BELLINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Bellingham, Washington

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

 OF THE

 BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

October 27, 2005

The Bellingham School Board of Directors met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., October 27, 2005 in the Board Room of the Administration Building.

Present: Directors Ken Gass, Jeff Haggen, Steve Schoenfeld, Ann Whitmyer, President Elaine Lynch, Superintendent Dale Kinsley, and recorder Nancy Merry.

At 7:30 p.m. President Elaine Lynch called the regular meeting to order.

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:

Ken Gass moved and Steve Schoenfeld seconded approval of the consent agenda. The motion carried with Jeff Haggen abstaining.

Minutes

Action on the minutes of the October 13, 2005 School Board meeting.

Investments

Action on investments in accordance with Resolution 13-88.

  GENERAL FUND

  CAPITAL PROJECTS

  DEBT SERVICE

  ASB FUND

Personal Services Contract

• Kathy Blanton to provide supplemental psychometric services during the 2005–2006 school year.
• David Houk and Marea Kershner to serve as foreign language interpreters on an as-needed basis during the 2005–2006 year.

Out of State Travel

• Karen-Margrethe Brunn and Kathy Gann to attend the annual Speech and Hearing Association Convention in San Diego, California, November 17–20, 2005.
• Steve Clarke to attend the National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference in Washington D.C., November 10–13, 2005.

Minimum Basic Education Compliance

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

School Board Reports

Ken Gass reported on attending Umbrella Fest.

Ann Whitmyer attended a luncheon at City Club and heard a presentation from Glen Nardi, president and publisher of The Bellingham Herald . Whitmyer also attended a meeting of the District Budget Committee, which has been reconvened to study plans to adjust the District budget and review cost savings measures.

Elaine Lynch reported that she has been working with Dale Kinsley, Susan Zoller, Rob McElroy and Adrienne Nelson in preparing a presentation for the WSSDA Annual Conference in Seattle on November 16. The topic of the presentation is Transforming Teaching and Learning: Creating a System of Instructional Coaches . Lynch also attended the City Club luncheon and was impressed with Mr. Nardi's presentation.

Superintendent's Announcements/Report

Dale Kinsley recognized Steve Rutherford, Sehome High School science teacher and department head. Rutherford has been honored by the Washington State Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development as Outstanding Young Educator in Washington” . The recognition carries a monetary award.

Kinsley reported that he visited Bellingham High School with Sherrie Brown, executive director of school administration. Together they met with math teachers and observed math classes. Kinsley said the math curriculum is an area in which changes have been made and that it was exciting to see the positive response from teachers.

Kinsley also attended the City Club luncheon and recounted a positive experience of sitting by a couple that moved to Bellingham specifically because of the high-quality schools.

The annual notification to families with information about what to do during inclement weather has been mailed. Kinsley also encouraged members of the school board to sign up for the new electronic newsletter published by the School Information Office. The School Board will visit Geneva Elementary School on November 4 at 7:30 a.m. for their monthly school visit.

REPORTS:

Recommendations from Citizens' Advisory Committee

After several meetings the Citizens' Advisory Committee, comprised of parents, community members and staff, recommended the Board authorize a bond levy for voter approval in March. Co-chair Lisa Tatum reported that after reviewing current and future growth and facility needs of the District, the Committee is recommending a bond levy for $67 million. The projects to be funded by this recommendation include building two new elementary schools—one on Aldrich Road and one on Yew Street; purchasing school property in Sudden Valley; modernizing Shuksan Middle School; seismic structural improvements on the District's five historic buildings; and major preventative maintenance projects Districtwide. If approved by voters, the proposed bond would result in a bond tax rate increase of 13 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, but the total levy and bond tax rate for all local school funding would decrease by 18 cents per $1,000 during the same period. The decrease is due to the District retiring some existing bonds and refunding some existing bonds at a lower interest rate. In addition, the impact of new development in the city and the appreciation of reassessed property in the District make this feasible. The Board will vote on the recommendation at the November 10 meeting.

Report on Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) and Intervention Plans

Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Susan Zoller reported on the Adequate Yearly Progress for the District and each school. Adequate Yearly Progress is the term used to describe the expected annual gains in student achievement so that 100% of the students assessed in 2014 meet the state standard in reading and mathematics. All schools and districts are expected to improve the basic skills achievement of not just all students, but also groups of students if the group is of sufficient size to be statistically reliable. Student achievement is disaggregated to show the performance of students by ethnicity, poverty, language, and special education in each skill area and at each grade level. In addition, each grade level has included one additional “indicator of success.” For elementary and middle levels, that indicator is unexcused absence rate. For high schools, it is on-time graduation rate. Based on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) administered in the spring of 2005 to students in grades 4, 7 and 10 in reading and mathematics, the District and all schools made adequate yearly progress in reading and math as well as the additional indicator for the “all students” group. Three schools did not make adequate yearly progress based on student performance in one cell of the grid, in math, with only one subgroup as follows: Shuksan Middle School, low income students; Options High School, all students; Sehome High School, low income students. This is the first year that any of the District schools have failed to make AYP in any of the 37 cells. Since these schools are only in the first year, there are no mandatory sanctions. Gigi Morganti, Option High School principal, reported on specific improvement steps that have been developed to address student achievement at Options.

ACTION ITEMS:

Approval of Resolution 8-05 for Sale of Refunding Bonds

Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Ron Cowan introduced Cynthia Weed, Preston Gates & Ellis, and Jack Eaton, Bank of America. Mr. Eaton presented the Board an offer for the reselling/refunding of the District's current bonds on the national bond market. Ken Gass moved and Jeff Haggen seconded the motion to adopt Resolution 8-05 providing for the issuance and sale of general obligation refunding bonds of the District in the aggregate principal amount of $24,435,000 for the purpose of providing the funds necessary to refund a portion of the District's outstanding bonds. The motion carried unanimously.

Approval of Gates Grant

Superintendent Dale Kinsley presented the Board a letter of agreement from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a four-year grant in the amount of $2,131,800. The grant is in support of preparing all students for college, work and citizenship, which aligns with the District's strategic

plan. Ken Gass moved and Steve Schoenfeld seconded the motion approving the letter of agreement to accept the four-year grant. The motion carried unanimously.

Student Trips

Ann Whitmyer moved and Ken Gass seconded the motion approving a trip, in concept, for Sehome High School Concert Choir to travel to the Oregon Coast and Portland, Oregon to attend an opera/musical and perform in an evening concert, April 22–25, 2006 . The motion carried unanimously.

Personnel Recommendations

Jeff Haggen moved and Steve Schoenfeld seconded the motion approving the personnel recommendations as presented. Kinsley noted the retirement of Sharon McConnel, Squalicum High School counselor, effective at the end of the 2005–2006 contract year. The motion carried unanimously.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.