Diane Blevins Posted June 3, 2008 Report Share Posted June 3, 2008 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana May 27, 2008 Call to Order The Special Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees of School District No. 2, Yellowstone County, Montana, and High School District, Yellowstone County, Montana, was duly held at The Lincoln Center, 415 North 30th Street, Billings, Montana, May 27, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. Chair Kathy Kelker presided and led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call Members present included Trustees, Katharin Kelker, Joel Guthals, Malcolm Goodrich Dawn Achten, Tim Trafford, Kathleen Aragon and Peter Gesuale, Superintendent Jack Copps, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz. Trustees Mary Jo Fox and Sandra Mossman were excused from the meeting. The registered guests were Diana Sherman, Sally Ann Bishop, Erin Pehl, Davis Stevens, Whitney Kimpton, Sofia Lohrenz, Shawn Ashcraft, Mande Crable, Jeff Giffin, Darci Giffin, Amber Ault, Bruce Parker, Amy Dyk, Jill Garzalami, Rick Bartsch, David Bernhardt, Joan Sleeth, Christine Sustarsic, Amy Schillinger, Amber Parisien, Julie Dawkins, Deborah Seitz, Win Seitz, Jeana Mc Clusky. Communication from the Public The Board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of listening to members of the public in its meetings. The Board also recognizes the statutory and constitutional right of the public to participate in governmental operations. The Board encourages members of the public to participate in and express opinions about issues important to the District. This part of the Board’s meeting is dedicated to public comment on any public matter that is not on the agenda of this meeting and is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees. Members of the public may also address particular items on this agenda either now or at the time the Board considers the particular item. Bruce Parker addressed the Board and urged them to make the difficult decisions, to stand their ground and make the necessary cuts that were decided on before the mill levy election. Whitney Kimpton, a kindergarten teacher, wanted more information regarding the meaning of the termination notices. Jeff Greenfield, the Billings Education Association president, said he was shocked that “pink slips” would be going out. Mr. Greenfield has concluded that the “pink slips” were necessary because someone was not prepared to tell the Board where the necessary cuts in the budget were needed. He said he was very disappointed because the Board knew about the budget problems in March and failed to act in a timely manner. He told the Board that sending termination notices affects a lot of teachers and their lives. Non-Tenure Teacher Notice Superintendent Copps discussed the need to send notices to non-tenure teachers that their contract would not be renewed because state law requires that this be done by June 1 if there is a possibility that some teachers’ contract would not be renewed. Mr. Copps said that due to the uncertainty of the budget situation and the need for some final budget decisions by the Board, he is recommending that these notices go out by June 1. Mr. Copps said that the final number of positions that will be eliminated could be in the range of 25-30. He said that “ideally” there would be enough retirements in the District that no one would actually be terminated but at this point this in not a certainty. Because it is possible that non-tenured teachers could not fill some of the retirements and that some tenured teachers may “bump” high school teachers, it is necessary to send notices to all 206 non-tenured teachers in both the elementary and high school districts. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Gesuale: Motion to provide notice to non-tenure teachers, as listed on pink sheet provided by Superintendent Copps, of nonrenewal of contract by June 1 as provided by MCA 20-4-206. Chair Kelker told the Board that at the last meeting the Board was presented with a list of 13 items to cut in order to balance the budget in the elementary district. Of those 13 items, the Board prioritized 10 and the remaining 3 items will be prioritized at a special board meeting to be held on June 3. Trustee Goodrich made the point that the remaining 3 items: Closing Rimrock kindergarten center, eliminating middle school activities and changing middle schools to junior highs, will all have to be included in the cut list in order to balance the budget. Because of this, Mr. Goodrich questioned why the administration could not have been more specific regarding which positions needed to be sent a notice instead of noticing all non-tenure teachers. Superintendent Copps stated that the order of priorities and the size of cuts in each area could affect which positions will be needed to eliminate. Trustee Gesuale discussed the difficulties in preparing an accurate budget given the size of the District and variables involved. He stated that it is not possible to have an accurate budget in March when the District must wait to find out the results of negotiations with unions, the results of the mill levy election, the exact number of students to determine next year’s revenue and the final actual expenditures for the fiscal year. Mr. Gesuale said that the need to give these notices to teachers is an unwelcome task of the Board but he does not accept criticism for doing this unwelcome task. After above discussion was held the Chair called for a vote. Ayes 7, Nays 0: motion passed unanimously. Board Response to Special Legislative Session Superintendent Copps stated a special legislative session to address school funding is unlikely at this time. He said that the District Court in Helena would hear arguments on the school funding case in which Billings Public Schools is a plaintiff in September 2008. Trustee Guthals summarized what a special session proposed to accomplish and stated that these ideas could surface again in the future and the Board should be prepared to address them. Chair Kelker stated that the Board should give direction as to what needs to be expressed regarding funding issues. Trustees Goodrich, Trafford and Aragon stated they would be comfortable having Trustees Guthals and Kelker address legislative issues on behalf of the Board. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. Katharin Kelker, Chair Leo Hudetz, Clerk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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