Attendees: Alison Blaney, Guy Brown, Gina Campot, Cheryl Ecklund, Bob Griffith, Elena Gustavson, George Hall, Cedar Hannan, Barb Hungington-Massucci, Ann Ingerson, Mary-Lou Rylands Isaacson, Gayle Kroeger, Brian Machesney, Paula Masse, Anne Morse, Elinor Osborn, Jen Schoen, Barb Strong, Bob Twiss, Allison Van Akkeren, Abbey Volmer, Katie Williams-Tagai, Edward Tagai, Jeannine Young, Kent Young, Joe Young.
Steering Committee: Stark Biddle, Susan Houston, Harry Miller, Steve Moffatt, Tina Sweet, Perry Thomas, Anne Volmer
Facilitator: Heidi Krantz
Guests: June Cook (Hardwick Gazette)
1. Meeting called to order at 6:30 PM by Heidi Krantz, Facilitator.
2. Opening Remarks – Anne Volmer read the Steering com’s statement of purpose.
3. Approval of minutes of Oct. 1, 2009, meeting:
George Hall moved to accept the minutes as presented, Laura Brown seconded; motion passed.
4. Introduction - Heidi Krantz introduced the process, the Steering Committee’s role.
5. What are the questions?
Attendees gathered around three tables to (individually) write down questions/information needed to make decisions about the school system. (10 minutes) Each table reviewed their questions, eliminating duplicates, combining similar questions.
6. Categories of Topics
As a group, attendees listed the primary categories of topics, limiting themselves to the following eight categories:
a. Economics
b. Alternative Models
c. Grade Configuration
d. Physical Plant
e. In-School Culture
f. School Community Culture
g. Academics
h. Constraints
7. Identifying Topics
The group split up into seven sub-groups, each listing topics under individual categories. The following list resulted.
a. Economics
a. What are the costs of the various building & academic scenarios?
b. How can revenues be raised?
c. What is town willing to pay?
b. Alternative Models
a. What models are possible?
b. How can we make use of existing community resources?
c. Look at creative programs and scheduling within current structure.
c. Grade Configuration
a. What grade configuration do we need/want?
b. How many students will/do make it viable? Predict the future? Enrollment in 20 years?
c. If we change configuration, do we lose control?
d. Physical Plant
a. What does “safety” mean? Safe classrooms, up to code, site?
b. How do we build?
i. Historically accurate
ii. Green
iii. Good learning environment
iv. Playground
v. One campus
e. In-School Culture
a. What elements create an ideal school culture?
b. How do we achieve them?
f. School Community Culture
a. How important is the school to the community?
b. How important is community involvement in the school?
g. Academics
a. Are the Craftsbury schools providing the education our children need?
b. Lifelong learning, mentally, emotionally, physically.
h. Constraints
a. How do we address state and federal mandates?
b. Are we restricted by teachers’ union?
8. Wrap up: The Steering Committee will organize the questions, topics and information, and
graphically represent the frequency of topics among the larger group. Information will be on
the blog to enable stakeholders to review before the next meeting in 2 weeks.
9. Meeting adjourned 8:10 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joannie Stinson, Scribe
Monday, November 30, 2009
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