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School Board Meeting Briefs
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BOARD OF EDUCATION
Feb 21, 2006 Regular Meeting
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Patchett
Present: Freebairn, Hutchinson, Kile, Means, Patchett, Young
Absent: Brown
Others Present: Superintendent Acklin, Principal Kittell, Terry Sullivan, Gary Henry, Barb Board
President Patchett welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Board approved the following Consent Agenda items:
Treasurer’s Report
Activity Report
Crestwood Pioneer Days trip, May 11-12, 2005
Spring Canoe trip, April 13-14, 2006
Letting of fuel bids for July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007
Board approved the Regular Meeting minutes of January 17, 2006 as corrected.
Board approve the Executive Session minutes of January 17, 2006.
Board approved the payment of bills as presented.
Correspondence: Thank you from Pam Julian for giving her the opportunity to be the library aide at Newman Grade School. Thank you from Mrs. Brown’s Fourth Grade Class for calculators. Thank you from Mike Pine who had spent a week in Ms. Stone’s class as part of his college course. President Patchett expressed the Board’s thanks to the Newman Grade School Second Grade Classes for the art work on display in the Board Room and to the High School Business Class for their display of business cards.
Audience to visitors: There were no requests to address the Board.
Administrative Team Reports: Principal Kittell
Students of the Month are: Senior of the Month – Amanda Dye
Freshman of the Month – Kevin Carrington
Most Improved Student – Mike James
Grades 6, 7, 8, have just finished CPR (Creating Positive Relationships) Training.
Successful Little Raider Cheer Camp was held for grades K-4.
I Sing The Body Electric Tour was at Shiloh January 27.
Shiloh School Spelling Bee overall school champion was Jordan Henderson. Winners were: Emilie Partenheimer, 8th grade; Harlee Conley, 7th grade; Jordan Henderson, 6th grade; Justin Ray, 5th grade. Runners-up were: Katie Davis 8th grade, Angelica Ragonese, 7th grade; Alexandra Behiter, 6th grade, and Shelby Smith, 5th grade.
Winterfest Review: Winterfest events were scheduled a little different this year with less time out of the classrooms. The students were very organized and the staff supported the program. Unfortunately the staff lost the tug-of-war. There was very good attendance at the ball game. Lexi Dunn was selected as Queen and Robert Murphy as King. Was surprised that the Shiloh students don’t dance; they walked in, had their pictures taken, and then many left.
FFA Week runs from February 18 – 25. Ag Olympics were held Tuesday, Faculty Lunch on Wednesday, Barnyard Day on Thursday, and the Faculty vs FFA basketball game will be played on Friday.
Accelerated Reader Report: 5539 tests were administered, of which 5260 passed for a total average of 90.6% correct.
ISAT tests will be given to grades 3-8 the week of March 13.
High School PSAT will be given the end of April. They are or will soon be working on the pretest.
Curriculum Report: Presented information from the Interactive Report Card which shows class testing scores from 1999 to 2005. Using all the information he has gathered he can track classes up the ladder.
Is currently working on Curriculum Guides for each teacher.
Also working on the Crisis Management Plan. Each teacher will be given a copy.
Has talked with the staff regarding the transformation from 6th grade to 7th grade. As a class during the first nine-weeks of the next school year 7th grade students will be taught study skills and note taking. Is looking at starting a mentoring program for the 7th grade students next year where a teacher will mentor 4 or 5 7th grade students.
Foreign Language classes at Newman Grade School: The students love it! The college students teaching the classes really enjoy teaching them.
Means asked if the local fire departments had been involved yet in our fire drills. Principal Kittell reviewed the changes that have already been implemented after the fire departments were present during a fire drill earlier this year. He will contact the Newman and Hume police officers regarding the Crisis Management Plan.
Administrative Team Reports: Superintendent Acklin
Expenditures: At this point in the year for FY05 our expenditures totaled $2,786,200. So far in FY06 our total expenditures are $2,735,590 (about 51k less). In the Education Fund comparing 2005 to 2006, we have $111,000 less in expenditures this year which represents a 4.8% drop. We continue to do a good job at holding the line in overall spending. However, the total revenue is about 34k less when compared to last year. Has been told we should anticipate one more year of shrinking revenue prior to a gradual climb in local revenue.
Learning Community Committee census: At the Learning Community Committee meeting held on January 11, it was reported that of the Shiloh class of 2001, 11% of the class had graduated from a four year college, 8% had graduated from a two year college, 6% had graduated from a trade school, and 3% had served in the military. It was further reported that 86% of the class is currently employed, one class member is a stay at home mom, and one class member is deceased. This information is part of a five year study that the committee conducts on each Shiloh graduating class.
School Construction Project: The governor’s proposal is to provide $500 million in state funding for school construction projects. We need to keep this in mind if we are looking at consolidation in the future.
Board accepted the resignation of Ryan Miller as Varity Boys Basketball Coach with regrets.
Announcements and Discussion: 2006 Joint Annual Conference will be November 17-19. Members were asked to check their calendars and hold this time open.
FY07 Calendar – the proposed FY07 calendar was reviewed and discussed with some revisions suggested.
Golf Co-op: Superintendent Acklin has talked with Kansas Superintendent, Chris Long about co-oping golf. They already co-op with Oakland and were receptive. The deadline to apply is July. Superintendent Long suggested they look at other co-oping other sports as well. There was discussion of co-oping girl’s softball, cross country, and/or track with Tri-County. Maybe not this year, but the following year.
Sharing of Science Teacher: Discussion of sharing a science teacher with Chrisman next year. If this is possible we could then hire a combination PE/Health teacher.
Freebairn questioned if anything further had been discussed with Chrisman about participating in our Industrial Tech program. Cost is a major drawback for Chrisman as they have already cut so much from their budget. It might work out for them to share a science teacher, participate in our IT program, and possibly break even. Consensus of the Board was to pursue sharing a science teacher with Chrisman.
Food Service Program: Hutchinson commented that she is deeply concerned with the school menus and the choices given for the price we are paying. Superintendent Acklin has talked with Chrisman about preparing all the meals and satelliting them out to us. Board directed Superintendent Acklin to look at food service possibilities with Chrisman, Kansas, and Oakland.
Other: Patchett opened up discussion of voting booth placement and use of the school as a voting place in the coming election.
Hutchinson reviewed her notes from the meeting she attended with the Edgar County Clerk, mentioning that she had also talked with the Douglas County Clerks office and was told that they would never force their way into a school to use it as a voting place.
Superintendent Acklin commented that even though we are not happy about the position we are forced into we need to do what we need to do to make it work for us. Discussion continued with the decision to go look at the bus garage as an alternative to the ag shop.
The Board moved to the bus garage at 8:50 PM. Means commented that parents coming to vote might bring toddlers with them and their safety is a concern due to the chemicals, tools, and other hazardous contents in the bus garage.
The Board then went into the Ag Shop. Principal Kittell said that Mrs. Winger would plan her classes so as not to use the ag shop on Election Day. The connecting door to the classroom would remain locked and the judges would schedule their breaks around the students schedule so as not to interrupt classes.
The Board returned to the Board Room at 9:05 PM.
Young feels there is greater risk in using the bus garage. The ag teacher has been given enough advance notice and time to plan her day.
Hutchinson feels that we need to play nice but also send a letter to the Edgar County Clerk that we are not happy with the situation and strongly suggest that they look into a better option for future elections.
President Patchett called for a motion to change the voting location. There was discussion of voting on an item not listed on the agenda. Patchett said that it has been done in the past and is still an open item as it was on the agenda of a previous meeting.
Superintendent Acklin wanted to go on record that the Board cannot make a motion on an item that is not on the agenda.
Freebairn moved to use the bus garage as the voting facility.
Means commented that on this issue we should just let it ride. The Board should not micro-manage. This is a personal issue.
Patchett asked were the Board’s duty lies, with the students or with the voters.
Patchett seconded the motion with the following result: Young – no, Freebairn – yes, Hutchinson – no, Kile – no, Means – no, Patchett – yes. The motion failed.
The Board entered into Executive Session at 9:15 PM.
Board returned to Open Session and adjourned at 11:44 PM