A message from Liz Randall, W. Shore Rd., included some pictures taken when Liz and John were here on Columbus Day weekend. They picked out some pumpkins, and went to visit Lauren who turned 20 and is attending Keene State College. That's John carrying the pumpkins; and in front of Randall Hall (appropriate!) are Matt, Lauren and Jason Randall. Jason graduated last spring and Matt is a student at Lyndon State.

There were a couple of things from the Cabot Administrator, Bill Walters: The posting about the UDAG grant deadline having been extended: (see notice on right)

Below, minutes of the WASHINGTON NORTHEAST
SUPERINTENDENT’S POSITION/GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE MEETING at Twinfield Library – 7:00 p.m. Thursday, September 25, 2008

Minutes
Present: Chris Tormey, Karen Mueller-Harder, Helen Morrison, Andy Pomeroy, Jack Hoffman, Carol Amos, Owen Bradley, and Carlene Bellamy
1. Call to Order: Karen Mueller-Harder, Co-Facilitator at 7:35 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes. The committee accepted the minutes of September 10, 2008.
3. Committee Discussion
a. Job Descriptions:
(1) Carlene handed out job descriptions and duty lists. Some of these have been approved by the Board, and some are for the information of the committee. Roles/duties of Superintendent, Business Manager, Special Services Coordinator, Bookkeepers, Special Services Administrative Assistant and Superintendent’s Secretary/Administrative Assistant were discussed. Also discussed was the lack of a “normal” week, i.e., there may be certain aspects that require more time and energy one week than another. This does not happen in a predictable way.
(2) Could the Central Office run with a new interim Superintendent who was contracted to work part-time to provide “oversight”?
No, not very effectively, because the working of the office as a whole is complex and intermeshed with each district in distinctly different ways.
(3) What things cannot be done by anyone other than a licensed Superintendent? If we’re hiring someone to walk us through a change process, how does the Superintendent do that if everything he does presently is required? If we hire an interim, what time will they have to do that, as well? This question has not been answered. The list is given in the booklet handed out by Winton, but it is hard to figure out. For example, is he responsible for making it happen or for actually doing it?
(4) Could the other office staff pick up the workload that would be shifted from the Superintendent, if we tried that?
When Mary Baker left, David absorbed some of her responsibilities. He has the ability, but not the time, unless some things could be shifted away from him.
Accountability for the whole office has also increased dramatically. Carlene is in the same situation as David. If she shed some of the responsibilities currently assigned she could take on other things. The Central Office could possibly cover some of those duties, but it would require shifting of responsibilities.
(5) Was the Business Manager added or was something else dropped?
The position was added because of the workload of business management that had increased due to federal/state reporting, accounting, etc.
(6) Ten years ago we had two Central Office professional staff, now we have 3?
That is correct.
(7) The support staff has also increased by one person.
(8) Schools have also picked up some of the new workload from the state/feds.
(9) In short, the Central Office could only be supported by a part-time Superintendent if the present system was switched. The skill capacity is there, but the time is not.
b. What would people like to see happen, especially in terms of the interim vs. non- interim Superintendent?
(1) Helen said she was open to anything short of a total school merger.
(2) Jack said that Twinfield would like to see an interim with an eye to using the
time to figure out some change. This time might allow us to create a system
that used our ever-decreasing funds better. Perhaps this would involve Cabot, or even other schools as well. We are presently needing to chip away at our program and we need help to keep what we have. Not sure what we end up with, but would like time to figure it out. George could work as an interim, but we might want someone to help us figure it out. Someone new and not inherently invested.
(3) Owen described the need in two parts, Superintendency and “future of the union”. These two things are separate: the Superintendency is a position, and the future is something else. Leadership and governance are separate.
(4) Green Mountain Collaborative: 2 or 3 superintendents collaborated on busses, training, purchases (paper towels), etc.
(5) If someone comes in to help us do some of the things the Green MountainCollaborative does, what do they do after? Where does this leave us with a Superintendent position?
(a) We need a person who can continue to look at the future.
(b) We need someone(s) who can lead us through a leadership process with goals, objectives, and timelines. Schools are in reaction, we need to look up.
(c) Once we have a menu of options to choose from, we make a choice and then pick a Superintendent who can do those things. So the “helper” is a researcher who can provide us with the info we need.

Next steps?
(1) Call the question: Can we live with hiring an interim Superintendent in July 2009 and hiring an expert soon to help us decide governance questions?
The group said yes, very positively.
(2) Definitions:
(a) Interim Superintendent: Day to day operations. We would recommend George. Not sure about the FTE after July 1, 2009.
(b) Vision Person: Expert hired from outside to address governance questions.
(3) We will invite someone from the VSBA to the meeting on October 8th to talk about finding the vision person. Jack will get in contact with them.
(4) The potential timeline would be for a decision to be made by end of this school year so that the vision person’s job description can be written over the summer.
(5) Questions for George/David: How much money do we have in FY09 to contract with VSBA or other consultant to help with the “vision person” search? Could a contract be worked out so that some of the cost could be paid in FY10?

4. The committee adjourned the meeting at 9:03 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted, Joanna S. Brickey, Administrative Assistant

Next Meetings:
Wednesday, October 8th
Cabot School Information Center
Wednesday, October 22nd
Twinfield Union School Library
Wednesday, November 5th
Cabot School Information Center
Wednesday, November 19th
Twinfield Union School Library

Note: For background information about the above, contact Helen Morrison, 801-563-2488.

*****

This photo came from a friend in Cabot . . . it made us smile!
Yep, that's the "honeybucket" in the background - makes you wonder what's on the menu at that "Gourmet Buffet," doesn't it? It is a great shot and I hope it doesn't discourage anyone from attending the church supper on Nov. 7.