Bellingham, Washington
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE
BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
January 11, 2001
The Bellingham School Board of Directors met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., January 11, 2001, in the Board Room of the Administration Building. Prior to the regular Board meeting there was an Executive Session at 7:00 p.m. Purpose of Executive Session – negotiations.
Present: Directors Ken Gass, Elaine Lynch, and David Blair, President Ann Whitmyer, Superintendent Dale Kinsley, and recorder Shirley Knapp. Director Don Leu was excused.
At 7:03 Gass moved to begin Executive Session; Blair seconded. At 7:23 Lynch made the motion to move to regular session; Blair seconded.
At 7:34 President Ann Whitmyer called the meeting to order.
CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:
Gass moved and Blair seconded approval of the consent agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
Minutes
Action on the minutes of the December 14 School Board meeting.
Investments
Action on investments in accordance with Resolution 13-88.
GENERAL FUND
$57,000.00 LGIP, investment, December 15, 2000.
$562,000.00 LGIP, withdrawal, December 21, 2000.
$274,000.00 LGIP, withdrawal, December 29, 2000.
$240,000.00 LGIP, withdrawal, January 8, 2001.
CAPITAL PROJECTS
$372,300.00 LGIP, withdrawal, December 15, 2000.
$2,572,900.00 LGIP, investment, December 21, 2000.
DEBT SERVICE
$28,000.00 LGIP, investment, December 15, 2000.
$18,000.00 LGIP, investment, January 8, 2001.
ASB FUND
$37,900.00 LGIP, investment, December 15, 2000.
$8,700.00 LGIP, investment, December 21, 2000.
$21,300.00 LGIP, investment, December 29, 2000.
Expenses and Payroll
Action on expenditures and payroll as approved by the Auditing Committee.
GENERAL FUND
ACCTS PAY: 12/01/00 $14,835.20
12/08/00 324,579.48
12/15/00 32,843.25
12/21/00 605,105.05
Total General Fund $977,362.98
CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND
ACCTS PAY: 12/08/00 $377,528.79
Total Cap. Proj. Fund $377,528.79
ASB FUND
ACCTS PAY: 12/08/00 $32,142.69
12/15/00 31,602.88
12/21/00 15,389.85
12/29/00 11,747.42
Total ASB Fund $90,882.84
BHS $19,768.64
SHS $43,645.46
SQHS $25,540.67
FMS $ 1,206.09
KMS $ 324.82
SMS $ 165.00
WMS $ 232.16
EXPENDABLE TRUST FUND
12/08/00 $ 87.61
12/21/00 $ 608.19
Total Exp. Trust Fund $ 695.80
TRANSPORTATION FUND
12/05/00 $89,164.24
Total Transportation Fund $89,164.24
PAYROLL $4,681,506.63
Personal Services Contracts:
Out-of-State Travel:
Nomination of Representative
Action on the nomination of a representative for the Whatcom County Community Network (WCCN) Board.
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
School Board Reports
Whitmyer presented a gavel to David Blair in recognition for his two years of service as Board President.
Lynch gave a legislative report. Monday, January 8, was the first day of the 2001 legislative session. This will be a “long” session (105 days) and it will focus on the biennial budget. Consensus may be difficult to achieve this session given the tie in the House and the one-vote majority in the Senate.
Whitmyer reported about her participation on a community focus group for the Community Health Partnership on December 28. The group’s discussed issues and concerns relating to the environment and the economy of Whatcom County.
Superintendent’s Announcements/Reports
Dr. Kinsley commented on the Community Health Partnership meeting. Dr. Gass and Superintendent Kinsley are members of the committee. Kinsley stated that the primary concerns of the participants appeared to be water-related issues.
Kinsley reported that Fairhaven and Kulshan had changed their February 7 early release day. The two schools will be using that day for parent conferences.
Dr. Kinsley shared some federal budget actions that will impact education funding. Congress has passed and the President has signed a bill that provides substantial national increases in funding for special education ($135 million), Title I ($661 million), and class-size reduction ($320 million).
Kinsley announced the following:
REPORTS:
Legislative Issues
Executive Director Jim Stevens highlighted some upcoming financial issues that will affect K-12 education during this legislative session. The legislature will be discussing salary increases for K-12 employees as a result of the passage of I-732 and the Student Achievement Act funding resulting from I-728. Stevens also addressed items from the Governors’ proposed budget, which include: continuation of the class-size reduction portion of the Better Schools program; continuation of the school safety allocation; support for funding a web-based education system (WAVES); and elimination of state funding for Traffic Safety Education in the 2002-03 school year.
Superintendent Kinsley spoke further about the use of the Student Achievement Act (I-728) funds. The District will receive approximately $2 million next year as a result of this initiative. The funds must address one of the following areas: class size reduction in grades K-4; selected class size reduction in grade 5-12; extended learning opportunities; additional professional development opportunities; pre-kindergarten early childhood program; and improvements to school facilities that are directly related to class size reductions and extended learning opportunities. Dr. Kinsley outlined a proposal for planning the uses of the Student Achievement Funds. The District will gather feedback from administrators, teachers, parents, classified staff, and students regarding their priorities from the six areas of authorized use. By late February or early March the Superintendent will submit a proposal to the Board outlining the general program priorities to be supported by these funds. Staff committees will then meet to prepare more specific plans. A public hearing on the proposed plan will occur at the April 26 School Board meeting. Finall approval will occur in conjunction with adoption of the District budget.
“The Learning Teacher Project” Proposal
Superintendent Kinsley gave an overview of a grant proposal to develop a model for the new teacher preparation and induction process through a partnership between the District and Woodring College of Education at WWU. The ten school districts that received District Gates Grants were invited to develop and submit supplemental proposals to implement their full grants. The “Learning Teacher Project” proposal was submitted to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on December15. If the four-year grant is received, it will fund the development of a cooperative program between Woodring and the District to prepare and support new teachers from preservice through their first three years of teaching.
ACTION ITEMS:
Approval of Counseling Plan
Lynch moved and Gass seconded approval of the Grades 6-12 Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Plan and Policy #2140 – Student Counseling and Guidance Program. The motion carried unanimously. There were no changes since the first reading at the December 14 Board meeting.
School Year Calendars Approved
Blair moved and Gass seconded the motion to approve the school year calendars for 2001-2002, and 2002-2003. The motion carried unanimously. Dr. Kinsley shared a letter from the Bellingham Education Association (BEA) supporting the recommendations. He recognized the calendar committee for their work to process and develop the recommended options.
Student Trips
Blair moved and Lynch seconded the motion to approve the following student trips:
The motion carried unanimously.
Bid Awards
Blair moved and Gass seconded approval to award bids on the following:
The motion carried unanimously.
The bus turnaround improvements at Parkview Elementary School will be re-bid.
Personnel Recommendations
Blair moved and Lynch seconded the motion for approval of the personnel recommendations as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
Adjournament
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.