Business Meeting

Ms. Alcorn called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.

Members present: Ellen Alcorn-Chairperson, John Coyne, Lori Gramlich, Stephen Spring, Jonathan Radtke, Susan Hopkins (arrived at 7:07pm), Otis Thompson, Benjamin Meiklejohn, Joshua Waxman, Sarah Muzzy

Members not present: Jason Toothaker

Report of the Chair – No report.

Report of the Superintendent

Superintendent O’Connor:

Announced the retirement of Jeffrey Lander Lyseth/Special Ed 31 years Eff. 12/28/05
Introduced Gil Peltola and Audrey Cabral, teacher leaders of the K-12 Music program, who provided a brief overview of the music program.

Mr. Meiklejohn - inquired about block scheduling interfering with students accessing music and if students at ELOB High School could access music. Superintendent O’Connor indicated that ELOB High School students could access music at Portland High School or Deering High School.

Mr. Radtke – asked where the growth in the music program is taking place. Ms. Cabral indicated at the elementary and middle school levels.

Introduced Tom Lafavore, Director of Educational Planning, who provided a brief overview of Staff Development offerings, which will begin on Jan. 24, 2006.

Report of Committees

Policy Committee – Mr. Radtke indicated that the Policy Committee would begin meeting at 5:30 p.m. in Room 250 prior to the second business meeting of the month.
Finance Committee – Mr. Thompson indicated that the Finance Committee would begin meeting at 6 p.m. in Room 250 prior to the first business meeting of the month.
Legislative Affairs Committee – Ms. Gramlich will discuss possible meeting dates with the subcommittee.
Riverton Building Committee – Mr. Coyne indicated that the next meeting would be on January 10^th at 5:30 p.m.
Elementary Facilities Task Force – Ms. Alcorn reported on the Dec. 19, 2005 meeting held at City Hall with Jim Reir, State Dept., regarding Clifford School funding.
Other Committees and/or member concerns – Mr. Spring and Mr. Meiklejohn mentioned that they attended a presentation at PHS by the Environmental class. Mr. Spring requested that the students do a presentation in a workshop session with the School Committee.

Mr. Meiklejohn and Mr. Spring –spoke to the recent Subcommittee assignments

Consent Items - None

Report of the Secretary

Consideration and action to approve the meeting minutes of the December 7, 2005 and December 14, 2005 meetings.

Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Mr. Coyne and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the December 7, 2005 and December 14, 2005 meetings. (Students voted with majority)

Old Business - None

New Business

Consideration and action to approve a trip to Amsterdam and France by Portland High School students April 14 to 23, 2006.

Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Mr. Spring to approve a trip to Amsterdam and France by Portland High School students April 14 to 23, 2006.

Superintendent O’Connor reviewed trip request process and introduced Sue Olafsen, one of the teacher’s coordinating the trip, who briefly updated the Committee on the April excursion.

Vote on motion: It was voted unanimously to approve a trip to Amsterdam and France by Portland High School students April 14 to 23, 2006.

Consideration and action to create a Personnel Committee.

Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Mr. Coyne to create a Personnel Committee.

Superintendent O’Connor briefly spoke to the motion and introduced Joline Hart, Director of Human Resources, who provided a brief history of the past work of a Personnel Committee.

Mr. Thompson – does not support. Feels that the entire committee should do this type of work.

Mr. Meiklejohn moved to refer the formation of a Personnel Committee to the Policy Committee. Motion failed for lack of a second.

Mr. Meiklejohn – does not support and requested that the Policy Committee define membership of a Personnel Committee.

Mr. Radtke and Ms. Alcorn – support motion.

Mr. Spring – does not support. The entire committee could discuss issues.

Vote on motion: It was voted 3-5 to create a Personnel Committee. (Students voted with minority). Motion fails.

Consideration and action to approve the following additional positions to the Special Ed program effectively immediately for the 2005-06 school year:

1 Ed Tech – Riverton $15,787 (salary/benefits)

1 Ed Tech – King $15,787 (salary/benefits)

TOTAL $31,574

Mr. Coyne moved, seconded Mr. Thompson to approve the additional positions to the Special Ed program effectively immediately for the 2005-06 school year as listed.

Superintendent O’Connor spoke to the motion and introduced Barbara Dee, Director of Student Support Services, who updated the Committee on the staffing needs at Riverton and King.

Vote on motion: It was voted unanimously to approve the additional positions to the Special Ed program effectively immediately for the 2005-06 school year as listed. (Students voted with majority)

Personnel

ADDENDUM

Consideration and action to approve the Personnel items listed below:

Leave of Absence:

Jody Meredith 1/5/06-4/24/06 PAE Teacher 1.0

Meghan Prestes 1/31 – 8/31/06 Adams 0.5 of 1.0 Childrearing

Kindergarten Teacher

Christine Sawyer 12/19/05-8/31/06 West 1.0 Childrearing Special Ed Teacher

Mr. Thompson moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn and voted unanimously to approve Personnel items as listed. (Students voted with majority)

Committee Focus on Educational Issues - None

Public Comment Prior to 11:00 PM – No members of the public addressed the Committee.

Adjournment

Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Ms. Gramlich and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:00p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Jo O’Connor

Superintendent of Schools