Board Meeting 01/19/2009 Cancelled

Tonight's regular School Board Meeting was cancelled due to the weather.

School Board Work Session 01/12/2009

These are NOT the official minutes of the Octorara Area School District Board meeting. The official minutes will be posted on the district website at http://www.octorara.k12.pa.us/

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My notes are in blue.

OCTORARA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT WORK SESSION

January 12,2009 -7:30 p.m.

Middle School Multi-Purpose Room

DISCUSSION GUIDE

1. Lord's Prayer

2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

3. Roll Call

4. Presentations:
A. Country Walk Home Owners
Representatives from Country Walk development brought their concerns about location of bus stop to the Board. The Board is worried about setting a precedent, but will research this further

B. Budget
Finance department is working on the budget. There was a resolution to not go above the index. Currently, Chester County is at 1.61 mills & Lancaster County is at 1.04 mills. The budgeted revenue is currently at $ 44,691,087, which is $ 1.2 million below budgeted expenses. They are looking at ways to eliminate the deficit. They will probably not know state funding until April, at the earliest.

There was also a presentation about options for the bond issue. The Board narrowed it down to two options, with a final decision to be made by February’s meeting.

5. Visitors' Comments - Agenda Items Only
None

6. Information Item:
A. There will be a presentation by Scott Grimes, coach for the Octorara Lacrosse
Team at the January 19,2009 School Board Meeting.

7. Recommended Action Items:
A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the contract addendum #1 for Foreman Program and Construction Managers for the High School Addition/Renovation for an increase of $204,420 as a result of the construction schedule increasing by 3 Y2 months with final closeout increasing by one month.

Board members, Mr. Ganow & Mr. Norris, questioned the amount. They requested information concerning the total amount contracted & what percentage this addition is to that amount. Mr. Lee will look into for them.

B. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the attached 2009-2010 school calendar.

Informational for Regular meeting.

C. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the attached letter related to graduation competency assessments (GCA). The letter to be sent to Representatives Bryan Cutler and Tom Houghton, and Senators Dominic Pileggi and Michael Brubaker.

Dr. Newcome explained that the State Legislature had put a stop to the additional testing, but the Governor & Secretary of Education are still pushing for it. This letter would let the Legislature know where Octorara stands (against additional testing and the State determining graduation requirements – taking away local control).

D. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve not making up the day missed by grades 9-12 due to the fire/smoke damage of January 6, 2009. (A request has been submitted to PDE to allow for emergency relief.)

The district looked at the expense of making up the day (buses, electric, et.al) versus the reimbursement that would be lost if the request is not approved. It would cost more to make up the day. The district will go after the contractor for the expense of either the expense or loss of reimbursement. A final decision has not been made as to whether the day will be made up.

Resignations:
E. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept, with regret, Ms. Stacy Kerr's resignation as a Playground Supervisor at the Octorara Elementary School effective December 17, 2008. (Hired August 2005)

F. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept, with regret, Ms. Nancy Brotzman's resignation, for the purpose of retirement, as a Cafeteria Employee at the Octorara Area High School effective January 19, 2009. (Hired April 1988)

G. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept, with regret, Mr. Howard Steen's resignation, for the purpose of retirement, as a Custodian at the Octorara Middle School effective January 16, 2009. (Hired September 2006)

Hiring Approvals:

H. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute teachers for the 2008~2009 school year:
Randall Wallett (Emergency)
Sharon Wolf(Emergency)
Jason Thompson (Emergency)
Laura Duff(E1ementary and Special Education)
Jane Bowman (Emergency)
Megan Given (English)
Evan McMahon (Emergency)

I. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute Instructional Assistants at a rate of $9 .40/hour for the 2008-2009 school year.
Rachel Wagner
Lisa Rudisill

J. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute Lunchroom/Playground Assistant at a rate of $8.00/hour for the 2008-2009 school year.
Rachel Wagner

K. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following changes in salary for the 2008-2009 fiscal year due to graduate credits earned:
Matt Livingood FromB+15 ($44,720)toM($48,193) Step 3
Jody Bradley From M ($50,635) to M+ 15 ($55,291) Step 6
Missy Hinton From M+15 ($68,064) to M+30 ($69,989) Step 17

L. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following supplemental contracts for the 2008~2009 school year:
Nina Thwaites OES Yearbook 1 point @ $520.00 = $520.00
Nick Kluge OES Yearbook 1 point@ $520.00 = $520.00
Amber Karpathios Indoor Track Coach 3 points@ $520.00 = $1,560.00

M. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Nancy Perks as a Long Term Substitute Lunchroom/Playground Supervisor at the Octorara Primary Learning Center, pending completion of employee related documents required by law and the district, at a rate of$8.00/hour for the 2008~2009 school year. (Replacing Lisa Nunemaker)

N. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Cathy Bowditch as a Custodian at the Octorara Middle School at a salary of $21,216.00/prorated effective December 12,2008. (Replacing Ann Forman)

O. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of (name to be inserted for Board mtg) as District Office/Registrar, effective February 26, 2009 at a salary of $30,000. This is a twelve month, full~time position. (Replacing Bernadette Maurer who is retiring.)

P. That the Octorara Bpard of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Amy Mulroy as a One-on-One Assistant at the Octorara Primary Learning Center at a rate of $9.40/hour effective December 19, 2008. (Replacing Aaron Wood)

Q. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve a salary increase for Cheryl Johnson from $10.30/hour to $12.30/hour for additional duties performed as a One-on-One Instructional Assistant effective August 25, 2008.
This individual is performing health related duties beyond the job description of a One-on-One Instructional Assistant.

R. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Kelly Wetzel's request for unpaid Family Medical Leave for purpose of childrearing from approximately May 8, 2009 through June 5, 2009. Ms. Wetzel is a Fifth/Sixth grade Learning Support teacher at the Octorara Intermediate School.

S. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Danielle Smith's request for unpaid Family Medical Leave for purpose of childrearing from approximately April 29, 2009 through May 1, 2009. Ms. Smith is a Seventh grade Learning Support teacher at the Octorara Middle School.

T. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the additional hours for
Lois Hopkins at 1.5 hours per day times hourly rate of $46.98 which equals $70.47, effective September 22,2008 to January 15,2009.

U. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the additional hours for Andrew Reynolds at 1.5 hours per day times hourly rate of $41.35, which equals $62.03. (He will submit timesheets not to exceed 70 days effective September 22,2008 to June 5, 2009.)

Both T. & U. are related to scheduling issues at the Intermediate school. These teachers are working hours beyond the contracted amount.

V. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following people to be placed on step and scale to be paid for duties during the one hours skills block time:
Kathleen Dikun
Christine Cordisco
Fallon Jordan

These instructional assistants are certified teachers, who are assuming teaching duties during the block reading schedule.

8. Facilities Committee Report
HS Renovations:
§ Footers poured for classrooms & shop
§ Demolition is completed in the front

Traffic signs – looking to put 15 mph speed limit on Highland Rd. There is a meeting with PennDot on Jan. 23rd.

On Dec. 31st, there was damage to the Middle School roof that will need to be repaired.


9. Other Items/Concerns

Mr. Rohrer (High School Principal) distributed the new curriculum guide which is to be voted on next week.

10. Visitors' Comments – General

None

11. Board Comments

Dr. Newcome said they are trying to make lunch time more healthy. They will significantly increase the prices for ala carte items to steer students toward the main lunch.

The High School Football team is looking to play 2 games on the soccer field next fall. The Octorara Football Club will repair any damage.

12. Adjournment

Facilities Committee Meeting - Monday, January 12, 2009 - 6:30 p.m. District Office Conference Room

Next regularly scheduled Board Meeting - Monday, January 19,2009 - 7:30 p.m. Octorara Middle School MPR

Next regularly scheduled Work Session - Monday, February 9,2009-7:30 p.m. Octorara Middle School MPR

Policy Committee Meeting - Monday, January 19,2009 - 6:30 p.m. District Office Conference Room

Executive Session for Personnel will be held following this meeting in the District Office Conference Room

The Beginning

With the demise of the Parkesburg Post Ledger, something needed to be established to get the Octorara School Board meeting information out to the public in a timely matter. The official minutes are not published on the Octorara district website until they are approved at the next school board meeting. That means that it is over a month until the public can access that information from the district - and while I understand the district's reason for this policy, without a newspaper covering the meetings, that is entirely too long for information to get to the public.

I will attend as many school board meetings as I can and report back here. I can't promise that I will make it to all of them, but I will do my best.

The blog itself will stick to the facts. I will post the agenda with any notes from the discussion at the meeting. Any opinions I have, concerning those meetings, will only be posted in the comments section.

I will give an opinion now, however... I think it is a shame that we have lost the only paper to report on local events...no matter how flawed it was. Our students will not get the recognition and coverage they deserve, whether it is in the academic, athletic, or community service arenas. We certainly cannot count on the Daily Local News or one of the Lancaster papers to cover these events.