The board of education of USD#508 held a regular meeting on Monday, January 11, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at 1108 Military. Members present were: DeAnne BInns, Joseph Skye, Brandon Williams, Dusty Deringer, (via telephone) and Josh Sweaney. Absent were: Mary Kirkpatrick and Chuck Sweeton. Also present were: David Pendergraft, Superintendent, Vicki Bradley, Clerk, Cory White, HS Principal, Roger Reynolds, HS Asst. Principal, Robert Womack, Central Principal, Ken Boeckman, Lincoln Principal, Arthur Commons, Secondary Curriculum DIrector, Daymon McCorkle, Grounds and Maintenance Director and Rev. Tracy Rowe of Crossroads Christian Church.
President BInns called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Brandon Williams led the board and guests in the pledge of allegiance. Rev. Tracy Rowe led the board and guests in a word of prayer.
Brandon Williams made a motion to adopt the agenda as printed. Josh Sweaney seconded. Carried 5-0.
Joseph Skye made a motion to approve the consent agenda which included approval of payment of the bills, approval of the minutes of the December 14, 2015 meeting and approval of the treasurer’s report. Brandon Williams seconded. Carried 5-0.
President Binns presented resignations from Tyler Lane as MS Head Football Coach and Brenda Locke as HS Musical Director. Joseph Skye made a motion to accept the resignations of Tyler Lane as MS Head Football Coach and Brenda Locke as HS Musical Director as presented. Josh Sweaney seconded. Carried 5-0.
Superintendent Pendergraft presented a proposal to lower the mileage reimbursement rate to 54 cents to be in line with the state reimbursement rate for the remainder of the 15-16 fiscal year. Brandon Williams made a motion to decrease the mileage reimbursement rate to 54 cents per mile to match the state reimbursement rate for the remainder of the 15-16 fiscal year. Dusty Deringer seconded. Carried 5-0.
Superintendent Pendergraft recommended that the board grant a permanent easement to the Peters family for access to property that adjoins the HS property. This easement is at the north end of the high school property and the City also has a permanent easement on this same piece of property to access their lift station. Brandon Williams made a motion to grant a permanent easement to the Peters family at the north end of the HS property as requested. Joseph Skye seconded. Carried 5-0.
Ken Boeckman, Lincoln School Principal reported on the inservice day which was held on January 4. His staff worked on team building activities and communication with Greenbush. At the January 18th inservice, they will focus on iStation training and MTSS, along with classroom management and behavior reward systems.
Robert Womack, Central Principal reported on the January 4 inservice day. He reported that the Sheriff’s Department conducted a training to prepare teachers and staff for an intruder situation. He also reported that next weeks inservice will include behavior intervention training.
Cory White, HS Principal reported on the inservice day on January 4. Mr. White said that the HS has initiated a writing initiative for the 2nd semester so that students have purposeful writing skills throughout all classes. He also congratulated the Scholars Bowl team for placing 2nd at Frontenac. Mr. White also reported that on January 18th , the HS and MS staff will be going through the same intruder training that Central did this past week. He also reported that the Lancer Classic basketball tournament will be next week.
Daymon McCorkle, Grounds and Maintenance Director reported on new fencing at Field of Dreams. He also reported that the company is coming this week to look at the track to assess for damage caused by the flood and that he will begin evaluating all custodial and maintenance staff this week.
Arthur Commons, Secondary Curriculum Director updated the board on some of the changes that were put into place at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. He reported that great improvement has been made in 7th, 8th and 9th grade students in math with the addition of the math lab class. He also reported on the writing initiative that is being instituted at the HS for the second semester and how teachers are excited about the improvement seen in this area. Mr. Commons reported that they have been assessing the science curriculum and have found that there is a need for earth and space science at the HS level. Moving forward they will begin to cover this in freshman science classes. The will expect all students to take 9th grade physical science, biology at 10th grade and will strongly suggest that chemistry be taken in junior year. He also reported that the curriculum alignment process will begin on some non-core subjects next year. Mr. Commons reported that grades 7-12 are on target and in January 2017 he will present curriculum alignment for board approval and release to the public. He thanked the board for their support in getting the curriculum aligned and the support of the administrators.
Josh Sweaney made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel and negotiations in order to protect the privacy rights of the individuals to be discussed and in order to protect the publics interest in negotiating a fair and equitable contract, and that we return to open session in this room after a 10 minute period of time. This session shall include the board and Superintendent. Brandon Williams seconded. Carried 5-0.
6:29 p.m. Enter executive session.
6:39 p.m. Resume regular session.
Brandon Williams made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel and negotiations in order to protect the privacy rights of the individuals to be discussed and in order to protect the publics interest in negotiating a fair and equitable contract, and that we return to open session in this room after a 10 minute period of time. This session shall include the board and Superintendent. Joseph Skye seconded. Carried 5-0.
6:40 p.m. Enter executive session.
6:50 p.m. Resume regular session.
Josh Sweaney made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel and negotiations in order to protect the privacy rights of the individuals to be discussed and in order to protect the publics interest in negotiating a fair and equitable contract, and that we return to open session in this room after a 10 minute period of time. This session shall include the board and Superintendent. Joseph Skye seconded. Carried 5-0.
6:51 p.m. Enter executive session.
7:01 p.m. Resume regular session.
Brandon Williams made a motion to adjourn. Dusty Deringer seconded Carried 5-0.
7:03 p.m. Meeting adjourned.
Vicki Bradley DeAnne Binns
Clerk/Board of Education President/Board of Education