August 1, 2018 at 6:30 PM - Regular Board of Education Meeting

Rationale: 

1. Please note the personnel report as you will find several new hires reflected in it.  

2. While there is no enrollment report this month, the Board should be aware of our current kindergarten numbers which we have been tracking closely.  At this time, we have 29 students enrolled in Kindergarten at Lyme and 35 students enrolled at Mile Creek for a total of 64 students.  Our class size guidelines for Kindergarten remain at 15 students per section.  

3. We are holding our annual Convocation during our professional development days in August.  You are all invited to attend the convocation ceremony on the morning of the 27th.  In addition, we are running our new staff orientation on August 22nd. 

4. It has been a very busy summer as far as facilities projects and maintenance plus our numerous summer programs.  I will review some of the summer highlights in terms of maintenance and programming.  

5. I will update the Board on security upgrades we have made since June.

6.  We are beginning our plans to expand our Pre-K program to include all L-OL students.  We have established a committee to develop a formal plan for this and will report out on their progress as we move forward.

  

Rationale:  Mrs. McCalla will provide a year to date budget status report as well as a contingency fund report.

Rationale:  Michelle will review the planned professional development activities that will take place in August and review the focus for professional development for the upcoming year.

Rationale: 

Nicole Chappell, kindergarten teacher at Lyme School, has requested a childrearing leave of absence from the beginning of the school year until February 27, 2019. This requires Board approval.

 

Rationale:  We have received another request for a student to attend on a tuition basis.  This will be our 8th tuition student for this year. Despite graduating two tuition students last year, this will be our highest number of out of district students to date.

Rationale: 

The HR committee has completed their negotiation with the AFT and is prepared to bring the proposed contract to the entire Board for approval.  I will review some of the main points that came out of the negotiation sessions.  This may be done in executive session.  All votes must be in open session.

 

Summary of changes:

• Wages- 2.25% in year one of the contract (retroactive to July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019), 2% in year two, 1.75% in year three.
• No step in year one, step in years two and three.
• Year one no insurance changes- HDHP-$2,000.00/$4,000.00 plan for all three years
• Years two and three- three tier drug rider with co-pays of $5 Generic / $25 Brand Name / $40 Non Formulary Brand Name co-pay, Out of network services will be subject to a 70% plan / 30% member coinsurance to a combined in-and-out-of-network coinsurance maximum of $2,500.00 for the individual and $5,000.00 for the family, for a combined in-and-out-of-network out-of-pocket maximum of $5,000.00 for the individual and $10,000.00 for the family.
• The Board’s contribution to employee deductible =50%, 50%, 45%
• Cost share premiums are 17.5%, 18%, 18.5%
• Added an additional ½ day holiday for full time employees- Christmas Eve, unless school is in session for a full day
• Revision of timelines for employees applying for vacation time
• Clarification on how longevity pay is determined.

Rationale:  As discussed at our recent HR committee meeting, the Board will provide guidance to the administration in developing the goals for the upcoming school year.  I have attached last year's goals to give you a sense of what our areas of focus have been.  While this does not require an official vote, we are looking for everyone's input on these goals.

Rationale: 

The installation of window safety film on all hallway classroom and office windows prevents an intruder access by remaining intact if impacted by a firearm or axe. The safety film will create a second layer of defense beyond the outside doors for staff and students locked down inside classrooms and offices.

Millard Enterprises has installed this safety film system at all of our elementary schools during the 2017/2018 budget year. This project was not bid since Millard Enterprises is the qualified 3M window film installer in our area. In addition, since this project was not budgeted, it will be charged to contingency.

Rationale: 

The RESC Alliance has completed bidding the Microsoft and Symantec annual licensing agreement for the 2018/2019 school year. SHI International is the RESC Alliance recommended lowest bidder. The offered pricing is within our budgeted value for licensing.

 

Rationale: 

The existing Middle School kitchen servery configuration causes significant delays for students to purchase food during their lunch period. This project will install a new ten foot opening which will improve access between the cafeteria and food servery.

This project was publicly bid but no bids were received. Reaching out to contractors, the district was able to obtain the following bids:

G. Donovan                                                     $18,705

Noble Construction and Management                $17,975

O&G Construction                                           $29,000

Reviewing the bid from Noble Construction, we believe it is a fair value for this work. We are recommending that Noble Construction and Management be awarded this project.