SHELTON SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 309
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING, APRIL 27, 2010
PAGE 3
The Shelton School District Board of Directors met in regular session at 5:30 p.m. on April 27, 2010 in the board room located at CHOICE High School.
Board members present: Chairman Sue McCausland, Gene Crater, Brian Major, Dean Hirschi, Jim Barrett and student representative Sydney Finlay.
Staff members present: Joan Zook, Alison Nutt, Gordy Hansen, Patty Kuhnau, Chuck Brock, Sue Barnard, Stacey Anderson, Paul Barber, Carol Lake, Lora Rhoades, Carey Murray, Sue Harris, Amanda Von Jentzen, Evan Brees, Trevor Cahoon, Lisa Olin, Wanda Berndtson, Denise Jeffries, Ed Born, Heather Byington, Linda Arnold, Brenda Trogstad, Rick Hanson, Gail Straus, Pam Farr, Gretchen Reinhart, Patricia Johnson, Bracken Budge, Fran Stevens, Isis Albert, Steve Warner, Chris Nesmith, Jose Avila, Michaela McCoy, and Jennifer Aisenberg.
Others present: Mary Duncan, Sergio Velazquez, Mia Moran, Christian Lopez, Paul Ducker, Maria Fernanda Perez Hernandez, Lewis Jackson, Ashley Feldman, and a number of Shelton High School seniors.
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman McCausland called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
There was one addition to the consent agenda which was a supplemental personnel report as a new Item 8.09. Gene Crater made a motion to adopt the agenda with the addition of Item 8.09 and Brian Major seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Sydney Finlay read the district’s Mission Statement.
REPORTS AND RECOGNITIONS
6.01 – Focus on Students:
Evergreen Elementary teachers Heather Byington and Isis Albert, and students Sergio Velazquez, Mia Moran, Christian Lopez, Paul Ducker, Maria Fernanda Perez Hernandez, Lewis Jackson, and Ashley Feldman were present for Focus on Students and talked about what they are teaching and learning in math at Evergreen.
6.02 – Promising Young Educator of the Year Award:
The following teachers were nominated by their buildings for the district’s Promising Young Educator of the Year Award: Amanda Von Jentzen from Bordeaux Elementary; Patricia Johnson from Mt. View Elementary; Trevor Cahoon from Olympic Middle School; Gretchen Reinhart from Oakland Bay Junior High; and Chris Nesmith from Shelton High School. Superintendent Zook announced Trevor Cahoon as the teacher who was selected as Shelton School District’s Promising Young Educator of the Year.
6.03 – Teacher of the Year Award:
The following teachers were nominated by their buildings for the 2011 Washington State Teacher of the Year Competition: Lora Rhoades from Bordeaux Elementary; Sue Harris from Evergreen Elementary; Patty Kuhnau from Mt. View Elementary; Lisa Olin from Olympic Middle School; Michaela McCoy from Oakland Bay Junior High; Denise Jeffries from Shelton High School; and Paul Barber from CHOICE High School. Superintendent Zook announced Michaela McCoy as Shelton School District’s Teacher of the Year. Michaela will now move on to compete in the ESD 113 Regional Teacher of the Year competition.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
7.01 – Adoption of the new Director District boundaries:
Gordy Hansen has reported several times in the past few months on the work being done towards the redistricting of our school board director districts from the current five districts to three districts and two at-large positions. That work has been completed, a public hearing was held at the last meeting, and it is now before the board for approval. Gene Crater made a motion to approve the proposed new Director District boundaries and Brian Major seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. A discussion and decision on which two positions will be the at-large positions will take place in the near future. Chairman McCausland thanked Gordy for all his work.
7.02 – Race to the Top:
Joan Zook explained that Race to the Top is a federal grant available for states to apply for. The money is very specific to improving student achievement. Washington is in the process of completing their application to the federal government. Individual school districts must decide by May 17th if they want to participate. Then, by September our state will be notified on whether they were successful in receiving grant funding. At that point, the districts that signed on will have the opportunity to complete their grant application and specify the work they plan to do with the money. If our state is successful, the funding that would come to Shelton School District would be approximately $130,000 per year for 4 years. OSPI does not recommend signing on if we don’t intend to take the next step if the money is awarded to our state. Joan said hopefully the board has had enough time to look through the materials and decide if they want to pursue the next step of the process.
Jim Barrett asked Pam Farr what her thoughts were regarding this grant opportunity. Pam said she feels great things could come of it and said the funds would help us to continue supporting efforts we’ve already started in the district.
Brian Major asked if the funds could be devoted to only certain schools and Pam said no, it has to be district-wide.
Dean Hirschi said that unlike the recent opportunity for grant funds for Oakland Bay Junior High, with the Race to the Top grant opportunity: 1) all the requirements are spelled out up front; 2) we would know how much money we could get; 3) it has the option for us to apply for additional funds; 4) it calls for data assessment collection and analysis on a more regular basis which is exactly what the board wants to do; 5) it doesn’t have any restrictions like firing administrators, etc; and 6) we would have 90 days to put together our grant application if our state is successful in receiving funding. He feels it is a great idea.
Gene Crater also thought it was a great idea and as Dean said, the board is very interested in data collection. He also feels it is a great opportunity for the district.
Chairman McCausland agreed with all the comments made by the other board members.
Dean Hirschi made a motion for our district to sign on to the Race to the Top and Gene Crater seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
7.03 – Proposed out-of-state travel for two Olympic Middle School teachers:
Olympic Middle School teachers Jose Avila and Jennifer Aisenberg requested approval to travel to Cedar Hill, Texas on June 27-30, 2010 to attend the Dual Language Spanish Literacy, Science and Social Studies Institute. All travel expenses would be paid out of the Title III Limited English Proficient Grant. Gene Crater made a motion to approve the travel. Jim Barrett seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
7.04 – Proposed Resolution Nos. 10-04 and 10-05:
Proposed Resolution Nos. 10-04 and 10-05 deal with the HVAC grant reimbursement and authorization process and requires board approval by May 1st. Gene Crater made a motion to approve Resolution Nos. 10-04 and 10-05. Jim Barrett seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
7.05 – Date for Drake Scholarship interviews:
Sue McCausland and Brian Major went through all of the scholarship notebooks last week and selected 10 seniors to be interviewed for the board’s Robert and Donald Drake Scholarship Awards, as well as 3 alternates. There is $2,000 to award in scholarships this year. Board members set May 10th at 6:00 p.m. to interview the students. Awards will be announced at Senior Awards Night on May 27th.
CONSENT AGENDA
Gene Crater made a motion to approve the consent agenda with the addition of the supplemental personnel report. Brian Major seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. The board:
§ Approved minutes from the April 13, 2010 regular board meeting;
§ Approved minutes from the April 20 and 21, 2010 board study sessions;
§ Approved overnight travel to Washington State University on May 13-18, 2010 for Oakland Bay and Shelton High School FAA students to attend the State FFA Convention;
§ Approved overnight travel to Portland, OR on June 1-3, 2010 for students in the Shelton High School Independent Living and Life Learning Program;
§ Approved the regular and supplemental personnel reports as submitted and as attached (see Attachment #1);
§ Approved General Fund Warrant Nos. 117778 through 117787 in the amount of $41,945.00;
§ Approved Associated Student Body Fund Warrant No. 400772 in the amount of $2,790.23; and
§ Approved Payroll Warrants for April 2010.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
9.01 – Official audit report for the 2008-09 school year:
Joan Zook reported that we have received the official audit report of 2008-09 school year and she was pleased to announce there were no findings. Chairman McCausland and Dean Hirschi attended the recent audit exit conference. Joan and board members complimented the staff, and especially Brenda Trogstad, for their work.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
Jim Barrett thanked the many staff members in the audience tonight and also Mary Duncan from the Journal for being at the meeting and focusing on the positive things happening in the district.
ADJOURN
Chairman McCausland declared the meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m.
Chairman, Board of Directors
Secretary to the Board