Unified Union Study Committee
Session # 9
Agenda
1.
Call
to Order
2.
Action
on Minutes of
3.
Public
Comments
4.
Study
Committee Member Comments
5.
Discussion
of Articles of Agreement
6.
Vote
on Whether or Not to Recommend the
7.
Meetings
with Attorney Bill Reedy and Commissioner Cate
8.
Content
and Procedures For Public Engagement
9.
Other
Business
10.
Next
Meeting Dates
ANWSU Governance Study Committee
Meeting Minutes -
Committee Members Administration
Guests/Visitors
Kristin Bristow Laurie Gutowski Tom O’Brien Andy Kirkaldy
Samantha Kayhart Amy Johnston Donna Corcoran Allison Vigne
Adela
Langrock
Linda Hawley David Kayhart Rose Wenzel
Dennis Mueller Scott Gaines Consultants
David Tatlock Paulette Bogan Ray Proulx
Karen Petersen Sid Bosworth (arrived
1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by K. Bristow
at
2. Approval of
Minutes: Motion by A. Langrock, seconded by D. Kayhart,
to approve the minutes of
3. Public Comment: None at this time.
4. Study Committee Members’ Comments: K. Bristow reported that she and Superintendent O’Brien’s presentation at the VSBA Conference went very well. People are very interested in what we are doing, the history, etc. Two people from Hancock and Granville also spoke regarding their consolidation.
5. Articles of Agreement: Ray Proulx reported that he met with Bill Reedy, legal consultant for the Commissioner of Education, and fine tuned the Articles. A revised copy was distributed and reviewed by the Committee.
Motion by David Kayhart, seconded by Samantha Kayhart, to pursue changing Article 5e to vote the budget for the Unified Union by Australian ballot vs. at the Annual Meeting. So voted and the motion carried unanimously.
Discussion ensued regarding board member elections, apportionment, etc. Mr. Proulx indicated that during subsequent meetings with Bill Reedy, the Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education, the Articles of Agreement can be amended at any time.
Motion by David Kayhart,
seconded by Adela Langrock,
to proceed with the vote for the
K. Bristow thanked the Committee for its work and noted that she feels we learned a lot during the process.
Mr. Proulx noted that Bill Reedy
is reviewing the Articles of Agreement and that Superintendent O’Brien and/or
Kris (as Chair) will be notified when a meeting is scheduled between Mr. Reedy
and the Commissioner of Education to present the Articles. The Commissioner will then make his
recommendation to the State Board of Education, which meets on the 3rd
Tuesday of the month.
Superintendent O’Brien reminded everyone of the Addison Northwest S.U. Board meeting tomorrow night, at which time they will act on the recommendation of this Committee. He encouraged all to attend, if at all possible.
Content & Procedures for Public Engagement – K. Bristow indicated that Winton Goodrich will be at the next meeting to discuss marketing strategies, etc. She urged everyone to review the “findings” distributed by Mr. Proulx before then.
Ms. Bristow suggested that the Committee consider hosting meetings in their homes (or wherever) and invite 10 people to review the process, etc. with the hope that they in turn would be willing to host another 10 people, etc. as a positive way to get the information out to members of our communities.
Mr. Proulx noted that Mr. Goodrich uses “Multiple Pathways” – which utilizes newspapers, TV and radio, etc. He suggested that the Committee think about the compelling reasons to do this. This Supervisory Union has already reached a plateau and cannot go beyond where it is without the governance structure in order to continue, i.e. consolidated contracts, curriculum, efficiencies of operation within the central office, etc.
A. Langrock indicated that the question she struggles most with is how we plan to take the 3 elementary schools and provide quality, equity, etc. Superintendent O’Brien indicated that Title funds is a good example of how it will work. The money comes to the supervisory union to be distributed throughout the schools. The administration has to priortize the needs and ensure that the monies are equally distributed.
K. Bristow indicated that there will be more options when
looking at a unified budget.
D. Tatlock indicated that the local control piece is a tough argument – “my school is fine the way it is”.
S. Bosworth noted that the drop in enrollment needs to be looked at too.
Discussion ensued of the findings (#1) – reducing the number of meetings for board members and administrators. We need to be sure and couple that idea with evidence that there is a cost savings involved as well, i.e. economy of scale, in time, etc. We would need to be able to quantify the idea.
The next meeting is scheduled for November 30th
at
Superintendent O’Brien indicated that the district will organize the food.
Since there was no other business, the Chair adjourned the meeting
at
Respectfully submitted,
Sally A. Bushey
Recording Secretary