Board of Education Minutes, August 9, 2010
by Jan Tremblay
Clifton Clyde USD 224
Board of Education Meeting
August 9, 2010, 8:00 p.m.
Clifton Clyde High School
Members Present
Frank Brownell, Steve Feight, Dean Michaud, Paula Kieffer
Others Present
Superintendent Brian Pekarek, Principal Cheryl Keim, Clerk Jan Tremblay, Gary Bouley
Patrons: Steve Keim, Jody Sipe, Stephen Kieffer
Call to Order
President Brownell called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.
Approve Consent Agenda
9f-Approval of LCNCK Contract was added to the agenda.
Motion made by Michaud, seconded by Feight to approve the consent agenda as amended. Motion carried 4-0.
Approve Bills for Payment
Motion made by Feight, seconded by Michaud to approve the bills for payment. Motion
carried 4-0.
Review Correspondence
Thank you emails were received from Wendy Madarasz and Laura Downy for the Green
School Conference.
Receive Patron’s Comments
None
Hear Board Member Reports
Service Center Report: Larry Patrick’s contract, the service center director, was
approved.
Two districts are using the Chinese-Mandarin foreign language that is offered by the service center.
The McPherson plan to replace state assessment tests with the ACT will be discussed.
Hear Building Reports
Report from Mrs. Keim:
No questions or comments from the board on the submitted report.
Report from Mr. Pekarek:
No questions or comments from the board on the submitted report.
Unfinished Business
Approval of Budget for 2010-2011: Mr. Pekarek presented the USD 224 budget for
2010-2011. The budget was based on a student FTE of 285 which computes to a general
fund budget of $2,469,787. In order to keep the mill levy flat, the Supplemental General fund
will decrease from $658,750 to $580,000.
Motion made by Feight, seconded by Kieffer to approve the USD 224 district budget. Motion carried 4-0.
Review of District’s Goals/Mission Statement: The following are the district goals set
by the board in July 2009:
- Effective Management of the District Budget-balance the budget while maintaining a commitment to capital expenditures on facilities and accessing non-traditional funding.
- Support the Local Community and Schools-promote the community and the district to those inside and outside the current district boundaries to increase enrollment, student engagement and community pride.
- Continue the High Achievement of Students-continue to meet AYP and state assessment goals; focus on our top priority: benefiting students with the highest quality staff, technology and curriculum.
- Increase the Morale of Staff/Students/Board-create a united front of staff, students and board members through effective, honest and true communication.
- Develop a Vision for the District-incorporating our goals and resources into the development of a district vision for USD 224.
The board reviewed and rated the success of these goals over the past year.
Review of District’s Accomplishments/Challenges: The board also reviewed and ranked the accomplishments and challenges identified in July 2009:
Accomplishments
- Dedicated staff
- Supportive patrons
- Managing to keep the number of students in the PrK class small
- Student performance on state assessments
- High quality students
- Good building maintenance
- Community pride
- Ability to keep pace with technology
- Positive success of students in extracurricular activities
- 0. Personal relationships between faculty and students
- 1. Willingness of students to work in both academic and activity areas
- 2. Healthy capital outlay fund
- 3. District has been fiscally conservative
- 4. Overall, the district is fiscally sound
- 5. Good quality faculty and administration
Challenges
- Financial situation-budget cuts
- Encouraging community development
- Declining enrollment
- Lack of time to “Teach to the test”
- Reduction in state funding for school districts
- Lack of PTA or PTO activity or interest
- Lack of ability to identify waste in the school district
- Dealing with the problem of where to cut the budget
- The difficulty of keeping the curriculum current
- 0. Keeping the school facilities well maintained
- 1. Stress of possibly dealing with program cuts due to lack of state funding
- 2. Location-the district is located in the center of four larger districts
- 3. High number of teachers who are reaching retirement age
- 4. Minimal course offering at the high school
- 5. Staff relationships are in need of attention
LCNCK Budget: Audrey Pingle, director at the learning cooperative will be at the September meeting to discuss the budget concerns and raising the assessments to cover the deficits.
Accept Bids for USD 224 Bus: Gary Bouley reported the condition of this bus. It has some rust and was not inspected this year for use. The wheelchair lift will not fit in any other bus that the district owns.
Motion made by Feight, seconded by Kieffer to advertise for bids for the USD 224 school bus that can be accepted or rejected by the board. Motion carried 4-0.
Reject Bids for CCGS Air Handling Unit: Only one bid of $35,000 was received for this project. It has been determined that parts can be purchased for $12,000 and the project done in-house.
Motion made by Feight, seconded by Michaud to reject all bids for the CCGS air handling unit and complete the project with in-house labor. Motion carried 4-0.
New & Miscellaneous Business
Approval of USD 224 Class Schedules/Times: Mr. Pekarek reported on the schedules at each school. Starting and ending times at the high school and middle school will be
adjusted to accommodate an 8th hour at the high school and to maximize vocational hours. It
was the consensus of the board to do this.
Review of Summer Project List: Gary Bouley reported on the status of summer projects. Left to done are water heaters at the middle school, patch roof at grade school, double doors on grade school gym, concrete work in front of grade school, millings on track at middle
school, concrete curbing at high school, and the air handler at the grade school will be done in-house.
The board also discussed cameras at the high school to deter vandalism.
Energy Manage Position: The participating entities set the goals, visions and salary for this position. They interviewed five candidates and selected Tom Hamel for the job.
Motion made by Feight, seconded by Michaud to approve Tom Hamel as the USD 224,
Clifton and Clyde energy manager. Motion carried 4-0.
Supplemental Positions: Motion made by Michaud, seconded by Feight to approve Caitlan Brownell as the 2010-2011 CCHS Scholar Bowl Coach. Motion carried 4-0.
Administrative Contracts: : Motion made by Michaud, seconded by Feight to enter into executive session for a period of ten minutes to discuss non-elected personnel in order to
protect privacy interests of the individuals to be discussed. Motion carried 4-0.
The board entered into the session at 10:30 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 10:40 p. m.
Motion made by Michaud, seconded by Feight to extend the session for five minutes. Motion carried 4-0.
The board entered into the session at 10:41 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 10:46 p. m.
Motion made by Michaud, seconded by Feight to extend the session for five minutes. Motion carried 4-0.
The board entered into the session at 10:47 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 10:52 p. m.
Mr. Pekarek and Mrs. Keim were invited into the session.
Motion made by Feight, seconded by Brownell to offer Mrs. Keim a contract for the 2010-
2011 school year with the same terms as the 2009-2010 contract. Motion carried 4-0.
Motion made by Feight, seconded by Brownell to offer Mr. Pekarek the same base contract for the 2010-2011 school year as the 2009-2010 contract with an additional ten days of
vacation. Motion carried 4-0.
Approval of LCNCK Contract: Motion made by Brownell, seconded by Michaud to
approve the contract with USD 333 for shared services for Deb Knox for the 2010-2011
school year. Motion carried 4-0.
Superintendent Remarks
Mr. Pekarek reported to the board on the upcoming in-service days and reminded them of the BBQ at his house on August 14th at 6:00 p.m.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 p.m.
*This is the unofficial record of the August 9, 2010 meeting of the Board of Education pending board approval at the regular September meeting.
