coen Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana February 6, 2012 Call to Order The Special Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees of School District No. 2, Yellowstone County and High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County, Montana was duly held at the Lincoln Center, Billings, Montana on Monday, February 6, 2012. Roll Call Members present included: Trustees Pam Ellis, Allen Halter, Connie Wardell, Dr. Greta Besch Moen, Travis Kemp, Kathy Aragon; Clerk Leo Hudetz; Superintendent Jack Copps; Administration Staff: Lew Anderson, Kathy Olson, Gail Surwill, Brenda Koch, Scott Anderson, Patricia Hubbard, Dr. Josh Middleton, and Glenna Staebler. Jeff Weldon, attorney, arrived at 5:55 p.m. Chair Teresa Stroebe is in Helena for a meeting of Montana School Boards Association. Trustee Lindy Graves will be available via telephone later in the meeting. Registered guests were Pam Christianson, Jodi Schreiber, Darcey Frewin, and Mary Westwood. The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Kathy Aragon at 5:35 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance was said. COMMUNICATION FROM THE PUBLIC There was no public communication. AGENDA SETTING Ms. Aragon presented the proposed agenda for the regular meeting on February 20th. There will be a discussion of the budget committee and an update of the 2012-13 budget. The Yellowstone County Election Administrator will be at the meeting to present information and to answer any questions on elections. At the meeting there will be the official call for election of the trustees. Dr. Middleton would like to add Quality Energy Conservation Bonds to the agenda. These bonds are available for schools. The total available is $8.3 million. Mr. Copps stated that this application will require quick action by the board. Lew Anderson stated that we have to show 20 percent improvement in energy costs to quality for the bonds. Potential numbers will be available for an elementary technology levy. There will be no decision necessary at the February 20th meeting. There will also be estimates for the general fund levy elections. Building reserve will also be added to the agenda for discussion. Regarding contract negotiations, Trustee Moen requested Jeana Lervick provide a summary of the contract, and educate the board on their role in negotations. Mr. Hudetz explained that the board needs to define their role, whether or not there will be trustees on the negotiating committee. Superintendent Copps stated that this needs to be decided before proceeding because if board members are not on the team, they cannot participate in the negotiations. The item for Community Seven Television has been requested by Trustee Graves, to request Optimum allow us to put board meetings on our website the day following the meeting. The board needs to have a formal request to do this. Ms. Ellis stated that this request needs to go through Tina Volek, City Administrator. Trustee Ellis has requested a discussion of the Davis Demographic Study. She is requesting that the draft prepared by Davis be put on the website. Mr. Copps stated that the board did not act on the draft. The final report is on the website but the draft is not. Ms. Moen requested that the draft be part of the board packet. Ms. Ellis requested that the original draft be on the website. Trustees Ellis and Graves have requested a discussion of the Legislative Committee’s role and any expenditures of the committee. Trustee Graves has requested a discussion of the Quality Schools Grant because of required matching funds. Trustee Moen asked for information on textbooks. Ms. Surwill will provide that information. Trustee Aragon asked for an update on the 2010 census data as well as a facilities master plan as it relates to the Quality Schools Grant. The grant will be available as part of the packet. Ms. Christianson asked that all the information be scanned so the public can have access. Mr. Hudetz stated that the board had previously made a decision to have all public documents available in his office. They can discuss what should be on the website. Mr. Copps stated that for transparency, all documents should be available for the public, and all can be delivered electronically. Mr. Weldon was asked for his opinion. He stated that draft documents are not necessarily “public documents” but they could be labeled “draft” and be made available. McPHERSON & JACOBSON L.L.C. CONTRACT Trustee Graves was accessed by telephone for this item. Mr. Hudetz explained that this contract was submitted by McPherson & Jacobson. They plan to attend the board meeting on Monday, February 13, 2012. Trustee Ellis made a motion to approve the contract with McPherson & Jacobson L.L.C. Trustee Kemp seconded the motion. Trustee Moen asked about a proposed timeline. Mr. Copps stated that he had seen the proposed timeline and he feels it is too late. Ms. Lervick has been talking to McPherson. Ms. Wardell has spoken to Ms. Lervick about this. Trustee Aragon feels the contract cannot be approved without a timeline. Ms. Ellis stated that we have been too slow in this process. Ms. Wardell asked if the process could be accelerated. Ms. Ellis urged the board to move forward. Mr. Weldon suggested some changes to the contract and proposed a motion allowing him to work with the Chair and Superintendent to work with McPherson to work out the details. Mr. Copps stated that the process could be accelerated by narrowing the search to regional rather than national candidates. The position could be open for three weeks regionally. Ms. Wardell asked about community involvement. Trustee Kemp stated that we need to get the process started. Ms. Wardell proposed that McPherson personnel stay next week and get the focus groups going. The focus groups have not been identified. Mr. Weldon suggested that the board affirm the hiring of McPherson & Jacobson; direct the chair to work with the superintendent and legal counsel to work with McPherson & Jacobson to finalize the service agreement; and direct the chair to execute the contract once the chair and the superintendent are satisfied with the service agreement. Trustee Ellis revised her motion to incorporate the above as a friendly motion to her previous motion. Trustee Kemp seconded the revised friendly motion. Motion to direct the chair to work with the superintendent and legal counsel to work with McPherson & Jacobson to finalize the service agreement; and direct the chair to execute the contract once the chair and the superintendent are satisfied with the service agreement. Ms. Aragon asked about a timeline. Mr. Weldon stated that McPherson would be “on the hook” to start next week. Mr. Weldon will be in touch with Jeana Lervick. Ms. Ellis asked that Superintendent Copps be directed to work on this as well. Trustee Moen asked that a cap be put on the amount they can charge for expenses. Mr. Weldon stated that the proposal needs to be incorporated into the body of the contract, and he will propose this language.. A vote was called. Those voting in favor were: Trustees Aragon, Moen, Ellis, Kemp, Wardell and Graves. The motion passed unanimously. Trustee Graves was not available for the remainder of the meeting. PROCUREMENT CARD PRESENTATION Superintendent Copps stated that this presentation is in response to a request for an explanation of pcard usage in recent months. Pcards are used for many purchases and include a rebate from the bank. Expenditures can be over $100 thousand per month. Glenna Staebler, pcard manager, presented a PowerPoint. At the present time there are 315 pcards with 155 of them (or about half) checked out for a specific purpose. Superintendent Copps stated that they have checked on the pcard expenditures and have found no misappropriation of funds. Trustee Wardell feels that 315 cards is too many. Trustee Moen asked why there were different standards for different schools, such as different number of cards issued to different high schools, different activities, etc. Superintendent Copps stated that these issues will be considered. Trustee Halter asked for an explanation of how a parent could be issued a pcard for a specific activity. Ms. Staebler stated that all the same paperwork needs to be filled out by the parent as is done for an employee. The secretaries at the schools are in charge of that. The district is no longer giving out reimbursements to parents except for mileage and travel. Mr. Copps reiterated that there has been no indication of misappropriation of funds using the pcard. He stated that controls are being tightened in this area. Students being given gift cards as incentives have to sign that they are receiving the card and why they are receiving it. Mr. Hudetz stated that the board is given a list of all purchases on a monthly basis. He will include a chart of accounts so trustees know what funds are being used for purchases. The meeting was adjourned at 7 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Aragon, Vice-Chair Nancy Coe, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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