SMITHVILLE I.S.D. BOARD BRIEFS
MARCH 26, 2002 

The Smithville I.S.D. Board of Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 beginning at 6:00 P.M.  Items discussed or acted on by members included the following:

 1.       Recognition of outstanding students from the fourth six weeks – The Board recognized the outstanding students for the fourth six weeks from the junior high and high school campuses.   Representing the junior high was eighth grader Amelia Fritz, daughter of Randy and Holly Fritz.  High school recipients were J. W. Breeden, sophomore son of Dinah and Charles Breeden, and Christin Snyder, freshman daughter of David and Cammie Snyder.  Congratulations to all!

 2.       Recognition of power-lifting state qualifiers – Coach Ken Moree was present at the board meeting to introduce his power-lifters who qualified for state to the Board for recognition.  They were Jeffrey Kahanek and Angelica Salazar.  We are very proud of the outstanding accomplishments of both of these students.

 3.       Communications from the Public – There were no public communications.

      Consent Agenda – Peggy Walicek motioned to approve Items 4 through 9, with the revision of the minutes, on the    Consent Agenda.  Mike Morgan seconded, and the motion carried 7-0.  The Consent Agenda included the following:

4.       Minutes of the February 18, 2002 regular board meeting and the February 25, 2002 special board meeting.
5.      Disbursements for the month of February 2002
6.      Financial Statements for February 2002
7.      Investment Report
8.      Tax Collection Report
9.      Budget Amendment

 10.  Preliminary TAAS Testing Report - High School students took the EXIT TAAS tests on February 19th, 20th, and 21st.  Sophomores and any junior or senior that has not already passed the TAAS EXIT tests were tested.  Athena Caroselli presented the Board with the preliminary results of the reading and math portions of the tests, and answered Board questions as well.

 11.  Construction Status Report – The superintendent has been preparing monthly construction status reports in order to keep the Board and the community informed about construction progress.  This report was included in the board packet. 

 12.  Discussion on hiring vacant employee positions – Due to the resignation of high school principal Athena Caroselli, the District will be hiring a new principal for the 2002-2003 school year.  As the District is also in the process of a superintendent search, Interim Superintendent Charlie Uselton felt that it was necessary to get the opinion of the Board as to whether we should proceed with the principal search at this time or wait for the new superintendent.  After discussion among the Board, it was their general opinion that the District should wait until we name a finalist for superintendent to begin the interview process for high school principal.

 At this time, the Board moved to agenda item #17.

 17.      Consideration of bids and contracts for resinous flooring and bleachers at the new high school site - The proposals for the new High School were opened on January 22, 2002 and were awarded at the February 11, 2002 board meeting with the exception of the resinous floor and the outdoor bleachers, which were rejected and were recommended for re-bidding.  Sam Best, construction manager for the District, presented the Board with these two bids for approval.  Mike Wittrock made a motion to award the bid for resinous flooring to StonHard for $32,883 and for angle frame bleachers to Schultz Industries for $119,997.  Mike Davis seconded, and the motion carried 7-0.

 The Board then moved to agenda item #16.

16.      Consideration of alternate #3-Finish out of Vocational Building at New High School - The proposals for the New High School were opened on January 22, 2002 and were awarded at the February 11, 2002 board meeting.  The pricing for Alternate #3, the finish out of the Voc-Ag building, was #381,726.00.  The board directed the construction manager, architect, engineer, and school district staff to examine the building and generate cost cutting ideas.   The above team members met on March 8, 2002 to come up with ideas to reduce the cost.  Sam Best, our construction manager, along with project manager Steve Rogers and architect George Austria were present at the board meeting to provide the Board with the results of that meeting.  After discussion, Craig Williams motioned to table agenda item #16 until the April 8, 2002 special board meeting.  Peggy Walicek seconded, and the motion carried 7-0.

 The Board recessed at 8:13 p.m. and returned at 8:22 p.m.  They then moved to agenda item #13.

13.      Nurse’s report for all campuses – Laurie Boles, R.N., school nurse, provided the Board with a monthly report of cases seen through the nurse’s office at all campuses for the month of February.

 14.      Tentative April Agenda Items – The tentative items to be included in the April meeting are:

      a.       Student Transfer Requests
b.      Board Self Evaluation
c.       Fall sports athletic bids
d.      Outstanding students for the fifth six weeks
e.       Employees of the Month
f.        Tax Abatement Request (Masonic Lodge)
g.       Construction Status Report

 The Board set a special meeting for April 2, 2002 for approval of the superintendent profile

 15.      Approval of textbook committee selections - Board policies EFAA [Legal] and EFAA [Local] address the selection and adoption of textbooks for the district.  The district is required to submit a report of textbook adoption by the Board to TEA no later than April 1, 2002.

The following individuals were appointed by the Board to the District textbook selection committee:

 Darnell Schreiber, District Textbook Chairman

 Vertical Team for Science:
     Peggy Zion, Brown Primary, Second Grade,
    Brenda McEntire, Smithville Elementary, Fourth Grade
    Linda Braddock, Smithville Elementary, Fifth Grade Science
    Patricia Leer, Smithville Elementary, Sixth Grade Science
    Kae Nelson, Smithville Jr. High, Seventh Grade Science
    Donald Poe, Smithville Jr. High, Eighth Grade Science
    Mercy Silcox, Smithville H. S., Science Department Chairman,
    Seth Kenton, Smithville H. S., Biology
    Robert Schima, Smithville H. S., Chemistry
    Jeanne Devaney, Smithville H. S., Biology

The textbook committee recommends the following books:            
    Science, Grade 6 Texas Science Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishers
    Science, Grade 7 Texas Science Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishers
    Science, Grade 8 Texas Science Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishers
    Integrated Physics & Chemistry, Integrated Physics & Chemistry Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishers
    Chemistry, Chemistry: Concepts & Applications Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishers               
    Physics, Physics: Principles & Problems Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishers
    Advanced Placement Chemistry, Chemistry: Molecules, Matter, and Change
    Advanced Placement Physics, Physics for Scientists and Engineers Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing Group

Linda Rooks motioned to approve the recommendations made by the textbook committee.  Peggy Walicek seconded, and the motion carried 7-0.

 18.     Board Member Voting on Region XIII Education Service Center Board - Region Service Centers are governed by a seven member board that serves three-year terms very much like school boards.  The main difference between school boards and service center boards is who votes to elect them.  School board members are elected by the registered voters in the school district.  Service center board members are elected by school board members from the schools that are within the region served by the particular service center.  The superintendent provided board members with a ballot and voting instructions at the board meeting, and their votes were cast.

 19.     Set Board Meeting Date for special meeting to canvass board election results – The election for board trustees is Saturday, May 4, 2002.   Election law requires us to canvass the results between three and six days after the election.  Peggy Walicek motioned to call for a special board meeting on Tuesday, May 7th, 2002 at 7:45 a.m .  Craig Williams seconded, and the motion carried 7-0.

 At this time, 8:39 p.m., the Board entered into executive session, and returned at 9:15 p.m. with no official action taken.

 20a. Personnel: Review of contract personnel – The Board reviewed personnelcontracts in executive session, and upon returning, stated general acceptance.   Because the agenda item did not include the approval of said contracts, official action will be taken at the April 2, 2002 special meeting.

 20b. Personnel: Resignation of Certified Personnel – The superintendent advised the

        Board of the following resignations;
             Darnell Schreiber – Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Technology
            Terrie Edwards – Teacher at the Elementary
            Victoria Rouleau – Teacher at the High School

 21.  Adjournment – The Board adjourned its meeting at 9:20 p.m.