Regional Governing Board Meeting Minutes: June 18, 2007

Lamb called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM by welcoming Ken Smith, Chair of the Arlington School Board. Smith thanked the Board and noted that Arlington has 10-12 students that attend CDC. Lamb then read through the Agenda.

Peaslee moved and Kinney seconded a motion to accept the Agenda. All were in favor.

Consent Agenda:

Delucia moved and Kinney seconded a motion to accept the Consent Agenda. All were in favor.


The Consent Agenda included:

- Minutes of the May 21, 2007 Full Board Meeting

- Minutes of the June 7, 2007 Special Meeting

- SWVRTSD Payroll Warrant #69/70 in the amount of $ 70,247.40

- SWVRTSD Payroll Warrant #72/73 in the amount of $ 65,567.43

- SWVRTSD Vendor Warrant #68 in the amount of $ 51,763.82

- SWVRTSD Vendor Warrant #71 in the amount of $ 83,668.25

- Perkins Grant Approval

- Treasurer’s Report


Committee Reports:

Outreach:

Interviews for the Outreach Coordinator position will be held Thursday, July 12 at 11:00 AM. The Marketing Committee will sit in on the interviews.


Education:

Committee Chair Latourneau reported that the committee will be looking at:

- Duplicate CDC courses within other schools in the district

- VT Tech/ Vermont Department of Education guidelines

- Exploring the Rutland (Stafford) School District’s relationship with New York State

- Vermont statute in regards to students from other states



Policy: (Met 5:00 PM this day, at Arlington High School)

Committee Chair Johnson noted that the Committee continued their work modifying the following

Policies to CDC format: 5002 (Harassment), 5090 (Interrogation), 5180 (Tobacco), 5185 (Anaphylaxis), 5200 (Fund-Raising), 5265 (Educational Files), 5266 (Edu Support), 5400 (Student Safety), 5411 (HIV/AIDS), 5650 (Posting/ Distribution Materials).

The committee has completed their review and the above are ready to be warned at the next RGB Meeting, August 20.

Student Representative’s Comments:

Skidmore expressed her appreciation for all the Board has done, especially the financial support given to SkillsUSA and FBLA. Of her time as Student Representative, Skidmore noted “It has been very interesting!”

Waterman thanked the Board for the opportunity of being a Student Representative. He has had a great time and looks forward to next year.

Lamb presented Skidmore with a plaque for her dorm wall and extended thanks for all. Oyama also presented Abby with a gift on behalf of the CDC.

New Jobs Description Approval:

Outreach Coordinator (New post)

The goal for the position will be to meet with the public and distribute information about CDC countywide. The position is to be fulltime with a salary range of 32-37K with full benefits. The Perkins Grant will pay for the majority of this.

Discussion centered on how the position would be evaluated. Johnson expressed concerns regarding dollars spent on students versus money spent on administration. He also stressed that the Board must see growth and attract students from other districts as the result of this position.

Lamb expressed expectations that:

- Every school board should know this person within one year

- CDC and the person should have “name recognition”

- Enrollment should increase because of recruitment efforts

- The person will have a lot of work to do!

Lamb also noted that Administration needs to present an Evaluation piece.

Kobelia noted that demographics are against us. There is declining school enrollment therefore increased enrollment is not necessarily a good benchmark for evaluation.

Peaslee recommended evaluation of the position in April/ May 2009. Corcoran noted that might be too soon. Long range, i.e. three years, might be a better plan for evaluation.

Peaslee moved and Corcoran seconded a motion to approve the Outreach Coordinator position. All were in favor.

It was noted interviews for the position would be held in July and the next Board meeting was in August. There is a need to either hold a Special Board meeting for contract approval or to authorize the Committee to approve the contract.

Peaslee moved and Latourneau seconded a motion to have the Outreach Committee approve the Outreach Coordinator Contract. All were in favor.

Student Database/ Guidance Assistant (New post)

Job duties for this position include: Admission data, Department of Education data, Outreach support, Guidance support, and managing the various student databases. The duties were previously handled by the person that left as half-time duties with a different job title. The position is an ESP Contract, four hours per day for the school year only.

Discussion centered on the need for the position and who was doing the work now (no one).

Peaslee moved and Corcoran seconded a motion to approve the Student Database/ Guidance Assistant position. All except Johnson, who voted nay, were where in favor.

Loaner Computer Program Proposal:

Montgomery spoke in behalf of Mike Lawler, CDC Technology Coordinator, explaining the concept of the proposal. Bob noted the retail value for retired computers is approximately $50-$75 and disposal can be expensive.

In essence, the concept of the proposal provides for students to “borrow” computers for the duration of their program. Having a relatively “new” computer at home is a useful tool for students. It is also beneficially for Outreach and PR. There is also the possibility of selling the computers to the student when their loan period ends.

Peaslee moved and Goodhue seconded a motion to approve the Loaner Computer Program Proposal. All were in favor.

Discussion centered on licensing (program and OS), the law that requires used equipment to be offered to other tech centers, and extending the program to Adult Ed instructors.

Peaslee moved and Goodhue seconded the amended motion to approve the Loaner Computer Program Proposal and also make the computers available to Adult Program Instructors. All were in favor.

Perkins Grant:

Oyama noted there were three sub-grants for a total of $188,000:

1. Engineering and Manufacturing Interdisciplinary Projects

2. Center-wide Support

3. Adult Education

Oyama highlighted what the Sub-grants provided for:

Sub-grant 1

- End of the year Presentations

- Public Energy Fair

- Videotaping (and distributing) End of Year Student Presentation

- Updating curriculum to reflect new standards of performance, rigor, and relevance

- Developing a process that is transferable to all projects (scientific inquiry method)

- Hiring an Outreach Coordinator.

Sub-grant 2

- Bob Montgomery will be the coordinator for teacher training, curriculum development, oversee timelines and activities of programs goals and keep all goals and activities on track.

Sub-grant 3

- Will provide funding for an Adult Services Coordinator, Bob Mazur, which local funds cannot pay for.


Chairman’s Report/ Public Comment: Lamb deferred his report slot to Senator Bob Hartwell.

Senator Bob Hartwell’s Report:

Hartwell spoke of “energy” policy change; specifically H520, an act relating to Vermont energy efficiency and affordability. He noted that Vermont has the second oldest housing stock in America. There will be big opportunities in this field auditing infrastructure, there are currently not enough trained people in Vermont to meet the growing needs.

The topic of “school day time” was brought up by Peaslee. Currently students from other sending schools spend a large part of the state-set six hour day (1 FTE) in travel to and from CDC. Is it possible to extend the school day at CDC to 6:00PM? Lamb noted that it is a tragedy. Schools need to stop competing for student dollars and do what is best for the student. There needs to be more flexibility in “time”.

Lamb also introduced the topic of continuing to educate students after high school with the goal of certification and/or degrees in the technical fields. Johnson noted that there is no incentive or funding for this. He noted there is a deficit in getting skilled individuals in the area.

The Statewide School Calendar was discussed briefly. Oyama is now the Representative for Southwestern Vermont.

Superintendent’s Report: There was none.

Director’s Report:

Oyama reported on:

- College for All, an article by Susan Black, which she handed out. The article mentions a non-specified Career Development Center in Vermont and how heartwarming it is.

- Tomorrow, June 19, is the last day of testing.

- Wednesday, June 20, is the last day for teachers


Executive Session: None


Other:

- Delucia noted that the Treasurers Report should be included in the Consent Agenda.

- Peaslee and Oyama will get together regarding the sign

- Lamb will send the Engineering Presentation video (re snowboard bindings) to Smith for sharing with his Board.

- Johnson noted there will be a new Organizational chart in August/ September.

 

 The meeting adjourned at 7:35 Peaslee moved and Delucia seconded a motion to adjourn and the motion carried.