INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 94 CLOQUET, MINNESOTA MARCH 13, 2017 MEETINGS

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 94
CLOQUET, MINNESOTA
MARCH 13, 2017
MEETINGS

Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services (ADSIS) Program Update by Stephanie Gibson, School Psychologist -
The Minnesota Department of Education's goal with ADSIS is to reduce inappropriate referrals to special education. Cloquet is in the second year of a two-year grant cycle. We currently have 3.0 FTE positions included in the ADSIS Grant: a 1.0 FTE teacher at the middle school, a .5 FTE teacher at both Washington and Churchill Elementary Schools, and a .5 FTE Behavior Interventionist at both Washington and Churchill Schools.

Ms. Gibson presented information on the data collected for the first year. Staff is catching children at a younger age to get them the intervention help they need, but there are only so many timeslots available and we have more requests than we have staff to accommodate them at this time. Providing information to the classroom teachers help them in the day to day learning environment if children are not able to be put into a time slot. The new grant application is due on March 20 and the new grant cycle is for the 17-18 and 18-19 school years. Ms. Gibson has met with the administrative team to discuss positions as we have currently, and have recommended to add one 1.0 FTE Academic teacher for the middle school. This is not a competitive grant we just need to meet the qualifications and requirements to receive the grant funding. Superintendent Scarbrough thanked Ms. Gibson for all the work she has done with the ADSIS Grant programming. There are a lot of additional factors that go into identifying kids for special education needs and her guidance/leadership with the grant saves the district money in the long run.

Cloquet Energy Guarantee Report, Matt Herring of Honeywell -
Mr. Herring provided a summary on the energy savings Cloquet has realized since the inception of their contract in 2008. They guaranteed a savings of $1,737,524 and it has been verified that we have currently received a savings of $2,107,653, which is $400,000 over the guaranteed amount. With utility savings, they guaranteed an amount of 68,317.40, and have verified a current savings of $103,503.00. He went on to say there is a potential for additional savings for phase II. It would take revisiting the Facilities Plan and the 10 year Long-Term Maintenance Facilities Plan and reviewing options. The Board thanked Mr. Herring for his presentation.

* * * * *
The regular board meeting of the School Board of Independent School District No. 94 was called to order by Board Chair Duane Buytaert, in the City of Cloquet, on March 13, 2017 at 6:13 p.m.

Roll Call - the following members were present on roll call:
Duane Buytaert
Dan Danielson
Dave Battaglia
Jim Crowley
Ted Lammi
Nate Sandman
Also present:
Ken Scarbrough, Superintendent
Candace Nelis, Business Manager
Regina Roemhildt, ED MN - Cloquet
Teresa Angell, AIE Director
Ruth Reeves, Community Education Director
Anja Maijala, Student School Board Representative (Absent)
Principals Present:
Warren Peterson, Cloquet Senior High School
Steve Battaglia, Cloquet Senior High School
David Wangen, Churchill Elementary School, (Absent)
Robbi Mondati, Washington Elementary School
Tom Brenner, Cloquet Middle School
Connie Hyde, Cloquet Area Alternative Education Programs (CAAEP)

Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVAL OF BOARD AGENDA
RESOLVED by D. Battaglia to approve the March 13, 2017 School Board Agenda, as presented. J. Crowley seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
RESOLVED by T. Lammi to approve the Monday, February 27, 2017 School Board Minutes, as presented. N. Sandman seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

OPEN FORUM AND RECEPTION OF DELEGATIONS, PETITIONS, AND COMMUNICATIONS
The District's art teachers, Julie Deters, CHS; Andrea Cacek, Washington; Amanda Dahl, Churchill, and Samantha Mathers, CAAEP presented an overview of student art K-12. CMS art teacher Andrew Mettner was not able to be present this evening. The Board thanked the art teachers for attending and commented on how talented our students are in Cloquet.

Reports were provided by building principals, the Community Education Director, the American Indian Education Director, Education Minnesota Cloquet Representative Regina Roemhildt.

Community Member James Mallery addressed the school board regarding the budget shortfall; congratulated the district staff on the graduation rates for the American Indian Education (AIE) students, and indicated that he was happy to hear about the potential repurposing for the old middle school. Superintendent Scarbrough replied that the district administration is looking at potential reductions next year and looking at ways to reduce the deficit. Part of this we have had no control over as we had $200,000 in special education transportation costs, 180 days of long-term staff absences due to illnesses and injuries, three for non-certified staff. We are hoping the legislature comes through with at least a 2% increase on the formula. Another piece of legislature is a change in the debt equalization formula. If it goes through it would mean $600,000 plus for the district.

Community member Rick Colsen addressed the Board regarding the repurposing of the old middle school, asking what we are looking at for this project. Superintendent Scarbrough responded that the district is looking at finalizing a purchase agreement for repurposing of the old middle school, much like last year with some additional things such as office spaces and alternative uses included. If it goes through we expect to have an open house to present the plan to the building, and there is still the process to go through with the city council. There is nothing definite at this time, but we are fairly close. This is a new company but with some of the same people involved as before.

CMS parent requests - Middle School Principal Tom Brenner brought this up for discussion with the Board to get their direction due to the move to a new school next fall and having 5-8 grade students. Parents currently are able to put in a request for their children to have certain teachers. He gets a large number of requests, 50+, but has a hard time scheduling due to the numbers, trying to balance the sections as best as he can. His biggest concern is that there are parents who may not know they can do this and there are kids who may need to be with a certain teacher but doesn't get the opportunity because mom or dad didn't request a teacher. There are rules where parents need to put down at least two requests, first and second. We do not currently have a policy regarding parent requests at this time. One suggestion was made to expand the number of choices parents could ask for, i.e. up to four or five. After additional discussion, it was decided that this topic will be brought to the administrative team for further discussion and to come up with a statement and bring it back to the Board for their review.

CONSIDER APPROVAL OF CLAIMS, FUND 11 CHECKS, HAND CHECKS, AND WIRE TRANSFERS:
RESOLVED by D. Danielson to approve the Claims - March 9, 2017; Fund 11 Checks - January 2017; Hand Checks - February 2017; Wire Transfers of $1,475,000.00 on February 28, 2017 and $2,278,450.95 on February 28, 2017, as presented: General - $2,095,677.82; Food Service - $88,107.90; Transportation - $11,816.54; Community Service - $151,845.25; Capital Outlay - $34,685.80; Building Construction - $193,824.39; Debt Redemption Fund - $2,142,748.49; OPEB Irrevocable Trust - $58,333.79; and OPEB Debt Service - $394,192.50, for a total of $5,171,232.48. T. Lammi seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

CONSENT ITEMS
Board Member Ted Lammi made a motion to pull Appendix 3(b), the posting for a 27 Hours/Week DCD S/Paraprofessional at Churchill Elementary School to discuss separately from the Consent resolution. N. Sandman seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

RESOLVED by D. Battaglia to approve the Consent Items, as presented. T. Lammi seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

DCD S/P Paraprofessional Posting at Churchill - this position is for an ECSE student for only 27 hours/week until the end of the school year and then the position would be re-evaluated. Board member T. Lammi expressed concern over the number of paraprofessionals the district currently has and asked if it were possible to have an existing paraprofessional serve this student so we do not have to hire an additional paraprofessional. Superintendent Scarbrough responded that this is something they have been working on as an administrative team. In this case it would be hard to do as an ECSE para travels to daycare centers, makes home visits, etc. When adding a paraprofessional position the administration is also looking at an exit plan for that position. Board member D. Battaglia made a motion to approve the posting as presented. J. Crowley seconded the motion and it was approved by a five to one (5:1) yea vote of all members present on roll call. Board members D. Buytaert, D. Danielson, D. Battaglia, J. Crowley, and N. Sandman voted yea. Board member T. Lammi voted nay, indicating that an alternative proposal would have been to wait until Mr. Wangen was present. Discussion continued. Board member J. Crowley made a motion to reverse the decision on the original motion and table action for two weeks until Mr. Wangen could be present. D. Buytaert seconded the motion. Discussion followed and a voice vote was taken on the current motion to reverse action and table action for two weeks: D. Buytaert voted nay, D. Danielson voted nay, D. Battaglia voted nay, J. Crowley voted yea, T. Lammi voted yea, and N. Sandman voted nay. The motion passed by a four to two (4:2) nay vote to post the position.

STAFFING ADJUSTMENTS
There was nothing to report at this time.

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
District Technology Coordinator Update - The Technology Coordinator position has been posted. Board members who expressed interest on serving on the interview committee are Duane Buytaert and Nate Sandman. Ms. Maijala will be working through the first week in April. Superintendent Scarbrough asked the board members for up to 40 hours to assist with some of the transitioning that will need to occur, which is within the CBA for the Non-Certified Administrative Support Association. Board members agreed the transitioning piece would be needed.

POC meetings - meetings have been held every other week. Superintendent Scarbrough informed the board members that he has a current list of Change Order logs; eight pages since construction began, and if they wished to review the information to contact him.

Purchase Agreement - Superintendent Scarbrough reported that he has been working with a potential developer and legal counsel on a purchase agreement, and hopes to bring it to the school board within the next month or so. The Purchase Agreement will need to be presented to the City Council and State for their approval as well.

OLD BUSINESS
RESOLVED by D. Danielson to approve the FY '18 and FY '19 proposal from Wipfli to provide auditing services to the school district in the amount of $21,000/each year, plus $2,000 for each additional major federal program that needs to be audited. D. Battaglia seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE REPORT
The Student Enrollment Report as of March 8, 2017 was presented and reviewed.

NEW BUSINESS
RESOLVED by D. Battaglia to authorize Cloquet Community Education to accept the Pathways II Grant award in the amount of $82,068, covering school years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, as presented. N. Sandman seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

RESOLVED by D. Danielson to approve the Cloquet Special Education Purchase of Service Agreement for Occupational Therapy evaluations and services between Jamie Bang, OT, Cloquet ISD #94, and the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School from March 6, 2017 - June 7, 2017. The agreement reflects Occupational evaluations and services at an hourly rate of $50.04, plus mileage and up to 15 hours per week, as presented. T. Lammi seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

RESOLVED by D. Battaglia to accept the Notice of Desire to Negotiate from the AFSCME unions: Secretarial, Paraprofessionals, Dietary, and Custodial, as presented. T. Lammi seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

RESOLVED by N. Sandman to approve the 2017-2018 School Year calendar, as presented. T. Lammi seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous yea vote of all members present on roll call.

Update on CMS Assistant Principal Position - Superintendent Scarbrough reported that the interview team has ranked all the candidates, including one internal candidate who ranked many points ahead of the second place candidate. Given the ranking, the interview team decided to interview the internal candidate and if they like the outcome, would present a recommendation to hire at the next school board meeting. A scoring sheet was used to rank the candidates, which is the similar process used for other administrative positions. The team ranked the candidates individually and then came together as an interview team, ranked them overall and discussed the outcome of the ranking. There was a 13+ point difference between the first two candidates. No additional points were provided to the internal candidate. Board members J. Crowley, D. Battaglia and T. Lammi were involved in the interview process.

UPCOMING EVENTS/MEETINGS
Tuesday, March 14, 2017 @ 2:00 p.m., Kraus Anderson Bid Opening, Board Room
March 20 - 24, 2017 - (K-12) Spring Break

ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING
There being no further business to discuss, Board Chair Duane Buytaert adjourned the regular meeting at 7:42 p.m.

Clerk of the School Board
ATTEST:
Chair of the School Board