REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
January 14, 2008
Page 6
COOS BAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS JANUARY 14, 2008
COOS BAY, OREGON
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
The Board of Directors of Coos Bay Public Schools met on January 14, 2008, in the Community Room at Milner Crest Education Center, 1255 Hemlock Avenue, Coos Bay, Oregon, for their Regular School Board Meeting. Chairman Kathy Murray called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and led in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board members present: Don Blom Kathy Murray
David Ford Donna Opitz
Wally Hazen Andy Post
Randy Miles
Board members absent: None
Others present included: Superintendent Bob De La Vergne, Attorney David Dorsey, Rod Danielson, Mary Bjornerud, Duella Scott Hull, Lisa DeSalvio, Joel Smallwood, Bruce Bryant, Arlene Roblan, Linda Vickrey, Jon Mishra, Jennifer Haliski, Travis Howard, Chad Putman, Lynda Sanders, Candace Presnall, Tim Connick, Jan Ward, Catherine Hampton, Gary Haliski, Nicole Ault, Teresa Kinnaird, Nancy Girt, Peggy Thornton, Lauren Chan, Teresa Thurman, Karla Delgado, Greg Stambaugh, Linda Smith, Trevor Edd, Barb Keller, Brenna Vickrey, Ellen Fields, Andy Rossback, Cody Hockema, Richard Sebesta, Bob Huggins, Kelley Thompson-Poore, Mark McKelvey, Gordon Young and Mark Files of Channel 14, and Alexander Rich of The World.
Chairman Murray mentioned the Special Board Meeting last Wednesday. She said they came away with a lot of good ideas and thanked everyone for their participation.
CONSENT AGENDA
There were no corrections to the Consent Agenda, and the following items were approved as submitted:
· Minutes of the December 10, 2007 Regular Board Meeting.
· A retirement request submitted by teacher Gary Schindele, effective July 1, 2008.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
· Superintendent De La Vergne acknowledged that January is School Board Recognition Month. He read a Proclamation acknowledging their work and he thanked them for their tireless efforts.
BUILDING STAFF PRESENTATIONS
· MHS Activities Report: Marshfield’s representative Ellen Fields updated the Board on activities at the high school including an ASB movie at The Egyptian, Supreme Court held in Marshfield’s auditorium with students from other schools, students working on PEP’s (Personal Education Plan) in Advisory, upcoming sports activities, etc. Something new they are trying this year is a County Dance at the North Bend Community Center with neighboring districts.
· Highlighted Program – Blossom Gulch Elementary School: Blossom Gulch principal Jennifer Haliski introduced staff members present. She said she saw herself as a servant leader – the real work takes place in the classroom. Mrs. Haliski talked about professional development at Blossom and shared the schedule from the October 24 PDD. The goal of PDD is to give each staff member an opportunity to grow. Their motto this year is that each of us is an essential piece. She acknowledged her staff, the Site Council, the IT Department, Sodexho and the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute, and the CBSD Board of Directors for their support of professional development days.
· CBEA Business: Lynda Sanders advised the Board that their representative assembly decided to provide $1,000 to help work on the upcoming bond. OEA will possibly match that amount. In honor of School Board Recognition Month, she thanked the Board for all they do. She said, “It’s great our Board members continue to get training too.”
· OSEA Business: Greg Stambaugh said it’s a busy time of the year for them. Ballots asking about partnering with AFT came out, and the League of Women Voters are tallying the results. OSEA has given notice to the Board they are ready to start negotiating the third year of their contract.
PUBLIC INPUT
· Richard Sebesta, former Board member and former teacher, said he came to thank Bob Huggins, Ron Opitz, and their committee for doing a wonderful job of presenting the information they gathered. Another group that needs to be thanked in advance is the voters. He advised them to concentrate on those you know will vote and call the night before to remind them to take their ballot to the library. Richard said that many voters cast their ballot the last 36 hours. He suggested a door-to-door campaign. Then he spoke directly to the students present, saying these are their schools. Richard felt confident the district could pass a ballot. He wished the Board good luck.
BOARD ITEMS
· Board Activity/Committee Reports: Board members reported in district activities they’d participated in over the last month – Schools for the Future meetings, school visits, sub-committee meetings, the law conference in Eugene, sports events, etc.
· Bond Measure Discussion: Kathy Murray reviewed the January 9 Special Board meeting where they discussed the Schools for the Future recommendation. She said that, after the meeting, they talked to members of administration about the recommendation. The Board got the message from input at the meeting that the just under $60 million bond was strongly supported and that, looking at the buildings, some needed to be repaired and some needed to be replaced. They started looking at replacing Madison as well, instead of adding a cafeteria and library and repairing other areas of the school. That would mean $20 million to a new elementary in Eastside, $20 million to replace Madison, and $20 million for the rest of the renovations needed in the district. She asked where the Board members stood on this matter.
Donna Opitz said she agreed that it made more sense to replace Madison now rather than add on and repair now and still need to replace the rest of it later. She said she also was sensitive to the feelings about the Harding building and not spending $1.3 million to demolish it. She suggested leaving the building open, evaluating the programs, and working with staff regarding any potential changes.
Wally Hazen said it would not be easy to replace the rest of Madison later down the road. He also didn’t think it was wise to spend a lot of money on Blossom Gulch when it would not meet the future need. He said they would save in other areas as well, like roofing and replacing doors and windows. He felt this put the district in a much better position.
Don Blom said that, when he first heard the different approach to Madison, it was a little stretch to make the change in his way of thinking. For some time, they’ve been looking at adding on to Madison; then they came up with a different scenario. After reflection and thinking, he said it makes a lot of sense. Growth in this district is in the western and the eastern/southern areas. That’s where our community is growing the most. Building two new buildings, with options built-in for expansion in case we need it in the future, is smart. Don said they can approve the concept tonight and iron out the minor areas later on.
Andy Post asked if we would be using Bunker Hill at all if they approved this recommendation tonight. Rod said they would use up to $1.2 million to whichever facility the HLC programs may end up at. Andy said he supported the idea of two new elementary schools – one on the east side and one on the west side of the district.
Wally Hazen said having two new elementary schools made a tremendous amount of sense. He was pleased the west side could get a new school as well.
Donna Opitz said if they think about future expansion, they can have them designed to meet the current population and be able to address future growth. Joel said the $20 million estimate for an elementary school is based on square footage costs with inflation and contingency. Rod added that Eastside may be a multi-story structure, while Madison may be one level.
· Professional Services Evaluation Committee Meeting: The sub-committee will hold their review of professional services contracts on January 18 at 10:30 a.m.
· OSBA Bonds & Ballots Workshop: All seven Board members and the superintendent plan to attend the Bonds & Ballots workshop in Salem January 24 and 25.
· NSBA Convention: Wally Hazen said he wants to attend the national convention in Orlando, Florida March 29-April 1. He said he feels Board development is an important thing and encouraged others to attend. Donna disagreed, saying she felt there was so much work to be done by the Board at this level and questioned the expense to attend a convention at the national level. Wally is an advocate at the state level but said we need to be doing something at the federal level. Don Blom said he would be happy to send Wally this year. Donna agreed, saying that Wally advocates for us on the state level here.
· Revised Board Policies: Revised policies from the Board section of the Policy Manual were given first reading this month. Policies BB, BBA, and BBAA will be presented for second reading/adoption at the February Board meeting.
ACTION ITEMS
· Adopt Budget Calendar: Rod explained the legal timelines the district must abide by in the process of adopting a budget. We must adopt a budget at a hearing during a regular meeting of the Board before the end of June. We are targeting the June 9 meeting for adoption of budget. Rod added that, because this is not a legislative year, it won’t be too involved. The first official estimate of revenues for next year is due from ODE on March 1. Meetings are proposed to start on Wednesday, May 7, and meet the following Wednesdays as needed. Wally Hazen moved they adopt the budget calendar as presented. Don Blom seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
· Approve New Hire for 2007-08: Wally Hazen made a motion to approve the hiring of Sarah Prince as special education teacher at Marshfield. David Ford seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
· Out-of-State Travel Request: Catherine Hampton explained they she and Scott Peters want to take 10 students to the Journalism Education Association convention in Anaheim, California April 17-21. Scott Peters is the Yearbook advisor this year, and the two of them would chaperone the students. They were not asking the Board for any additional funds. Catherine introduced the three journalism students who were present. Travis Howard said numerous awards were given to her students at award nights, and he encouraged the Board’s support. Catherine Hampton said the Marshfield Times is totally student produced in their computer lab. It is printed at The World. Donna Opitz made a motion to approve the out-of-state trip as requested. Wally Hazen seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
· Consider Bond Resolution: Donna Opitz made a motion to direct staff to write a resolution for a bond measure in the amount of $59,951,000 to be placed on the November ballot. Wally Hazen seconded the motion, and discussion followed. They want to be sure to identify the fact that the bond would have two different payback phases – the first phase would be paid back in 15 years at a rate of about $2.30, and the second phase would be payback of the remainder at about $ .80. Don agreed, using an analogy of the schools being our houses. He said he would definitely support “fixing up our houses.” Kathy asked Rod for several scenarios to consider at the next board meeting. Donna Opitz asked if anyone was interested in putting the measure on the May ballot, but no interest was expressed. They will continue to plan for a ballot measure on the November ballot. A vote was taken on the motion, and it passed unanimously.
· DISTRICT STAFF REPORTS
· Duella Scott-Hull – Director of School Improvement:
· Professional Development and Data Presentations: Duella said they are culminating work started 2-1/2 years ago on professional learning teams. Building and district administrators will be attending an Accountability and Leadership Training at the ESD on February 5. This ties into the Professional Learning Communities they’ve been working on too. Duella provided a handout that explained what they would be doing at the buildings on February 6. Each teacher is looking at their own power standards, identifying which ones are essential, which ones are common, etc., and deciding what students in this district must know and the common assessments to go along with that. Duella will continue to update the Board regarding PDD activities.
The administration will get together June 23rd to discuss action plans toward Adequate Yearly Progress based on fall through spring data.
· Lisa DeSalvio – Director of Special Programs:
· Revised Special Education Policies: Lisa said that, due to the re-authorization of IDEA, revised laws require that we have specific policies adopted. ODE created uniform policies and procedures for the state of Oregon. These must be adopted and have assurance signed by superintendent by April 15. These policies provide very useful roadmaps that the special education staff can use. They are user-friendly documents and very explicit. She asked the Board to please read them and direct any questions to Lisa. These will be presented for second reading at the February meeting.
· Rod Danielson – Business Manager:
· Financial Report: Rod said we are half way through the fiscal year, but not half way through the spending year. About 75% of expected revenues were received by the end of December, while only about 59% of expenditures were made. The district has about $6 million in fund equity at December 31, 2007.
Rod provided a graph of enrollment trends since 1994. We are down 43 students from last year at this time, which is not as much a decline as we had been experiencing. However, kindergarten enrollment took a dip this year. Rod said it is encouraging to see another year where we are not down 80-100 kids like we had been.