Notes From Board Work Session, 5/21/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit Board Docs.

Public Forum

• None

Overview of Testing (J. Estep & staff)

• Estep & staff gave a very informative presentation on the overall testing schedules for each grade and procedures.
• Abell - Requested copies of the slides and also placement on BoardDocs.
• Pedersen - How does staff evaluate themselves on the tests?
• Eichel - The test are directly related to state tests. We also use an item analysis for each question.
• Pedersen - Tests seem to focus on targeting the students in need of assistance; what about the above average or "gifted"?
• Estep - Hopes each school would evaluate their data received from the tests and target those for advancement. Currently not a system in place to identify "gifted" students but should be forthcoming.

Out-of-County Tuition Fees (P. Balides)

• Increase out of county by 10.6% ($6,415) and out of state by 11.5% ($10,555).
• Additional charges and fees were presented for special education or students requiring additional services (see report)
• 06-07 school year = 64 students (53 students; 11 special education)
• Abell - Are the fees prorated for partial years
• Balides - Yes
• Is the fee and the proposed increase standard and average when compared to surrounding counties?
• Balides - Yes
• Pedersen - Do we have to accept the students?
• Balides - Most we have to accept, i.e. foster care; judicial system

Out-of-County Tuition Fees (P. Balides)

• Incorporates additional $1,976,400 funding
• Budget reflects recent changes in state and local appropriations as of 5/18/07.
• Local county appropriations increased by $1.8M and are allocated to address increases in health insurance, GASB 45, provide funding for a television studio and reallocate budgets to reflect current spending patterns.
• County revenues were increased by 1.8M due to energy de-regulation funding and revised revenue estimates.
• Final state funding allocations increased $151,400 from the proposed operating budget.
• Total balanced operating budget is 282.1M, which is 11.4% over fiscal year 2007.
• Food service operating budget includes a .20 cent price increase for meals.

Executive (Closed) Session