BELLINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Bellingham, Washington

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

OF THE

BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

December 13, 2001

The Bellingham School Board of Directors met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., December 13, 2001, in the Board Room of the Administration Building. Prior to the regular Board meeting, an Executive Session was held at 7:00 p.m.  Purpose of Executive Session – negotiations.

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

At 7:00 p.m. Lynch moved to begin Executive Session; Gass seconded.  At 7:35 p.m. Gass moved to regular session; Whitmyer seconded.

At 7:40 p.m. President Ann Whitmyer called the meeting to order and welcomed new Board members Haggen and Schoenfeld.

Board Reorganization – Election of Officers for 2001

Schoenfeld nominated Elaine Lynch for President and Ken Gass for Vice President; Whitmyer seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Lynch recognized Whitmyer for her work during the past year and presented her with a gavel and a gift from the Board.

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:

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

Minutes

Action on the minutes of the November 29, 2001 School Board meeting.

Investments

Action on investments in accordance with Resolution 13-88.

                  GENERAL FUND

                                        $1,735,000.00               LGIP, withdrawal, November 30, 2001.

                                           $221,500.00               LGIP, withdrawal, December 7, 2001.

                  CAPITAL PROJECTS

                                             $83,500.00               LGIP, withdrawal, November 30, 2001.

                  DEBT SERVICE

                                        $4,672,500.00                LGIP, withdrawal, December 1, 2001.

                                             $26,000.00                LGIP, investment, December 7, 2001.

                  ASB FUND

                                           $15,800.00                  LGIP, withdrawal, November 30, 2001.

                                           $18,600.00                  LGIP, investment, December 7, 2001.

                  TRANSPORTATION VEHICLE

                                        $226,700.00                    LGIP, withdrawal, December 5, 2001.

Personal Services Contracts:

• Naghi Astanei to serve as an Arabic/Farsi/Darby interpreter on an as-needed basis during the 2001 – 2002 school year.
• Sofia Natalie Mariona to serve as a Spanish interpreter on an as-needed basis during the 2001 – 2002 school year.
• Richard Lewis to serve as a tutor in the Home and Hospital Tutoring Program on an as-needed basis during the 2001 – 2002 school year.
• Denise Massey-Smith to assist with updating the Work-Based Learning and Health Care Services databases.

Out-of-State Travel:

• Teresa Van Haalen to attend the National Association of Elementary School Principal’s Conference April 6 – 10, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas.
• Marcia Shirm to attend the National Association of Elementary School Principal’s Annual Convention April 5 – 9, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas.
• Laura Horan to attend the National Association of School Psychologists Convention February 26 – March 2, 2002, in Chicago, Illinois.

• Becky Elmendorf to attend workshop February 11 – 13, 2002 in Newport Beach, California as part of the COPS Grant.

Contracts:

• Interdistrict Agreement with Nooksack Valley School District to allow John Glenn to provide vision services to a Nooksack Valley student.
• Agreement with Northwest ESD 189 for NovaNET Services Cooperative for 2001-02.

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

School Board Reports

Whitmyer reported on the Gates middle school conference, the installation of new Board members and joint meeting with Bellingham Technical College, the Board visit to Shuksan Middle School last Friday, and the Commission on Children and Youth Ken Gass awards.

Haggen attended the Bellingham Technical College/District meeting and the Board visit to Shuksan Middle School.

Schoenfeld reported on his attendance at the meeting with the Technical College, the “Bring Joy to a Child” assembly at Sehome, a performance by Happy Valley choir, and a Shuksan Middle School basketball game.

Gass reported on the Commission on Children and Youth awards and Kulshan’s student-led conferences.

Lynch attended the meeting on December 5 with Bellingham Technical College, the Parent Advisory Committee meeting on December 6, the visit to Shuksan Middle School on December 7, the “Bring Joy to a Child” assembly, the Ken Gass Commission on Children and Youth Awards and a meeting of the Better Schools Committee.  Lynch announced that Whatcom County legislators will meet with County superintendents and board members on January 7, at 6:30 p.m., in the Roeder Board Room.

Superintendent’s Announcements/Reports

Dr. Kinsley noted that the appointment of Cathy Harris as interim assistant principal is part of the personnel recommendations for this meeting.

Kinsley shared information sent by the Governor encouraging Washington residents to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on January 21 by volunteering for community service.

The first group of strategic plans will be submitted to the Board for final adoptions at the January 24 Board meeting.  All twenty plans will be presented prior to the end of the school year.  Prior to Board approval, the plans will be submitted to the student achievement committee and the superintendent for review.

OSPI will be holding their annual state school improvement conference in Spokane on January 22-23, 2002.

REPORTS:

Update on Northern Heights Elementary School

Assistant Superintendent Greg Cowan and Planning Principal Wendy Barrett gave a progress report on Northern Heights Elementary School.  Cowan gave a slide presentation illustrating the floor plan and the site and construction work that has been accomplished thus far.  He also outlined the attendance and staffing.  The new elementary school is expected to have an opening enrollment of approximately 358 FTE students with a basic education teacher FTE of 16.0.  Staffing will be reduced by 7.5 FTE at Roosevelt and 8.5 FTE at Silver Beach due to significant drops in enrollment upon the opening of Northern Heights.  Barrett discussed her plans for involving students, staff, and parents in planning the school’s program and activities.

Title 1/LAP Programs

Director of Federal and Special Programs Margo Montague reported on the District’s

Title 1/LAP Programs.  She outlined the areas of program background, program description, schools served, target selection, and accountability.

ACTION ITEMS:

Bid Award

Whitmyer moved and Gass seconded the motion to award the bid for a playshed addition and alterations to the administration area at Birchwood Elementary to Ebenal Construction with a total bid of $287,554.  The motion carried unanimously.

Student Trips

Whitmyer moved and Gass seconded approval of the following student trips (in concept):

• Sehome High School Debate Team to participate in up-coming debate tournaments, if qualified:
  • University of California, Berkley, California, February 7 – 9, 2002
  • Stanford University, February 14 – 16, 2002
  • University of Oregon, February 22 – 23, 2002
  • Tournament of Champions, Lexington, Kentucky, Mar 5 – 7, 2002
  • NLF Nationals, Asheville, North Carolina, June 2002

The motion carried unanimously.

Personnel Recommendations

Gass moved and Whitmyer seconded the motion for approval of the personnel recommendations as presented.  The motion carried unanimously.  Kinsley recognized Bellingham High School teacher Bev Race who will be retiring at the end of the semester.

Adjournment

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