North Wasco County School District 21 Regular Board Meeting. August 24, 2006 Wahtonka Campus Library

Transcription

1 North Wasco County School District 21 Regular Board Meeting August 24, 2006 Wahtonka Campus Library Minutes (These are official minutes approved by the Board) Present: Frank Butchart, Dave Jones, Ron Stephens, Brian Stahl, Ernie Blatz, LeAnn Ellett Excused: PK Swartz Staff/Audience: Candy Armstrong, Cindy Miller, Jason Corey, Stephen Jupe, Nancy Hall, Bill Hughitt, Linda Hughitt, Susan Wolff, Vaughn Lein, Misty Mastin, Tim McGlothling, Matt Ihle, Theresa Peters, Larry Sprouse, Jan Anderson, Brian Goodwin, Nick Nelson, Greg Bigelow 1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance Chairman Jones called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. 2. Comments from Audience about Non-Agenda Items No comments from the audience at this time. 3. Consent Agenda Motion by Director Stahl, seconded by Director Blatz to approve the consent agenda with the acceptation of the August 10 th, 2006 Board Work Session that will be brought to the September 28 th meeting. Motion Passed Unanimously. 4. Old Business Discussion / Action 1. Breakfast in the classroom update Superintendent Armstrong shared with the Board that the Breakfast in the Classroom program in the participating schools (elementary only at this time) is free of charge for students. The breakfast charge is for any person who is visiting a student and eats with them, or for the schools that do not have the breakfast in the classroom program available at this time (middle school and high school). Director Swartz noted that peanut butter is still being used in the menus for school lunches. Director Swartz is concerned with having peanut butter in the school due to the large number of people of who allergies to it. Cindy Heater Judah, Food Service Director, clarified that for state purposes she is required to keep a file of students in each building who have any severe allergies to any food or milk product, and an alternative breakfast or lunch is provided. Ms. Heater-Judah will be working with the School Nurses on this information. 2. Approve Breakfast prices Motion by Director Stahl, seconded by Director Ellett to accept the recommended price increase for breakfast for the school year. Motion Passed Unanimously. 3. Approve Board meeting times Consensus of the Board was to have the work sessions and regular business meetings start at 6:30 pm. Dates and locations will be the same. Regular Business Meeting - 1 -

2 5. New business: a. Presentations/Reports Superintendent s Report 1. Academic and Facilities Master Planning Update Dr. Susan Wolff and Vaughn Lein updated the Board about their recent meeting with Superintendent Armstrong and Academic/Facilities master planning. Three planning sessions have been scheduled. These sessions will be attended by a core group which will include staff, teachers, students, community leaders, and business personnel. Dr. Wolff noted that she would be asking some hard questions at these three sessions and encourages the Board to continue their support of her and Superintendent Armstrong throughout this process. Dr. Wolff will be asking the community what they want students to know and be able to do after completing the K-12 system. With the completion of the academic master planning the district will have the needed guidance to begin shaping decisions that will affect the district s future. This plan will need to be revisited on an annual basis and will be a living document. Mr. Lein went through the District s facilities and commented on how nice the schools are looking. He stated that every school district and building is unique and this is very important to architecture. The community will have specific ideas of how they want their District to look. The community meetings/forums will be a great process to hear what community members want and expect. Mr. Lein will be taking specific notes as to what community members and staff say at these meeting so he can draft conceptual drawings of facilities that would be flexible enough to embrace the District s vision. Director Butchart stated that he would like to keep the cost from being the driving issue during the master planning and then add or talk about this towards the end. Both Dr. Wolff and Mr. Lein agreed with Director Butchart that the dollar amounts will be worked on towards the end of the process. The cost should be kept out of the initial process, but will be important in determining what happens first and when once the plan is complete. Dr. Wolff brought a copy of an article about School bonds and left this with Superintendent Armstrong for the Board to have a copy. September 29 th, October 18 th and November 15 th will be the core group planning meetings from 8:30 noon. Other focus group meetings will be held during the evening or on Saturdays to allow an opportunity to hear from people who will not be able to attend the core group meetings. Dr. Wolff and Mr. Lein noted that it is important that people involved during the core group try to make all three meetings, however, attending two out of three will be ok. During this process the main focus will be what knowledge do you want students to leave this school district with? Dr. Wolff s job is not to persuade, but to ask questions and follow up with clarifying questions to help put together a recommended direction for the district. 2. Middle School sports program Bill Hughitt, Vice Principal at TDMS, updated the Board on what is currently happening with the middle school sports program. Football and Volleyball are looking strong, however, Cross Country seems a little light in student participation. Transportation to and from games is still an issue. Mr. Hughitt noted that he is recommending that some assistant coach positions not be filled as paid positions to help offset increased transportation costs. Motion by Director Stahl, seconded by Director Ellett to approve the Superintendent s recommendation to hire and approve the following Middle School coaches contracts: Courtney Kiser, 7 th grade Head Football; Pat Cimmiyotti, 8 th grade Head Football; Geo Young, 8 th grade Head Volleyball; Kelly Monta, 7 th grade Head Volleyball; Kris Kholfarber, Cross Country. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Business Meeting - 2 -

3 3. Approve High School coach Motion by Director Blatz, seconded by Director Stephens to approve the Superintendent s recommendation to hire and approve the following high school coach contract: Stacey Lambert, Assistant Girls Soccer. Motion Passed Unanimously. 4. Update on Career Pathways workshop Superintendent Armstrong updated the Board on the recent Career Pathways workshop she and Brian Goodwin, Director of Special Programs, attended at the Discovery Center. The district is continuing to work with community partners and the college to provide program opportunities for our students. 5. Update on the Wilson School Superintendent Armstrong updated the Board that both the tank removal and Realtors RFP s have gone out and will close soon. Once these RFP s close and bids are awarded, Nancy Hall, CFO and Superintendent Armstrong will keep the Board informed of the progress on this project. 6. Update on the Wahtonka Track Repair Superintendent Armstrong updated the Board on the Wahtonka track repair. The track repair product was ordered in June, but has not arrived in the District as of yet. Plan B is to have the District maintenance staff purchase the materials from a different vendor and perform the needed work. Superintendent Armstrong announced the following: 1. Licensed Staff hired: Gina Aldridge, 9 th grade Science; Laura Bradford, 7 th grade Social Studies/Language Arts; Phil Brade, 7 th grade Math/Science; Lowry Browning, High School Drama; Rick Denis, 6 th grade; Stanley Federman, High School Business; Kyle Gomez, 6 th grade; Laurie Johnson, 8 th grade Language Arts; Carol Kelly, Middle School Special Education; Kirk Marks, 9 th grade Math; Kelly Monta, 7 th grade Science/Math; Tom Richardson, 6 th grade; Fred Rojas, High School Social Studies; Hailey Tenneson, 6 th grade 2. Classified Staff hired: Paul Beasley, Wahtonka Campus ISS; Steve Bond, District Data Specialist; Crystal Jaros, CW Secretary; Francisco Loera, District Courier; Peggy Peterson, Dry Hollow PT Media Assistant; Karen Reise, CES Special Ed Assistant; Jean Rude, CES PT Special Ed Assistant 3. Classified resignations: Marian Getz, District Office Executive Assistant; Margaret Sammons, Wahtonka Campus Media Assistant Regular Business Meeting - 3 -

4 Attorney s Report Nothing at this time. Chief Financial Officer s Report Nancy Hall handed out a summary of revenue for the month of August. Ms. Hall noted that the Board could make recommendations to change the format if they would like to see more information or information shown in a different way. Director Stephens asked about the actual expenditures for Wahtonka Campus and where is it included in this report. Ms. Hall noted that the Board is currently looking at only maintenance for the Wahtonka Campus; other expenditures are included in the High School s main campus budget. a. Discussion/Action Items 1. Discussion on Board vacancy Director Butchart announced that he would be officially resigning from the Board at the end of September. Chairman Jones wishes to advertise this opening during the month of September. The Board would like to interview for this position before Director Butchart actually left the Board. Chairman Jones asked Superintendent Armstrong to advertise a Board vacancy for Director Butchart s position. Jason Corey noted that an actual resignation by Director Butchart should be done the last business meeting in September. Regular Business Meeting Resolution for property/liability coverage (USIPO) Motion by Director Stahl, seconded by Director Blatz to approve ratifying formation of United Schools Insurance Program of Oregon (USIPO) and to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to join USIPO. Motion Passed Unanimously. Nancy Hall noted that this is a newer company coming into Oregon that would like to have school districts under their coverage. This company is offering better coverage with less of a yearly rate. This is saving the District over $6,000 in premiums. 3. Resolution for Oregon School Funding Defense Foundation Lawsuit Motion by Director Stephens, seconded by Director Stahl to adopt the resolution for the Oregon School Funding Defense Foundation Lawsuit that states that the NWCSD Board of Directors support the efforts to further the discussion about adequacy in education funding. Yes/Butchart, Stephens, Ellett, Blatz, Jones No/Stahl Motion Passed. Director Stahl would like more information about this resolution and how OSBA is involved. Discussion: Board consensus was that they agree with the intent of the resolution, however, they are not willing to provide funding to help support the litigation at this time. Mr. Corey noted that with this resolution NWCSD states that it is in support of inadequate funding, but there is no financial obligation to the District. Director Stahl stated his concern that if this lawsuit does prevail, where is the State going to come up with the funding? Mr. Corey stated that most likely the state will be mandated to set more funding aside for education,

5 however, the funding would probably come from other programs in the state. Mr. Corey hasn t seen the actual lawsuit and does not know if the lawsuit is recommending a specific funding remedy. Superintendent Armstrong stated that the Oregon School Board s Association is where the template for this resolution came from and that they are in support of school districts in Oregon to passing this resolution. She also noted that lawsuits like this are occurring at the national level in a number of other states. 4. Approve Co-op sports agreement with Dufur School District Motion by Director Ellett, seconded by Director Stahl to approve forming OSAA Cooperatives for Soccer, Wrestling, Swimming and Softball with Dufur School District. Motion Passed Unanimously. 5. Accept donation of theater seating for TDWHS Auditorium Motion by Director Blatz, seconded by Director Ellett to accept the following donated items, estimated value of about $10, from Mr. Bruce Humphrey to The Dalles Wahtonka High School for the auditorium: 312 seats from Cascade Cinemas and 385 seats from the Hermiston Cinemas. Motion Passed Unanimously. Director Blatz noted that on September 23 rd there would be a work party going to Hermiston to load the seating from the Hermiston Cinemas. They will then unload the seats here in The Dalles later that same day if anyone is interested in helping. Superintendent Armstrong noted that a thank you letter would be sent to Urness Motors for donating the use of a trailer to haul the seating from Cascade Cinema to storage. 6. Close ODE Institution number 3389 (duplicate TLC number) Motion by Director Stahl, seconded by Director Butchart to approve the program identification number 3389 be closed and inactivated at the State level. Motion Passed Unanimously st Reading of Policy DJFA: Credit Cards Motion by Director Stephens, seconded by Director Stahl to accept for 1 st reading policy DJFA: Credit Cards. Motion Passed Unanimously. Superintendent Armstrong noted that having a District credit card will help cut down on the number of reimbursement requests the Business office has to process st Reading of Policy DLC: Expense Reimbursements Motion by Director Blatz, seconded by Director Stephens to accept for 1 st reading policy DLC: expense reimbursements. Motion Passed Unanimously. Regular Business Meeting st Reading of Policy DJ: District Purchasing Motion by Director Stahl, seconded by Director Blatz to accept for 1 st reading policy DJ: District Purchasing. Motion Passed Unanimously.

6 10. Survey results for Columbia View Heights Superintendent Armstrong handed out the survey results from Tenneson Engineering for the Columbia View Heights area at the last Board work session. Mr. Corey stated that he is concerned with the numerous land encroachments on District property. Mr. Corey suggested that a letter be sent to those homeowners notifying them of this encroachment. Director Blatz would like a notice to be sent now since the District is moving forward with developing this property. Mr. Corey would like the Board to discuss legal ramifications in executive session regarding this. Motion by Director Blatz, seconded by Director Stahl to direct Mr. Corey to create and send a notice to those homeowners who are encroaching on District property. Motion passed Unanimously. 11. Resolution for the Section 125 plan by Personal Choice Account Motion by Director Stahl, seconded by Director Ellett to accept the amended Cafeteria Plan to be approved as presented, that Personal Choice Account shall take actions required to administer the plan, and that NWCSD21 shall notify employees of the Plan as soon as possible. Motion Passed Unanimously. Superintendent Armstrong introduced Kurt Evans, Teacher on Special Assignment, at the Alternative Education Center. Regular meeting adjourned into executive session at 8:05 pm as per the following ORS s: 7. Adjourn to Executive Session pursuant to ORS (2)(d) and (e) to discuss personnel and real property transactions. (d) To conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to carry on labor negotiations. (e) To conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to negotiate real property transactions. 8. Reconvene to Regular Session. The School Board reconvened the regular Board meeting at 8:40 pm. 9. Adjourn Regular Board meeting. The Board adjourned the regular meeting at 8:40 pm. Regular Business Meeting - 6 -