DELAWARE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2007
7:00 P.M.
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
MINUTES
Present: Sean Burcham, President; Harry Fowler,
Vice-President; Norb Heban, Secretary; John Adams, Member; Lisa Clawson, Member;
Pat Mapes, Assistant Superintendent; Steve Hall, Assistant Superintendent;
Steve Gookins, Superintendent.
I.
CALL TO ORDER
At
7:00 p.m. President Sean Burcham called the meeting to order.
II.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III.
MINUTES
A. A motion was made by Harry Fowler and seconded by
Lisa Clawson to approve the minutes of the executive sessions and business
meeting held on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 and the executive session held on
Tuesday, January 23, 2007. The
motion was approved unanimously.
IV.
FINANCE
A. A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by
John Adams to approve the list of vouchers as presented. The motion was approved unanimously.
A.
None
VI.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM
THE FLOOR
Mr.
Chad Briggs, Assistant Principal Delta High School, informed the Board Rachel
Bolka, who was scheduled to make a presentation to the Board was unavailable
and would be present at the February 20, 2007 Board meeting.
DeSoto
student, Krisha Conley was present for the meeting. Krisha is the daughter of Chris Conley, Principal of Albany
Elementary School.
Also
present was a Ball State University (BSU) student whose attendance was part of
a BSU class project.
A.
Certified Staff
1.
Superintendent’s
Contract
Board President, Sean Burcham informed the Board
Mr. Steve Murphy was present to clarify changes in the Superintendent’s
contract. Mr. Murphy informed the Board
the changes did not constitute a financial change for the school corporation.
A motion was made by Harry Fowler and seconded by
Norb Heban to accept the amendments to the Superintendents contract as
presented. The motion was approved
unanimously.
2.
Recommendation to
employ the following remediation instructors at Delta High School for the
spring of 2007:
Mathematics:
A.M. Scott Herring (ten hours)
P.M. Stephen Scroggins (ten hours)
Language Arts
A.M. Joey Gossett (ten hours)
P.M. Cheri Ridley/Julie Blakely (five hours each)
A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by
Lisa Clawson to approve the remediation instructors at Delta High School as
presented by Superintendent Gookins.
The motion was approved unanimously.
B.
Classified Staff
1.
The Board was
informed of the resignation of Kurt Vance as a second shift custodian at Eaton
Elementary School effective February 2, 2007.
2.
The Board was
informed of the resignation of Amy Snodgrass as a food service employee at
Delta Middle School effective immediately.
3.
The Board was
informed of the resignation of Melinda Bertram as a food service employee at
Royerton Elementary School effective February 9, 2007.
C.
Extra Curricular
A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by Harry Fowler
to appoint the following Extra-Curricular positions pending approval of all
paperwork as presented by Superintendent Gookins:
1.
Recommendation to
appoint Stephen Hopkins as an assistant girls tennis coach at ˝ pay for Delta
High School effective for the spring season.
2.
Recommendation to
appoint Kelsey Atkins as an assistant girls tennis coach at ˝ pay for Delta
High School effective for the spring season.
3.
Recommendation to
appoint Daniel Vaughn as an assistant baseball coach for Delta High School
effective for the spring season.
4.
Recommendation to
appoint Bob Helfst as a volunteer assistant girls track coach for Delta High
School effective for the spring season.
The motion was approved unanimously.
D.
Conference
Requests/Field Trips
A motion was made by Norb Heban and seconded by
Lisa Clawson to approve the following conference requests and field trips as
presented by Superintendent Gookins including the addition of a Delta High
School band field trip to Cleveland:
1.
Robin Royal, Roxanne
Lee, Doug Fant, Lisa Cook, Bethany Davis, Emmalee Gardner, Kelly Green, Nancy
Young and Debbie Carmichael request permission to attend Kindergarten Screening
Test Training on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at Del-Com Schools in Muncie, IN.
2.
Julia Shaw and LuAnn
Smoot request permission to attend the Conference for Third Grade Teachers on
Monday through Tuesday, February 12-13, 2007 at the Hilton in Columbus, OH.
3.
Carol Arms, Emily
Filler, and Amy Claghorn request permission to attend the InSai Conference on
Thursday, February 15, 2007 at the Holiday Inn in Indianapolis, IN.
4.
Steve Hall, Chris
Conley, and Kathy Hottinger request permission to attend the Title I Spring
Administrative Workshop on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 in Carmel, IN.
5.
Matt Lyons requests
permission to attend the State Agricultural Education Workshop on Tuesday,
February 27, 2007 in Trafalgar, IN.
6.
Lance Brand requests
permission to attend the Molecular Medicine in Action at Riley Hospital on
Monday, March 12, 2007 in Indianapolis, IN.
7.
Chrys Phillips, Dee
Orick, Jenny Dishman, Denise Dakins, and Cara Denis request permission to
attend the GFS Food Show on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at the Memorial Coliseum
in Fort Wayne, IN.
8.
Pat Ervin requests
permission to take the American Studies Class from Delta High School to Bethel
A.M.E. Church for first person historical research on a Tuesday, either
February 13, 20, or 27, 2007.
9.
Josiah Parker
requests permission to take the Technology Education Class from Delta Middle
School to the State House in Indianapolis, IN on Tuesday, February 27, 2007
from 12:00 p.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m.
10. Anthony Jones attended the meeting and added the
following request for the Board’s consideration: Anthony Jones requests permission to take the Delta High School
bands to Cleveland, OH to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as
on the concourse of the Cleveland Indians farm team, the Lake County
Captains. The bands will also play the
Star Spangled Banner at the Captains game.
The trip will be scheduled for Friday through Sunday, May 11-13, 2007.
The motion was approved unanimously.
E.
Information and
Proposals
1.
Superintendent
a. SA5 Reports
Superintendent Gookins presented the Board the Extra-Curricular SA-5 financial reports from each school.
b. Early Graduation Request
A motion was
made by John Adams and seconded by Lisa Clawson to approve Megan Wilson’s
request for early graduation pending meeting all requirements as presented by
Superintendent Gookins. The motion was
approved unanimously.
c. Delta Learning Center Update
Superintendent
Gookins informed the Board the Delta Learning Center housed in Albany has had
some air quality issues. The building
is in fine shape as of right now. An
additional test was conducted last Thursday (2-1-07) and Director of
Maintenance, Barry Harris reported verbal confirmation has been given that
everything is still fine. Air scrubbers
have been installed and we will continue to run until the school year
ends. Board Vice-President, Harry
Fowler asked that we look into the cost of purchasing air scrubbers as opposed
to leasing them. Superintendent Gookins
recommended notifying Mrs. Gill, owner of the building, we will terminate our
lease at its end and that we look for other properties to house the Delta
Learning Center.
A motion was
made by Harry Fowler and seconded by John Adams to terminate the lease of the
Delta Learning Center when it runs out at the end of July, 2007 as recommended
by Superintendent Gookins. The motion
was approved unanimously.
d. Rainy Day Fund
Superintendent
Gookins advised the Board they have until March 1, 2007 to transfer funds to
rainy day fund. Superintendent Gookins
recommends the Board consider paying for any additions to the Delta High School
Project II with General Fund money and stay away from the pitfalls, which come
with transferring money into and out of the Rainy Day Fund.
It was the
consensus of the Board to use General Fund money when necessary as presented by
Superintendent Gookins.
e. Specifications for Busses
Superintendent
Gookins informed the Board we have been in negotiations with Midwest for the
purchase of new busses. Comparisons in
cost from past years show a steep increase in the cost of school busses. After discussing possibilities with the
State Board of Accounts, Superintendent Gookins recommendation was to purchase
four 66 passenger busses one at a time to allow for negotiations rather than
going out for bids. Midwest does
currently have busses on hand that meet our specs as closely as necessary to
complete negotiations.
A discussion
followed with Transportation Director, Kim Kemper on the various state
requirements and our particular specs for busses. Ms. Kemper also presented specs for a lift bus to be considered
by the Board. Superintendent Gookins
informed the Board they would have to go out for a bid on a lift bus due to
their price and availability in the market.
It was the
consensus of the Board to table the 66-passenger bus for the February 20, 2007
meeting.
A motion was
made by Norb Heban and seconded by Harry Fowler to approve the specs for a lift
bus as presented by Superintendent Gookins and Director of Transportation, Kim
Kemper. The motion was approved
unanimously.
f.
Announcement
Superintendent
Gookins advised the Board he will be retiring effective at the end of the day
June 30, 2007. Mr. Gookins read his
resignation letter to the Board, thanking all Board members especially those
who initially hired him. He thanked
everyone for the great opportunities he has had while working with the Delaware
Community School Corporation.
A motion was
made by Harry Fowler and seconded by Norb Heban to accept the retirement of
Superintendent Gookins effective June 30, 2007. The motion was approved unanimously.
2.
Steve Hall, Assistant
Superintendent
a. Pandemic Flu Update
Assistant Superintendent Hall informed the Board
Delaware Community Schools has moved toward preparing their plan for the
possibility of a pandemic illness outbreak.
The plan has been included in their Board packet and follows guidelines
established at a prior Board meeting.
Del-Com Schools are currently proceeding with preparations by teaching
our students and staff proper hand washing techniques as well as the proper way
to sneeze or cough to keep germs from spreading.
Assistant Superintendent Hall added the plan calls
for the corporation to do everything possible to find a fair way for classified
workers to be able to work if they so choose.
It was the consensus of the Board to accept this
plan as presented by Assistant Superintendent Hall.
b. Adequate Yearly Progress Report
Assistant Superintendent Hall informed the Board
all of our schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) with the exception of
Delta High School. Delta High School
met or exceeded every indicator for AYP except one, which was the graduation
rate.
A discussion followed of the indicators for this
and how our graduation rate has been calculated. Assistant Superintendent Hall informed the Board the goal now is
to raise our graduation rate through various means available to us.
3. Pat Mapes, Assistant Superintendent
a. A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by
Lisa Clawson to approve the request to donate a rock-climbing wall from the
Albany Elementary PTO to Albany Elementary School as presented by Assistant
Superintendent Mapes. The motion was
approved unanimously.
4.
Director of
Maintenance
a. Board Vice-President, Harry Fowler asked a question
regarding the service contract with Johnson Controls. Director of Maintenance, Barry Harris assured Mr. Fowler the
person we are using at Johnson Controls is doing a good job for us and we would
like to stay with this person as our main contact.
5.
Director of Transportation
a. Pick-up and Drop-off Procedures
Director of Transportation, Kim Kemper, advised the
Board we’ve had some questions regarding the pick-up and drop off procedures of
our busses. Our past practice has been
to drop off students only on the right side of the road when on a busy road or
a state highway. It is not uncommon for
a parent to send a note for a child to get off at another address on any given
day. We do have some students exiting
the bus at a different address and then crossing busy streets after the bus has
departed. As Director of
Transportation, Ms. Kemper expressed her desire to do the safest thing possible
for all of our students.
Mr. Steve Murphy, Del-Com School Attorney,
suggested a more formal form be required for students to be dropped off at a
different address. This would be a
protection for the school corporation, but not necessarily allow for the safest
possible procedures for our students.
A lengthy discussion followed on the pros and cons
of our current procedures including drop off allowances for various
situations. Also discussed was the
flexibility of routing we would have with newly purchased routing
software. Some answers as to the
software were unavailable at the time of this meeting. The issue was tabled until further research
could be completed.
VIII.
LETTERS/NOTES
A.
Superintendent
Gookins relayed a message to the Board from Mrs. Elcessor. She stopped in the other day to say thank
you. Her oldest daughter is now in
college and feels her education at Del-Com was excellent and she wanted to be
sure and let us know of their appreciation.
IX.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
Norb Heban – Thank you Mr. Gookins very much
for all your hard work. We will miss
you and I’m envious! Thank you all for
coming. Congratulations everyone on
making Adequate Yearly Progress. Mr.
Jones, thank you for the work on the band trip.
Lisa Clawson – I would
just concur with my fellow board member, Mr. Heban.
John Adams – Congratulation Mr. Gookins on
good tenure with the corporation. We
wish you well and you will be missed.
It is good to see the administrators here. Thank you to Kim Kemper.
Keep up the good work. I would
also concur with my fellow board members.
Harry Fowler – I’ve known
Steve Gookins a long time. Great things
have been accomplished while he’s been with our corporation, including all day
kindergarten. We have become very, very
financially sound. Employee contracts
have become much better than where we were nine years ago. There has just been great growth with to
many things to mention right now.
Steve, it has been great to work with you and there is still a lot of
work to do before you leave! I also
want to mention tonight is our first electronic board meeting.We are one of the
few corporations in the state to go to paperless board packets and we have
saved much paper and time for our employees with this step into the
future. I would also like to thank
everyone for coming as well, especially our administrators. Thank you Barry Harris, I know it is tough
keeping the buildings up and running in these temperatures. Also, it is tough keeping the busses
running, so thank you to Kim Kemper and Donnie Williams as well.
Sean Burcham – Thank you
all for coming this evening. Thank you
Mr. Jones for the work on the band trip.
Thank you to the Administrators for coming out tonight. Congratulations Steve Gookins on your
retirement. I wish you all the
best. I’ve learned a lot from you these
past few years.
X.
FUTURE MEETINGS
A. The next regular meeting is scheduled for February
20, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.
B. The ISBA/IAPSS Basics of Bargaining Seminar will be
held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on March 14, 2007 at the downtown Westin Hotel
in Indianapolis, IN.
C. The ISBA Legislative Update will be held from 3:30
p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on March 14, 2007 at the downtown Westin Hotel in
Indianapolis, IN.
XI.
ADJOURNMENT
A
motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Harry Fowler and Sean Burcham
adjourned the meeting at 8:36 p.m.
XII.
An executive session
was held following the business meeting on personnel matters.
SEAN BURCHAM
HARRY FOWLER
NORB HEBAN
JOHN ADAMS
LISA CLAWSON