curnowc Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees Policy Review Committee Elementary District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana December 10, 2009 Call to Order The Policy Review Committee met on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 12:00 P.M. at the Lincoln Center, 415 North 30th Street, Billings, Montana. The meeting was chaired by Malcolm Goodrich. Those present included: Trustees Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Mary Jo Fox and Kathy Aragon. Also present were Leo Hudetz, Clerk, Dan Martin, Director of Human Resources, Jeff Greenfield, BEA representative, Kathy Olson, Executive Director of Elementary Ed., Scott Anderson, Executive Director of Secondary Ed. Policy 1441 – Audience Participation – Form 1441-F1 – Request to Address the Board Clerk Leo Hudetz informed the committee that Policy 1441 has been to the Board five (5) times and in June 2009 it was sent back to the Policy Review Committee with some legal questions. Leo Hudetz in turn contacted Debra Silk from MTSBA with questions about public comment such as, what if a person does not fill out a form before the meeting and when should that person be able to speak on an agenda item. Should it be right before the decision is made? Debra Silk also addressed the issue of the Board talking to the public when a comment is made. Debra Silk did mention that there is no policy in Montana law that prohibits the Board from talking to members of the public, it is up to the Board how they want to handle this issue. She did recommend that if an item is not noticed on the agenda to limit any discussion on that item. Also, Debra Silk did suggest to allow a person to speak even if they did not hand in a written request in advance. She did not specify when to allow them to talk. She said that this would be up to Board members. Joel Guthals recommended the fourth sentence in the first paragraph to read “The Board requests before the beginning of every Board meeting or before speaking, persons wishing to address the Board shall complete form 1441-F1 which shall be collected by the Clerk and delivered to the Board Chair.” Joel Guthals also recommended that paragraph two, sentence four read. “Because the contents of public comments cannot be placed on the meeting agenda, the Board, therefore, avoids giving substantive responses to comments made by the public.” Malcolm Goodrich recommended changing the third sentence in paragraph two to read “Montana Law does not ordinarily permit the Board to discuss or take action on a matter not on the meeting agenda.” Malcolm Goodrich said that it would be unworkable to have public comments right before the vote. Joel Guthals made a motion to recommend to the Board the suggestions to Policy 1441 made by him and Malcolm Goodrich as stated above. Mary Jo Fox seconded. Those voting in favor were Malcolm Goodrich, Mary Jo Fox and Joel Guthals. The motion passed unanimously. Joel Guthals made a motion to direct Leo Hudetz, Clerk, to make revisions to Form 1441-F1 to bring it up to compliance with the changes of Policy 1441. Mary Jo Fox seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Procedure 4310-P1 and 4310-F1 – Public Suggestions Leo Hudetz reminded the committee that this procedure is part of the whistle blower policy that was adopted by the Policy Committee and the Board last year. The Audit Committee brought up a suggestion that if a complaint was against the Clerk or the Superintendent it may be submitted directly to the Chair of the School Board. The committee also wanted to make sure that Form 4310-F1 states that the form may be submitted anonymously. Leo Hudetz stated that this is consistent with Policy 4311 that talks about complaints against District Employees. Leo Hudetz told the committee that it is not common for the Policy Review Committee to work on procedures, however, because the Policy Review Committee developed this procedure about a year ago Leo Hudetz put this on the agenda. Joel Guthals made a motion that the committee make a recommendation to the Board that Procedure 4310-P1 shall be amended in number 8 to have the words inserted “Suggestions or comments regarding the Clerk or Superintendent may be submitted directly to the Chair of the School Board.” Also, Form 4310-F1 that implements Procedure 4310-P1 shall also be changed as set forth in the packet. Mary Jo Fox seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Procedure 1130-P1 – Committee Procedures Trustee Kathy Aragon stated this procedure should be changed to more accurately reflect the Planning and Development Committee charge Malcolm Goodrich explained that the purpose of the committees is to take some of the burden off the Board and to get more public involvement to vent a problem and then bring it up to the Board. Committees are for gathering information, having a discussion and then coming to a conclusion. The more a committee takes control over a subject matter it becomes more authoritative so that the Board is more inclined to go forth with its recommendations. Joel Guthals would like to spend more time on this Procedure – He felt that if we start tweaking one part of this rule we may inadvertently affect something else. If a change is going to be made for Planning & Development then we need to look at making similar changes for the other committees. Joel Guthals made a motion to recommend to table Procedure 1130-P1 until the next Policy Review Comm. Meeting. Mary Jo Fox seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Policy 5210 – Teacher Assignments Trustee Mary Jo Fox expressed concerns about the twelve year mandatory teacher transfer procedure. Mary Jo Fox also would like to see teachers not teach more than 20% of a classroom of the same students for more than four (4) consecutive years. Kathy Olson, Executive Director of Elementary Ed., commented and explained the background of the twelve-year transfer procedure that was reviewed in 2003. Scott Anderson, Executive Director of Secondary Ed., would like to keep the twelve year procedure as is. Changing locations for teachers in the high schools is not the best idea. Another big issue in the high schools is certification. The procedure gives the flexibility to move teachers. Requests are taken every year and those requests are honored if possible. Jeff Greenfield commented that teachers would like to have more of a choice on the school and the area. Kathy Olson said that she makes every possible effort to accommodate the teachers. Joel Guthals expressed concern about putting the proposed wording into policy because it is getting into detail management of our personnel assignments. It should be left up to the discretion of the superintendent and his administrators. Joel Guthals feels that the language that is being proposed is not the proper wording. Dan Martin, Human Resource Director, visited with Rob Wells from the music department regarding scheduling of music teachers. Rob Wells would like to see the scheduling changed. Dan Martin will meet again with Rob Wells and give a report at the next Policy Review Committee Meeting Mary Jo Fox made a motion to table Policy 5210 until the next Policy Review Committee Meeting. Joel Guthals seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Minutes Joel Guthals moved to approve the minutes of the March 13, 2009 Policy Review Committee meeting. Mary Jo Fox seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The committee adjourned at 1:30 P.M. ______________________ ______________________ ________________ Malcolm Goodrich Joel Guthals Mary Jo Fox Trustee Trustee Trustee ___ Cindy Curnow, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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