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castoncomets.org |
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Bylaws, Policies & Administrative Guidelines |
Snippets 2007-08 (Pg. 2)
The Snippets information is organized by a July through the following June format, generally corresponding to the school year. 10/2/07 Board Meeting Results Including Board Goals, Policy Proposals And Other Info (10/4/07) - Attending this meeting were all Board members, Superintendent Huffman and Principals Douglass and Foster. The September 30, 2007 Treasurer's Report (see excerpts) was unanimously approved as presented. Unanimously approved were claims totaling $307,938.72. The following were unanimously approved as Mentor Teachers to work with the indicated beginning teachers: Mrs. Jan Moore, Math Teacher at Winamac Community H.S. (Steven Curtis, H.S. Math) and Mrs. Linda Hewitt, Social Studies Teacher at Rochester Community Middle School (Leigh Anne Runkle, H.S. English). After considerable discussion the 2007-08 School Board Goals were unanimously tabled. Regarding GOAL #1 Board members noted that the ISTEP goals were for 2007-08, however, ISTEP testing was finished last month (September) for the year. It was suggested these goals might be for the year, however, be assessed by ISTEP testing in September 2008. For English Language Arts in the Jr.-Sr. High a goal was proposed for this year of 70% passing (in 2006-07 59.50% passed). In response to a question from Board President Cress it was stated by Mr. Huffman that teachers were not consulted regarding setting that goal. Also discussed was the possibility of assessing Math and English Language Arts progress by using the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) testing results. We currently administer this in the fall and spring. For GOAL #2 Phillips complimented the administration for studying the possibility of creating an Honors Biology program for the 8th grade and possibly doing the same for English Language Arts. Phillips expressed the opinion that we should review the Century Career Center program and how that impacts the participating students regarding the Graduation Qualifying Exam. From the summer Retreat Phillips understood Board member Sommers to also have interest in this topic. In Phillips' opinion we should also be reviewing the topic of Advanced Placement Courses based upon Caston exam results of the last several years. With minimal participation in the Senior Trip he feels this is another topic deserving review. However, according to Phillips it appeared the majority of the Board didn't feel this pertained to the topic,"GOALS," being discussed. Huffman presented GOAL #4, "Provide accountability of all staff through the evaluation process," for consideration. In Phillips opinion this is already being done or at least it is suppose to be. From Phillips' experience this process, i.e. evaluation, is problematic for two reasons: (1) many administrators do not spend enough time being amongst the students and staff and in the classroom so there is a thorough understanding of what is taking place, and (2) the reluctance of many administrators to hold staff accountable for fulfilling responsibilities. Phillips believes this should be focused upon. It is Phillips' understanding that the topic of School Board Goals will again be on the agenda at the October 16th meeting. Policy 3243/Administrative Guideline 3243, "Professional Meetings," states "Attendance at educational meetings shall be controlled by the Superintendent..." (NOTE: Attendance at national conferences do require Board approval.) This is a change resulting from the NEOLA process that produced new policies that were approved February 7, 2006 by a vote of 3 to 2 (Phillips, Zartman). This topic was discussed at this as well as the previous meeting. Phillips has two concerns regarding this policy. It greatly restricts the Board being aware of conferences, workshops, seminars, etc. that staff are attending. The Board, he feels, should be concerned about the schools' educational programs and what is being done to help the students be more successful. That includes being aware of these events. A related consideration is the fact that the Board is ultimately responsible for the financial status of the Corporation and to see that time is being wisely used by all concerned. The second concern is that the current policy allows the Superintendent to approve his own "requests" to attend these "meetings." Superintendent Huffman has raised the issue of "trust" and shouldn't he be trusted to decide what meetings are appropriate for him to attend. If this is the case, Phillips said, why shouldn't the teachers and other staff be seen in the same manner? In other words just let everyone decide what meetings they will attend. Phillips feels this completely ignores the concept of checks and balances. Phillips made a proposal that the policy be changed to require Board approval for meeting requests by any staff member. Since this would have been a first reading of a proposed new policy, there was not a formal vote, however, informally the Board did not support the proposal by 2 to 3 (Ayers, Cress, Sommers). Phillips then made a proposal to require meeting attendance by the Superintendent to first be approved by the Board. Again, the Board did not support the proposal by 2 to 3 (Ayers, Cress, Sommers) In response to a question by Phillips it was noted that Greg Brash, Social Studies Teacher (Letitia Landis, H.S. Spanish Teacher) and Judy Burkhart, Kindergarten Teacher (Nicole Williams, 5th Grade Teacher) are serving as Mentor Teachers this school year for the indicated beginning teachers. Nothing was said at this meeting about the Classified Handbook recommendations that Huffman presented at the July 17, 2007 meeting and recommended at the Aug. 7th meeting. At the latter meeting the Board requested it be provided data from other School Corporations with similar demographics to Caston regarding the topics under discussion. "Scorecard" Posting From 10/2/07 Meeting (10/4/07) 10/16/07 Board Meeting Results Including Board Goals, "Wednesday Night School," Traffic Pattern In Front Of School, Advanced Placement Courses And Other Info (10/18/07) - Attending this meeting were all Board members, Superintendent Huffman, Principals Douglass and Foster, Shirley Musselman and Sue Musselman. Celebrations: Mr. Huffman had none. Unanimously approved were claims totaling $329,373.61 that included: $136.42 for a combination DVD/VCR player/recorder for the Library; $740.00 registration cost for Huffman and three Board members to attend the Indiana School Boards Association Fall Conference in Indianapolis; $945.22 for a digital camera to replace a stolen camera less than two years old and to be primarily used for the Jr.-Sr. H.S. Yearbook; $387.82 for a software license that will allow creation of a website; and more. The Board unanimously approved a per individual stipend of $67.50 for certified staff participating in NWEA training beyond the regular school day. (On Oct. 11, an early release day for students, staff participated in this training by an outside consultant. About 30-35 staff, both Elementary and Jr.-Sr. High, stayed until 7:00P.M. when the training concluded.) Unanimously approved was "2007-2008 School Board Goals." This consists of five goals: (1) Improved attendance and ISTEP performance, (2) Consider possibility of Honors Biology and English Language Arts Program for 8th graders, (3) Meeting grade level expectations for NWEA scores, (4) Monitoring and reporting to the Board how Collaboration Time (7:50-8:30A.M.) is being used by staff, and (5) Provide accountability of all staff through the evaluation process. (Phillips previously expressed his opinion regarding the evaluation process of staff here.) A brochure with further details on these goals will soon be available from the Schools. The Board unanimously approved a proposal for replacing the current Jr.-Sr. H.S. detention times with different ones including a "Wednesday night school." The Board unanimously approved creating a "Technology Assistant" position. This is a 12 month position (instead of just for the school year) and has a starting pay of $17.11 per hour. Board President Cress appointed Board Member Sommers to serve on the Technology Committee for the 2007-2008 school year. (Board Member Phillips had served in this role for several years and indicated to Cress the day before the meeting that he was interested in continuing to participate in the Technology Committee.) The Board received a written report regarding Caston students attending the Century Career Center last school year and whether or not they had passed Indiana's Graduation Qualifying Exam. Also received from both principals were reports on recent usage of collaboration time by the staff. Sue Musselman expressed to the Board her concern about the recent change of the traffic pattern in front of the school. She was particularly concerned that two door vehicles could no longer load/unload a child without them having to step out into the driveway when previously they could load/unload curbside. She felt this created a new safety hazard. It was pointed out that drivers have the opportunity to get out of their vehicle, go to the passenger side and assist a student onto the walkway. Phillips asked about the possibility of requesting staff not to park in front of the school so that there would be ample parking spaces for patrons and visitors. He noted that during a recent afternoon dismissal there were nineteen vehicles parked along the curb in front of the school. However, Superintendent Huffman commented that he felt this would be more hazardous for loading/unloading students than pulling along side the curb which has been past practice. In response to comments/questions from Phillips:
Nothing was said at this meeting about the Classified Handbook recommendations that Huffman presented at the July 17, 2007 meeting and recommended at the Aug. 7th meeting. At the latter meeting the Board requested it be provided data from other School Corporations with similar demographics to Caston regarding the topics under discussion. "Scorecard" Posting From 10/16/07 Meeting (10/18/07) 11/6/07 Board Meeting Results Including Health Insurance Premiums Up To $22,000+, Board Member's Comments Cut Off, FFA Students Report And Other Info (11/7/07) - Attending this meeting were all Board members, Superintendent Huffman, Principals Douglass and Foster, Cari Butcher, Nathan Speitel, Bob Skinner, Stephen Wise, Erica Zartman, Travis Powell and Anna Douglass. (Some of these individuals were not present for the entire meeting.) The October 31, 2007 Treasurer's Report (see excerpts) was unanimously approved as presented. Unanimously approved were claims totaling $389,729.82 that included: for "fall" coaching salaries $9,105 for certified (i.e., teachers) and $20,640 for non-certified (i.e., non-teachers) coaches; $100 for the school nurse to attend a conference in Indianapolis; $230 for the Administrative Associates for Personnel and Finance to attend a conference in Indianapolis; $335.20 for the Assistant Principal to attend a conference in Indianapolis; $1,903.48 for materials for baseball press box/storage building; $1,300 for 20 ethernet adapters to be used with video projectors; $1,398.45 for a software license (annual fee) for NWEA to be used with the "lower grades"; $990 to the Cass County Council on Aging to transport two special education students to/from Logansport during the summer; $350 for the Transportation Supervisor to attend a conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and $3,200 for an NWEA consultant to present to the staff the afternoon and evening of Nov. 1, 2007 (early dismissal day). Mrs. Butcher and students gave a presentation on the recently attended National FFA Convention and Washington D.C. Leadership Conference. Brandon J. Bradley was recommended by Superintendent Huffman as a volunteer for high school boys basketball. Since the Board was given no other information regarding Mr. Bradley, i.e. Who is he? Where does he live? etc., Board Member Phillips asked for this information. Although Huffman indicated that he had been "checked out" he was not able to provide any other information nor could Principal Foster. However, Foster immediately called Student Activities/Athletic Director Debb Stevens. Board Member Sommers stated, "I don't see it's critical that we personally know ourselves each individual here..." In Phillips' opinion it's not a matter of each Board member personally knowing the individual, however, he believes the administration should know basic information such as who is the individual, how did they come to our attention, where do they live, etc. Later in the meeting it was learned that he was the AAU coach for Andrew Firth, Teacher and Varsity Boys' BB Coach and that Bradley lives in "Fishers." His acceptance was then unanimously approved by the Board. A request for an overnight field trip by the FFA was unanimously approved. However, Phillips noted that the form the request was made on is outdated and the current form, "Proposal For Overnight/Extended Student Trips" was not used. The current form is 5 pages long and requests much more detail than the earlier form that is 1 page in length. Phillips does not believe using the incorrect form is a minor detail. Caston has spent about $18,000 (an additional $1,900, approximately, is required annually for updated materials) to contract with NEOLA for development of Bylaws, Policies, and Administrative Guidelines. This amount includes the electronic publishing of these materials (approved at the November 21, 2006 Board Meeting) as well as a variety of forms. Huffman stated the form that was used has a place for the School Board to approve it and continued "...I think the new one does not, that's something we have to modify yet..." However, Huffman is incorrect. The new one (see p.5 of above referred to form) does have a place for the Board to approve the request. Phillips incorrectly stated the forms have been online since June 2006. June 2006 is the date that appears for the Administrative Guidelines. However, the forms as well as the other materials have been online for at least 8 months. Upon Huffman's recommendation the Board approved 4 to 1 (Phillips) the transfer of 50 "sick days" for Principal Foster. Mr. Foster upon leaving Eastern Pulaski Community School Corp. did so with 178 sick days remaining. Huffman stated, "I have to apologize to the Board, this is something we probably should have done when we hired Mr. Foster..." (Foster was hired at the April 10, 2007 Board Meeting.) Phillips stated, "I'm glad Mr. Foster that you're here and with my limited insight I assume that you are doing a commendable job..." Huffman stated that apart from his recommendation, Foster began his employment at Caston with 14 days (and in each subsequent year an additional 14 days is granted, not to exceed an accumulated total of 185; also, beginning with the second year of employment an additional 3 days per year may be transferred from the accumulated leave of his last school employment). At Caston these "sick days" become "combination leave" days which may also be used for personal business and family illness as well as personal illness. Phillips considers the 50 days to "...create an immediate liability to the Corporation of about $17,000 dollars...based upon (Foster's) salary..." and the number of days in his contract. He also stated that it conceivably has ramifications for an eventual severance benefit. Phillips feels that something such as this would more appropriately be considered when salary and benefits for the next school year are taken up. Phillips also feels that since the Corporation pays 100% of the administrators' health insurance and since there will be a significant increase in this expense for 2008 that this should be taken into account. Phillips also remarked that his recollection was that several months ago the Board did not support the concept of combination leave for classified personnel so why would we want to undertake this liability at this time? Unanimous approval was given to contracting with Burn's Construction, Inc. at a cost of $28,543 to construct a pole building to enclose the waste water treatment facility. The health insurance renewal for the 2008 calendar year was unanimously approved with there being a 7.02% premium increase as well as increases in the deductibles and out-of-pocket maximum expense. The yearly cost for 2007 and 2008 is shown below.
Both Principals presented results from the fall 2007 NWEA testing. During "Board Comment" Phillips asked several questions that resulted in interchanges, some unrelated to his questions. This took place over about seven (7) minutes. Phillips was stopped from continuing with his questions when Sommers moved and Ayers seconded that the meeting be adjourned. The vote was 3 to 2 (Phillips, Zartman). Following is an overview of the seven minutes:
11/19/07 Board Meeting Results Including Superintendent Is Leaving, Board Member's Emails To Staff Are Blocked, Public Participation At Board Meetings And Other Info (11/22/07) - Attending this meeting were all Board members, Superintendent Huffman, Corporation Attorney Bob Murray and Principal Douglass. Unanimously approved were claims totaling $230,167.78 that included: a $50.00 annual fee to do criminal history checks; $75.00 for Principal Foster to attend a conference on "Best Practices" at North Montgomery Community School Corporation; a monthly amount of $11.37 for "On Star" in a newer van that was purchased in 2006; $468.00 for grass seed for the football, baseball and softball fields; $789.49 for the Transportation Supervisor to attend a conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan (an additional $350.00 was approved for this conference at a previous meeting); and $525.00 for four teachers who provided after school tutoring. President Cress mentioned that there was going to be a change in the Superintendent for Caston. He mentioned the possibility of having an Interim Superintendent and as possibilities mentioned the names of Iran Floyd, John "Jack" Heath and Stephen Sailor. Cress also said that the Indiana School Boards Association "highly recommended" using an interim superintendent who is licensed as a superintendent and not doing so could cause you to lose your accreditation. Also mentioned was utilizing the University Team to assist Caston in its search for a new superintendent. Another name as a possible interim superintendent, mentioned by Phillips, was Bob Poffenbarger who has facilitated retreats the last two summers for the Caston Board and Administrators. The Board decided to interview candidates for Interim Superintendent on Wednesday, December 12th. Huffman commented about Bylaw 0167.3, "Public Participation at Board Meetings." This describes the protocol for the public to comment at Board Meetings and includes, "Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three (3) minutes duration." Mr. Murray, Corporation Attorney, stated the 3 minutes is for the participant and does not include any time for a response by the Board President, Superintendent, etc. During Board Member comments, Phillips asked some questions that resulted in Superintendent Huffman confirming he had directed Caston's Director of Technology not to call Phillips back who had left a voice message for him regarding questions about recently purchased software. Huffman also confirmed that he had directed the Director of Technology to block incoming emails from Phillips to staff members. Huffman said Phillips' question had already been asked of him, thus, he directed the Director not to respond to Phillips. Phillips had asked a general question of Huffman, however, he then contacted the Director for more detailed information such as he had done in the past with other staff members. At this meeting Phillips asked the detailed question of Huffman that he planned to ask the Director and Huffman was not able to answer it. Phillips does not expect Huffman to be able to answer all questions, particularly when they are detailed in nature and not something he routinely works with as superintendent. Huffman stated he could check with the Director and get the answer to Phillips' question. In Phillips' opinion this just stymies the flow of information. Additionally, one question often leads to a follow up question. Regarding blocked emails Phillips had recently emailed the Director of Technology inquiring where the "Technology Assistant" vacancy had been publicized. The Director did not receive this due to it being blocked. In Phillips' opinion the email as a form of communication is no different than discussing the matter when visiting school or at an athletic or extracurricular event or somewhere in the community or on the phone or sending a letter. Phillips stated that on October 24, 2007 he sent the Band and Choral Directors an email complimenting them on the excellent Fall Concert by the Jr.-Sr. High School and Huffman was not able to confirm during the meeting if it was blocked and not received by them. The email read:
Phillips stated that he was recently invited by the 5th grade teachers, via a letter, to assist with a Junior Achievement project and it was suggested that he could respond by email regarding his availability. Huffman stated that he had not informed the staff that he was blocking emails by Phillips. Huffman stated that staff's outgoing emails to Board members are not blocked. Phillips stated, "I realize that I am only one member of this Board. However, Mr. Huffman, I strongly object to these actions of yours." He continued, "Mr. President, I would like to request that this matter be on our next agenda and receive further consideration." President Cress stated this would be done. Huffman and Sommers stated they saw no reason for this to be on the next agenda since it had been discussed at this meeting. In Phillips opinion this is a critical issue, i.e. thwarting Board members' communication with staff, and the Board members should have the opportunity to go on record either affirming or rejecting Superintendent Huffman's action of blocking a Board member's emails to staff. Phillips stated, "I think it's a serious, serious issue and if in fact the Superintendent is to have the discretion to block emails to staff from Board members that are asking questions related to the conduct of the school, fine, if the majority of the Board feels that way, then, let's put it in place and move forward." Huffman stated that he had blocked the emails because Phillips was sending an "advertisement" and stated he was referring to Phillips emailing staff regarding the existence of www.castoncomets.org. Last school year Phillips informed the staff by email of the website and he did the same with the "new" staff this fall. This fall's email said, "In the event you are unaware I would like to introduce you to www.castoncomets.org, an unofficial site regarding Caston. A disclaimer appears on the home page. Among other things you will find reports of School Board meetings on this site." Since the website pertains to Caston Phillips thought the staff might like to be aware of it. Board Member Sommers referred to last school year when Phillips gleaned email addresses from the Jr.-Sr. High Announcements and used them to inform patrons of www.castoncomets.org. This also came up at the Oct. 3, 2006 Board Meeting. Sommers stated there is an issue of "trust" at stake here, referring to the previous comment about gleaning email addresses and how this is the reason nobody receives announcements anymore by email. In Phillips' opinion the reason why announcements are no longer emailed is due to stubborness. As he previously explained this could be done using BCC - Blind Carbon Copy. In fact this link says, "If you are going to send out emails to a mailing list or even just a few people, you should take great pains to hide the email addresses from everyone on the list." "Scorecard" Posting From 11/19/07 Meeting (11/22/07) Caston's Huffman Heads To Service Center (The Rochester Sentinel, 11/29/07) - "Caston Superintendent Bob Huffman begins a new job Jan. 1 when he becomes the executive director of the Region 8 Education Service Center...According to the service center's Web site, Huffman will be introduced to the service center's governing board on Dec. 7..." (more) Suspect Identified In Bomb Threat (Pharos-Tribune, 11/29/07) - "Caston school officials say they have identified the student who caused a mass evacuation this month by making a bomb threat...The student, who Huffman would not identify by name, age or gender, acted alone, according to the superintendent..." (more) 12/4/07 Board Meeting Results Including Technology Assistant Salary Range Established, Extra-Curricular Bus Driver Pay Increased, Board Majority Supports Superintendent's Blocking Board Member's Emails To Staff And Other Info (12/6/07) - Attending this meeting were all Board members, Superintendent Huffman, Corporation Attorney Bob Murray, Principals Douglass and Foster, and Deb Walsh. The November 30, 2007 Treasurer's Report (see excerpts) was unanimously approved as presented. Unanimously approved were claims totaling $432,761.59. Unanimously approved was establishing a salary range for the recently created Technology Assistant position. This range begins with "Step 1, 1st yr" at $17.30/hr. and ends with "Step 7, 21 yr +" at $22.18/hr. This is part of the Support Staff Salary Schedule effective July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008. Approved 4 to 1 (Zartman) was an increase in Extra-Curricular (i.e. athletics, field trips, etc.) Bus Driver Compensation. Currently drivers are paid $6.00/hour and a minimum of 3 hours at $20.00. Effective January 2, 2008 they will be paid $7.00/hour and a minimum of 3 hours at $21.00. Beginning January 2, 2009 they will be paid $8.00/hour and a minimum of 3 hours at $24.00. Regarding the issue of Superintendent Huffman blocking emails from a Board Member to staff there was discussion and comments from Zartman, Sommers, Cress, Huffman, Phillips and Attorney Murray. Sommers raised an issue of whether or not proper procedure was being used. Phillips made the following comments:
President Cress stated there was a motion on the floor (what Phillips had stated) and Zartman seconded it. Murray stated "...the Board Member needs to go through the Superintendent..." Phillips responded, "...it seems to me there is a certain degree of absurdity in what's being suggested here, for instance, as I mentioned at the last meeting, I attended the Fall Concert, I was very impressed by the Fall Concert, I wanted to share that sentiment with our Band Director and Choral Director. From what you just said I gather that I should circulate that through the Superintendent, to those individuals. To me that's the height of absurdity." Murray responded, "...sometimes things are absurd, there's a reason for it...you can send a congratulatory card." Phillips asked if the card is to be sent via the Superintendent and Murray responded "no." Phillips then asked, What's the difference?" Phillips stated that he was asking the Board to either support or not support the action that was taken by Huffman. President Cress then stated that a motion was on the floor, had been seconded, and proceeded with a vote regarding Phillips motion. Phillips stated he was asking the Board to take a position...whether or not they support the action taken by Huffman. The motion failed 2 to 3 (Ayers, Cress, Sommers). Outcome: Ayers, Cress, and Sommers supported Huffman's decision to block Phillips emails to staff. Phillips accepts that Caston must have the opportunity to block emails when warranted. However, he feels Huffman made an error in judgment in this situation. The Board unanimously approved paying the Bus Drivers an additional one-half day's pay regarding the extra trip they had to make on Monday, December 3rd, due to a bomb threat that day. The drivers came in mid-afternoon and students were evacuated to the buses and they remained on the premises. After about one hour it was determined that the building was safe and students reentered the building and classrooms for the remainder of the day. At the end of the day the buses returned to take students home. "Scorecard" Posting From 12/4/07 Meeting (12/6/07) REVISED 12/18/07
Board Meeting Results Including New School Bus With Air Conditioning Approved By
Split Vote,
Superintendent Huffman Resigns, Iran Floyd To Be Interim Superintendent, Library
Aide To Retire, Technology Assistant Employed, And Other Info (12/20/07,
revised 1/14/08)
- Attending this meeting were all Board members,
Superintendent Huffman, Corporation Attorney Bob Murray, Principals Douglass
and Foster, Terry Ulerick, Vance Monical, and Dan Williams. The following were unanimously approved: Superintendent Huffman's resignation effective December 31, 2007; retirement request of Paulletta Shafer effective at the end of the 2007-08 school year; employment as Interim Superintendent of Mr. Iran Floyd (see below for more info) at $400 per day for two days per week; and, employment of Daniel K. Williams as Technology Assistant effective January 3. 2008. By a vote of 4 to 1 (Phillips) a 78 passenger bus was purchased for $81,605.00. This includes $1,770.00 for in-dash air conditioning for the driver only. This will be the first full size, regular route bus to have air conditioning. Mr. Ulerick, Transportation Supervisor, commented that newer buses have more glass area around the driver and this is problematic in warm/hot weather. Phillips understands the comfort aspect of including air conditioning. However, it is his opinion that this is paving the way for all future buses (Caston's bus fleet has 17 full size buses) to have the same and eventual repair costs should also be considered. Additionally, for 2008 their is an approximate 7% increase in health insurance cost and Caston pays a significant part of this for most employees including bus drivers. Also, improved benefits for Classified Personnel were recommended last July and there is a possibility when action is eventually taken it will include bus drivers. It is not uncommon to hear that different expenditures must come from different funds (and this is accurate), however, their source for funds is the same, TAX DOLLARS. Unanimous approval was given to expend an additional $235.00 (previously $2,000.00 had been approved) to complete construction of the Baseball Press Box. REVISED 1/14/08 Superintendent Huffman, this being his last meeting with the School Board, read the following statement: (originally only excerpts were published here)
(Mr. Iran Floyd was the Caston Superintendent from 1978-84 and also has served as Superintendent of Kankakee Valley School Corporation, MSD of Boone Township School Corporation, North Miami School Corporation and has served as Interim Superintendent at several additional school corporations.) "Scorecard" Posting From 12/18/07 Meeting (12/20/07) Superintendent Floyd Returns To Caston (The Rochester Sentinel, 12/28/07) 1/7/08 Board Meeting Results Including Report Of Investments, First Reading Of Several New/Revised Policies, Revised Board Meeting Dates/Times And Other Info (1/9/08) - Attending this meeting were all Board members, Interim Superintendent Floyd, and Principals Douglass and Foster. The December 31, 2007 Treasurer's Report (see excerpts) was unanimously approved as presented. Unanimously approved were claims totaling $408,990.09 including $38,677.20 for special education services including speech therapy (a similar amount is paid monthly for ten months during the year), $3,002.72 for one student placed by the court at White's Residential and Family Services, $1,293.04 for two service calls to repair copiers in the Elementary and Jr.-Sr. High Schools, $20,343.72 for diesel fuel (a similar purchase is made about four times a year) and $1,581.80 for three students to receive special education preschool services. Unanimously approved was the Report Of Investments for 2007 that showed interest earned as $196,624.67. This resulted from funds on deposit at Community State Bank. Several new/revised policies were reviewed and discussed. Most are due to changes in Indiana Code. This was a first reading and they will be eligible for a second reading and final action at the next Board Meeting. (During the discussion reference was made to a previous policy, since rescinded, that limited an individual Board Member to 5 minutes of comments during Board Comments near the end of the meeting. This policy and all other previous policies were rescinded and replaced on February 7, 2006 by newly developed Bylaws and Policies that resulted from the NEOLA process. This issue came up at the November 6, 2007 and is further explained here. Phillips believes an arbitrary limitation on Board Member comments is unwise because some issues may be mentioned during this time that obviously should have further consideration by the entire Board. As mentioned in the article, 'Traits Of Effective School Board Members" it is critical that the Board works well as a team and commits the time and energy to be effective. If it is felt timely for a meeting to be adjourned a majority of the Board can always take such action.)
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