Draft: Nov. 5, 2008

Approved: Nov.20,2008

School Committee meeting Nov. 5,2008

Under Report of the Secretary

Business Meeting

Mr. Coyne called the meeting to order at 7:11pm

Members present: Kate Snyder, Sarah Thompson, Robert O’Brien, Peter Eglinton, John Coyne, Susan Hopkins, Jaimey Caron, Jules Szanton, Joshua Tingley, Joel Daley, Rebecca Minnick

Members not present: Lori Gramlich

Report of the Chair

Mr. Coyne:

• Mentioned election results to school committee: Liz Holton At-Large, Justin Costa-District 4, and Marnie Morrione-District 5. Inauguration Dec. 1^st, 4pm at City Hall.

• School Committee will caucus on Nov. 19 followed by a business meeting.

Report of Superintendent

Interim Superintendent Whynot-Vickers:

• Introduced Ken Kunin who provided a brief overview of the DHS report on accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Report of the Secretary

Consideration and action to approve the meeting minutes of the October 22, 2008 meeting.

Mr. O’Brien moved, seconded Mr. Caron and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the October 22, 2008 meeting.(Students voted with majority)

Report of Committees

1. Policy Committee/Legislative Affairs – Ms. Snyder – met prior to the evening’s meeting. At last meeting policy committee discussed graduation requirements. Policy BDE will be brought to the school committee in a workshop session in the near future.

2. Finance Committee – Mr. Eglinton – joint workshop was held on Oct. 27^th. Next finance committee meeting will be Nov. 13th, 5:30.
3. Personnel Committee – Ms. Thompson – 10 applicants for superintendent’s position. On Nov. 12^th school committee will meet in Executive Session to review applications
4. Building Committee – Mr. Caron –Planning board met on Oct. 28^th where the building project received approval.
5. Facilities Task Force – Mr. Caron – next meeting Nov. 10^th, 6pm at Reiche School. Looking at sources of funding for consultant.
6. Other Committees and/or member concerns –

• Mr. Szanton – next School Committee student rep from Portland High will be Simon Thompson.
• Ms. Minnick – mentioned upcoming new school committee orientations. Briefly discussed having mentors for student rep. Attended MSMA Fall Conference.
• Ms. Hopkins – spoke about process of electing the chairperson. Also spoke about possibility of having a student allotment for extra curricular events and to bring free and reduced lunch into the equation.
• Mr. Tingley – announced that John Gjika will be the next school committee student rep from Deering High School.

Consent Items

Interim Superintendent Whynot-Vickers reviewed donations and thanked contributors.

Old Business - None

New Business

1. Consideration and action to approve out-of-country field trips.

A. Vendargues, France, June 20 to July 15, 2009 to include six to seven CBHS students and CBHS teacher, Frank Troyan, as chaperone.

Ms. Hopkins moved, seconded Ms. Thompson to approve an out-of-country field trip to Vendargues, France, June 20 to July 15, 2009 to include six to seven CBHS students and CBHS teacher, Frank Troyan, as chaperone.

Mr. Troyan spoke to the committee regarding this trip.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to approve an out-of-country field trip to Vendargues, France, June 20 to July 15, 2009 to include six to seven CBHS students and CBHS teacher, Frank Troyan, as chaperone. (Students voted with majority)

B. Central and Southern Italy, April 17 to April 26, 2009 to include 32 students (sophomores, juniors and seniors) and 6 chaperones to include five PPS staff: from PHS -Suzette Olafsen, Social Studies, Stan Colburn, Tory Tyler-Millar – art teachers; Deborah Howard, ALS interpreter GBSD, and Marlies Reppenhagen-DHS Foreign Language teacher.

Ms. Minnick moved, seconded Mr. Eglinton to approve an out-of-country field trip to Central and Southern Italy, April 17 to April 26, 2009 to include 32 students (sophomores, juniors and seniors) and 6 chaperones.

Suzette Olfasen spoke to the committee regarding this trip.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to approve an out-of-country field trip to Central and Southern Italy, April 17 to April 26, 2009 to include 32 students (sophomores, juniors and seniors) and 6 chaperones. (Students voted with majority)

2. Consideration and action to authorize the hiring process to begin for the vacancies listed:

Position	FTE	Location	Annual Salary (pro-rated)	Funding Source
Student Service	.5	Adult Ed	$12,625	Local
Adult Reading Teacher	.5	Adult Ed	$12,625	Local

Included in FY09 budget

Ms. Minnick moved, seconded Mr. Eglinton to authorize the hiring process to begin for the vacancies listed.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to authorize the hiring process to begin for the vacancies listed. (Students voted with majority)

Personnel - None

Committee Focus on Educational Issues None

Public Comment Prior to 11:00 PM on any items not on the evening’s agenda

Tarlan Ahmadou, Azerbaijan Society of Maine– spoke to school committee about allowing exception for DHS student to take bus to school.

Adjournment

Ms. Thompson moved, seconded Mr. O’Brien and voted unanimously to adjourn the business meeting at 8:23pm

Committee moved into a workshop session to hear an update from Scott Wyman on Emergency Management Assessment .

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne Whynot-Vickers

Interim Superintendent of Schools