REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

COOS BAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

March 10, 2003

Page 13

COOS BAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS MARCH 10, 2003

COOS BAY, OREGON

REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS

The Board of Directors of Coos Bay Public Schools met on March 10, 2003 in the Coos Bay City Council Chambers, 500 Central, Coos Bay, Oregon, for a Regular Board Meeting. Chairman Caddy McKeown called the meeting to order at 7:02p.m. Guests joined the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Board members present: Tom Bennett Charlie Sharps

Don Blom Sue Walberg

Wally Hazen Rob Wall

Caddy McKeown

Board members absent: None

Other present included Superintendent Jeremy Lyon, Attorney David Dorsey, Rod Danielson, Karen Gray, Tim Enright, Ben Hammer, Mary Bjornerud, Nancy Tedder, Gina Sutherland, Nancy Zeck, Ruth Greiner, Marit Pierce, Mark Stephens, Angela Davis, Kris Kain, Ross Lorenzo, Kelly Thompson-Poore, Vicki Goodrich, Bill Moriarty, Teri Jones, Byron Massey, Maureen Aakre, Mark Claiborne, Chad Eiselein, Steve Major, Alex Jones, Jeff Stephens, Bret Aakre, Koral Aakre, Laura Seyler, and Hank Jones.

CONSENT AGENDA

Charlie Sharps requested that the Renewal of Professional Services Contracts be removed from the Consent Agenda and dealt with separately under Action Items. Wally Hazen moved, Tom Bennett seconded, and the Board unanimously approved the remaining items under Consent Agenda which included:

· Minutes of the February 10, 2003 Executive Session.

· Minutes of the February 10, 2003 Regular Board Meeting.

· Minutes of the February 19, 2003 Special Board Meeting.

· Retirement requests made by Garry Jantzen, Larry Gerritsen, Angela Mills, Sherry George, Judy Polhamus, and . Patricia Bowden.

· Resignation of Gary Domina.

Chairman Caddy McKeown commented on how fortunate the District has been to have had so many years of service from these retiring individuals. Their retirements will be a great loss to our schools.


STUDENT PRESENTATION

MHS Chess Club – MHS staff member Mark Stephens, who has coached a chess club at Blossom Gulch, introduced a number of chess club participants. Mark Claiborne, MHS Chess coach reported they participated for the first time in the state chess team tournament recently and came back with a 6th place trophy. The tournament will be hosted by Coos Bay next year. Maureen Aakre and Byron Massey offer chess lessons at Millicoma, and Les Willett is teaching a chess class at Sunset. A chess coordinator is still needed at Madison.

PUBLIC INPUT

Kris Kain, president of OEA and teacher for many years in Coos Bay schools, reported she has been very busy at the state level in their effort to get adequate stable funding for schools. Many districts are looking at shortening the school year. Kris updated the Board on some of the OEA’s efforts and said, “It’s a huge job as compared to managing a classroom.”

BUILDING STAFF PRESENTATIONS

· CBEA Business: No report at this time.

· OSEA Business: Ross Lorenzo acknowledged the dedication of the classified employees and thanked principals for recognizing these staff members. He also thanked David Dorsey publicly for all his hard work.

· MHS Activities: Rachel Rott provided an update on MHS activities and events at this beginning of the third trimester. She reported on spring sports, drama, vocal and band performances, State dance competition, Student Council, assemblies, and the upcoming Mr. MHS pageant. Rachel handed out copies of an article from the Oregonian and a chart revealing how well the 2001 high school graduates are doing in Oregon’s public universities. Caddy McKeown commented that there has been some question as to the rigor of high schools in preparing students for entering the Oregon higher education schools. Marshfield High School is one of the top schools in the state for students succeeding with grades that are high and retaining those high rates. Arnie Roblan added that MHS was 5th overall in grade point average. He commended the teachers at all grades who hold kids to the standards that it takes to be successful. He added, “We have a lot of parents who care and a community who supports them.” Between 83-89% of our students continue after their first year in college.


BOARD ITEMS

· Board Member Activity/Committee Reports:

Rob Wall served on both the Superintendent Evaluation Committee and the Professional Services Committee. He invited everyone to attend the Dance Team’s March 12 7:00 p.m. dress rehearsal for the state dance competition to be held March 19 and 20 in Portland. He commented that the MHS Dance Team is solely funded by private individuals in order to provide uniforms, travel, etc. Rob’s daughter Leslie has been on the Dance Team for all 4 years at MHS.

Tom Bennett participated in Read Across America at Blossom Gulch and at Madison and enjoyed the experience, again.

Wally Hazen reported he worked on the Professional Services Committee and the Surplus Facilities Committee. He also said the Administrative Compensation Committee met with administrative staff earlier in the day to start negotiating a one-year opener on salaries.

Sue Walberg reported that CE2 had a surprise breakfast for Kevin Leavitt who will be taking one of the new Technology Assistant positions. Sue also serves on the Administrative Compensation Committee.

Caddy McKeown participated in the Read Across America on March 3, and enjoyed being with the kids at Blossom Gulch. She also worked on the Professional Services Committee reviewing evaluations of those contracts.

Charlie Sharps served on the Superintendent Evaluation Committee, commenting that Dr. Lyon did receive a very good evaluation from the Board. He has also spent a good deal of time critiquing ASPIRE essays this week.

Don Blom also took part in the Read Across America celebrations at Bunker Hill, Blossom Gulch, and at Millicoma, where he saw many local celebrities (Coos Bay Firefighters Assn., Police Force, etc.). Don said he appreciated everyone’s efforts for making it such a success.

· Expiring Board Positions:

Board positions #3 (currently held by Wally Hazen), #4 (held by Rob Wall), and #7 (held by Tom Bennett) expire June 30, 2003. Tom and Wally have filed for re-election. No one has filed for position #4 at this time.

· Board Assignments for Graduation:

Senior Awards Dessert – Caddy McKeown will be the Board representative at this May 22 event, and Rob Wall hopes to assist. Tom plans to attend too.

Graduation – Rob Wall, whose daughter is a graduating senior, will speak at the June graduation. Charlie and Don will hand out the first half of the diplomas; Rob and Sue the second half. All will help with either diplomas or flowers.

· OSBA Spring Regional Meeting:

Don, Charlie, Tom, Wally, and Caddy plan to attend the April 30 Regional meeting in Bandon. Rob and Sue have conflicts that evening.

· Surplus Facilities Committee Presentation:

Dr. Lyon thanked HGE architect Joe Slack for his extensive work on the possible remodel of Milner Crest as an education center. Due to declining enrollment situation, the district has become top heavy in surplus facilities, which is not advantageous to our mission of educating children. Dr. Lyon explained that a committee was convened to determine short-term and long-term options regarding these surplus facilities. The premise they operated under was simple – the elimination of surplus facilities would ultimately yield more dollars available to support student instruction.

Dr Lyon reviewed the concept of creating an educational center using the Milner Crest facility. Wally Hazen explained how the committee had looked at the facilities the district no longer uses. Looking at Charleston, they determined it should be sold, as it is the oldest facilities in the district and was targeted for first replacement. Due to Eastside’s close proximity to Millicoma, they deemed it a good facility to keep. Milner Crest was the first school closed, and the committee said they probably could sell it, but no one wanted to get rid of it. It is a greater asset as a resource center than it would be as a piece of marketable property. They determined that Milner Crest should be utilized in some other way. Don Blom continued by saying it seemed to the committee the only way to protect the Milner Crest facility was to maximize its use. Considering selling the most saleable assets, it would be either Milner Crest or Teakwood. The committee determined to concentrate on keeping Milner Crest and selling Teakwood facility. Sue Walberg added that, when they talk about the financial problems in the district, they get asked why they would want to put money into another building for an administration building. The district has expanded using very little funds and has continued to make improvements towards long-term plans even in financially hard times. Creating an education center at Milner Crest can be done using the money from selling the administration building without using the capital improvements fund. Having an education center at Milner Crest adds a lot to the district. Special Education services have expanded greatly over the last few years, and the current district office can’t house any more staff members. Sue said Teakwood has a more marketable value, and it makes more sense to sell that office building and move to a location where staff can be housed. Milner Crest is much more accessible for handicapped individuals than the multi-story Teakwood office.

Dr. Lyon showed a slide depicting the preliminary concept – an administration building which did not include an education center. The estimated cost of $350-400,000 was deemed too high. A new vision was developed, considering creating Milner Crest as an education center – the back four-plex of rooms for ESD’s Preschool/Early Intervention program; a community gymnasium and stage; a community meeting room (former library); administration offices; plus, since receiving word or the technology grant, the technology training center.

Wally added that their effort was to leave existing walls, and any added walls would be temporary structures. The building could be converted back to an elementary school if we needed another elementary school in the future. Dr. Lyon said that, taking the minimalist approach, they honed everything down to the necessities, ending with an estimate of $227,545 to convert the building to an education center. Conceivable project timeline shows there could be an early-October move-in day.

Funds from the sale of Teakwood would be used to keep the project cost-neutral. With the sale of the Teakwood goes the maintenance of that building – $10-$20,000 annually – which can better be used for student instruction.

Dr. Sharps expressed disbelief that the Teakwood building was appraised at only about $300,000. He suggested that, if Milner Crest was the most valuable surplus facility, maybe they should consider selling that building instead. Wally admitted to keeping a close eye on commercial property and felt this is in line with the economy. Charlie also commented on the heat on the south side of Milner Crest. Ben Hammer interjected that they have looked at several alternatives, including fixed or adjustable louvers, which should do an adequate job of shading that side of the building.

Dr. Sharps asked what the committee was thinking about doing with Eastside. Wally reported a decision has not been made. Dr. Lyon said that Eastside will likely be used by community groups or as storage until a decision is made. The longer a facility remains empty, the more dilapidated it becomes; just as has happened with the Englewood facility. Renting out the administration building forces the District to become landlords and to pay taxes on it as income property.

Don Blom said the committee had asked many of the same questions during their discussions that others are asking now. After considering many options and several proposals, the concept of an education center is the proposal they felt was best.

Tom Bennett said he was impressed by depth of study done by the surplus facilities committee. He is not a proponent of disposing of district properties. However, Tom was persuaded by Sue’s comment about going forward even in difficult times and that the cost can be offset by disposal of appropriate surplus property. He was not constrained by the $310,000 appraisal. He was keen on using Milner Crest – it’s a central location, it makes good sense, and is a good idea to consolidate services. Tom was supportive of this proposal.

Wally said there are two issues – to go forward or not go forward; and the fair value if the decision is to sell Teakwood. He felt the appraisal was accurate. They may find a buyer willing to pay a little more, but he knows of many facilities that have remained unsold for a long time. Charlie Sharps recalled selling the school buildings at Green Acres and Sumner, and the cry from the community for selling Sumner school for $31,000 can still be heard. The appraisals on those two buildings were very low, and the Board was ridiculed for selling them at such a low amount. He said he would support the education center proposal. He recommended not selling Teakwood until the market value increased and would rather fund this project in another manner.

Answering to a request for audience comment, Ross Lorenzo, OSEA Chapter 33 President, asked if consideration had been given to bringing back laid-off employees to do the remodel in-house. He suggested they could provide a better quality job at a lower cost. Several carpenters and others gone who may be able to come back to handle this remodel – a better job and less money. Don Blom said that has been considered for at least for part of the job.