Monday, December 10, 2012

School Board Meeting 12/10/2012

OCTORARA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
December 10, 2012 – 7:30 p.m.
Jr./Sr. High School Multi-Purpose Room

AGENDA
1. Moment of Silence
2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
3. Roll Call
All present

4. Approval of Minutes from the Work Session of November 12, 2012, and the Regular Meeting of November 19, 2012.

Approved.

5. Presentations

Approved.

6. Information Items

Approved.

7. Treasurer’s Report
A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the General Fund Report for period ending November 30, 2012.

Ms. Johnson gave the report.  Approved.

8. Business Manager’s Report
A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the list of bills for payment.

Mr. Carsley gave the report.  Approved.

9. Visitors’ Comments - Agenda Items Only

None.

10. Recommended Action Items: (Italicized items are new; they were not on the December 3, 2012 agenda.)

Items A - I. 

There was an addition to "F".   A-I Approved.


A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Policy 113.5 “Disqualification or Debarment”, second reading.

B. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the agreement with Rochester Midland Corporation for water treatment services from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.


Resignation Approvals:
C. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept Mr. Kendel Dixon’s resignation as an assistant track coach at the Octorara Area Sr. High School effective November 18, 2012. (Hired 2011/2012)


D. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept Ms. Tina Butler’s resignation as payroll/benefits coordinator effective December 5, 2012. (Hired June 20, 2011)

E. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept Mr. Matthew Reinert’s resignation as Girls’ JV Basketball Coach and Boys’ JV Baseball Coach effective November 28, 2012. (Hired for both positions 2010-2011)

Hiring Approvals:
F. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve a contract with Mr. Matt Furlong to coordinate payroll from December 3, 2012 for approximately three to six months. Mr. Furlong’s rate will be $30 per hour not to exceed 20 hours per week. (Replacing Tina Butler who resigned.)

G. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following supplemental contracts for the 2012-2013 school year:
Dale McCarthy Academic Team Advisor 2 pts @ $585 $1,170
Dale McCarthy Model UN Advisor 2 pts @ $585 $1,170

H. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following changes in salary due to graduate credits earned:
Karen Letts From M+45 ($78,412) to M+60 ($81,611) Step 9 to MAX

I. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute teachers for the 2012-2013 school year:
Tammy Simon (IT, Business)

J. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Amy Oster as an additional volunteer swim coach for the winter sports season for her daughter. She will be participating in the Ches-Mont League on a competitive basis when a lane is available.

Approved.

K. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept the resignation of Mr. John McCartney as Board Director for Region 2 effective December 18, 2012.

Mr. Ganow added "with regret".  Date corrected to December 10, 2012.  Approved.

L. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the annual fiscal audit report of the District for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012 as prepared by the auditing firm of Herbein & Company.

Approved.

Addendum:
M.  Supplemental Contract:  Approve Mark Pedersen as JV Girls' Basketball Coach.

Dr. Newcome wanted to thank Mr. Pedersen for stepping up.   Approved.

11. Finance Committee Report

Ms. Johnson reported that the audit was presented with an unqualified opinion.  They also started preliminary budget discussions.  The biggest area of concern are the pension numbers.  They are looking at an increase of about $900,000.  There was also an issue with the electric meter at the Intermediate School.   PECO will not back bill us due to Mr. Carsley's  discussions with them. 

Mr. Norris said that Mr. Carsley & his team should be commended for their work in gaining a favorable audit.

12. Policy Committee Report

Mr. Ganow reported that the committee took a first look at 3 policies:

Policy 105 Curriculum Development

Policy 105.1 Curriculum Review by Parents & Students

Policy 227 Alcohol & Controlled Substances


13. I.U./C.A.T. Board Representative’s Report

No December meeting.

14. Old Business

None

15. New Business

None

16. Other Items and Announcements

None

17. Visitors’ Comments – General

None

18. Administrator Comments/Announcements

Dr. Rohrer handed a copy of the HS newsletter out to Board members and went over items included.

Ms. Bowman said that she heard that a group of accounting students advanced in a competition.  Dr. Rohrer will check on it.

Dr. Newcome wanted to outline the process for choosing a replacement for Mr. McCartney.  They need to solicit someone willing to serve through the next election who lives in Region 2 (Sadsbury-Lanc. County or West Fallowfield Township).  They will be accepting nominations in the District office through Friday, December 14, 2012.  Interviews will take place with the Board on Monday, December 17, 2012 in the Jr. High Library.  It is a "sunshine meeting" and is open to the public.  (see press release in next post).

19. Board Comments

Mr. Hume said that the Board should review policies concerning inclusion students.

Mr. McCartney recommended that the District check on how our furnaces shut down in the event of malfunction given the people who got sick from carbon monoxide in Georgia recently.

Ms. Bowman reminded everyone that there are still Holiday programs coming up over the next couple of weeks.

20. Adjournment

Finance Committee Meeting – Monday, December 10, 2012 – 6:00 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room

Policy Committee Meeting – Monday, December 10, 2012 – 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room

Executive Session for personnel – Monday, December 10, 2012 – Following the Regular Meeting in the District Office Conference Room

Facility Committee Meeting – Monday, January 14, 2013 – 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room

Next regularly scheduled Work Session – Monday, January 14, 2013 – 7:30 p.m. in the Jr. High School Multi-Purpose Room

Policy Committee Meeting – Monday, January 21, 2013 – 6:00 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room

Finance Committee Meeting – Monday, January 21, 2013 – 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room

Next regularly scheduled Board Meeting – Monday, January 21, 2013 – 7:30 p.m. in the Jr. High School Multi-Purpose Room

1 comment:

  1. I'm going to give a little advice to anyone considering applying. Don't think you are going to go into this position and "fix" all the problems. Pretty much anything you think you can do has already been explored, researched, and tried. I may not always agree with their decisions, but our Board members are smart people. School Boards in this state are in survival mode. You have to be ready to take the limited resources you are given and figure out how to make it work. There is very little discretionary control. This District is already facing a huge increase in pension funding for the 2013-14 school year. The District has NO control over that. It is one of the many things that the District has no control over.

    I don't say these things to discourage anyone from stepping up - but I think it is important that expectations as to what impact you can have be realistic.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated. Although I asked people to sign their comments (or at least use their initials), I have only been getting 'anonymous' comments. I have changed the settings to that the posts will need some sort of identifier.