School Board Meeting Room
Dr.
David Anderson
Vicki
Davis, Chair
Susan
Hershey, Vice-Chair
Laurie
Gaylord
Lorie
Shekailo
Dr.
Sara A. Wilcox, Superintendent
Tom
Elfers, Board Attorney
Matt
Rudling, Student Representative (SFHS)
None
Hank
Salzler, Lori McWilliams, Helene Baxter, Delores Calloway, Stacey Chados, Dr.
Joyce Holmes, John Klatt, Darrell Miller, Darla Miloszewski, Louise Piper, Dr.
Frank Raffone, Al Fabrizio, Jane Buss, Molly Kisse, Peggy Mannering, Dan
Alley, Vicki Alley, Missy Campbell, Mary Slavin, Mark
Thompson, Jim McCombs, Mike Dailey, Stan Kemp, Bonnie Barnard, Ginger
Featherstone, Nancy Marin, Mike Chatham, John Wakeman,
Mary Giandalone
June
Britt, Peter Rausch, Priscilla Hitchcock, Morgan Duran,
Nicholas LaConte, Carol Agrow,
Katie Agrow
Press PBPost – Rani Gupta Stuart
News – Kelly Tyko
MCEA – Jeanette Phillips / Dianne Falvo AFSCME – No Representation
Call
to Order by the Chairman at
1. Adoption
of the Agenda:*
A. Additions, Deletions or Amendments to
the Agenda
Mrs. Davis pointed out Item 16 has been stricken from the
agenda; there were no other addition, deletions or amendments.
B. Approval of the Agenda
Dr. Anderson moved approval of the Agenda as modified,
Mrs. Shekailo seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.
2. Approval of the Minutes:*
Mrs. Hershey moved approval of the 1/20/04 Regular
Meeting Minutes, Mrs. Gaylord seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.
3. Recognitions:* None
4. Presentations:*
A. Presentation of Appreciation to June
Britt of the
Mr. Mike Dailey presented Ms. June Britt of the
5. Open
to the Public:*
§
Bonnie Barnard, a SeaWind Elementary School teacher,
presented the School Board Members and Superintendent with Steven Covey’s book
“Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”.
She discussed the concept by Mr. Covey where he refers to an old fable,
“The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg”. He
suggests that employers approach their employees with tender loving care and
provided them with every comfort and consideration possible due to the high
value of their ability to produce.
Teachers are the geese that produce the golden eggs – the students, who
year after year out perform almost every other
§
Missy Campbell, teacher at
§
Debbie Brown, teacher at Palm City Elementary,
discussed the MCEA website survey.
§
Vicky Alley invited the Board and Superintendent to
look at their website, www.themcea.org
and spoke of the sentiments being made to their survey.
§
Tom Higgins, a South Fork High School teacher, stated
that MCEA, through research, has determined there are additional available
funds to be placed into teacher salaries and asked the Board to reconsider and
settle the contract. Secondly, he asked
the Board to participate in the negotiation process next year if
permissible.
§
Debbie Hutchins, Warfield Elementary teacher, voiced
concern that the instructional aides can not settle until after the teacher’s
union settles. She provided an example
of how students perform based on their current attitudes and paralleled it to
how teachers perform when they feel respected.
§
Amy Marszewski, a new
teacher in the district with her Masters Degree, spoke of her past experience
and how she is unable to afford to live in
§
Nicholas LaConte, a Crystal
Lake Elementary student, addressed the School Board about teacher salaries.
§
Priscilla Hitchcock, a Martin County High School
parent, asked the School Board to allow her son to remain at Martin County High
School rather than attend Jensen Beach High School due to the new school not
offering the Air Force ROTC program. Her
son’s driving force is to attend the
§
Morgan Duran, elementary SAC parent at Hobe Sound
Elementary, became aware that their school hosts ESOL and Adult Ed programs
during school hours and voiced concern with adults being allowed on campus during
school hours. She does not want these
students interacting with her children.
§
Carol Agrow, a parent,
discussed teacher salaries and feels teachers should be compensated for the
high test scores and “A” schools.
§
Katie Agrow, a
6. Removal
of Items from the Consent Agenda:* None
7. Approve
Consent Agenda:*
Dr. Anderson moved approval of the Consent
Agenda, Mrs. Hershey seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.
8. CONSENT
AGENDA
A. 03/04 FY Attendance Zones:* (COPY ATTACHED)
B. Requests:*
1. Use of Facilities:* (COPY ATTACHED)
2. Field Trips / Use of Buses / Vehicles:*
(COPY ATTACHED)
C. New Agreements:*
1. Approve Cooperative Financial Agreement
between the School Board of
D. Renewal
Agreements:*
1. Approve Agreement between the School
Board of
2. Approve Interlocal Agreement between the
E. Renewal Grants:*
1. Approve 2004
G. Approve Disposal of Surplus Equipment:* (COPY
ATTACHED)
H. Personnel Items:*
1. Schedule of Personnel Recommendations (COPY ATTACHED)
2. Leaves Authorized by the Superintendent (COPY ATTACHED)
9. Items
Removed from the Agenda:* None
10. Construction:*
A. Change
Orders
1. Approve
Change Order #1 to reduce Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) to the Morganti Group,
Inc. by $11,552,840 as a result of Direct Material Purchases for
Dr.
Anderson moved approval of Item 10-A-1, Mrs. Gaylord seconded and the motion
carried unanimously. Dr. Anderson commented on the savings to the district as a result of
this Change Order. Mrs. Davis clarified
that it has actually saved the district $600,000 in tax savings and would be
used towards the athletic fields and concession stands at the new high
school.
11. Finance:*
Mrs. Gaylord moved approval of Item 11, Dr. Anderson seconded, and the
item was opened for discussion. Mrs.
Shekailo asked Ms. Miloszewski if the projected “Ending Fund Balance” is
$3,587,371.29 and asked if the “Class Size Reduction” money that has not yet
been spent on hiring teachers, has been appropriated to go towards the salary
proposal currently on the table; Ms. Miloszewski advised that is correct. She further asked if the “Ending Fund
Balance” would be decreased if the salary proposal was increased and was
advised that is correct and is not reoccurring dollars. She asked what the recommendation is for an
“Ending Fund Balance” and Ms. Miloszewski explained the Auditor General highly
recommended districts maintain at least 5%, but since the State cut two years
ago, they have let this go a little but not much. Ms. Shekailo noted that the district is below
the recommended 5%. Ms. Miloszewski
explained the fund balance helps to prevent lay offs should there need to be
cuts. Ms. Shekailo asked if there is any
funding, either increases or decreases, in revenue coming forward and Ms.
Miloszewski stated the property tax collection usually yields a little extra
money (1%) and are not included at this time because they are told not to
budget the extra as a normal item because it can increase or decrease based on
tax collector discounts and the Value Adjustment Board.
Mrs.
Davis reviewed the Auditor General’s comparisons throughout the counties and
stated there would be a proposal before the Legislature recommending at least a
4% - 5% statewide/districtwide during this session
and Ms. Miloszewski agreed. The motion carried unanimously.
A. Approve
Purchase Orders / Contracts (COPY ATTACHED)
B. Approve
General Fund Budget Amendment #04-106 (COPY ATTACHED)
C. Approve
Capital Fund Budget Amendment #04-306 (COPY ATTACHED)
D. Approve
Food Service Fund Budget Amendment #04-4105 (COPY ATTACHED)
E. Approve
Special Revenue Fund Budget Amendment #04-4206 (COPY ATTACHED)
12. Bid Recommendations:*
A. Authorize Renewal of Bid
1. MCSB Bid #96707 – Uniform Rental
Laundry Service (COPY ATTACHED)
Mrs. Hershey
moved approval of Item 12-A-1, Mrs. Gaylord seconded, and the motion carried
unanimously.
13. Approve
Dr. Anderson moved approval of Item 13, Mrs.
Hershey seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. Mrs. Shekailo thanked Ms. Chados for her hard
work and appreciates her guidance.
14. Approve
Mrs. Davis asked about the timeline and stated this
is being completed as a three county consortium, with Martin partnering with
St. Lucie and
15. Approve
Addendum to Master In-Service Plan:* (COPY ATTACHED)
Mrs. Hershey moved approval of Item 15, Mrs. Gaylord
seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.
16. Update
on Strategic Plan Goal III:* - Dr. Frank Raffone (Ex. to follow)
17. Open to
the Board:*
A. Cancel the April 6, 2004 School Board
Meeting (falls during Spring Break)
Dr.
Wilcox
Announced that the district settled
the contract with AFSCME this evening and clarified that the instructional
aides will receive their increases.
She introduced Al Fabrizio as
the new Assistant Principal at
Mrs.
Featherstone
Stated she is excited to have Mr. Rausch on board and
reviewed his impressive credentials. Mr.
Rauch commented on his new position and voiced his excitement.
Matt
Rudling
Updated the Board on upcoming high
school activities and events. He announced Matt Jones, of South Fork High
School, received the Governor’s All Star Award, which requires a high GPA,
strong involvement in sports, and a great deal of community service. He will have lunch with the Governor at the
Governor’s Mansion. He thanked the
teachers for the hard work they do and stated it does reflect within the
community.
Dr.
Wilcox
Announced she received a call from the Commissioner of
Education Friday announcing that Matt would be recognized at the State meeting
in
Mrs.
Shekailo
Congratulated Matt on his honor and reminded the Board
that Matt will be honored at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon as Student of the
Month. She thanked Ms. Miloszewski and
Betty Hickox for working her through the budget
information and taking her with them to the Florida Finance Officers
Association Roundtable.
Mrs.
Gaylord
Congratulated Matt and welcomed Mr. Rausch
aboard. She attended the Literacy
Conference at Florida Atlantic University with the Superintendent. She stated they did not get much direction
regarding “No Child Left Behind” and that is what they were looking to achieve
from the conference. The Hobe Sound
Chamber of Commerce is holding their Arts Fest this weekend.
Mrs.
Hershey
Attended the Federal Relations
Network Conference for the
Mrs. Davis asked if our Senators and Congressman are supportive
of the elimination of these Medicaid funds and Mrs. Hershey explained
Congressman Foley and Senator Nelson are supportive of not eliminating the
funds.
Dr. Wilcox commented that when the school lunch audit
is done, one thing they look for is to ensure that Federal funds are not used
for any other purpose other than for food service and they are not dollars that
have flexibility. Dr. Wilcox feels all
the No Child Left Behind Plans should be changed and
should be consistent in order to have comparability among states and would like
the Florida Plan modified to allow for more numbers in the sub-groups. Mrs. Hershey stated there are currently 30
sub-groups with considerations being made for 50; Dr. Wilcox would like them to
look at the proficiency levels. She
discussed the ESE students with disabilities being another area of concern and
looking at the expectations of having to meet the same criteria, but also
district-wide you can only test 1% of the students at every grade level on an
alternative assessment. If you test more
than 1% and those students are proficient, they will be considered “not
proficient” as far as No Child Left Behind is concerned.
Dr.
Wilcox
Advised the district received notification, that on
appeal, an additional four schools that made AYP bringing the total of seven
schools meeting AYP.
Dr.
Anderson
Congratulated Mr. Fabrizio and Mr. Rausch on their new appointments. He was
impressed with the two students that spoke before the Board. He voiced concern with inadequate statements
being made about the Board regarding teacher negotiations and spoke of his high
respect for teachers. He stated the
Board must do the right thing for the right reason.
Dr.
Wilcox
Discussed how the School Board lobbied the Legislature
to distribute the Class Size Reduction monies equitably rather than based on
need so districts that addressed lower class sizes prior to the amendment would
not be penalized. She spoke about her
interview with the Home Town News and explained the district supports the
equity of the distribution of the funding so that eventually the district would
create a better balance and more funds would go into salaries for
employees. This will take a few years
for that to happen. She informed the
Board that in their packet there is a statement from the Department of
Education stating the Class Size Reduction funds have been used appropriately
and within the legal use of Class Size Reduction funding. Also, there is a survey the Department of
Education prepared in December on how each county spent their Class Size
Reduction money. Further included in the
packet of information is a State ranking of teacher salaries (2002-2003 Florida
Average Teacher Salary Ranked by County – 13 counties have yet to settle
2003-2004 contracts). She explained
Martin County ranked 12th in the State in Florida average teacher
salaries ranked by County. Staff would
be preparing a fact sheet to provide additional information.
Mrs.
Davis
Will be in Washington, DC for a SERVE Board of
Director meeting and will follow up with the items Mrs. Hershey brought
forward. She had positive feedback from
the Concurrency Workshop. Thanked Mrs.
Barnard for her gift and stated the issue is not being taken lightly. She complimented Nicholas on his comments to
the Board.
There
being no further business to bring before the Board, the meeting was adjourned
at 8:20 p.m.
_______________________________
CHAIR (Vicki Davis)
_______________________________
SECRETARY
(Sara A. Wilcox, Ph.D.)