November 17, 2011

The November regular meeting of the Elementary and High School District No. 1 Board of Trustees was held on November 17, 2011 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, Jonathan Stoltz, and Jerry Stott.

Members Absent: Ron Daley.

Supt. St. John, Elementary Principal Gameon, and Clerk Davis were present throughout the meeting.

A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the elementary minutes for the October 13, 2011 regular meeting as written.

A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the high school minutes for the October 13, 2011 regular meeting as written.

Visitors: Choteau Acantha Editor Melody Martinsen; Teachers Julie Gibson and Cali Salmond; and District Patrons Cliff and Sally Heuscher.

A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the elementary claims clearing warrants #17837-#17948 and payroll clearing warrants #22907-#23033 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.

A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Kirk Moore and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the high school claims clearing warrants #17837-#17948 and payroll clearing warrants #22907-#23033 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.

Correspondence:

A) Supt. St. John shared a communication from the Montana High School Association congratulating the District on having an ejection free 2010-2011 school year, meaning that a coach, participant, student, or spectator was not ejected from any MHSA event.

PRINCIPALS’ REPORTS Elementary Principal Chuck Gameon reported to the Board on the following matters:

A) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the Elementary School is once again doing the Eliot Cookie Dough fundraiser, with orders due in today. The funds raised will be used for the playground as in the past, with the students wanting to purchase an enclosure with a roof that will allow them to get in out of the weather and wind when they are on the playground.

B) Elementary Principal Gameon presented the Board with a DVD of the Elementary program held on Veteran’s Day last Friday – 11/11/11. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that this is his favorite program of the year and felt this year’s was the best ever and the students are planning on presenting the DVD to every veteran in the community.

C) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the Elementary School will once again be participating in a recycling program. The Elementary will participate in the Great American Can Round Up and will collect aluminum cans and take them into Pacific Steel in Great Falls once a month.

D) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the end of the Elementary trimester is Wednesday, November 30th and Parent-Teacher conferences will be held that evening. Elementary Principal noted that the Elementary has changed the format of the conferences since it is one night only. Conferences will only be scheduled by teacher or parent request so not every parent will have a scheduled conference as in the past.

Supt. St. John informed the Board that High School Principal Nate Achenbach was not present as he is in Great Falls picking his father up at the airport. Supt. St. John took this opportunity to introduce and for the Board to welcome new Junior High English Teacher Cali Samond on staff. High School Principal Achenbach provided the Board with a written report, a copy of which is attached to the minutes of this meeting, that Supt. St. John reviewed with the Board at this time.

A) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that English Teacher Annie Fort will be attending the National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Chicago. Ms. Fort was invited to participate on a panel led by Dr. Beverly Chin, who is the Director of English Teaching Program at the University of Montana and was Ms. Fort’s professor for a number of classes at the university. Ms. Fort will assist with presenting the panel on “Writing Memoirs: Reflecting On and Learning From Our Pasts”. There will be 7000 attendees participating in over 1700 panels, as well as events with a variety of young adult literature authors and a “literary” film festival, so Ms. Fort will be able to explore a wide variety of topics relating to teaching English.

B) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that he will start working with the staff on the 2012-2013 class schedule over the next several months, noting that only one section of each 7th grade class will be explored since the small class of 14 will be entering Junior High next year. High School Principal Achenbach reported that all possible solutions will be explored for the schedule so that students will continue to have a variety of opportunities to take a wide range of courses. Trustee Jonathan Stoltz took this opportunity to bring up the topic of the current Junior class wanting to change graduation from Memorial Day weekend to the weekend before. Teacher and Junior Class Advisor Julie Gibson confirmed that the Junior Class has been discussing when graduation is held and will be coming before the Board with a proposal.

C) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the fall sports have come to an end and deserve congratulations on great seasons. The football team placed 2nd in the 1B District and made the first round of playoffs this year. The volleyball team was the Conference, District, and Divisional Champions and brought an impressive 3rd place trophy home from State. High School Principal Achenbach noted that Speech & Debate has 15 participants and have brought home 1st and 2nd place trophies from their first two meets. Their season will conclude at the State Meet in Shepherd on January 28th. High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the winter sports are now beginning with wrestling practice starting today and boys and girls basketball practices will start Monday.

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 written report with the Board at this time. Supt. St. John took time to highlight areas of “The Board” pamphlet on preventing disagreements, noting that this is why he asks that the Board compile their individual evaluations of his job performance into a consensus evaluation so that it is a useful tool for him.

B) Supt. St. John informed the Board that a parent grievance has progressed to the administrative level and may need to come before the Board if they are not satisfied with the administrative decision regarding the matter.

CONSIDER EMPLOYMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL THIRD OR “C” TEAM BOYS BASKETBALL COACH Supt. St. John reminded the Board that Bill Durocher had been assigned as the “C” Boys Basketball Coach contingent upon meeting the guidelines outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement for this position. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Mr. Durocher had submitted a letter of resignation from this position for the 2011-12 school year and as allowed by policy, he had accepted this resignation and proceeded to advertise the vacancy both in house and in the local newspaper. Supt. St. John informed the Board that since there are enough boys out and a full three game schedule is in place, the administration would recommend that Matt Luedtke be employed to fill this vacancy. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Mr. Luedtke is a new insurance agent in town who played basketball at the college level, is very interested and has been volunteering with the program.

A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Mathew Luedtke as the Third Assistant or “C” Team Boys Basketball Coach for the 2011-2012 school year.

The Board and administration had a brief discussion about the numbers necessary to put a third assistant or “C” coach in place for any sport. The current language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement states that if the numbers justify it and a team has a full 3 game schedule – meaning freshman, junior varsity and varsity – a third coach can be employed at the request of the head coach. Supt. St. John noted that the benchmark has been 20 players, plus or minus, and asked that this language be looked at closely during upcoming negotiations as it is hard to have someone in place at the beginning of a season if the requirements are not met. Supt. St. John also noted that assistant coaches for other sports such as elementary and high school tennis need to be considered during negotiations and added to the CBA because the number of participants continues to increase in these sports. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that he would also like the option of a third assistant coach at the elementary level since so many students participate at that level and often times the assistant coach is trying to teach fundamental skills and the game to as many as 18 players on the B team, while the head coach is working with up to 10 players on the A team.

CONSIDER EMPLOYMENT OF ASSISTANT SPEECH AND DEBATE ADVISOR Supt. St. John informed the Board that the numbers participating in Speech & Debate has not warranted employing an assistant coach for many years now. Supt. St. John reminded the Board that a stipend for an assistant is in the budget and in the past an assistant was employed if there were 15 or more participants and that Teacher Annie Fort has been volunteering and helping Head Advisor Alison Kreiss with the program, so that administration would recommend she be assigned as the Assistant Speech & Debate Advisor.

A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Kirk Moore and unanimously carried (1 absent) to accept the administrations’ recommendation and assign Annie Fort as the Assistant Speech and Debate Advisor for the 2011-2012 school year.

CONSIDER EMPLOYMENT OF THIRD ASSISTANT OR “C” GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH Supt. St. John informed the Board that Head Girls Basketball Coach John Shepherd requested that a third assistant coach be considered as he will have just under 20 girls out and will be playing a full three game schedule, so the administration advertised the position and held two interviews. Supt. St. John informed the Board that the administration would recommend that Jami Grende be employed for this position, noting that she currently serves as the Elementary Assistant Boys Basketball Coach and there will be a brief overlap of these two programs.

A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Jami Grende as the Third Assistant or “C” Girls Basketball Coach for the 2011-2012 school year.

CONSIDER MONTANA QUALITY EDUCATION COALITION MEMBERSHIP Supt. St. John informed the Board that the Montana Quality Education Coalition continues to request that the District re-joins the Coalition and their pursuit of litigation against the state regarding the components of school funding. Supt. St. John provided the Board with a fact sheet from the MQEC outlining recent legislation regarding school funding to take into consideration when making their decision on MQEC membership, noting that he does not have an administrative recommendation regarding this matter.

The Board discussed this matter further, noting that they had considered this matter previously and determined not to join MQEC at that time because they did not favor pursuing litigation and taking the matter of school funding back into the courts. The Board noted that without an administrative recommendation urging them to reconsider this matter, it remained the consensus of the Board not to pay dues in the amount of $1,250 to once again become members of the Montana Quality Education Coalition.

ADOPT REVISED NON-CERTIFIED SALARY SCHEDULE Clerk Davis informed the Board that the state minimum wage is subject to a cost-of-living adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index and will increase from $7.35 per hour to $7.65 per hour on January 1, 2012. Clerk Davis provided the Board with a revised non-certified salary schedule that reflects this change, noting that this revision mainly affects the substitute wage rate. Other changes will be: 1) The starting wage for a non-instructional teacher aide and kitchen aide would increase from $7.50 to $7.65 with a $ .25 increase the first year and the subsequent 15 years to a cap of $11.65; 2) The sit time for a new activity bus driver employed after 7/1/12 will be $7.65 per hour and will remain at that rate during the driver’s employment; and 3) The summer adult custodian position will be paid $7.75 per hour. Clerk Davis informed the Board that the only non-substitute staff member this revision will affect is Kitchen Aide Shawn Worden who is being paid $7.85 per hour and as of January 1, 2012 would be paid $7.90 per hour – the first year rate since he has been on staff for over a year. Clerk Davis noted that the Board revised the non-certified salary schedule upward effective July 1, 2011 in response to the last minimum wage increase to keep the integrity of the schedule and may need to do so again for the 2012-2013 school year.

A motion was made by Kirk Moore, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to adopt the revised non-certified salary schedule as proposed, a copy of which is attached to the minutes of this meeting, to reflect the new state minimum wage of $7.65 per hour effective January 1, 2012.

APPROVE BUS ROUTE DRIVER Supt. St. John informed the Board that they need to approve any new route driver employed by the bus route contractor and Teton Bus Services is requesting that Russ Moorehouse be approved as a route driver at this time. Mr. Moorehouse is a retired fireman out of California and he and his wife have relocated to Choteau. A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Jerry Stott and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve Russ Moorehouse as a bus route driver for Teton Bus Services, contingent upon him meeting all bus driver certification requirements and having satisfactory criminal and driving record background checks.

ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF AND APPROVE DEPOSIT OF CHECKS A motion was made by Jerry Stott, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to acknowledge receipt of and approve depositing the following checks in the appropriate funds.

1) Alison Kreiss check #1802 in the amount of $40.00 for reimbursement of jury duty pay, to be deposited in the High School General Fund.

2) MCI Food Inc. check #013105 in the amount of $52.63 for rebates, to be deposited in the Elementary Lunch Fund.

3) AIG Federal Savings Bank check #1044979 in the amount of $14.10 for annuity fund restitution, to be deposited in the High School Building Fund.

4) Sharon Haug check #8338 in the amount of $11.00 for surplus property bid (chairs, table, bookcase) to be deposited in the High School Building Fund.

SUPERINTENDENT’S EVALUATION PROCESS Chairman Mark Henderson asked each Trustee to complete their individual evaluation form on the District Superintendent that was sent in their Board Packet, noting that a work session will be scheduled for the Board to discuss these and compile a consensus evaluation form to be reviewed with Supt. St. John at the regular December Board Meeting. It was the consensus of the Board to hold the work session for this purpose on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the Choteau High School Library. Clerk Davis will send the Board an agenda and reminder for this work session.

CLERK/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT Clerk Davis reported to the Board on the following matters:

A) Clerk Davis informed the Board that there were no investments made in October by the Teton County Treasurer on behalf of the Teton County Investment Committee due to a lack of cash flow. Clerk Davis noted that hopefully an investment can be made in December after tax revenues are received by the end of November.

B) Clerk Davis informed the Board that the auditors were here this week and the District will receive a clean audit report again this year with no findings. Clerk Davis noted that the auditors had to conduct an A133 single audit this year as the District received over $500,000 in federal funds last year with the last $98,000 Educational Job funds allocation authorized by President Obama just after the first of the year in 2011. Clerk Davis also informed the Board that a new policy #7515 on fund balances required by GASB 54 will be brought before them for three readings.

C) Clerk Davis informed the Board that Bennett Motors of Great Falls recently ran a promotion where anyone purchasing a new vehicle could designate the high school of their choice to receive a $250 donation. The District received such a donation and this $250 was deposited in the High School Contingency Activity Account, so these funds can be used to help any student participate in an activity if they do not have the means to do so otherwise.

SCHEDULE NEXT REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING Supt. St. John reminded the Board that the regular December Board Meeting has traditionally been held during the school day, so it was the consensus of the Board to schedule the next regular school board meeting for Thursday, December 8th at 9:00 a.m. in the Choteau Elementary Music Room.

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

ATTEST: _______________________ CLERK _________________________ CHAIRMAN