January 13, 2016 School Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR WAYNE SCHOOL DISTRICT HELD AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY 13, 2016 AT 4:00 PM.

Those Present:

Joni Taylor – President
April Torgerson – Vice President
Cory Anderson – Member
Curtis Whipple – Member
Burke Torgerson – Superintendent
Heather Okerlund – Business Administrator

Late/Excused: Jeffery Chappell - Member

Conducting:  Joni Taylor

ADMINISTRATION

Joni Taylor called the meeting to order.  She announced we would begin with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a reverence from Curtis Whipple.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:

Curtis Whipple moved to approve the minutes.  Cory Anderson seconded.  All in favor.  Joni Taylor asked that we add LaVoy’s last name to the minutes (Tolbert).

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Heather Okerlund answered questions about accounts payable.

Cory Anderson motioned to approve the accounts payable.  April Torgerson seconded.  All in favor.

Heather Okerlund reviewed the different programs on the budget summary and answered questions.  Detail financial reports were provided.

Jeffery Chappell joined the meeting.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

No citizen’s comments. 

INFORMATION ITEMS

Discuss board evaluation – semi-annual follow-up.  The board reviewed the strengths but focused on the areas for improvement.  The board discussed the four areas of improvement that they had identified and which areas we had made progress on and which areas we still needed to work on.

Superintendents report.  Jason Strait CUES director report.  Jason Strait provided a report and presented a summary of what CUES is involved in on behalf of the districts.  He also explained how the new overdrive program is working and wanted to recognize Wayne Middle School for their high number of checkouts – approximately 1,900 since the program started. CUES provides many different services that are pooled to save smaller districts money such as survey programs, repair services, media services, computer servers, and trainings. 

BUSINESS ITEMS

Track facilities discussion.  Jeff Albrecht with Savage Surveying presented some options for consideration for the track/football field drainage issues and improvements.  The board discussed that the first concern was the drainage problem since it is causing damage to the track.  Jeff Albrecht said that the land surveying would be the first step and would probably be about $2,500 to $3,000.  The board discussed different options and decided to have Jeff Albrecht prepare a surveying and grading plan.  Curtis Whipple made a motion to approve up to $5,000 for the surveying and grading plan.  Jeffery Chappell seconded.  All in favor.

INFORMATION ITEMS

Superintendents report.  USBA dues increase will be $1,000 not $2,000 for districts under 1000 students.  Parent, Student, Teacher surveys.  The Parent, Student, and Teacher survey information is posted on the website and the notification will also be published in the Insider tomorrow.  This survey is mandatory to offer right now, but because of the new ESSA rules the state may back off on the requirement in the future.  K-16 Alliance.  K-16 Alliance is a meeting that the region superintendents go to with representatives from Snow College.  Snow College is working hard on helping the districts, particularly with Concurrent Enrollment. Facilities needs and future planning.  Superintendent Torgerson had a task force/brainstorming meeting that got together a few weeks ago that was very productive.  Two big things came out of the first meeting were, possibly changing class schedules and possibly looking into a four-day school week.  Both have specific benefits that may help with our potential staffing challenges.  The next meeting is January 20^th at 1:00 pm and we’ll discuss the options in more detail.  Superintendent Kodey Hughes from the Tintic School District will be coming to share his experiences and insights.  Superintendent Torgerson welcomed any members of the board to attend the meeting if they would like.  School Reports.  Superintendent Torgerson provided the school reports and also passed out a 2016-2017 tentative school calendar. 

USBA Conference follow-up.  The board discussed the USBA Conference that board members were able to attend last week.  There were some great presentations and new ideas that everyone was able to bring back.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Elect new board chair and vice-chair.  Jeffery Chappell nominated Cory Anderson as the new board president.  April Torgerson seconded.  All in favor.  April Torgerson nominated Curtis Whipple as the Vice-Chair.  Joni Taylor seconded.  All in favor.

Health & Human Sexuality curriculum committee and Educator Evaluation Committee.  Superintendent Torgerson described the requirements for the parents on the committee.  The board discussed options and decided to have each community council nominate a parent/member to the board and the board will then nominate them to be on the committee.  This process doesn’t require a change to policy so no business decision is necessary.

Second reading policies DHC – Redress of grievances, DJ – Employee references and letters of recommendation, DKAC – Nepotism, DKB – Sexual Harassment.  Superintendent Torgerson proposed that we waive the third reading and approve the policies.  Curtis Whipple motioned to waive the third reading and approve policies DHC, DJ, DKAC, and DKB.  Jeffery Chappell seconded.  All in favor.

First reading policies DMC – Cell phone reimbursement policy, EAA – Instructional Goals, ECA – Curriculum Required Instruction, ECBB – Curriculum Elective Instruction Drivers Ed.  Curtis Whipple moved to approve the first reading of policies DMC, EAA, ECA, and ECBB.  April Torgerson seconded.  All in favor.

Approve new employees.  April Torgerson motioned to approve James Weber as a Bus Driver and Amberly Brill as a Ticket Taker.  Joni Taylor seconded.  All in favor.  April Torgerson amended her motion to approve James Weber as a Bus Driver and Amberly Brill as a Ticket Taker pending her background check.  Jeffery Chappell seconded.  All in favor.

Approve pay rate for new hire/returning employee.  Curtis Whipple made a motion that the pay rate for our new hire/returning employee will be at the step closest to the amount of their departing wage but not over.  Jeffery Chappell seconded.  All in favor.

Legal council discussion/decision.  Superintendent Torgerson spoke with Mr. Burbidge about getting a possible reduced rate for legal services by getting a retainer in place, but he has not heard back from him yet.  April Torgerson made a motion to table the legal council discussion.  Joni Taylor seconded.  All in favor.

Decision on maintenance items to start the bidding process.  Superintendent Torgerson described the critical maintenance items on the list and our budget for the year.  Curtis Whipple made a motion to put items 1,2,3,4, and 6 (new roof on WMS gym, new roof on WHS auditorium, track flooding, new heating unit on WHS Gym, and major boiler repair at LES) out for bid to determine the dollar amount needed for the projects.  Joni Taylor seconded.  All in favor.  Curtis Whipple made a motion to allocate $125,000 for the maintenance items 1,2,3,4, and 6.  Curtis Whipple amended his motion to allocate $110,000 for the maintenance items 1,2,3,4, and 6.  April Torgerson seconded.  All in favor.

Accept letter of resignation/retirement:  Curtis Whipple read a letter of resignation from JoAnn Davis effective January 20, 2016.  Jeffery Chappell read a letter of resignation from Superintendent Burke Torgerson effective June 30, 2016.  April Torgerson made a motion to accept Superintendent Torgerson’s letter of retirement.  Curtis Whipple seconded.  All in favor.  The board expressed thanks to Superintendent Torgerson for his service to the district. April Torgerson made a motion to accept the letter of resignation from JoAnn Davis.  Curtis Whipple seconded.  All in favor.

Board Items

Jeffery Chappell said he was going to inquire of some of the artists in the Torrey area to see if there was any interest in helping at the schools.

Curtis Whipple received a call from a concerned parent about the late bus so he asked clarifying questions about our policy.    Curtis Whipple asked about library books funding and wondered about having the school board possibly donate money for library books to the schools.  We do have funding right now available specific for library books though that hasn’t been spent.  Discussed doing a scholarship from the school board instead and possibly encouraging student board members or future educators.  The board members will get with Heather Okerlund if they want to do donations and Heather Okerlund will look into how we get the scholarship set up for the 2017 graduating year.

Cory Anderson said he was disappointed that we are not singing the school song at the sporting events. 

April Torgerson made a motion to go into closed meeting at 8:30 pm to discuss the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual.  Jeffery Chappell seconded.  All in favor.

Roll Call:

Jeffery Chappell – Aye
Joni Taylor – Aye
Curtis Whipple – Aye
April Torgerson – Aye
Cory Anderson – Aye

Cory Anderson declared us back into open meeting at 9:30 pm.

Cory Anderson wanted to recognize the board for the Master Boards Award received from the USBA at the state convention last week.  All board members and Superintendent Torgerson received a certificate and the board received a plaque.

April Torgerson made a motion to adjourn.  Joni Taylor seconded.  All in favor.  Meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.