WSESD Board Meeting Minutes

Attached are minutes from the February 28th WSESD Board Meeting.

Note: These proposed minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved by the board at a future meeting.

WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SCHOOL DISTRICT (WSESD) BOARD
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2023
REGULAR BOARD MEETING – 6:00PM
HYBRID MEETING: WRCC CUSICK CONFERENCE ROOM, BRATTLEBORO,
AND REMOTELY VIA ZOOM
DRAFT MINUTES

WSESD Board Members Present: Chair Kelly Young (KY), Liz Adams (LA), Anne Beekman (AB),
Lana Dever (LD), Michelle Green (MG), Tim Maciel (TM), Shaun Murphy (SM), Deborah Stanford (DS). non-voting members: Benjamin Berg (BB)
WSESD Board Members Absent: Emily Murphy Kaur
WSESU/SD Staff and Administrators Present: Mark Speno, Wendy M. Levy, Cassie Damkoehler, Paul Smith, Frank Rucker, Julianne Eagan, Keith Lyman, Jon Sessions, Kate Margaitis, Nancy Wiese
Media Present: Peter (BCTV), Virginia Ray (The Commons)
Others Present: Ruby McAdoo of Putney, Jody Normandeau of Dummerston, Eva Nolan of Dummerston, Pietro Lynn (WSESD School Board Attorney), Mindy Haskins Rogers of Northampton, Massachusetts, Sherri O’Keefe of Brattleboro, David Schoales of Brattleboro, Martha Carol (town of residence unknown), Dr. Chris Overtree (WSESD Consultant)

Please note: attendance may be incomplete.

I. CALL TO ORDER

Chair KY called the meeting to order at 5:30pm.

II. EXECUTIVE SESSION: under 1 V.S.A. §313(a)(7) Academic records or suspension or discipline
of students

MOTION BY AB TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER 1 V.S.A. §313(A)(7) FOR  ACADEMIC RECORDS OR SUSPENSION OR DISCIPLINE OF STUDENTS. SECONDED BY UNKNOWN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board invited Cassie Damkoehler, Traci Lane, Alexander Keep, Ricky Davidson, Rebecca Spiesman, Mark Speno, a student, and a parent.
The Board entered executive session at 5:30pm.
The Board rose from executive session at 6:28pm.
The Board unanimously voted to uphold the recommendation of the BUHS administration.

 

The public portion of the meeting commenced at 6:37pm.

KY read the “hybrid meeting” statement.

MOTION BY DS TO AMEND THE AGENDA TO CHANGE THE REASON FOR THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AT THE END OF THE MEETING TO 1 V.S.A. § 313 (a)(1)(E), PENDING OR PROBABLE CIVIL LITIGATION OR A PROSECUTION, TO WHICH THE PUBLIC BODY IS OR MAY BE A PARTY. AB SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

III. STUDENT MATTERS

Student Advisory Council member BB reported on recent Student Advisory Council activity. They are working on the professional development workshop for BUHS faculty, to be held on March 6.

IV. PRESENTATION ON ROBERT’S RULES — MEETING MINUTES — PIETRO LYNN, ESQ.

KY introduced Pietro Lynn, Esq., the Board’s attorney. She instructed the Board to refrain from discussion, and to email her with related items to be discussed at the next meeting.

Mr. Lynn gave his presentation on meeting minutes and how they relate to Robert’s Rules of Order.

Highlights included:
• Meeting minutes are important; they are the only official record of the meeting.
• Just as Mr. Lynn gave a presentation on Open Meeting Law at a previous Board meeting, he is giving this presentation because discussing meeting minutes is important.
• While Robert’s gives guidance on meeting minutes, state statute — Open Meeting Law (OML) — is what the Board must follow in its minutes.
• A review of the minimum requirements for minutes per OML, which includes items such as which governing body met, when and where they met, who attended and participated, which motions were made, who made and seconded them, the vote on the motions, etc.
• Acknowledgement that the mandatory subjects, as per OML, are somewhat spare. Thus, a skilled Board Recorder will use their judgement on what else to record to ensure the minutes are an accurate narrative of the proceedings and debate, including which attendees participated and a summary of what they said. Although the minutes should not be a transcript, they do need to be more inclusive, not less inclusive, to provide for the public a sense of the proceedings.
• A review of what happens to those minutes: they must be posted within five days of the meeting, they must be presented to a member of the public upon request, and they must be posted for one year from the meeting date.

MG asked if it is possible to include too much information in meeting minutes, and if there are guidelines for this. Mr. Lynn responded: The minutes should give a clear sense of the proceedings, but producing a transcription is burdensome. What is important is to include points-of-order, motions in their exact language, both sides of a debate in as neutral language as possible, etc.

LA said the Board’s minutes are inclusive and the Recorder does a good job. She asked if Mr. Lynn looked at the Board’s minutes. Mr. Lynn responded: He purposely did not read the Board’s minutes because he does not think it’s appropriate to comment in public whether the minutes are good or not.

SM asked for guidance on how to identify speakers in the minutes. Mr. Lynn responded: Open Meeting Law contemplates the name and town of the speakers; thus, the minutes should reflect this.

DS asked for guidance on ascribing someone’s name to a comment in a debate, because Robert’s Rules of Order says not to do this. Mr. Lynn responded: The minutes are not meant to shame someone or be judgmental; they are a record of a public meeting, and if someone made a statement in a public meeting, the minutes — as a record of the proceedings — must reflect this.

TM asked how to reconcile Robert’s Rules of Order’s guidance on not including names in a discussion recorded in the minutes with what Mr. Lynn just said about including names. Mr. Lynn responded: He looks at statutes for guidance; not Robert’s Rules of Order. His bias, in drafting minutes, is to have greater transparency and more information.

TM asked a follow-up question: Why must the meeting minutes include this information when an interested party can find out who said what by watching the recording on BCTV? Mr. Lynn responded: BCTV is not the official record of the meeting. The minutes are the only official record of the meeting. Statute is clear on this.

TM asked if the minutes are to go from the Board Clerk to the rest of the Board. Mr. Lynn responded: Yes.

Mindy Haskins Rogers from Northampton, Massachusetts asked a question about the change that was made to the agenda earlier in the meeting; specifically about the reason for the executive session to come at the end of the meeting. She expressed concern that it was not properly warned. KY responded: Anyone who needs to know about this executive session knows about it. Ms. Haskins Rogers referred to documents that KY said she could not access at that time. KY asked Ms. Haskins Rogers to email her with her concerns.

A discussion ensued on posting meeting minutes. Ms. Haskins Rogers expressed a concern about whether the minutes were properly posted, and asked Mr. Lynn to comment. Mr. Lynn responded: He would refrain from commenting on Ms. Haskins Rogers’s concern in open session because it could violate attorney-client privilege. He invited Ms. Haskins Rogers to email her questions to KY, who can forward them to Mr. Lynn.

Jody Normandeau of Dummerston asked about the procedure for obtaining emails between Board members, because they are official records. Mr. Lynn responded: If the emails are about official business, they are subject to a records-request. A discussion ensued on records-requests.

MG asked about the procedure for amending minutes; specifically, once minutes are amended, should the posted minutes get changed to reflect the amendments? Mr. Lynn responded: Yes. The original minutes should be amended and re-posted.

V. CONSENT AGENDA

• CLERK’S REPORT – Approval of Minutes – February 14

MOTION BY RM TO APPROVE THE FEBRUARY 14, 2023 MINUTES. AB SECONDED.

A discussion ensued.

SM noted he was absent from the February 14 meeting, but he watched the recording of the meeting on BCTV. He asked if he is allowed to vote on approving the draft minutes for that meeting. AB responded: Yes.

BAMS Principal Keith Lyman asked the Board to amend the minutes to reflect his attendance at the February 14 meeting.

MOTION BY RM TO AMEND THE MINUTES TO ADD KEITH LYMAN TO THE ATTENDANCE. AB SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION BY RM TO APPROVE THE FEBRUARY 14, 2023 MINUTES AS AMENDED. AB SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

VI. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS

There was none.

VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A. Sexual Abuse Investigation — Update

KY reported she is still awaiting a response from Attorney Goddard on whether she needs more support to complete her investigations.

BB shared some concerns from his fellow students: Where is the investigation in its timeline? What is the goal of the investigation? What is its process?

KY said these are good questions, and she would like BB to email them to her so she can bring answers to the March 14 Board meeting.

Ms. Haskins Rogers expressed her concerns about the lack of information about the investigation, including data. She reported she has received information from survivors who were sexually abused by school staff. She read accounts in the local press of previous accusations against school staff, thus, there is long-time knowledge about this problem. Ms. Haskins Rogers requested real disclosure and accountability on those who are credibly accused of sexually abusing students, and noted the risk and harm accusers suffer from the Board releasing no information.

KY responded: She acknowledged the burden of the accusers, and the challenge of the Board getting information about abuses any other way. She asked Ms. Haskins Rogers to email her with questions, and she will contact Attorney Goddard to get answers, which she will present at the discussion at the next meeting.

BB asked if it is possible for students to make anonymous accusations of sexual misconduct. BUHS Interim Principal Cassie Damkoehler and KY responded: Yes, if a student reports directly to Attorney Goddard.

BB asked a follow-up question: How can a student anonymously report a complaint about sexual comments from school staff where no physical contact occurred?

A discussion ensued. Highlights included:

• Superintendent Mark Speno said school counselors, any other staff person the student trusts, or their parents can make an anonymous complaint on the student’s behalf.

• MG noted the District’s policy may prohibit anonymous reporting. She and Ms. Damkoehler will follow up and investigate.

• BAMS Principal Keith Lyman discussed the portion of the teachers’ union contract, which requires a student’s name attached to a complaint if a teacher is to be disciplined, and the process the administration uses when this occurs.

• Green Street School Principal / District Title IX Coordinator Kate Margaitis noted the procedure depends on the nature of the comment and the complaint.

• David Schoales of Brattleboro said the Women’s Freedom Center is a confidential resource for students who have experienced sexual abuse.

• Mr. Schoales also noted the system very carefully protects adults.

• Eva Nolan of Dummerston mentioned 24-hour hotlines, including RAIN, which has an adolescent unit. Ms. Damkoehler reported the school does share those hotlines with students, the administration works with A Safe Place, and brings in these support organizations to give presentations at school.

• WRCC Director Nancy Wiese said the contract clause that demands students attach their names to complaints makes her feel awful every time she has to tell a student this, but she is required to follow it. She reminded Mr. Schoales that it is the Board and the union who negotiated this clause, not the administration. She reminded Mr. Schoales that he served on the Board when this clause was approved as part of the contract between the Board and the union, thus, he owns a piece of that responsibility. Ms. Wiese asked the Board to try to remove this from the next contract. KY asked Ms. Wiese to communicate to the Board her questions, suggestions, and concerns about the contract.

• Mr. Speno highlighted the collaborative work between the Board and the administration on difficult situations.

• Ms. Haskins Rogers explained that, unlike the schools, the Women’s Freedom Center is not a mandated reporter. Thus, the names of any perpetrators reported to them are not forwarded to the Department of Children and Families. Ms. Damkoehler responded: The Women’s Freedom Center does tell students this, and the Center provides support, including supporting a student who chooses to make their report directly to the school.

• Sherri Keefe of Brattleboro asked the Board to reframe their question thusly: What are the impediments to current students reporting, and what can the Board do to address this?

• Ms. Nolan explained the parameters of hotlines, including what they do, and do not, provide.

B. Policy & Amendment Committee

DS responded to a request presented at the previous Board meeting to read out-loud the policies in their entirety. DS said this is not an appropriate action, as some policies are more than 20 pages long and could take an entire meeting to read out-loud. She noted that when policies are presented for their first reading, this triggers a 10-day warning period, at which time interested members of the public can read the policies on their own and make any comments to the Board.

• F10 Reporting Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect — Readoption

MOTION BY DS FOR THE BOARD TO READOPT POLICY F10, REPORTING SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT. SM SECONDED.

A discussion ensued. DS noted the edits, in red ink, address the reporting sequence and what happens if the Superintendent is accused. She said she received no comments from the public.

VOTE ON THE DS MOTION: MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

• F35 School Animal Policy

After DS made, and LA seconded, a motion to readopt this policy, during the discussion DS noted there is a minor edit to the policy. This edit deletes a comment about insects and spiders. KY said the proper procedure is to enter into another 10-day warning period because the edit was made the day before this meeting. DS agreed and withdrew her motion.

Ruby McAdoo of Putney asked for details on some of the edits. DS asked Ms. McAdoo to email her directly with her questions.

Martha Carol (town of residence unknown) asked about the hearing for Steve Perrin; specifically, does the Board have any information? She said the survivors are owed public information and she is surprised this has not been addressed at this meeting. KY responded: The Board will answer questions at the next meeting, or via email; and, this Board meeting is not over yet.

VIII. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

KY announced that pursuant to hearings under 16 V.S.A. § 243 (d), the Board has affirmed the decision to dismiss Steve Perrin as principal of BUHS.

• Panorama Presentation

Dr. Chris Overtree and WSESD Curriculum Coordinator Paul Smith gave a presentation on Panorama.

Highlights included:

• A slide presentation, “An Update on School Climate: WSESD School Board, February 28, 2023.”

• The School Climate Assessment.

• The process and strategies for assessing the school climate.

• A clarification of some of the terms used in the assessment.

• How we understand culture to change the climate.

• Collaborative action research steps.

• A summary of the data.

• The three Panorama studies used, and who is surveyed and when.

• Details on the student data: the categories, questions, and what the administration will do with the results (mainly, to develop school-improvement plans).

• Bar graphs showing climate survey trends among different grades. What the results show regarding “highs” and “lows.” And, bar graphs showing disaggregation by race and ethnicity in different age groups.

• “Takeaways” from the surveys: some findings and conclusions.

• A placement of the data in the context of national trends.

• A recommendation by Dr. Overtree to only do this survey once per year because the data has not been shown to change much from survey to survey, and it requires a tremendous amount of work by the administration and staff.

• Some data-driven action steps for different grade-ranges.

TM said it is unfortunate that the Board got this report the day before the meeting, and that it was presented during the third hour of the meeting. He asked for a written report from Dr. Overtree.

TM made and withdrew a motion — which was not seconded — to have a follow-up session on the report.

KY said that if the agenda is lighter at the next meeting, the discussion can happen there.

Mr. Speno announced there is another Panorama presentation on the spring data scheduled for the first meeting in June, as per the action plan.

TM said he is frustrated the Board cannot examine this data, and he asked what is being done with it. Dr. Overtree responded: Doing this research is an action. He referred to an earlier discussion about union contracts and policies to answer what the Board can do. What the teachers and the administration can do is conduct this climate survey. Different groups can do different things.

Mr. Speno agreed with Dr. Overtree: conducting surveys is part of doing the work to improve school climate.

MG said that this is a lot of information is a good thing, and it includes very important information the Board has been asking for. She appreciates the work everyone has done on this project.

Ms. Nolan asked if the surveys can be done more often, and how the data can be used.

A discussion ensued on the uses of the surveys for students, staff, the administration, the Board, the Legislature, and other groups.

A discussion ensued on having a written report on the survey that is available to the public. Mr. Overtree recommended first considering how releasing the report may itself affect the school climate because of the challenges of presenting data without context. He offered to provide written guidance to the Board to decide which questions to ask of the data.

Ms. Damkoehler announced an upcoming re-accreditation, and that this process will involve the administration collecting other survey data that the administration can share with the Board.

Dummerston School Principal Julianne Eagan thanked Dr. Overtree. She spoke about the challenges of looking at data and wanting to see more rapid changes in that data, and the large amount of work involved in learning to use data well. She agreed with Mr. Speno about the relationship between conducting surveys and working to improve the school climate.

IX. FISCAL REPORT

Mr. Rucker gave his report. Highlights included:

• A request for the Board to be ready at the March 14 meeting to approve the bids for next year’s capital projects, most notably the BAMS locker improvements, and the Oak Grove School playground and handicap ramp.

• A reminder that he distributed the capital needs plan in January; it is on the website, too.

• Approving these bids will allow the District to enter into the design and bid phases for 38 projects.

• He applied for state and federal grants to help fund HVAC upgrades at the Oak Grove School. The rough estimate for this project is $1.7 million.

• An update on the PCB issues at the Oak Grove School: Mr. Rucker now has a more definitive remediation plan, and he gave some details on it. He is awaiting Department of Environmental Conservation approval, and notice from contractors. He gave details on the project’s timeline.

• The Finance Committee recently met with the Town Clerks from the District’s towns. He will put the results on the next meeting’s agenda.

X. NEW BUSINESS

A. Approve Submission of EES’ Head Start & Early Head Start Refunding Application and Change of Scope Application

EES Director Deborah Gass and EES Finance Director Wendy Mullen presented on this agenda item.

Highlights included:

•  A slide presentation, “EES Three Grant Applications to the Office of Head Start.”

• The three grant applications are as follows:

◦ Annual Early Head Start and Head Start continuing grant application, for the amount of $3,163,282.

◦ COLA and quality improvement fund application, for the amount of $241,232.

◦ A change-in-scope proposal.

• An overview of the federal grant cycle.

• Details on figures included in each grant amount and what the funding is used for.

• Deadlines for the grants.

• Details on the change-in-scope proposal, which included:

◦ A reduction in staff (28 for Early Head Start and 12 for Head Start) to reflect actual enrollment and classrooms which are currently closed.

◦ This reduction will not displace any participant or staff.

◦ This proposal will give raises between 5.6% and 19.5% to staff, and this will reduce the gap between public school and EES salaries.

◦ The goal of this change, and its associated raises, is to rebuild EES’s capacity and reopen some of the classrooms in the fall.

◦ EES cannot hire staff because their wages are so low, and this is a national problem. Raising salaries will lead to attracting staff, which will lead to reopening classrooms.

◦ This is a long-time goal, to equalize salaries with public school salaries. And, this proposal gets EES as close as it has gotten in 20 years.

◦ This whole plan is pending federal approval.

MG asked if enrollment figures have gone up since lockdown ended. Ms. Gass said the enrollment figures have been consistent since 2020.

MOTION BY RM TO VEHEMENTLY APPROVE ALL THREE GRANTS AS PRESENTED. TM SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

MOTION BY MG TO EXTEND THE MEETING BY 30 MINUTES. RM SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Policy and Amendment Committee – Policies to be presented to the SD Board

DS noted that, as per the proceedings during “Unfinished Business,” there are two policies presented for readings. They are as follows:

• F35 School Animal Policy

This policy is presented for its third reading, and will be discussed at the next Policy & Amendment Committee meeting on March 13 at 2:30pm. It is now in its 10-day warning period.

• F2 Policy on Nondiscriminatory Mascots and School Branding – 1st Reading

DS explained this policy has two designations: F2 as per the Agency of Education, and D17 as per the District.

DS read the policy, and noted it is already in effect, per statute, as a statewide law as of January 21, 2023. It is mandatory and a legal document. The Board will move it for readoption at the next Board meeting.

Executive Session – 1 VSA §313(a)(1)(E) – Pending or Probable Civil Litigation or a Prosecution, to Which the Public Body is or May Be a Party.

MOTION BY DS TO FIND THAT PREMATURE GENERAL PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE WOULD CLEARLY PLACE THE PUBLIC BODY OR PERSON INVOLVED IN SUBSTANTIAL DISADVANTAGE, REGARDING CONTRACTS. LA SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

MOTION BY SM FOR THE BOARD TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER 1 VSA §313(a)(1)(E), REGARDING PENDING OR PROBABLE CIVIL LITIGATION OR A PROSECUTION, TO WHICH THE PUBLIC BODY IS OR MAY BE A PARTY. DS SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board entered into Executive Session at 9:27pm.

The Board rose from Executive Session at 9:38pm.

The Board took no action.

MOTION BY AB TO ADJOURN. SECONDED BY UNKNOWN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board adjourned at 9:39pm.

Documents presented:

 

• A slide presentation, “An Update on School Climate: WSESD School Board, February 28, 2023.”

• A slide presentation, “EES Three Grant Applications to the Office of Head Start.”

Submitted by Wendy M. Levy from minutes taken by Wendy M. Levy

This represents my understanding of the above dated meeting. If you have any changes, please submit them at the next board meeting.