8-8-2019 Board of Education Special Meeting Minutes

August 8, 2019 be adopted as written.

ROLL CALL VOTE:  C. Lee, K. Laesch, R. Writer, J. DeVlaminck, S. Tobler, D. Wentworth,

and H. Burnett

NAYS: None     MOTION ADOPTED

INFORMATION, REPORTS & NEW BUSINESS

Board Member Lee updated the Board and summarized the report of the Facility Study Committee meeting of 7-18-19. Board Member Writer updated the Board and summarized the report of Communications Committee meeting of 7-22-19.

ADOPTION OF CONSENT AGENDA

COMMUNITY DIALOGUE CITIZENS CONCERNS

1.      Minutes:

06-27-2019 Special Meeting Minutes

07-10-2019 Board Retreat Minutes

07-15-2019 Regular Meeting Minutes

2.      Warrants: None

3.      Staff resignations as submitted:

Joseph Miller, Moccasin Elementary Teacher, Retirement

Steve Young, BHS Special Ed Teacher, Resignation

4.      Recommendations to hire as submitted by Buchanan Middle School Principal Shelby Beasley and Superintendent Timothy Donahue:

ROLL CALL VOTE:  C. Lee, K. Laesch, R. Writer, J. DeVlaminck, S. Tobler, D. Wentworth, and H. Burnett

NAYS:  None     MOTION ADOPTED

ROLL CALL VOTE:  C. Lee, K. Laesch, R. Writer, J. DeVlaminck, S. Tobler, D. Wentworth, and H. Burnett

NAYS:  None     MOTION ADOPTED

I.                     Britney Martin: Contributions of Each Board Member to District Culture

Ms. Martin began by asking why is the meeting here; Jim answered the history of it but also the change as to for the four dialogue sessions throughout the year; regular meetings will be held over at the HS auditorium; Ruth explained the rationale behind this change. Ms. Martin continued that back in April, she asked about questions of staff members as to whether they were feeling heard and supported by the Board and Superintendent. This sparked a lot of community dialogue: what’s going on? What are you so upset about? What is wrong with the current climate in BCS? Ms. Martin then addressed the Board: What have you guys done to better their situation? What conversations have you had to better it?

Mr. Lee asked her to clarify the issues.

She stated that employees are not respected or heard. Mr. Lee said that is not the feeling he is getting. Harvey asked that we don’t address conversations with employees. He further clarified that it is not his role to manage employee matters.

Ms. Martin then rephrased her question: What have you contributed to the Board?

Harvey Burnett: making sure we have the financial resources for education; maintaining an adequate fund balance; he discussed the current situation of deficit spending year after year in our district.

Ruth Writer: she has been part of this school for a long time, has contributed much; attends activities; visible in buildings; extracurricular and travel programs; reads or learns something new about education every day; attends conferences (state and national); involved in education for years in many roles: advocacy for students—their education and their safety; continuity of the district financially; has a varied background to bring to the Board

Dennis Wentworth-great facilities improvements; healthy fund balance; finds room to support important programs: band and floor hockey; progress with curriculum from ground zero to more structured processes; progress is slowly reflected in test scores

Sandy Tobler: passion for children–for each one who walks through the door; she works to ensure kids are treated fairly and given the best education possible; she doesn’t regret her time these past years serving kids

Chris Lee: I am fortunate to work with professionals in many fields: education, law, safety, business skills, parents and grandparents; he has served on the capital, budget and policy committees; most importantly, he has served on emergency & security planning/planning committee

Jim DeVlaminck: he has served as parent volunteer on many committees with previous superintendents; evolved into bond campaign committee and then was elected to the board. He is happy about the new MS building; he likes our focus to be all about the kids—best for their education; finance and budget committee; policy; school farm board

Kelly Laesch-she has been on the board for 7 years; 4 generations in Buchanan; she has a son coming into school soon; she values all aspects of education and she appreciates her fellow board members; she likes how we can get information and come to a consensus decision; the 2017 superintendent search was thorough and time consuming but the process was amazing. I want to see it through with our new superintendent. She is on many committees, such as the policy committee; she wants to ensure we are following the policies. There needs to be a process for appropriate communication protocols. She referenced the two dialogue sessions with the staff; these were great and productive; she encourages staff to follow the chain of command.

Harvey Burnett added a comment about the district culture/climate; he brings a diverse representation to the district;

Chris Lee asked Ms. Barlow to clarify her issue. She claimed that this was not resolved.

A parent brought up that staff feel about concerned about discipline.

II.                   Jen Tabor: Matters about District Programs and Curriculum: Phys Ed, Honors Classes, STEM, Music program

Ms. Tabor was not in attendance. Mr. Donahue summarized points of a conversation about some of these matters that he had discussed with Ms. Tabor in the fall of 2017.

III.                 Stacey Dodson: Procedures and Protocols for Responses to Letters to the Board

Ms. Dodson questioned the Board: what is the Board’s procedure for responding to letters?

Harvey Burnett replied that board policy dictates that the role is the board president or his designee. The procedure is this…depending on what it is, it would be referred to the superintendent or to the appropriate person in the chain of command.

Is there a specific board member? Harvey said there is an official committee for bond, communications, or other issues.

Chris Lee indicated that we need to do better as a board in responding to communications received at our level.

Kelly Laesch reminded all that there is a protocol from the communication committee.

Ms. Dodson asked: Is it an accurate assumption that someone who submits a letter gets a response?

Harvey Burnett responded that it would be referred to the appropriate person.

Ms. Dodson asked: What are the expectations for the length of time?

Harvey Burnett responded that it depends on what the issue is; for example, is there a need to investigate facts about the matter, etc.

Ms. Dodson said she did not receive a response to her letter.

Ms. Dodson addressed the Board: I am speaking to you—you live here and you will be here long after this all said and done. We are counting on you to listen. We care about you.

Jim DeVlaminck clarified why there were some delays in the timing of the climate survey.

Harvey reiterated that the board did not take a formal vote; it is time consuming to develop a valid and reliable survey and it should be folded into a strategic planning process and done at regular intervals.

Kelly Laesch discussed that this Board did four of the five requests from the parent committee of which Ms. Dodson is a part; those parents asked Board members to contact an attorney; the District attorney advised the Board not to go forward until certain procedural safeguards were met.

Ms. Dodson reiterated that the only way the Board can know what the employee issues are is to do a survey.

Kelly Laesch commented that the Board is working with one of the parents from this group.

ADJOURNMENT

 ADJOURNMENT

7:29 pm