BELLINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Bellingham, Washington

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

OF THE

BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

March 22, 2001

The Bellingham School Board of Directors met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., March 22, 2001, in the Board Room of the Administration Building.

Present:  Directors David Blair, Ken Gass, Don Leu, and Elaine Lynch, President Ann Whitmyer, Superintendent Dale Kinsley, and recorder Shirley Knapp.

At 7:30 p.m. President Ann Whitmyer called the meeting to order.

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:

Gass moved and Lynch seconded approval of the consent agenda as presented.  The motion carried unanimously.

Minutes

Action on the minutes of the March 8, 2001 School Board meeting.

Investments

Action on investments in accordance with Resolution 13-88.

                     GENERAL FUND

                                           $169,000.00                       LGIP, withdrawal, March 8, 2001.

                                          $143,000.00                        LGIP, investment, March 15, 2001.

                      CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND

                                          $5,512,000.00                     LGIP, investment, March 15, 2001.

                      DEBT SERVICE FUND

                                          $43,000.00                           LGIP, investment, March 8, 2001.

                                          $69,000.00                           LGIP, investment, March 15, 2001.

                       ASB FUND

                                          $ 3,400.00                            LGIP, investment, March 8, 2001.

                                         $18,700.00                            LGIP, withdrawal, March 15, 2001.

Personal Services Contracts:

• Gurjit Kaur and Randall Sanders to serve as foreign language interpreters on an as-needed basis during the 2000-01 school year.
• Carolyn Quist to train teachers in creating “Putdown Free (safe) Zones” and to support at-risk students in grades 3-5 at Sunnyland Elementary School.
  

Out-of-State Travel:

• Shelly Sulkin, Laurie Hoyt, Phil Henoch, Doug Robinson, Sharece Steinkamp, Nicole Brown, Kathy Dooley, and Suzanne Marchisio to travel to California for the annual middle school science trip.
• Marlene Ayala and John Glenn to travel to Burlingame, California for the California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped Conference, April 25-28, 2001.

Notice of Completion

Acceptance of Notice of Completion for Sehome High School network upgrades.

Resolutions

• Approval of Resolution 1-01—Emergency Repair – Boiler Damage.
• Approval of Resolution 2-01 – authorizing an Interlocal Cooperative Purchase Agreement with Marysville School District for purchasing modular classrooms.

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

School Board Reports

Leu attended a meeting of the District Budget Advisory Committee, received training at an intergenerational computer class at Happy Valley Elementary School , and attended a choral performance at Geneva Elementary School.

Blair thanked the Board and District staff for their condolences when his father, Doug Blair passed away last week.  He also reported on the high school musical “Oklahoma.”

Lynch attended a meeting of the Gates Grant Steering Committee, a dinner with Diane Bollotte, Executive Director of the Stupski Family Foundation, and a sold-out performance of “Oklahoma.”  She also gave an “Ask for the Transcript” presentation at Kulshan Kiwanis with Dr. Kinsley, and she attended WSSDA/WASA videoconference in Mount Vernon to discuss I-728.  Lynch added that the Senate will present their budget recommendations on Wednesday,

March 28.

Whitmyer also attended the I-728 videoconference, which allowed board members and administrators at 10 sites around the state the discuss the initiative. 

Whitmyer paid tribute to Doug Blair, David’s father, who served 17 years as a member of the Bellingham School District Board of Directors, and was also president of the Washington State School Director’s Association.

Superintendent’s Announcements/Reports

Superintendent Kinsley gave an update on the District process for developing a proposal for use of Initiative 728 funds.  Between 750 and 800 feedback forms were returned.  Based on the feedback, the Superintendent prepared a draft proposal for discussion.  The draft will be presented to administrators, union leaders, parents, and members of the Gates Steering Committee.  At the April 26 Board meeting, there will be a public hearing and a proposal will be presented for a first reading.  The final proposal will be adopted this summer.

Kinsley attended a meeting in California with other districts that received Gates District Grants.  The focus was on external evaluations as part of the improvement process.

Kinsley reported on the District’s collection of E-rate monies between July 1999-June 2000.  Payments for that period totaled $274,129.00.  He acknowledged the work of Computer/Network Services Manger John Getchell for handling all the paperwork involved to participate in the program, and Executive Director Jim Stevens for his leadership.

Dr. Kinsley commented on the new elementary school website and commended Lavelle Freudenberg and Nancy Messmer for their work to set-up the site.

Dr. Kinsley announced the following:

• The next Board meeting will be April 3.
• The Board visit to Alderwood on April 6 will need to be rescheduled.
• The Celebrate Achievement Awards event will be held on May 1 at the Lakeway Inn.

ACTION ITEMS:

Policy 2410

The Board heard a first reading of revised Policy 2410 – High School Graduation Requirements.  A task force of teachers, parents, and administrators worked for more than a year to review and revise high school graduation requirements.  Deputy Superintendent Susan Zoller introduced the task force members who were present – Jeff Baglio, Bobbie Jaffe-Nask, Dr. Dick Fulton, Sharon McConnel, Karen Reed, Brian Rick, and Nori Yamashita.  Zoller and various task force members reported on the policy revision process.  Most of the recommendations will take effect with the class of 2006. The new proposal allows more flexibility and individual choices than is currently the case.  The number of credits required for graduation will increase from 22.5 to 23.  (The state requirement is 19 credits.)  All courses offered will be part of one or more pathways.  Beginning at the end of 8th grade, students will create a plan for their high school program, which will be reviewed and updated annually.  Students will be expected to explore a pathway as part of their high school experience. Seniors will need to complete a culminating project.

Approval of Certificated Baseline Staffing

Leu moved and Gass seconded the motion to approve the proposed certificated baseline staffing for the 2001-02 school year.  The motion carried unanimously.  The recommendation included a slight increase in school nurses and 1.00 FTE additional high school counselor.  The District Staffing Committee recommends baseline staffing based on projected enrollment numbers for each grade level.  Any adjustments to the baseline staffing will be considered in the spring. 

Architectural Services Contract Approved for Whatcom

Leu moved and Gass seconded approval of a Contract for Architectural Services for Whatcom Middle School.  The motion carried unanimously.  The firm of Ross, McClure, Cornwell Architects was selected to provide the planning, design and bid documents for the project at Whatcom, which includes auditorium and gym renovation and accessibility improvements.

Student Trip

Blair moved and Gass seconded approval for Janice Smith, Indian Education Coordinator, and four Native American high school students to attend the Annual Northwest Indian Youth Conference in Spokane, April 2-7, 2001.  The motion carried unanimously.

Personnel Recommendations

Lynch moved and Gass seconded the motion for approval of the personnel recommendations as presented.  The motion carried unanimously.  Dr. Kinsley recognized Dick Bruland, library media specialist at Sunnyland, and Dennis Firebaugh, social studies teacher at Sehome High School.  They will be retiring at the end of the school year.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.