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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-01-2014 Minutes Special Meeting-Work SessionDr. Charles J. Shackett, Superintendent 3497 North Ammon Road, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83401  (208) 525-4400  Fax (208) 529-0104  www.d93schools.org Board of Trustees  Annette Winchester  Kip Nelson  Amy Landers  Brian McBride  Jeff Bird Bonneville Joint School District No. 93 is an Equal Opportunity Employer Marjean McConnell, Deputy Superintendent Special Meeting/Work Session Bonneville High School Media Center October 1, 2014 11:30 AM I. Call to Order Chairperson Winchester called the meeting to order at 11:54 a.m. II. Roll Call Those Board members in attendance were Chairperson Annette Winchester, Vice-chairperson Kip Nelson, Treasurer Amy Landers, and Trustee Brian McBride. Trustee Jeff Bird was not in attendance. Others in attendance were, Deputy Superintendent Marjean McConnell, Director of School Improvement and Technology Scott Woolstenhulme, Chief Financial/Operations Officer April Burton, Director of Human Resources Shalene French, Director of Operations Todd Hicks, Thomas Kennedy, and Board Clerk Valerie Messick. III. Welcome Visitors and Delegations Chairperson Winchester welcomed the student council and thanked them for letting the Board attend their school. She then asked the board, administration and student council to introduce themselves. Student Council members in attendance were: Morgan Parker, senior secretary; Tyla Jones, senior at large; Cheyanne Garcia, yearbook representative; Riley Permann, student body female activity leader; Jordan Rydulch, senior at large; Ashely Jenkins, junior class vice-president; Sami Trane, sophomore vice-president; Jorden Roberts, spirit leader; Nathan Andrus, junior at large; Hannah Jorgensen, studentbody historian, Sarah Jorgensen, sophomore secretary; Sadie Moedl, sophomore at large; Sam Attebury, service project coordinator; Jazmin Hill, studentbody vice-president; Cortney Orton, sophomore activity leader,; Caleb Orton, senior activity leader; Emily Moyer, sophomore at large; Whitney Johnson, junior president; Nickolas Moyer, financial manager; Augustin Carbonnelle, exchange student representative, Zachary Eldridge, swarm coordinator; Bob Hansen; Jackson Wall, studentbody male activity leader; Austin Ford, freshman class president; Tate Howell, studentbody president, Kevin Ker sophomore at large, Alicia Williams, freshman activity leader; Karli Keele, senior class vice-president; Morgan Allen, Honeybee representative; McKenzee Martinson, cheer representative; Sarah Shippen, publicity coordinator; Wesley Aldrich, senior class president; Kolony Perkes, sophomore at large; Alex Benson, jun ior at large; Hunter Guthrie, freshman vice-president; Jessica Donahoo, sophomore class president; Tim Morrell, technology manager; and Sullivan Andrus, freshmen class secretary. Others in attendance were Idaho State University Education Department students: Brenda Juarez, Amy Nelson, Samantha Ellerson, and Martha Gaytan. Patrons in attendance were Renee Cook and Karla Harris. IV. Bonneville High School Student Council Tate Howell thanked the Board for being there to hear what they have planned for the year. He asked council members to report on their class goals and planned activities for the school year. Freshman class president Austin Ford talked to the Board about their goals for the year. They want to make students feel more included and safe at the school. They hope to get 10% - 15% more freshman involved in activities by inviting freshman to upcoming activities and events. They plan to talk to at least five students every day. They have been looking at bullying and just started an anti-bullying campaign. He talked about school lunch as a problem. The time is very short and the lines are very long. There are times when kids don’t get to eat. We have good school spirit is awesome. Jessica Donahoo, sophomore class president talked about the class goals they want to focus on and work toward achieving during the school year. They want to increase class participation and spirit. They will advertise activities more so students are more aware of what is going. Then encourage and invite students to participate. Their second goal is to unify the sophomore class by encouraging involvement. They will plan fun and interactive activities throughout the year so the opportunity is available for students to come out and try new things. Their main goal is to have a successful Bee Campaign. It is designed to promote school spirit strengths students have. They have chosen a theme for each month of the school year and have weekly traits that correspond. The month of October is creative and the weekly traits are imaginative, expressive, open minded, and adventurous. Each teacher is given two bee cards to give out to students that they see displaying that trait during the week. They can take the card to the principal and receive a candy bar. Then the cards are put into weekly, monthly, and semester drawings for more prizes. They have focused on coordinating student council planned activities that go along with the themes. So in October because the theme is creative they will hold an art contest. Student council members are at the head of those committees then work with others to plan and carry out activities. The Bee Campaign is a great program that promotes school spirit. They would love to hear ideas and suggestions throughout the year and they are looking forward to a great and successful year at Bonneville High School. Junior Class President Whitney Johnson spoke of the junior class goals. They have lots of interesting and exciting activities planned. Each year they set goals that have covered a wide range. The junior class has planned two goals for the year. The first goal is to increase unity in the class of 2016. They have seen a great growth in unity due to a successful homecoming week. Part of that week was decorating their assigned hallways and a lot felt pride in the work they did together. They also decorated a float for the homecoming parade where there was a lot of participation from juniors. It was a great activity because they haven’t had a homecoming parade for a long time at Bonneville. They have lots of activities planned and hope to see unity develop as a result. They hope each junior will know that pride in school is the one goal that unifies them all. The second goal is to make $6,500 in ticket sales from Prom. They hope to make prom the best dance that the school has ever had. They plan to have the prom at Bonneville. Having the dance at different locations has taken a lot of their profit away. So by having the dance at the school they will have lots of decorations and a larger profit. The money from prom goes to the senior class president to plan graduation next year. The hope is to have enough money so they will have an unforgettable graduation. These goals may seem simple but they will challenge the class officers as they strive to become better leaders. They are passionate and willing to work hard to take the school to a higher level. Small steps are necessary to make these things happen. Last year the student council set a goal to become an outstanding student council recognized by the Idaho State Student Council. They submitted a portfolio as their application. They are doing what it takes to be an outstanding student council. Creating the portfolio had many benefits. It gave them more structure because of the strict requirements to meet each section. They needed an activity to focus on some area of health so they planned an activity specifically focusing on health. It helped them realize all the activities they have sponsored and shed light on some activities they haven’t been doing but, could start doing. It was also beneficial because of the participation within their own council. It was a huge project and required everyone’s help in some form or another. It was great to collaborate for one goal and in the end they were unified. They are now working on becoming a national student council of excellence. After receiving very high marks on the portfolio submitted and being asked to present the regional and state conferences this year, they have all agreed toward submitting an application to the national student council. Maximilian DeGeneres said “When you have had a taste of excellence, you cannot go back to mediocrity.” They were able to taste excellence last year. Their junior year is for going above and beyond what they are asked to do and achieve what they want to do. They have a vision and focus and ready to work toward excellence. From activities to awards the student council is going for success in everything they do. Here’s to an excellent year for an excellent school. Senior Class president Wesley Aldridge spoke of the class goals. He introduced his calls presidency. Their first goal is to unify senior class by attendance at all activities not just the most popular ones. They have seen more support than ever at volleyball and soccer games. They will use communication to their advantage. They will spread the word by texting, face book and other electronic means. But, face-to-face communication is a very valuable tool. Personally talking to a student will achieve more of a commitment than receiving an email or a text. Their next goal is to increase ACT participation by sponsoring a post ACT party at Pizza Pie Café. Their final goal is to Increase senior class spirit. So far the seniors have been motivated to make this the best year of high school. They held a senior sunrise and about 1/3 of the class attended. He asked the School Board if any had ideas about how they could obtain a Senior Class Rock through donations or other ideas they would appreciate that input. They want to leave a memorial. Graduation will be held Tuesday June 2, 2015 and he thanked Chairman Winchester for being willing to speak at graduation this year. He thanked the Board for supporting the class of 2015. Tate Howell studentbody president stated that there are already a lot of great goals in place and there are a bunch of really great people. They have a great vision for the year and have made so much progress during the first month of school. One overall goal is unity and to increase students’ in attendance at home games and events by 5%. There will be a student council member at every game and all the events. They are seeing more and more students showing up to the different events. Want to increase attendance by 5%. Another goal is to increase relations with other schools. They want to have a monthly meeting with Hillcrest to see what they have in common and what they may need help with. They also want to meet with D93 elementaries and RMMS to show them what is in store for them in student council and how fun it can be. They are also working to increase positive sportsmanship. They are asking the announcer to briefly encourage good sportsmanship and courtesy at the beginning or all events. They kicked off the school year with Bee pride day and cleaned the school and Thunder Stadium. They also painted the commons and the stairs on the outside to brighten up the school. We’ve tasted excellence and want to reach for more. Bob Hansen asked other organizations to come in to help the student council to help the student body to come together. Other students feel included in activities and know what is going on. It is also nice to get exchange students involved as well. They take them to the games, show them around, pick them up, and show what the school is all about. It has worked out well so far and they want to continually invite everyone to come out and participate. Whitney and Tate wanted to bring up some issues to the Board so they would be aware of student concerns. The hat policy has been brought up by students a lot lately. They would like some input from the Board on the hat policy. Many kids wear hats daily and take them off when entering the classroom. Teachers obey the policy but would be willing to let students wear hats if it weren’t against the policy. Over a dozen freshmen wore hats on freshman day and had to take them off. Hats are an addition to the students’ daily wear. For years taking hats off indoors was a sign of respect and courtesy but in today’s modern culture, a hat is nothing more than an accessory to an outfit or perhaps supporting a favorite team. Because of this social shift, they would like to propose changes to the hat policy. They would like to leave the decision to allow hats to teachers’ discretion in the classroom. Students would still be asked to remove their hats during the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. This is an issue that many care about and would like to see a change in policy. Please reconsider the hat policy and work with them to address the concern. They asked the Board how they can to further this proposal. They were asked to bring the proposal to the regular board meeting during public input. Mrs. Messick will bring a copy of the policy on hats to that meeting. At Tech High school, they have a different hat policy then at Bonneville so you might want to look at their policy and get a different reference about what they do. Whitney asked that all of the people going to Chicago next semester in January to came forward. They thanked the school board for helping pay for registration fees. They look forward to will reporting back on what they learn at the conference. It will be a good experience. She and Chelsea attended the conference in Washing D.C. last year and they felt strongly about going again this year and including more individuals to broaden their knowledge about student council and leadership. They are working really hard on fundraising and they appreciate the Board’s help in getting them to the conference this year. Chairperson Winchester complemented the students on the work they are doing for their school all aspects of the student body and recognizing their responsibility as a leader for the school. We can tell what kind of school we have by leaders in the room. Are there any other questions for us? There was a question about the plans for the school lunch program. There was concern with the schedule and time. Those are things that we will look at a 7- period day instead of the A B schedule. Maybe we could split the class go to half of class and then go to lunch. We are continually looking at options. If we had different places to get lunch on campus would that help? Time, schedule, and lunch delivery are concerns. We will work on that for you as soon as possible Since bond didn’t pass what about going to split sessions? As a student body organization, they would like to let students know what might happen so they can be aware and prepare for that possibility. Chairperson Winchester asked that the students help the Board and administration to work so that split sessions doesn’t happen. We have a committee formed from the community to try to find an option that the community will support and that can alleviate the crowding. They asked how the student body representatives could help. Chairperson Winchester stated that they could let people know what it is like at the school. Describe what it is like to get lunch, how the classes are, and what the halls are like. Try to help patrons be in the student’s shoes for a day. She challenged a student to make a video about life in my shoes in the day at Bonneville High School. There are great things happening at the school no matter how crowded it is. But a lot of people in the community do not realize what it is like. Educating the community will come better from you as students because you are living it and you see it firsthand. Your parents and some of you will be voting on the bond question. The Board’s goal is to give students a good learning environment and provide a facility that is fitting for a good for education. If we pass a bond, it will take three years to build a high school. We appreciate your input and ideas and want to make your experience here as positive as we can. There was discussion regarding students’ feel about building a new high school or adding on to Bonneville and making it a larger campus. Students believe a new high school would be nice because of more updated technology etc. There are concerns about getting to classes on time if the building is larger. There would also be a concern about graduating from a new school. The class presidents would like to know when the auditing of the school budget will be done so they know what their budget for the year will be. The audit started during the summer and it will be done soon. Chairperson Winchester asked if there were other questions or concerns and then stated that the Board and administration appreciates their leadership. They appreciate their being positive leaders in the school and being a part of making it a positive experience at school. It takes a group like you who are proactive student leaders to get other students involved and make the atmosphere at your school what you want it to be. Mrs. McConnell thanked them for being great role models and for the time they take to make Bonneville a great place because it is an important part of everybody’s education. Crystal talked about where they are with the application. They will find out in February. They were told that they are in the top but won’t let them know exactly where they placed. They have been asked by the state and the regional director to present at the state student council convention. The application was a joint effort and all the representatives had to submit a lot of paperwork. The application for Nationals is even more intense. Chairperson Winchester was really impressed with the homecoming parade. The civil war is next Friday. They are having an alumni football game and would like the Board to join next Wednesday at 7:00 at Thunder Stadium. Mr. McBride asked the students not to forget that a lot of their efforts could be for just one student to inspire or encourage. You can change individuals by the efforts that you make. Mr. Nelson stated that everyone talks about school spirit but, Bonneville has school spirit and can prioritize. You have always had that. Mrs. Winchester’s son was studentbody president here and several that were on the student council. It was always a priority for them to look out for those who need extra help. You will never regret taking care of someone who needs it or taking an interest in an individual and make a marked difference in their life. You may never know what your efforts have done for that individual. She thank them for who they are and encouraged them to have a good year. The student council is collecting goods for a garage sale for domestic violence. They will pick up stuff for that sale. V. Action Items A. Falls Water Easement - Roger Hill Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Hill to discuss the Falls Water Easement proposal at 12:45 p.m. Mr. Hill stated we started meeting with Falls Water early this spring. The easement is shown in the far northeast corner of the map and would go across the field from the Pheasant Grove subdivision into Edwards Drive which will loop into the other subdivision that they are building on the other sided. By doing that they will have a loop and the water will always be flowing and does away with additional maintenance work that is required to keep the water lines clean. The easement agreement has been submitted to the District’s attorney and he made some recommendations. The document has been changed per the recommendations. Mr. Doug Nelson feels that the easement is ok for the District. Mr. Hill is coming before the Board today to see if they are interested in approving the easement. We have been able to work with Falls Water to get water when we had water problems this summer. Falls Water paid the tap in fee of about $6000 when we needed to tap in this summer. At Discovery and Bridgewater, they pay the water assessment taxes for irrigation purposes. It is about a $100 per school per year for us. With the improvement of water system at the annex, they covered the cost of a fire hydrant as well. We have a good relationship with them. We feel good about the language in the easement. The contractor wouldn’t be able to come back on the District in the future with a lean because of the materials and labor they are putting into the project going across the District’s property. They will replace everything as it was before the construction (sprinkler systems and sod, etc.). It is about 500 feet long and about six feet deep. It will below water lines. There will be a 20 foot easement for ever so they can fix or repair a problem with the line. The assessment is $100 per year and they will continue to pay that. Chairperson Winchester asked if there would be any other questions for Mr. Hill She then asked for a motion with regard to the Falls Water Easement proposal as presented. MOTION: Kip Nelson made the motion to approve the Falls Water Easement as presented. Amy Landers seconded. The vote was 4 in favor with 0 opposed and 0 abstentions. Motion was carried. B. Suspend language in Policy #5015 Certified Staff Provision of Employment Change the September 15th deadline for fulfilling certification criteria to November 1st for this year as a result of the State Department backlog. Chairperson Winchester asked for a motion with regard to the request to suspend language in Policy #5015 Certified Staff Provision of Employment for this school year as requested by Dr. French at the last Work Session. Just need to move the date to November 1 for just this year to give teachers time to get their certificates in. Certificates expire on September 1st it causes us funding problems if they don’t turn them in. we have 13 that we haven’t received their certificates. We have given people ample time to comply. MOTION: Amy Landers made the motion to suspend the language in policy #5015 and change the deadline for fulfilling certification criteria to November 1st for this school year only because of the State Department backlog. Kip Nelson seconded. The vote was 4 in favor with 0 opposed and 0 abstentions. Motion was carried. VI. Items for Discussion A. Facilities Planning Committee Update - Scott Woolstenhulme Evaluation Criteria for Facilities Committee Proposals Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Woolstenhulme to update the Board with regard to the Facilities Planning Committee and to discuss evaluation criteria for committee proposals to the Board. Wendy Dreamlow is our facilities committee facilitator and asked us to define the criteria we have used to evaluate suggestions in the past. There have been a lot of options that just are not an option for us because they are beyond our capacity to bond or requiring students to take classes online at home because we are required to provide supervision for minor children. We need to know what the box is that we need to work within. The three things we have identifies are (1) It must cost less than $100 million because that is where our bonding capacity is at. (2) It has to be something where students will be educated in a supervised and safe environment. Having kids stay at home or turning kids away is not an option. (3) It needs to be within our District’s geographical boundaries. Once we are inside that box there are six criteria. (1) Is it viable and able to fit inside the restraints? (2) Quality of education and the opportunities for students. Does the solution provide the best or the most educational opportunities for our kids. (3) Student safety. Does the solution present any safety concerns for kids? (4) Durability – how long will the solution last given our growth? (5) Equity among the schools. Does the solution provide any inequity throughout the District? (6) Financial impact on tax payers each month. If it raises taxes it is a negative financial impact. This did not look at the overall interest or sports teams, etc. If it is going to raise taxes it would be noted as a “-“. If not it is a “+”. They brain stormed different options and came up with about 110 different responses. There was nothing new that we haven’t considered. One that we haven’t considered was to keep adding trailers. Does the Board agree that this is the criteria that we have used to evaluate plans in the past? The quality of education correlates back to the configuration of the high school. Both facilities committees had the same recommendation to build a 3rd high school. This recommendation is utilizing the patrons tax dollars better. We have never looked a 5A or 4A athletics. A 3rd high school provides more educational opportunities for our students. The facilities committee will generate their own criteria to evaluate the options. Wendy will want to know what options we have already looked at and the filter they ran through. She will then ask the committee to add other criteria. Is there some things more important than others for us? Will we weight something more than something else on the rubric? The question may be whether we are willing to go to split sessions to keep 9th grade in the high school? The 9th grade will suffer in their education and it doesn’t solve the problem. How will we rate the rubric? It comes down to financial and trust issues. There is concern whether we can come to consensus. The reason we are on School Board is to look out for education of students and quality of education. Most of the opposition was about financial decisions and we need to be more concerned about what is best for kids. The Board needs to be more concerned about what is best for the kids and the financial issue needs to be secondary to that. We need to show the quality of education and safety has been primary focus. The others are important as well. Financial decisions weren’t taken lightly. We can talk about this tonight at the committee meeting. We will present tonight as how we have evaluated our options in the past. Then the group will consider what their criteria should be to evaluate the solution. B. New Software Agreements - Scott Woolstenhulme Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Woolstenhulme to discuss information with regard to new software agreements. Mr. Woolstenhulme talked about two different companies that agreed to the new terms in the policy and the sData law. We had their standard terms of agreement and sent addendums to those terms. Both Scholastic and Edify Learning signed off on them. Edify Learning will be a platform to create standards based assessment. The policy is working and the Board thanked Mr. Woolstenhulme for standing firm. We won’t take all the responsibility here. We purchased the software before the law was in effect and we were caught in a tough position. Mr. Woolstenhulme is careful to read the contract and make sure it was compliant. Mr. Duffy brought the agreement to Mr. Woolstenhulme’s attention and they were able to get the companies to sign off on the agreement. C. Professional Learning Communities Update - Marjean McConnell Chairperson Winchester asked Mrs. McConnell to update the Board with regard to the work of PLCs in the District. Mrs. McConnell stated that they had 100 people at the training meeting. A principal from each school came and they brought a team of individuals from their schools together where they talked about what PLCs are. They talked about the non-negotiables that are a focus on collaboration, learning and results. The non-negotiables are that 90 minutes of PLC time is happening on Wednesday. They went back and recalibrated and tightened things up. Mrs. Hix talked about curriculum and gave them some really good resources. They talked about the need to focus on collaboration and developing norms and reestablishing those norms. They will have two more trainings and will pay for such training out of Title II funds. The focus will again be on the real elements of the PLCs. They were in their groups figuring and planning. December 4 is the next training. You should be able to walk in on any Wednesday so the Board and community can see how we are using the time. Some are doing really well some need to recalibrate and start over. Mrs. Landers wondered what the pros and cons of a late start would be. It easier to get kids to school rather than coming from day care or stay at home to get to school. It would affect attendance because parents may just not have their kids come to school. They felt like more parents would be affected by a late start than by early release. They haven’t talked to District 91 to see how they like the late start. IN 2012 the TIA curriculum went in. Then we started with early release. Our JPAS scores have continued to improve. Our achievement testing has improved STAR testing from giving time to teachers to focus and look at the curriculum. We found some holes that we will need to fill in with more in-depth instruction. The Bonneville student council did a better job of setting SMART goals then the principals. There wasn’t so much training last year. There were a lot of new teams. It was great to refocus and get everyone headed in the right direction. The principals brought teachers that are in the building all the time on to their leadership teams. Every school had their own group represented. Teams were glad that the District leadership was presenting. They said it was nice to watch them teach because it gave them credibility. Mrs. McConnell will make sure the next training dates will get on the Board’s calendars. Chairperson Winchester asked if we can work on the lunch time at Bonneville and create more lines. We need to check with Mrs. Plain to see what has been done and what can be done to offer carts in different parts of the building so the kids can get lunch. Sometimes the lines are so long at Bonneville that they don’t have time to eat. Mrs. Burton will double check on it to make sure something is happening. Mrs. Plain has worked really hard to help with more options for the students. The concern was from the freshman where they came from Rocky Mountain and had split lunches. They might not know the different stations that are available. VII. Board Training A. 2015 Proposed ISBA Resolutions The Board should come to a consensus regarding the Proposed ISBA Resolutions prior to attending the business meeting at the convention. There is a chart listing the resolutions and their stated purpose along with ISBA’s recommendation to pass or not pass. Please look at these and we can discuss what you believe the Board should support or not. We can go over these at the next work session at Lincoln on the 22nd or the work session with TCHS and BOL on the 29th. B. Confirm Travel Voucher Information for ISBA Convention - Valerie Messick Mrs. Messick asked the Board to sign the Travel Vouchers for mileage and allowable per diem. She also requested that receipts be turn in to her so she can submit them to the Financial Department. C. Demographic Survey for ISBA – Valerie Messick https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V8F78HZ Mrs. Messick requested that Board members take the Demographic Surrey for ISBA if they have not already done so. The link to the survey has been provided. Mrs. McConnell asked about shirts for ISBA. The Board requested a fleece pullover in gray or black. Chairperson Winchester then asked if any Board member would like to add any agenda items to any upcoming meeting. VIII. Call for Agenda Items for Upcoming Meetings A. Secondary Facilities Committee Meeting - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - Hillcrest High School Media Center - 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. B. Regular Meeting - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - 7:00 p.m. C. Work Session - Lincoln Student Council - Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - Lincoln High School Room #3 - 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. special meeting D. Secondary Facilities Committee Meeting - Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - Sandcreek Middle School Cafeteria - 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. E. Work Session - TCHS and BOL Student Councils - Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - District Board Room - 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. F. Regular Meeting - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - 7:00 p.m. G. ISBA Annual Conference - Wednesday November 12 - Friday November 14, 2014 - Riverside Hotel, Boise, Idaho H. Secondary Facilities Committee Meeting - Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - Hillcrest High School Media Center - 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. IX. Adjournment Chairperson Winchester then asked for a motion to adjourn at 2:09 p.m. MOTION: Kip Nelson made the motion to adjourn the meeting. Brian McBride seconded. The vote was 4 in favor with 0 opposed and 0 abstentions. Motion was carried. APPROVED: _____________________ Chairperson ATTESTED: _______________________ Clerk Date: _______________________