LOCKWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT #26 REGULAR MEETING AGENDA TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011 7:00 P.M. Any person present who wishes to address the board or raise any question about public school district matters or governing policies may do so under public participation. No discussion of personnel or individual students is permitted at this time. A limit of three minutes is placed on each speaker. Persons who want more time may make arrangements to be placed on a future agenda. The public is also reminded that they may provide input on all motions being considered by the board at this meeting. 6:30 PM WEBINAR TRAINING FOR TRUSTEES 1. Call to order 7:00 PM Pledge to the Flag Welcome 2. Individuals, delegations, correspondence Jordan Arthur, Levi Rak, and Ashton Albright will be present with their teachers Susan Kneib and Denise Lemke. The students are being honored for their success in writing essays. 3. Items for action A. Approve minutes of the January 11, 2011 meeting B. Approve bills and wages for January 2011 C. Request to hire substitutes D. Hire a volleyball coach E. Approval of tuition payment for students placed at Yellowstone Academy District #58 at the Boys and Girls Ranch and New Day F. Request approval for out of district students G. Approve extension of bus route #12 H. Approve set up of a school store account in extra curricular I. Policy recommendations from Montana School Boards J. Review of preliminary budget numbers for 2011-2012 4. District reports A. Primary School B. Intermediate School C. Middle School D. Facilities E. Technology F. Curriculum/Assessment G. Activities H. Superintendent 5. Trustee reports Trustee term of office 6. Adjourn NEXT MEETING IS MARCH 8, 2011 AT 7:00 PM.
Superintendent s Agenda Report 3. Items for action A. Approve minutes of the January 11, 2011 meeting B. Approve bills and wages for January 2011 C. Request to Hire Substitutes D. Hire a volleyball coach Debra Keller is recommended to coach sixth grade volleyball. She coached last year and has passed the background check. E. Approval of tuition payment for students placed at Yellowstone Academy District #58 at the Boys and Girls Ranch and New Day I am recommending approval of tuition payment for students CK, JH and JM placed at Yellowstone Academy District #58 and TR who is placed at New Day. F. Approve out of district students The following are recommended for out of district enrollment for the remainder of the school year. The families have moved and they are requesting to have them stay here to finish the year. Grade 1 Grade 4 Grade 8 Lilly Eldridge Adara Galvez-Wiseman Ruby Galvez-Wiseman Teela Stiles G. Approve extension of bus route #12 Bus Route #12 has been extended from 9.5 miles per day to 25 miles per day. In order to be reimbursed by the State, an approval of the Board and the County Transportation Committee is required. I have sent for approval from the committee. This is done by email with that group. H. Approve set up of a school store account in extra curricular Kim Norris-Scrano is working on a project with her students who are learning to do a small business. They buy and sell snacks for the staff in the lounge. She will need an account so they can do all the bookwork.
I. Policy recommendations from Montana School Boards The attached policies are recommended by MTSBA. 1. 3310P Discipline of a student with disabilities 2. 3311 Firearms and Weapons 3. 5255 Staff discipline regarding weapons 4. 3310 Current policy on student discipline The three new policies are recommended on the first of three readings and will need some discussion. J. Review of preliminary budget numbers for 2011-2012 Business Manager Laurie Noonkester is preparing budget projections for the next school year. These will be discussed at the meeting. Mrs. Noonkester will email the documents to the Board and staff on Monday, February 7, 2011. 4E. Postini Email Archiving and Filtering Pam Richau will walk you through this. 5. Trustee reports Chair Sue Vinton has a legal opinion from MTSBA on the term of office for the upcoming Trustee election for our particular situation. The explanation is attached.
LOCKWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT #26 YELLOWSTONE COUNTY, BILLINGS, MT REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER At 6:30 Chair Vinton, Trustees Jason Hamrick, Tim Sather, Tamara Spillum, Peter Freivalds, Superintendent Eileen Johnson and District Clerk Laurie Noonkester gathered to view the MTSBA training webinar with the topic being; Lawful Advocacy for Mill Levies and Bond Elections. Chair Susanne Vinton opened the regular meeting and called it to order at 7:01 p.m. and led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. The following trustees and officers were present: Trustees Susanne Vinton, Tim Sather, Peter Freivalds, Jason Hamrick and Tamara Spillum, Superintendent Eileen Johnson and District Clerk Laurie Noonkester. Trustees Becky Malenowsky and Greg Bochy were absent. Numerous staff members were present and are registered on the sign in sheet. Registered guests are asked to sign in upon arrival. Evelyn Pyburn from the Yellowstone County News was present. Mrs. Vinton welcomed visitors and advised the following: Any person present who wishes to address the board or raise any question about public school district matters or governing policies may do so under public participation. No discussion of personnel or individual students is permitted at this time. A limit of three minutes is placed on each speaker. Persons who want more time may make arrangements to be placed on a future agenda. As a courtesy, all cell phones should be turned off. The public is also reminded that they may provide input on all motions being considered by the board at this meeting. INDIVIDUALS, RECOGNITION, ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE Middle school teacher Susan Kneib explained that students Jordan Arthur and Levi Rak submitted essays in a contest sponsored by the VFW. The topic for the essay contest was Does Patriotism Still Matter? Mrs. Kneib went on to report that Lockwood was well represented as Jordan s essay was awarded $75.00 for second place and Levi s essay was awarded $50.00 for third place. Both students read their winning essays for the audience. Intermediate teacher Denise Lemke introduced student Ashton Albright. Ashton submitted an essay for an Elks sponsored contest with the topic being Why Are You Proud to Be an American? Mrs. Lemke went on to say that Ashton currently has an uncle serving in Iraq so this topic was important for her. Ashton s essay placed second out of 85 submitted entries in the contest. She was awarded $75.00 for her effort. Ashton read her essay for the board and audience. The Board thanked the students and their parents for their work and for coming to the meeting to share their successes. The Board presented the students with a small gift in honor of their accomplishment.
Page 2 Chair Vinton passed around correspondence items for board review. ITEMS FOR ACTION A. Approval of Minutes Chair Vinton asked if there were any objections to the minutes as presented. Hearing none, the minutes of the January 11, 2011 regular board meeting were approved. B. Approve Bills and Wages for January Chair Susanne Vinton asked if there was any objection to the bills and wages as presented. Hearing no objections, the bills and wages were approved. C. Request to Hire Substitutes Superintendent Johnson recommended the listed person, as well as the late addition of Michele Prange, for hire as substitutes for the 2010-2011 school year pending successful background checks. Peter Freivalds made the motion to hire those listed as substitutes for the 2010-11 school year pending background checks. Tamara Spillum seconded the motion. yes; the motion passed unanimously. D. Hire a Volleyball Coach Superintendent Johnson recommends Debra Keller for coach of sixth grade volleyball. She coached the same group last year and has passed the background check. Tamara Spillum moved to hire Debra Keller as coach for the sixth grade volleyball team. Jason Hamrick seconded the motion. yes; the motion passed unanimously.
Page 3 E. Approval of Tuition Payment for Students Placed at Yellowstone Academy District #58 at the Boys and Girls Ranch and New Day Superintendent Johnson recommended approval of tuition payments for students CK, JH and JM who are placed at Yellowstone Academy District #58 and TR who is placed at New Day. Tim Sather made the motion to pay the tuition as recommended. Tamara Spillum seconded the motion. yes; the motion passed five to zero. Superintendent Johnson noted that discussions are underway with other districts within the Special Ed Co-op in regard to where they can place students in the event of New Day closing down. F. Approve Attendance for Out of District Students Superintendent Johnson recommends that the following students be considered for out of district attendance for the remainder of the school year. The families have moved out of the district but would like the students to finish the school year here. Grade 1: Lilly Eldridge and Adara Galvez-Wiseman Grade 4: Ruby Galvez-Wiseman Grade 8: Teela Stiles Jason Hamrick made the motion to approve the listed students for out of district attendance. Peter Freivalds seconded the motion. yes; the motion passed five to zero. G. Approve Extension of Bus Route #12 Superintendent Johnson explained that bus route #12 has been extended from 9.5 miles per day to 25 miles per day. In order to be reimbursed by the State for this expense, approval of the Board and the County Transportation Committee is required. She has asked for approval from the County Transportation Committee via email vote. Jason Hamrick made the motion to extend bus route #12 from 9.5 miles to 25 miles. Tamara Spillum seconded the motion. yes; the motion passed five to zero.
Page 4 Trustee Peter Freivalds asked why the route has increased and Superintendent Johnson clarified that students are now being bused to the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch for day school. H. Approve the Setup of a School Store Account in Extra Curricular Funds Mrs. Johnson explained the request from special education teacher Kim Norris-Scrano, who is working on a project with her intermediate students. They will be learning to conduct a small business by purchasing snack foods and selling them in the staff lounge. She will need an account setup so they can learn the bookkeeping aspect of running a business. Tim Sather made the motion to approve the setup of a school store account within the extracurricular funds. Jason Hamrick seconded the motion. Discussion was held on the use of the account by other groups if this particular project did not continue. Superintendent Johnson noted that as long as the account was open other groups could use it if needed. yes; the motion passed five to zero. I. Policy Recommendations from Montana School Boards Superintendent Johnson noted that she has recently received the following policies that are recommended by MTSBA and suggests they go through the first reading. 1. 3310P Discipline of a student with disabilities 2. 3311 Firearms and Weapons 3. 5255 Staff discipline regarding weapons 4. 3310 Current policy on student discipline Discussion was held and comparison with what is in current policy was reviewed. All of the policies will be brought back for a second reading. J. Review of Preliminary Budget Numbers for 2011-2012 Business Manager Laurie Noonkester and Superintendent Johnson reviewed for the board the budget projections that were prepared for the next school year. Discussion was held. A board work session was scheduled for Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. to discuss budget issues.
Page 5 DISTRICT REPORTS A. Primary School- Principal Mike Bowman was absent. B. Intermediate School- Principal Dave DeBoer had nothing further to add to his report. C. Middle School- Principal Mike Sullivan passed out his written report but had nothing further to add. He also passed out information on the RTI program that has a four year training grant. Trustee Freivalds noted that from what he understands, the concept of rewarding good behavior is a very positive aspect of the program. Superintendent Johnson added that she was able to see the program in progress during a visit to the Middle School last week and is impressed with the impact it had on the students. D. Facilities- Director Rob Guzman reported that he has been dealing with snow removal and reported on a facilities seminar he recently attended in Helena. He further noted that the cold weather has resulted in some broken water pipes which have caused some minor flooding issues. D. Technology- Director Pam Richau walked the board members through using the Postini email archiving and filtering process. E. Curriculum/Assessment- Director Don Christman had nothing further to add to his written report. F. Activities- Co-Directors Nick Ottoy and Tim Bastain were absent but presented a written report which was reviewed. G. Superintendent- Superintendent Johnson reviewed for the board her written report. She further explained the community education situation and how custodians are getting pulled off of their regular duties to assist the groups renting the facilities. In the past, Richard Prisbe, who has since passed away, assisted the groups and acted as night security. Mr. Prisbe s position has remained vacant but she feels that this issue is getting to be difficult on the custodial staff and needs to be addressed. As a possible solution, Community Education Director, Becky Conner has offered to arrange her hours and duties to be available during the evening to help the groups and alleviate the pull on the custodial staff. Mrs. Johnson further noted that she is in discussion with the Sheriff s office in regard to the importance of having a full time SRO officer at Lockwood. Officer Juhl is currently assigned to Lockwood and Huntley Project Schools.
Page 6 Superintendent Johnson advised the board that the East Co-op is interested in joining the district s insurance group as they had done in past years. She assured the board that because of the Co-op being such a small and younger group the district s insurance rate will not be impacted by the addition. TRUSTEE REPORTS Trustee Freivalds reported on the Gaining training possibilities in preparation of LEA negotiations next year. Chair Vinton reviewed for the board a legal opinion from MTSBA on the terms of office for the upcoming Trustee election for our particular situation. MTSBA clarified that the district has 2 three year terms open and one two year term. Caree Bernhart introduced herself as a potential trustee candidate. ADJOURN The next will be on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. Jason Hamrick moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:49 p.m. Peter Freivalds seconded the motion. Tamara Spillum, Tim Sather, Peter Freivalds, Jason Hamrick and Susanne Vinton voted yes. The motion passed unanimously. Susanne Vinton, Chairperson Laurie Noonkester, District Clerk