DELAWARE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009

5:00 P.M.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

 

 

MINUTES

 

Present:  John Adams, President; Tyce Stebbins, Secretary; Norb Heban, Member; Trent Fox, Member; Darin Gullion, Assistant Superintendent; and Steven R. Hall, Superintendent

 

Absent:  Sean Burcham, Vice-President

 

I.                   CALL TO ORDER

 

At 5:00 p.m. Board President, John Adams, called the meeting to order.

 

II.                PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

III.             AMEND AGENDA

 

A.     A motion was made by Tyce Stebbins and seconded by Norb Heban to amend the agenda as presented.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

IV.              MINUTES

 

A.     A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Trent Fox to accept the minutes of the business meeting, and executive session held on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 and the executive session and work session held on Monday, December 7, 2009.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

V.                 FINANCE

 

A.     A motion was made by Tyce Stebbins and seconded by Norb Heban to accept the list of vouchers as presented.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

B.     Purchase over $7,500

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Trent Fox to approve the following three purchases over $7,500, as presented by Assistant Superintendent Gullion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Ikon                                           Corp                      CP                            $  17,276.40

 

Midwest Transit                     TSP                       BRF                         $110,000.00

 

Preferred IT Group                Corp                      GF/Stimulus         $  80,586.25

 

C.     Approval to pay year-end expenses from the 2009 budget and to balance all accounts.

 

A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to approve payment of the year end expenses from the 2009 budget and to balance all accounts prior to year end.  The motion was approved unanimously

 

D.    Approval to transfer and balance all Capital Project Funds.

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to transfer and balance all capital project accounts prior to year end.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Superintendent Hall received an email from John Ellis regarding K-12 budget cuts in the State of Indiana.  The email stated these budget cuts appear to be deeper than originally expected.

 

VI.              OLD BUSINESS

 

A.     2010-2011 School Year Calendar

 

A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Norb Heban to approve option 1 of the 2010-2011 school year calendar with the change of the professional development day from Monday, October 25, 2010 to Friday, October 22, 2010 as presented by Superintendent Hall.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

B.     International Exchange Student Policy #5137 – Second Reading

 

Superintendent Hall introduced Mr. Jim Koger, principal of Delta High School, to answer any questions the Board might have.  Mr. Koger informed the Board the policy had not changed other than a couple grammatical issues and one statement removed which did not reflect any change in the policy.  Ms. Debra Huston, who helps with the placement of foreign exchange students for Delta High School, expressed positive remarks about the policy.

 

A thank you note from one of Delta High School’s foreign exchange students who will be returning home to Germany at the end of this semester was read to the Board.

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to approve policy #5137 addressing foreign exchange students as presented by Mr. Jim Koger, Principal of Delta High School, and Superintendent Hall.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

VII.           COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR

 

Mo Jester asked permission to present another option for the Board to consider.  Ms. Jester proposed moving the entire DeSoto Elementary School from its present building to the space available at Delta Middle School.  Ms. Jester pointed out what she felt were some of the positives of this option.  They were:  1) the design of Delta Middle School allows for modifications to segregate the elementary school from the rest of the building; 2) it would not force overcrowding in our other elementary schools; 3) no other elementary schools would be affected; also 4) Ms. Jester felt this would be a financially responsible option and would uphold the integrity of Delta and the quality of education we offer.

 

Julie Costello also spoke to the Board along with four other members of the audience who did not give their names.

 

Ms. Costello expressed her condolences to John Miller who had a heart attack this past week.  Superintendent Hall reported he is doing well and we wish him a speedy recovery.  Ms. Costello also requested sporting events not be scheduled during finals week for the high school.  She had some questions regarding the value of the DeSoto Elementary School building and how things would be handled with the building if students were moved from that location.

 

Other questions from the audience were mainly financial in nature.  There were some questions regarding current budget items as well as questions regarding the proposed savings estimates if the building at DeSoto was closed.

 

VIII.        NEW BUSINESS

 

A.     Certified Staff

 

1.       None

 

B.     Classified Staff

 

1.       The Board was informed of the resignation of Cindy Lawson as a food service employee at Eaton Elementary School effective December 11, 2009.

 

2.      A motion was made by Tyce Stebbins and seconded by Norb Heban to employ Crystal King as an acting food service manager at DeSoto Elementary School at a pay rate of $11.38 per hour beginning Monday, November 23, 2009 effective until the current manager returns from a leave of absence.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

C.     Extra Curricular

 

1.       A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to appoint Kortney Gray as a freshman class sponsor for Delta High School to fill both positions effective for the 2009-2010 school year.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

D.    Conference Requests/Field Trips

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Trent Fox to approve the following conference requests (items 1 & 2) as presented by Superintendent Hall:

 

1.       Lois Nauman requests permission to attend the workshop entitled:  Singapore Math:  Strategies that Work in Every Classroom, on Wednesday and Thursday, February 24-25, 2010 at the Radisson Airport in Indianapolis, IN.

 

2.      Lisa McKee requests permission to attend the workshop entitled:  Upper Grade Reading, Units of Study Across the Year in Grades 3-5, on Monday, January 25, 2010 in Indianapolis, IN.

 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

E.     Information and Proposals

 

1.             Superintendent

 

a.      H1N1 Vaccination

 

Superintendent Hall informed the Board there will be an H1N1 vaccination clinic sponsored by the Delaware County Health Department for anyone over six (6) months of age held in the Commons Area at Delta High School on January 7, 2010 from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  The health department is asking for twelve (12) to fifteen (15) volunteers to help with the clinic.

 

b.      Robert P. Bell Grant Award

 

Superintendent Hall congratulated Ashley Ernstberger, fourth grade teacher at Royerton Elementary School, for receiving a Robert P. Bell Education Fund Grant. 

 

2.            Assistant Superintendent

 

a.      ESCRFT Renewal

 

A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Norb Heban to approve the ESCRFT Renewal as presented by Assistant Superintendent Gullion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Norb Heban to approve the following requests (items b, c, and e) for surplus, the baseball clinic and an Eaton PTO fundraiser as presented by Assistant Superintendent Gullion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

b.      Request to surplus a snow blower from Delta Middle School.

 

c.       Terry Summers requests permission to hold a baseball clinic for 3rd through 8th graders at Delta High School on February 13, 2010 and February 20, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m.

 

d.      Julie Brown requests permission for Delta Dollars for Scholars to conduct a raffle for three autographed basketballs from December 18, 2009 through February 19, 2010 during home basketball games at Delta High School and Delta Middle School.

 

The consensus of the Board was to table the request by Delta Dollars for scholars until the December 16, 2009 work session of the Board.

 

e.      Kim Hart-Paxson requests permission for the Eaton PTO to hold a Longaberger Basket Bingo fundraiser to support future school activities on February 23, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

IX.              LETTERS/NOTES

 

A.     The Board received a note of appreciate from the Campbell family for flowers for the funeral of Linda Burcham’s mother.

 

X.                 BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

 

Trent Fox – I would like to thank Mo Jester for coming out this evening and presenting an option for the Board to consider.  We as a Board are trying to look at everything and to do what is best for everyone within our corporation.  I would like thank everyone for their comments this evening.

 

Tyce Stebbins – I would like to say thank you to Mr. Hall and Dr. Gullion for all the extra time and work they are putting in right now.  Thank you to everyone for sharing your concerns with us.  I would like to also congratulate Ms. Ernstberger on the Bell Grant Award.  Lastly I’d like to wish everyone a great holiday season.

 

Norb Heban – I would concur with my fellow Board members.  Thank you all for coming this evening.  We do appreciate it.  Thank you Mo Jester for your presentation.  Thank you to all the teachers for their field trip/meeting evaluations.  Also, congratulations to Ms. Ernstberger on the Bell Grant Award.

 

John Adams – I would concur with my fellow Board members.  Ms. Costello, thank you for sharing your concerns.  Thank you to Mo Jester for the presentation and the thought and effort that went into it.  I would like to thank Eaton Elementary School for the bulletin board here in the Boardroom.

 

XI.              FUTURE MEETINGS

 

A.     A Community Meeting with the Board of School Trustees to discuss the four options presented to the Board will be held on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at Delta Middle School at 6:00 p.m.

 

B.     A regular meeting of the Board of School Trustees is scheduled for Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.

 

C.     The ISBA Board Member Leadership Seminar will be held on Friday, January 15, 2010 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.

 

XII.           ADJOURNMENT

 

A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Trent Fox and Board President, John Adams, adjourned the meeting at 6:15 p.m.

 

An executive session to discuss the job performance evaluation of individual employees followed the Business Meeting.

 

 

 

JOHN ADAMS                                                                                                                                 

 

SEAN BURCHAM                                                                                                                           

 

TYCE STEBBINS                                                                                                                            

 

NORB HEBAN                                                                                                                                

 

TRENT FOX