SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

SPRINGFIELD, OR 97477 MONDAY, JULY 9, 2001

7:30 P.M.

MINUTES

1/ A regular meeting of the Lane County School District No. 19 Board of Education was held July 9, 2001 in the boardroom of the Administration Center. Chairman Lenk called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

In addition to Chairman Lenk, board members in attendance included Tom Atkinson, Jennifer Heiss, Jonathan Light and Garry Weber.

District staff, students and community members identified included Jamon Kent, Len Arney, Steve Barrett, Roger Jordan, Judy Land, Bruce Smolnisky, Debbie Egan, Cherie Kistner, Merwin Logan, Nancy Schmidt, Dave Johnson, Laura Pavlat, Yvonne Atteberry, John & Judy Svoboda, Hanalei Rozen, and Kim Sullivan of The Springfield News.

Marty Lenk administered the Oath of Office to new board member Jonathan Light, Position No. 2, and re-elected board members Jennifer Heiss, Position No. 3, and Tom Atkinson, Position No. 5. Terms of office are effective through June 30, 2005.

It was recommended that the Board of Directors elect a chair and a vice chair for the 2001-2002 School Year.

Motion: Garry Weber moved, Tom Atkinson seconded, that Jennifer Heiss be elected chair for the 2001-2002 School Year; carried 5-0.

Motion: Marty Lenk moved, Jennifer Heiss seconded, that Tom Atkinson be elected vice chair for the 2001-2002 School Year; carried 5-0. Mr. Atkinson indicated for the record that he was considering applying for a state representative job if it became available in the fall. He said he did not expect that this would interfere with his duties as vice chair. Jennifer Heiss said she would be retiring from the Creswell School District as of September 30.

Motion: Tom Atkinson moved, Garry Weber seconded, that the minutes of the June 25, 2001, meeting be approved; carried 5-0.

Hanalei Rozen,1551 B Street, Springfield, said she would send the Board copies of materials printed in Orion magazine, related to food and food programs for schools. She said her interest was in programs that provided money to schools to grow organic foods in schools that serve low-income students. Ms. Rozen said she would like to begin a conversation on how to improve nutrition for kids, which would have an impact on how children performed in schools. She said she would like this issue placed on the agenda for future Board discussion.

Ms. Rozen also said she felt there was a need for public conversation on the future of the school district. She said she felt there should be an opportunity for people to comment on the direction that they want the district to go. Ms. Rozen said she felt the District should have a strategic plan in place and then use the plan for a series of public workshops designed to solicit public feedback.

Superintendent Kent noted that the Board members had received information on the District’s web page. He said the plan was for the web site to be updated on July 10 and asked that Board members review the information and let him know if they wanted changes made.

Superintendent Kent gave each Board member a copy of a tape (copied with permission) containing comments by Frosty Troy, a presenter at the Confederation of School Administrators workshop this summer. Mr. Kent said Mr. Troy talked, from a private point of view, about what was right with education. Mr. Kent said he had also provided copies of the documents used by Mr. Troy, and he recommended the tapes and materials to Board members.

Superintendent Kent said the Board members staying in Wilsonville for the OSBA workshop beginning July 13 should have received information with their confirmation numbers. Mr. Kent noted that Mr. Lenk would be driving back and forth to the conference.

• Tom Atkinson said he had been appointed to City of Springfield’s library special district review committee. He said the committee would be meeting through the summer. Mr. Atkinson said his concept was to have discussion about incorporating a special library district to operate as a special purpose district similar to Willamalane. He said he visualized having the boundaries include the boundaries of the school district and the city’s urban growth boundary to be able to serve the current and future residents of the City of Springfield and all of the families of students within the school district with one library district. Mr. Atkinson said his goal was to make the special district more than just a way to fund the library. He said he saw a special district as a way to provide more services to the public, perhaps including branch libraries or bookmobile service, as well as providing for use of school libraries during the summer. Mr. Atkinson said he was hoping to tie in the school district library services with the city library services as a foundation to build a special district.

• Garry Weber noted that some school district libraries were open for summer library programs and asked how these services were funded. Bruce Smolnisky explained that some of the programs were funded through Title 1 funds, while others were the result of donated time by librarians and parent volunteers.

• Jennifer Heiss said she had attended a Pacific region meeting last weekend. She gave other Board members copies of materials she had received at the conference, including an assessment of where the national legislature was on ESEA bills that was presented. She said the National School Boards Foundation had developed a program to improve school board decision-making using data. Mrs. Heiss said she had brought copies of those materials for Board members to review to see if some of the materials might be useful as the Board members go forward to talk with the community, set goals, and determine where the District is headed based on information.

• Jennifer Heiss said she would be sending notices to the school boards of large school districts inviting them to a meeting to be held July 30, at 7:00 p.m., in the boardroom. She said the agenda would be to discuss shared interests about education in the state. Mrs. Heiss noted that there were 11 Oregon school districts with more than 10,000 ADM. She said this would be an opportunity for the boards to share concerns about education from a large district perspective.

It was recommended that the Board of Directors review proposed changes to board policies KB as presented and review the following board policies needing legal reference updates:

BDDF

BDDG

BFC

BFF

CFA

CM

DJ/DJA/DJF

Cherie Kistner explained that these policies were presented as part of the Board’s annual review of board policy of sections A/B, C and D, in accordance with Board policy BF/CHA. She said the revision proposed for policy KB was the result of Board members’ requests to add language to the policy to make sure that all official correspondence and publications includes the District logo and contact information to create a constant identity.

Garry Weber asked if the reference to the address and telephone number would be for the District or for that site. Ms. Kistner said it would be appropriate for a school newsletter to have both the District logo and the school address and telephone number.

Jonathan Light suggested that policy KB should include a reference to the Internet or newer forms of electronic communication. Mr. Weber said the section that included radio and television could also include a reference to "website." Ms. Kistner said she would develop language to present to the Board.

It was recommended that the Board of Directors approve the proposed school meal prices for the 2001-2002 school year.

Breakfast with milk

Paid student .85

Reduced student .30

Adult, Ala-carte w/o milk 1.30

Lunch with milk

Paid elementary 1.70

Paid middle school 1.95

Paid high school 2.15

Adult, Ala-carte w/o milk 2.30

Milk only

Kindergarten Snack Time .20

Student .35

Adult .35

Board members indicated they had questions about the food service program, including questions on whether the Food Service program is self-supporting, percentages of free and reduced lunches, the federal program for free and reduced meal reimbursement, and use of commodity foods. Steve Barrett said a work session on the food service program was scheduled for August, and that all of these issues would be part of the discussion. Superintendent Kent said the work session was scheduled for the August 13 board meeting, at 6:30 p.m. Mrs. Heiss explained that the work session was part of the board meeting and open to the public.

Marty Lenk asked whether students paying for full-priced meals were subsidizing the students receiving free or reduced meals. Superintendent Kent said the District received reimbursement for students receiving free or reduced meals. He said paid students pay for the cost of their meals only and did not subsidize anyone else’s meals. Mr. Kent emphasized that the District was careful to ensure that free and reduced students were not singled out from other students.

Mr. Barrett said the prices charged for meals offset labor costs incurred by the Food Service Program. He said the District tried to keep meal prices in the mid-range of like-sized school districts, and that the proposed increase should keep Springfield there.

Tom Atkinson said he hoped that food service meal prices could remain the same for two years, because he felt Springfield families preferred that.

MOTION: Tom Atkinson moved, Marty Lenk seconded, for approval; carried 5-0.

It was recommended that the Board of Directors approve changes to board policies AB, BBB, and BBD/BBE; and approve changes to legal references for the policies as listed:

AC

AD/AE

BBA

BBAA

BBF

BCF

BDDA

BDDH

BF/CHA

BFCA

BFD

BFF

BG

BH/BHA

BK

Cherie Kistner noted that the proposed policies include a logo change and contact information at the bottom of the page. She said Board policies would be revised to the new format as changes are made. She said a similar format change will also be made to Administrative Procedures as they are updated over the next few years.

Tom Atkinson asked for clarification on board policy BBD/BBE on whether, in a situation where the Board lacked a quorum, the Lane Education Service District board would appoint members up to a quorum or would appoint members to fill all vacant Board positions. He said he would like the ESD to appoint only to the quorum, and he asked for further legal review of this issue.

MOTION: Tom moved, Garry seconded, for approval of all of the listed policies except BBD/BBE; carried 5-0.

It was recommended that the Board of Directors approve the personnel action for licensed employees as reflected on the resolution and addendum as listed below:

Carrie Beck

Amity Cleary-Evans

Lionel Coleman

Jean Frantz

Joan Guiley

Wendy Gummer

Greg Howells

Deanna Jacobson

Colette McBride

Bryan Reed

Jessica Thompson

Amy Ulrey

Michael Voss

Sandra Wattula

Joseph Hass

Stephanie Castillo

Kathleen Morgan

Tashi Smith

Richard Doyle

MOTION: Tom Atkinson moved, Marty Lenk seconded, for approval; carried 5-0.

None

Chairman Heiss announced the next board meeting would be held August 13, 2001, at the Administration Center boardroom, 525 Mill Street, Springfield.

With no other business, Chairman Heiss announced adjournment 8:15 p.m.

NS