Approved Minutes

Unified School District No. 36 Waits River Valley School

East Corinth, VT 05040 October 11, 2018

Present: Board Members: Joseph Nolin- chair, Stacy Emerson, Alison Bruce, Ken Schaffer OESU: Bruce Williams, Assistant Superintendent WRVS: Carlotta Perantoni, Mary Lou Moore Guests: Jonathan Rutstein, Chris Preston, Wade Pierson, David Elias Next Meeting: November 8, 2018, 6:00pm Call to Order: The Board Chair called the meeting to order at 6:00pm Board Business: Agenda Review: Removed Tour of Facility from agenda due to timing; to be done another time Approve 08/28/2018 and 09/17/2018 Minutes: A motion was made and seconded (Bruce/ Schaffer) to approve the minutes. Approved 4-0 Correspondence:- None Contracts:- None Board Orders: A motion was made and seconded (Emerson/ Bruce) to approve Board Orders as presented ($291,342.25). Notable expenses included: $54,742 to OESU and $196,096 to Thetford Academy. Approved 4-0 A motion was made and seconded (Emerson/ Bruce) to approve Board Orders as presented ($74,413.28). Notable expenses included $9,979.50 to Dresden School District and $51,780 to Saint Johnsbury Academy. Approved 4-0 Public Comments: Dave Elias commented that he had submitted correspondence via email to the Board Chair’s WRVS email that may not have been received concerning a request to allow Limlaw Logging to access his land for logging via entry through the top of the school’s back field (located near Bruleigh road). Due to the curve in his driveway, Limlaw Logging feels unable to bring their trucks and equipment up the curve and would like to access his land by driving across a small portion of the school’s back field. The Chair asked Elias if the Logging company would restore the school’s land back to its original state including planting grass seed or smoothing out ruts if necessary. A motion was made and seconded (Bruce/ Schaffer) to

enable OESU Assistant Superintendent Williams to draft a simple agreement between the school and Elias providing for permission for the Logging company to access his land via the school’s property provided he ensures the school’s property is brought back to its original state. Chris Preston provided public comment on three topics.

1. Preston stated that the School’s strategic plan is approximately 8 years old, and with all of the changes in legislature and the OESU it may be a good opportunity for the Board to relook at its strategic plan and update it. Preston further commented that the towns of Corinth and Topsham are both updating their Town Plans, and timing might be right to include members of the Town Planning Commission in any discussions on the School’s strategic plan, and also to invite the public to participate and comment.

2. Preston read to the Board a section from the State Board of Education’s Act 46 letter and an

updated letter from Daniel French, new Secretary of the State Board of Education. Preston expressed his belief based on those documents that the final proposal coming out in November will be that WRVS retain its current governance structure and will not address Supervisory Union boundaries.

3. Preston commented that it appeared from the most recent OESU board minutes that the OESU has an un-audited surplus of $500,000. He asked the Board to pose the question to OESU, if there is indeed a substantial surplus after the financial statements are audited, if any of those funds will be returned back to WRVS and tax payers. Williams commented that he recalled hearing something about special education surplus but was not clear if that was what Preston was referring to.

Reports: Treasurer’s Report: Rutstein discussed the cash flow and stated we are in a good position. Rutstein expressed his concerns over the revised TAN process presented by OESU, and stated that he feels the OESU business office may not draw funds from the WRVS TAN without his express permission at each transfer, despite being authorized in the loan documents with the bank. Rutstein further stated if you read the note, there are inconsistencies with that understanding as well. Rutstein commented that as an elected treasurer he had differing responsibilities from treasurers of other schools that were not elected by town vote. Williams commented that he needed to get more information from the business office on this, and the topic can be addressed at the next meeting. Principal’s Report: Perantoni provided the Board with her updated Principal’s Report (copy attached). Perantoni commented that the grant based tutoring program is anticipated to start November 1 two days a week from 3-5pm. Transportation: Williams provided the Board with an update on a recent situation at a bus stop that was unsafe. The bus driver reported the incident to the bus company (a tractor trailer truck coming the other way

slammed on their brakes when they saw the red lights causing black marks to be left on the pavement and the bus driver to be concerned over safety). Williams has looked at the stop in question, and has contacted a state employee at VT Transportation who is in charge of bus stop inspections. Williams anticipates receiving feedback from the state soon as to recommendations related to the safety of that particular stop which may include signage. Williams commented that both Perantoni and VT Trans has reached out to companies that they know travel the roadway with tractor trailer trucks to ask them to have their drivers use caution and not drive over the speed limit, particularly during school bus pickup and delivery times. Pierson spoke (outside of public comment session) pertaining to this bus stop. He stated that the Board had voted previously , sometime in 2014 he believed, that the location in question should not be a bus stop. Pierson questioned if the Board had ever formally voted to make the stop a stop. Pierson provided information on the particulars of the stop in question including the slope of the road and the curvature prior to the stop which might limit the view of oncoming traffic. Speed of traffic on Route 25 was also commented as a concern during the times when busses are picking up children and dropping them off. Bruce commented that she had asked for the topic to be added to the agenda to discuss other transportation related questions that had been raised by the Board previously including how state laws pertaining to transportation being centralized at the SU level interacted, if at all, with bus route determinations, how bus route determinations are made and when, and more information on our transportation committee including charter, and members. Bruce will provide some questions to Williams to be able to speak to at a future Board meeting. Preschool: Emerson provided the Board with an update on exploratory meetings which had taken place related to establishing a preschool program through WRVS. Emerson proposes that the school consider leasing space where the prior Sugar Maple Preschool was located to expedite the process, with a long term goal of having the program be housed at the WRVS. Marla, a pre-school coordinator at the OESU has been participating in the exploratory meetings. Nolin asked how the program was proposed to be funded and Perantoni, commented that they hoped it would be self-sustaining. Behavioral Program: Emerson presented the Board with an idea to consider developing a program to be able to offer behavioral programs at WRVS instead of sending scholars in need of this service to specialized schools which costs up to $125,000 year per student for tuition, not including transportation expenses which can be substantial. Emerson further stated that the school might receive revenue if it considered developing a program and accepting kids from other towns into it. Emerson, Perantoni and Sandra Stanley from OESU will meet to further discuss how this might evolve. Williams cautioned that the new funding methods related to special education might adversely impact the financial model for such a program. Food Service Bid: The State approved the food service bid proposal from The Abbey Group. A motion was made and seconded (Schaffer/ Emerson) to approve the bid. Approved 4-0 OESU Positives and Opportunities:

Bruce commented that the purpose of this agenda item was to discuss what we wanted from an OESU, what we liked about our current OESU, and areas that could be improved upon. Bruce further commented that before we consider leaving our supervisory union and joining another as has been mentioned at previous board meetings, we need to know what we want from a supervisory union relationship. Nolin commented that he feels the new staff at OESU has been making some serious efforts to unify the schools within the SU, and that the timing is not right to consider other alternatives. Nolin suggested we table the topic for at least one year to see how things play out. The Board agreed with this recommendation. Bruce provided the Board with an update on the most recent OESU meeting including a new Section 125 administrator (insurance purposes), the OESU work plan, and an audit of OESU policies that the VSBA will be conducting and the potential for this to roll-out to the schools within the SU for consistency if we choose. Public Comments: Preston commented that he had contacts at the VSBA, having been a board member there, and that he would contact them to obtain resources and pricing information on their assistance with strategic planning, as that is a service they offer and they assisted the school with this the last time around. Preston stated he would leave a copy of the written materials in each of the Board member’s box at the school. Adjournment: A motion was made and seconded (Schaffer/ Bruce) to adjourn the meeting at 8:20. Approved 4-0 Respectfully Submitted, Alison Bruce, Board Member/ Minutes Clerk