BOARD OF
EDUCATION
SCHOOL
DISTRICT 9-R
REGULAR BOARD
MEETING
Tuesday, June
14, 2005
Regular Meeting, 6:00 p.m.
Central Office Board Room
President
Brevik called the meeting to order at 6:04 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.
Jones made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. Short seconded the motion, which was
unanimously approved.
ITEM #3 - PUBLIC HEARING ON
THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET
Diane Doney presented the preliminary budget for the
2005-06 school year. Funding is based
on the October count, so census numbers are used until we receive that
information. Mrs. Doney talked about the mill levy override, (an
additional $2.4 million), and explained the transportation override option to
the board, which would need to go to the voters on the November ballot. She explained the steps in the budget
process; principals hold meetings with their staff and parent advisory groups
to collect information and put together draft budgets; individual meetings are
held with principals and directors to go over each line item; the
administrative council then meets to prioritize needs and programs; and finally
we look and enrollment and staff numbers. After the October count, the budget
is finalized based on real numbers. Amendment 23 requires the state to fund us
at the rate of inflation plus 1.1%.
ITEM #4 – PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND
CORRESPONDENCE
Sam
Zalesky
will be a sophomore at DHS this fall, and asked the board to keep Mr. Lynch, as
he felt he was being targeted and discredited.
He felt the classroom ventilation caused problems at the beginning of
the year.
Dr.
Doug Zalesky
is the co-chair of the 9-R watchdog group, along with Betsy Lovelace. He presented a resolution that he went
through item by item. Items included a different seating arrangement for Dr.
Barter separate from the board, the reinstatement of Paddy Lynch, a teacher
wide survey to see how employees are being treated, and a thorough look into
how contracts are renewed. Mr. Zalesky
asked for meaningful change that will be good for the kids, parents, and
community.
Enid
Brodsky
said issues from the past have not been resolved. There is a need for checks and balances in this district, as the
last few decisions have all caused major conflict in this community. Enrollment is decreasing, have you asked
yourselves why? The board needs to look internally, as decisions don’t
correlate with community values.
Mr.
Short clarified that a linkage was held regarding growth and development, and
we did ask questions. The answer is
more specific to a change in the demographics rather than drop out rates. School age enrollment has decreased; this is
not a voluntary decision to not enroll in our schools.
Paddy
Lynch
passed out a letter to the board, and thanked Enid Brodsky for her courage.
Jordan
Wilbanks
spoke on behalf of Mr. Lynch, and stated that the district was eliminating a
potential risk factor, because new teachers don’t have much say. He said this was a big mistake, as his other
teachers don’t prepare him for anything.
President
Brevik said that the board had received the resolutions from the watchdog
coalition, and they would be discussed as a board. The board work session on June 7 covered some of these issues,
and community members will be invited to participate in the proposed summit
being planned, as the board is aware that there are misunderstandings.
Ms.
Paulson received correspondence from Mrs. Skogland, and will forward it to the
board.
ITEM #5 – REPORTS
ITEM #5A - SUPERINTENDENT
Dr.
Barter talked about the Even Start Program partnering with the adult literacy
center in the fall. She mentioned the
Southwest Mentoring Partnership, and the work with Study Connection and Youth
Services. Donna Deeds will be assuming
the position as Director of Elementary Student Achievement as this is Carol
Harris’s last board meeting. Michael
Brennan will become Director of Human Resources replacing Susan Terrill-Flint,
and John Arndt is being recommended as the principal of Florida Mesa. We are still working on two assistant
principal positions at the middle schools.
ITEM
#5B – MINORITY STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT TASK FORCE
Deborah
Uroda, Judy Michalski, Susan Terrill-Flint, Jenni Trujillo, DeeDee DeHarro,
Shelly Hartney, Marcie Denham, and Dennis Lum presented the report. Diane Montoya Scott, Paulette Church, Lisa
Breed, Cito Nuhn, Maria Gonzales, Michelle Harlow, Carol Harris, Victor
Figueroa, Anthony Barela, Alexii Carey, Bob Simmons, Maria Cristina Graviel,
Kathy Parcell, Sandy Francik, and Mary Barter were all a part of the task force.
The
board commissioned the Tell Us Your Stories in the fall, and the superintendent
charged the task force with reviewing the status of minority achievement,
looking at the graduation rate and linkage report; identifying effective high
impact research based school and community strategies for increasing student
achievement; identifying strategies already in place and assess their
effectiveness; developing action plans; identifying strategies already in place
that have not demonstrated increased achievement or graduation rate and
consider for discontinuation; and determining structure for annual review and
reporting. After presenting their final report, the top three priorities
included establishing high expectations, creating a sense of belonging, and working
on professional development that will assist teachers in understanding
culturally responsive teaching.
The
final report had a total of ten recommendations, including a need to translate
our publications into Spanish, creating a list of translators for our parents
and students, celebrating multiculturalism, initiating the Denver West High
School VIP Program, expanded bullying prevention K-12, involving parent
coordinators to coordinate outreach, and adopting an AVID program for middle
and high school students. DAAC will be expanded to include the minority student
achievement task force, and the committee reviews the accountability
reports. Dr. Barter felt very
comfortable with all the recommendations and supported their report in every
respect.
Mr.
Seiter thanked the group for the tremendous amount of work, and for producing a
set of measurable goals that we can work toward. By weaving in climate, culture, and belongingness, you have set
the stage for mission, vision, and value.
Phenomenal job.
Board
members took a break at 7:40 p.m. and were back in session at 8:00 a.m.
ITEM
#5 C – DAAC FINAL REPORT
Barb
Wynne and Deb Flick, co-chairs for DAAC, presented the final report to the
board. DAAC is comprised of one parent
and one teacher from each school, and five community members, and they are the
original watchdog group for the district.
This year the group helped with the accountability reports, and was
heavily involved in the accreditation process at the schools. They gathered information for the counseling
and media curriculum consistency review, and it will be used next year as they
develop their curricula. Changes were
made in the annual parent survey, and it was reviewed and approved by a professional. The student panel was held in February, and
changes will be made next year to obtain better information. DAAC also reviewed and endorsed the
proposed changes to the graduation requirements.
The
group went over the proposed charges for next year and explained that they want
to look at their by-laws, purpose and mission, as much of the statute has
changed. They were thanked for their
hard work and help to the district.
ITEM #6 – DISCUSSION
ITEM #6A – PROPOSED 2005-06 DAAC CHARGES
The proposed charges from DAAC for the 2005-06 school year were presented. They include: reviewing and analyzing the eleven annual school accountability reports; incorporating Minority Student Achievement Task Force recommendations; conducting the science curriculum consistency survey; participating in the accreditation of Miller Middle School, Riverview, Needham, and Animas Valley elementary schools; conducting the annual student panel with a revised format; revising the DAAC by-laws, specifically membership, to include members of the Minority Student Achievement Task Force, students (as part of a service learning project) and at-large members, duties (to reflect recent changes in role), and statutory changes. The board was asked to consider any additional charges that might be included.
ITEM
#6B – FOLLOW-UP FROM JUNE 7 BOARD WORKSESSION
Mr. Seiter compiled the information from the June 7 work session. The sub-committee for the mission, vision, and values linkage will set up a time to get started. The legislative work session was set up for the last meeting in October, previous to the election. Dr. Barter indicated that she would update the board calendar to reflect these additions.
ITEM #6C – PROPOSED CASB RESOLUTION REGARDING COMPENSATION FOR BOARD MEMBERS
Ms. Paulson
attended the delegate assembly in Denver this past weekend. They voted to support referendum C and
referendum D, which will be on our November ballot this year. Referendum C, the
Colorado Economic Recovery Act, is a measure that will allow the state to
retain excess state revenue to fund public education, health care,
transportation, and retirement plans for fire and police. Referendum D would provide $1.56 billion in
bonding capacity for roads and bridges, public education capital construction
and repair, and the state matching share for police and fire pensions.
We also voted to support proposed litigation
protesting the adequacy of state school finance law, which is a necessary
strategy to address changes in the tax structure that have created funding
problems, particularly for special education programs.
After consultation with Jane Urschel, Ms. Paulson
revised the recommendation to address board member compensation to address a
stipend or honorarium instead of salary, payable from district resources, when
approved by the local board of education.
She went over the exact wording of the recommendation, which will be on
the next agenda for action. Proposed
resolution must be adopted and submitted by August 26 for consideration by the
CASB Delegate Assembly.
ITEM #7 – DISCUSSION/ACTION
ITEM #7A – POSSIBLE REVISION OF EL-4 STAFF
TREATMENT
Mrs. Brevik explained that the recommendations from
the Minority Student Achievement Task Force, and the work of the mission,
vision, and values sub-committee might include changing some of the language in
our policies, so she asked to table this item until that time.
ITEM
#8 - ACTION
ITEM #8A – RECOMMENDATION TO ACCREDIT FLORIDA MESA, FORT LEWIS MESA, PARK, AND SUNNYSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND ESCALANTE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Mr. Seiter made a motion that the accreditation ratings and recommendations for Florida Mesa, Ft. Lewis Mesa, Park, Sunnyside, and Escalante be accepted as presented in the accreditation reports. The motion was seconded by Dr. Jones and unanimously approved.
ITEM #8B – PROPOSED MONITORING
ASSESSMENTS FOR MONEY AND FINANCE ENDS
Mr. Seiter made a motion that the assessments for the Money and Finance Ends be conducted through what is currently known as the high school Career Portfolio. Dr. Jones seconded the motion. Board members asked questions about the timeframe, and how it would be conducted. Mr. Seiter clarified that this motion is only about how we monitor the Ends, and the structure, process, and implementation will be handled by the district and will be implemented this fall. The motion passed unanimously.
ITEM #8C – PROPOSED MONITORING
ASSESSMENTS FOR CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ENDS
Dr. Jones made a motion that the Career and Technical Education Ends Policy (formerly Career and Vocational Skills) be assessed through an annual review of each student’s Career Portfolio. By the completion of the senior year, all Career and Technical Ends would be assessed for each student. Mr. Seiter seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
ITEM #8D – PROPOSED REVISION OF
EL-8
Mr. Seiter made a motion that board policy EL-8 Financial Administration be revised as presented. Mr. Short seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
ITEM #8E – PROPOSED ADDITION TO BOARD AGENDA
Dr. Jones made a motion to revise the agenda format
for a regular board meeting to include an item called Closing the Loop or Old
Business for the sole purpose of providing information to the public on matters
previously raised in public participation that may have required some degree of
follow-up by the board or administration.
Mr. Horvath seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
ITEM #9 – CONSENT AGENDA
ITEM #9A – APPROVAL OF FEDERAL
CONSOLIDATED GRANT APPLICATION
ITEM #9B - RESOLUTION TO REQUEST
SCHOOL DEDICATION FEES FFROM LA PLATA COUNTY
ITEM #9C - RESOLUTION TO APPOINT
COLOTRUST AS CUSTODIAN FOR THE DISTRICT’S BOND REDEMPTION FUND
ITEM #9D – RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING
PARTICIPATION IN STATE TREASURER’S INTEREST FREE LOAN PROGRAM
ITEM #9E - FINANICAL REPORT
ITEM #9F - HUMAN RESOURCES
ITEM #9G - ADMINISTRATIVE AND
PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL 2005-06 EMPLOYEE SALARY SCHEDULES
ITEM #9H- APPROVAL OF DESIGNATED
ELECTION OFFICIAL FO RHTE NOVERMRE 2005 ELECTION
ITEM #9I - REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD
MEETING MINUTES, MAY 10, 2005
Mr.
Seiter made a motion to approve the consent agenda, items A – I, as
presented. Dr. Jones seconded the
motion, which passes with all members voting in favor except Ms. Paulson.
ITEM #10 – EXECUTIVE SESSION
ITEM #10A – PERSONNEL MATTERS
Dr. Jones made a motion to go into executive session at 8:55 p.m. for the purpose of discussion relative to personnel issues and decisions [C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(f)]. Those present in executive session shall be members of the board of education, the board clerk, board counsel, and the superintendent. Mr. Short seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Dr. Jones made a motion to come back from executive session at 10:46 p.m.. Mr. Horvath seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Mr. Seiter made a motion to seek to engage a consultant to conduct an independent review of the administrative processes related to hiring, retaining, terminating, and/or non-renewal of licensed personnel for the purpose of identifying opportunities to create efficiencies and improve processes. This charge is coming from the board and the report will be issued to the board. Dr. Jones seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
ITEM #11 - COMING EVENTS
The board was reminded about the presentation from BoardDocs on June 28 at 5:00 p.m., and the regular board meeting on June 28.
ITEM #12 – ADJOURN
Dr. Jones made a motion to adjourn at 10:50 p.m., which was seconded by Mr. Patterson and unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Kristy Rodri
District Clerk to the Board of Education