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Special March 28, 2005


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Proceedings of the Board of Trustees

District No. 2, Yellowstone County

High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

Billings, Montana

 

March 28, 2005

 

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, March 28, 2005, at 5:30 p.m.

 

Chair Katharin Kelker presided.

 

Pledge of Allegiance

 

The Chair led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Roll Call

 

Trustees and officers present were: Katharin Kelker, Judy Herzog, Mike Dimich, Malcolm Goodrich, Dale Getz, Karen Moses, Conrad Stroebe, Gene Jarussi, Superintendent Svee, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz. Absent was Trustee Stephanie Krueger.

 

Registered guests were Curt Prchal and other interested persons.

 

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. There were no public comments.

 

Newman Elementary HVAC-2005

 

As previously approved on the Elementary Building Reserve 2004-2005 Project List, a bid was let for the Newman Elementary HVAC-2005 project and opened on March 16, 2005. Bid results are as follows:

 

Contractor Base Bid Total

Wagner’s Mechanical, Inc $574,000 $574,000

Star Service, Inc $597,900 $597,900

 

Facility Services recommends the project be awarded to the low bidder, Wagner Mechanical.

 

Trustee Dimich introduced a motion to approve the awarding of the Newman Elementary HVAC-2005 project to the low bidder, Wagner’s Mechanical, Inc., for $574,000.

 

Trustee Moses seconded the motion. Voting in favor of the motion were Katharin Kelker, Gene Jarussi, Mike Dimich, Karen Moses, Malcolm Goodrich, and Dale Getz. Trustees Judy Herzog and Conrad Stroebe are ineligible to vote on this item. The motion carried.

 

 

Newman Elementary Asbestos Abatement-2005

 

Rich Whitney explained the asbestos abatement would be done the first week of summer vacation and needs to be completed in order to do the actual mechanical work. Schools are a strictly regulated environment for asbestos control. Facility Services performs periodic checks with in-house people; and, every three years they have a contractor verify the condition of the facilities. Following an asbestos abatement project, air sampling is performed before allowing reentry to the building.

 

The contingency is an allowance for unknown circumstances regarding non-friable asbestos, etc. As previously approved on the Elementary Building Reserve 2004-2005 Project List, a bid was let for the Newman Elementary Asbestos Abatement-2005 project and opened on March 8, 2005. Bid results are as follows:

 

Contractor Base Bid Contingency #1 Total

IIC $55,700 $2,400 $58,100

Environmental Contractors $59,360 $3,800 $63,160

Safetech, Inc. $60,300 $3,000 $63,300

Ingraham Environmental NO BID

 

Facility Services recommends the project be awarded to the low bidder, IIC.

 

Trustee Jarussi introduced a motion to approve the awarding of the Newman Elementary Asbestos Abatement-2005 project Base Bid and Contingency #1 to the low bidder, IIC for a total of $58,100.

 

Trustee Dimich seconded the motion. Voting in favor of the motion were Katharin Kelker, Gene Jarussi, Mike Dimich, Karen Moses, Malcolm Goodrich, and Dale Getz. Trustees Judy Herzog and Conrad Stroebe are ineligible to vote on this item. The motion carried.

 

Resolution of Intent to Dispose of District Real Property at 14th and Grand Avenue

 

Dave Williams reported this item was tabled by the Business Committee. Dave asked the Board to start the process by adopting the Resolution of Intent to Dispose of District Real Property at 14th and Grand Avenue to allow them to move forward and answer the questions asked by the Business Committee and make a future recommendation to the Board.

 

Questions raised by the Business Committee involved: 1) possibility of other entities interested in pursuing this property; 2) interfacing with the Twenty-Year Planning Committee scenarios; and, 3) the poor condition of the building.

 

Rich Whitney recommended before we make a huge investment to keep this building that we establish the cost of renovation. The space referred to under consideration is the building, the parking area, and a 15-20’ space between the building and a softball field. A survey has not been completed to determine exact boundaries.

 

Trustee Dimich introduced a motion to adopt the Resolution of Intent to Dispose of District Real Property at 14th and Grand Avenue as follows:

 

RESOLUTION

INTENT TO DISPOSE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2,

YELLOWSTONE COUNTY, REAL PROPERTY

 

WHEREAS, the trustees of any district have the power and the responsibility to hold in trust all real and personal property of the district for the benefit of the schools and children of the district, and;

 

WHEREAS, the trustees of a district may purchase, build, exchange, or otherwise acquire, sell, or dispose of sites and buildings of the district, and;

 

WHEREAS, the trustees of a district have determined that a site, building, or any other real or personal property of the district is about to become abandoned, obsolete, undesirable, or unsuitable for the school purposes of the district;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees of School District No. 2, Yellowstone County, Montana, declare their intent to sell or otherwise dispose of the district real property specifically identified as follows:

 

Location generally known as the Crossroads School location at 14th and Grand Avenue.

 

The final adoption of this resolution shall be considered at 5:30 p.m. on April 18, 2005 at the regular scheduled meeting to be held at the Lincoln Center, located at 415 North 30th Street, Billings, Montana.

 

Dated and posted this 29th day of March, 2005.

 

Leo Hudetz

District Clerk

School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

 

Trustee Getz seconded the motion. Voting in favor of the motion were Katharin Kelker, Mike Dimich, Karen Moses, Malcolm Goodrich, and Dale Getz. Voting against the motion was Gene Jarussi. Trustees Judy Herzog and Conrad Stroebe are ineligible to vote on this item since it is an elementary building. The motion carried.

 

Announcements

 

The Chair handed out a report from Carol Wicker showing where students come from that end up in our high schools.

 

The Board has been notified that MPEA would like to open negotiations. The four Board members appointed to work on this item are: Dale Getz, Malcolm Goodrich, Conrad Stroebe, and Karen Moses.

 

Budget FY 2005-2006 – Board Work Session

 

The work session for discussion on the Budget FY 2005-2006 began at 5:55 p.m. with the following participants: Chair Katharin Kelker; Trustees Mike Dimich, Dale Getz, Malcolm Goodrich, Judith Herzog, Gene Jarussi, Karen Moses, Conrad Stroebe; District Clerk Leo Hudetz; Superintendent Rod Svee; Business Manager Thomas Harper; Director of Secondary Education Carol Wicker; and Director of Elementary Education Kathy Olson.

 

Katharin Kelker, Board Chair, opened the budget work session and asked that Thomas Harper, Business Manager give a budget overview. Mr. Harper briefly summarized the budget and then took questions. The high school district was the first budget discussed. There were several questions regarding the maintenance budget, and Mr. Harper pointed out that the budget did not contain any money for site improvements. Trustee Dale Getz asked a series of questions regarding the high school budget. Superintendent, Rod Svee, told the Board that the high school budget reflected the elimination of nine teacher positions at an average salary and fringe of $36,608 per teacher.

 

After further discussion, Katharin Kelker suggested Trustees prioritize budget cuts needed to cover the worst possible scenario regarding projected revenue and expenditures. The Board received a list of possible cuts that was prepared by the administration. In addition to these cuts, the following cuts in the high school budget were proposed: Chair Kelker suggested that $75,000 could be removed from the textbook purchases budget; Trustee Conrad Stroebe suggested the following cuts: (1) eliminate busing of students within a three mile radius of school, (2) cut expenditures in the Technology Department, (3) move all certified teachers out of administration and into the classrooms, and (4) Investigate ways to reduce liability insurance such as self-funding the plan.

Trustee Gene Jarussi suggested the transfer of any reserves in the transportation fund to the general fund. Trustee Karen Moses suggested eliminating the athletic and extracurricular activities. Katharin Kelker reminded the Board that during the last contract negotiations with the teachers that both sides agreed that in the third year of the contract that positions may need to be cut in order to live within the School District’s means. Allan Audet, BEA President, present at the work session, concurred with Chair Kelker.

 

After discussion of the high school budgets, Chair Kelker instructed Trustees to list which cuts they would recommend and to prioritize these cuts. Katharin Kelker stated she would tabulate and summarize the Board’s priorities and present them at a future meeting.

 

After completing the high school budget, each Board member also listed cuts they would recommend in the elementary budget.

 

Adjournment

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Katharin Kelker, Chair

 

 

 

 

Leo Hudetz, Recorder

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