BAKER SCHOOL DISTRICT 5J Tuesday, June 13, 2017 Regular Board Meeting 6:00 p.m. 2090 4 th Street, Baker City, OR 97814 PRESENT Board Staff Press Kevin Cassidy, Chair Mark Witty, Supt. Baker City Herald Melissa Irvine, Vice Chair Betty Palmer, Asst. Supt. Baker County Press Andrew Bryan Absent Doug Dalton, CFO Chris Hawkins By Phone Cathy Martin, Board Sec. Administrators Staff Patrons A. Call to Order Board Chair Kevin Cassidy called the Regular Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and then led the Pledge of Allegiance. Director Chris Hawkins joined the board meeting by phone at 6:11 p.m. B. Presentations BSD Retiree South Baker South Baker Principal Nanette Lehman honored Paraprofessional Vi Isaacs for her 28 years of service to the District by reading some quotes that represented Isaacs personality and qualities and ended by saying that they are going to miss her at South Baker. The Board presented Isaacs with a framed certificate and wished her well in her upcoming endeavors. Award Principal Lehman also recognized South Baker Math Coach Jandy Eskew who received the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2017 Area Recognition Award. Lehman read a letter written by OCTM President Molly Smith praising Jandy Eskew for her leadership and service in the mathematics education community and thanking her for her diligence and genuine interest in stimulating and fostering interest in the learning of mathematics. The Council congratulated her for being such a dedicated educator. Lehman went on to say that the South Baker math scores are very indicative of Eskew s hard work. Jandy Eskew stated that she is grateful for her opportunity and believes that the math scores could not have happened without the teachers and the parents. She feels she is just the cheerleader. Assistant Superintendent Betty Palmer added that Eskew was the Math RTI coach this year for grades four through six and Eskew has worked exclusively to help roll out the Ready Common Core and the I-Ready. She has been diligently working with parents helping them understand so that they can continue the work at home. The Board thanked Eskew for her hard work and said the award was well-deserved. C. Approve, Modify Meeting Agenda Motion by Melissa Irvine, seconded by Chris Hawkins, to approve the Revised Agenda as presented. Page 1 of 7
D. Approve Minutes Motion by Melissa Irvine, seconded by Chris Hawkins, to approve the minutes from Thursday, May 18, 2017, Regular Board Meeting and the minutes from Tuesday, May 30, 2017, second Budget Committee Meeting. OPEN BUDGET HEARING Cassidy opened the budget hearing at 6:13 p.m. E. Budget Committee Recommendation Budget Committee Chair Rosemary Abell reported that the Budget Committee met on May 23rd and again on May 30 th to review the budget. The Budget Committee approved Resolution 17-09 Approving the Permanent Tax Rate and approved the 2017-2018 Budget based on a State budget of $7.8 billion. She stated that it looks like the State budget is going to land somewhere between $8.1 and $8.2 which would bring an additional $500,000 to $600,000 of additional revenue and explained that they would like to appropriate the additional revenue in specific areas as the funds are not sustainable. The areas discussed were the PERS Debt Reduction fund as it is known that PERS debt will balloon in 2021, and the Capital Project fund as there is significant deferred maintenance and other projects that need to be accomplished in the next few years. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the Budget Committee that additional revenue, since it is not sustainable, would be used in areas on a one-time basis. F. Presentation of 2017-2018 Budget CFO Doug Dalton presented the District s budget that was approved by the Budget Committee and stated that although the budget is based on $7.8, it looks highly likely that the State is going to end up approving a budget of $8.2 billion for the biennium which removed some money from Measure 98. If that occurs, Dalton explained that during the next year the District would be exceeding our State School Fund balance versus what is budgeted, and at that point in time the District would come to the Board with a resolution that recognizes the additional revenue with a recommendation on how to appropriate that revenue based on the Budget Committee s recommendations. Irvine commented that this was her third or fourth time through the budget cycle and felt that this Budget Committee had a lot of good questions and commended Dalton on being able to answer those questions and therefore, the budget information was reviewed very well. Dalton stated that the longer the District retains the Budget Committee members, he notices that the level of understanding gets deeper which allows for the discussion to be easier. Cassidy commented that the newest Budget Committee member Wes Price did a fantastic job as it was clearly evident that his financial background enabled him to process information at an enterprise level and he was a fantastic addition to the budget process. G. Public Comment No public comment. ADJOURN BUDGET HEARING Regular board session resumed at 6:28 p.m. Page 2 of 7
H. Correspondence/Information Cassidy reviewed the correspondence and information included in the board packet. He noted that after reviewing Policy CBG, he would like to review Policy CBG-AR Evaluation of the Superintendent Timeline in July. Irvine added to his comment saying that the Policy CBG and Policy CBG-AR should not be contradictory of each other. Cassidy acknowledged the second reading of Policy BCB and the classified personnel report. In addition, he commented on the library report and said that it was interesting information to look at and to see the trends. He expressed his concern after reviewing the School District enrollment report regarding the decrease of 100 students in comparison with last year s enrollment figures. A comment was made that recently the District screened a significant number of incoming kindergarten students. I1. Superintendent s Report Calendar Update Superintendent Witty discussed the interim calendar that was approved in April and explained that due to the eclipse on August 21 st the District sent out three options to the staff and did a vote count. Option One was stay with the current calendar which was voted for by three people. Option Two would be to start a week later which also means the calendar would go a week later into June. There were 28 interested in that option. Option Three shifted the beginning day of the staff work week from Monday, August 21st to Tuesday, and instead of having Friday off, staff would work Friday instead of that Monday. Fifty-nine voted for that option. Therefore, the District is recommending to the Board to adopt Option Three for the calendar. Administrative Cost Savings for 2017-2018 Superintendent Witty explained that the District is reorganizing several areas. At BTI, there has been a savings of approximately $57,000 which resulted from the reduction of a BTI Director and the addition of a Senior Accountant. Witty commented that the District is excited about the new role of Regional Solutions Coordinator that Jerry Peacock has assumed for the District as it will really add value to the District. At Haines Elementary, there will be a savings of approximately $32,000 resulting from the reduction of one Administrator and the addition of hiring a.5 FTE Head Teacher. Witty went on to explain that there will be a reorganization at Eagle Innovative High School due to the resignation of Eagle Cap Principal Ben Merrill. There will be approximately a $15,000 savings there due to the reduction of an Administrator and the addition of hiring a certified teacher. I2. Assistant Superintendent s Report Postpone Adoption of Instructional Materials Assistant Superintendent Palmer acknowledged that the District has received a letter from the State of Oregon allowing the District to postpone the adoption of instructional materials for Science, grades K-12, until Fall of 2018. Physical Education Bill Palmer stated that the Physical Education Bill did pass and the Physical Education requirements that were to be enforced beginning with school year 2017-2018, will not have to be enforced by the District for another two years. The District has some time to review those requirements and how they affect the District. Page 3 of 7
Science Palmer explained to the Board that she has met again with the K-8 Science team. They are in the final stage of curriculum mapping for the 2017-2018 year. They will meet again in August with Principal Greg Mitchell who will walk through the planned course statements so that by the time school starts, the District should have a curriculum map laid out for K-3, 4-6, 7-8, that shows the next generation science standards. Mitchell has been working with the 9-12 team. SBAC Palmer explained that the District has received preliminary data on the SBAC and has seen good growth. In 12 out of the 17 assessments, the District equals or outperforms the State average. Palmer commented that in two of the 17 assessments, the Baker Charter Schools numbers improves the District s numbers. The District s participation rate is between 95 and 98% which is right where it should be for a brick-and-mortar district. Palmer reported that at this time, grades 3-8 will continue to be annually assessed and just once at the high school level. Mentoring Palmer stated that she has been working with Michael Lindblad, Oregon Department of Education, on guidance for mentoring the District s newly hired teachers. She has been working with a number of retired teachers that will be hired to help mentor the new teachers this next school year. At least one third of the certified staff at Brooklyn will be new teachers. Palmer went on to say that she will be traveling to Bend with Nanette Lehman to attend a two-hour mentor training on Thursday, June 15 th put on by Bend La Pine. Lehman commented that Bend LaPine is recognized statewide for their mentoring program. Palmer told the Board that they will meet again with Michael Lindblad on July 6 th to discuss teacher mentoring and Rhonda Fritz from Eastern Oregon University will be joining them as she works with the student teachers. Summer Academy Update Palmer updated the Board regarding Summer Academy as Jason Todd, Summer Academy Facilitator, was unable to be there for the board meeting. She informed the Board that there are 159 registrations with 23 on the waitlist which totals 182. The registrations include 32 ESY or ESL students. This year s goal was 180 to 200 students, which is ahead of last year at this time. However, because of the increase, Palmer went on to say that they have had to be creative with space at North Baker. This week they have been moving furniture from South Baker and Brooklyn as well as moving Chromebook carts. Todd is hopeful that there will be able one Chromebook cart for every grade level or every classroom. Todd has hired nine teachers and nine paraprofessionals and will be interviewing high school students this week for six Teaching Assistant positions. Next week at North Baker, beginning June 20 th, they will be training and setting up with staff. The community partners have been invited to participate as well. Bob Parker is going to facilitate a one-day training called Project Wild for the staff which is taking science to the outside. Sonny Gulick will be providing an I-Ready training those individuals not familiar with the I- Ready diagnostic and individualized program. Safe Schools Online will be available for those who have not taken the training during the 2016-2017 school year. Todd said that transportation discussions are underway and that he has been working with Rachelle Lemmon to schedule the daily routes and the weekly trips. All but one field trip has been scheduled. The Bookmobile will be there every week and will serve half of the kids one week and the other half the next Page 4 of 7
week. Other classes are as follows: A PE lesson every afternoon for each class provided by one staff member hired specifically for Physical Education. A nutrition unit for each class provided by Becca Colton, OSU Extension. The youngest learners will have a class provided by New Directions Northwest on self-regulation, emotional regulation, and social skills. The older students will receive instruction on anti-bullying and alcohol/drug prevention. Palmer extended an invitation to the Board to join the staff for family night which is Thursday, June 22 nd, at 6 p.m. Todd has invited all the community partners and would like to set it up like the Parent Registration Fair. The community partners will be there to talk about their part of the program and other events that they are doing during the summer. Todd will be able to visit with parents about Summer Academy and parents and students will be able to visit classrooms. Todd has been creating a new Summer Academy logo that Elkhorn Embroidery will use on shirts for staff. He will have them available for staff and community partners and there will be samples for parents to view and order if they prefer. Todd purchased 300 water bottles emblazoned with the new District logo for students and community partners. Todd wanted to recognize the tremendous effort of Cathleen Privett, ESY, as she has been instrumental in organizing ESY this year. In addition, Millie Lutz should be recognized for number of hours she has put in making the many, many contacts it takes to register the 182 students for Summer Academy which will begin on Tuesday, June 27 th. I3. CFO/Business Manager s Report Dalton informed the Board that another $127,000 in property taxes has been received since the budget meeting and that the District still has a balance to pay on the boiler. He explained that the acquisition of the property on Hughes Lane is in progress with the District scheduled to make the first payment by June 30 th, and then they will close on the property in July. Dalton has met with Mr. Ward regarding harvesting his crops and stated that Ward will be done in August. Dalton explained to the Board that he is meeting with Mike Rudi regarding the revitalization of the Sports Complex Board, at which time they will discuss the improved access for the soccer field. Dalton updated the Board on the various programs and courses at BTI including Women in Trades, a Behlen s course, two nursing courses, heavy equipment courses, and technical writing courses. I4. Board Reports Hawkins reported that they are continuing with negotiations. Their next meeting with OSEA will be Monday, June 19 th, at 8 a.m. The next negotiation meeting with BEA will be Tuesday, June 20 th, at 3 p.m. Baker Valley Education Foundation Update Irvine reported that the BVEF had its first fundraiser on May 5 th and raised over $7000. She reported that they were able to provide grant applications for the teachers prior to the last day of school and they will have the entire summer to work on the grants since the deadline is approximately the middle of September. Irvine said that the website is bakervalleyeducationfoundation.org and donations can be made via the Page 5 of 7
website. It is the foundation s intent to release initial grant money during the first semester of the school year. The BVEF Board is planning a large fundraiser in the fall that will highlight the type of activities applied for by the teachers. Irvine commented that this is the way that the foundation sees itself moving forward. OSBA Summer Conference Cassidy mentioned the OSBA Summer Board Conference in Bend on July 14-16 that he and Irvine will attend in addition to the new incoming Board member Katie Lamb. New Board Meeting Venue Cassidy reminded the Board that the July Board Meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers on July 20 th at 6:00 p.m. LRFP Cassidy reported that the Long-Range Facility Planning committee has been holding monthly and bimonthly meetings. They have toured other districts facilities and most recently toured the central building. Cassidy informed the Board that Wenaha employee Caryn Appler, who had been assisting them in this project, has taken another job with Oregon Energy Trust. Scott Rogers will be taking the lead for Wenaha at this time. J. Public Comment No public comment. K. Action #1. Motion by Chris Hawkins, seconded by Melissa Irvine, to approve the administrative resignations of Chris Carmiencke and Ben Merrill; the administrative transfer of Skye Flanagan; the certified new hires of Nicole Sullivan, Kari Anderson, Kari Carter, and Dorothy Hancock; the certified resignation of Dan Van Winkle; the extra duty new hire of Eric Layton; and the extra duty resignations of Al McCauley and Robert Barrington. #2. Motion by Melissa Irvine, seconded by Chris Hawkins, to adopt policy BCB Board Officers. #3. Motion by Melissa Irvine, seconded by Chris Hawkins, to adopt the revised interim calendar with the staff start date moved to Tuesday, August 22 nd. #4. Motion by Melissa Irvine, seconded by Chris Hawkins, to approve Resolution 17-09 Resolution Adopting the Permanent Tax Rate, Resolution 17-10 2017-2018 Resolution Adopting the Budget, Resolution 17-11 Resolution Making Appropriations, Resolution 17-12 Establishing Policies for Fund Balance, and Resolution 17-13 Additional Revenue Recognition. Page 6 of 7