April 15, 2003

Board members Daren Reese, Gary Wilson, Dr. Nick Rogers, Sue Saia, Joelyn Squires and Mindy Tebow were present at last night's board meeting at Arkansas City High School.

Brian Schmidtberger requested to make public comment to address the board about a homework situation with a student. He requested that the board look at this situation and discuss it before executive session. The board voted 4-2 to amend the agenda to add an executive session to discuss matters affecting a student. Gary Wilson and Dr. Nick Rogers voted no. The board discussed this matter in the second executive session.

Good News Recognition

ACHS placed first at the Independence Community College Competition Day on March 4. ACHS has received the first-place trophy every year it has entered the competition since 1989, only missing in 1995 when bad weather forced cancellation of the trips. More than 600 students from 23 high schools participated in the academic and fine arts events this year. Forty-four ACHS students contributed to the victory by placing in the top five in the individual events.

Kristen Martinez presented Activities Director Tom Hollingsworth to the board. He introduced six of the students who competed in the event. They introduced themselves to the board and announced what places they earned in each event they participated in.

ACHS students who competed in the Independence Community College Competition Day introduced themselves to the board at last night's meeting.

Consent Agenda

I. Resignations

The following resignations were approved by the board last night:

Name	Assignment
Neal Bachman	Librarian at C-4
Marilyn Dameron	Fifth grade teacher at Roosevelt
Kendra Gard-Smith	First grade teacher at Frances Willard
Denys Golay	Language arts teacher at ACHS
Richard Leet	Math teacher at ACHS
Mark Littell	Assistant principal at ACMS
Matthew Madole	English teacher at ACHS
Carole Wade	Math teacher at ACHS

Action Item

I. Gift from Coca-Cola for Scoreboards. USD 470 has the need to replace a number of older, out-of-maintenance (parts no longer available for repair) scoreboard units. Typically, local or area merchants have assisted Kansas school districts in the purchase of these units. Most often, a request is made for a product advertisement panel or banner adjacent to the scoreboard. Coca-Cola Bottling and the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association have offered to make a cash gift of $10,000 to be used for the purpose of purchasing new scoreboards.

The gift offer of $10,000 cash is without any contract or product use agreement and is to be used at the choice and discretion of USD 470. The board voted 6-0 to accept the cash gift from Coca-Cola Bottlers Association and the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

"This is unique," Dr. Ron Ballard, assistant superintendent/business manager, said. "This is just a straightforward gift. Tom Hollingsworth is putting together a scoreboard needs list for the district."

Discussion/Report Items

I. 2003 Summer School. Dr. Jan Voss, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, presented information about summer school. She went over the new 2003 summer school booklet that provides information for staff, students and parents.

Dr. Voss said the elementary and middle school programs are funded through the 21st Century grant and Title I. She also said she would like to thank each of the people who gave input on the programs for summer school. Dr. Voss said a heavy emphasis has been placed on math and reading at the elementary level, which aligned with the board goal of increased student achievement.

II. Strategic Planning (BOE Goal II). Superintendent Dr. Perry L. Perkins presented a document summarizing the four strategic models that Justin Lockwood, ACHS assistant principal, researched. The board discussed the models and said they would like to speak to someone from the Kansas Association of School Boards about two of the models. This discussion will be scheduled for a later date. The strategic plan was discussed last night because there is a cost involved for implementation of the models.

III. 2003-2004 Budget. Dr. Ballard discussed USD 470's budget, showing various histories and possible concerns regarding the district's future budget. He pointed out that the only two variables that affect the budget are enrollment and the per-pupil amount appropriated annually by the legislature. Those are beyond local control. USD 470 does not anticipate an increase in enrollment next year. Also, the state plans no per-pupil increase in budget authority calculation. This poses a revenue concern that can only be addressed by local board action and authority.

At the same time, the district has anticipated cost increases and possible projects/purchases that will need consideration. These are purchases and projects (such as textbook purchase, salary/wage schedules, roofing, IDEA modifications, etc.) that are an ongoing, regular part of the district's yearly spending. The preliminary projected needs for 2003-2004 equal $1.14 million and the anticipated revenues equal $250,000, thus the district is looking at a difference of $824,000.

Dr. Ballard presented information that compared USD 470 to the 10 districts larger and smaller than 470. It showed that 470 was the only district that does not have a capital outlay mill levy. USD 470 also has significantly the lowest mill levy. "We could add six mills and still be in the bottom three," Dr. Ballard said. "There aren't many school districts with a mill levy in the 40s. We're considered a poor district, so we do receive a disproportionate amount of state aid."

"We can't spend above the average spending level of all districts or we appear to be wealthy. If we increase the local option budget too much, we could hurt ourselves. A lot of other school districts increased their LOB like USD 470 did this year. This is something we have to look at very closely."

When asked if cuts could be made in the budget, Dr. Ballard said, "We've cut virtually everything possible. If we want to cut any further, it will be a board decision, because it will impact programs."

"I don't want to get to the situation where we have to choose between putting textbooks in the hands of kids and fixing the roof," Dr. Perkins said. "We cannot have buckets collecting water. We adopted a curriculum but could not purchase textbooks. Textbooks have a direct effect on student achievement, and increasing student achievement is one of the board's major goals."

Executive Session

I. Discuss Matters Affecting a Student. The board voted 5-1 to uphold the decision of the administration in this matter. Mindy Tebow voted no.

II. Discuss Matters Affecting a Student. The board voted 4-2 to uphold the decision of the administration in this matter. Tebow and Sue Saia voted no.

The next regular board meeting will be at Arkansas City High School at 7 p.m. All meetings of the board are open to the public.

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