SCHOOL BOARD UPDATE

SCHOOL BOARD UPDATE – BETH FRANKLIN, CHAIR

The school year seems to be zooming to a close, and several very important milestones have been crossed. First of all, the Town Council unanimously approved the school budget for FY2011. If approved by the voters at the Budget Validation Referendum on June 8th, the mil rate will remain flat for another year, in spite of reductions in state general purpose aid. As I’ve stated many times in the past, getting to a flat mil rate proposal required a huge amount of budget scrutiny on the part of our administrators as well as sacrifices by every person working in the district.

The June election also gives voters an opportunity to decide whether or not they want to continue voting on the school budget versus reverting back to giving the Town Council final approval authority. Three years ago, the consolidation law mandated that taxpayers be given an opportunity to vote on their school’s budget. The law also mandated that the choice of whether or not to continue with a vote by all of a town’s taxpayers would be revisited every three years. Our three years are up, so Falmouth citizens will be asked on June 8th to vote for continuing to hold a BVR or to go back to giving final approval authority to the Town Council.

The other big news from this past month is that Gregg Palmer, currently the principal of Searsport District High School, will be joining the team as the new Falmouth High School Principal. Supt. Barbara Powers informed us that Gregg was the unanimous choice of the interview committee and brings a wealth of experience and talent to the position. Gregg has been recognized for his expertise on standards-based education in a high school setting, and the initiative he undertook at Searsport brought his school statewide recognition. We are delighted to have such a quality candidate for this important position and look forward to working with Gregg in the years ahead. I’d also like to thank the search committee for their participation and contributions to this intensive process: Jack Hardy, Sue Palfrey, Mike Casey, Elizabeth Lupien, Louise Little, Jon Radtke, Lynn Harder, Dan Bennett, Nisu Seder, Karen Lechner, Susan Smith, Zareh DerHagopian, Maggie Parrish, Analiese Larson, Andy Kinley, and Barbara Powers.

Workshop on 5/3: Athletic and Co-Curricular Participation Fees:

The School Board will hold its regularly scheduled workshop meeting on Monday, May 3rd, and will consider the proposed structure for athletic and co-curricular participation fees. The proposal currently is for a two-tiered approach at both the high school and middle school. At the high school, the fee for cross country and indoor and outdoor track will be $100; all other sports will be $175. At the middle school, a similar structure is proposed with the two fees of $50 and $100. This fee structure recognizes the necessity of generating sufficient income to maintain all athletic programs at a basic level of funding that includes coaching stipends, officials fees, some supplies and some transportation. A separate flat annual co-curricular fee will be instituted in the middle and high schools. As with all new constructs, we recommend that this model be evaluated after one year to assess the impact of these fees to the athletic teams and determine what, if any, adjustments need to be made.

The subcommittee responsible for the participation fee model has made several other recommendations to the administration that do not require board approval, but for which the public should be aware. These include:

* All registrations for athletic teams will go through the community programs registration system.

* First teams will be funded in the budget like all other teams. The existence of first teams for a given sport will be at the discretion of the Athletic Director, and the decision process will include the number of student athletes interested, the availability of opposing squads to schedule, and the overall availability of funds in the athletic budget. This may require changes to current board policy.

* All athletic and co-curricular events for which gate money exists will be collected by a representative of the school system and these moneys will go to support the respective athletic and co-curricular budgets. Areas that these moneys will fund include: financial support for student participants, additional equipment or capital needs for specific teams not otherwise available in the budget, and additional support when needed for first teams.

There has been a wide array of feedback of this and other proposed fee structures and its potential impact on the participation of student athletes. Some of this feedback against this structure includes:

* Students on some JV and/or first teams already have less opportunities than the varsity athletes and may not participate with such a fee;

* Leveling the fee at $175 does not seem fair when some of these sports costs far less than others; and,

* The teams that will be most impacted by the introduction of a fee will be the “no-cut” sports where participation is based more on recreation than competition.

Other Significant Policy Considerations, or “What’s in a Name?”

Also on the schedule for Monday evening will be proposed new and revised policy directives to the superintendent guiding acceptance of donations, naming rights, advertising, and everything else related to generous individual, group, and corporate financial and in-kind support to the district. The policies under consideration are:

FF: Naming Facilities

KCD: Public Gifts/Donations to the School

KMB: Student Awards and Scholarships

KJA: Policy on Outdoor Advertising – School Department Athletic Fields

KHB: Advertising in the Schools or on School Department Property for Greater Than One Month’s Time

Please come and listen if you would like to understand the background regarding development or revision of these draft proposals, which will guide gifts to the new facility and fields as well as the existing schools. The first reading of the revised or new policies will be held on Monday, May 17 during the regular board meeting. Public comment will be invited during the workshop.

Lunt School to Address Daycare Needs of Kindergarten Children:

Principal John Flaherty and the kindergarten teachers at Lunt School are very excited to finally be able to offer on-site enrichment/daycare for kindergarten students, allowing them to remain at school full days rather than attending more traditional daycare for a comparable cost. The program will be called “The Lunt School Play and Learn: An Enrichment Daycare Experience for Kindergarteners.” While many schools have been able to offer all day kindergarten, there has not been space available at the primary school until now, when one classroom space will be newly available. The purpose of the kindergarten extension program is to offer parents sessions running opposite their 2-1/2 day session.

As Mr. Flaherty writes in the descriptive brochure, which is about to be distributed: “The plan is to engage the children in many hands-on experiences, some educational in nature, and others that are art/music/physical education in nature. There will also be opportunities for field experiences and/or guest programs. Volunteers will be encouraged. This is not intended to represent an all-day kindergarten program. The activities will extend our present kindergarten curricula, yet is not intended to teach new skills. The intent is to enrich what the children learn in their regular kindergarten program.”

He further explains that the program will be licensed as a daycare. Registration materials and fee schedules will be released very soon. If more than thirty families register, a lottery will likely take place as space is limited by availability.

Once Falmouth Elementary School opens in the fall of 2011, space will no longer be a concern. Financing this experience for all, however, will require close monitoring through the 2011-2012 budget development process. This pilot year will help inform future program direction for an all day learning experience for Falmouth’s youngest students.
School Board Candidates:

On June 8th, Falmouth will elect two new citizens to the Falmouth School Board, and four individuals have filed to run. They are Audrey Grassman, Marna Miller, Chris Murry, and David Snow. Information should be forthcoming in the local newspapers concerning their backgrounds and perspectives.