Minutes - Union County Board of School Trustees s3

MINUTES - UNION COUNTY BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES September 24, 2012– 7:00 P.M.

ATTENDEES: Dr. Wanda All, Ms. Kim Bailey-Vice Chair, Mr. Jantzen Childers, Mr. Manning Jeter, Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris-Chair, Mr. Buck Peay, Ms. Jane Wilkes, and Ms. Kakie White.

ABSENT: Ms. Jane Hammett

Call to Order: Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris, Chair, called the meeting to order.

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance: The invocation was given by Dr. Wanda All, who also led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Notice to Media: In accordance with the S.C. Code of Laws, Section 30-4-80(d), as amended, the following have been notified of the time, date, place and agenda of this meeting: The Union Daily Times, Union County News, WBCU Radio Station and The Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

Minutes Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris stated a motion is needed to approve the minutes of the September 10th meeting. A motion to approve the minutes of the September 10, 2012, meeting was made by Mr. Buck Peay, seconded by Ms. Kakie White. Mr. Manning Jeter stated that when we were discussing the panel of APs, the statement made about the committee was asking a question. He stated that he asked if there were not at least one minority that could be a part of this committee. The recorded minutes state that Mr. Jeter asked if one minority educator in Union County could be part of the committee. Mr. Jeter said the question he asked was if there was not even one in Union County that was qualified to be a part of this. Ms. McMorris asked what he thought it should have been. Mr. Jeter stated “what I just said.” Ms. McMorris read the following statements from the minutes: “Mr. Jeter asked if one minority educator in Union County could be part of the committee. Mr. Stribble stated, “there is currently no minority representation on the committee but could certainly be added.” Mr. Jeter replied “the question was, was there not one minority that could be found that was qualified to be a part of this committee? Qualified is not in there.” Ms. McMorris stated that the word could be added. Ms. McMorris said, “we need to restate the motion adding” Mr. Jeter interrupted and stated, “I am sure Miss Petty is going to change it anyway and we can go on with the motion.” The vote was (7-0) in favor of the motion. Mr. Jantzen Childers abstained.

*Note: The minutes of the September 10, 2012 meeting were changed by Board vote before being approved as presented. A mistake was not made in the original minutes. The exact quote did not include the word “qualified” during second play of the minutes. Mr. Jeter’s intent to include the word “qualified” is noted in these minutes.

Ms. McMorris asked if there was an addendum and Ms. Kim Petty replied no.

1 Superintendent Dr. Kristi Woodall stated that our new office vendor, Forms and Supply Inc., has a teacher recognition program in which we have participated for about a month. This is our new state vendor. So far we have had about thirty teachers nominated by peers, students, and friends to be teacher of the week. When someone is teacher of the week, he receives a box full of supplies and a chance to be the teacher of the week for five states. You may have heard that Donna Long, a teacher at Buffalo, was chosen last week by the Carolina Panthers to be Teacher of the Week for the five state Region 2. She received a big box of supplies, a case of paper, and the bigger prize was two box seats for the Carolina Panthers game on December 9th. At half-time she will go down to the field to be recognized as one of thirteen teachers that the Panthers chose among their weekly teachers. We are very proud of Miss Long and her nomination.

Dr. Woodall introduced Mr. Tim Barnado who discussed the Race to the Top funds. She stated that this is not Race to the Top from 2010 that the state was trying to secure. We have been looking for some technology specific funding to purchase some of the initiatives the Board has been requesting for schools. Those are big ticket items so this is a source of technology funding. Mr. Barnado explained that the Race to the Top is a District based grant. We will be partnering with Berkley, Allendale, Hampton 1, Hampton 2, Orangeburg 4 and the School for the Deaf and Blind. The grant will be awarded in December 2012. Ms. Jane Wilkes stated she didn’t have a question about the grant itself. She said, “I hope we are awarded this grant in December but suppose we are not. You spoke with us last year about why we weren’t getting new computers. I always forget the name of the system, it starts with a V.” Mr. Barnado replied “Virtual Desktops.” Ms. Wilkes asked, “At some point, can you give us an update on how that program is going and if it’s working?” Mr. Barnado stated, “We are using Virtual Desktops at the high school; all the labs are using it. We have our ups and downs with this system. Printers have been a difficulty this year. Overall this system is usable. The PCs that are in place now are not all usable for what teachers need to use them for. The high school was the location that had the oldest system. The VDI is working, but we are working through some issues. There are a lot more issues and management than we first thought but we have not had to purchase any more equipment at that location besides what we purchased for the VDI. That system is an outlay from where we got money back when we built Sims and Jonesville so it wasn’t an out of pocket expense. Another avenue we could go is purchasing refurbished PCs which is becoming more popular. When we first went to VDI originally, refurbished machines weren’t where they needed to be but they are now. We could get a whole fleet of refurbished machines for the cost of the VDI. These machines will be able to run all the software that we need to run.” Mr. Barnado stated this is a no risk grant. “If we aren’t awarded the grant, we have no out of pocket expenses.” Mr. Manning Jeter asked, “the new equipment and technology that we have in the gym now. How much did that cost us and is it the same quality that we have out there now?” Mr. Barnado asked if he was talking about drama or the gym at the high school? Mr. Jeter said he was not talking about drama. “I am talking about the back in the back in the locker rooms. The area where they watch the films and all on the big screen TVs and such.” Mr. Barnado said “I’m sure that is a system that will be upgraded as time goes by.” Mr. Barnado asked Mr. Jeter what his question was. Mr. Barnado stated that he wasn’t as involved in that system as the coaches were. He thinks the High School League recommended that system. He referred to Mr. Lynn Lawson for his input. Mr. Lawson stated they upgraded as part of the athletic department budget because the old system was archaic. Mr. Barnado stated the old system was a VCR. He said, “I can get an answer for

2 you.” Mr. Jeter stated, “our technology man was not asked to be involved in technology. Are coaches smarter than you in technology?” Mr. Barnado said “I can’t speak to that. I’m sorry. I can work on what I’m asked to work on and I guess they didn’t have any issues with that.”

Dr. Woodall stated that our action item is that we need to select a delegate for voting at the Legislative Advocacy Conference on December 1st. There is a list of four members who are registered to attend. We need to pick one voting member and one alternate who will vote if the voting member is not present. Dr. Wanda All asked the Board Chair if someone has expressed an interest of the four who will be attending. Ms. McMorris replied that no one has expressed an interest to her, and Dr. Woodall added that no one has expressed interest to her. Mr. Jantzen Childers stated they will be voting on him and Dr. Woodall asked if he is interested. Dr. All asked Ms. Wilkes if she had an opportunity to do this. She replied no. Dr. All’s suggestion is that if there is someone who would like to do it, she would make the motion. Mr. Manning Jeter said that he has been doing this for eight years. He doesn’t have a problem with doing it and invited anybody that wants to go along with him to see exactly what goes on. He added that they can carry the vote or they can do the vote. Mr. Childers stated, “I have been two times and last year, I went by myself and it’s pretty straight forward. The issues are there. Anybody that has never been, can do it. It’s no problem.” Ms. McMorris asked if there were any person who would like to do it and get an alternate. Dr. Wanda All said, “If Ms. Wilkes has not voted, I recommend either she be the voting delegate or the alternate.” Dr. Wanda All made a motion for Ms. Jane Wilkes to be the delegate, seconded by Mr. Jantzen Childers. The vote was (7-0) in favor of the motion. Ms. McMorris stated that a motion is needed for an alternate. Ms. Kim Bailey asked Mr. Childers if one of the issues at the conference for him being elected and he said no, he just has to be at the meeting. Dr. Wanda All made a motion that Mr. Jantzen Childers be the alternate, seconded by Mr. Manning Jeter. The vote was (7-0) in favor of the motion. Mr. Childers abstained.

Instruction Ms. Cindy Langley presented the Board a revised schedule for Jonesville Elementary School.

Ms. Cindy Langley provided an update on the scheduling at Union County High School regarding the concerns expressed at the last Board meeting. She addressed the issues raised by taking them through the scheduling process. Mr. Manning Jeter said he had a few questions. He asked Ms. Langley if this would have happened if we would have stayed on block schedule. Ms. Langley stated we still have conflicts on block scheduling because the blocks of time are longer and the afternoon classes are still used for USC-U so yes conflicts would arise. Mr. Jeter stated that this is the first time he remembers going through it. He asked how many students were interested in enrolling in Spanish 3 for the virtual school. Ms. Langley replied we had eight. Mr. Jeter asked how much it cost for the eight. Ms. Langley said she would have to get those figures from Mr. Childers but she thought it was around $400 or $500 per student. Mr. Jeter asked how many are still taking it. Ms. Langley stated none of the students are taking it. Mr. Jeter stated that program basically failed us. Ms. Langley agreed. Mr. Jeter stated “Sometimes Jantzen and I may go out and carry our wives out. Some things Jantzen can eat that I can’t eat. I can’t digest it. It takes different things for different school districts is what I’m trying to say and you get things that work for the students and help these students grow and prosper. Sometimes you don’t need to fix things that’s not broken.” Ms. Langley said she believes virtual courses afford us an opportunity to offer students some classes they couldn’t get otherwise and we will look at those for future courses. Mr. Jeter asked how much of this money for these eight people we were able to get back. Ms. Langley stated that there is a loss to our district. Ms. Langley said there was no charge to the

3 students. It is our district loss. Mr. Jeter said if it was charged to our district, that’s the taxpayers’ money. Ms. Kim Bailey asked if there is a pass fail report that shows how the students are doing on seven periods compared to how they did on block schedule. Ms. Langley said she could pull some data to see passing rates. It will take a little bit of digging and will need Mr. Barnado’s assistance.

Ms. Langley presented an update on AP and Dual Credit participation to the Board.

Ms. Cindy Langley presented three field trip requests to the Board. Buffalo Elementary School’s 5 th grade class requested to visit Biltmore Estates in Asheville, North Carolina on December 7, 2012. Foster Park’s 4th grade class requested to visit Discovery Place in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 5, 2012. Sims Middle School has requested to attend the South Carolina Jr. Beta Club State Convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Ms. Kakie White made a motion to approve the field trip request, seconded by Mr. Jantzen Childers. The vote was (8-0) in favor of the motion.

Ms. McMorris stated a motion was needed to enter in executive session to discuss one personnel issue. Dr. Wanda All made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss the personnel matter. Mr. Manning Jeter asked Ms. McMorris is it OK if we discuss this in executive session. Ms. McMorris asked what it was and Mr. Jeter stated, “It’s the request that I asked for at the last Board meeting”. Ms. McMorris said, “Since we didn’t have that scheduled to talk about, we need a motion to take that into executive session.” Mr. Manning Jeter made a motion that we glance over this and discuss it for just a second, seconded by Mr. Buck Peay. The vote was (8-0) in favor of the motion. Ms. Kim Petty stated that Dr. All made a motion to enter into executive session. The second was made by Mr. Manning Jeter to enter into executive session. The vote was (8-0) in favor of the motion. The Board entered into executive session at 7:49 P.M.

The Board reconvened into open session at 8:36 P.M. Ms. Betty JoAnn McMorris stated that while in executive session, no votes were taken. Ms. McMorris clarified the delegate voting to the media. She stated that we have two votes in our conference. Ms. Jane Wilkes will carry the two votes and Mr. Jantzen Childers will be the alternate. The conference is scheduled to be held on December 1, 2012.

Adjourn Mr. Jantzen Childers made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Buck Peay. The vote was (7-0) in favor of the motion. Mr. Manning Jeter was absent at the time of the vote. The Board adjourned at 8:38 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted by

Kim Petty