Meeting Recap: Exeter Region Cooperative School Board (ERCSB) Committee Meetings
Personnel, Policy & Communications Committee - April 5, 2022:
This meeting took place at the SAU16 Central Office. Committee members include the following: Bill Gauthier, Scott Dennehy, Travis Thompson, and Kim Casey.
The agenda for the meeting included the following items:
Special Education Case Management
Policy Review: EBBD Indoor Air Quality, IKFC Alternative Diploma for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities
Communications Survey Summary: Communications Log for December 2021 - March 2022
Bill Gauthier was nominated to be chair of the committee. A vote was taken, and he was unanimously voted in as chair.
In discussing special education case management, it was communicated that a new tier 3 case manager was needed at a cost of $105,000. This had not been budgeted. Overall, mental health needs are up for students, and it was reported that there is an increase of 20 kids on the current caseloads of case managers in the schools. To pay for the new case manager position, it was brought up that they are not replacing the EHS physical science teacher (Ms. Thorn) who is leaving after this academic year. Apparently the teacher is going to work for 2 Revolutions. No reason was given for why the position was not being replaced. The committee’s plan is that if that lost position doesn’t cover the cost for a new case manager, they will use some of the money from the special education trust fund, which is valued at $600,000 and/or ask voters for a warrant article.
Next the committee discussed IKFC, an alternative diploma for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. If utilized these students would get counted in the school’s graduation rate.
The committee then discussed the need for an air quality checklist to be added to the air quality policy. Scott Dennehey remarked that he found it confusing, as it only discusses outdoor air quality. Changes will be made to clarify this policy for a second reading.
Finally they discussed the Communications Survey that went to each school board in our district in December/January. The purpose of the survey was to ascertain how well the school boards felt the administration does at communication. The four areas discussed regarding communication included, content, method, clarity and transparency. There will be a communication plan developed by the central office and delivered to the board sometime in April/May time frame. Dr. Ryan remarked that he would like board members to write OpEds, contribute to the SAU16 blog, and to correct misinformation on social media.
ERCSB Curriculum & Philosophy Committee - April 5, 2022
The ERCSB members on this committee include: Bob Hall, Paul Bauer, Kimberly Meyer, and Dave Slifka.
The topics on the agenda included:
Update on Weighted GPA Systems Study Group
Relearning and Reassessment in ERCSD
Kimberly Meyer was nominated and voted in to be chair of the committee.
There was a high level discussion on the weighting of courses. Superintendent Ryan said it was just in the information gathering stages. There was some discussion about whether to weigh SST classes and some board members stated that they weren’t in favor of taking away any AP or honors classes.
The test retake policies of both CMS and EHS were then discussed. It was decided that a grading philosophy statement provided by the Board would be beneficial, since currently CMS and EHS have different policies. It was emphasized that they need to ensure students are re-learning and not just re-taking tests.