BOARD MINUTES
Rising Sun-Ohio County Community School Corporation
November 10, 2009
The regular session of the Board of School Trustees was held as advertised on November 10, 2009 at 7:05 P.M. in the Administration Building. Members present were Timothy Elbright, Harlan Holt Hoffman, Corey Potts, Christopher Whitham, Felix Massey III, and Superintendent Stephen Patz. Also present were Gloria Holland, Keith Majewski, Noel Bostic, Leigh Ann Craig, Robert White, Brenda York, Donna Bailey, John Wilber, Linda Powell, Cheryl Corning, Diana Barnes, Jack Lillie, Henry Pictor, Michael Kelley, Tim Hillman, Regina Shanks, Cindy Stegemiller, Nick Campanello, Joe Cole, Klint Kirkpatrick, Adam Stegemiller, Ashley Fox, Alex Grace, Tony Niccum, Terry Grace, Charlie Morton, Nick Ferrick, Adam Powell, Tylor Works, and many more community members.
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Members of the Board reviewed minutes from the October 13, 2009 meeting. The minutes were approved with the following correction: Christopher Whitham was not present at the meeting. Upon motion by Harlan Holt Hoffman and seconded by Timothy Elbright to approve minutes with the correction, members voted as follows: Aye – Harlan Holt Hoffman, Timothy Elbright, Corey Potts, Christopher Whitham, and Felix
Massey III.Members of the Board reviewed claims. Upon motion by Christopher Whitham and seconded by Corey Potts, members voted as follows: Aye – Christopher Whitham, Harlan Holt Hoffman, Timothy Elbright, Corey Potts, and Felix Massey III.
The Superintendent recommended hiring Rachel Sarikie as assistant softball coach, Mike Peters as co-assistant high school track coach, and Jason Barth as co-assistant high school track coach. Upon motion by Christopher Whitham and seconded by Timothy Elbright to accept the recommendation, members voted as follows: Aye – Christopher Whitham, Timothy Elbright, Corey Potts, Harlan Holt Hoffman, and Felix Massey III.
Henry Pictor was present to read the Board’s decision regarding bus driver Regina Shanks’ employment hearing and current suspension. The Board’s decision was as follows: Ms. Shanks will retain her job. Her suspension will remain intact, and she can be reinstated by the Superintendent after consultation with the Board. Upon motion by Timothy Elbright and seconded by Harlan Holt Hoffman to approve the decision as read by Mr. Pictor, members voted as follows: Aye – Timothy Elbright, Harlan Holt Hoffman, Christopher Whitham, Corey Potts, and Felix Massey III.
Cheryl Corning, ROD director, was present to meet the Board and answer any questions the members might have. Corey Potts asked Ms. Corning a question regarding a rumor that he has heard. He stated that he has heard that Ms. Corning is steering a large amount of special needs students to our school corporation. Ms. Corning stated that she does not steer students to certain school corporations. They simply attend school in the district where they live. She outlined the 3 different ways that students are referred to ROD. She stated that Rising Sun-Ohio County Schools is a "lovely" school system, and that the teachers are very supportive to ROD. Ms. Corning pointed out that there are approximately 16-20% of students in each school corporation that are identified with special needs. Harlan Holt Hoffman asked if there is anything that our school corporation can do to help ROD achieve its goals. Ms. Corning stated that our teachers are doing a great job. She discussed the present rise our schools are seeing in autistic students, and said that similar things occur in all corporations at different times. She also said that while it seems that there is a rise in the number of students who have special needs, the number has not grown. The disabilities are just more visible.
Mr. Majewski introduced Diana Barnes, Nova NET representative. She gave an overview of the NovaNET program. NovaNET is a Pearson product and is a credit recovery program. Students who have failed or lost credit in a class could use NovaNET to be remediated and to gain credits in the class that they failed. The goal would be to improve our graduation rates and dropout rates. This program would replace summer school as a way for our students to gain credits. The program would be totally managed in-house. We would provide a teachers’ aide to run the program. Irene O’Shaughnessy would probably be the aide to run the program. Her current job description is remediation, and she is funded by the Endowment Fund with permission from the city and county councils. Her job description would not change, since NovaNET includes remediation. Mr. Patz commented that he could make the City and County Councils aware of the new program, and the fact that her role has not changed. The other costs associated with the program could come out of our Capital Projects Fund, as they are computer equipment. Mr. Majewski stated that the program could be implemented as early as February with full implementation beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. The Board asked for a list of other schools who use the program so that they might observe the program in use. Mr. Majewski stated that the next step is to write a policy to be adopted by the Board regarding NovaNET. Upon motion by Timothy Elbright and seconded by Harlan Holt Hoffman to suspend high school summer school for 2010 and to institute the NovaNET program for the benefit of our students, members voted as follows: Aye – Timothy Elbright, Harlan Holt Hoffman, Christopher Whitham, Corey Potts, and Felix Massey III.
Mr. Patz asked permission to transfer money back into the Debt Service Fund. The money was transferred to help the cash balance at the end of June. The following amounts will be transferred back into the Debt Service Fund: Transportation Fund - $55,000, Bus Replacement Fund - $20,000, and Capital Projects Fund - $200,000. Upon motion by Harlan Holt Hoffman and seconded by Christopher Whitham to give permission to transfer the money back into the Debt Service Fund in the same amounts that were transferred in June, members voted as follows: Aye – Harlan Holt Hoffman, Christopher Whitham, Corey Potts, Timothy Elbright, and Felix Massey III.
Michael Kelley was present and asked permission to address that Board regarding the AC/DC Program and its implementation. Mr. Kelley stated that while he feels the AC/DC Program is a valid program, he also feels that there are students that are being assigned to the program unnecessarily. He feels that some students are being unfairly assigned and would like a second person to review the AC/DC assignments. He asked that the Board review the current policy. The Board thanked him for his comments, and stated that they are committed to the success of the AC/DC program. They will continue to review the program as needed.
The Superintendent presented a request from Rosemary Theising to take the FCCLA on an overnight trip to Louisville. They will leave after school on Friday, November 20th and return on Sunday, November 22nd. The Superintendent recommended approving the request. Upon motion by Christopher Whitham and seconded by Harlan Holt Hoffman to approve the request, members voted as follows: Aye – Christopher Whitham, Harlan Holt Hoffman, Corey Potts, Timothy Elbright, and Felix Massey III.
The Superintendent discussed the current forecast for the State’s revenue, and how it may affect school corporations in the future. He stated the current economic woes have been so severe that even if the State sees growth of 3% in the upcoming years, the State won’t be out of the hole until 2012-2013. Mr. Patz said the current State projection has been revised 2-3 times this year. The first 4 months of the fiscal year (July – October) were $312,000,000 below the last projection. Right now, there is a loss of $3,000,000 per day state-wide. The school corporations have been told by the Superintendent of Public Instruction not to promise raises or plan projects based on the previously released funding formula because the funds may not exist. The impact of the economy on the future school budgets has yet to be determined.
A possible teacher retirement incentive was discussed and will be re-visited at a later date. The Superintendent stated that we have 15 teachers interested in meeting with a representative from the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. These teachers are all within 2 years of qualifying for full retirement. State funding could be a large factor in determining any possible incentive packages.
In miscellaneous, Mr. Majewski stated that the high school received $33,000 from the Eco 15 Grant this week to rebuild Mr. Monhollen’s computer lab. He stated that he has also applied for $70,000 from the Regional Foundation to close the gap for other needs in that lab.
The Board of School Trustees of the Rising Sun-Ohio County Community School Corporation did not discuss any subject matter in executive session other than the topic specified in the public notice.
Upon motion by Harlan Holt Hoffman and seconded by Christopher Whitham to adjourn the meeting, members voted as follows: Aye – Harlan Holt Hoffman, Christopher Whitham, Corey Potts, Timothy Elbright, and Felix Massey III.
The meeting adjourned at 9:03 P.M.