Draft Only Approval Pending of SUMMARY P ROCEEDINGS JOINT EDUCATION INTERIM COMMITTEE C OMMITTEE MEETING INFORMATION June 3 and 4, 2013 Conference Room, Oil and Gas Commission Building 2211 Kings Boulevard Casper, Wyoming JOINT EDUCATION C OMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Hank Coe, Cochairman Representative Matt Teeters, Cochairman Senator Jim Anderson (SD02) Senator Paul Barnard Senator Bill Landen Senator Chris Rothfuss Representative Cathy Connolly Representative John Freeman Representative Hans Hunt Representative David Northrup Representative John Patton Representative Jerry Paxton Representative Albert Sommers TH JOINT L ABOR C OMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT (JUNE 4 2013) Senator Charlie Scott, Cochairman Representative Elaine Harvey, Cochairman Senator Jim Anderson (SD28) Senator Bernadine Craft Senator Leslie Nutting Representative Eric Barlow Representative Kathy Coleman Representative Matthias Greene Representative Norine Kasperik Representative Lloyd Larsen The Committee Meeting Summary of Proceedings (meeting minutes) is prepared by the Legislative Service Office (LSO) and is the official record of the proceedings of a legislative committee meeting. This document does not represent a transcript of the meeting; it is a digest of the meeting and provides a record of official actions taken by the Committee. All meeting materials and handouts provided to the Committee by the Legislative Service Office, public officials, lobbyists, and the public are on file at the Legislative Service Office and are part of the official record of the meeting. An index of these materials is provided at the end of this document and these materials are on file at the Legislative Service Office. For more information or to review meeting materials, please contact the Legislative Service Office at (307) 777-7881 or by e-mail at [email protected]. The Summary of Proceedings for each legislative committee meeting can be found on the Wyoming Legislature’s website at http://legisweb.state.wy.us. PAGE 2 OF 14 Representative Mary Throne Representative Sue Wilson C OMMITTEE MEMBERS N OT PRESENT Senator R. Ray Peterson Representative Lee Filer Representative Garry Piipparinen LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE STAFF Dave Nelson, School Finance Manager Matt Willmarth, School Finance Analysist Tania Hytrek, Staff Attorney OTHERS PRESENT AT MEETING Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Committee Sign-in Sheet for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Joint Education Committee (JEC) met to receive information related to educational issues. The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) presented information on the audit of the data unit and consolidation of data reporting requirements. The Attorney General's Office and the Department of Family Services presented information on the Jason Flatt Act and suicide prevention. The Committee also received information regarding school bus safety and the passage by motorists while school buses are stopped. The Wyoming State Board of Education (State Board) provided an update to the Committee on the search of a director for the WDE. Lastly, the Committee met jointly with the Joint Labor Committee to receive various reports on preschool and early learning programs. CALL TO ORDER Co-Chairman Teeters called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic. Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda. AUDIT OF WDE DATA FUNCTIONS Dr. Jim Rose, Interim Director of the WDE, spoke to the Committee about the audit conducted by RTI International of the data unit of the WDE. He introduced the consultants hired to perform the audit, which included Ms. Amanda Richards, Mr. Mike Townley, and Mr. John Vavricka. Mr. Townley summarized the findings of the audit. Generally, the findings were as follows: lack of a strategic plan, lack of technology standards, lack of processes and procedures, lack of effective functional organizational design, support of traditional IT functions distracts from focus on core competencies, data collection systems are not rationalized and insufficient analysis and reporting capacity. See Appendices 3 and 4. Mr. Vavricka went on to discuss the lack of industry standards utilized by the WDE in collecting and conducting data analysis. He followed up that model standards could be implemented and adopted by the WDE and such industry standards are readily available. Ms. Richards went on to discuss the need for an effective organizational design and suggested the immediate hiring of personnel to fill three vacancies, including a service manager/owner, a data architect, and a statistician. She noted the existing employees work well together, have extensive institutional knowledge, but are unable to perform all the work necessary and required without additional staff and resources. Committee members posed several JOINT EDUCATION INTERIM COMMITTEE Summary of Proceedings WYOMING LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE • 213 State Capitol • Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002 TELEPHONE (307) 777-7881 • FAX 307-777-5466 • E-MAIL [email protected] • WEB SITE http://legisweb.state.wy.us PAGE 3 OF 14 questions related to vacancies and the ability to fill the noted positions quickly. Dr. Rose responded to the questions, noting that the future budget for the agency will necessitate reorganization and realignment, which will include a new organizational chart and position realignment and classification. Representative Paxton inquired about district input in the data processes. LSO staff noted the existence of the Data Advisory Committee and the regular meetings of this body. Representative Freeman asked about the efforts of Dr. Rose to fill the seven vacancies that exist in the unit to date. Dr. Rose responded that he has made no effort to fill the vacancies, noting that he wanted the results from the data audit conducted by RTI International, and that it is likely that reclassification of the existing positions will be necessary along with the utilization of the B-11 process to reflect the positions and job duties suggested by RTI International. Ms. Richards moved on to discussion of the findings, explaining in more detail the lack of the useful reporting capacity and the necessity to create reporting that is useful for the school districts. Representative Patton voiced his support for the statements by the consultants in relation to the importance of creating reports that are useful for the school districts. Ms. Richards continued discussion of possible solutions and action steps to improve the functioning capacity of the data unit. The recommendations include securing temporary staff immediately to meet outstanding and incomplete data reports and requests. She noted the possibility of securing services through the University of Wyoming as a short term solution. Representative Connolly inquired about the timeline for completion of the five activities noted in the short term solutions, including hiring of temporary staff. See Appendices 3. Dr. Rose responded that the securing of temporary staff will likely allow the existing permanent staff to focus on the other objectives noted by the consultants reports as short term action items. Senator Rothfuss moved that staff draft a letter to transmit on behalf of the JEC requesting that the Governor not transfer any positions from the WDE information management unit to ETS until the WDE concludes its reorganization of the unit and releases any unneeded positions or until the 2015-16 budget recommendation. The motion was seconded by Senator Landen. Co-chairman Teeters requested the ETS receive a copy of the memo. Senator Landen clarified that the B-11 process should be utilized if necessary to ensure the appropriate personnel is hired to complete the work. The motion passed. Senator Rothfuss moved that the WDE present a proposed agency reorganization and an accompanying budget at the JEC's July meeting for committee consideration and input. The motion was seconded by Representative Northup. The motion passed. CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORTING AND DATA COLLECTIONS Dr. Rose introduced the topic of consolidation of school district reporting and data collections as required by 2013 Wyo. Sess. Laws, Ch. 73, Section 338. Mr. Drew Dilly, Director of Information Management for the WDE, gave a status report on the WDE's efforts in relation to this project. He noted the input and activities of the Data Advisory Committee briefly. Senator Anderson requested clarification of the membership of the Data Advisory Committee. Mr. Jed Cicerelli, Wyoming Department of Education, provided the Committee with clarification regarding the activities and membership of the Data Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from the 48 districts, mostly business managers, a superintendent, a representative from LSO and the Department of Audit. Mr. Dilly continued discussion of his efforts for data consolidation and the collection of information from student transcripts. Co- chairman Teeters requested if statutory changes are necessary in reference to data collections or student transcripts, he would appreciate suggestions from the WDE regarding what revisions they recommend making. Mr. Kirk Schmidt, Assistant Superintendent of Fremont County School District No. 1, spoke to the Committee about data collections by the WDE and the efforts of the Data Advisory Committee. He noted that he thought the data collected by the WDE was done so in a useful manner and that the Data Advisory JOINT EDUCATION INTERIM COMMITTEE Summary