The Shelton School District Board of Directors met in regular session at 6:00 p.m. on February 12, 2008 in the board room located at CHOICE Alternative School.

 

Board members present:  Chairman Holly Sharpe, Sue McCausland, Gene Crater and student representative Daniel Glenn.

 

Staff members present:  Superintendent Joan Zook, Jackie McGuire, Alison Nutt, Steve Warner, Wanda Berndtson, and Deena Alley.

 

Others present:  Jeff Green, Connie Jo Nelson, Sydney Finlay and Alysa Parker.

 

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Sharpe called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

 

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

There was one addition to the agenda which was a new Item 8.12 – supplemental personnel report.  Sue McCausland made a motion to adopt the agenda with the addition of 8.12.  Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0.

 

Sue McCausland read the district’s Mission Statement.

 

REPORTS AND RECOGNITIONS

6.01 – Recognition of Steve Warner:

Steve Warner was recognized by the board and audience for being selected as a Washington State Distinguished Principal for the Capital Region. 

 

6.02 – Recognition of Deena Alley:

Deena Alley was also recognized by the board and audience for being selected as the Western Cascade Conference Assistant Principal of the Year. 

 

6.03 – Report from Shelton High School on the action plan for athletics:

Wanda Berndtson gave an update on the work being done on the action plan for athletics.  A copy of the end of season sports survey for parents was included in board packets.  Sue McCausland and several parents who had indicated a lot of concern about the athletic program last year helped create the survey.  The first survey will be given out beginning next week at winter sports banquets.  Surveys for the fall sports will be mailed home because the survey wasn’t available to parents at that time.  Wanda also said it was important for the board to know that they are not getting participation at the pre-season parent meetings, so this is something we need to really look at because we don’t want students not to be able to participate in sports if their parent doesn’t have time to attend a pre-season parent meeting.  The next major step is to gather all the data from the surveys to get a picture of what is really going on.

 

Wanda then spoke to the work being done on each of the nine athletic action plans listed below:

 

1.      Establish an environment in the athletic department to build on current success and achieve a pattern of continued improvement;

2.      Decrease the sources of frustration in the SHS athletic program;

3.      Address summer sports program issues;

4.      Improve communication between the athletic department and parents;

5.      Improve professional standards of coaches;

6.      Improve school pride within the school;

7.      Improve parent support of the athletic program;

8.      Integrate the athletic director in the high school administrative team; and

9.      Establish a strong athletic handbook that is followed.

 

Wanda and board members also talked about the possibility of creating a slightly different survey for community members and advertise through the local news media that it is available for anyone interested.

 

DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS

7.01 – Proposed revisions to Policy/Procedures No. 2410:

Several additional minor revisions were made to Policy/Procedures No. 2410 – High School Graduation Requirements, which the board originally adopted at their last meeting.  Sue McCausland asked about the .5 credit required in computer applications and Wanda said that it is not a state graduation requirement, but is required of our school district as well as many others.  Board members also discussed the expectations of the culminating project requirement.  Sue McCausland made a motion to adopt the revised Policy/Procedures No. 2410 and Gene Crater seconded the motion.  The motion passed 3-0.

 

7.02 – Proposed new Policy Nos. 2125, 2165, 2413 and 3123:

Board members reviewed the following new policies:

§         Policy No. 2125 – Health, Family Life and Sex Education;

§         Policy/Procedures No. 2165 – Home or Hospital Instruction;

§         Policy No. 2413 – Equivalency Credit for Career and Technical Education Courses; and

§         Policy No. 3123 – Withdrawal Prior to Graduation.

These are WSSDA recommended ‘priority’ policies and will be back on the February 26th  agenda for adoption.

 

7.03 – Senate Bill 6183:

Holly Sharpe commented on proposed Senate Bill 6183, which would dissolve the existing school board director districts in a 1st class school district and then create three director districts and two school directors at large.  We have had trouble in the past finding qualified school board candidates because they do not live in the right director district.  Board members represent the entire school district, not just the people who live in their director district.  Holly said if this bill does pass, it would still have to go before the voters for approval, but she wanted everyone to be aware of it.

 

CONSENT AGENDA

Sue McCausland made a motion to approve the consent agenda with the addition of the supplemental personnel report as a new Item 8.12.  Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed 3-0.  The board:

§         Approved minutes from the January 22, 2008 regular board meeting and the January 23, 2008 special study session.

§         Approved overnight travel to Bellevue, WA on March 6-8, 2008 for eight DECA students to attend the State DECA Conference.

§         Approved overnight travel to Tacoma, WA on February 14-16, 2008 for members of the Shelton High School wrestling team to participate in the State Wrestling Tournament, depending on qualification.

§         Approved cancellation of General Fund Voucher Nos. 108446 and 104498.

§         Approved General Fund Voucher Nos. 109811 through 110064 in the amount of $387,341.48 for January 2008.

§         Approved Private Purpose Fund Voucher Nos. 139 through 140 in the amount of $1,500.00 for January 2008.

§         Approved Capital Projects Fund Voucher No. 1720 in the amount of $190.00 for January 2008.

§         Approved Associated Student Body Fund Voucher Nos. 17490 through 17552 in the amount of $35,375.43 for January 2008.

§         Approved Payroll Voucher Nos. 42421 through 42537 in the amount of $2,838,441.47 for January 2008.

§         Approved the regular and supplemental personnel reports as submitted and as attached.  (See Attachment #1).

 

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

§         Board members received a Facilities Task Force notebook which contains all of the work of the task force, including meeting minutes and all of the PowerPoint presentations that were shared.  Board members had originally set the date of March 5 as a board study session to begin their work on the task force report, but it was tentatively re-scheduled for March 12 because the superintendent will be out of town on March 5.

 

§         Joan Zook spoke at the Mason County Commissioners meeting today about the need for school impact fees.  The directive from the commissioners was to work with the county’s planning department staff to come up with a single fee to be used across the county.  Joan said she believes this will be feasible, but it is complicated because we have schools within the city limits, seven school districts within the county and one district who does not want to participate at all.  It will require legal advice to get there but Joan said she was optimistic that we may have the opportunity to move forward.

 

§         The district is required to post 48 hours in advance of any pesticide application in the district, which the maintenance department will be doing this Friday during mid-winter break.  Notices will go home with students and signs will be posted at any location where the pesticide is being used.

 

§         As of today, 37% of the ballots mailed have been returned to the Elections Department.  The Elections Department is hoping for a 57% return.

 

BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

§         Gene Crater spent two days observing all classes at Evergreen.  He said he is seeing some very good instruction going on and some outstanding teachers.  He is also receiving comments on how nice it is to see board members in the buildings.

 

§         Sue McCausland attended the WASA / WSSDA Legislative Conference in Olympia over the weekend.  The important topics for all board members and superintendents in attendance were no more underfunded or unfunded mandates, high school graduation requirements and fully funding basic education.  She also said that Shelton High School has 7 wrestlers who are going to state and we have a young man on the boy’s swim team going to state in the 50 meter. 

 

§         Holly Sharpe thanked Sue for doing an excellent job as the board’s legislative representative.  Holly commented on a house bill that would make it easier for school districts to buy Washington grown fruits and vegetables and also said her WSSDA Leadership Class group is doing a presentation on whether or not school boards are outdated.

 

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER

The Hoopla old timers basketball game will be at Shelton High School on Saturday, March 8, with the doors opening at 4:00 p.m.

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION

At 7:15 p.m. Chairman Sharpe announced that the board would take a 5-minute recess and would then enter into a 10-minute executive session to discuss performance issues.

 

ADJOURN

Chairman Sharpe declared the meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                    Chairman, Board of Directors

 

 

                                                                       

Secretary to the Board