Special Board Meeting January 28, 2011

[Diane Blevins]

Proceedings of the Board of Trustees

District No. 2, Yellowstone County

High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

Billings, Montana

January 28, 2011

 

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, January 28, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.

 

Members present included Trustees Greta Besch Moen, Lindy Graves, Connie Wardell, Barbara Bryan, Travis Kemp, Joel Guthals, Joyce Weber, Teresa Stroebe (via phone), Superintendent Keith Beeman, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz.

 

Registered guests were Jerry Hooten, Pam Christianson, and Pete Gesuale.

 

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.

 

Janice Munsell gave a brief presentation on the development of the freshmen academies. She stated the academies have served as the founding committee had recommended.

 

Jerry Hooten spoke in support of the forensics program and addressed the proposal to cut 43% of the program and keep most of the tournaments to one day only. He felt it would destroy the program. Superintendent Beeman reported there is a proposal from Great Falls to cut the number of rounds in the meets. He will speak with the principals to determine why the program is being cut.

 

Peter Gesuale asked the Board to thoroughly review the proposal before making a decision to cut the forensics program.

 

DEFERRED MAINTENANCE BOND PLAN

 

Superintendent Beeman reported 10% of the $12,000,000 bond amount must be spent before June 29, 2011. In the elementary district, $442,000 must be used by June 29th and $758,000 in the high school district. Rich Whitney, Facilities Director, reviewed the handout for 23 proposed projects. The eight elementary projects are as follows: Washington windows ($395,000); Highland windows ($258,029); Poly Drive windows ($450,035); Bench windows ($436,000); Broadwater Fire Alarm ($85,000); Washington fire alarm ($70,000); Burlington fire alarm ($70,000); and, Miles Avenue fire alarm ($70,000). For the high school district, Senior High’s heating ventilation and air conditioning project Phase IIA will be completed ($800,000).

 

Dr. Beeman stated the money has been received and the district is ready to move forward. It is an aggressive timeline and work may carry over into the school year. Old fire alarms are active and will continue to work until the new systems are installed. Trustee Guthals asked what encumbered meant. Mr. Whitney reported it is money that will be committed to the contracts. Trustee Guthals asked if the district would be able to get a cooperative response from the city to get the projects going as seven years ago projects were delayed due to the slow response by the city in distributing the building permits. Mr. Whitney stated his office does not see any problems this year. Trustee Guthals asked for more information on the boilers at Senior High. The boiler to be installed will be different than the new one that was installed in the recent past. It will be consistent with what is contained at the Lincoln Center and several elementary schools. Chair Bryan asked staff to make sure that energy savings are monitored.

 

2011-2012 BUDGET

 

Dr. Beeman reviewed the handout for the 2011-2012 budget. Trustee Guthals stated he did not see a concept previously discussed by increasing staff efficiently by cluster schools, sister schools, or boundary changes. He felt those issues were relevant to consider as he believed there were too many schools, some are too small and some are in a wrong location. Trustee Guthals urged administration to consider these for long-term planning.

 

Peter Gesuale addressed the Board on the issue of freshmen academies. He favored moving the freshmen back into the high schools as it would allow more students to attend the Career Center as the West High freshmen would move back to West High. Mr. Gesuale believed the high schools could handle the increased numbers and it would simplify scheduling. But he also felt that freshmen should have a portion of the buildings for themselves. Mr. Gesuale believed that the number of dropouts is decreasing due to the freshmen academy concept. The District could gain lost instruction time as the freshmen would not have to be bussed when moved back into the high schools.

 

Chair Bryan asked if dropout data was available in order to determine the impact of the freshmen academy. Dr. Beeman stated he would look at it but it might be difficult to determine why students dropout. Trustee Wardell suggested the most meaningful data would be if a student dropped out after the freshmen academy. Trustee Weber stated she would like to see the data for each school, including Skyview. Trustee Stroebe agreed with Trustee Weber and suggested it would be important to look at the difference the academies made per grade.

 

Trustee Guthals believed it would be good to know where the students will be placed and how the schools will have smaller learning environments for the freshmen students, how they will be scheduled to understand the full impact in placing them back in the home high schools. He also asked why the smaller learning environment should not be implemented at Skyview in order to have ninth grade programs at each of the high schools. Trustee Guthals further asked how it would increase enrollment at the Career Center and what types of classes will be added. He asked the principals in attendance for their views in placing the freshmen back into the high schools.

 

Jeril Hein, Associate Principal at West High, reported West High has a committee that is working up those details as requested by Trustee Guthals. She stated West is able to balance class schedules and wanted to bring the freshmen back into the main building using what was learned in the academies. There are less discipline problems due to the smaller numbers in the academies. However, there will be logistical problems in scheduling.

 

Joe Sukut, Associate Principal at Senior High, stated he is confident that Senior High can create and replicate specific things from the academy. He felt it will take time and cooperation from staff in moving the freshmen back into the schools. There is a potential to loop teachers from the freshmen year into the students sophomore year.

 

Chair Bryan stated any Board member that has further questions should direct them to Leo Hudetz’s office. Dr. Beeman reported preliminary recommendations on the budget will be available for the Board on February 21, 2011.

 

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

 

 

 

Barbara Bryan, Chair

 

¬

Diane Blevins, Recorder