MINUTES Regular Board Meeting 17 August, 2011 7:00 pm 1.00 Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance Board President, Mark McPherson, called the meeting to order at 7:00pm and the Pledge of Allegiance was said. 2.00 Roll Call Roll was taken. Members Mark McPherson, Rik Noring, Jr., and Tom Wilke were present. Liz Taylor was absent with prior notice. 3.00 Modification/Approval of Agenda Mr. Paul McCarty noted that we need to approve both the July and August Payables. Mr. McPherson commented that Mr. McCarty asked to cancel the Executive Session and conduct his evaluation is public. Mr. McPherson stated that he had no objection if Mr. McCarty still wanted to proceed with that. Mr. McCarty stated that he would still like to do that. Mr. McPherson stated that would change the Executive Session to discussion 6.03 Superintendent s Evaluation and eliminate the Executive Session. Mr. McPherson asked so as suggested, is there the motion amended to approve as suggested? Rik Noring, Jr. (Tom Wilke) moved (seconded) to accept and approve the agenda as suggested. The motion carried with Mr. McPherson, Mr. Noring, and Mr. Wilke voting yes; Mrs. Taylor absent with prior notice. 4.00 Open Forum No one signed up to speak. 5.00 Consent Agenda Rik Noring Jr. (Tom Wilke) moved (seconded) to accept the Consent Agenda as presented. The motion carried with Mr. McPherson, Mr. Noring, and Mr. Wilke voting yes; Mrs. Taylor absent with prior notice. Let the record show that Liz Taylor presented to the meeting at 7:30p.m. Posted by Tambra Bernal, BOE Administrative Assistant Page 1 of 5
6.00 Board/Superintendent Comments 6.01 Superintendent Mr. McCarty stated that the Jr/Sr High enrollment is about the same as it was last year, and that the elementary is slightly lower; however, he feels those numbers will rise as we get further into the month and after Labor Day. Mr. McCarty notes the test scores for CSAP, especially that of the 3 rd grade. In terms of their reading, they were exceptionally great with no unsatisfactory in the 3 rd grade. Through some of the grades, you can see some real progress. We had a celebration on Friday, August 12, 2011, for our 130 th Birthday. Prairie Heights Elementary Classes all brought their banners to hang on the wall beside the ones made here at Hanover Jr/Sr High School. Mr. Ornelas had the band play, and it was really nice to have the entire district in one room to celebrate this day. Mr. and Mrs. Day and Mr. and Mrs. Reble had some great stories to tell about the school and the community, and the students really appreciated it. Mr. Day brought in some pictures of the school from 1923 that we would like to get framed and hung in the hallway. Christine Fischer, who was our 21 st Century Grant Writer, has resigned from the Program Manager position. Doing this job from a distance was very difficult. Lynnette Steinhoff will take over this position. We reduced the number of Sam s Club cards down to three for Lynnette, Amanda, and Brian; however, when Lynnette went to purchase some beginning-of-the-year things, they denied her purchase due to an accounting error on their end. We would like to get rid of these cards all together. Mr. McCarty s recommendation is that we pull back these cards. He will talk to Costco to see if they are interested in our business. However, as for the kitchen, it is Mr. McCarty s recommendation is to get Amanda a Farmer s Bank card with a $500 limit. Mr. McCarty stated that we still need to fill the Board Secretary position. Mr. McPherson noted that there are two applicants, and the Board collectively felt that it would be best for Mr. McCarty and one or two other board members conduct the interviews. Reading Plus has been installed and students are scheduled pretty vigorously throughout the day. In less than a week, all students have already made great advancements. We were selected to be a part of a pilot program through CDE and GoEdustar for alignment with state course codes to local course codes. What we are doing will put us one year ahead of what we are going to see from the state, so this really gives us a chance to be out there in front. Posted by Tambra Bernal, BOE Administrative Assistant Page 2 of 5
The Payables position will be given to an already existing employee who has extensive experience in this field for approximately 8 to 10 hours a week. This will allow this employee more hours to keep their health insurance, and they will do a great job. This will also save a significant amount of money. 6.02 Board of Education Members Mr. Wilke had no comments. Mr. Noring stated that he is very pleased with the way the first 1-1/2 weeks of school has progressed. Mrs. Taylor had no comments. Mr. McPherson stated it was great to see the 130 th birthday celebration, and complimented Mr. McCarty for a job well done. Mr. McPherson made note to our budget and that we are in a much better position this year as compared to last year. 6.03 Superintendent s Evaluation Mr. McPherson explains that Mr. McCarty s evaluation covers a time frame of August 2010 to August 2011. Mr. McPherson explains the 5 areas that are addressed and what was expected: 1. Curriculum Instruction and Assessment Improvement of CSAP scores, particularly in the elementary school, plus the ACT gains. We talked about the alignment and work with the curriculum. There is ongoing work with curriculum maps, and some of the improvements we have asked Mr. McCarty to continue to work on is to continue to develop the curriculum maps for the district and to continue to review and revise the technical aspect which is pretty critical. 2. Community Relations Mr. McPherson states that he feels Mr. McCarty has done an exceptional job at improving community relations from suggesting that we meet down at Prairie Heights as a board giving the folks down in the Midway area a chance to participate in community feedback on major issues. One thing we would like to see is more communication through a newsletter being mailed out to everybody. 3. Personnel Mr. McCarty had to make some tough decisions, but through his own personal integrity, he stuck to his guns and has modified the staff. We think we are in a good position this year as a result. You have been able to back off and not micro-manage as much allowing people to move forward. This is commendable. 4. Finance and Legal This speaks for itself. We were almost broke at the end of last year, and we are doing much better now. 5. Working with the Board The Board is very pleased with the communication. Mr. McPherson read aloud the additional notes. Mr. McPherson states that there has been discussion and request that we renegotiate Mr. McCarty s contract due to duties. He mentioned that through his observations, it is unfortunate that we can t look at his contract as he certainly deserves more. Mr. McPherson states that he just wanted that to go on the record. Mr. Wilke states that he feels that he has not been a part of the Board long enough to take part in Mr. McCarty s evaluation, so he is opting out of the evaluation piece but looks forward to participating next year. Posted by Tambra Bernal, BOE Administrative Assistant Page 3 of 5
7.00 Action Items 7.01 Review pricing for breakfast and lunch program Tom Wilke (Rik Noring, Jr.) moved (seconded) to accept the pricing for breakfast and lunch program. Mr. McPherson asks if we are recommending that we have a price increase of $0.05 per meal. Mr. McCarty states that we will raise elementary meals starting the second semester. The motion carried with Mr. McPherson, Mr. Noring, Mr. Wilke, and Mrs. Taylor voting yes. 7.02 Approve changes to the Board of Education Meeting Schedule 2011-12 - Rik Noring, Jr. (Tom Wilke) moved (seconded) to accept the changes to the Board of Education Meeting Schedule for 2011-12. The motion carried with Mr. McPherson, Mr. Noring, Mr. Wilke, and Mrs. Taylor voting yes. 8.00 Information Update 8.01 Dean of Students Written report provided in advance. No comments. 8.02 Principal Prairie Heights Written report provided in advance. No comments. 8.03 Maintenance/Transportation Written report provided in advance Mr. McPherson thanked the Maintenance Department for their hard work in getting the school ready in such a short time after Neenan had been in. He stated that the school and grounds looks great. Mr. Noring states the PPIR bus stop is better but it is still dangerous. He would like some kind of an instruction letter sent to parents on how to come and go. Mr. Noring mentions that the has contacted Commissioner Hisey inquiring about what it would take to get the roads behind PPIR up to code so that our buses can drive on them. He feels that it is unfair that kids in the Hanover area are dropped off at their homes, but not in the PPIR area. He states that Mr. Hisey is gathering solid numbers for us which currently looks like about $700 per year per household. 8.04 Athletic/Activities Director Written report provided in advance. No comments. 8.05 Nutrition Services Written report provided in advance. No comments. 9.00 Other Business None 10.00 Adjournment Rik Noring, Jr. (Tom Wilke) moved (seconded) to adjourn at 8:00pm. The motion carried with Mr. McPherson, Mr. Noring, Mr. Wilke, and Mrs. Taylor voting yes. Future Important Dates Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 7:00 PM Hanover High School Cafeteria Regular School Board Meeting Posted by Tambra Bernal, BOE Administrative Assistant Page 4 of 5
Approval by President of the Board of Education Mark McPherson, President Date Approval by Secretary of the Board of Education Liz Taylor, Secretary Date Posted by Tambra Bernal, BOE Administrative Assistant Page 5 of 5