Plainfield High School Library

PLAINFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION PLAINFIELD HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY November 15, 2017 7:00 P.M.

PRESENT: Mike Cartier, Kathleen Barry, Christi Haskell, Audrey Lemieux, Stephen Boettcher, Cheryl Hull, Kenneth Di Pietro, Superintendent; Ronald Lussier, Business Manager; Student Representatives – Jason Walton & Brooke Masso

1. CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Ms. Haskell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

2. ROLL CALL (taken silently by Board secretary)

3. CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Minutes of the Meeting of October 11, 2017.

MOTION: Ms. Barry moved to approve the consent agenda. SECOND: Ms. Lemieux VOTE: Passed unanimously.

4. COMMUNICATIONS: Ms. Haskell informed the Board that Mr. Peter Migneault submitted his letter of resignation from the Board of Education effective immediately.

MOTION: Ms. Lemieux moved to accept the letter of resignation with regret. SECOND: Ms. Barry VOTE: Passed unanimously.

5. PERSONNEL:

A. Resignations, Appointments & Confirmations: Ms. Haskell said that Mariah Harrington has been hired for the open Speech Pathologist position. She was serving in a substitute position until her certification became official. Her valid date of her certification is 9/11/17. This will be her official hire date.

MOTION: Ms. Lemieux moved to approve the appointment of Mariah Harrington to the position of Speech Pathologist effective as of 9-11-17. SECOND: Ms. Barry VOTE: Passed unanimously.

6. PUBLIC FORUM:

A. Public Forum/Agenda Items: As no one came forward the chair moved to the next item on the agenda.

B. Student Representative Reports: Jason Walton reported that the students are very busy sending out college applications. He also said that quarter one ended last week on a very good note. Brooke Masso said that attendance at PHS has been very good this year. Project Pin is collecting food for the needy families in town and Cheerleader tryouts were held. She also noted that the Marching Band won both the regional and state championships this year.

7. OLD BUSINESS:

A. Budget & Facilities Report: Mr. Lussier stated there were no significant changes to the budget this month. He noted that the district saved $156,000 during the past month due to the hard freeze that was instituted. He said that layoff notices had been sent to several employees and they will take effect as of November 3rd. To this date, there has not been any funding received from the state department.

Facilities: There is no new information to add to the facilities report at this time.

B. Facilities Walkthrough Summary Report: Mr. Lussier said that they have completed the school walkthroughs. He noted that the biggest concern appears to be the age of our heating and climate control systems throughout the district.

C. Policy Review and Adoption: The Board of Education was presented with the second reading of the Code of Conduct for Purchasing policy. This policy was placed on the website for the last month for public view.

MOTION: Mr. Cartier moved to dispense with the second reading due to website posting and adopt the Purchasing Code of Conduct Policy #3313.2 SECOND: Ms. Lemieux VOTE: Passed unanimously.

8. NEW BUSINESS:

A. BOE Calendar Adoption: The Board was presented with a calendar of the scheduled dates for the meetings in 2018. The Board will continue to meet on the second Wednesday of each month with the exclusion of July.

MOTION: Ms. Barry moved to approved the Schedule of Meetings for 2018. SECOND: Ms. Lemieux VOTE: Passed unanimously.

B. Special Meeting to Fill BOE Positions: Since Jennifer Lussier chose not to run to continue her seat on the Board, and with the resignation of Mr. Peter Migneault, there are two openings on the BOE. Mr. Migneault’s seat will need to be filled by a democrat, but the remaining seat can be filled by any affiliation except a democrat. The Board suggested an ad be placed and a meeting held on November 30th to interview candidates and choose new members.

MOTION: Ms. Barry moved to place an ad on the website, the Turnpike Buyer and the Norwich Bulletin. SECOND: Ms. Lemieux VOTE: Passed unanimously.

C. Killingly VoAg Representative: The previous representative has fulfilled the term and now chooses to step down. Ms. Rebecca Desjardins would like to fill the vacant seat on the Killingly VoAg committee. MOTION: Ms. Lemieux moved to appoint Rebecca Desjardins to the Killingly VoAg Committee. SECOND: Ms. Barry VOTE: Passed unanimously.

D. PHS New Courses Adoption: The high school would like to add two new courses to their curriculum. A new English course with an emphasis on Science Fiction. This will be made available to Seniors. They would also like to add Photography I & II. There is equipment available to run the course so it would not require additional funding.

MOTION: Ms. Lemieux moved to approve the Science Fiction and the Photography courses to the high school curriculum. SECOND: Mr. Cartier VOTE: Passed unanimously.

E. Superintendent’s Report: Mr. Di Pietro said that prior to the next BOE meeting, the CAPSS Awards will be held at Killingly High School. He said that eight of our students will be recognized with the award and they are invited to the December Board meeting so that our Board may congratulate them. Mr. Di Pietro also shared the following good things that are happening in our schools even with the lack of funding this year:  PHS is making gains on chronic absenteeism.  PMS is working on the GRIT program and helping student overcome difficulties.  MES is actively using their MakerSpace.  Grants – FRC funding has been reinstated.  Data – Privacy contracts are still be secured.  Discovery Bus – The CEA would like to use the Discovery to celebrate reading throughout the state. They will use the bus to go to five different regions in the area and celebrate the bus that has made an impact on the students.

9. STANDING COMMITTEES AND INDIVIDUAL REPORTS:

10. ADJOURNMENT:

MOTION: Ms. Lemieux moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:51 p.m. SECOND: Mr. Cartier VOTE: Passed unanimously.