BOARD MEETING 10-8-07
School Board Minutes
PENDER PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING MINUTES
Pender Public School – Room #110
October 8, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.
The Pender Public School Board of Education met in regular session in Room 110 on Monday, October 8, 2007. President Connie Felber called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. with the following members present: Connie Felber, Matt Peters, Robert McQuistan, and Dan Wichman. Absent: Jean Karlen and J.J. Maise. Also present were Superintendent/Elementary Principal Joe Sherwood, Secondary Principal Jason Dolliver and Recording Secretary Barb Preston. Visitors: CoraLynn Malmberg, Dayleen Liakos, Rusty Bartlett, Shauna Kinning, Lonnie Ford, and Norvin “Fuzz” Hansen. Also present representing Siemens were Lee Hall and Mike Hines.
President Felber notified those present that as of July 1, 2006, Nebraska Statute 84-1412(8) requires that the public be informed about the location of posted information regarding the Open Meetings Act and drew their attention to the copy posted in the meeting room and accessible to all members of the public.
President Felber reviewed the agenda as presented, was informed by Robert McQuistan that he had not received his packet in the mail as of meeting time, affirmed that all other board members had received notice of the meeting and that the time and place of the meeting had been published. The agenda was approved as presented by consensus.
Motion to approve the minutes of the September 17, 2007 regular meeting was made by McQuistan and seconded by Peters. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
J.J. Maise arrived at 7:10 p.m.
A motion to approve payment of bills as follows: General Fund - $145,817.28; Hot Lunch Fund - $11,242.35; Employee Benefit Fund - $822.00; and Payroll - $108,310.49 was made by Wichman, seconded by McQuistan. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
Secondary Principal Jason Dolliver presented his administrative report using a Power Point presentation and reported that two new secondary students had enrolled and one student moved resulting in net enrollment of 153 students. Homecoming week activities were highlighted and candidates were announced. As a result of the request for band instrument donation, the district has received a clarinet from Brooke Sauter, a clarinet from Frederick Mann and a glockenspiel from Deana Lampe. It is expected that a trombone and a trumpet will be donated in the near future. Mr. Dolliver expressed thanks to Mr. Dregalla for spearheading the donation drive and those who have donated instruments. An athletics update for volleyball, football, girls golf and cross country was provided, as well as, highlights of upcoming FFA activities. Mr. Dolliver praised Gary Walker and Corky Malmberg for providing an opportunity for students to star gaze recently. This great learning experience allowed the physics students to teach elementary students about constellations. Mr. Dolliver shared that he had taken advantage of professional development opportunities through a Balanced Leadership workshop and Peer Review training. The first quarter ends on October 19th and Parent-Teacher conferences will be held from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday, October 26th. On September 26th, Community Character Development Coalition (CCDC) provided the first of 3 free assemblies for students in grades 6-12 addressing issues such as underage drinking, bullying and premarital sex/STD’s.
Elementary Principal Joe Sherwood using a Power Point presentation shared his plans to present Character Assemblies to grades P-2 and 3-6 on October 15th. Mr. Sherwood reported that probationary teacher evaluations are scheduled for this week and non-probationary evaluations will begin in November. Elementary Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for October 26th from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. We will not be utilizing appointments this year. Parents will be able to come when it is convenient for them and we will evaluate this process after this round of Parent-Teacher conferences.
As part of his Superintendent’s Report, Mr. Sherwood provided information on Balanced Leadership conferences where he was a trainer and upcoming training that will be available as part of the NASB State Education Conference. Additionally, Mr. Sherwood reported that a roof between the ag ed building and hallway needed to be repaired and the cost of the repair kit was $560. The annual district insurance premium totaled $54,130 and represented a reduction in annual premium from last year.
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment (CIA) Director Sherwood reviewed information that Jason Dolliver and he presented at the staff inservice last week.
President Felber implemented the Procedures for Public Comment established by the board in January. No one took advantage of the opportunity to address the board at this time.
Superintendent Sherwood introduced Lee Hall, Siemens representative, and asked the board to ask questions, discuss the information after the presentation was made to possibly consider moving forward with the performance contract concept. Mr. Hall distributed handouts to each board member and reviewed Siemens Building Technologies partnerships, Pender Public School needs and how performance contracting works. After a question and answer session and discussion, Board consensus was to refer the concept to the Building and Grounds Committee members for further consideration and to ask the committee to make a recommendation at the November meeting.
Superintendent Sherwood presented survey information provided by area schools on long term sub rates. Most of the area schools pay 1/185th of base as a daily rate after 10 consecutive days of subbing for the same teacher. Mr. Sherwood recommended that the board approve 1/185th of base beginning on the 11th consecutive day.
Motion was made by Wichman, seconded by Peters that the District compensate a long-term sub at a rate of 1/185th of base beginning on the 11th consecutive day of subbing for the same teacher. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
J.J. Maise, Transportation Committee Chairperson, reported that the committee felt further transportation decision should be postponed until more information becomes available on the sun setting of the 15-passenger vans and after the new mini-van arrives and has been in use for a period of time.
Activities Director Lonnie Ford presented a prioritized list of possible expenditures above and beyond the normal yearly budget. The plan included $40,000 cash reserve, new junior high uniforms, underground sprinklers for the football field, digital video camera and equipment, football field scoreboard update, weight room equipment, conversion of an existing room for dressing and showering for coaches and officials, new goal posts, new visitor bleachers, new golf bags and jackets, varsity girls and boys basketball traveling outfits and warm ups, basketball rebounding machine and marching band uniforms. This plan is a long-range plan and was well received by board members. Board members agreed that the Policy Committee should interpret how to approve expenditures through the Activity Fund using the policies currently in place.
Superintendent Sherwood shared that the Heese Event Center committee when looking at a way to raise the last $7-10,000 for sound and lighting for the Event Center, were approached by a representative from a Sioux City company about the possibility of purchasing an informative sign to replace the sign currently near the football field. The sign would either be a 3-4 line sign ($6,400) like is currently in place or a LED sign ($17,500) which would allow the message to be changed frequently. Mr. Sherwood distributed drawings of the two signs and further explained that the company would be willing to make an additional $10,000 donation to the Event Center. Mr. Sherwood asked Board members to consider moving forward with the donation of this sign allowing the Board final approval. Board consensus was to gather more information regarding exact location of the new sign, advertising proposed, Nebraska Department of Roads approval of the placement of the sign, cost to the district, etc.
Board members moved to Agenda Item #13 – Science Camp Trip. Further discussion on policy 5303 and 5307 regarding fundraising and trips was held. Mrs. Malmberg stated that she had held an organizational meeting and 14 students so far are interested. Mrs. Malmberg distributed waiver forms to all students and asked that if they were interested to have their parents sign and return the form to Mrs. Westerhold. In addition, information has become available about a trip that could be taken during the winter break next school year for $599/person. The interested students and their parents felt that trip may be more feasible and would allow more than one school year to raise the necessary funds. The original trip proposal was for July, 2008 at a cost of $1,299/person. Fundraisers discussed included a spaghetti feed on January 25th and a raffle. All participants would be required to take part in the fundraising activities. The Space Camp Club also tentatively planned to go to SAC on the first Saturday in November and to the planetarium in December.
Board members asked Mrs. Malmberg to come back to the board with more definitive numbers and the amount of possible contribution from the district necessary. At that time, the board would be able to consider the trip request.
Superintendent Sherwood informed Board members that he had reviewed the requirements of Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) Rule 10 and Pender’s compliance with those requirements. Mr. Sherwood recommended that the board approve the Rule 10 report as part of the overall process for submission to the State.
Motion made by McQuistan, seconded by Wichman to approve the NDE Rule 10 report as presented by Superintendent Sherwood. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
Committee recommendation was made for the second and final reading of the balance of 5000 policies, excluding 5303 and 5307 be approved. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
Committee recommendation was made to postpone consideration of Policy 4000-4021, 5303 and 5307. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
Mr. Sherwood introduced new policies addressing student memorials, staff memorials and a student laptop computer checkout procedure. Those policies were referred to the Policy Committee members for review and inclusion in the future. In addition, Mr. Sherwood stated that the AR 4560.13 Special Education Teacher job description was modified grammatically on item IV.
Motion was made by Peters, seconded by Wichman to approve the amended AR 4560.13 – Special Education Teacher job description as presented. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
Motion was made by Wichman, seconded by Maise to move into executive session at 10:02 p.m. to allow board officers to provide an update on the meeting held recently with the superintendent. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
Motion was made by Maise, seconded by Felber to reconvene in open session at 10:40 p.m. President Felber stated the motion and the result of roll call vote being all ayes, motion carried.
No action was taken as a result of executive session.
President Felber asked if anyone would like to address the board regarding agenda items discussed by board members. No one took advantage of the opportunity.
President Felber reminded board members that the next regular board meeting will be held on Monday, November 12, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
Moved by McQuistan, seconded by Peters to adjourn. President Felber stated the motion and the result of the vote being all ayes the meeting was adjourned at 10:41 p.m. by acclamation.
Matt Peters, Secretary Barb Preston, Recording Secretary
