October 8, 2009
The October regular meeting of the Elementary and High School District No. 1 Board of Trustees was held on October 8, 2009 in the Choteau High School Library. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Kirk Moore.
Members Present: Kirk Moore, Mark Henderson, Perri Lindgren, Mark Salmond, Brodie Gollehon, Sharon Rice, and Jonathan Stoltz.
Members Absent: None.
Supt. St. John, Elementary Principal Gameon, High School Principal Achenbach, and Clerk Davis were present throughout the meeting.
A motion was made by Mark Henderson, seconded by Perri Lindgren and unanimously carried to approve the elementary minutes for the September 10, 2009 regular meeting as written.
A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz and seconded by Sharon Rice to approve the high school minutes for the September 10, 2009 regular and the September 25, 2009 special meetings as written. Chairman Kirk Moore called for discussion of the motion on the floor and Trustee Sharon Rice outlined the following remarks she made at both the September 10, 2009 regular meeting and the September 25, 2009 special meeting that she wants reflected in the minutes.
September 10, 2009 Regular Meeting Minutes – Page 3324 Regarding High School Principal Negotiations – New Second Paragraph should read:
Trustee Sharon Rice questioned the history of Mr. Achenbach’s position and salary, specifically, whether this was a part-time job and salary. Chairman Moore and Clerk Davis provided verbal answers that the position was never part-time. Trustee Rice asked the negotiating committee if they had looked back at previous negotiating committee minutes regarding Mr. Achenbach’s salary and position, and additionally asked if they had recorded minutes of the current negotiations to reflect their present recommendation and reasoning. Negotiating Spokesman Moore answered yes to both questions, Trustee Lindgren did not respond to either question, and Trustee Henderson answered no to the first question and stated that he had recorded the current minutes but that they were not comprehensive.
September 10, 2009 Regular Meeting Minutes – Page 3324 Regarding Superintendent Negotiations – Addition to last sentence of fourth paragraph should read:
Trustee Rice also felt the Board should table taking action on the Superintendent negotiations as there had been no notice on the agenda that Superintendent St. John’s salary would be discussed or voted on at this meeting. Trustee Rice also noted that tabling taking action on this matter would have no adverse effect since all raises would be retroactive to July 1st.
September 25, 2009 Special Meeting Minutes – Page 3327 – Addition to end of 4th paragraph should read:
High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that there had not been any other such incident of a gun on campus as far as any administrator or clerk could remember. High School Principal Achenbach also informed the Board that he had notified law enforcement and they had also determined there was no ill intent, with Sheriff Van Setten stating no state law was broken and he would research the status of federal law regarding this matter.
September 25, 2009 Special Meeting Minutes – Page 3328 – New 1st paragraph should read:
The Board questioned the administration further regarding this matter and questioned whether Supt. St. John had checked with and what the MTSBA legal department advised regarding how the District was handling the incident and the existing laws that pertained to it. Supt. St. John indicated that there were no problems in these areas.
Chairman Kirk Moore called for a vote to approve the high school minutes with the additional statements by Trustee Sharon Rice as outlined above. The motion carried unanimously to approve the high school minutes for the September 10, 2009 regular meeting and the September 25, 2009 special meeting with the above additions noted in the October 8, 2009 minutes.
Visitors: Choteau Acantha Editor Melody Martinsen; District Patrons Tim Sinton, Lora Wier, Paul Rice, Sally Heuscher, and Lorraine DeBruycker; and FFA Advisor Milford Wearley and FFA Member Shawmarie Hanson.
A motion was made by Mark Henderson, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to approve the elementary claims clearing warrants #15118-#15228 and payroll clearing warrants #19530-#19657 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
A motion was made by Perri Lindgren, seconded by Mark Henderson and unanimously carried to approve the high school claims clearing warrants #15118-#15228 and payroll clearing warrants #19530-#19657 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
Correspondence: None.
PRINCIPALS’ REPORTS Elementary Principal Chuck Gameon reported to the Board on the following matters:
A) Elementary Principal Gameon provided the Board with a handout on the performance level summaries for the 2008-09 CRT test results. The 3rd grade scored 72% advanced/proficient in math and 82% advanced/proficient in reading, the 4th grade scored 77% advanced/proficient in math and 81% advanced/proficient in reading, the 5th grade scored 80% advanced/proficient in math and 90% advanced/proficient in reading, and the 6th grade scored 70% advanced proficient in math and 90% advanced/proficient in reading. The benchmarks are 68% proficient and advanced for math and 83% proficient and advanced for reading. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that the elementary school met AYP even though some of the CRT scores fell just below the benchmark because those grades showed a significant increase in those scoring at the proficient or advanced level.
B) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that his analysis of the AIMSWEB probes conducted recently indicates that summer school is still not achieving the success that he would like to see. The analysis shows that students in grades K-2 not in summer school lost reading recognition at 18 words per minute, while those in summer school lost at 16 words per minute; and students in grades 3-6 lost reading recognition at 18 words per minute whether they participated in summer school or not. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that four summer school participants actually gained in words per minute so summer school was a success for them. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that with the new format the attendance rate was 75%, which is better but still not great. Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that this data indicates that even with the new format, summer school continues to not have the impact he is looking for so he will go back to the drawing board and determine whether to offer summer school and in what format.
C) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the Boost program will get underway October 26th, with 4-5 students in the Head Start program and no students in the Trinity Preschool being identified for the program.
D) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that Choteau Schools will be participating in the school rebate program offered by Cellular One. This program allows any Cellular One customer to sign up and have 3% of their billing donated to the school of their choice. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that the school currently participates in such a rebate program with Target and receives approximately $500 a year that has been put towards the playground improvements.
E) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the PEZ Collector Newsletter recently published a nice article on the model of the courthouse that the Elementary students made out of PEZ last year.
High School Principal Nate Achenbach reported to the Board on the following matters:
A) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the volleyball team is playing in Cut Bank this evening and he just received a telephone call stating that it is snowing very hard there, so the roads may be closed and the team will not be able to come home.
B) High School Principal Achenbach provided the Board with a handout on the performance level summaries for the 2008-09 CRT test results. The 7th grade scored 90% advanced/proficient in reading and 60% advanced/proficient in math (up from 44%) , the 8th grade scored 88% advanced/proficient in reading and 69% advanced/proficient in math, and the 10th grade scored 88% advanced/proficient in reading and 63% advanced/proficient in math (up from 49%). The benchmarks are 83% proficient and advanced for reading and 68% proficient and advanced for math. High School Principal Achenbach noted that the junior and high schools met AYP even though some of the CRT scores fell below the benchmark because those grades showed a significant increase in those scoring at the proficient or advanced level.
C) High School Principal Achenbach reminded the Board that Grades 7-12 conferences have been changed this year so that they are held right after mid-terms to hopefully intervene before the end of the term if a student is failing, so the first evening of Parent-Teacher conferences was held this Tuesday.
D) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that Homecoming entails a lot of work by everyone and is a long, but fun week that was deemed a success once again.
E) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that there was a good response to the “Sexting” assembly held on September 18th.
F) High School Principal Achenbach that there are officially 3 confirmed cases of H1N1 among the students now. High School Principal Achenbach noted that dealing with the H1N1 virus has consumed the school since Monday, so he invited Teton County Health Nurse Lora Wier and Doctor Tim Sinton to address the Board regarding this matter and answer any questions.
Teton County Health Nurse Lora Wier informed the Board that the administration and school has been collaborating with the Teton County Health Department before school even started this year to address a possible flu pandemic. Mrs. Wier stated that the H1N1 virus is throughout the state and county health officials suspected that it was present in Teton County but it was not confirmed until swabs of infected individuals were taken and sent to the state lab for testing. Mrs. Wier outlined the symptoms which are headache, cough, sore throat and fever, stressing that anyone with these symptoms should stay home or be sent home until they are resolved, and everyone should be educated to cover their coughs and wash their hands as the best means to curb the spread of the virus. The health department provided the school with a supply of individual thermometers and Mrs. Wier stated the school is doing an excellent job of sending students home that are ill, noting that there were 25 students out ill on Monday and over 60 students the rest of the week. Supt. St. John noted that in addition to sending and keeping sick individuals home, the District has implemented additional cleaning procedures and clorox wipes, hand sanitizer and tissues are available in every classroom and throughout the buildings which will also curb the spread of the virus. Mrs. Wier informed the Board that Teton County Health Department personnel met with the staff after school on Monday and after this meeting, they met with the administration and other county health officials to develop a plan on how to proceed. Mrs. Wier noted that the Teton County Health Department will be using the school’s bulk mail permit to send out a mass mailing regarding the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu and the vaccines for them that will be given at a community clinic to be held in the high school gymnasium on Wednesday, October 28th, but in the interim Supt. St. John sent out a mass mailing on Monday outlining the above information.
Trustee Jonathan Stoltz had to leave the meeting at 8:10 p.m. due to weather and road conditions so that the exchange student they are hosting would not be home alone because his wife is in Cut Bank watching volleyball and those roads have been closed for emergency travel only.
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.
B) Supt. St. John informed the Board that the L.I.U.N.A. Local 1686 Union has submitted a grievance regarding the administrative decision to utilize a time clock for the custodial staff, two of which are members of the union. The union’s position is that this is an unfair practice and have requested that it be resolved by requiring all classified personnel to use a time clock or discontinuing the use of the time clock for the custodial staff. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he has responded and proposed that any classified staff that work unsupervised hours or hours outside the normal work day hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will use a time clock, noting that this would be the custodial and cafeteria staff. Supt. St. John informed the Board that if the union does not agree to this proposal the grievance would proceed to the next level, which means it would come before the Board for a hearing. Supt. St. John stated he does not want this matter to go to arbitration and believes that it was an administrative or managerial right to purchase an implement the use of time clocks for the custodial staff.
C) Supt. St. John reminded the Board that the administrative plan for the elementary deferred maintenance stimulus payment is to remove and replace the old asbestos floor tiles in 15 elementary classrooms. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he has learned that the cost of doing this will be approximately $54,500 rather than the $48,500 previously quoted as the estimates were based on 10,000 square feet rather than the actual square footage of 12,600. This means that approximately $14,000 for doing this project would not be covered by the stimulus payment so would have to come out of the Building Reserve Fund or possibly end of year unspent budget funds if available. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he is looking into saving the large expense of removing the old tiles by just placing new tiles over the old ones, which would leave about $12,000 of this stimulus payment for other needed improvements in the elementary classrooms such as new cabinets. Supt. St. John informed the Board that the administration has determined the best use of the high school deferred maintenance stimulus payment would be to replace the high school classroom desks with tables and chairs and install new whiteboards. Supt. St. John further informed the Board that he met with architects today to assist with a competitive proposal for additional stimulus funds to address the safety issue of the cafeteria delivery area being in the primary grades playground area.
D) Supt. St. John informed the Board that the committee formed to establish the Montana Virtual Academy has met and proposes to have 22 core courses available by the fall of 2010 for school districts to utilize. Supt. St. John noted that he will keep the Board up to date and apprized of what and when courses will be available.
E) Supt. St. John took this opportunity to publicly thank Gary Pannabecker for his donation to the multipurpose building, which was given in appreciation for the District allowing community use of the facility.
F) Chairman Kirk Moore took this opportunity to thank and praise the administration and staff for all they have done in dealing with the H1N1 virus issue.
POLICY
Second Reading of New Policy #3235 The Board held the second reading of new policy #3235 regarding video surveillance. The proposed policy has been revised extensively by the MTSBA policy and legal staff to address the issues of privacy, access and storage that were brought up during the first reading.
First Reading of Revised Policy #3310 The Board held the first reading of a revision proposed by the administration to the gun free schools portion of the student discipline policy #3310. The revision would permit and authorize the Superintendent to modify the disciplinary action on a case by case basis for any student who uses, possesses, controls, or transfers a firearm as allowed by 20-5-202, MCA. This revision is being proposed in light of the recent incident where a special meeting of the Board had to be hastily called so that the Board could consider modifying the obligatory expulsion of one year for having a gun on school grounds, whereas the administration could have appropriately modified the disciplinary action after their investigation as per 20-5-202, MCA which states the trustees may authorize the school administration to modify the requirement for expulsion of a student on a case by case basis. Trustee Sharon Rice questioned the proposed revision and the appropriate roles of the trustees and administration. It was noted that by law the maximum disciplinary action the administration can give is a 10 day out of school suspension and only the Board can expel a student for any period of time. Trustee Rice felt the wording should be clarified to reflect the language of the pertinent laws, but the rest of the Board felt the proposed revision was clear as written.
High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board at this time that the roads out of Cut Bank have been closed and are open for emergency travel only, so the administration has determined that it is too risky and the liability too great to send the volleyball team and bus home. They will stay at a hotel in Cut Bank tonight and will return as soon as possible tomorrow morning.
FFA NATIONAL TRIP Supt. St. John informed the Board that policy #2320 states that all trips out of state must be approved by the Board in advance. FFA Advisor Milford Wearley and FFA Member Shawmarie Hanson addressed the Board at this time to request Board approval to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis the week of October 19th. Mr. Wearley informed the Board that the FFA Chapter attends the national convention every other year, which was last year, but if a team wins a state competition that team travels to compete at the national level with the state organization paying the majority of the team’s expenses. The Choteau Livestock Judging Team qualified to compete at the national convention this year and the team will be comprised of Karli Clark, Shawmarie Hanson, and Carlene Hanson with Mr. Wearley going as their advisor and Christy Clark as the female chaperone. The only cost to the District should be the substitute costs for Mr. Wearley.
A motion was made by Sharon Rice, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve out of state travel for the Choteau FFA Livestock Judging Team to attend the National Convention in Indianapolis during the week of October 19th.
PERSONNEL
Resignation and Employment of Elementary Assistant Boys Basketball Coach Supt. St. John informed the Board that Dan Yeager, the newly hired elementary assistant boys basketball coach, has unfortunately encountered a time conflict with the season and his work schedule so had no choice but to submit a letter of resignation, a copy of which is attached to the minutes of this meeting. A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to acknowledge receipt of and accept Dan Yeager’s letter of resignation as the elementary assistant boys basketball coach for the 2009-10 school year.
Supt. St. John informed the Board that the elementary boys basketball season gets underway right after Teacher’s Convention next week and there has only been one letter of interest to fill this position, that being Josh Durocher. Supt. St. John noted that Josh Durocher also has a time conflict because of a job for the first week or two of the season, but his brother staff member and coach Bill Durocher will fill in for him and work with Elementary Head Coach Louie King during that time. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Josh Durocher has served as a coach for the District in the past and would recommend the Board employ him to fill this open position. Trustee Sharon Rice noted that this is an elementary issue and she is a high school trustee but felt this hiring was not posted properly; but Choteau Acantha Editor Melody Martinsen stated that she felt that listing elementary assistant boys basketball coach under personnel issues was adequate posting for the public.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon and seconded by Mark Salmond to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Josh Durocher as the Elementary Assistant Boys Basketball Coach for the 2009-10 school year. Trustees voting for this motion were: Brodie Gollehon, Mark Salmond, Mark Henderson, and Kirk Moore. Trustees voting against this motion were: Perri Lindgren. The motion carried with a 4 to 1 vote.
Route Bus Driver Supt. St. John informed the Board that Teton Bus Services, the bus route contractor, has requested that Frank Allum be approved as a substitute route bus driver. Mr. Allum is a fully certified bus route driver for the Fairfield Schools.
A motion was made by Mark Henderson, seconded by Perri Lindgren and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve Teton Bus Services employing Frank Allum as a substitute route bus driver contingent upon a positive background check.
Boost Instructor Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that amazingly there were five good quality applicants for the very limited part-time Boost Tutor position that is open due to the resignation of Julienne Gramm. Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that interviews were held with all five applicants, namely Jesse Lesofski, Cindy Cross, Jessica Sena, Shellie Mellinger, and Shelby Giles and the administration would recommend the employment of Cindy Cross to fill this position. Mrs. Cross was a certified elementary teacher, has operated a day care and preschool, and serves as an America Reads volunteer.
A motion was made by Perri Lindgren, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Cindy Cross as the part time Preschool Boost Tutor for the 2009-10 school year at the wage rate of $10.00 per hour.
Long Term Substitute Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that 1st Grade Teacher Jaime Stubblefield is scheduled to go on maternity leave from October 12th to December 14th, which is 40 school days plus 1 PIR day for parent-teacher conferences. Mrs. Stubblefield has requested that Mrs. Lorraine DeBruycker be placed in her classroom as the long term substitute. The long term substitute rate is $85.00 per day as per the non-certified salary schedule, and this rate is used if a substitute is placed in a classroom for longer than 15 days and is responsible for all aspects of that classroom. Mrs. DeBruycker has agreed, is available for this long term substitute situation, and has served as a long term substitute for the district for several other teachers. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that Mrs. Debruycker is not a certified teacher and cannot be placed under contract after 30 consecutive days, but she is the best candidate to be placed in the classroom for this period.
A motion was made by Mark Henderson, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried to accept the administrations’ recommendation and approve the employment of Lorraine DeBruycker as a long term substitute for the 1st grade at a wage rate of $85.00 per day, as that is what is best for the students in Mrs. Stubblefield’s classroom.
DISPOSITION OF OLD ELEMENTARY STUDENT ACTIVITY CHECKS Clerk Davis informed the Board that Elementary Activity Account Fund Custodian Julie Shepherd has requested that the Board allow her to stop payment and void several old, unredeemed checks so that the funds can be deposited back into the appropriate activity accounts.
A motion was made by Perri Lindgren, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried to authorize Elementary Activity Account Fund Custodian Julie Shepherd to stop payment and void the following old, unredeemed elementary activity warrants and deposit the funds back into the appropriate elementary activity accounts:
1) Check #2999 issued 11/15/07 to Ann Verploegen for $13.95 for supplies, to be re-deposited in the Student Activity Account.
2) Check #3097 issued 2/26/07 to Rex’s Market for $9.57 for supplies, to be re-deposited in the Student Activity Account.
3) Check #3348 issued 3/18/08 to Jami Gameon for $30.86 for supplies, to be re-deposited in the Student Activity Account.
4) Check #3349 issued 3/18/08 to Fort Benton Schools for $50.00 for wrestling fees, to be re-deposited in the Extracurricular Activity Account.
ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF AND APPROVE DEPOSIT OF CHECKS A motion was made by Sharon Rice, seconded by Perri Lindgren and unanimously carried (1 absent) to acknowledge receipt of and approve depositing the following checks in the appropriate funds.
1) Gary Pannabecker check #2535 in the amount of $50.00 for a donation for the use of the multipurpose building, to be deposited into the High School Building Fund.
2) Choteau Education Association check #901 for their share of copying the Collective Bargaining Agreement, to be deposited into the High School General Fund.
3) Schwan’s Food Service Inc. check #222969 in the amount of $29.73 for rebates, to be deposited into the Elementary Lunch Fund.
4) Big Sky Special Needs Cooperative check #7474 in the amount of $6,688.28 for the Related Services Block Grant transfer with $4,497.29 being deposited in the Elementary Miscellaneous Federal Fund and $2,190.99 being deposited in the High School Miscellaneous Federal Fund.
5) Big Sky Special Needs Cooperative check #7505 in the amount of $10,200.00 for IDEA-B special education teacher salaries, to be deposited in the Elementary Miscellaneous Federal fund.
CLERK/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT Clerk Davis reported to the Board on the following matters:
A) Clerk Davis informed the Board that no investments were made by the Teton County Treasurer on behalf of the Teton County Investment Committee due to a lack of cash flow.
B) Clerk Davis informed the Board that Monday, October 5th was the fall enrollment count date. Enrollment for PreK-6th Grades is 185 compared to 192 last year, which is 7 less but only 5 less for funding purposes because there is no funding attached to PreK students. Enrollment for 7-8 Grades is 64 compared to 78 last year, which is 14 less, and enrollment for 9-12 Grades is 151 compared to 128 last year, which is 23 more. The District’s overall enrollment stands at 400 compared to 398 last year, which is an increase when a small enrollment decrease was anticipated. Clerk Davis noted that the District’s budget authority will be okay for the next 2-3 years because of the increase in enrollment is at the high school level with additional high school funding that will offset the decreases in the elementary budget.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT Supt. St. John took this opportunity to wrap up the meeting by assuring the Board that it is District policy to do background checks on all employees, noting that policy allows employees with prior work experience and work history with the District to be grandfathered in.
SCHEDULE NEXT REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING Supt. St. John noted that there is a conflict with the state volleyball tournament for the November regular meeting and questioned if the Board would want to move the meeting date from Thursday, November 12th to Wednesday, November 11th. Trustee Sharon Rice stated it is District policy that Wednesday nights are designated as Family Night and student activities are not to be scheduled so feels board meetings should also not be scheduled for Wednesday evenings, and Trustee Mark Henderson agreed with this position.
A motion was made by Mark Salmond and seconded by Brodie Gollehon to schedule the regular November Board Meeting for Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the Choteau High School Library. Trustees voting for this motion were: Mark Salmond, Brodie Gollehon, Perri Lindgren, Sharon Rice, and Kirk Moore. Trustees voting against this motion were: Mark Henderson. The motion carried with a 5 to 1 vote (1 absent).
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m.
ATTEST: ______________________ CLERK ________________________ CHAIRMAN