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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-29-2014 Minutes_Special_Meeting-Work_Sessiond m A.r'hi "j,6,„ V.t cc la nr, 3497 North Ammon Road, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83401 (208) 525 -4400 Fax (208) 529 -0104 www.d93schools.org F)�, C lurk , I, Sh !,, ,U, :ring ,,IldeW Nlurju:ln i_ta4rtu• SE, ['ojwb, Frulseriiot! rid >irt Special Meeting[Work Session of the Board of Trustees Summit Hills Elementary Media Center January 29, 2014 11:30 AM I. Call to Order Chairperson Winchester called the meeting to order at 11: 55 a.m. 11. Roll Call Those Board members in attendance were Chairperson Annette Winchester, Vice - chairperson Kip Nelson, Treasurer Amy Landers, Trustee Brian McBride, and Trustee Jeff Bird. Others in attendance were Superintendent Chuck Shackett, Deputy Superintendent Marjean McConnell, Director of Operations Todd Hicks, Director of School Improvement and Technology Scott Woolstenhulme, Director of Plant FacilitylPurchasing Roger Hill, Director of Human Resources Shalene French, Chief FinanclallOperations Officer April Burton, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Michaelena Hix, Energy Education Specialist Don Trauntvein, Principal Gordon Howard, Principal Ty Salsbery, Principal Kent Patterson, Principal Jason Lords, Food Service Supervisor Heather Plain, rand Board Clerk Valerie Messick. III, Welcome Visitors and Delegations Chairperson Winchester welcomed Renee Cook, Tammie McCammon, Justin Harris, and Karla Harris IV. Consent Calendar Sandcreek Middle School Band Trip Request to travel to Lagoon - change date from May 30, 2014 to May 27, 2014 Chairperson Winchester asked if any Board member would like to remove any item from the Consent Calendar to the regular agenda. Hearing none, she then asked for a motion to approve the Consent Calendar. MOTION: Kip Nelson made the motion to approve the Consent Calendar. Amy Landers seconded. The vote was 5 in favor with 0 opposed and 0 abstentions. Motion passed V. Recommendation for Architects - Roger Hill Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Hill to present his recommendation for architects. Mr. Hill stated that the Architect Selection Committee received and reviewed fifteen proposals for the planned high school and middle school projects on January 9, 2014. The committee then formed a short list of proposals and scheduled interviews with those firms on that list. They interviewed representatives of five different firms on January 171h. It was a good experience to see what each group's capabilities were and what they could offer. There where both engineers and architects presenting. The committee then discussed the presentations at length that same day. They then reviewed the information again on Monday January 20, 2014 tp finalize their decision. They felt a need to have someone local to be here during construction and after construction for ongoing needs. The committee's recommendation is Kurt Karst and Mite Architects of Idaho Falls who has partnered with Hummel Architects of Boise to design the new high school. The committee's recommendation for the design of the middle school is Kevin Bodily of NBW Architects of Idaho Falls who has partnered with VCBO Architects of Salt Lake City. Mr. Nelson asked how selecting an architect differs from selecting a builder where you have to take the lowest bid. Mr. Hill stated that you choose the firm you want to negotiate with. They don't give a bid until after they are chosen to do the design work. Chairperson Winchester asked if any of these firms are associated with the plan they saw in Boise. They all have been in the Middleton school that the Board likes. They are not associated with the firm that planned the Middleton building. They can go through that school and gather information and design a plan that is ours but similar. We need plans that are conducive to our climate on this side of the state. We will need a boiler and duct work inside the buildings instead of heating units placed on the roof because of the wind and frost. There was a question regarding whether we could use the same builder that built Meridian. We are required to take the low bid for a builder. There was discussion regarding why the committee did not recommend the original designer. The main reason was that that firm didn't have anyone local and they partnered with a local firm only at the last minute. We need local people during the building process and in the after process. There are enough changes due to the climate that the plan would need to be redrawn. Mr. McKenzie stated that the architects can design whatever the Board would like. We have worked with Kurt Karst before and they are familiar with building high schools. Each firm was aware that the Board likes the Middleton School plan. Mr. Hill will get with Kevin Bodily and set the Board up with some tours of schools in Utah. Dr. Shackett has met with Rich Bauscher and he will work with our architects to show them what the Board wants. He will work for the architects, not for us. They will look at the Vallivue building as well. Chairperson Winchester asked if any Board member had any additional questions for Mr. Hill or any concerns. Mr. McBride has concerns that the recommended firm has not built the building before. The firm in Boise has only built it once and they are going out to bid for Vallivue at this time. Chairperson Winchester asked for further questions. Hearing none, she then asked for a motion to approve the recommendation for architects. MOTION: Amy Landers made the motion to approve the Kurt Karst of Alderson, Karst, and Mitro Architects to design the new high school and Kevin Bodily of NBW Architects to design the new middle school. Brian McBride seconded, The vote was 5 in favor with 0 opposed and 0 abstentions. Motion passed VI. School Improvement Plans - Scott Woolstenhulme Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Woolstenhulme to present the School Improvement Plans, Mr. Woolstenhulme asked how familiar the new board members are with Star Ratings. He showed a presentation to help the Board understand the process. The 5 -Star schools are in top right quadrant, Most of our schools are 4 -Star schools. If only one school in the District needs an improvement plan, then the district needs to do an improvement plan as well. We have put the plans in the context of PLCs aligning curriculum, assessment, and instruction to Idaho Core Standards. We are creating a culture of collaboration, setting SMART goals, and achievement plans. There are four different kinds of plans. Lincoln High School and Telford have written Turn -a -round plans. These call for a significant restructure. The reality is that to turn around you need to change the clientele. The state is looking at only one indicator, graduation rate, for Lincoln. Telford is comprised of the kids who struggle the most in middle school. The criteria for alternative schools are being looked at but we must live with the current model. Bonneville On- Line is required to write a rapid improvement plan. The problem with this requirement is that the kids aren't in a class with a highly qualified teacher. They are not growing as well as those in the brick and mortar schools. We monitor these students' growth with the STAR assessment benchmarks three times a year as well as the state required standardized testing. Our 3 -Star schools are Rocky Mountain Middle School, Tiebreaker, and Rimrock. They missed the mark by only a few points but are still required to write an improvement plan. Our 4 and 5 Star schools are exempt from writing an improvement plan but are required to set SMART goals for their sub - groups that are not showing the required growth The plans are based on the WISE tool and focused on PLCs. The indicators fit with what the schools are doing. We have collaborative learning teams and JPAS Evaluation. We focus on putting these things in the plans and getting them implemented. We began working on the plans in October and they have been reviewed by District Leadership Team. The principals will briefly review their plans with the Board. Principal Gordon Howard stated that Lincoln High School has challenges because it is an Alternative school and the WISE Tool doesn't fit. They have been focusing on STAR testing three times a year. There is a problem with kids rotating in and out on the block system. They have 170 kids currently enrolled. Hopefully they can keep a base of 100 kids that are tested in all three benchmark windows. Then they can monitor growth. Their goal is to test 100% of the students in the school that are enrolled the whole year. They have a PLC team that meets together weekly. Their challenge is to get the essential information to students. The graduation rate was 49% two years ago. Dropouts are counted from Lincoln but not Hillcrest or Bonneville because students come to Lincoln from these two schools and then dropout from Lincoln. The current model just doesn't fit. There are also kids coming to Lincoln from out - of- district as well, They have looked at what they can do to help their students. They are implementing 15 minutes of cross curricular study every day and they are looking at a schedule change to a longer block that is 25 days long and allows students to take 2 classes at a time. They can get additional credits during the school year and it will help with the attention span. They will continue with a 5.5 hour day but they will have two hours and 45 minutes in each class period. That will give students a chance to work with the Technical Careers High School or the eCenter classes. The goal is to become more student friendly and provide them with more options. Principal Ty Salsbery has a unique situation with his students because they are sharing them with other schools. They just enrolled a student that will have gone to every school in the District, His school is like a round peg in square hole. They plan to share data with parents better. They will go through the STAR Assessment data with the parents. Hopefully the parents will become more accountable. The parents are starting to understand more about what is required. The problem often is that if a student is doing well, they are ok with testing, but if not they don't believe in testing. So it is hard to track how students are performing throughout the year. There is concern that students may not get enough support at home. Our teachers make weekly and monthly and calls to families to share data. They share resources that parents can use to help their kids with the curriculum. There was discussion regarding the use of PowerSchool to help with data. Parents get immediate feedback with the online curriculum so PowerSchool would probably not be useful. The schools is looking for a quality evaluation tool for their online teachers. They are trying to figure out how the teachers can better support their students. They offer weekly online classes per grade level. They have 50 -80 students who participate in activities at Campbell Gym on a weekly basis. With Harmony Education, there are around 135 students living outside the District. Principal Kent Patterson stated that Tiebreaker missed 4 -Star by one point. They went through appeals the process and took the SED kids out. They appealed three times but, the rating didn't change. They decided that they needed to make improvements. The STAR benchmarks are showing improvement. The new leadership team members have been good. Mr. Patterson has been doing walkthroughs. The teachers observe two colleagues for 20 minutes then report back to Mr. Patterson, That has started some good dialogue and discussion. They have spent PLC time focusing on English and Language Arts. Their Math scores have been good. They are looking at doing more writing using the NEOS. The students are starting to write a note to classmates about something nice. There was a question about whether the star rating system is a good thing. You feel like you are doing good but, then it says you are not doing so well. It causes you to look at where you actually dropped and then you begin to work with it and try to find ways to improve. The hope is that students will do better in May At 1:00 p.m. Jeff Bird was excused and left the meeting. Principal Jason Lords stated that his teachers are willing to try new things. They have been focusing on identifying essential leamings. That is what students need to know before they enter high school. They do as much as they can in the content teams during the two years the students are at Rocky Mountain to ensure they are doing the work. Students struggle turning their work in. The faculty is looking at failing grades and why students have these grades. They are focusing on getting the work turned in in a timely manner. Flex time has been a great help to the students and teachers. They need to know that students have been given the content to be successful in high school. The focus team leaders help guide the school improvement plan. Rocky Mountain has great teachers and they do great things. The focus team leaders did a book study on Collegial Learn Walks before Christmas where they discussed taking a group of teachers and an administrator into a classroom for 15 minutes to look at what is happening. They are looking at student engagement not the teacher. Then they debrief about what they can take away and use in their classroom the next day. They will start this month with rest of the faculty doing this type of visit in the focus team leader's classrooms. Eventually they hope they will be visiting other teacher's classrooms, This is something that will help improve instruction throughout this year. They will continue to look at failing grades and STAR assessment data. Flex days allow students to get extra help and to have the opportunity to retake a test they failed. On a typical day there are about 260 students who come back to their teacher for a re- teaching session because they have an Incomplete, D, or F on any of their grades. During the school year, almost every student will have to go back to a teacher at least one time. Flex time also helps absent students so they can take a test or get additional help. The goal is for the number of failing grades to decrease. They started with 230 failing grades. Now they are down to 21. These are from only 7 students and they will finish close to 18 failing grades. Mr. Woolstenhulme stated that Principal Dan Page was unable to attend because they are involved with young authors today at Rimrock. He reported that at Rimrock they have had teacher to teacher classroom walkthroughs for a sometime. They are aligning the curriculum and instruction to Idaho Core Standards as well as afterschool enrichment. Rimrock has high achieving kids and they are focusing on how to keep them growing. The requirement to do improvement plans is based only on results from one test. There are a lot of good things happening in our schools that don't show up on that matrix. There has been a lot of growth at Rocky Mountain but not quite enough to kick them up to 4 -Star rating. Mr. Woolstenhulme asked the Board to approve the District Improvement Plan and those from Rimrock, Rocky Mountain, Tiebreaker, Bonneville Online, and Lincoln. Telford is still working on their plan and will present next month. Chairperson Winchester asked how the SBAC test figures in to the Star Ratings. Will the test affect our school improvement plans in the future? She asked whether we can opt out of the test. Mr. Woolstenhulme responded that the SBAC will be our state test and the state will have to make the decision to opt out not the District. It will be a political decision. Grades 9 and 10 won't be tested this year. There are a lot of variables at the state level so it is hard to predict what will happen. Chairperson Winchester stated that there are a lot of concerns about the SBAC test. Mr. Woolstenhulme and Mrs. Hix discussed the differences in the ISAT and SBAC. The ISAT allowed only selected responses. Kids could easily guess on that test and do fairly well. The SBAC requires more depth of knowledge. ISAT had many flaws and was not a very valid test. It didn't accurately measure the Idaho State Standards. It doesn't have a consistent scale so it is hard to tell how a student really scored because the questions are leveled by grade. The higher level questions had more to do with ambiguity than with the difficulty of the question. Mr. Woolstenhulme would not ever want to go back to the ISAT because of the flaws in the test. The former Direct Writing or direct Math tests would be a better authentic assessment. That is what they are attempting to bring back as part of the SBAC. He believes that the more authentic we can get with kids answering real world problems, the better the test will be. Students should write rather than choose a, b, c, or d choices about writing. Then we should have writing people evaluate the responses. Students should be required to demonstrate competency throughout the school year rather than on just one test. The SBAC is a step in the right direction but, we are long way from where we want to be. The SGP is calculated from one assessment window to the next with regard to the Star Ratings. The previous test was the ISAT. This year is a field test on the SBAC with no data back. Next year, they will do the SBAC with field data. Theoretically we could calculate SGP from ISAT two years ago to SBAC next year. That would not be a valid measurement however. There will be a two year gap and two different assessments. We are then three years away from looking at student growth on the SBAC. So schools that are 3 -Star schools will be stuck with that rating. Chairperson Winchester asked if any Board member had any additional questions for Mr. Woolstenhulme. Hearing none, she then asked for a motion to approve the school improvement plans as presented. MOTION: Brian McBride made the motion to approve the school improvement plans as presented. Kip Nelson seconded. The vote was 4 in favor with 0 opposed and 0 abstentions. Motion passed VII. Items for Discussion A. Replace Carpet with Cement— Todd Hicks, Don Trauntvein Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Hicks and Mr. Trauntvein to discuss replacing the carpet in the schools with cement. Mr. Hicks showed pictures of the before and after process of removing carpet and finishing with cement. Mr, Trauntvein stated last year's budget for carpet replacement was $90,000. That included removal, haul away, and installment of the new carpet. Because we by in quantity the carpet is relatively inexpensive and we get about 10 years of ware depending on location. The cost for the upper area of the gym at Hillcrest that has been prepped for paint and is painted now would $50,000 to be transferred over to cement. The hallways at Hillcrest would cost around $200,000. Those at Bonneville would run more because they are wider. Cleaning equipment would also need to be purchased. The handout gives a lot of options: Interlocking carpet squares, Vinyl Composite tile, Ceramic tile, even AstroTurf. There is a three foot by three foot carpet tile that has waterproof backer and a thin knap that allows you to build your own design. They can be changed individually as they wear out. You can have polished concrete or you can see aggregate rocks. CCM Floor Care does only polished concrete. They will be here next month. They would do the job for $115,000 at Hillcrest and maybe more at Bonneville. We can't piece meal it. You will need to pick the right company so you don't have to keep working over the surface. We probably should steer away from colorant because it fades. Water from drinking fountains breaks down the top seal on the polished concrete. You will see a half moon around the drinking fountains beginning the second or third year. If we do it with new construction, it will be prepped and we wouldn't need to retrofit the gritty aggregate that we have now. We also need to consider noise quality. Currently noise is being absorbed by carpeting. We may need to add wall coverings or noise paneling to absorb the noise. If we decide to move forward, Mr. Hicks recommends that we do only one building to see what we think. Hillcrest would be the best place to start. Dr. Shackett suggested that we let Mr. Hicks do the research to find out what is best. There was discussion about whether a low bid would be the best company. Mr. Hicks stated that with something of this magnitude, we wouldn't necessarily need to go with the low bid. You can accept or reject any bid and quality of the service. Mr. Hicks likes the carpet squares option best. The prep is less. Themes can change more easily. There was a question regarding which school has the greater need. Hillcrest has longer spaces. Bonneville has pods. If we were to put that kind of money into Bonneville, we should probably take the walls down and start over to make new doors and walls. Then we would do carpeting and floor fixtures last. Where Hillcrest is a newer school, Mr. Hicks would probably start at Hillcrest. There are all kinds of flooring available. We need to look at cost effectiveness and noise concerns. We could defiantly look at concrete in the new building, For retro fitting, there are probably other ways that it would do better. There is no right perfect way. Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Hicks and Mr. Trauntvein to come back to the Board with a recommendation for what will be best and thanked them for the information. B. February 12, 2014 RMMS and March 5, 2014 SMS cafeteria Public Information Meetinas — Chuck Shackett Chairperson Winchester asked Dr. Shackett to discuss the dates for public meetings. Dr. Shackett stated that the February meeting would be held after the regularly scheduled Board Meeting. He wanted to know where the meeting should be scheduled and if the March 51h date would be workable for the Board. Mrs. Messick will arrange for the meeting spaces and notice the change of venue if necessary. Chairperson Winchester asked that Brad McKenzie be available and an Architectural rendition to be available if possible. Mr. Hill stated that it will take a couple of weeks to get preliminary drawings. The announcement of the meeting will be on Facebook, the website, possibly a flyer home with students, or power announcement, maybe email, or text messages. We need to get the information out about the meetings. Both meetings will be scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Chairperson Winchester asked if any Board member had any questions regarding the public information meetings. Hearing none, she thanked Dr. Shackett and moved on to the Visits to Middle Schools in Utah discussion C. Visits to Middle School in Utah - Roger Hill Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Hill to discuss the dates for possible visits to middle schools in Utah. Mr. Hill stated they will set something up whenever the Board is available. February 7th is a good date. Dr. Shackett and Mrs. Landers left the meeting at 1:50 p.m. in order to attend a Faculty meeting. Chairperson Winchester asked who would be able to attend the Utah school visits. Mr. Nelson and Mr. McBride along with Mrs. Winchester are available, Mrs. Messick will arrange for transportation and notice the excursion. Chairperson Winchester asked if any Board member had questions for Mr. Hill. Hearing none, she thanked him and moved on to Board Training, VII. Board Traininq - Annette Winchester A. Bond Presentations - Need a trustee to attend Telford Faculty Meeting — February 21" Chairperson Winchester asked who Would be able to attend the Telford Faculty Meeting 1:45 p.m. on Friday February 21 s'. Brian McBride will be available. Chairperson Winchester then tabled the remainder of the Board Training agenda due to the fact that two Board members were no longer present. She asked that those items be addressed prior to the regular meeting scheduled for February 12, 2014. Mrs. Messick will notice the Board Training Meeting at 6:00 p.m. that evening at Rocky Mountain Middle School. B. Committee Participation C. Superintendent Evaluation Procedures VIII, Call for Aaenda Items for UDcominq Meetings A. Regular Meeting - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - 7:00 p.m. B. ISBA Day on the Hill - Monday February 24, 2014 - Tuesday February 25, 2014 — Boise C. Special Meeting[Work Session - Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - Hillview Elementary Media Center -11:30 a,m. - 2:30 p.m. D. Regular Meeting - Wednesday, March 12, 2014.7:00 p.m. E. Work Session with HHS Student Council - Wednesday March 26, 2014 - Hillcrest High School Media Center -11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. X AdiOUrnment Chairperson Winchester asked for a motion to adjourn at 2:15 p.m. MOTION: Kip Nelson made the motion to adjourn. Brian McBride seconded, The vote was 3 in favor with 0 opposed and 0 abstentions. Motion passed J APPROVED: ("k. -, (' /'( -' C ' 0 , . k ' K y Chairperson ATTESTED: Wrjc Date: