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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-10-09 Board Minutes BOARD MEETING MINUTES – OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 1 OF 4 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Idaho Falls School District No. 91 Board Meeting Minutes October 9, 2007 Administration Building Idaho Falls, ID 7:00 P.M. Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration: Jerry Wixom, Chairman George Boland, Superintendent Mary Ann Smith Guy Wangsgard, Director of Business Ernest Jensen Gail Rochelle, Director of Secondary David Lent Caroline Meagher, Recording Secretary Cindy Ozaki Chairman Jerry Wixom called the board meeting to order. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Guy Wangsgard. I. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY: Kelly Coughenhour, Principal of Longfellow Elementary School recommended Kaaren Parsons as this month’s Volunteer of Recognition. Kelly introduced Kaaren and read a description of all the tasks that Kaaren has done for the school and the children. Mary Ann Smith presented Kaaren with a plaque. George Boland, Superintendent, introduced Allen Burnham, lead mechanic for School District 91. George read a letter written by Ralph Frost describing the many times that Allen has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Ernest Jensen presented Allen with a plaque. Jerry Wixom invited Chesney Taylor, student representative for Westview Alternative High School to give her report out of order because she has an evening class that she needs to attend. Chesney reported that Channel 3 News did a story on Westview Alternative High School.  The report indicated that neighbors are pleased with the school and it is not the nuisance that they had originally anticipated. The computer lab is set up to offer IDLA classes.  The students at Westview just finished their first session of classes and earned 202 high  school credits. They have posted Character Education Traits in the school.  The end of each month they celebrate all birthdays for that month with cupcakes for  everyone. Teachers are posting content objectives as well as word walls that relates to their  curriculum. This really seems to be helping the kids. BOARD MEETING MINUTES – OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 2 OF 4 II. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Mary Ann Smith moved to adopt the agenda as written. David Lent seconded the motion. Motion passed. III. CONSENT AGENDA Ernest Jensen moved to adopt the consent agenda as written. Cindy Ozaki seconded the motion. Motion passed. IV. REPORTS: a) Student Reports: Chesney Taylor is the new student representative for Westview Alternative High School. Chesney reported directly after the special orders of the day. Skyline High School Mark Christensen is the student representative for . Mark reported that this is Emotion Bowl week.  Skyline is holding their carnival tonight. It will be held inside.  The student body is planning a “Tiger Stomp” which is top-secret.  They are organizing many different spirit activities all in an effort to increase  student participation, including a pep assembly on Friday. Next week they will have a “buddy walk” with handicap kids. They will walk  them from Kate Curley Park to Ravsten stadium. Skyline is joining efforts with IFHS for Red Ribbon Week.  b) Patron Input: Heather Maynes, a parent with students at Theresa Bunker Elementary School came to the board meeting to read a letter she had written. The letter is addressed to the Board of Trustees and expresses a concern with the state of the desks at the school. It is Heather’s opinion that the desks represent a safety hazard. Heather wants to know why it would not be an appropriate expenditure for the district’s matching funds program, as district personnel advised Rodger Barlow, principal of Theresa Bunker Elementary School. The Theresa Bunker PTO is willing to fundraise in order to generate the funds to purchase the desks needed with the help of the matching funds program. She asks that the board consider her request. c) IFEA Report: Nancy Caldwell, President of the IFEA gave an update on the fundraising activities of the IEA Children’s Fund. This fund is managed by the IEA, and most of the money is donated primarily by teachers. The IEA Children’s fund has been used locally to assist families when they suffer a crisis, like a house fire or a death of a parent. The IEA holds an annual collection drive in the spring and historically, region 6 does not bring in a lot of donations. District 91 PACE teachers would like to organize fundraising efforts in our district with the hopes that region 6 can go to the spring drive and make an impressive donation to the fund. : d) Education Foundation Daryl Schneider, President of the Education Foundation reported that the Foundation held th their Parent Organization Forum on September 27 and they received a lot of positive feedback. Next year they would like to extend the invitation and invite District 93. BOARD MEETING MINUTES – OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 3 OF 4 The foundation is currently negotiating with the Mayor to put the Utility Flyer in  with the city utility bills this fall to raise money for the Mayor’s Scholarship Fund. The Mayor’s Scholarship Dinner is scheduled for April 10, 2008. Visaplex movie passes report that the foundation will share a net profit of  $23,000 with district 93, if all funds are collectable. They have implemented a teacher of the week and we have a link on our website to vote. The foundation hired Brenda Price today as a consultant for the Education  Foundation. Brenda has a lot of experience as a money raiser. She will come into the foundation with a plan for raising funds. Daryl introduced Cami Smith, the new Director of the Education Foundation.  Cami reported that she had raised $7,800 for the October In-Service. They gave their volunteers and presenters tokens of appreciation including a journal made by PTO’s of various district 91 schools. Cami presented the board of trustees with journals also. e) October Inservice: Shelly Smede gave a report to the board of trustees that the October In-Service was such a pleasure to coordinate. The event is a great opportunity to work with so many people from the district and the community who all want to contribute. They offered 124 classes with a wide range of topics. Many community members gave gift baskets. Students were also involved and helped carry items for presenters. David Lent motioned to stand in applause to Shelly’s work on this event. f) Westview Name Change: Principal Wendy Cavan came to the board of trustees tonight to show the wonderful artwork that Westview has recently acquired. A volunteer for the school wrote a letter to Monte Dolack, a popular Montana artist requesting some artwork for display in the school. Monte donated seven prints to the school. They have been framed and are th displayed in the District Office Board Room until Friday, October 12. The prints will be on display in the main corridor of the school. Wendy invited the board of trustees to come to Westview and see the improvements that have been made to the school. Wendy also wanted to report to the board of trustees that it is her intent to have the name of the school changed. The Alternative High School began on the west side of Idaho Falls and at that time it was called Westview Alternative High School. Now they are in their own building that is a beautiful facility with the name Emerson in the brick over the doorway. Since they are no longer located on the “west” side of town and due to the name of the building, they would like to recognize this wonderful facility in their name. It is their intent to debunk the Alternative High School myth. Jerry Wixom questioned George Boland, Superintendent as to why this issue is presented as a report to the board of trustees. It is an administrative decision to change the name that does not require board action. George responded that he would like the public to have the opportunity to comment on this action; therefore it will again be presented as a proposal in the November meeting and then an action item for the board in December. g) Superintendent’s Report: Superintendent George Boland reported to the board that the Region VI Superintendent’s Association has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Concurrent Credit with ISU. The first is that a list of approved courses will be jointly developed by superintendents and ISU. The second historical obstacle has been that many departments required teachers to have a master’s degree in that content area; now we will have three criteria to make a teacher eligible. 1) A Masters degree in the content area, 2) a Masters BOARD MEETING MINUTES – OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 4 OF 4 degree in an area of education and advanced study in the area they will be teaching, 3) a recommendation from the superintendent because they have the level of excellence and a proven track record. Next month there will be a formal signing ceremony for the MoU. V. ACTION ITEMS: Authorize Federal Impact Aid Survey: Guy Wangsgard, Director of Business Operations, requested the board to authorize him, on behalf of district 91, to participate in a survey to generate federal funds. This survey has brought in significant amounts of money in the past and we would like to continue to participate. David Lent motioned that School District 91, Idaho Falls, Idaho filed an application under Title VIII ESEA, and that Guy Wangsgard, Director of Business, be hereby designated as the Authorized Representative of the Board of Trustees of School District 91, Bonneville County, in connection with said districts application under Title VIII ESEA, and that Guy Wangsgard be authorized to file for and in behalf of School District No. 91, Bonneville County, for fiscal year 2008 under the provisions of Title VIII ESEA (Impact Aid.) Ernest Jensen seconded the motion. Motion passed- unanimously. David Lent wanted to present some questions. 1) Dave would like an email of the Teacher’s of the Week as determined by the VisiPlex poll. Cami Smith said that she would email that information to the board of trustees as well as Rene Miller, Communications Specialist to put in the monthly employee newsletters. 2) As a follow-up from the last work session dated 9/25 in which we had attendance by several mothers of students in our district. Two of the mothers asked questions of the board of trustees—at the time they were told that the Superintendent and the Administration would talk to them further about their concerns. Dave questioned if any follow up had happened yet, and expressed that he would like to make sure that these concerns are addressed. George Boland said that he would contact the two ladies. 3) There was discussion about the next board meeting that is scheduled to be held rd on Tuesday, October 23. Since three of the five board members cannot be in th attendance, it was agreed to reschedule the date to Thursday, October 25 at noon. Ernest Jensen motioned to adjourn. Mary Ann Smith seconded the motion. Motion passed.