Diane Blevins Posted March 24, 2010 Report Share Posted March 24, 2010 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana March 15, 2010 CALL TO ORDER The Regular 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, March 15, 2010, at 5:30 p.m. Members present included Trustees Joel Guthals, Malcolm Goodrich, Kathy Aragon, Mary Jo Fox, Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Joyce Weber, Peter Gesuale, Superintendent Jack Copps, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz. Registered guests included Valerie LaFrance, Nancy Collins, Barbara Grossman, Jennifer Conwell, Chris Sorli, Ari Nord, Sue Nord, Gail Grogan, Julie Morris, and Mary Lave. 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. Jeff Greenfield, Billings Education Association President, voiced his concerns regarding negotiations. He reported the negotiating teams met earlier today with District representatives. The teachers’ membership had voted to consider taking a 1% decrease in their raises for 2010-11 as requested by the District but with an extension of one year for the contract. Mr. Greenfield stated that request was turned down by the Board’s representatives. He further stated that this would not help with relationships and the future for bargaining. The teachers of the Billings Education Association were very disappointed. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Chair reported the agenda had been amended with the removal of the March 1st minutes to be approved. Trustee Gesuale made the following motion with a second by Trustee Weber: Motion to approve the agenda as amended. Those voting in favor were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. ADMINISTER OATH OF OFFICE TO ELEMENTARY/HIGH SCHOOL TRUSTEE OF SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT, ZONE 1 District Clerk Leo Hudetz reported Travis Kemp has been approved as the new Board member from Zone 1 on March 8, 2010. Mr. Hudetz administered the oath of office to Mr. Kemp. RECOGNITION AND GIFTS AND DONATIONS Pat Kenney, Will James teacher, introduced the members of the 1st Place Regional Middle School Science Bowl as follows: Konner Howell, Mikayla Nelson, Ari Nord, Evan Quarles, Kya Sorli, and Madi Yatch, assistant coach. Linda Burgess and Val LaFrance, also Will James coaches, introduced the following members of the team that won 1st Place in the Regional Math Counts Competition: Jack Conwell, Maggie Dunphy, Konner Howell, and Kya Sorli. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Gesuale: Motion to accept the gifts and donations with gratitude. Those voting in favor were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. The following are the gifts and donations: Beartooth -- Chapter Y PEO, Smart Start paper to kindergarten classrooms Tracey & John Sherner, C&C Insulation, $315 for recycling program Tatooine Electronics, $315 for recycling program Bitterroot -- Farmers Insurance, book Fablehaven Cathy Muessig, warm winter wear Boulder -- Eric Bjorgum, $140 through Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign Jeff Redding, $35 through Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign Broadwater -- Susan Clark, clothing for kids McKinley -- MSU-Billings Book Store, books for Read Well Program Billings Clinic, Environmental Services, four chairs Billings Clinic Foundation, four chairs Miles Avenue -- St. Pius Catholic Church, school supplies Jody Chavez, Wells Fargo Foundation Educational Matching Gift Program Wells Fargo, Educational Matching Gift Program St. Thomas Catholic Church, food baskets and gifts for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter PEO Chapter Y, hats, mittens, pants, coat, $65 Ponderosa -- St. Thomas Catholic Church, Easter food baskets Will James -- In Step, Inc., $100 to music Randy Ritz and Shelli Miller Ritz, $200 to library Richard and Cecelia Egeland, $25 to soldiers’ fund R. B. King, Sr., $20 to soldiers’ fund Dona Cranston, $20 to soldiers’ fund Dorothy Baltrusch, $20 to soldiers’ fund Marjorie Brown, $20 to soldiers’ fund Faith Chapel, $240 to soldiers’ fund Gary and Angela George, $25 to soldiers’ fund Warehouse -- Valley Federal Credit Union, four computers Lila Buen, Liberty Tax Services, three computers PRESENTATION BY YES FOR KIDS Bruce MacIntyre, Chamber of Commerce, reported the ‘Yes for Kids’ Committee has been distributing Yes for Kids cards which contains the website information. The kick-off for the campaign is set for 1:00 on Tuesday at Beartooth Elementary for the passage of the elementary levy election. The campaign is experiencing 50-75 hits per day on the website. There will also be one large mailing sent out in the near future, as well as two to three newspaper advertisements. Currently, there is $25,000 for the campaign and the hope is to reach $50,000. Mr. MacIntyre reported the Yes for Kids Committee is totally separate from the District and consists of concerned citizens of Billings. MONTHLY LEGAL REPORT The Chair reported that the last two cases on the legal report have been dismissed. There were no new cases to report. REPORT FROM BUDGETING FOR RESULTS COMMITTEE Trustee Guthals reported the Budgeting for Results (BFR) Committee met on March 8th with a full agenda. The committee received a budget update and reviewed the revised budget figures. Thomas Harper explained the additional expense of employees who were being paid from one-time only funds and had to be added back into the general fund. The committee also reviewed a report from the Health Insurance Committee which was good news. The projected increase in health insurance was lower than expected. Revised figures will be available at the next BFR meeting. Results from the actuarial report indicate that the approximate increase will be 6% which is less than the estimated increase of 12%. Trustee Guthals further reported that BFR also covered the agreements for donations for the sign at Senior High. The committee decided that additional information was needed from the Superintendent’s office. Agreements with the sponsors will be held until a decision is made. Trustee Guthals stated the committee also reviewed the high school budget and has made some recommendations to the Board. The adjusted high school budget shortfall is $1,900,000. The committee discussed changes in technology that would result in a savings of $57,000. Another savings could occur in establishing an ink toner refill program. Another recommendation from the committee was to eliminate 12.67 FTE in high school instructional staff, clerical staff, and a teacher on special assignment totaling a savings of approximately $805,000. Administration has reported these recommendations will not have any serious impact on students. $25,000 for the Office of Development and Advancement could also be eliminated. Another recommendation was to reduce building supply budgets for the four high schools (Career Center included) for a savings of $56,800. There is also a savings in health insurance plus retirement savings. Trustee Guthals further reported that BFR also recommended reducing funding for at risk students for three schools totally $450,000. BFR will review the budget at their April meeting before submitting it to the Board. Thomas Harper, Central Financial Officer, reviewed the budget information as included in the agenda. Revenues for 2011 are fairly solid but the deficit for both districts is projected at $4,145,321. The high school budget for 2011 shows a deficit of $1,979,981. With recommendations from the BFR committee, the deficit would be $1,662,088. Trustee Goodrich asked if it were possible to do the line item review with department heads in the fall. Mr. Harper reported that would not be possible as the District will be working on closing the books and also working on salary step-ups until the first of November. Trustee Goodrich asked how the District projects the budget outlook when facts are not known until November. He asked if there was another way to change the process. Mr. Harper stated more figures will be available in April and after the discussion this evening on health insurance. He thought he could look at other possibilities for improving the budget process. Superintendent Copps stated it is difficult to project the budget as the legislators meet every other year for three months and numbers are not known until the last two weeks of the legislative session. There is no way to project what the legislators will do. Trustee Gesuale stated revenues are known after the February enrollment count but the expenses are not always known at that time. He felt the District should be able to reconcile after the February count and felt the process needs to be improved. Trustee Guthals asked if department heads had looked over their line items. Mr. Harper responded they have looked at their budgets and have an idea of what is in their line items. SUPERINTENDENT SELECTION PROCESS Chair Goodrich encouraged members of the Board to debate the issues and make their decision known in the selection of a new superintendent. He hoped that everyone could remain civil and true to get through the due diligence and select the superintendent by the end of the month. He asked Mr. Hudetz to poll members about meetings on March 29th and 30th, and also April 5th. Trustee Bryan asked about the feasibility of site visits and reference calls. Site visits would take three days to New York and two and one-half days to California. It was the consensus of the Board that a clarification should be made on where site visits would be scheduled. Trustee Fox made the following motion with a second by Trustee Guthals: Motion to remove Eric Ely as a finalist due to the fact the questions we have on Mr. Ely cannot be answered in the time period that we have to make a selection. Trustee Stroebe believed removing Mr. Ely from the list of candidates was a mistake as he has a tremendous amount of experience. The information regarding problems in his districtavailable at this time is only hearsay. Trustee Aragon felt the Board should follow up with all of the candidates and allow the process to go forward. She further stated Mr. Ely could be asked additional questions in order to allow the members to make their decision. Those voting in favor of the motion were Joyce Weber, Mary Jo Fox, Joel Guthals and Travis Kemp. Those opposing were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, and Teresa Stroebe. The motion failed. Trustee Fox made the following motion which died due to a lack of a second: Motion to move forward with site visits for the four candidates. Trustee Bryan made the following motion with a second by Trustee Aragon: Motion to consider site visits following further interviews with the candidates. Trustee Fox felt the Board had already interviewed the candidates. Trustee Bryan amended her motion to add reference calls as recommended by the Montanan School Board Association. Trustee Aragon seconded the amendment. Trustee Gesuale stated he was in favor of conducting video interviews as it was a smaller expense than traveling. Trustee Guthals reported he did not want to preclude site visits. The members agreed. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Aragon: Motion that the Montana School Board Association be designated as the agency to make the reference calls. Those voting in favor of the motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Trustee Fox felt members of the Board should submit their questions to the Montana School Board Association (MTSBA). The members concurred. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Fox: Motion that the Board follow due diligence and deliver their questions to Mr. Hudetz who will submit them to MTSBA. Trustee Aragon suggested questions be submitted by March 19th. Trustee Guthals amended his motion with a second by Trustee Bryan as follows: Move to amend the motion for the deadline for questions be March 19th. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Those voting in favor of the original motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Aragon: Motion to allow MTSBA to make all logistical arrangements for the video conference interviews with the four candidates. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Chair Goodrich asked the members to submit their questions to Mr. Hudetz by March 19th and Mr. Hudetz will deliver these to MTSBA. Trustee Goodrich will designate how much time each Trustee will have to ask questions during the interviews. Trustee Guthals felt further information was needed, such as the demographics of each candidate’s district, how many staff members they supervise, and how many administrators are in their district. It was felt MTSBA could compile that information. Trustee Goodrich asked the members to ask Mr. Hudetz for any further requests for basic information. UPDATE ON MTSBA FACILITATED STRATEGIC PLANNING Trustee Bryan reported there were 2100 responses to the recent District survey. Approximately 33% were by staff members. High quality responses were received. The next meeting for strategic planning has been scheduled for March 23rd. She will supply a one-page summary as well as a more comprehensive summary to the Board members. The meeting will be on core values and the survey responses. Trustee Fox asked if there were demographics from the survey participants. Trustee Bryan reported that information has been posted on the website. There was a large response from the Arrowhead area. Trustee Fox stated she could not rely heavily on the survey results if it was not conducted scientifically. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT AND CITY-COUNTY UPDATE Trustee Aragon reported a work session was conducted at the last planning and development meeting. She stated the District is currently serving about the same number of students as twenty years ago. There is a flat population that is spread over a larger area. She has looked at the school software and will have a new safe way to schools program to propose. A $10,000 grant is available from HUD, EPA and DOT for the safe way to school program. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT Superintendent Copps reported on the K-8 librarians and K-6 counselors which are two areas the District has not been in compliance with the accreditation standards. For counselors, eleven of twenty-two schools do not satisfy the standards. The District will receive a dissertation from the Office of Public Instruction which will show ways to remedy the situation. Some elementary schools have more counselors than is required but they are Title I schools. Money is given to us by the federal government for Title I schools. For librarians, seven of the twenty-two schools do not meet the library standards. All four middle schools do not satisfy the library standards. Mr. Copps reported it would take substantial resources to bring both up to what the state requires. Trustee Weber asked if there was a policy for moving classrooms from one school to another. Mr. Copps stated there is no policy but families who are impacted by classrooms moving have an opportunity to give input. Different aspects are discussed but not all aspects would be able to occur. Mr. Copps reported there would be an additional 134 students in K-6 next year which will further crowd the schools. One suggestion is to look at school boundaries. Mr. Copps did not feel the District would be able to balance out the boundaries below the Heights to everyone’s satisfaction. PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS FOR MTSBA DELEGATE ASSEMBLY Trustee Gesuale reported he compiled the list of resolutions sent to him by the Board members. Mr. Hudetz will email the dates for the delegate assembly to the members. Trustee Gesuale reviewed the proposed resolutions as contained within the agenda. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Stroebe: Motion to approve for submission to the MTSBA the proposals as set forth on pages 47-48 for consideration at the Delegate Assembly. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Trustee Gesuale reported he is attending quarterly meetings for MTSBA with another one later this week. Services of the MTSBA will be discussed. Trustee Gesuale asked the members to get any comments to him as soon as possible. HEALTH INSURANCE -- INCREASE Dan Martin, Human Resources Director, reported he was making a recommendation to increase health insurance premiums by 6%. Trustee Guthals asked why it was a 6% increase. Mr. Martin stated that expenses have mirrored revenues. He further reported the District did not want to make money in self funding insurance. The actuary recommended 6% as a reasonable number for next year. Mr. Martin stated the District currently has a comfortable amount of reserves in the insurance fund. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Fox: Motion to approve a 6% increase in the health insurance. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. BILLS PAID -- FEBRUARY 2010 Trustee Guthals reported BFR reviewed and approved the bills paid. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Gesuale: Motion to approve the bills paid for February 2010. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. The following are the bills paid: Claims $2,799,873.28 ACH Tax Deposits 1,728,041.78 Payroll Warrants & Direct Deposits 6,080,821.53 Procurement Card 372,430.01 EBMS ACH Payments 1,404,221.03 ECI Building Rental 3,628.25 INTERCAP Loan 80,950.46 Network Infrastructure & Vehicle Purchases TOTAL $12,469,966.34 FINANCIAL REPORTS FOR THE QUARTER ENDING DECEMBER 2009 (UNAUDITED) BFR has reviewed the financial reports with no variations being found. PERSONNEL REPORT There was nothing unusual to report on the Personnel Report. Trustee Gesuale made the following motion with a second by Trustee Fox: Motion to approve the current employment recommendations. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. CONSENT AGENDA Trustee fox made the following motion with a second by Trustee Gesuale: Motion to approve and accept the items within the Consent Agenda without objection to recommended action. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Items approved are as follows: Regular Board Meeting Minutes, February 15, 2010 Joint Special Board/BFR Meeting Minutes, January 11, 2010 amended Special Board Meeting Minutes, February 4, 2010 Special Board Meeting Minutes, February 9, 2010 Special Board Meeting Minutes, February 18, 2010 Budgeting for Results Committee Minutes, January 11, 2010 Planning and Development Committee Minutes, February 1, 2010 Addition of Fitness Center Trust Account at West High As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Malcolm Goodrich, Chair Diane Blevins, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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