TOWNSHEND SCHOOL BOARD MEETING  MINUTES
March 13, 2006
	TOWNSHEND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


In Attendance:  Al Claussen, Kathy Hege, David Dezendorf, Glenn Beattie,
Judy Tietz, Members of the Board,  Deborah Leggott, Principal, Cheryl
Ruth, Superintendent WCSU, Kris Jerz and Carl McNeely, Members of the
Public

Call to order at 7:02 p.m. by Cheryl Ruth

Reorganization of Townshend School Board:

Election of Officers:  David Dezendorf made a motion to nominate Kathy
Hege as Chairman, motion passed.  Kathy Hege made a motion to nominate
David Dezendorf as vice-chair,  motion passed.  Al Claussen made a motion
to nominate Judy Tietz as clerk.  Motion passed

WCSU Representatives:  David Dezendorf explained the duties of the WCSU
representatives.  Kathy Hege, Judy Tietz and David Dezendorf will be the
WCSU representatives.  

Signatory Ability: Judy Tietz will have signatory ability for payroll
checks.  All 5 board members have signatory ability.  
.  	.  
Time & Place of Meetings:  Continue with 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month
at TES at 7:00 p.m.  Motion passed unanimously

Electronic format of Minutes:  A motion was made to continue as in the
past.  Motion passed unanimously.  

Paper of Record:  Brattleboro Reformer.  Motion unanimously passed.

Truant Officer: Kathy Hege made a motion that Sheriff’s Department be our
truant officer. Motion passed.  

Members of the Public:  Signature cards had not been completed for payroll
on Friday. Andrea Royce is now our elected school treasurer.   There will
be an ongoing discussion with Andrea and auditors on how the position of
treasurer is going to work.  


Approval of the Minutes of February 27, 2006: David Dezendorf  recommended
3 corrections be made:  Al Claussen’s  name was misspelled with only one
S, Carl McNeely’s name was misspelled.  He also requested that the minutes
should say Townshend School  Board Meeting Minutes, not Townshend
Elementary School Minutes.  Kathy Hege asked to have the following
corrections made:  Members of the Public: The agreement about the shared
septic line between TES and Grace Cottage Hospital was received from the
lawyer.   Kathy Hege directed the board chair to sign the application. 
This will be turned over to Grace Cottage Hospital to submit to the state
for the indirect discharge permit. The motion passed.  The application
will be submitted to the Agency of  Natural Resources. Old Business:  The
bus driver should not have been on the Townshend list.  Special drug
testing procedures are done by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. 

Kathy Hege made the motion to approve the minutes of February 27, 2006. 
Motion carried and the minutes were approved with corrections.  

Additions/Deletions to the Agenda:  None

Purchase Orders & Bills:  

Expense Report follow up: Kathy Hege has not had a chance to look at this.
 Kathy explained to Glenn, a new board member, the purpose of the expense
report.  Deborah 
reported that the previous errors in the expense report had been
corrected.  .

There was a concern about the repair of the bus.  Glenn  asked if they did
the brake shoes, since they did the drum and axel seals.  There was no
mention of this on the bill.  Deborah was asked to call to check on this. 
The bill will be held until we have an answer.     

Career Center Payment: The Career Center Payment had just been received. 
.  Kathy Hege asked Cheryl Ruth if we have received any word on the ’05
surcharge?  Cheryl reported no word has been received as of yet.  

Kathy Hege made a motion to pay purchase orders: #53-$13.550.59,
#54-$6,775.54, #55 for $31,668.86.  The bill for the bus repair will be
held until further clarification. 
David asked about $50.00 regarding Deborah’s China trip Visa.  Deborah
said the tuition will come from her  Professional Development money , ½ 
from Townshend Elementary School and the other ½ from Brookline Elementary
School.  This trip was approved by the board.  .  
 
Principal’s Report:  Deborah Leggott presented a comprehensive report. 
(See Principal’s Report.)  DL reported on our back-up water purification
system. A current legislation requires a  back up water purification
system, which can be done with  a chlorinator or by UV. Townshend
qualifies for total reimbursement from the state for the system.   

Fire Marshall visit:  Brian Johnson was asked to inspect the kitchen
concerning a proposed change in the cooking range from electric to a
commercial gas stove. which is  being donated to the school by Carolyn
Scully.  The installation of this six burner stove is allowed as long as
grease vapors are absent from cooking and the installation is done by a
certified LP gas technician.  No hood with suspension system is required
but a hood for ventilation is suggested to control the heat.  

There was a lengthy discussion about the gas stove and hood.  

Judy Tietz will check with Carolyn Scully to see if there is a hood that
goes with the stove.  .

Superintendent’s Report:  Cheryl Ruth reported that NECAP Testing results
taken  in October, will be released by the state on March 22nd.  They were
originally suppose to be returned in December.  Kris Jerz mentioned she
thought that the results were suppose to be back in December and felt that
this was important to have received them by now.  Cheryl is thinking they
will get them back by December next year.  Cheryl felt there was a lot of
validation to back up the results so this affected the timeline.  An SU
assessment  plan will be developed.. First draft of the plan needs  to be
available to the state by September 1st.  Al Claussen asked if the testing
date was developed by the state? Cheryl explained that 3 states made the
decision. Carl asked if there was any feed-back mechanism?  Cheryl
reported that to be reported as a class you need to have 10 students.  

March 22nd-Board and Administrator Retreat. The  SU board has a Retreat
twice a year.  This Retreat is for Board Roles and Responsibilities. They
talk about what the majer issues are.  
.
Policy Committee: They will meet Wednesday night, March 22nd   at 6:30
p.m. They will be discussing the Wellness & Fitness Policy.  Four or five
polices will be looked thru and updated.    March 29th-full board meeting
at 7:00 p.m. at BES-to approve agency fund expenses.  

Old Business:  Policy Discussion:  Animals in the Classroom and Threats
and Disruptions to School Operations:  The new  board members will be
given copies tonight  and we will be discussing these policies at next
month’s meeting.  These policies  are now  in warned status.     

Bus turnaround signs:  DL reported that we heard from the state and it was
turned over to Joyce Russ and the person from the state has not gone out
with her on the bus.  Glenn reported that in order to warrant a turnaround
sign there has to be less than 500 ft. of visability to warrant a
turnaround sign.  

New Business:  Roof Work Timeline:  The town approved $55,000 for a new
roof for the school addition.    Frank will come back to the board and ask
specifically what we want to do with the rest of the fund balance.  

The roof specs should be together by April. the bids need to be in the
mail by May.  Cheryl asked Deborah  to bring the 2 page spec sheet she has
for next month’s meeting. The  bid will be awarded in early June.  

Committee Reports:  

Executive/Super Board:  None

Policy:  None

Technology:  Cheryl is looking at a new district wide technology
committee.  TES actually had their own technology meeting last week.
General discussion took  place concerning going to the career center to
see Smart Boards.  Rick Hege thinks it is marvelous what the students at
TES are actually doing with technology, especially K-2.  David  reported
that on April 13th at 4:00 p.m. the technology committee will look at a
technology plan.  

Correspondence:  
:  
 The signed,  stamped sewer agreement has been received from Grace Cottage
Hospital. 

Correspondence:  Common level of Appraisal-we didn’t change the
percentage.  28% will be added to our value of appraisal. 

Executive Session:  None

Kathy Hege made a motion to adjourn at 8:50 p.m. The motion passed.  


Respectfully submitted,



Judy Hawkins
 

             ***********************************************
The TOWNSHENDES-L mailing list is for use by Townshend School Board for official communications only.

TSB respects your e-mail privacy, if you no longer wish to receive e-mail from Townshend School Board you may leave the list by sending an email containing only "SIGNOFF TOWNSHENDES-L" to [log in to unmask]

Subscribers can join by sending an email message to:
   [log in to unmask]

The archive is at: http://netpals.lsoft.com/archives/TOWNSHENDES-L.html for viewing past minutes, agenda, or other notifications.

The TOWNSHENDES-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html