BELLINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Bellingham, Washington

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

OF THE

 BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

December 4, 2003

 The Bellingham School Board of Directors met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., December 4, 2003, in the Board Room of the Administration Building.

Present: Directors Jeff Haggen, Elaine Lynch, Ann Whitmyer, President Ken Gass, Superintendent Dale Kinsley, and recorder Marilyn Grams.

At 7:30 p.m. President Ken Gass called the regular meeting to order.

Administration of Oath of Office.

Superintendent Dale Kinsley administered the Oath of Office for recently elected Bellingham School District Directors, Ann Whitmyer - Position 1, Ken Gass - Position 2, and Elaine Lynch - Position 3. Each director was elected to a four-year term.

Board Reorganization and Election of Officers for 2004.

Jeff Haggen moved to elect Ann Whitmyer as President and Elaine Lynch as Vice President. The motion carried unanimously. Ann Whitmyer recognized Ken Gass for his work during the past year and presented him with a gavel and book.

Ann Whitmyer nominated Jeff Haggen to serve as the Legislative Representative for the Board. Jeff accepted this nomination. Ann also appointed Elaine Lynch, Steve Schoenfeld, and Ken Gass to serve as members of the Auditing Committee for the coming year.

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:

Ken Gass moved and Elaine Lynch seconded approval of the consent agenda. The motion carried unanimously.

Minutes

Action on the minutes of the November 20, 2003 Executive Session and the November 20, 2003 School Board meeting.

Investments

Action on investments in accordance with Resolution 13-88.

                  GENERAL FUND

                  CAPITAL PROJECTS

                  DEBT SERVICE

                  ASB FUND

Expenditures and Payroll

Action on expenditures and payroll as approved by the Auditing Committee.

Personal Services Contract

•  Michael Kogan and Nadezhda Bespalova to serve as foreign language interpreters on an as-needed basis during the 2003 - 2004 school year.

•  Lynnea Flarry to serve as Math Olympiad instructor and coach at Roosevelt Elementary School beginning December 12, 2003, and continuing through March 31, 2004.

•  Effie Silvis to serve as Math Olympiad Coach at Roosevelt Elementary School beginning December 12, 2003, and continuing through March 31, 2004.

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

School Board Reports

Elaine Lynch reported that the district is preparing for a Maintenance and Operations Levy and Technology Levy. The Board will be going to the community in February for support in the levies. She is currently scheduling PTA/PTO groups and civic groups to be visited by the Levy Speakers Bureau. She recently visited Geneva, along with Dr. Kinsley, to meet with the staff for an informational levy meeting.

Elaine announced that there is a Legislative Evening for Whatcom County Directors and Superintendents scheduled for Tuesday, January 6, 2004. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. for the Bellingham School District Board and Superintendent. At 7:00 p.m. the meeting will move into the Board Room for a meeting with all Whatcom county superintendents and directors. This will be an opportunity to talk with legislators about the legislative season and issues we have in common with other school districts.

Jeff Haggen reported that he has been attending several levy meetings and working on fund raising. He also attended several parent/teacher conferences this week.

Ann Whitmyer reported that she is also participating in the levy endeavor. She has mixed emotions because of the hard work involved and because of the need to fund it entirely through private funds. She welcomes the opportunity to be in the community to share with them the successes and good things happening in the Bellingham School District.  

Superintendent's Announcements/Report

Dale Kinsley shared that the levy committee and the community also contribute a lot of resources to the Levy Committee. It costs approximately $25,000 just for printing, mailing, and advertisements. He has been meeting with each employee group in the district to share levy information.

Dale also reported that he was at Sehome High School on Wednesday for a Root Beer Float Celebration for students that passed all four areas of the WASL. He explained that there is a lot of discussion underway about how we can both celebrate the importance and successes with the WASL at the high school level, as well as connect that assessment to important work in the classroom and encourage 10 th grade students to do their best when the WASL comes up in April.  

Dale reminded the Board of the school visit to Sehome on Friday, December 05, 2003 beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Dale reported that one of our students, Tyler Dockins, was selected as one of two state representatives to the 2004 U.S. Senate Youth Program. This award includes a week in Washington D.C. and a $5,000 college scholarship. Tyler plans to attend the University of Washington.

Dale brought to the attention of the Board two changes to the Procurement of Goods and Services Procedure. The first page indicates changes being made to the procedure.  The second page contains a list of contracts between $25,000 and $50,000 in size. Starting now, and as a regular part of the informational agenda, contracts of this size will be reported to the Board.

Dale announced that there will be an assembly at Roosevelt on December 12 th at 11:00 a.m. State Representative, Phyllis Guitierrez-Kinny and the Mexican Council, Jorge Medrosso, are presenting books in Spanish on behalf of the Mexican government. There will also be approximately 20 other school representatives from the north west there to receive books.

REPORTS:

Elementary Student Support Program

Deputy Superintendent Susan Zoller updated the Board on the Elementary Student Support Task Force. Recommendations adopted last spring included separating the assessment and student evaluation work in special education from the work in support of the social, emotional, behavioral, and academic needs of students. This fall, the Task Force has reviewed the existing structures and job descriptions for the new position and created a process by which individuals currently in those positions can identify their interests for next year.

ACTION ITEMS:

Policy/Procedure 2004, School Accountability for Student Learning

The Board heard a first reading of Policy/Procedure 2004, School Accountability for Student Learning. Revisions to Policy 2004 are needed to comply with new state guidelines precipitated by the No Child Left Behind federal law, which requires each local District to incorporate accountability goals and processes into their policy.

Policy/Procedure 6114, Gifts

The Board heard a first reading of Policy/Procedure 6114, Gifts. This policy provides specific guidance on acceptance of gifts and donations by the District or individual schools or programs. The Board also reviewed the proposed web page and the proposed Agreement Form.

Policy 3131, Student Attendance Area Transfers

This policy was tabled until a later time due to new language considerations.

Policy 5440, Certificated Staff Interns

Ken Gass moved and Jeff Haggen seconded the motion to approve Policy 5440, Certificated Staff Interns. The policy and procedure were revised to include administrative and specialist interns as well as teachers. The motion carried unanimously.

Personnel recommendations

Elaine Lynch moved and Ken Gass seconded the motion to approve the personnel recommendations as presented. The motion carried unanimously.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.