ADVANCE COPY, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL THE PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD

Minutes
Pittsfield School Board Meeting
Work Session Thursday, April 14, 2011
Pittsfield Middle High School Media Center

CALL TO ORDER
Members Present: Clayton Wood
Mary Paradise
Kathy Corliss
Elizabeth Adams
Michael Wolfe

Others Present: none

Chairman Clayton Wood called the meeting to order at 5:36 p.m.

AGENDA REVIEW

The Agenda was accepted for the work session with the additions of: E-mail addresses for School Board members, cafeteria program update, organizational chart of employees and benefits for part-time teachers and coaches

Discussion and review of Administration contracts: The present contracts were discussed. It was agreed to reduced the number of contracts to 3 – one for Superintendent, one for Director of Student Services and one for the other administrators, make all 3 year contracts and add a clause to allow the Board to review the health care benefits as a potential method to control cost. Mr. Wood and Ms. Paradise will meet with Dr. Freeman to work on the next draft of the contracts.

Goals and Priorities for 2011:
Mr. Wood requested the development of a long range plan that would tie in the budget projection with the school redesign effort for at least a three year period. Mrs. Paradise mentioned that some of the work by the Community Action Committee could provide a basis for this plan. Mr. Wood also wanted to make Community Involvement at the Board Meetings a priority. Ideas to promote community participation were discussed.

Formation of a Budget Committee:
Mrs. Corliss expressed interest in forming a community school board budget committee to work with the Board to prepare the 2012 budget. Mrs. Paradise was concerned about getting a Community Board together before the Board was trained on the budget details. The potential for making training available for board members highlighting the budget was discussed.

Teacher Evaluation Process:
Mrs. Corliss requested an update on the progress of teacher evaluations. How many teachers have been evaluated? How many are on Improvement Plans?

Projected Shortfall:
The original projected shortfall of approximately $400,000 was already addressed and will not affect the approved budget of the District Meeting. Any amount above this figure may have to be addressed in a special public hearing or meeting. We also discussed the possibility of a special public meeting to discuss any shortfall. A decision will be made once the figure is finalized. The Senate Calendar will need to be reviewed to determine when this vote should occur.

Superintendent Evaluation:
The board discussed the preliminary evaluation that Mrs. Paradise had with John Freeman based on the individual evaluations that she received from the Board members. Mrs. Paradise will meet with John to finalize the review based on our discussion. Mrs. Paradise was commended for her efforts to perform the evaluation and represent all of our points of view.

ADJOURNMENT
On a motion made by Ms. Paradise, seconded by Mr. Wolfe, the board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 p.m. The next school board meeting will be held Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 5:30 in the PMHS Media Center

Respectfully submitted,

Elizabeth K. Adams
School Board Secretary