HIGHLAND COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS SCHOOL BOARD MEETING March 3, 2008 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER The Highland County School Board met at 7:00 p.m. March 3, 2008 in the library of Highland High School for their regular monthly meeting. The meeting was called to order by Kirk Billingsley, Chairman. The following were present: Gary Blair, Superintendent Kirk Billingsley, Chairman James Blagg, Vice-Chair John Moyers, Jr., Member Karen L. DeVore, Clerk PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Moyers made a motion that the agenda be approved. Mr. Blagg seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION NONE CONSENT AGENDA Mr. Blagg made a motion that the consent agenda be approved. The motion passed unanimously. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. HCEA No update. Mr. Hooke Mr. Hooke reported that Kate Obaugh won Maple Queen and Kari Obaugh was first runner up and Abi Cavellier was second runner up; Leigh Gibson and Chad Lightner were selected for senior Code of Ethics; Lady Rams finished second in the district tournament; Cappy Sullenberger and Abi Cavellier were selected to the First Team All District and Emily O Reilly received honorable mention; Cappy Sullenberger was selected for the All Tournament Team; Brian Malcolm was selected to the Second Team All District; and all teams played in regional games this year. Senior College Acceptance:
Lauren Cauley Ashton Hill Justin Levin Amanda Harper Scott Neil Jefferson College of Health and Sciences, EMU and UVA at Wise Liberty University/Emery & Henry Radford University Potomac State Blue Ridge Community College C. Ms. Blum Ms. Blum announced that the countdown to DI has begun. DI Teams compete at Western Albemarle High School beginning at 10:00 a.m.; Parent/ Teacher conferences were held on February 7th and were productive; thanks to the FFA for an informational week and special treats; 5th grade will be participating in the SOL Writing test March 4th and 5th; Read Across America Week started today. Kroger Plus Card and Martin s School Rewards Program up-date Karla Obaugh reported that Kroger has 71,615 points, Martins $155.47, and no report from Food Lion this month. Mrs. Obaugh will be getting people to sign up at the Maple Festival for next year. Ms. Blum said that the PTO had raised $800 from box tops. Important Dates to Remember: March 3-7 Read Across America Week March 4th Grades 5, 8, and 11 participate in the SOL Writing Test multiple choice March 5th Grades 5, 8, and 11 participate in the SOL Writing Test prompt part March 10th Student make-up day with a 2hr. delay opening March 15th DI teams compete in the Regional tournament March 17th Teacher in-service March 20th Early release spring break begins March 21st Spring break March 24th Spring break April 22nd Title I Math Family Fun Night; 6:00 7:30; mark your calendars D. School Board No updates E. Meeting Dates Budget calendar Mar. 13th, 6:30 Work session; Mar. 19th Public Hearing at 7:00 p.m.; Mar. 26th Work Session at 7:00 p.m. (if needed). April 1st Budget to Board of Supervisors. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. 2008-09 & 2009-2010 School Calendars Mr. Blagg made a motion that the proposed calendars be approved. The motion passed unanimously. NEW BUSINESS
A. Senior Trip Mr. Blagg said that he would like a committee of parents and faculty (including last year s senior sponsors) formed to reassess the senior trip/class trip policy. He also stated that budget, liabilities, and curriculum need to be considered. Mr. Blagg made a motion that a special committee of parents and faculty be set up to revisit the senior trip policy. PUBLIC COMMENT Kristy Moyers and Mary Beth Gutshall said that the students had already gone to D.C., Williamsburg, and Monticello and that they need to combine education and fun. Ethel Frampton said that the 9 th grade is a hard working group of students. Karla Obaugh said that she was at the meeting when the school board approved the new policy and she said that the senior trip was gone at the end of the presentation. Kristy Moyers and Mary Beth Gutshall said that they would like to be on the committee. Jackie Stephenson said that since she has returned to teaching she sees a lot of changes. Ms. Stephenson said that the fund raising is phenomenal and that usually about half of the students work and half don t work. Mr. Hooke said that the senior trip was not intended to slide the senior trip under the table. B. 2008-09 School Budget Mr. Blair presented his 2008-09 School Budget with the focus on Maintaining What Works while we Enhance Our School Division. The original request was $4,724,974 and the revised request is $4,545,178, a decrease of $179,796 (new bus, facilities requests and athletic director/recreation director position). The uncertainties of the budget are: the final budget from the state, federal flow through funds, reauthorization of NCLB, Forest Reserve funding, health insurance costs, and utilities costs continue to rise. Included in the budget are: 2% raise for all employees, all requested materials and supplies, duty free lunch for teachers, maintain current benefit levels, maintain current level of staffing. Mr. Blair concluded by saying that our challenge and our opportunity is to ensure that each and every child benefits from an outstanding instructional program and a learning environment that allows children to grow and learn and to turn their dreams into realities.our children continue to be our future. C. Personnel Mr. Blagg made a motion that Caroline Botkin be approved as assistant track coach, Kenny Hiner as head softball coach, and Susan Cornelius as instructional assistant to fill Crystal Hill s position. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT
Karla Obaugh commented that members of the HCEA pay dues like a union and she thinks that the principals and assistant principals should not belong. Mr. Blair said that you can t tell anyone that they can t belong or not belong to an organization. He said that the HCEA protects teachers and he respects what they do. Larry Held said that he would like to see the teachers get more then a 2% raise. SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT No further report CONTINUATION p.m. Mr. Moyers made a motion that the meeting be continued until March 13 th at 6:30
HIGHLAND COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BUDGET WORKSHOP March 13, 2008 6:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER The Highland County School Board met at 6:30 p.m. March 13, 2008 in the library of Highland High School for a budget workshop. The meeting was called to order from the continued meeting by Kirk Billingsley, Chairman. The following were present: Gary Blair, Superintendent Kirk Billingsley, Chairman James Blagg, Vice-Chair John Moyers, Jr., Member Karen L. DeVore, Clerk BUDGET PRESENTATION Mr. Blair said that there was no news from the General Assembly, and he doesn t project much difference in revenue. Mr. Billingsley asked questions about the lines in the budget that increased a significant percentage. Mr. Blair went over the recent survey that indicated that a K-12 principal was not desired. Mr. Blair said that scheduling is an issue and he doesn t want the level of instruction to drop. If we reconfigure the teaching model certified teachers need to be used to be accredited. Presently 25% of our students are special education, 15% gifted, and 48% disadvantaged. Mr. Blair said that he doesn t want excellence to change and he wants to maintain an instructional focus with low pupil/teacher ratios. He said that our teachers make difficult look easy. He said that losing a teacher would impact several teachers. Mr. Blair was asked what decision he would make if he had to decide between a losing a teacher or going with a K-12 principal. He said that he didn t think it would be a good idea at this time to go with a K-12 principal now because they need to know curriculum for both schools. Ms. Blum was asked about the necessity of bathrooms in the elementary school gym. She said that unsupervised trips to the bathroom during gym class is an issue. Winnie Richardson said that she thinks we should have 2 principals. Joe Neil said that it is too much to expect the new principal to do. He thinks that present stipends could be adjusted to pay for an AD stipend. Mr. Hooke said that if the principal is the AD then the secretary should receive a stipend.
Nancy Vance would like to see steps for teacher aides and secretaries and a raise that is competitive with others. Mrs. Vance would like to see the teaching salary scale go to 30 years. She was told that this year it has. Mr. Billingsley said that he would like to have pay for performance for secretaries and teachers. Mr. Blagg said that he would like to see a 3% increase in pay without a middle school teacher and also what a 1% additional increase would be for all personnel not on a step salary scale. Marty Leech said that the majority of teachers who have done Distance Learning would say that it would be better for a teacher to monitor the class instead of a teachers aide. In the past there was a reduction in the fee for the dual enrollment history class is a certified teacher was in the class with the students. Also students taking foreign languages need to be alone because they need to speak out. There is an estimated 60 students for next year. Mr. Moyers made a motion that the meeting be continued until March 19 th for the Public Hearing on the budget. The motion carried.
HIGHLAND COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS PUBLIC HEARING March 19, 2008 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER The Highland County School Board met at 7:00 p.m. March 19, 2008 in the library of Highland High School for a public hearing on the proposed 2008-09 budget. The meeting was called to order from the continued meeting by Kirk Billingsley, Chairman. The following were present: Gary Blair, Superintendent Kirk Billingsley, Chairman James Blagg, Vice-Chair John Moyers, Jr., Member Karen L. DeVore, Clerk BUDGET PRESENTATION Mr. Blair told everyone in attendance that he received the final budget from the General Assembly and we are getting $113,000 less. He equated it to the troubled triangle decreased enrollment, state approved budget, and funding modifications. Less money from the state means more money from the county above the required local effort. He presented three budgets to consider, one with a 2% increase, one with a 2% increase without a teaching position, and one with a 3% increase without a teaching position. He said that he would need to look at all teaching positions to see what would cause the less impact if it wasn t filled. Mr. Blair said that we are already losing the AD/RD position and this position would make two. Anyone not returning needs to be notified by April 15 th. PUBLIC COMMENTS Larry Held said that the supervisors funded $200,000 last year for legal fees and they shouldn t need that this coming year. He felt that the 2% increase or the 2% - teacher position should be considered. He also said that laying off academic positions would be disastrous. Karla Obaugh wanted to know what a distance learning teacher costs as opposed to a teaching assistant. Mr. Blair said that a full time teaching position costs around $50,000. He also said that Mrs. Leech had said teachers who have been in charge of the distance learning lab see the importance of a teacher doing it. Marty Leech said that even if one teacher does distance learning then you still need other teachers to proctor other students.
Larry Held said that our students do well in college and we are one of the lowest tax rates in the state. Randy Hooke said that student get a jump on college classes by taking them here while they are still in school. Gwen Cauley said that her daughter already has 30 hours of dual enrollment credit. There are 20 students, 60 class offerings, and 13 different classes. Small numbers are good for structuring in AP. Ginny Neil said that distance learning has leveled the playing field for student class offerings. She also said that having a teacher with the students gives the students need structure. class. Heather Scott said that she uses free teacher time to monitor a distance learning Jim Blagg wanted to know what the numbers were for distance learning classes next year. No one had specifics, but said that they were increasing. Marty Leech said that distance learning lab teachers communicate with professors, make sure students are on track, give grades, help with books and discussion, and keep up with the technology aspect of the class. Teachers need to be computer literate and have an expertise of the subject. Jackie Stephenson said that the distance learning classes have effected the enrollment in her classes, but she realizes the importance of these classes. Marty Leech said that she appreciated Mr. Blair s comment about coming back to the faculty for a solution to the loss of a teaching position. Karla Obaugh said that people need to go the governor s web site and tell him to come and see us. Mr. Blair said that we are unique and need to think outside the box. ACTION Larry Held wanted to know why the lottery money was decreasing. The Public Hearing ended. Mr. Moyers made a motion that the 2% budget of $4,545,178 be approved. Mr. Blagg said that this budget represented a 4.75% increase from last year s budget with a significant amount of the increase coming from increased fuel and gas prices. Mr. Blagg said that he felt that this budget was a reasonable increase. Mr. Billingsley said that he agreed and that he was disappointed that they were not able to give more than a 2% pay increase. The motion passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Moyers made a motion that the meeting be adjourned until the next regular meeting on April 7 th. The motion passed unanimously.