October 14, 2020 Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR WAYNE SCHOOL DISTRICT ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14th, 2020 AT 6:00 PM at WAYNE HIGH SCHOOL.

THOSE PRESENT:

Conducting: Cory Anderson

ADMINISTRATION

Cory Anderson called the meeting to order. 

Pledge of Allegiance.

April offers the reverence.

April motions to approve the minutes from September 9th, 2020.  Cory seconds the motion. All in favor.

BUDGET HEARING

Tyler reviews the financials from last year and the amended budget for FY21. Revenues for FY21 are expected to be similar to FY20. The District is receiving less from the state but slightly more from property taxes and some additional money from the CARES act (which is used for expenses related to COVID-19). He reviews fund balances for the general and capital funds. 

Our school lunch fund received more federal revenue due to the blanket qualification for free and reduced lunch in the spring. That qualification was extended until December or when the money runs out, which should also bolster our federal revenues, thus decreasing the amount of money necessary for us to contribute from our general fund to supplement the program. 

Cory asks about the amount allocated in the capital fund for construction. This is set aside for minor renovations and roof-top units at the high school.

No public comments.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Tyler says that the audit is near completion and it will come before the audit committee shortly.

April makes a motion to pay the bills.  Jeff seconds. All in favor.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

April Jacobs expresses concern about sending kids to school and says that she would like to hear more about the developments with COVID including the number of cases or quarantined students.

Superintendent Shelley says that he has not received the information directly from the health department and has contacted them to ask for more updates. As of right now, there are no confirmed student cases and one confirmed staff case. 

There are some restrictions as to sending out information because of HIPAA laws but the district has not previously received the information needed. 

April asks if there is a limit to number of cases which will require the school to shut down. The state manual says at 15 cases or 10% of the student population. Randy and Cory suggest that we may want to be more cautious than what the manual suggests based on local circumstances.

Jeff says that there are measures we can take to reduce the spread. We need to be careful.

Randy says that we have to weigh the pros and cons of dismissing school and consider all factors in each situation.  

INFORMATION ITEMS

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Shelley reviews the October 1 attendance count. Overall the district is down 7 students from last year’s count.

Committee Reports

The improvement committee met and discussed some of the needs of the district. Our goal is to build upon the things that were discussed at the professional development day last month. Some of those in attendance will be reaching out to employees who were not in attendance. We will also be doing a wellness challenge to focus on social-emotional health. This will involve conversations with others in the district and talking about the “why” for employees. 

Randy asks if we are ready to approve the Roles and Responsibilities document. Shawn suggests that we move forward on this. April asks to re-examine the Personnel section. It will be on the business items next month.

Board Training

Dr. Chappell leads a discussion on the book Leadership and Self-Deception. The book suggests that we need to be “out of the box” towards others, meaning that we see them as people and not as objects. He suggests that it is about service and being unselfish. When you are “in the box” you often feel attacked. Once you step outside, you are able to understand things from other’s perspectives. The challenge is to treat others as equals even when we are in the midst of difficult things. 

UDOT Technical Planning Assistance Grant

Adus Dorsey says that we are experiencing significant growth and need to update our general plan for the county. He expresses his thanks for the support from the District. 

Board meeting adjourns for a break at 6:57 pm.

Board meeting resumes at 7:13 pm.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Approve Revised FY21 Budget

Curtis makes a motion to approve the budget. Shawn seconds it. All in favor.

Winter Sports Schedules

Jeff asks if there is a plan for when sports will be cancelled. They are still planned to proceed until we receive further guidance from UHSAA.

April makes a motion to approve the winter sports schedules. Shawn seconds it. All in favor.

LEA-Specific Licenses

Randy explains that the employees who are not licensed need LEA-specific license. They can only be on that license for 3 years, or 1 year if in Special Ed. We have many licensed teachers who are teaching outside of their licensed or endorsed areas. 

Randy explains the types of licenses: an LEA-specific (those teaching outside of their area or working on their license), an associate license (someone given a license to teach from the state, such as an intern), and a professional license. The goal is to get all of our teachers licensed in each area they are teaching. 

Curtis makes a motion to approve LEA-specific licenses. Jeff seconds. All in favor.

International Travel Request

There is some discussion on a travel request by FFA as to whether this is necessary or desirable. April comments that there are many opportunities domestically that may provide similar opportunities. 

The letter is clear on which students can go on the trip, but not which parents. There is also some concern about fee waivers. 

The board needs to know the plan for chaperones. There are also considerations for setting a precedent. Which groups can travel and which can’t.

Curtis asks what would happen if a larger group of boys signed up than girls.

Jeff asks if we need to set a limit to how much we can spend for any activity.  April says we approved money for the Washington D.C. trip and she would prefer to set aside money for trips that are less restrictive and more inclusive for students. 

Cory says he is concerned about fundraising in the local community. The businesses in the community would be hit hard. He also suggests there may be ways for people to do these trips outside of school. 

Discussion continues on what should be considered when determining which program can go and how fee waivers can affect this. 

April makes a motion to table the international travel request. Shawn seconds. All in favor.

Policies

Curtis makes a motion to waive first and second reading and approve all citation-change-only policies. 

Cory makes a motion to table policy CKB – Travel until next meeting. April seconds. All in favor.

Cory makes a motion to waive second reading and approve policy DAB – Employment: Licensure—LEA Specific Educator Licenses. April seconds. All in favor.

New Hires

April makes a motion to approve the new hires. Shawn seconds. All in favor.

The following new hires were approved:

Makelle Nelson – paraprofessional at LES

Digger Stewart – assistant wrestling coach

Other Items

April says that we need to be accepting of those willing to volunteer. There are many people who are qualified and might be willing to volunteer. 

April reads from policy FHAA and FHAAA regarding alcohol and tobacco use. She expresses that in her mind, tobacco and alcohol use are similar and maybe the policies need to be modified such that the punishment for use is more consistent. Cory says that he thinks these two drugs are different based on impairment. Jeff agrees and says maybe the consequence for tobacco could be more severe. Curtis states that the immediate consequence of alcohol use can affect the lives of those who use and others. 

Shawn asks about giving benefits to custodial. He says that they don’t have the help they need. Tyler responds that he is well aware of the challenges. They have advertised the position for many months and don’t have the help that they need. He says it is a board decision on benefits and a matter of priority. There are many classified employees who don’t receive benefits: school lunch employees, paraprofessionals, custodial staff, etc. The board would need to determine which group should get benefits. 

Shawn asks about using a fogger to disinfect the schools. Dr. Chappell responds that the latest guidance from the CDC is that the coronavirus isn’t extremely contagious on surfaces. It is more transmissible through the air.

Curtis asks about the use of sick days. There is some discussion about policy DHE. Curtis suggests that employees should be able to use carried over sick leave if they are sick. Curtis will re-examine the policy.

Cory recognizes and thanks Cherie Blackburn and Lance Peterson for being in attendance.

CLOSED SESSION

April makes a motion to go into closed session per Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-205(1)(a) at 8:27 pm. seconds. Shawn seconds

Open meeting resumes at 9:25 pm.

Curtis adjourns the meeting at 9:25 pm.