October 13, 2009 Board Meeting
Synopsis
SYNOPSIS
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF BLAINE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 61
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2009, 6:30 P.M.
DISTRICT OFFICE
I. Call to Order
and Welcome
Chairman Julie Slocum Dahlgren
called the Regular October meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and
welcomed everyone in attendance.
Present were Board Members Steve
Guthrie and Paul Bates. Also in attendance were Dr. Lonnie
Barber, Superintendent of Schools; Matt Murray, Director of
Curriculum/Dual Language Learners; Mike Chatterton, School
District Treasurer; and Laurie Kaufman, Board Clerk.
Chairman Dahlgren stated that a
quorum was present.
II. Pledge of Allegiance
III. Accolades
a. Math Fluency Committee:
Lois Standley, Mary Bird, Candace Schley – Bellevue Elementary
School Teachers, and Cindy Aschliman, Karen Bliss – Woodside
Elementary School Teachers
Dr. Barber stated that the
District would like to formally thank five elementary school
teachers for their diligent work on the Math Fluency Committee.
Curriculum Director, Matt Murray
writes:
During the 2008-2009 school year
the District formed a committee charged with establishing common
math assessments for all K-8 students. The assessments were to
parallel the reading fluency assessments established the
previous year for language arts.
The result of the committee’s
work is the BCSD Math Fluency Notebook which we shared with you
last month. The contents of the notebook provide teachers with
the materials and procedures they need to monitor student
progress in basic math skills fluency. While the committee met
regularly in order to ready the materials for implementation
this year, much additional work was needed outside of the
committee time in order to complete the project in a timely
manner. The teachers listed above devoted considerable
additional time, effort, and expertise to assuring that this
project was completed.
These teachers have created a
tool that is essential to monitoring student growth in math,
namely regular progress monitoring. While it will doubtlessly be
refined over the years, their work represents the first and
hardest step. I am grateful for their efforts.
Dr. Barber said the District is
grateful for the time and effort the teachers put into the
development of the Math Fluency Notebook. We will have the
ability to accurately monitor our students’ math skills
throughout their education in Blaine County. This is just one
more way we can help mold our kids into productive and
successful adults.
b. Bruce Clark, Wood River
Middle School Math Teacher
Dr. Barber stated the District
received a complimentary email from a Wood River Middle School
parent regarding Math Teacher, Bruce Clark.
Pam Fleischer writes:
Good evening,
I have been
meaning to share positive feedback for Mr. Clark as a math
teacher for quite some time. Madeline Nelson, my daughter and
currently a 7th grader had Mr. Clark as a 6th grader for 7th
grade math. She often came home with stories of her math class
and how engaging Mr. Clark was as a teacher. She looked forward
to his class, respected him and often described what a "good"
teacher he was based on how much she was learning and how well
she understood the material. I visited with him a couple of
times last year during open house and at teacher conferences and
could immediately tell that there was a strong rapport and
mutual respect. If asked to describe her response to his class
and teaching methods, I would say that she was inspired and her
love of math was reinforced by being in Mr. Clark's class.
Thank you to Mr. Clark for being
an integral part in Madeline's development as a committed,
enthusiastic math student!
Sincerely,
Pam Fleischer (Madeline's Mom)
Dr. Barber thanked Bruce for the
entire District for being so committed to his Math students.
All of Bruce’s students have benefited from his sincere
attention to their unique educational needs. Keep up the great
work!
c. Principal Angie
Martinez and Bellevue Elementary School Staff
Dr. Barber stated:
Over the past week we have
experienced unseasonably cold weather, including a significant
snowfall. Power was out in places across the Valley, most
notably at Bellevue Elementary on Monday, October 5th. While
students and staff gamely carried on business as usual that
morning, it became apparent that students would need to be
removed from the cooling classrooms. The District made
contingency plans to temporarily re-locate students to Woodside
Elementary.
But it never became necessary to
implement the contingency plan. Instead, Bellevue’s staff
mobilized a phone tree calling system, and were able to contact
all parents and have them pick up their students by lunch time.
The rapidity of their response to this mild crisis speaks not
only to the leadership qualities of all the staff members, and
to their capacity to work as a team, but also prefigures the
quality of their response should a true crisis befall them.
As the Superintendent, as well as
the parent of a student at Bellevue, I believe I speak for all
the parents at the school in saying we are grateful for the
leadership and caring you bestowed upon our kids during the
outage.
IV. Consent Agenda
a. Consideration of
Minutes
Regular Meeting of September 8,
2009
b. Acceptance of Monthly
Financial Report – Payment of Bills
Please click here to view the
September Financial Reports.
c. Application for
Study/Travel by Student Group – Joel Zellers, Wood River High
School Special Education Teacher
Even though the next four
Applications for Study/Travel by Student Groups are concerning
trips that have been taken successfully in the past, Wood River
High School teachers Joel Zellers, Joyce Pratt and Edith Iler
informed the Board by giving presentations regarding their
proposed future student group trips and answered their
questions.
Please click here to view Joel’s
information regarding the proposed Amnesty International Club’s
proposed trip to the Amnesty International Western Regional
Conference in San Francisco, California.
d. Application for
Study/Travel by Student Group – Joel Zellers, Wood River High
School Special Education Teacher
Please click here to view Joel’s
information regarding the proposed Model United Nations Group’s
proposed trip to the Model United Nations Berkeley conference in
Berkeley, California.
e. Application for
Study/Travel by Student Group – Joyce Pratt, Wood River High
School Family and Consumer Science Teacher
Please click here to view Joyce’s
information regarding the proposed Family, Career, Community,
and Leaders of America (FCCLA) Group’s proposed trip to the
FCCLA Cluster Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah.
f. Application for
Study/Travel by Student Group – Edith Iler, Wood River High
School Foreign Languages Teacher
Please click here to view Edith’s
information regarding the proposed trip to France for Wood River
High School French students.
g. Approval of
Personnel – Exiting and Entering
Classified Staff – Exiting
Lacey McNeff – Student Services
Paraprofessional, Woodside Elementary School
Classified Staff – Entering
None.
Certified Staff – Exiting
None.
Certified Staff – Entering
None.
Action was taken to approve items
“a” through “g” of the Consent Agenda.
V. Public Comments
a. Penfield Stroh – Early
Release Days
Approval of Early Release Days is
on tonight’s agenda. I’m pretty confident that it has to do
with the rearrangement of the school days. Just as it concerned
me last time, I’m concerned about what the kids are going to do
on those Friday afternoons. Instead of being released to their
parents, I would personally love my children to be in school and
continuing to learn at that time. I would hope that you
consider what the kids will be doing at that time. I talked
with the Blaine County Recreation Department and they can only
accommodate 50 or 60 children in their program. That sort of
turns the rest of the kids loose and I think it’s really
important that they spend time in school. Thank you.
b. Elizabeth Schwerdtle –
IB and AVID
My issue is International
Baccalaureate. I’m wondering if the District could provide a
timeline for International Baccalaureate. I think a lot of
parents would be very interested in that. I’ve had a chance to
review an old video tape from Sun Valley Online from April,
2008. There were two things that struck me, and the first is
really personal. My good friend Sylvia Thrush, who was PA
president, was in the video and she just passed away two weeks
ago. It just struck me how she didn’t even know she was sick
then and she is already gone; she was a huge, huge asset to this
District. It just tore me apart to see her biggest day right
there.
The other part was that when Dr.
Barber was speaking in front of the PA from Hemingway, he
mentioned that IB is going to be started in seventh grade by
fall of 2009, the following year for eighth grade, the following
year for ninth grade, tenth grade and so on. And then you go on
to mention something else which was really exciting too, that
teachers will be trained for AVID. I remember the first time I
ever saw you, which was at the pre-strategic planning meeting.
You mentioned AVID and your experience in Caldwell and I was
real excited, but you said the training for teachers was going
to be in summer of 2008. So I would like a timeline; I would
like a report back to find out where we are in those things
which will affect our entire District and create a real culture
of education. I would appreciate it if the Board and Dr. Barber
would provide us with a timeline for that and include the public
and have another public meeting; we’ve had one in March of
2007. There’s one last thing. I have a timeline for IB and it
says that after six months, an IB coordinator should be hired,
and that timeline would be September 2007 for this District.
Obviously that’s long gone. I feel like that’s a priority for
our District; it’s not a big expense and I would really, really
like to hear where we stand on it and see some more work on it.
I think that at the Hemingway PA everyone wanted to know about
IB and people were even thinking about pulling their kids out of
school to start working on it. So, that’s it. Thanks.
c. Bob Corker – Advisory
Committee Selection
There is a procedure of operation
in the District for evaluating committees. It is School District
Policy 203.4. It was adopted in August of 1990 and is on the
District website. I’m requesting that during the November
meeting, the School Board review and modify this policy. The
policy seems inappropriate in terms of tone and tenor saying
such things as ‘the Board encourages citizen participation in
the decision making process and advisory committees shall be
broadly representative’. It’s not transparent in terms of
process for selecting committee members. It gives no direction
whatsoever on how to select someone and therefore can easily
omit individuals or entire groups from participating on
important School District matters. It’s too easy for
like-minded people to be chosen on controversial matters and
there’s no way for the public to know that a process was
followed in forming an advisory board. There’s no way for us to
really know that other than to ask, (and this is something that
came up in the elections a little bit), there was no concrete
way to justify certain selections for these advisory boards.
Here is an example of a relatively straightforward way I believe
would correct this. Simply require that a percentage of those
serving be chosen randomly. I strongly encourage the percentage
be greater than 50 percent. This ensures these committee
opportunities are well known to the public and they ask for
volunteers from whom the committee members will be randomly
selected. I think that this is important in restoring community
confidence around some of the most important decisions affecting
our children’s education. Thanks you.
d. Kathryn Graves –
Comment Period, Town Hall Meetings
I am requesting that the Board
please consider two things. First, I would like you to consider
allowing an additional public comment at these meetings. And
secondly, I would like you to consider holding town hall
meetings.
In your procedures of operation
#203.4 it says “the Board encourages citizen participation in
the decision making process.”
I feel very strongly that the
public is not an integral part of these meetings. Because of
the way the meetings are set up, the public is unable to comment
in a meaningful way.
I understand that you are
complying with the open meeting law, which requires that the
meeting is open to the public; however, this open meeting law
does not prohibit you from giving the community more than once
chance to speak.
Again, the first thing I would
like you to consider is allowing additional public comment
before decisions are made, especially when new information is
presented. Presently, the public is expected to comment up
front, then new information is presented – so many times one
does not know what comment they want to make before the
presentations have been made.
I am not asking for a
free-for-all or an extra hour to be added to meetings; just
asking for five to ten minutes to give the people at the meeting
an opportunity to comment. If there is more than ten minutes
worth of comments, the Chair has the authority to end the
comment period. I have attended several Blaine County and
Hailey City meetings where they have all allowed public comment
throughout their agendas. I am asking that this Board adopt a
similar process.
The second thing I would like you
to consider is having monthly town hall meetings to allow open
discussion of school and district issues. It also provides a
way for two-way discussion that helps the Board create policy
that is representative of the community. The District website
has a quote from Al Gore that reads “Involved people determine
the kind of future we will have.” I couldn’t agree more.
Thank you for consideration of
these requests.
e. Steve Guthrie, Board
Member – Prepared Statement
On October 29th our community
will have the opportunity to approve or disapprove the
approximately $59,000,000 Blaine County School District Reserve
Fund Levy. The current economic state has impacted our country
to include our small community here in Blaine County. Our
citizens have lost jobs and homes. Salary freezes, hourly
reductions, and loss of benefits are unfortunately commonplace.
Please know that I sympathize and understand that these are
difficult times, but I am also confident that we will pull
through and will again prosper. Our community has historically
supported our students and schools for which I’m very thankful.
The benefits of a world class school district, our intended
goal, are far reaching. The community’s growth and
sustainability are in large part due to a prosperous school
district. As a reminder, the levy will fund safety initiatives,
facility improvements, new and additional facilities, if
required, and technology. The levy will ensure that funds
allocated for in-classroom curriculum and programs be utilized
for their intended use and not facility improvements.
In-classroom programs and curricula directly impact the future
of our students. Continued success and improvements of this
educational component are, and will remain, the number one
priority of the Blaine County School District. Once again, I
sympathize and understand the challenging times that we face and
I would only ask voters to study the proposed levy
recommendations and become properly informed prior to making
this most important decision. In closing, it should be no
surprise that I support the proposed levy and believe that the
levy facility revenues will ensure that Blaine County School
District, primarily its students, will benefit for many years
into the future. Thank you.
VI. Curriculum
Report – Matt Murray, Director of Curriculum/Dual Language
Learners – Information
a. Social Studies
Curriculum Presentation
No action is requested at this
time; the Social Studies Curriculum will be included in
November’s Action Agenda for approval.
Please click here to view Matt’s
Social Studies Curriculum presentation.
VII. Professional Development
Report – Sam Schrader, Wood River High School Technology
Education Teacher and John Peck, Carey School Principal
This year all of the BCSD’s
annual inservice professional development resources were focused
on 21st Century Skills and the future of education.
Sam Schrader stated that he had
never been to an inservice that was so well focused. He said it
gave him a good mix between the types of tools he can use
immediately and got him thinking philosophically about what he
would like to accomplish as a teacher.
John Peck stated that the
inservice was a great professional development for our
teachers. He went on to say that a powerful training such as
this would be most beneficial for all staff to have rich
discussions.
Please click here to view the
“Blaine County School District October 2009 In-Service
Offerings” brochure.
VIII. Construction Report –
Howard Royal, Director of Buildings and Grounds
a. Technology Building and
Silver Creek High School Construction Project Update
Howard Royal updated us on the
Technology Building construction project.
Please click here to view Howie’s
construction update and photographs.
IX. Action Agenda
a. School District Audit
Report – Morgan Hatt, Jones, Yost, Hatt & Erikson, P.A.
Morgan Hatt presented the annual
School District Audit Report.
Please click here to review the
report.
Action was taken to accept the
Audit Report as written.
b. Permission to Publish
Annual Financial Statement – Mike Chatterton, School District
Treasurer
Please click here to view the
Annual Summary Statement of Revenues and Expenditures for July
1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.
Action was taken to grant
permission to publish the Annual Financial Summary Statement
twice in the newspaper of record per Idaho Code.
c. Approval of Music
Curriculum – Matt Murray, Director of Curriculum/Dual Language
Learners
Action was taken to approve the
Music Curriculum as presented at the Regular September School
Board meeting.
d. Approval of Early
Release Days – Matt Murray, Director of Curriculum/Dual
Language Learners
Please click here to view the
Early Release Days Proposal.
After discussion, action was
taken to approve the recommendation for the 2009-2010 early
release/re-designed school day schedule as a pilot and to
reevaluate after the April 9, 2010 collaboration date. The
motion was passed by roll call vote: Steve Guthrie: Yes, Paul
Bates, No, Julie Dahlgren: Yes.
e. Approval of Plant
Facilities Reserve Fund Levy Election Judges and Clerks – Laurie
Kaufman, Board Clerk
Laurie has hired 40 Election
Judges and Clerks to work the five polling places for the Plant
Facilities Reserve Fund Levy Election on October 29, 2009.
Please click here to view the
list of hired Judges and Clerks by polling place.
Action was taken to approve the
Plant Facilities Reserve Fund Levy Election Judges and Clerks.
X. Information Agenda
a. Superintendent’s Goals
– Dr. Lonnie Barber, Superintendent of Schools
1) Work to develop strong,
reflective leadership with our administrators and teachers that
enable us to be forward-thinking and progressive when
considering and designing the future of Blaine County Schools.
2) Continue to focus on the
work of the Strategic Plan.
3) Work with principals to
create a climate of continuous improvement in their schools that
in turn leads to higher academic achievement for all students,
regardless of demographic.
4) Work to know our teachers
and support staff better.
b. Idaho School
Board Association Annual Convention Planning Update - Laurie
Kaufman, Board Clerk
The 67th Annual ISBA convention
will be held November 11-13, 2009, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho at
the Coeur d’Alene Resort. Registrants this year are Board
Members Julie Dahlgren, Steve Guthrie, and Paul Bates. Dr.
Lonnie Barber, Superintendent, and Board Laurie Kaufman, Board
Clerk, will also be attending.
c. Discussion regarding the
Board’s Leadership Roles now and until the Plant Facilities Levy
Election – Dr. Lonnie Barber, Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Barber led a discussion
regarding the Board’s leadership roles, going forward, in regard
to the Plant Facilities Levy Election.
There being no further business
to discuss, action was taken to adjourn the meeting.
The Regular October meeting of
the Board of Trustees of Blaine County School District No. 61
adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
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