Board of Education Minutes, February 1, 2010
by Jan Tremblay
Clifton Clyde USD 224
Board of Education Meeting
February 1, 2010, 7:30 p.m.
Clifton Clyde High School
Members Present
Renay Branfort, Frank Brownell, Paula Kieffer, Deb Ohlde, Scott Seifert
Others Present
Superintendent Brian Pekarek, Principal Cheryl Keim, Clerk Jan Tremblay, Gary Bouley
Patrons: Laura Rogers, Steve Keim, Audrey Pingle
Call to Order
President Brownell called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Approve Consent Agenda
8g-Legislative Post Audit was added to the agenda. Motion made by Seifert, seconded by
Branfort to approve the consent agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0.
The consent agenda included accepting the Lance Koch Memorial donation of $760 for the
greenhouse at the high school and a Twin Valley Telephone donation of $600 for USD 224 signs.
Approve Bills for Payment
Motion made by Branfort, seconded by Kieffer to approve the bills for payment. Motion
carried 5-0.
Review Correspondence
A thank you was received from Cheryl Keim for the board’s support in sending her to the
USA Conference.
Receive Patron’s Comments
None
Board Member Arrives
Dean Michaud arrived at 7:35 p.m.
Hear Board Member Reports
Service Center Report: The next meeting of the Smoky Hill Educational Service Center will be February 4th.
Hear Building Reports
Report from Mrs. Keim:
-No questions or comments from the board on the submitted report, but the board
commended her on the fire lane issue and inquired about the progress of the LCD sign for the front of the high school. She reported that the cost of the sign is approximately $11,000
and she is seeking other sources of funding.
Report from Mr. Pekarek:
-No questions or comments from the board.
Laura Rogers:
-Student Council is busy working on homecoming which is Friday, February 5th .
-Pennies for Patients, a fundraiser for the Leukemia Foundation, will be in two weeks.
-The student council will be in charge of turning compost in the bins.
-Trevor Barnes, Laura Rogers and Mr. Pekarek will attend the Green School Summit on
February 25th
-Laura thanked the board for the cookies provided for state assessments.
Unfinished Business
Presentation on LCNCK by Director Audrey Pingel: Mrs. Pingel provided the board with some background on the Learning Cooperative of North Central Kansas. It is
comprised of five districts: #108, Washington County, #109, Republic County, #426, Pike
Valley, #224, Clifton Clyde and #333, Concordia. Concordia is the sponsoring district and is responsible for administering the fiscal affairs of the cooperative. They contract the
employees, based on USD 333’s negotiated agreement, record all fiscal transactions, prepare reports, make purchases and receive funds from the Department of Education and payments from participating districts.
The Board of Directors consists of the superintendents of the five participating districts and their meetings are open to the public and the minutes are posted on the website.
Each district’s assessment is based on their total student FTE and not on need. At this time, Clifton Clyde has 65 students with IEPs, but that number fluctuates during the year. The
FY10 assessment for USD 224 is $84,705 which is the same as it was in FY09. This is only $7,500 more that it was in FY03 although it has been significantly higher in some of the years between.
State aid flows through each individual district’s general fund and this helps to “bump up” the general fund which in turn, increases the amount you can set for your supplemental general budget.
The cooperative also relies on grants and ARRA stimulus money to help fund their programs. They had a $600,000 carryover last year, and this amount contributes to the security of the cooperative.
The only state aid that an individual district receives and retains is 80% of transportation
costs.
The board thanked Mrs. Pingel for her in-depth report and for taking the time to come to the meeting.
Approval of $127,000 of cuts from 2009-10 Budget: The cuts recommended by Mr. Pekarek in addition to those already realized are:
-Hire two summer school teachers instead of three for a savings of $2,500
-Implement a spending freeze for the district to save approximately $15,000
-Cancel five days of travel/lodging/meals for Southwest Plains Regional Service Center consultants for a savings of $1,300
-Do not fill 2010 assistant track coach at the middle school and save $1,400
-Did not make up the middle school Valley Heights basketball game to save $250
-Save $10,000 in fuel costs because of the lower prices
-The remaining will be taken out of contingency reserve
It was the consensus of the board to implement these cuts with the option to hire three
summer school teachers if the numbers are higher than expected.
Review of Summer Maintenance Project List by Gary Bouley: Gary discussed the
2010 summer project list with a breakdown by month and priority. Some of the projects will need to be bid out and that should be done soon. He also contacted an engineer from Hays for consulting purposes for HVAC. It was the consensus of the board to have him at the
March meeting to discuss his services.
Review of Future Maintenance Priority List by Gary Bouley: Mr. Pekarek, Mrs.
Keim, Jody Sipe and Gary met to compile a list of future projects within the district. This was informational only and will be on the March agenda.
Review of Fund Balances: Discussion only on the current fund balances.
Mr. Pekarek reported that the governors request for a $50 increase on the base state aid per pupil was rejected which could result in a $150,000 loss for USD 224 for 2010-11.
Discussion on LCNCK Information: No discussion
Legislative Post Audit: It was the consensus of the board to allow the Legislative Post
Audit to do a School District Performance Audit of USD 224. This audit could help identify ways to reduce costs without affecting the education that students receive.
New & Miscellaneous Business
CCHS Greenhouse: The board discussed the donation received from the Lance Koch
Memorial Road Rally which will go towards the purchase of a greenhouse at the high school. They discussed putting up a plaque in his honor and the best place to put it.
Executive Session on Personnel/Negotiations: Motion made by Branfort, seconded by Ohlde to enter into executive session for a period of ten minutes to discuss non-elected
personnel matters and negotiations in order to protect the privacy interests of the individuals to be discussed and protect the public interest in negotiating a fair and equitable contract. Motion carried 6-0.
The board entered into the session at 9:14 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 9:24 p.m.
Mr. Pekarek and Mrs. Keim were invited into the session.
Motion made by Seifert, seconded by Ohlde to extend the session for five minutes. Motion carried 6-0.
The board entered into the session at 9:25 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 9:30 p.m.
Mr. Pekarek and Mrs. Keim were invited into the session.
Board Member Arrives
Steve Feight arrived at 9:25 p.m.
Motion made by Brownell, seconded by Michaud to extend the session five minutes. Motion carried 7-0.
The board entered into the session at 9:31 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 9:36 p.m.
Mr. Pekarek, Mrs. Keim and Jan Tremblay were invited into the session.
Motion made by Brownell, seconded by Seifert to extend the session for ten minutes. Motion carried 7-0.
The board entered into the session at 9:37 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 9:47 p.m.
Mr. Pekarek, Mrs. Keim and Jan Tremblay were invited into the session.
Superintendent Evaluation: Motion made by Branfort, seconded by Seifert to enter into executive session for a period of fifteen minutes to discuss non-elected personnel in order to protect the privacy interests of the individuals to be discussed. Motion carried 7-0.
The board entered into the session at 9:48 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 10:03 p.m.
Mr. Pekarek was invited into the session for the last five minutes.
Motion made by Seifert, seconded by Ohlde to extend the session for ten minutes. Motion carried 7-0.
The board entered into the session at 10:04 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 10:14 p. m.
Mr. Pekarek was invited into the session.
Superintendent Remarks
Mr. Pekarek asked the board if they would be interested in working a concession stand
during the regional tournament if no other organization wants to work it.
He announced that two high school students are writing a Green School grant which they
could receive a $3,000 scholarship and the school could win a $150,000 hybrid bus.
Diane DeBacker will be in the district on Thursday, February 4th.
Assessment certificates will be handed out at 6:15 p.m. February 4th at the middle school
basketball game.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
*This is the unofficial record of the February 1, 2010 meeting of the Board of Education pending board approval at the regular March meeting.
