FRANKLIN REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS COMMITTEE-OF-THE-WHOLE MEETING MINUTES October 1, 2012 Heritage Elementary School A. BOARD MEMBER ATTENDANCE Present: Absent: Larry Borland, Herb Yingling, Roberta Cook, Jane Tower, Dennis Irvine, Paul Scheinert, Joe Seymour, Dennis Pavlik Kimberly Bondi B. AGENDA TOPIC 1. Superintendent s Report Middle School teacher Mr. Chris Cooley, as well as the members of the Board for the Serving Other Souls (SOS) organization at the Middle School presented an overview of the organization whose objective is to increase empathy and decrease apathy. Each of the students spoke about how they became involved with this organization and the good feeling they receive in return for helping those in need. The web site for SOS describes the organization as a servant-leadership group built to create leaders through service-based initiatives. The members of SOS are students of the Franklin Regional Middle School who are dedicated to helping individuals with great need. SOS members can offer their time, talent or treasure to SOS service projects that aim to improve the lives of those who need support. During the 2011-2012 school year, the $2811 raised by the SOS group generated $17,000 worth of help for those in need. Information on a fundraiser being organized by SOS Miles of Smiles For The Gals was distributed. This fundraiser will help to offset the costs incurred by two women who are currently fighting terminal cancer, as well as offer assistance to the family of another woman who fought a courageous battle against cancer until her death on August 12, 2012. 2. Paper of Record The Administration has requested the Penn Franklin News be approved as the official paper of record for all District legal notices and public relations matters. The District will continue to release the same information to other local papers, in compliance with the Sunshine Law.
The Board will be asked to take action on the above request at its voting meeting on October 15 th. 3. Relay for Life The 2013 Relay for Life has been scheduled for Saturday, May 18 th and Sunday, May 19 th, 2013, at Franklin Regional. Set up for the Relay will take place on Friday, May 17 th. On hand to seek the support of the Board and use of the District s facilities (at no cost) for the 2013 Relay were Rachelle Dever and Michelle Heil (American Cancer Society Staff Partner). The 2013 Relay will be the 11 th anniversary for the Relay for Life in Murrysville. The total funds raised during the 2012 Relay was $120,000. Youth and schoolrelated teams raised $80,000 of that total. The Board will take action on the request for its support and use of the District s facilities for the May 18-19, 2013 Relay at its regular voting meeting on October 15 th. 4. Special Education Policy Revisions Policy 7301/7303 Several recent changes made by the Pennsylvania Department of Education regarding Special Education have necessitated the need for revisions to two of the District s policies related to Special Education. Policy 7301 Special Education Programs for Exceptional Students will require a change under the heading of Discipline regarding suspensions A disciplinary exclusion of a disabled student for more than the ten (10) school days consecutively or more than fifteen (15) cumulative school days (or the PDE mandated maximum number of days) cumulative school days in a school year is considered a change in educational placement Policy 7303 Gifted Education reflects the change in the total number of gifted students which can be on an individual gifted teacher s caseload from 75 students to 65 students (or the PDE mandated number). Since these changes are state-mandated, there were no questions and the Board will take action on the required changes on October 15 th. 5. Capital Projects One capital project was presented to the Board for consideration hiring of the Architectural firm for the Heritage Elementary kitchen and cafeteria renovation. out of the seven firms that requested job specifications, there are two firms that are being considered Kudravy and HHSDR. There are several issues with the current kitchen that need to be addressed during this renovation: the kitchen currently is not a self-contained, fully functional kitchen; the height of the serving line was never converted from the height
appropriate for secondary students to a height appropriate for elementary students; the kitchen equipment is very old and maintenance prone; the cafeteria ttself needs new ceiling tile and new flooring and the walls need painted. A team of Administrators and a representative of Metz will visit several schools that utilized the services of both firms for their cafeteria renovation project. Upon the conclusion of these visits, a recommendation will be made to the Board for the hiring of an architectural firm. Funding for this renovation project will come from two separate funds the cost of the kitchen renovation ($160,000-$200,000) will be funded by the Food Service Account; the cafeteria renovation will be funded through the 2013/2014 Capital Plan. The Board will take action on the recommendation for an architectural firm for the Heritage Elementary School kitchen/cafeteria renovation project at the voting meeting scheduled for October 15 th. Mrs. Cook requested a report on the mandated nutrition changes and the effect, If any, those changes have made on the District s lunch program. 6. Equipment Donations Track Boosters In an effort to enhance their winter conditioning workout program and provide protection for the sand pit, the Track Boosters have donated the following equipment in the amount of $3,554.00: Training rope and eight (8) kettle balls Assorted DVD s (for use in training coaches) and eight (8) stopwatches A plyorobic runway for use during the winter months in order to provide a soft surface, free of ice, for the student athletes to work out on A weighted sand pit cover to protect the pit from wind erosion and foreign substances The Board will be asked to take action to accept the above donations at its voting meeting on October 15 th. 7. Seven Period Day A summary of the proposed schedule change for the Senior High School was presented by Mr. Ron Suvak, Senior High School Principal, and the following team of teachers: Teresa Becse, Julie Babal, Alicia Leopold, Katie Rutherford, Richard Sunny and Michelle Massetto. Included in the presentation were the rationale for the proposal; benefits to students; the structure of the schedule change; data supporting the recommendation and several sample student schedules. Following the PLC model recommendation, the faculty and staff at the Senior High School recognize the need for remediation and enrichment during the course of the regular school day rather than before or after school when jobs, sports and the
extracurricular activities of the students make it difficult for them to schedule time to meet with a teacher/teachers for extra help. Even students taking AP courses require extra help from time to time. Teachers noted that some students were giving up their lunch time to meet with their teachers. Just as students at the elementary and Middle School levels are given time during the day to seek the extra help they need, the same opportunities need to be made available to the Senior High School students; student and teacher schedules need to align. With the current schedule, only ninth graders have access to the help they require during the school day. Students who need remediation will be expected to attend the scheduled Quality Resource Time (QRT); it will not be an option for them. QRT will be teacherdirected common time for students and teachers and provide a more effective use of study hall time. Concentration on the core subjects will be the first priority. With the implementation of the seven period day, the Tuesday early dismissal at the Senior High School would be eliminated. Several parents and students expressed their concerns regarding the seven period day: Susan Kline Jan Gray Concern that the seven period day won t work for all students; some students will be hurt by not being able to schedule a course they need or want to take. (Parent) Concerned about the average student; help should be available to those students whose parents are not and will not get involved. Mrs. Gray noted that if the faculty and Administration are on board, the seven-period day deserved a try. (Parent) Kelly Mazon Encouraged parent involvement; don t wait until it s too late. Students need to transition from being fed to taking responsibility The existing support structure will not disappear with the seven period day. (Parent) Victoria Zhang, Luke Brennan and Alex Beebout expressed their concern about not being able to schedule the courses they want or need to take. The Board will be asked on October 15 th to take action on the Administration s recommendation to implement a seven-period day at the Senior High School for the 2013-2014 school year. 8. BYOD Policy and Procedures Members of the Policy Committee met to review proposed wording for the District s BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy and procedures. Wording for the development of the policies and procedures has been borrowed from policies and procedures currently in place in other school districts.
Hoping to implement a pilot program in the near future, teachers will be asked to help identify those students whose devices are not filtered and to assure they are using the District s system; 3g and 4g devices continue to be a concern. The District can help students connect to the District s wireless system, but will be unable to trouble shoot their device. Loaner computers will be available for those students who do not have their own devices. This policy and the accompanying procedures are being implemented in order for the District to catch up with what is currently occurring in other districts. Within the policy, the following are defined: purpose; authority; delegation of responsibility; guidelines and the definitions of a personally owned device, educational purposes and inappropriate communication. An Acceptable Use Policy for teacher-owned devices is already in place. The Board will be asked to take action on the proposed BYOD Policy and Procedures, on first reading, when it meets on October 15 th. 9. Policy 3300 Purchasing - Revision The Public School Code was recently amended to increase the amount at which school entities must advertise and seek bids for purchases and contracts. The threshold for advertising and seeking bids has increased from $10,000 to $18,500; the threshold for seeking quotes increased from $4,000 to $5,000. The Public School Code amendment also increases the threshold for which maintenance staff members can perform work from $5,000 to $10,000. This increase was effective July 1, 2012. These changes have been incorporated into the 3300 Series (Purchasing) of the District s Policy Manual. The Board will be asked to take action to approve the above changes, on first reading, at its regular voting meeting on October 15 th. 10. Banking Services Proposals for banking services were received from five (5) institutions in response to the District s RFP for such services PNC, First Commonwealth, Standard Bank, S&T and First National Bank (FNB). The main focus of the evaluation of the proposals was fees and interest earning opportunities. For the General Fund, FNB proposed a business checking account that would earn.45 percent interest on all balances in excess of $1,750,000 for eighteen months and would not drop below.40 percent for the length of the contract. For the Technology and Capital Funds, FNB proposed public funds money market accounts that would earn a guaranteed.40 percent on all balances for the duration of the contract. The Payroll account would earn.02 percent interest. The interest rates for these funds was significantly greater than those listed in the proposals from the other financial institutions.
The cost to transition the Athletic Fund, Athletic Referee Fund and the Food Service Fund would be far greater than the benefit realized. Therefore, it is the Administration s recommendation that these three accounts continue to be maintained with First Commonwealth. The Board will be asked to take action on October 15 th on the recommendation to approve a three year contract (with options to renew and terminate with 60-90 days written notice) with First National Bank (FNB) for banking services for the following District accounts: General Fund Checking; General Fund Money Market; Technology Fund Checking; Technology Fund Money Market; Capital Fund Checking; Capital Fund Money Market and Payroll Checking. 11. Tax Exoneration The District has received a request from the Municipality of Murrysville for the exoneration of property taxes owed on three parcels of land. The request for the first land parcel is for the years 2010-2012 and forward; the second land parcel dates include the years of 2005-2012 and forward; and the third land parcel is for the 2012 year and forward. The total annual property tax for the three land parcels combined is $381.41. The Board will take action on October 15 th on the Municipality s request for exoneration of property taxes owed on the three land parcels mentioned above. 12. Donations/Gifts Board policy dictates that all gifts to the District monetary or material be presented to the Board for approval/acceptance. The following is a listing of recent donations to the District: FREA Staff Fund-A-Meal $273.0 M/M James Crouse Fund-A-Meal $126.00 M/M Robert Isherwood Fund-A-Meal $100.00 East Suburban Unitarian Church Fund-A-Meal $82.38 FAST Timing Equipment for Pool $5,000.00 The Board will be asked to take action on the acceptance of the above donations on October 15 th. 13. Personnel The Certificated Personnel Report includes several requests for leaves of absence; recommendations for Long-Term Substitute Teacher positions; and an additional Substitute Teacher for the District s Substitute List. The Support Personnel Report includes recommendations for two permanent Playground Aides, as well as the recommendation for a Long-Term Substitute Playground Aide.
The Support Personnel Report includes several resignations and the recommendation for a Saturday Detention Aide. As there were no questions on any of the Personnel reports, the Board will take action on the recommendations during its voting meeting on October 15 th. C. Audience Recognition Debbie Wohlin Wondered about the speed of the wireless system with So many students logged on at the same time. Administration reassured her that issue has been addressed. D. Executive Session Board President Mr. Herb Yingling announced the Board had met in Executive Session prior to the start of the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting to discuss personnel and legal issues. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.