August 11, 2015 at 5:30 PM - Bradley County Board of Education Work Session

Discussion:  Chairman Lillios welcomed everyone to the Work Session for the Bradley County Board of Education. He reminded everyone that this is a meeting for open discussion between board members. If staff members need to have input into the discussion, they may do so. This is not the time for discussion from the general public.

Discussion:  The Tech Coaches explained their place in Bradley County Schools. They provide resources, training, modeling, tech support for teachers and are administrators for many programs teachers use. The Tech Coaches showed the board members examples of the different apps, software, and programs they work with. Dianna Calfee asked how to prepare students for word processing. Lesha Crawley, Tech Coach from Michigan Avenue, explained that the trick is to familiarize students with the keyboard. As a student gets familiar with the keyboard they may use a couple of fingers to type but they get fast. Mr. Turner began by saying WOW - what volume. He asked if the Tech Coaches have a best practice and all Tech Coaches answered. He went on to say that he asked one question and got answers from all the Tech Coaches and that when you have too much, you have nothing. In the future, He would like to see student contact, student achievement and to narrow down the field to the most effective and most critical items so we can find the things that work as we move forward.

Discussion:  Dr. Cash explained to the board that she thinks the starting point for the one to one initiative is our younger K-2 students. Their future is with technology. The initiative can’t be started district wide so she is looking at some pilot programs. Her hope is that the devices will be put in their hands to use in the classroom and take them home to practice what they are learning. She hopes to put the standards on the device so students can practice them and begin to close the gap. Mr. Turner added that if anyone can envision in a world where kids are graduating 10 or 15 years from now and technology is not the backbone of how they learn - we are kidding ourselves. With our limited resources, the board will need to prove to our county commission that this is an investment worth making. He talked to Dr. Cash about how to get there. Mr. Lillios added that there are some kids that have had technology in their hands since birth and others that have not. He thinks it will be left to the schools to close this disparity gap. Dianna Calfee asked if there is a plan. Dr. Cash continued that she would like to commit to two schools. Purchase devices in December and deliver in January and then push it out. What she needs from the board is funding. It would be a one-time push. Then, a plan of action to move to the rest of the k-2 schools. Mrs. Calfee asked if Dr. Cash would have a recommendation by November. She responded that she would like to have it before that.

Discussion:  Dianna Calfee announced that Michigan Avenue School was awarded the honor of being a school of distinction. It is in the top 5% of all schools across the state in achievement. Michigan Avenue has received this award a total of three times which is every time it has been offered by the State Department of Education. Mrs. Calfee asked Angela Lawson, Principal of Michigan Avenue, to speak to the board. Ms. Lawson said when digging into the data she found that there are 1,693 schools. 76 schools were recognized for Scholastic Performance, 9 schools were recognized for Progress and Performance and of the 9 only 3 were elementary schools, and only 1 was a Title 1 school (which Michigan Avenue is). Michigan Avenue now has a new goal to work toward. She also stated that to achieve this recognition it takes a community effort (teachers, administrators, parents and the support of the Board). She thanked the Board for their support. Mrs. Calfee also shared that the PTO was recognized this summer by a National Organization for being Exemplary. Mrs. Calfee would like to have a celebration in honor of Michigan Avenue and their PTO at the September board meeting. She would also like to form a committee to plan the event and to define what award will be bestowed to the school. It is time we celebrate schools for their achievements. Mrs. Calfee would like to serve on that committee with Dr. Cash, Mrs. Lawson, and one other board member. Mrs. Beaty said she would be glad to serve on the committee and that she would also like to reward success in the future.

Discussion:  Chairman Lillios opened discussion about Contract or Construction Manager vs a General Manager. Mr. Rose stated that the board has used a Contract Manager with every big project and have been on time and under budget for each of the projects. Mr. Lillios stated that with design-bid-build when the project gets to the design phase, it would be sent out for pricing. Pricing would come in and the board would pick the lowest price and that is it. A Construction Manager comes early into the project. He then starts to ask for sub-contractor bids. He will come back to the board with each of these to be voted on. A Construction Manager usually comes in on the front end and gives you a high bid; then, looks for savings in the sub-contractor bids. Therefore, usually comes in under budget. With this project, the board already has a budget of 12 million so the Contract Manager can't come in with a higher bid or it would be rejected. If the history is that the board meddles a lot then a Construction Manager probably needed. If the board leaves the project alone, design-bid-build would probably be better. Doug from Lewis Group was asked by Mrs. Calfee if their cost would change depending on which the board decides to use. He said there would be no change in the cost quoted. The time is not different just moved around a little differently. Lewis Group has noticed that larger projects mostly have Construction Managers and smaller projects have General Contractors. Chairman Lillios asked if anyone would like to have Construction Manager on the agenda for the voting meeting. Mrs. Calfee answered yes. It will be added as a voting item and if no one makes a motion, the board will stick with design-bid-build

Discussion:  Dr. Cash presented the contract for Lewis Group. She stated that Lewis Group has complied with everything she as ask them to. Mr. Scott Bennett, Attorney, looked it over very carefully and everything looks good. It is just a matter of if the board is ready to sign. Charlie Rose told the board that they are going to have to tell Dr. Cash where the money is going to come from very soon. Mr. Lillios said that this is part of the overall cost of the project. He assumes it will come from the Capital Outlay budget the board has been working hard to set aside. Mr. Turner offered that the board should create a restricted equity account and place X dollars in it to cover the design. A transfer will be made from the Long Term Restricted Equity for Capital Projects account to a specific line item. Chairman Lillios will add this to the voting meeting agenda on Thursday. He also stated that he would like go ahead and sign the contract. It doesn't take a Board vote. It needs to be signed before we get behind in the process.

Discussion:  Dr. Cash sent to the Board items for the Strategic Plan. She would like the Board to give input as she and her committees work on the plan.

Discussion:  Dr. Cash spoke about the Board Assessment Work Session. She felt the assessment was very positive and they were able to do some future planning for the system. The piece she would like to address is clear messages coming from the board. Mr. Rose and Dr. Cash stated the board still needs some future planning. Mr. Rose would like to see evaluation for the board from the community, schools and central office.

Discussion:  Dianna Calfee asked the board to look at the annual agenda and calendar and give input. She would like to add it to the agenda for the September work session. Mrs. Beaty stated that after looking at policies, the board needs to look at the election of Chair Pro Tem for the September board meeting when Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and TLN Representative are voted on. Mrs. Calfee would also like to put the Safety Meeting on the agenda for the work session for next month.

Discussion:  Mr. Lillios asked Mrs. Beaty if policy changes need two readings. She referred to Mr. Turner. He stated there is a board policy stating two readings are need. Dr. Cash agreed. The first is to recommend changes and the second is to approve the changes. If you have a policy that needs changes immediately, you can wave the second reading. Mrs. Beaty told the board that policies 5.117 and 6.405 will be on the board meeting agenda for 2nd reading. She then went over the recommended policy changes for first reading for policies 2.800, 2.805, 5.200, 5.201, 5.202 and 6.205. The changes are in the eMeeting document that is attached.

Discussion:  Chris Turner brought to the attention of the Board the fact that the evaluation is a cumulative evaluation. It takes all 10 items for the cumulative grade. Mrs. Beaty asked Dr. Cash for her input. She thinks that even though it is a Director Of Schools evaluation it goes beyond that to be sure the people in the district are being utilized to do the job that is needed. It is also evidence based vs opinion based so she is very comfortable with it. She believes these are pieces that indicate an exceptional district.

Discussion:  Scott Humberd reported to the Board that B & B Janitorial was not meeting their contract for three of our schools so they contracted with GCA for an hourly wage to help get schools ready to open. He and Dr. Cash then ask for quotes from GCA and ABM for an 11 month period for janitorial services for the three affected schools and GOAL. The quotes were within $93.00 of each other with GCA being the lower. They agreed that GCA was the one to choose for this short period of time. The quote from GCA was $15,206.42 per month. That is above the $10,000.00 limit; however, GCA has contracts with about forty other school systems across the state. The district can piggyback on these contracts for now but they feel that the plan should not change to put out an RFP for janitorial services for the District in the fall. Mr. Turner asked if there is an additional cost. Mr. Humberd said yes. There would be an increase because GOAL was added but overall he is not sure about being budget neutral. Dr. Cash responded that when the budget is all analyzed, we will probably be budget neutral because principals had to buy supplies and put in more money that the original contract amount.

Discussion:  Amanda Lee would like the Board to consider adding a Student Representative to the Board. She attached a packet with information about the process. She doesn't think this can be implemented this year but would like to put it on the agenda to vote on so the process could begin. The student could receive a 1/2 credit for this opportunity but the district will need to make the application to the state for that to happen. The 12th grade student would complete the application and serve as a non-voting representative to the school board. There was a lot of good discussion about the program and plans to continue the discussion.

Discussion:  Dr. Cash explained that we received a gift of funds from Scott Taylor from Bank of Cleveland that he offered 100,000.00 to Bradley Central and Walker Valley High Schools to be used on Capital Projects on each campus. In talking with Scott Bennett, Attorney, he suggested we put it in the form of a Resolution. It would involve a promisarry note from Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor would pay twice a year for five years. The request for the board is to upfront the money and it to be paid back over a 5 year time period. Walker Valley will use the money for a new gym floor and bleachers on the football field. Bradley will use the money for the new athletic building. Signs will be added for Bank of Cleveland at both schools.

Discussion:  Mr. Turner asked how Telemedicine sign ups are going. Dr. Cash said that applications are underway. Applications are due by August 14 and services will begin September 14.

Discussion:  The resolution that was presented a couple of months ago has finally found its way to the county commission and they voted 13 to 0 with 1 absent to adopt the resolution. The committee will consist of Chris Turner, Charlie Rose, Johnny Mull, Mike Hughes, Jeff Yarber, Lindsey Hathcock and Lt. Allan Walsh. The committee will meet soon to develop a scope of work.