No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021_07_27 Board Minutes IDAHO FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 91 BOARD OF TRUSTEES – BOARD WORK SESSION DISTRICT OFFICE BOARD ROOM 690 JOHN ADAMS PARKWAY IDAHO FALLS, ID 4:00 PM TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2021 Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration: Lara Hill, Chair Dr. James Shank, Superintendent Hillary Radcliffe, Vice Chair Dan Keck, Assist. Superintendent Secondary Larry Wilson, Treasurer Kelly Coughenour, Assist. Superintendent Elementary Paul Haacke, Clerk Margaret Wimborne, Director of Communications & Elizabeth Cogliati, Trustee Community Engagement Tito Paredes, Director of Information Technology Heather Wade, Director of Human Resources Angela Pendlebury, Director of Finance Jessica Means, Recording Clerk Chairwoman Hill called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Trustee Radcliffe made a motion to adopt the agenda. Trustee Cogliati provided the second. Motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. WORK SESSION: a. Board Goals i. Superintendent Evaluation Framework Superintendent Shank reviews the fourth goal in the evaluation that was determined by him, per the board recommendation. His goal is to focus on the Superintendent and Board development to come together as a team and focus on each item they are wanting to accomplish. He states that there are many measurables but not all of them need to be done, but there are options. Superintendent Shank states some more obvious measurables are attending the ISBA conference and facilitating Board retreat. The first Board retreat is on the calendar for the end of August and possibly schedule another one in about 6 months. He states one measurable would be to move over to Board Docs, it is an online repository that is easier to navigate and save all things Board related (meeting, preparation, Board packet, policy, and information). He is recommending that the Board review Board Docs to see if they would like to move to that software for easier organization. Trustee Hill asks if it will replace Laserfiche. Superintendent Shank states it will replace Laserfiche for Board items, but will still be utilized within the District for storing other items. Trustee Haacke mentions that at an ISBA training they were surprised that we were not using Board Docs and recommended it. Superintendent Shank states he has 11 years’ experience and feels like it will be easier for the Board, the directors, board clerk, and the public. Trustee Cogliati asks if it was recommended before, why we have not switched over. Trustee Wilson states that ISBA does promote Board Docs as a service and send out frequent promotions regarding it. Trustee Haacke states no one knows why we didn’t switch over, other than Laserfiche was already in use and Superintendent Boland may have liked it. He also states that he does not like Laserfiche and it 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 1 of 9 is hard to navigate through to find something specific. Trustee Radcliffe adds she has seen it used with other districts and it easier to utilize and access items. Tito Paredes, notes that this software, Board Docs Pro, will take time to move documents over and it runs about $10,000 per year. Superintendent Shank states that Board Docs provides other services with in it, for instance they will provide training for items like Board Governance for Professional Development. He adds that is accessible on all technology devices, smartphone or laptop. Trustee Radcliffe asks if we can add it as an Action item for the upcoming Board Business meeting. Superintendent Shank confirms if they all agree we will add it to the agenda. Another measurable would be to schedule for team building opportunities, events, and activities at the board’s discretion. We can introduce the Board of distinction and ideas and what that would be. Which would include surveying board members on your progress to set board goals. Also using a framework of shared vision and consideration of HRS/PLC work that we do as a district. He suggests that a resolution might be something of interest of the Board and sets within framework and policy goals wanting to be accomplished. He has a PLC resolution that he has used with other districts that was crafted by PLC. He has looked into an HRS resolution and has not been successful in finding one. However, we can ask HRS to consider creating one for us to use. Resolutions help create vision for the board and district. Superintendent Shank states another measurable would be to update the board policy manual. In transition, Superintendent Boland left him with notes that this needed to be done. After review, Superintendent Shank does agree that there is work that needs done on Board policy updates and review. We have ordered a Board Policy models manual from ISBA to utilize when making the revisions. This process will take some time and will not be able to be done in one year. He adds that some board policy will only need to be reviewed and that will not need three readings. It can be put on the consent agenda and would state the Board has reviewed a policy that has not been reviewed in a certain amount of years with no changes to the language with a date to reflect the review. Trustee Radcliffe would like to circle back to the retreat scheduled in August. It is scheduled at the normal board work session time and she wants more detail in the scheduling of the retreat. Superintendent Shank replies with it is the Board’s decision on how much time they would like to take for the retreat and the agenda. In his experience, he has had retreats that are a few hours to a couple of days and out of town. He would like to try for a half day, but if that will not work then the Board will need to decide on what is best. His time is set to accommodate the Board. The Board discusses the date and time and what will be best for all th of them. They will keep the original Board work session date August 24 from 4-8 pm for the retreat. The board agrees that they like all the measurables presented by Superintendent Shank. Trustee Haacke states they are very helpful goals. Trustee Haack asks Superintendent Shank how the preparation for the first Facebook live is coming along. Trustee Cogliati asks Director of Communication, Margaret Wimborne to 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 2 of 9 promote the event more on Facebook, because she has not seen it very much. Margaret states she will and that it is also being promoted on local billboards and movie theater advertising. The first Facebook Live Chat will be Friday, July 20, 2021 at 10:30 am. Trustee Haacke asks if the Superintendent Evaluation needs to be an action item. Trustee Hill states that policy does not need to be changed and the evaluation is procedure. Trustee Radcliffe states that it will be annually updated, no action needed. ii. Naming Rights Update Superintendent Shank states we have done some research reaching out to ISBA and our legal team. ISBA’s response to the naming and sponsorship rights policy is currently adequate. ISBA stated the board has the authority to make the decision on the naming and sponsorship requests. Anderson, Julian, and Hall, our legal team, was also asked what their response is to naming and sponsorship rights. Their counsel is the same as ISBA’s but have noted that we do not want to tie their hands. They stated the Board has the opportunity and authority to make any decision around any facility that is owned by the board and the district to put a name on something. If the group has something they want to propose and they have a dugout or field that they would like to name after somebody with funds raised, it would then become an action item for the board to approve or not. Trustee Haacke asked if it needed Board approve. He then asks if moving forward we are deciding this will need to be board approved. Trustee Radcliffe states that the Board needs to decide if they are selling naming rights or sponsorships. She adds that we should be selling sponsorships that state a donation is made to name an area for a certain amount of years. Superintendent refers back to the last board meeting when it was decided the group would come to the Board with a plan for an approval and continue to follow policy. Trustee Haacke agrees that the plan needs to include donation amount, the amount of years, and name they are requesting, Trustee Radcliffe adds the listing of the amount of years will help with the naming of facilities when the name needs to be changed for any reason. Trustee Hill states it is only fair that the person donating be aware of the term of years they are getting when donating. iii. Facility Planning Superintendent Shank starts with his first request talking about ARPA and refers to the updated July 13, 2021 Idaho Report of The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. He states most of the report does not have to do with schools. He refers to information specifically notated school emergency relief fund and the eligible 18 uses with the fund. He reads item number 18 for it is broader in definition. He adds some of these uses can be used for facilities funds. He then refers to a list of eight capital projects that the board had previously considered to formulate in a comprehensive facilities plan. He states there is not enough funding to consider all projects, so the Board needs to prioritize the list for the ARPA funds. Superintendent Shank reads the projects as the Idaho Falls High schools’ projects, high school building access control system, audio visual classroom systems at Compass, Temple View remodel, Linden Park remodel, HVAC replacements, flooring replacements, and Ravsten Stadium. He then refers to an info graphic that Margaret Wimborne, Director of Communications & Community Engagement, has created. This info graphic refers to what Covid money has already been 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 3 of 9 spent on and will put out to the public to help engage and educate where the money went, especially because we are working on the levy for the Supplemental Facilities Plan. He then states that also needs to be part of the facilities discussion because it is a 10-year plan with a 5 to 10-year window on how we will utilize the money. Superintendent Shank states that it would be in good practice for the Board to decide on a communications piece regarding the high schools. This would address the vision for the high school project needs and how the Board wants to go about speaking to it as a group. He adds that he gets asked on a regular basis what is planned with the high schools. Trustee Haacke refers back to the info graphic supplied by Margaret Wimborne and asks for clarification on if the district has already spent the Covid money. Superintendent Shank then asks for Angela Pendelbury, Director of Finance to speak on this matter. She talks about the Covid money that was presented in the info graphic was everything that was spent and board approved from the beginning of the CARES I funding through ARPA funding, some of which needed to be spent by December of 2021. The only change is that we have not received the second part of the funding. We have only received the $7.8 million in discretionary and $1.9 million for learning loss. After we have used all funds released there is an understanding they will release the second funding possibly in the Spring. Superintendent Shank refers back to the Idaho Report of The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and it states how much funding was received in the first allocation and how much will be released in a second allocation. Part of that funding includes indirect costs. Angela states some of the indirect costs are part of salaries or unrestricted rates, so part of the funding up to 11% can be used for those indirect costs. She states that this can be used for the use of the district or facility need. Superintendent Shank asks how does the Board want to prioritize the facility items because we need to complete a plan on how the ARPA funding will be utilized, which includes patron st input, patron review, and board approval by October 1. Trustee Hill brings up there has been talk for years about the electrical upgrades at Idaho Falls High schools and the doors and access controls at both Idaho Falls High and Skyline High schools. Angela states that elementary and middle schools have already had door and access controls updated. She adds that the high schools have been on the list for sometime to have those upgrades. She brings up that some of the doors at Idaho Falls High school are not fire rated and needed to be upgraded also. She agrees with Superintendent Shank regarding prioritizing the facility needs so we can have a plan for SPFF then we will know what is left to spend that funding on. For instance, she mentions we would not want to invest in upgrades in school that will need a rebuild. Trustee Haacke asks for clarification on the bussing loop at Idaho Falls High School. Angela answers with the safety in the bus loading and unloading area and creating a new space to pull-in off Holmes. Trustee Cogliati states there is not a lot we can do with a Templeview model when the city is working on the Interchange. Margaret adds that the Department of transportation is working on two options and neither of them will affect Templeview Elementary. One option is near Sage Lakes and the other option is closer to the interchange 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 4 of 9 on Grand View. Also depending on which option, they chose, there had been discussion on building a new school because of more growth in the north of town. Trustee Hill asks what about the enrollment at Templeview. Kelly Coughenour, Director of Elementary Education, states the Templeview is a “two by” school, meaning two classrooms per grade level. Trustee Radcliffe states that we need to consider what the legislature will be doing, if they mandate all day kindergarten. This will impact enrollment at elementary, middle schools, and high schools as we move and adjust grade levels. We need to understand and create a plan to do the best we can to evaluate the list of priorities. Trustee Haacke states that Trustee Radcliffe brings up excellent points, for instance making remodel at Templeview and then later redesigning the school to accommodate all day kindergarten. Trustee Haacke also states however, the Idaho Falls High School electrical upgrade still being needed even if there is not a new high school built, it is a high need. He asks what the cost on the electrical being done would be. Tito Paredes states that it was under $2 million just for electrical at Idaho Falls High School, which includes LED lighting and wiring. Trustee Wilson states some of the items are safety issues and need to happen first, like the controlled access. Trustee Cogliati states the controlled access project sounds like it has already been started in the high schools. Angela adds that project was budgeted with SPFF due to a certain amount is budgeted each year for building repairs. She talks about bidding for Idaho Falls High School projects as a bundle bid and then working on the projects as needed. Trustee Hill asks if the fire rated doors are an issue with fines. Dan Keck answers that it is a finding every year but no fines have been made. Tito states that the doors and access control should be done at the same time because the systems work together and creates issues if not. Trustee Hill asks about the art room at Idaho Falls High School, because it is property of the city of Idaho Falls. Margaret Wimborne answers that the issue is that it needs a new space. Trustee Hill and Trustee Cogliati both agree that the band room also is owned by the city and needs a new space. Trustee Haacke asks if there is a need for trailers for those classrooms. Angela adds that trailers are impossible to find and purchase due to the inventory, even other districts have reached out to us to buy any we have. Trustee Hill states room for those classrooms would need to be found somewhere else. Trustee Cogliati adds there is not enough room in Idaho Falls High School to make room for those classes. Trustee Hill asks about the HVAC replacements being district wide or specific schools. Angela Pendlebury answers that it would be a question for Kevin Klinger, Director of Maintenance and Operations, however the district budgets for two replacements every year and the schools are on rotation. She also states that is an item that is specifically listed as a use for ESSER funds, so we could use those funds for items that are planned to be replaced anyway and save some money. Trustee Cogliati asks what the issue with the bathrooms at Idaho Falls High School are. Trustee Hill answers that there has been little updates to the bathrooms since she was in high school. Margaret adds there are not enough in the high school to accommodate the number of students. She goes on to state in the 90’s there was an addition to the classrooms and no extra bathrooms were added to that area. Trustee Haacke asks Tito if the controlled access 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 5 of 9 doors for the high schools are just for classrooms or outside doors. Tito answers that it is mainly for the outside doors and it would be additional money for the inside doors. Trustee Haacke asks Tito about the audio-visual classroom systems at Compass Academy. Tito answers that project is already completed. Angela states that project was budgeted with SPFF and should have been taken off the list. She noted that it should have taken off like the previous tennis court project. Dan Keck states that the City of Idaho Falls is waiting on the budget to complete the tennis courts. Trustee Haacke talks about the process of the city budget and approving funds. He also states there is a timeline for tennis courts to be worked on due to having certain weather conditions. Trustee Haacke asks what kind of work was done at Compass on that project. Tito answers that all the classrooms have been brought up to the same standard as the rest of the high schools with a smart board and mic set up. Trustee Haacke brings up the Templeview and Linden Park remodel projects should not be listed as a priority going back to the point Trustee Radcliffe stated earlier about possible change in all day kindergarten. Trustee Cogliati adds that Linden Park was supposed to be remodeled years ago with a failed bond and yet has been fine. Trustee Hill talks about a potential bond in the future and having a company like Cooperative Strategies provide information on building needs. Also, the factor of construction costs being high at this point is an issue. Trustee Radcliffe adds that the data given by Cooperative Strategies would need to be updated and some of that information might be obsolete. She adds possibly starting to get that update soon. Trustee Wilson asks Superintendent Shank when he met with the Build Up 91 Committee if they gave any impression on timing. Superintendent Shank answered that there was no timeline specifically given. He adds the parent advisory council would help guide that discussion. He asks the Board if with the money we have if we would like to set aside money for Cooperative Strategies to come back in. Margaret Wimborne suggests that the older information we have from Cooperative Strategies would be a good starting point. Trustee Haacke adds that the original report has all the mapping of all the schools. Margaret states we could see how their estimates are comparative to what actually happened since the report was done. Then having them update any newer information with outreach. Angela states Cooperative Strategies cost $170,000 and took about 9 months to complete the report. The board talks about Cooperative Strategies being great to work with and gave good reports with always willing to find answers if they did not have them. Trustee Radcliffe asked if we would need to get another bid for them to come back. Superintendent Shank answers that yes, we would need to go out for bid again. He then states back to the question of timing and priorities, when would be a good time to do this. Trustee Haacke adds that there are needs but with a possible bond it might be the wrong timing. Trustee Cogliati adds if we are looking at a bond next year, moving with Cooperative Strategies or another company now would not be too soon. Superintendent Shank states that it would just be a study and then later we would decide how to move forward after the study. Margaret states a she thinks a resolution has to be made in January. Trustee Radcliffe asks about the SPFF levy and how those funds are used because the Board does not have experience with that levy. Superintendent Shank states the plan is a 10-year levy and states how the money is used, most of which is for regular maintenance projects. However, we need to have some sense of what we need to plan for to give the community an 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 6 of 9 idea and depends on what we want to accomplish. Trustee Hill asks if Kevin Klingler, Director of Maintenance and Operations, is instrumental to this plan. Superintendent Shank answers yes, he is. Trustee Haacke states that we can learn from our neighboring districts and their bonds. Trustee Hill moves back to what the top priorities are from the list of projects. Trustee Cogliati addresses the need for safety projects and setting aside money for Cooperative Strategies. Trustee Hill adds the electrical at Idaho Falls High School needs to be done and would be to our benefit. Trustee Wilson adds that even if there is new building later on, because we would still use the building as the Career and Technical campus, the electrical still needs to be done and will service in the future as an investment. Trustee Haacke asks if there is an idea of the cost of HVAC replacements. Angela answers it depends on the size of the school, however we have those on rotation with the SPFF funding. She goes on to say that it is listed on this list of projects because it is listed to use specifically with ESSER funds. Trustee Haacke asks about the Geotechnical Investigation on the Ravsten stadium grounds and what the status is. Superintendent Shank states that the investigation is complete and we are good to move on with the project and the group that prepared the investigation asks that we consult them if we proceed with the turfing project. The investigation gives information about that turf would be fine to do on the grounds. He adds that investigation would need to be done regarding the drainage of the field. Trustee Hill asks if there is someone that can present the pros and cons on turf and sod to help the board and the community better understand the overall proposal. Dan Keck states we could find someone to give us that information. He also states that after some research one of issues with turf is after 10 years there will need to be ways to keep the turf looking good. Trustee Haacke states that the turf comes with a 12-year warranty from the same company that did the Madison turf. Superintendent Shank states the technology has improved with the turf fields and are now much better. Trustee Haacke said that Superintendent Boland had stated before he left that it was about $300,000 to re-sod the field. He also states that it should be about $1 million and $1.4 million to do the turf field for the whole process. He adds that the one benefit with the turf is the upkeep on the grounds now. There are limited resources for maintaining the grounds and the field becomes a safety issue. He goes on to talk about Ravsten Stadium being a pride point for our community and not much has been done to the field in many years. Trustee Hill asks if the community usage will be ok with the turf field, due to lots of the community using the field and stadium daily. Trustee Wilson states that the Athletic Director, Greg Baczuk reported that events on the field would benefit from the turf. Trustee Haacke talks about the Tiger Grizz track meet being the largest track meet in our area and the field needs to continue to be a pride point for the community. Trustee Hill states that Greg reported that no sticky liquids, like soda or foods are permitted on the field and that would possibly be an issue. Trustee Haacke adds that we would need to hang signs up that have rules that also include no pets allowed. He goes on to talk about that painting of the goal posts being a strong tradition, so moving the goal posts off the field to still allow for the tradition to continue would be important. He adds 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 7 of 9 that the field has some safety issues with the actually grounds. Trustee Radcliffe states there is an importance with the planning and spending on the money for an all-around vision of the district. Superintendent Shank states they make machines to clean the turf field. Trustee Haacke answers that the bid on the turf includes that machine. Superintendent Shank states importance of field usage to the community and it being a pride point, that will still need to continue for the community. Superintendent Shank states he has talked to Kevin about the improvements in the actual stadium as other upgrades are made, for instance with the inside and outside of the seating area. Trustee Radcliffe asks Superintendent how we need to move forward with the list of priorities. Superintendent Shank answers with once the Board has finalized the list we will have a parent advisory group to give us guidance. It will then go out for public input in the community and then the Board will need to approve it, so possibly the Board meeting in September. The Board talks about narrowing down the list. Trustee Haacke states he has marked on his list priorities are electrical and fire rated doors at Idaho Falls High School and access control for the outside doors for both high schools. Trustee Hill states the need to add bathrooms at Idaho Falls High School, the issue would be the space for them. Trustee Cogliati states she had marked the bus loop for Idaho Falls High School as a priority. Trustee Haacke states he does not think it should be a priority as an item money is spent on and possibly not utilized in five years. Trustee Cogliati states that she thinks it is a huge safety issue. Superintendent Shank asks if there has been a traffic study done. Angela answers that she thought Ralph Frost, Director of Transportation, did have something done and that is why it is on the list for improvements. Dan Keck adds that there was a student that was hit this last school year and that it is a safety issue. Trustee Radcliffe asks Superintendent Shank if the parent advisory will look at the list of priorities and know how do to decide what moves forward. Superintendent Shank states that the goal would be for the parent advisory to review the list of priorities but they may have other thoughts and they may add to the list. However, the Board will be looking for their support and if there are other things that are added the Board would need to review. Trustee Haacke asks moving forward with all committees, if they can sign an acknowledgement that they are serving and making recommendations or suggesting and the final decision is the Boards. He also states in the past there have been issues with people upset that not all suggestions were taken into consideration. Superintendent Shank states that it can be done on a sign in sheet with that information on it. Trustee Radcliffe asks Angela Pendelbury about the requirement of the plan and parent committee and what is needed to receive the money. Angela answers that the wording is we need to engage in meaningful consultation with all stakeholders which include patrons in the community and they are provided the opportunity to help develop the plan. We need to ensure that all pieces of the plan are complete, including the parent advisory. She goes on the state that we are moving along with other districts with the ARPA planning. Part of the planning is publishing the meaningful consultation for 14 days and we need to report the needs of the community and how we are involving all sub-groups. Trustee Haacke states that 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 8 of 9 a priority would need to be Cooperative Strategies planning. He also asks if Ravsten stadium could be on the list. Angela answers that number fifteen of the list of approved uses with the funding states anything to help keep the school running and that does not fall under that category. It does not need to be part of the ESSER plan. Trustee Radcliffe asks for clarification on specifying how we state how to spend the $7.8 million allocations. Angela answers that it is similar to the re-opening plan, it is our plan but plans do change. We can adjust the plan by coming back with the committee and updating plan. However, we can over plan with the list of priorities so if one item can not be done, we move on to the next item. Superintendent Shank states that we are not sure how the state will respond moving forward and we might want to set some of the monies aside to respond to whatever they do. If there is an issue that comes up and we need to regain balance, we have something to fall back on. Angela adds that is very true because the state has done it to us before two years in a row by cutting funding. So, reserving some of the funds for maintenance would be a good idea. Trustee Haacke asks about the other geo study that would give us an accurate quote for moving on to do the turf. Angela states that she thought we didn’t need that study done. Trustee Haacke states that we need the other study done to continue with the turf to get an accurate bid. Superintendent Shank stated he would look into the other study to get the proper information to plan for the turf. Trustee Wilson asks if we could have a list of items that need to be completed to get the turf. Trustee Radcliffe states a list is also needed for the sod, so the Board can see the comparison with the two. Trustee Radcliffe asks Superintendent Shank if he has the list of priorities to report in the plan. Superintendent Shank reads back his list of electrical upgrades, fire rated doors, access controls, bathrooms, bus loop investigation, and Cooperative Strategies. Trustee Cogliati adds to include the HVAC and floor replacement to fall back onto if the other items can not be done. Superintendent Shank then states that indirect funding will need to be used for improvements to Ravsten Stadium. Chairwoman Hill called for a motion to adjourn. Trustee Wilson made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Haacke provided the second. Motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. The meeting adjourned at 6:01 p.m. 07/27/2021 D91 Board Minutes Page 9 of 9