THESE MINUTES ARE SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVAL AT THENEXT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
ESSEX ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION
November 8, 2012
The regular meeting of theEssex Board of Education was held on Thursday, November 8, 2012. In attendance were Lon Seidman, DGFitton, Jeff Burzin (7:58 Departure), Loretta McCluskey and Adam Conrad. Also in attendance were Dr. Ruth Levy, Superintendent, Dr. Joanne Beekley, AssistantSuperintendent, Mr. Garth Sawyer, Business Manager, Mr. Scott Jeffrey, Principal,Deborah O’Donnell, Assistant Principal and Kelley Frazier, Clerk. Absent: Judie McCann
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called toorder by Lon Seidman at 7:03p.m.
Mr. Seidman asked that thestudent presentation be moved up in the agenda. Mr. Jeffrey introduced the Essex Broadcasting Team.
The Broadcasting Team beganthe meeting by introducing their members as well as showing a typical morning broadcast. They led the Board in the Pledge ofAllegiance. The Board thanked thestudents for doing a great job and coming to the Board of Education Meeting.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Dr. Levy opened the floor forthe nominations for the office of chairman.
A motion was made by JeffBurzin to nominate Lon Seidman Chairman of the Essex Elementary Board of Education. Loretta McCluskey seconded themotion. The motion passedunanimously.
Chairman Seidman opened thefloor for the following nominations:
Mr. Seidman moved to nominateDG Fitton as the Vice Chair of the Essex Elementary Board of Education. Loretta McCluskey seconded themotion. The motion passedunanimously.
DG Fitton moved to nominatedLoretta McCluskey as the Secretary of the Essex Elementary Board ofEducation. DG Fitton seconded themotion. The motion passed unanimously.
Special Committees:
Mr. Seidman verified membersfor the following Committees:
Supervision District: Lon Seidman, Loretta McCluskey, DGFitton
Policy: Loretta McCluskey,Lon Seidman
Curriculum: Jeff Burzin, Adam Conrad
Negotiations: DG Fitton, JudieMcCann
Finance: Adam Conrad, Lon Seidman
Sixth Grade: Loretta McCluskey
Calendar: Judie McCann
Negotiations: DG Fitton, Judie McCann (will verify)
CONSENT AGENDA
DG Fitton made a motion toapprove the minutes from the regular meeting of September 13, 2012 and theAccounts Payable report. JeffBurzin seconded the motion. Themotion passed by a unanimous vote.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
OTHER ITEMS:
Principal’s Update - S. Jeffrey
Mr.Jeffrey’s update was given by the Broadcasting Team.
REPORTS:
Financial Status Report – Mr. Garth Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave a brieffinancial status for Essex Elementary School. There were unanticipated special education costs this yearwhich has caused a small deficit due to out of district transportation andtuition. The current deficit is$60,560. Mr. Seidman will contactMr. Francis from the Essex Board of Finance to discuss this issue. An appropriate figure to ask from theBoard of Finance will be further finalized.
Cafeteria Report – Mr. Sawyer
Mr. Sawyer gave an update onthe status of the Cafeteria Budget Updates. Enrollment decline has been problematic for thecafeteria. The full dayKindergarten should help to offset some of this.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Finance – L. Seidman
The Finance Committee meetson Nov 27, 2012.
Policy
The Policy Committee met lastmonth and worked on finalizing the wording of several policies that will beapproved at the next Joint Board of Education Meeting.
Curriculum
TheCurriculum Committee met in October. The discussion was centered around Common Core State Standards and apresentation on the Math curriculum at the Junior High and Language Arts at theHigh School. Performance Plus was alsodiscussed.
Joint PK-12 PolicyCommittee – L. Seidman
NoUpdates
Calendar
The Calendar Committee willbe meeting and suggestions will be considered.
Supervision District – L. Seidman
This group met and discusseda grant available for districts who are discussing regionalization. An Ad Hoc committee was formed and an applicationwas submitted for this grant.
Sixth Grade Committee
There is a meeting nextweek. Findings will be presentedat the Joint Board of Education Meeting.
Preschool Committee
This group is discussingpossible options. Direction forthis group will be finalized soon.
ASSISTANTSUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT – J. Beekley
General Update
Dr. Beekley gave an update onProfessional Development. TheOctober Professional Development day was spent on Common Core State Standardsin English/Language Arts. The CurriculumCommittee has been developing a broad three year plan for long rangeplanning. The English/LanguageArts Committee is working in small units and will continue unitdevelopment. We hope to have askeletal document for teachers to use next year. We are looking for a math coach. Dr. Beekley noted that all schools are working on CommonCore State Standards which will be a big shift.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT - R. Levy
District Update
Dr. Levy said that ourdistrict is moving forward. Shenoted that Dr. Beekley has taken the curriculum groups forward. Last week the community came togetherfor Hurricane Sandy. Dr. Levy hashad numerous emails about the calendar. We have a minimum of 18 hours Professional Development hours. She noted that we can not forget we have9 unions which we work with. Tochange the calendar is complicated. Dr. Levy discussed good faith bargaining with the unions. The only day we can take is January 18thwhich will be a ½ for students and a half day for ProfessionalDevelopment. Currently we areending on June 25th. Ifwe use January 18th as an additional day the end of the year will beon June 24th. If thereis a need for additional snow days, it is stated that we
will take from April Vacationbeginning on Friday April 19th and working backwards. The Calendar Committee is open to thepublic for comments at the beginning of the meeting. The calendar is voted on at the Supervision DistrictMeeting. The Board asked Dr.Levy to develop something to explain to the public how the calendar isdeveloped.
Presentation of MajorBudget Drivers for Proposed 2013-14 EES Budget
Dr.Levy gave a brief broad overview of the 2013-14 Budget. She noted that our enrollment isdeclining. The projections look ata steady decline through 2022. Dr.Levy discussed the major budget drivers.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
Ms.McCluskey said that she was thankful to live in our community. It was heartwarming to see thecommunity come together after Hurricane Sandy. She thought it was touching to see the Halloween Party forthe kids at John Winthrop.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion dulymade and seconded the Board unanimously VOTEDto adjourn at 8:20p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kelley Frazier, Board Clerk
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
8.1 Next Regular Essex BOEMeeting (January 10, 2013)
8.2 BOE Community Input on2013-14 Budget (Ongoing)
8.3 Presentation of Draft EESBudget for 2013-14(Jan) – R. Levy
8.4 Review of StrategicSchool Profile (when available from State) – J. Beekley
8.5 EES BOE 2013-14 BudgetWorkshops (Jan31st, Feb 13th, Mar 5th)
8.6 Vote to Adopt EES Budgetfor 2013-14 (Mar)
8.7 Vote on StaffNon-Renewals(Mar)
8.8 Present EES 2013-14Budget at Town Meeting (TBD)