Diane Blevins Posted March 23, 2010 Report Share Posted March 23, 2010 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana March 1, 2010 CALL TO ORDER The Special 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, March 1, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. Members present included Trustees Kathy Aragon, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Teresa Stroebe, Barbara Bryan, Joyce Weber, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz. Registered guests were Jeff Weldon, Teri DeRudder, A. Hauks, Julie Morris, LaVonna Robinson, Mary Lave, and Joan Sleeth. 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. There were no public comments. INTERVIEW PROCESS Chair Goodrich discussed the guidelines to be used for interviewing the finalists for the superintendent position. Each candidate will be interviewed for one hour. The Montana School Board Association (MTSBA) has supplied a list of questions (listed below) for each candidate. Follow-up questions can be asked at the end of the interview of each of the candidates. Chair Goodrich stated he would try not to close the meeting for an executive session as it is open to the public. If the meeting is closed, it would be to protect the candidate’s right to privacy. If a matter of privacy arises, he will call for a brief recess to determine if it is a matter that can be discussed in open session. Bob Vogel, MTSBA, reported he has shared with the candidates question #12. The other candidates will not be present during a candidate interview. Jeff Weldon, District’s legal counsel, reviewed the right to privacy. If it outweighs the public’s right to know, then the meeting should be closed. Trustee Bryan felt question #1 and #7 were answered in the candidates’ applications and should not be considered an issue during the interviews. The other trustees agreed. SUPERINTENDENT APPLICANT INTERVIEWS The following are the questions that were asked: 1. Students, educators, and school districts will need new skills to thrive in the 21st century. What do you see as the primary challenges that must be met (or changes that must be made) to keep public education relevant and effective in future decades? 2. How do you identify outstanding teachers/administrators? Are there specific measures that you use to identify and define quality? How do you view the future of teacher and principal evaluations and can data be used to make evaluations more relevant? 3. State and federal funding for education are increasingly uncertain or come with strings attached. In Montana, the state government is projecting substantial budget deficits; as a result, education funding may well be cut. How does a school district go about ensuring financial sustainability in these uncertain economic times: 4. As a follow-up to the previous question, local mill levies are also an important part of our school funding system. In recent years, Billings voters have rejected several mill levies. With the economy still in recovery, how do we convince voters that their support and investment in public education is crucial for SD2? 5. How do you define community engagement? In what ways is community engagement important to school district success, what forms does it take or should it take, and how can it be accomplished? 6. What do you see as the most important roles of the board? How do you obtain support from the board for important initiatives? Should the superintendent make recommendations on difficult issues that come before the board? 7. Are you an ongoing learner? What seminars or lectures on educational issues have you attended recently, or what books have you read, and what have you learned from them? 8. The Billings school district has implemented the Cognos software system for warehousing a wealth of school data with powerful technology tools. What is the proper role of the use of data in student achievement, decision making, and assessment? 9. Can you provide us with an example of success you achieved as an administrator? What did you learn from this success? 10. Any public school administrator may be the focus of negative publicity of comment in the public eye whether justified or not. Have you experienced anything in your employment as an administrator of this nature? How did you address the issues? 11. Are there other things you would like us to know about you that we have not covered in the interview? 12. Is there anything of a personal nature that impacts your potential employment with the district that you would like to share with the board that may indicate to the Board Chair that an Executive Session might be necessary? Interview with R. Keith Beeman 1. Mr. Beeman stated the students must be literate to become good citizens in the community. The students must be kept on grade level in reading and math. Graduates must also be ready to go on to post secondary studies, either college/university or a technological facility. Virtual high schools could also be used for students. Mr. Beeman felt that all graduates must be future oriented. 2. Mr. Beeman felt this question addressed all employees, not just teachers and administrators. Inter-personal skills sets, intra-personal skill sets, and extra-personal skill sets are most important. Employees should be taught these skill sets in order not to lose an employee. Mr. Beeman stated evaluations should be conducted per professional standards for that particular profession. He believes that evaluations are a continuous cycle and are important in an improvement cycle. Evaluations should also be part of professional development opportunities. Evaluations either warn of improvement to an employee or enhance their day to day duties. Mr. Beeman tied the evaluations back to the six standards that are used in California. Mr. Beeman stated he ties evaluations into the matrix. All districts want quality teachers in their classrooms and want to continue quality in the classroom. He also ties evaluations to remediation, if necessary. 3. Mr. Beeman stated that districts need to work together with the public and legislators as they cannot wait for someone to bail school districts out. He felt it was important to choose what is needed with the amount of money that is available in Billings. Budgets must be structured for the students and what is needed. He felt that critical items should be identified in order to save them. Mr. Beeman believed partnerships should be established in the community, not just financial, but to encourage the public to get involved in the district and personalize their involvement. Strategic planning drives the focus and is needed to know the outcomes and parameters. He felt the district needed to be proactive, not reactive. 4. Mr. Beeman stated the district cannot ask for help at the last minute but let the public know the mission of the district and what we are accomplishing. The public needs to understand what we are doing and what we need to do, that it is our responsibility to communicate to them. Get the public involved and get them into the schools. It is very important to form active partnerships in our schools. One idea is to make smaller mill levies in incremental steps. 5. This community has a population of 100,000+ educators and it is our responsibility to engage them to help educate the students. Community forums can be used to inform and to listen to positive feedback. Words are not enough but actions are most important and the public’s input is very valuable. Mr. Beeman would meet with organizations or a person to encourage them to get involved and volunteer in the schools. He believed the district needed support of the overwhelming majority which is hard when 80% do not have children in the district. Engagement and involvement is critical. 6. Mr. Beeman felt keeping student achievement in the forefront was most important. The district should be focused in selecting and hiring the superintendent for years to come. It is the responsibility of the Board to come up with goals for the superintendent and long-term planning is also very important. Other roles of the board are policy development and fiscal responsibility. Initiatives need to be brought to the board to help the students succeed. Mr. Beeman stated, in his experience, the board makes the decisions after reviewing the issues that are brought forward that are well thought through, grounded, and purposeful. He did not believe this board should rubber stamp recommendations. 7. Mr. Beeman reported he is an ongoing learner. In his current district, 26 educators were selected for one year to study the financial difficulties in California and he served as one of those educators. He loves to read and felt that literacy is very important for him. Mr. Beeman stated he has been reading books on leadership, curriculum issues and professional learning centers. He takes what he is learning and uses it to enhance his school district. It is important to evaluate what is being done to decide if something can be changed in educating the students. 8. Without data, districts flounder. Assessment is a tool and should not be a separate activity. Districts need to know where each student is when they transfer into the district. It is an ongoing process and never stops. Mr. Beeman believes education is the circle of life. He would want the board to have benchmarks on a regular basis, such as student attendance, student achievement on student attendance, as well as staff attendance as absences can affect a student’s achievement. 9. Mr. Beeman reported he has had success in feeder school patterns. Staff in his district were acting in isolation; good work was going on but no one knew about it outside the walls. Staff was not talking to other schools on the issues that were working in their schools. If something is benefiting students in one school, it might benefit other schools. Elementary schools need to communicate with middle schools and middle schools need to communicate with high schools. Mr. Beeman stated he established community learning patterns. The more staff talked, student achievement improved. It is also important to be concerned about drop-out rates and graduates starting at the kindergarten level. 10. Mr. Beeman felt it served no purpose to react in a negative fashion and he needed to do everything possible to communicate with those involved. He stated he acted in that manner during the layoffs in his district. 11. Mr. Beeman stated he was prepared to take on the role of superintendent in this district and felt his experience would be an asset as he values individuals, partnerships, and engaging the community. He stated he has high integrity and is passionate about education. 12. Mr. Beeman stated he had nothing of a personal nature to report. Interview with Cole Pugh 1. Districts must meet student achievement in both state and federal standards. Tests do not always measure everything a student will need in life so districts must go beyond such as a graduate profile. Districts also need to meet the needs of all students sometimes with diminishing resources. 2. Administrators are very important as they are vital as coaches to the employees that they supervise. Data analysis is very important to improve student achievement. If a district does not have good data, then it is an opinion. It is up to the district to give support to a teacher who might be struggling. Mr. Pugh stated he likes a self evaluation and if there are areas in the self evaluation that need improvement, it would be addressed. Targets can then be set for the next evaluation period. 3. Mr. Pugh stated tough economic times for school districts are going on across the country. He prefers a method of focusing resources on priorities. Districts must determine what the priorities are and then list the revenues and priorities. A committee is formed to review the proposed budget and then determine the priorities. 4. Mr. Pugh stated the public needs to know that the district is spending money as wisely as possible. Newspapers and technology should be used to get the message to the community. Organizations should be involved in the issues also. A committee of staff and community members should be formed to have a stake ownership in the financial decisions. 5. Mr. Pugh believed there were two aspects in involving the community, internal and external. A district campus is very important as communication comes from the internal aspect. An employee is a public relations person. Newspapers, technology, mail outs, telephone system and parents can also be used. Engaging the community in the decision making process and communicating back to them on why a decision was made, how important it is, and what impact it will have. 6. Mr. Pugh felt it was important to work closely together with the board as the modeling determination of the district. He believed the board’s role is policy decisions. Administrators will draft policy and carry out the policies. It is important to list to the community and engage the community. Mr. Pugh stated he likes to make decisions collaboratively by working with the board. Visibility and communication are most important. He has also made direct recommendations to the board. 7. Mr. Pugh stated he is an ongoing learner and never wanted to stop learning. 8. Mr. Pugh believed data warehouses were a great tool as a district needs to know how it is doing and how each campus is doing. It is important to use data to determine how the students are doing at different levels of education. He likes a value added model to determine how far teachers take their students during the year. He developed a model on finances, departments, and has a calendar as to what will be reported each month. 9. Mr. Pugh stated it was not what he did by himself but along with his administration, they made the top priority to improve student achievement. He reported his district improved student achievement by using curriculum alignment. Mr. Pugh felt it was important to look at textbooks as instructional materials that must be aligned with the curriculum. 10. If it is a substantial issue, you may have to elaborate on why the decision was made. 11. Mr. Pugh explained he also has a lot of experience with facility planning, human resources issues, and problem solving. He reported student achievement has improved in his district, as well as the successful passage of bond elections. 12. Mr. Pugh stated he had nothing to report. Interview of Keith Meyer 1. Mr. Meyer stated it is important to set goals and missions as to what type of skills the students will need to survive, such as relevance and the ability to solve problems in their world. Students must have the basic ability to participate and be successful. Districts must look at a fiscal note and curriculum to meet their goals. It is important to determine the proper delivery of instruction to aid in students’ success. Technology is a tool that needs to be used in the education of students as it gives access to information and how it can be used by the students as a resource. Technology is a valuable tool to get or gain the information that is needed for students’ success. 2. Evaluations are a tool to look at the work that is being done, what is being taught and the work being done by the buildings. Assessments can also be measured in evaluations, as well as growth that students are reaching. Feedback is an important key and needs to be used in professional development. Data needs to be looked at to determine student achievement and aide teachers and administrators to tell what is relevant in the feedback portion. Mr. Meyer reported he has worked on a weekly basis with a staff member who needed to improve. He has used retired administrators as job coaches and worked with strategies to aid teachers. 3. As districts maintain their goals and visions, it must set the prioritized list for the budget. Education of students is the most important factor. Set priorities based on the goals and mission of the district and then look at the fiscal picture. Strategic planning needs to be used to let the students, staff and community know what goals have been reached and those being worked on. 4. Mr. Meyer felt the passage of mill levies comes back to the goals and mission of the district as well as the strategic planning. The community needs to be educated of the prioritized list of what is important in the district. It is important to let the community know what the money is to be used for and what additional funds in a mill levy would be used for. The important part is to explain to the community what is necessary to reach the district’s goals. A concerted effort was made in Helena to explain what the technology levy would be used for. 5. Mr. Meyer believes that members of the community need to understand the work that the school district does. The community needs to have the trust to know what occurs in the schools for education. He stated it begins at the superintendent level, working with the buildings in a team approach for the goals and mission statement of the district. Once the community sees what is happening in the schools, they become involved. Business partnerships and the communications director’s office are valuable tools that should be used in working with the community. Business partnerships need to know what the possibilities are in the schools. 6. Mr. Meyer stated the role of the Board is to oversee the running of the school district and act as the official authority of the district. This provides both direction and expectations of the district to the superintendent. It is important to obtain support by building team support in the district. Superintendents should make recommendations to the board and the board should rely on that position. 7. Mr. Meyer reported he is an ongoing learner and is involved in professional organizations on development and curriculum in the state and nationally. He looks for seminars to attend to keep him apprised and up to date in education for the students. Mr. Meyer stated he would keep updating, focusing and learning about education. 8. In order to look at decisions that need to be made with assessment, all are turned into professional strategies. Data is needed to determine goals and what work needs to be done for students. The board receives information from Cognos and depends on that information for a particular issue. Information can be obtained that goes back to the strategic planning and the goals of the district. 9. Mr. Meyer reported his success has been from a team effort. He has changed the word ‘substitute’ teachers to “guest teachers”, which makes those involved feel like they are a valued group to the district. Mr. Meyer has learned that they need to be problem solvers. He redefined this team and gave them a purpose. Me. Meyer stated he meets with the guest teachers four times during the year and they have representation at the table. 10. Mr. Meyer reported, when going through school closures, he had to identify two elementary schools to close. He addressed the issue head on to help employees feel comfortable and to have a better place to be. 11. Mr. Meyer stated he would be the type of leader who would roll up his sleeves and get to work. He is one who would learn and take action when it is needed as he is not afraid of hard work. He felt he is a good communicator and enjoys getting to know people. 12. Mr. Meyer reported he had nothing to report on a personal nature. When asked about middle school sports, Mr. Meyer stated it was a painful experience when they were cut in Helena. Middle school sports were cut to maintain other services such as electives. Administrators had recommended the elimination of after school activities. Helena’s district has a good relationship with the YMCA who stepped up to help. He explained to parents why his district had to make the recommendation. After three years, Helena brought the activities back as the YMCA was not able to offer all of the services that parents were used to having. Mr. Meyer also question whether single member trustee districts were effective in creating a board that made decisions based on the needs of the entire community. The meeting recessed at 10:00 p.m. and reconvened March 2nd at 6:00 p.m. Members present included Trustees Kathy Aragon, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Teresa Stroebe, Barbara Bryan, Joyce Weber, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz. Registered guests were Julie Morris, LaVonna Robinson, Gary Smith, Susan Smith, Bess Fredlund, Mary Lave, and Joan Sleeth. 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. There were no public comments. Interview of Scott Rogers 1. Mr. Rogers stated technology is very important in order to engage students in the classroom. He believes in learning through project based learning. We have to do a better job of teaching curriculum while building connections with students. We have to do a better job in having 21st century technology in strategic planning. Professional development and policies are also needed to cover that planning. This does not only mean technology learning but developing a way to help students become productive members of the community, rigorously, relatively, and with relationships. 2. Data needs to be used to make evaluations useful. Mr. Rogers reported his district uses online surveys for parents, students and other staff members and he felt the only way to do an evaluation was a walk through of the classrooms. He believes in shared mentoring. Administrators in his district spend 20% of their time in the classroom as they must see what is going on in the classroom. Now, administrators in his district would not have it any other way. Teachers have also agreed to a peer review in the last year which helps to identify excellent teachers and administrators. Mr. Rogers has also had principals attend the same professional development sessions as the teachers. He also felt that evaluations have to be transparent. 3. Mr. Rogers felt the answer relies within the people in the community and staff in the buildings. You can make difficult decisions while keeping your mission statement in mind. Cutting programs is difficult and is more expensive to bring them back. He has included staff in coming up with ideas during tough financial times. He believes in building consensus as budgets come down to relationships with the community. 4. Mr. Rogers felt, in passing mill levies, it is a matter of being able to market the district and schools as a whole. It is an ongoing, twelve month assignment. The district needs to tell the positive story. His district runs a supplemental levy for plant facilities and involved the community to pass bond levies at 89% approval. Mr. Rogers uses an advisory committee to help get the word out to the community, such as service clubs and staff meetings. He also tries to build support through their parent base and business partners. Growth in a community will not occur unless you have a good education system. 5. It is not just the superintendent that engages the community, but it takes parent involvement. The public needs to help define what community engagement is. Mr. Rogers stated he has used electronic communication to get the parents involved with the schools, as well as meet and greet types of meetings for the community input. He also sends personal invitations to business leaders and the PTA/PTO groups help to engage people also. 6. Mr. Rogers felt one role of the board was district improvement strategy. He uses the Iowa Lighthouse Project which is an assessment of sound curriculum. The project identifies what boards are successful versus boards that are stuck. He brought in professional trainers to help improve communication by the board and the superintendent. He informs the board quickly of happenings in the schools. Mr. Rogers stated he believes in unity, when a decision is made, he backs that decision. The most important role of a board is accountability to the public. 7. Mr. Rogers reported he is an ongoing learner as effective learners inspire the heart and model the way. His administrators pick a book each year to further their ways to improve learning. He has attended a conference for higher education programs for students. He felt that learning is an ongoing responsibility and a new component in education. 8. Mr. Rogers stated, when he sees a group of students grow in the classroom and improve, that is his biggest success. He increased instructional intensity in the classroom to further engage the students. His back-to-school meeting was different this year. He used a program that renewed spirits and hearts with laughter which he felt worked on morale and wellness. 9. Mr. Rogers reported he has not experienced a lot of negative publicity but felt he would have to make decisions as a team with the board, keeping in mind the district’s mission. He would ask himself if that decision were good for kids. If you have the data, you can defend a decision that you have made. 10. Mr. Rogers stated he would give his heart and soul, and work tirelessly for the good of this district. He has a proven track record through difficult budget times that have buy-in for people. He reported he is good with people, with the interest based bargaining process, and with working with data and results. Mr. Rogers stated he has high expectations. He further reported that he substitute teaches to be in the classroom to remember how hard the teachers work. 11. Mr. Rogers had nothing to report of a personal nature. Interview with Eric Ely 1. Mr. Ely reported getting students to function in a changing world and to teach them basic information, how to apply the facts, and teach students how to think. He also teaches them how to be good stewards in the community and how to adapt to changes in the world. His purpose in education is to help students to become good citizens and how to be flexible and adapt to a changing world. 2. Evaluations always have a component of student achievement data in their classes or the students in an administrator’s building. Evaluations are used to make the employees more effective. Supervision processes, mentoring processes, and professional development always help in the evaluation process. In defining quality, Mr. Ely reported he does it by watching and looking at people. Student engagement and rapport with students is also an important component. In terms of a growth model, his administrators are in the classroom every day. Documentation is also a key piece. He also gains input from parents on school staff. 3. Mr. Ely reported he would look at what could be trimmed in budgets without affecting the classroom. He budgets by overestimating all general accounts of the costs. We look at cuts collectively with staff. He wanted to protect programs at the top and the bottom. 4. Mr. Ely felt the Billings district has a resource to pass mill levies as most of the employees live in the district. Get all of the accurate information to your employees and they will talk to friends and family to put out accurate information. There will always be people who vote no. It is important to tell the public why you need a levy and inform them what will happen if it does not pass, then you must carry it out. Boards lose the public’s trust if they do not cut after a failed levy. Passing a mill levy is based on communication. Communicate year round not just at mill levy time. Bring senior citizens into your buildings with different events. It is also very important to take care of the buildings that you have. 5. Mr. Ely believed keeping parents involved with their child’s success is very important. It is about opening your doors to people who feel comfortable with a task. Another valuable aspect is getting business leaders involved with the budgeting process. There is a Family Welcome Center in his district that was developed at their hospitals. Parents can register their child for school, gain information on transportation, special needs programs, and get hooked into the local medical center. The center gives families help in working with various businesses. A successful district is the centerpiece of the community. 6. Mr. Ely felt his job was to protect the board and make recommendations to the board. He identifies and troubleshoots all of the issues. The board’s job is to represent the citizens of Billings. It is a partnership that we have to balance. It is important to communicate with the board immediately after something happens within the district. The Board also needs to be aware of data and should not be involved in instructional leadership. 7. Mr. Ely reported he is a member of several organizations and attends seminars on professional learning centers and effective schools. He stated he learns something each day from the students and reads excessively. 8. Mr. Ely stated his district uses a different system than Cognos but looks at a dashboard approach. Data drives everything a district does. One-fifth of his district’s strategic planning is based on data and how it can be used to improve student achievement. He believes that assessment should be in line with curriculum as he uses assessment to fill gaps in the mapping process. 9. Mr. Ely reported he improved student achievement in grades K-8. His district was rated in the 40’s and went into the 70’s in proficiency in Math and English. There is not one answer to a problem but it might take several things to solve a problem. 10. Mr. Ely believes that superintendents are the face of the district. He stated he is very honest and direct in answering questions on certain issues, and always does what is best for the students. 11. Mr. Ely develops a vision with staff working together. He also works with the media as it is his philosophy not to turn down an interview on any issue. The community looks at the district as educational leaders. Inform the people and push the positive issues and accentuate the positive. He felt it was important to celebrate the success and effectively promote them. 12. Mr. Ely reported there was nothing of a personal nature to report. After all interviews were completed, Bob Vogel, MTSBA, reminded the Board to keep in mind that this is one of the components in the process. All five candidates are very capable and have done well. Chairman Goodrich stated another piece might be sight visits. Mr. Vogel reported that might be a possibility. Mr. Vogel read the comments made on the candidates by staff and the community from the candidates’ districts. Trustee Goodrich reported that a meeting to discuss the candidates will be held on Monday, March 8th at 5:30 p.m. and possibly Tuesday evening. He urged the members to study the material, reflect on the interviews, and on Monday the Board would come up with each person’s top three choices. Mr. Vogel asked the Board to have a discussion after you name your choices. Trustee Guthals felt that ranking sounded reasonable. The Board believed ranking was a good idea. Every member will rank the five candidates on Monday night. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. Malcolm Goodrich, Chair Diane Blevins, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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