February 10, 2011

The February regular meeting of the Elementary and High School District No. 1 Board of Trustees was held on February 10, 2011 in the Choteau High School Library. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Mark Henderson.

Members Present: Mark Henderson, Mark Salmond, Jonathan Stoltz, Jerry Stott, Brodie Gollehon, and Ron Daley.

Members Absent: Kirk Moore.

Supt. St. John, Elementary Principal Gameon, High School Principal Achenbach, and Clerk Davis were present throughout the meeting.

Visitors: Choteau Acantha Editor Melody Martinsen; District Patrons Cliff Heuscher, Sally Heuscher, Pat Field, and Diane Field; Teacher Alison Kreiss, and Teacher Rachel Newmiller with her Lego Robotics Team Members Liam Breen, Travis Field, and Josh Gimbel.

High School Principal Achenbach reminded the Board that Junior High Science Teacher Rachel Newmiller had interested students sign up to participate in a Lego Robotics Team rather than participate in the Regional and State Science Fairs this year. The money budgeted for participation in the science fairs as well as a grant from MSU Bozeman provided the funds to participate in the Lego Robotics program. The goal of the program is to build and program a robot to be autonomous and accomplish as many missions as possible in a 2½ minute time frame. Last year the missions represented the field of transportation and this year they represented the field of biomedical engineering. Mrs. Newmiller informed the Board that there were 50 teams that participated and Choteau came in 31st, but noted that only the top 15 teams really stood out and they had participated in the program previously. Mrs. Newmiller informed the Board that in addition to Liam Breen, Travis Field and Josh Gimbel, the Choteau team included students Christopher Lightner, Grant Stott, and Zane Hanusa. Mrs. Newmiller noted that there were no girls on the team because of a conflict with volleyball. Mrs. Newmiller had the team members present at the meeting explain and demonstrate several of the missions that were performed.

Board Chairman Mark Henderson asked if anyone wanted to address the Board regarding items not on the agenda. District Patron Cliff Heuscher stated that he had several suggestions that he would like to address the Board about. Mr. Heuscher asked why safety nets have not been placed over the new scoreboards as they were over the old scoreboards. High School Principal Achenbach reminded the Board that when the new scoreboards were purchased he had indicated that safety nets were not needed as these boards are completely electronic and do not have bulbs, so the company and installer state there is no need for safety nets.

Mr. Heuscher suggested an upgrade to the student grading software that would allow an electronic upload of transcripts to aid students in applying for national scholarships. Supt. St. John and High School Principal Achenbach stated they would research this suggestion.

Mr. Heuscher then questioned the value of having a school web site if it is not updated and current, noting that the current web site has pictures from 2009, list teachers that are no longer here, and the Board agendas have not been posted since December. Supt. St. John noted that there is not one person responsible for the school’s web site and all postings are done voluntarily. High School Principal Achenbach asked Mr. Heuscher not to wait for a Board meeting, but to please call the administration with any such concerns and suggestions in the future.

After these public comments, the Board proceeded to conduct the regular business before them.

A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the elementary minutes of the January 13, 2011 regular meeting as written.

A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the high school minutes of the January 13, 2011 regular meeting as written.

A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the elementary claim clearing warrants #16855-#16946 and payroll clearing warrants #21683-#21810 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.

A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Jonathan Stoltz and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the high school claim clearing warrants #16855-#16946 and payroll clearing warrants #21683-#21810 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.

Correspondence:

A) Supt. St. John shared a communication from Joint Powers Trust with the Board. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Joint Powers Trust (JPT) is the District’s health insurance carrier which is administered by Employee Benefit Management Services (EBMS), a third party administrator, who uses the resources of Two Medicine as their wellness coordinator. Supt. St. John informed the Board that it is very important to be proactive and promote wellness in an effort to keep costs down and he and Clerk Davis attended a meeting in January with all of the above parties present to learn more about the services of each of these entities. Two Medicine representatives provided a wellness presentation to all staff at the early out in-service on Friday, February 4th that was very well received. Supt. St. John noted that a health fair will probably be provided next year.

PRINCIPALS’ REPORTS High School Principal Nate Achenbach reported to the Board on the following matters:

A) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that he was the facilitator for a group of teachers that discussed the format for Grades 7-12 parent-teacher conferences during the early out in-service on Friday, February 4th. The group felt that parent-teacher conferences are still needed at this level for public relations and to give parents the opportunity to meet the various teachers that are instructing their children. The group felt that an informal 10 minute conference was adequate at this level, noting that if the parent and/or teacher felt there were problems to be discussed at length that a meeting should be scheduled for a different time that would allow all parties the necessary time to address them. This time limit and philosophy will be posted at the office and by each classroom during conferences from now on. The group felt that having one night of conferences at mid-term was effective and should be continued; and they would try to be scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday evenings too, rather than just Wednesday if there are no activity conflicts. The group felt that the first fall conference should be conducted earlier than mid-term in September from 6-9 p.m. in an Open House format where High School Principal Achenbach would address and provide an orientation for all parents in the auditorium and then parents would follow their child’s class schedule and visit each classroom on a bell schedule, followed by an ice cream social at the end. Winter and spring conferences would be conducted from 4-7 p.m. as they are now and there would be no conferences scheduled for May.

B) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the Choteau Wrestling Team took 1st Place at the Divisional Tournament in Cascade last weekend, 13 of the 16 members have left for the State Class B Wrestling Tournament in Hamilton this weekend, and the team should do very well at State too. High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the State Wrestling Tournament will go back to the all class format in Billings at the Metra next year, but had to be split up this year because of the damage to the Metra by a tornado this summer.

C) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the District Girls and Boys Basketball Tournament gets underway next Wednesday in Cut Bank. The girls will play at 4:00, 5:30, and 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday with the boys following the same schedule on Thursday and then they will go to a stacked game schedule with both girls and boys playing on Friday and Saturday. High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that passes will be purchased for any of them planning on attending the tournament.

D) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the Principal Cup will be held in Great Falls on March 8th, there will be a Math Contest in Havre on March 15th, and the Junior High Academic Challenge will be held in Cascade on March 25th.

E) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that 4 members of the Speech and Debate team qualified to attend the State Meet, noting that they did well even though they did not place.

Elementary Principal Chuck Gameon reported to the Board on the following matters.

A) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that he does not like giving up the early out in-service time; but was very impressed with the Two Medicine wellness presentation on Friday, February 4th as was his staff, noting that the message that you need to take care of yourself to be productive in all areas of your life was well received.

B) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that 3 teams of staff members are participating in Shape Up Montana once again. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that Two Medicine is a corporate sponsor of this program and since they are our health insurance carrier’s wellness coordinator, each participating staff member received a $5.00 registration discount.

C) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the 6th Grade ski trip is scheduled for tomorrow.

D) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the Elementary and Junior High School Student Councils are planning “Pack the Gym in Pink” nights for the last two home basketball games on February 11th and 12th and will be selling pink arm bracelets in support of breast cancer awareness.

E) Elementary Principal Gameon presented the Board with colored graphs that provided a summary of the fall and winter school wide benchmarking statistics in reading and math as a visual picture of what the RTI program looks like.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT A copy of the Superintendent’s Report provided to the Board by Supt. St. John is attached to the minutes of this meeting.

A) Supt. St. John reviewed his written report with the Board at this time.

B) Supt. St. John discussed further with the Board if the District should consider revising policy #3150 on part-time attendance since the recent changes approved at the MHSA annual meeting. A student only has to be on campus for 10 hours a week now to participate in MHSA sponsored activities rather than the 20 hours a week in the past so the Board may want to look at revising the District’s policy on part-time attendance to allow this as a possible way of increasing our enrollment numbers. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he has talked to other schools that have a more liberal part-time attendance policy and they have found that these part-time students usually end up becoming full time students so that they can graduate and receive a diploma. Supt. St. John noted that he and High School Principal Achenbach have questioned the high school staff and they do not favor such a revision. Supt. St. John still feels that such a revision should be brought up to generate public input regarding this matter, noting that if it does not affect anyone there is probably no reason to proceed with a revision to the current policy on part-time attendance.

C) Supt. St. John informed the Board that SB141 on bullying is close to becoming law despite all state wide school and administrative organizations being firmly against the bill. The bill would require every school district to ensure that there is not bullying occurring in the classroom, on the campus, at extra-curricular activities, going to and from any of the above, or essentially at all times and if any bullying is going on it is to be addressed immediately. It is feared that such legislation will bring the courts into our schools with lawsuit after lawsuit.

EMPLOY BUILDING CUSTODIAN Supt. St. John informed the Board that there were four applicants that were interviewed by himself, Elementary Principal Gameon, and Head Custodian Lyle Arps to fill the vacancy due to Robert Robles recent resignation. The administration would recommend the employment of Richard Meyer, who has been a substitute custodian for the District for over a year, to fill this vacancy.

A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to accept the administrations’ recommendation and employ Richard Meyer and place him on a specific non-certified contract for the position of Elementary PM Building Custodian at the wage rate of $8.00 per hour, with an increase to $8.25 per hour effective July 1, 2011 and an additional increase to $8.50 per hour at the end of his 6 month probationary period.

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL NEGOTIATIONS Board Negotiations Committee Spokesman Mark Henderson informed the Board that the Negotiations Committee met with Elementary Principal Chuck Gameon again just before this evenings meeting, but a settlement has not been reached.

STATE/FEDERAL SURPLUS PROPERTY RESOLUTION A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to pass a resolution to participate in the State/Federal Surplus Property Program and authorize the superintendent and building principals to acquire federal and state surplus property through this program. A copy of the resolution is attached to the minutes of this meeting.

STOP PAYMENT ON OLD ACTIVITY WARRANTS A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Jonathan Stoltz and unanimously carried (1 absent) to authorize High School Activity Fund Custodian Patty Mellinger to stop payment and void the following old, unredeemed activity warrants and redeposit the funds into the appropriate activity accounts.

1) High School Activity Warrant #2567 issued 9/28/09 to Party Feather in the amount of $67.35 for cheer camp supplies, to be deposited back into the cheerleading account.

2) High School Activity Warrant #2752 issued 12/15/09 to Key Club International in the amount of $500.00 for a fundraiser, to be deposited back into the Key Club account.

ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF AND APPROVE DEPOSIT OF CHECKS A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Jerry Stott and unanimously carried (1 absent) to acknowledge receipt of and approve depositing the following checks in the appropriate funds.

1) State of Montana check #21434615 in the amount of $790.98 for the IEFA MT Historical Grant, to be deposited in the Elementary Miscellaneous Fund.

2) Schwan’s Food Service check #266080 in the amount of $12.35 for rebates, to be deposited in the Elementary Lunch Fund.

3) School Specialty check #16242595 in the amount of $204.92 for payment of a credit balance, to be used to restore the Elementary General Fund.

2011-2012 STAFFING NEEDS Supt. St. John informed the Board that he has not received formal letters of resignation at this time but both Dale Durr and Gary Betcher have verbally indicated that they plan to retire at the end of the 2010-2011 school year, so the administration has been closely looking at the staffing needs down the road with a projected continual decline in enrollment. Clerk Davis informed the Board that the spring count date was February 1st and the District’s enrollment decline was not as large as anticipated, with the K-8 numbers dropping by 14 and the 7-12 numbers increasing by 9 for an ANB net loss of only 5. Clerk Davis presented the Board with very preliminary budget figures based on the governor’s education funding proposal which calls for level funding (best case scenario) or no legislative increases which would actually be a 2% cut as the ARRA funding would not be backfilled (worst case scenario). Clerk Davis informed the Board that the K-8 funding could be $41,000 to $63,000 less, whereas the 9-12 funding could be $54,000 to $34,000 more, for a net loss of $30,000 under the worst case scenario or a net loss of $13,000 under the best case scenario. Clerk Davis informed the Board that these scenarios do not factor in a voted levy, which both elementary and high school districts could request to keep level budgeting authority. Clerk Davis noted that the projected funding decreases will not be as dire as first predicted, but this is the beginning of continued enrollment and budget declines.

Supt. St. John informed the Board that Elementary Principal Gameon really wants to replace Mrs. Durr for at least a year if not two, and if this vacancy were advertised it would be advertised as such. Supt. St. John informed the Board that in light of the large class of 50 sophomores being gone in two years and the small class of 14 entering Junior High in one year, High School Principal Achenbach has worked out a plan to accommodate Mr. Betcher’s science classes without replacing him. This preliminary proposal would have Mr. Betcher returning to teach two periods in the computer elective areas; Junior High Science Teacher Mrs. Newmiller, who is endorsed to teach and has taught high school sciences, to teach two sections of Biology, Advanced Biology and 8th Grade Science; and Mrs. Krone, who is properly endorsed and has taught science at this level, going full time and teaching two sections of 7th Grade Science. This proposal only cuts approximately .4 FTE but still would create a savings for the District and Mr. Betcher’s part-time position would probably only be for a few years.

The Board and administration further discussed the projected continual decline in the enrollment figures for the District, resulting in continued budget cuts to be made dictating a need to reduce staff and how best to make such reductions. Supt. St. John stressed that the administration is carefully studying and looking at all options that best meet the needs of the District.

ADJUSTED BUS ROUTE STUDENT TRANSPORTATION MILAGE RATE The Board was informed that as per the transportation contract with Teton Bus Service, Inc. the mileage rate was adjusted on January 15th. The adjusted cost for the #2 and #1 diesel on January 15th was $3.41 per gallon compared to $2.98 per gallon at the time of the last adjustment, which is an increase of $ .43. This $ .43 increase translates into a $ .07 mileage rate increase as per the contract ($ .43 x .0017 =

$ .07), so the per mile rate will be adjusted to $2.67, up $ .07 from the current $2.60 per mile rate, on February 1, 2011.

MUST UPDATE Supt. St. John informed the Board that the matter of the MUST assessment and how other schools were handling it was discussed by administrators at the MHSA meeting. Supt. St. John informed the Board that many administrators indicated that if they were indeed forced to pay the assessment, they would not join or pay membership dues to MTSBA for several years to recoup the cost of the assessment payment. The administrators felt this stance may push the director of MTSBA to reconsider the collection of the assessments in light of how the amount of the assessment and how it was applied as changed several times. Supt. St. John noted that it would take just over 4 years of not joining MTSBA for Choteau to recoup their assessment amount of just under $16,000. Supt. St. John noted that the District has received the dues payment notice for the 2011-2012 school year, but it does not need to be paid until July 1st so he will wait to place this action item on the agenda for several months. This will give the District time to see if MTSBA makes a concerted effort to collect the assessments. Supt. St. John informed the Board that both he and Clerk Davis feel that they could do their jobs without the services of MTSBA by seeking the information and services they provide from outside interests, but the Board will have to determine the value of MTSBA to them as Trustees before taking action on this matter. Supt. St. John also noted that such memberships as MTSBA and MREA could be considered for cuts with our shrinking budget limits.

CLERK/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT Clerk Gloria Davis reported to the Board on the following matters:

A) Clerk Davis informed the Board that the following investments were made by the Teton County Treasurer on behalf of the Teton County Investment Committee.

1) $500,000 for 210 days from 1/20/11 in a certificate of deposit with Teton Banks at $.6%.

2) $500,000 for 365 days from 1/20/11 in a certificate of deposit with Teton Banks at .8%.

B) Clerk Davis distributed the 2011 Election Calendar to the Board, noting that March 24th is the deadline for filing nominating petitions and calling for an election to be held on Tuesday, May 3rd. Trustee Mark Henderson’s first term on the joint elementary and high school board expires this year and Trustee Jerry Stott’s appointment to the high school board representing the outlying Bynum district also expires this year. Clerk Davis informed the Board that Trustee Henderson has picked up a nominating petition and plans on filing again and she took this opportunity to provide Trustee Stott with a nominating petition to file for his appointed position. Clerk Davis reminded the Board that the election resolution can be passed at the March regular board meeting with language that allows a voted levy to be placed on the ballot, but the amount or whether a levy is placed on the ballot at all does not need to be determined until April 8th when she needs to certify the ballot. Clerk Davis also noted that there is language in the resolution that allows the Election Administrator to cancel any part of the election that is not necessary. This allows some flexibility so if there is indeed a contested race for the Trustee position and an election must be held, the Board may determine that they want to place a voted levy on the ballot to maintain the current budget authority.

PRINCIPALS’ AND CLERK/BUSINESS MANAGER’S EVALUATIONS Chairman Mark Henderson announced that the next items on the agenda involve individual privacy. Chairman Henderson declared that the meeting would be closed at 9:45 p.m. while the evaluations of Elementary Principal Chuck Gameon, High School Principal Nate Achenbach, and Clerk/Business Manager Gloria Davis were discussed, as he had determined that the demand for individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure. The Board went into executive session with the respective staff members while Supt. St. John presented the Board with an overview of Mr. Gameon’s job performance as the K-6 Elementary Principal, Mr. Achenbach’s job performance as the 7-12 High School Principal, and finally Mrs. Davis’ job performance as the District Clerk/Business Manager. Chairman Henderson declared the meeting opan again at 10:10 for regular business after discussing the above evaluations.

SCHEDULE NEXT REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING The next Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the Choteau High School Library. It was noted that evening is the first night of the State Class B Boys Basketball Tournament in Great Falls and if the boys were to make it that far the meeting may be rescheduled.

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.

ATTEST: ______________________ CLERK _________________________ CHAIRMAN