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CALL TO ORDER
Acting Chair K. Smith called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm.
Pledge of Allegiance
Taylor Wright and Victoria Vincent, members of the Girl’s Basketball Team led the Pledge.
ATTENDANCE
Acting Chair K. Smith, I. Byrd, and M. Madden.
D. LeBlond arrived at 7:14 pm.
E. Caito arrived at 8:25 pm
PROOF OF POSTING
Dr. Littlefield provided proof of posting.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Minutes of Candia School Board Special Meeting on January 6, 2010.
I. Byrd motioned to approve the minutes of January 6, 2010. Seconded by M. Madden.
Vote unanimously in favor as amended.
Michelle Vincent: I agree 100% with Joanne. My daughter is also in level 4 Spanish at Central due to
the foundation she received here. There are a ton of kids in the Spanish class from Candia.
Kirsti Anderson: I agree with the other comments on the Spanish program. I have an Eighth Grader
who has benefited from 2 years of Spanish. The Spanish teacher is very dedicated and it will be
difficult to replace such a dedicated teacher.
K. Smith: It was not a unanimous decision by the Board. The vote carried that we would support the
elimination of Spanish. The Budget you will vote on reflects those cuts. We went through Deliberative
Session and the number remained unchanged. We are late in the process now to change the budget,
but you should be clear on what you will vote on voting day.
I. Byrd: Part of the discussion was the reason for eliminating the Spanish Program and it was not a
financial reason. What it came down to was we needed to give more time to reading and math
instruction. In order to have that time for those two areas, something had to give. We can’t extend the
school day and we are required to have certain subjects. You may not think subjects like art are
important, but what it came down to was simply to work out a schedule that gave every child more
daily reading and math instruction. Joanne said it clearly, if you don’t have a second language, you are
at a disadvantage, but it is worse if you can’t read. You can’t do anything if you are not a top reader
and that, to me, is more important than a foreign language. Being a good reader is so much more
important and knowing concepts of math that affect everything in our daily lives are the most important
things.
Basic reading skills are taught in the lower graders, but the stuff you will read in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade
becomes more complex. They need to know how to read and summarize and all the skills to be
successful in college.
B. St. Cyr: We have a new program, which is called the Imagine It Program in Grades 3-5.
Fundamentals of reading are in the early grades and more comprehension, writing, and interpreting
reading are in the higher grades. We tried to increase time in reading and math but we lost 45
minutes in instruction. The national recommendation is 60 minutes of math and 90 minutes of reading
per day. The decision to eliminate Spanish was never a reflection on Mr. Clauss or the program. It
had nothing to do with Mr. Clauss, he is one of the best and his technology skills are up there with his
ability to teach. I agree, I like looking at his website as well.
Kirsti Anderson: I’m also concerned about the leveling changes proposed at Central H.S.
Dr. Littlefield: I agree with everyone. Three (3) years ago, when we were looking at a partnership with
Auburn, we built a French and Spanish program into the curriculum. The issue here is the population
in Candia is so small that we can’t give kids electives. The smaller those numbers are, the more
difficult it is to give choices. If I can’t give it all, I want to error on the side of reading and math skills.
Most kids in the city school I came from spoke Spanish. We did look to see what happened to our kids
when they go to Central. I think there were only 2 or 3 kids that took Advanced Spanish. I haven’t
written off the program offered by the Virtual Learning Academy, which has seen national recognition
and is funded by the State of NH. We are also pursuing the option those students that have mastered
the language arts and math skills the opportunity to continue in the program. You can actually get
H.S. credit for many of these courses. These are difficult choices that we made and it was not a
financial decision. It was a decision made as a result of the performance of our students and the
success rates beyond the Moore School and what we find in the time of instruction in language arts
and math in other schools. I made the recommendation to eliminate the foreign language and it had no
reflection on the teacher. I respect your views and if we were bigger, we could offer more choices for
kids.
M. Madden: It was a hard decision and it was not a financial decision. It came down to more
instructional time and class sizes. If we had the 5 core subjects, we would have classes of 12 kids and
that would not be economical. They need to be in bigger larger classes to get ready for the larger
classes they will have at Central H.S.
Michelle Vincent: We use to have a half-year of Spanish. Now we are going to the other extreme. Can
we give them the option? Before we went to the full year, we had part time. Not all students will pick
Spanish.
I. Byrd: There are subjects we have to teach including Art and Physical Ed which are required.
OLD BUSINESS
Reports of the Administrators
I. Byrd urged staff to seek out better ways to communicate with the whole community.
B. St. Cyr: We are not online yet and we will notify all parents with instructions when ready.
K. Smith thanked Peter for his efforts in keeping the building running and addressing the failed boiler
and suggested looking into a repair/replacement plan for the system.
Dr. Littlefield suggested the Board consider establishing a Building Maintenance Subcommittee to
develop a long-range plan for the preventive maintenance of this building.
SAU 15 and SAU 37 Joint Committee on High School Maintenance – Ed Caito/Karen Smith
Manchester H.S. Committee – K. Smith
Tonight there was a meeting with Mayor Gatsas and representative from the 3 sending districts and
representatives from the Manchester School Board. The last two meetings have focused on issues
with the contract with the sending town where areas of dissatisfaction were highlighted. Tonight’s
meeting focused on the State Education rules. The West issue has been put aside. If the Mayor had
his way, he would love Hooksett to say, yes lets move all students to West. I think the Mayor is trying
to appease the concerns the sending towns have with specific contract issues. The issue of Auburn
and Candia students going to West is off the table.
Dr. Littlefield stated that the newly elected Mayor and the Manchester School Board members seemed
to be more receptive and it appears that we are making some progress.
NEW BUSINESS
New Hampshire Scholars Initiative Program - R. St.Cyr
On December 10, the Administrators met Scott Powers who reviewed this program. This program
requires students to sign a contract and commit to a vigorous course load. Business leaders provide
workshops, etc. We are required to become a NH Scholars District. We will sign a memorandum
agreement and agree to offer a course of study, identify a school coordinator and provide a business
partnership. We encourage the 8th grade students to commit to a vigorous course load in H.S. At our
graduation ceremony, students who sign on to this program will be recognized. There are 40 high
schools participating in this initiative.
Dr. Littlefield: All three (3) Manchester High Schools are NH Scholars Schools and the Manchester
Middle Schools are signed up for the program. We want to give our students exposure and awareness
at the 8th grade level and get the middle school students use to it when they are doing their course
selection for H.S. The Governor and the former Superintendent, Lyonel Tracy have endorsed this. It
appears that this has caught the attention of the Department of Education and for future grants, the
state will get points for the number of school districts that have signed on. The grant structure is being
changed and entitlement grants are being phased out and competitive grants are taking their place.
The motivation is to encourage kids to take challenging courses.
Bob St. Cyr: My understanding is you must maintain the course load and you would be required to
succeed at each level to continue to the next level.
E. Caito motioned to approve and move forward with the program and authorize the
Superintendent to sign the agreement. Seconded by I. Byrd.
Vote unanimously in favor
Dr. Littlefield stated that the intent of this presentation was to show the Board that we take this process
seriously but there is still some work to be done.
I. Byrd motioned to appoint M. Madden to the Central High School Advisory Board. Seconded
by E. Caito.
Vote unanimously in favor
Melissa Lussier and Christina Desjardins are parent reps.
M. Madden asked about the revenue report which was to be put on an excel spreadsheet.
K. Lessard will provide the report next month.
POLICIES
ECAF, EEAE and JICK - 1st Reading
These policies are related to the new bus contract, specifically to video cameras on the buses.
Dr. Littlefield suggested holding a public hearing prior to the March 4th School Board meeting since this
issue involves audio and videotaping of children.
ADJOURNMENT:
E. Caito motioned to adjourn at 9:35 pm. Seconded by D. LeBlond
Vote unanimously in favor.
Respectfully submitted,