THETFORD SCHOOL DISTRICT

Tuesday January 23, 2007

Thetford Elementary School

The School Board meeting was convened at 7:00PM in the Art Room. The following were present: Andy Boyce, Robin Brown, Jennifer Reining, School Board; Alice Worth, Principal; Virginia Stone, Secretary; Wendy Hovey, OESU Superintendent; Linda Rosa, OESU Business Manager; Tig Tillinghast, Thetford Town Budget Committee; Darrin Clement, Paul Twerdowsky, Strategic Planning Committee; Keith Thompson, Denise Froehlich, Bryant Patten, Thomas and Shannon Darrah

Agenda Review - added: Recreation under Public Comment

Minutes - MOTION: (Reining/Boyce) moved/seconded to approve the minutes of the 1/9/07 Board meeting; unanimous.

Orders - MOTION: (Brown/Boyce) moved/seconded to approve order #14/06; unanimous.

Public Comment - Keith Thompson understands from talking with a member of the Town Recreation Committee that funds may be appropriated for upgrading the field at Thetford Elementary. On the Board’s agenda for the February 13th meeting is a discussion with the Town Recreation Committee and the Board asked that the TES Facilities Use Policy be on the agenda for the February 27th meeting, anticipating a need to review and make changes to same.

Reports

Superintendent’s Report - Wendy Hovey reported on the January 16th Conversation with the Commissioner on “The Governance of Education in Vermont.” Due to public response to the format of the meeting the format of these meetings held around the state will be changed, both the presentation of the pros and cons for restructuring and to allow the public to respond to the Commissioner’s white paper on same.

7:12PM Paul Twerdowsky and Darrin Clement, Strategic Planning Committee, joined the meeting

Timeline/Evaluation Tool - Wendy Hovey explained the evaluation process/timeline and evaluation tool for the Superintendent.

Personnel - The Board acted on the resignation of Mary Corrigan presented at the 1/9/07 meeting. MOTION: (Boyce/Reining) moved/seconded to accept the resignation of Mary Corrigan, school counselor, at the end of the 2006-2007 school year with regret; unanimous.

VSBA School Board Code - Copies will be distributed to Board members for review. It will be acted on at the February 13th meeting.

Other Business

Approve FY ‘08 Budget (7:15PM) - Linda Rosa distributed copies of the final draft of the FY’08 School Budget. Review and discussion: status of per pupil spending in relation to the excess spending threshold; will revenues support new programs in the FY’08 Budget in future years; explanations for significant increases/decreases in line items; the budget’s effect on the school tax rate; and reduction in proposed TA tuition rate for FY’08.

Thetford School Directors 1/23/07 page 2

7:20PM Kristen Downey joined the meeting.

7:50PM Kathleen Cunneen, Strategic Planning Committee, joined the meeting.

Other Business (cont’d)

Approve FY ‘08 Budget (cont’d) - MOTION: (Reining/Boyce) moved/seconded to approve the proposed FY’08 School Budget of $7,237,880.00; unanimous.

Approve Annual Meeting Warning - Letter from Charlie Buttrey noting that “there is no reason why the School Board cannot ask people to vote in favor of the budget in the Annual Report” and cited examples of same in past reports. Discussion of the Board’s position on the Thetford Academy non-binding referendum (Article VII). Kristen Downey will draft a statement for discussion at the February 13th meeting and inclusion in the Thetford Academy Construction Report for voters.

8:45PM Thomas and Shannon Darrah left the meeting

Review and discussion of the Warning for the Annual Town School District Meeting. MOTION: (Boyce/Reining) moved/seconded to amend the prior motion “to approve the proposed FY’08 School Budget of $7,237,880.00” to instead read to approve the proposed FY’08 School Budget of $7,197,880.00,” this amount to appear in Article IV on the Warning. The change corrects for amounts that are separately warned in Articles V and VI ($20,000 each) for the proposed FY’08 budgert; unanimous.

MOTION: (Reining/Boyce) moved/seconded to approve and sign the Warning as drafted; unanimous.

9:00PM Linda Rosa left the meeting.

Strategic Plan - Review Public Comment - Discussion of written comments submitted by Laura Shepard, Darrin Clement, Paul Twerdowsky with Andy Boyce acting as scribe in the absence of Susan Weider. The Board will adopt the Strategic Plan at their February 13th meeting.

9:35PM Jennifer Reining left the meeting.

9:55PM Keith Thompson, Bryant Patten and Denise Froehlich left the meeting.

Adjourned: MOTION: (Boyce/Brown) moved/seconded to adjourn at 10:20PM; unanimous.

Virginia Stone

These minutes are not official until approved by the School Board.