Board of Education Meeting Minutes March 10, 2014

Transcription

1 1 Board of Education Meeting Minutes March 10, 2014 The Whiteville City Board of Education met in regular session on March 10, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. in the Civic Room of the Central Services Building. Members present were Chairman Kandle Rogers, Vice-Chairman Jim DiMizio, Rev. Dave Flowers, Mr. Greg Merritt, and Mr. Carlton Prince. Others present were Superintendent Dr. Thomas Hager, Assistant Superintendent Anthony Martin, Finance Officer Annie Joson, Attorney Will Callihan, Assistant to the Superintendent Heather Dowless, Principals David Bobbitt, Shelly Cullipher, Chris Burton, Jes Sealey, and Susan Smith, and staff members. Chairman Rogers called the meeting to order. Opening Ceremonies were conducted. Mr. Merritt asked that an item be added to tonight s agenda. He asked that discussion regarding the Employee Supplement be added. Mr. Merritt made a motion to approve the agenda with this addition. Dr. DiMuzio seconded and the motion carried with a unanimous vote. There was one individual signed up for Public Comments. Betty Gail Kronenwetter extended an invitation to the Board members to attend the upcoming Edgewood Elementary School Talent Show. The show is scheduled for March 18, 2014 and the cost to attend is $3. This is a fundraiser to help with the cost of the AIG field trip to Washington, D.C. She stated it would be a great show and she invited everyone to come. It was noted students had auditioned to be included in the talent show. Mrs. Kronenwetter stated she hoped the community and the schools could get back to working together and referred to the good old days. She noted she recently read in the paper that there would be no tennis team this year. She stated she was disappointed to learn there would be no boys team because there were not enough for a team. She stated she hoped everyone would get involved with making the tennis courts better. Mrs. Kronenwetter stated there were large cracks on the courts and she noted it was a wonder the girls did not get hurt. She stated these were dangerous and she noted everyone was embarrassed when other teams came to the high school to play. It was noted the team did great even with these conditions. Mrs. Kronenwetter stated she had spoken with the mayor and city manager and they both asked her to come and speak at a meeting. It was suggested there would be discussions with town council members to see if they would be willing to look at repairing these tennis courts. It was suggested to check on grants as well. She noted there were ways to work together to get these courts fixed and show support. She stated these things would show that the school cares enough to fix the courts. It was noted many people use these courts and there are some that are out there at night. If these courts are repaired, people will come. Teams will gather again if they are shown they are cared for. Mrs. Kronenwetter stated this was important to her. She stated tennis was a great sport for young adults as it improved their self-esteem and was great exercise. She thanked the Board for their time. The Board thanked Mrs. Kronenwetter.

2 2 Mr. Merritt stated the Board had another meeting on the same night as the upcoming Talent Show at Edgewood Elementary School. He made a donation and asked that it be given to LeighAnn Merritt/AIG Teacher at the school to contribute towards this fundraiser. Dr. DiMuzio made a motion to approve the minutes from February 10, 2014 as written. Rev. Flowers seconded the motion and it carried with a unanimous vote. Mr. Prince made a motion to approve the minutes from February 20, 2014 as written. Dr. DiMuzio seconded the motion and it carried with a unanimous vote. Mr. Martin presented the Board with information regarding the Pro-Start Culinary Course at Whiteville High School. He stated this was a new course that needed to be approved by the Board. This course would begin for the 2014/2015 School Year and would bring back a foods course at the high school. He thanked Jes Sealey/Whiteville High School Principal and his staff for working hard to get everything ready for this course. It was noted foods courses had changed since the last time one was taught at the high school. Mr. Martin stated there was a wonderful opportunity from the Restaurant Association that would allow for a Pro-Start course. This is a nationally and state recognized program. If students complete the program and complete an internship, they can be eligible for scholarships at culinary schools across the nation. The state contact for the program has agreed to provide the curriculum at no cost to the school. They will also come to the school and look. Foods courses can be expensive if the school goes the commercial route. Using Pro-Start allows for teaching those higher order thinking skills and there is no commercial kitchen required. A home-style range and oven, etc. can be used. These updates are at a reasonable cost. The foods course was never removed from the high school. Dr. Hager recommended this course for the 2014/2015 School Year. He noted he had been involved with this program before and there were a lot of scholarships available. There was a group of Camp Lejeune students that competed and won. That group was flown to San Diego, California to participate in the national competition. The Seniors were offered up to $250K in scholarships. Rev. Flowers asked what grade level these classes would be taught, to which it responded the sophomore, junior, and senior years. There is a sequence to the courses and the curriculum can be more difficult as it is more advanced. In responding to a question by Mr. Merritt, Mr. Martin stated the Board never asked to take out the foods course. The last time this was taught was Dr. DiMuzio made a motion to approve the Pro-Start course at Whiteville High School. Mr. Merritt seconded the motion. Mr. Prince asked if this curriculum was approved by the North Carolina State Board of Education and if everything was in place for certification. Mr. Martin responded yes. He stated before bringing a foods course back to the high school, the district spoke with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The individual in charge of this section suggested this curriculum. Culinary Arts requires a commercial kitchen and this program does not. This tract opens students up for more scholarships.

3 3 Mr. Prince asked if the high school offered anything in foods now, to which Mr. Martin responded no. The motion was carried with a unanimous vote. Mr. Merritt stated this program sounded like a good deal. The Board was presented information regarding the Edgewood Elementary School Yearbook Contract for School Year 2014/2015. This contract is through Herff Jones. Dr. Hager stated the contract was the same as last year and at exactly the same price. Dr. Hager recommended this contract for approval. Rev. Flowers made a motion to approve the Yearbook Contract. Dr. DiMuzio seconded and the motion carried with a unanimous vote. Dr. Hager presented the Board with information regarding the Teacher Support Resolution. He stated there were three different versions sent as examples. Two of these were from the North Carolina School Boards Association. The second was written later with more information from the Governor. The third was from Montgomery County. Dr. Hager stated the Board had to decide if it wanted to prepare a resolution and, if so, which version. Mr. Merritt made a motion to accept version 2. Mr. Prince seconded the motion and it carried with a unanimous vote. The Board was presented with the calendar revisions for the days missed in February due to inclement weather. Dr. Hager stated one way was to use the number of hours. Each school has more than the required number of hours except for Whiteville Primary School. Whiteville Primary has the least amount of hours due to having the youngest students. The school has 7.25 hours to make up. It was noted the hours could be made up on a Saturday and could be used for Fun Day and Awards Day. This could be done the week after Memorial Day, as the students would only be going four days that week. Another option presented was to have the district make up those three days. There are a couple of ways to do this. The district could use Good Friday and the Thursday and Friday of Easter Break. The district could also use Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Easter Break. Dr. Hager recommended the district use the hours for every school and allow Whiteville Primary School to make up their time on that Saturday. Mr. Prince stated he believed very strongly that time-on-task was very important. He stated students had lost time because teachers had been sick. He stated while many families already have plans for Easter Break, a lot of marginal students will not be on vacation. Mr. Prince stated he favored taking Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Spring Break. He noted the district was not very much above the State average in scores. He stated the district should guard its time and stick to days and not minutes and hours. Rev. Flowers stated he thought the Board should take the Superintendent s recommendation. Rev. Flowers made a motion to approve this recommendation. He stated he had several calls regarding this already. Many people have already made plans for vacation and the Superintendent s recommendation would show a little heart to everyone. He noted he understood what Mr. Prince was saying but the Board did not have to be the big bad wolf in this situation. Dr. DiMuzio seconded the motion.

4 4 Chairman Rogers stated if there were more workdays it would help to make up those days missed in a beneficial way. However, she noted she did not think the district was going to get students to come if days were used during Easter Break. Mr. Merritt stated he heard what Mr. Prince was saying. Mr. Merritt stated he hoped this action would not cause any students to not make progress, but he felt the district could not take away Easter Break from the children. He noted he was torn about this but he had to go in favor of the community and the children and keep the full Easter Break. Dr. DiMuzio stated he agreed with time-on-task. He noted while the district needed more it should not mess with the break that is planned. He stated those students that attend on those days would be the same amount of students that would attend on a Saturday. The motion carried with a 4-to-1 vote. Mr. Prince gave the dissenting vote. Dr. Hager presented the Board with information regarding the moratorium for the Columbus College and Career Academy. He stated the Board revisited this issue every year. This item was tabled at last month s meeting. The Board will need to decide whether to continue the moratorium or change it. Rev. Flowers stated the moratorium had been working as it was and he stated he thought the district should stick with it. Rev. Flowers made a motion to continue the moratorium. Mr. Merritt seconded the motion. Dr. DiMuzio stated he was torn on this and he stated he had a problem with blanket rules like this one. He stated he would like to look at this on a case-by-case basis and he must stick with his convictions. Chairman Rogers stated she felt the same way as Dr. DiMuzio. Rev. Flowers stated he was not trying to take anything away from children and felt somewhat similar to Dr. DiMuzio and Chairman Rogers. He noted if a case-by-case basis were used, the Board would spend a lot of time looking at individual people. He stated what was being done was working so far. Mr. Prince stated he would have to vote to maintain the moratorium because he felt it was best for Whiteville City Schools and the situation at this time. The motion carried with a 4-to-1 vote. Dr. DiMuzio gave the dissenting vote. Mrs. Joson presented the Board with information regarding the 3 rd Party Audit Contract for School Year 2014/2015 with Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams, & Company. She stated the auditor would begin the process in the month of June if the contract is approved. This would be completed in October The contract is the same as last year and totals $13,200. It was noted the auditor had done good work for the last two years. Dr. DiMuzio made a motion to approve the 3 rd Party Audit Contract. Rev. Flowers seconded the motion. Mr. Prince stated he would like to have contracts, etc. ahead of time. He stated the Board should receive these items at the Board Work Session to allow more time to review. He stated this time it was ok. The motion carried with a unanimous vote. Mrs. Joson presented the Board with three Budget Amendments. There were revisions in the State Public School Fund, Federal Grants Fund, and Capital Outlay Fund. In the State Public School Fund, PRC 001 Classroom Teachers was reduced by.02 positions, which totals $1,234. This is based on an average teacher salary. This adjustment is based on the actual enrollment numbers for the North Carolina Virtual Public School. These numbers were based on the previous year. The district received

5 5 $1,825 in PRC 003 Non-Instructional Support. This will be budgeted towards custodial salaries. The district received $3,200 in PRC 085 mclass Reading 3D. These funds will be used to offset the cost of the mclass Reading kits purchased earlier in the year in addition to any computer-related equipment used to support the program. The Federal Grants Fund received large allotments. PRC 050 Title I saw a revenue adjustment of $813,321. This was carryover from the previous year. Mrs. Joson noted this had been available since late October to early November. Some of these funds were released to principals. Approval for these funds was delayed due to the district having to wait for the Budget Amendments to be approved by the state. These funds are being budgeted as previously planned in the Budget Work Session in June. The majority of these funds will go to Supplies and Materials for the schools to use. There is $242,032 kept in unbudgeted reserves to carry over. In PRC 017 Career Technical Education there was a slight difference in the actual allotment from the planning allotment. This was budgeted towards workshop expenses. PRC 049 IDEA-Pre School Handicapped was adjusted by $6,216. This was the prior year s carryover and it will be used towards miscellaneous supplies and materials. This will include the rubber install for the playground. PRC 119 IDEA Targeted Assistance for Pre School was adjusted for workshop expenses for Pre-K staff. PRC 118 IDEA Special Needs was adjusted for Reading Foundations workshop expenses and reading supplies and materials. Additional funds were carried over from the previous fiscal year in PRC 156 Race to the Top due to a purchase order that was not completed until the current year. This purchase order crossed fiscal years. The Capital Outlay Fund will receive a reimbursement of $50,000 for security-related expenses. This will go towards any security purchases. There will be an adjustment to the Fund Balance by $40K. This will cover painting expenses that are estimated to require $37,500. An additional $2,500 is required for network expenses that were budgeted in the previous year but not completed until the current year. Dr. Hager recommended the Budget Amendments for approval. Dr. DiMuzio made a motion to approve. Mr. Merritt seconded the motion and it carried with a unanimous vote. Mr. Merritt discussed the employee supplement. He stated the Board previously told the district s employees it would like to see them receive their annual supplement if the district had it. He stated after the audit results last month it looks like the Fund Balance is doing rather well. He noted it was time for the Board to take action and vote on giving employees their annual supplement. Mr. Merritt made a motion to give employees their supplement in full. Mr. Prince seconded the motion. Rev. Flowers stated this supplement was due and it would provide great morale for teachers. He noted teachers had been through a lot and this would be a boost. He stated the district did not want to lose anybody. It was stated happy teachers led to happy students. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.

6 6 The Board was reminded of upcoming activities. There will be a meeting with the County Commissioners on Tuesday, March 18, The Board Walk-Throughs are scheduled for Friday, March 21, The Board Personnel Session is scheduled for Tuesday, April 29, Upcoming meeting dates were noted for all Board members: Thursday, April 10, 2014 (6:30 p.m.) Board Work Session Monday, April 14, 2014 (6:30 p.m.) Regular BOE Meeting Dr. DiMuzio made a motion to go into closed session pursuant to NC General Statute (a)(6). Mr. Prince seconded the motion, and the Board approved by unanimous vote. Upon a motion by Mr. Prince and a second by Dr. DiMuzio, the Board unanimously voted to return to open session. Dr. DiMuzio made a motion to approve the superintendent s personnel recommendations and Mr. Merritt seconded. The motion carried with a unanimous vote. Dr. DiMuzio made a motion to go into closed session pursuant to NC General Statute (a)(6). Mr. Prince seconded the motion, and the Board approved by unanimous vote. Upon a motion by Dr. DiMuzio and a second by Rev. Flowers, the Board unanimously voted to return to open session. Mr. Prince stated the district was getting ready to go into budgeting season. He stated the Board should get budgets ahead of time to allow them to review. He stated the Board should not get budgets and make decisions on these in the same night. Chairman Rogers adjourned the meeting after a motion by Dr. DiMuzio and a second by Mr. Prince. Original Signed Mrs. Kandle Rogers, Chairman C.T. Hager, Ed.D.