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castoncomets.org |
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Bylaws, Policies & Administrative Guidelines |
Snippets 2006-07 (Pg. 1)
Snippets Index: The Snippets information is organized by a July through the following June format, generally corresponding to the school year. Snippets (8/22/06)- On this page you will find "bits" of information, some coming from Board meetings and others from elsewhere. 8/15/06 Board Meeting - At each Board meeting a list of claims are presented for review and action. At this meeting claims were presented and approved for purchasing a short-term Certificate of Deposit (in this case 128 days) in the total amount of $1,910,000. Funds in the Corporation's checking account currently earn interest of 1.93%. This CD will earn 5.62%. If this CD was for one year, which it is not, it would represent additional income for the Corporation of $70,479.00. The amount invested in a CD and from which Fund is below.
9/5/06 Board Meeting - Claims totaling $227,637.79 were unanimously approved including $24,533.44 for summer school instruction (7 teachers for grades 1-7, 4 teachers for grades 8-12, plus summer band lessons) and $2,124.92 for publication of the Annual Financial Report in the The Observer (Kewanna) and Pharos-Tribune (Logansport). (Indiana Code requiring publishing in newspaper.) Also, unanimously approved were three Board Goals for the 2006-07 school year (see goals). 9/19/06 Board Meeting And Other
Info/Opinion - Some of the following is background
info that may not have come directly from this Board meeting and also included
is some personal opinion. Claims totaling $325,528.57 were unanimously approved
including $540.00 for 20 teacher web pages. This is an annual fee based on the
number of teachers wishing to have a web page. Teachers have a choice whether or
not to have a web page, however, if they have one the school administration
expects that the information will be kept current. Typical information includes
student assignments, announcements, teacher profile, resource information, etc.
These web pages can be accessed from Caston's
homepage or as follows: Elementary
and Jr.-Sr.
High School. Parents of Jr.-Sr. High School students: Did you
know that you can access online your child's grade point average (gpa),
attendance, previous classes and grade, current classes with grades - updated at
least weekly - for homework, quizzes, tests, etc., and standardized test
history? This can be accessed from Caston's
homepage by clicking on "Grades and Attendance" or by going
directly here.
All you need is your child's ID and PIN numbers which may be obtained from the
Jr.-Sr. High School Office. When Caston has only 1 of 46 students passing the Algebra I end-of-course assessment prescribed by Indiana and only 13 of 40 students passing the English 11 end-of-course assessment it seems to me that we need to be taking a hard look at what is going on. Conferences are often justified by the need to be exposed to other ideas and certainly this has merit. However, in my experience there is often not a shortage of ideas but a lack of commitment and persistence in putting ideas into practice. At the Board & Administrator Retreat last June there were many ideas that were discussed and three have been approved as Board goals for this school year. However, many ideas that were expressed do not require Board approval to be followed up on. 10/3/06 Board Meeting And Background Information - Excerpts from the 9/30/06 Treasurer's Report may be found here. Claims totaling $378,623.64 were unanimously approved. Revisions to Policy # 0175.1, "School Board Conferences, Conventions, and Workshops" was approved by consensus upon first reading. Changes included deleting the current statement, "A principal cannot attend a national conference in consecutive years." This proposed revision will be eligible for second reading and final action at the next School Board meeting on Tuesday, October 17th. A "School Improvement Grant Application" was unanimously approved. The grant is for $9,960.00 and is being received due to Caston Elementary's school improvement status for Title 1, i.e. not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This money will be used for extended day services (i.e. after school tutoring) for students most in need. (School Improvement Requirements for Title 1 Schools) A recommendation was also presented regarding the remodeling of the Elementary & Jr.-Sr. High School Offices at a total estimated cost of about $50,000. This includes new and additional carpeting, new counters and cabinetry, painting of the paneled walls in the outer offices, additional electrical work, and new furniture. It is expected that this will come to the Board for consideration at the Oct. 17th meeting. In past months there has been some discussion regarding the process and form used to evaluate the job performance of the Superintendent. This topic was again mentioned by the Superintendent. Two possible forms were received. This topic will be on the agenda for the next Board meeting on Oct. 17th. Just prior to adjournment of each meeting there is an opportunity for "Public Comment" followed by "Board Comment." During Board Comment "Administrative Guidelines" was mentioned. These guidelines were established by the Superintendent and not reviewed or formally acted upon by the Board. They are used to give guidance in administering the school system. This is a binder about 3 inches in thickness. Board members had the opportunity to request a personal copy for reference. The "Administrative Guidelines" should not be confused with the "Bylaws And Policies Of The School Board" which were recently developed with Board involvement and formally approved by the Board. At the July 18, 2006 Board meeting consideration was given to publishing these two documents online at a cost of $3,850.00 with some possible additional cost. This agenda item was tabled and has not been brought back to the Board since. (To see online these two documents for Pioneer Regional School Corporation click here.) Also mentioned was Policy # 9120, "Public Information Program," specifically the statement, "The school calendar shall be kept free of after school activities on Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week." (The previous policy said "Thursday and Friday.") This topic was tabled at the August 15, 2006 Board meeting and the Superintendent indicated he will soon bring it back to the Board. Another item mentioned was the survey that the Superintendent distributed to the teachers during the first week of school requesting their input on how the Administrative Team, School Board, and Technology Department could serve them better. The Superintendent indicated that only about 7 completed surveys were returned to him and that he will be sharing the results with the Board in the future. Communication was also mentioned (this is one of the Board's goals). Phillips complimented Mr. Huffman on the Community Update he is now putting online. However, in past years a "Board Update" has usually been received weekly but is no longer being provided. Sometimes this contained privileged information that you would not expect to find in the "Community Update." PhillipsI feels that on some topics the Board is not being adequately informed in a timely manner. He also expressed puzzlement over the statement, "Information from this Update cannot be duplicated or replicated in part or in whole without written permission of Robert K. Huffman," that began appearing with his September 29, 2006 "Community Update" page (it's in small type at the bottom of the page). Whenever Mr. Huffman issues a new "Community Update" it replaces the previous one. The Updates are not archived online for later reference. In his September 15th Update he published "Budget Resolution of Tax Rates." Phillips feels that this was excellent information to provide the community and copied/pasted the information onto this website giving credit for it to Mr. Huffman. He plans to leave this tax rate information online for some time. He also assumes there will be future topics Mr. Huffman will share where it could be helpful if they were accessible for an extended time. As far as Huffman's claim about "...duplicated or replicated..." Phillips has done some checking and it is his understanding that there is no basis for him to make such a claim given the circumstances. Comment was also made about the discontinued distribution by email of the Jr.-Sr. high school announcements to those who request such. A concern was expressed about the privacy of email addresses of those receiving this. It was mentioned that this could be accomplished by using BCC - Blind Carbon Copy. 10/17/06 Board Meeting And Background Information - Claims totaling $240,302.12 were unanimously approved including $5,242.38 for a treadmill to be located in the weight room, $4,950 payable to Rochester Community School Corporation for transporting our Century Career Center students to/from Logansport during the 2005-06 school year, and $300 for random student drug testing this fall (there was one [1] positive test). Regarding approval of the October 3, 2006 Board Meeting minutes Phillips commented as follows: “The minutes read ‘The Caston Board of School Trustees met in executive session under authority of I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(9) to discuss a job performance evaluation of an individual employee,’ and we did. However, the minutes continue, ‘No other information was presented or discussed outside the advertised codes.’ In my opinion this statement is incorrect because Mr. Huffman you did bring up a matter outside the advertised code, specifically the possibility of creating an additional technology position and further more you even surveyed the Board as to whether or not they would support this. To my understanding this is a violation of the Open Door Law because Indiana Code does not provide for an executive session to discuss the possible creation of another staff position. The possible reasons for an executive session may be found in our own Bylaws at #0167.2. In my opinion, to approve these minutes would misrepresent what did take place.” The motion to approve the minutes was approved by a 3 to 2 vote (for: Ayers, Cress, and Sommers; against: Phillips and Zartman). The motion to extend Jr.-Sr. High School Principal Matt Rickett's contract through June 2008 was defeated by a 2 to 3 vote (for: Ayers and Sommers; against: Cress, Phillips, and Zartman). Regarding Assistant Principal/Technology Doug Olsson's contract and its extension through June 2008 Phillips remarked as follows: “Mr. Olsson’s responsibilities are that of assistant principal for the Jr.-Sr. High School and for technology in both the Jr.-Sr. High School and Elementary School. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the Elementary School, as per Principal Cindy Douglass, has not been given the same opportunity that Mr. Rickett had to review with the Board Mr. Olsson’s performance as it regards technology in the Elementary School. Therefore, I feel it is premature to act on extending Mr. Olsson’s contract at this time and make the following motion, ‘I move that Assistant Principal/Technology Doug Olsson’s contract extension through June 2008 be tabled.’” However, this motion died for lack of a second. A motion was then made to extend the contract through June 2008 and it was approved by a 4 to 1 vote (for: Ayers, Cress, Sommers, and Zartman; against: Phillips). Policy 0175.1, "School Board Conferences, Conventions, and Workshops," was amended upon second reading by a 5 to 0 vote to clarify the original intent. Additionally, the following was deleted from the policy: "A principal cannot attend a national conference in consecutive years." Phillips supports this deletion because in his opinion any conference request, whether for a teacher, principal, superintendent, board member, or other staff member should receive consideration upon its own merit. Policy 9120, "Public Information Program," includes "The school calendar shall be kept free of after school activities on Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week." In previous years it read "...Thursday and Friday..." In the past, policy was "All co-curricular activities and athletic activities, including practice sessions, are to be concluded so that students are able to leave the school grounds by 6:00P.M. on Thursday nights." However, recently "Thursday" was switched to "Wednesday" and unintentionally, Phillips believes, this also applied to Holy Week. The problem is that this allows for after school activities on Thursday evening of Holy Week which may pose a problem for families and children wishing to attend a Maundy Thursday service at their church. It was pointed out that it may be difficult to rectify this problem for 2007 with the school year well underway and the change that recently occurred from Thursday to Wednesday. It was also mentioned that since Holy Week varies from year-to-year it is problematic to try and keep Thursday of that week free of activities when during the remainder of the year it is Wednesday when this occurs. There was no formal action taken on this matter. Discussion took place on developing a new evaluation form for the superintendent. There appeared to be agreement that the substance of the form should flow from the job description which first needs reviewed with possible revision. Work on this will continue and no formal action was taken. The request for a senior class trip to Orlando, Florida was withdrawn from the agenda so that it can receive further consideration by the school. Under "Other Business" it was unanimously approved to proceed with the remodeling of the Elementary and Jr.-Sr. High Offices at an estimated cost of $50,000.
The three Board Goals recently established resulted from this retreat. Nov. 7th Board Agenda Including: Board of Finance Meeting; Health Insurance Renewal With Significant Increase; Elementary School Secretary Employment Recommendation; And Evaluation Form For Superintendent (11/5/06) - As of publishing on this date the Agenda does not yet appear on Caston's website. Therefore, excerpts appear below:
11/7/06 Board Meeting And Other
Info (11/9/06) - The October 31, 2006 Treasurer's
Report (see excerpts) was
unanimously approved as presented. Unanimous approval was given to a "Repurchase Agreement/Sweep Cash Management Agreement" that will pay interest at .25% below the current federal reserve rate, that currently is 5.25%, on certain funds Caston has on deposit. As a result, these funds currently earn 5%. This Agreement is effective from September 22, 2006 to September 30, 2007. (It should be noted that Caston currently has a short term Certificate of Deposit with $1,910,000 invested at 5.62%.) After a presentation and considerable discussion the health and vision insurance renewal effective January 1, 2007 was unanimously approved. For health insurance the option of a "Billed" Premium Pledging of $138,000 was selected. This results in a projected increase of 10.09% in rates. 2007 monthly premium rates are: Employee Only - $664.73; Employee & Spouse - $1,415.09; and Family - $1,768.70. Also, effective April 1, 2007, United Healthcare will be used instead of Sagamore Health Network. Vision insurance monthly rates, effective January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2008 are: Single - $10.76; Employee + 1 - $19.36; and Family - $29.06. Unanimous approval was given for the School Attorney and interested Board members to attend the Indiana School Boards Association School Law Seminar (program) on December 8, 2006 in Indianapolis. Unanimous approval was given to employ Angie Chapman as Elementary School secretary effective January 5, 2007. During discussion of the suggested new evaluation form for the Superintendent, Board member Sommers called for the previous question (which immediately stops discussion). Upon being seconded this was approved 4 to 1(Phillips). The evaluation form was then approved 4 to 1(Phillips). The Board unanimously affirmed its support of Principal Cindy Douglass's effort to pursue a Lilly Principal Creativity Fellowship Program 2007 Grant. If the grant of $8,000 is received it would allow her to attend the 13th Educational Leadership Conference in China, June 30 - July 13, 2007. She has indicated that no Corporation funds would be used for this. During "Public Comments," two Caston seniors, Rob Miller and Kristy Cogdill, spoke in support of Matt Rickett remaining as Principal of Caston Jr.-Sr. High School. Additionally, Miller stated he was providing a list of 121 students' names who were also in support. 11/21/06 Board Agenda: Divide Kindergarten Room Into Three Classrooms; Put Corporation Bylaws And Policies & Administrative Guidelines Online; Discuss A "Consent Agenda;" And More (11/18/06) - The complete agenda for the 8:00P.M.Nov. 21, 2006 School Board meeting may be found here. Excerpts and background information as follows:
The School Board shall use a consent agenda to keep routine matters within
a
The following routine business items may be included in a single resolution
A. minutes of prior meetings
A member of the Board may request any item to be removed 11/21/06 Board Meeting And Other Info (11/23/06) - Claims totaling $220,876.16 were unanimously approved including $300.00 for student drug testing. Mr. Rickett was not present and administrators who were did not know if there were any "test positives." Unanimous approval was given to employ Mattox and Associates, as architects, to study and prepare drawings with cost estimates to divide the current kindergarten room into three classrooms so as to accommodate full day kindergarten when that time comes. Unanimous approval was given to putting the Corporation Bylaws and Policies as well as the Administrative Guidelines online (i.e. Neola) at a cost of $3,850.00 and an annual "maintenance fee" of $400.00 beginning with the second year. Pioneer's documents may be seen here. There was consensus upon the first reading of proposed policy "Cellular Telephones and Electronic Communication Devices (ECD)." This policy reads in part: "Also during the normal school day cellular telephones and other ECDs shall be turned off (not just placed into vibrate or silent mode) and stored out of sight either in the locker (Jr.-Sr. High School) or office (Elementary). Unanimous approval was given to change the regular School Board meeting dates for January 2007. They will be January 9th and 23rd, the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month. Unanimous approval was given for Mrs. Douglass, Mr. Rickett, and Superintendent Huffman to attend a professional training activity on the evaluation process in Wabash, IN on Jan. 17, 2007. During "Public Comments," two Caston seniors, Rob Miller and John McMahan, as well as Caston graduate Joshua Martindale, spoke in support of Matt Rickett remaining as Principal of Caston Jr.-Sr. High School. During "Board Comment:"
Huffman - "It's not been sent..."
12/5/06 Board Meeting And Other Info (12/6/06) - The November 30, 2006 Treasurer's Report (see excerpts) was unanimously approved as presented. Claims totaling $418,101.40 were unanimously approved including $3,184.52, remaining from a 2002 appropriation, for weight training equipment. The Senior Class Trip to New York, New York on May 23-27, 2007, with 10 students attending, was unanimously approved. (In recent years the number of students attending this trip were: 2004 - 13 students; 2005 - 9 students; 2006 - 6 students.) The Board approved by a 3 to 2 vote (for: Cress, Phillips, and Zartman; against: Ayers and Sommers) providing Jr.-Sr. High School Principal Matt Rickett a preliminary notice of consideration of non-renewal of his contract. (See Indiana law pertaining to this.) After some discussion Zartman made a motion to change Board meeting times to 7:00P.M. through the first meeting in March. However, the motion died for lack of a second, thus, meeting times remain at 8:00P.M. During "Board Comments" Phillips asked several
questions related to the Student Random Drug Testing program which were
responded to by Mr. Rickett. The gist of the questions/answers was that the
testing first began in April/May 2005 and currently the program is in its 2nd full year
of operation. Of the students who have had a positive test (thus, a
"first violation") none have had a second violation and in all
instances the sanctions/procedures specified in the Handbook have
been implemented. (The program as described in the Handbook is here
- scroll down to p. 15).
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