BELLOWS FREE ACADEMY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

November 23, 2004

A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 in the Library Conference Room.

Present were: Absent were:

Directors:

Jim Mercier None

Tom Koldys

Nilda Gonnella-French

Donna Corrigan

Lynn Dickinson

Supervisory Union:

Marilyn Grunewald

Sara Denny

Jean Prindle

Roger Derby

Trustees:

Mitch Montagne

BFA Administration:

Paul Clark

Ruth Caggige

Laura Gonyea

Sally Tarr

Visitors:

Larry Trombley

I. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 6:38 PM by Jim Mercier, Chair, who presided, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by those present.

II. VISITORS

Larry Trombley presented a request that Directors promote more communication between the Directors, Trustees and BFA faculty during this transition phase. He stated that he has developed a proposal to improve communication that he will submit to Paul Clark for his review prior to submitting the proposal to the Directors and Trustees.

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III. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

A motion was made by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Tom Koldys to approve the minutes of the October 26, 2004 meeting of the Board of Directors as presented. A review of the minutes occurred during which the following corrections were made: 1) page 2, B. the last sentence should read, “She had planned to interview four candidates for the Business Manager’s position this week.”, and 2) Page 4, Executive Session, last sentence to reflect that Donna Corrigan seconded the motion, not Tom Koldys as stated in the minutes. Following review, Lynn Dickinson amended the motion to include the corrections made to the October 26, 2004 meeting minutes. Tom Koldys seconded the motion and the motion was approved unanimously.

IV. OLD BUSINESS

A. Committee Reports

1. Curriculum Committee – Donna Corrigan reported that the Trustees Curriculum Committee reviewed three new course proposals for 2005-2006. The proposed new courses are “From Civil War to Civil Rights”, “Exploring International Cuisine” and “Digital Arts”. These courses will be presented to the Board of Directors for review at their next meeting.

2. Finance/Building Committee – Lynn Dickinson stated that an all day budget meeting was held on November 16, 2004 with the Trustees, Directors, BFA’s Administrative Team and Marilyn Grunewald. A separate meeting will be scheduled to review/discuss the Collins Perley Sports Center budget. Lynn Dickinson further stated that a budget meeting was held today regarding the Special Education Department’s budget and the next meeting the budget is scheduled for December 13, 2004 at 7:00 AM to review the final budget numbers. Plans are to have the final draft of the budget completed by December 9, 2004.

3. Personnel Committee – Nilda Gonnella-French reported that contract negotiations are currently underway.

4. Policy Committee – No report presented at this meeting.

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B. Office Configuration and Governance

Marilyn Grunewald reported that the recent changes made within Supervisory Union Office. She stated that Accounts Payables and Benefits have been divided between two employees. One employee covers benefits and payroll for FCSU and Town, and the other employee covers benefits and payroll for the City and Fairfield.

Jim Mercier then reported that the Supervisory Board reviewed the request to assume the salary for BFA’s curriculum coordinator. The Board denied the request, therefore, it will remain the same. She stated that Supervisory Union Board agreed that BFA would not be assessed for some of the Business Office functions.

V. NEW BUSINESS

A. Budget – Jim Mercier commented that he is very impressed with the current budget process. He found the meetings to contain very good dialogue. Marilyn Grunewald agreed stating that budget meetings gave her a good idea of how budget funds are spent as well as program configurations looked like.

B. Draft Operating Agreement – The Directors reviewed the draft operating agreement between the Union High School District #1 and its member districts. The proposed agreement was crafted by Roger Derby and Reg Godin. During the detailed review of the proposed agreement the following areas were discussed: The proposed agreement is for one year starting FY 2007; Tuition verses assessment; the fact that due to the number of students attending BFA from sending schools, there will be different assessment for the City and Town; 504 students/coordinator; non-competitive grants income, the need for the Supervisory Union to develop a policy on how funds would be distributed in not otherwise stated within the grants; tie in when revenues come in from the community to when the Supervisory Union District receives the funds; and that the Collins Perley Sports Complex is now owned by BFA but ownership and management of the Complex will transfer to the Union High School District #48. Changes made to the proposed agreement consisted of the following: 1) Page 1, second paragraph, add that the Union School District #48 is to include St. Albans City and St. Albans Town, 2) Page 2, #5, last sentence add 5 “working days” and State Department “of Education”, 3) Page 3, #9, add “Special Education transportation subject to the Union

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C. High School District #48 policies”, and 4) Page 3, #10, change to read as follows, “The Collins Perley Sports Complex, owned by the Union High School District #48, the athletic facility used for students in grades 9-12. The facility is managed by the Union District #48 through district policy.” A revised copy, incorporating the changes made to the agreement at this meeting, will be made available to the Directors for review at their December meeting. Copy of the revised agreement will also be submitted to the City and Town School Boards for their review at their December Board meetings.

D. Complaints About Personnel Policy – First Reading – The FCSU Complaints About Personnel Policy for St. Albans City, St. Albans Town, Fairfield and Bellows Free Academy was submitted to the Directors for first reading. A review occurred during which there was consensus to include the Northwest Tech Center in the letterhead of the policy. Also during the review of the proposed policy, it was noted that there is a need to define the process and there was consensus by those present to add “appropriate chain of command be used for the high school” to the policy.

VI. OTHER BUSINESS

A. Board & Administrator – Copies of the Board & Administrator Newsletter were submitted to the Board for their review and information.

B. Letters Regarding the National Civic Star Award - Marilyn Grunewald reported that the Franklin County Supervisory Union’s “Open Doors” Program has been selected by the American Association of School Administrators to represent Vermont in the pool of contenders for the National Civic Star Award. Marilyn Grunewald stated that she would be attending the announcement ceremony and reception for the National Civic Star Award scheduled for Saturday, February 19, 2005 in San Antonio, Texas.

VII. AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the BFA Board of Trustees was scheduled for December 21, 2004 at 5:00 PM. Agenda items for this meeting will consist of Budget Update, Operating Agreement Update and Contract Negotiations Update.

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Jim Mercier then commented on scheduling a meeting with BFA Staff and Directors to start discuss transition issues and the search for a new principal. Larry Trombley suggested that the Directors meet with BFA’s “Learning Community Committee. There was consensus by the Directors to schedule a time for the Directors to meet with the Committee members.

VIII. APPROVE WARRANTS

Following review, the Directors signed the warrants as submitted.

IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION

A motion was made at 8:25 PM by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Nilda Gonnella-French to enter into Executive Session to discuss personnel issues and contract negotiations. Motion carried unanimously.

A motion was made at 9:10 PM by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Nilda Gonnella-French to exit Executive Session. Motion carried unanimously.

Lynn Dickinson made a motion to advertise the principal position. Nilda Gonnella-French seconded it. Motion carried unanimously.

X. ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made at 9:11 PM by Lynn Dickinson and seconded by Nilda Gonnella-French to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan C. Krupp

Recording Secretary

F:\Admin-ASST files\BFA New\board\minutes\FY 2005\bfa minutes 112304.doc