BELLINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Bellingham, Washington

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

OF THE

BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

March 23, 2000

The Bellingham School Board of Directors met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., March 23, 2000, in the Board Room of the Administration Building.

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

At 7:34 p.m. Vice President Ann Whitmyer called the meeting to order.

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:

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

Minutes

Action on the minutes of March 9, 2000 School Board meeting.

Investments

Action on investments in accordance with Resolution 13-88.

                  GENERAL FUND

                                          $   168,000.00               LGIP, withdrawal, March 8, 2000

                                          $   144,000.00               LGIP, investment, March 15, 2000

                  CAPITAL PROJECTS

                                          $         900.00                 LGIP, investment, March 8, 2000

                                          $     27,000.00                LGIP, withdrawal, March 15, 2000

                                          $       8,600.00                LGIP, withdrawal, March 15, 2000

                                          $2,020,600.00                LGIP, withdrawal, March 15, 2000

                  DEBT SERVICE

                                          $   58,000.00                 LGIP, investment, March 8, 2000

                                          $   57,000.00                 LGIP, investment, March 15, 2000

                  ASB FUND

                                          $        900.00                   LGIP, withdrawal, March 15, 2000

                                          $   11,500.00                   LGIP, investment, March 15, 2000

                                          $     7,300.00                   LGIP, investment, March 15, 2000

                                          $   12,000.00                   LGIP, withdrawal, March 15, 2000

                  TRANSPORTATION VEHICLE

                                         $      8,100.00                  LGIP, investment, March 8, 2000

                                         $  141,200.00                  LGIP, withdrawal, March 13, 2000

Personal Services Contracts:

• Elaine Sobjack and Diane Dawley to serve as tutors for the Home/Hospital program on as-needed basis during the 1999-2000 school year.
• George Gleason to provide support for middle school athletics for the last trimester of the 1999-2000 school year.
• Carrie Wiley to serve as the First Step consultant at Sunnyland Elementary School during the 1999-2000 school year.
• Maria Smith to serve as a Spanish-English interpreter on as-needed basis during the 1999-2000 school year.
• Ann Buswell to serve as summer school principal/coordinator effective immediately and continuing through August 11, 2000.

Out-of-State Travel:

• Adrienne Nelson to attend R.C. Owen Learning Network leadership training April 3-7, in Denver, Colorado.
• Rob Slater and Bill Stuckrath to travel to Mesa, Arizona, March 29-31, for the NovaNet User’s Group Conference.

Contract:

• Interdistrict agreements for Reading Recovery® services for Burlington-Edison, Lake Stevens, Northshore, and Riverview School Districts.

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

School Board Reports

The Board members reported on the Board Retreat that was held last Friday afternoon.

Whitmyer reported on the visit by Senator Slade Gorton to Squalicum High School on Monday, March 13. She also thanked everyone who worked on the levy campaign this year.

Lynch gave a legislative report focusing on the efforts to work out the details of the state budget. She reported that the House has agreed on long-term funding for transportation that would free up $70 million for school construction projects. House negotiators have also agreed to dedicate state lottery revenues to K-12 education to provide smaller class sizes and extended learning opportunities for students. Lynch provided some school district election statistics.  A total of 87 districts ran Maintenance and Operations levies on March 14 with 72 of those passing and 15 failing.

Superintendent’s Announcements/Reports

Dr. Kinsley provided a summary of the March 14 election results for the District. The Operations Levy passed at 69.5% and the Capital Projects Bond passed at 67.9%. The number of ballots for the levy was 14,329 and 14,189 for the bond. The number of absentee voters continues to grow. Approximately 74% of the votes for the school election were absentees. Dr. Kinsley expressed his gratitude to the community for their support, and acknowledged the hard work of all those involved in the levy campaign.

Kinsley reported on Senator Slade Gorton’s visit and shared a call to action letter from NSBA asking school boards to contact the Senator regarding some education matters that included special education and Title 1 funding.

The District submitted a letter of interest for a district grant offered by the Gates Foundation. They were one of twenty selected to submit a full proposal. A group from the District will attend a meeting in SeaTac on Monday regarding the grant.

Next Tuesday Dr. Kinsley will attend a regular meeting with the State Superintendent’s Advisory Committee. Topics of discussion will include legislative and budget matters.

ACTION ITEMS:

Property Purchase Approved for Elementary Site

Gass moved and Leu seconded approval to authorize the Superintendent to purchase property on Yew Street Road for a future elementary site. The motion carried unanimously. The 16 acre site is located on the west side of Yew Street between Kings Mill and Tacoma Avenue. Gary Gideon, the consultant who conducted the feasibility study reported on the findings. He concluded that “this site can feasibly be developed into a new elementary school and I feel the District would be well served by proceeding with its purchase.”

Building Reading Improvement Plans

Lynch moved and Gass seconded the motion to approve the reading improvement plans for Carl Cozier, Larrabee, Lowell, Silver Beach and Sunnyland. The motion carried unanimously. Principals from each of the elementary schools outlined their programs and explained the strategies developed by their buildings to improve the reading of their students.

Strategic Plan for Roosevelt Elementary School Approved

Lynch moved and Gass seconded the approval of the strategic plan for Roosevelt Elementary School. The motion carried unanimously. The reading improvement plan for Roosevelt was included in their strategic plan. This was a revision of the original plan approved by the Board five years ago. Principal Stephanie Sadler outlined the strategic plan, focusing on the additions that were made in the goal areas of reading, writing, math, technology, and school home partnership.

Approval of Certificated Baseline Staffing for 2000-2001

Gass moved Lynch seconded the motion to approve the baseline certificated staffing for the 2000-2001 school year. The motion carried unanimously. Baseline staffing is recommended by the District Staffing Committee based on projected enrollment numbers for each grade level. Any adjustments to the baseline staffing will be considered in the spring.

Field Trips

Gass moved and Lynch seconded approval for Sehome Concert and Chamber Choirs to travel to Seattle, Portland, and Seaside, Oregon, May 17-21-, 2000. The motion carried unanimously.

Leu moved and Gass seconded approval for Sehome Orchestra to travel to San Francisco, March 30 – April 2, 2000. The motion carried unanimously.

Gass moved and Leu seconded approval for Todd Ackley, Whatcom Middle School wrestling coach, and two students, Brett O’Brien and Zach Jarvis to attend Reno World of Wrestling Championships, April 7-10, 2000, in Reno, Nevada. The motion carried unanimously.

Lynch moved and Leu seconded approval for coach Jack Crandall and two students, Adam Prickett and Harrison Jenkins, to travel to Scranton, Pennsylvania, for the International Bridge Building Contest on May 5. The motion carried unanimously.

Gass moved and Leu seconded approval in concept for the Sehome band tour to Portland and Florence, Oregon, May 19-22, 2000. The motion carried unanimously.

Call for Bids

Lynch moved and Gass seconded the motion to call for bids for movement of eleven (11) portable classrooms. The motion carried unanimously.

Bid Award

Leu moved and Gass seconded approval to award the bid for a food service delivery van to Delivery Concepts, Inc. at a cost of $52,304.00. The motion carried unanimously.

Personnel Recommendations Approved

Lynch moved and Gass seconded the motion for approval of the personnel recommendations as presented.  The motion carried unanimously. Dr. Kinsley announced the retirements of Barb Storms, teacher at Whatcom Middle School, and Rhea Ramsey, assistant principal’s secretary at Shuksan Middle School.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 9:06 p.m.