RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
JOINT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 365
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SEPTEMBER 15, 2011
I. WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER
A. The Board of Trustees, Joint School District No. 365, met for the regular meeting at Rimrock Music Room on Thursday, September 15, 2011. Chairman Dixie Black called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., welcomed patrons and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
B. Roll call –Chairman Dixie Black, Vice Chairman Marie Robertson, Howard Field, Joe Merrick, Lori Bennett and Clerk Cathy Sellman were present. Superintendent Vickie Chandler was absent due to a death in her family and excused from the meeting. Also attending were Principal Amber Pearson, Will Goodman, Carleen Best, Jessica A. Sonnen, Beth Gasper, Kendon Barzee, Tiffany Barzee, Austin Barzee and JayDene Aquiso.
II. APPROVE AGENDA
The agenda was amended to add Item F – Resignation and Executive Session – Student Issue
Joe Merrick made the motion and Marie Robertson seconded to approve the agenda and add Item F – Resignation and Student Issue in Executive Session. Motion carried.
III. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approve minutes of the August 11, 2011 Regular Meeting
B. Accounts Payable
C. Bruneau Elementary Activity Accounts
D. Grand View Elementary Activity Accounts
E. Rimrock Activity Accounts
Lori Bennett made the motion and Howard Field seconded to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion carried.
IV. REPORTS TO THE BOARD
A. Principal Reports
Principal Amber Pearson told the board Jessica Sonnen and Carleen Best would like to give a school report for Grand View Elementary. Jessica Sonnen reported on the changes made at Grand View Elementary this year. Last year she was really unhappy with her classroom interruptions which could be over ten in half an hour. Now only time the loud speaker is used is right after the tardy bell and the phone is used instead of the loud speaker so it doesn’t disturb the students. During the day the secretary forwards the messages to voice mail. With the new attendance policy this year students are staying in class. Last year half the class was gone by 3 o’clock because parents would pop in and pick them up early. This year parent volunteers have scheduled times and some parents are scheduled for observation time also. Students are prepared for parent volunteers. Last year she was nervous about the new structure and the new administration. She tried to resist because she was afraid students would fall behind but half way through last year she noticed things were easier because of the new changes. The change works. They have a very busy day but they get a lot more covered in class time. Mrs. Pearson is a complete advocate for students and everything she does is for students. It’s not what’s best for teachers it’s what’s best for kids. Last year Miss Sonnen had the largest growth ever on the IRI and she credits the new reading program and the classroom changes. The class growth jumped 23%. This year a bell rings at 3:50 for teachers to start getting students ready to go home. The school is working on a plan with a car line because of so many students who are having parents pick them up after school. She thanked the board for supporting all the changes in the school. She feels the changes will be beneficial to the students.
Carleen Best thanked the board for the opportunity to speak. She told the board Principal Amber Pearson’s number 1 goal is to give the students an opportunity in life. The children are given everything they can think of to be successful. The school needs to stick to the state requirements and at first it seemed like the instructions were way out there, but they worked and the children have benefitted. Mrs. Pearson told the teachers she wanted to be able to walk over to any student and ask what they are doing and why. The new reading program has intervention time with groups to reinforce and guide those that are trailing. Students know what intervention is and why they are doing it. When Christine Meyers does the AIMS Web Testing the students completely know why and what they are doing. Last week Mrs. Pearson read a book to the children and had them draw a picture. Mrs. Best was pleasantly shocked and the kindergarten students said “She Rocks”! She has made many, many positive changes. Mrs. Best also thanked the board for the 4-day school week. The children arrive Tuesday morning refreshed and after 3 days off are anxious to learn for 4 days. With scope & sequence the children get what they need in a very consistent manner. Last year with so many interruptions at the end of the day no teaching was happening for the last hour. She is happy with the change of parents making an appointment to meet with the teachers and thanked the board for the Healthy School Program and hopes they continue the race in May. Mrs. Best believes they are teaching and she thanked the board for letting her teach the little children. (See attachment)
Principal Amber Pearson reported enrollment has increased with 142 students in Grand View, without 6th grade, including Pre-school and 51 students in Bruneau including pre-school. New schedules are in place and even tighter than last year. The new Title I revision has been awesome. The hardest struggle is with the new bus routes, the students are at school by 7:40 a.m. and the last bus isn’t gone until 4:10 p.m. Teachers have students their entire contract time. There is no time for staff meetings, etc. She thanked the testers as they have all the base line and IRI testing finished. The school needs to apply for the NEW AIMS web license agreements by September 30th and Mrs. Pearson is working on the reports. They cannot get access to the math tabs but have the monitoring done so they will input and have that data soon. She called the state and visited with Nancy Thomas Price and she said districts may have to set aside money to buy their own license agreements. The school is keeping the data and will input it at a later date. It looks like the SDE is going to drop AIMS Web next year and have SchoolNet. AIMS WEB does the probes, etc. and SchoolNet holds the data. The two new teachers who are ½ time teacher and ½ time para-pro are amazing. They are working diligently with intervention. Lindsay Alexander is the roving Title 1 teacher/para and she is doing an amazing job planning and preparing for the para-professionals. Sara Gonzalez is the Title 1 teacher/para-pro in Bruneau and she has gone above and beyond with amazing lessons to assist with core classes. The new teacher hires have brought wonderful contributions to the schools and are pushing students to learn every day. Mrs. Pearson thought she would need to help them with testing, but when she went to help them, they had the testing done. Mrs. Pearson thanked JayDene for her assistance and her long hours. Back to School Night went well. Grand View student transportation after school has been crazy. They are working on a new system for students exiting the building after school with three different exits. She had samples of student handbooks and planners. The handbooks were donated to the schools. When they were sent to the printers, they had a few formatting mistakes when they came back. A few parents came in with concerns about some policies and they had thought Amber had written the policies but she explained she had not written the policies they were written many years ago. With so many students it is going to be difficult to see every parent for parent/teacher conferences on October 26 and 27. Mrs. Pearson suggested an early release on one of the days to accommodate parents.
Marie Robertson made the motion and Lori Bennett seconded to allow for an early release for the high school at 1 o’clock and the elementary schools at 1:30 on Wednesday, October 26th. Motion carried.
Principal Amber Pearson requested changing the February afternoon meeting to an evening meeting and changing the March evening meeting to a day time meeting so board members would be able to attend the Grand View Lunch and Literacy and Book Fair.
Marie Robertson made the motion and Joe Merrick seconded to change the meeting times for the February meeting to an evening meeting and the March meeting to an afternoon meeting at Grand View Elementary. Motion carried.
Principal Pearson asked to allow the PTA organization a key fob for the gym side of the school for their meetings. The board gave Mr. Goodman the approval to set up the fob for the organization. The Grand View PTA has requested use of the Grand View Elementary gym for their Halloween Party. The board did not have any objections. Bruneau has used the park but if the weather is inclement they may need the gym also.
Capacity Builder Karen Osman has been working at both elementary schools Joanie Peterson has been working with the high school on school improvement. This year there will be an additional capacity builder to work with the Bruneau Elementary staff.
Will Goodman reported the staff has been working on a Rimrock Back to School Night. The only night without a game is October 6th. They have not visited with Mrs. Chandler about the date yet. They plan to replicate the Hispanic Family Night that was held last March. The Junior High class elections will be held next week and students are planning homecoming events.
B. Superintendent Reports
None
V. PUBLIC INPUT
Chairman Dixie Black asked the two parents, Beth Gasper and Tiffiny Barzee, present if they had any input they wanted to discuss with the board. Beth Gasper said she is trying to get more parent involvement in the schools. Tiffiny Barzee asked if there was an October board meeting and stated she may have something to discuss at that meeting.
VI. ACTION ITEMS
- APPROVE OUT OF STATE TRAVEL – FCCLA AND FFA, ATHLETICS
This item is a formality because the board needs to approve busses going across state lines for organizational events and athletics.
Joe Merrick made the motion and Marie Robertson seconded to approve the out of state travel for FCCLA, FFA and Athletics. Motion carried.
- APPROVE UPDATE TO GRADUATION POLICY – EXPLANATION OF CLASSES MEETING CRITERIA
Nothing has changed in the actual policy; explanations of the courses that will meet the requirements were in italics. (See attached policy) The update should clear up any confusion for students or parents. Mr. Harper has worked on the explanation of the policy.
Marie Robertson made the motion and Joe Merrick seconded to approve the update to graduation policy. Motion carried.
- APPROVE ALTERNATE ROUTE TO GRADUATION
The district is required to submit a new Alternate Route to Graduation for students not passing their ISATS or who are in Special Education or have been identified as Limited English Speaking Students. The plan needs to be submitted to the state by the end of September. Wade Harper researched other school districts to help write the plan.
Howard Field made the motion and Lori Bennett seconded to approve the alternate route to graduation. Motion carried.
- APPROVE PAY FOR PERFORMANCE PLAN SUBMITTED TO STATE
The plan was explained to the board by Will Goodman at the last board meeting. Each school’s leadership team created a proposal and then presented the plan to their building staff for approval. The plan needed to be submitted to the state by September 1st and all schools met the deadline. The district has not been notified by the state if the plan has been accepted. Will Goodman gave board members copies of the Pay For Performance Objectives for Rimrock for the local share and explained the goals and achievement measures. (See attached sheets) The school is still waiting for state approval. Pay for Performance objectives for both schools were discussed.
Lori Bennett made the motion and Marie Robertson seconded to approve the Pay for Performance Plan. Motion carried.
- Personnel Issue
Tabled until Executive Session
- Resignation
The district received a letter of resignation from Jim Dawson dated September 15th. (See attached letter)
Howard Field made the motion and Joe Merrick seconded to accept Jim Dawson’s resignation. Motion carried.
Chairman Dixie Black suggested forming a maintenance committee. Discussion was held on the issue.
VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Howard Field made the motion and Marie Robertson seconded to adjourn to Executive Session for a personnel and a student issue. Motion carried.
BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of school District 365, recess from an open meeting into Executive Session pursuant to Section 67-2345, Idaho Code to discuss student and personnel issues.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that following the Executive Session, the Board will reconvene in public session to conduct further business or for adjournment of the meeting.
The board recessed into Executive Session at 8:25 p.m.
The board reconvened in Open Session at 9:05 p.m.
Lori Bennett made the motion and Marie Robertson seconded to approve Student A to be excluded from the World History requirement for 2012 graduation because she has above the required credits in history. Motion carried.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
Marie Robertson made the motion and Howard Field seconded to adjourn. Motion carried.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
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Catherine R. Sellman, Clerk |
