Bellingham, Washington
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE
BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
March 14, 2002
The Bellingham School Board of Directors met in regular session at 7:30 p.m.,
March 14, 2002, in the Board Room of the Administration Building.
Present: Directors Ken Gass, Jeff Haggen, Steve Schoenfeld, and Ann Whitmyer, President Elaine Lynch, Superintendent Dale Kinsley, and recorder Shirley Knapp.
At 7:30 p.m. President Elaine Lynch called the meeting to order.
CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:
Gass moved and Haggen seconded approval of the consent agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
Minutes
Action on the minutes of the February 28, 2002 School Board meeting.
Investments
Action on investments in
accordance with Resolution 13-88.
GENERAL FUND
$362,000.00 LGIP,
investment, February 28, 2002.
$219,000.00 LGIP,
withdrawal, March 8, 2002.
CAPITAL PROJECTS
$112,800.00 LGIP,
withdrawal, February 28, 2002.
DEBT SERVICE
$23,000.00 LGIP,
investment, February 28, 2002.
$24,500.00 LGIP,
investment, March 8, 2002.
ASB FUND
$30,500.00 LGIP,
withdrawal, February 28, 2002.
$12,000.00 LGIP,
withdrawal, March 7, 2002.
Expenses
and Payroll
Action on expenditures and payroll
as approved by the Auditing Committee.
GENERAL FUND
ACCTS PAY: 02/08/02 $418,564.60
02/15/02 114,608.80
02/22/02 305,819.25
Total General
Fund $838,992.65
CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND
ACCTS PAY: 02/15/02 $974,673.46
02/28/02 113,647.07
Total Cap.
Proj. Fund $1,088,320.53
ASB FUND
ACCTS PAY: 02/15/02 $98,429.80
02/28/02 37,594.41
Total ASB
Fund $136,024.21
BHS $37,735.52
SHS $34,770.05
SQHS $20,374.50
FMS $13,965.29
KMS $8,891.88
SMS $9,054.41
WMS $11,232.56
EXPENDABLE TRUST FUND
ACCTS PAY: 02/08/02 $31.95
02/15/02 188.18
02/28/02 109.00
Total Exp.
Trust Fund $329.13
PAYROLL $4,908,723.50
Out-of-State Travel:
a) John Getchell, Jason King and Betty Miller to attend annual meeting of Zangle National Users Group, May 9-10, 2002 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
b) Pat Buhl to attend the Annual Reading Recovery Institute in Boston, May 29-
June 1, 2002
Surplus
Materials
Permission to declare items as surplus.
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
School Board Reports
Several Board members reported on the visit to Carl Cozier Elementary School last Friday.
Ms. Whitmyer reported on the meeting that she and Elaine Lynch had with Duane Baker, evaluator from the Gates Foundation. She also met with a couple of parents that were able to make it to the Parent Advisory meeting on March 7, which was rescheduled due to weather.
Mr. Haggen attended the Kulshan Middle School band concert on March 14, and a WSSDA meeting on March 7 at the ESD in Mount Vernon. Haggen asked to be excused at 8:15 p.m., in order to attend a dinner honoring his father.
Schoenfeld attended the Fairhaven Middle School band concert. He also reported that he has been corresponding regularly with Representative Ericksen.
Gass attended a meeting of the South Hill Association on March 6 and the WSSDA meeting on March 7.
Mrs. Lynch reported on the meeting with Dr. Baker from the Gates Foundation and the audit exit interview with the State Auditors on March 13.
Superintendent’s Announcements/Reports
Dr. Kinsley provided copies of revised Administrative Procedure #3141 – Admission of Non-Resident Students.
Next week high school accreditation teams will be visiting Squalicum on Monday, March 18; Bellingham on Tuesday, March 19; and Sehome on Wednesday, March 20. Dr. Kinsley gave the Board copies of the schedules for each of the visits.
Thursday, March 21, is Superintendent’s Day for the National Service Learning Conference in Seattle. Several District students, including Jamilla Thomson, Mitch Tan, and Bobby Gass, will participate in that event.
Dr. Kinsley provided an update on graduation. State law allows high school seniors to be excused up to 5 days of the school year. Snow days are added onto the school calendar per the teacher’s contract. Due to the additional days, seniors will need to attend school two more days after the graduation. Finals will be held before the graduation ceremonies, which will remain the same at all schools.
Superintendent Kinsley announced that March 14-18 is Classified Employees Week. He noted a proclamation from Governor Locke and shared the cards that were given to classified employees in the District, along with cinnamon rolls and home-baked goods. Teacher Appreciation Week is the first week in May. The Partnership for Learning and the Bellingham Public School Foundation are planning a recognition event for teachers that they are hoping to tie in with that week. District staff will be visiting all buildings to gather feedback regarding teacher recognition events and communication.
Dr. Kinsley attended a meeting last week in Olympia with Technical and Community College Presidents and Superintendents. The group will continue regular regional meetings to study the connections between K-12 and community/technical colleges.
Next Friday, members of the Technology Alliance Group will meet with Gerald Pumphrey, Robin Halliday, and Superintendent Kinsley to discuss technical certification programs between the District and BTC.
REPORTS:
Update on the State Budget
Proposals
Executive Director Jim Stevens gave a brief summary of the impacts of the state budget proposals on the District. The Senate has not yet approved the final budget, so it is possible there may still be some changes. Stevens outlined the cuts in programs in the several areas, including safety allocations, Better Schools Program, and LID Days. These will amount to approximately $800,000 less in state funds for next year.
ACTION ITEMS:
Strategic
Plans
Gass moved and Whitmyer seconded the motion to approve the strategic plans for Sunnyland, Silver Beach, and Shuksan. The motion carried unanimously. Approval for the strategic plan for Lowell was delayed pending some revisions to the plan.
Culminating
Project/Student Plan
The Board heard a first reading of the proposal for the culminating project/student plan. Deputy Superintendent Susan Zoller gave a brief overview of the proposals and the timelines for these two new components of high school graduations requirements. These changes will take effect with the class of 2006. The District will begin implementation of the 13th Year Plan next year in grades 6 and 9 and will continue to add a grade of implementation each year to support students through the process. Committee members Debbie Granger, Derek Forbes, Jeannie Hayden, and Jeff Baglio were available to answer questions from the Board.
Permission
to Call for Bids
Whitmyer moved and Gass seconded the motion for permission to call for photography services for 2002-03 student ID cards for the three high schools. The motion carried unanimously.
Personnel Recommendations
Gass moved and Schoenfeld seconded the motion for approval of the personnel recommendations as presented. The motion carried unanimously. Dr. Kinsley recognized Gabrielle “GiGi” Morganti who was in the audience. Ms. Morganti is being appointed as principal at Kulshan Middle School with the 2002-03 school year. Kinsley also noted the retirements of Ron Robertson, library media specialist at Squalicum High School, and Mary Marie Taylor, teacher at Parkview Elementary.