January 7th Meeting Notes

In attendance:  Jen Prue, Kate Dodge, Frank Twarog, Ali Douglas, Kim Gordon, Carla Wuthrich, Aaron Kimball, Renee Durochia, Jim Goldsmith, Keith Roberts, Sarah Murphy, Alicia Veit, Heidi Bouchard, Alyssa Lasher, Bob Goudreau.

School Board Presentation

·      Keith Roberts is a member of the HCS school board and an HCS parent.

·      The HCS school board oversees policy and establishes the budget presented to voters in March.  There are 5 board members and they work with the administrators from HCS and at CSSU.  One member of the SU (if not more) attends school board meetings along with HCS administration.

·      Budget process begins in the fall (November) for the board.   They meet twice monthly until January (at which point they have a draft budget to print and begin sharing).

·      January 27^th the budget will be finalized for this year. Meetings start at 6 pm and meet in the Wainer room (next to the library). Meetings are posted on the school’s website.

·      For the last several years, the board has utilized “budget buddies” to help review and participate in the budget making process. To be a budget buddy, you must be a Hinesburg resident and able to attend all board meetings. This year there are 5 budget buddies.

·      Anyone is welcome (and encouraged) to attend from the community.

·      A handout was shared from the budget forum (and will be posted on the website).

·      Things to look at: School Quality Standards (Dept of Ed’s standard for number of teachers per class). Links to the board’s website and at the DOE website.

·      Baseline budget is a budget that forecasts the needs and services for the school for the next year (based on the current year’s information).

·      Function Summary and Object Summary budgets shared (see handout for more information).

·      Overall town tax rates are only minimally impacted by the local level (school board, etc) and are more impacted by the state level.  The property values (collectively) in Hinesburg are closer to the appraisal rate done in 2006; which is beneficial for supporting a school budget based on the state’s tax distribution.

January 29^th at 7 pm is the final budget meeting. The more people that can come to the HCS budget meeting March 11^th at 7 pm in the gym, the better.

The process is unique in Hinesburg in that it is an individual vote and not an Australian ballot.

PIE Committee Updates:

·      Fundraising Committee:

o   The second spring disbursement of PIE funds to teachers will go out January 15^th.  $4,200 will be split between all 23 teachers (they can use the money as they see fit to support their classroom).

o   Fundraising committee would like to use PIE funds to purchase a sandwich board to help with advertising events in front of the school.  The cost is $350. Those in attendance agreed to this purchase.

o   Agreed that Staff Appreciation will buy a new Keurig machine in the near future and Jim will follow up with Deb Bisonnette about also buying a larger coffee maker for use at bigger events.

o   We are busily planning a pancake breakfast and basket raffle fundraiser. Save the date, March 9^th!

o   The Hinesburg Community Resource Center has shared that they are no longer able to fund the lunch program for the summer school program. Kate will contact Laura to find out more.

o   Current Box Top challenge is class vs.- class for a pizza party and hat day…send in those Box Tops and stay tuned for winners to be announced!

·      K-2 (Primary Grades): 

o   The second grade did “Where the Wild Things Are” which was a grand success.

o   Kindergarten has received the 5 iPads from the PIE grant.

o   Kindergarten is going to Skippy John Jones at the end of the month at the Flynn Theatre.

o   The Kindergarten teachers have published a digital wish list in order to raise money for I-Pad covers and various apps.  Digital wish list can be found on their blogs.

·      Grades 3-5 (Intermediate Grades):

o   Media unit beginning in 5^th grade.

o   January 15^th there will be multiple 4^th grade performances around the various Greek Gods.  The plays will start at 6 pm in the gym.

o   The band will have a performance at the end of the month.

·      Grades 6-8:

o   Young Writers Project is happening in middle school.   This allows same aged peers from across the state to comment on the written work done by HCS students.

o   Play practice started today for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The play is April 12 and 13^th.

·      Staff Appreciation:

o   The staff appreciation day was well received (a thank you card was passed around). Thank you again to Joy Madden (a HCS parent who works at Cynthia’s Day Spa) for donating her time to provide chair massages to teachers throughout the day.

Upcoming Events:

·      January 10^th (Thursday), Bob is hosting a community coffee hour to talk about security precautions in the wake of the school shooting in CT. There will be one 8:30-9:30 am and 6-7 pm at night in the flex space.

·      March 9^th is the date slated for the pancake breakfast (the next PIE fundraiser).

·      Jan. 14 and 29 are upcoming school budget meetings.

·      March 11^th is the school budget meeting where we vote.

·      April 12 and 13 will be the school’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Help Wanted:

·      Cafeteria needs help on Tuesdays in the morning chopping vegetables.

·      Pat O’Brien needs help with typing student work. pobrien@cssu.org

·      Betsy Knox (bknox@cssu.org) has a one-time project that’ll take about 2 hrs. on a Friday afternoon.  She would be able to work with/be nearby so you wouldn’t be alone doing it….

Task includes:

·      Making nice neat posters from my messy work with children

·      Creating labels on sentence strips.

·      Hanging posters on wall in my room.

·      Sorting books and returning to folders

·      Organization of materials.

PIE Meetings to be held on the first Monday of the month at 6 pm  
(Next meeting February 4^th)