Diane Blevins Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana April 5, 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, April, 201 50 at 5:30 p.m. Members present included Trustees Kathy Aragon, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Teresa Stroebe, Barbara Bryan, Travis Kemp, Joyce Weber, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz. Registered guests were Barb Fettig, Mary Lave, Julie Morris, Jim Rogain, and Alex Bradley. 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. Mary Lave addressed the Board to voice her concerns as a parent and a member of the strategic planning committee. She felt changes needed to be made in various parts of the District. She asked the Board to carefully consider each candidate who will best help this District to move forward. SELECTION OF SUPERINTENDENT Chair Goodrich asked each trustee to rank the superintendent finalists on criteria and issues previously agreed on by the Board. The following is the summary of all individual Trustee rankings for each candidate as per the discussion by the Trustees. The higher the score, the more positive the ranking. CRITERIA BEEMAN ELY MEYER ROGERS Internal/External Communicator 18 10 10 16 Community Engagement 13 10 12 19 Strategic Planning 18 16 5 15 Student Achievement 7 18 7 22 Reliance Upon Data 22 12 6 14 Track Record 15 8 14 17 Negotiator 20 13 8 13 Budget Knowledge 18 13 11 12 Public/Staff Comments 8 2 25 19 Knowledge in the Field 20 11 11 12 Leadership 15 6 10 23 Educational Leadership 9 14 14 17 Facilities 15 15 7 17 Governance 17 2 12 23 TOTAL CRITERIA SCORE 215 150 152 239 ISSUES BEEMAN ELY MEYER ROGERS Verification 17 6 21 10 Small vs. Large District (Rural vs. Urban) 19 16 12 7 Controversy 17 0 23 14 New Direction vs. Continuation 15 13 6 20 Superintendent Experience 13 18 5 18 TOTAL ISSUES SCORE 81 53 67 69 COMBINED CRITERIA & ISSUES SCORE 296 203 219 308 Bob Vogel, Montana High School Board Association (MTSBA) stated Eric Ely and Keith Meyer were the closest with Keith Beeman and Scott Rogers scoring the highest points. Chair Goodrich stated that what struck him is that Keith Beeman was either the first or second choice in the criteria. The criteria was not placed in the matrix in any specific order. Trustee Guthals reported he tried to be objective when ranking the candidates. His concern with Mr. Ely was that he had to give a lot of weight to what he was facing in New York with the recent court trial. Trustee Guthals did not feel a candidate should be picked who scored low by the majority of the Board. Trustee Gesuale stated he rated Mr. Ely high on facilities and strategic planning. He felt it might be best to eliminate a candidate then rescore them. Trustee Stroebe addressed Trustee Fox’s ranking of Eric Ely with all zeroes. She felt giving him all zeroes was not right. Chairman Goodrich believed each Trustee had the right to score as they felt was fair. Trustee Fox stated there was only one criteria where she was the only person who gave Mr. Ely a zero. Trustee Fox referred to an editorial from a Schenectady newspaper, a telephone conversation with the Schenectady school board president, and an email from a prosecuting attorney in the facilities director’s case which caused her concerns regarding Mr. Ely. Trustee Fox said, “I have studied this person as closely as I could study any person, and I am not going to give him a score above a zero.” Bob Vogel stated he heard that controversy was a big issue to a couple of trustees. Trustee Guthals reported he had concerns with how Mr. Ely dealt with the controversy. Trustee Guthals did not agree with all of the criteria rankings and felt Dr. Meyer had better communication skills whereas Dr. Beeman spoke more in an academic approach. Dr. Rogers spoke directly to the Board and was very succinct. He felt Dr. Beeman did not have the knowledge of being a superintendent. Trustee Aragon agreed and felt Dr. Rogers did an excellent job during the second interview. He spoke specifically on this District’s issues. She believed Mr. Ely was well qualified but she has had concerns about his being able to align with all of the controversy. She believed it is important that, staff and members of the Board, help the new superintendent be successful. Trustee Gesuale felt Dr. Rogers has a charismatic style and Dr. Beeman has an excellent record, in meeting with the community and participating in large communities. He thought Dr. Beeman had a unique approach to engagement with people in the community. On student achievement, Trustee Gesuale scored Dr. Beeman higher than Dr. Rogers as what he has done in the Chino community in making changes in the district based on data. He also admired the success of the virtual high schools helped by his knowledge of human resources. Trustee Stroebe believe the Board might need Dr. Beeman who has made tough decisions before if the mill levies do not pass and the legislators do not come through with more funding. Chairman Goodrich stated the superintendent has to be able to communicate and this District needs a communicator and that can be in a variety of areas. He must be able to deal with staff to get us through serious issues. Trustee Bryan voted Mr. Ely high and did not take into consideration the controversy in his district. She felt Dr. Rogers might have a learning curve in communicating as this is a larger district. Trustee Guthals believed it was more of a difference of a manager versus a leader. Dr. Beeman’s track record has a lot of experience in management but he has not gone to the level of being a leader of a school district. Dr. Rogers has focused on leadership. This District could do well with an educational manager but it could do even better with a dynamic leader. Trustee Goodrich felt Dr. Beeman was also a leader but with a different style than Dr. Rogers. Trustee Gesuale agreed with Trustee Goodrich. He liked Dr. Beeman because he set goals and hired staff back the next year after the layoffs and saved the district money through a retirement incentive program. Trustee Bryan stated she agreed with Mr. Ely when he stated, if you can not manage, you will never get to be a leader. Chairman Goodrich suggested the Board drop the lowest candidates, go through voting again on Dr. Beeman and Dr. Rogers, and see where we are then. Trustee Fox made the following motion with a second by Trustee Guthals: Motion to remove Ely and Meyer from the candidate list. 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. Bob Vogel asked the Board members to see how well the two candidates fit in Billings based on their leadership style. He suggested the numbering system as 0-3. Chairman Goodrich felt the members should not use a 0 and recommended using 1-4. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with no second being made: Motion to use 1-4. Bob Vogel felt the Board needed to get numbers that they are more comfortable with and suggested each member have a total of 5 points for each criteria. Trustee Guthals withdrew his motion and made the following motion with a second by Trustee Aragon: Motion to use a total of 5 points in rating the final two candidates. 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. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Fox: Motion to remove ‘controversy’ as an issue to be ranked for the final two candidates. 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. Trustee Aragon made the following motion with a second by Trustee Gesuale: Motion to remove the issues section from the matrix for the final rankins. Trustee Guthals felt that there were important issues to consider. Trustee Fox agreed. Those voting in favor were Peter Gesuale. Those opposing were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. The motion failed. Trustee Fox made the following motion with a second by Trustee Stroebe: Motion to eliminate ‘verification’ as an issue to be ranked for the final two candidates. 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 is the summary of all the trustees ranking of the final two candidates: CRITERIA BEEMAN ROGERS Internal/External Communicator 23 22 Community Engagement 23 22 Strategic Planning 29 16 Student Achievement 20 25 Reliance Upon Data 32 13 Track Record 25 20 Negotiator 32 13 Budget Knowledge 28 17 Public/Staff Comments 16 29 Knowledge in the Field 23 22 Leadership 20 25 Educational Leadership 17 28 Facilities 25 20 Governance 19 26 TOTAL CRITERIA SCORE 332 298 ISSUES BEEMAN ROGERS Small vs. Large District (Rural vs. Urban) 31 14 New Direction vs. Continuation 25 20 Superintendent Experience 16 29 TOTAL ISSUES SCORE 72 63 COMBINED CRITERIA & ISSUES 404 361 Chair Goodrich stated both candidates are excellent. Trustee Goodrich passed the gavel to Vice-Chair Guthals and made the following motion with a second by Trustee Kemp: Motion to authorize Montana School Boards Association to extend an offer of employment on behalf of School District 2 to Dr. R. Keith Beeman conditioned upon his accepting the terms of employment consistent with the salary set forth in the application for the position of superintendent, consistent with the District’s policies and subject to and conditioned upon the results of a satisfactory criminal background check. Once the terms of the written contract have been agreed upon and signed by Dr. R. Keith Beeman, the District will approve the employment agreement. Chair Goodrich received the gavel back. Those voting in favor of the motion were Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. Trustee Guthals abstained. The motion passed. Bob Vogel stated he would attempt to contact Dr. Beeman tonight and the process will begin on negotiating a contract with him. He will report back to the Board. Chairman Goodrich passed the gavel to Vice-Chair Guthals and made the following motion with a second by Trustee Aragon. Motion that the Board appoint Trustees Gesuale and Guthals to work with Bob Vogel on terms of the contract with Jeff Weldon, the attorney for the District. Those voting in favor Kathy Aragon, Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Peter Gesuale, Joel Guthals, Malcolm Goodrich, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, and Joyce Weber. Trustee Guthals abstained. The motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Malcolm Goodrich, Chair Diane Blevins, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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