STATE EDUCATION BOARD
MINUTES
Old Stagecoach Inn -
Members Present: Dwight Davis, Richard Fraser, Blanche Kelley, David Luce, Don Messier & Albert Pearce
Members Absent: Wilma Paronto & Dave Mulholland
CHSVT Administration Present: Bob Lucenti, Director - Stephan LaTulippe, Principal - Mary Koen, Special Education Chief - Sheila Commo, Program Services Clerk
The meeting was called to order at
1. Review of
Meeting Minutes
Richard Fraser made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of
2. Agenda Development
Bob asked that the board members put aside an amount of time during
each board meeting to set the agenda for the following meeting. Blanche thought
that the chair of the board was to set the agenda with central office. Chuck
felt that the way it was being done at present was fine but was willing to
change the process. Central office has no problem with printing up the agenda.
Bob feels that it should be discussed under New Business. David Luce feels that
the central office has a lot of control over the agenda and believes the board
should be obliged to set the agenda. He feels that central office should still
be responsible for printing and distributing the agenda.
Don feels that policies should be adopted and developed into a policy manual
for the local boards to follow. Blanche feels that there is not enough time for
business when the board visits the facilities. So it was agreed that 1) possibly,
invitations will be sent to the local boards to attend the state board meetings
to observe the operation of a meeting, 2) the agenda will be discussed at the
end of each meeting, 3) agenda items will be timed so as not to go over the
allotted time, 4) the first policy statement will be developed and distributed
to the local boards to include operation of board meetings and by-laws. Board
policy needs to be included in the next agenda. Bob would like to separate
school policy from the Department of Corrections policy.
Bob told the board that the Commissioner is trying to create a "superboard". This Board would be comprised of a member, or members, who presently serve on Boards within the Department of Corrections. He will give the board more information, as it becomes available.
3. NEASC Approval
Process
Bob updated the board on the New England Association of Schools and
Colleges (NEASC) school approval process. He told the board that the faculty
elected two faculty members to join Steve LaTulippe, in
While in
Steve handed out a copy of NEASC standards that will need to be met for accreditation. Standard two is about governance and states: The school has an appropriate system of governance that assures that the school remains true to its mission and that it has the necessary resources to support its present and prospective operations. The board was in agreement that it is their responsibility to make sure that this standard is being met. Standard ten is about administration and states: The administration provides leadership and maintains a structure to facilitate the effective functioning of the school, including the participation of faculty in decision-making. The board was in agreement that it is central office's responsibility to make sure that this standard is being met.
Bob passed out a copy of the statutory authority and the school's mission statement. There was a discussion that changes need to be made to the mission statement and that the board and faculty, both, will be looking at changes and working together to rewrite it.
4. Local Advisory
Board Update
Steve has been talking to the local boards, and they want to know what
their mission is with the CHSVT. Two surveys were handed out for review by the
board. The first is titled General Standards for Site Program Performance and
the second is titled Recordkeeping Standards. The idea of the surveys is for
the local boards to meet with teachers at the facilities and make sure that
they are providing the students with the tools and references needed to
succeed. The first survey pertains to programming and the second to student
records. The plan is to have the local boards fill out these surveys between
July 1st, and December 31st, so that central office can look at them and
determine where the improvements need to be made. By completing the surveys,
the boards would have more involvement in their local school site. Don was
concerned with the extra time that a volunteer board member would have to put
in to complete one of these surveys. He sees no reason why it can not be added as
an agenda item at an advisory board meeting, with a teacher present. Bob is
concerned that a teacher may not perceive the questions as a student would,
thereby, altering the results in favor of the teacher. David is pleased that
central office is asking for input from local board members. Mary Koen stated
that the reason for the survey is to receive input from the boards to allow for
improvement. It doesn't matter if they are completed at a meeting or
individually. There is concern throughout that there is not consistency and
knowledge shared across the boards. It was decided that the issue of
inconsistencies, with the local boards, needs to be addressed further as an
agenda item.
5. School
The mission statement was discussed earlier during agenda item three,
school approval process. It was agreed that the mission statement is too long
as is, and the board should play a key role in rewriting it.
6. Statutory
Language Changes:
The Board received a copy of the statutory language changes with last
month's minutes. The concern is that after changes were made by Bob and these
changes discussed in a meeting with Jason Humbert from the AG office and Marie
Salem, Attorney for Corrections, then sent to the Department of Education's
legal division, there has been no response. The CHSVT and the corrections legal
division are waiting for a response from the Department of Education.
Special Education funding is the largest concern at the moment. Funding needs to increase as special education needs to be made available at the street sites. This means hiring a special educator at each site, and two special educators for the sites who serve more than 40 youth. An estimated one million dollars is needed to provide special education services at both, the facilities and probation and parole offices. The language in Title 28 needs to be changed to reflect that need. Special education is not needed for every student who has a past special education history. If a student is over 18, they have a right to deny special educational services.
7. Annual Meeting
Update:
The Annual Meeting is scheduled for
I. Commissioner Hofmann was suggested as a guest speaker with Introductory Comments.
II. The School Today remains the same. The subject would be NEASC and standards for accreditation and indicators.
III. (Title to be determined) Reports on CHSVT and Special Education Services.
IV. Local Advisory Boards/State Board/NEASC. Working together for NEASC approval. Bob, Steve and Dwight.
V. Open Discussion.
Don Messier will be unable to attend, as he will be out of town. Some names were given to Sheila to be sure that they are invited to the meeting. The letters will be sent to local advisory board members as soon as we receive Commissioner Hofmann's approval.
8. Old Business
Blanche is following up on a "wish list" from an inmate at
the Northwest State Correctional Facility. She would like to know what has
happened to that list and has there been any action. Bob stated that computer software
and hardware has been purchased as part of creating the
The Retired Teachers Association enjoyed a presentation on January 17th, from Cara Berryman, Correctional Instructor from the Caledonia Community Work Camp. She presented the first recipient of the Beryle Gardner award. Blanche has pictures from the presentation.
A curriculum for the Habits of Mind course has just been completed through the Work Force Development grant. Bob handed out copies to the board and explained that there will be a study conducted and the results made available in October or November, 2007. The study will follow students after release who have been through the Habits of Mind course and those who haven't. Results will be compared to determine if this course has made a difference on their life and work habits.
Don Messier asked if the letter had been developed pertaining to the successes of CHSVT and Bob's award that he received. David Luce said that he had not been in contact with Dave Muholland yet, but will do that soon.
Sheila announced that Dave Muholland called prior to today's meeting to say that he will be resigning his position on the board. He sited too many other obligations as his reason and will be sending an official resignation letter soon. Dave's term expires at the end of this month.
The board discussed terms that will expire at the end of
this month. Wilma Paronto's term expires this month.
The board will ask her if she is interested in remaining on board as her health
has been declining. Don Messier's term also expires
this month. He expressed a desire to return for another term. There was
discussion about Laurel Butler who has never served on the board but is an
appointed member. Her term expires
Dwight Davis made a
motion to have a letter drawn up and presented to the Governor with the Board's
concerns about some of the current appointments to the Board. Don Messier
seconded the motion. The motion was called and it passed unanimously.
Chuck agreed to draw up a letter and hand deliver it to the Governor.
9. New Business
Dwight is still working on funding to support the SAT/ACT tests being
given to all 11th grade students at the CHSVT. Blanche would like to see these
tests being given on a voluntary basis so that those not
interested or ready will not have to take it. Bob said that the SAT has
been given to a student a Southern State Correctional Facility, and the faculty
is looking into the Accu-Placer Assessment test, as
well.
Blanche had some newspaper articles to share. One was about
a Girl Scout troop in
David Luce made a
motion to adjourn the meeting at
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Commo