MDIschools.net

School Union #98 and Mount Desert Island Regional School System Joint Annual Meeting

Mount Desert Island High School Library

Wednesday, 3 December 2008 

Attendance:  Chair Amy Young, Tom Burton (left at 7:30 p.m.), Brian Hubbell, Claire Sasner,

Ned Johnston, Paul Murphy, Laura Hendricks, Brian Reilly, Heather Jones, Ingrid Kachmar,

Erika Lindquist (left at 7:30 p.m.), Skip Strong, Amy Murphy, Krista Graham, Marilyn Moore,

Lynn Wehrfritz (arrived at 7:00 p.m.), Kate Chaplin, Tammy Desjardin and Tammy Tripler. 

Also in attendance:  Judy Sproule, Gary Webber, Terri Swanson, Emily Muise, Rob Liebow,

Dianne Waters, Matt Haney, Dianne Helprin, Joanne Harriman, Carol MacRae, Gail Keith, Pam Bush, Kelley Sanborn, Sally Leighton, Scott McFarland, Barb Neilly, Ruth Eveland, Nancy Thurlow,

Maria Donahue, and Selena Dunbar  

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Amy Young called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. 

UNION 98 VOTING PROCEDURE AND WEIGHTED VOTES CHART AND MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM VOTING CHART

Rob Liebow reviewed the voting sheet that explains how the weighted votes for Union 98 are calculated.  He also explained the Mount Desert Island Regional School System voting process that is based on one-person-one-vote with 19 members from all the Union 98 towns and Trenton.

MOVED by Kate Chaplin and seconded by Ingrid Kachmar to accept the votes and procedures as presented.  The motion passed by a vote of 9,130 in favor and 0 opposed.  

ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUMS

Union 98 - 5,713 weighted votes  Mount Desert Island Regional School System - 10 voting members 

ELECTION OF MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM OFFICERS

Chair

MOVED by Skip Strong and seconded by Paul Murphy to appoint Brian Hubbell to serve as chair of the Mount Desert Island Regional School System.  Mr. Murphy mentioned that this is a very appropriate appointment due to Mr. Hubbell’s contributions in the consolidation process.

The motion passed by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.  

Vice-Chairperson

MOVED by Paul Murphy and seconded by Emily Muise to appoint Judy Sproule to serve as

vice-chair of the Mount Desert Island Regional School System.  Brian Hubbell pointed out that

Ms. Sproule deserves much of the credit for getting us all to this point.

The motion passed by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.   

Secretary

MOVED by Amy Young and seconded by Brian Reilly to appoint Heather Jones to serve as secretary      

of the Mount Desert Island Regional School System. 

The motion passed by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.

Brian Hubbell stated that the Union 98 board will continue through the end of June 2009.  The Mount Desert Island Regional School System will make decisions and take on responsibilities that will occur after July 1, 2009.  

REVIEW OF NOTES FROM 17 NOVEMBER 2008 UNION 98 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM 14 OCTOBER 2008 UNION 98 MEETING

The notes from the 17 November 2008 Union 98 Executive Committee meeting and the minutes from the 14 October 2008 Union 98 meeting were reviewed with no discussion.

MOVED by Skip Strong and seconded by Marilyn Moore to approve the minutes from the 14 October 2008 Union 98 meeting as written.  

The motion passed by a vote of 8,691 in favor, 0 opposed, and 1 abstention (L. Hendricks) 

ANNUAL REPORT OF UNION 98 ADMINISTRATORS

Rob Liebow, Joanne Harriman, and Kelley Sanborn presented their annual report to the committee.

Mr. Liebow mentioned that the last two years have been in upheaval due to consolidation.  He expressed his appreciation to principals for keeping consolidation issues away from the business of running their schools. He welcomed Trenton and stated that he is very excited to have them formally be a part of our school system.  Gail Keith is the new administrator on Swan’s Island.  He thanked Sally Leighton for her service to the high school and wished her well in her retirement.  The transition from the New Teacher Leader to the induction program is going well. 

Joanne Harriman stated that this is the first year for the new induction program and already it is incredibly strong.  The Department of Education is using our induction program as a model for the state.  The time and effort that has been put into the program is paying off for beginning teachers.

Paul Murphy mentioned that there was concern about the openness for new teachers.  Young teachers were apprehensive of their relationships with mentors.

Joanne Harriman replied that she has met with past new teacher leaders and discussed this.  They have been supportive every year.  She would go to them herself.  They have created a confidential colleague, who is one of the old teacher leaders, and paired them with a new teacher so they still have a person they can turn to.  Having this confidential person was something all the old teacher leaders thought was important to keep.

Rob Liebow stated that the administrators had wanted to present information regarding assessments.  This will be done at one of the first AOS meetings.  This presentation will deal with the assessments we use and how we use them.

Paul Murphy commended all Union 98 staff for managing to keep their eyes on the ball throughout the consolidation upheaval.  Other school districts have not been as fortunate.  

EXECUTIVE SESSION:  EVALUATION OF UNION 98 CENTRAL OFFICE PERSONNEL

MOVED by Brian Reilly and seconded by Tammy Tripler to enter executive session at 6:35 p.m. to discuss personnel evaluations pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. section 405 (6)(A).

The motion passed by a vote of 9,130 in favor and 0 opposed.  

The board came out of executive session at 7:25 p.m. and agreed to take a short break.

The meeting resumed at 7:45 p.m. 

RENEWAL OF CONTRACTS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF SALARIES FOR UNION 98 CENTRAL OFFICE PERSONNEL

MOVED by Tammy Desjardin and seconded by Brian Hubbell to extend Nancy Thurlow’s employment contract through 30 June 2011 with the next consideration for extension in December of 2009 at a salary of $57,808 with the addition of two more sick days for a total of 14 per year and with the addition of five more vacation days for a total of 17 per year. 

The motion passed by a vote of 8,038 in favor and 0 opposed. 

MOVED by Tammy Tripler and seconded by Paul Murphy to extend Kelley Sanborn’s employment contract through 30 June 2011 with the next consideration for extension in December of 2009 at a salary of $76,654 with the addition of two more sick days for a total of 14 per year.

The motion passed by a vote of 8,038 in favor and 0 opposed. 

MOVED by Ned Johnston and seconded by Marilyn Moore to extend Joanne Harriman’s employment contract through 30 June 2011 with the next consideration for extension in December of 2009 at a salary of $81,742 with the addition of two more sick days for a total of 14 per year.

The motion passed by a vote of 8,038 in favor and 0 opposed. 

MOVED by Lynn Wehrfritz and seconded by Skip Strong to extend Norm Hill’s employment contract through 30 June 2010 at a salary of $53,298 with the addition of two more sick days for a total of 14 per year.

The motion passed by a vote of 8,038 in favor and 0 opposed. 

MOVED by Kate Chaplin and seconded by Ingrid Kachmar to extend Margarita Marnik’s employment contract through 30 June 2011 with the next consideration for extension in December 2009 at a salary of $65,986 with the addition of two more sick days for a total of 14 per year.

The motion passed by a vote of 8,038 in favor and 0 opposed. 

MOVED by Kate Chaplin and seconded by Claire Sasner to extend Rob Liebow’s employment contract through 30 June 2014 with the next consideration for extension in December 2009 at a salary of $115,554. 

The board extended the contract for five years, as allowed by statute, as an expression of the board’s appreciation.

The motion passed by a vote of 8,038 in favor and 0 opposed. 

APPROVAL OF CHANGES TO CENTRAL OFFICE SUPPORT STAFF SALARY SCALE AND BENEFITS

Mr. Liebow presented the changes to the central office support staff salary scale and benefits and explained the reasons for the changes.  Two sick days have been added for a total of 12 per year.  After 15 years of service, employees will receive five additional vacation days per year. The requirement that salary increases be tied to CPI has been taken out. 

MOVED by Paul Murphy and seconded by Marilyn Moore to approve the changes to the central office support staff salary scale and benefits as presented.

The motion passed by a vote of 8,038 in favor and 0 opposed.

Paul Murphy thanked Nancy Thurlow and Selena Dunbar for their hard work and attendance at Reorganization Planning Committee meetings.   

TRANSFER OF CONTRACTS FROM UNION 98 TO MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM EFFECTIVE 7/1/09

Because we are forming a new school system, the interlocal agreement is written so current contracts for office staff can be transferred.  If approved tonight, the contracts will take effect July 1 instead of having to advertise and hire all new staff.

Brian Hubbell stated that there are many reasons for having a fluid transfer of contracts.

MOVED by Paul Murphy and seconded by Tammy Tripler to transfer the contracts from Union 98 to the newly formed Mount Desert Island Regional School System effective 1 July 2009. 

The motion passed by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.  

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Rob Liebow reviewed the proposed job descriptions for Assessment Coordinator, Assistant to the Director of Special Services and Assistant to the Superintendent.  Input is just being requested at this time, not action.  The positions are required based on the addition of another town to our system. The Assessment Coordinator will be a 2 to 2 ½ day per week position.  Assistant to the Director of Special Services will be full time.  The person in this position and Kelley Sanborn will divide the caseload and cover all schools.  Assistant Superintendent will be Joanne Harriman’s present position.  The only difference is the job title.  Nothing else changes other than covering board meetings as determined by Mr. Liebow.  She will still be responsible for curriculum and staff development, but will not be the contact person for Frenchboro and will be relieved of a lot of data crunching and assessment. 

We cannot advertise for these positions until after the referendum process.  We won’t be able to line people up until we know we have the funds to hire these positions.  We have already done some work to find people.

Paul Murphy asked what the net increase in personnel would be.

Rob Liebow replied that it would technically be one and a half positions and that Lauren Koncinsky who works in the business office would be moving from part-time to full-time which added approximately $13,000.  The Assessment Coordinator would be paid at the rate of a lower paid principal.   

COMPUTATION OF MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM PAYMENTS BY FORMUAL BASED ON PROPOSED BUDGET

Rob Liebow reviewed a handout that showed what the formula is for calculating assessments to towns based on the present Union 98 system.  

ACTION ITEMS

Adoption of Mount Desert Island Regional School System Budget for Fiscal Year ‘10

Rob Liebow explained how the final budget figure was reached.  One of the largest costs is a program to transfer AOS data to the state.  This $17,000 was an unforeseen cost.

Paul Murphy asked if we have to buy the program from the state.

Mr. Liebow responded that we have to buy it from Tyler Technologies.

Nancy Thurlow mentioned that this is a one-time conversion fee.  It is necessary because we are an AOS.  We are going to have 10 sets of books but can only upload one file to the state. 

Rob Liebow stated that RSU’s would have similar problems. 

Nancy Thurlow said there will be some cost to them because a lot have different software or set up their structure differently, but it is more so for an AOS.

Rob Liebow mentioned that island communication will be an additional $5,000. 

Joanne Harriman thinks that through some grants she can get a PolyCom for the high school library.

Tammy Desjardin agreed that the technology is essential to the outer islands.  To come to a meeting like this she had to take her children out of school for two days. 

MOVED by Paul Murphy and seconded by Amy Young to approve the 2009 - 2010 budget in the amount of $1,126,619. 

Paul Murphy said that this increase was better than he thought it would be.  He thought we would be looking closer to an additional $100,000 to start the AOS.  He hopes the additions are adequate to make the workload bearable. 

Rob Liebow said this budget will still be hard to sell if people only look at the 15.68% increase.

If we had done the traditional Union 98 budget it would have remained fairly flat.  This budget does include changing the mileage reimbursement rate from 42 cents per mile to 45 cents per mile. Certain lines are down while others have minor increases. 

Amy Young stated that if you look at the AOS costs, by adding one more town to the system, that town will essentially be contributing the amount of the increase.   

The motion passed by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.  

Set Date and Discuss Details for Mount Desert Island Regional School System Budget Meeting

Rob Liebow proposed Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the MDIHS auditorium for the Mount Desert Island Regional School System budget meeting.  At this time we are unsure what the quorum requirements are for this meeting.  They may be similar to that of an SAD.  All towns involved will be invited to attend.  Budget and articles will be run through and then we’ll have a tentative budget.  There will be one common referendum once all the others are done, with different warrant articles.  We must have these referendums for three years and then we can vote to do away with them.

MOVED by Amy Young and seconded by Ned Johnston to set the date of Wednesday, January 21, 2009 as the budget meeting date for the Mount Desert Island Regional School System.  

Adoption of Mount Desert Island Regional School System Calendars for 2009-2010

MOVED by Ned Johnston and seconded by Marilyn Moore to adopt the school system calendars for the current Union 98 elementary schools, Trenton Elementary School, and Mount Desert Island Regional High School as presented. 

Rob Liebow reminded the board that these calendars still have to go to the individual boards for approval, but we are fulfilling the requirement for consistent school calendars by approving them tonight.  We would break down one of the requirements of the AOS if too many changes were made.

Brian Hubbell said that it is the collective Board’s primary responsibility to ensure that the proposed RSS calendars are sufficiently consistent while it is the responsibility of each local board representative to make sure that the approved calendars are particular enough for local needs.

The motion passed by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.  

OTHER BUSINESS

Rob Liebow stated that he is excited about the challenges and opportunities that face us with the formation of the AOS. 

DATE, TIME AND LOCATION FOR NEXT MEETINGS

Mount Desert Island Regional School System  - Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

Union 98  - as needed.  There probably won’t be many more meetings. 

Mr. Liebow would like to see the AOS do first readings of policies and then take them to the individual boards for second readings.

Kelley Sanborn mentioned that the presentation that the administrative team wants to present could possibly be scheduled for February. 

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED by Paul Murphy and seconded by Ned Johnston to adjourn the meeting at 8:47 p.m.  

Respectfully submitted:

Selena Dunbar,

Recording Secretary