Aug. 4th Minutes

Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting

of

RSU #74 Board of Directors

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

6:00 p.m.

At

Carrabec Community School

Troy Dunphy, Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.

Directors Present: Troy Dunphy, Judi Dunphy, Heather Longley, Grace Carreiro, Pamela Mitchell, Larry Dunphy, Eric Ewing, Kevin Sousa, Bobbi Sue Harrington, Valerie Pinkham, Robert Lindblom, Laura Layman, and Deron Whittemore.

Directors absent with notification: Amy Price

Directors Absent without notification: Danika Bates

Staff Members Present: 16

Students Present: 0

Citizens Present: 8

Agenda Item #1 ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA

Troy noted to move public comment directly after Mr. Tracy’s Report.

Agenda Item #2 TO SEE IF THE BOARD WILL APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING OF JULY 7, 2021.

Upon motion by Eric Ewing and seconded by Larry Dunphy the Board voted by unanimous consent to approve the minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of July 7, 2021 with edits.

Agenda Item #3 PRESENTATIONS: None

Agenda Item #4 REPORTS:

A.) Superintendent’s Report - Mr. Tracy spoke about vaccinated staff information, hiring for open positions in the district, and described what the Back to School Plan looks like.

1. Appointments:

Marie Beaulieu – CHS Custodian

D’Ann Luce – Second Grade Teacher - GSS

2. Resignations:

Brittany Dunham – Fourth Grade Teacher – GSS

Heidi Atwood – Secretary - GSS

3. Nominations: None

B.) Administrators: Written Reports were mailed to Board members and are available online at www.carrabec.org.

C.) Committees: None

Agenda Item #5 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

On behalf of the RSU #74 Board of Directors, I want to make it clear that we encourage public comment during the Public Comment portion of this meeting. There are restrictions, however, on what is allowed to be discussed publicly. Those comments are limited to policy and procedures in general terms.

Comments or complaints that may pertain to personnel and/or personnel issues should be raised through RSU #74 School Board Policy JII/KI/GBK. This policy outlines the procedures to be followed.

Each individual choosing to speak tonight will be provided with 3 minutes so that we can hear from as many members of the public as possible.

The RSU #74 Board of Directors will follow RSU #74 School Board Policy BEDH/KD in that public participation will be limited to no more than 30 minutes in total length and that all comments at a regular meeting may deal with any topic related to the Board of Directors’ conduct of the schools. The Board of Directors shall give due attention to comments and contributions from the audience but shall not respond or take any immediate action.”

For those who wish to participate, please note that in order to keep things running smoothly, we do have a number of guidelines that people need to follow when making public comment. Those include the following:

1. Please address your thoughts to me, the Chair, and the rest of the School Board.

2. We expect all members of the public to remain civil during the public comment period. This includes the speaker, as well as members of the audience. This means you may not share gossip, make defamatory comments, or use abusive or vulgar language.

3. Individuals should not provide thoughts/reactions/commentary unless recognized by the Chair. We request that you do not clap, boo, or provide similar reactions.

4. Comments about specific individuals, including students and school employees, have the potential to violate the rights of those individuals, and will not be tolerated.

If the Board has specific procedures or policies with respect to the matter on which you are commenting, I may redirect you to those policies rather than allow you to continue. If another commenter discusses the issue you wish you discuss, you may address the Board, but please try to reduce repetition.

Please note that if you violate these rules or exceed the time allotted to you, I may give you a warning or ask you to stop. If you choose to continue, you will be asked to leave and escorted out.

On behalf of the Board, we appreciate your interest and look forward to hearing from you. I will now recognize the first speaker – are there any individuals present that would like to address the Board?

The public asked the following questions:

A parent asked about busing and if there were enough drivers for more than one bus to service New Portland?

Lorie Agren said that we had two buses covering New Portland and that there were enough drivers.

A question was asked that if a child was exposed to COVID-19, are they required to get tested?

Mr. Tracy answered no.

A parent asked that if they had two children in separate grades if they could still sit together on the bus?

Mr. Tracy said they could.

She then asked during contract tracing, if the child would need proof of vaccination.

Mr. Tracy said no.

A Parent asked about replacing the Technology Teacher that was retiring, and why we were not.

Mr. Tracy explained how the position was cut from the budget, and that there is technology taught in the classrooms.

She then asked about substitute teachers getting the same training regular teachers were.

Mr. Tracy said that he would do some research on it.

A parent wanted to thank Mr. Tracy for giving students and parents the choice of wearing masks and getting kids back to school full-time.

A question was asked that if a child was out of school because they were a close contact, are there accommodations for remote learning.

The answer was yes.

Agenda Item #6 TO SEE IF THE BOARD WILL APPROVE THE LIVE STREAMING OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS

Upon motion by Laura Layman and seconded by Bobbi Sue Harrington the Board voted 4-9 to the live streaming of School Board Meetings. Motion failed.

Agenda Item #7 TO SEE IF THE BOARD WILL ELECT A DELEGATE AND ALTERNATE DELEGATE FOR THE MAINE SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION.

Upon motion by Larry Dumpy and seconded by Judi Dunphy the Board voted by unanimous consent to elect Troy Dunphy as Delegate and Deron Whittemore as Alternate Delegate for the Maine School Board Association.

The Board Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 6:54 pm.

______________________________

Michael Tracy

Superintendent