Mount Desert School Department
Mount Desert School Committee
Minutes
DRAFT
The Mount Desert School Committee held a meeting on Wednesday, 6 January 2010, with the following
members present: Chair Heather Jones, Brian Reilly, and Laura Hendricks
Absent: Gail Marshall and Charlie Wray
Also present were Scott McFarland, Rob Liebow, Joanne Harriman, Mia Brown, Sumner Rulon-Miller,
and Pat Foster
CALL TO ORDER
Heather Jones called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Tabled to the February meeting
PUBLIC COMMENT
Sumner Rulon-Miller made the following points:
1) The selectmen were looking at the possibility (through talks with union representatives) of wage
freezes for next year for town employees.
2) Would like to continue to explore the concept of becoming a charter or independent school in
light of state assessment requirements and loss of state subsidy.
3) Encourage more exploration and implementation of green resources.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Principal McFarland presented his report (see attached Principal’s Report)
DISCUSSION ITEMS
• Boiler Repair Update – Principal McFarland informed the committee that he was waiting for a
representative of the company that manufactures the boiler to come and look at the repairs
necessary to see if another repair option exists. Also waiting for prices and information on any
new boilers that would be more efficient
ACTION ITEM:
• Principal McFarland presented his budget proposal for fiscal year 2010-2011.
MOVED by Laura Hendricks, seconded by Brian Reilly and unanimously voted to adopt the
2010-2011 school budget in the total amount of $3,109,649 (1.93% increase).
DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF NEXT MEETING
February 3, 2010 at 4:00 P.M. at Mount Desert Elementary School
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
• Boiler repair update
• Middle School assessment retreat update
• Solar panels
ADJOURNMENT
MOVED by Brian Reilly, seconded by Laura Hendricks and unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting
at 5:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Scott McFarland
Mount Desert Elementary School
Principal’s Report
January 6, 2010
• Our Robotics team recently participated in the state meet and placed 30th out of 50
teams represented.
• Our students in grades 58 recently attended an abbreviated version of “The
Nutcracker” at the Grand in Ellsworth.
• Brian Cote is currently in the final stages of the National Teacher Certification
process. This is a long and arduous procedure that involves various layers of
scrutiny for final certification and represents Brian’s commitment and dedication to
the process.
• Our middle school (core academic) teachers will be participating in a 2day
assessment retreat. (Attached with email)
• Status on goals – Currently we are in the process of scheduling NWEA testing for
those students that have math intervention plans. These test results will be used to
assess the plans in place for those students. We have also asked teachers to submit
their unit plans so that a gap analysis can be completed.
• Our annual winter concert went well and was well attended. A special thank you to
Ned Ferm and Mary Booher who did a wonderful job filling in for Heather Graves
during the time she was out.
• Our 7th grade students will be joining other 7th grade students from MDIRSS in an
Eel Grass Restoration Project Summit at The MDI Bio Lab. Dr. Jane Disney has been
working with Brian Cote and our 7th grade students studying the importance of eel
grass and its restoration.
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