Diane Blevins Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana January 23, 2012 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 23, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. Those participating were Trustees Greta Besch Moen (via Skype), Allen Halter, Travis Kemp, Lindy Graves, Connie Wardell, Kathy Aragon, Pam Ellis, Superintendent Jack Copps, Assistant Superintendents Josh Middleton and Gail Surwill, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Brenda Koch, Lew Anderson, and Kathy Olson. Trustee Travis Smith was excused. 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 meeting. 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. MICROPHONE TRAINING BY CHANNEL SEVEN TELEVISION Lynne Turner-Fitzgerald, Director of Channel 7, made suggestions to the board on the proper use of microphones in order to maximize the sound quality for its listeners. QZAB BONDS FOR SPRING 2012 Dr. Middleton reviewed the possibility of obtaining $5,800,000 in QZAB bonds for the district. He will have a plan on how to use those funds at the February regular board meeting. Lew Anderson, Facilities Director, reported he has met with staff to discuss electrical and plumbing projects to determine what types of plans should be developed. He reviewed a list of projects that could be utilized. Mr. Anderson stated QZAB bonds are eligible for schools that have 35% of free and reduced lunch students. Members of the board requested copies of the 2009 deferred maintenance list. Trustee Ellis asked for figures on what the energy savings the district would realize with the QZAB funds for projects. Mr. Anderson replied he would put those figures together. Castle Rock did not qualify for its roof projects as the free and reduced lunches were at 34.3%. Those numbers will be reviewed. BOARD RETREAT RECOMMENDATIONS Trustee Wardell made corrections on the board’s statement of purpose. Clerk Hudetz will make corrections and send the new copy to the trustees to sign collectively. Trustee Halter made the following motion with a second by Trustee Aragon: Motion to accept the purpose statement as corrected and review it on a regular basis. Those voting in favor were Allen Halter, Travis Kemp, Lindy Graves, Greta Besch Moen, Teresa Stroebe, Pam Ellis, Kathy Aragon, and Connie Wardell. The motion passed unanimously. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Chair Stroebe reported the board adopted a series of Doug Eadie’s recommendations on August 15, 2011. She reviewed the chart on page 12 of the agenda packet. Other committees to be added are negotiations, budgeting, 403b, and insurance. A Committee of the Whole will also meet in the future. Superintendent Copps stated board policy mandates the board must have a member of the board on each committee. Trustee Graves felt the board had decided to go to a Committee of the Whole in order for all trustees to receive all of the information. He proposed staying with the structure that is in place now. Trustee Wardell presented a committee plan for the board. Trustee Moen, who has read several of Doug Eadie’s books, reported the Planning & Development Committee is more for long range planning, such as testing and merit pay. The Performance Monitoring Committee is more of what is occurring now. She stated external relationships were moved under the Performance Monitoring Committee due to the trust issues. The Legislative Committee could be split between the two because it deals with on-going and long-range planning issues. Trustee Ellis stated she has never seen a board do re-boundarying of attendance areas and felt it was an issue for administrators who could work with committee people. Superintendent Copps stated there are different plans in re-boundarying that can be done by staff such as cluster schools or 6/7/8 grade middle schools. Chair Stroebe wanted to make assignments for the Planning & Development Committee. Trustee Moen would serve as chair of the committee with Trustee Graves acting as chair for the Performance Monitoring Committee. Trustee Wardell will continue to serve as chair of the Legislative Committee. Trustee Graves believed that the Legislative Committee should be part of the Performance Monitoring Committee. Chair Stroebe felt the board could wait on the issue of the Legislative Committee and decide this issue report back at a later time. Trustee Moen stated she would work with Superintendent Copps and staff to finalize the particulars of the Planning & Development Committee. Trustee Graves made the following motion with a second by Trustee Aragon: Motion to set Greta Besch Moen as the chair of the Planning & Development Committee with the following committees falling under that committee: Strategic Master Plan. Re-boundarying, Budget, Facilities and External Relations. Those voting in favor were Allen Halter, Travis Kemp, Lindy Graves, Greta Besch Moen, Teresa Stroebe, Pam Ellis, Kathy Aragon, and Connie Wardell. The motion passed unanimously. Dr. Middleton stated he believed it was the job of administration to do the nuts and bolts on re-boundarying. It must be based on priorities out of the facilities plan. Administration needs direction from the board. Staff must share information first and then listen to the board. Holly Rensvold, Business Office, reviewed the different demographic features included in the district’s software purchased from Davis Demographics. She showed the Miles Elementary area and where the students are located. The GIS program can show different possibilities of re-boundarying. Trustee Ellis asked that the 2010 census be included in the program in order to know where the one to four year olds are located. Trustee Aragon showed the census information for Billings on the website called “Dropbox.com” that was developed into a GIS program. There are many different groups who are interested in this information such as housing, health, and transportation departments. There are many grants available for schools who work collaboratively. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Teresa Stroebe, Chair Diane Blevins, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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