The regular meeting of West Franklin USD #287 Board of Education was held on February 9, 2004 at the Education Center in Pomona, Kansas. The following board members were present: President Neal Baker, Mr. Jeff Piersol, Mrs. Mary Ann Parkin, Mrs. Sheila Anderson, Mrs. Janie Dillon, Mr. Randy Hermreck, and Mrs. Nancy Reed. Also present were: Superintendent Susan Myers, Curriculum Director Mary Schleicher, Appanoose Principal Rick Smith, Learning Center Principal Robert Allen, Pomona Elementary/Middle School Principal Jody Cole, Pomona High School Principal Royce Powelson (7:10), Williamsburg Principal Tracy Maring (7:10), and Deputy Board Clerk Cherree Keeton. Others present included: Ms. Ann Collins, Mrs. Nancy Baker, Mrs. Virginia Cook, Mrs. Phyllis Cunningham, District Maintenance Technician Jerry Engel, Mrs. Barb Engel, Ms. Liz Smith (7:15), District Transportation Supervisor Richard Adler (7:50).

President Neal Baker called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Randy Hermreck asked about rules and regulations regarding bids and quotes. Jeff Piersol answered that bids are taken for anything over $20,000, and quotes are usually taken for any service or supply in the school district.

Nancy Reed moved to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, to pay the bills as presented and to accept the agenda. The motion was seconded by Sheila Anderson and the motion passed 7-0.

The principals then discussed their progress on Board Goal #3. Principal Jody Cole shared several ideas that she was excited about including but not limited to: family fitness night, recognizing supporting patrons and an old-fashioned valentine box supper.

Principal Rick Smith said Appanoose enjoyed success with several things they had tried for Board Goal #3, including Muffins with Mom and students bell ringing for charity. He is looking forward to Donuts with Dad in the spring and is looking at having Open House before school starts next year in order to familiarize the students with their surroundings and get them settled in for the year before school starts.

Principal Robert Allen said the Learning Center had recently had a visit for QPA, and that it went well. The renewal for the charter school has been sent in to the state.

Williamsburg Principal Tracy Maring said the sound system is being updated at the school. This year's graduating class plans to have graduation outside due to the large number in the class. Although the PAWS program has been dropped due to participants not being able to continue with the schedule, the Reading Nights have been very successful and popular. The Site Council and Williamsburg schools plan to expand activities in order to get more parents involved in their children's education and school.

Pomona High School Principal Royce Powelson said the Renaissance Program is really helping with school pride. He mentioned the "Donut Patrol", which rewards students for not being tardy is being used with success at the school. Due to the snow days, several extracurricular

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Monday, February 9, 2004

activities have had to be rescheduled, among them Queen of Courts and a make-up basketball
game. Mr. Powelson is pleased with progress being made on the PHS website. Another positive note is the good job the band boosters are doing at KU. Mentoring/tutoring programs are still needed at the high school.

Curriculum Director Mary Schleicher passed out a testing schedule for USD#287 covering the next few years and explained some recommendations that had been made by the Assessment Committee. She also passed out the new Communications Curriculum that the committee has worked on for the last several months, explaining state standards and how they apply to this district.

Superintendent Susan Myers went over Board Goal #2, which is retention and recruitment of quality staff. New teachers are being recruited from colleges and universities in the area, and during the last several years, salaries have been raised in order to try to get and keep good personnel.

Several personnel from the district were at the meeting to report on their success with the Local Effectiveness Grants, including Teacher Ann Collins from Williamsburg, Appanoose Teacher Phyllis Cunningham, and Title 1 Teacher Nancy Baker.

Ann Collins reported that the Family Reading Night at Williamsburg is a great success. Family Reading Night is the result of a focus group outcome that said more parents need to get involved and a survey taken with teachers that said the biggest challenge faced by the school was the need to raise reading scores. The reading night is held once a month, with local "celebrities" reading to the group. Children attending must be accompanied by an adult. There are usually eighteen to thirty-five people in attendance and Thursday nights seem to work the best for meeting. Along with Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Beverly Bird and Mrs. Michelle Graf, who also teach at Williamsburg, help sponsor the program. Board member Jeff Piersol volunteered to be the reader at the next Family Reading Night.

Appanoose Teacher Phyllis Cunningham shared her success with a program used at Appanoose. In order to address self esteem issues, a program was developed using the local effectiveness grant. During the last twenty to twenty-five minutes of the day, students from the middle school meet in groups. The idea is to foster a sense of belonging to a team and having at least one teacher the students can relate to in a more personal way. Competitions, community service and rewards are all used in the program.

Title 1 Teacher Nancy Baker has developed a program where books are pulled off the internet. The books are then used to help students retain the reading skills developed during the school year over summer vacation. The grant money pays for internet subscriptions for the teachers that work with the books.

Requests to transfer sick leave days from Elizabeth Giffin to Becky Cruce and from Liz Smith to Robin Bigham was presented. Janie Dillon made a motion to allow the donation of sick leave as requested. Mary Ann Parkin seconded the motion and the motion passed 7-0.

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Ottawa/Franklin County Economic Development Council Membership was discussed by the board. Mary Ann Parkin made a motion for the school district to join. Sheila Anderson seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-1.

Recreations Commission Resignations/Appointments were discussed. A resignation was accepted from Carrie Jones, and the position was filled by Kevin Reece. A motion was made by Mary Ann Parkin to accept the resignations and appointments as discussed. Sheila Anderson seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.

Information was presented on the School Based Dental Program by Dr. Susan Myers. Mary Ann Parkin made a motion to accept the program into the school district and the motion was seconded by Janie Dillon. Motion passed 7-0.

Dr. Myers went over the summer maintenance list, pointing out the fact that it is a document that changes as needs arise in the school district.

At 8:20, Neal Baker called for a ten minute recess.

At 8:25, Neal Baker made a motion for the board to enter executive session for five minutes for negotiations. Jeff Piersol seconded the motion and motion passed 7-0.

The board came out of executive session at 8:30 p.m.

A motion was made by Neal Baker to enter executive session for another five minutes to discuss personnel issues. The motion was seconded by Jeff Piersol and passed 7-0. Executive session was entered into again at 8:35 and lasted until 8:40.

Mary Ann Parkin made a motion to rescind the motion from the January 12, 2004 board meeting that appointed Kris Hassler as Head Boys Golf Coach. This is due to the posting requirement found in the negotiated agreement. The motion was seconded by Janie Dillon, and passed 7-0.

Mary Ann Parkin made a motion to accept Heather Conway's resignation as Junior High Cheer Sponsor after this season. Motion was seconded by Janie Dillon and passed, 7-0.

A motion by Mary Ann Parkin was made to accept employment recommendations. The recommendations were:

Lloyd Heth as custodian at Pomona High School
Kris Hassler as Head Golf Coach
David Clayton as Assistant Golf Coach

The motion was seconded by Sheila Anderson and passed 7-0.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45.

______________________________ ________________________________
Cherree Keeton, Deputy Clerk Neal Baker, Board President

(Minutes are not offical until approved at the following board meeting.)