attending except Ms. Neubert, Ms. Whalen and Mr. Tabor.
There were 13 in the audience.
The board took a short recess of about 30 minutes to have a Noble High School student ambassador led tour of the high school facilities. Board members broke up into 3 groups with two students per group as well as staff from the high school to answer questions. The board thanked the team for the student’s participation and was appreciative of the information provided through the tour.
Ms. Janousek read the public input statement.
Public Input:
None at this time.
Minutes:
Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Travers to add the minutes of August 24, 2023 for review/acceptance. All members voted in favor except Ms. Wheeler and Mr. Doiron who abstained. There are not enough members to fully vote on the minutes at this point so the minutes of August 24 will be tabled until the meeting of September 21, 2023.
Board of Director Norms
The board then reviewed the current board norms and discussed various roles. The board determined that this would be a “first reading” of the norms and we will review them again and finalize them at the next board meeting.
Summary of Opening Day/Week
Attendance… our student attendance has been between 97-99%.
2898 students noted which is 11 students higher than last year at this time. We needed to add an additional kindergarten classroom at NBES due to high enrollments.
Other than the heat, we have had a very smooth opening.
We are currently down about 6 ed. Tech positions throughout the district which is much better than last year. We are still down just one driver in transportation.
The ongoing excessive traffic at the Hussey School at dismissal continues to be problematic and we will be working with the police department, the town and will likely need to develop a plan to address the situation. We will continue to research options and will bring information forward to the board in the future.
Employment:
No new teacher hires
New Hire:
5 Ed Techs: 4 at Elementary level 1 NMS
Other:
On September 21, 2023, we will be meeting in Lebanon for the tours of the buildings and the meeting itself. We will begin the meeting at Lebanon Elementary School where we will have a readmittance meeting first and then tour the LES building. We will then move to the Hanson School for the tour there and then finally conduct the board meeting at the Hanson school.
Public Input:
None at this time.
Adjournment:
Ms Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Travers to adjourn the meeting. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Adjourned at 7:51 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Audra Beauvais