NOTES OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 RYE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
Final Revision B – Provided by the Rye Civic League
Present (clockwise around the table): School Board Members Jeanne Moynahan, Margaret Honda, Kate Hillman, Kevin Brandon and Scott Marion. SAU 50 Superintendent Sal Petralia, SAU 50 Assistant Superintendent Kelli Killen, unknown person, Rye Junior High School Principal Marie Soucy, Rye Elementary School Principal Suzanne Lull, SAU 50 Business Manager Jim Katkin (left after discussion of water testing).
The
video is available at https://vimeo.com/182894900/. The elapsed times are indicated below, and
are relative to the start of the video.
Summary
Preliminary, minutes, communication and financial (0:00
elapsed)
New Rye Junior High teachers were introduced and the meeting was recessed so community members could meet the staff.
(0:43 elapsed)
Returning after the recess. Approval of minutes.
(2:25 elapsed)
New Hampshire School Board Association communication passed around.
(2:45 elapsed)
Manifests. $71,456.41 approved (August 13 and 26 manifests). All in favor. $245,733.28 (September 12 manifest). All in favor.
Superintendent’s Report (Sal Petralia) (5:02 elapsed)
August 29 school opening was very successful and all went smoothly.
Bus from Rye to Portsmouth High School was arriving 8-10 minutes late during the first week according to Mary Lyons. First Student will be contacted to see if some stops can be consolidated as a first option, or move pick ups 5-8 minutes earlier. The first pick up is approximately 6:05 a.m.
Business Manager Jim Katkin reports that there are two high school buses. Both start on Route 1. One bus goes into Park Circle, almost on the North Hampton line, which causes a 5-10 minute delay. School starts at 7:25 a.m.
(9:35 elapsed)
Commissioners meeting. Rye and other SAU 50 districts are performing above the State average.
Assistant Superintendent’s Report (Kelli Killen) (11:24
elapsed)
World Language overview, first reading. Discussion with Board of various levels and preparation for high school.
(28:52 elapsed)
Smarter Balance reports.
Elementary School Report (Suzanne Lull) (48:20 elapsed)
Testing, training, goal setting, teacher effectiveness programs discussed. Fire inspection passed. First of ten fire drills conducted. Budgets in full swing (were due today).
Junior High School Report (Marie Soucy) (50:35 elapsed)
Opening went smoothly despite changes in staff and other changes. Worked on teacher effectiveness, team building. Star testing has begun. A lot of work around Social Studies. A lot of great ideas on that. Survey: 25 responses so far.
(52:55 elapsed)
Board Member Kate Hillman reminds everyone about the commitment to start getting parent feedback on Social Studies in October.
Public hearing on expenditures from Buildings
and Grounds trust fund (53:48 elapsed)
Business Manager Jim Katkin reports that there is about $121,000 in the fund. Electrical and roof expenditures are needed as discussed in August and can come out of the General Fund or the expendable trust. He says he can’t get anyone to write specifications for the boiler (six firms talked to already). The boiler is old, and steam, not hot water. A single boiler or multiple replacements are options. There is asbestos that will need to be removed. The boiler in Greenland was $85,000. He guesses $100,000 would be needed for Rye.
Specifications will take two weeks, then another 7-10 days for bids to come back. Removal and installation will take more time, Mr. Katkin said. November 1 is only six weeks away. The system is unique. There is not enough fresh air intake, preventing a full draft from being achieved. The chimney may be of inadequate size and is brick, not lined. Two boilers exhaust through the single chimney, he said.
(62:10 elapsed)
Board Member Kate Hillman notes that the boiler problem was known last summer. Also, the issues with the chimney were kind of already known. She asked what had happened so that it has escalated to “right now.” There was discussion about the boiler going “kaput” in August. Ms. Hillman said that they knew this was coming.
Board Member Kevin Brandon said that the boiler that was repaired last year was supposed to get us through the current year. But it was reinspected and found to have problems. Ms. Hillman asked why the contractor who installed the boiler that is not working for the School would not have to fix it.
Mr. Brandon said that both boilers are old. The boiler that was repaired did not last as long as the repair firm represented. Ms. Hillman said that we are now at risk of not having heat in November.
Mr. Katkin said that the prior problem was due to escaping gas. Now the front two and back two sections are leaking and rusted. Granite State, who does the annual maintenance identified the leakage in July. In August it was known that replacement would be needed. The boiler downstairs is approximately 50 years old and may even have originally been coal-fired, he said.
Rye Junior High School Principal Marie Soucy asked what Plan B was if the firm coming the next day will not write the specifications.
(65:35 elapsed)
Mr. Katkin responded that he has a company that would replace the boiler tomorrow. This could run $85,000 to $100,000 and the Board needs to ensure that it would have the lifetime, he said.
Mr. Katkin noted that the 20 year bond is being paid off this year and that the Board had been looking at using the savings to pay for conversion from steam to hot water. If conversion to hot water is done, the pipes in the 1933 and 1949 sections of the building cannot be used because steam at 2 to 5 pounds pressure is being passed. It would be expensive to replace the piping, which is why they were trying to get another year out of it so that the bond savings could be applied to start replacing the piping, he said.
Mr. Brandon said that they had thought that last year’s repair would buy them more time to look at replacing both boilers and the piping and to convert from steam to hot water with the luxury of time to make a deliberate decision. Now it must be done quickly. A converter to convert steam to hot water would be needed, he said.
Mr. Katkin said that the number two boiler does not heat the front part of the building, but only the back part. There would be some heat flowing between the two halves of the building, but the boiler will not be running until it has been replaced.
Mr. Brandon said that Mr. Katkin had someone who could do the installation, but there would not be the benefit of going through a bid process. Mr. Katkin said that, while he has faith in the vendor, the vendor’s pencil would be sharpened more in a bid process.
Board Chairman Scott Marion started to ask for a motion to authorize the expenditure of up to $100,000. Mr. Katkin interrupted and asked whether the electrical work would be tied in as well. He said that electrical and roofing estimates had been obtained.
Mr. Brandon said that, while the electrical system needs to be improved to support increasing use of technology, that does not need to be done now.
Mr. Katkin said that, once the public hearing is closed tonight, it cannot be reopened until a later meeting. He said that the cost to evaluate the electrical system was $18,000 and $6000 to look at the two roofs.
(74:50 elapsed)
Ms. Hillman asked whether they would be able to understand the facilities needs in November to avoid repetition. She wants to know what the five year plan is, she said. Mr. Brandon stated that, if the data are available in November, it could feed into the budgeting process for 2017-2018.
Mr. Katkin said that the last time an electrical overhaul was done was 1994 when the addition was put in. There has been a lot of technology brought in since then, he said.
Mr. Brandon said that 110,000 sq. ft. of building infrastructure cannot be run on $25,000 a year forever. Heat is needed November 1, he said. He noted the danger of a large expenditure looming.
Mr. Katkin noted that there is only about $4000 in the General Fund for this type of study, not the $24,000 needed.
Mr. Brandon said that a detailed plan is not needed by November.
There was discussion about a partial new roof having been put on the Elementary School either 10 or 22 years earlier. Mr. Katkin said that the expected life of the roof is 25-30 years.
Mr. Marion asked for public comment before they took a vote.
(83:58 elapsed)
Eddie Tabit asked about the timing being two years for other improvements because of the need to first study and then budget for the following year. Mr. Katkin responded that the boiler would take the majority of the expendable trust fund. He would not be able to go back to that fund without a warrant article. Mr. Marion noted that there is money left over in each year’s budget.
Joe Cummins asked the purpose of the public hearing so that he can focus his question. Mr. Marion stated that the money is a specific reserve fund. To spend the money requires a public hearing. Mr. Katkin said that the purpose of the hearing is to obtain the public view. As the money was raised through a warrant article it is held by the Trustees of the Trust Funds and a hearing is required before spending the money.
Mr. Cummins said that the prior school year had ended with a large surplus of $50,000 to $350,000. Mr. Katkin said that it was $501,000. Mr. Cummins asked where that money had gone and what the plans were for it.
Mr. Katkin said that the money is in the Unassigned Fund Balance and goes to reduce taxation in the 2016-2017 school year. If the budget is $13.5 million, $500,000 of that will not be raised by taxation because the Unassigned Fund Balance will be applied. In response to a further question from Mr. Cummins, Mr. Katkin confirmed that the money cannot be touched.
Mr. Cummins asked about the electrical and roof items and whether those budgets had been set at zero. He said that he understood that money could be moved between accounts. Mr. Katkin confirmed that transfer was possible. Mr. Cummins argued that that is not an emergency then and need not be associated with the boiler.
Mr. Cummins spoke about a plan by a “smart kid” to put photovoltaic cells on the roof. He said that the Board had made a commitment to form a committee to look into that. He asked what had happened to that. Mr. Marion stated that nothing had happened.
(88:48 elapsed)
Mr. Cummins asked whether there was a warranty on the repair. Mr. Katkin said that there was no warranty. Mr. Cummins asked the amount of the expenditure on the prior boiler repair. Mr. Marion responded $35,000. Mr. Katkin referred to a $9000 figure.
Mr. Marion asked Mr. Cummins how many more questions Mr. Cummins had.
Mr. Cummins responded that there had been thirty minutes of the School Board bantering back and forth and that this is a public hearing and the prior gentleman had not had much to say.
Mr. Cummins asked whether there was a carbon monoxide issue and whether the boiler could continue to operate. Mr. Katkin responded that it was not a carbon monoxide issue. He said that the boiler will not hold water. He explained how the flame impinged on metal which in turn heated the water. He said that the heat had probably not been run after April 30 and that heat could be produced at that point. In August, when the boiler was filled with water, it leaked.
(91:40 elapsed)
Andrea Papoutsy, teacher at the Elementary School and resident, said that she appreciated Mr. Katkin’s knowledge of the buildings and that spending the money to do the analysis was warranted to provide an orderly process.
In response to a question from Mr. Cummins, Mr. Marion said that, at the last meeting, the Board had asked Mr. Katkin to have someone craft a bid. Mr. Cummins said that, as a taxpayer, he is sensitive to not having something put out to bid. He asked whether there was a policy on seeking bids above a certain amount. The response was that there was none. Mr. Marion said that the Board agreed with Mr. Cummins and that they wanted to go out to bid, but sooner or later that wouldn’t fly and there would be a lot of angry parents. He quipped that they complain that the school is too hot anyway, so maybe the parents shouldn’t complain.
Mr. Cummins asked whether someone could be paid to submit a bid. Mr. Katkin said that Rye does not have a bid procedure. The State does not require bids. Bids allow competition to obtain the lowest price. Mr. Cummins noted that it also avoids cronyism. The problem, Mr. Katkin said, is that it is an old, complex system and he is not sure the piping is going to fit. The number of boilers and sections are up to the engineer. He is running out of time. A couple of years ago there was snow on October 30.
Mr. Marion noted that the boiler could be specified and put out to bid and there might still be only one bidder.
Mr. Cummins noted that the rough magnitude of the cost of the unresponsiveness might be $20,000. Mr. Katkin said that the spread of the bids would likely be less than that.
(99:20 elapsed)
Mr. Marion said that Mr. Brandon had made a persuasive case to delay the electrical study. If there is money in the unassigned fund balance that could be sped up and done in the spring, but there would need to be money left over, he said. Mr. Brandon said that the problem in the building was the wireless bandwidth. Mr. Katkin said that there was a problem with the panel locations. Some of the panels at the elementary school are full, he said.
Board Member Margaret Honda expressed concern about not being able to do anything on the electrical system for two years. Mr. Marion argued that it would not take that long.
Mr. Brandon referred to the elementary school water fountain problem.
Mr. Marion suggested that there be a motion for the boiler. As early as next month another hearing could be held, he argued. Mr. Brandon moved to approve the expenditure of up to $100,000 from the Building and Grounds expendable trust. Board Member Jeanne Moynahan argued for doing the electrical study now as well. Mr. Katkin already has an estimate of $18,000 to study that, she argued.
Mr. Brandon said that the problems are known and can be managed. He complained about the ad hoc approach being taken.
(81:22 elapsed)
Mr. Brandon referred to the $300,000 spent on Town Hall with no Town Hall built as an “egregious example of waste of taxpayer money with no true overarching plan.”
Mr. Katkin referred to some of the circuits in the Junior High still using fuses.
Mr. Marion said that he is on the fence, but the electrical may work may not be the highest priority. Mr. Brandon is arguing for an overarching plan, he said.
Ms. Hillman seconded the motion on the table.
Ms. Moynahan said that she was not going to vote against the boiler as heat is needed.
All were in favor.
Ms. Hillman said that she would like to have a boiler conversation lasting less than sixty minutes. Mr. Petralia quipped that it is always a heated conversation. There was laughter.
Mr. Cummins said that the agenda did not mention electrical or roof so that should control. Mr. Marion said that the public hearing notice referred only to expenditures from the trust.
Mr. Katkin noted that the vote needed to occur after the public hearing was closed.
The motion to close the public hearing carried unanimously.
The motion was again made and again carried unanimously.
Elementary School Water Testing (120:30
elapsed)
Mr. Katkin passed out water test data. He said that this had been requested in August relative to what had been seen at the Elementary School. There is copper in the water and there is a federal threshold of 1.3, he said. Three water fountains and a sink were tested. One was at 1.3, one at 1.41, one at .869 and one at .733. There was a second test of three bottled water fountains. The numbers have changed. Even though there is a brand new water fountain, one is .5. The maximum lead and copper were exceeded at one fountain. The numbers were 1.2, .966 and .638. These were first draws after 8-10 hours. The copper was high due to copper pipes. On 8/16 the fountain across from the Library was replaced. The copper and lead both dropped to very acceptable limits. The copper is being leached from the pipes. The joints are pre-1980 and solder still contained at that point.
Board Member Kate Hillman said that the numbers are all acceptable.
Mr. Katkin said that the copper was coming from the pipes. He argued that the copper and lead were being caught by the filters. Eventually, the filters will clog and won’t always be replaced, he said. The issue with the source of copper in the pipes has not been cured. The answer is to do what was done 40 years ago. The faucet furthest down the line should be run periodically to flush the pipes, he said.
Ms. Lull said that she agrees, but the first tests were not done correctly.
Mr. Katkin said that the action level is .7 or .9, while the limit is 1.3.
Mr. Katkin said that there are 5-6 more faucets or fountains that need to be filtered at a cost of $2000 each.
Mr. Katkin said that the faucets and fountains are under the threshold level, but are high. He reiterated some of the figures. He noted that, while the numbers show 4 acceptable faucets or fountains, three of those are new. He expressed problems with connecting them through the wall piping.
Mr. Katkin said that the Junior High is all under the threshold limit of .7 to .9.
Ms. Hillman moved to acquire two new water systems, to be placed in locations selected by Ms. Lull. There was discussion regarding whether shutting down certain fountains and having the children walk to a more distant fountain would be acceptable.
(140:25 elapsed)
Mr. Marion asked whether there was a line item from which the money could be spent. Mr. Katkin said that it was unbudgeted. Someone referred to building maintenance. Mr. Katkin said that there was $25,000 in that line item, but there are other uses for that money, including obtaining specifications for the boiler. Mr. Marion said that there could be another public hearing to authorize the expenditure of money from the Buildings and Grounds Expendable Trust.
At Mr. Marion’s suggestion, Ms. Hillman moved to authorize the expenditure of $4000 for two water filtration systems. Someone seconded. It appeared that all were in favor, but Margaret Honda was not seen on the video raising her hand, but rather shrugged her shoulders.
Mr. Katkin then left.
School Board Goals and Action Items (142:43 elapsed)
It was agreed that this would be delayed until the October meeting.
Dress code (143:28 elapsed)
Rye Junior High Principal Marie Soucy stated that she had met with Jeanne Moynahan. The next step would be to run it by the staff. A similar format to that at the Elementary School would be followed.
RJH Parent Teacher Conference Planning (145:02 elapsed)
Rye Junior High Principal Marie Soucy said that a similar format to that used at the Elementary School would be followed. The time frame might be the month of October and teachers would invite parents in. There was discussion about the mechanics when children have multiple teachers.
Calendar and Action Items (146:43 elapsed)
The discussion then segued into those issues and coordination issues with Portsmouth.
The boiler was left on the action item list, although there would be an update from Mr. Katkin the next day. It was noted that the boiler would not have been installed by the October meeting.
The insubordination policy was discussed. The word did not appear in any of the CBAs, according to Mr. Petralia.
Public Comment (151:35 elapsed)
Karen Allen said that she was happy that live streaming is being looked at. She asked whether microphones would be provided. Mr. Marion confirmed. It would be addressed further during the November budget discussions, he said. It was confirmed that this would be brought forward for the 2017-2018 budget.
Jeanne Brown (RJH Teacher) made a comment about World Languages, the progression of students from level to level and the curriculum.
(155:00 elapsed)
Joe Cummins stated that Ms. Brown’s reference to eight years of instruction being an exaggeration. It’s nuts that kids forget everything, he said. The kids would be better served going to Margaritas and looking at the table mats rather than picking up a few words in the first few grades. He asked about the Greenland program. The response was that only Spanish is offered in the Greenland schools. Mr. Marion stated that there is research indicating that language instruction helps the children in other areas. He is not worried that it is taking away from other instruction, per se. The question is whether more instruction later might be better. He thanked Mr. Cummins for offering to take the children on field trips to Margaritas. There was laughter.
Mr. Cummins asked whether the preliminary reports on the test results are a contrivance. Mr. Marion stated that there are districts that are late with their data cleanup so the DOE waits for the data so that the percentages will be accurate statewide. Mr. Cummins argued that, in this day and age, the parents should practically have the results before the children got home from school. Mr. Petralia said that some districts did not have the technology to do the tests online and had to use paper and pencil, causing a delay.
Wedgewood Farm Committee (161:28 elapsed)
Mr. Marion
passed around examples of the plaques for the donors. Ms. Moynahan said that the recognition would
be done at Harvest Fest, October 25.
Policy Committee (163:02 elapsed)
Various policies were discussed and approved. The source of the policies was discussed.
Rye Education Foundation (176:25 elapsed)
Ms. Hillman
stated that she had spoken with Deb Holloway about a breakfast. Editor’s
note: Ms. Holloway is the wife of Mr.
Marion.
Parent Teacher Association (176:45 elapsed)
Nina Parrott said the PTA is doing a directory and is in the middle of their membership drive. The Fall Social for the Elementary School will be Halloween themed. There will be a back-to-school picnic on the 21st. She asked about the best way to get information to Junior High parents. There will be teacher raffle. All the money raised would go to the teacher grant fund, she said.
Portsmouth High School (180:02 elapsed)
Mr. Petralia said that the High School would be conducting another outreach on the delayed start time, so the decision would be delayed to October, which would still be in line with the budget cycle.
Rye Recreation (182:48 elapsed)
There was no discussion of this issue.
Mr. Brandon stated that the School Budget Session with the Budget Committee is Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The Public Hearing on the School Budget is Wednesday, January 11. Editor’s note: The draft minutes refer to Wednesday, January 13, 2017, but that date is a Friday. The discussion was that the School sets its own date for the Deliberative Session. Mr. Marion said that the Town Deliberative Session is February 4, 2017 with a snow date of the 11th. Ms. Moynahan said that the School usually sets its Deliberative Session for the Wednesday after the Town Deliberative Session, with a snow date the next day. She referred to February 8, with a February 9 snow day. The Deliberative Session was scheduled for Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 6:30 p.m., with a snow date the next day. Editor’s note: the draft minutes incorrectly refer to February 4, 2017.
Boiler Committee (187:00 elapsed)
Already addressed. See above. Mr. Petralia noted that the next meeting of the Tech Committee would be September 20, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.
Special Issues (Social Studies) (187:23 elapsed)
Mr. Marion spoke about the interest in Social Studies and fifth grade parents coming up. There was agreement that this was important. Ms. Honda said that it was important to show that they were making the effort to stay on top of the issue. Mr. Marion suggested that this be scheduled as an action item for October.
Jeanne Moynahan noted the Brad Kidder Law Conference being held in Concord on October 5, 2016 at the Grappone Center.
Public comment (191:58 elapsed)
Peter Crawford commented about the lack updating of the schedule for the budget. He said that the data is on the school website. While it is a very good spreadsheet, the problem is that the data is a year out of date. It has all of the dates for all of the actions, he said. Mr. Marion referred to the constant challenge because of the lack of a full-time website administrator, but promised to take care of it.
Non-public (193:30 elapsed)
The Board went into non-public session at approximately 8:50 p.m. after a unanimous roll call vote.