Butte Falls School District #91 P.O. Box 228 720 Laurel Ave Butte Falls, OR 97522 (541) 865-3563 Fax (541) 865-3217 Accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges UNOFFICIAL MINUTES OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETING WEDNESDAY, DATE/TIME/PLACE: A meeting of the school board of Butte Falls School District 91 was held on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the district office meeting room, 720 Laurel Avenue, Butte Falls, OR. CALL TO ORDER: Steve Nelson, Dan Murphy, Shone Ellis, Kara Blake ADMINISTRATION: Dr. David Courtney, Dianne Gorman SECRETARY: Judi Sizemore PUBLIC: Hanna Kuykendall, Bret McGonagle, Julie Freeman, Catherine Cogdill, Lindsey Miller, Howard George, Joe Sixta, Dan Weaver APPROVE AGENDA: Mr. Nelson announced that the agenda would be amended to include Items 1.2 Appoint New Board Member and 1.3 Board Member Resignation. MOTION Mr. Murphy, seconded Mrs. Blake to approve the agenda as amended. Voted and carried. 4 yes, 0 no votes. APPOINT NEW BOARD MEMBER: The board received an application for board position #4 from Bret McGonagle. MOTION Mr. Murphy, seconded Mrs. Blake to appoint Bret McGonagle to fill position #4. Voted and carried. 4 yes, 0 no votes. The position will run through June 30, 2015. BOARD MEMBER RESIGNATION: Mr. Nelson read a letter from Shone Ellis in which she resigned from board position #2 effective February 12, 2015. MOTION Mr. Murphy, seconded Mrs. Blake to accept Mrs. Ellis s resignation. Voted and carried. 4 yes, 0 no votes. Mr. Murphy thanked Mrs. Ellis for her service and stated that although they did not always agree on issues, he appreciated her attendance at the meetings. Mr. Nelson agreed. NEW BUSINESS: SOUTHERN OREGON ESD RESOLUTION PROGRAMS/ Howard George, business manager for SOESD, was present to answer any questions the board had concerning the ESD s 2015-2016 Local Service Plan and resolution programs. He told the board that the ESD furnishes support in three areas: special education, technology,
BOARD MEETING MINUTES -2- and school improvement. He explained that some of the graphs in the document reflected that one of the districts (Grants Pass) had opted out of the services offered. Mr. George answered questions about the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, RTI, media resources, and wireless surveys. Mr. Murphy asked if the distance learning for second languages was available to all districts. Mr. George replied that the courses can be made available. Currently the ESD offers Spanish and Chinese. Mrs. Blake asked how long the language courses had been offered. Mr. George said that Chinese was in the second or third year and Spanish had been offered longer. After a brief discussion, MOTION Mr. Murphy, seconded Mrs. Blake to approve the 2015-2016 Southern Oregon Local Service Plan. Voted and carried. 5 yes votes, 0 no votes. CONSENT AGENDA: MINUTES/ MOTION Mr. Murphy, seconded Mrs. Blake to approve the work session and board meeting minutes of January 13, 2015. Voted and carried. 5 yes votes, 0 no votes. PAYMENT OF BILLS/ The bills were presented to the board. Questions were answered regarding purchases from the robotics and charter school grants. COMMUNICATION/ REPORTS: ENROLLMENT/ 159 students as of January 31, 2015. FINANCIAL SUMMARY/ Mrs. Sizemore reviewed the annual cash flow chart. As of the end of January, the district had received 64.7% of its revenue and spent 50.7% of budgeted expenditures for the year. SCHOOL UPDATE/ Dr. Courtney reported that he had spoken to the engineering company about the seismic grant. The first round of grants went to emergency services. There will be another grant application period this fall with construction beginning in the summer of 2016. FBLA coach Joe Sixta told the board that nineteen (19) students qualified at district for the state competition in April, with six students placing first in their areas. Mrs. Blake accompanied two students to Stanford University for a speech competition. Neither student reached the finals, but won some preliminary rounds. She added that the students received instant feedback from the judges, which was very valuable. Mrs. Gorman reported that the girls basketball team may qualify for the district playoffs. The high school wrestling team held their first home match. Mr. McGonagle stated that everyone seemed to enjoy the meet. Parents hosted a hospitality room for the visiting teams and fed the athletes.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES -3- Mrs. Gorman said that the baseball and softball teams would be cooping with Prospect due to insufficient numbers to field teams. She added that the decision was made after conferring with Dr. Courtney, the athletic director, and the coaches. Mrs. Blake asked how many were needed to field a softball team. Mrs. Gorman replied that the coaches handbook sets a minimum number of thirteen (13) for baseball and softball teams. Mrs. Blake said that the students claim there are enough students to form a team. After a lively discussion, Mr. Nelson called a short recess and left the room to confer with Dr. Courtney. When they returned, Mr. Nelson stated that the administration had made the decision based on discussion with the coaches and other considerations. He added that there would not be a baseball or softball team at Butte Falls this year. Mrs. Gorman stated that students, in cooperation with the Community Health Center, would put on a NO MORE performance for the student body regarding bullying. Spirit Week will be the first week of March. NCLB (ESEA)/ Mrs. Freeman told the board that the district passed the three-year audit of the Title funds by ODE. She met with representatives of ODE on January 23 rd in Medford. There were no findings. BUTTE FALLS CHARTER SCHOOL/NATURAL RESOURCE CENTER/ The next Charter Board/Site Council meeting will be Wednesday, February 18 th. CHARTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS GRANT/ Ms. Miller reported that the US Department of Education will be sending a team in April for a site visit. They will be talking to staff, parents, and students. A report is due in March prior to the site visit. She added that a media consultant is ready for approval and everything is moving along on target. BUTTE FALLS COMMUNITY SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP/ Mr. Murphy stated that the partnership board would be meeting the following evening and would be faced with some tough financial decisions. They may have to cut some of the programs currently offered at The Landing. PUBLIC/ Technology Coordinator Catherine Cogdill told the board that the phone stipends currently paid to the administrative staff could create liability for the district if the phones were misused. Secondary student Hannah Kuykendall read a statement criticizing the science program and stating that students were not learning anything in the classes. She asked why no action has been taken to correct the issue. Dr. Courtney told her that the board meeting was
BOARD MEETING MINUTES -4- not the right forum to address curriculum and directed her to speak with Principal Gorman outside the public meeting. As a new board member, Mrs. Blake asked what to tell parents who come to her with school issues. Mrs. Ellis replied that she should tell them to follow procedure and go through the chain of command. OLD BUSINESS: STUDENT DRUG TESTING POLICY/ Mrs. Gorman pointed out that the district currently has a policy that allows drug testing on athletes. She asked the board to adopt the revised student drug testing policy that extends testing to all extra-curricular activities and clubs. Mr. Murphy stated that he wants the policy to be limited in scope and application. He does not support unlimited testing. Mr. McGonagle asked for a definition of extra-curricular activities. Mrs. Gorman stated that the definition is in the policy. After a lengthy discussion, MOTION Mrs. Ellis, seconded Mr. McGonagle to adopt board policy JCIA Student Drug Testing. Mr. Murphy requested a roll call vote. Mrs. Ellis voted yes; Mr. McGonagle voted yes; Mrs. Blake voted no; Mr. Murphy voted no; Mr. Nelson voted yes. Voted and carried. 3 yes votes, 2 no votes. The administrative regulation (AR) that accompanies the policy details both pre- and post-procedures to be used in the testing process. Review of the AR was tabled for discussion at the March board meeting. BOARD POLICY ING PET/ANIMAL/DOG POLICY/ Mrs. Sizemore told the board that she had revised the current policy based on board discussion to include school grounds during school hours and/or events. MOTION Mr. Murphy, seconded Mrs. Ellis to adopt revised board policy ING. Voted and carried. 5 yes votes, 0 no votes. BASKETBAL/WRESTLING PROGRAMS/ Mr. Nelson asked Mr. McGonagle to report on the wrestling team. Mr.McGonagle stated that the program is going well. Some conflicts with basketball have happened. Students are choosing which event they will attend. Mr. Nelson said that next year, the students will probably have to choose which sport they will participate in before season begins. NEW BUSINESS: APPROVE REVISED CALENDAR/ The district calendar was revised by moving spring conferences from April 9 th and 10 th to April 2 nd and 3 rd. The move was made because the FBLA state competition will be held April 9 th through 11 th. MOTION Mr. Murphy, seconded Mrs. Blake to approve the revised calendar. Voted and carried. 5 yes votes, 0 no votes. GRANT COMMITTEE/ Mr. Nelson had proposed a committee or procedure to oversee grants for the district. Mrs. Sizemore shared some forms that would cover grant application and administration.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES -5- The forms included intent to file for a grant, grant application, and oversight. All grant applications will need to be approved in advance by the administration and business office. ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION POLICY/ Dr. Courtney reviewed a policy governing student athletic participation. The district does not have this optional policy. He suggested that the board may want to consider adopting a similar policy before September to avoid issues that have arisen this school year. The policy will be discussed at a later date. TRANSPORTATION/ Mr. Nelson asked about the recent issues with transportation. Mrs. Sizemore replied that there are only three bus drivers at this time and if one is on a trip, the other two must stay to do the regular routes. This has led to lack of school transportation for some events. She added that three people had approached her about driver training but only one had completed the required procedures necessary for training. That person is currently being trained. PERSONNEL: COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD: PENDING RETIREMENTS/ Mr. Nelson asked if the district had received notification of teacher retirements. Dr. Courtney replied that one letter had been received. The district is currently advertising to fill that vacancy. Mr. Nelson asked what endorsements are requested. Dr. Courtney said that endorsements for core areas are required and any additional endorsement areas are advantageous to the applicants. Until the applications are screened, possible subject areas are not known. Mrs. Ellis commented, Thank you and good night! Mr. McGonagle said he is willing to work as a board member. He is there for the kids and he wants what s best for them. He added that the board needs to recognize what the students want. Mr. Nelson commented that it had been a long meeting and many things were discussed. Mr. Murphy asked if the district was paying for the district wrestling tournament at Santiam. Mrs. Sizemore replied that the district would cover the cost of motel rooms for the coach and students. There was not a bus driver available for the trip. The district was providing bus transportation to the pre-district meet in Culver. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:14 p.m.