Iredell-Statesville Board of Education

Minutes Iredell-Statesville Board of Education Iredell County Government Center October 13, 2008 Page 1

The Iredell-Statesville Board of Education met at the Iredell County Government Center on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Members present: Dr. David Cash; Mr. Bill Brater; Mr. Charles Kelly; Mr. John B. Rogers, Jr.; Mrs. Karen Watson; Mr. Keith Williams; and Dr. Ken Wilson.

Administrators present: Dr. Terry Holliday, Superintendent; Mr. Brady Johnson, Deputy Superintendent; Ms. Brenda Clark, Associate Superintendent of Learning; Dr. Melanie Taylor; Chief Academic Officer; Dr. Ron Hargrave, Assistant Superintendent Student Services; Dr. Steve Hill, Assistant Superintendent Career & Tech Ed/Innovation; Mr. Dale Ellis, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources; Ms. Pam Schiffman, Chief Accountability & Technology Officer; Ms. Dawn Creason, Director of Public Relations; Dr. Kenny Miller, Executive Director of Facilities and Planning; Mr. Rob Jackson, Director of Construction and Ms. Susie Wiberg, Partnership Coordinator.

Also Present: Mrs. Susan Kennedy, Board Clerk and members of the press.

Dr. Cash called the meeting to order.

Item I-H, Approval of Remainder of Probationary Status List will be removed from the Consent Agenda.

Item V-K, Teacher Evaluation Update, will be removed from the Non-Consent Agenda.

Consent Agenda:

Approval of Change Orders: No discussion.

Approval of Facility Use Renewals: No discussion. Mr. Rothwell mentioned that all of the churches have partnered with our schools and provide many benefits which include support such as tutoring for students, playground equipment, treats/lunches for teachers on special occasions; campus beautification projects; clothing donations for students; church facility usage; facility improvements to improve ball fields; etc.

Approval of Disposal of Potential Excess Properties: We have four properties that will be available for other use or sale at the end of Phase 2 construction. Those sites are Mt. Mourne, Northview, Pressly, and Ebenezer. The recommendation is selling the Ebenezer location only at this time. The County Commissioners have the right of first refusal.

Approval of Acceptance of Resignations, Retirements, and Leaves of Absences: No discussion.

Approval of Classified Personnel: No discussion. 1 Approval of Licensed Personnel: No discussion.

Approval of Administrative Appointments: No discussion.

Approval of Minutes (September 15, 2008): No discussion.

Approval of Consent Agenda: Dr. Ken Wilson made a motion, seconded by Mr. John Rogers, to approve the consent agenda. The motion unanimously carries. These items are:

Item I-A Approval of Change Orders Item I-B Approval of Facility Use Renewals Item I-C Approval of Disposal of Potential Excess Properties Item I-D Acceptance of Resignations, Retirements, and Leaves of Absences Item I-E Approval of Classified Personnel Item I-F Approval of Licensed Personnel Item I-G Approval of Administrative Appointments Item II Approval of Minutes of September 15, 2008

Public Comment: Several speakers addressed the board.

 Thomas and Sue Janiczek addressed the Board with a petition to stop the redistricting. They are asking the Board to contact the group at UNC and allow them to add classroom trailers at the Lakeshore schools in the redistricting plan until the schools can be expanded. They want the seat count to include seats that exist from the trailers already in place and do not want the trailers removed.  Scott Clontz addressed the Board regarding school construction. He urges the board to pursue the larger gym option. He seeks a wider passenger car entrance with three lanes to allow turns east and west, as currently exists, rather than the two lanes proposed. There are three other plans that could be considered and are included in Mr. Clontz’ package. He also had concerns with the Child Nutrition Department and the fact that PTO funds were spent for cheese sandwiches for children who had an outstanding debt with Child Nutrition.  Kay McNaney spoke to the Board regarding the Cool Spring Gym. She requested the Board table its vote until after November so the building committee can explore all options. The staff voted for removal of the old gym and building a new gym. A bigger gym would mean fewer classrooms and less resource rooms. The staff wants the funds used for expansion of classrooms, not a larger gym.  Nicole Wolfe addressed the board with regard to her child not receiving supplemental educational services. Ms. Wolfe stated that she was advised that her child did not qualify for services even though the need is there, because the child does not receive free or reduced lunch. She felt that in a public school system there is no place for discrimination and that it is not equitable to her child to withhold services based on finances.  Gerri & Paige Bonsignor, along with other students from Lake Norman High School, addressed the board with regard to the issue of redistricting. They are concerned about being moved to another high school after just settling in at Lake Norman for their freshman year. They presented a petition to the Board of Education.  Dave Turner spoke to the Board regarding outlets for information. He does not feel that the board is using their best outlet to inform the community about what is going on in the

2 school system. He requested the Committee of the Whole agendas and minutes be posted on the website.

He believes administration has talked out of turn recently. He states that principals and upper administration are talking about redistricting and referring to “Lake Schools”. He wants to focus on the education of the entire county.

He expressed concerns about using Mt. Mourne for the IB program when we are going through a redistricting problem. If we are having issues with school sizes, we need to use the facilities we have and if we can use these facilities as a middle school, he feels we would be better served to use it as a middle school until we get funding, growth and build the new schools this county is going to need in the future.

Recognitions:

Community Schools Award: Tonight we would like to recognize ELMER’S Products for all they have supplied to the teachers of Iredell-Statesville Schools. Dave Colbourne or Sandra Nance tell me when they have products for our schools. They supply glue to paper trimmers, paints to photography supplies as well as 4’x8’ black foam board which is invaluable for a theater teacher. It would be very difficult to put a price on the amount of dollars that have been saved from having Elmer’s in the community. Thanks to Elmer’s Products!

Of the Year Recognitions: Tonight we are pleased to recognize our “Of the Year” recipients:  Bus Monitor of the Year – Debra Misenheimer – Statesville High School  Bus Driver of the Year – Ronnie Clark – Scotts Elementary  Elementary Custodial Team of the Year – Sherry Barnett, William Gillen, Debbie McCombs, Sherlock McCombs, Robert Powell, Margaret Messick – Lake Norman Elementary  Middle/High Custodial Team of the Year – Brian Armstrong, Sandra Baldwin, Kandi Barber, Margaret Butler, Billy Carpenter, Terry Carson, Chappie Chambers, Louis Falcetano, Ernest Griffin, Donna Haithcox, Perry Howland, George Jackson, Walter McCorkle, Johnny Potts, Tom Sanfilippo – Lake Norman High School  Primetime Assistant of the Year – Mary Abruzzo – Pressly Elementary  Primetime Director of the Year – Shera Gore – Lakeshore Elementary  Teacher Assistant of the Year – Carole Myers – Celeste Henkel Elementary  Student Services Person of the Year – Debbie Nolan – Harmony Elementary  Media Person of the Year – Lorie Lowell – South Iredell High School  Assistant Principal of the Year – Alicia Eller – NB Mills  Principal of the Year – Aron Gabriel – Springs Academy

Mr. Joe Archibald of Herff Jones presented Alicia Eller and Aron Gabriel with a gold ring.

NIHS Teacher Cadets: Dr. Holliday introduced Ms. Cheryl Styers and her Teacher Cadet Class from North Iredell High School. This is an outstanding senior level course in which much

3 study and preparation is done on how to become a teacher. It is great preparation for Teaching Fellows applicants. They will be shadowing central office administration in the near future.

TMS “Plaque School” Recognition: We are excited to announce that Troutman Middle School has been selected as a Plaque School in the North Carolina Positive Behavior Support Initiative Annual Recognition. Troutman Middle School has demonstrated excellent results from the use of Positive Behavior Support techniques and best practices. These best practices develop supportive systems to teach all students new behaviors. The school will receive a banner recognizing this accomplishment; Troutman Middle School will be listed on the North Carolina Positive Behavior Support website and will be recognized at an upcoming conference in November.

EVAAS Recognitions: Iredell-Statesville Schools had another terrific year with state testing. Dr. Holliday has presented certificates to the schools with high gains in EOG or EOC scores, and tonight we are pleased to recognize three of our schools with the highest overall gains.

 NB Mills Elementary – Overall 4-5  Lakeshore Middle School – Overall 6-8  North Iredell High School – Overall Best Gains in EOC Composite

Athletic Recognitions: We are pleased to recognize West Iredell High School and Statesville High School for being recognized by the NCHSAA for being ejection free in athletics for the 2007-2008 school year. This is a great honor in that there were 544 ejections last year statewide, only three of those were in Iredell-Statesville Schools. We strive to be 100% ejection free every year. This is West Iredell High School’s fourth year of being recognized as ejection free.

Administration:

Department Improvement Plans (1 st Reading): Ms. Brenda Clark advised the Board that Department Improvement Plans are posted on the website and provided instructions on how to access the plans.

School Improvement Plans (1 st Reading): ): Ms. Brenda Clark advised the Board that School Improvement Plans are posted on the website and provided instructions on how to access the School Improvement Plans.

Approval of Resolution on Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA): This was presented to us by the North Carolina School Board Association asking Congress and the President to overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act. The small amount of funding that comes from the federal level, less than 5% of most school districts’ budgets, should be focused on the 93+ programs helping children who are most in need become successful. The resolution seeks the punitive nature of No Child Left Behind be revisited to encourage educators, rather than punish educators.

Mr. Bill Brater made a motion, seconded by Mr. John Rogers, to approve the Resolution on Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as presented. The motion unanimously carries. 4 Approval of International Baccalaureate Implementation: Dr. Hill is requesting approval to move forward with the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program. This would allow us to continue with our staff development, curriculum planning and student application processes. Two IB schools would then be able to open in August of 2009, one in the northern end and one in the southern end of the county. Administration is not recommending any locations for the IB Program until the redistricting issue has been finalized.

Mr. Bill Brater made a motion, seconded by Dr. Ken Wilson, to approve the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program. The motion unanimously carries.

2009-2010 School Calendar (1 st Reading): Dawn Creason presented Option B as the favorite choice among staff due to Spring Break following Easter. The calendar will lie on the table for 30 days for questions, comments, or concerns and will be brought back before the Board at next month’s meeting.

Approval of Cool Spring Gym Addition/UnionGrove Recommendations: Administration is recommending delaying a vote tonight in order to provide additional community meetings at both sites to gather feedback from both communities.

Mr. Rob Jackson provided a brief update indicating the DPI recommendations for classroom size. DPI has indicated that Kindergarten and 1st Grade classes must exit on to ground level. Cool Spring is looking at moving administration from its current building and incorporating it into the new building to be more centrally located. Water is an issue due to low water pressure. Sewer issues have arisen since the existing septic system is designed for 450 students and we are expanding to 650 students. DOT requirements on road widening for deceleration, turn lanes, distance between bus and car riders entrances, must be met.

Both Cool Spring and Union Grove staffs discussed the different characteristics on how their school should be laid out to best facilitate how students get to and from classes, the media center, cafeteria, and playground areas. The teacher and staff input is greatly valued and is taken into consideration.

Based on the recommendations of the Facilities Task Force and DPI guidelines, we used a multi-purpose size gym area at Cool Spring. The Board directed Mr. Jackson to look into additional space to expand the gym. Three options have been presented to the Board.

The Union Grove meeting has been scheduled for October 27th at 6:30 p.m. Ms. Hix will communicate the meeting date for Cool Spring as soon as it is scheduled.

Superintendent’s Comments: Dr. Holliday reminded the public that with regard to redistricting, we contracted with the Urban Institute at UNC-C to get community feedback first. We had five area advisory meetings to gather feedback. That feedback is on our Area Advisory web pages. Our direction to the Urban Institute was to follow the timeline and they are to bring back two proposals in early 2009. We will then, once again, have five area advisory meetings s well as student focus group meetings. All feedback will be received before the Board of Education makes any decisions. One of the recommendations we asked for was to move as few students as possible. The housing bubble has burst and the economy has slowed down our

5 growth. We typically grow between 2-4%; however this year we grew less than 1%. The Board will not vote on the redistricting issue until May of 2009.

A band exhibition was held last week. All five high schools had participation.

The Follett Software Corporation has recognized Iredell-Statesville Schools in a White Paper. American Society for Quality has also featured Iredell-Statesville Schools on its website as a case study. The American Productivity and Quality Council has named I-SS as a best practice district in the nation. We are very proud of our teachers and principals.

We have discovered an oversight on our website thanks to the public. We had not been posting our Committee of the Whole agendas or minutes on the website. This will be rectified starting in November.

Every year, the End-of-Grade, End-of-Course and SAT tests are administered to our students. Back in 2001-2002, we ranked 55th in North Carolina on a composite. Our progress was tracked over the years, and our vision was achieved in 2007-2008 when we became the 9th highest rank school system in North Carolina for academic performance.

We are one of two school systems in the nation to be visited by the Baldrige National Quality Program Award. Our visit will take place next week.

There being no further business before the board, Mr. Keith Williams made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Karen Watson, to adjourn. The motion unanimously carries.

Signed:______Dr. David W. Cash, Chairman Board of Education

______Dr. Terry K. Holliday, Superintendent Secretary, Board of Education