BURLINGTON BOARD OF SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS

August 8, 2006 Board Meeting

 

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Ira Allen Administration

150 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT 05401

 

 

1.   PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

      Commissioner Hale called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm.

 

2.  PRESENT

Commissioners:

Marrisa Caldwell, Katharine Chasan, Barbara Crook, Wallace Elliott, Thom Fleury, Chris Haessly,   Paul Hale, Fred Lane,  Keith Pillsbury , Amy Werbel

Administrators:

Jeanne Collins, Superintendent

Sara Jane Mahan, Human Resources Director

Betsy Liley, District Grants Coordinator

Bonnie Poe, Special Services Director

            Absent:

Scott Lisle, Business Manager

                  Paul Irish, District Technical Director

Katherine Connolly, Commissioner

                  Erik Hoekstra, Commissioner

                  Jurij Homziak, Commissioner

 

3.       APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion (Caldwell/Fleury) to approve the agenda. Request by Commissioner Caldwell to discuss scheduling and agenda of the retreat under Old Business. The motion carried.

 

4.       COMMENTS/QUESTIONS

Linda Siegal -- Teacher at Wheeler and member of Equity Task Force. Urged Board to find way to settle teacher negotiations; concerned that work of the task force will go to waste if negotiations get contentious.

 

5.       SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

District actively preparing to open schools. A few snafus relating to the "sister school" program, but the Administration is working with the school principals to work out any problems.

 

The Superintendent announced that the proposed merger of the District after-school program and City Kids has been postponed. The District is moving forward to insure the sustainability of its after-school program.

 

An e-mail has been sent out to organize the Board retreat.

 

6.       COMMITTEE UPDATES

a.      Finance Committee

Commissioner Lane presented the report of the Finance Committee.

 

Motion (Fleury/Pillsbury) to approve a request by Burlington Telecom to place two 20x30 foot buildings, one at Hunt and one at Flynn, for the provision of telecommunications service to the New North End. The motion carried; Commissioners Lane and Caldwell abstained.

 

Commissioner Lane also briefly summarized the issues discussed during the Finance Committee's retreat.

The minutes for both meetings are on file.

 

b.      Curriculum & Policy Committee

Commissioner Pillsbury presented the report of the Curriculum & Policy Committee. The minutes are on file.

c.      Technology Committee

The Technology Committee did not meet prior the Board meeting.

 

7.   OLD BUSINESS

      a.   Board Retreat

Motion (Caldwell/Crook) to only schedule Board retreats when 100% of the Board can attend.

 

Motion (Fleury/ ) to require 100% attendance only at the retreat scheduled for discussing the task force report. The motion failed for lack of a second.

 

The motion to require 100% attendance failed.

 

Motion (Elliott/Fleury) to schedule the Task Force retreat so that all who wish to do so can attend.

Commissioner Chasen – Yes      Commissioner Elliott – Yes            Commissioner Haessly -- Yes

Commissioner Pillsbury – No      Commissioner Fleury – Yes         Commissioner Caldwell -- Yes

Commissioner Crook – Yes            Commissioner Lane -- No

 

The motion carried.

 

Motion (Caldwell/Fleury) to require that a minimum of 11 members of the Board be available for the strategic planning retreat on August 30th.

 

Commissioner Chasen – Yes      Commissioner Elliott – Yes            Commissioner Haessly -- Yes

Commissioner Pillsbury – No      Commissioner Fleury – No        Commission Caldwell -- Yes

Commissioner Crook – Yes            Commissioner Lane -- No

 

The motion carried.

 

8.   NEW BUSINESS

a.      Consent Agenda

Motion (Lane/Pillsbury) to approve the consent agenda. Commissioner Caldwell pointed that her name was misspelled and asked that it be corrected. The motion carried.

      b.   Policy review

Motion (Haessly/Pillsbury) to approve all three policies for second reading.

1.      BCG – School Attorney -- 2nd Reading

2.      JQ -- Pupil Privacy Rights:  Student Surveys -- 2nd Reading

                  3.   JGAA -- Restrictive Behavioral Intervention -- 2nd Reading

 

9.       EXECUTIVE SESSION

      a.      Negotiations update

Motion (Caldwell/Crook) to go into Executive Session for the purposes of discussing the status of negotiations. The Board went into Executive Session at 8:00 p.m.

 

Motion (Lane/Pillsbury) to come out of Executive Session. The Board came out of Executive Session at 8:30 p.m.

 

The Board took no action.

 

10.      ADJOURNMENT

Motion (Lane/Fleury) to adjourn. The motion carried and the Board adjourned at 8:35 p.m.