Regular Board Meeting December 9, 2008
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UINTA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER ONE
MINUTES
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
December 9, 2008
7:00 P.M.
The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees for Uinta County School District Number One, State of Wyoming, was held on the 9th day of December, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Educational Service Center, 537 Tenth Street, Evanston, Wyoming.
1. Open Meeting – Board Clerk Bateman noted a quorum present and called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Board Members present were Bob Faddis, Harriet Beck, Phil Petersen, Julie Burleigh, Bruce Hudson (by cell phone), Kerby Barker, Orrin Martin, Linda Cummings and Kim Bateman.
Others present were Superintendent Wilson, administrative, certified and support staff members, community members. Approximate number in attendance was 45.
Mr. Petersen moved to appoint Kim Bateman as the Pro-Temp chairman until elections for the chairman are completed; second by Mr. Barker; motion carried.
2. Oath of Office - newly elected members – Board Secretary, Cheri Dunford, administered the oath of office to newly elected board members Linda Cummings, Orrin Martin, Harriet Beck, and Julie Burleigh.
3. Election of Officers – Pro-Temp Chairman Bateman called for nominations for Chairman to serve from December 2008 to December 2009. Mr. Barker moved to nominate Kim Bateman as chairman; second by Ms. Burleigh; motion carried. Mrs. Cummings moved to nominate Phil Petersen as Vice Chairman; second by Mr. Faddis; motion carried. Mr. Petersen moved to nominate Bruce Hudson as treasurer, second by Mrs. Cummings; motion carried. Mr. Martin moved to nominate Bob Faddis as clerk; second by Mr. Petersen; motion carried.
Officers for the Board of Trustees (December 2008 – December 2009)
Chairman – Kim Bateman
Vice-Chairman – Phil Petersen
Treasurer – Bruce Hudson
Clerk – Bob Faddis
4. Adopt Agenda – Mr. Petersen moved to amend the agenda by removing action item 9f. Rescind June 10, 2008 Action on Retiree Insurance from the agenda and moving action item 9g. Retiree Insurance and discussion item 10c. Board Committees to the January 27, 2009 Special Meeting; second by Mr. Martin; motion carried.
5. Approve Minutes – Mrs. Cummings moved to approve the November 11 and 17, 2008 minutes as written; second by Mrs. Burleigh. Mrs. Beck stated that she would like the EHS France Trip put back on the agenda in January as an action item. She doesn’t think it should be approved under the Communications section and there should be more discussion on student transportation, liability, insurance, etc. prior to approval. She wants these type of trips to be listed as action items instead of communications in future board meetings. Mr. Martin moved to approve the minutes with the exception of bringing the EHS France Trip back as an action item in January; second by Mr. Barker; motion carried.
6. Approve Payment of Bills – Mr. Faddis moved to approve the payment of bills as presented; second by Mrs. Burleigh; motion carried.
7. Communications
a. Public Comments – N/A
8. Presentation: Aspen Elementary – Mr. Petersen informed the group that he received a plaque for Vesta Demester, Aspen Principal, at the recent WSBA Conference in November. That will be presented to Mrs. Demester at the January board meeting.
Mrs. Demester stated that her staff and steering committee put the presentation together and have done a lot of work. The presentation will be centered on the Writers Workshop Program. She noted that all four elementary schools are doing the same writing program.
Ø Some of the focal points were: mentor text, writers craft, big idea, teaching points, independent and interactive writing, conferring and sharing
Ø DVD movie showing elements of a writers workshop in a classroom
Ø A kindergarten and 4th grade student demonstrated their work on a document camera, reading their stories to the board and visitors. The father of the 4th grade student spoke about his children’s experience with the writer’s workshop program.
Mrs. Demester talked briefly about the hard work teachers have put into this program, especially the studio teachers (Shelsie Stacy, Mary Ann Codner, Margaret Bennion, Bonnie Wright). Studio teachers are those who participate in the intense content sessions with consultants, and then that information is shared with the other teachers. She also commented on some of the student successes with the program, including the writing stamina it helps develop, even at the K-1 level.
9. Action Items
a. Approve Board Member Appointments
i. Uinta #1 BOCES Board (3 seats open) – Mr. Petersen moved to reappoint Linda Cummings; second by Mr. Barker; motion carried. Mrs. Cummings moved to nominate Bob Faddis; second by Mr. Petersen, motion carried. Mr. Petersen moved to nominate Bruce Hudson; Mrs. Cummings moved to nominate Harriet Beck, but Mrs. Beck declined the nomination due to a conflict; Mrs. Beck nominated Julie Burleigh; second by Mr. Martin. A vote was taken by secret ballot and came back in a 4/4 tie vote. Mr. Hudson was polled by phone for his vote, which was given to the board secretary. Mr. Hudson was named to the 3rd vacant seat by a vote of 5 to 4.
ii. C-V BOCES Board – Mrs. Cummings gave a brief overview of what the C-V provides to students and duties as a board member. Mrs. Cummings moved to nominate Phil Petersen as the district representative on this board; second by Mrs. Burleigh; motion carried.
iii. Evanston Recreation Board – Mr. Petersen moved to reappoint Orrin Martin as the district representative on this board; second by Mrs. Cummings; motion carried.
b. Approve Depositories for District Funds – John Williams, Chief Financial Officer, recommended approval of the following five depositories:
First Bank – Evanston, Wyoming
Wells Fargo Bank – Evanston, Wyoming
Bank of the West – Evanston, Wyoming
Wyo Star, Wyoming State Treasurer – Cheyenne, Wyoming
Wyoming Government Investment Fund – Cheyenne, Wyoming
Mrs. Cummings moved to approve the depositories for district funds as presented; second by Mr. Petersen; motion carried.
c. Name Official Newspaper – Mrs. Beck moved to approve the Uinta County Herald as the school district’s official newspaper; second by Mr. Barker; motion carried.
d. Name Attorney for District – Mr. Faddis moved to approve the retention of Mark Harris as the school district attorney as presented; second by Mr. Barker; motion carried.
e. Approve Second Reading Changes to Graduation Policy IKF – James Bailey, Asst. Superintendent for Instruction, reviewed changes to the graduation policy and the addition of IKF-R “21 Time Requirements” for the new board members. He answered questions regarding the paragraph on summer school and explained what students have to for the 21 time requirements at each grade level. Mr. Petersen moved to grant second reading approval of changes to graduation policy IKF and the addition of rule IKF-R; second by Mrs. Beck; motion carried.
f. Rescind June 10, 2008 Action on Retiree Insurance – removed from the agenda
g. Retiree Insurance Plan – moved to the January 27, 2009 Special Meeting
h. Rescind July 16, 2008 Action Regarding Land Acquisition – Mr. Martin moved to rescind the July 16, 2008 action regarding land acquisition as presented; second by Mr. Faddis; motion carried.
i. Approve Excess of Technology Equipment – Jaraun Dennis, Director of Technology, requested permission to excess outdated and broken equipment from DMS and EHS as listed in the board packet. Mrs. Burleigh moved to approve the excess of technology equipment as presented; second by Mr. Faddis; motion carried.
10. Discussion Items
a. WRS 457 Deferred Compensation Plan (Action) – Ryan Thomas, Asst.
Superintendent for Operations, explained that the Wyoming Retirement System requires that our board approve an agreement with them in order to offer this plan to employees. The agreement allows the district to hold out payroll deductions for employees. The plan provides employees with an opportunity to save for retirement, has more flexibility than the 403B plan and does not cost the district anything. The board asked for this to be put on the January 27, 2009 Special Meeting as an action item.
b. Chapter 29 – Teacher Evaluation – James Bailey, Asst. Superintendent for Instruction, briefly reviewed the Wyoming Education Code rules and regulations pertaining to certified personnel evaluation systems. Each school district within the state shall submit a copy of its teacher evaluation program to the Wyoming Department of Education. Once established and filed, the plan will stand unless amended by the district at which time the amended plan must be resubmitted. The WDE shall review each district’s teacher evaluation program to ensure that it:
Ø Was developed with the involvement of stakeholders
Ø Defines the criteria on which teachers are evaluated and the criteria are researched-based and/or considered :best practice”
Ø Facilitates professional growth and continuous improvement
Ø Is valid, reliable and equitable
Ø Provides sufficient data to make employment decisions
Ø Provides a description of assessment procedures including how data will be collected to complete the summative evaluation
Ø Includes student performance data
Ø Provides a description of the district’s complete evaluation cycle, which includes frequency of evaluations for initial and continuing contract teachers and may include cycles of clinical supervision, action research, intensive assistance, etc.
Mrs. Bateman asked Dr. Bailey to provide the board a copy of the old version of Chapter 29 rules and regulations, as she would like to see what changes have been made. Superintendent Wilson said he would send it out in the weekly update to board members.
c. Board Committees – Removed from the agenda
d. Technology – Jaraun Dennis, Director of Technology, gave a detailed overview of the funds spent for district technology over the past year and the timeline behind each project since the technology audit was completed by Secant Technologies in November of 2007. Based on the list of recommendations to the board by Secant, the district made a top 10 priority list. He went over the high school and server room projects, along with the funds expended and what the status of completion is for both. He also reviewed funds spent to date with Secant Technologies and what services have been included in the consulting contract (which was cancelled in November of this year). In January ’08, the board approved spending for EHS equipment and in April ’08, the board approved a $1.9 million spend down. This included funding for several technology projects (server room upgrade, teacher systems). In mid summer, it was determined the district did not have the funds previously projected and the spend down was halted. Since the technology projects had already been started, they needed to be completed. The EHS project is 95% complete and the server room can be completed in-house. Once the board stopped the spend down, no more funds were taken out of that account. Most of the equipment (white boards, document cameras, etc.) was already in the district before the spend down was halted. Mr. Dennis answered questions from board members.
11. Board Round Table – Mrs. Beck commented that she had attended the WSBA Conference in November, had emailed board members a summary of the conference and also provided a hard copy to everyone. She also attended the Leadership Wyoming event last Friday here in Evanston and talked about some of the topics discussed among the attendees from around the state. She would like to see our district have a “Principal for a Day” with business leaders, so they can see what our principal’s and administrators do during a typical day.
Chairman Bateman informed the group that the board will be reinstituting work sessions and all action items will be going through a work session prior to being put on a board meeting agenda.
12. Adjourn – There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheri Dunford