General Information

Government Type

Public School

Entity

Box Elder County School District

Public Body

Box Elder School District Board of Education

Notice Information

Add Notice to Calendar

Notice Title

Official Minutes of the October 7, 2015 School Board Meeting

Notice Subject(s)

Education

Notice Type(s)

Notice

Event Start Date & Time

October 7, 2015 12:00 AM

Event End Date & Time

October 7, 2015 12:00 AM

Description/Agenda

OFFICIAL MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION BOX ELDER COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT Work Session A board work session was convened at 5:30 at Century Elementary where reports were given by Jason Sparks, Century Elementary and Corynn Arehart, Willard Elementary and Corinne Early Learning Center. Faculties of these schools also had representatives present to the board about the good things they are doing in their schools. Official minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Education, Box Elder County School District, held Wednesday evening October 7, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. at Century Elementary, 5820 N 4800 W, Bear River City, UT 84303. Those in attendance at the meeting included Board President Lynn Capener, Vice President Wade Hyde, Members Nancy Kennedy, Connie Archibald, Bryan Smith, Karen Cronin, and Carrie Ann Johnson. Also present were Superintendent Ronald Tolman, Assistant Superintendents, Darin Nielsen and Terry Jackson, Business Administrator Rod Cook, district employees, representatives of the press and interested citizens. President Capener welcomed those in attendance and conducted the business of the meeting. After the prayer, which was offered by Dr. Ron Tolman, Nancy Kennedy led the audience in the pledge of allegiance. Recognitions Connie Archibald recognized the following people: Matt Webb, Suzy Sanders, and Eldon Peterson for their presentations last board meeting Utah School Boards Association and Kristi Cooley for their Leadership Training at Zermont Resort in Midway Sally Bitner - Volunteer at Bear River Middle School Laurie Dewberry - Volunteer at Box Elder Middle School Billie Clawson - Volunteer at Mountain View Elementary Elizabeth Spotten - Volunteer Fielding Elementary Approval of Agenda Nancy Kennedy made the motion to accept the agenda which was seconded by Bryan Smith and passed unanimously. Public Comment None Action Items Approval of Extended Student Travel Box Elder High School has requested Board approval on a Choir trip to take place April 5 to 10th, 2016, to New York City. The wrestling team has also requested approval on a trip to take place December 17 to 20th, 2015. Karen Cronin emphasized the need for all students to earn or supply their own money to pay for the school trips as there will be fundraisers available which should negate the need for the costs being paid under the fee waiver umbrella. She asked Gary Allen to get back to the Board if it looks like any student going will be paying by fee waiver. Carrie Ann Johnson made the motion to approve the extended travel requests by Box Elder High School Choir and Wrestling Team. Connie Archibald seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Request for exemption from Compulsory Attendance According to state law, parents must apply for an exemption from attendance at public schools for Home Schooling each year. This request is for the 2015-16 school year. The request included 121 Students from 67 families. Bryan Smith made the motion to approve the request including giving the superintendent the authority to approve other requests as they come in. Wade Hyde seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Change in School Trust Land Plan Three Mile Creek Elementary has requested a change in the previously submitted trust land plan. Basically they are trading out of town professional development for more supplies and an Americorps aide for reading, math and writing. They are also adding Chromebooks to help with writing instruction. Connie Archibald made the motion to approve the request as presented. Carrie Ann Johnson seconded the motion which passed unanimously. School Improvement Plans Each year the Board is tasked with approving the school improvement plans for the school year from each school. This is required by state law. Keri Greener presented the plans submitted to the Board for approval. Carrie Ann Johnson made the motion to approve the plans as presented. Wade Hyde seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Utah Consolidated Grant Approval Darin Nielsen, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, presented a summary of the Utah Consolidated Application (UCA) which must be approved by the Board yearly by law. Wade Hyde made the motion to approve the Utah Consolidated Application as presented. Nancy Kennedy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Board Professional Development Plan Superintendent Ron Tolman presented the two plans to the board for continued professional development. The Board asked that options be developed to help them make a decision. The following options are presented but they are not exhaustive. Option 1 addresses the expressed goal of the Board to do the Fall Leadership one year and the NSBA Leadership meetings the ensuing year on an alternating basis. Other combinations and iterations could be developed. Karen Cronin expressed her concern over the costs of going to the East Coast meeting versus the West Coast Meetings. Connie Archibald expressed a desire to support Nancy in her year as president. Carrie Ann Johnson expressed the desire to spread the time a board member should have off work over two years rather than one. Connie Archibald made the motion to approve plan 1 for professional development. Wade Hyde seconded the motion which passed with one dissenting vote from Karen Cronin. Information Items October 1 Enrollment Report Terry Jackson, Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, presented the latest October 1 student count to the Board. The total count being 11,344 students, an increase of 106 students over last year. Sage Accountability Keri Greener, Director of Assessment, presented information on the SAGE test and accountability. She reported the growth, statistics, and comparisons with the state scores. She also reported to the board on the AP and ACT test results for last year including the scores for both high schools. She showed the ACT predictors and how the district students and their scores matched up to the predictors. Policy Review Policy 5230 Student Fees Second Reading Nancy Kennedy made the motion to approve Policy 5230 on second reading. Connie Archibald seconded the motion which passed unanimously. It was noted that Policy 4060 on graduation which should have been included for second reading was left out inadvertently and will be included in the next meeting. Darin Nielsen, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, reported that he had contacted the sponsor of the bill who was not convinced that she should make a change. Karen Cronin expressed her concern that we should not pass the policy as a show of support for the bill. Policy 2040 Audits First Reading Policy 2135 Capital Outlay Reporting First Reading Policy 3092 Nursing Mothers in the Workplace First Reading Policy 4015 Adoption of Textbooks/Digital curriculum and instructional Materials First Reading Policy 4188 Animals on School Premises First Reading Policy 4190 Driver Training First Reading Policy 5055 Vision Screening First Reading Policy 5130 Student Records - Students with Disabilities First Reading Policy 5275 Sexual Harassment First Reading Policy 6015 School Community Councils First Reading Bryan Smith made the motion to approve Policies 2040, 2135, 3092, 4015, 4188, 4190, 5055, 5130, 5275, and 6015 on first reading. Connie Archibald seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Board Discussion Items Bryan Smith commented that classroom integration of the information that is on the ACT test would help student scores and wondered what the district could do to encourage that. Darin Nielson answered him that he believes the SAGE test does that to some extent by giving teachers an idea of how they are doing because it aligns with the ACT test better than past assessments. Superintendent Tolman commented that the political will to mandate changes, especially taking more classes, is difficult to maintain. Karen Cronin expressed concern about personal choice and freedom for students on a different path than college as well as the idea of not allowing assessment retakes after a student achieves an 80%. Karen Cronin said it is her position that all students should be able to retake assessments to improve their scores, not just students with scores of under 80% as this is currently in district policy and also if only certain students were able to retake assessments (those with scores under 80%) that would be considered discrimination and she would not support anything of that sort. There was a request from the Board for an evaluation of the current 3 Trimester 6 period day and a presentation from Darin Nielsen. Darin asked for some time to do an informal review of how instructional time is being used in the classroom. He would like to include that in the board report. Board Goals Review Chapter 1 and 2 of 'Mindset of Success' the new board reading was assigned for the November board meeting. Reading Review Chapters 9 & 10 'The Smartest Kids in the World' The discussion centered on students as the customer, teacher should promote their subject or product. Increase of standards and expectations help students achieve. The idea of taking education and higher order thinking more seriously in our schools was also espoused. The October and November School visit schedule was made available to board members so they could sign up. Monthly Financial Report Rod Cook, Business Administrator reviewed the September Financial Report. Consent Items Nancy Kennedy moved to accept the consent items. The motion was seconded by Bryan Smith and passed on a unanimous vote. The Consent Calendar included the following items: Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of September 9, 2015 Approval of claims numbered 00014475-00014796, 00109105, 08093015, 09091815, 09093015 and the school activity checks for the month of September. Personnel Items Adjournment With the announcement that the next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. at the District Office, President Capener adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m. APPROVED: November 11, 2015 ATTESTED: School Business Administrator President, Board of Education Box Elder School District Going on Contract Replacing Maria Gutierrez Asst. Custodian BEHS Opal Jenks Asst. Custodian BEHS Nat Personnel

Notice of Special Accommodations (ADA)

Contact Mr. Rodney Cook, Business Administrator at 435-734-4800 eight or more hours before the scheduled starting time and efforts will be made to provide the needed assistance.

Notice of Electronic or Telephone Participation

Electronic participation is not available

Meeting Information

Meeting Location

O. Jay and Tamra Call Education Center
960 S Main St
Brigham City, 84302
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Contact Name

Marci Hatch

Contact Email

marci.hatch@besd.net

Contact Phone

(435)734-4800

Notice Posting Details

Notice Posted On

November 12, 2015 12:12 PM

Notice Last Edited On

November 12, 2015 12:12 PM

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