Regular meeting board minutes april 23, 2013

SUNBURST SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2

REGULAR MEETING

BOARD MINUTES April 23, 2013
CALL TO ORDER: The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 7:03 pm by the Chairman, Mike Wallewein. The School District No. 2 Trustees present to constitute a quorum were:

Mike Wallewein, Chairman Marigail Sveum, Trustee (absent)

James Nagy, Vice-Chairman Lisa Kearns, Trustee

Jason Hanson, Trustee

Guests and staff in attendance were:

Tim Tharp, Superintendent

Jeanne Fairhurst, Business Manager District Staff

Dan Nau, Elem Principal Colony Members

Pledge to our flag.



BUSINESS MANAGER REPORT: Minutes from the March 19^th Regular Meeting were discussed. Lisa Kearns made a motion to approve the minutes from March 19^th Regular Meeting as written. Jim Nagy seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.

Bills and Warrants were discussed. Jim Nagy made a motion to approve the warrants numbering 20104-20176. Lisa Kearns seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried. Financial reports were reviewed and discussed.

PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: Board Chair Mike Wallewein read thank you notes addressed to the Board from the NTC Science students and the FCCLA Activity group. Each group thanked the Board for supporting them in their activities and allowing them to participate in functions away from the school.

Elementary Principal Report:

Principal Nau reported that enrollment for this month is 119 students in the Sunburst Elementary, 19 students at Rimrock Colony School, and 12 students at the Hillside Colony School. Nau noted the activities and events going on at the Elementary since the last Board Meeting. Nau remarked that Ms. Lankford shared her IEFA information with every class at the Elementary. The annual Easter Egg Hunt provided lots of fun to the young children of the community thanks to Mrs. Dunk’s class for preparing the eggs, and Mrs. Fauque and the Student Council for hiding the eggs, providing the Easter Bunny and helping to run the event. Nau thanked her for doing a great job. Prin Nau gave results of the JHBB Tourney that was held in Sunburst Apr 6-8. Thanks to all the coaches, staff and parents for helping to make this activity a success and to the students and athletes for representing our school so well. Special thanks to Mrs. Ryan for organizing and running the tourney. Thanks also went out to Mrs. Kerfoot and Mrs. Fauque for the trips that they organized for several groups of students. Pre-School Screening was held and at this time we have 9 students signed up for Kindergarten next year. Thanks to Mrs. Nau, Mrs. Griffin, Mrs. Kerfoot, Mrs. Jaeger and Mrs. McAlpine for their efforts. The track program started with 11 athletes out for this sport. Missoula Children’s’ Theatre began this week with 58 K-8 Students and 4 HS Students participating. Midterm ended on the 18^th and the grades went out today. There is a party planned for LeeAnn Walls, who is moving to Saco, and Robin Johannsen, Star Fritz, and Jeanne Fairhurst, who are all three retiring from their positions. Unfortunately with May being a busy month, the party is going to be held on May 21^st, which is the same night as the May Board Meeting.

Superintendent Report:

1. 
   Athletics/Activities Update: High School golf and track season is underway. The track team is doing really well, the four girls on the Girls Golf Team have all qualified for the State Tournament and some of the boys on the Boys Golf Team are getting close to qualifying. Amanda Becker gave an account of how the HS students rated at the Regional and State Science Fairs with all students receiving a blue or purple ribbon at Regionals, silver or gold awards at State, and numerous special awards received at both fairs. Tami Hauschulz reported that all the students who participated in the District Music Festival did a great job. There are 20 students who qualified to compete at the State Music Festival with solos and groups. Russ Biniek noted that the HS Track team are young but doing a good job. Each meet ends with several personal bests. The Girl’s Relay Team took a 2^nd place at the most recent meet. Biniek also asked the Board if they would consider allowing a Cross-County Track Team to be formed in the fall. In the absence of Anjeanette Haas, Nancy Linnell noted that there were 16 FCCLA members who qualified to compete at the State FCCLA Conference and all placed in each of their events; however none of them qualified for the National Conference. There is one student who will be traveling to the National Conference because he is a State Officer. Natalie Kerfoot remarked that earlier this evening two students were inducted into the National Honor Society. Nancy Linnell also announced that the Junior Class was allowed to take the ACT Test here at the high school at no cost to the students due to a grant to cover the costs. Linnell also thanked the students of Mrs. Smith and Ms. Haas for providing snacks and lunch to the junior class during their breaks.
   

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April 23, 2013

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2. 
   Legislative Update: Supt Tharp gave an update on the Senate Bill 175 that involves the funding for the public schools and how it is faring at the Legislature.
   
3. 
   Facilities Update – Contract with CTA Engineering: Supt Tharp noted that we had received a bill from CTA for the first portion of the contract with them. They should be able to provide the full report to the Board at the May Board Meeting.
   
4. 
   Information from MTSBA: The monthly report from MTSBA was recently received and Supt Tharp made special note of the annual workshops that will be coming up in May at several location around the State.
   
5. 
   Superintendent out-of-district calendar: Supt Tharp discussed his calendar plans for the month of April.
   

AGENDA ITEMS:

1. 
   Personnel Report:
   

1. 
   Accept Resignations: Supt Tharp recommended that the Board accept the resignation from Starlett Fritz and thanked Star for the 39 years of service she has given the School District. Lisa Kearns made a motion to accept the resignation of Starlett Fritz, effective at the end of the school year. Jim Nagy seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.
   
2. 
   Hire Business Manager – Peg Tobin: Supt Tharp recommended to the Board to hire Peg Tobin for the position of Business Manager/Clerk. Tobin has excellent credentials and brings a lot of pertinent background to the position. She has been working with the current Business Manager for the past week. Tharp recommends that Tobin start her position at $18.00/hr, then increase to $18.50/hr as of July 1, 2013. Jim Nagy made a motion to hire Peg Tobin for the Business Manager/Clerk position with a starting wage of $18.00/hr and wage increase to $18.50 on July 1^st. Jason Hanson seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.
   
3. 
   Contracts not returned: Supt Tharp reported that there were three contracts of the group that were approved to be offered at the last Board Meeting that were not signed and returned. Three positions that will need to be filled before next fall are: JH Drill Coach, JH Cheer Coach, and JH GBB Asst Coach.
   
4. 
   Contracts still to issue: Supt Tharp noted that there are still a list of coaching contracts that have not been approved to be issued. That list will be presented to the Board for action during the May meeting.
   
5. 
   Hiring Process: Board Chair Mike Wallewein requested that this item be moved to the end of the meeting.
   

2. 
   Election Update: Supt Tharp reported that there was one application for the Trustee position open, so Jonette Johannsen is elected to the Trustee position by acclamation. The School District will not require a levy this year, so the annual School Election has been cancelled.
   
3. 
   School Calendar 2013-2014: A school calendar was presented to the Board for 2013-2014. This version was voted on by the staff. While not what everyone wanted, this is what the majority voted for. This includes HS graduation to be held on Saturday, May 24^th at 3:00 pm. Jim Nagy made a motion to approve the school calendar presented for 2013-2014. Lisa Kearns seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.
   
4. 
   Insurance Update: Word was received from our current medical insurance carrier, MSHWP with Blue Cross Blue Shield, that the total increase for the 2013-2014 school year will be 6.8%. Jim Nagy made a motion to continue medical insurance coverage with Blue Cross Blue Shield for the school year of 2013-2014 with the 6.8% increase in charges. Jason Hanson seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.
   
5. 
   Purchase Photocopier for NTCHS: Supt Tharp received a bid to replace the photocopier in the school office with plans to rotate the current office copier to the Teachers’ workroom and the copier currently in that room to one of the colony schools. The bid is for a Canon imageRUNNER Advance 6065 at a cost of $9882. The list price for this copier is approx $30,000 but with the co-op purchase pricing, we get it at a much better price. This copier would be purchased through Superior Business Equipment from Great Falls. Lisa Kearns made a motion to approve the purchase of the Canon imageRUNNER Advance 6065 copier at the bid price of $9882 from Superior Business Equipment. Jim Nagy seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.
   
6. 
   Negotiations Update: Jim Nagy discussed the agreement between the Board Negotiation Committee and the Sunburst Teachers Organization Negotiation Committee. The Negotiations Proposals called for a term of two years. 2013-2014 School year shows the base salary to be raised to $25,500 with an additional step to be added to each salary lane. 2014-2015 School year shows the base salary to be raised to $26,000 with another additional step to be added to each salary lane. The hours of instruction and hours of PIR were
   

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clarified, as was the request for each teacher to receive a 20-minute duty free lunch each day. Those who are assigned or volunteer for lunch duty shall receive a free lunch on that day. The proposal also called for a development of a mentorship program for “new” teachers and teachers “new to the District”. Each mentor teacher would receive a stipend for their role. New Teacher Mentors would receive a stipend of 4% of the Base Salary. New to District Mentors would receive a stipend of 2.5% of the Base Salary. There were also some changes/Additions to the Coaching Schedule: The HS Science Advisor stipend to be 8% of the base, the MS Science Advisor to be 4% of the base, addition of HS Science Advisor Asst to be 4% of the base, addition of HS ProStart Advisor to be 2% of the base and Approval of a FFA Advisor to be 4% of the base. Discussion was held. Jim Nagy made a motion to accept the Negotiations Proposals to be in effect for 2013-2015 as written on attached. Lisa Kearns seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.

7. 
   Accreditation Report: The School District received and accreditation “ding” for Anjeanette Haas for teaching the English class vacated by Mrs. Felt and Amanda Becker for teaching Earth Science. Supt Tharp was required to complete a “Corrective Action” report for each. Tharp stated that Haas will not be teaching the English class next year and Becker will be done with her classes to complete the “Broad Field Science” endorsement at the end of this semester. Discussion held. Jim Nagy made a motion to approve of the Corrective Action reports. Jason Hanson seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion was carried.
   
8. 
   Stricter Academic Expectations: Supt Tharp discussed with the Board the need for stricter disciplinary actions for the students seem to attend school only for social reasons and are not passing many classes. The Board agreed to the need for stricter punishments and asked Tharp to present to the Board language to support this need to add to the handbooks. Tharp stated that he would present this information at future Board Meetings. Tharp also mentioned that the MHSA rules only require that a student must be passing only four classes in the previous semester. Even going by these rules, we still have students ineligible.
   

As previously noted under Agenda Items/Personnel Report/Hiring Process, Board Chair Mike Wallewein firmly requested

that the Board (including Supt Tharp and Prin Nau) go into Executive Session at 9:00 pm. The meeting reopened at

10:08 pm.

The next regularly scheduled Board Meeting shall be on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 7:00 pm. Lisa Kearns made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jim Nagy seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the meeting was adjourned at 10:09 pm.

___________________________________ ___________________________________

JIM NAGY, CHAIRMAN PEGGY TOBIN, CLERK

DATE: _____________________________ DATE: ______________________________