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Highland School District #203

Regular Board Meeting

Highland High School

June 19, 2007

 

Chair Julie Smith opened the Public Hearing to review the Request for ASB and Capital Projects BudgetExtensions at 6:45 pm. Others in attendance: Board Members DeeDee Trepanier, Nikki Keller and Becky Laughery; Superintendent Gary Masten; Principals Greg George, Andy Woehler, Trevor Greene, and Janice Sauve; Student Services Director Barb Gilbert; Director of Business and Operations Dean Schlenker; Principal Intern Eric Diener; HEA Co-President Teresa Long; Payroll Officer Roberta Harris, Accts. Payable/Purchasing Agent Staci Fordahl; Admin Assistant Lynette Hammarstrom, Food Service Supervisor Carla Borland, Recording Secretary Sharon Fisher; and several patrons of the district.

Dean reviewed the reasons for the ASB and Capital Projects Budget Extensions. There was discussion and the Board took questions from the audience.

The June 19, 2007, Regular Board Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Chair Julie Smith. Present in addition to those above: Board Member Bruce Allen, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Mike Lewis, Teachers Sue Godfrey, Margo Gonzalez, Linda Trepanier and additional patrons of the district.

Julie announced an amendment to the agenda: under Communications, she would like to add item 1a. Review Board Meeting Protocols – Audience Participation. This is covered by Policies 1400,1410 and 1430.

Becky Laughery led the flag salute.

It was moved by DeeDee and 2 nd by Becky they approve the Minutes of the

May 15, 2007 Regular Board Meeting and the June 5, 2007 Special Board Meeting;

motion passed.

COMMUNICATIONS

Julie presented Scottie Pride Awards to Teacher Margo Gonzalez, Parent Volunteer Cindy Reed, and Board Member Nikki Keller. Reese Kerslake was not present at this time. Those recipients unable to attend: TIS Teacher Dennis Richardson.

Julie presented retirees Sue Godfrey, MWC teacher and Lynette Hammarstrom, district administrative assistant, with plaques and thanked them for their many years of service to the students and staff of our district. At 7:05 pm Julie called for a short recess so those present could enjoy refreshments.

The meeting was reconvened at 7:25 pm. Julie presented Reese Kerslake, TIS teacher who had joined the meeting during the recess, with a Scottie Pride Award.

Julie passed out copies of District Policies 1400, 1410 and 1430 establishing procedures for audience and patron participation during board meetings. She reviewed the policies and explained the Board would set times throughout the meeting and before board action when the audience would be given the opportunity to comment and ask questions. If an individual wishes to place an item on the agenda and address the Board they should complete the Speaker’s Request form and submit it to the secretary by the Thursday before the Board Meeting. Speakers will be limited to 3 minutes. Julie also explained Executive or Closed Sessions as defined in Policy 1410.

Gary discussed the Chamber of Commerce report on student job shadows, which are part of the graduation requirement, and said we have renewed our partnership with the Chamber to provide this service.

Gary read a letter from Tara Wyckoff, MWC teacher, who resigned to accept a position in West Valley.

Gary reviewed the letter from OSPI approving our request for Emergency Closure of the High School/Junior High on Monday, June 11 due to broken water pipes.

OLD BUSINESS

 Julie said the Board Retreat Agenda would be amended to include at break at 10:00 am to coincide with the arrival of the administrators.

Nikki moved, 2 nd by Bruce that the Board approved Resolution #9-06 Budget Extensions – Capital Projects and ASB; motion passed.

Gary reviewed the decision to cut “C” squads for the 2007-07 school year due to budget concerns. Mike reviewed his spreadsheet and associated costs of “C” squad officials and transportation. There was discussion on whether or not the District can fund “C” squads and if so, how many. It was decided that discussion of this issue would continue later this summer. Gary asked Mike to share information about Title IX and the need to offer the same number of opportunities for boys and girls. In response to a patron question about athletic funding, Gary and Julie explained that all extracurricular funding comes from Levy money as the state does not fund any extracurricular programs. Various fundraising scenarios were discussed and DeeDee offered to explore the option of a Highland Booster Club and contact former Booster Club organizers. Dean will discuss budget impact at a work study session.

Julie said that the Board is bringing back Community Forums and they will be held quarterly. Patrons are encouraged to attend. The first Community Forum for 2007-08 will be held on July 17 at 6:00 pm in the HHS Commons, prior to the Regular Board Meeting which will be rescheduled to start at 7:30 pm. The forums will be advertised through reader boards, newspaper ads, public service announcements, postings at businesses, post offices and the District website.

NEW BUSINESS

Gary said the Social Studies textbook adoption will be postponed due to lack of a formal presentation, so there was no Board Action on this item. Eric Diener discussed the need to separate Washington State History from Humanities due to the change to a 6-period day which will require 2 trimesters of Washington State History and 1 of civics and local government. The new curriculum is needed to address this separation.

The Board agreed to hold their Regular Board Meeting on July 17, as scheduled, except that it will begin at 7:30 pm following the Community forum. They decided there would be no work study session on July 3.

 Dean discussed the annual WSP inspection of our district vehicles which went very well, and complimented Mark Williams, Steve Erickson and Dan Clayton for their hard work in getting the buses ready for the inspection. We should receive a formal letter from WSP soon.

Gary reviewed the risk management analyses for seven athleticsummer programs that will be submitted to our insurance company.

Nikki discussed the WSSDA Request for Association Position Proposals. These will all be voted on at the WSSDA conference in November.

Administrator Reports:

Janice reported that 72 kinders are already registered and that is very high for this time of year. She said it has been a wonderful year and she and her staff are all looking forward to this next year, with 4 teachers at each grade level allowing small class sizes. She added that Linda Evans and Margaret Lane are attending a one-week Math Range-Finding workshop for WASL. Gary explained the meaning of “range-finding” within the scope of the WASL’s.

Dean discussed the MWC playgrounds and estimated the playground equipment should be back in place by mid-July now that school is out and more of the crew is available for grounds work. The Job Corps is on summer break right now, but will resume work on the soccer fields after break.

Greg reported that we had good news on the 10 th Grade Math WASL – this year’s preliminary score is 52% as compared to 37% last year. Gary mentioned the Class of 2008 graduation requirements and that all students will go through the diploma ceremony. He added that the diplomas will all look the same, with the transcripts differentiating between those who passed and those who did not.

Andy said that TIS had a very successful “Olympics” at the end of school. TIS teachers are aligned for 6 th grade and prepared to loop to 5 th. In response to a patron question he estimated 23 to 26 students per class in the 4 th and 5 th grades and 27-28 per class in 6 th grade.

Eric reported that the scheduling transition from 5 to 6 periods a day went well. Greg will bring copies of the master schedule to the Board Retreat for the Board’s review.

Trevor reported that the math unit development is proceeding nicely and that Tom Boyce was here Monday and Tuesday to present a workshop. He added that the investigation regarding the recent lockdowns is continuing.

Barb said Summer School will start July 9. There are 65 students signed up for K-6 and approximately 12 for grades 7-12. For KinderCamp, there are 18 incoming kinders scheduled for each of the 4 weeks. All Juniors passed the writing WASL, 22 need to take math, 6 need to pass reading. The Special Ed and Bilingual test results are not back yet. With the addition of the new speech language pathologis, Barb said she is fully staffed. She is working on grants and a grant that could fund PCHP will be submitted in January.

Bruce asked about all-day Kindergarten funding. Dean said we’re still in the running for 07-08 and should be funded for sure in 2008-09. He said Janice completed the application and we just have to wait for OSPI to notify us, which should hopefully be by July 15. He will monitor the website to see what happens with the funding.

Dean gave the Budget Status report and explained how the district’s staffing is affected by the decline in enrollment. There was additional discussion on enrollment projections.

Gary reviewed the Personnel Report. It was amended to exclude the 2007-08 staffing recommendation list, which was not attached, and to delete the Speech Language Pathologist listed under open positions, since that position has been filled. It was also noted that the opening for HHS Head Girls Basketball Coach position should be approved for posting. DeeDee moved, 2 nd by Nikki that the Personnel Report be approved as amended; motion passed.

In response to a patron question about a part-time position, Gary stated that we have to stay within our staffing limitations.

Legislature Report: Nikki had no legislative report.

It was moved by DeeDee and 2 nd by Becky they pay the General Fund bills for $141,919.96 with warrants 45332 through 45471; the ASB Fund bills for $16,725.34 with warrants 4038 through 4061; Payroll for $257,272.37 with warrants 45472 through 45548; $304,282.26 by direct deposit and the Capital Projects bill for $54,952.55 with warrant 320; motion passed.

At 9:50 pm the Board went into Executive Session to discuss a Real Estate issue. There was no audience present. Julie announced she expected the Session to last approximately 20 minutes.

The Regular Board Meeting was reconvened at 10:10.

There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 pm.

 

 

Highland School District #203

Special Board Meeting

District Office

June 5, 2007

 

 The June 5, 2007 Special Board Meeting was called to order by Chair Julie Smith at 7:05 am. Others present: Board Members Bruce Allen, Nikki Keller, Becky Laughery and DeeDee Trepanier; Superintendent Gary Masten, Director of Business and Operations Dean Schlenker and Recording Secretary Sharon Fisher.

Gary suggested that Dean do his presentations and the communications can be discussed later in the agenda.

Dean reviewed the Cash Balance Report and said the cash balance through May is up approximately $50,000 from last year. This is due to reduction in professional development costs, reduction in curriculum needs, new diesel allocation for transportation, utility cost decreases and saving $21,000 on extracurricular activities due to the “C” squad cuts made last year. We are also generating a 5.22% interest income from the General Fund, which generates approximately $25,000 per year.

Dean passed out preliminary copies of the 2007-2008 Budget and asked the Board to take it home, review it and he will go over it and answer questions at the Board Retreat. He reviewed some of the highlights of the budget and said extracurricular schedule was reduced this year and expenses will be approximately $350,000 at year-end.

DeeDee asked about the status of the “C” squads. Gary said he discussed this with Athletic Director Mike Lewis and will report later in the meeting.

Dean discussed the Cowiche Mill Road property owned by the district. Van Wyk Ranches would like to buy the .9 acre parcel which adjoins their property if the district intends to surplus the lot. Gary explained that we have to use the surplus bid process to dispose of any real estate, as it cannot be sold outright. He said we will go look at the property and report back at the June 19 Regular Board meeting.

Dean discussed the Capital Projects and ASB Budget extensions. The reason for the Capital Projects budget extension is to complete the summer project. The ASB spent down its reserves on large purchases for the student store, state tournaments and soccer uniforms and the ASB budget needs to be extended. Dean noted that a Public Hearing on the Budget Extensions will be held at 6:45 pm on June 19 with a resolution for Board action on the June 19 Agenda.

Dean discussed the need for a new Food Service freezer and referred the Board to the handout he prepared. The old one is no longer reliable. Food Service has capacity in the budget for the new freezer, which Dean is recommending. Bruce Allen moved that the Board approve the purchase of the new freezer; second by Nikki Keller. The motion passed.

MWC Principal Janice Sauve joined the meeting at 7:55 am.

Two bids were received for the renovation of the Junior/Senior High School heating system. Dean stated that the renovation will probably save $30 to $32,000 per year in propane costs. The bids were from Central Valley Mechanical at $170,738 and Advantage at $115,105. The majority of the difference was that CVM asked Johnson Mechanical to do the controls connection and programming at a cost of $40 thousand. Dean said that with the $40,000 in funds not transferred to purchase a new bus and $50,000 QZAB money, we’ll begin to see a return in the second year. We will have to put the $50,000 back in Capital Projects to pay off the QZAB bonds. There was further discussion. Becky Laughery moved with second by DeeDee Trepanier, that the Board accept the Advantage bid for renovation of the Junior/Senior High School heating system. The motion was approved.

Dean discussed the need for payment of one ASB bill at this time. It is necessary to replenish the HHS ASB Imprest Account which has been depleted due to the expenses of so many Highland teams participating in state tournaments and outstanding payments to be made this month from that account. Nikki moved, with 2nd by Becky, that they pay the ASB Fund bill for $3,377.18 with warrant 4037. Motion passed.

Gary discussed the K-9 Solutions contract and the recent lockdown at the high school/junior high. He assured the Board that this company does have insurance coverage. He explained that the two canine handlers are Yakima Police officers who work with K-9 dogs. However, the business and their dogs are not associated with YPD, and the officers do this work only when are off duty.

Gary told the Board that we have made reservations at the Westin Hotel for the WSSDA conference and referred them to the packet containing the list of workshops. They can make their workshop selections at a later date. The Board agreed that they would leave early Wednesday and return late Friday evening, as in past years. Bruce said he has a conflict again and will probably not be able to attend. Gary suggested that we leave the reservations as scheduled for now and we can cancel Bruce’s later if necessary.

There was discussion on Board members whose terms expire this year and their need to file by this Friday, June 8. Gary added that filing concludes early this year due to the early election scheduled for August.

Gary referred the Board to the Board Retreat Agenda items. Dean did a brief review of the budget. He shared that we were able to add a teaching position due to Special Education funding formula changes. Basic Ed no longer has to support Special Ed. This means that we have to add a new teacher position or lose the funding. Dean added that the extracurricular budget includes the coaching stipends that are tied to the state increase. Due to differences between the old heating system at MWC and the new geothermal system, our year-to- date heating cost is $20,431 this year as compared to $55,000 last year. He suggested the Board review the budget and bring questions back to him before or at the June 19 Regular Board meeting.

There was discussion of the Levy items in the budget. Dean presented a spread sheet that itemized how the district’s levy funds will be allocated in 2007-08

If enrollment increases we can get close to 7.5 % reserve for next year. Dean said we are within three districts of making the cut for full-day kindergarten funding. The preliminary budget is at ESD 105 being reviewed and will not be final until July when the Board will approve the budget.

Julie Smith asked about the effect of adding “C” squads. Gary said that would impact the budget. He added if full-time kindergarten funding happens, that would return some money. Julie said there have been many complaints about dropping “C” squads. Bruce said we need to look at the whole picture of “C” squads for all sports, not just basketball. There was some discussion of extracurricular transportation with regard to “C” squads. The “C” squad issue will be tabled until the June meeting.

Julie said the BoardRetreat Agenda was sent to all Board members electronically. The times were estimated. She requested that the members come with the Board evaluation filled out and also that the administrators will be asked to evaluate the Board. The Admin team will also participate in the analysis of goals and outcomes. Dean will present a budget synopsis in the afternoon.

Gary presented the Personnel Report. Julie suggested the Board Retreat include a discussion with administrators regarding plans of improvement and the teacher evaluation process. Bruce moved that the Board accept the Personnel Report. DeeDee seconded; the motion was approved

At 9:05 am, Julie called for an Executive Session to discuss a personnel complaint. She estimated the meeting would last 30 minutes. There was no audience present.

The Special Board meeting was reconvened at 9:35 am. A patron letter to the Board was discussed and it was decided that the Board Chair will author a letter of response from the Board and another board member will deliver it to the patrons.

Chair Julie Smith adjourned the Special Board Meeting at 9:45 am.