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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-04-08 Board Minutes Board Meeting Minutes –April 8, 2008 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Idaho Falls School District No. 91 Board Meeting Minutes April 8, 2008 District Office Board Room Idaho Falls, ID 7:00 PM Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration: Mary Ann Smith, Vice Chair George Boland, Superintendent Ernest Jensen Guy Wangsgard, Director of Business Operations David Lent Gail Rochelle, Director of Secondary Education Cindy Ozaki-via conference call Karla LaOrange, Director of Elementary Education Caroline Meagher, Recording Secretary Jerry Wixom is out of town and excused from the meeting. Vice Chair Mary Ann Smith called the board meeting to order. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ernest Jensen. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY: Dick Clute introduced Linda Shurtliff as Emissary of Excellence. Linda is a Title One tutor at Fox Hollow Elementary School. Mary Ann Smith presented Linda with a plaque of appreciation from the Board of Trustees. I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: Ernest Jensen motioned to adopt the agenda as written. David Lent seconded the motion. Motion passed. II. CONSENT AGENDA David Lent motioned to adopt the consent agenda as written. Cindy Ozaki seconded the motion. Motion passed. Items approved include: Board Meeting Minutes thth : March 11 and 18 , 2008 Payment of March 2008 Claims: $ 2,281,908.16 Matching Funds : Bush Elementary-computer lab $ 6,901.00 Longfellow Elementary-technology 4,264.00 Total Matching Funds Request: $ 11,165.00 Staff Actions: RESIGNATIONS: Amy Barnwell Melissa Daniels From Leave of Absence Math Taylorview Junior High School Skyline High School Christina Carroll Cheri Dobson th 6th Grade 4 Grade Edgemont Elementary Linden Park Elementary Kass Cornish Lyndsey Durst rdth From Leave of Absence DACC 3 and 4 grade C. E. Gale Ethel Boyes Elementary Board Meeting Minutes – April 8, 2008 Angela Hall Julie Reynolds 6th Grade Special Ed/Kindergarten Linden Park Elementary Fox Hollow/Westside Brittany Hammer Leslie Schweider th Preschool 4 Grade Fox Hollow Elementary Westside Elementary Molly Hulett Nancy Vollmer Preschool From Leave of Absence Fox Hollow Elementary Speech Language Pathologist Justin Jeppesen Sara Waite Resources/Social Studies PE Specialist Taylorview Junior High School Elementary Hillary Murray Alana Wells 6th Grade From Leave of Absence Erickson Elementary Taylorview Junior High School Kasey Nelson Allison Wilkerson st From Leave of Absence 1 Grade Eagle Rock Junior High Theresa Bunker Elementary Emily Palmer Scott Smith Earth Science From Leave of Absence Eagle Rock Junior High Eagle Rock Junior High RETIREMENTS: Loa Clute Richard Pattee Director of Student Services Social Studies Administration Office Skyline High School Dennis Griffeth Trudine Pattee Elementary Principal Counselor Ethel Boyes Elementary Idaho Falls High School Darlene Kelley Ada Ritchie Kindergarten Counselor Hawthorne Elementary Eagle Rock Junior High Gary Kelley DeLoy Roberts Athletic Director/Business Teacher Science Skyline High School Skyline High School Jan Lang Lorna Roberts 4th Grade Computer/Math Edgemont Elementary Skyline High School Norma Lloyd Bill Savage English/German Counselor Idaho Falls High School Skyline High School Shirley Murphy Marcy Solecki th English 6 Grade Idaho Falls High School Ethel Boyes Elementary Board Meeting Minutes – April 8, 2008 Cheryl Stayner Suzanne Wizner Kindergarten Math Temple View Elementary Idaho Falls High School LEAVE OF ABSENCE REQUEST: Adriana Brown Holtom th 6 Grade Sunnyside Elementary III. REPORTS a) Student Reports: Nick Mason, Representative for Idaho Falls High School reported: 1. Idaho Falls High School will hold their annual rummage sale this Friday and Saturday. 2. The high school has selected Laurie Jones as the new PTO president for next school year. 3. Spring sports have started. 4. Meng Gan has been selected as the new Distinguished Student of the year. 5. Logan Baker, a student body representative will put a “Tiger Town” sign on the smoke stack above IFHS. 6. Student Body elections have been held and Eric Hillam will be Nick’s replacement for next year. Mark Christensen , Representative for Skyline High School reported: 1. Skyline has elected Jace Herrmann to replace Mark next year as Student Body Representative. 2. The student body held a campaign night this spring and over 200 kids attended. 3. Skyline held their rummage sale last weekend. Their proceeds will go to the Special Olympics. 4. The Student Body is preparing for Diversity Week. They are calling it “Tolerance Week” and hope to promote tolerance. 5. Class elections are coming up. b) Patron Input: Susan Smith 1. addressed the Board of Trustees to express her support for the Eagle Rock New ERA program. Susan’s son is in the program this year. His grades are better in all classes and he is now thinking about attending college. Without this program she fears that he might have dropped out of school. Elide Leavitt 2. also wanted to express appreciation to the Board of Trustees for the Eagle Rock New ERA program. Her son has always had behavior issues and she used to receive lots of calls from the school. This year she has not received any calls with any reports of problems with her son. This program has made a big difference in his life and she would like to see other kids have the ability to benefit from the program. c) IFEA Report: there was no IFEA report. d) Education Foundation: Daryl Snyder, president of the Education Foundation, reported that: th 1. Mayor’s Scholarship Dinner will be held this week on Thursday, April 10. The event is coming together nicely and the programs have been printed and they are exceptional. They are expecting 390 guests. 2. The Skyline Legacy campaign has received a $5000 donation for the Athletic Complex. They have identified two grants that they will apply for. They will target the school reunions to promote the Skyline Legacy Campaign. Board Meeting Minutes – April 8, 2008 3. Suzy Hersch has been selected by the Education Foundation Board of Trustees to represent District 91 and the Education Foundation and work with the Write-Start Program. 4. Finally, Daryl requested support from the board to recognize the volunteers that have been working very hard and are overloaded. The Foundation operates primarily on volunteer efforts and they need more volunteers to continue. e) Superintendent’s Report: 1. Superintendent George Boland gave a brief overview of the recruiting efforts. This Saturday we will hold an in-house recruiting fair. Next week George and Karla will travel to Michigan to recruiting fairs. With changes in the economy in Michigan there is a surplus of teachers graduating and not enough positions available in the area. This year the numbers of available teachers are significantly down. There is a definite decline in elementary teachers available. In Utah the schools are offering their graduates internships with half salary; and they are offering contracts right away. Wyoming is also having an impact on what is available in the market. We do offer low class sizes, low cost of living and quality of life in the Idaho Falls and surrounding area. f) NSBA Report (National School Board Association): Mary Ann Smith, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees attended the Annual NSBA conference in Orlando Florida over spring break. Mary Ann wanted to share an overview of what she learned to our board of trustees and administration. We watched a PowerPoint presentation that discussed the importance of our schools to teach skills above the state standards. The kids that we graduate need to know how to connect the dots, how to use their education and apply it. Our kids will have to compete in a global world and to do that they need some higher thinking skills. Professional Job markets and Higher Education report that kids that enter colleges do not have the skill set and do not posses a professional disposition. They need to have better collaboration and communication skills. They need more Rigor, Relevance and Relationship training. They identified small learning groups as an effective way to meet these needs. Our kids need to know how to “Bridge the Digital Divide.” In order to be competitive, technical ability and understanding will be mandatory. The kids who do not possess these skills will be “at risk” of underemployment. IV. PROPOSAL: a) Vince Howard, Principal at Eagle Rock Junior High School introduced Shelly Thiel, teacher for the New ERA (Eagle Rock Academy.) Shelly thanked the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to offer the program over this school year. Shelly uses best practices techniques like SIOP and PBS when teaching these kids. The small group setting combined with the best practices has increased grades for these kids. They take the core classes with ERA and then they take their elective courses with everyone else.  Chad Empey-a student of ERA addressed the Board of Trustees and told them how this academy has helped him to do well in school again.  Justin Hegstra, father of a student in the ERA also addressed the Board of Trustees. He said that this program has made a huge difference for his daughter and he is grateful. In this program she got the help she needed to overcome her reading problems—she now likes school again. Most importantly, he said that she now cares about herself. Shelly commented that they really try to focus on the positive and to treat all students with respect. In turn, they expect respect from their students. Board Meeting Minutes – April 8, 2008 Robin Busch, Vice Principal of Eagle Rock Junior High School asked the board of trustees to continue with the program. They want to continue to reach these students and to offer them an opportunity for success. They would like to work on the transition for the kids from the eighth grade into the ninth grade to make it smoother. They would like to request a half time aide at the end of the day to help the kids de-brief. This aide will give the teacher time to meet with all the students once a week for a one-on-one meeting. David Lent motioned to enter Executive Session. Ernest Jensen seconded the motion. Motion Passed. Ernest Jensen motioned to enter Open Session. David Lent seconded the motion. Motion Passed. David Lent motioned to adjourn. Ernest Jensen seconded the motion. Motion Passed. Meeting Adjourned.