ARLINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS’
BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013, 7:00 P.M.
HS CONFERENCE ROOM
1. Call Regular Meeting to Order: President Mark Jamison called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while this meeting was open to the public.
Roll call was taken. Present were board members Mark Jamison, Matt O’Daniel, Luanne Sundberg, Greg Sampson and Shanon Willmott. Also present were Lynn Johnson, superintendent, Andrew Farber, high school principal, Chad Radke, elementary school principal and Cheryl Keeler, recording secretary. Micheal Dwyer was absent and the absence was excused.
1.2 Approval of Regular Meeting Agenda: Moved by Matt O’Daniel and seconded by Shanon Willmott to approve the regular agenda as presented. Motion carried on a 5-0 roll call vote with Mark Jamison, Matt O’Daniel, Greg Sampson, Luanne Sundberg and Shanon Willmott voting in favor of the motion.
2. Welcome Guests and Public Forum
3. Consent Agenda:
3.1 Minutes/Ratify Action of the March 8, 2013 Board Retreat and March 11, 2013 regular meeting.
3.2 Monthly Financial Reports, Claims (Check Register), Special Fund Transfers, Hot Lunch Report and Activity Report.
Employee Benefit Fund - BCBS Health Insurance $6,812.80
General Funds - University Medical Center $71,345.00
Moved by Mark Jamison and seconded by Greg Sampson to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion carried on a 5-0 roll call vote.
4. Curriculum/Instruction Reports: Instrumental and Vocal Music: Allison Mastny, band instructor and Barina Buresh Crosland, vocal music instructor, in addition to their written reports, presented a video of band and vocal music learning experiences with a focus on SMART goals and rhythm skills.
5. Review of Annual District Plan: Plan Item 1.1-1.2:
Item 1.1: In reviewing this
component of the district plan the following determinations were shared. Core
area curriculum alignment is in place and the Curriculum Review and Adoption
Cycle is the vehicle for on-going review. Adding Spanish for grades 7 and 8 is
cost prohibitive at this time. There is a need for better articulation of a
health curriculum in grades 5-9.
Item 1.2: In the last few years the HAL program has expanded opportunities for students and the current status seems good. The process of evaluating and improving SMART goals and interventions is on-going.
6. Principals’ Reports: Andrew Farber, high school principal, reviewed items from his written report, honor’s night, common core assessments, on-line scheduling, digital reading shelf, Skills USA club activities and accomplishments of FBLA. Chad Radke, elementary principal, reviewed items from his written report and highlighted the visit by the First Lady of Nebraska who spoke to the students about the NeSA tests. James Shada, athletic director, was absent supervising an athletic event. He had submitted a written report.
7. Superintendent’s Report:
7.1 Preliminary State Aid Numbers Under LB408: LB407 is the primary legislation for state aid under discussion. A model was recently released indicating state aid allocations under the current configuration of LB407. Arlington would realize no equalization aid under this model.
7.2 Safety Audit Update: The district has had two safety inspections recently. In both inspections there were minor elements identified which need further attention. The safety committee is in the process of ensuring that those items get addressed appropriately.
7.3 Safe Routes Grant Update: A review of bids is still being conducted by the grant committee. It is a painstakingly slow process.
7.4 Graduation date: The dates set for May 2013 and 2014 will not change. Setting the date for 2015 will be discussed at a later date.
8. Board of Education Committee Reports:
8.1 Finance Committee: No report
8.2 Negotiations Committee: No action items. Continue to balance budgetary issues with compensation needs. New insurance laws and regulations will require a review of part-time personnel.
8.3 Buildings and Grounds Committee – Equipment Sales and Summative Needs Update: The committee reported that they reviewed and updated the summative needs document. From that review they identified summer items to be addressed to include security locks on old doors and fixing showers in the locker room off the blue gym. The committee also shared that there will be some old shop equipment and archery equipment being sold by sealed bid as per district policy.
8.4 Professional Development Sharing: Open Meetings Law and School Law Workshops are coming up in June.
8.5 Legislative Update: Mike Dwyer is one of two candidates running as a District 14 representative on the NASB Legislative Committee.
9. Unfinished Business:
9.1 Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to approve the upgrade of sprinkler heads on the underground sprinkler system to be installed. James Shada and Lawrence Reed will work with the vendor to devise the most economical and efficient mix of system quality for the price.
Moved by Greg Sampson and seconded by Matt O’Daniel to approve an upgrade from T5 sprinkler heads to T7 athletic sprinkler heads on the underground sprinkler system being installed as presented. Motion carried on a 4-1 roll call vote with Mark Jamison, Matt O’Daniel, Greg Sampson and Shanon Willmott voting in favor of the motion and Luanne Sundberg voting against the motion.
10. New Business:
10.1 Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to hire non-certified employees.
Moved by Greg Sampson and seconded by Matt O’Daniel to approve the ‘at-will’ employment of Jackie Rathjen as an elementary special education paraprofessional effective Tuesday, April 2, 2013 as presented. Motion carried on a 5-0 roll call vote.
10.2 Discuss and Consider the installation of upgraded lighting in the old gym using the energy grant initiative. The project would pay for itself in 2.87 years. Board directive was to proceed. This would be an opportune time to upgrade under a grant instead of upgrading a little at a time.
10.3 Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to approve the purchase of a used bus. Three vendors submitted bids: Mid-States, American Bus Sales and Masters Transport. Several minutes of discussion and comparison of various features of the buses was held. Major concern was engine preference. Cummins engine was a priority. Bids were all low on trade-in of buses 91 and 93. Matt O’Daniel will check on other options for sale of old buses. It was determined that pictures of bus selected should be reviewed for comparison of working condition now versus the higher cost of refurbishing.
Moved by Matt O’Daniel and seconded by Greg Sampson to approve the purchase of a used bus from American Bus Sales in an amount up to $70,900 as discussed through a lease purchase agreement with NASB as presented. Motion carried on a 5-0 roll call vote.
11. Executive Session:
11.1 Discuss and Consider FCMG contract negotiations and principals’ evaluations.
Moved by Mark Jamison and seconded by Luanne Sundberg to enter into executive session to discuss FCMG contract negotiations and principals’ evaluations to prevent the needless injury to the reputation of an employee and/or individual and to protect the public interest. Motion carried on a 5-0 roll call vote.
Time Entered Executive Session: 8:36 p.m.
Time Exited Executive Session: 9:05 p.m.
12. Action on Executive Session Items: None
13. Adjournment: There being no further business meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
_________________________________ ___________________________________
Mark Jamison, Board President Lynn Johnson, Board Secretary
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