Octorara School Board Work Session 10/12/2009

OCTORARA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
WORK SESSION
October 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

2 absent

4.Visitors’ Comments - Agenda Items Only

none

5.Presentations:
A.Mr. Ken Phillips of RBC Dain Rauscher, Bond Issue

Discussed the possible refinancing of the 2001 & 2003 bonds. Scenarios were presented to the Board. It would be a one time savings to the current budget. It would be best if they could have a decision to get legal started writing resolutions for approval. Would like to go to market in December if Board approves. This would be for the same term lengths and cash flow would remain the same. It would decrease the interest rate.

B. Gifted Education Audit Discussion

Dr. Newcome went over the attached. http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B3fwieKBz959ZWVmMWNkNjktZWJhZC00NzI5LWFhMjgtYTM2ZGU2MjVlM2Fi&hl=en


6. Information Items:
A. Mr. Pete Mango will resign from the Octorara Area Board of School Directors and concurrently the Chester County Intermediate Unit Board effective with the adjournment of the Octorara Area School District regular board meeting on Monday, October 19, 2009. Mr. Mango represents Region 1 which includes Atglen Borough, Christiana Borough, Parkesburg North, and West Sadsbury Township. His term expires in 2011.

A notice will be sent to residents of the municipalities represented. It will be on the website, the Daily Local News and the Lancaster Newspapers. Interested candidates can submit a letter to the Board. They are looking at an 11/2/2009 deadline. There will then be interviews and the Board will select someone to fill the remainder of the term. Mr. Ganow emphasized that the interviews would be in a separate meeting.

B.Ms. Lina Vu will transfer from a long term substitute Title 1 Math assistant at the Octorara Intermediate School to a permanent Title 1 Math assistant at the Octorara Intermediate School. (This is a new position.)

7. Presentation of Agenda Items for the October 19, 2009 Regular Monthly Public Meeting:
A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Leslie Ferry as a school bus driver employed by Linville Hill Mennonite School for the 2009-2010 school year.

B.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the attached school bus run by Linville Hill Mennonite School for the 2009-2010 school year.

Mr. Ganow voiced his appreciation for the answers he received.

C.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the attached agreement between the Arc of Chester County and the Octorara Area School District for the 2009-2010 school year.

D.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the attached 2010 Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau Budget.

Mr. Carsley stated that according to Act 32, Octorara must use the Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau – that for this purpose Octorara is part of Lancaster County. There is meeting tonight at the LCTCB to come up with a resolution that would meet the needs.

Resignation Approvals:

E. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept, with regret, Mr. Robert Czukoski’s resignation for the purpose of retirement as Assistant to the Superintendent effective October 15, 2009. (Hired October 1, 1995.)

F. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept Mr. Clint Everett’s resignation as a dental van driver effective October 2, 2009. (Hired October 3, 2008.)

G.That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept Ms. Melanie Gridley’s resignation as an instructional assistant at the Primary Learning Center effective October 30, 2009. (Hired September 28, 2005.)

Hiring Approvals:

H. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Cori Brittingham as a long term substitute Title 1 Math assistant at the Octorara Intermediate School pending completion of employee related documents required by law and the district. Ms. Brittingham’s rate will be $11.15 per hour effective October 12, 2009 through December 15, 2009. (Replacing Lina Vu who transferred.)

Mr. Ganow was looking for an attached resume or application. Ms. Hardy stated that she was previously a substitute, but will get a copy of the application for the Board.

I.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms.Kristen McCunney-Hay as a dental van driver for the district pending completion of employee related documents required by law and the district. Ms. McCunneyHay’s rate will be $11.15 per hour for two and one-half to three hours a day for 18 days per year effective October 9, 2009. (Replacing Clint Everett who resigned.)

Mr. Ganow wanted to know why the rate for the van driver & the assistant were the same. Dr. Newcome stated that it is contractual.

J.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of the following cafeteria employees pending completion of employee related documents required by law and the district:
Margaret Hanning, server at the rate of $8.50 per hour. (Replacing Penny
Garris who transferred.)
Bonnie Fuller, server at the rate of $8.50 per hour. (Replacing Vera Graham who retired.)
Debbie Perkins, cashier at the rate of $8.75 per hour. (Currently covering maternity leave then a permanent placement to be determined.)


K. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Nikola Freeland as an afternoon bus aide at the Octorara Primary Learning Center pending completion of employee related documents required by law and the district. Ms. Freeland’s rate will be $9.95 effective October 1, 2009. (New position as required by student IEP.)

L.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the transfer of Cheryl Johnson as an instructional assistant at the Octorara Intermediate School at the rate of $10.85 per hour to a one-on-one nstructional/personal care assistant at the Octorara High School at the rate $12.85 effective October 13, 2009. (Replacing Janice Papa who resigned.)

M. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Cheryl Coughlin as an instructional assistant at the Octorara Intermediate School pending completion of employee related documents required by law and the district. Ms. Coughlin’s rate will be $11.15 per hour effective October 13, 2009. (Replacing Cheryl Johnson who transferred.)

N.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following teachers for the morning math intervention program at the Octorara Elementary School at a rate of $30 an hour for approximately 1.25 hours per day 3 days a week. The program operates for 53 days and is paid for from the Title 1 grant.
Nicholas Kluge
Ashley Stoltzfus
Fallon Jordan
Shauna McAllister



O.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Mary Cassidy and Mr. Gary Gawin as volunteer swim coaches for the winter sports season. Four Octorara High School students will participate in the Ches-Mont League swim meets when there is a lane available in order to qualify for the District 1 Championship Meet.

Mr. Norris asked how this works. Mr. Weagley explained that this has been done for 7 or 8 years. They get the schedule & work with that. They started with the Ches-Mont last year.

P.That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Ann Murray to volunteer in the high school guidance department.

Q. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Margaret Schaefer’s request for unpaid Family Medical Leave for the purpose of child rearing from approximately February 10, 2010 through April 16, 2010. Ms. Schaefer is a learning support teacher at the Octorara Primary Learning Center.

R. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute teachers for the 2009-2010 school year:
Susan McCormick (Emergency)
Barbara Davis (Emergency)
Marianne Foy (Elementary)
Kate Simmons (Elementary and Guidance)
Christopher Wrigley (Elementary)
Drew Herb (Social Studies)


S. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute support staff for the 2009-2010 school year:
Kristen McCunney-Hay
Rana Watterson
Amy Myers (Cafeteria)


T. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following changes in Salary due to graduate credits earned:
Kim Cabry From B+15 ($48,441) to M ($50,301) Step 4
Scott Conaghan From M ($51,972) to M+15 ($56,750) Step 6
Judy Ham From M+45 ($81,847) to M+60 ($84,012) Step 22
Amanda Kieffer From M+30 ($65,561) to M+45 ($68,309) Step 13
Kelly Wetzel From M+15 ($58,320) to M+30 ($60,249) Step 8
Heidi Ferry From M+15 ($63,737) to M+30 ($65,561) Step 13
Julie Hughes From M+60 ($74,721) to M+60 ($76,084) Step 17 to 18

U. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the adjustment of the substitute teacher rate for Lindsay Mitman to $140 per day effective August 31, 2009 through approximately March 23, 2010.

Mr. Hume wanted to know if this was the new rate for substitutes. Dr. Newcome explained that there are different rates.

V. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the attached student activity request for a Mountain Bike Club at the Octorara High School.

W. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the attached student activity request for “Friends of Minerva” at the Octorara High School.

Dr. Newcome said that historically these have not been placed on the agenda, but Mr. Carsley asked that they be since there will be funds set up for them.

8.Facilities Committee Report

Mr. Stoltzfus reported that the facilities committee took a tour of the construction during their meeting before this one. There will be some more change orders. There is still no final number on the square feet of asbestos that needs removed.

They are looking to change the time of the flashing signs on Highland Rd. to 5:00 p.m. from 4:30 p.m. and installing a cross-walk.

A storage tank for water needs replaced.

There is an issue with the fire system for the high school renovation which they are trying to resolve.

The pod will be removed after the construction is complete and they will add lights & sidewalks.

Mr. Norris asked about the pumps for the well. Mr. Stoltzfus said that they were old & there aren’t parts for them anymore.

Mr. Norris talked about the lack of playground equipment at the Intermediate School. He asked for recommendations of equipment from teachers and the PTO.

9.Other Items/Concerns

Chloe Dean (Student Representative) said that a few of the student went on a tour of the front and they found it exciting. Family Fun night will be coming up.

10. Visitors’ Comments – General

Eric Stuehrmann (West Fallowfield) – thanked the district for the Lenfest program/meeting. He also thanked Mr. Norris for looking into playground equipment. He had some follow-up questions concerning the gifted program. He wondered why the staff was increasing while the numbers of indentified gifted students seemed to be declining.

He also asked if any determination was made concerning posting the minutes sooner to increase community involvement. He found out that a draft copy is distributed in the schools within a few days of the meeting.

He asked about long term plans for language instruction in the Intermediate School.

He talked about the math trends discussed at the last meeting. There are legitimate concerns by the parents. He received the letter from the High School math department after than meeting and found the tone disturbing. It seemed to deflect the issue to the students and parents from the curriculum and the teachers. He was disturbed that it was to be signed for a grade. He felt that was coercion.

Shelly Meadowcroft (Atglen) asked Mr. Stoltzfus if they could discuss at a later time the issues with the fire system. She also wanted to reiterate what Mr. Stuehrmann stated about the letter from the High School math department. She was concerned that it was not on Octorara letterhead nor was it signed by the teachers. She heard that it was put together by the consultant. She was also concerned that the letter being signed by the parents was a homework grade. Her daughter received an “F” because she refused to sign it. She’s not sure what her signing the letter has to do with her daughter’s knowledge of math. She stated that she has taught her children responsibility. She read the parts of the letter that she found objectionable.

Per the PA Department of Education website, members of the community are entitled to certain statistics. One of the statistics that is public information is the pass-rate. She is asking that the high school put together those stats for the last 4 years (including ‘Ds’ in Algebra 2 – since you cannot take Trig with less than a “C” in Algebra 2). She would also like to know how much the consultant is being paid and a list of recommendations from the consultant. She also asked what assessments we are using for graduation. She thinks that perhaps math teachers should collect the homework to see if students are actually getting what is being taught.

She told an anecdotal story concerning the consultant. She ran into a parent at the grocery store whose child told her that the consultant, while observing the class, fell asleep in the class. Mrs. Meadowcroft found another student in the class to confirm the story. In another instance the consultant took a cell phone call in the class while the teacher was teaching.

11. Board Comments

Mr. Stoltzfus said he could address the fire system issue. The Board was under the impression that since the High School had not had a sprinkler system, that the whole thing did not have to be functional until the renovation was complete. However, each section must be functional as it is completed and they are having difficulty with the hook-up of the water lines because of the order of the completion of each section.

Mr. Ganow asked if there was any Administrative response before the Board made comments.
Dr. Newcome said he would like to meet with Mr. Stuehrmann concerning the declining gifted student numbers. He wants to understand his questions before bringing anything back next week.

He found that they can legally place the minutes on the website whenever they want.

The decisions concerning the language program at the Intermediate School was based on the best use of resources.

There will be a presentation concerning math on Nov. 16. They will try to answer many questions at that meeting.

Dr. Newcome said that the letter sent home probably should have been on school letterhead. The math teachers were involved with the letter. It was not meant to offend. It was meant to build collaboration.

Mr. Norris felt that if you were predisposed to read the letter a certain way that is how you would take it. He felt it was targeted to the wrong people.

Mrs. Bowman addressed the language instruction at the Intermediate School. If they had the resources, she’d like to see language instruction in first grade. She also stated there was an article in the Philadelpha Inquirer concerning math and other schools have the same issues.

Mr. Ganow wanted to know if there was any update on the budget since the State passed the budget. Mr. Carsley said the district budgeted for a 4.1% increase & if the numbers hold, the district will actually get 5.2%.

Mr. Stoltzfus asked what it would take to get the minutes out earlier. Dr. Newcome said they would do whatever the board directs.

Mr. Hume wanted to let everyone know that Rep. Houghton is working on revitalization of the area to get a better tax base. He would like to see more letters sent out to get people involved.

Mr. Ganow wanted to clarify that Mr. Norris is looking into the playground equipment as a private citizen. It is not board-driven.



12. Adjournment
Executive Session Monday, October 12, 2009 - 7:00 p.m. in the Octorara
District Office Conference Room.

Policy Committee Meeting – Monday, October 19, 2009 – 6:30 p.m. in the
Octorara District Office Conference Room

Next regularly scheduled Board Meeting – Monday, October 19, 2009 – 7:30

p.m. in the Octorara Middle School Multi-Purpose Room
Facility Committee Meeting – Monday, November 9, 2009 – 6:30 p.m. in the
Octorara District Office Conference Room

Next regularly scheduled Work Session – Monday, November 9, 2009– 7:30 p.m.
Octorara Middle School Multi-Purpose Room