January 15, 2009
The January regular meeting of the Elementary and High School District No. 1 Board of Trustees was held on January 15, 2009 in the Choteau High School Library. The meeting was called to order at 8:50 p.m. by Chairman Kirk Moore.
Members Present: Kirk Moore, Perri Lindgren, Robert Stokes, Brenda Cunniff, Mark Henderson, Sharon Rice, and Katie Rasmussen.
Members Absent: None.
Supt. St. John, Elementary Principal Gameon, High School Principal Achenbach, and Clerk Davis were present throughout the meeting.
A motion was made by Brenda Cunniff, seconded by Mark Henderson and unanimously carried to approve the elementary minutes for the December 11, 2008 regular meeting as read.
A motion was made by Mark Henderson, seconded by Sharon Rice and unanimously carried to approve the high school minutes of the December 11, 2008 regular meeting as read.
Visitors: Choteau Acantha Editor Melody Martinsen; District Patrons Jay Dunckel, Katie Vandolah, Ron Daley, Lorraine DeBruycker, Josh Sonju, Cliff Heuscher, and Sally Heuscher; and Teachers Jennifer Birnel and Kathy Ketcham.
A motion was made by Mark Henderson, seconded by Perri Lindgren and unanimously carried to approve the elementary claims clearing warrants #14220-#14310 and payroll clearing warrants #18311-#18448 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
A motion was made by Katie Rasmussen, seconded by Robert Stokes and unanimously carried to approve the high school claims clearing warrants #14220-#14310 and payroll clearing warrants #18311-#18448 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
Correspondence:
A) Supt. St. John read a communication from Grizzly Activities to the Board. This organization held the “Get Off Your Duff” event on January 1st and presented the District with a $100 check from the proceeds to be used towards the multi-purpose building, noting that the use of this building for community fitness activities is appreciated.
PRINCIPALS’ REPORTS Elementary Principal Chuck Gameon reported to the Board on the following matters:
A) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that Mikaila Johnson is doing her student teaching with the Choteau Schools at this time. Mrs. Johnson will have dual endorsements, so she will student teach in the 4th Grade under Mrs. Rachel Christensen for 7½ weeks and then student teach an additional 7½ weeks in the High School English classes.
B) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the elementary plastic bag recycling program is having the best year yet, having earned $535 from 107 large bags delivered to Great Falls to date; and there will more to deliver before the end of the school year.
C) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that Missoula Children’s Theatre will be spending next week with a cast of Choteau elementary students. The week will culminate with two productions of “Rumpelstilskin” on Friday, January 23rd at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 24th at 1:00 p.m.
D) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that PIKE is sponsoring a Winter Carnival in the elementary gymnasium on Tuesday, February 3rd from 5:00-8:00 p.m. with games such as Bingo, bean bag toss, a cake walk, and a fish pond being offered. Concessions will be available and the evening will conclude with an auction of many of the older art projects that have been on display in the elementary hallways for the past several years.
E) Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the 1st floor of the model of the courthouse made out of PEZ candy is almost complete and the students will continue to complete the entire project, despite having received notification from the Quiness Book of World Records that this project is too specialized and of no interest so would not qualify for placement in their record book.
High School Principal Nate Achenbach reported to the Board on the following matters:
A) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the administration and maintenance staff are looking into solutions to cure the major drainage problem in the student parking lot caused by the banks of plowed snow melting and creating a lake and then freezing into a large sheet of ice.
B) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that Junior Marissa McCormick has been select ed through an audition process to perform in the All Northwest Honor Band in Spokane, Washington in mid-February. Students from six states are represented in the All Northwest Honor Band so this is a big honor and hard to achieve. Choteau has not had a student selected to participate in the All Northwest Honor Band since the 1970’s or the All Northwest Honor Choir since the 1980’s.
C) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that he recently received notification of the All Academic Status of the fall sport teams from MHSA. Both the JV and Varsity Football Teams made All Academic with a 3.15 GPA, while the Freshman Volleyball Team placed with a 3.34 GPA, the JV Volleyball Team with a 3.5 GPA, and the Varsity Volleyball Team with a 3.59 GPA.
D) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that Title I Tutor Emily Bouma, Counselor Patsy Betcher, and himself will be attending a workshop on working with at risk youth on Tuesday, January 27th .
E) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that Counselor Patsy Betcher is working hard with Tracy Bieler and organizing a World to Work Day for Grades 7-12 the afternoon of the first day of the semester, January 26th. Every student will have the opportunity to learn about at least three occupations in a face to face, hands on format.
F) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the local Junior High Science Fair will be held on February 11th, with the Regional Science Fair taking place in Great Falls on February 21st and the State Science Fair taking place in Missoula on February 23rd and 24th.
G) High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that the Choteau Wrestling Classic was once again a huge success, with 31 teams participating, which requires the help of a large number of volunteers.
H) High School Principal Achenbach reminded Trustees Mark Henderson and Sharon Rice that they were appointed to serve on the Attendance Committee and he would be contacting them after the end of the first semester to meet and consider whether or not to reinstate credit for students with over 10 absences in a class.
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 report with the Board at this time.
B) Supt. St. John informed the Board that automatic bus route mileage adjustment was calculated based on the cost of fuel today, January 15th, as outlined in the bus route contract. Fuel prices have again dropped since the December 1st downward adjustment of the mileage rate and the formula indicates an additional decrease of
$ .03 per mile, so the new rate will be $2.11 per mile effective February 1, 2009.
C) Supt. St. John informed the Board that the District does not levy for Adult Education Classes but in the past has offered such classes on a self-funding basis through registration fees. Family and Consumer Science Teacher Eva Anseth has suggested “Cabin Fever” adult education courses during the month of February, where teachers would offer a one evening course that would provide community members an opportunity to learn something new, to be creative, and to just get out of the house and spend an enjoyable evening with others. Mrs. Anseth does not want to charge a registration fee to participants, but feels the teachers would need to be paid for their time. Depending upon the number of classes offered, the cost could be as much as $800, which would be paid for out of the $6,000 balance that has accumulated in the District’s Adult Education Fund. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he is allowing Mrs. Anseth to pursue this idea to see if there is enough interest by teachers to offer a variety of classes and the community to participate in those offered, noting that if is successful and costs $800 then the administration will have to look into how best to continue and fund such a program on an ongoing basis.
D) Supt. St. John informed the Board that the administration plans to bid for next year’s divisional girls’ basketball tournament at the upcoming annual MHSA meeting.
E) Supt. St. John informed the Board that he has received tickets for the Divisional Wrestling Tournament to be held in Fort Benton on February 7th and any Trustee that wants and can use one should call him.
F) Supt. St. John informed the Board that the city crew assisted the school in preparing for the large wrestling tournament this weekend by removing the large banks of plowed snow in the parking lots. The city will charge us for these services, along with the charges for digging up and discovering the school’s water line leak, but they are discounting the snow removal charges and traded a portion of these charges in exchange for the District’s maintenance crew refinishing the wood floors in the pavilion this summer. Supt. St. John noted that such an arrangement between the District and the City has been made in the past.
G) Supt. St. John informed the Board that he is looking into how best to replace and/or repair the worn out seats in the high school auditorium. Supt. St. John noted that most of the chairs are in fairly good shape for their age but it is hard to find a fabric and color that will match or blend with the old covering, and it would probably cost well over $12,000 to recover all the chairs. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he will keep them posted and will get back to them for decisions regarding this matter at a later date.
H) Supt. St. John informed the Board that he plans to start putting possible upcoming agenda items on his written Superintendent’s Report so Board members can look ahead. Supt. St. John noted that possible upcoming agenda items at this time include employing a high school tennis coach, the Senior Trip, adopting the 2009-10 school calendar, conducting the principal evaluations and offering contracts, and consider renewing the bus route contract for an additional five years.
POLICY The Board held the second reading of revised policy #8132 regarding activity trips and team bus occupants. Supt. St. John noted that the policy has been revised as directed to include the word “adult” supervision for children of coaches riding the activity bus. Supt. St. John further informed the Board that he contacted Maxine Mougeot, the transportation specialist with the Office of Public Instruction, regarding whether infant and toddler car seat regulations apply to activity busses. Maxine indicated that it would appear the car seat rules apply but it is a very complicated, grey area and felt that it is why most schools don’t allow the practice of under school age children riding a bus.
This information led to a rather contradictory discussion of the car seat and seat belt regulations on activity as well as route busses. It was noted that the car seat regulations are based on weight as well as age, so there are many school age children that would be required to use a car seat and yet the District has used the activity bus to transport primary grade students on field trips. It was noted that revising the policy to specifically address this issue would be difficult because of the contradictions of whether these regulations truly do apply to busses since they are supposedly compartmentalized so seat belts are not required and yet a seat belt is necessary if a car seat is required. It was questioned if developing an administrative procedure to address this issue would work. High School Principal Achenbach informed the Board that he does not believe that it is a good practice to revise this policy to allow spouses and children of coaching staff to ride the activity bus because of this as well as other issues; but he does support his coaching staff and understands their desire to have more family time so he is willing to do what is necessary to make such a revision in the policy work and that it is done right. The administration will research the car seat issue further and provide the Board with any additional information on this issue before they hold the third reading of this policy.
There was also a brief discussion about whether this policy regarding activity trips should be revised further to allow students other than the team ride the team bus if space is available. The Board, administration, and public quickly noted that this would not be a good practice.
HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM PAINTING PROJECT PROPOSALS Supt. St. John informed the Board that after much research, he had requested bid proposals from three companies to prep and paint the exterior of the high school gymnasium. Supt. St. John noted that it was stressed to these companies that if possible, there was an expectation of a written warranty. Supt. St. John provided the Board with copies of bid proposals from McGurran Precision Painting and Teton Masonry & Chinking to do this project. Supt. St. John noted that Christensen Construction, who started this project last summer and encountered the problems with removing the old paint, did not submit a bid because Mr. Christensen does not believe the cinder block can be prepared properly to warranty that the paint will not peal within an extended period of years.
Supt. St. John informed the Board that rather than having the contractors at this meeting, he felt it would be more effective to give the Board the next month to study and research these proposals so that they could ask relevant questions of the contractors at a work session or the next meeting. Supt. St. John noted that a couple of other issues came up while seeking the bid proposals on this project. Supt. St. John informed the Board that there is an old, out of code overhead electrical line leading from the Quonset into the gymnasium that will be in the way during this painting project and has received a quote of $2,600 to put this electrical line underground and bring it up to code. Supt. St. John informed the Board that there will also be the additional cost of hiring a crane to move the storage van that is up against the south wall of the gymnasium so this project can be completed. This led to a discussion of what is being stored in that van, whether it was needed or could be disposed of, and if the van is necessary should it be relocated on the campus.
There was further discussion of these matters. A motion was made by Robert Stokes, seconded by Brenda Cunniff and unanimously carried to table taking action on considering the high school gymnasium painting project bid proposals until the February Board Meeting or Work Session.
SUPERINTENDENT EVALAUTION/CONTRACT Chairman Kirk Moore announced that the next item on the agenda involves individual privacy. Chairman Moore declared that the meeting would be closed while the Board discussed their compiled evaluations with Supt. St. John as the demand for individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure. Chairman Moore asked Supt. St. John if he wished to invoke or waive his right to privacy while the Board discussed his evaluation with him. Supt. St. John waived his right to privacy. Chairman Moore proceeded to review the compiled scores with Supt. St. John at this time. The Board rated Supt. St. John with a 2.6 in the areas of relationship with the Board, a 2.8 in the area of management skills and abilities, a 2.8 in the area of relationship with staff, a 2.8 in the area of professional and personal attributes, and a 3.5 in the area of public relations. Chairman Moore informed Supt. St. John that individual comments will be compiled and presented to him at a later date and asked if he had any questions of the Board at this time. Supt. St John indicated that he needed the time to review the evaluation and absorb it before discussing it with the Board.
The Board had been informed that Supt. St. John’s first two year contract with the District expires June 30, 2009 and if the Board does not take any action regarding this contract before February 1st, it will automatically renew for a period of one year. A motion was made by Robert Stokes and seconded by Perri Lindgren to offer Kevin St. John a one year contract as superintendent with a specific plan of improvement to be put in place prior to February 1st. Trustees voting for this motion were: Robert Stokes, Perri Lindgren, Mark Henderson, Kirk Moore, and Katie Rasmussen. Trustees voting against this motion were: Brenda Cunniff and Sharon Rice. The motion carried with a 5 to 2 vote.
The Board discussed the need to meet in a work session prior to February 1st to determine the specific plan of improvement for Supt. St. John. A motion was made by Sharon Rice, seconded by Mark Henderson and unanimously carried to schedule a work session on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in the High School Library for the purpose of working up a plan of improvement for the superintendent.
APPROVE 2009-10 MONTANA SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP AND DUES Supt. St. John informed the Board that the 2009-10 MTSBA dues are $3,509, which is an increase of $80. Supt. St. John noted that the dues are calculated based on a 3 year average of revenue received and provided the Board with information regarding the value of membership in MTSBA.
A motion was made by Brenda Cunniff, seconded by Katie Rasmussen and unanimously carried to renew Choteau School District No. 1’s membership with the Montana School Board Association and pay the 2009-10 dues of $3,509.
Trustee Robert Stokes noted that the District could not be without the services offered by MTSBA, but believes that the local Trustees of smaller districts must remain active within this organization and police them as it is really slanted towards the larger A and AA schools. Trustee Brenda Cunniff questioned Trustee Stokes as to the need of membership in both MTSBA and MREA. Trustee Stokes noted that there is indeed some duplication of services between the two organizations, but MREA is indeed an advocate for small rural schools and believes the District is best served by continued membership in both organizations as long as it can afford to.
APPROVE BOOST PROGRAM Elementary Principal Gameon informed the Board that the format of the Boost program has been changed as a result of further collaboration between the school, the Head Start program, and the Trinity Preschool program. Boost is still being offered to targeted students, but it is being done within the programs at the Head Start and Trinity Preschool facilities. Julienne Gramm continues to be the Boost teacher that works with the targeted students to improve language skills. Mrs. Gramm works 2-4 hours per week, which should amount to 150 hours per year maximum compared to approximately 280 hours per year in the past, and is paid $10.00 per hour. Elementary Principal Gameon noted that he had informed the Board that he was contemplating this change in the Boost program last spring and that this new format actually got underway in October.
A motion was made by Katie Rasmussen, seconded by Brenda Cunniff and unanimously carried to once again offer the Boost program under the new format for the 2008-09 school year and re-employ Julienne Gramm as the Boost Instructor at the wage rate of $10.00 per hour.
CONSIDER MONTANA HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION PROPOSALS The Board and administration discussed the proposals that will be voted on at the annual Montana High School Association business meeting to be held in Bozeman on January 19th. Supt. St. John and Athletic Director Nate Achenbach will be present as representatives for Choteau School District No. 1.
A motion was made by Katie Rasmussen, seconded by Robert Stokes and unanimously carried to authorize representatives for Choteau School District No. 1 present at the annual Montana High School Association business meeting to vote in the best interests of the District.
APPOINT NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE Chairman Kirk Moore appointed Trustees Perri Lindgren, Mark Henderson, and himself to serve on the board negotiations committee, with Chairman Moore serving as the spokesman, and appointed Trustee Sharon Rice as the alternate.
PASS RESOLUTION TO STOP PAYMENT AND ISSUE REPLACEMENT CHECK Clerk Davis informed the Board that payroll clearing warrant #16755 in the amount of $100.00 was issued 12/21/07 to Union Security and has not been redeemed. Union Security was the 403(b) plan for Clerk Davis but with the new IRS 403(b) regulations has discontinued accepting deposits, so a duplicate warrant cannot be issued. This is a payroll deduction and the employee’s money so the auditor’s have indicated that this $100.00 should be refunded to the employee through a payroll warrant. Mrs. Davis’ wages will be increased by $100.00 on the January payroll so these funds are properly taxed. This warrant is over a year old so there is no need for an indemnity bond.
A motion was made by Brenda Cunniff, seconded by Robert Stokes and unanimously carried to stop payment and void lost payroll clearing warrant #16755 and deposit these funds into the High School General Fund so they are available to be reimbursed to employee Gloria Davis through the January 2009 payroll.
ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF AND APPROVE DEPOSIT OF CHECKS A motion was made by Katie Rasmussen, seconded by Brenda Cunniff and unanimously carried to acknowledge receipt of and approve depositing the following checks in the appropriate funds.
1) State of Montana 9th District Youth Restitution Account check #1228 in the amount of $530.55 for restitution from vandalism of the auditorium, to be deposited in the High School Building Fund.
2) Grizzly Activity Inc. check #2625 in the amount of $100.00 for a donation to the multi-purpose building, to be deposited in the High School Building Fund.
2009-2010 PRELIMINARY BUDGET REPORT Supt. St. John informed the Board that he and Clerk Davis had worked up preliminary budgets for the 2009-10 school year, based on two variables with the current funding formula. The first variable is that the budgets were calculated with the premise that the legislature will approve the Governor’s proposed 3% increase in the basic and per student entitlements. The second variable is our enrollment. The budgets were calculated based on the fall enrollment count and a projected spring enrollment count, which takes place on February 2nd and could either decrease or increase.
Supt. St. John informed the Board that the current elementary general fund budget is $1,827,696.01. The projected highest budget without a vote for 2009-10 is $1,801.665.05, which is a decrease of $26,303.96 from the current budget level. The District can stay at the current budget level by placing this $26,303.96 or approximately 5.31 mills on the ballot.
Supt. St. John informed the Board that the current high school general fund budget is $1,208,055.69. The projected highest budget without a vote for 2009-10 is this same figure of $1,208,055.69 and a voted levy cannot be placed on the ballot.
Supt. St. John noted that the District’s budget authority is stagnate or decreasing primarily as a result of our declining enrollment. Supt. St. John also noted that the two pertinent variables of negotiations and inflation complicate the budgeting process further, especially in light of stagnate or decreasing budget limits.
CLERK/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT Clerk 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) $600,000 in a certificate of deposit for 60 days from 12/19/08 with 1st National Bank of Fairfield at 1.79%.
2) $600,000 in a certificate of deposit for 210 days from 12/19/08 with Citizens State Bank at 2.51%.
3) $600,000 in a certificate of deposit for 270 days from 12/19/08 with 1st National Bank of Fairfield at 2.60%.
4) $700,000 in a certificate of deposit for 330 days from 12/19/08 with Citizens State Bank at 2.85%.
5) $750,000 in a certificate of deposit for 365 days from 12/19/08 with 1st National Bank of Fairfield at 2.85%.
6) $750,000 in a certificate of deposit for 540 days from 12/19/08 with Citizens State Bank at 2.97%.
B) Clerk Davis distributed the 2009 Election Calendar to the Board, noting that March 26th is the deadline for filing nominating petitions and calling for an election to be held on Tuesday, May 5th. Trustees whose terms expire this year are Brenda Cunniff, Katie Rasmussen, and Robert Stokes. Clerk Davis informed the Board that she would encourage them to consider placing the $26,303.96 voted levy on the elementary ballot even though it would place the elementary general fund budget at 101% of the maximum according to the formula, but once approved the District keeps this budget authority which is imperative in light of the District’s continued projected large declines in enrollment. Clerk Davis further informed the Board that the five year limit of budgeting over the maximum amount is no longer in place, which makes it even wiser to maintain a higher budget authority if at all possible.
C) Clerk Davis informed the Board that the Teton County Treasurer had distributed the 2005, 2006, and 2007 protested tax settlement from Northwestern Energy. The Elementary General Fund received slightly over $34,400 and the High School General Fund received slightly under $20,500. These unanticipated revenue collections can help fund needed maintenance projects that could not be budgeted for and offset having to levy an additional 5.31 mills if the $26,303.69 voted levy is placed on the elementary ballot.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT Supt. St. John took this opportunity to inform the Board of the steps being taken to increase the CRT Math test scores so the District continues to meet AYP. Supt. St. John informed the Board that an additional 15-20 minutes per day is being spent at the K-6 level to do additional math skills work and the K-6 staff is spending extra time during early outs and learning teams to work on curriculum alignment and fidelity.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
ATTEST: ______________________ CLERK _________________________ CHAIRMAN