June 15, 2020

DELAWARE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2020

6:30 p.m.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING



MINUTES


Present:  Adam Williams, President; Trent Fox, Vice President; Lance Engle, Secretary; Jacob Case, Member; John Adams, Member; and Reece Mann, Superintendent


Absent: Darin Gullion, Assistant Superintendent


  1. CALL TO ORDER


At 6:31 p.m. Board President, Adam Williams, called the meeting to order.


  1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 


  1. AMEND AGENDA


A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Lance Engle to amend the agenda, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. MINUTES


A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Jacob Case to accept the minutes of the business meeting and executive session held on Monday,   June 1, 2020.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. FINANCE


  1. A motion was made by Lance Engle and seconded by Trent Fox to accept the list of vouchers, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. Purchases over $7500:


A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Lance Engle to approve the following (item 1):


  1. NWEA Formative Assessment Grant $25,300.00

(MAP Growth K-12)

The motion was approved four in favor with Trent Fox opposing.


A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Trent Fox to approve the following (items C-D):


  1. The Community Foundation/Funders Forum Collaborative Grant ($2,000.00), as presented.  


  1. The Community Foundation Grant ($3,096.00), as presented.  


The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. A motion was made by Lance Engle and seconded by Jacob Case to approve the AdTec Agreement for E-Rate Services, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR


Scott Blakely, Eaton Elementary Principal, stated it is neat to see everyone together.  He introduced Ms. Burns who he is recommending for the secretary position, pending approval.  He stated Ms. Gordon retired and has been the face and voice of Eaton Elementary so Ms. Burns has big shoes to fill.  He stated he’s done quite a few interviews over the past week and landed on Ms. Burns.  He knows her well from being at Eaton, she’s the PTO President and is in the school all the time always willing to step up and help.  He informed everyone she is also a Veteran of our Military and very active in the community.  


Amy Lewman, Royerton Elementary Principal, stated it’s great to see everyone.  She informed everyone they got approved to do Kindergarten Screening, which the teachers are over the moon about.  She stated it’s really hard to place kindergartener’s without knowing where their water mark is.  She stated they will be doing those the week of July 13th and letters are going out to parents tomorrow.  She stated they have an overabundance of requests for out-of-district students with 12 names going into the lottery if they have any openings.  She informed everyone they are sitting at 91 in-district students right now.


Tyce Stebbins, Director of Buildings and Grounds/Project Manager, updated everyone on the building projects.  


  1. SPECIAL PRESENTATION- Acceptance of donation.


Mr. Mann and the Board accepted the donation of $900.00 from S & G Petroleum for the “Spirit at the Pump” Campaign, as presented.  


  1. NEW BUSINESS


  1. Certified Staff


  1. None.


  1. Classified Staff


  1. A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Jacob Case to approve Kristy Burns as a Secretary at Eaton Elementary School effective July 2020, pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. Extra-Curricular


  1. None.


  1. Conference Requests/Field Trips


  1. None.


  1. Information and Proposals


  1. Superintendent


  1. Mr. Mann informed the Board of NEOLA Policies Volume 32,      Number 2- 1st Reading.


  1. A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Lance Engle to approve the Meyer-Najem Project 2020 Contract, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Jacob Case to approve Supplemental Pay for earning a Master’s Degree ($3,000.00), as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Jacob Case to approve the authority to pay claims and hire, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. A motion was made by Lance Engle and seconded by Trent Fox to approve Administrative Evaluations, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Lance Engle to approve the 2020-21 School Year Calendar, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. Mr. Mann informed the Board about the following fundraisers:


  1. None.


  1. Assistant Superintendent


  1. Use of Facilities:


    1. None.


  1. A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Jacob Case to approve the request for the Food Service Department to accept a donation in the amount of $500.00 from Sharon Simon, as presented.  The motion was approved 5-0 vote.


  1. A Drawing for Transfer Enrollments was held for the 2020-21 kindergarten class at Royerton Elementary School.  The following is the order for the drawing: 1) Jenson Miller; 2) Lucy Morrison;        3) Lainey Capstick; 4) Ivy Herron; 5) Cash Richards; 6) Addison Walters; 7) Ella Cassel; 8) Baylee Best; 9) Kyndall Waller; 10) Beckett Goldberg; 11) Lila Anderson; and 12) Aidden Whitted.


  1. LETTERS/NOTES


  1. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

Jacob Case – Mr. Case welcomed Ms. Burns.  He thanked the Riggin Road Market for their donation.  He thanked Mr. Stebbins for the updates on Project 2020 and stated it sounds like it’s going to be busy in all the buildings with everything getting done and that’s great to see. He thanked The Community Foundation for their donation.

Trent Fox – Mr. Fox stated the calendar change was something they thought they should probably implement.  He stated starting earlier in August instead of as late as we were, he thinks is the right approach with the way things have been going and all the different things you hear out there.  He knows some schools are going later, but they felt it was best for us to go early.  He stated they were afraid going later might mean less days we get in so they are going to roll the dice and gamble on the early and hopefully it will pay off.  He appreciates the time and effort that went into all that from everyone involved.  He stated he personally voted on NWEA and that’s nothing new. He stated he voted the way he did because of grades 9-12 being a part of that mix and he continues to feel that way.  He wanted to throw that out there so everyone knew. He stated he feels it’s very valuable for grades K-8 and something that’s very instrumental in what they do, but he hasn’t seen that with grades 9-12.  He hopes it will continue to get better and they can keep moving forward.  He stated the big thing coming up before the next meeting will be Commencement. He’s looking forward to hearing what all that entails, how it plays out, what will or will not be allowed, and hopes they have really nice weather.  He congratulated Ms. Burns and stated he’s looking forward to it and hopes she’s looking forward to it as well.  He stated she’s got big shoes to fill and has to put in a lot of time because Ms. Gordon was there for a long time so they are counting on longevity.  He thanked everyone for their donations and hopes we continue to get them because they help us do things throughout the system we may not be able to do.  He thanked Mr. Stebbins for all the information on projects and stated he’s looking forward to it and is excited about what it’s going to look like.  He stated it’s going to be a huge transformation and a lot of kids will get to experience and enjoy it.  

John Adams – Mr. Adams thanked The Community Foundation for their donation.  He welcomed Ms. Burns and thanked her for her service to our country.  He stated she does have big shoes to fill, but is confident she’ll do a great job.  He stated Kindergarten Screening is welcomed and is a big deal not only to the kids, but to the parents as well and he’s glad we are going to get that done.  He thanked Mr. Stebbins for all the projects and keeping up with them.  He stated the calendar needed changed in the times we are in.  He wants the parents who are going to read the minutes to understand this was brought to the Board a while ago and has definitely been put under advisement.  He stated it’s been talked about and he agrees 100% that this is best for DelCom.  He stated it’s not easy to ask people to change plans because they want to start early, but they have a feeling if we get hit again, people could be out of their plans. He stated their job is to educate kids and they feel the best way to educate kids is in the seat with a teacher in front of them.  He stated eLearning is tough because they are asking parents to do a lot, so this was a simple vote for him.  He stated this helps to keep parents doing what they need to do to support their family and allow us as the professional educators to educate kids and help build social skills that come with it. He stated it was a pretty easy vote for him to change the calendar.  He thinks this is needed and there will be other corporations that may wish they followed the DelCom model once this all pans out.  He stated if it doesn’t pan out that we didn’t need to start early, you come to school a few days early, but he knows there’s a lot of kids that are really chomping at the bit to get back with their friends and back to a normal setting and he feels it’s important.  He stated this was a pretty easy decision and he thinks we will come out better.

Lance Engle – Mr. Engle concurred with his fellow board members.  He appreciates the donations.  He stated there are no Saturday schools on the calendar so they have that addressed.  He stated it may be a little inconvenient, but what he’s seeing from this administration with the conversations they’ve had, they care about the students and about addressing the fears and anxiety of what it will be like to start school again.  He stated this is the best scenario and he thinks it’s the right approach for what we can do as a corporation to address all those things.  He stated there will be more things to address as we go along the way, but this is the starting ground by changing our calendar to accommodate those things and he appreciates the thought process moving forward

Adam Williams – Mr. Williams stated everything was pretty much covered from donations, Ms. Burns, and grants.  He thanked the parents who see the value of what DelCom has to offer with requests to have their kids enrolled who don’t live in the district.  He stated that says a lot and he hopes the options are available to them to have their kids be a part of this family.  He welcomes anyone wanting to join our district because he knows we have something special here.  He stated for the school calendar, he thinks it’s right to address.  He stated it’s a little bit of a tough call to tell everyone to change the plans they had the week before school starts.  He stated that’s a lot to ask parents so please know it wasn’t done lightly.  He stated this group of administrators, School Board, and everyone he’s dealt with care about your kids and are trying to find the best possible scenario with the information they have right now.  He stated the early start option is being used elsewhere, we aren’t the first ones who thought of this.  He loves the creativity they have for building in the cleaning times to make that an extra priority.  He stated the details aren’t intermixed in just this calendar change, there was a lot of thought and consideration that went into play and they appreciate everyone’s flexibility.  He stated they know it may be hard for some people, but it wasn’t done lightly.  He stated they believe this is the best option they can use right now with what they have in front of them to know what they are up against because no one knows what’s going to happen.  He stated they are trying to plan and there will be multiple steps to follow so he encouraged everyone to participate and stated they are excited for the school year.  

  1. FUTURE MEETINGS


  1. A regular meeting for the Board of School Trustees is scheduled for Monday, July 13, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.


  1. ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Jacob Case and Board President, Adam Williams, adjourned the meeting at 7:21 p.m.

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

June 15, 2020



ADAM WILLIAMS                                   __________________________


TRENT FOX                                                      __________________________


LANCE ENGLE                                               ___________________________


JACOB CASE                                                   ___________________________


JOHN ADAMS         ___________________________