SIDNEY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
SIDNEY, IOWA
REGULAR AND ORGANIZATIONAL MEETINGS 7:30 P.M. SEPTEMBER 17, 2007
President Jeff Jorgenson called the meeting to order at 7:30p.m.
Directors present were Randy Bishop, Jeff Jorgenson, Heidi Lowthorp, Rusty Monroe and Janet Teten. Also present were Superintendent/ Secondary Principal Gregg Cruickshank, Elementary Principal Carolyn Maher and Board Secretary/Treasurer Joyce Morgan.
RECOGNITION OF GUESTS
Mike Daly, Mark Brownfield and Gary Koch
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
R. Monroe moved to approve the agenda. J. Teten seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR MEETING OF AUGUST 20, 2007
J. Teten moved to approve the minutes from the regular board meeting of August 20, 2007. R. Monroe seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
CONSIDER BILLS TO PAY
R. Monroe moved to approve the vendor bills for the month of September 2007. R. Bishop seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
FINANCIAL REPORTS
J. Teten moved to approve the financial reports for the month ending August 2007. R. Monroe seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
APPROVE THE ELECTION RESULTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2007
R. Monroe moved to approve the results of the Board of Directors Election held on Tuesday September 11, 2007. J. Teten seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
RECOGNITION OF RETIRING BOARD MEMBER – Rusty Monroe
The Board of Directors expressed its gratitude and appreciation to retiring Board Director Rusty Monroe for nine years of service to the students and patrons of the Sidney Community School District.
ADJOURNMENT OF RETIRING BOARD
At 7:38 p.m., R. Monroe moved to adjourn the meeting of the retiring Board. J. Teten seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
Past President Jeff Jorgenson called the meeting to order at 7:39 p.m.
Directors present were Randy Bishop, Mike Daly, Jeff Jorgenson, Heidi Lowthorp, and Janet Teten. Also present were Superintendent/ Secondary Principal Gregg Cruickshank, Elementary Principal Carolyn Maher and Board Secretary/Treasurer Joyce Morgan.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE OATH OF OFFICE TO NEWLY ELECTED BOARD MEMBER
The oath of office was administered to the newly elected Board Director Mike Daly.
ELECTION OF NEW BOARD PRESIDENT
Nominations for Board President were cast. M. Daly moved to elect Jeff Jorgenson as Board President. H. Lowthorp seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
ELECTION OF NEW BOARD VICE-PRESIDENT
Nominations for Board Vice President were cast. J. Teten moved to elect Randy Bishop as Board Vice-President. H. Lowthorp seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE OATH OF OFFICE TO NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS
The oath of office of Board President was administered to Jeff Jorgenson. The oath of office of Board Vice-President was administered to Randy Bishop.
DETERMINATION OF TIME AND PLACE FOR REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS
J. Teten moved to set the third Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. as the time for the regular monthly board meetings. The location of the monthly board meetings will be the secondary school or the elementary school. R. Bishop seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
ADMINISTRATORS’ REPORTS
Elementary Principal’s Report
Professional Development: The Elementary staff continues to research, discuss, and implement guided reading strategies. Sue Kelso, AEA reading consultant, has been working with the Elementary staff on developing and managing literacy centers within the reading classrooms.
Preschool Professional Development: The preschool staff will participate in the “Quality Preschool Program Standards Professional Development” this year. The program is sponsored by the AEA and Corner Counties Empowerment. The preschool teacher and preschool associates will attend the seven days of training. To allow all the staff to attend, with the least disruption to the preschool students, there will be no preschool classes on the days of professional development. This is an excellent opportunity for the preschool staff to take actions to improve where needed.
Adequate Yearly Progress: Sidney Schools has met all of the goals (participation rate and assessment) for the Iowa Department of Education in the areas of reading and math. Also, the goals for average daily attendance rate and the graduation rate were met for the 2006-2007 school year.
Elementary Honor Choir: Mrs. Eldridge, Elementary Vocal Music teacher, has started an after-school Honor Choir for students in grades 4-6. Twenty students participated in the first meeting.
After School Homework Club: The elementary staff has been supervising an After School Homework Club this year for students in grades 3-6. The club meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., with parents being responsible for transportation. Attendance is either voluntary or required by the teacher. Attendance at the sessions has ranged from 10 to 16 students.
Parent Teacher Conferences: Conferences are scheduled Thursday, September 20 from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. There will be no school Friday, September 21.
Superintendent’s/Secondary Principal’s Report
School Board Elections: Congratulations to Jeff Jorgenson and Mike Daly. Of the 5804 registered voters in Fremont County, 122 voted.
Professional Development: The secondary staff continues to develop the format and identify goals and action plans for the Professional Learning Communities. The staff is divided into three Professional Learning Communities – Literacy, Problem Solving, and Technology/Project Based Learning.
3. Enrollment: Count day is October 1. Enrollment at the elementary is 164. There are also three or four pre-school children who are on IEP’s who will be included in the certified enrollment. Enrollment at the high school is 192. Last year the total number served was 389. This year the number served is about 360. There are 33 three and four year olds enrolled in the preschool program. Hamburg and Farragut are projecting enrollment declines of 15 to 20 students. Fremont-Mills is projecting an increase of 5 to 10 students.
Board training and education opportunities through IASB:
i. District meeting at Red Oak on October 4 from 6 – 9 p.m.
ii. ABLE Orientation/Refresher Course at Red Oak on November 5 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
iii. IASB Convention at Des Moines from November 14 – 16.
Truancy Meeting: Administrators from Sidney, Hamburg and Farragut attended a meeting with County Attorney Margaret Johnson on September 12. The administrators and the County Attorney are going to work on establishing procedures to deal with truancy, which will include mediation and possible misdemeanor charges for parents of truant children.
School-based interventionist: Last spring the Board approved employing an interventionist one day a week to work with at-risk students. The interventionist is contracted through the AEA. Lisa Honig is the interventionist. She has a good rapport with students and is working to establish relationships with at-risk students, and develop individual plans to address attendance, behavior, and academics.
Football 2008: The Iowa High School Athletic Association is increasing the number of play-off qualifiers from 16 to 32 in each classification beginning in the fall of 2008. The season for all teams will begin one week earlier to accommodate the increased number of play-off games, and still play the state championship games on the third weekend in November.
Mid-term graduation: Mr. Hughes will present two or three seniors who want to graduate early at the October Board meeting.
ACTION ITEMS
Resignation of personnel:
J. Teten moved to approve the resignation with regret of Connie Scott, High School Math Teacher, at the end of the fiscal school year 2007- 08. H. Lowthorp seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
Teacher quality money:
H. Lowthorp moved to approve the letter of understanding concerning how professional development money and basic teacher salary allocation will be divided among the teachers. J. Teten seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
AEA 13 Board Ballot:
H. Lowthorp moved to approve casting the District ballot for Marland Gammon to the AEA 13 Board. R. Bishop seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
Facility/activity requests:
· The Gathering Place and the Fremont County Historical Society are sponsoring a Brain Bowl for Fremont County students this fall. Ted Witthoft is sponsoring the Sidney students. The finals are Sunday, November 4 at 2 p.m. at the Gathering Place. Since it is a Sunday activity, Board approval is needed for participation.
H. Lowthorp moved to approve the Sunday student participation request for the Fremont County Brain Bowl. M. Daly seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
· Mark Brownfield and Gary Koch from the Church of Christ requested the Board approve the use of the elementary gym for a Christian youth concert on October 27.
J. Teten moved to approve the facility request of the Church of Christ to hold a concert at the elementary gym on October 27. M. Daly seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
Policy Review
H. Lowthorp moved to approve the reviewed policies 407.1 to 410.4. M. Daly seconded. R. Bishop nay, M. Daly aye, J. Jorgenson aye, H. Lowthorp aye, J. Teten nay. Ayes 3, Nays 2. Motion passed.
Discussion Items
· Board goals and activities for 2007-08.
Board goals for 2006-07 were:
1. Advocate success for all students.
2. Develop and implement a long-range plan for the District with broad-based community support.
Board activities for 2006-07 were:
1. Share resources and programs with other districts when appropriate.
2. Involve private and public entities to promote Sidney.
3. Promote programs and opportunities which strengthen school-family partnerships.
The Board will finalize goals at the October meeting.
· Statewide sharing and efficiency study. Senate File 477 mandates a statewide efficiency and sharing study coordinated through the Area Education Agencies (AEAs). On September 25, the Fremont County Superintendents are meeting with Ed Gambs. Mr. Gambs is a retired superintendent who is in charge of coordinating the study among the AEA 13 schools.
· Planning: The following are some topics/issues that will be addressed by the Board at a work session on October 10 at 6:30 p.m.
1. Remodeling at the junior/senior high school and elementary.
2. Math staffing for 2007-08.
3. Further discussions with area districts on whole grade sharing or consolidation.
4. Explore creating an alternative school program.
5. The formation of an Education Viability Committee to examine the best utilization of human, financial, and capital resources as enrollment declines.
CELEBRATIONS
Congratulations to Rusty Monroe for nine years of service to the District as a member of the Board of Directors.
Congratulations to Mike Daly for his election to the school board.
ADJOURNMENT
M. Daly moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:58 p.m. R. Bishop seconded. Ayes 5, Nays 0. Motion passed.
NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 15, 2007 AT 7:30 P.M. IN THE BOARD ROOM.
___________________________________________ _________________________________________
President Board Secretary/Treasurer
SIDNEY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
This publication of minutes is the unofficial report of action taken. Official minutes are available for review at the Sidney Community School District after approval at the next regular board meeting.