Guilford County Board of Education
Board Meeting
April 10, 2007

GUILFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

The Guilford County Board of Education met in a regular meeting on Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The following board members were present: Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick (arrived at 6:44 p.m.), Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe. Also present were Superintendent Terry Grier and Attorney Jill Wilson.

Call to Order

Chairman Duncan called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence
Board member Kris Cooke led the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Recognitions

GCS Employee of the Month for March 2007
The board recognized Debbie Owens, a bus driver at Jesse Wharton Elementary, as the district’s March Employee of the Month. Board member Kris Cooke presented Ms. Owens with a certificate of recognition. In a prior ceremony, Ms. Owens received a $50 gift card from Sam’s Club, which has partnered with GCS to support the employee recognition program.

GCS Volunteer of the Month for March 2007
The board recognized Mary Chase, a volunteer at Southeast Middle School, as the district’s first-ever Volunteer of the Month for the month of March. Board member Anita Sharpe presented Ms. Chase with a certificate of appreciation.

Public Comments

Chairman Duncan called on members of the public who requested an opportunity to address the board.

Valeria Rivas De Kouba, 606 Shadybrook Road, High Point, NC 27265
Roberta Hoyle, P.O. Box 4382, Greensboro, NC 27404
Vanessa Parmenter, 801 Ferndale Boulevard, High Point, NC 27262
Leisa Huddleston, 4011 North Freemont Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407
Thresiamma George, 5412 Whitley Way, Greensboro, NC 27407
Derrick Giles, 100 N. Elm Street #138, Greensboro, NC 27401
Luther Falls, Jr., 303P Avalon Road, Greensboro, NC 27401
Karl Brustmeyer, 1012 Bloomfield Road, Gibsonville, NC 27249
Elana Muhammad, 3215 Martin Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27405
Miriam Whaley, 1601 W. Florida Street, Greensboro, NC 27403
Earl Gill, 1106 East Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
Deborah Scales, 142-C Walnut Circle, Greensboro, NC 27406
Linda Welborn, 4903 Warfield Drive, Greensboro, NC 27406
Mark Bloomquist, One Loch Ridge Court, Greensboro, NC 27408
Joe Stafford, 4604 Forest Village Drive, Greensboro, NC 27406

Approval of Agenda

Chairman Duncan asked board members to review the meeting agenda and called for a motion to approve or amend it. Chairman Duncan asked that Consent Agenda Item C “Contracted Transportation Services Extension” be pulled from the agenda until the March 29 board meeting in order for staff to gather additional information. Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Garth Hébert, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

Consent Agenda
Superintendent Grier presented the following Consent Agenda items:

A. Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the February 8 Regular Meeting and February 20 Regular Meeting were presented for approval.

B. Personnel Action Reports

The consent agenda included personnel actions as noted in the monthly personnel action report and addendum requiring board approval.

C. Contracted Transportation Services Extension

This item was tabled until the March 29 board meeting.

E. Driver Education Services Contract

The consent agenda included a recommendation to award a contract to the North Carolina Driving School, Inc. for driver education services for the period of July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008. Two bids were received on February 27, 2007. North Carolina Driving School, Inc., Winterville, North Carolina, submitted the lowest responsible bid of $179 per student. Based on an estimate of 6,400 students using these services, the contract amount for the first year will be approximately $1,145,600.
 
The term of the contract begins on July 1, 2007, and ends on June 30, 2010. This includes the option to renew for an additional 24-month period if satisfactory to both parties. The price submitted by North Carolina Driving School, Inc. is a firm price for the first year with an automatic increase of 2 percent each year that the option to renew is exercised.

D. First Reading – Policy JBC, School Admission

The consent agenda included a recommendation to approve for First Reading – Policy JBC, School Admission.

Motion was made by Walter Childs, seconded by Garth Hébert, to approve the consent agenda as presented. Consent agenda items A, D and E passed upon unanimous roll call vote. Consent agenda item B passed upon majority roll call vote of 9-to-2 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Nays – Darlene Garrett and Anita Sharpe.

Staff Reports
Approval of Recommended Name for New Northwest Area Elementary School
Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, presented to the board a recommendation to name the new northwest area elementary school E.P. Pearce Elementary School. If the name is approved, staff will move forward with appropriate efforts regarding signage, etc. At the January 25, 2007 board meeting, pursuant to the procedure on the naming of schools (FDCA-P), the project team working on the new northwest area elementary school put out a recommendation for naming the school.After reviewing the materials and hearing from several members of the public, the board voted to propose the name E.P. Pearce Elementary School.
In keeping with the procedure, the proposed name was posted on the district Web site for a period of public comment and feedback. Seventy-one comments were received: 69 in favor of E.P. Pearce, one in favor of Northwest Guilford Elementary School and one general comment.

General discussion regarding the school-naming process ensued.

Motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Anita Sharpe, to approve the use of the name
E.P. Pearce Elementary School for the new northwest area elementary school with authorization for staff to move forward with appropriate efforts requiring signage, etc. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 9-to-2 as follows: Ayes –Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Garth Hébert and Amos Quick.

Graduation Rate Data
Superintendent Grier provided an update on the graduation rate data reported by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The rates for Guilford County were initially reported to be 63 percent. This is the percentage of students who entered ninth grade five years ago and graduated last year. The state average was reported as 68 percent. The superintendent said that staff had great concerns about the accuracy of the GCS numbers. As a result, staff members have worked with the state and discovered errors. The correct graduation rate as of March 13 for GCS was 74 percent.

Eastern High School Update

Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, provided an update on the Eastern High School project. He shared information on several critical path elements, which are being closely monitored.

1. The demolition contractor, D. H. Griffin, has started the process of demolition and removal of debris from the site with completion expected in two to three weeks.
2. The site package includes grading and site clearing for both the modular village and the replacement school. The staff and architects as well as the CM at Risk contractor, Barnhill Contracting Company, have been working hard to keep the project on track. Barnhill held a pre-bid meeting on March 12, with heavy contractor participation at the meeting. Bids will be received on March 20. Mr. Lear requested that the board hold a special called meeting on or around March 22 to vote on approval of the bids to enable the contractor to move forward as soon as possible with the site work.
3. The modular village Contract and Lease Agreement was awarded to Modular Technologies, who has begun fabrication of the individual units with work proceeding on schedule.
4. Work on the replacement school is also on schedule. The architects, Shuller Ferris and Sharon Graber, are at the 75 percent design construction documents phase and anticipate completion of those construction documents at the end of April. The CM at Risk contractor, Barnhill, stated that the entire month of May will be needed to complete the award and bid process. Awarding of the bids is anticipated to occur in early June. The replacement school schedule remains on track for expected completion in January of 2009.

Construction Advisory Committee Membership, Scope and Purpose

Board member Anita Sharpe spoke on behalf of the Architect Selection Committee. At the board’s direction, this committee has developed a proposed framework for a Construction Advisory Committee (CAC). Information on the membership, purpose and scope was provided to the board. Ms. Sharpe noted that there were some changes in the membership list that had originally been presented to the board. Vice Chairman Amos Quick will be an ex officio member, with Chairman Alan Duncan and Vice Chair Amos Quick alternating as ex officio members. Board member Darlene Garrett will be the convenor. Board member Anita Sharpe will not be a sitting member of the committee. The recommended membership list is shown below.

Each term of membership is for two years, running from December to December. The current term ends in December 2008.

Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, presented to the board a recommendation from the Architect Selection Committee for approval of the membership, purpose and scope of the Construction Advisory Committee as follows:

Membership:
Gary Paul Kane, Affordable Housing Developer (Member)
Elana Muhammad, NCA&T Operations Department (Member)
Robert Powell, NCA&T Architect (Member)
Jeff Deal, Laughlin-Sutton Construction Co. (Member)
Mike Winstead, County Commissioner (Member)
Darlene Garrett, Board Member (Convener)
Alan Duncan, Board Member (Ex Officio Member) alternating with
Amos Quick, Board Member (Ex Officio Member)

Purpose:
To offer recommendations for improvement of the construction planning, design, budgeting, MWBE and bid process.

Scope:
Review the facilities planning, design, budgeting, Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) participation and bid process for each major capital construction project.

Motion was made by Walter Childs, seconded by Dot Kearns, for staff and an ad hoc committee of the board to work together and come back to the board with a recommendation in regard to composition and purpose for a stand-alone advisory committee to review and make recommendations for historically underutilized businesses (HUB). The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Nays - Anita Sharpe.

There was a motion to approve the membership, purpose and scope of the Construction Advisory Committee as stated above. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes –Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Nays – Anita Sharpe.

Guilford Primary—Newcomer Center Approval

Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer, Dr. Don Hare, executive director of federal and special programs and Mayra Hayes, director of ESL (English as a second language), presented to the board an update on the newcomer center that included an initial budget report.

Motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Dot Kearns, to go forward with the newcomer center for the fall of 2007 dependent upon our local funding body to set aside sufficient funds for this program. The motion passed upon unanimous electronic vote.

2005-06 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)

Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer, and Randy Brodd, auditor for Dixon Hughes, PLLC, presented information regarding the audit report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006. A complete copy of the report is included in the minutes file.

School Resource Officer (SRO) Alternatives

Superintendent Grier presented to the board an update on the SRO alternatives for middle and high schools. He stated that in 2001-02, Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes made a request to the Guilford County Commissioners that the money his department was spending for SROs be moved from the Guilford County Sheriff’s budget to the GCS budget. The majority of that money is currently being used for middle school SROs. GCS receives about 50 percent of the monies necessary to fund high school SROs from the state. If the board decides to give principals the option to fund alternatives other than SROs with these funds, the possibility that Sheriff Barnes would ask for that money back needs to be considered. The amount incorporated in the 2001-02 GCS budget was $955,057.

Chairman Duncan stated that there is a bill pending in the legislature for the state to begin funding a portion of middle school SROs. Superintendent Grier confirmed that a bill is being introduced to that effect. Chief Auxiliary Services Officer John Wright stated that his understanding is that the bill was to be introduced pursuant to the governor’s suggestion to fund one SRO per 1,000 secondary students. That introduction is currently pending.

Board member Deena Hayes led a discussion regarding the unacceptable number of juveniles involved in the judicial system. The request was made for the board to meet with school safety administrators and SROs to talk about this dilemma and what can be done to address it. Chairman Duncan stated that a meeting will be scheduled in April to study this issue.

Motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Anita Sharpe, to continue to fund SROs in middle and high schools.

A substitute motion was made by Garth Hébert, seconded by Deena Hayes, to continue to fund SROs in middle and high schools with a commitment to study the issue of fair and equitable discipline in all Guilford County schools and schedule a time to continue the discussion on increasing confidence in the schools that discipline is handled in a fair manner for all students. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 9-to-2 as follows: Ayes: Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays: Kris Cooke and Dot Kearns.

Bond Referendum Update

Joe Hill, facilities, presented to the board an update on the 2007 Bond Referendum. There was board discussion on the revised list of projects distributed by Mr. Hill.

Total                                               $           441,700,495
With Inflation                                 $           512,372,574                       Estimated at average of 16% - will need to adjust for individual projects

*Ragsdale would gain 610 seats from the existing Jamestown Middle School. This is not a net gain of new seats.
Projects Removed from List

Board member Anita Sharpe departed at 10:52 p.m.

Chairman Duncan advised each board member to create an individual prioritization list of projects keeping in mind that priorities one through three have already been set. The prioritized bond referendum project list will be discussed at the next board meeting.

Board Discussion

Proposed Legislative Action

The chairman called on board member Dot Kearns, convenor of the Legislative Committee, to lead the board in a discussion regarding bills currently under consideration by the General Assembly. The following bills were discussed to identify which bills the board supports:

SB 320 Statewide Certification of HUBs
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 65 Streamline School Construction Approval
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 73/SB 93 Improve State Construction Process
No action was taken on this bill.

HB 77/SB 3 Promote Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency
No action was taken on this bill.

HB 9/SB 2 School Capital Fund Formula/Lottery Proceeds
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to oppose this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 86 Charter Schools Get Lottery Funds
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to oppose this bill by a majority show of hands of 9-to-1 as follows: Ayes - Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Nays – Garth Hébert.

HB 12 Students Ineligible for Special Education/Protection
No action was taken on the bill.

HB 13 Alternative Programs/Students with Disabilities
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 14 Homebound Instruction for Disabled Students
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 15 Textbooks and Assignments on Short-Term
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 17 Study Services for Students with Disabilities in High School
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 18 Define Residence for Students with Special Needs
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 19 Positive Behavior Support Coordinator
Board members voted against the staff’s recommendation and opposed this bill by a majority show of hands of 7-to-3 as follows: Nays – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Ayes – Kris Cooke, Darlene Garrett and Dot Kearns.

HP 20 Homebound Instruction Standards
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to oppose this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HP 26 Study/Teacher Preparation Programs
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a majority show of hands of 7-to-3 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns and Amos Quick; Nays – Alan Duncan, Garth Hébert and Nancy Routh.

SB 161 Test High School Athletes for Steroids
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to oppose this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 140 Study of Principal Compensation
The board’s show of hands vote of 5-to-5 failed to support staff’s recommendation for support of this bill as follows: Ayes – Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns and Amos Quick; Nays – Jeff Belton, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Garth Hébert and Nancy Routh.

HB 158 Add Step to Teacher Salary Schedule
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to support this bill by a unanimous show of hands.

HB 138 Principals May Retain NBPTS Bonus
Board members voted in agreement with the staff’s recommendation to oppose this bill by a majority show of hands of 9-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Nays – Dot Kearns.

Board Comments

Board members were each allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deemed appropriate.

Adjournment

With no further business, at 11:48 p.m. motion was made by Darlene Garrett, seconded by Deena Hayes, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.