Diane Blevins Posted November 2, 2007 Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana October 8, 2007 CALL TO ORDER The Special Board Meeting/Board Retreat 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, October 8, 2007, at 5:30 p.m. Members present included Trustees Tim Trafford, Sandra Mossman, Mary Jo Fox, Joel Guthals, Katharin Kelker, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Kathy Aragon, Dawn Achten, Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, and Financial Officer Thomas Harper. Registered guests included Jeff Weldon and Jerry Hansen. 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. Jerry Hansen addressed the Board to urge them to have a formal budget presentation and include an overall description of the District finances. He did not feel it was good management for the transfer of expenses to the deferred maintenance and weatherization funds from the general fund as next year the District will have to come up with $1.700,000. Mr. Hansen urged the Board to come up with better ways to meet the mandates in special education. He voiced his concern how the District will meet its demands without major cuts. Mr. Hansen did feel that there could be cuts in staffing for the next year. OPENING ORIENTATION Chair Goodrich asked the Board members to state their goals for the next year. Responses are as follows: Trustee Guthals -- Continuing involvement with the community and the Board. Hold a School Board meeting at a school and listen to what these people have to say. Have more organized facts given to the Board on items that are important to us, such as school visits. Have a state of the District message from the Superintendent twice a year. Receive reports from the education offices. Have talks from principals periodically to let us know what is happening in their schools. Trustee Goodrich -- Concerned about the state of the District’s facilities which he will bring forward for discussion. Kathy Aragon -- Health and wellness. Planning and development. Sandra Mossman -- Facilities. More focus on student achievement. School improvement plans. Trustee Kelker -- Include the Yes for Kids group in town hall meetings. Strategic plans for facilities. Focus more on student achievement. Opportunities for achievement that our students need and do not have. Trustee Gesuale -- High school overcrowding. Facilities. Meetings in the schools. Inequity in elementary schools and making do with what is at hand. Address and decide on our role in Montana Quality Education Coalition. Trustee Fox -- Facilities in the Heights area. Narrow the gap in teachers’ steps and lanes. Do more as a Board to make sure the evaluation system is in place especially for tenured teachers. Continue to find ways to reward teachers who excel. Make sure that the Zangle program is used by all of the teachers. Do not approve the dual credits program until there is a way for all students who cannot afford to pay can participate. Trustee Achten -- Public awareness and what the position of the Board is in the evaluation of teachers. Trustee Trafford -- Funding issues for facilities. Parental involvement. The Zangle system. Reports from administrative staff each month in Board meetings. Single member districts are not working. BOARD COMMUNICATION Jeff Weldon, legal counsel, addressed the email policy. Sending emails to all Trustees could be construed as an open meeting according to statute. When Trustees start responding, it could be likened to a meeting or discussion. Discussions should be held in a noticed meeting. Another issue is a right to privacy as all messages to the Board go through the District Clerk and he decides if it is a privacy issue. If a quorum is together in a setting that is not a noticed meeting, District issues should not be discussed. Mr. Weldon stated that if someone writes to a Trustee at his/her home, that is private but if the mail goes to the District, that is a public matter. Private emails to a Trustee’s home is still a private issue, but if it is also sent to other Trustees, consider that to be an open meeting. Trustee Fox felt to protect privacy that the District Clerk should redact names and places in those emails on the website for everyone to see. Trustee Goodrich stated the email system would be reviewed during a Policy Review Committee meeting. Trustee Trafford asked if he asked a question to the Montana School Board Association, could that response be sent to all of the Trustees? Mr. Weldon responded that if all the Board members did not engage in the conversation but received the answer, it could be considered an open Board meeting. Trustee Goodrich asked Mr. Weldon to prepare a legal response which will be disseminated to all members. BOARD COMMITTEES Chair Goodrich stated he developed the agenda item to discuss committees. He felt some committee meetings were very long and other committees did not have important priority items. The committee structure was changed to create the present structure and more public involvement is needed. Superintendent Copps stated some committee changes have occurred due to frustration. The best committees that have been used in the past are Committee of the Whole and work sessions. Long range planning and budgeting committees are the ones you see most often in larger districts. Mr. Copps felt that conducting four town meetings in four different areas of Billings would be a good idea. He was not sure what to recommend for the School/Community Committee. He also stated he felt a strong long range planning committee would be good for the District but felt it could not begin before addressing the immediate needs of the District. Mr. Copps urged the Board not to wait for a new long range planning study to move forward with a new elementary school at the Cottonwood site. He recommended keeping the elementary schools at 90% capacity to provide room for student growth. Mr. Copps also suggested that deferred maintenance problems be included in long range planning. The Committee of the Whole is a regular meeting of the Board or a work session with Trustees attending if they so desired. No decisions are made during these meetings. Trustee Kelker felt a good topic for a Committee of the Whole is the Zangle system. She did not feel the current committees are as effective now except for the Budgeting for Results Committee. Superintendent Copps felt the Board has the obligation of giving the committees a charge with specifics. Trustee Goodrich suggested the Agenda Setting meetings be re-energized to have ideas come to the meeting to set issues for the committees. Trustee Kelker stated she liked study sessions of the Board and the Board should think more strategically how often the standing committees should meet. Nothing should go to the Board unless it is strategic and action would be taken. Chair Goodrich stated the Board has to start with a strategic plan and not change the committees right now. Task forces on educational issues could be set up. The next step is to have some type of plan that people identify with as to what the task will be for a particular committee other than Budgeting for Results and the Audit Committee. Chair Goodrich suggested the Trustees go back and look at what they feel is critical and a strategic goal. The items will be discussed at the next Board retreat and a strategic plan will be drawn up and given to the committees for their charge. Trustee Achten made the following motion with a second by Trustee Fox: Motion to adjourn and continue the meeting on October 22nd. Those voting in favor were Dawn Achten, KathyAragon, Peter Gesuale, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Katharin Kelker, Sandra Mossman, Tim Trafford and Mary Jo Fox. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting recessed at 9:10 p.m. and will continue on October 22nd. BOARD RETREAT, OCTOBER 22ND, 2007 Members present included Trustees Malcolm Goodrich, Katharin Kelker, Mary Jo Fox, Joel Guthals, Sandra Mossman, Tim Trafford, Dawn Achten, Kathy Aragon, Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, and Financial Officer Thomas Harper. Trustee Peter Gesuale arrived at 7:25 p.m. There were no registered guests. 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. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF PRELIMINARY STRATEGIC GOALS;ADOPTION OF STRATEGIC GOALS FOR 2007-2008 Trustee Kelker requested changes in C2 and D4 of the proposed strategic goals that were included in the meeting packet. The change in C2 was the removal of ‘on a regular basis’ to read Celebrate Staff Excellence. D4 was changed from ‘Implement Long Range Planning for District’ to ‘Continue Long Range Planning for District’. Trustee Mossman stated the budgeting for results process is only one-half implemented. Prioritization is the heart of the process and also goals. Trustee Fox felt the word ‘may’ in the teacher evaluation policy should be addressed. Chair Goodrich stated those items will be divided into tasks and given to the various committees. Trustee Guthals felt the number of goals should be kept down in order to accomplish them in the year. He stated reviewing student achievement on a regular basis was very important, as was increasing parental involvement. He suggested separating the goals from the strategies. Trustee Guthals recommended as a goal to receive reports at the Board meetings from the committees as to what they are doing. Trustee Aragon felt there was a need for more of a structure for Trustees’ school visits. Trustee Kelker stated during her school visits, she goes out onto the playground and also views the library. Trustee Guthals reported he would develop a consensus checklist of what Trustees should look at during the visits. Superintendent Copps stated he would assist in the development of the checklist. Trustee Guthals recommended the Board look at energy innovation also this year and address and implement environmental savings. Trustee Goodrich stated definitions of the goals should be addressed and decisions made as to which committees should work on which strategic goals. Superintendent Copps suggested the goals should be broken down to four and direction provided to the committees. Trustee Goodrich felt that facilities and maintenance should also be addressed in the strategic goals. Anything that is more educationally based should be a full Board issue. Issues to be given to committees would be student achievement, school improvement plans, equitable dual credit program, at risk students, the Zangle system, and health and wellness. Trustee Kelker made the following motion with a second by Trustee Fox: Motion that the Board have four goals; 1) to provide facility improvement and maintenance; 2) evaluate and celebrate student achievement; 3) enhance community relationships and involvement in the District; and, 4) to address financial resource needs at the state and local level. Trustee Aragon reported it was requested at the recent MCEL meeting, the larger districts should discuss what is needed at their schools for FY08-09. Superintendent Copps reported the suggestion at MCEL was for the AA districts to hire a PR firm to get the word out about what is needed. There was a unanimous vote to continue the AA caucuses through VisionNet. Those voting in favor of the motion were Dawn Achten, Kathy Aragon, Katharin Kelker, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Mary Jo Fox, Tim Trafford, and Sandra Mossman. The motion passed unanimously. Trustee Mossman felt the Planning & Development Committee needed a serious focus. It was the consensus of the Board that the committee structure is all right in its present form. Trustee Fox was not sure how to increase involvement in the School/Community Committee. It was suggested to use parent involvement. Chair Goodrich stated specific charges will be given to the committees. Trustee Guthals suggested environmental issues should be given to the Energy Innovation Committee. The Chair stated that had not been publicly noticed for this meeting but it could be added to the consent agenda for the next regular Board meeting. The Chair reported Trustee Achten would serve on the School/Community Committee and he would serve on the Planning & Development Committee. Trustee Kelker made the following motion with a second by Trustee Guthals: Motion to approve the revised committee member assignments as follows: Budgeting for Results Kathy Kelker (Chair) Joel Guthals Mary Jo Fox Planning and Development Sandy Mossman (Chair) Malcolm Goodrich Peter Gesuale School/Communittee Tim Trafford (Chair) Dawn Achten Kathleen Aragon Those voting in favor of the motion were Dawn Achten, Kathy Aragon, Katharin Kelker, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Mary Jo Fox, Tim Trafford, and Sandra Mossman. The motion passed unanimously. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Achten: Motion to adopt and reaffirm the current committee structure. Those voting in favor of the motion were Dawn Achten, Kathy Aragon, Katharin Kelker, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Mary Jo Fox, Tim Trafford, and Sandra Mossman. The motion passed unanimously. Charge to Committee Chairs to Develop Action Plans for Review of 2007-2008 Matters Trustee Kelker reported the Executive Committee, in the past, met the day before the agenda setting meeting. Chair Goodrich felt that procedure should begin again on the first Monday in November. The following are the assignments for the committees: Neighborhood School Evaluation, Definition and Implementation -- School/Community S/C and P/D Budget for Realistic Maintenance Line Item -- Budgeting for Results -- BFR Address High School Overcrowding -- Planning & Development -- P&D Address Refurbishment/Modernization of Older Elementary Schools -- P&D Address Possible Inequities in Facilities -- S/C and P/D Address Major Facility Upgrades and Modifications -- BFR & P&D Address Whether to Call Building Reserve Levy -- BFR Address and Implement Environmental and Energy Savings -- Energy Innovation Review and Address Zangle System -- S/C Address Health and Wellness -- S/C Examine Steps and Lanes -- BFR Review Staff Evaluation -- Policy Review Committee Increase Community Participation on Standing Committees -- S/C Hold Town Meetings -- Board Continue Relationships with Yes For Kids, Chamber and Celebrate Billings -- S/C Continue Long Range Planning for District -- P&D Increase Parental Involvement -- S/C Plan for Increased Community Involvement in District -- S/C Hold Periodic Board/Committee Meetings at Schools -- S/C and Board Address Facility Resource Needs at the state and local level/Maintain and Enhance State and Local funding -- BFR Address whether to call operating/reserve levy-elementary/high school -- BFR Continue Budgeting for Results process -- BFR The whole Board will conduct the following: Review periodic reports on state of district, including the state of elementary, high school, and vocational education, receive reports of Trustee school visitations, enhance student achievement and opportunities; review school improvement plans, implement equitable dual credit, address At Risk students (including gifted and talented), celebrate and review student achievement on a regular basis, hold special work sessions (every other month or as needed), continue present committee structure (assign committee chairs with review of relevant topics from strategic goals), and use Board special work sessions to review education matters. Trustee Kelker suggested the issue of inequity in schools be addressed. Trustee Fox recommended working with the Billings Education Foundation to find partners for schools who do not have any. The agenda setting meeting will remain on the first Tuesday of the month at noon. Budgeting for Results and Planning &Development will meet on the second Monday of the month. The changes in meeting dates will be noticed on the next consent agenda during the regular Board meeting. Trustee Kelker made the following motion with a second by Trustee Achten: Motion to adjourn. Those voting in favor of the motion were Dawn Achten, Kathy Aragon, Katharin Kelker, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Peter Gesuale, Mary Jo Fox, Tim Trafford, and Sandra Mossman. The motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. Malcolm Goodrich, Chair Diane Blevins, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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