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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012_07_10 BoardMinutesBOARD OF TRUSTEES — ANNUAL REORGANIZTION BOARD MEETING DISTRICT OFFICE BOARD ROOM July 10, 2012 7:00 PM Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration: Dave Lent, Chairman George Boland, Superintendent Lisa Burtenshaw, Vice Chair Trina Caudle, Assist. Supt. of Secondary Education & Curriculum Jerry Wixom, Treasurer Lisa Sherick, Assist. Supt. of Elementary Ed & Student Services Deidre Warden, Clerk Carrie Smith, Director of HR & Finance Larry Haws, Member Debbie Wilkie, Recording Clerk Brian Hillman, Incoming Board Member Chairman Lent called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. Pledge of Allegiance was led by patron Doug Hillman. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY: a. Recognition of Outgoing Trustee Jerry Wixom Chairman Lent recognized Trustee Jerry Wixom who has served the students, staff and patrons of District 91 for the past 24 years. Jerry gave the administration and board members two inspirational books about teaching and stated the statements in the books are what should be in the hearts of board members, administrators and teachers working in District 91. Jerry read a statement from one of the books and stated that all of the boards he has served on since 1988 have been dedicated to finding ways to educate the individual child. Jerry quoted Ignasio Estrada saying "If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we ought to teach the way they learn." Jerry also stated that the addition of the new magnet high school and the implemented of the blended learning program are more attempts to teach each child in a way their can learn. Jerry thanked the current board, past boards and the administration for their support and service over the years and for helping to make District 91 the district of choice. The board members expressed their gratitude for the experience Jerry has brought to this board. Trustee Haws thanked Jerry for all of his help over the past year. Trustee Warden thanked Jerry for his wisdom and experience and stated Jerry has always been a great example for all of them. Trustee Burtenshaw stated that Jerry has always been about doing what is best for students and hoped that this board, and future boards, will continue to do the same. Superintendent Boland thanked Jerry for being a great educator for all of them. Chairman Lent thanked Jerry for all that he has done for the district and presented him with a plaque and service award. Jerry introduced his family in the audience and thanked all of them for their support. 07/10/2012 D91 Board Minutes b. Oath of Office, Zone 1 Board Clerk Deidre Warden administered the Trustee's Oath of Office to Mr. Brian Hillman who was appointed to fulfill the remaining year of Trustee Wixom's term. c. Reorganization of the Board of Trustees Chairman Lent declared the current Idaho Falls School District #91 Board of Trustees dissolved. Superintendent George Boland declared the office of chairperson for the 2012-2013 School Year open and called for nominations. Lisa Burtenshaw made a motion nominating Dave Lent as chairman of the Board for the 2012-2013 SY. Larry Haws seconded. No other nominations were made. Motion carried unanimously. Chairman Lent declared the offices of the board open and called for nominations. Lisa Burtenshaw made a motion to nominate the following slate of officers for the 2012-2013 SY: Lisa Burtenshaw as Vice Chair Deidre Warden as Treasurer Larry Haws as Clerk Carrie Smith, Director of HR & Finances, as Deputy Clerk of the Board Deidre Warden seconded. No further nominations were made. Motion carried unanimously. d. Set Dates and times of regular board meetings Superintendent Boland reviewed the list of 2012-2013 meeting dates and suggested that the Board consider modifying a couple of the dates due to conflicts that existed with the schedule outlined for the 2nd and 4t" Tuesday of each month. Deidre Warden moved to accept the 2012-2013 Board Meeting Schedule as presented. Larry Haws seconded. Motion carried unanimously. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: Larry Haws moved to adopt the agenda as presented. Lisa Burtenshaw seconded. Motion carried unanimously. REPORTS/I N PUT/I N FORMATION a. Patron Input — Mr. Suketu Gandhi shared comments regarding Policy Changes: Board Vision Summary. A full report is attached. b. IFEA Report — Mitzi Ellingson, President and Angela Gillman, President -Elect reported for the IFEA, their written reports are attached. c. Education Foundation — Marge Foster, Chair • Marge provided a handout regarding sales for the Teton Toyota Truck Raffle, total sales to date are $36,478.00. 07/10/2012 D91 Board Minutes • Marge also provided a ten-year Education Foundation Contributions spreadsheet and a detailed report of the 2011-2012 Fiscal Year Funds reviewing that contributions were extremely slow when the Foundation did not have a director in place. Marge stated that the majority of the 2011-2012 contributions were directly tied to student achievement. d. Superintendent's Report Superintendent Boland reported that the West Bus Lot was significantly vandalized over the Fourth of July holiday, 12 buses sustained in excess of ten thousand dollars in damages to mirrors, windows and lights. Steps to increase security have been added and the buses that were not damaged have been moved for now. A police report was filed and the investigation is ongoing. The superintendent reviewed that there are several large summer projects going on in the district including roofing, painting, abatement and groundbreaking for the new Erickson building to name a few. As far as staffing this year, the Superintendent stated it appears to be a relatively normal staffing year with 53 new teachers hired so far. There are still some gaps to be filled before school starts on September 41" CONSENT AGENDA: Lisa Burtenshaw made a motion to adopt the consent agenda as presented. Deidre Warden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Items approved include: Meeting Minutes: Payment of June 2012 Claims: Staff Actions: New Hires: Barrett, Kaitlin J Elementary teacher Edgemont Chiu, Melissa B Science teacher Skyline Hunter, Zoe A Counselor Westside Kotecki, David A Science teacher Skyline June 12&26,2012 $2,105,063.35 McConkie, Laura Roderick, Teri Elementary teacher Science teacher Edgemont Skyline Meldrum, Julie Rovig, Barbara J .50 FTE K teacher Elementary teacher Sunnyside Sunnyside Parrett, Harriet S Sanders, Sarah Debate/speech teacher Principal Skyline Bush Parsons, Kathlene F Vaughn, Ariel Counselor Elementary teacher Edgemont Longfellow McAteer, Andrew T Peterson, Tiffiny L Webster, Jennifer L Technology Education Elementary teacher Elementary teacher teacher Erickson Erickson IFHS 07/10/2012 D91 Board Minutes Shanna Sestero Randy Hurley Language Principal IFHS IFHS Mike Marshall Principal Edgemont Resignations: Eric Layton Jodi Bartschi Science 5t" Grade Skyline High School Edgemont Jeff Pulsipher Karen Nelson Special Ed Spanish Erickson Elementary Idaho Falls High School Angela Willison Chance Munns 1St Grade Horticulture Edgemont Elementary Professional Technical Retirements: Nancy Jones Shanna Sestero Career Education Language IFHS and SHS IFHS Mike Marshall Randy Hurley Principal Principal Edgemont IFHS Matching Funds: Hawthorne Elementary Phase II —Computer Lab Upgrade $ 9,407.10 Sunnyside Elementary ipad 2's for classrooms $ 22,740.00 Idaho Falls High School Cheer mats $ 5,672.00 Total Matching Funds requested $ 37,818.78 07/10/2012 D91 Board Minutes Sydney Zohner C N A Instructor Professional Technical Susan Collins 3rd Grade Fox Hollow PROPOSALS a. Second Reading of Board Policy Changes— Section 1 Superintendent Boland reviewed the changes and additions made after the first reading of Board Policy 804.0. The suggestion was also made not to have both a motto and a slogan, it is confusing. The Superintendent proposed retaining the slogan, A World Class Education, and deleting the motto, Learning and Growing Every Day. No other comments have been received. A discussion was held and the additional changes will be made and carried forward to the final reading on August 7, 2012. ACTION ITEMS a. Ratify June 27, 2012 Telephone Poll Regarding Cost Savings Option Item #16 Stairwells for the Dora Erickson Construction Bid Larry Haws moved to ratify the telephone poll conducted on June 27, 2012. Deidre Warden seconded. Motion carried unanimously. b. Approve Contract with City of Idaho Falls Police Department to Provide School Resource Officers for the 2012-2013 school year Superintendent Boland reviewed that the only changes to this agreement are the dates and a reduction from three School Resource Officers to two, one housed at Idaho Falls High School covering the East side schools and one housed at Skyline High School covering the West side schools. A discussion was held regarding the new law enforcement training course being offered this fall through the Professional Technical High School program. Lisa Burtenshaw made a motion to approve the contract with the City of Idaho Falls Police Department to provide School Resource Officers (SRO's) for the 2012-2013 school year. Larry Haws seconded. Motion carried unanimously. c. Approve Changes to Board Policy 804.0 (Evaluation Due Date) to be in Compliance with Idaho Code Superintendent Boland reviewed that this is related to a statutory change during the last legislative session which changed the written evaluation due date from January 31" to March 1St The change in policy will reflect the change to be in compliance with Idaho Code. Deidre Warden moved to approve the changes to Board Policy 804.0 from January 31" to March 1St to be in compliance with Idaho Code. Larry Haws seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Trustee Brian Hillman made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Deidre Warden seconded. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm. 07/10/2012 D91 Board Minutes Suketu Gandhi's Comments on Policy Changes: Board Vision -Summary July 10, 2012 As the District revisits various policies to strengthen the quality of education, a few ambiguous and erroneous elements need to receive greater scrutiny. Specifically, student's engagement in each subject should be meaningful, the data that district relies on to make decisions must be credible and parental involvement that strengthens education must be significant. Any statement that is stated in policy, including the vision statement, has to be detailed. This way no misinterpretations are made. While everyone wants students to be engaged, there needs to clear understanding what is meant by engagement when discussing specific subjects. In mathematics, engagement is different from that would be in the foreign language classes, and much different from the science classes. For example, in conducting science experiments, scientific basis behind experiment experiments be known. It has to be based on knowing what can be measured, and the unknowns. It must not be that of following procedures as in a cook book. Defining comprehensive engagement opportunities that are available in regular classroom can be compared with those taking specific class online. This way, students can make a judgment which type of classes is suitable for them. The data driven decision certainly means that standardized tests will be of significance. Hopefully, the decision makers will rely only on credible data. The standardized tests, like ISAT Math lack the credibility. Hopefully, district will write its own comprehensive end of the year exams to help identify weak spot that may exists among the students. Furthermore, there are other data that needs to be monitored: The number of students who fail specific courses, or eligible to take AP courses, and the actual enrollment in these courses is very important. The data n from both SAT Subject tests and AP exams enlightens everyone by knowing whether the students have the necessary prerequisites to successfully complete the course. The role of partners in education needs to be expanded so that their knowledge can be incorporated when making any major decision. In the area of the textbook selection, parent's role need to be incorporated at the deliberation stage in the committee where every issues are sorted out. The need arises because the math textbooks have many conceptual errors, lack rigors in derivation of fundamental relationships and deficit in complex problems. However, they are full of irrelevant photographs, which does not help student become proficient. For example, there are math textbooks from pre -Algebra to pre -Calculus need to be examined by knowledgeable people who are not educators. Idaho statues (Title 33/Chapter 5/Section 512A) certainly allow non - educators to participate in the committee deliberation process, but the District 91 policies do not have this provision. The Administration may not want to see the partners in education deliberate in the committee, but the partner's participation is necessary to ensure that the decision are made on the side of rigors, clarity and accuracy. In addition, the Board should have a provision where the partners in education can provide a presentation to the entire board on a significant topic to alert the decision makers. The present method of 3 -minutes of presentation is suitable for most cases. In the past, we heard a few topics, such as road crossing safety, sexual harassment, and the importance of taking AP courses, that requires more than 3 -minutes of presentations. In addition, when the Board hears presentation (such as Charter School Applications, deliberation on the mathematics education in July, 2010) please allow the public to ask questions. The information that public seeks is important, are not there to waste time. The questions are asked to ascertain whether the proposal actually strengthens the quality of education. If there are alternative mechanisms to convey idea to the decision makers, please enlighten the public how it can be done. Suketu Gandhi's Comments on Policy Changes: Board Vision -Long Version July 10, 2012 n As the District revisits various policies to strengthen the quality of education, a few ambiguous and erroneous elements need to receive greater scrutiny. Specifically, student's engagement in each subject should be meaningful, the data that district relies on to make decisions must be credible and parental involvement that strengthens education must be significant. While everyone wants students to be engaged, there needs to clear understanding what is meant by engagement when discussing specific subjects. Everyone wants to make an objective decision based on data, but the standardized tests like ISAT Math lack credibility. Both the publicly and informal information leaned from my child on Math clearly indicates that complex problems were absent from the recent test. Results from other standardized tests that a group of students take should be documented. The partnership between the school and the parental involvement in education needs to be expanded so that more students benefit. This should accelerate the progress to bring high caliber education to the District's students. Methods to engage students are strongly dependent on the subject, and it must mean more than formal classroom and homework assignments. For example, in learning a foreign language, would student learn better when not a word of English is spoken, or when a combination of both the language and English is spoken? Could computer based exercises assist students in choosing right words in specific situation? When one speaks in the language, the personal experiences indicate that students are fully engaged as they associate words with actions, and make use of common words frequently. In mathematics, engagement means reinforcing the materials learned through exercises, learning different ways to solve complex problems, and listening to questions and the corresponding answers. In physical science, it is about learning concepts, make small �., changes in experimental conditions, and predicting and observing the outcome. For quantitative measurements, it is about identifying both the known and the unknowns, and matching measurement tools to determine the unknown quantity. Examples include determination of a density of a pebble, measuring the voltage between electrodes, etc. In social studies it could mean asking the right questions, and reading about a topic from multiple sources. Thus, the policy on engagement would become better when it contains subject specific information. When this is done, engagement would expand from formal assignments to the oral discussions & presentation. Decisions made based on data very important, but test data that one relies on are unreliable. Specifically, ISAT test results in mathematics as the source of data for mathematics lacks credibility. In the past, practice ISAT test had questions containing every possible answer as incorrect. In other words, a question is asked, but the designated correct answer contradicts mathematics learned at higher level. How do student answer questions when none of the multiple choices questions has a correct answer? Students who understand mathematics should be able to show the reasoning, but no attempt is made to seek such information. It would be better when the District writes its own exam that contains complex problems where students show their reasoning. In other words, tests gain credibility when questions are complex, and require multi -steps to determine the answers. Similar things should be done in each core subject. Through this type of assessment, the Administration will truly learn what students have and not have learned. This way, system wide failures can be readily identified, and realistic �—� solutions can be implemented quickly. Additional relevant data need to be documented for high school students: 1) Student performance on SAT Subject tests, and AP Exams, 2) student's failure is specific subjects, 3) correlating the Suketu Gandhi's Comments on Policy Changes: Board Vision -Long Version July 10, 2012 �-� student performance in specific subjects with their necessary prerequisites, and 4) student enrollment in various AP courses. These data need to be shared with the public that informs them about what is needed for students get access to relevant AP courses, and additional prerequisites that students need to succeed. The course catalog may identify the prerequisites, but they are is no consensus on them. Furthermore, the role of the partner in education must be expanded. The partners are the parents of children going to the district's schools. Parents play a role to ensure that their children's assignments get completed in timely manner, assist teachers, cast votes on the matter that impacts the school system. Most recently they have assisted the Board by narrowing options the calendar, and the school boundaries. However, when there is a systemic problem or an idea that needs to be given a serious consideration, there is no mechanism available to convey the information. The 3 -minute rule on the representation is inadequate. To convey a serious idea, it requires more than 3 -minutes of representation, and perhaps combined with a slide show presentation. A policy that allows patrons to give input exceeding 3 -minutes (with Power Point type presentation) on a topic which the Administration does not view to be of a significant concern should be formulated. Furthermore, the Board should formulate a policy that allows the partners in education to ask questions when significant matter is discussed before the Board. The questions that patrons may ask will result in either making a fool out of themselves, or the will enlighten the listeners. Most recently, there have been three major meetings that took place before the Board. They were /-� discussions on the Math curriculum in (July, 2010), OCS Charter School (October, 2011) and American Heritage Charter School (April, 2012). In all three cases, the public was not provided the opportunity to ask questions. In the case of OCS Charter School, restrictions of 1 -question per person limited the amount of information. (OCS Charter School did not provide the information requested. No response was given when e-mail was sent.) In contrast, when petition for American Heritage Charter School came before the Board meeting, the public did not know about it through the webpage on the weekend before the special Board Meeting. Placing the agenda of the Board Meeting on Monday (1 day before the formal hearing), instead of Friday (3 days before the Board Meeting) validates the perception that the District's decision makers prefers public to stay away from these important meetings. In other words, when convenient, decision makers wants parents to be involved in education when they don't show up, but when expedient, school wants parents to stay away from these meetings when they do show up. There are reasons for the partners to participate in asking questions especially when major decision will be made. In the case of Charter Schools, there public perception is that they respond to the legitimate needs of the community by providing superior education. When examining relevant facts, learning about it through the parents who send their children to a local charter school, and reading about representations made in Idaho's charter school commission, different picture emerges. The local charter schools may be improvement over the quality of education offered by District 93 (or Bonneville County Joint School District 93), but it lacks necessary structure to provide �.� superior education. The essential structure are reading and testing (Advanced Reader quizzes), textbooks for the core courses, number of days of schools, amount of homework, gifted and talented education program (i.e., PACE), ways in which students are engaged, teacher turnover, etc. All of these facts emerge when right questions are asked in the public so that everyone can 3 Suketu Gandhi's Comments on Policy Changes: Board Vision -Long Version July 10, 2012 listen to the questions. The Board ask questions concerns the procedures, rather than on the quality of education. The partners of education ask questions have been along the line of quality of education. Thus, the partners of education plays important role in getting the right information. Another area where the partners in educations are denied participation is in the textbook selection process. Idaho Statues (33-512A) has a provision that facilitates the public to participate when selecting textbooks for recommendation to the Board. It is written is a simple language that is understood by everyone. When pressed the Administration on this issue, interpretation (that was supported by the District's lawyer) was that it can be ignored at will. It is well known fact that excellent textbooks benefits students, but poor textbooks harm students. The prevailing math textbooks lacks presentation of topics coherently, deficient in derivation of mathematical relationships, and is full of unnecessary photographs. Many textbooks contain a significant number of illustrations. The illustrations distract students from focusing attention on the educational material to the figure caption beneath the photographs, etc. The contents of the books lack in depth knowledge. Despite the best efforts of the textbook selection committee, another set of eyes are needed to look for mathematical accuracy, relevancy of photographs, and coherency in the exposition of topics, etc. For this reason, the partners in education are in excellent position to make very valuable contributions through their inclusion textbook selection process. Hopefully the Board will rewrite the policy that explicitly allows the parents to play a role in the textbook selection process. r� Furthermore, the Board has known both the problem and the realistic solution to the mathematics education since 2009. This year, the solution will be implemented at Dora Erickson Elementary School. This gives a rise to very important question as what the patron could have done differently that would have accelerated this progress. For the partners, the time is the most critical factor in building the strong foundations. This sets the stage for students to take multiple AP courses in high school. n I have returned from an amazing week in Washington DC at National Representative Assembly. It was very hot and full of excitement. Participating in the democratic process with 8,000 other teachers was an experience I will never forget. We proposed, debated, and voted on 89 new business items. Hearing that many people vote "I" or "NO" in unison then standing to vote when division was called was so powerful. We were visited by Jill and Joe Bidden and had the honor is listening to them speak. President Obama gave us a personal phone call as well. All of the discussions and activities have power-charged me for the upcoming year. More good news, 10-15 teachers attended iSTEM training across the state from Coeur d-Alene to Twin Falls. They are excited to share with their cohorts and staff the exciting strategies and ideas they have learned. You will be hearing me report each month on the referendum coming up this fall. Voting NO will repeal Propositions 1,2,3. We have begun to set up phone banks throughout the area to campaign. We appreciate sharing the same philosophy with you, the board, about the merit pay and how harmful it is to not only teachers but to students. We would like to ask if you would consider, as a board, joining us in taking a stand to vote NO against Propositions 1,2,3. We would be honored to have your support. Angela Gillman 7/10/2012 IFEA Report - Gillman 10� IFEA Report — Mitzi Ellingson The New teacher Breakfast hosted by the IFEA will be Aug. 27th at the Hilton Garden Inn. Please plan on attending. During that first week of school, without the students, I wonder if it is possible to change the Inservice days into workdays, as there are many teachers who had to pack up their rooms in May and will have to set up their new classrooms in their new buildings in August. In many cases, buildings are not open in the summer and/or having work done in them, making is impossible to get in early. Those teachers returning from the STEM conferences this summer would like the idea to spread through the district and they will be working with their administrators to have iSTEM days at their respective schools. I am still very concerned about the amount of computers the State has allotted district #91. How will the 1356 computers be given out? One school over the other will cause hard feelings in the community. After listening to the board last month, I was concerned when it was said that "Compass is our flagship school, people from around the nation will come here, we need to put our money there". We have many excellent schools in this district and would hate for them or the students they serve to be left out of available money and resources. Also, when the Superintendent was given a 5.69% raise last month with the explanation that he is well worth the money and works hard for the district, I think the message to teachers was that they do not work hard and not worth it. 7/10/2012 IFEA Report