DATE:May 7, 2007PRESENT: Barbara Owens, Chair

DATE:May 7, 2007PRESENT: Barbara Owens, Chair

Mary Grace Bright

Jill Camnitz

Michael Dixon Betsy Leech

Ralph Love, Sr.

TIME:7:30 P.M.Billy Peaden

Roy Peaden

Marcy Romary

Sidney Scott Dick Tolmie

PLACE:PittCountyOfficeBuildingDelanoWilson

ABSENT:

The Chair, Ms. Barbara D. Owens, called to order the Board of Education in regular session and welcomed everyone. Mr. Michael Dixon led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ms. Heather Mayo, Public Information Officer, presented the recognitions for the evening. Recognized with Certificates for Creating Excellence in the East were math students placing at the 2007 Eastern Region Math Fair for the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Those students included Cannon Willard from W. H. Robinson Elementary School, Nicholas Kowalski from South Greenville Elementary School, Jerrod Powers from C. M. Eppes Middle School, and Patrick Brittian from C. M. Eppes Middle School.

The Chair offered an opportunity for adjustments to the agenda. Upon motion by Ms. Mary Grace Bright and second by Mr. Michael Dixon, the Board voted unanimously to approve the agenda.

An opportunity for Public Expression was provided. Ms. Kathryn Perkins, the first speaker, addressed the proposed rezoning of property on Forlines Road across the street from Creekside Elementary School for which the developer had asked for the zoning to be changed from rural-residential to multi-family dwellings. As a resident of the community, she spoke regarding the heavy traffic caused by South Central and Creekside Elementary, particularly at the time of school opening and closing. She requested the Board speak to the City County in support of the neighborhood’s opposition to this rezoning request. She stated that additional traffic added to what was already on this road would be totally unmanageable and that the residents in the area were concerned about the safety of children and everyone else traveling these roads.

Mr. Tom Marsh was the second speaker and spoke in regard to the same issue. He stated that when first filed, the developer requested multi-family dwellings (apartments), but because of opposition had now filed a request that the zoning be changed to what would result in twenty acres of duplexes. He stated the City Council would vote on this request on May 10th (upcoming Thursday), and he asked the Board to take an official stand against the request for rezoning and to contact City Council members to voice that opposition. The increased level of traffic, concern for safety of children, and willingness to support the community (that supports the schools) were offered as talking points for the Board.

The Consent Agenda Items were offered for consideration. Included were minutes of the meeting held on March 5 and the Personnel Report for the month of April (with an addendum). Upon motion by Ms. Mary Grace Bright and second by Mr. Michael Dixon, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Consent items as presented.

Under New Business, Ms. Jill Camnitz, Chair of the Educational Programs and Services (EPS) Committee, presented that committee’s report. First, she offered for consideration the Amendments to School Improvement Plans for Non-Title I Schools. Dr. Mary Williamson advised that these strategies had been in place all year, but that the State required that School Improvement Plans for these schools be verified. Upon motion by Ms. Jill Camnitz and second by Ms. Betsy Leech, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Amendments to the School Improvement Plans for Non-Title 1 Schools as presented.

The second item submitted for consideration by the EPS Committee was the Title III Plan application. It was explained that this document represented the district’s plan for students for whom “English is a Second Language.” Upon motion by Ms. Jill Camnitz and second by Mr. Dick Tolmie, the Board unanimously approved the Title III Plan application as presented.

Mr. Sidney Scott, Chair of the Finance Committee, recognized Mr. Billy Peaden to give this committee’s report. Mr. Peaden asked Mr. Michael Cowin, Finance Officer, to come forward to present items for consideration.

Mr. Cowin advised that based upon previous discussions with the Board about the status of the school district’s audit and the significant projected increase in costs, a “Request for Proposals (RFP) had been sent to six audit firms with four of those responding. Mr. Cowin provided the Board with a comparison among those firms responding showing the amount of previous school district audit experience of each and their projected costs for conducting the audit. Based on those responses, Mr. Cowin advised that the Finance Committee was recommending a three-year audit contract with Pittard, Perry and Crone. Upon motion by Mr. Billy Peaden and second by Mr. Roy Peaden, the Board voted unanimously to award the audit contract to Pittard, Perry and Crone.

The second item offered by the Finance Committee for consideration was the award for the Copier Lease Contract. Mr. Cowin provided a history of the cost and usage under the existing five-year copier lease with COECO on a cost per copy basis. He stated that a committee had been put together to review district copier needs and costs. This bid opportunity, he said, was offered to COECO, CopyPro, and Xerox. Based on the results of information on equipment, service, experience and costs, he said, the committee recommended to the Finance Committee that the contract be awarded to Xerox. He advised this would represent a cost savings of $64,653 for this upcoming year. Additionally, he explained that more high speed copiers would be utilized within this lease as opposed to digital duplicators. Upon motion by Mr. Michael Dixon and second by Mr. Delano Wilson, the Board unanimously voted to award the copier contract lease to Xerox.

Under Old Business, Ms. Betsy Leech, Chair, presented the report from the Policy Committee. She explained that the AED Policy was being brought back for Second Reading with one minor change, which included a definition of AED. Ms. Leech motioned that the policy be approved as written. The motion received a second from Ms. Jill Camnitz and was unanimously approved.

The second policy offered for Second Reading by Ms. Leech was the Board Member Training and Conduct Policy, which she said outlined the changes in the method of compensation to reflect that the Board reimbursement based on the per diem rates for in-district and out-of-district activities, including continuing education. The other change, she said, denoted that any expenses above the amount established would be approved by the Board before they were incurred. Under Board self-evaluation, a change was made to state that the Board would review its processes and goals at an annual retreat. With these changes, Ms. Leech motioned approval of the policy. The motion received a second from Mr. Michael Dixon and was unanimously approved.

The final policy to be reviewed was the draft of the Uniform Policy. Ms. Leech discussed the changes that had been made to the policy thus far and explained that an additional meeting had been scheduled for May 9 at 11:00 to continue those policy discussions. She invited all Board members to attend. She shared information regarding the staff and community members who had attended and contributed to the conversation at the last meeting and she explained that one of the recommended changes from that group was a delay in the implementation date to the fall of 2008, allowing vendors adequate time to supply the appropriate product and colors. This timeline, she said, would also provide ample opportunity for input from the community and students, would allow schools time to contribute to selecting school colors, and allow for creative ways to promote the upcoming change.

Under Superintendent comments, Dr. Reep expressed appreciation to Heather Mayo for handling the organizational details to bring students to the meeting for recognition by the Board.

Referencing the School Improvement Plans for Non-Title I schools approved earlier in the evening, Dr. Reep stated it was interesting to note that of the seven schools, three met high growth in the State yet did not meet AYP and that one of them, A. G. Cox, was recognized as one of sixteen schools in the entire State that showed huge growth in one of the sub-groups. She reinforced that just because School Improvement Plans were required did not mean that growth was not occurring in our schools.

Additionally, Dr. Reep expressed appreciation to the Education Foundation for the outstanding work done with the Teacher Executive Institute, which the previous week had celebrated its 17th year of support for this Institute. She said that it was a powerful and exciting way to honor our teachers.

Dr. Reep reminded Board members of the Joint Meeting with the Commissioners on May 14th and suggested that the May 21st meeting date be left in place to use for discussion on parameters and language in Student Assignment policy that would be critical to lead and guide the work of the staff and Board over the next few months. Also confirmed were the meeting dates of the 4th and 18th of June and no meeting during the month of July.

The Chair announced that Dr. Reep would be honored by Oberlin College later in the month, and she congratulated her on that honor. Additionally, Ms. Owens read a letter that she said was hand delivered to her by a member of the Pitt County Schools’ staff earlier in the week praising Dr. Reep’s work in Pitt County Schools, her work with principals, her work ethic to always put children first and to treat staff with respect and dignity. The letter expressed appreciation to the Board for bringing Dr. Reep to the Pitt County School System.

Additionally, Ms. Owens congratulated Mr. Michael Dixon and Dr. Ralph Love who were honored by the community over the weekend. She stated that Board members from each district had been meeting with she and principals of the high schools and of one elementary school in each attendance area. She said these meetings had gone well and had been a great experience.

Ms. Jill Camnitz commented that on May 1st, she and Marcy Romary had a District 3 meeting, which was attended by 45 parents, representing a mixture of folks from District 3 and District 5. She said the parents were appreciative of the opportunity to have an open forum and that she and Ms. Romary planned to make this a regular occurrence in District 3. She advised that the discussion was very constructive and focused on the future. In sharing highlights, she and Ms. Romary said the remarks centered on: (1) how the problems created by the October 2005 redistricting would be resolved, (2) that teachers and administrators were doing a good job with the children in their children’s current school, (3) concerns were expressed regarding discipline issues and academic needs of the academically gifted students (mostly directed at middle schools), and (4) strong expressions of fear for the future and a need for the School Board to regain community trust. Ms. Romary advised that a copy of the complete summary would be provided for all Board members and she encouraged other Board members to hold similar forums in their areas.

Mr. Delano Wilson echoed comments made earlier by Dr. Reep in regard to the Teacher Executive Institute. He said the program was excellent and he said that Dr. Reep did an outstanding job with her presentation to the group, adding that Dr. Reep was a real credit to the school district.

Ms. Betsy Leech asked for follow-up discussion on the Forlines Road discussion. She said that the Board, of course, needed to be concerned about the safety of the children and that perhaps it would be appropriate to say to some of our City Council members that we, as a Board, are also concerned about the issue of traffic safety for our students.

Mr. Michael Dixon thanked all the Board members who contributed to the appreciation event that was given for he and Dr. Ralph Love over the weekend. He said it felt good to be appreciated by the community and that he was humbled by the tribute. He expressed appreciation for the contributions to the scholarship fund, which he said would help kids in our district. Additionally, he advised that he attended a black issues forum on Tuesday held at Mount Calvary Church with about 200 people present. He stated that a lot of information was shared and a good number of questions were asked about schools. Discussion was held, he said, on how to share recreational facilities and particularly for areas north of the river where recreational opportunities for children during the summer were a challenge. He asked that staff look to see how recreational facilities could be shared.

In regard to the zoning issue shared by the two individuals during public expression, he suggested that from the perspective of the Facilities Committee it would be appropriate to make a statement at the City Council meeting on Thursday to either encourage a traffic study or to take a vocal position in opposition to the request. He asked for the Board’s feelings in that regard.

Mr. Roy Peaden stated that he thought the Board should go on record in support of zoning for single-family dwellings in that area.

Mr. Michael Dixon stated that he thought that he, as the Facilities Chair, or Mr. Beaulieu or someone on behalf of the Board should be there to speak.

Ms. Mary Grace Bright respectfully disagreed, stating that she did not believe zoning was the job of this Board and that for the Board to take a stand when, in fact, the Board building two schools in that area had created the traffic problem, would not be appropriate.

Mr. Michael Dixon made a motion to take a stand in favor of single-family dwellings as opposed to multi-family dwellings for that area. The motion received a second from Mr. Billy Peaden and was approved by majority. Ms. Mary Grace Bright voted in opposition. Ms. Jill Camnitz suggested that perhaps a letter written to the Mayor or City Manager and signed by the Chair to be read at the City Council meeting would be sufficient. Following discussion, it was agreed that a letter would be sent.

Ms. Mary Grace Bright stated that she enjoyed the school visits with Mr. Wilson and Ms. Owens in the Ayden-Grifton Attendance Area. She said she was always amazed at the creative and fun things she always saw when going into the schools and the great work being done by the teachers and principals.

Mr. Billy Peaden stated that the North Pitt High School Construction Class came in 3rd in the State, beat out by only two colleges.

Upon motion by Ms. Mary Grace Bright and second by Ms. Jill Camnitz, the Board voted to enter closed session to (1) consult with our attorney to consider and give instructions concerning a potential or actual claim, administrative procedure, or judicial action [N.C.G.S.§143-318.11(a)(3)] and (2) consider the qualifications, competence, performance, condition of appointment of a public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee; or hear or investigate a complaint, charge, or grievance by or against a public officer or employee [N.C.G.S.§143-318.11(a)(6)].

A lengthy closed session was held. With no action to report and upon motion made by Mr. Michael Dixon and second by Ms. Betsy Leech, the Board voted to adjourn.

Respectfully submitted,

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Ms. Barbara D. Owens, Chair

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Beverly B. Reep, Superintendent