January 2010 Board Meeting Summary

USD 505 BOARD REPORT:
CALENDAR APPROVAL and FISCAL CONSIDERATIONS

The following is a summary of the USD 505 board of education meeting and does not reflect official minutes.

The regular monthly meeting of the USD 505 board of education was held in Chetopa on Wednesday, January 13.  The meeting was called to order by President Doug Moses. Those in attendance were Moses, Elaine VanLeeuwen, Jeff Corn, Sandy Krider, Mark Smith, and Craig Sanders. Kandi Midgett was absent.

With one addition to the agenda, it was approved.  Chetopa Title I teacher Holly Jarman gave a powerpoint presentation of how Chetopa Elementary School is implementing MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support).   Toni Crumrine, Chetopa city manager, was in attendance to explain and answer questions on Chetopa’s Neighborhood Revitalization Plan application.  The board approved participation in this grant.

Items in the consent calendar were approved.  Mr. Honeycutt provided a handout of district and Chetopa technology issues: new security cameras are in place; Siemens has done some adjusting  to card readers over winter break; the LED sign is in place and program training will be held Monday, January 18, the LED sign can be programmed with up to a year’s worth of information; Mr. Honeycutt and Mrs. Withington have provided SMART board training three times for district staff; on-site SOCS training was held December 16; review of Chetopa campus technology work or the past month.  Brian Carlson reviewed technology work done at St. Paul campus.

Roberta Carter, district director of curriculum, school improvement, and testing, although not in attendance, provided information about Chetopa Parent Night to be held on January 19 at 6:00 to kick off the state assessment season and to host the PTO book fair; assured board that students were appropriately registered for state assessments.

Mark LaTurner, St. Paul principal, reported: two minor vehicle damage incidents; re-keying exterior doors; the board directed Mr. LaTurner to stop unauthorized use of school facilities including the gyms; winter Homecoming is January 15; the MBL is discussing cost-saving ideas but has not made any definite decisions.

Ebony Hart, Chetopa principal, reported: she and counselors are completing program planning and will have students pre-enrolled before spring break; working with community colleges to provide better opportunities to students for dual-credit classes; February 3 will have KSDE virtual school audit; discussed future years HS basketball schedules.

Kim Juenemann, superintendent provided diplomas for the board president to sign; the board took action to move next month’s regular meeting date to Wednesday, February 10, due to activity conflicts; shared a thank you from the family of Andrew Schibi.

The board discussed several items regarding its building projects: the SP kitchen remodel is well underway, there was one change order of $497 for receptacles; the sports field dirt work has been completed and Dan Vitt did some leveling and finish work; the board will review concrete bids for the SP playground, basketball courts, gutter work next month; the SP vo-ag students are working on fencing as weather permits; two bids are being sought for awning over the breezeway north door; SP bus barn invitation to bid ads have been placed in four newspapers with bid opening date to be 12:15, Monday, February 8, at the central office in Chetopa; strainer tops have yet to be installed on drains in SP; new security cameras have been installed at both campuses; Chetopa athletic field house/concession stand invitation to bid ads have been placed in four newspapers with bid opening date to be 2:00 PM, Thursday, February 18, at the central office in Chetopa; the breezeway between the Chetopa main building and new addition is leaking, Crossland Construction has been notified.

The board discussed fiscal matters.  They tabled phone system to February.  Advertisements for suburban 7 have been made; sealed bids are due to the central office by noon, February 1.  The board discussed the cooperative agreement with Oswego for golf and how USD 505 can help out with expenses.  The board will republish the virtual school fund since more students than expected have enrolled in this program. The board also discussed cost-cutting ideas but took no action.  They set a work session for February 3, 6:00 PM, at a location to be determined in Parsons; this will be a work session only with any action to be taken as a result of this work session to take place at the next regular monthly meeting.

The board entered into three separate, consecutive executive sessions to discuss non-elected personnel.  Upon return to open session, the board took the following action: renewed the superintendent’s contract for an additional year at current salary and benefits; renewed both principals’ contracts for an additional year at current salary and benefits; ratified the returned contracts of Amy Turner and Tara Downing.

After a brief discussion, the board adopted a district calendar for 2010-2011 with school hours  8:00 - 3:30 and staff hours 7:45-3:45 and which includes 164.5 student-teacher contact days, 4 professional development days, 4.5 teacher work days, 4 - half-days for Parent/Teacher conferences, and 20 holidays: staff report August 26; first day of classes September 1; winter break begins December 22; staff reports back January 3 with classes resuming January 4; spring break March 21-25; graduations May 15; final day of classes May 20; teacher work and check out May 23.

Upon returning to open session after a five-minute executive session to discuss negotiations, the board appointed Sandy Krider and Jeff Corn as board negotiators with Doug Moses as alternate.

The board accepted with gratitude several items: from Dena Terrell, three books by Scott Westerfield for the Chetopa library; from Jane Alexander, nine books for the St. Paul library.

With no other business to discuss, the board adjourned at 10:08.  The next regular meeting of the USD 505 board of education will be Wednesday, February 10, 7:00 PM, at the board room in Chetopa.  # # #