The Shelton School District Board of Directors met in regular session at 6:00 p.m. on June 17, 2008 in the board room located at CHOICE High School.

Board members present: Chairman Holly Sharpe, Sue McCausland, Gene Crater, Julianna Miljour, and Peter Boome.

Staff members present: Linda Arnold, Alison Nutt, Sue Feldman, Margo Otto, Deb Fausti, Ray Field, Carrie Fennell, Dan Kass and Marya Tyler.

Others present: Jeff Green, Dedrick Allen, Terri Hauser, Angela Ballard, Amy Ledgerwood and Helen Thomson.

CALL TO ORDER

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

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

There were three changes to the agenda:

1) Deletion of Item 8.04 – Discussion of the use of Drake Funds;

2) Deletion of Item 11.01 – Budget status report; and

3) Addition of Item 9.05 – Supplemental personnel report.

Items 8.04 and 11.01 will be back on the June 24 board agenda for discussion when Jackie McGuire can be present. Sue McCausland made a motion to adopt the agenda as amended. Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Holly Sharpe read the district’s Mission Statement.

COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS

§ Terri Hauser, Helen Thomson and Angela Ballard, all parents of students in the self-contained Hi-Cap classroom at Evergreen, and Marya Tyler, the current self-contained classroom teacher, voiced their concerns about the elimination of the self-contained classroom next year. They wanting answers as to why the self-contained program was discontinued; asked why there were no self-contained parents on the Hi-Cap Advisory Committee; felt the committee completely ignored their concerns; wanted to know who would be administering the program next year; said they would not have allowed their children to move to the self-contained classroom had then know it was going to be eliminated; felt the high end students were being sacrificed for the lower end students; and wanted E.A.’s for next year’s enrichments classes, as well as math and reading level tiering.

Chairman Sharpe thanked everyone for their comments. However, she said the problem is that there is no funding for highly capable students and probably never will be because of No Child Left Behind. The district only as so many funds to serve all of the district’s students, not just the 10 students served in the self-contained classroom at Evergreen.

BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

§ Gene Crater has spent time the last several weeks visiting with teachers at Oakland Bay Junior High.

§ Sue McCausland was unable to attend CHOICE graduation but did go the Shelton High School graduation. She said the question has come up about why we don’t hold Shelton High School graduation in our own community. Unfortunately, we have outgrown our own auditorium and stadium and the only other local option is the Little Creek Event Center, which only holds 1,800. Saint Martin’s Pavilion holds 4,300 and even then there is usually standing room only. Sue also attended the Olympic Middle School talent show last week and had a great time watching the kids perform.

§ Holly Sharpe attended 4 graduation ceremonies during one week on both the west and east coasts.

§ Peter Boome told the Hi-Cap parents that he also has a daughter who is very intelligent and it’s frustrating to figure out how to meet her needs within the structure of the district. It is equally frustrating for him being on the school board, but it always boils down to funding. Peter took advantage of this time to say that he himself just graduated from college and has been accepted into law school at the University of Washington. Therefore, he will be resigning from the school board effective July 1, 2008.

REPORTS AND RECOGNITIONS

7.01 – Report from the Hi-Cap Advisory Committee:

Sue Feldman, Deb Fausti and Amy Ledgerwood, members of the Hi-Cap Advisory Committee, reported on the interim proposal for next year’s Hi-Cap program. The committee was made up of Wendy Wilson-Hoss and Amy Ledgerwood from Bordeaux; Karla Knudsen-Johnston and Julie Lacy from Mt. View; Judy Serrano from Evergreen; Diane Garner and Eric Barkman from Olympic Middle School; facilitator Sue Feldman; and Hi-Cap teachers Marya Tyler and Deb Fausti as consultants. Principals were asked to select one parent to sit on the committee, but the group never saw parents from Evergreen or Olympic Middle School.

The committee was given the task of finding the most effective way to configure the Hi-Cap program for next year. The following is their proposal:

1. Individual schools will have the responsibility of creating a building-wide program, using research-based best practices to meet the needs of their gifted and highly capable students.

2. Evergreen, Bordeaux, Mountain View, and Olympic Middle School will each have the equivalent of half of a full time teacher to implement the program. Half of a full time teacher is not equal to a .5 teacher. Hi-Cap Teachers’/Coaches’ planning time and travel time will also need to be shared between schools. The four schools will need to develop plans that share two full time people at no more cost than two full time teachers. The schools’ principals will set up the Hi-Cap teachers’ schedules.

3. For this interim year, assessments will be given in September to identify students who are gifted, using a common district identification process. The identification process will use WAC* defined, research-based multiple criteria, including recognized cognitive assessments and measures of achievement (standardized tests). Schools may propose assessment processes for their trial program year. Should no identification process be in place, teacher(s) will conduct assessments in accordance with the Hi-Cap administration and school building administrator's direction. A selection committee consistent with OSPI guidelines will collaborate on identifying students in need of highly capable accommodations.

4. At each building, the Principal, as well as a committee of teachers, the Hi-Cap teacher, and parents (if they wish to be included), will develop and implement a program addressing the needs of their gifted and highly capable student population. Part of the program design and assessment process will include gathering bi-annual parent and teacher input through surveys or meetings. The building-wide program will be reviewed and adjusted as needed during the first year, and yearly thereafter. The committee will self-monitor, and be monitored by the district, to insure it employs recognized (OSPI and NAGC) best practices providing opportunities appropriate to their resident gifted students (see appendices).

5. When possible, the district will offer professional development opportunities for all teachers on topics of emerging interest in Gifted/ Hi-Cap education. Topics to examine might include: Ability grouping, Grade level clusters, Accelerated study/independent programs, “pull out” groups vs. working in the classroom, differentiated instruction, social/emotional needs, and inquiry investigations.

6. Hi-Cap teacher schedules will need to be designed to account for any special projects the program design entails. For example, schools may want the Hi-Cap teacher to facilitate an enrichment activity for the school, such as an “invention convention,” art fair, art night, artist in residence, history displays, science

night, spelling bee, math night, a geography club, math club, science club, chess club, etc. The time for this work must come out of the school’s program time.

Board members thanked the committee for all their work in developing the proposal. They will hold their comments until the next meeting when the superintendent can be present for discussion.

7.02 – Recognition of Peter Boome:

As Peter announced earlier in the meeting, he is resigning from the school board effective July 1, 2008 and this will be his last meeting. The remaining board members thanked Peter for the time he spent on the board and for the much needed diversity and different perspective that he brought. A brief reception was then held in Peter’s honor.

DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS

8.01 – Proposed 2007-08 end of year Hi-Cap report and 2008-09 grant proposal:

Chairman Sharpe announced that these two items would be separated and only the 2007-08 year end report would be heard tonight. The proposed 2008-09 grant proposal will be back on the next board agenda for discussion when the superintendent can be present.

Sue Feldman then gave the 2007-08 year-end report. We cannot propose the 2008-09 plan without having board approval of the 2007-08 plan verifying we did all the things we said we would in the Hi-Cap program with this year’s grant money. This year we received $37,000 to run the program but the actual cost to the district was $157,000. A total of 241 students were served in the elementary schools and we were funded for 92 students. Sue McCausland moved, seconded by Julianna Miljour, to approve the 2007-08 year-end report. The motion passed unanimously.

8.02 – Proposed Tier III secondary level reading adoption:

Margo Otto and Dan Kass reported on the proposed Tier III reading adoption for grades 9-12 at a cost of $34,000. This proposal comes from a focused sub committee from the District’s Literacy Team called the Tier III Reading Committee. The focus work of the committee was to research and find an appropriate program and materials for our students that struggle with reading. Margo and Dan then explained the process the group when through to get to this final curriculum adoption proposal and shared a brief PowerPoint presentation. Sue McCausland moved, seconded by Julianna Miljour, to approve the Tier III reading adoption as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

8.03 – Proposed 2008-09 agreement with Clover Park Technical College:

The proposed 2008-09 Interlocal Agreement with Clover Park Technical College was presented for approval. This is a routine agreement the district must have in place in the event we have any students who want to attend Clover Park Technical College. Peter Boome made a motion to approve the agreement and the motion was seconded by Gene Crater. The motion passed unanimously.

CONSENT AGENDA

Sue McCausland made a motion to approve the consent agenda with the addition of Item 9.05. Gene Crater seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. The board:

§ Approved minutes from the May 27, 2008 regular board meeting and the June 2, 2008 special study session;

§ Approved summer travel for the Shelton High School football team to participate in football camp on June 20-22, 2008 in Canby, OR and on July 20-24, 2008 in Wenatchee, WA.

§ Approved the proposed 2008-09 salary schedules for certificated administrators reflecting the 4.4% state cost of living salary increase.

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

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER

§ Retirement reception for John Hill on June 18^th from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. at the Civic Center.

§ Sgwi’ Gwi on June 20^th at 5:00 p.m. at the Little Creek Event Center.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

At 7:31 p.m. Chairman Sharpe announced that the board would take a 5-minute recess and would then enter into executive session approximately 45 minutes to conduct the superintendent’s 2007-08 evaluation.

The board returned to regular session at 8:14 p.m.

ACTION TAKEN AS A RESULT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION

Peter Boome made a motion to extend Superintendent Joan Zook’s contract by one year until June 2011 and pass through the 4.4% cost of living increase for the 2008-09 school year. Julianna Miljour seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-1 with Gene Crater voting against.

ADJOURN

Chairman Sharpe adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m.

Chairman, Board of Directors

Secretary to the Board