The Rest of the Story (School District Warrant Articles for 2017)

This blog completes the School District portion of the Warrant Articles you will see at the Deliberative Session on February 4, 2017 in the high school cafeteria.  At that meeting, citizens have an opportunity to "deliberate" on the Warrant Articles.  The final version of these Warrant Articles will go to the voters on March 14 in the middle school gym.

Warrant Article Number 4 is a vote to approve a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with our support staff:  paraprofessionals, secretaries, custodians, payroll, financial assistant, and food service workers.  This contract is for two years and includes changes to their current health insurance plan. The total cost of this agreement in year one is $86, 114 and in year two, $78, 528- a modest amount for the wonderful services these employees provide.

(Recommended by the School Board:  Yes-5; No-0)

(Recommended by the Budget Committee:  Yes-3; No-2)

Warrant Article Number 5 asks voters to approve a special meeting if Number 4 is defeated.

Warrant Article Number 6 asks voters to approve spending $214,000 from the Capital Reserve Funds for some needed maintenance work and other items to include: upgrading two bathrooms at the elementary school; purchase math books; and upgrade our wireless system. The cameras at the elementary school would increase from 24 to 40 and would be digital instead of analog -similar to the high school and middle school cameras. These cameras are a part of our District’s safety plan.  This warrant article amount is the same amount requested last year from the voters.

(Recommended by the School Board:  Yes- 4; No-0)

(Recommended by the Budget Committee: Yes-5; No-1)

Warrant Article Number 7 asks the voters to approve $50,000 to be placed in the Equipment, Facilities Maintenance, and Replacement Capital Reserve Fund from the undesignated fund balance at the end of the school year.  This Capital Reserve Fund is the one in which we pay for all of our maintenance projects costing more than $10,000 and includes everything from furnace work to painting to grounds keeping to repairs and replacement of plumbing fixtures! If something goes wrong in the district- it usually falls on maintenance to take care of it.  This would allow us to begin building a savings fund for those unexpected emergencies that seem to happen at the worst times (just like in our homes!).

(Recommended by the School Board: Yes-5; No-0)

(Budget Committee vote on recommendation: Yes-3; No-3) 

Warrant Article Number 8 concerns a resource that we have been working on with the town of Raymond over the last year.  Raymond is in need of replacing the current water sources in town and a viable supply of pristine water has been found on high school property.  The School Board is asking the voters to approve an easement between the School District and the town of Raymond in order for this well project to go forward.

Warrant Article Number 9 is an advisory article for the School Board and asks the voters whether they approve the outsourcing of our food services. The School Board would like to hear from the voters on this topic.

As always, I am thankful to the citizens of Raymond for their support and for voicing your opinion by voting on these important warrant articles.

Warrant Articles for 2017 Voters' Consideration

The School District has several Warrant Articles for the voters to consider this year. I would like to explain each of these (other than the first warrant article which is the election of Board members) to give everyone an idea of how these warrant articles originated and some information on the details of each article.  This week, I will write about two of the warrant articles and will continue this next week.

Warrant Article Number 2 is a request for a bond to add an addition at the Lamprey River Elementary School that consists of 12 classrooms and a gym. If this is approved, the portables will be removed and space will be available for special education needs, guidance offices, physical education classes, and the nurse's office.  Some renovations will also be done to the entrance and office area.  The "temporary" portables (some of these are over 30 years old!) will be gone and will no longer be an expense (rental fees and maintenance issues).  The bond amount requested is $9,425,000.
The Building Committee has determined the following reasons for asking for this bond:  overcrowding, lack of special education areas (four teachers share a room and meet with students in the hallway); some physical education classes held in classrooms (after students move desks and chairs out of the way); inadequate nursing facilities (no facilities for special needs students and no shower); closets that are being used for guidance offices; and drop-off and pick-up issues.  Add to these issues is that LRES was built completely in a flood plain.  The plan calls for flood proofing the original building with a FEMA approved dry flood proofing material. The new addition will be built out of the flood plain and in accordance with the town regulations. The discussion about the elementary school has been on-going for many, many years and this warrant article provides voters with an opportunity to be a part of the discussion.

(Recommended by the School Board:  Yes-4; No-0)

(Recommended by the Budget Committee:  Yes-4; No-3)

Warrant Article Number 3 concerns the Raymond School District’s Operating Budget.  This is the money raised each year to pay salaries and benefits, purchase supplies and books, and buy everything else from food to heating oil to electricity!  The Operating Budget for the 2017-2018 school year was approved by the School Board and the Budget Committee at $23,893,248.      
This huge number comes after much work on the part of the Principals, the Facilities Director, Food Service Director, Special Education Director, Technology Director, the Superintendent, our School Board, the Budget Committee, and our Business Administrator, Ron Brickett, who begins the process by calculating the cost of the district employees.  This includes all employees from administrators to teachers to special education aides to kitchen help to custodians.  Our schools are a business and all of these wonderful employees help us to be successful.
Next, we look at expenses for the coming year.  For the 2017-2018 year our largest "bill" is contractual obligations- those things we must pay due to contracts we have signed.  This includes such things as transportation costs; student tuition for both special education students and those who attend the Seacoast School of Technology; and rising health insurance costs.  We also have to take our best “guess” about the cost of oil, electricity, insurances, and unanticipated emergencies such as snow removal, furnace repairs etc. When all the increases were added together it came to $718,290 over the current budget!  After making cuts and adjustments, the budget that is proposed is an increase of $365, 447 (a 1.6% increase) over the current year’s budget. All of the department administrators worked extremely hard to create a budget that provides the best education for our students at the lowest possible cost.  If this does not pass, the default budget will be $23,864,888.

(Recommended by the School Board:  Yes-4; No-0)

(Recommended by the Budget Committee:  Yes-5; No-0; Abstain-2)

Coming Next Week

This is an announcement of some upcoming meetings that might interest you.  We are deep into the budget process and have worked very hard on the budget for the 2017-2018 school year, as well as, other warrant articles that voters will  see on the ballot in March.

This week, the Budget Committee voted on two items:  the operating budget for the next school year in the amount of $23,893,248.  The vote was Yes-5, No- 0 and Abstain-2. 

The Budget Committee also voted on the bond to build an addition to the elementary school in the amount of $9,425,000.  The vote was Yes-4 and No-3.

The Budget Committee has not finished their work and there are upcoming meetings this next week.  At 6:00 on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, there is a Public Hearing on the bond for the elementary school addition.  Members of the Building Committee and the Contractor will be there to give a presentation and answer questions.  This meeting will take place in the high school Home Economics room 109 (on the bottom floor of the high school near the cafeteria).

On Thursday, January 19, 2017 the Budget Committee will deliberate on the rest of the School District's Warrant Articles that include:  a Collective Bargaining Agreement for the RESS (our support staff); Capital Reserve Funds; and the Undesignated Reserve Fund.

In the coming weeks, I will be writing in depth on all of these items.

Making Decisions

I have a new perspective on the New Year this year.  I always see it as a time to reflect and to also decide if I really need that New Year's Resolution!  This year I was much more introspective as I had been out sick for several weeks.  There's nothing like being confined to bed to get one thinking!  Some of what I thought about included:

• Families- how important they are to our general well-being.
• My children- all at a good place in life and making me feel much better about tough parental decisions I'd made while they were young!
• My grandchildren- what will life be like for them as adults- are we creating enough educational experiences for them to be successful?  
•  Life after retirement- am I really going to like this? or will I regret this difficult, emotional decision?

I also realized that our entire lives are filled with making decisions- some easier than others. We've all had those, "OH, no, what was I thinking?" moments, as well as, times when we made a decision that was well-thought out.  Over the next month, the people of Raymond have many difficult decisions to make concerning their town and their schools.  Once I have all of the information needed to help everyone make these thoughtful decisions, I will be writing about the warrant articles that you will see this year.  These are important determinations and I hope that many, many voters will turn out to vote and to make these decisions.

College Preparation at RHS

My name is Shawna Stilian, the College and Career Counselor at Raymond High School, and I have the pleasure of writing a guest blog this week to let you know a little bit about what I do here in Raymond and what the students have been working on.

This is a new position here at the high school, it has definitely been a learning experience for me, but it has been a wonderful experience so far meeting all of the students and helping them to discover what could be next for them after high school.

Some of the things we have done in preparation for college are:

●     Classroom lessons on using Naviance to apply for schools and navigating the Common Application.

●     College Information Sessions by local College Admission Counselors.

●     “I Am College Bound Event.” This event was held in November in the media center, where students submit applications with the help of local college admissions counselors. Students were able to ask all of the questions they needed as well as have their applications and essays reviewed by the people who will actually read their college application when the time comes. A majority of the New Hampshire colleges and universities waived their application fee that day.

○     We had 72 students participate in the event

○     With 161 total applications submit

○     And 147 fee waivers used with a savings of around $7,000 dollars for our students.

●     Students have attended college fairs put on by UNH

●     Students attended a College Access Convention with workshops on:

○     Money for College from Financial Aid experts from NHHEAF

○     Inside the Admissions Offices: What Colleges Look For

○     Student Panel Presentation with current students from local 2-year and 4-year schools sharing their experiences and answering questions.

○     A tour of Southern New Hampshire University

●     FAFSA Filing and Financial Aid presentations

●     Students have been working on their applications along with applying for scholarships, requesting teacher recommendations, filling out transcript release forms, going on college tours, listening to college information sessions from college representatives here at the school, taking the SAT and SAT Prep classes and so on.

●     Some students are now receiving their acceptance letters and it is great to see all of their hard work paying off.

In the future we will have:

●     SAT Prep Classes put on by Reach High Scholars

●     State SAT testing for Juniors

●     College Tours

●     Junior Family College Overview

●     Spring College and Career Fair

●     And many more events for students to stay on track with college applications.

Some extra things I would like to mention are:

●     Dual Admission: This is a great program put on by the local Community Colleges and University System of New Hampshire. If your student is not sure what they want to do yet, or whether or not they are ready for a 4-year institution, or just really want to save some money the first two years of college, they should really consider the Dual Admission Program. Students can spend two years at any of the participating Community Colleges in NH at a very large discount from the state tuition. After two years the student will have an associate’s degree and will automatically be transferred (with no need to reapply) into their choice of a participating 4-year institution to complete their bachelor's degree. The student must have the required credits and maintain a GPA of 2.5 for most programs, but it gives your student a chance to get used to college courses and figure out what they want to do without spending the tuition of a 4-year state school right away. Any questions you can check out the website http://www.dualnh.com/

●     SAT Prep Boot Camp for Juniors: The Reach High Scholars Program and Academic Approach will offer a winter SAT boot camp for Juniors. The NH Dept. of Education will use the April 5th mandatory SAT test as a statewide assessment for all juniors. Although they will be used for statewide assessment, students can use these scores to send to colleges when they start applying senior year. By taking the SAT boot camp for the mandatory (and free) SAT, you will help to improve your student’s scores while minimizing the amount of times they will have to take and pay for the SAT over senior year. This boot camp can help raise your score and make your reach school that much more accessible.

○     The course starts on January 7th and has ten class sessions and three diagnostic tests before the SAT on April 5th.

○     The fee for the SAT Boot Camp is $450 (compared to courses other places run $650-$1000) and has possible reduced prices based on household income.

○     Please come see me in the School Counseling office for an application or email me at s.stilian@sau33.com and I can email the informational letter and application to you.

Google Apps for Education

This week's guest blog post comes from our Technology Director, Bailey Rigg.

For well over five years, the Raymond school district has been using the ultimate 21st Century technology tool in the classroom and it’s called Google Apps for Education, (GAFE). Teachers, students, staff and administrators all use GAFE for email, word processing, file storage, project collaboration, and much much more. GAFE has transformed how we think and use computer technology in our schools both in and out of the classroom. According to Google, over 30 million staff and students use GAFE as part of their technology and communication efforts within their educational facilities and that number is quickly growing every day.

GAFE brings email to all our staff and students and productivity tools like Google Docs and Google Sheets. When you tie all these programs together with Google Classroom, you really can see the power Google gives our teachers and students. Google Classroom offers each classroom a spot in cyberspace where teachers can post assignments and students can submit their work electronically. Feedback on student assignments are in real time, class communication is improved via the announcement and assignment areas, and Google classroom automatically reminds students when assignments are not completed.

Over the past two years, we have also used Google Classroom to provide professional development opportunities to the Raymond School District staff. Feedback from those who took part in these Google Classroom professional development opportunities was overwhelmingly positive. Staff commented on the busy lives they have and that having these professional development opportunities through Google classroom provided them the flexibility to complete assignments when time was available. Also, most commented that if this training was not offered online through Google Classroom, they would not have had the time to participate.

I encourage parents to create a Gmail account so you can experience what your children are using every day in our school district. Google allows anyone to have a free Gmail account (go to gmail.com to sign up for a free account) that comes with most of the tools I have mentioned here. By creating this account, you can use it to become familiar with the productivity tools your child uses while at school. There are endless video tutorials online to help users to learn how to use the many tools your Gmail account provides which makes learning faster and easier. Give it a try and discover some of the productivity tools available to you through Google.

WHAT IS NH PACE?

This week's guest blogger is Melissa Lefebvre, the District's Curriculum Coordinator.

Each spring, our students in grades 3 through 8 have an opportunity to experience the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  This is an assessment that provides the district with very detailed information about each student’s performance as well as overall strengths and weaknesses of each school and the district as a whole.  These scores are also helpful in determining which students to invite to school intervention programs.

Though the assessment has many benefits, it is not without its critics.  Even though Smarter Balanced Testing Week may ensure a week with little to no homework, many students do not favor testing on a computer for four, one to two hour sessions throughout the week.   Although the information gained is helpful to improve teaching practices, teachers must give up time for lessons and projects in order to administer the assessment to their students.  Teachers find it difficult to access computer labs for lessons during this time because students are testing in them.  Tests are administered in April or May, so teachers have not yet finished teaching the year’s curriculum.  

State and federal assessments probably won’t disappear anytime soon, but what if there was a better way to assess student and school performance without taking so much time away from instruction?  What if there was an assessment that is more meaningful to students?  An assessment that could be administered when students were ready, and not only in April or May?  The NH PACE (Performance Assessment for Competency Education) model addresses some of these concerns.  The model helps to limit the amount standardized testing: PACE districts only give the Smarter Balanced Assessment to students once in elementary school, once in middle school, and give the SAT once in high school.  Under the model, students take the Smarter Balanced Assessment only three years instead of seven.  In all other years (PACE years), students will be given a performance assessment created by a team of teachers in the school and approved by the state.  Other than limiting the time spent on standardized testing, the NH PACE initiative has some other benefits:

• PACE assessments are created collaboratively by the teachers in the district, so what is being assessed is being determined by the teachers, not an outside assessment company
• PACE assessments are administered when the teachers feel the students are ready, possibly after the end of a unit where learning is more recent
• Teacher created PACE assessments are generally more engaging for students than traditional standardized assessments
• Teachers gain expert-level feedback on the assessments they create for PACE

Many NH districts have already joined this effort and adopted this model: Sanborn Regional, Rochester, Souhegan, Pittsfield, and Epping, just to name a few.  Our district’s Competency Committee, composed of teachers and building principals, is currently considering the benefits of taking part in this movement and the possibility of adopting the PACE model and moving toward a more meaningful system of assessment.  For more information, please visit http://education.nh.gov/assessment-systems/pace.htm.

By Melissa Lefebvre, Curriculum Coordinator