The Shelton School District Board of Directors met in regular session at 6:00 p.m. on January 22, 2008 in the board room located at CHOICE Alternative School.

 

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

 

Staff members present:  Superintendent Joan Zook, Jackie McGuire, Alison Nutt, Linda Arnold, Jennifer Deyette, Ray Field, Walter Moore, Cindy Roaf, Jamie Dobson, Bobbie Wilson, Sue Barnard, Stacey Anderson, John Hill, Steve Warner, Carey Murray, Sandi Thompson, Sue Feldman, Gordy Hanson, Bracken Budge, Rick Hanson and Gail Straus.

 

Others present:  Sydney Finlay.

 

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 consent agenda which was a new Item 8.07- supplemental personnel report.  Sue McCausland made a motion to adopt the agenda with the addition of Item 8.07.  Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed 4-0.

 

Daniel Glenn read the district’s Mission Statement.

 

DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS

6.01 – Report from the Transportation Department:

Sandi Thompson gave a brief update on what’s happening in the Transportation Department.  She reported that new radios were installed on all buses before Christmas, except for special needs buses which will be done in the spring.  The radios and the installation were free, being paid for by their advertisers such as Disney and Nickelodeon.  The radios have age-appropriate programming, come with a microphone and PA system, and come with a GPS emergency mode feature similar to On-Star where drivers can talk directly to an On-Star person in the event of an emergency.

 

Sandi also commented on the winter weather we have had this year and said she was proud of the bus drivers and mechanics for the job they do in preparing buses for morning routes, especially in the winter when they must thaw out their buses in addition to their normal pre-trip.

 

Next Monday we will be taking delivery of two brand new full size buses for Shelton and three special needs buses are also on order, made possible by the bus replacement financing.

 

6.02 – Recognition of school board members:

School board members were recognized by the superintendent, association presidents and district administrators in honor of January being National School Board Appreciation Month.  A brief reception was held in their honor.

 

DISCUSSION ITEMS

7.01 – Proposed Resolution Nos. 08-01 and 08-02:

Proposed Resolution Nos. 08-01 and 08-02 regarding the financing for the bus replacement were presented for a second reading and board approval.  The district is financing $450,000 for five years, which will be repaid by our bus depreciation funds.  This financing is necessary due to the failure of the Transportation Vehicle Fund levy in May 2007.

 

Sue McCausland made a motion to approve Resolution No. 08-01.  Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed 4-0 by a roll call vote.

 

Sue McCausland made a motion to approve Resolution No. 08-02.  Julianna Miljour seconded the motion and the motion passed 4-0 by a roll call vote.

 

7.02 – Proposed math instructional materials adoption:

Sue Feldman spoke about the upcoming math instructional materials adoption.  Grade 6-12 math teachers are beginning to look at materials for their textbook adoption later this school year.  They will be reviewing materials through the month of February and hope to take their recommendation to the curriculum leaders on March 24 and then bring a recommendation to the school board at their first meeting in April.  Sue is hoping to have teacher training in August so teachers can start to use the new materials at the start of next school year.  Sue also shared a PowerPoint presentation on K-12 math education in the Shelton School District.  Sue McCausland thanked Sue for allowing her to sit in with the math committee when they began reviewing materials last week.

 

7.03 – Proposed out-of-state travel to Bilingual Conference:

Bilingual teachers Richelle Vining and Arleen Sandifer requested approval to travel to Tampa, FL on February 5-10, 2008 to attend the National Association for Bilingual Education Conference.  Gail Straus commented that she set aside migrant money in this year’s budget for these two secondary teachers to attend this conference.  Secondary staff has not attended in the past.  Sue McCausland made a motion to approve the travel and Gene Crater seconded the motion.  The motion passed 4-0.  Sue asked that Richelle and Arleen report back to the board upon their return from the conference.

 

7.04 – Proposed out-of-state travel to National At-Risk Conference:

CHOICE teachers Sue Barnard and Stacey Anderson requested permission to attend the National At-Risk Education Network National Conference in Panama City, FL on February 17-22, 2008.  CHOICE has been going through a school improvement process for the past three years during which they have implemented tremendous changes in the school.  Sue and Stacey will be presenting at this conference on their successes.  This will enable them to network with other educators who serve at-risk youth as well as showcase the Shelton School District on a national level.  Debbie Wing has provided funding from her budget for the travel.  Sue McCausland made a motion to approve the travel.  Julianna Miljour seconded the motion and the motion passed 4-0.  They will also report back to the board upon their return from the conference.

 

7.05 – Proposed out-of-state travel for Wanda Berndston:

Wanda Berndtson requested approval to attend the National Association of Secondary School Principals Annual Convention being held in San Antonio, TX on February 20-23, 2008.  This is Wanda’s year to attend a national conference per the administrator’s bargained agreement.  Sue McCausland moved, seconded by Gene Crater, to approve the travel and the motion passed 4-0.

 

7.06 – Proposed out-of-state travel for Chris Carpenter:

Chris Carpenter requested approval to attend the AdminStudio course being held in Santa Clara, CA on February 10-16, 2008.  Chris will learn repackaging and application migration using AdminStudio to prepare and deploy software installations remotely to all computers in the district.  Normally, we would have to install software on each machine one by one, so this will be a critical time saving piece for the technology department.  Sue McCausland made a motion to approve the travel.  Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

 

7.07 – Proposed new Policy No. 5001 and revised Policy No. 5010:

Proposed new Policy No. 5001 deals with the hiring of retired school employees.  School districts are now required to have an actual policy in place, however we have been following this process all along.  This is WSSDA’s recommended policy.

 

Revised Policy No. 5010 deals with nondiscrimination and affirmative action and reflects the recommended language change by WSSDA. 

 

Sue McCausland moved to approve the new Policy No. 5001 and revised Policy No. 5010 as presented.  Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed 4-0.

 

CONSENT AGENDA

Sue McCausland made a motion to approve the consent agenda with the addition of the supplemental personnel report as Item 8.07.  Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed 4-0.  The board:

 

§                     Approved minutes from the January 8, 2008 regular board meeting.

§                     Approved General Fund Voucher No. 109809 in the amount of $109,832.50.

§                     Approved General Fund Voucher No. 109810 in the amount of $1,569.67.

§                     Approved Transportation Vehicle Fund Voucher No. 14 in the amount of $209,142.02.

§                     Approved the cancellation of miscellaneous General Fund and ASB Fund warrants either lost by the vendor or issued in error.

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

 

BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

§                     Daniel Glenn thanked everyone for the cards and gifts tonight.  He also asked if the issue of drug dogs was going to go anywhere after the board’s discussion last year.  Superintendent Zook said this was in limbo, but she did speak with Sheriff Salisbury recently and the Mason County Sheriff’s Office now has a drug dog and they are willing to come to a board meeting if the board desires.  Joan also said that she has not spoken to principals recently about this.  If the board wishes this to be on a future agenda it can be.

 

§                     Julianna Miljour spent yesterday doing legislative advocacy work at the capitol, trying to preserve drug prevention funding across the state.  Julianna is directly involved with the allocation directed to each of the school districts in Mason County.   She was able to meet with representatives, attend a rally in the rotunda and sat in on bill hearings.

 

§                     Gene Crater spent last Thursday afternoon at Evergreen Elementary with Rick Hanson and Chris Carpenter learning about technology.  This Thursday he will be serving lunch to Evergreen students and spend time on the playground.  He said the teachers have been impressed that board members have been visiting the schools.

 

§                     Sue McCausland is looking forward to attending the upcoming WASA / WSSDA Legislative Conference in Olympia.  She said Peter Boome was interested in attending and asked if any other board members were interested.  Gene Crater may be able to attend on Sunday.  Sue also thanked Holly Sharpe for her letter to the editor of the Journal last week regarding the levy.

 

§                     Holly Sharpe attended a Martin Luther King, Jr. assembly at Olympic Middle School and said they had a wonderful motivational speaker.  The Olympic Middle School ASB officers ran the entire assembly and were very impressive.  Holly has the first of her WSSDA leadership classes this Friday and Saturday.

 

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER

§                     A board retreat is scheduled for tomorrow from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the Pershing Room as Mason General Hospital.

§                     Ballots are being mailed a week from tomorrow for the February 19th levy election.

§                     The Old Timers Hoopla Basketball Game is tentatively scheduled for the evening of February 29th.

 

ADJOURN

Chairman Sharpe declared the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                    Chairman, Board of Directors

                                                                       

Secretary to the Board