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MINUTES

DAVIS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Work Session and Regular Meeting

October 19, 2009

UNOFFICIAL

A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order by President Marty Owen at 7:00 p.m.

Superintendent:                       Sam Miller

School administrators present:  Jeff Graves, high school principal; Joel Pedersen, middle school principal; Linda Perry, elementary school principal; Dan Roberts, director of support services.

Patrons of the district present:  Lynn Shumate, Marilyn Piper, Edward Reese, Jr., Abby Norton, Jan Stevenson, Eric Teubel, Tama Rupe, Jane Hutchings, Kay Magel, Jennifer Birchmier, Anne Morgan and several high school students.

Ken Wuthrich moved to approve the tentative agenda as follows:

• Educational program

• Consent agenda

• Resignation(s) / contract(s)

• Application for modified allowable growth

• Hearing regarding innovative calendar for 2010-11 school year

• Innovative calendar request

• Enrollment update

• Approve Davis County Daycare board member

• Approve transportation maintenance

• Administrative reports

• Adjournment

Alan Bodkins seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Johnson, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-None.  Motion carried.

Jan Stevenson, middle school math teacher, and Abby Norton, middle school music teacher, gave a presentation on promethean technology.

As a result of recent rains and the Friday night home football game, the band festival was moved to Pella.  Superintendent Miller shared a thank you letter that band director Linda McConnell sent to Pella Community School District.

Marty Owen congratulated the high school football team on its district championship.

Sheryl Wright moved to approve the consent agenda items as follows:

• Positive comments

• Minutes of regular meeting September 21, 2009 and special meeting September 25, 2009

• Payment of warrants

• Monthly financial reports

Alan Bodkins seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Johnson, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-None.  Motion carried.

Alan Bodkins moved to approve the following contract:

            Brooke Morris                         High School Speech Sponsor ($1,576.76)

Sheryl Wright seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Johnson, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-None.  Motion carried.

Ken Wuthrich moved to approve the following resignation:

            Terri Miller                              Elementary School Secretary effective March 26, 2010

Sheryl Wright seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Johnson, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-None.  Motion carried.

The Phase I teacher salary appropriation was eliminated late in the 2009 legislative session leaving school districts with no ability to plan for the reduction.  Superintendent Miller proposed an application be submitted to the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) requesting modified allowable growth for the 2010 school year to provide spending authority to meet district obligations.  If approved by the SBRC, said application would provide spending authority only; no cash would be involved.

Alan Bodkins moved to approve the application for modified allowable growth.  Sheryl Wright seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-Johnson.  Motion carried.

A hearing was held on the innovative calendar request for school year 2010-11.  Lynn Shumate, school nurse, requested the first week of professional development be changed from five days to four days to allow a three-day weekend for the teaching staff before students begin school.  Jane Hutchings, elementary teacher, stated that she believes ten full days of professional development is detrimental to students.  Joel Pedersen commented that the innovative calendar provides more instruction minutes than the regular calendar.  He also said full day professional development allows teachers to discuss new material they are learning, how it is being implemented and results of new strategies.  Comments from his middle school staff have been positive.  Anne Morgan believes it is important to review the results after one year of the innovative calendar and stated that professional development is critical to student achievement.  Jeff Graves said the full day professional development is assisting high school staff in implementing the Iowa Core Curriculum.  He also stressed that high school staff will need to receive promethean board training next year and full day professional development would assist those efforts.  He believes full day professional development benefits instructors in their teaching.

Superintendent Miller stated that approval of the innovative calendar request only allows an application to be submitted to the Iowa Department of Education.  The school board will approve the final school calendar at a later board meeting.

Ken Wuthrich moved to approve the innovative calendar request be submitted to the Iowa Department of Education.  Alan Johnson seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Johnson, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-None.  Motion carried.

Superintendent Miller said it will be two weeks before the certified enrollment is filed with the Iowa Department of Education.  As of that day, enrollment was up one student.

Sheryl Wright moved to approve Danelle Howard, elementary teacher, as a representative on the Davis County Daycare board.  Alan Bodkins seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Johnson, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-None.  Motion carried.

Dan Roberts, director of support services, recommended three-inch foam be put in the mechanic shed at the new transportation location to make the building more suitable for maintenance on school vehicles during the colder months.

Alan Johnson moved to approve the bid for three-inch “Freedom Foam” for the mechanic shed at a cost of $9,896.  Sheryl Wright seconded the motion.  AYES-Bodkins, Johnson, Owen, Wright, Wuthrich.  NAYS-None.  Motion carried.

Administrative Reports:

Story Construction – Updates were given regarding the new high school building project.  A lot of paperwork is being done regarding drawings and material for inside the building.  Construction crews have made a lot of progress on fill and footings.  Work has started on underground plumbing.  There are a lot of local workers on the job site.

 Linda Perry – The portion of the four-year-old preschool program that is being held at the Davis County Daycare gets evaluated the same as the portion at the elementary school.  Donuts for Dads was held recently as was the Pumpkin Fun day.  Plans are being made for parent-teacher conferences.

Joel Pedersen – He greatly enjoyed his first-time experience at Donuts for Dads and the Pumpkin Fun day.

Jeff Graves – ITEDS will be held at the high school later in the week.  The high school marching band received a I rating at the state marching band contest.

Dan Roberts – He commented on the great job Dale of Story Construction does on the new high school building site.

Sam Miller – The district has temporarily suspended the student attendance policy due to the H1N1 flu in the area.  The recent ten percent across-the-board cut by Governor Chet Culver resulted in a $550,000 loss to the district.  Future discussions will be necessary to plan for this loss of revenue.

There being no further business to come before the board for consideration at this time, upon motion made by Alan Bodkins and seconded by Sheryl Wright, the President declared the meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

An exempt negotiation session was held following the regular meeting.

                                                                        Betsy J. Bassett

                                                                        Board Secretary/Business Manager