BOARD MINUTES
Rising Sun-Ohio County Community School Corporation
March 11, 2008
The regular session of the Board of School Trustees was held as advertised on March 11, 2008 at 7:05 P.M. in the administration building. Members present were Tim Adams, Felix Massey III, Corey Potts, Tim Elbright, Jamie Bell and Superintendent Stephen Patz. Also present were Keith Majewski, Gloria Holland, Patty Huff, Jerry Firestone, Lisa Nobbe, Bob White, Jack Lillie, Karen Lovern, Andrew Iceberg, Myles Hornsby, Sam DeDreu, Ashley Cochran, and Tiffany Siekman.
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Members of the Board reviewed minutes from the February 19, 2008 Board meeting. The minutes were approved by signature.
Members of the Board reviewed claims. The claims were approved by signature.
The Superintendent presented a recommendation from Patty Huff for the position of Middle School Girls’ Track Coach to be filled by Molly Martin and Middle School Boys’ Track Coach to be shared by Scott Cummings and Brian Hochstrasser. Upon motion by Felix Massey III and seconded by Tim Adams to accept the recommendation, members voted as follows: Aye – Felix Massey III, Tim Adams, Corey Potts, Tim Elbright, and Jamie Bell.
Jerry Firestone was present to discuss the cabinetry project at OCEMS. Mr. Firestone said that the bids were opened earlier in the day, and five bids were received. They were Poole Group for $169,000, Harmmon Construction for $162,000, J.P. Tumlin & Sons for $191,200, KFI Kramer & Feldman for $167,260, and Teton Corporation for $158,860. Mr. Firestone was pleased with the bids and stated that Teton Corporation out of Madison was the low bidder. Teton’s bid included cabinetry manufactured by the same company that made the cabinets in the new kindergarten rooms. This is a plus since it would mean that all of the cabinetry in the building would match with the exception of the new middle school wing. Mr. Firestone said that if the bid was accepted at this meeting, the timeline would be 125 days from today. There would be a pre-construction meeting next week if the Board decides to accept Teton’s bid. A brief discussion followed Mr. Firestone’s presentation. Mr. Firestone recommended to the Board that Teton’s bid be accepted. Mr. Patz recommended accepting the base bid of $158,860 and the alternate bid for marker boards and tack boards of $25,000 for a total of $183,860. Mr. Patz pointed out that this project will be completed with money that is left over from the recent construction project. Upon motion by Tim Adams and seconded by Felix Massey III to accept the recommendation, members voted as follows: Aye – Tim Adams, Felix Massey III, Tim Elbright, Corey Potts and Jamie Bell.
Jack Lillie III was present to discuss a new parent communication system. Mr. Patz opened the discussion with a brief description of the system that Mr. Lillie has been researching. The company, AlertNow, has been in business since 1996. This system has the capacity to send messages through mass calling to as many as 5,000 phone numbers within one minute. This would give the School Corporation the capability to contact all parents in the event of an emergency, and eventually, use the system for school news. The system would also give the Corporation a report as to any phone numbers that were not reached due to busy numbers, answering machines, etc. This system has the capability to take the phone numbers directly from our student information system, SASI.
Mr. Lillie stated that while there are a lot of products of this type, he has done a lot of research and feels that this system is safe, secure and reliable. It gives us the ability to have access to the service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There was a brief discussion regarding the security of the system and what will happen if parents do not want to be part of the new system. In this case, our present system will apply. Parents will still be able to get information from the local radio and TV stations. Mr. Patz stated that we will do a lot of advertising prior to implementation of this system so that parents are familiar and comfortable with the system. The cost would be $2.55 per student if we sign a three-year contract. Mr. Patz recommends approving a three-year contract with AlertNow. Upon motion by Felix Massey III and seconded by Tim Elbright to accept the recommendation, members voted as follows: Aye – Felix Massey III, Tim Elbright, Tim Adams, Corey Potts, and Jamie Bell.
Gloria Holland was present to give a report on this year’s High Ability Program. She opened her presentation by commending the OCEMS staff for their efforts on the recent early release day. She stated that each teacher called the parents of each student to inform them of the early release and to verify arrangements for each student. She commended the office staff and volunteers for fielding hundreds of calls.
Ms. Holland reviewed the High Ability program and the steps taken this year to further the program. She stated that so far this year, there have been a lot of changes made with little or no money available since the State only recently approved our grant request. She discussed the legal requirements, identification techniques, and curriculum as well as other aspects of the program. Ms. Holland has been attending workshops and meetings regarding the program. She has been discussing a possible link on our website that would highlight the High Ability program as well as other programs within the school. There was a brief discussion regarding the program.
Mr. Patz stated that the recent discussion meeting regarding the 2009-2010 calendar had to be rescheduled due to bad weather. This subject was tabled until after that discussion meeting occurs.
The Superintendent commented that the State has issued a formula that will help schools make up snow days. The School will not have to make up each snow day according to the formula.
Mr. Patz is planning to attend a City Council meeting as well as a County Council meeting to thank both road crews for their help during the recent bad weather.
Tim Adams commented that at a recent city council meeting that he attended, the prom committee received a grant to help with prom expenses. It was his impression that this grant may not be available in future years.
The Board of School Trustees of the Rising Sun-Ohio County Community School Corporation did not discuss any subject matter in executive session other than the topic specified in the public notice.
The meeting adjourned at 8:14 P.M.