MINUTES - UNION COUNTY BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES
July 22, 2013– 7:00 P.M.

ATTENDEES:

Ms. Kim Bailey-Vice Chair, Mr. Jantzen Childers, Mr. Manning Jeter, Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris, and Ms. Jane Wilkes.

ABSENT:

Dr. Wanda All, Ms. Jane Hammett, Mr. Buck Peay and Ms. Kakie White.

Call to Order:

Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris, Chair, called the meeting to order.

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance:

The invocation was given by Mr. Jantzen Childers, who also led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Notice to Media:

In accordance with the S.C. Code of Laws, Section 30-4-80(d), as amended, the following have been notified of the time, date, place and agenda of this meeting: The Union Daily Times, Union County News, WBCU Radio Station and The Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

Minutes

Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris stated a motion is needed to approve the minutes of the June 10, 2013 meeting. Mr. Manning Jeter made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Ms. Kim Bailey. The vote was (4-0) in favor of the motion. Ms. Jane Wilkes abstained.

Addendum

Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris stated there is an addendum. Ms. Kim Bailey made a motion to approve the addendum, seconded by Mr. Jantzen Childers. The vote was (5-0) in favor of the motion.

Superintendent

Dr. Woodall stated, “We have a Healthy Snack Initiative that we are considering and developing for our kindergarten students. We are currently seeking funding. We are not ready to roll out the plans at this point but we will keep you updated.”

Dr. Woodall announced the Boardmanship Institute Recognitions. Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris presented Ms. Jane Wilkes a silver pin and certificate for being awarded level 2 and a gold pin and certificate to Mr. Jantzen Childers who was awarded level 3.

Dr. Woodall introduced Mr. Randy Crocker, Safety Coordinator for Union County Schools, who presented the Safety/Security Study as information to the Board. Mr. Crocker also discussed a joint training session with law enforcement. Palmetto Tactical Advantage who has many years of S.W.A.T. and SLED training will visit our district on Thursday, August 15th for joint training with our local Sheriff Department. The first couple of hours during the training are reserved for educators. Mr. Manning Jeter asked, “Why and what is this training for?” Mr. Crocker stated, “If an active shooter comes into a building, the law enforcement has a certain role to play and we have a certain role to play. Part of that training is so that we can differentiate what they are going to do and what we are going to do.”

Personnel

Mr. Jeff Stribble presented the personnel report to the Board for approval. Mr. Manning Jeter asked, “Madam Chair, can we discuss the personnel report in executive session before we take a vote on this?” Ms. McMorris replied yes.

Instruction

Ms. Tabitha Talley provided information to the Board regarding the monetary donation given to the district to provide STEM funding in the middle schools. The Timken Foundation of Canton, Ohio issued a grant to the district in the amount of $46,500.00 to be used toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculum. Joey Hines of Santuc Precision donated $2,000.00 per year for three years. Teachers will be trained on August 12 and 13 and another date within the year from the University of Texas trainers. They will train teachers, administrators and guidance counselors how to use and implement the data from the programs. Ms. Talley also stated that the STEM curriculum will create a new extracurricular activity for middle school students in our district. A team of twenty students will compete in the LEGO robotics competition against other teams throughout the state.

Ms. Cindy Langley presented the scholarship totals for the Class of 2013. She stated, “The projected scholarship funds are $3,073,832.00. In the last five years, Union County High School students have received almost thirteen million dollars in scholarship money. This is quite an accomplishment and we want to commend them for that.”

Ms. Cindy Langley provided a summer school update to the Board. She stated, “Summer school was provided for three weeks in June for middle and high school students. The program was funded by the Smaller Learning Communities Grant. There were 8 teachers at Sims Middle School who provided instruction to 111 sixth through eighth graders and 89 high school students in an effort for them to receive credit to be promoted to the next grade level. We are proud to say that we had 89 high school students to recover 96 courses. This helps lower our dropout rate and to increase our high school graduation rate.”

Ms. Cindy Langley provided an AdvancED accreditation update to the Board. She stated, “The three required targets for our progress report in May were met. The first target dealt with using data to inform instruction in all levels. The second target was for our School Board and Superintendent to engage in training. Consultants were brought in for training and the Boardmanship Institute training through the School Board Association helped meet that target. The third target dealt with the integration of technology in the instructional area. This area is ongoing and we are aware that we have not achieved everything to meet this target but we are pleased with the report from the AdvancED group. We will submit another report to them in May of 2014. Mr. Manning Jeter asked, “What training did the Board receive? Was it when Scott Price came?” Ms. Langley said, “It was when the attorneys came.” Mr. Jeter asked, “That was considered training?” Ms. Langley replied yes.

Ms. Cindy Langley presented the District Plan for Proficiency-Based System in compliance with the State Board of Education Regulation 43-234 to the Board for approval. She stated, “For several years, the state of South Carolina has talked about doing away with the 120 hours of Carnegie units also referred to as seat time. Seat time has been used since the 1800’s to determine what a high school credit is. This year, the Legislature has removed some of the restrictions on proficiency based credit and with that, the State Department has asked each district to submit a plan. We are submitting the plan to you for approval.” She also provided each Board member with a folder from EDmentum, the provider chosen by the district committee for our proficiency-based credit. Ms. Langley stated, “We will be able to use this program for initial credit, credit renewal as well as content renewal. Students will have access to these programs and they can be used for core credit or elective credit as deemed appropriate. These programs will be provided for our middle school students in the school within a school, Achievement Academy students, Adult Ed and students at Union County High School. Only at the high school, do we have to be concerned about the proficiency credit. These courses are aligned with the State of South Carolina and with Common Core. We are able to use the same license for multiple students and we are able to add content. For example, in the geometry course, if we find a standard is missing, we would be able to design our own content to add to that. We are able to use this program as an Early Bird session at Union County High School. We are offering a not-for-credit class for students to get assistance with SAT and ACT. They will come in on a rotating basis for a six week class to prepare for the SAT and ACT.” Mr Manning Jeter stated, “In the past, Madam Chair, in order for us to set up a program and make a decision on what courses that we needed, we used the End of Course studies in order to do so. For two months now, I have asked to see the End of Course scores. I ended up with a piece of paper with five lines on it and after sixteen years or whatever amount of years I have been here, that I don’t know what I’m looking at when I’m looking at it. It’s hard to say that this is what we need when we hadn’t seen what took place last year at the End of Course scores to know what happened with the students. Where did the students excel at? Where did they fall off at? Where were they mediocre at? We hadn’t seen anything. With us being the elected officials of the Union County School District by the citizens, I think we should know this and be able to have some type of input in saying which direction we feel like we need to go in. I can honestly say that I don’t agree with any of this until I know what we are already doing and where we are already at.” Ms. Langley responded, “The End of Course scores are generally released in the fall of the year.” Mr. Jeter interrupted and said, “They are embargoed until the fall of the year and we have always gone over them in executive session so that the Board will know what was going on and then in the fall of the year, they are released to everybody. I know the routine.” Ms. Kim Petty stated, “August 1 is when they will be released.” Mr. Manning Jeter said, “Don’t never do that Kim. Please, don’t never do that.” Ms. Langley stated, “It would be very rare that we would be using this program for End of Course classes. The Achievement Academy is using it for End of Course but at Union County High School, those courses would be taught in our traditional classrooms. These courses are aligned with our South Carolina standards and they are aligned with Common Core so they would be accredited and we would be able to use those for End of Course. EDmentum would be another provider.” Miss Kim Bailey asked, “Would there have to be a certain number of students interested?” Ms. Langley replied, “This program is very much like the virtual program we had in the past. We are sharing with you the District Plan for implementing the proficiency credit. If you wanted to take a Latin course, that would be available if we had the seat available. The first seats go to those students who need courses for graduation.” Ms. Bailey asked, “Do the students take the course year round?” Ms. Langley stated, “It is self-paced.” Ms. McMorris stated, “We need to vote.” Ms. Kim Bailey made a motion to table the vote until the next meeting to allow more time to review the information, seconded by Mr. Manning Jeter. The vote was (5-0) in favor of the motion.

Ms. McMorris stated that a motion is needed to enter into executive session for public comments and for discussion of the personnel report. Mr. Manning Jeter made a motion to enter into executive session, seconded by Ms. Jane Wilkes. The vote was (5-0) in favor of the motion. The Board entered into executive session at 7:31 P.M.

The Board reconvened into open session at 8:01 P.M. Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris stated that while in executive session, no votes were taken. Mr. Jeff Stribble presented the personnel report to the Board for approval. Ms. Jane Wilkes made a motion to approve the personnel report, seconded by Mr. Jantzen Childers. The vote was (4-1) in favor of the motion. Mr. Stribble stated, “The personnel report is Lakeesha Jeter, math teacher at Union County High School, David Crisp, Graphic Communication Teacher at the Union County Career and Technology Center, Donna Pendleton, Health Occupation Teacher at the Union County Career and Technology Center, Dona Nena Wright, Hardware Specialist in the Technology Department, Bridgett Nix, STC ESSS Coordinator at Monarch Elementary School, Justin Richards, Science and Mechatronics Teacher at Union County High School and the Union County Career and Technology Center, Barbara Kirkland, Special Education Assistant at Buffalo Elementary School, Betty Ivey, Special Education Assistant at Buffalo Elementary School, Martha Nichols, teacher at Sims Middle School, Cindy Nations, Teacher at Sims Middle School, Debra O’Dell, Part-time Secretary at Adult Education, Thamie Poulos, Teacher at Buffalo Elementary School, Courtney Sanders, Teacher at Sims Middle School, Nicole Rebuck, Assistant at Foster Park Elementary School, Aaron Emery, Social Studies Teachers at Jonesville Elementary Middle School and Kirk Rebuck, Social Studies Teacher and Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Union County High School.”

Adjourn

Ms. McMorris stated a motion is needed to adjourn. Ms. Kim Bailey made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Manning Jeter. The vote was (5-0) in favor of the motion. The Board adjourned at 8:03 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted by

Kim Petty

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