HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-02-05 Board Minutes
Board Meeting Minutes – Feb, 5 2008
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Idaho Falls School District No. 91
Board Meeting Minutes
February 5, 2008
District Office Board Room
Idaho Falls, ID
7:00 PM
Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration:
Jerry Wixom, Chairman George Boland, Superintendent
Mary Ann Smith Guy Wangsgard, Director of Business Operations
Ernest Jensen Gail Rochelle, Director of Secondary Education
David Lent Karla LaOrange, Director of Elementary Education
Cindy Ozaki Caroline Meagher, Recording Secretary
Chairman Jerry Wixom called the board meeting to order.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Cindy Ozaki.
SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY:
Shelly Smede introduced Andrew Scholer, a student at Idaho Falls High School, as the winner of the
Curriculum Guide for 2008-09 cover design. Andrew received a $100 gift card and a plaque from the
board of trustees.
Jim Shank, Principal at Clair E. Gale Junior High School introduced Tharon Brower as the Emissary of
Excellence for February. Tharon is the custodian at the school and is well known and liked by all.
Ernest Jensen presented Tharon with a plaque and thanked him for his hard work.
I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA:
Ernest Jensen motioned to amend the agenda by adding under item d) Student 2007-2008B under V.
ACTION ITEMS. David Lent seconded the motion. Motion passed.
II. CONSENT AGENDA
Cindy Ozaki motioned to adopt the consent agenda as written. David Lent seconded the motion.
Motion passed. Items approved include:
Board Meeting Minutes thnd
: January 8 and 22, 2008
Payment of January 2008 Claims: $ 1,983,194.86
Matching Funds
: Edgemont Elementary School $ 2,618.85
Taylorview Junior High School 1,200.00
Total Matching Funds Request: $ 3,818.85
Staff Actions:
New Hire: Amy Beck, Special Education Eagle Rock Junior High
III. REPORTS
a) Student Reports:
Chesney Taylor,
Representative for Emerson Alternative High School reported:
1. The Emerson students have completed half of the CNA program and they are now at
EITC on Mondays and Wednesdays. They spend the first half of their day in the
classroom and the second half of the day they get hands on experience.
2. Seniors are ordering their caps and gowns.
Board Meeting Minutes – Feb, 5 2008
3. Emerson has increased their enrollment cap from 100 to 150 students, and the waiting list
to enroll at Emerson continues to grow.
4. The students at Emerson are enjoying the challenge of participating in Achieve 3000.
5. Emerson participated in the Trapped Sober conference that was held by the Bonneville
Youth Development Council. The conference had a big impact on many of the students.
Chris Duersch came in place of Nick Mason as
Representative for Idaho Falls High School:
1. The Multicultural Assembly was postponed because there was a snow closure day on the
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scheduled day of the speaker. That assembly has been rescheduled for February 12.
2. In sports, the Boys Basketball team is hoping to play in districts next week. The Girls
team is done for the season. Wrestling is going well.
3. “Mascot Wars” is a new fundraising activity will start between all local high schools.
They money raised from this event will go towards the Special Olympics.
4. The Student Body will hold “Gender Wars” a competition between the genders to begin
next week.
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5. The Senior Ball will be held February 9 at the IFHS gymnasium.
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6. Talent Show tryouts will be held 2/19 through 2/20. The Talent Show will be on 2/28.
7. The Student Government is holding a “No Means No” campaign and they are hanging
posters around the school.
b) Patron Input:
1. Andrea Chambers spoke on behalf of the proposed calendar change for the 2008-2009
school year and the 2009-2010 school year. She thanks the administration for soliciting
parent input and working with parents to find a solution that hopefully pleases everyone.
She asked the board to please adopt the proposed calendar change for 2008-2009 and to
adopt the “recommended” calendar for school year 2009-2010.
2. Brenda Kanka asked the board to look into board policy that does not allow a foreign
exchange student to graduate from our system.
3. Four fourth grade students from A.H. Bush Elementary school, Miguel Trejo, Giovanni
Becerril, Abby Holloway, and Philip Bills wrote a persuasive essay in class and came to
read their essay to the board of trustees.
4. Patron Input received through the email from Susan Blossom;
As I have said before at past meetings, I am grateful for the opportunity to express my
opinion here, as well as for the responsiveness this committee has shown in trying to meet
everyone’s needs.
As a patron, my main concern in that the August school days be minimized. It’s the best
time of year for family vacations, and the schools are too hot to promote learning. I
prefer a compressed calendar with a longer summer, but I fell less strongly about this
than I do about those August school days.
Thanks again for your time and attention to my opinion.
c) IFEA Report: Nancy Caldwell, President of the IFEA reported:
1. The Association was busy in January with the legislature.Eight IFEA members went to
Boise to the legislature to listen to hearings on the ISTARS and We Teach salary and
compensation proposals. Both of these proposals seem to be stalling. They are not
supported by teachers. Nancy thanked our administration for using caution and not
responding to proposal.
2. The IFEA is collecting for the children’s fund. They have collected $1500 to date.
3. The IFEA has set the time of the Retirement Banquet. It will be held on Thursday, May
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15.
d) Education Foundation:
Daryl Schneider, president of the Education Foundation, reported that:
1. The Foundation is in the midst of preparing for the mayor’s scholarship dinner. The
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scholarship applications are available online and they are due by February 15. The
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dinner is scheduled for April 10. They will showcase district programs from 6-7PM and
Board Meeting Minutes – Feb, 5 2008
then dinner will be at 7:00 PM. They will announce recipients of the scholarships
following dinner.
2. They are continuing to build the donor base for the Skyline Legacy Campaign.
3. Visa Plex has announced that they will present a check to the foundation in the amount of
$13,583 for all the movie tickets sold over a period of time.
4. The foundation is working to support funding for the new Alternative Energy Class that
will be offered at Skyline High School.
e) Superintendent’s Report:
1) Superintendent George Boland introduced Mike McGuyer, Energy Manager who gave a
presentation on the status of the Energy Program.
1. The savings from May 07 to December 07 are up by 11% from last year.
2. We have increased cooperation from the staff.
3. We are refining and improving our HVAC which helps us to be more efficient.
4. The use of timers to turn on engine block heaters has been another large saving.
5. If we maintain the same savings for the next 7 months, we will exceed $1M in July
2008.
Ernest Jensen asked why the Westside of town seems to do better at conserving energy. The
reason for this trend is because Westside and Eagle Rock are all electric schools and that shows
greater cost avoidance. Most of these schools are also manually run (heating systems are not on
timers) and the custodians at these schools have made that difference.
David Lent asked about the cold classrooms. He has heard complaints about the temperature of
the classrooms and he does not want our energy savings to be at the expense of the teachers and
the kids. The response is that the procedure is for rooms to be set no higher than 72˚F and it is up
to the teacher and principal to work around that. This is an issue that has plagued our schools for a
long time because of the mechanical inefficiencies of our HVAC systems. Setting the
temperatures lower has magnified this problem. The teachers can contact George to have their set-
point increased if they are too cold.
The administration is currently in the process of reviewing RFQ’s for a district wide contract to
upgrade the HVAC systems in the schools that seem to have older and less efficient systems.
2)Rene Miller, Communication Specialist, presented the results from the Parent Satisfaction
Survey to the board of trustees. We received a 22% response on the survey. It was widely
advertised and it began with parent teacher conferences and computers were available at all
schools for parents to take the survey at the schools if they do not have internet access at home.
The trends of the responses show that Elementary parents are more satisfied with their child’s
school experience than the parents of Junior High and High School students. It is believed that
most of the unsatisfaction may be due to the lack of progress report communication that we
experienced as a result of changing the grade book software. Now that all secondary school
parents have been given access codes to Power School, satisfaction and communication should
increase. We will run this survey again next fall.
IV. PROPOSALS:
a) School Calendar 2009-2010:
This is the second review of the four proposals for the 2009-2010 School Calendar. The Calendar
Committee has recommended “draft 2” to be adopted by the board of trustees. The proposed
calendar is available for review and comment on the district web page and it is available in the
district office. In tonight’s Patron Input, one patron expressed that she likes the recommended
2009-2010 School Calendar and hopes that the board adopts it. This calendar will be voted on as
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an action item in the March 11 board meeting.
Board Meeting Minutes – Feb, 5 2008
V. ACTION ITEM:
a) Board Policy 403.4:
This is the third and final reading of Board Policy 403.4. This policy has been available for
review on the district web site and at the district office. There have been no comments received.
This policy is general in nature and procedures will be written up by the Operations Department
for safe handling of chemicals. The primary concern is for the storage and use of chemicals in
classrooms throughout the district.
Mary Ann Smith motioned to adopt Board Policy 403.4 Chemical Safety and Management as
written, Cindy Ozaki seconded the motion. Motion Passed. All in favor.
b) Proposed Change to School Calendar 2008-2009:
This is the third and final reading of the calendar change. This calendar has been available for
review. We have received comments at tonight’s meeting in support of this calendar change.
Mary Ann Smith motioned to adopt the changes to School Calendar 2008-2009. David Lent
seconded the motion. Motion Passed. All in favor.
c) Early Graduation Request Student 2007-2008 A:
David Lent motioned to approve the early graduation request for Student 2007-2008A. Cindy
Ozaki seconded the motion, Motion Passed. All in favor.
d) Early Graduation Request Student 2007-2008 B:
Ernest Jensen motioned to approve the early graduation request for Student 2007-2008B.
David Lent seconded the motion, Motion passed. All in favor.
Ernest Jensen motioned to adjourn. Cindy Ozaki seconded the motion. Motion passed.