The Kent Board of Education held its regular meeting on Thursday, November 5, 2009.  Present were:  Chairman Karren Garrity, presiding, Kendra Galusha, Scott Harvey, Tracy Horosky, Carol Kallstrom, Patti Leo, Superintendent of Schools Patricia Chamberlain, Principal Rima McGeehan;  also present was teacher Lee Sohl and one member of the press.

An awards ceremony and reception was held in honor of the 2009-2010 KCS Scholars.

Karren Garrity called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m.

1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA:  Carol Kallstrom made a motion to:

            Approve the agenda as presented.

The motion was seconded by Patti Leo and approved unanimously.

2.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Patti Leo made a motion to:

            Approve the minutes of the October 1, 2009 meeting, as written.

The motion was seconded by Tracy Horosky and approved unanimously.

3.  COMMUNICATIONS:  a) High School Student Report:  Senior Jesse Cox spoke about how pleased he is with the change in climate at the high school over the past year.  He, along with a small group of students, will attend a diversity workshop next week.  He also reported briefly on his year in Germany as an A.S.F. student.

b) Comments  - None

c) Written – Karren Garrity presented a written letter of resignation from the Board of Education as she will now serve on the Board of Selectmen. 

Tracy Horosky, as a parent, community member, and board member, thanked Karren for all the energy she put into this board.  Rima McGeehan, on behalf of KCS, thanked Karren and congratulated her on being elected to the Board of Selectmen.

4.   PRINCIPAL’S REPORT:  Dr. McGeehan – In addition to her written report attached, Rima McGeehan gave a brief report on the Strategic School Profile and provided a CMT analysis showing strengths and weaknesses.

5.   COMMITTEE REPORTS:  a) High School Report: Stephanie O’Rourke’s

b) Building Committee – Scott Harvey will provide a wish list for capital projects at the December meeting.
           
c) Budget:  Carol Kallstrom and Tracy Horosky will meet to begin the budget process.

d) All Boards Chair – Patti Leo

 e) Healthy Choices – The Board was provided with a colored copy of the Healthy Choices Matrix.

f)  Math Curriculum – Kendra Galusha will do independent research on math curriculum.  Attention will focus on kindergarten through grade 6 and its connection to grades 7 & 8.

6.  SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS’ REPORT:  a) Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain

7. OLD BUSINESS:  a) 2009-2010 BOE Goals – Carol Kallstrom made a motion to:

                  Adopt the following five goals for 2009-2010:  1) Going Green, 2) Healthy        Choices  Curriculum, 3) Community Education – ongoing,  4) School  Visits, and
5) Region 1 Connections.

      The motion was seconded by Patti Leo and approved unanimously.

      b)  The Board received a draft of the World Language Position Statement for review.  A new draft will be submitted for the December meeting.

     8. NEW BUSINESS:  Karren Garrity appointed Kendra Galusha to the nominating           committee at the December meeting.
 
      9. COMMENTS:  Kendra Galusha, Tracy Horosky, Michelle Mott, and Rima       McGeehan visited a science school in Cheshire.  Their findings were that KCS is equivalent to the specialized science school.  It was worthwhile to gain perspective on how good KCS is.  We could use some of the organizational tools we saw implemented at Cheshire.

      10. Adjourn:  Carol Kallstrom made a motion to:

            Adjourn at 9:27 p.m.

The motion was seconded by Patti Leo.

Barbara Lynch
Secretary to the Board

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