June 28, 2010
The June regular meeting of the Elementary and High School District No. 1 Board of Trustees was held on June 28, 2010 in the Choteau High School Library. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Mark Henderson.
Members Present: Mark Henderson, Mark Salmond, Brodie Gollehon, Kirk Moore, Sharon Rice, Ron Daley, and Jonathan Stoltz.
Members Absent: None.
Supt. St. John and Clerk Davis were present throughout the meeting.
A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to approve the elementary minutes of the May 13, 2010 regular and May 18, 2010 election recount meetings.
A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Jonathan Stoltz and unanimously carried to approve the high school minutes of the May 13, 2010 regular and May 18, 2010 election recount meetings.
Visitors: District Patrons Cliff and Sally Heuscher, Western States Insurance Representative Dave Pillatzke, and MSGIA Insurance Representative Pat Greany.
A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to approve the elementary claims clearing warrants #15973-#16126 and payroll clearing warrants #20598-#21029 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
A motion was made by Sharon Rice, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried to approve the high school claims clearing warrants #15973-#16126 and payroll clearing warrants #20598-#21029 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
Correspondence:
A) The Board received a thank you from Sue Facklam for her retirement tea, plaque, and gift.
B) The Board received a thank you from Celeste Stott for the use of the auditorium for her Let’s Play Music recital this spring.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT A copy of the Superintendent’s Report provided to the Board by Supt. St. John is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
A) Supt. St. John reviewed his report with the Board at this time, asking the Board to note the early out in-service change beginning with the 2010-2011 school calendar. Early out teacher in-service will still take place at 2:00 p.m. but on Friday early out afternoons rather than Wednesday as in the past, which will provide additional hands on classroom time which has been wanted by the Board, administration, and the majority of the staff.
PROPERTY AND LIABILITY INSURANCE INFORMATION ITEM Supt. St. John reminded the Board that Pat Greany of Northern Insurance Services had once again requested and provided a quote to provide the District with property and liability insurance coverage through the MSGIA program sponsored by MTSBA. Supt. St. John had explained to Mr. Greany that he would not be interested in changing insurance carriers if the MSGIA rate wasn’t significantly lower since it is a self-insured, assessable program. Mr. Greany provided a quote of $23,273 for MSGIA whereas the renewal premium from WSI is $21,114, which is less than last year for additional coverage. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he requested that MSGIA Representative Pat Greany and WSI Representative Dave Pillatzke attend this meeting and explain the pros and cons of their programs to the Board, so the Board can make a decision at the August Board Meeting as to whether or not to enter into a three year commitment with Western States Insurance to provide the District’s property and liability insurance coverage at the 2010-11 premium rate of $21,114 for the three year period. This item was moved to the beginning of the agenda so that the insurance representatives did not have to wait through all the agenda action items before making their presentations to the Board.
Mr. Greany informed the Board that MSGIA is a self-insured pool program that continues to grow in its third year. The program has re-insurance for property claims over $25,000 and liability claims over $125,000 and the pools reserves are backed with a $1,000,000 letter of credit from the workers compensation program sponsored by MTSBA. Mr. Greany noted that the narrative showed that the premiums with Western States Insurance have decreased each of the past three years and he believes the District has seen these savings from WSI because of the competition from the MSGIA program.
Mr. Pillatzke informed the Board that the District has been with Western States Insurance since August 31, 2001 when WSI wrote and provided coverage for the District within 24 hours at the request of then Supt. Ed Peterson, as the local agency providing coverage at that time could not find a company that would insure schools. Mr. Pillatzke informed the Board that WSI insures property valued at $3.1 billion for 225 schools and education cooperatives across the state. Mr. Pillatzke informed the Board that the Missoula School District recently called for bids for their property and liability insurance coverage and hired an independent insurance consultant to review the bids and companies providing them. This consultant found nine deficiencies with the MSGIA bid and program and recommended that the District not take additional risks by selecting this deficient insurance plan.
Mr. Pillatzke stressed that the biggest difference between these two pool plans is that MSGIA is an accessible insurance program like the MUST health insurance trust, whereas WSI is not. Mr. Pillatzke informed the Board that WSI also purchases re-insurance but is otherwise totally funded with cash not a line of credit as MSGIA. Mr. Pillatzke noted that WSI has settled large claims such as the Huntley Project fire, the Big Fork football player death, and Huntley Project bus accident student death without accessing these schools or any schools in the program for these claims. Mr. Pillatzke further stressed that WSI has been able to offer reduced premium rates to all districts because of their cash surplus and additional premium credits for districts with a low loss ratio such as Choteau, not competition from MSGIA as alluded to by Mr. Greany.
Chairman Mark Henderson asked the representatives why the District should look at a three year commitment for such insurance coverage and it was noted that if all things stay the same and insurance premiums were to drop further, the District would still see a decrease in their rates; but if insurance premiums were to start increasing, the District would be locked into this lower premium.
The Board will take all the information provided at this time into consideration at the August Board Meeting when they will consider entering into a three year commitment with Western States Insurance.
POLICY
First Reading of Revised Policy #2421 Supt. St. John informed the Board that he had revised policy #2421 on promotion and retention in light of the deliberation on this subject at the May 13, 2010 Board Meeting. Supt. St. John provided the Board a copy of the current policy and the proposed revision, which is a compilation of two MTSBA model policies, other area schools policies and feedback from the principals as they have differing view points regarding this issue.
The Board held the first reading on the proposed revisions to policy #2421. Trustees Sharon Rice and Kirk Moore felt the revised policy was too vague and needed specific procedures on how to determine if a student should be retained. Supt. St. John noted that the policy was revised so more rights were given to the parents in any determination regarding promotions or retentions and such decisions could be made on a case by case basis. Trustee Kirk Moore questioned if the current policy really needed to be revised since the Board has already stated that the parents know what is best for their child and the current policy has been being applied on a case by case basis.
The Board and administration discussed this proposed revision further, with Trustee Sharon Rice requesting that the MTSBA legal staff review the proposed revision and developing specific administration procedures that will be followed when considering retention. The Board will revisit these issues when the second reading of revised policy #2421 is held at the August Board Meeting.
2010-2011 DISTRICT GOALS Supt. St. John outlined the various formats that the Board has utilized to set and adopt goals for the District. Supt. St. John stressed that there should be no more than three district goals for a school year, they should be considered a priority by all parties, and should provide an excellent means for evaluating the effectiveness of our schools as well as the administrative team. Supt. St. John proceeded to outline the three goals the administration wants to prioritize for the District for the 2010-2011 school year, noting these goals were developed with input from the staff as well as the principals and superintendent, and also outlined how these goals will be assessed. The 2010-2011 district goals and assessments as proposed by the administration are outlined below.
2010-2011 DISTRICT GOALS:
Assessments for Math Goal:
Assessments for Reading Goal:
Assessments for Science Goal:
The Board and administration discussed these goals and means of assessment, with the Board noting that they appreciated the time and effort put into this format and preferred it to the Board brainstorming to come up with the district goals to be adopted. A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Sharon Rice and unanimously carried to adopt the 2010-2011 District Goals as outlined above.
EXTRACURRICULAR EVALUATIONS Chairman Mark Henderson announced that the next item on the agenda involves individual privacy. Chairman Henderson declared that the meeting would be closed while the evaluations of the spring extracurricular coaches were discussed, as he had determined that the demand for individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure. The Board went into executive session to hear reports on the spring extracurricular coaches as prepared by Athletic Director Nate Achenbach. After discussing all of these evaluations, Chairman Henderson declared the meeting open again for regular business.
ADDITIONAL 2010-2011 EXTRACURRICULAR ASSIGNMENTS The administration made recommendations for filling the elementary winter and spring athletic assignments as well as the high school spring athletic assignments for the 2010-2011 school year at this time.
A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and make the following elementary and high school athletic extracurricular assignments for the 2010-2011 school year.
ELEMENTARY ATHLETICS:
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS:
EMPLOY HIGH SCHOOL ASSISTANT FOOTBALL COACH Supt. St. John reminded the Board that Blair Patton had resigned as the 1st Assistant High School Football Coach and that Assistant Coach Craig Tucker had expressed an interest in this position and Randy Gramm applied for the open assistant football coach position, so the administration and Head Football Coach Robert McKay would recommend making these assignments for the 2010-2011 football season.
A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Ron Daley and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Randy Gramm as an Assistant High School Football Coach and reassign Craig Tucker as the High School 1st Assistant Football Coach for the 2010-2011 school year.
EMPLOY ELEMENTARY IAT RECORDER Supt. St. John reminded the Board that Rachel Christensen had resigned as the Elementary IAT Recorder. Supt. St. John noted that this position has been posted and staff member Mary Smith has expressed an interest in the position. Supt. St. John further noted that Mrs. Smith is a Title I Tutor trained and involved with the intervention assistance and response to intervention programs.
A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Mary Smith as the IAT Recorder for the 2010-2011 school year.
EMPLOY PM CUSTODIAN Supt. St. John reminded the Board that in accordance with policy #5251 he had accepted Bob Archer’s letter of resignation, a copy of which is attached to the minutes of this meeting. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Mr. Archer’s last day on the job was June 25th. The administration had advertised this vacancy, received several applications and held interviews and would recommend the employment of Robert Robles to fill this position. Supt. St. John noted that Mr. Robles is currently serving as an adult summer custodian and will continue in this position at $7.50 per hour until August 30th, at which time he will be employed as a pm custodian and begin a six month probationary period.
A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Sharon Rice and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Robert Robles as a pm custodian effective August 30, 2010 at a wage rate of $8.25 per hour, with an increase to $8.40 per hour after a satisfactory six month probationary period.
EMPLOY SUMMER SCHOOL STAFF Supt. St. John informed the Board that Elementary Principal Gameon has requested that the Board approve Teacher April Ripley and Tutor Julie Dalrymple to serve as the summer school staff for this year’s program. Supt. St. John noted that Elementary Principal Gameon has determined to use the same summer school format as last year; which is to hold summer school three weeks in August before the new school year gets underway, with the summer school staff meeting with individual students in 30-40 minute blocks to work on an individual plan for each student that was developed through the intervention process. It was further noted that summer school will continue to be funded by the Title I program.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ April Ripley as the K-6 Summer Reading and Math Program teacher at the wage rate of $17.00 per hour plus 15% preparation time, and to employ Julie Dalrymple as the K-6 Summer Reading and Math Program Tutor at the wage rate of $11.00 per hour.
EMPLOY ADDITIONAL SUMMER CUSTODIAL STAFF Supt. St. John noted that the summer custodial staff is short since Bob Archer retired and then was replaced by current summer custodian staff member Bob Robles, so an additional summer custodial staff member is needed to keep up with all the planned summer maintenance projects. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Jaxom Wearley was serving as a substitute custodian at the end of the school year while both Bob Archer and Bob Robles were gone on sick leave, so would recommend that he be employed as a student summer custodian.
A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Jaxom Wearley as a student summer custodian at the wage rate of $7.25 per hour.
APPROVAL OF 2010-2011 BUS ROUTES Supt. St. John noted that formal approval of the 2010-2011 bus routes was over looked at the April Board Meeting since the bus routes for the 2009-2010 school year were approved when the new five year contract with Teton Bus Services Inc. was approved last February. Supt. St. John informed the Board that there have been no requests to change the bus routes and he does not foresee any reason to change the present routes for next year.
A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Kirk Moore and unanimously carried to approve the bus routes as outlined for the 2010-2011 school year.
(a) Route #1-Pendroy - This route will be run as a loop. In the morning, this route will proceed from the Choteau Schools on the Farmington Highway to Pendroy and return on Highway 89. In the evenings, this route will proceed from the Choteau Schools on Highway 89 to Pendroy and return on the Farmington Highway. This route is approximately 98 miles per day and requires a 60 passenger bus.
(b) Route #2-Agawam - From the Choteau Schools on the Farmington Highway to S. 28th Road NW, turn around and return south on the Farmington Highway to 20th Road (Styren junction) and travel east for three miles, then one mile south, and then three miles west back to the Farmington Highway, turn south and return to the Choteau Schools on the Farmington Highway. This route is approximately 72 miles per day and requires a 60 passenger bus.
(c) Route #3-Bellview - From the Choteau Schools on the Bellview Road three miles beyond the missile site then return, turn south on the Pishkun Road to the David Hirschfeld driveway, and then return to the Bellview Road and on to the Choteau Schools. This route is approximately 92 miles per day and requires a 36 passenger bus.
(d) Route #4-Teton Canyon - From the Choteau Schools on the Teton Canyon Road to the mail boxes just west on the South Fork Road, and then return to the Teton Canyon Road and on to the Choteau Schools. This route is approximately 94 miles per day and requires a 48 passenger bus.
(e) Route #5-Dutton - From the Choteau Schools east on the Dutton Highway to 2nd Lane NE, turn around and return on the Dutton Highway to the Choteau Schools. This route is approximately 52 miles per day and requires a 21 passenger bus.
APPROVE 3 YEAR AUDIT CONTRACT Supt. St. John informed the Board that the current 3 year audit contract expired with the completion of the 2008-09 audit and it is recommended that the District enter into another 3 year audit contract with Paul Strom & Associates. Clerk Davis noted that the annual cost of the audit for the next three years will be $5,000 which is an increase of $900 per year from the past contract, but this increase is necessary to cover the costs of additional reporting requirements for GASB 34 and 45. Clerk Davis further noted that Paul Strom & Associates have been the auditors for the District for decades, do a good job, and these increased rates are still very reasonable.
A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Jonathan Stoltz and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and enter into a 3 year audit contract with Paul Strom & Associates to perform the District’s financial audit at a cost of $5,000 per year for the 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2011-2012 school years.
CONSIDER REQUEST FOR OUT OF DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION AGREEMENT Supt. St. John informed the Board that Conrad is again requesting to run a bus into the northeast corner of our District as they have been approved to do for a number of years in the past. The Conrad District is requesting to pick up two students at 38 Denzer Road, which is 1 ¾ miles into our district.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried to enter into a written agreement with Conrad School District No. 10 for the 2010-2011 school year, allowing them to run a bus 1 ¾ miles into the northeast corner of the Choteau School District to provide transportation for one family in this area.
APPROVE INDIVIDUAL TRANSPORTATION CONTRACTS AND ATTENDANCE AGREEMENTS A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Ron Daley and unanimously carried to approve the following individual transportation contracts and attendance agreements for the 2010-2011 school year as designated.
Ind. Trans. Contracts: ELEMENTARY – Rob Burdick, Ross Depner, Mary Salmond, Dan Stott, Dawn Johnson, Jamie Rammell, Melissa Severinson, and Krystal Hayes; HIGH SCHOOL – Ernie Barker, Margaret Hanson, Velvet Dellwo, Ross Depner, Dan Stott, Kevin Lytle, Melissa Severinson, and Krystal Hayes.
Attendance Agreements: ELEMENTARY – Diane Field, Ann Park, John Rappold, Carla Fuhringer, Sarah Moon (receiving district – tuition waived); Cori McKay, Pandora Deshner, Katie Rasmussen, Tanya Richem, Melissa Severinsen, and Krystal Hayes (sending district – tuition waived); HIGH SCHOOL – Ann Park, Carla Fuhringer, Jerry Schlesser, and Kevin Lytle (receiving district – tuition waived); Ernie Barker, Melissa Severinsen, and Krystal Hayes (sending district – tuition waived).
ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF AND APPROVE DEPOSIT OF CHECKS A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Jonathan Stoltz and unanimously carried to acknowledge receipt of and approve depositing the following checks in the appropriate funds
1) Bouma Truck Sales check #35910 in the amount of $1,000.00 for scoreboard sponsorship, to be deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
2) Sun River Electric check #044149 in the amount of $1,300.00 for scoreboard sponsorship, to be deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
3) Stage Stop Inn check #14323 in the amount of $583.00 for scoreboard sponsorship, to be deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
4) Teton Electric check #5791 in the amount of $583.00 for scoreboard sponsorship, to be deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
5) Vandolah Chiropractic Clinic check #8963 in the amount of $583.00 for scoreboard sponsorship, to be deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
6) Three Rivers Communications check #159266 in the amount of $6,500.00 for scoreboard sponsorship, to be deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
7) Teton Banks – Choteau check #019399 in the amount of $1,100.00 for scoreboard sponsorship, to be deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
8) Big Sky Special Needs Cooperative check #7809 in the amount of $930.00 for reimbursement of collaboration substitute costs, with $210.00 used to restore the Elementary General Fund and $720.00 used to restore the High School General Fund.
9) Schwan’s Food Service check #250027 in the amount of $5.31 for rebates, to be deposited in the Elementary Lunch Fund.
10) Dupuyer School District 2 check #7891 in the amount of 920.00 for library/counseling services, to be deposited in the Elementary Miscellaneous Fund.
11) Choteau Schools Student Activity Fund check #3099 in the amount of $60.00 for reimbursement of substitute costs for the Senior Trip, to be used to restore the High School General Fund.
12) Mark & Jeanette McCormick check #16027 for $332.50 and #16029 for $120.00 for a total amount of $452.50 for reimbursement of substitute costs per Article 13.10, to be used to restore the High School General Fund.
13) Elizabeth Jorden cash in the amount of $30.00 for reimbursement of substitute costs per Article 13.10, to be used to restore the Elementary General Fund.
14) Western States Insurance check #006355 in the amount of $560.22 for the activity bus windshield insurance claim, to be deposited in the High School Building Fund.
15) Laura Bouma check #9697 for $150.00 and #9698 for $75.00 for a total of $225.00 to reimburse for repairs to school french horn, to be used to restore the High School General Fund.
16) Cash in the amount of $227.95 from the cash box for fines, copies, replacement books, etc., to be deposited in the High School General Fund.
17) The Cellular One rebate check was for $1,449.02 and deposited into the student activity funds for the elementary, junior high, and high school student councils.
CONSIDER MUST CONTRIBUTION ADJUSTMENT Supt. St. John reminded the Board that a correspondence from the CEO of MUST, Robert J. Robinson, indicated that the District has a contractual obligation to pay a contribution adjustment enacted by the MUST Board on February 22, 2010. The District’s total obligation is $26,880 which is based upon a $480 assessment for each of the 56 covered employees, retirees, and COBRA participants. Supt. St. John further noted that since the District has elected not to renew with MUST, this contribution adjustment is to be paid in a lump sum and is due on June 30, 2010. Supt. St. John also reminded the Board that at the April 13, 2010 Board Meeting they had acted to reject paying this contribution adjustment assessment to MUST until further legal analysis could be obtained; and the District’s auditors and the Office of Public Instruction had recommended that the Board establish a Litigation Reserve Fund (Fund 27) and transfer the dollars that may be needed to pay this assessment or litigation from the General Fund at the end of the year, noting that if the assessment is never paid, this amount will then be returned to the General Fund.
Supt. St. John informed the Board that he continues to seek advice regarding this matter from several school attorneys and other superintendents, noting that he does not want to pay attorney fees to fight this in court but still does not want to just automatically pay the assessment because his “gut feeling” is that MUST will not sue the District for it. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he would recommend that the Board approve the transfer of $30,000 of year end funds to establish a Litigation Reserve Fund 27, which will give the administration the latitude to explore and determine the district’s best mode of action regarding this contractual liability with MUST.
The Board and administration discussed this matter further. A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and approve the transfer of $30,000 of year end funds to establish a Litigation Reserve Fund 27, which will give the administration the latitude to explore and determine the district’s best mode of action regarding this contractual liability with MUST.
APPROVE HIRING DRIVER EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR FOR THE 2010-2011 SCHOOL YEAR A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Sharon Rice and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Bill Durocher as the district’s driver education instructor for the 2010-11 school year including the 2011 summer program at the rate of $17.00 per hour plus 15% prep time as per the current non-certified salary schedule. Supt. St. John noted that application for the 2010-11 drivers education program must be made before August 1st.
ANNUAL YEARLY PROGRESS Supt. St. John informed the Board that preliminary information sent out by the Office of Public Instruction recently indicates that all of the Choteau Public Schools made or exceeded the AYP measurement established by the Federal Government for 2010. Supt. St. John noted that when Congress reauthorizes the ESEA Federal Programs these AYP measurements may be gone as Montana’s Race To The Top application is based on a measurement of preparing students to be ready to go on and be accepted for post-secondary education programs.
MONTANA QUALITY EDUCATION COALITION Supt. St. John provided the Board with a newsletter regarding on-going activities of the Montana Quality Education Coalition. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he recently attended the annual Montana Rural Education
Association summer conference and MREA voted to become members of MQEC once again and support their efforts regarding educational standards and funding. Supt. St. John informed the Board that the District may also want to consider becoming members of MQEC and supporting these efforts sometime in the future, noting that this matter would be placed on the agenda for Board action if and when it is considered.
NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT Negotiations Committee Spokesman Mark Henderson reported to the Board on the negotiating process to date. Spokesman Henderson reminded the Board that their negotiating committee is Trustees Mark Salmond, Jonathan Stoltz, and himself. This committee met and reviewed the negotiating packet distributed to the entire Board by Supt. St. John. The committee noted that the employees saw the savings from the new insurance rates, with many saving over $1,000 so agreed on what they felt was a fair first offer of $200 on the base and new RIF language. At the first meeting with the CEA negotiations committee, Spokesman Henderson asked if they wanted to hear what the Board negotiations committee felt was a fair offer first or did they want to play the game of starting high, countering low, and eventually arriving at the fair offer with hard feelings. The CEA negotiations committee agreed to start with the fair offer, but after hearing the offer came back with their proposal of $500 on the base. In an attempt to get the CEA negotiations committee to realize that something had to give for them to receive a $500 base increase, Spokesman Henderson stated that to get $500 on the base they would have to give up the insurance savings and pass it on to the District. With this offer, the CEA negotiations committee accused the Board negotiations committee of regressive bargaining and stated there would be no further negotiating sessions until school began in the fall. Spokesman Henderson informed the Board that he proceeded to meet with each of the CEA negotiations committee members to apologize and explain that this offer was his attempt to have an open and straight forward discussion about wages and benefits; so another meeting was scheduled at the end of the school year with the Board negotiations committee offering $250 on the base and the new RIF language and the CEA negotiations committee countering with $350 on the base and a different RIF language. Spokesman Henderson informed the Board that everyone on both committees have busy summer schedules, so no more meetings were scheduled for June or July but he hopes they can meet at least before school gets underway. Spokesman Henderson also informed the Board that he had spoken with MTSBA Negotiations Specialist Andy Seaver and understands that to offer an either/or proposal such as $200 on the base with the insurance savings to the employee or $500 on the base with the insurance savings to the employer is not regressive bargaining, but will verify this understanding before negotiations get underway again. Spokesman Henderson further noted that the CEA wants and expects the teaching staff to receive any retirement savings, but stressed that this will not be possible because they are not taking into consideration factors such as the continued loss of funding due to declining enrollment, the loss of the federal ARRA stimulus funding after the 2010-11 school year, and the state wide 10% cuts for the second year of this biennium which all leads to the 2011 legislative session starting in a big hole that will be impossible to fill just to keep funding at the current levels.
CLERK/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT Clerk Davis informed the Board that the following investments were made by the Teton County Treasurer on behalf of the Teton County Investment Committee.
1) $600,000 for 270 days from 6/17/10 in a certificate of deposit with Dutton State Bank at 1.05%.
2) $600,000 for 300 days from 6/17/10 in a certificate of deposit with Dutton State Bank at 1.05%.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT Supt. St. John reminded the Board that end of year funds have been obligated to cover the shortfall from ARRA funds to finish the elementary classroom tile project, to cover the shortfall from sponsorships to purchase new scoreboards for both the high school and elementary gymnasiums, to help the Booster Club cover the cost of rebuilding the crow’s nest, and to establish the litigation reserve fund. Other projects that are being considered with any additional end of year funds include installing metal soffit and facia on the elementary building, replacing several dead trees on the campus, and installing new winches and safety straps for the side basketball hoops in the high school gymnasium as well as the usual subsidies for the lunch fund and athletic activity account.
SCHEDULE NEXT REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING The next Regular Board Meeting will be held in conjunction with the Final Budget Meeting on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Choteau High School Library.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m.
ATTEST: ______________________ CLERK _________________________ CHAIRMAN