Minutes 06-26-2007

HWRSD School Committee

Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District
School Committee Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
Minnechaug Regional High School
June 26, 2007

Present:
School Committee Members : Scott Chapman, Chair; William Bickley, D. John McCarthy, Peter Salerno and Gilles Turcotte.
Administrators : Paul Gagliarducci, Donna Scanlon and Beth Regulbuto
Guests: Rosemary Brosnan, Principal of Mile Tree; Becky DeSmith, Principal of Stony Hill; Mary Goodwin, Principal of Soule Road; Steve Hale, Principal of Wilbraham Middle School; Marguerite Myers-Killeen, Principal of Memorial; Marty O’Shea, Principal of Minnechaug; Noel Pixley, Principal of Thornton W. Burgess; Deb Thompson, Principal of Green Meadows; Suzanne McLaughlin, The Republican; Doug Farmer, Wilbraham Hampden Times; and Ed Gorski, Hampden resident.
Absent : Marianne Desmond, Lisa Morace and Student Representative.

Mr. Chapman called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

General (see attached)
1. Public Comment
  There were no comments.
2. Minutes
  - Regular Meeting – June 12, 2007
    The Minutes of the June 12, 2007, meeting were reviewed. Mr. Turcotte made a motion to accept the Minutes as written. Mr. Bickley seconded and it was approved with one abstention.
3. Student Representatives
  There were no Student Representatives in attendance.
  
  a) School Improvement Plan Updates
  Mr. Chapman deviated from the agenda by having the Principals present the update of their individual school improvement plans. Each building principal took the opportunity to thank their council members, highlighted one particular goal and answered questions from the Committee. In closing, Mr. Chapman thanked everyone, in particular Ms. DeSmith, as this was her last School Committee meeting before retiring in August. Dr. Gagliarducci added that this administrative team has done an outstanding job this year, right from the start.
Financial issues (see attached)
Dr. Gagliarducci explained that three of the four following motions are traditionally done at this time of year and are standard practice.
1. Motions to Transfer Funds for Maintenance Projects
  Per Mrs. Regulbuto’s memo of explanation, Mr. Salerno made a motion to appropriate $119,000 from E&D to the Short-Term Capital Projects Fund to finance the following maintenance repair projects at Minnechaug: repair of the underground steam line ($40,000), repair of the heating/ventilation unit over the library ($44,000) and replace all tubes in the boiler ($35,000). Mr. Turcotte seconded and after further discussion of the problems, it was unanimously approved.
2. Authorization for Treasurer to Borrow
  Mr. Salerno made a motion to authorize the District Treasurer to issue and bid revenue anticipation notes for District operations during fiscal year 2008. Mr. Bickley seconded and it was unanimously approved.
3. Authorization to Approve Bills
  Mr. Salerno made a motion to approve the payment of expenses for bills received from June 25, 2007, through August 24, 2007. Mr. McCarthy seconded and it was unanimously approved.
  
  An additional motion for a prior period adjustment (FY06) to the financial statements regarding accounting changes due to GASB47 was brought forward. It was explained that this is for sick time owed to people retiring, since GASB47 will not allow for any unfunded liabilities. This is a one time hit to the E&D but in the future the adjustment will only be for the current portion or the change in liability from year to year and it will become part of the budgeting process. Mr. Salerno made a motion to approve a transfer of $102,826.09 from the E&D account to the current compensated absences liability account #1010.0281. Mr. McCarthy seconded and it was unanimously approved.
4. Approve Warrants
  The warrants were approved.
Other Business (see attached)
1. School Improvement Plan Updates
  See above.
2. MRHS Building Committee – Approve New Member
  Dr. Gagliarducci explained that when appointing the two new members to the MRHS Building Committee at the previous meeting, we were remiss at not officially appointing Mr. Duane Mosier to his new role as a citizen from Hampden rather than as an elected representative from the Town of Hampden. Mr. Turcotte moved that Mr. Mosier be appointed to MRHS Building Committee. Mr. McCarthy seconded and it was unanimously approved. Dr. Gagliarducci reiterated that the MSBA will have the final say on the membership of that committee.
3. Administrative Reorganization Plan
  As noted in his report, Dr. Gagliarducci has developed a reorganization plan which not only affects the elementary and middle schools, but also the high school. The high school’s budget currently supports a full-time principal, two full-time associate principals and two administrative assistants, for a total of five. The new plan would have one full-time principal, one full-time associate principal and three 205-day vice principals. Due to the increasing number of new staff at the high school, additional certified staff is needed to provide support, supervision and evaluations. The new plan would take care of this, as well as provide for more administrative discretion for dealing with students. He would like to put the plan into effect for the upcoming school year, to be reviewed in a year. This change does not have budget implications and does not add more people. Mr. McCarthy made a motion to approve the administrative reorganization proposed by the Superintendent. Mr. Salerno seconded and it was unanimously approved.
4. Superintendent’s Contract – Vote Req’d
  Mr. Chapman reminded everyone that in March he released a statement to the public regarding the Superintendent’s evaluation. He read the statement again and then asked for a motion to approve a 4% salary increase for Dr. Gagliarducci for the contract year July 1, 2007, through June 20, 2008. Mr. Salerno so moved, Mr. Turcotte seconded and it was unanimously approved.
5. Discuss School Committee Goals for 07/08
  Due to the absence of members at previous meetings, this has not yet been finalized. Dr. Gagliarducci reviewed the “brief history of School Committee goals” document and said he would work on new goals for the Committee for the next meeting and will include one for security.
6. Policy Manual Subcommittee
  Nothing new to report.
Correspondence/Written Reports Received (see attached)
1. Superintendent’s Report
  In addition to his report, Dr. Gagliarducci noted he had heard that security measures approved by the Committee seem to be having a positive affect. A meeting of the new Security Subcommittee and Mr. O’Shea, Mr. Laplante, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Cenedella and Mrs. Regulbuto, will be scheduled during the third week of August.
2. District Wide Improvement Plan
  An update to the District Wide Improvement Plan will be provided at the next meeting.
3. Misc. Correspondence (green folder)
  No further discussion.
Personnel
1. Appointments (replacements unless noted otherwise*)
  - Lea Fitzgerald, Biology Teacher @ MRHS, eff 8-27-07
  - Marina Gates, SPED Teacher @ MRHS, eff 8-27-07
  - Eric Panasci, PE/Health Teacher @ TWB, eff 8-27-07
  - Laurie Sullivan, Gr 3 Teacher @ GM, eff 8-27-07
2. Resignations
  - None
3. Leaves of Absence
  - None
4. Retirements
  - None
New Agenda Items (for upcoming meetings)

Update on Security (July 24)
Policy Manual Subcommittee (ongoing)
Professional Development Plan for Upcoming Year (July 24)
Report on Principals’ Evaluations (July 24)
Review Task List (July 24)

If possible, the year-end close will be presented at the July 24 th meeting.

As there was no need for an Executive Session, Mr. Chapman asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Salerno so moved. Mr. Turcotte seconded and it was unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Karen W. Belsky
Recording Secretary

Summer Meeting Schedule:
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 @ 7:00 p.m.
Minnechaug Regional High School

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 @ 7:00 p.m.
Minnechaug Regional High School

Additional meetings will be scheduled if necessary.