Special Board Meeting 11/28/05

[Diane Blevins]

Proceedings of the Board of Trustees

District No. 2, Yellowstone County

High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

Billings, Montana

 

November 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, November 28, at 5:30 p.m.

 

Those present included: Superintendent Rod Svee, Dawn Achten, Katharin Kelker, Joel Guthals, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Mary Jo Fox, Dale Getz, Karen Moses, Conrad Stroebe, and Malcolm Goodrich. Sandra Mossman was excused. Others present included Bob Chatrin, Anthony Delancy, Jay Wahl, Doug Dundas, Lance Orner, Bob Whalen, Jim Miller, Greg Uhren and Dan Martin.

 

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.

 

Recommended Termination of a Classified Employee

 

The Chair reported Anthony Delancy has requested an open session. Dan Martin reviewed various evaluation forms completed on Mr. Delancy, custodian at Skyview High School. Mr. Martin reported walk-throughs are used as source documents for evaluations. Doug Dundas, retired administration, stated he and Jim Miller, Head Custodian at Skyview, conducted a walk through of Mr. Delancy’s area and found it to be not up to par and needed improvement. Mr. Dundas also wrote a letter regarding a falsified timesheet that Mr. Delancy had filled out incorrectly on February 11, 2005. Bob Whalen, Skyview Principal, conducted evaluations during 2001. He reported Mr. Delancy gets along very well with the students and was in charge of cleaning the commons area. Mr. Whalen stated he started seeing several issues in A. D.’s (Mr. Delancy) work the next year.

 

Jim Miller reported on the walk-through of September 7, 2005. All custodians are evaluated the same and are responsible for the same job duties. Mr. Miller noticed the men’s restroom in A.D.’s area had not been cleaned for a week, and also the floors in the women’s restroom had not been cleaned for a week. When checking A.D.’s cleaning closet, he noticed chemical spills on the floor, the garbage was full and chemical cleaning bottles were not labeled. Doug Dundas reported the walk through on April 25, 2005 showed A.D. needed improvement in most of the areas. Lance Orner, Skyview Dean, reported he took three custodians into A.D.’s area over the winter break and took 72 hours to clean it properly. A walk through was conducted on January 5th, 2005 and the area was spotless. Another walk through was conducted on January 28th with A.D., and the area was found to be unacceptable. Mr. Orner addressed the issue with Greg Uhren, District Custodial Foreman. He also showed A.D. how to properly clean a sink. The walk through on February 5th, showed improvement on the part of A.D. and he brought things up to standard in the next two weeks. Dan Martin reported he asked Greg Uhren to go to Skyview and do an auxiliary walk through. Mr. Uhren conducted a walk through with Rich Whitney, Dave Williams and Dan Martin on October 7th, 2005 and found 4 or 5 different things. A.D.’s closet was packed full of garbage in the morning. The chemical spill on the floor was considered a fire hazard and the sink was filthy. No paper products were stored in the closet. Mr. Delancy has worked for the District for 18 years and was stationed at Lewis & Clark prior to Skyview. Mr. Uhren stated there were concerns at Lewis with quality of work and punctuality. He also reported Mr. Delancy had done a very good job in the past.

 

Lance Orner reported on the September 18th, 2003 memo, which showed Skyview administration was receiving many complaints about A.D. was leaving early. Two 15-minute breaks cannot be tied to the lunch hour as requested by A.D. He also had driven on the grass at Skyview with his vehicle. Mr. Orner stated A.D. had missed 38 days of work. Bob Chatriand, State MPEA Representative, from Helena was asked to come to Billings to meet with the staff at Skyview regarding A.D.’s time card that was off by 2 hours. Mr. Orner spoke to Jeff Weldon who directed Lance to change the time card. Jeff Weldon later instructed Lance to put the 2 hours back on because A.D. reported he had come into work late but stayed later to make up the time. Doug Dundas reported he sent a memorandum to the custodians addressing the issue of leaving early.

 

Jim Miller was approached in September and told A.D. was taking extra long lunch breaks and was gone for 2 hours. He was also still receiving complaints from teachers in the shop area and the music area. He discussed the matter with A.D. who told him he would work on improving. Mr. Miller called the MPEA President, Mark Wagner, and asked him how to get A.D. to perform his job correctly. Mr. Wagner informed Mr. Miller to document it and to keep talking to A.D.

 

The custodial staff was directed to use a gray utility cart to take out the garbage. A. D. did not feel it was fair and the rules were always being changed. Trustee Goodrich asked if there had been a problem with other custodians leaving early. Mr. Miller did not feel other custodians were leaving early. The honor system is used, as there are no time clocks. Mr. Miller reported he started receiving complaints from other custodians on why they had to be there on time and one person is always late. Teachers were complaining that A.D. was watching TV and talking on the phone and they felt intimidated by him.

 

Bob Whalen stated he asked his staff to put in writing if things were not being cleaned in their areas. Verbal comments were also accepted. He reported he met with A.D. on October 19th, 2005, as well as Mark Wagner and Bob Chatriand, to discuss his job performance and suggested it would be taken to the next level. Staff had requested to come in earlier during the MEA days, as the teachers were not in the classrooms. A.D. came in at his assigned time. After checking his assigned area on October 21st, it was found to be dirty and the bathrooms had not been cleaned. Garbage cans had not been emptied. The next day, a woman called and left a message saying A.D. would not be in until 3:00. A.D. showed up in the parking lot at 3:35. Mr. Miller was unable to find anything that A.D. had completed during that shift.

 

Dan Martin reported Bob Chatriand was going to meet with A.D. and they would put information together to respond to a packet of information that had been given to A.D., but they would need until the next Monday. Mr. Martin reported he has never received the information that was discussed in October. Mr. Martin stated A.D. had been informed he could lose his job.

 

Bob Whalen reported the recommendation is to terminate A.D. Trustee Guthals voiced his concern that it had not been documented that A.D. had been informed he would lose his job. Superintendent Svee reported he received the recommendation to terminate and he supported that recommendation.

 

Anthony Delancy was given time to respond. He reported he never received a letter from Greg Uhren until October. He stated he needed this job and enjoyed working at Skyview, and he was not putting garbage in other custodians’ closets. A.D. reported he did not feel he had falsified his timesheet as they are filled out ahead of time and did not get a chance to change it. He voiced his concern that he had reported to Bob Whalen on four occasions that he had been called names but there was nothing documented. A.D. reported his father, mother and brother had passed away the previous year within a four-month period. He felt the people at Skyview were out to get him. After a day off, he was called into the office about cleaning. As for driving on the grass, there is a teacher who parks on the grass on a regular basis. Mr. Delancy stated he takes pride in his work and was not the worst. A custodian who cleans the metal shop never gets in trouble when his area is not cleaned. He had discussed discrimination against him to Mr. Whalen. He reported the teachers’ complaints were never brought to him.

 

Mr. Delancy stated, when working in the area, he would work from 3:00 p.m. until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning to complete his work as it was such a large area and needed more time. He never asked for overtime during that period. A.D. had been told the walk throughs would only be used for informational purposes and would not be placed in his file.

 

Trustee Goodrich asked A.D. if he thought he could get it together and get back to cleaning. A.D. thought he could work with them but it would be hard, and he wasn’t sure they could work with him. Trustee Achten asked A.D. how he would rank his job performance, and he responded 6.5 on a scale of 10. Trustee Kelker asked A.D., after the 3 custodians cleaned his area for 72 hours over the winter break, did he think it was cleaner than usual. A.D. did not believe it was. The Chair asked if he thought it takes him longer to clean his area than is allotted. He believed other people get it done and felt he could also. Trustee Moses asked how often evaluations are conducted. It was reported they are done every 3 years. Trustee Goodrich asked if there had been any problems with other employees taking longer lunch hours. The issue had been addressed with one employee and he has ceased doing it. Trustee Goodrich asked if a transfer would be appropriate for A.D. It was felt it would not be fair to transfer someone who is not up to standard. Trustee Goodrich asked if there has been anything put in writing notifying him that he is in danger of losing his job. Bob Whalen felt it had probably not been done. Doug Dundas stated he put it in his memo that disciplinary action could be taken. Employees can be terminated for just cause. A.D. asked for the Board to investigate the reasons for dismissal further.

 

Trustee Getz addressed the issue of A.D. working for longer hours and putting 8 hours on his timesheet. A.D. was told only to work eight hours by his supervisors. Greg Uhren stated there was nothing but problems when A.D. took over the shop area. Other custodians were able to clean that area in 8 hours. A.D. showed pictures to the board members of another custodian’s area that had not been cleaned properly, but yet they complained about his area only.

 

A.D. reported his paycheck was not given to him on a payday. He felt Skyview administrators were holding his check. Mr. Whalen reported it was not withheld but a mistake in the payroll office.

 

Trustee Guthals asked A.D. if he understood that the deficiencies in his job performance could lead to his termination. A.D. reported he did not understand that he could be terminated. Trustee Goodrich voiced his concern that it was not documented that A.D. could be terminated for job performance related issues. He felt he would have to be given written notice of a termination possibility and would have to be given a period of time to improve. Trustee Guthals stated A.D. has not performed his job adequately in the last year or two. He further stated he did not feel the consequences were not fully and adequately relayed to him. Trustee Guthals concurred with Trustee Goodrich that Mr. Delancy was not given the proper warning. He felt the proper course of action would be a probationary period. Trustee Getz also concurred and made the following motion with a second by Trustee Goodrich:

 

Motion that we not accept the Superintendent’s recommendation for termination of Mr. Delancy.

 

Trustee Moses told A.D. that if he really wanted this job, he must show improvement, as he has used every excuse under the sun. What is important is how you do your job and not how other people do their jobs. Trustee Fox stated she appreciated A.D.’s honesty in that he needed improvement but she did not agree with the other Trustees in giving him another chance. Those voting in favor of the motion were Dawn Achten, Dale Getz, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Katharin Kelker, Karen Moses and Conrad Stroebe. Mary Jo Fox opposed the motion. The motion passed.

 

The Chair reported the reasonable thing to do would be to put in writing the deficiencies and if the deficiencies continue, it would be a cause for termination and to have a deadline for performance. A 30-day period was suggested. There was consensus of the Board. The Chair told the administrators that the Board knew they had made great efforts to improve the job performance of this employee but it was a legal technicality that kept him from being dismissed. She asked the administrators to present A.D. with a current document in writing on his performance. She addressed A.D. and told him it was all up to him now. Bob Whalen requested a permanent probation period, as he feared A.D. would go back to a poor performance rating after showing improvement. The Chair stated it could not be done but a plan of improvement could be implemented. Bob Whalen agreed that a plan of improvement would be best in this instance. A.D. felt it was going to be a problem with discrimination. The Chair directed him that he could file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

 

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Katharin Kelker, Chair

 

 

 

Diane Blevins, Recorder