Mark J. Klein, Esquire, Superintendent Mrs. Charlotte I. Walter, CEOE, Secretary Derek J. Reid, Esquire, Solicitor

Transcription

1 Council Rock School District Bucks County, Pennsylvania Newtown, Pennsylvania Thursday, February 7, 2013 MINUTES Public Meeting of the Board of School Directors I. Call to Order Mrs. Wendi Thomas, President presided over the public monthly meeting of the Council Rock Board of School Directors. She convened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Chancellor Center, 30 N. Chancellor Street, Newtown, PA. The meeting was recorded by the Council Rock School District and was broadcast live in all five municipalities. The following individuals were present: School Board Mrs. Wendi Thomas, President Mrs. Kyle McKessy, Vice President Mr. Richard Abramson, Esquire Dr. Paul Anagnostakos Mr. Robert Donnelly Dr. Bill Foster Mr. Jerold Grupp Mrs. Bernadette Heenan Mrs. Patricia C. Vaccaro-Sexton Mark J. Klein, Esquire, Superintendent Mrs. Charlotte I. Walter, CEOE, Secretary Derek J. Reid, Esquire, Solicitor Staff: Mr. Barry Desko, Director of Secondary Education Mrs. Joy McClendon, Director of Elementary Education Mr. Robert Reinhart, Director of Business Affairs & Board Treasurer Mr. Charles Lambert, Director of Special Services Ms. N. Christine Trioli, Director of Human Resources Mr. Matthew Frederickson, Director of Information Technology Mr. Doug Taylor, Supervisor of Operations II. Routine Actions Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Mrs. Walter called the roll call and reported that all board members were in attendance. Mr. Charles Cassady, Assistant Principal/ CRHS-South was on hand to introduce the representatives from the Student Advisory Board at that specific building as follows: Jamie Damirgian 12 th grade Olivia Anakwe, 11 th grade Jarett Rovner, 10 th grade Jack Wheatley, 9 th grade Gabrielle Leone, MBIT, Class of 2013 Each of the representatives reported on happenings, events, planned trips, sports events, and activities in their respective grade levels and MBIT. Superintendent s Report Mr. Klein reported on the following: Council Rock Elementary Media Festival 2013 Promotional Design Contest Ms. Loftus made a presentation and explained that the festival committee is comprised of teachers, staff members, administrators, students, and community members who donate their time, expertise, materials and more to encourage and celebrate media throughout the Council Rock School District. The festival has been 1 of 5

2 accepting projects in the areas of: sequential stills, web sites, live action videos, podcasts, vodcasts, and animation and the anticipated other category which often has emerging technologies highlighted. The community is encouraged to dust off your formal wear and attend the Fourth Annual Elementary Media Festival which will be on May 23 rd this year at Newtown Middle School. This evening, we are presenting some awards For the Elementary Media Festival Promotional Design Contest, we had over 100 people cast votes this year and the overall winner of the contest is: Jennifer Guo, a sixth grader at Richboro Elementary School. Jennifer s design will be included on all promotional materials this year. Our K-3 winner this year is Tristan Mangin, a third grade student at Churchville Elementary School. TD Bank Affinity Program Donation to the Council Rock Education Foundation Mr. Bryan McWilliams, TD Bank s Vice President and Manager (Upper Silver Lake Road Bank in Newtown), Mrs. Wray, Mrs. Scarpa and Mrs. MacGahan were present to graciously accept a check to the Foundation in the amount of $8, This is the 5 th year participating in the Affinity program though TD Bank. Mrs. Wray explained that there is $24,000 to be distributed for grant programs throughout Council Rock School District. The deadline for making application for grants is February 28, For more information, refer to their Public Comment - None III. Discussion Items Bucks/Montgomery Health Care Consortium Mr. Reinhart & Ms. Trioli SO UPDATE Ms. Trioli and Mr. Reinhart presented a 2013 detailed comparison to the board members of the Bucks and Montgomery County Schools Health Care Consortium through a PowerPoint presentation. Discussion on Establishing our Elected Tax Collector Compensation Mr. Reinhart and Dr. Foster SO TAX COLLECTION Mr. Reinhart explained that elected tax collectors in each of our five contiguous municipalities collect our real estate, per capita and occupation assessment taxes. Each elected tax collector is in office for a fouryear term. Prior to February 15 th in the year of the election of the tax collectors, the district is required to establish the compensation rates and procedures for the next four-year term. He proceeded to give tax collection statistics and the district recommendations for Revised Tax Manual Procedures ( not compensation). The occupation/per capita tax is the most complex and costly to collect for the least amount of revenue. The administration recommends removing legacy language in tax manual around lock boxes and adding required new language from Act 169. The administration recommends including general language about rewarding tax collectors that reduce expenses by sharing cost savings. Mr. Reinhart reviewed the tax collector s manual and proposed amendments explained under Article III. Tax Collection; Section D (Deposit of Collections) & Article III, Section H under (Tax Collector Compensation). Much discussion evolved among the board members. First Reading Board Policy 218 Pupils/Student Discipline SO POLICY This is considered the first reading of this board policy. IV. Items for Board Approval 1). Approval of AP Environmental Science Course for school year CU COURSE FRAMEWORK With a grant from College Board, the Administration is recommending the addition of the Advanced Placement Course in Environmental Science to be added to the high school curriculum for the school year. The grant from College Board will offset our costs for training and implementation. With this addition, Council Rock School District will now offer 23 of 34 Advanced Placement Courses available from College Board. Ms. Renee Devlin was on hand to explain this recommendation and its implementation. Mr. Desko explained that Council Rock can set a limit on number of students for the class. 2 of 5

3 Mrs. Sexton moved, seconded by Dr. Anagnostakos, passed unanimously with a roll call vote, for the approval of the Course Frameworks for the Advanced Placement Environmental Science Course, as presented in the above-noted attachment. 2). Approval of Donations for Demolition & Removal of Existing Playground Equipment and Installation of New Playground Equipment - Mr. Taylor FA MEM The donation for the purchase of the new playground equipment was previously approved by the Board of School Directors at the October 18, 2012 meeting ($25,317.66). Mr. Grupp moved, seconded by Mr. Donnelly, passed unanimously with a roll call vote, for the approval for the Maureen M. Welch Elementary School PTO donation in the amount of $24, for the demolition and disposal of existing playground equipment, and installation of the new equipment at the Maureen M. Welch Elementary School, and.. 3). Approval of Sol Feinstone Elementary School Playground Project Change Order #GC FA/MEM/CO/AGR The donation for the purchase of the new playground equipment was previously approved by the Board of School Directors at the October 18, 2012 board meeting ($53,683.44). For the approval of the Sol Feinstone Elementary School PTO donation of $64, for the demolition, disposal of existing playground equipment and installation of the new equipment at the Sol Feinstone Elementary School. 4). Approval of the Tax Collector s Manual with Compensation Schedule BA MANUAL Mr. Reinhart gave a PowerPoint presentation of the following various proposed manual options. The administration requests the approval of the Tax Collector s Manual with Compensation Schedule as defined in Option 1 or 2 of this agenda: Option 1 Real Estate Tax Rate $4.27 Per Capita/Occupation Assessment Tax Rate $1.00 Penalty for Improper Deposit/Late Remittance $0.20/item improperly deposited/remitted. Failure to Provide Paid Listing $0.20/bill collected for each month missed on CD or electronic This option requires some modification to the Tax Collector s Manual, Section H Compensation; modifications to be made after consultation with the solicitor. Option 2 Option 3 Base Rate $2.05/issue Penalty for Improper Deposit/Late Remittance $0.20/item improperly deposited/remitted Absence of Occupation Tax Levy $0.15/issue Absence of Personal/Per Capita Tax Levy $0.10/issue Maintenance of the same compensation structure with an adjustment to the Base Rate: Compensation Summary: Base Rate Penalty for Improper Deposit/Late Remittance $0.20/item improperly deposited/remitted Failure to Provide Paid Listing $0.20/bill collected for each month missed on CD or Electronic Absence of Occupation Tax Levy Absence of Personal/Per Capita Tax Levy Much discussion evolved relative to the language of the manual relative to compensation and payments received. 3 of 5

4 Dr. Foster moved, seconded by Mr. Grupp, for approval of the revised Tax Collector s Manual with Compensation Schedule as described in Option 2. Following an extensive discussion, Mr. Abramson moved, seconded by Mr. Grupp to table this motion rather than amend it. All board members were in favor of tabling the motion via a unanimous roll call vote. More discussion continued. Mr. Abramson moved, seconded by Mr. Grupp, for approval of the revised Tax Collector s Manual with Article III; Section H to be deleted as attached. Mrs. Thomas moved, seconded by Mrs. Heenan for approval that the this motion be tabled with solicitor s approval. This motion was tabled by unanimous consent. Mr. Grupp moved, seconded by Dr. Foster, to approve all changes to the Tax Collector Manual as proposed and attached to the agenda, except any changes proposed to a). The first paragraph of Section H; and b). The compensation summary in Section H, which will remain the same. This motion passed with Mrs. McKessy being the sole nay vote. 5). Approval of Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22 Programs & Services SO BCIU MEM and Instructional Materials for the school year SO BCIU BUD SO BCIU RES Dr. Anagnostakos moved, seconded by Mrs. McKessy, passed unanimously with a roll call vote, for approval of the Bucks Co. Intermediate Unit No. 22 Programs & Services and the Instructional Materials and Research Services Budget for the school year as presented in above-noted attachment(s). 6). Rejection of Bid Bid #12-50 Cisco Security Upgrade Description: Purchase of security equipment for upgrading the current network topology to accommodate dynamic network segmentation. Vendors: The administration has decided not to pursue this project at this time. Bid Award: None Mrs. Heenan moved, seconded by Mrs. McKessy, passed unanimously with a roll call vote, for approval to reject Cisco Security Upgrade Bid #12-50, subject to audit. 7). Approval of Calendar Revision SO CAL Mrs. McKessy moved, seconded by Mrs. Heenan, passed by unanimous consent, for approval of the revised school calendar to reflect a half day on May 20. The original approved calendar reflected a full-day teacher in-service. 8). Donation of ipads to Council Rock South SO LTR/Proposal A member of our community, John Donohoe, has offered to donate $7, to purchase 20 ipads for use with students with disabilities at Council Rock High School-South. The administration recommends the approval of this donation. Mr. Donnelly moved, seconded by Dr. Anagnostakos, passed by unanimous consent, for the approval of the donation by John Donohue of Sterling Limousine & Transportation Services of 20 ipads for allocation to the intensive learning support and multi-disabilities classes at Council Rock High School-South. V. Solicitor s Report Derek J. Reid, Esquire reported that an executive session has been requested for the purpose of discussion of collective bargaining and personnel matters after this meeting tonight. VI. Committee Reports Academic Standards Mrs. McKessy reported that an excellent presentation was given at the last meeting on the Sloan School and MBIT and the number of students served. The staff members at those schools are amazing. Mrs. Heenan suggested that she would like a student 4 of 5

5 representative from Sloan who is involved in a mentoring program at CRHS-South to attend board meetings. The next scheduled meeting is for March 7 th. Facilities Mr. Taylor reported that at their last meeting, an update was given on the Holland Elementary renovations; an update on the Goodnoe Elementary design state with Newtown Township Board of Supervisors. We expect to go out to bid within the next 30 days. The Capital Plan PowerPoint is available on our web site. The next scheduled meeting date is February 28 th. Finance Mr. Foster reported that items of discussion at the last meeting was the Tax Collector s Manual. Several visitors came to visit. MBIT Mrs. Heenan reported that the next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11 th. Contract negotiations still continue there. BCIU Mrs. Sexton reported that she missed a good dinner there in January. VII. VIII. Public Comment - None Board Comments Dr. Anagnostakos welcomed Danny Perez, a reporter at our meeting who is a graduate of CRHS-North. The meeting was adjourned at 9:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Charlotte I. Walter, CEOE Secretary to the Board of School Directors 5 of 5