2007-10-11
Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting––October 11, 2007
The meeting was called to order by President John Knodel in the St. Francis High School library on the above date at 8:00 p.m. with all members present except Kelly Gienger, Mary Beth Miller, and Pete Raile. Kelly Gienger and Mary Beth Miller arrived shortly thereafter. Also arriving shortly after the meeting was called to order was St. Francis Herald reporter Karen Krien.
Superintendent Schiltz requested that an executive session be added to the agenda as the last item before adjournment; the purpose of the executive session was to discuss non-elected personnel with no official action to be taken when the Board comes out of executive session. Bonnie Zweygardt moved to approve the agenda with this addition; the motion was seconded by Sherry Weeks and carried.
The Board reviewed and discussed the items on the consent calendar. A motion was then made by Bonnie Zweygardt, seconded by Bruce Feikert, and carried to approve the consent calendar, including the following items: 1) the minutes of the regular meeting on September 10, 2007; 2) the list of bills being paid on checks numbering 7404-7498 on BankWest and numbering 4659-4762 on First National Bank for a total of $284,498.09; 3) the Cash Summary Report (including two transfers: $2,837.33 from the Supplemental General Fund to the Vocational Fund, and $6,584.59 from the General Fund to the At-Risk Fund), and the Grade School and High School Activity Fund Reports––all as of September 30, 2007.
There were no audiences and no committee reports.
Under Old Business, the Board and administration returned to a proposal to approve salary increases for all contracted employees, to be effective with the November salary checks. As discussed at last month’s Board meeting, the specific recommendation was to increase the base salary on the teacher salary schedule from $31,000 to $32,000 (which results in about a 2.5% average increase in teachers’ salaries) and to increase salaries for noncertified personnel by a larger percentage (about a 6.5% average increase). Summaries of these recommended increases, showing how each employee’s salary would be affected, were again distributed to the Board for review and discussion. Following review and discussion, Sherry Weeks moved to approve all salary increases as proposed; the motion was seconded by Bruce Feikert and carried.
Old Business continued with the Board being informed of the new monthly Blue Cross-Blue Shield (BC-BS) premium rates that resulted from the company’s review of Health Profiles that had been submitted by the school’s group members. Based on the re-entry figures, the BC-BS premiums DECREASED by an average of 5.2% as compared with the original increase of approximately 12.5%.
The Board and administration then further discussed the possibility of the district paying an additional amount toward the premiums of the school’s health-insurance group, effective with the new plan beginning November 1, 2007, through October 31, 2008. The Board agreed with the idea of continuing to help with health-insurance costs for school employees, thus trying to retain those employees already in the group and perhaps attracting others to join the group. After discussion, Bonnie Zweygardt moved, Kelly Gienger seconded, and it carried for the school to pay an additional amount, as follows: $30 per month (for a total of $205) on each single plan and $60 per month (for a total of $410) on each plan other than a single. This school payment, an estimated overall total of $91,020 for the 2007-08 plan-year, will be paid from the school’s General Fund (current payments) and the Contingency Reserve Fund (this year’s additional payments).
Superintendent Schiltz reported that a quote for access control and surveillance systems from Affordable Alarm Systems, Hillsboro, Kansas, had been received. He reviewed the proposal and then explained the reasons for pursuing this project. He will continue to investigate the project and then report again at next month’s regular meeting.
The school has contracted with a company to install a wrestling mat hoist system that is scheduled for installation mid-October. Principal Carmichael explained the details.
Board member Mary Beth Miller gave a presentation concerning the gymnasium project. Following her presentation, the Board discussed pursuing her ideas. Superintendent Schiltz will contact architect Glen Strait and will look into obtaining bond counsel concerning the project.
New Business began with discussion of requests from five teachers for educational leave. Following discussion, a motion was made by Bonnie Zweygardt, seconded by Sherry Weeks and carried to approve the following: 1) Jeff Olofson: National Science Teachers’ Association Convention, Denver, Colorado; 2) Julie Wolters and Jennifer Krien: Kim Sutton Workshop, Hays; 3) Robin Burr and Judy Raile: DIBELS Workshop, Oakley. It was also the consensus of the Board that the superintendent be allowed to approve educational leave as the requests are submitted and then to inform the Board of the specific requests that are approved.
The school received a donation of $1,000 from the Alumni Association to be applied toward the purchase of new folding chairs. In accordance with Board Policy 1313 “Gifts,” a motion to accept this gift was made by Kelly Gienger, seconded by Bruce Feikert and carried.
The Board received a summary of the official enrollment on September 20, 2007. Official 2007-2008 FTE enrollment in USD 297 is 307.5, which is a decrease of 7 from the 2006-2007 FTE enrollment (314.5). Actual head-count enrollment is 319, down from 329 in 2006-2007.
The Board also received a summary of the KSHSAA Classifications for activities in 2007-2008. St. Francis is now a Class 1A school in the KSHSAA, with an enrollment of 75 in the top three grades 10, 11, and 12. This year’s enrollment range for Class 1A schools is from a low of 14 to a high of 81 students in grades 10, 11, and 12.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the regularly scheduled Board meeting on November 8, 2007, was changed to Tuesday, November 13, 2007. A motion was made by Kelly Gienger, seconded by Bonnie Zweygardt and carried to approve this new date.
There was no Review of School-Improvement and no Review of Board Policy.
At 10:17 p.m., a motion was made by Bonnie Zweygardt to go into executive session for 20 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel. The motion was seconded by Bruce Feikert and carried. St. Francis Herald reporter Karen Krien left the meeting at this time and did not return later.
At 10:37 p.m., the Board returned to regular session and then a motion was made by Kelly Gienger, seconded by Bruce Feikert and carried to go back into executive session for an additional 5 minutes.
At 10:42 p.m., regular session resumed; no action was taken.
A few miscellaneous items were mentioned but no action was taken. At 10:46 p.m., Bruce Feikert moved to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Sherry Weeks and carried.
Following adjournment, Mr. Schiltz gave a tour of the new computer lab, which used to be the home ec classroom. He and Mr. Carmichael then took the Board to the gym-addition to view the new rubber flooring sections that had recently been purchased and put in place under the weight lifting equipment. The Board also viewed the area where the new wrestling mat hoist system will be installed.
