Mon Sep 28 2009, 7:00pm
District Meeting Room Portable
Regular Meeting

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

September 14,2009 Regular Meeting Minutes

 WOODLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 404
DIRECTOR'S MEETING
MINUTES

September 14, 2009 7:00PM
Regular Meeting-District Meeting Room

MEMBERS
PRESENT

 

Jim Bays, Janice Watts, Bill Woodard, Tina Cayton, Steve Madsen, Chelsey Rohm-Student Representative, Michael Green-Secretary, and Tegan Steen-Recording Secretary

OTHERS
PRESENT

 

Cari Thomson, Kelly Sloniker, LaJune Thorson, Deb Kernen, Craig Downs, Patricia Stepp, Judith Ibbs, Dan Uhlenkott, Chris Wiseman, Mark Houk, Stacy Brown, Todd Dinehart.

MINUTES

 

Steve Madsen moved to approve the minutes of the July 27, 2009 regular meeting.

Steve Madsen yes
Tina Cayton yes
Jim Bays yes carried

Janice Watts moved to approve the minutes of the August 24, 2009 regular meeting.

Janice Watts yes
Steve Madsen yes
Bill Woodard yes carried

Bill Woodard moved to approve the minutes of the August 26, 2009 special meeting (Board Retreat).

Bill Woodard yes
Steve Madsen yes
Tina Cayton yes
Janice Watts yes carried

Steve asked when the Board would receive follow-up information from the retreat. Michael indicated that the Board could expect this on October 12th.

 

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE REPORT

 

Chelsey shared that the first ASB meeting is Wednesday. Fall sports are doing well. Homecoming is next Friday and Spirit Week is next week.

SCHOOL REPORTS

 

The Board reviewed reports from the schools.

Bill Woodard asked about parking at the Primary School and if the school was doing anything to improve the situation there. Mr. Houk indicated that the issue has been studied by NAC architects, two superintendents and others. WPS is trying to make the best of a difficult situation. Steve Madsen shared, that from a parent's perspective, it seemed to be well handled. He sees only a few issues; drivers talking on cell phones and times when there is limited adult supervision.

Jim Bays asked Chris Wiseman about the pull-out program and what happens when students miss non-core subjects like Social Studies. Mr. Wiseman stressed the importance of literacy development and indicated the priority of WIS is on core subjects of reading, writing and math first. If students miss Social Studies, they are not graded in that subject.

 

SUPERINTENDENT
REPORT


 

Mr. Green said that 4 county health departments are working together on a joint task force to address the swine flu issue and to keep school districts well-informed. Our District is providing disinfectant wipes and staff are stressing hand-washing. Yale PTO members are keeping Yale's playground equipment clean. Debbie Shoup is working on list of medically challenged students to provide families with information as soon as we know there is an outbreak. Secretaries are tracking health issues when parents call with a student absence. Michael said that there is a stomach flu going around right now, but it does not have the same symptoms as the swine flu. Jim Bays asked if we could provide parents with swine flu information. Michael said that a lot of information has already been sent home.

The Maintenance and Operations levy expires at the end of 2010. Next spring the District will have an M&O levy. So far, Michael has 8 people interested in being on an advisory committee about recommendations for levy options and to get input about what they feel citizens can bear financially. He said there will probably be only two meetings for the committee; one for sharing information and the other to discuss options and to get input. He hopes to have the information for the Board in October. He asked the Board for two volunteers. Bill Woodard and Tina Cayton volunteered. He told the Board that he would appreciate any other suggestions for members for the advisory committee.

Michael said that the year has started off smoothly. Stacy Brown's enrollment projections were dead-on. The District was 3.5 FTE above enrollment, which is actually a decline in enrollment. Mr. Green feels this is due to the economy and unemployment.

CORRESPONDENCE

 

The Board discussed emails from the Renners regarding President Obama's speech to students last week. Mr. Green said there were strong feelings from both political parties about students viewing it. The Renners suggested a policy to address similar future situations. Jim Bays added this item to Discussion on the agenda.

CITIZENS
REQUESTS

 

Todd Dinehart said that he was disappointed with the Board for not responding to an email on which they were copied, and for not being visible on the first day of school to greet students. He said that a situation at the Middle School that he and his wife experienced has been resolved, thanks to the professionalism of the principal, Cari Thomson. He also commended the 3rd grade teachers for their work and wanted the Board to suggest a way to thank them for increasing scores. Jim Bays apologized to Mr. Dinehart for not responding to the email, as he normally doesn't respond to emails that weren't sent directly to the Board (it was cc'd). He had tracked the situation with Mr. Green, and understood and was happy to know that the situation had been addressed successfully. Jim said that the Board and Administrators would relay Mr. Dinehart's praise for the 3rd grade teachers to them.

BOARD REPORTS
AND REQUEST

 

Steve Madsen asked what has been done about a traffic study for the new high school. Mr. Green said that a traffic study is typically done after a bond passes. Mr. Madsen asked how the District was going to address the traffic issues. He thinks that we could get an estimate of the impact. Steve said that Clark County may help with the process as our District is part of Clark County, too. Michael said that he would find out what he could about it.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

 

Navigations 101
Craig Downs said that the District has received a grant for the Navigations 101 program and he showed a video describing the program. He said that John Shoup, Cari Thomson, Kelly Sloniker and LaJune Thorson are major players in getting the program grant funding and implementing the program. The presentation included the 5 key elements of the program and how it has been implemented at each school.

DISCUSSION
ITEMS

 

Suggestion for Policy about Presidential Speeches in Schools
The Board discussed whether or not they think they need a policy about how schools will make available communications from state and federal leaders. Steve Madsen said that he is against a policy that would micro-manage teachers. He would like to leave it at teachers' discretion. Jim Bays said that he would like a policy. But he would like to leave the decision to administrators, not teachers. Tina Cayton, Janice Watts, Bill Woodard and Jim Bays said that they would like to discuss it further. Steve Madsen said he would like no policy regarding this.

Policy No. 3422-Student Sports-Concussion and Head Injuries-First Reading
This is a new policy relating to prevention of concussions and head injuries through proper education and notification. The Board discussed the policy. It will be on the next agenda for second reading and approval.

Policy No. 4620-Use of School Facilities-Revision-First Reading

This is a significant revision of the policy, procedure and facility fee schedule. The Board made suggestions for revisions and it will return to the agenda at the next Board meeting for second reading and discussion.

Policy No. 6212-Purchase Cards-Revision-First Reading

The recommended revision of this policy is reflective of the district's interest in moving toward use of purchasing or procurement cards as a method of procurement. The Board made some suggestions for revisions. This policy will return for second reading and approval at the next meeting.

Policy No. 2151-Interscholastic Activities-Revision-First Reading
The recommendation for this update is from WSSDA. It will be on the next agenda for second reading and approval.

WSSDA Legislative Conference
The Board discussed whether or not they needed a representative at this conference. They did not see anything on the agenda that they thought needed their attendance. No Board members will be attending.

Bill Woodard asked if the district was working on the issue of increasing impact fees. Michael said that he had some information that he has not been able to look over yet. He will report on this soon.

WSSDA November Conference

The Board discussed if any members would like to attend this conference in Seattle, in November. Bill Woodard said he may wish to attend. He will look over the program and let Tegan Steen know if he will be able to attend. Jim Bays told other members to let Tegan know if they wish to go to this conference.

ACTION
ITEMS

 

Consent Agenda
The Board discussed the revised consent agenda which included the purchase of 8 special education buses.

Bill Woodard moved to approve the revised consent agenda.

Steve Madsen yes
Tina Cayton yes
Bill Woodard yes
Janice Watts yes carried

Approval of 2009-2011 WEA CBA
The WEA bargaining agreement was unchanged since it was ratified August 31st.

Tina Cayton moved to approve the 2009-2011 WEA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Steve Madsen yes
Tina Cayton yes
Bill Woodard yes
Janice Watts yes carried

Acceptance of 2009-2010 KWRL Fuel Bids
The Board discussed the 2009-2010 KWRL Fuel Bids with Stacy Brown who recommended the Wilcox & Flegel bid for card lock services and Vancouver Oil for wet-hose services.

Bill Woodard moved to accept the 2009-2010 KWRL Fuel Bids from Wilcox & Flegel for card lock services and Vancouver Oil Co. for wet-hose service.

Steve Madsen yes
Tina Cayton yes
Bill Woodard yes
Janice Watts yes carried

ADJOURNMENT

 

Board President, Jim Bays, adjourned the meeting of the Board of Directors at 9:49pm.

 

ATTEST:

_______________________________
Secretary to the Board

WOODLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT #404
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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President

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Director

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Director

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Director

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Director