February 15, 2010 Board Meeting
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF EDUCATION
C & M COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT – FEBRUARY 15, 2010
CALL TO ORDER: President Gary Dinkla read the mission statement of the C & M Community School District, welcomed the visitors, and called the regular meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. in the superintendent’s office in Massena.
ROLL CALL: Directors Present: Gary Dinkla, Todd McKee, Jennifer Holste, Rob Ticknor
Absent: Sean South, Superintendent: Steve Pelzer, Secretary: Linda Edwards, Visitors: Peg Hensley, Freda Scanlan, Mike Cormack
AGENDA: Motion by Holste, seconded by Ticknor, to approve the agenda. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
MINUTES, BILLS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: Ticknor moved, seconded by McKee, to approve the minutes of the January 18, 2010 board meeting and the February 4, 2010 joint board meeting, bills, and financial statements. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
COMMUNICATIONS: Discussion was held on the upcoming Iowa Core Curriculum IASB workshop. Mr. Pelzer stated that a group of teachers would meet with the board next month to explain the Iowa Core Curriculum.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: The Man and his Environment class and students from Skills Block worked to clean up branches around town and at Pine Grove Church. The students have received thank yous for their work and it was mentioned in the Roses & Thistles column in the Sunday Des Moines Register. Mike Cormack, Massena Mayor, also expressed his thanks to the students. The new heater coil has been installed and is working well.
Mr. Pelzer attended the ISFLC conference last week in Des Moines and took the track on understanding and managing special revenue funds—a way of using these special funds to relieve the general fund. He expressed his thanks to Dean Downer and his Construction class for the great job they did in constructing the shed in the parking lot.
The application to the SBRC to recover spending authority for the Phase I cut has been submitted. Mr. Pelzer has been projecting our unspent balance at FY2010 end. The FY 2009 balance was $72,000 and he is projecting $32,000 at the end of this year. This is basically the loss in Phase I funding. One legislative bill still active deals with using the voter-approved PPEL and broadening its use to include software and repair/maintenance to equipment and vehicles.
DISCUSSION ITEMS: Reorganization was again a topic of discussion. Petitions will be available at P-T conferences. Petitions need to be turned in by March 1. The director district boundaries are not available from the Department of Education yet. Mr. Pelzer handed out a preliminary brochure he has been working on. This will also be available at conferences and will be included in the newsletter. Larry Sigel has been scheduled to present at the next joint board meetings.
Freda Scanlan and Mr. Pelzer have been looking into purchasing a system to automate the library. The company hired would take the card catalog and input this information into the system. A scanner would be used to check books in and out. Mr. Pelzer would like to proceed on this project. Another project proposed for this summer is to completely refurbish the gym floor. This has never been done and involves sanding the floor completely down, painting new lines and applying the new finish. Approximate cost is between $18-19,000.
PRESCHOOL GRANT: The meetings regarding the preschool grant have been well attended. The next meeting will be February 24 at the Anita Elementary. Mr. Pelzer reported that they have been working to set up what the program would look like. Dinkla asked when we would find out if we got the grant. Mr. Pelzer replied that the grant has not been released yet and we would have 45 days to submit the grant after it is released. He was not sure of the timeline for awarding the grant.
REVIEW/REVISE BOARD POLICIES 400-408.3: The Board reviewed board policies 400-408.3 with revisions to the following policies:
401.2 – Employee Conflict of Interest:
405.8 -- Licensed Employee Evaluation: Added listing of Licensed Employee requirementd;
406.6 – Licensed Employee Tax Shelter Programs: changed wording to “a company or program chosen by the board and collective bargaining units.”
A motion for first reading to approve the review/revisions and waiving the second reading was made by McKee, seconded by Ticknor. Voice vote, motion carried 4-0.
REVISIONS TO BOARD POLICIES: The following policies were revised:
Board Policy 201 Board of Directors’ Elections: revised to reflect elections held in odd-numbered years;
202.2 Oath of Office: remove “annual”;
202.3 Term of Office: add “of odd-numbered years” and change term from three to four years;
202.4 Vacancies: removal of wording;
206.1 President: change wording to “each year”;
206.2 Vice President: change wording to “each year”;
302.5 Superintendent Evaluation: add new criteria;
303.6 Administrator Evaluation: add new criteria;
505.5 Graduation Requirements: removed statement regarding student IEP;
506.1 Student Records Access; remove statement regarding retaining records;
507.2 Administration of Medication to Students: change wording regarding licensed health personnel;
905.2 Smoke-Free Environment: add word “students.”
A motion to accept the first reading of revisions and waive the second reading was made by McKee, seconded by Holste. Voice vote, motion carried 4-0.
BOARD REPORTS: None.
CLOSED SESSION: Jennifer Holste moved, seconded by Todd McKee, to go into closed session to discuss negotiations. Roll call vote was taken and all voted aye. The board went into closed session at 5:00 p.m. After negotiations discussion, through a unanimous roll call vote, the board returned to open session at 5:18 p.m. No action was taken in closed session.
ADJOURNMENT: A motion to adjourn was made by Ticknor, seconded by Holste. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0. President Dinkla adjourned the meeting at 5:19 p.m.
signed Gary Dinkla, Board President \
signed Linda Edwards, Board Secretary
