Board of Education Meeting

The Moon Area Board of Education met January 11, 2016, called to order by the president, with nine directors present. The board approved the December 7 minutes and a cluster of financial reports, then authorized payment of the monthly bills across the general, bond, activity and food-service funds. It posted the 2016-17 preliminary budget for public review and approved PlanCon J for the middle school project, plus PlanCon H project-financing filings for Allard and Brooks elementary schools, the latter two each carrying a dissent from a director.

The board approved the 2016-17 high school program of studies, renewed the Sun Life contract through March 1, 2017, and authorized intrusion-detection upgrades at Allard and Brooks. It approved Schindler elevator maintenance contracts at both buildings, amended to run January 11, 2016, to January 11, 2017. It approved a repair to the high school Poolpak unit through Huckestein Mechanical, an agreement with DJ Morgan Educational Consulting for special-education transition consulting, and appointments of two employees to the AIU joint-purchasing board. It also joined the Kennedy School of Driving end-of-course skills test program, contingent on solicitor review, and approved a high school English/language arts trip to Britain and Ireland, contingent on a 1:6 chaperone-to-student ratio.

Personnel actions included approving department heads, extra-duty and coaching positions, a substitute, two leaves of absence, club sponsors, and the acceptance of a resignation. An employee was named interim business manager. The board approved an extended agreement with Wilke and Associates for an additional 250 hours to complete a special audit, with two directors dissenting. A third director also dissented on the personnel package.

A major portion of the meeting concerned the Allard and Brooks construction projects, where the president and a director pressed architects Marotta/Main over undocumented change orders, a single bundled approval, and whether the firm had acted as construction manager. The meeting adjourned at 11:55 p.m.