November 21, 2002
The
Board of Directors of the Little Rock School District held its regularly
scheduled meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 21, 2002, in the Boardroom
of the Administration Building, 810 West Markham Street, Little Rock,
Arkansas. President Judy Magness
presided.
MEMBERS
PRESENT:
Judy Magness
Tony
Rose
Larry Berkley
Micheal
Daugherty
Katherine Mitchell
Sue Strickland
MEMBERS
ABSENT:
Baker Kurrus
ALSO
PRESENT:
T.
Kenneth James, Superintendent of Schools
Beverly Griffin, Recorder of Minutes
I. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
President Judy Magness called the
meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Six
members of the Board were present at roll call; Mr. Kurrus was absent. Vicki Gonterman, teacher representative from
Gibbs Magnet Elementary School, and Gierre Godley, student from Parkview Magnet
High School, served as ex officio representatives for the month of
November.
II. PROCEDURAL
MATTERS / WELCOMING COMMENTS
Ms. Magness welcomed the audience and
introduced Barbara Strickland choir director from Williams Magnet Elementary
School. The students were preparing for
their Shakespeare festival and performed several numbers from that production,
dressed in elaborate period costumes.
Ms. Magness invited Gierre Godley to
announce the upcoming production of When We Were Young and Gay,
to be held this weekend at Parkview Magnet High School.
III. REPORTS/RECOGNITIONS/PUBLIC
COMMENTS
Dr. James introduced Katherine Wright Knight and announced her recent selection as the Arkansas Teacher of the Year for 2003. She received an award in the amount of $15,000 at a ceremony at the State Capitol. In addition, Ms. Knight was selected to receive the Horace Mann – NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence. This honor carries a cash award in the amount of $10,000. As a recipient of the Horace Mann – NEA Award, as one of five national finalists, Ms. Knight will travel to Washington, D.C. for the national awards ceremony on December 12.
School Nurse of the Year awards were presented prior to the Board meeting at a reception held in their honor. Victoria Barney, nurse at Otter Creek Elementary School, and Beverly Heron, nurse at Parkview Magnet High School shared the Nurse of the Year Honor. The new school nurse award went to Beth Lentz of Carver Magnet Elementary School.
Jill Johnson, 4th grade teacher at Gibbs Magnet Elementary School, was presented with a citation in recognition of extraordinary dedication to her students and their parents. She fell while at school on a recent parent conference day, breaking her leg. She was rushed to the hospital, had her leg casted, and then returned to school that same day to continue her schedule of parent conferences.
Gloria Wilson was congratulated on her recent retirement. Ms. Wilson taught at Forest Park Elementary School for 31 years, and in another district previously for 12 years, for a grand total of 43 years in the teaching profession. Ms. Wilson could not be present due to illness, but her plaque will be delivered.
The November ex-officio representatives to the Board were recognized with a certificate of appreciation, Vicki Gonterman, teacher at Gibbs Magnet Elementary School, and Gierre Godley, student at Parkview Magnet High School.
B.
Partners in Education – New Partnerships
Ms. Milam reported that 682 readers volunteered
to read in our elementary schools on November 19. The VIPS reading day has become a very popular activity, and
several readers have volunteered to come back and read to students on a regular
basis.
In addition, Ms. Milam presented certificates in
recognition of a new business / school partnership as noted below. Ms. Strickland made a motion to accept the
new partnership, Dr. Daugherty seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.
The new partnership was:
Forest Heights Middle School, represented by Eloise Hudson, M. E. Sneed and Vincent Dodson, in
partnership with Corky’s Barbeque, represented by Karla Hilburn
C. Remarks from Citizens
No remarks.
Frank Martin briefly updated the Board on progress of the attendance
review committee. He was pleased that
progress was being made in establishing this group. In addition, he said that a committee was meeting to develop a
process and an instrument for the evaluation of coaching staff.
E.
Joshua Intervenors
No report.
IV. REPORTS
AND COMMUNICATIONS
Dr. Mitchell reported that she had read to fifth grade
students at Rightsell Academy on VIPS reading day, and that she had met the new
media specialist at Rightsell.
Ms. Strickland stated that she enjoyed reading to the first
graders at Otter Creek Elementary School.
Mr. Rose read at Meadowcliff to second, fourth and fifth graders.
Ms. Magness thanked Ms. Milam and her staff for
coordinating the reading day activities.
She read to kindergarten students at Gibbs Magnet School.
Mr. Babbs reported that an appeal of the judge’s ruling in the desegregation case had been filed and that our attorneys estimate it will take from six to eight months for the final determinations to be made. In addition, he reported that “choice plans” were being developed as required by the No Child Left Behind legislation, and that letters explaining transfer options would be sent to families within the next few weeks.
Dr. Stewart reviewed recent reports of problems within the State teacher retirement system, noting that these problems may eventually impact the District’s budget. He stated that the final calculations of state and local taxes were expected in December and that a final tax revenue report would be presented to the Board at the December meeting.
Mr. Goodman prepared a report which was included
in the printed agenda. As highlights,
he reported that construction at Mann Magnet School began on Monday and that
the official groundbreaking would take place sometime during the next few
weeks. The bidding process has begun
for renovations to the interior of Central High School. The actual work on Central will take place
over a long period of time, in phases, so as to be as unobtrusive as possible
to the learning environment. The media
center at Terry Elementary is complete.
Mr. Becker was present and reported that his monthly update was printed in
the Board agenda. In addition, he
announced that Sharefest would be held this Saturday, with thirteen of the
District’s elementary and middle schools participating.
Ms. Neal’s report was printed in the agenda. She reported that the District’s e-mail
changeover would be effective December 2, 2002, with e-mail addresses
configured as firstname.lastname.lrsd.org.
In addition, she reported development of the plans for installing
computers in each classroom at the promised 5:1 ratio. This schedule is expected to be complete
after the first of the year. Mr.
Berkley expressed a desire to see the implementation of a schedule to keep our
technology up-to-date.
Dr. Hurley prepared a written report of this year’s
donations to the United Way. He
introduced John Nazarro and Melissa Simpson from the local United Way office,
who presented plaques to school-based and administrative level coordinators for
their achievement in increasing contributions.
Nearly $58,000 was raised by LRSD employees.
A.
Minutes
Minutes from the regular meeting of the
Board of Directors held on October 24, 2002 were presented for review and
approval. Mr. Rose made a motion to
approve the minutes as presented; Ms. Strickland seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
B.
Personnel
Changes
Routine personnel items were printed in the
agenda and were submitted for the Board’s review and approval. Mr. Berkley made a motion to approve the
personnel items as presented; Ms. Strickland seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.
Dr. Lesley presented a complete copy of all proposed
changes to middle school courses as required by Policy IG, Curriculum
Development, Adoption and Review. She
reviewed the most significant changes, and responded to questions from the
Board. Mr. Rose made a motion to
approve the course changes as submitted.
Ms. Strickland seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.
A complete copy of all proposed changes to the high school curriculum was
provided for the Board’s review. Dr.
Lesley explained some of the more significant changes and highlighted those
items which were being deleted from the magnet course offerings at
McClellan. She responded to questions
from the Board regarding credit requirements, and the number of electives a
student could choose over the course of their four-year high school
program. Ms. Strickland made a motion
to approve the revisions as presented; Mr. Berkley seconded the motion and it carried
unanimously.
Policy IKF, General Graduation Requirements was presented for the Board’s first reading review and approval at the October 24 meeting. Dr. Lesley presented the policy for second reading and final approval. Mr. Rose made a motion to approve the policy on second reading; Mr. Berkley seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
Dr. Lesley presented a report of all grant proposals
prepared and submitted by Linda Austin since she was named Director of Planning
and Development. Ms. Austin and her
assistant, Blondell Wilson, coordinate strategic planning, policy development
and dissemination, grants writing and coordination of grants submitted by
individuals within the schools and departments. The report indicates that over $19.5 million has been generated
over a three-year period by receipt of grants coordinated and / or submitted by
Ms. Austin. She was commended for her hard work and dedication.
Dr. Lesley presented a report of the District’s Advanced Placement
program implementation over the course of the past three years. She reviewed the highlights of the detailed
summary, and provided copies of the slides for the Board’s review. The full report was printed in the Board’s
agenda.
The Southwest Education
Development Lab (SEDL) formed a two-year research partnership with Southwest
Middle School during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 school years. The project, entitled Facilitating
Implementation of Reform Strategies and Tactics (FIRST), involved five schools
in a five-state region and focused on areas for improvement in literacy and
mathematics achievement, student attendance, health, wellness, and safety. The reports were presented to SEDL at the
conclusion of their project, and copies had been previously provided for the
Board’s review, but no official action had been taken to approve the
reports. Dr. Lesley asked the Board to
approve the reports as presented. Mr.
Rose moved to approve the reports as submitted. Mr. Berkley seconded the motion and it carried
unanimously.
The Collaborative Action Team Project began in 1996 with assistance of
the Southwest Education Development Lab (SEDL). The LRSD was selected to participate as part of the study of
“urban” districts, and was included in the final SEDL report in the fall of
1999. Dr. Ed Williams, the District’s
statistician, and Debbie Milam, Director of the VIPS program, provided data to
SEDL, which was included in the final evaluation of the program.
The Board was provided
copies of the report at that time, but no official action was taken to approve
or accept the report. Dr. Lesley
provided a brief overview of the report and a summary of the pertinent data for
the LRSD. She requested that the Board
accept and approve the CAT Report as the program evaluation of the
project. Ms. Strickland made a motion
to accept the report as submitted. Mr.
Rose seconded the motion and it carried 6-0.
The recently adopted
LRSD Compliance Plan requires the Board to approve program evaluations that
were conducted and submitted to the Board, but not officially adopted by the
Board. Two of these evaluations were
for the English-as-a-Second Language program for 1999-2000 and 2000-20001. Copies of the report were provided in the
fall of each of these years, and were presented to the Board by staff members
who participated in the evaluations: Ed
Williams, Karen Broadnax, Ken Savage, Eddie McCoy, and Bonnie Lesley. In addition, Mark Vasquez, of the Office of
Civil Rights also participated in the writing and presentation of the
reports. The Board was asked to
formally adopt these two reports at this time.
Mr. Berkley made a motion to approve these reports as submitted. Mr. Rose seconded the motion and it passed
unanimously.
A.
Post-Unitary Transition
Mr. Babbs presented the District’s Plan for
post-unitary transition. The Plan was
printed in the Board’s agenda; Mr. Babbs reviewed significant points and
responded to the Board’s questions. The
federal district court granted the LRSD partial unitary status on September 13,
2002, finding substantial compliance in all areas with the exception of program
assessment. The Post-Unitary Transition
Plan outlines a process for ensuring that all student assignments are made in a
manner that ensures compliance and equity in the decision-making process. Mr. Berkley moved to approve the Plan as
presented; Dr. Daugherty seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
A.
Donations of Property
The Board was asked to approve acceptance of
recent donations to the District.
Gierre Godley, the student ex-officio representative, read the listed
donations. Mr. Rose made a motion to
accept the donations as listed; Dr. Daugherty seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Donations are listed in the following chart:
DONATIONS
|
SCHOOL/DEPARTMENT |
ITEM |
DONOR |
|
Central
High School |
Maytag
refrigerator, valued at approximately $500.00 |
Cheryl
Stanfield |
|
Forest
Heights Middle School |
Food,
valued at $1,987. to the PTA for a tailgate party. Proceeds to be used to purchase a school marquee Two $25.00
gift certificates to be used for teacher incentives |
Corky’s
BBQ Oak
Forest Cleaners & Laundry |
|
Pulaski
Heights Elementary School |
Services
of two art teachers for the 2002-03 school year. Value of this donation is $15,000. |
Pulaski
Heights Elementary PTA |
Mr. Milhollen briefly reviewed the budget reports provided in the agenda
and reported that tax and revenue projections will be reported at the December
meeting. Ms. Strickland moved to
approve the reports as presented. Dr.
Daugherty seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.
IX.
SCHOOL SERVICES DIVISION
No items for review / approval.
X.
DISTRICT OPERATIONS
No items for review / approval.
XI.
CLOSING REMARKS
Dr. James reported his attendance at the recent 2-day SREB Urban Leadership training, and noted that teachers and staff members who attended were also providing valuable and positive feedback. Another SREB planning session is scheduled for January.
He reported that the Circuit Court had affirmed Judge Kilgore’s ruling in the Lakeview case, with the exception of areas relating to early childhood and pre-K education. The up-coming legislative session will be very contentious and many hard decisions will have to be made in the area of educational reform.
Dr. James announced that a press conference was scheduled to formally announce the Public Education Foundation and several significant contributions. It will be held at the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce on Monday, November 25.
The Superintendent, as well as representatives from Rockefeller and Stephens Elementary Schools, attended a TAP conference in Phoenix last weekend. They were given an opportunity to visit schools where TAP was being implemented.
Dr. James reported that
he had submitted an appeal to the Arkansas Department of Education on the ten
LRSD schools on the “improvement list.”
He is awaiting a response from Director Simon.
He also reported on
attendance at a meeting of the Little Rock Realtors Association and stressed
the importance of linking with them in order to form partnerships with our
schools. These individuals are in the
most influential position to recruit new families into our city.
XII.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the Board,
Mr. Rose moved to adjourn at 7:15 p.m.
Mr. Berkley seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
APPROVED:
12-19-02 Original
documents signed by:
Judy
Magness, President
Larry
Berkley, Secretary