MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING OF August 14, 2024
Current Board Members-
North Berwick- Lauren Janousek, Kate Whalen, Joshua Tabor
Berwick- Alison Herlihy, Elva Lovejoy, Peg Wheeler
Lebanon- Nancy Sewall, Jeridene Basko, Nancy Neubert
A meeting of the Board of Directors was held in person on August 14, 2024 at 5:30 pm with all members attending except Ms. Lovejoy.
There were 7 in the audience.
The meeting was called to order by Ms. Neubert, Board Chair.
Ms. Wheeler made the motion to add discussion regarding the Assistant Principal position NB Elementary, it was seconded by Ms. Sewell. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
In the remote meeting on July 29th where we nominated and voted to approve the new transportation director, the board did not follow policy BED which requires remote meetings to verify votes by a roll call. After consultation with our district attorney, it was determined to reaffirm the vote to approve a new transportation director. The Superintendent shared the nomination of Ms. Lee-Ann Cammett who will be joining MSAD 60 as the transportation director for MSAD 60. Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Sewell to approve the nomination of Ms. Cammett as transportation director for the district. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
The board then had a conversation regarding the Assistant Principal position at NBES. The board had conversations regarding the need for the position. Mr. Tabor questioned whether this was the best use of the funds for the district. He shared his personal experiences throughout his career as an administrator in PA schools and his belief that the position was not essential in a school the size of NBES. Ms. Janousek shared her experience in the NB schools as a parent and felt that a half time assistant was not actually enough for coverage. Ms. Herlihy shared her research on why an assistant principal is necessary and cited information that supported the position.
There was also conversation as to why the need for the position is being brought up at this point when it had not been questioned during the budgeting process for FY 25. Mr. Tabor noted that he did bring up administrative positions and potential reductions during the budget cycle but that the board as a whole chose to maintain current positions. Board members were concerned about adjusting/reducing this position at this late juncture going into the school year.
Ms. Elizabeth Jolly, principal of NBES shared her professional experience in prior school systems of between 260-450 students per building where she always had a full time assistant principal. She shared that 35 staff must be evaluated each year, 20 of which provide direct instruction to students. She wants to update unit maps for their curriculum for literacy and science. Evaluation is a huge part of the job and she feels that if she was doing it herself, it would be done, but not necessarily at the high quality of previous evaluations due to the fact that there would only be one administrator. She wants the work that they are doing at NBES to be highlighted by the candidate being considered. She wants to continue their progress in PBIS. She would like to make student videos of their core values, tap into social media, and more which is why she thinks the 1/2 AP is necessary. She explains that her goals are really lofty goals for the staff and they all would benefit greatly from having the continuation of the half time assistant principal in the building.
Mr. Tabor noted that Ms. Jolly’s explanation was very thorough and appreciated. He also noted that he was concerned about the reduction of a team at NMS but are continuing to maintain admin numbers throughout the district. He would like to focus on increasing staff that are in close contact with students.
Ms. Sewell also shared research that she had done regarding the Maine Essential Programs and Services Model (she noted that this was the most recent information dated 2018) that recommended administrator to student ratios of 1:300. There were conversations among the board about this number and what it meant for NBES. NBES has 261 students.
Ultimately the majority of the board felt that it would be appropriate to maintain the current administrative staffing at NBES and chose to move forward with the nomination process.
The Superintendent then explained the process that was followed for the hiring of the candidate.
Mr. Tabor made the motion to go into executive session for personnel reasons and it was seconded by Ms. Basko. When asked what the executive session would pertain to, Mr. Tabor noted it was specific to the qualifications of the candidate. All members voted in favor except Ms. Neubert, Ms. Janousek, Ms. Whalen, Ms. Wheeler and Ms. Herlihy and the motion failed.
The Superintendent shared the nomination of Mr. Eustaquio Dones as Assistant Principal of North Berwick Elementary School. Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Wheeler to approve the nomination of Mr. Dones as Assistant Principal of North Berwick Elementary School. Mr. Tabor asked questions regarding the position around the literacy coach piece. All members voted in favor except Ms. Basko, Mr. Tabor and Ms. Sewell and the motion passed.
Adjournment:
Ms. Janousek made the motion and it was seconded by Ms. Herlihy to adjourn the meeting. All members voted in favor and the motion passed.
Adjourned at 6:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Audra Beauvais