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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-01-2020 Minutes Special MeetingDr. Scott Woolstenhulme, Superintendent 3497 North Ammon Road, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83401  (208) 525-4400  Fax (208) 557-6800  www.d93schools.org Board of Trustees  Amy Landers  Chad Dance  Greg Calder  Paul Jenkins  Scott Lynch Bonneville Joint School District No. 93 is an Equal Opportunity Employer Special Meeting April 1, 2020 5:00 PM Via Telecommunication at www.facebook.com/bjsd93/ I. Call to Order Chairman Amy Landers called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. II. Roll Call Chad Dance present Greg Calder present Paul Jenkins present Scott Lynch present Amy Landers present III. Welcome Visitors and Delegations A. Chairman Landers stated that the District is continuing to take measures to protect the health and safety of its students, parents, patrons, employees and members of the board of trustees. Such measures include providing for members of the Board of Trustees to participate remotely in this meeting. In addition, the Board of Trustees has adopted an abbreviated meeting agenda to include only statutorily required and other matters deemed essential. Per guidelines recommended by the Center for Disease Control, all open meetings will be held via telecommunication platforms until further notice. IV. Action Items A. Approve/Amend the Agenda MOTION: Greg Calder moved to approve the Agenda. Chad Dance seconded. Motion carried. V. Administrative Updates - Dr. Scott Woolstenhulme, Superintendent Chairman Landers invited Dr. Woolstenhulme to present COVID-19 updates. Following the State Board of Education (SBOE) soft closure mandate and Governor Little’s Stay-at Home order, the district administration has identified the essential duties of all district employees. Emails were sent to all the employees Friday listing these duties, including professional development for classified employees; i.e., Safe School training in health, confidentiality, and bullying/harassment. A book study of The Fred Factor by Mark Stanborn has been offered to classified employees. Office staffs and custodians have been busy handing out over 2,000 Chrome books to students and helping students and teachers retrieve items from lockers and classrooms. The Child Nutrition department with the help of the Transportation department has prepared and delivered over 5,000 meals to 2,500 students in the last two days. A. Soft Closure Dr. Woolstenhulme questioned what the right time would be to bring students back to the school building after the soft closure mandate ends. Do we bring students back or continue online Instruction? How would bringing students back into the classroom affect teaching and learning for the remainder of the school year? Further discussion with principals and the board is needed figure out what is best for our district. A few states have closed school for the remainder of the 2019-2020 year. B. Online Learning Online instruction started today with the help of many donations for internet services for needy families. Teachers are using the Google App for Education, including Google Meet, a platform connecting teachers and students online. Google App for Education is simple, has good security, and is free. It has been a tremendous team effort. 2 VI. Action Items A. Suspension of Policy and Procedure Chairman Landers invited Jason Lords to present policy for suspension relating to instruction and students. 1. 2620P Grading and Progress Reports procedure- Jason Lords, Executive Director Jason Lords introduced the grading options that have been discussed with teachers and principals, including what grading systems are best for elementary, middle school and high school students. Discussion included using “P+” (evidence of proficiency and extended learning activities), “P” (Pass: evidence of proficient understanding), and “I” (Insufficient evidence of learning). Teachers grading a student with “I” would consult with parents and principals. High school College & Career Advisors have contacted universities for grading practices for dual credit classes. Colleges will use letter grades for their classes; however, P+, P or I grading will not affect a student’s GPA. Colleges look at what classes have been taken and the overall GPA, not letter grades. If teachers feel students can successfully complete all assignments, then a letter grade can be given; however, it is best to have the same grading practices throughout the district. It is recommended for the grading policy to be suspended for the remaining 2019- 2020 school year. Bonneville Online classes will be graded as they always have been. Currently students have only been in class ten days this trimester, therefore, a course grade has not yet been established. Other consideration in keeping grade equitable for all students, is keeping in mind the different circumstances students are in as they stay at home and learn online, including home and sibling responsibilities and not having a classroom experience. The board requested public input on grading for this trimester and to further discuss the grading procedure at the next meeting, April 8, 2020. 2. 2700 High School Graduation Requirements - Jason Lords, Executive Director High school graduation requirements for the 2020 graduating class will be altered. a. Passing Government A and Government B will meet the Civics Requirement b. College Entrance Exam Often students take the college exams more than once. Most seniors have already taken one college entrance exam. The State has scheduled the SAT to be offered on April 28, 2020 and discussion continues on other dates in summer or fall. Many colleges have waived exams this year making college exams out of the control of local districts. c. Senior Project Graduation Requirement State Board of Education has waived this requirement for 2020 seniors. Twenty to thirty percent of District 93 seniors have not completed their senior project requirement. d. Total Number of Credits MOTION: Paul Jenkins moved to suspend policy 2700 High School Graduation Requirements until the end of the 2019-2020 school year and for 2020 seniors. Greg Calder seconded. Motion carried. 3. 3570P1 Emergency Closure Procedure - Jason Lords, Executive Director The district policy relating to emergency closures defines who is to be at work even during an emergency closure. With the State Board of Education’s soft closure mandate and the Governor Little’s stay-at-home order, those required to be at work are now required to work at home. Only tasks deemed essential are to be done in school buildings. MOTION: Greg Calder moved to suspend procedure 3570P1 Emergency Closure Procedure until end of school year 2019-2020. Chad Dance seconded. Motion carried. Chairman Landers invited Heath Jackson to present policy for suspension relating to personnel. 4. 5130 Classified Employee Evaluation - Heath Jackson, Executive Director Mr. Jackson stated that classified evaluations are due May 1st and would create hardships for those to be completed on time. He recommended to suspend classified evaluations for the 2019-2020 school year. He suggested an informal evaluation be scheduled by supervisors. MOTION: Greg Calder moved to suspend policy 5130 Classified Employee Evaluation until end of 2019-2020 school year. Paul Jenkins seconded. Motion carried. 5. 5140P Certified Employee Evaluation procedure - Heath Jackson, Executive Director Mr. Jackson indicated that only parts of the certified evaluation procedure be suspended: measurable student achievement percent lowered from 33% to 10%; testing used to determine this percentage has been waived or cancelled for this school year. State does not require a specific percentage showing student achievement on evaluations. The JPAS evaluation is still being used. 3 MOTION: Greg Calder moved to modify and suspend a portion of the procedure 5140P Certified Employee Evaluation to reduce teachers’ measurable achievement percentage from 33% to 10% until end of school year. Chad Dance seconded. Motion carried. 6. 5237 Employees Children in the Work Place - Heath Jackson, Executive Director Due to the Governor Little’s Stay-at-home order and the State Board of Education’s soft closure mandate, students are not allowed to be in school buildings; therefore, employees are not to bring their students into any school building until further direction received from the State Board of Education. MOTION: Greg Calder moved to suspend policy 5237 Employees Children in the Work Place until State Board of Education soft closure mandate ends or until the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Paul Jenkins seconded. Motion carried. VII. Call for Agenda Items for Upcoming Meetings (via telecommunications until further notice) Continued discussion on policy 2620 Grading and Progress Reports next week A. Work Session - Wednesday, April 8, 2020 - Via Communication - 5:00 p.m. B. Regular Meeting - Wednesday, April 8, 2020 - Via Telecommunication - 7:00 p.m. C. Special Meeting - Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - Via Telecommunication - 5:00 p.m. D. Work Session (Bonneville HS Student Council) - Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - BHS - 11:30 a.m. E. Work Session (Thunder Ridge HS Student Council) - Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - TRHS - 11:30 a.m. F. Retirement Open House - Tuesday, May 5, 2020 - District Board Room - 3:30 p.m. G. Regular Meeting - Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - District Board Room - 7:00 p.m. The Board expressed their appreciation to the District administration, D93 News, and community Q&A informational online meetings. VIII. Adjournment Chairman Landers adjourned the meeting at 6:23 p.m. MOTION: Chad Dance moved to adjourn. Scott Lynch seconded. Motion carried. APPROVED: ______________________________________ Chairman ATTESTED: _______________________________________ Clerk DATE: ___________________________________