MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SMITHVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT HELD ON MONDAY, JULY 21, 2003, AT 5:00 P.M. AT THE SMITHVILLE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE, 901 N.E. SIXTH STREET, SMITHVILLE, TEXAS.

 

 

PRESENT: Craig Williams, Kamron Saunders, Mike Morgan, Mike Wittrock, Peggy Walicek

 

ABSENT: Mike Davis, Howard Burns

 

ALSO PRESENT: Kevin Shipley, Cheryl Burns, Micky Virdell, Sam Best, George Austria, Vicki Hall, Dana Lachman, Sheri Lehnick, Sarah Winn, Annette Kuehler, Chris Flowers, Denise Behrens, Gary Sage

 

Walk through to      1.         At the time the board agenda was prepared, it was

determine substantial       anticipated that Areas C and D of the new high school

completion of areas C       would be close enough to completion to allow the Board to

and D of the new high       declare substantial completion of the facility.  Mr. Sage

school                                               was advised later that this would not be the case.  The

Board toured the facility, then called for a special meeting on Monday, August 4th to declare those areas substantially complete.

 

Communications    2.         There were no public communications.

From the Public

 

Consent Agenda                Peggy Walicek motioned to approve items 3 through 11 on the Consent Agenda as presented.  Mike Morgan seconded, and the motion carried 5-0. The Consent Agenda consisted of the following:

                                    3.         Minutes of the June 16, 2003 regular board meeting, and the July 1, 2003 special board meeting.

                                    4.         Disbursements for the month of June 2003

                                    5.         Financial Statements for June 2003

                                    6.         Investment Report

                                    7.         Tax Collection Report

                                    8.         Cafeteria Food Item Bids

                                    9.         Student Accident Insurance Bids

                                    10.       Athletic Bids for Equipment

                                    11.       Bond Payment

 

Construction           12.       Sam Best and Dale Murphree, of Best Construction, were

Status Report                      present at the meeting to update the Board regarding the progress of construction on the new high school. 

 

Superintendent’s   13.       Mr. Sage updated the Board on the progress of the move to

Report                                   the new high school facility.

 

Second Draft of the           14.       Heather Wilson, Director of Business, and Superintendent

2003-2004 District Budget           Gary Sage provided the Board with a copy of the second draft of the budget for Smithville ISD for the next school year.

 

Tentative August    15.       The tentative agenda items for the August meeting are as

Agenda Items                                  follows:

                                                a.  Construction Status Report

                                                b.  Superintendent’s Report

                                                c.  Public Hearing on the Proposed Budget

                                                d.  Adoption of the 2003-2004 District Budget and Tax Rate

                                                e.  School Bus Status Report

                                                f.  Approval of the UIL Eligibility Waiver

 

Call for a Public      16.       State Truth in Taxation laws require the school district to

Hearing on the                      publish a public notice of public hearing to discuss the

2003-2004 District Budget   proposed budget and proposed tax rate for the new fiscal year.  Legally the budget must be developed on or before August 20th, 2003 and adopted by August 31, 2003.  Peggy Walicek made a motion to call a public hearing on the proposed 2003-2004 district budget and tax rate for Monday, August 18th, 2003 at 6:00 p.m.  Kamron Saunders seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.

 

Adoption of Teacher            17.       The Board must approve the district appraisal calendar and

Appraisal Calendar                        the list of administrators trained to evaluate teachers. 

and Appraisers                   Teachers must be evaluated annually by trained and board approved appraisers.  For the 2003-2004 school year, the District plans to continue to use the state-adopted appraisal system, the Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS).  Mike Wittrock motioned to approve the list of PDAS appraisers, and the 2003-2004 appraisal calendar as presented.  Peggy Walicek seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.  The list of appraisers are as follows:

                                                Gary Sage, Superintendent

                                                Cheryl Burns, Director of Curriculum

                                                Kevin Shipley, High School Principal

                                                Jimmy Trousdale, Junior High Principal

                                                Karen Scherrer, Brown Primary Principal

                                                Ana Murray, High School Assistant Principal

                                                David Edwards, Elementary Assistant Principal

                                                Bo Malek, Junior High Assistant Principal

                                                Nina Brinker, Brown Primary Assistant Principal

                                                Micky Virdell, Director of Special Programs

Approval of              18.       Sponsors and students have gotten together and created

various high school                      constitutions and/or handbooks for their organizations

handbooks and                  which now need Board approval.  Other organizations will

constitutions                       be meeting at the beginning of the school year to make adjustments and will be presented at a later meeting.  Kevin Shipley, principal at the high school, is presenting the following handbooks and/or constitutions for approval: cheerleaders, FFA, athletics, Career Preparation and drill team.  Mike Morgan moved to approve the handbooks and constitutions as presented.  With a second by Peggy Walicek, the motion carried 5-0.

 

Consider second   19.       The Board was provided a copy of Board Policy Update 70

reading and adoption of   at the June board meeting.  The Board has reviewed the

Update 70                             policy changes, and must now adopt the update into policy. 

      Mike Morgan motioned to approve the adoption of Update Policy 70.  Mike Wittrock seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.

     

                                                The Board took a short recess at this time.

 

Board Self-   20.       The Board conducts a self-assessment once a year to

Evaluation                accomplish the following:

                                    1. Assess governance team effectiveness

                                    2. Review roles and responsibilities in the decision-making process

                              3. Identify the continuing education needs of the governance team

                                  and team members

                              4. Initiate dialogue among team members to enhance communications

                              5. Establish goals for the governance team

                    

                     Each member of the Board was provided a survey instrument for self-

                     evaluation, which they completed and turned in to the Board

                     President.  The results of the Board self-evaluation were discussed at

                     the meeting.

 

                              The Board entered executive session at 8:30 p.m. and returned at 9:18

                              p.m. with no official action taken.

 

Formative      21a.     The Board has adopted an evaluation calendar and process for the

Evaluation of             Superintendent which calls for a mid-year formative assessment.  At

the Superintendent  the June board meeting, board members were given a copy of the

            formative assessment appraisal form.  The Board President gave instructions for completion and return to him by a given date in July.  The Board President then compiled the individual board member evaluations into a single document.   The Superintendent’s Formative Evaluation results were given to the Superintendent in closed session.

 

Resignations 21b.     The Superintendent informed the Board of the

of Certified                following resignations:

Personnel                  Jeremy Shaw – teacher/coach at the high school

                                    Kathryn Bankston – teacher at Brown Primary

                                    Melynn Malek – speech therapist

                                    Ruth Partridge – librarian at Brown Primary

 

Employment   21c.     The Superintendent recommended employment

of Certified                of Duane Fikac, teacher and head boy’s basketball coach at the high Personnel                    school.  Peggy Walicek motioned to employ Duane Fikac for the

                                    2003-2004 school year.  Mike Wittrock seconded, and the vote passed

                                    5-0.