nov_2010_board_meeting

MINUTES
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Washington County School District
121 West Tabernacle, St. George, Utah 84770
November 9, 2010

A regular meeting of the Board of Education of the Washington County School District was held after due, legal, and timely notice being given to all members and interested parties. Board President Kelly Blake called the meeting to order and welcomed all visitors. Board members present were Wendell Gubler, Craig Seegmiller, Carole Morris, Laura Hesson, Travis Christiansen, and Wes Christiansen. Staff members present were Superintendent Max H. Rose and Business Administrator Brent Bills.

OPEN MEETING – 4:00 p.m.
      Board President Welcome – Kelly Blake
      Pledge of Allegiance – Member Blake
      Reverence – Member W. Christiansen

CONSENT AGENDA
A.    Minutes:
    1. October 12, 2010
B.    Purchases over $10,000
C.    Personnel Items
Brent Bills said the Audio Improvements expense was for all Title I schools to purchase response systems. Testing can be done with new reading program that gives a real-time response.

Member W. Christiansen presented a motion to approve the Consent Agenda items A through C. Member Seegmiller seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENT ON BOARD ACTION ITEMS
No comments were given.

BOARD ACTION ITEMS
Policy 3510 Bullying and Hazing
Marshall Topham said he has received no additional information on the policy changes. Lyle Cox said a committee meeting was held which included the associations and everyone felt comfortable with the changes. Lyle Cox said it changes also direct the path for the most appropriate grievance.

Member Morris presented a motion to approve Policy 3510 Bullying and Hazing as written. Member Gubler seconded the motion that passed. Member T. Christiansen opposed approving the motion as the District is being told to do it legislatively, but stated he does approve the way the policy is written.

CSIP Plans
Brad Ferguson mentioned that the Board had received access to review the plans. He did receive some comments from Laura Hesson. He said that Richard Holmes has followed up with some of those concerns. The administration is trying to change the manner in how schools set goals.
Laura Hesson said that some math goals are a relatively low percent. Marshall Topham said that the low groupings of students are the ones being tested. Rusty Taylor said he has seen improvement and has discussed with Brad Ferguson ways to make it more effective for teachers. He mentioned his school did well on their accreditation and that the CSIP was included in the report for accreditation. Whole school goals are set and each department also focuses on their goals. A progress report is done in the middle of the year, then again at the end. Brad Ferguson said that the items would be changed based on the feedback from the Board and changes in the schools. Richard Holmes said that schools receive grant money for training once the plans have been corrected. Marshall Topham pointed out that this is the first time that Special Education goals have been included in the plan.

Member T. Christiansen presented a motion to approve the CSIP Plans with the recommended changes. Member Hesson seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

CARP Plans
Superintendent Max Rose explained that CARP is the Child Access Route Plan, which shows the walking routes to the schools.

Member Seegmiller presented a motion to approve the school CARP Plans. Member T. Christiansen seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

2012-2013 Calendar
Craig Hammer said that the Board received an updated calendar in their folder. Comments received from the survey were also given to the Board. Craig Hammer said the calendar is a direct carbon copy of the 2011-12 calendar. The Fall Break is scheduled for October 18-19. Easter changes around enough year-to-year that it puts the Spring Break and recess close together. School starts on Wednesday, August 15. Craig Hammer said it is so much harder to shut down a school than start it up, which makes it hard to end school on a Friday as it continues into the next week. He also said he tries to get it as close to 90/90 as possible. The calendar has been posted online for 30 days.

Member Seegmiller presented a motion to approve to approve the 2012-2013 Calendar. Member Morris seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

RFP for Materials Testing
Craig Hammer said the committee recommendation would be to award AGEC the materials testing for the Hurricane High School site.

Member W. Christiansen presented a motion to award the Materials Testing RFP to AGEC. Member T. Christiansen seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

DISCUSSION ITEMS
Student Achievement – LEA Comparison
Brad Ferguson showed our District LEA comparison with other school districts. He stated that Washington County has 25,000 students and showed the comparison with the top eight districts. Granite School District has the highest student enrollment. We are smallest of the top eight. He said that 17% of our students are non-white and we are the second highest for low-income. He said that Weber School District seems to have the closest demographics to our District. When comparing elementary students proficient in Language Arts, using the top eight districts, our District is second to the lowest followed by Granite School District. In secondary Language Arts we are 4th. In elementary and secondary math and science we are above the top eight averages. Our District has a 91% graduation rate, which is above the state average of 88%. He pointed out that our ELL population is an important factor to consider. Minority doesn’t necessarily mean ELL students. In summary, he said that we are competitive when compared to the big eight.

Energy Conservation Policy – Craig Hammer
This discussion was shelved until next month. Craig Hammer said that 39 applications were received for the position. He said the District would work to hire the positions first before proposing the policy.

Policy 1330 Employee Leave
Lyle Cox said it changes the current policy for accrual of vacation time. The policy only applies to 12-month employees covered by insurance, but no others would qualify. Employees who get up to 30 hours a week have a hard time taking time off. It has been recommended changing the policy to state that those who are eligible for health benefits would qualify for vacation accrual. The change should not increase the cost to the District.

INFORMATION AND REPORTS
District Recognitions and Awards:
Superintendent’s Award for Excellence
        Sherilyn Woods, Teacher, Enterprise Elementary
        Tamie Evans, Secretary, Enterprise Elementary
        Calvin Holt, Teacher, Enterprise High School
        Harmon Davis, Custodian, Enterprise High School
Volunteer of the Month
        Jennifer Dawson, Enterprise Elementary
        Ron Bliss, Enterprise High School

Superintendent Max Rose said that the awards would be presented on Wednesday.

Red Mountain Elementary – 2010 National Title I Distinguished School
Kathy Petersen mentioned she needed a signature from the Board for Coral Canyon to receive school improvement money.

Kathy Petersen said that Red Mountain Elementary was named a 2010 National Title I Distinguished School. School representatives will be attending a ceremony in Florida and will also participate in a distinguished school parade. The state is paying for eight teachers to attend the award ceremonies.

Reports:
Superintendent
Superintendent Max Rose mentioned that we had three state championships:
•    Pine View High boys cross country
•    Desert Hills High School girls tennis
•    Snow Canyon High School girls volleyball

Hurricane High may also be playing in the state football championship.

Board

Association
Kathleen Wagner, WCEA, said that UEN recorded some of the UEA Convention sessions to use in workshops for teachers. By participating in the workshops, teachers can gain relicensure points. All teachers are being invited to participate. She said they are hoping it will happen in January. Kathleen Wagner also mentioned that William and Pat Child provide ten teachers statewide with an Excellence in Teaching Award. Our District had three teachers awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award out of 40 districts. Susan Bruschke, Katie Wood, Amy Lasater were presented the award at the convention. The teachers were nominated by their peers.

Doug Drake, AFT, expressed appreciation for the Board and would appreciate if they approved the changes to Policy 1330.

PTA/PTO/Community Council
Amanda Childers, East Elementary PTA, mentioned doing an assembly about bullying, showing how each of the students can make a difference. She said the bullying policy is being a focus this year. They are also getting parents involved to help keep bullying out of the school.
She said they have had problems with some of the traffic in front of the school. They are making it a one-way street. They are also proposing to city to make streets around the school “School Zones.” Parents will be informed of the one-way street change. The school administration should be out to help enforce the change and they are hoping to have the St. George Police Department there as well.

PUBLIC OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE BOARD – 3 min. each
R. Kerr said his house value plunged but his taxes continue to go up. After checking, he said he found that District put out a want list. He said he couldn’t get a straight answer out of the county government. If he has a complaint he has to go to each government entity. He mentioned an accident out-of-state where a student was killed after drinking and is concerned that type of accident is waiting to happen here. He also wanted information about budget meetings.

Brent Bills said budget meetings are posted on the state public notice website. Travis Christiansen said it is printed in the paper as well. Brent Bills said the budget is reviewed 30 days in advance, then approved the next month. The meetings are held in May or June with the final budget meeting in August. Superintendent Max Rose said extensive safety issues being looked at and he appreciates Mr. Kerr’s concern.

Kirsten Miner, parent, said her concern was addressed by PTA representative Amanda Childers.

Robert Gent, substitute teacher, said he is retired but substitutes for fun. He said he has substituted in every school. He has compared the rates paid for elementary - $60-70 vs. rates for secondary schools - $70-80. He said that some certified teachers are hardly being paid minimum wage through Kelly Services. He said the work is harder in elementary schools than in secondary. He asked the Board to consider making both levels an equal rate and increasing the amount to make is compensable with minimum wage. He suggested an increase of at least $10.00.