Notes from Board of Education Meeting, 1/10/17

The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, January 10 will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs .

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.

Executive Session – 12 p.m.

Call to order – 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School

Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

Motion to elect Virginia McGraw for Chair by Marshall; Second by Palko

Motion to elect Lukas by McGraw; Second by Marshall
Ms. McGraw declined her nomination
Vote for Lukas was unanimous

Motion to elect Palko for Vice-Chair by McGraw; Second by Marshall
Vote was unanimous

Superintendent’s update - Superintendents report 1-10-17.pdf (277 KB)

• Crawford - Visit Transportation Dept., toured maintenance shop and television studio.  Visited Malcolm Elementary.  sat through 4 hour public forum on Watershed Conservation District.  Will resume this Thursday at 6:00.  15 people in favor; 53 against.
• Marshall - Attended Jaycees infant and toddler celebration; visited Middleton Art class
• McGraw - Thank you to EACC for the legislative reception; Wade staff thank you for pre-holiday activities. Remind Seniors for scholarship applications.
• Kelly - enjoyed orchestra, choir, and band holiday concerts; water safety course for 5th grade students and was rescued over 100 times.
• Palko - Gale-Bailey visit, received a tshirt and participated in morning announcements; visited Indian Head to view flash cards for next generation science cards.

Education Association of Charles County (EACC) update - 2017-01-10 EACC update.pdf (41 KB)

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) update

• Still two steps behind, health care insurance went up, last cola was 8 years ago, heavy workload. 
• Requests another town hall meeting for employees and board

Student Board member update

• General assembly on the 20th
• college apps are due

Making a Difference: Non-traditional high school completion programs

• About 290 students
• Alternative Education - recognition at national level at conference
• Opt in program start last year for alternative non-traditional education.  Application process. 
• Only open to high school students but piloting a middle school program.
• Evening High School program entrance through hearing process
• Virtual Academy students by application process; use APEX software; complete 2 classes per quarter
• student and parent testimonials were given
• New behavioral Specialist hired fro elementary school

CIP update

Elementary school #22 update

• out to bid for about 40 days with a pre-qualification process; 5 contractors prequalified; received 3 bids all over budget.    Have received one full year from state.  did value engineering with architecture to try and reduce cost.  Took out $1.3M.  need to resolve funding issues

Superintendent’s proposed FY 2018 operating budget

• superintendentproposed[2].pdf (485 KB)
• Superintendentproposed_presentation[4].pdf (918 KB)
• Health care costs and pensions

School naming committee update

• elementary 22 school naming committee report.pdf (213 KB)

Legislative update

• state budget not in great shape $400M deficit.  will affect education.  state funding is formula driven.  many cuts will come in local funding
• commission on excellence in education is looking at funding; consultants recommendation is to increase funding for education by $2.9M and changing formula for special ed and pre k; also recalculate the wealth formula for counties
• Session starts tomorrow and ends early April
• Bills could include burden of proof and an hourly school requirement vs the 180 days

Unfinished business

• Policy #5117: Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation -
• Board Policy 5117 draft December 2016.pdf (208 KB)
• Board proposed changes may not be acceptable by the state.
• Kelly - why does policy need to be approved by state
• Schwartz - state law states we must have this policy in place

New business - None

Future agenda items - None

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Resolutions
• Black History Month: Accepting: Taylor Fly, Senior, Thomas Stone High School and Ishaq Abdul-Rahim, Senior, Thomas Stone High School 
• Career and Technical Education Month: Accepting: Students of CTE programs at Robert D. Stethem Educational Center: Jonathan Corbett, senior, Media; Ann Marie York, junior, TAM; Joseph Childress, junior, Auto; Shawn Gayle, junior, HVAC; Shyanne Lee, junior, Pharmacy
• Gifted and Talented Education Month: Accepting: Lynn Hopkins, 6th grade Language Arts teacher, Milton Somers Middle School; Christian Gomez, 8th grade student, Somer
• National School Counseling Week: Accepting: Ronnie Richmond and Megan English, counselors, General Smallwood Middle School
• Students
• Laniya Faulk; fifth-grade; Academic Achievement; C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School; Principal: Ben Kohlhorst
• Edenilson Velasquez-Orellana; fourth-grade; Personal Responsibility; Dr. Gustavus Brown Elementary School; Principal: Christienne Warren
• Hope Treadway; fifth-grade; Personal Responsibility; Gale-Bailey Elementary School; Principal: Verniece Rorie
• MacKenna Zopelis; fifth-grade; Career Readiness; T.C. Martin Elementary School: Principal: Robert Opiekun
• Yachi Madaan; eighth-grade; Academic Achievement; John Hanson Middle School; Principal: Susan McCormick
• Shaun Hange; twelfth-grade; Personal Responsibility; Henry E. Lackey High School; Principal: Kathy Perriello
• Staff
• Pamela Gill, teacher, Barnhart
• Donna Rhoades, kindergarten instructional assistant, Brown
• Toni Adams, special education instructional assistant, Gale-Bailey
• Melody Philpotts, library media specialist, Martin
• Diane Fisher, science teacher, Hanson
• Jonathan Liston, math teacher, H.E. Lackey

Public Forum – 6 p.m. (name spelling is to the best of my knowledge)

• Leon Thornton - School naming, all names are worthy, son of Margaret Jamieson Thornton.  Wants school named after her.  Reiterated her history in education and the community.
• Patricia Jamieson Hart - Sister to Margaret Jamieson Thornton.  Spoke on behalf of naming the school after her.  Believed in respecting the student and they would respect you.
• Lydia Thornton Johnson - Daughter of Margaret Jamieson Thornton.  Wants school named after her mother.  devoted, passionate and always there for the students
• Tanja Carter - Margaret Jamieson Thornton was her Aunt.  Her name should be on the side of the next elementary school as inspiration to other teachers to aspire. 

Action items

• Minutes

Motion to accept the minutes by Abell; Second by Marshall

Yes = Abell, Crawford, Kelly, Lukas, Marshall, McGraw, Palko

• Personnel

Motion to accept personnel by Abell; Second by Palko

Yes = Abell, Crawford, Kelly, Lukas, Marshall, McGraw, Palko

• Policy #5117: Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation

Motion to accept Policy #5117 with additions (see below) by Abell; Second by Kelly

Yes = Abell, Crawford, Kelly, Lukas, Marshall; No = McGraw, Palko

• exclude the list and add "including but not limited to" and reference COMAR and Education Article

Adjournment