BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING
DURANGO SCHOOL
DISTRICT 9-R
May 24, 2005
President Brevik called the meeting to order at 6:17 p.m. President Brevik, Dr. Jones, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Horvath, Ms. Paulson, Mr. Short, and Mr. Seiter were all present, along with Dr. Barter and Reese Miller, board counsel.
Dr. Barter indicated that the DAAC final report was to be taken off the agenda, that the board needed to add an executive session for a personnel matter, and that there was a revised agenda page for the DSPA Master Agreement. Dr. Jones made a motion to approve the agenda with the proposed changes. Mr. Short seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved.
Dr. Doug Zalesky spoke on behalf of a group of community citizens (The Watchdog Coalition) who want to provide a catalyst for change in 9-R. He asked the board to intervene and reopen the Padraig Lynch decision of non-renewal.
Padraig Lynch said he had apologized to the father of the daughter that he made uncomfortable at school, and felt the investigation was biased. He said allegations of sexual harassment against him had been released by Dr. Barter. He was proud of what his students had accomplished. He said his entire personnel file was open to anyone who wanted to read it and handed a file to the board clerk.
Vicki Gallegos is in favor of raising achievement levels and eventually graduation requirements, but felt we should increase the quality, not the quantity. Take advantage of FLC to identify students who need help, have the middle and high school prepare students better for college, and get the support systems in place first.
Scott Packer addressed the non-renewal of Padraig Lynch, asking the board to reconsider. He stated that Mr. Lynch teaches lifelong skills, this town is built on blue-collar work, and these kids need him.
Norm Gottlieb asked the board to open themselves up to listening and having dialogue with people. Monitoring is only a part of the picture. He said that the students are going to learn a bad lesson, if you dont listen.
Christina Graviel said the high standards and increase in graduation requirements would only work if you have support systems in place. She did not feel that 9-R was ready to take this on, and felt the commitment to learning and resources needed to be in place first to make this happen.
Bliss Bruen said three items on the agenda could be study circles. She talked about graduation requirements, the lockdown at the high school, and an independent investigation into the non-renewal of Paddy Lynch.
Josh Lovelace asked the board to reconsider the decision of non-renewal of Mr. Lynch. He talked about teamwork in his classes, and how teachers wouldnt speak out because they were afraid. He said the board should investigate themselves, and vote the way they want to vote.
Dr. Barter reported that the DHS Aerospace Design Team would
once again be going to the national competition, along with teams from India
and Romania. The El Diablo newspaper
staff won first place in a competition and students were commended for topic
worthiness. The Minority Student
Achievement Task Force finished its work and will be reporting to the board at
the June meeting. She reported that there are more cases of whooping cough, and
the district is working with the department of health in the handling of each
incident.
ITEM #4B BOCS REPORT
Ms. Paulson reported that Kay Coleman had resigned, and Thomas Lawson will be replacing her as director of BOCS. She talked about other programs, besides special education, that BOCS is involved with. She said they are looking into their own space and a regional school.
ITEM #5 DISCUSSION
ITEM #5A RECOMMENDATION TO ACCREDIT FLORIDA MESA,
FORT LEWIS MESA, PARK, SUNNYSIDE, AND ESCALANTE SCHOOLS
Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Smart, Dr. Michalski, Mrs. Schumacher, Mrs. Yoast, Mr. Giddings, Mrs. Gruver, Mrs. Denham, Mr. Bruce Anderson, and Mr. Figueroa were present to answer questions. The group explained that teams of parents, community members, and teachers worked on the accreditation of these schools, visiting classrooms, going over documents, and following all state requirements. All schools were accredited, it was a meaningful process, and it is a nice validation of all the hard work that is done. DAAC formed a sub-group to assist in the process. Dr. Barter suggested that the board might use the accreditation process as an external monitoring tool.
ITEM #5B PROPOSED MONITORING ASSESSMENTS FOR MONEY
AND FINANCE ENDS
Ms. Paulson questioned whether the career portfolio could adequately assess the money and finance piece. Dr. Barter said that if this recommendation is accepted, the staff could work on a template for the portfolio this summer so you could review it in the fall. The portfolio will be a four year long endeavor that students must complete and work on each year. The sub-committee will work this summer to make recommendations on how it will be assessed and instructed.
ITEM #5C PROPOSED MONITORING ASSESSMENTS FOR CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ENDS
The assessment for this end
would also be the career portfolio.
There was some discussion about the tier structure, and why some ends
are only monitored every three years, even though the data is collected. Ms. Paulson wanted to address moving Career
and Technical to Tier I, but others wanted to drop the conversation about
restructuring the tiers at this time and talk about the assessments. The portfolio will have a lot more structure
and should culminate into something wonderful.
Board members took a break at 8:50 p.m. and were back in session at 9:00 p.m.
ITEM #5D REVIEW OF LOCKDOWN PROCEDURES
Mrs. Denham, Mrs. Harris, Dr. Marchino, Mr. Giddings, Mr. Figuero, Mr. Malberg, Dr. Michalski, Mr. Spradling, Mrs. Lau, and Mrs. Mehlman were present for this discussion. The group talked about the necessity of having lockdown drills, announced or unannounced. Safe schools are a priority and the assessment of the real lockdown was that we could do things better, even though Park was commended for doing a great job. The group agreed that to curtail the lockdowns would make our schools vulnerable, that safe schools are a priority, that the high school should not have combined the dog-search and the lockdown drill, that the schools get better each time they practice the lockdown drills, and we need to prepare our students for the changing world we live in. The use and misuse of cell phones was discussed, why there is a necessity for drug dogs in the high school, and the support for students if they are suspended or expelled for drugs.
ITEM #5E MONITORING REPORT: BSR-3 DELEGATION TO THE SUPERINTENDENT
Mr. Short made a motion to approve the monitoring report for BSR-3 noting that the board has performed in compliance, which was seconded by Dr. Jones and unanimously approved.
ITEM #5F PROPOSED ADDITION TO BOARD AGENDA
Mrs. Brevik proposed a new agenda item call Closing the Loop, which would give the board an opportunity to report back on items that are on-going, or to let the public know how something was resolved. This is not an opportunity for open discussion with the audience. This will be on the agenda next time for action.
The increase in graduation requirements was developed with both the college graduates and the blue collar work force in mind, as they require much more technical skills than before. Board members were not against increasing graduation requirements, but insisted that the support system was critical. The only language they would support would require that we direct new resources toward the support systems that would make these new graduation requirements work. Mr. Short made a motion that the revised graduation requirements be approved as presented effective with the freshman class entering in the fall 2005, and further that existing resources as well as new resources be dedicated as appropriate and necessary to afford all students the opportunity to successfully complete the revised graduation requirements. Dr. Jones seconded the motion, which passed with all members voting in favor except Ms. Paulson.
ITEM #6B PROPOSED MODIFICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Mr. Seiter made a motion that
the Technology Ends be renamed the Educational Technology/ Information Literacy
ends and the revised ends be adopted; and that the corresponding assessments be
approved effective with the 2005-06 school year. The motion was seconded by Dr. Jones and unanimously approved.
ITEM #6C REVIEW OF MONITORING ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE
Mr. Short made a motion that the current schedule of annually monitoring all Tier 1 plus History, Geography, Civics, Economics, and Information Technology Ends Policies continue, and that all other Ends Policies be monitored at least tri-annually per the attached chart, with status reports being presented on Money and Finance and Career and Technical Ends as requested. The motion was seconded by Mr. Seiter, and passed with all members voting in favor except Ms. Paulson who felt Ends should be monitored annually.
ITEM #7 CONSENT AGENDA
ITEM #7A MONITORING REPORT: EL-4 STAFF TREATMENT
ITEM #7B HUMAN RESOURCES
ITEM #7C APPROVAL OF DEA MASTER AGREEMENT
ITEM #7D APPROVAL OF DSPA MASTER AGREEMENT
Mr. Seiter made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, which was seconded by Dr. Jones. Mrs. Brevik asked to pull off Item #7A. Mrs. Rodri indicated the board needed to vote on the motion that was already on the table. The motion failed with Mrs. Brevik, Mr. Horvath, Dr. Jones and Ms. Paulson voting against and Mr. Patterson, Mr. Seiter, and Mr. Short voting in favor.
Mrs. Brevik felt that the language needed to be reviewed in #2 and #3 of EL-4, considering the concerns we had this spring over committee work and we need to look at this. However, board members recognized that we were in compliance with the language as it reads now. Mr. Seiter made a motion to accept the Consent Agenda as presented, with the notation that Items 2 and 3 of EL-4 will be modified in the near future to clarify the intent. Mrs. Brevik stated that we would establish a sub-committee to look at new language on the next agenda. Dr. Jones seconded the motion, which passed with Ms. Paulson voting no.
ITEM # 8 - EXECUTIVE SESSION
ITEM #8A PERSONNEL MATTER
Dr. Jones made a motion at 11:42 p.m. to go into executive session for the purpose of
Mr. Short seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Dr. Jones made a motion to return from executive session at 12:40 a.m., which was seconded by Mr. Patterson, and unanimously approved. No decision were made and no votes were taken.
ITEM #9 - COMING EVENTS
The board was reminded of graduation on Saturday at 6:45 p.m., the board work session on June 7, and the board meeting on June 14.
A motion was made to adjourn at 12:45 a.m. by Mr. Patterson and seconded by Mr. Horvath. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kristy Rodri
District Clerk to the Board of Education
Approval:
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