Regular Board Meeting 3/8/2011 (Agenda | Video | Minutes)
- Board heard a presentation on how services for gifted students can be delivered to each elementary school via a schoolwide cluster grouping model. PowerPoint
- Board approved change to policy CBI-R Evaluation of Superintendent. More...
- Board discussed possible action to consider adoption of age appropriate dating abuse information in existing health curriculum for grades 7-12.
Action item detail.
PowerPoint. - Board approved an agreement with the American Red Cross to use schools as shelters in emergency situations.
- Board approved the financial audit for fiscal year 2009-10.
- Board approved an agreement with Solution Tree (Marzano Research Labs) to provide continuing training for school principals, academic coaches, and district leaders. The program presents strategies and techniques for effective classroom instruction. Cost for the 2011-12 school year will not exceed $30,000 (actual cost expected to be around $22,000), will be purchased under a S.A.V.E. (Strategic Alliance for Volume Expenditures) contract, and will be paid for with grant money.
- Board approved an agreement with WestEd to provide continuing training for school principals, academic coaches, and district leaders. This training support the effective use of the Teach For Success Observational Protocol (T4S), a system for evaluating teacher classroom performance. This training helps train evaluators, and also helps trainees spot areas where further teacher training is necessary. Effective evaluators help make effective teachers. Cost for the 2011-12 school year will not exceed $40,000 (actual cost expected to be around $37,000), will be purchased under a S.A.V.E. (Strategic Alliance for Volume Expenditures) contract, and will be paid for with grant money.
- Board approved an additional $6,000 for WestEd services during the 2010-11 school year. Will be paid with grant money.
- Board approved first presentation/review of revised policy GCQEA retirement of professional/support staff members. New language was added to policy to say, "An hourly paid retiree will not exceed a 40 hour work week." More...
- Board approved purchase of the Kurzweil 3000 program from Cambium Learning Technologies with sufficient licenses to serve 50 simultaneous users on district computers. This will assist the Special Services department in addressing the assistive technology needs of our students. Cost not to exceed $57,000. Money comes from federal ARRA–IDEA basic ENT funds. More...
- Board opened a Call to the Public session so audience members there to voice their support of the existing gifted program could speak.
- Board approved smartschoolplus and Educational Services Incorporated to provided personnel services for district staff on the Post Retirement Employment Option. Smartschoolplus has a S.A.V.E. (Strategic Alliance for Volume Expenditures) contract and E.S.I. has a Mohave Educational Services Cooperative contract.
- Director of business services Missy Wood directed the board's attention to the latest Arizona Auditor General's annual report on state school districts. The report characterizes Lake Havasu Unified's administrative costs as "low" compared to peer school district and state averages. The report also says our percentage of students meeting state standards as measured by AIMs testing is higher than those of peer districts and state averages. See the report.
Mrs. Wood spoke of how the district maintains high student achievement even as funding diminishes. State funding is cut and the overrides are phasing out. Mrs. Wood also read an email from Chuck Essigs, Director of Governmental Relations for the Arizona Association of School Business Officials. He said, "The recent significant loss of Classroom Site Fund [Prop 301] revenue is impacting the percentage of dollars in the classroom . . . Not only did this reduction in revenues impact the state numbers, the impact was felt in individual school districts."