Committee working on long-range plan for Middle School

Unofficial Minutes of the November 20, 2006 Regular Meeting of the Board of Education (pending Board approval)

The Board of Directors of the Bettendorf Community School District, in the County of Scott, State of Iowa, met in open session according to Iowa law for their regular Board meeting at Bettendorf High School, 3333 18th Street, Bettendorf, Iowa, on November 20, 2006.

President Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. and the Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Colleen Skolrood, Acting Board Secretary, verified that the meeting notice had been posted and mailed to the media as required by law. Members present: Directors Anderson, Crockett, Ehrmann, Justis, Mayer, Tinsman, Weigle. Members absent: None.

Other officials present: Marty Lucas, Superintendent; Dr. Carol Webb, Assistant Superintendent; Maxine McEnany, Director of Business and Financial Services; Judy Miller, Director of Human Services; Celeste Reuter, Director of Communications; Joe Slavens, Treasurer; Lisa Wilson, BEA Representative; Cara Voelliger, Student Representative; and Colleen Skolrood, acting Board Secretary.

Motion by Director Mayer, seconded by Director Crockett, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried 7-0.

There were no comments from the audience.

Motion by Director Mayer, seconded by Director Crockett, to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion carried: 7-0.

Approval of November 6, 2006 Regular Board Meeting Minutes

Financial Reports:

Financial Reports – October 31, 2006

Unspent Authorized Budget

Food Service Report

Approval of November 20, 2006 Bills Recommended for Payment.

Approval of Administrative Recommendations--Personnel.

Schedule D Resignation

Jessica Reece/BHS/Head Freshman/Assistant Sophomore Softball Coach/Effective 11-9-06

Schedule D Approval to Hire

Mike Hayward/BHS/Assistant Sophomore Boys Basketball Coach/$2550/ Replacing Aaron Maurer/Effective 11-13-06

Classified – Resignation

Kristina Porter/Operations & Transportation Center/Bus Driver for Special Needs Students/Effective 11/10/06

Classified - Recommendation for Employment

Rhonda Bowdre/BHS/Food Service Part-time/$8.09/$8.87 after 90 days/5.5 hours per day/Replacing Cheryl Raskins/Effective 11/13/06

Classified – Letter of Assignment Modification

Javin Lovelady/From BHS to TEEC&BHS/From Food Service Inventory to Custodian-2nd shift/$14.37/$14.75 after 90 days/From 5 to 8 hours per day /Replacing Vicki Fitzgerald (trans)/Effective 11/13/06

Linda Ortiz/From BMS to BHS/Para Educator/Same rate of pay/From 5.5 to 5.75 hours per day/New position due to Sp Ed student enrollment/Effective 11/13/06

Approval of Requests for Open Enrollment.

Into Bettendorf, 2006/07

Jared Bolinsky, grade 6, from Pleasant Valley, continuation Alexander Korthals, kindergarten, from Pleasant Valley, continuation

David Korthals, grade 3, from Pleasant Valley, continuation

Brook Strohm, grade 11, from North Scott, continuation

Anne Thachil, grade 4, from Pleasant Valley, continuation

Noel Thachil, grade 8, from Pleasant Valley, continuation

For information only.

The following students have open enrolled out of the Bettendorf Community School District:

Out of Bettendorf, 2006/07

Ramya Kumar, grade 1, to Pleasant Valley, continuation

Adrianna Murray, grade 7, to Pleasant Valley, continuation

Hayley Pedroza, kindergarten, to Pleasant Valley, continuation

Directors Tinsman and Justis reported they are making it through orientation.

Director Crockett noted she attended the State School Board Convention with Maxine McEnany and said it was an informative day. She said the segment on 8 ways to have fun as a Board member was entertaining. She also attended a session on Internal Audit Controls noting that internal controls are not the sole responsibility of the Business Manager.

Director Weigle visited the Edison Center last week and reported it was a positive experience. She said a staff member brought it to her attention that the Edison Center is still referred to as Project Ready even though the Board approved to name the program the Edison Center several years ago. Director Weigle and the staff member feel it would give the program more credibility if it was referred to as the Edison Center.

Director Weigle visited preschool at Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, and Herbert Hoover and said it was very enlightening.

Director Weigle attended the delegate assembly. She said it would be helpful to discuss resolutions with the Directors prior to the delegate assembly meeting. She also suggested not combining Board goals for the IASB, because they are not combined at the delegate assembly.

Director Ehrmann reported the BHS Marching Band took first place in the Festival of Trees Parade.

Superintendent Lucas said the resolution allows us flexibility in how we use this revenue. Market Factor Pay has to be used to supplement teacher pay and cannot be used to supplant agreed upon Master Contract pay issues. The money has been allocated over a three year period. This year the District is expected to receive $28,000. It will double next year and double again the following year.

Director Mayer said this series does not contain any controversial changes. It was basically making policy match current laws and practices.

Director Weigle asked why there was a record check request form for the State of Iowa but not the State of Illinois. Judy Miller, Director of Human Resources, said the business that performs background checks for the District has there own form for Illinois.

Motion by Director Mayer, seconded by Director Weigle, to approve the Market Factor Pay Board Resolution for fiscal year 2006/07. Motion carried 7-0.

Motion by Director Mayer, seconded by Director Crockett, to approve a first reading of revisions to the 400 Board Policy Series, Staff Personnel. Motion carried 7-0.

Next Agenda Planning. Board retreat is tentatively scheduled for January 6th.

The AEA Superintendent’s meeting is December 7th at the AEA.

Please let Superintendent Lucas know who will be attending by the end of next week.

Superintendent Lucas gave a brief update on his goals for 2006/07. Below are the highlights of his discussion.

Budget Issues

Superintendent Lucas plans to have an initial discussion in December regarding staffing considerations and determine cost reductions for 2007/08 if needed.

Due to NCLB and the Highly Qualified Teacher requirement, special education teachers cannot teach unless they are certified in the area they are teaching. The only way to meet this requirement is to have special education teachers co-teach in regular education classrooms. This will have an impact on class sizes.

Linn and Johnson counties will vote in January on the statewide penny. If they both pass, it will most likely pass in the state legislation.

In regard to the special education deficit, Maxine has been working on the Medicaid reimbursement process. When everything is in place the District should generate approximately $400,000 annually. Maxine and Superintendent Lucas are going to Des Moines next week for a meeting on this subject.

Special Education deficit has decreased from approximately $900,000 to $240,000. The deficit was decreased mainly due to running full programs. However, this has not left enough room to grow and has created overloads in the classroom. Additional paraeducator time will need to be looked at in the future.

Student Achievement/Educational Program

Superintendent Lucas reported the special education groups scored low on standardized tests and stressed the need to focus on providing quality special education programs.

Facilities

Superintendent Lucas said he will designate some time at the next meeting to discuss the middle school pod redesign. The original proposal of $2.2 million increased to $4.2 million after several modifications which caused the project to be put on hold. A committee has been formed and they are working on a long-range plan.

Superintendent Lucas was not able to connect with Decker Ploehn today regarding the Eagles building. He said the city still wants to be a partner. Superintendent Lucas has expressed his concerns with timing issues. Director Crockett requested information on the original agreed upon proposal and the current proposal.

Adjournment.

Motion by Director Mayer to adjourn the meeting at 7:45 p.m.