March 25
Board members Daren Reese, Gary Wilson, Coleen Estep, Nick Rogers and Mindy Tebow were present at last night's board meeting at C-4 Elementary School.
David Stinemetze, ACHS science teacher, and Tim Harmon, ACHS vocal music teacher, requested to make public comment to address the board about the spring break trip the choir and science students recently went on. They said the trip went off without a hitch and that they appreciated the board's approval of the trip.
Good News Recognition
Kristen Martinez presented Aaron Bucher to the board. Bucher, ACHS business teacher and baseball coach, recently received the 2002 coach award for the state of Kansas from the National Federation of State High School Associations. President Daren Reese presented Bucher a certificate.
Activities Director Tom Hollingsworth introduced the next Good News Recognition, the ACHS wrestling team. The team recently won the state championship, the 18th in school history. Head coach Greg Buckbee spoke to the board about the wrestling team and some of the individual wrestlers accomplishments. Assistant coaches Dirk Foust and Mark Richardson and several of the wrestlers also were present.
Consent Agenda
I. New Employees
Kevin Warner was recommended for an ACHS science position. He is also a certified athletic trainer and a Southwestern College graduate. He is completing student teaching at Belle Plaine High School.
Amy Gruen was recommended for an ACHS math position. She has four years teaching experience with upper level math courses and has a bachelor's degree. Her most recent position was with Chapman School District.
II. Gifts
Action Items
I. Arts Council. Judy Reedy from the Denton Arts Center and Danny Jones from the Arkansas City Arts Council made presentations to the board. Their presentations focused on the programs offered to USD 470 by the Arts Council. These programs are of direct benefit to the students of USD 470.
Superintendent Dr. Perry L. Perkins said he hopes that the relationship between the Arts Council and USD 470 will continue so that our students can continue to participate in the programs, which, along with teaching the arts, also relate directly to math, spelling, design, cultural acceptance, etc.
Reedy and Jones both discussed the benefits of the arts for students and the relationship between USD 470 and the Arts Council. Jones then presented information about the bus tours and the Arts Council's use of USD 470 buses for these tours.
Board member Coleen Estep said she wishes to continue to relationship with the Arts Council and the bus tours. Board Vice President Gary Wilson expressed his concerns regarding the legality of the bus tours. Estep said the Arts Council would make necessary accommodations so that no state statutes would be violated.
After much discussion, Wilson made a motion for the Arts Council to discontinue the use of USD 470 buses for the bridge tours. The vote was 3-2, but at least four votes in either direction are required for action; therefore, the motion failed.
II. Board of Education Policies - Second Reading. The board voted 5-0 to approve the following board policies as presented to become effective immediately:
Note: The Early Graduation policy has been removed for further consideration at a special board workshop scheduled for Monday, March 31, at 7 p.m. at ACHS.
III. Head Start Grant Application. The board voted 5-0 to approve the submission of the grant application for the Head Start program for the 2003-2004 school year. An application to continue the Head Start program must be completed annually, outlining the general expenditure projections and detailing categories of the budget. This is a federally funded program and entails no costs for USD 470.
Discussion/Report Items
I. C-4 Report. C-4 teachers presented information and a video to the board. Celi Goff, library aide; Cathy Wilcox, first grade teacher; and Peggy Musson, second grade teacher; discussed the Accelerated Reader program along with student goals and schoolwide goals. Then Mike Beauchamp, third grade teacher, presented a video showing the school's Rise & Shine morning assembly. Musson and Mark Gregg, fourth grade teacher, also talked about the morning assembly, which highlights students' accomplishments and gets them ready to start the day on a "positive, powerful note."
II. Fees for 2003-2004. Every year the board considers any possible changes to the district's structured fee schedule. The current fee schedule is:
This structure is too small to fund the purchase of textbooks and consumables required for instruction. Therefore, the budget appropriates approximately $200,000 annually to subsidize textbook purchases. These monies come from both the General Fund and the Textbook Fund. (The Textbook Fund revenue is purely student fee-driven.) It is projected that the scheduled purchases for 2003-2004 will be $425,000.
2003-2004 needs:
USD 470 has fees lower than many comparable school districts. Additionally, many districts in our size category expend upwards of $400,000 annually for textbook purchases. This item will be further considered at next Monday's special workshop.
Executive Session
I. Discuss Matters Affecting a Student. The student's family requested that the matter be moved to open session. After approximately two hours, 45 minutes, the board decided to continue the issue at 9 tomorrow (Wednesday) night at ACHS.
The second executive session to discuss negotiations was also moved to tomorrow night.
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