The meeting began with the normal Call to Order, Agenda Review, and Flag Salute. The first Community Comments portion of the meeting included no comments.
The Consent Agenda included the approval of a warrant, contracts, and approval of meeting minutes.
The Reports to the Board portion of the meeting included:
– Superintendent Report – Discussed preparations for start of new school year, summer grant management, and concerns with Federal funding that have now been released. Also provided policy notifications regarding points of contact regarding various non-discrimination programs, attendance, and the harassment, hazing, and bullying policy. Finally, a VT Education Transformation update was given. Please see the summary in the packet provided through the link above.
– Operations Report – Introduced possible options if Federal ESSER funds that are currently being held back (~$590,000 in capital project spending and ~$470,000 in student services provided through Esser Funding). Also received legal claim from roofing subcontractor for $19,130. Primary roof contractor indicated that work they did was ~$7,000 worth but would not qualify for required warranty so the work had to be redone by primary contractor. MTSD is indemnified from any claims by this subcontractor.
– Committee Reports – A brief report of the Strategic Committee meeting that preceded the school board meeting was provided.
The Presentations portion of the meeting included a presentation of the “Literacy Tree.” Presented a Literacy Proficiency proposal using Education Reserve Funds through “Literacy Tree.” Program is for students that are not reading at grade level. Goal of the program is to address one national skill literacy gap in 12 weeks for each child or you don’t pay for that child. The pilot will target 45 students for 12 weeks at $2,495/student that will equate to a total program pilot cost of $122,466.
The Discussion portion of the meeting included:
– Review of Student Handbooks discussed.
– Esser Fund Holdback discussion of where to use funds to cover Federal Esser funds if not covered by Federal government as expected.
– Policy First Reads for:
o B1 Substitute Teachers (Required) – No Discussion
o B8 Electronic Communications (Required) – No Discussion
o C1 Student Records (Required) – No Discussion
o C5 Firearms (Required) – No Discussion
o C28 Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students (Recommended) – Lengthy comments were provided by two board members. See LCATV video for their comments.
– Policy Final Reads:
o A43 Board Conduct (MTSD Only) – Lengthy comments were provided by two board members. See LCATV video for their comments.
– Conflict of Interest Claim – Board member Allison Duquette once again received several “Formal Complaints” based on policy A1: Board Member Conflict of Interest. A short discussion was held after board members reviewed the claims before a later vote on whether to hold a formal hearing during the Action Items portion of the meeting.
– VSBA Fall Conference – discussed attendance by board members.
– PTA Fair – Discussed having a booth with board members taking shifts.
– Final Discussion of Action Items – Lengthy comments were provided by two board members regarding the Policy Approval for D8 Selection of Library Materials (Required). See LCATV video for their comments.
The second Community Comments portion of the meeting included several comments from teachers and community members relating to the complaint against the school board member, the Selection of Library Materials policy, the Gender and Non-Conforming Students policy, among other topics. See LCATV video for their comments.
The Action Items portion of the meeting included:
– Literacy Tree – Pilot was approved using Education Reserve Funds.
– Policy Approvals:
o D8 Selection of Library Materials (Required) – Approved by 3-2 vote.
o C12 Title IX (Required) – Approved.
o F5 Behavior Threat Assessment (Required) – Approved.
– Conflict of Interest Claim – By a vote of 2-2 to proceed to a hearing the motion did not pass.
– Superintendent authorization to reassign staff was granted.
– Appointed the school principles to be truancy officers for each school.
The Board Comments portion of the meeting included a reminder to do homework for the board retreat from Karen. Melinda made a statement regarding board members being “attacked” on social media and a willingness to talk to anyone. Allison made a statement indicating that she’d be just as disgusted if the book she read was about straight sex and not gay sex. She further indicated that she took the State’s ethics training although it apparently isn’t required for school boards, but she believes it should be. Finally, she indicated that she was made aware of an email that went out to the faculty from the MESA union president, and after some of the comments made tonight, that it makes her as a mother and community member feel really uncomfortable about sending her son back to school. Although she homeschools her son, she has reenrolled him in a class but is regretting the decision after seeing how the union has targeted her over a policy disagreement. Jeremy is looking forward to school sports starting again. Scott is also looking forward to sports and students being back in the school. He too reiterated a willingness to talk to anyone.
An Executive Session concluded the night.