ICCSD School Board Minutes

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Regular Board meetings are held at the Central Administration Office

509 S. Dubuque Street, Iowa City, on second and fourth Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Matt Goodlaxson, Don Jackson, Nick Johnson, Al Leff, Lauren Reece, Dale Shultz and Peter Wallace.

MEMBERS ABSENT: None.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE PRESENT: Min Zhang, West High.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE ABSENT: Greg Pomrehn, City High.

President Goodlaxson called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM and welcomed those present.

Public Hearing: Amend 1999-2000 Budget

Mr. Palmer stated that annually the district amends the budget near the end of the fiscal year. Authorization for the amendment to the budget is found in Chapter 24 Code of Iowa. Mr. Palmer stated the amended budget does not affect property taxes. The purpose of the amendment is to approve the additional budget authority available to the district as a result of additional revenue received or budget authority granted by the School Budget Review Committee.

Mr. Palmer stated the amended budget was published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen on May 31, 2000 (Attachment A). Mr. Palmer provided the Board with the reasons for the increase in expenditures.

MOTION BY JOHNSON, SECOND BY LEFF TO APPROVE THE AMENDED BUDGET FOR 1999-2000 AS PRESENTED.

MOTION CARRIED 7 TO 0.

ICEA Update

Chris Shope stated even though it is summer time teachers are still in full swing. Teachers are involved in classes, district committees and writing curriculum.

Student Representative Update

Min Zhang gave a brief update on the activities that have recently taken place at West High School. Mr. Zhang stated the ACT’s were given last Saturday and that the boys’ soccer team recently won the state championship and the girls’ soccer team is in the playoffs.

Iowa City Community School District Foundation Update

Kaitlyn Voigt, Director of the Iowa City Community School District Foundation shared with the Board the contributions made to the Foundation this past fiscal year and what the Foundation was able to support in the Iowa City Community School District as a result of these contributions.

Director Johnson stated the Foundation is fortunate to have Kaitlyn Voigt as their Executive Director. Director Johnson also thanked the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the excellent work they do. Director Johnson urged individuals in the community to consider making contributions to the Foundation to support K-12 education in Iowa City.

Open Discussion

Director Johnson stated he had asked Kirsten Frey, legal counsel, to review the Code of Iowa regarding district policies required by law. Director Johnson stated in a conversation with Ms. Frey she had been directed not to proceed with this activity at this time. Director Johnson stated he has engaged a law student to help with this task and will make the information available as soon as possible. Director Johnson stated he may request an Attorney General’s opinion regarding some of the findings.

Dr. Plugge distributed to the Board a draft copy of the Communications Passport. Dr. Plugge stated the Area Education Agency has provided their services to help design the Communication Passport. Dr. Plugge asked Board members to review the "Passport" and to provide him with any suggested changes.

Consent Items

Director Johnson requested Item B "2000-2001 Salary and Benefit Package for Building and CAO Administrators" be removed from the Consent Agenda for some discussion.

MOTION BY LEFF, SECOND BY WALLACE TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING CONSENT ITEMS:

A. AWARD BID FOR CITY HIGH EMERGENCY ACCESS TO L. L. PELLING IN THE AMOUNT OF $48,175.67

C. TEACHING AGREEMENT BETWEEN IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND MOUNT MERCY COLLEGE (ATTACHMENT B)

D. PPEL FUND BUDGET FOR 2000-2001 (ATTACHMENT C)

E. 2000-2001 LUNCH PRICE INCREASES (ATTACHMENT D)

F. OPEN ENROLLMENTS OUT OF OUR DISTRICT FOR CHELSEA SHAW, VICTORIA HOFFMAN, DEVON HOFFMAN, AUSTIN KLEMESRUD AND JAMES LAIR

G. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE IN THE AMOUNT OF $297,007.20 GENERAL FUND AND $96,520.59 SCHOOLHOUSE FUND

H. MINUTES OF MAY 23, 2000 BOARD MEETING

I. CERTIFICATED STAFF A(1-10), B(1), C(1-5), D(1), E(1-7), F(1), G(1-5), H(1), I, J(1-2), K(1-2) AND ADDENDUM A(1), B(1), C(1), D(1-2), E(1-3), F(1), G(1), H(1-45) (Attachment E)

MOTION CARRIED 7 TO 0.

Director Johnson stated he would like to have some understanding of the rationale used for salary increases for administrators in the district. Director Johnson stated he is specifically asking Dr. Plugge what measurements of performance and evaluation he used in determining salary increases.

Director Leff stated it is a concern to him that the Board is micromanaging. This is Dr. Plugge’s responsibility.

MOTION BY WALLACE, SECOND BY JOHNSON TO APPROVE CONSENT ITEM B. 2000-2001 SALARY AND BENEFIT PACKAGE FOR BUILDING AND CAO ADMINISTRATORS AT 4.26 %

MOTION CARRIED 7 TO 0.

Educational News

Director Reece shared the following:

• Testing, testing…While California Governor Gray Davis’ plan to exempt teachers from state income tax was defeated, innovative ideas continue to flow in California. NPR reports that Mayor Jerry Brown of Oakland has proposed the first-ever military public school &emdash; which unlike the rest of Oakland’s public schools would have no security personnel or metal detectors but would be based on an honor code, high achievement and espirit de corps. The Oakland school board voted down the idea with a split 5-5 vote. Mayor Brown plans to appeal to the State Board of Education which can overturn the local decision
• Next door to Oakland (AP Report) the San Francisco school district will break ground in September for a rent-subsidized apartment building just for teachers. For the first time in history, HUD is backing bank loans for the project. In San Francisco, teacher’s salaries average $40,000 and the median home price is $470,000. These apartments will rent for about $700/mo.
• The Iowa City Press-Citizen informs us to mark our calendars for the first Friday and Saturday in August (August 4-5) as Governor Vilsak has signed legislation to exempt purchases of back-to-school clothing from the 5% state sales tax on those days
• One third of the nation’s 15,000 districts won’t be saving but rather spending substantial sums of money this summer on summer school. An AP report in June 13, 2000 Press-Citizen says that more students than ever are enrolled in mandatory summer school nationwide in an attempt to curtail social promotion.&emdash; even private and charter schools &emdash;without the public mandate-are increasing summer programming.
• In an editorial in the New York Times, Leo Botstein, president of Bard College calls for a radical reform of the way we test students &emdash; advocating a move to computerized tests where the test-taker learns immediately why their answer was right or wrong and leads the pupil through the logic of the question to confirm understanding or correct ignorance. Such tests could also measure growth over time by establishing computerized baselines for individuals in the beginning of the year, and testing according to that baseline as the year progresses.
• Making up something called "The first in the world Consortium," the 18 districts on Chicago’s North Shore, considered some of the best in the country, have spent the last five years and over $1million trying to figure out how to get even better. Among their conclusions: assign less homework, throw out the overhead projector, teach lessons well the 1st time and stop reviewing them year after year, give teachers more time away from the classroom to improve their skills, videotape teachers’ lessons and critique their performance.
• Community Advertiser report that Mike Recker of Northwest Junior High School, was one of 54 teachers nationwide to receive the prestigious Edythe May Sliffe Award for Distinguished Junior High Math Teaching.

Process for Superintendent’s Evaluation

President Goodlaxson asked Dr. Plugge if he was comfortable talking about the process for superintendent evaluation in a public session.

Dr. Plugge stated he does not have a problem with this being discussed in Open Session.

Director Johnson suggested in fairness to Dr. Plugge he should hear from each Board member individually preferably in writing and in Closed Session with all Board members present be able to respond. Director Johnson suggested Dr. Plugge write a self-evaluation based on Board member questions.

Director Wallace suggested that the Board as a whole identify three or four areas for Dr. Plugge to respond to.

Director Leff stated he prefers the Board as a group prepare the questions as opposed to individual Board members writing questions.

Director Johnson stated he would volunteer to receive questions from Board members and put them together in a single document for the Board to react to.

Director Jackson stated he feels the Board does a better job when they are working off a document that has been pre-worked as opposed to composing the document at a meeting.

Director Leff stated he feels the process needs to be discussed in Executive Session with the Superintendent.

Director Jackson stated the Board needs to be clear on the work plan for next year early in the year so Dr. Plugge has an opportunity to work on the specific goals.

Director Wallace stated if Director Johnson collates the questions in the next few days the Board should schedule a worksession to work on finalizing the questions.

The Board reached consensus on holding an Executive Worksession for Superintendent evaluation on Monday, June 19^th at 6:00 PM at the Central Administrative Offices. It was also the consensus of the Board to schedule a worksession on July 5^th at 7:00 PM for purposes of Superintendent evaluation.

2^nd Reading Board Policy: Literacy - Reading (Attachment F)

MOTION BY WALLACE, SECOND BY REECE TO APPROVE THE SECOND READING OF BOARD POLICY: LITERACY &emdash; READING.

MOTION CARRIED 7 TO 0.

2^nd Reading Board Policy: Ends Policy (Attachment G)

MOTION BY WALLACE, SECOND BY REECE TO APPROVE THE SECOND READING OF BOARD POLICY: ENDS POLICY.

MOTION CARRIED 7 TO 0.

Academic Ends Policy (Literacy - Writing) - Report from District Staff

Pam Ehly reviewed with the Board information she had collected from staff and others regarding writing. Ms. Ehly stated the ITBS and ITEDs measure mechanics. Ms. Ehly stated the district also does writing assessment of students in grades 4, 7 and 10 related to quality of writing. Ms. Ehly stated quality of writing refers to:

• An effective response to the task in form, content, and language
• An awareness of audience and purpose
• A logical and observable organization appropriate to the task
• An effective use of transitional elements
• Sufficient elaboration to clarify and enhance the central idea
• Variety of word choice and sentence structure appropriate to the task
• Expression of analytical, critical, and/or creative thinking

Ms. Ehly stated the recommendations the staff had regarding the proposed policy would be:

1. Reorder the wording putting meaning before mechanics
2. Reword the statement for measurement about quality writing to:

   "The quality of each student’s writing will be assessed annually. In addition, improvement in writing quality for the district as a whole will be assessed with a representative sample of student responses to a standardized writing assessment. The percentage of students in each score category will be reported to the Board along with the corresponding national percentages so that growth in writing quality can be judged in terms of average growth in the nation."

Ms. Ehly shared with the Board the implications of the writing goal:

1. Impact on teacher time, classroom time
2. Need to provide training for scoring
3. Incur costs of materials
4. Incur costs for scoring
5. Organize and coordinate the implementation of the assessment

Director Johnson stated he will redraft the Writing Policy including the suggestions that were made by the staff and Board members.

Attachment H is the redraft following staff and Board input.

Elementary School Staffing Policy

Director Shultz stated that although the current district policy pays lip service to class size, in practice it focuses exclusively on equalizing the student/teacher ratio among schools. This has resulted in extreme discrepancies in class sizes. For example in 1999-2000, kindergartens ranged from 13 to 23 while sixth grades ranged from 20 &emdash; 34. Director Shultz stated he believes the fundamental unit of instruction is the classroom and the Board should have a policy that specifically says that.

Director Shultz suggested the following:

"The superintendent will assign staff to elementary schools in a way that minimizes the differences between the largest class size and the district’s target class size for that age group."

The Board discussed the difficulty in equalizing class sizes in the district.

Director Shultz stated he does not want to move students but rather move staff.

Dr. Plugge shared some comments regarding the district’s present staffing model and information specifically related to class size in the district for 1999-2000. Dr. Plugge will review Director Shultz’s recommendation and illustrate what impact this would have had on the 1999-2000 staffing.

Director Jackson suggested perhaps issues related to uneven class size should be part of the Boundary Committee’s discussions.

Prioritizing Ends Policies

Director Johnson provided the Board with a draft copy of the Board’s present ranking of priorities. Director Johnson stated these are intended as a place for the Board to begin discussion of the relative priorities among Ends Policies and other programs in the allocation of limited resources:

1. "Academic ends" are the most important. (Ends Prologue, par. 8)
2. "Literacy" is "the highest priority" of the academic ends. (Ends Prologue, par. 8)
3. Additional academic programs for which we establish ends policies but no priority ranking. Next up on our list are ends policies for writing, math and science. (Obviously, if we wish to elevate any of these in priority then that affects the rank ordering. Until we do, however, they would have a lower priority than literacy &emdash; except, of course, to the extent that we include "writing" as a part of "literacy.")
4. Academic programs for which we have not, and do not intend to, establish ends policies. As academic programs they would be accorded a higher priority than other programs and expenditures, but not as high as those for which we have established ends policies. (Of course, "academic programs" is a phrase we may need or wish to define at some point; e.g., would we define it to include music and debate activities?)
5. Non-academic programs affecting students (another phrase needing definition) for which we establish ends policies.
6. Non-academic programs affecting students for which we have not established ends policies.
7. Other non-academic and district programs and expenditures. Priorities within this category would be considered administrative decisions to be made by the Superintendent.

This item will be placed on the June 27^th Board agenda for discussion.

• Review of Pending Projects-Long Range Planning

Response to "Achieving Quality Education in Iowa"

Director Reece and Johnson stated that a meeting had been held with district administrators and ICEA regarding the document shared by ICEA on retention, recruitment and respect. Director Johnson stated the information illustrates on the shortage of teachers, that the state and the nation will be having in the next few years.

Director Reece stated a follow-up meeting has been scheduled to further discuss how our district might respond to this issue.

On the list of pending projects the Board agreed that on the June 27^th agenda a discussion will be held on "Parental Involvement" and on the July 25^th agenda information will be shared on the "Management Information System" and the "Annual Schedule of Board Meetings to Incorporate Various Aspects of the Management Information System".

Agenda Setting for June 27^th

1. Parental Involvement
2. Board Brochure &emdash; Communications Passport
3. Prioritizing Ends Policy
4. Review and Discuss Academic Ends Policy: Literacy &emdash; Writing

Meeting adjourned 9:55 PM.