DELAWARE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2008

6:30 P.M.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

 

 

MINUTES

 

 

Present:  Harry Fowler, President; Norb Heban, Vice-President; John Adams, Secretary; Lisa Clawson, Member; Sean Burcham, Member; Steve Hall, Assistant Superintendent; Pat Mapes, Superintendent

 

 

I.                   CALL TO ORDER

 

At 6:30 p.m. Board President Harry Fowler called the meeting to order.

 

II.                PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

III.             MINUTES

 

A.     A motion was made by Sean Burcham and seconded by Lisa Clawson to approve the minutes of the business meeting held on Tuesday, January 8, 2008.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

IV.              FINANCE

 

A.     A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Sean Burcham to approve the list of vouchers as presented.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

B.     2007 Year End Financial Report

 

Superintendent Mapes informed the Board their packet included a year-end financial report.  The balances are down compared to last year at this time, but we did not have to borrow money to make payroll.

 

A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Sean Burcham to accept the 2007 year end financial report as presented by Superintendent Mapes.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

C.     2007 Year End Transfer Report

 

Superintendent Mapes informed the Board the 2007 year end transfer reports were now available for their review.  The reports reflect the balancing of accounts within each fund which needs to be completed at the end of each calendar year.

 

A motion was made by Sean Burcham and seconded by Norb Heban to approve the 2007 year end transfers as presented by Superintendent Mapes.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

V.                 OLD BUSINESS

 

A.     None

 

VI.              COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR

 

A.     None

 

VII.           NEW BUSINESS

 

A.     Certified Staff

 

1.       A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Lisa Clawson to approve the leave of absence as requested by Christy Hopper effective approximately March 20, 2008 until the end of the 2007-2008 school year.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

B.     Classified Staff

 

1.       The Board was informed of the resignation of Mary Opel as an Instructional Assistant at Delta High School effective Monday, January 14, 2008.

 

2.      The Board was informed of the resignation of Shanna Ashcraft as a food service employee at Albany Elementary School effective February 1, 2008.

 

3.      The Board was informed of the resignation of Teresa Walls as a school bus driver for the corporation effective February 22, 2008.

 

4.      The Board was informed of the resignation of Michael Walls as a school bus driver for the corporation effective February 22, 2008.

 

A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Sean Burcham to approve the following recommendations for classified positions as presented by Superintendent Mapes pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing:

 

5.      Recommendation to transfer Trish Maple as a contracted school bus driver to another route effective January 23, 2008.

 

6.      Recommendation to train and employ Letitia Stone as a substitute bus driver for the corporation effective immediately pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 

7.      Recommendation to employ Julie Whittington and Wendy Brown as IMPACT Club Directors for Delta Middle School for the second year of the Ball Wellness Grant at a stipend of $1,000.00 per calendar year.

 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

C.     Extra Curricular

 

1.       The Board was informed of the resignation of Terry Koontz as a boys assistant track coach for Delta Middle School pending approval of a Delta High School coaching position.

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Lisa Clawson to approve the following Extra-Curricular positions pending successful completion of all required pre-employment testing as presented by Superintendent Mapes:

 

2.      Recommendation to appoint Eric Ryan as an assistant track coach for Delta Middle School effective for the 2008 season pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 

3.      Recommendation to appoint Sarah Jones as an assistant girl’s track coach for a split position at Delta High School effective for the 2008 season pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 

4.      Recommendation to appoint Terry Koontz as an assistant girl’s track coach for a split position at Delta High School effective for the 2008 season pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

D.    Conference Requests/Field Trips

 

A motion was made by Sean Burcham and seconded by Norb Heban to approve the following conference requests and field trips as presented by Superintendent Mapes:

 

1.       Thomas Devine requests permission to attend the IATCCC Track Clinic on Friday, February 1, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

2.      Josiah Parker requests permission to attend the IATCCC Track Clinic on Friday, February 1, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

3.      Terry Koontz requests permission to attend the IATCCC Track Clinic on Friday, February 1, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

4.      Steve Wray requests permission to attend the IATCCC Track Clinic on Friday, February 1, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

5.      Trent Liggett requests permission to attend The LEAGUE Workshop on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at the East Central Service Center in Connersville, IN.

 

6.      Lance Brand requests permission to attend the HASTI Science Conference on Thursday through Friday, February 7-8, 2008 in Indianapolis, IN.

 

7.      Jeri Harman requests permission to attend the Indiana Association for Gifted Conference on Monday through Tuesday, February 11-12, 2008 at the Adams Mark Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

8.     Mary Ann Creasy requests permission to attend the National Conference on Education on Wednesday through Friday, February 13-15, 2008 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, FL.

 

9.      Kim Hunter and Angela Decker request permission to attend the Indiana State Reading Association Annual Conference on Sunday through Tuesday, March 2-4, 2008 at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN.

 

10.  Bethany Davis and Lisa Cook request permission to attend Kindergarten Round-up and the Parent Conferences on Thursday March 6, 2008 and Thursday, March 13, 2008 at Eaton Elementary School in Eaton, IN.

 

11.   Doug Fant requests permission to attend the DeSoto Kindergarten Round-up on Friday, March 7, 2008 and the Kindergarten Conference Day on Friday, March 14, 2008 at DeSoto Elementary School in Muncie, IN.

 

12.  Debbie Carmichael, Emmalee Gardner, Kelly Green, Amber Timmons, and Nancy Young request permission to attend the Kindergarten Round-up on Monday and Tuesday, March 10-11, 2008 at Royerton Elementary School in Muncie, IN.

 

13.  Roxanne Lee and Robin Royal request permission to attend the Kindergarten Round-up on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at Albany Elementary School in Albany, IN.

 

14.  Debbie Carmichael, Emmalee Gardner, Kelly Green, Amber Timmons, and Nancy Young request permission to attend Kindergarten Conferences on Monday, March 17, 2008 at Royerton Elementary School in Muncie, IN.

 

15.   Robin Royal and Roxanne Lee request permission to attend Kindergarten Conferences on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at Albany Elementary School in Albany, IN.

 

16.  Lance Brand requests permission to take the Science Ambassadors from Delta High School to the Indiana HASTI Science Conference on either Thursday or Friday, February 7 or 8, 2008 for a presentation.

 

17.   Pam Addison and Becky Watters request permission to take the Fifth Grade Classes from Eaton Elementary School to Camp Tecumseh on Monday through Wednesday, April 21-23, 2008 in Brookston, IN.

 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

E.     Information and Proposals

 

1.             Superintendent

 

a.      ESCRFT Trustee

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Sean Burcham to appoint Superintendent Mapes as the Delaware Community School Corporation’s trustee for the ESCRFT Insurance Consortium.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

2.            Assistant Superintendent

 

a.      A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Sean Burcham to approve Mikel Heritage’s request for the Delta Softball Booster Club to hold the annual sale of trash bag boxes on March 15-30, 2008 to support Delta High School Softball.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

b.      A motion was made by Sean Burcham and seconded by Lisa Clawson to approve Anthony Jones’ request for the Jazz Band to hold a butter braid/pizza fund raiser from January 31, 2008 to February 11, 2008.

 

c.       ISTEP Remediation and Jump Start

 

A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Sean Burcham to employ four (4) positions for ISTEP Remediation at Delta High School as well as posting Jump Start positions.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Assistant Superintendent Hall informed the Board he is recommending a change to the Spring Remediation Program pending more discussion with the Delaware Community Classroom Teachers Association.  In the past we have had an early morning program three (3) days a week for nine (9) weeks.  Assistant Superintendent Hall recommends hiring remediation aide instructors to teach during the school day with an additional twenty (20) lessons added to the previous schedule.  Students will not be taken out of instructional periods during their school day.  Assistant Superintendent Hall informed the Board current research shows that time on task makes a difference in student performance.  Superintendent Mapes added this recommendation will be a pilot program for us as we test whether we can do separate remediation during the day prior to the ISTEP test changing to a spring test.  Students who do not pass the ISTEP test will benefit from the additional contact as well as from smaller group settings with more individualized attention which can specifically address their problems.

 

A motion was made by Sean Burcham and seconded by Norb Heban to approve the recommendation for change in our 2008 spring remediation program as presented by Assistant Superintendent Hall.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

d.      Academic Summer Camps

 

Assistant Superintendent Hall informed the Board we received additional money in our gifted and talented grant and we would like to pay for the summer camps with this money in addition to unused donations from past Academic Summer Camps.

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Lisa Clawson to approve the concept of summer camps as presented by Assistant Superintendent Hall and to spend up to $10,000 dollars of the gifted and talented grant money for this purpose.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

3.      Director of Maintenance

 

a.      DMS HVAC Project Update

 

Director of Maintenance, Barry Harris, informed the Board we are moving along on the Delta Middle School HVAC Project.  There have been no changes or delays in the schedule to this point.

 

Superintendent Mapes also informed the Board the Skillman group is moving forward with the feasibility study as well.

 

VIII.        LETTERS/NOTES

 

A.     Board President, Harry Fowler, expressed his appreciation for a note the Board received from Mrs. Kris Lechien thanking them for their quick response to her concern.

 

IX.              BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

 

Lisa Clawson – I’d like to thank everyone for coming this evening.

 

John Adams –Thank you all for coming.  It’s nice to see a lot of things going on that are needed for our Corporation.

 

Norb Heban –Thank you all for coming.  I enjoy reading all the field trip evaluations.  It is very helpful to see how our educational objectives are being met.

 

Sean Burcham – I would concur with my fellow board members.  Thank you everyone for coming this evening.  I also enjoy reading the field trip evaluations.

 

Harry Fowler – Congratulations to the boys basketball team for being county champs and to all our students for the work they are doing as well as our staff.

 

X.                 FUTURE MEETINGS

 

A.     By consensus of the Board, the next meeting of the Board of School Trustees is scheduled for Monday, February 4, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.

 

B.     The ISBA/IAPSS Collective Bargaining Seminar will be held on Thursday, February 21, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

C.     The ISBA Legislative Update will be held on Thursday, February 21, 2008 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

XI.              ADJOURNMENT

 

A motion was made by Lisa Clawson and seconded by Norb Heban and Board President, Harry Fowler adjourned the meeting at 7:04 p.m.

 

XII.           An executive session was held following the business meeting on personnel matters.

 

 

 

HARRY FOWLER                                                                                                                           

 

NORB HEBAN                                                                                                                                

 

JOHN ADAMS                                                                                                                                 

 

LISA CLAWSON                                                                                                                             

 

SEAN BURCHAM