Lake Pend Oreille School District #84 Minutes of Board of Trustees Regular Meeting #372 Kootenai School, Kootenai, ID October 28, 2008 CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chairman Pfeifer called the meeting to order at 4:30 PM. A quorum was established with Trustees Vickie Pfeifer, Mindy Cameron, Melanie Snider, Joan Fish and Steve Youngdahl present. Also present were Superintendent Dick Cvitanich and Assistant Administrator Doug Olin. EXECUTIVE SESSION Trustee Snider made a motion to move into Executive Session as provided for in Idaho Code, Title 67, Section 2345, Subsections (a) personnel and (b) personnel/student for personnel matters. Trustee Fish seconded. Chairman Pfeifer took the vote with Trustees voting as follows: Trustee Cameron aye Trustee Snider aye Trustee Fish aye Trustee Youngdahl aye Chairman Pfeifer aye Motion carried. Personnel matters were discussed. No final action or decision was made during Executive Session. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION Chairman Pfeifer reconvened the meeting in Open Session at 5:06 PM. A quorum was established with the above named Trustees. Also present were Superintendent Dick Cvitanich, Assistant Administrator Doug Olin, Principals Becky Kiebert, Phil Kemink, Betsy Walker, SHS Activities Director Cheryl Klein, Tom Albertson and Leanne Kopsa. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Principal Betsy Walker. PUBLIC COMMENTS Teacher Leeann Kopsa brought three issues to the attention of the Board with regard to the levy: the supply budget for books in school libraries, the need to increase the number of books at Kootenai School’s library when the school is enlarged, and concern about funding to the LPO library that received start­up money from a PAFE grant. ACTION ITEMS: CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of Minutes 1. October 14, 2008 – Regular Meeting #370 2. October 20, 2008 – Student Hearing #371 B. Approval of HR Report 1. New Hires – Certificated a. Steve Miller 2. Resignations – Certificated a. Karen Alsager – Asst. Coach
Page 2 of 5 Minutes of Regular Meeting #372 October 28, 2008 3. Additional Assignment – Certificated a. Purley Decker 4. New Hires – Classified a. Amie Armstrong b. Jessie Fletcher c. Cynthia Kiebert d. Cheralyn McDowell e. Diane Rinck f. Jesse Sumpter 5. Additional Assignment – Classified a. LeeAnn Kopsa 6. Resignations – Classified a. Cheryl Bunte b. Jesse Hoffman 7. Change to Assignment – Classified a. Jessica Fletcher b. Amy Mathias C. Approval of Fiduciary School Fund Activity Trustee Snider made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Trustee Cameron seconded. Chairman Pfeifer asked for discussion. There being none, the vote was taken with Trustees Pfeifer, Cameron, Snider, Fish and Youngdahl voting aye. Motion carried. ADMINISTRATION Teacher Naticia Litvin shared information about the initial meeting the staff had with the architects. She described the process and discussions that took place regarding the plans for the construction at Kootenai School. She believed all comments were taken seriously, each person was respected during the meeting, and it was a good experience. Principal Betsy Walker explained the second meeting and noted they all appreciated the opportunity to work with the architect. Superintendent Cvitanich added that the administration felt it was important to include the school staff on the decisions being made about the construction and that many good suggestions came out of the discussions. Levy Projects Update – Architect Report – Lead Architect Scott Fischer commented that working with the staffs at both schools has been productive and helpful. He explained the design and noted that by moving the portables on the property, they are able to build a full­size gymnasium and have two wings of classrooms allowing for separating grade levels if desired. He shared a conceptual drawing of the plans for the school with details about the additional classrooms, new gym, remodeled kitchen and administrative offices. Mr. Fischer talked about the schedule or stages of work for the project. The first stage is the schematic design process, which is what they have done with the school and school district. The next stage is design development, which is where they are now. At that point they start to involve their construction consultants. The last stage is construction documents, which is when they draw up a set of plans that can go out to bid for general contractors.
Page 3 of 5 Minutes of Regular Meeting #372 October 28, 2008 Mr. Fischer feels confident they will be ready to go out to bid by the end of February. He believes the work should be able to start on the Sagle project in the spring with completion in October. Kootenai will take more time, maybe doing the work in stages. He shared a three dimensional drawing of the plans and explained some of the issues with which they have to work. There was discussion and suggestions concerning snow load and snow slides with regard to the metal roofs. Supplemental Levy Presentations: Extracurricular – Superintendent Cvitanich prefaced the presentation by noting the long list of student athlete successes including the state championship of the boys soccer team, fourth place finish for the girls’ soccer team at state, cross country team that is sending 20 student athletes to state including the Clark Fork runner, the football team working toward a berth in the state playoffs, the volleyball team is going to the state competition, and swimmers are advancing. He said everyone is very proud of the accomplishments of these students and coaching staff. SHS Activities Director Cheryl Klein and CF Principal Phil Kemink gave a presentation. Ms Klein said she was representing all the schools pointing out she has collaborated with every school. With a PowerPoint presentation, she started by stating that the student activities component involves academic activities as well as athletic activities, which encompasses the equipment requirements, the transportation component, coaching salaries and academic stipends for the academic portion. She added that all coaching salaries are included in the current supplemental levy. Ms Klein pointed out that salaries and stipends in LPOSD are still below those of neighboring districts. She said they are requesting the equipment and supply budget be increased to cover the safety, uniform and equipment requirements. The facility rental budget is specific only to SHS, specifically practice fields and facilities owned by the city and swimming at Sandpoint West. State travel expenses refer to when students qualify to go to state and district level competitions. Transportation expenses are the most challenging, noting they are driving approximately 70,000 miles per year. Ms Klein shared the impacts of the extracurricular programs for students, changes that impact extracurricular activities and the priorities. Mr. Kemink pointed out that not everybody can afford club sports so it is important to maintain the opportunities for the students in the schools. Ms Klein gave an overview of where the secondary schools would make cuts to their extracurricular budgets. There was discussion about game scheduling. She also shared some cost saving strategies that are being considered as well as special funding prices that are mandated and operational costs budgeted from special funding. The total request for the 2010­11 Supplemental Levy is $770,853. Clark Fork has an additional request of $10,773. BOARD Discussion of Resolutions for ISBA Convention ­ Chairman Pfeifer said that it would be good to just give a yea or nay on each resolution for Trustees Fish and Youngdahl to
Page 4 of 5 Minutes of Regular Meeting #372 October 28, 2008 know for the Convention. She went through each resolution explaining the Executive Board recommendation for each. (Due to technical issues, this topic was addressed before the Supplemental Levy presentation.) Approval of SHS Professional Development Early Releases – Change to Calendar – Dr. Becky Kiebert explained that she had invited Teacher Tom Albertson to be involved with the report. She explained there would be six early release days, not ten. Chairman Pfeifer asked about the justification of loss of the student time in the classroom even though the hours are still within the required time. Dr. Kiebert explained that the schedule would be compressed on those days. She believes the investment in time for the teachers would increase student achievement. Teacher Tom Albertson added that it gives the staff an opportunity to plan and brainstorm together and collaborate to improve ISAT scores. Chairman Pfeifer said she would like a report at the end of the year to document what was accomplished with the professional development time. There was discussion about the merits of the request. Superintendent Cvitanich said he is very supportive of the time that is provided for staff to work together, but he believes that accountability is a very important component of providing professional development during class time. The public does not understand why their children are out of school. As a district he thinks they need to be more proactive about sharing what they are learning during the staff development days. Trustee Cameron made a motion to approve the Sandpoint High School Professional Development calendar to include six early release days identified in the proposal. Trustee Snider seconded. Chairman Pfeifer asked for further questions. She took the vote with Trustees Pfeifer, Cameron, Snider, Fish and Youngdahl voting aye. Motion carried. Chairman Pfeifer reiterated that she would like to have a report either in the summer or fall, whichever is appropriate. ANNOUNCEMENTS Dr. Kiebert reported about the meeting of the Inland Empire League (IEL) of which she is the president this year. She recently gave a presentation to the Region 1 and 2 Board of Controls, specifically regarding Lakeland’s withdrawal from the league. Superintendent Cvitanich mentioned that the Pfeifer children have been in the newspaper several times. He also noted that SHS and CFHS held mock elections. He is glad students are participating. With regard to Memorial Field, the group met and talked about the possibility of creating a recreation district.
Page 5 of 5 Minutes of Regular Meeting #372 October 28, 2008 ADJOURN There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:14 PM. _____________________________________ Attest: Doug Olin, Clerk Pro Tem _____________________________________ (Transcribed by Julie Menghini, Clerk)
______________________________ Vickie Pfeifer, Chair