To:       School Board

Re:       Superintendent’s Report

Fr:       Victoria Burns, Superintendent

Date:    February 4, 2008

 

 

1. On Friday, January 30, I attended the Cumberland County Superintendents Committee meeting with legislators, town managers and the Commissioner of Education. Sumner Field, New Gloucester Town Manager, Rep. Sue Austin and Rep. Mark Bryant attended. The Commissioner discussed the upcoming stimulus package currently in the United States Senate and House. If the funding is passed, there will be additional funds for Title 1 and Special Education. Money may also be available for modernization of school buildings of which 25% should be used for energy projects. It is hoped that the amount of money available to MSAD #15 will be known in March or April of this year. As the Facilities Committee finalizes its 5 and 10 year capital maintenance plans, members may wish to prioritize the projects that could be funded through this federal money in order to be ready to initiate the projects this summer.

 

2. The Strategic Planning and Student Population/Facilities January 28^th Workshop was cancelled due to weather. The Student Population/Facilities School Board Workshop is scheduled for February 10^th. The Committee will present its recommendations and the School Board will listen to feedback from the public at the February 10^th meeting. Discussion on the Committee’s recommendations will be placed on the February 25 School Board Meeting at New Gloucester with the School Board’s final vote on March 4, 2009.

 

The Strategic Planning Workshop must be rescheduled. I am recommending during tonight’s discussion that shorter workshops on Strategic Planning be scheduled for the next several Board meetings to complete the 5-year Strategic Plan goals:

 

February 25     Review and finalization of Belief Statements and Values

March 4       Review and finalization of District Vision/Mission

March 18      Review and finalization of District Overarching Goals/Outcomes

April 1        Creation of 5-Year Strategic Plan Goals.

 

3.         The first draft of the 09-10 School Budget will be given to the Finance Committee on February 11 to prepare for my initial budget presentation to the School Board on March 4^th. On Saturday, March 7th, cost center administrators will present the draft 09-10 budget to the School Board, Budget Advisory Committee, and the public at the Middle School beginning at 9:00 a.m.. Due to the uncertainty and fluidity of state funding, the 09-10 budget may be impacted by more revisions than in the past.

 

4.         On tonight’s agenda is a discussion regarding the make-up of the Middle School January 20^th student day. Due to a burst water pipe, school was cancelled for the Middle School only. Currently K-12 has missed 4 school days due to weather. Due to the burst pipe, the Middle School must make-up 5 school days.

 

a.         Days Missed for K-12:

December 12, December 22, January 7, January 28

Middle School Only: January 20

 

b.         Five snow days are scheduled on the 08-09 school calendar (attached).

 

The School Board has the following options for the January 20^th Middle School make-up day:

 

Ø    Schedule the make-up student day at the end of the school calendar.

Ø    Schedule the make-up student day on another selected date.

Ø    Due to the number of student days already missed that must be scheduled, and the cost ($2,035) associated with the Middle School make-up day, direct the Superintendent to write the Commissioner of Education to waive the 1 student day for the Middle School for students only. The teachers will make-up a professional day to be determined with consultation with the Teacher’s Association.

 

*Middle School Make-Up Costs Calculation

$1235 Labor for Bus Drivers

800 miles X $1.00 per mile for fuel and bus costs

Total: $2035

 

5.         Resignations:

            Lisa Davidson, High School Ed Tech 11