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Guilford County Board of Education |
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GUILFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION |
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Tuesday, December 4, 2007 |
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The Guilford County Board of Education met in a regular meeting on Tuesday, December 4, 2007, at 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The following board members were present: Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke (joined via conference call at 7:25 p.m.), Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert (arrived at 7:52 p.m.), Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe. Also present were Superintendent Terry Grier and Attorney Jill Wilson. Call to Order Election of Board Chairman and Vice Chairman Chairman Duncan opened the floor for nominations to the Vice-Chairman position. Board member Anita Sharpe, seconded by Deena Hayes, nominated Amos Quick. With no other nominations the board, via acclamation, unanimously elected Amos Quick as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Education. RecognitionsGCS Employee of the Month for December 2007 GCS Volunteer of the Month for December 2007 C. Recognition of Arts Educators D. Fall Sports State Champions Northwest High won its first Women’s State 4A Golf Championship this year by defeating runner-up Gastonia Ashbrook and the rest of the 12-team field by four shots at Keith Hills Country Club in Buies Creek in the two-day state tournament. Members of the team are: Samantha Bonham, Lisa Lundegard, Kirkland Morgan, Austin Johns, Shannon Prunty and Brianna Clemmons. Northwest is coached by Anthony Long. Page High defeated East Chapel Hill 5-1 on Saturday, November 3 at the Burlington Tennis Center to finish another perfect season (20-0) and win their fourth straight Women’s 4A Tennis State Championship and 79th consecutive match without a loss. In addition, two members of the team, Jennifer Ansari and Jennifer Stone, won the State 4A Individual Doubles Championship just the week before. Members of the Page State Championship team are: Melissa Addington, Jennifer Ansari, Nina Dimaguila, Lillian Evans, Caroline Forman, Elizabeth Garvey, Alex Grimm, Hannah Kenney, Melaney Martin, Samantha Morrison, Caroline Newman, Christin Newman, Madison Owsley, Laura Rolke, Christiane Ruggiero, Jennifer Stone and Greer Wendling. Page is coached by Bruce Lanier. Public Comments
At this time, board member Kris Cooke entered the meeting via telephone conference. Approval of Agenda Chairman Duncan asked that the meeting agenda under Staff Reports be reordered as follows: Magnet Grant Implementation, Bond Referendum, Academic Improvement Update, Report on STARS (Students and Teachers Achieving Results) Team Visits, Approval of the Proposed 2008-09 Academic Calendar, Contractual Agreement with Samet Corporation for Pre-Construction Services at Union Hill Elementary School. Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Dot Kearns, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote. Consent Agenda A. November 2007 Meeting Minutes B. Personnel Action Reports C. Budget Amendments and Transfers State Public School Fund Amendment #1 reflects:
Local Current Expense Fund Amendment #1 reflects:
Federal Grant Fund Amendment #1 reflects:
Capital Outlay Fund Amendment #1 reflects:
After School Care Enrichment Services (ACES) #1 reflects:
D. First Reading – Policy JBC, School Admission E. NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Right-of-Way Encroachment Agreement for Water Tap, Eastern High School The Atlantic Coast Conference has developed a school day game curriculum in conjunction with Guilford County teachers that follows the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This school day game curriculum was put in place for the 2005 Tournament and has been updated each year. All available activity buses will be used, but the current activity bus fleet is not large enough to cover the requests for transportation. Board member Nancy Routh reported that Policy JBC, School Admission was brought back to the board as a result of the legislature making a change in the admission date for kindergarten children which goes into effect in 2009-10 stating that all kindergarten students must meet the requirement of being age five on or before August 31. In order to provide this information in a timely manner, the following wording was added to the policy: “Pre-Kindergarten: Beginning in the 2008-09 school year, all students meeting the pre-kindergarten requirements for entry must be four years of age on or before August 31.” Changes have also been made in the accompanying procedure to this policy (JBC-P). Board member Dot Kearns asked for clarification of the school improvement targets for High School Ahead. Dr. David Roper, executive director for Saturn, explained that since High School Ahead is a new program this year, target goals were set for improvement comparing the students’ discipline, attendance and academic performance from last year when they were middle schoolers to targeted improvements for the 2007-08 year as High School Ahead students. Board member Darlene Garrett asked about guidelines regarding the goal to reduce school suspensions by 10 percent. Dr. Roper explained that the goal is not simply to reduce the number of suspensions, but to put in place alternatives and other options to out-of-school suspensions and to have the support mechanism in place so that there will be less occasion where it is necessary for out-of-school suspensions. Superintendent Terry Grier said that the strategy to achieve this goal is not to tell principals not to suspend students. It is a goal to reduce out-of-school suspension by providing services such as additional counseling, additional involvement with parents, a school that is interesting and exciting and small class sizes averaging 15-1. Strategies have been put in place to improve students’ behavior in order to have less need for suspensions. However, there will still be instances where suspensions will be appropriate. Board member Amos Quick expressed concern regarding an elementary school in District 9 that is experiencing some turmoil with its leadership and that the board has not been given any information to address it. Mr. Quick stated he did not want to provide specifics at the board meeting. Chief Human Resources Officer Peggy Thompson said there is a plan for that school and that an experienced administrator will be going into that school for the remainder of the year. She also stated that there is a process in place which includes having the academic improvement office send messages home to the parent community. Mr. Quick asked that board members be notified of these types of situations so they are prepared when receiving calls from the community. Dr. Thompson assured him that her office will place calls to board members to provide them with timely information so board members are prepared to address parent and community questions or concerns. Motion was made by Walter Childs, seconded by Deena Hayes, to approve the consent agenda as presented. Items A, C and D passed upon unanimous roll call vote. Item B passed upon majority roll call vote of 6-to-4 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Dot Kearns and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh. Item E passed upon majority roll call vote of 9-0-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Abstain – Alan Duncan. Item F passed upon majority roll call vote of 9-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Nancy Routh. Item G passed upon majority roll call vote of 9-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Darlene Garrett. Staff Reports Magnet Grant Implementation Update Information on the magnet grant was requested by board members at the November 26, 2007 board of education administrative session regarding capacity utilization information, weight pool information and feeder areas for schools. There are various currently-existing programs being duplicated for the 2008-09 school year. One is the Middle School Science and Technology Program that is currently housed at Aycock. That program will be replicated at Welborn Science and Technology. A map is included with the board materials outlining the proposed feeder areas for Aycock as well as Welborn. There are also elementary school level International Baccalaureate (IB) programs at Falkener as well as at Northwood. The IB program already existing at Falkener would be duplicated at Northwood IB. Two new IB programs being proposed at the middle school level are at Hairston and Ferndale. Staff has already met with the teachers at Ferndale to listen to their ideas or concerns. The administration at Ferndale plans to meet with parents to address concerns expressed regarding the additional instructional time that was part of the magnet grant for Ferndale. The aviation program at Andrews High will be a county-wide magnet. Therefore, all students will have access to that program. Dr. Becoats said all students will benefit from the magnet programs in schools such as Ferndale and Hairston. There is no plan for creating a school within a school. Students who live outside the boundary can request access to the program by completing the application process. If seats are available, they will be able to take advantage of the program. All students who live in the home school area for these magnet programs will be able to access the programs. Board member Darlene Garrett talked about some Ferndale parents’ concerns in regard to the proposed 20 additional days of instruction. Dr. Becoats explained that under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, if a school has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for five consecutive years, the school must be reconstituted. Some of the measures which could be taken at the school include changing the curriculum, removing the principal and/or actually cleaning out the entire school of its staff and rehiring everyone. These are just some of the options available when addressing reconstitution. He stated that comments and concerns from Ferndale parents will be taken into account, but ultimately GCS must make sure that all students in all schools are successful. Ms. Garrett suggested that staff look at the possibility of offering some type of meaningful summer school enrichment program for those extra 20 days. She proposed that the students who do not make proficiency on their end-of-grade tests could be required to attend. Superintendent Grier stated that this additional 20 days is part of the original magnet grant. He said that it may be something that the parents have heard about for the first time, but board members, the principal and certain segments of the faculty were aware of this. Research had been shared that showed the benefits of an extended school year, and there was board discussion on this. Also shared with the board was a study out of Baltimore which attributed two-thirds of the achievement gap occurring in that city and in many other cities to be the result of the academic loss that occurs over the long summer break. He also reminded the board that there has been mandatory summer school at Ferndale for five years requiring students who are Level I and II in the district to attend. He said that staff is interested in hearing all parental concerns but reiterated that the law states that if that school does not make AYP the following year and two other years, staff and the board will have no control over what happens to the school. It could be among the first group of schools in North Carolina that are taken over by the state, by charter schools or by some other entity whereby GCS would have no control over the school. Board member Garth Hébert arrived at 7:52 p.m. In response to questions from board member Walter Childs, discussion followed regarding attendance areas, which students can attend specific magnet schools, information on the application process as well as opt-out schools and procedures. There was additional discussion regarding feeder patterns and a request for estimated attendance numbers and seats at specific schools, as well as for an estimate of the cost for transportation. Board members stated that they would like to participate in the meeting with Ferndale parents and staff to hear their thoughts and/or concerns. Dr. Becoats will confirm a date for this meeting and notify board members. The importance of clear and timely communication with schools and parents was stressed. Chairman Duncan asked that this item be brought back to the board in order for staff to present a school-by-school evaluation and division plan. A board vote on the district boundaries will be deferred until that time. Bond Referendum Board member Nancy Routh stated her concerns regarding the constant growth around Jamestown and the existing Allen Jay school and is concerned about building the new school too small. She asked the board to consider that the school be built as proposed for the 1,200 students and on the land already secured, renovate Allen Jay after the new Jamestown Middle is completed and consider using it as a sixth-grade academy that would serve the students who were assigned to the Jamestown district. As a result there would be no need for re-districting. She deferred to staff to make the decision on whether it would be best to house the autism wing at Ragsdale High as originally proposed. Mr. Hill recommended Ragsdale as being the best location should Jamestown Middle be built for the 1,200 student capacity. Board member Anita Sharpe agreed with Dr. Routh’s analysis of the situation. She spoke about autism wings in the district stating that there is one in Jamestown, one in the southeast and one in the northwest area of the county and expressed concerns that there is not an autism wing to serve students in the northeast area. Chairman Duncan talked about the possibility of including a fourth autism wing in the county in a future bond referendum. There was additional discussion regarding possible autism wing locations and the price of land in specific areas of the county. Chairman Duncan summarized high school information on the proposed project list:
Chairman Duncan said that Smith has also received some recent relief with the board’s support of the Academy at Smith, which is anticipated to open shortly. There was additional discussion regarding the cost to put the autism wing at Jamestown Middle versus the cost to put it at Ragsdale High. Chairman Duncan questioned whether the renovation of Jameson Stadium at Grimsley High should be broken out and moved in priority with other athletic improvements. Following discussion, there was board consensus to keep the renovation as part of the Grimsley High project item. The following project list was proposed:
Motion was made by Garth Hébert, seconded by Jeff Belton, to adopt the projects proposed for the May 2008 Bond Referendum as presented moving the Jamestown Middle Autism Wing to Ragsdale High at a cost of $8,505,330 (including inflation) and to propose this to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners as modified with the project total being $457,315,199 (including inflation). The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 8-to-3 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes and Amos Quick. Board members Kris Cooke and Garth Hébert departed the meeting at 9:56 p.m. Academic Improvement Update Report on STARS (Students and Teachers Achieving Results) Team Visits Dr. Michael Fullan and his associates helped GCS create and train a STARS team in each school. Teachers were appointed to these teams by the principal to champion efforts to improve instruction and student results. Members were trained in leading change, promoting teamwork and collaboration, dealing with conflict and in effective instructional strategies, including cooperative learning, graphic organizers and differentiation. The idea was that these teacher leaders would first implement these strategies in their own classrooms and then become trainers and coaches for their colleagues in using these instructional strategies. Some schools maintained a solid core of trained STARS team members, while others (primarily our Title I and high poverty schools) experienced so much turnover that each year was starting over for them. This caused some difficulties in providing training that would simultaneously meet the needs of veteran and new STARS team members. Last year instructional improvement officers and curriculum and organizational development leaders worked cooperatively with the Fullan trainers to re-emphasize the core purpose of STARS teams to create a professional learning community. With formative assessment staff, the instructional improvement officers studied and worked with the Data Wise improvement process developed at Harvard with the Boston Public Schools, which provided a structured improvement process and protocols (structured planning and reflection processes) to assist teacher teams in collaborating to use data to improve instructional practices. Elizabeth City, one of the co-authors of Data Wise, trained all principals at the Summer Principals’ Leadership Institute in the Data Wise improvement process, and the instructional improvement officers continue to use the Data Wise process in their ongoing leadership development of principals and assistant principals. Formative assessment staff also refer to and utilize the Data Wise process in training teachers on how to analyze and then use assessment results to address their students’ learning needs. At the beginning of this year Superintendent Terry Grier challenged the principals and their STARS teams to take the next step in developing a professional learning community by “benchmarking” their own improvement strategies with other schools in our district. While schools were increasing teacher collaboration within their buildings, Dr. Grier wanted them to experience the importance of reaching outside their building to consider what other schools were doing to improve instruction and student learning. This concept of benchmarking against effective practices in other schools is a core component of professional learning communities. The instructional improvement officers and Executive Accountability and Research Officer Gongshu Zhang collaborated to pair schools together, sometimes building on existing partnerships, and at other times pairing schools with similar characteristics or with schools getting better results in some areas than the partner school. Dr. Grier provided funding for substitutes, and each school was asked to schedule an onsite visit with their partner school. The instructional improvement officers also designed and trained principals in using a protocol for their visit, which assisted each school in developing a focus for what they hoped to observe. Information was provided on pairings and STARS team visits that have officially occurred. However, in many cases principals have reported that this experience has encouraged them and their teachers to initiate visiting other schools in the district and state, to see what they are doing and be better informed to address their own improvement efforts. A principal and STARS team member from the following paired schools shared their experiences in visiting a sister school and how they have used that experience to inform their own improvement efforts: Smith and Weaver High Schools, Mendenhall and Southwest Middle Schools and Hunter and Peeler Elementary Schools. Approval of the Proposed 2008-09 Academic Calendar Alan Duncan expressed concern regarding designation of snow days with his preference that spring break days should be used as snow days. Motion was made by Darlene Garrett, seconded by Deena Hayes, to approve the Guilford County Schools 2008-09 Academic Calendar as presented. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 7-to-2 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Alan Duncan, Dot Kearns. Contractual Agreement with Samet Corporation for Pre-Construction Services at Union Hill Elementary School Board member Deena Hayes said she believes there may be some confusion with Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) practice and policy in regard to bidders providing Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) participation information. She referenced an e-mail sent from board member Darlene Garrett stating that Ms. Garrett had information from several facilities employees that the practice has been to allow bidders to submit HUB information 72 hours after they have been awarded the bid or after they have had to submit other documents. Mr. Bobadilla stated that the procedures allow the apparent lowest responsible, responsive bidder to make additions to or deletions within the 72-hour statutory timeframe; however, such additions or deletions must be accompanied by a written justification for such changes. Ms. Hayes said that board member Nancy Routh told her that the policy says that bidders must include HUB information with their submission and then would have 72 hours to make changes. Chief Finance Officer Sharon Ozment said that prior to the strategic plan being presented to the board, bidders were allowed to submit bids and later submit the MWBE participation within 72 hours. A change was later made and presented to the board which would require that MWBE information be submitted with the bid and that there would be no 72-hour period available to make changes. As a result, the board asked staff to schedule two sessions with minority and majority contractors to get their ideas regarding the strategic plan. The sessions were held at Smith and High Point Central during January, 2007. The contractors requested that if MWBE information is required at the time of the bid submission that the apparent low bidder be allowed to increase or decrease their MWBE participation within a 72-hour timeframe, contingent upon their providing justification as to why they were making the adjustment. Dr. Routh stated that the board voted on March 29, 2007 to approve Policy DK with this requested change included in the accompanying procedure. Ms. Ozment said she believes that part of the confusion may be in regard to bids submitted prior to March 29, 2007, when bidders were allowed the 72 hours after the initial bid to submit their MWBE participation data. She believes staff has been consistently following the revised procedures for all bids received after the March 29 board adoption of Policy DK. As a result, this procedure would be applicable to Union Hill and to the Eastern Guilford High bids that were received. Chairman Duncan asked that staff present factual information regarding what has occurred since March 29, 2007 to determine if GCS has acted outside the new policy. This will allow the addressing of any issue that may exist or provide confirmation that correct procedures have been followed consistently. Mr. Bobadilla assured board members that his and Executive Director of Facilities Andy LaRowe’s intentions are to ensure that the practices and the procedures are aligned going forward into the future including here at Union Hill Elementary. Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Jeff Belton, to award a contract to Samet Corporation for Pre-Construction services at Union Hill Elementary School in the amount of $72,230. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 8-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays - Deena Hayes. Reports from the ChairmanLegislative Committee Recovery Analysis – Eastern Guilford High Fire Guilford County Board of Education has now accepted a full and final settlement of the available insurance proceeds for Eastern Guilford High. The total amount recovered was $17,632,438.16. That amount is broken down below, representing a number of sub-limits which were paid to the maximum amount available, but which were totally insufficient to rebuild the school. Examples of insufficient sub-limits include:
The total value of the building structure pre-fire was $16,169,935. GCS recovered a total of $14,211,349.71. The cafeteria wing was deemed salvageable but was not suitable for reuse and incorporation into a new facility suitable to the current student population. The one story vocational building was of substantial value and is being incorporated into the new wing. The HVAC, chiller, piping, cooling tower, main electrical switchgear, shut-offs, boilers, transformers and a number of the plumbing fixtures were salvaged. The total value of the reused and salvaged property is very material. Not insured were the walkways, parking lots, sewer systems, underground wiring, below ground piping and any paved areas. Footings and any other items underground were not encompassed in the insuring of the “building” nor were any other site work areas. The contents Claim was agreed to nearly in total and GCS feels confident it was appropriately compensated for those losses of $3,122,180.29. Unfortunately, because of the necessity of recovering much of the contents in time to continue operating on two campuses, some of the expense of purchasing replacement materials may have been higher in actuality than they would have been if a school was being planned over a number of years. However, we are pleased with the contents recovery. Statement of Loss and Damage
Chairman Duncan asked for a breakdown which will show capital recovery and operational expense incurred. Board Comments Board members were each allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deemed appropriate. Adjournment With no further business, at 11:14 p.m., motion was made by Amos Quick, seconded by Deena Hayes, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote. |
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In compliance with federal laws, Guilford County Schools administers all educational programs, employment activities and admissions without discrimination because of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, color, age, military service, disability or gender, except where exemption is appropriate and allowed by law. Refer to the Board of Education's Discrimination Free Environment Policy AC for a complete statement. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the Guilford County Schools Compliance Officer, 120 Franklin Boulevard, Greensboro, NC 27401; 336.370.2323. All Guilford County Schools facilities, both educational and athletic, are tobacco-free learning environments. © 2007 Guilford County Schools, 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, NC 27401 336.370.8100 |
