Special Board Meeting, February 15, 2006

[Diane Blevins]

Proceedings of the Board of Trustees

District No. 2, Yellowstone County

High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

Billings, Montana

 

February 15, 2006

 

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, February 15, 2006, at 5:30 p.m.

 

Those present included: Trustees Joel Guthals, Mary Jo Fox, Dale Getz, Conrad Stroebe, Katharin Kelker, Karen Moses, Dawn Achten, Sandra Mossman, Malcolm Goodrich, Superintendent Rod Svee, and District Clerk Leo Hudetz.

 

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.

 

Superintendent Evaluation

 

The Chair reported Superintendent Svee has requested his evaluation be done in a public meeting. She cautioned the Board members that the evaluation is a personnel matter so they should not refer to anyone other than the Superintendent, as they have not waved their rights to privacy.

 

Trustee Goodrich gave an overall presentation on the review. He met with Superintendent Svee on January 24th to discuss the evaluation. Trustee Goodrich met with Rod to discuss the issues he personally saw in the evaluation and to elicit Rod’s response to the evaluation. Two major issues were discussed: leadership and community relations. Mr. Svee informed Trustee Goodrich that he was a delegator and he believed he had qualified staff and trusted their judgment. Superintendent Svee also stated his work is behind the scene and makes sure the staff pursues the specialties necessary, gains their input and makes the ultimate decisions. Trustee Goodrich reported Rod has implemented a leadership plan for years one and two that developed his position in the District and year three was to move out into the community, which he has done through a membership on the Chamber of Commerce where he serves on the tax increment district committee. Mr. Svee is also working with the central office staff to work into the community. Superintendent Svee believes his relationship with the Board is good but he needs clear and consistent direction from the Board to implement the policies of the District.

 

Trustee Goodrich stated Rod believes the District will adapt in the next five or six years to the statutory definition of a quality education and the legislators will come up with the money because the legislature has to conform to the statutory definition. He also told Trustee Goodrich that he would continue to work with MQEC and the legislative level to secure funding for the schools. Trustee Goodrich informed the Board that Rod would like to propose a three-year contract. In year one and two of the three-year contract, it would contain a provision that would allow the Board to unilaterally terminate Rod, which would be on the basis of administrative philosophy. This would eliminate the need for an evaluation in year one, and then, if the Board voted on no-competence, it would mean automatic termination. However, if the Board did not take the step to pass the motion at that point, the contract would automatically renew for the following year. This process would repeat for the second year. Trustee Goodrich reported the Superintendent is asking the Board to consider a raise for 3% from his present salary. Action cannot be taken today on the contract as it has not been noticed. The salary would go from $123,000 up to $127,007 for a 3% raise. Mr. Svee is also requesting any future raises to be pegged with the raises of the BEA, and personal days be paid at the end of each fiscal year.

 

Mr. Svee addressed the Board and stated he did not want an automatic renewal at any time, but wanted a vote of the Board, which, if not renewed, should be a definite motion that is ‘the Board of Trustees wishes to go in a different administrative philosophy’. If the vote were affirmative, the contract would be over. Mr. Svee stated the language is not clear in the contract about payment of personal days at the end of each year, and suggested it be re-worded which would be beneficial to the Board. He believed the District is moving forward. The definition of SB152 is going to create new demands and will guide the educational discussion over the next few years. He felt it would also guide the legislative efforts on funding. Superintendent Svee reported his first two years were spent bringing calmness to the District after the strike. He is now moving more into public entities of the community. The District has excellent employees working and they have the authority but the responsibility is with the Superintendent.

 

Trustee Fox stated she would like to see the evaluations of the Board separate from the other evaluations. It was the consensus of the Board to break those out.

 

Trustee Moses voiced her concerns. She did not feel Mr. Svee was bringing items to the Board and that the agenda setting meetings were Board driven. The Board did not receive a report on the elementary bond projects until they started receiving phone calls from contractors. Superintendent Svee responded that he has tried to follow the process set by the Chair, which has involved the agenda setting meetings. He suggested a change be made in the process, but the current process brings things forward in a very orderly fashion.

 

Trustee Guthals reported he has known Rod Svee for fifteen years. He has found him to be a hard worker and knowledgeable and the District is fortunate to have him. He suggested, when items come before the Board at the committee meetings, it contain the Superintendent’s position and reasoning on that issue. Trustee Guthals recommended the Superintendent address the Board at each meeting on any problems that have occurred. He wanted to see Rod take a public leadership role, possibly service clubs, and provide information for the public on the funding system and other issues.

 

Trustee Getz applauded the 360-degree look at performance as it helped the Board to get the full appreciation of the Superintendent’s performance as viewed by different eyes in the District. He stated Rod is a principled, kind person and has helped heal the District after the strike. Trustee Getz did not feel Rod was receptive to the budget changes that are being made, but the District must move forward and find ways of doing that. The Board had dealt with WWIDEA (a distance learning proposal using the Internet) but it keeps coming up. Trustee Getz stated Rod’s role is the chief executive officer for the District and the Board’s contributes to setting strategy. He looked to Rod for a vision of change in the future, and staffing is a large one. He felt he needed to know the Superintendent’s view on issues and data that supports those recommendations.

 

Trustee Goodrich had no doubt that Rod had the best interest of the child in the incident at Skyview. Rod scored the highest on question #24 of the evaluation for ethical behavior. Trustee Goodrich felt Rod understood Helena and the legislature and is a strong advocate for education in the State of Montana. He was concerned about vision as he felt Rod believes that the legislators will conform and provide funding, but Trustee Goodrich did not share that vision. He was concerned about the demographic change in Montana that shows people do not want to pay property taxes. Trustee Goodrich felt we needed to take charge and take challenges and be proactive in the community.

 

Sandra Mossman felt Rod’s experience in Helena has held the District in good stead. He has represented the District very well and has calmed the community after the strike. She felt he was not as visionary about the change process and was glad Rod’s community involvement is improving. Trustee Mossman stated the Board needed to know more about your decision-making process.

 

Trustee Achten agreed with the comments on communication and felt improvements should be made. She stated her relationship with Rod has been good but filling out the evaluation was difficult as she has been on the Board for only eight months. She suggested there should be more detail in the Board orientation. Trustee Achten believed Rod was doing a great job.

 

Trustee Stroebe felt the Board should be careful not to judge the system for which Rod is trying to serve. He stated the best size school district is 2,000 to 2,500, whereas our District is over 15,000. Trustee Stroebe reported Rod has gone to the Lockwood District and asked how he could serve them.

 

Superintendent Svee stated he does not lead by getting out where everyone can see him. Decisions get made and the system operates very well. The new budget process ties together with making changes so that the public sees them. Mr. Svee stated he agreed with the new budget process but there were things going on in the process that he is not aware of and communication is a two-way street. He stated a process must be started of information for the Board. SB152 is critical because the first item is to meet accreditation standards but does not provide for them. Mr. Svee stated there is nothing in the WWIDEA materials except that they are a vendor and the Adult Education Program has a need for distance learning that covers the full range of content and performance standards that are required by the State. No other entity has those that have been found but an RFP would have to be done to see if there are any other vendors. The District must have a system contained within that process that identifies an individual learning plan for the student. Mr. Svee reported, in the Skyview issue, he will always protect the child and keep his/her best interests in mind.

 

Trustee Moses voiced her concern that counselors had not been asked for input when considering the Running Start Program. She wanted to see new directions by getting input from those who are most affected by the decision.

 

The Chair felt that there might be stylistic differences that, on occasion, cause some pain between the Board and administration. The Board has a strategic plan and, if administration believes the five-year plan is the strategic plan, then there is a problem. The five-year plan is mostly prescribed by governmental regulations and is the things that should be done. The Board is viewing its priorities as looking at the high schools’ facility needs, work on labor negotiations, and a different budget process. The steering committee meetings for the budget process are open to all individuals who need the information.

 

Trustee Mossman reported most of the work in the new budget process is being done in the budget committee meetings. Trustee Mossman stated that Rod only attended for a few minutes of the Outcomes Based Budget Committee meeting that was the first meeting of all members of this steering committee. Mr. Svee stated he did not see a need to step in front of the administrators as Thomas Harper is in charge of the process. Trustee Mossman did not feel it was intrusion but inclusion. Trustee Goodrich stated the Board needs someone who will not only participate but also give input and suggestions. Trustee Stroebe did not feel the Superintendent could be everywhere all of the time. He urged the Board to be careful with the opposition to the delegation style of management.

 

The Chair stated the Superintendent’s evaluation would be discussed at the February 20th meeting and action would be taken at that time.

 

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Katharin Kelker, Chair

 

 

 

Diane Blevins, Recorder