USD 383 Board of Education

Feb. 16, 2011
Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

Regular meeting:
Dr. Bob Shannon, Superintendent, reported to the board that 512 teachers had signed the negotiated contract and 12 had not. The twelve who did not sign will be working from the 2009 contract.

Carol Adams, Exec. Dir. of Teaching and Learning, reported that the professional development school partnership that the district has with KSU to prepare future teachers (i.e. the student teacher program) had been recognized with the 2011 NAPDS Award for Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement.

The board approved 7-0 a contract with Gould Evans, the architectural firm that designed the MHS construction project, to help with the selection and layout of new furniture for MHS. The board also approved 7-0 the construction documents for Bluemont Elementary. In other construction news, board members expressed concerns about the project at Lee Elementary being behind schedule. A representative of Ferrell Construction, the contractor working on Lee, addressed the board and said they have had weather delays and delays getting permits from the city to account for some of the time lost, and the crew is working hard to catch up.

The board discussed options for making up school days lost to inclement weather. Administration had developed options that included adding 14 min. to the school day for all grade levels, a combination of having school on a professional development day and adding 7 min., and the option of adding 14 min. to the school day only for grades K-8 because the high school already has a longer day and doesn't need to make up any minutes. The last option would create additional problems with transportation schedules. The current school calendar includes May 31 and June 1 as optional make-up days, but the district already has contracts for asbestos abatement projects to begin on Memorial Day. Members of the public addressed the board and expressed preferences for using the scheduled make-up days of May 31 and June 1 over adding minutes because the current school day is already 10 min. longer than past years and because adding an additional 14 min. would make the school day very long for younger elementary students. Pete Paukstelis and Doug Messer agreed with the comments but said they didn't want to delay any construction projects and preferred adding minutes to the school day. Curt Herrman didn't want to add minutes to the high school schedule and said the high school shouldn't be penalized just because the other schools are short on minutes. The board approved 6-1 to add 14 min. to the school day for grades K-12, with Herrman dissenting.