EXCERPTS of USD #384 Regular Board of Education Meeting

 

A Regular Board of Education meeting for USD #384 Blue Valley was held on August 14, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room. Members present were Mitch Innes, Jason Hartman, Reo Shultz, Stephen Corkill, Tim Innes, Amy Cassel, and Melissa Geisler.  Administration present was Rex Boley, Superintendent, and Alison Moore, Board Clerk.

 

CALL TO ORDER:  President, Jason Hartman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

APPROVE THE AGENDA: The Board approved the agenda with the following change: move 13b. to 13i.; Stephen moved to accept the agenda

with the change; Mitch second; motion passed 7-0.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Board and guests recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

WELCOME GUESTS: President, Jason Hartman welcomed our guests.

POSITIVE BOARD COMMENTS:

1.     Stephen said the leadership retreat did well getting students riled up for the school year.

2.     Reo said it was nice to see the staff this morning energized and ready to go for the year.

3.     Jason was glad the event at The North County brought out the community to support the school and donated $450 for the teachers.

SPECIAL REPORTS:

1.     None

RECOGNITION OF STUDENTS/STAFF:

1)    Student of the Month:

a)     McCormick Elementary School –

b)    Blue Valley Middle School –

c)     Blue Valley High School –

 

2)    Staff of the Month:

PRINCIPAL REPORTS:

1)    MES – Jason and the team have been working hard on the two new classrooms. Enrollment is looking good with 108 students at MES;

including 9 out of district students. Teachers have been working together with Mrs. Cravens and preparing the 4th grade class for 5th grade

next year. Teachers are also looking at support systems for students this year who are struggling with different areas. MES is working with

BVHS on STEM projects that include the HS students coming over to MES to work with the students.

2)    RMS – Mr. Boley and Mr. Meals are working on supervision between buildings between classes. There was a good turnout for the 5th grade

welcome back, with 15 students attending.

3)    BVHS – Mr. Meals reports there are 75 students as of right now. There has been success is switching the SPED room and the library. The

office has a new look with a counter-top area – huge thanks to Jim for building that piece. BVHS is looking for support for students struggling'

in core areas. Looking at individual plans of study for each student, so that students have more of a direction as they get closer to graduation.

The student leadership retreat had 9 staff members who donated their time to be there with the students.

SUPERINTENDENT REPORT:

·       Enrollment Numbers – numbers are looking really good as school is getting ready to start.

·       Losing Students – why are we losing students to other districts? Something the school needs to look into to see what the district can change

for the future.

·       MATC – no longer going to reimburse for courses taught. Mr. Boley and Mr. Meals met with MATC Admin to no avail at this point.

·       KESA – Sue Jenkins came in to review KESA data

·       There is chronic absenteeism

·       District does need to improve math scores

·       Skylights – BVHS are old and cracked and need resealed. Reo questions if the roof was fixed a couple years ago and if there was any kind of

warranty if that work fell under that. Mr. Bole will look into it.

OPEN FORUM: No one addressed the Board during open forum.

CONSENT AGENDA: The Board approved the Consent Agenda as follows:

1.     Approved Minutes: July 10, 2023 Regular Board of Education Meeting

2.     Approved Receipts

3.     Approved Hirings: HS Scholars Bowl – Michele Palmgren; Freshman Class Sponsor – Beth Luhman; Sophomore Class Sponsor – Dale Hoch;

HS Lunch Duty – Michele Palmgren; HS Play Assistant Director – Michele Palmgren; FBLA Sponsor – Devlyn Brill; FFA Assistant Advisor –

Kaci Goff; MS Lunch Duty – Elise Goddard; MS Student Council – Amber Ellis; MES Student Council – Brittany Pfaff; RAM Ink – Elise

Goddard; Kaylie Ines – HS Girls Head Basketball Coach; Samantha Jones – Vocal Music Teacher; Kristie Anderson – Bus Driver

4.     Transfer: Kim Vass from full-time bus driver to substitute bus driver

5.     Out of District Student Approval: Kalyee Beyer; James Cox; Brody, Clay, and Adelyn Buchanan; Kirsten Allison; Trevor Clark; Nate Irvine;

Camryn and Kenidy Lister; Gage, Koy, and Beau Williams; Ethan and Emily Kirby; Ciarra Roberson; Ashlyn Morss; Jaimeson O’Shea; Haven

Macom

Mitch moved to accept the consent agenda; Amy second; motion passed 7-0.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

1)    Board Policy Updates – The overnight stay policy is okay because the district does not use Air B&B’s.

Mitch moves to approve the board policy updates; Stephen second; motion passes 5-2 with Tim and Jason opposing.

2)    Budget/Transfers/RNR – Supplemental General Fund: assessed value went up. Tax money generated means we get more state aid funding.

3)    Property Insurance – are there building limits? All property is under the blanket policy amount. The small outbuildings are less than the

deductible but the chances are multiple buildings would be hit so it would be one deductible. There is no stipulation of footprint if the district

has to completely rebuild.

Mitch moves to accept the property insurance; Reo second; motion passed 7-0.

4)    Mr. Boley asked Farren to put together a plan for next meeting since eRate is to be used for the initial backbone for the infrastructure to be

done with k12.

NEW BUSINESS:

1)    Approve Warrants/Transfers – No new checks to approve.

2)    Enrollment Study – Mr. Kent Stewart can come in to do an economic study for the district for future projections on numbers. At this time, it

was pointed out that a building study may be more of a need so as to prepare for future enrollment.

3)    Needs Assessment/Student Achievement – would like to increase instructional resources for MES and RMS in budget by 20%, and lower

chronic absenteeism by 10% at BVHS; along with hiring consultants to conduct enrollment and facilities studies by the start of 24-25 school

year.

4)    Fire Hydrant – fire hydrant over by the Ag building isn’t looped into any water lines. Even if it were to be looped in, there’s not enough pressure

in town to be fully functional. What is the cost to run the line to the Ag building?

5)    Strategic Plan – one page, starting looking at adding ideas or changing things.

6)    Additional Assistant Coaches

a)     Assistant HS Football Coach – would like to officially add a third coach to supplemental list, as there has been a second assistant but

never thought of or added until after negotiations.

b)    Assistant Cross Country Coach – previously was paid for by Luckey last year but Luckey has enough for their own program this year, but

there are enough athletes that another coach is needed.

Reo moved that coaching positions be moved to executive session; Mitch second; motion passed 7-0.

7)    Accepting Gifts – PTO gifted $1,200 to fix the tunnel at MES Playground; a private individual gifted $200 for the landscape plants at MES which has turned out beautifully. Tim moved to accept the gifts; Reo second; motion passed 7-0.

8)    MATC – district is waiting on the updated proposal.

9)    Personnel - The Board held an executive session to discuss personnel. The purpose of the executive session is to protect the privacy interests of an identifiable individual.  

a)     Board moved into executive session at 8:00p.m. for 45min with Rex Boley, Anthony Meals, and the board. Anthony Meals exited executive session at 8:20p.m.

b)    At 8:45p.m. the board requested an additional 25min.

Meeting reconvened at 9:11p.m. and it was noted that no action was taken during executive session.

Tim moved to hire Blake Fronce as Middle School Athletic Director; Amy second; motion passed 6-1 with Jason opposing.

Reo moved hiring Jonathan Meals and April Brenner as bus drivers; Amy second; motion passed 7-0.

Mitch moved to move Arlie to a substitute bus driver from a full-time bus driver; Melissa second; motion passed 7-0.

Amy moved to give the High School Secretary a $2/hr raise; Melissa second; motion passed 7-0.

Reo moved to hired a 2nd Assistant High School Football Coach (Lee Buchanan); Melissa second; motion passed 7-0.

Amy moved to add Assistant Cross Country Coach (David Cobb) to payroll at $1,250; Mitch second; motion passed 7-0.

Future Agenda Items:

a.)   E-Rate

Adjournment: Tim moved to adjourn; Stephen second; meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m.

Alison Moore, Board Clerk