June 4, 2008 at 7:00 PM - Regular Board Meeting

Rationale: 

Rationale:  Mr. Todd Zagurski and the KHS Plastics Team won the Annual Plastics Competition at QVCC on May 16th.

Rationale:  The team of Frantha Phonesavanh and Korbrin Tatsey Champalath, led by Advisors Julie Corden and Meg McCulloch, competed at the State Finals for the History Day Competition on Saturday, May 3.  Their presentation was on Jackie Robinson and was extremely informative and well presented.  We are very proud of our students and their advisors.  

Rationale: 

Rationale:  Bids for the new high school will be opened on Tuesday, June 3.  If overall low bids are on budget, Gilbane will review the low bidder for the site work package immediately, with a recommendation to the PBC at their meeting on June 5 and subsequent contract approval by the Town Council on June 10.  I will report on the outcome of the bid results, and next steps on the project.

Rationale:  The Wellness Committee reviewed the current wellness regulations and made a number of modifications.  The overall intent was to both update the regulation for new information, and the clarify and simply the regulation to make it more "user friendly."  The new regulation has been reviewed by the Policy Committee and is presented to you for your information.  It does not require BOE approval since it is a regulation.  The policy has not been changed.

Rationale:  End of Year promotions/graduations:

KHS - June 13, 6:00 p.m.
KCS - June 16, 1:30 p.m.
KIS - June 16, 4:30 p.m. (at KHS Auditorium)
KMS - June 17, 9:00 a.m.

Rationale:  Brad will update the Board on plans for summer school and credit recovery options this summer.

Rationale:  The new High School Mission Statement, developed for the NEASC reaccreditation process, was shared at the May 28 board meeting.  NEASC requires that the Board approve the statement.

Rationale:  Since Barbara Otero was not at the last board meeting, board members postponed this item so that she could be present to  respond to questions. 

As food commodity and fuel prices continue to rise, the ability of our food services program to deliver quality, healthful meals to our students is compromised.  Mrs. Otero is proposing a modest increase in breakfast and lunch prices that reflect these increased costs to the program.  See attached request, comparative prices in surrounding districts, and a federal report on commodity prices.

Rationale:  We have been in conversations with Yankee Gas about the possibility of running a natural gas line to the high school and retrofitting the burners (and making necessary plumbing modifications) for dual fuel capability.  As you know, three of our schools currently have that capability (KMS, KIS, GECC), and we saved significant money this year given the differential in cost between heating oil and natural gas.

We will have more complete information after meeting with our Yankee Gas representative on Tuesday, but preliminary numbers indicate that we could pay for the conversion out of budgeted operating funds for next year and have a payback period of less than a half-year.  In other words, we would pay for the conversion and save additional money heating the school during 2008-09.

The one cautionary note is that to minimize the conversion cost we would have to agree to a multi-year lock in to use natural gas exclusively for heat, essentially negating the dual fuel flexibility during that time period.  None of us can predict the price of oil or natural gas more than one year out, so this could result in higher heating costs in future budget years (if the equivalent cost of natural gas exceeds that of oil).  Nevertheless, we strongly recommend making this change.

If the Board approves moving forward, I would then need PBC approval for the project.

Rationale:  The Board previously authorized a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a facilities study that will help us plan for the best utilization of our existing schools once the new high school opens.  There were six responses to the RFP; a committee composed of Richard Murray, Gail Pratt, Jennifer Thomas, Lynda Fosco, Marilyn Oat, Sheryl Kempain, Paul Mailhot and me reveiwed and rated the responses and developed a short list of three architectural firms. 

The committee will be interviewing the three firms on Thursday, June 5.  We are required, by law, to award the contract to "the lowest responsible qualified bidder."  Given the timing of the board meeting and the interviews, I am requesting the authority from the Board to enter into a contract with the firm selected by the committee that best meets the requirements of the RFP and complies with the requirements of the law.

Rationale:  The Ad-Hoc Textbook Approval Committee (Dr. Robinson, Richard Murray) met on Monday, May 19 and approved the purchase of the following textbook requests:

Entrepreneurship: Ideas in Action
Glencoe, 2008
Grades 10-12

Magruder's American Government
Prentice Hall, 2008
Grade 10

Rationale:  This bylaw has been modified in accordance with conversations at the Board retreat, and is recommended for approval by the Policy Committee.  Essentially, it clarifies the secretary's position as the vice-chairperson of the board.

Rationale:  Our current bullying policy, required by state law, is out of date and does not contain the most recent statutory changes designed to ameliorate, record and report instances of bullying.  The Policy Committee is recommending adopting the Shipman & Goodwin model policy, as presented.

Rationale:  This is the second reading of this policy.  No changes have been made from the first reading last month.

Rationale:  This is the second reading of this policy.  No changes have been made from the first reading last month.

Rationale:  This is the second reading of this policy.  No changes have been made from the first reading last month.

Rationale:  The Board needs to authorize salary increases for all non-unionized staff.  A list of proposed increases will be presented; the Board may want to hold a conversation in executive session before considering the increases.

Rationale:  This item is included as a placeholder, in case the Board wishes to discuss the 2008-09 budget in light of the outcome of the Town Meeting/Referendum held on June 2.