August 28, 2017 at 6:30 PM - Regular

Description:  Demuth, Habben, Hesse, Humbert, Schurman, and Wesenberg. 

Description:  The School Board Chair will lead the board and attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Description:  Board action to approve the agenda for the meeting is expected.

Description:  The agenda is open to visitors of the meeting to offer comments to and/or requests of the school board. The comments and requests should follow the adopted district guidelines which are printed and available at the meeting.  As a general rule, items introduced in the opportunity for comments and requests do not receive action from the School Board, but are taken under advisement or consideration for future action.

Description:  Action is requested on the following items of the consent agenda. Consent agenda items are typically adopted without discussion of the individual items because they are routine or ordinary in action.  Any consent agenda item may be removed for further discussion and deliberation by any member of the board.

Description:  The minutes from the Regular and Work Session meetings of August 14, 2017 are included in the exhibits.

Recommend approval of the minutes from the meetings.

Description:  Board Treasurer Jason Wesenberg will have reviewed financial information for the board.  This information is included in the Treasurer's Report.  

Approval of Treasurer’s Report is recommended.

Description:  Treasurer Wesenberg will have been at the school site to review bills, ask questions, and confirm information prior to the meeting.  Recommendation is to approve bill payment subject to any adjustments or direction offered by the Treasurer.

Description:  Stephanie Hillman, Director of Community Education, is recommending Kayla Philippi as a Kid Care Aide for the wrap around Child Care Program for the 2017-2018 school year.

Stephanie Hillman, Director of Community Education, is recommending an increase in hours for Rebecca Faber to 32.5 hours per week for the 2017-2018 school year. 

Gwen Anderson has been offered an additional assignment as EL Coordinator for the district.  The Coordinator role would be in addition to the regular teaching duties and would come with an additional stipend for the services.  The leadership duties, as a lead teacher, would be eligible for coverage under the district QComp plan and the PLAT team has authorized QComp funds for this expenditure. 

Although the processes are not complete at the time of the development of the board meeting packet, it is anticipated that a recommendation on a Head Cook at the Secondary Site and a ROCORI Kid Care Lead will be provided prior to the meeting.

Recommend approval of the assignments as outlined.

Description:  Ashley Pirrotta, Paraprofessional at Cold Spring Elementary, has submitted a letter of resignation effective immediately.  Ashley has served in the district since the fall of 2013.

Recommend accepting the letter of resignation.

Description:  The Paraprofessional handbook was brought to the August 14, 2017 meeting as a first reading.  It is brought back for approval at this meeting.  The handbook has been updated from an original version developed in 2007 and then revised in 2009.  Mr. Guetter and Jake Zauhar worked, through the spring of 2017, with several paraprofessional leaders to update the handbook that has been submitted.

Recommend approval of the Paraprofessional Handbook.

Description:  Several policies are presented to the full board for third and final readings.  The policies include policy 7-8 Internet Acceptable Use Policy, 6-4 Right to Know.Policy, and  #7-7 Meal Charge Policy.  These policies, as approved, become ROCORI District policy.  (As a footnote, Policy 7-8 was the number given to the Internet Acceptable Use Policy during the last revision which combined Policy 7-8 and 8-13 into one document.)

Recommend adoption of the policies.

Description:   Emily Hadley, Early Childhood Teacher, has submitted a request for a leave of absence to begin approximately October 3, 2017 and to continue into November of 2017.  The leave is consistent with FMLA provisions and should be authorized.

Recommend approval of the leave of absence.

Description:  Action items receive individual attention because of the nature of the issues, the need to discuss or review the information prior to taking action, or the specific kind of action required for the item.

Description:  Check #____ in the amount of $____.

Recommend approval of the bill.

Description:  Check #_____ in the amount of $______.

Recommend approval of the bill.

Description:  Mr Guetter, Assistant Principal at the Secondary Schools, has submitted a request for two additional paraprofessional positions in the Special Education department to meet the requirements of secondary student IEP documents.  

Desired outcome:  Provide appropriate and adequate special education services to students at the secondary site.

Recommendation:  Approval of the paraprofessional positions.

Description:  Mr Guetter and Mr Nelson have submitted the student handbooks and are expected to be present  to share the changes made for the current student handbooks at the secondary level.  Endorsement of the handbooks by the School Board authorizes the handbooks to be the building level application of appropriate policies of the district.  

Desired Outcome:  School Board endorsement of the handbooks to support the application of the guidelines, rules and regulations at the building site.

Recommendation:  School Board action to endorse the student handbooks.

Description:  Discussion items receive individual attention because of the nature of the issues and the need for introductory or other discussion in order to review the information prior to taking action.  This is also the agenda location for items which simply need school board review, but no formal action on the item is required.  Discussion items will typically return to the agenda at a future point for more specific action.

Description:  The Policy Review Committee is in the process of working through the policy review cycle.  As part of the process, the Committee submits policies that it has either worked on or is considering for review.  These policies are presented for first or second readings.

Description:  The Policy Review Committee has completed work on several policies.  These policies were given first readings at a previous meeting and were referred back to the Committee for additional review.  These policies are now submitted to the full School Board as a second reading.  The policies include 8-14 Adding Extra-Curricular Activities and 6-3 Certified Staff Evaluation.  The policies would return at the next meeting for third and final review.

Desired Outcome:  Review and discussion of the policies so that they are ready for adoption with the third and final reading.

Recommendation:  No formal action is required at this time as this is the second reading of the policies.

Desired Outcome:  Second reading of the policies as they have been reviewed and revised.

Recommendation:  This is the second reading; no formal action is required.  The policies are expected to return in final form under the consent agenda at the next meeting.

Description:  The Policy Review Committee has submitted the following policies for School Board consideration as first readings.  The policies include 6-5 Family Leave Policy, 6-6 Public and Private Personnel Data, 6-7 Employee Drug and Alcohol Policy, 6-8 Equal Employment Opportunity, 6-10 Leaves of Absence, 6-12 Prayer at Teacher Workshops, and 6-13 Workload Policies for Special Education Teachers. The Committee is anticipating moving forward with additional review of several of the policies, but also has recommendations for other action on a few policies.

Policy 6-5 Family and Medical Leave Policy was adopted in 2011 and was based on the MSBA Model policy.  The Model Policy, included in the exhibits, has been amended to include two additional sections:  one related to "military caregiver leave" and one related to "spouse."  The Policy Review Committee is recommending these sections be incorporated into the ROCORI policy and then be authorized through two additional readings at the next two board meetings.

Policy 6-6 Public and Private Personnel Data was adopted, from the MSBA Model Policy, in February, 2016.  The newest version of the MSBA Model policy incorporates an additional legal reference but does not make content changes to the policy.  As such, the Policy Review Committee recommends approval of Policy 6-6 based on the first reading.

Policy 6-7 Employee Drug and Alcohol Offenses was originally developed by the ROCORI District in 1990 but was independent of the MSBA Model policies.  MSBA has two different model policies that cover information in the ROCORI Policy 6-7.  The Policy Review Committee is recommending that this policy be sent back to Committee with the understanding that the ROCORI policy may be rescinded and removed from district policies and replaced by the two model policies (with adaptations for the district).

Policy 6-8 is submitted for review by the full board as a first reading.  The Policy Review Committee has already put the policy into the format template the district is now using.  Included are also some relatively minor changes to the policy.  The Committee is recommending that Policy 6-8 return for second and third readings at the next two meetings.

Policies 6-10, 6-12, and 6-13 have not included any discussion by the Policy Review Committee but are presented for first reading to the full board.  Because they have not been formatted following the district template, it is expected that the policies would return to the Policy Review Committee for template work and additional direction.

Desired Outcome:  Review of each of the policies under consideration by the full board as first readings of the policies.  

Recommendation:  Action on each policy as outlined.  6-5 First reading and return for second and third readings.  6-6 First reading but authorized as district policy because of no substantive changes.  6-7 Referral to Policy Review Committee expecting replacement with MSBA model policies.  6-8 First reading and return for second and third readings. 6-10, 6-12, 6-13 Referral to Policy Review Committee for review and direction.

Description:  The School Board recently completed a revised process for evaluation of the superintendent.  This process was developed through the spring by a School Board subcommittee.  As the process unfolded, there were some issues that Board members offered feedback and suggestions for future years of evaluation.  The topic was suggested as a Board Meeting agenda item for conversation and redirection.

Desired Outcome:  Opportunity for School Board members to share feedback about the superintendent evaluation process in order to improve and strengthen the overall process.

Recommendation:  Refer the information and feedback to the Ad Hoc Superintendent Evaluation Committee for adjustments and direction.

Description:  The District conducted School Placement appeals meetings on Thursday, August 24.  The Committee members have asked that opportunity be made available at this meeting to talk through the appeals decision (overall, not for individual students) and the need to examine processes surrounding the placement of students to see how the process may be done better.

Description:  Administrative reports are requested of each administrator for update purposes. For the second meeting, the reports are offered by the Business Cabinet members.  The Business Cabinet includes the Director of Business Services, Buildings and Grounds Director, Technology Director, Community Education Director, Food Service Director, and Activities Director.

Description:  The business office provides an update of district expenditures and revenues through the Budget Comparison Report.The report is intended to provide a financial picture of the district in a couple ways.One is to compare current year expenditures to the previous year.The second is to simply give a report on the current financial status.In addition to the report, special items of note are highlighted in the explanations offered. This report does not require formal action but is provided as an informational item.

Description:  Superintendent Staska is expected to have a report for the board regarding district activities and information.

Description:  Board members will report on activities within their portfolio of committee and representative assignments.

Description:  A calendar of upcoming issues of concern to the school board is included as part of the agenda.