The budget was validated.  The results:

Eliot:  yes 586 no 223

South Berwick:  yes 196 no 74

South Berwick’s voter turn out:  5.5%

Last Wednesday evening at the School Board meeting, Superintendent Gail Sullivan presented her FY 11/12 budget proposal to the Board and to the public. She went over the revenue projections, outlined her priorities, and gave a list of proposed cuts. After that meeting, it became the job of the Board of Directors to take her proposal and finalize it.

We started with a budget workshop this past Saturday (something we do every March). From 8:00 am until 4:00 pm we met with each administrator to learn specifically how the proposed budget would impact every school and every department. We heard from all 5 principals, the Athletic Director, the Special Education Director, and the Facilites,Transportation, and Adult Education directors. The budget workshop day is always a day well spent, and this Saturday was no exception.

Next the Board will begin to analyze, to balance and consider and question and deliberate. We must, as always, look at student needs and taxpayer wants. We must continue to care for our assets: our 5 properties, our busses, our fields and of course our staff. We run a $26 million dollar budget, we employ over 300 staff members, and serve almost 2500 students. It’s a big operation.

We very much want to hear from you all during the budget season. Please email us with your opinions and questions. Please also know that you are invited to speak to us at our meetings. For the next several meetings, we will reserve a portion of time right at 7:00 when you may voice your budget concerns without signing up in advance. You need not stay for the entire meeting; once that portion is over, you are free to leave.

Some additional information:
Here are the Board Members’ email addresses:
Ellen Breed – ebreed@msad35.net
Jeff Donatello – jdonatello@msad35.net
Tom Flanigan –  tflanigan@msad35.net
Martha Leathe – mleathe@msad35.net
Laura Leber – lleber@msad35.net
Fred Wildnauer – fwildnauer@msad35.net

Website for the School Board

Timetable for the FY 2012 Budget

Seacoast Online Coverage of Budget (requires registration):
SAD 35 to see 15 layoffs to reach flat budget

The next Board meeting is April 6th at 7:00 pm.  Meetings are generally on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 in The Learning Center at MHS.

Marshwood High School Project Graduation 2011 fundraising is in full swing.

Project Graduation is a chemical free event to celebrate our seniors. This is a gift from the parents and entire community to let our seniors know how proud we are of them.

All Project Graduation expenses are covered by fund raisers:

Mar. 23rd, 6:00 pm-Senior vs. Faculty Basketball Game at MHS
Apr. 4th- Weathervane Restaurant, Kittery-percentage of your check donated
May 13th, 5:30 pm-Project Graduation Community Auction

The Community Auction is our largest fundraiser. There will be a wide variety of auction items for all pocketbooks. This year we will have those “big” ticket items as well as special events and auction items for the much younger shopper!

Please plan on attending any or all the fundraisers. Your presence alone sends a message of pride, “a job well done” to our graduates.

If you have questions or wish to make a donation of any kind, please contact Project Graduation Coordinator, Teri Riendeau, 207-384-5000 or triendeau@comcast.

Ellen Breed was running unopposed for SAD 35 Director from South Berwick.

She received  2227 votes
There were 612 Blanks and 60 write ins

In Kittery:

There has been discussion about tuitioning Kittery students to Marshwood in the last year.  In Kittery, a non binding referendum was on the ballot to seek voter opinion on whether to keep Traip open, rather than tuition students out to another school district.  Kittery voters, by a 2.7 to 1 margin, said they want to keep Traip open.

Corrected with the 2010 agenda:

1.      Discuss Work Plan

Wednesday, January 6
MSAD 35 Board of Directors – Regular Meeting
7:00 p.m. – Marshwood High School
Report of the Chairperson:
1. Board Workshop – January 27, 2010 – 6:30 pm
2. Other
Report of the Superintendent:
1. Tuition Policy Draft
2. Comments/Discussions on Articles for Workshop
3. UNH Study Update
4. Special Education Feasibility Study Update
5. Maine State Superintendent’s Convocation – January 14th & 15th
6. Student Rep Report
7. Fall Athletic Report
8. Other
Report of the Committees:
1. Report of the Finance and Facilities Committee
2. Report of the Educational Policy Committee
3. Report of the Community Relations Committee
New Business:
1. Consideration and action to approve the first reading of policy EF Food Service Program.
2. Consideration and action to approve the first reading of policy KF – Community Use of School Facilities.

Paying tribute to our teachers can come in many forms. One unique way to do so is to make a donation in the name of the special teachers and educators in your child’s life in the form of a Marshwood Education Foundation Trellis Award.  A gift of any amount may be given and would support the funding of innovative educational initiatives in MSAD #35.

The name of the teacher you honor will appear on the MEF website and teachers will receive a special Trellis Award certificate from MEF to inform them of the Trellis gift given in their name. The Trellis Award is a wonderful way to honor our teachers and school employees and contribute to our children’s education. Like all donations to MEF, the Trellis gift is fully tax-deductible.

Parents may make a Trellis Award donation by completing a donation form on the MEF website and checking the Trellis box.  Trellis Awards can be anonymous or given in the name of a student, parent or family.
www.marshwood-education-foundation.org

“Tonight’s awards represent the initial fulfillment of the MEF’s mission to fund creative and innovative education projects within the five Eliot and South Berwick schools,” said Jeff Leathe, MEF president.

“These initial grants focus on energy, life sciences, music, and fitness. This funding will enable our educators and students to enhance ongoing projects and reach beyond their daily curriculum to implement new projects,” Mr. Leathe said.

“Barely a year ago a committed group of people came together to establish the Marshwood Education Foundation. The MEF quickly gained momentum with tremendous business and artisan support. In this initial grant cycle, the MEF received 18 applications. The seven grants announced tonight were selected based upon clarity in goals and objectives, along with uniqueness, number of students and faculty impacted, and alignment with MSAD 35’s curriculum and plans. While not all applicants earned grants, the range and quality we have seen in this – our first grant cycle – is a satisfying compliment to the hard work of our members and the support of our community,”   Mr. Leathe said.

“While tonight’s grants culminate a great first year, we are only beginning and we encourage those who were not selected to resubmit their applications or to create new applications in the next round,” Mr. Leathe said.

MEF grants awarded:

Jeff Gardiner, science teacher at Marshwood High School ($1,500) for his Solar Panel Demonstration Project. The funds will allow Mr. Gardiner and the school’s Recycling Club to purchase three 80W photo voltaic panels for the school’s greenhouse, enhancing the energy curriculum as well as feeding electricity to three science classrooms;

Kate Smith, music teacher at Central Elementary School ($1,500) for her “Junk 2 Funk” Residency Project for Fine Arts Week in April 2010. The funds will bring local artist and educator Jeff Erwin to the school for a six-day residency in which all students will create and play original music using instruments made from recycled materials. Students will learn about the creative and technological aspects of performance art, environmental science, and the science of sound;

Shelley Smith, health and physical education teacher at Marshwood High School ($1,000), for her Personal Fitness Expansion Project. The funds will be used to purchase two Wii Fit systems in order to provide alternative, individualized exercise activities;

Emily Stauffer, science teacher at Marshwood Middle School ($1,000) for her School Garden Project. The funds will be used for tools and a greenhouse, enhancing the life science curriculum, and cultivating awareness, skills and values relating to personal health, community and the environment;

David Graichen, instrumental director at Marshwood High School ($2,600) for his Smart Music Computer Project. The grant will fund the purchase of two iMac computers that provide on-screen feedback to students, and audio recordings to teachers, to improve student performance and assessment in the music program;

Nina D’Aran, guidance counselor at Central School ($870) for her Geocaching Club Project. The funds will support the purchase of four GPS devices, assisting the Club’s mission to enhance third grade mapping skills and promote outdoor education;

Katie Gilpatrick, language arts teacher at Marshwood Middle School ($930), for her Document Reader Project. The funds will be used to purchase a document camera and projector allowing teachers to share instructional materials and students to work more effectively and efficiently.

The MEF is a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt corporation and functions as an independent, non-profit organization of dedicated community members. Two successful fundraising events were held in 2009 – a May kickoff dinner/auction and its first annual Oktoberfest.  The MEF intends to launch a corporate donor campaign this year and is pleased to announce its next Oktoberfest celebration and fundraiser on October 15, 2010.

Tuitioning Policy:
Give us your input…

The MSAD 35 school board is currently considering adopting a new policy that would allow us to accept tuition students to our school district.  This would not be the same thing as tuitioning an entire high school (for example), but would allow the district to accept individual students for tuition.  The state of Maine sets the dollar amount for what we would charge students to attend our schools.

The outlook for our budgets is bleak; we stand to lose a good deal of money from the state of Maine in this current school year, and even more in the next year.  While we do not have exact figures at the moment, the loss could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Tuitioning students would bring in some income.

It is not a simple economic decision, however; the board is looking at all angles of what it would mean to accept tuition students.  We are very protective of our class sizes, to name just one example.  While bringing in students from other districts would give us some added revenue, we want to consider what the entire picture might look like.

We are very interested to hear from you, the public, on this issue.  Please let us know how you feel about the idea of tuitioning students.  You may call us, email us, write us letters; and you are always welcome to attend our meetings.  (Please let the superintendent know if you would like to comment on this issue.  He will put you on the agenda.)

Our emails are as follows:

hcass@msad35.net,
ebreed@msad35.net,
mleathe@msad35.net,
lleber@msad35.net,
tflanigan@msad35.net,
fwildnauer@msaad35.net

Thank you in advance for your time and your consideration.

Oct 21 (Wed) School Board Budget Workshop – Establish Timeline/Parameters

Dec 18 (Fri) Principals/Directors submit budget worksheets, new program requests, facility requests, field trip requests

Jan 6 (Wed) Public Input for Budget Priorities

Jan 20 (Wed) Public Input for Budget Priorities

Feb 24 (Wed) Superintendent Budget to School Board

Mar 13 (Sat) School Board Budget Workshop with Admin Staff

April 7 (Wed) School Board Budget Workshop

April 28 (Wed) School Board Public Input on Budget

May 5 (Wed) S/B Public Input on Budget – School Board approve budget

May 7 (Fri) School Board sign Budget Warrant (Superintendent’s Office)

May 19 (Wed) Consolidated Warrant & Ballots to Town Clerks (at least 7 days prior to Budget Meeting)

May 21 (Fri) Budget mailed to voters (optional)

Jun 2 (Wed) District Budget Meeting (No more than 10 calendar days prior to referendum)

June 8 (Tue) Budget Referendum (Single yes/no question on budget amount decided at Budget Meeting plus question on continuation of Budget Validation Referendum process)

Wednesday, December 2
MSAD 35 Board of Directors – Regular Meeting
7:00 PM – Marshwood High School
On the agenda:
Report of the Chairperson:
1. Luncheon with town officials
2. Board Goals/Workshop]
3. Other
Report of the Superintendent:
1. MEF Grant Awards
2. Interactive White Board Demonstration – Devan Weber, Melanie Dodge
3. Budget Timeline Update
4. Curtailment Order
5. H1N1 Update
6. Professional Development Day – Gail Sullivan
7. Tuition Policy
8. Other
Report of the Committees:
1. Report of the Finance and Facilities Committee
2. Report of the Educational Policy Committee
3. Report of the Community Relations Committee
New Business:
1. Consideration and action to approve the first reading of policy EFE Competitive Food Sales/Sales of Foods in Competition with the School Food Service Program.
2. Consideration and action to approve the first reading of policy EEAEAA Drug and Alcohol Testing of School Bus Drivers.
3. Consideration and action to approve the MHS Girls’ Basketball Booster fundraiser – Flat Bread Pizza.
4. Consideration and action to approve the MHS Girls’ Basketball Booster fundraiser – Foul Shot Shoot-A-Thon.
5. Consideration and action to approve the MHS Girls’ Basketball Booster fundraiser – Concession Table at Recreation Dept. basketball game.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Consideration and action to enter into an Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the Superintendent’s Evaluation pursuant to Title 1A MRSA §405(6)(A).