REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
July 14, 2003
Page 2
COOS BAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
COOS BAY, OREGON JULY 14, 2003
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
The Board of Directors of Coos Bay Public Schools met on July 14, 2003 in the Coos Bay City Council Chambers, 500 Central, Coos Bay, Oregon, in regular session. Chairman Caddy McKeown called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Guests joined the Board in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board members present: Tom Bennett Richard Sebesta
Don Blom Charlie Sharps
Wally Hazen Sue Walberg
Caddy McKeown
Board members absent: None
Also present were: Superintendent Jeremy Lyon, Rod Danielson, Mary Bjornerud, Arlene Roblan, Greg Mulkey, Doug Miles, Randy Messner, Wayne VanBurger, Donna Woods, Stuart Woods, Nathan Woods, Susan Anderson, Angela Davis.
BOARD ORGANIZATION
Oaths of Office
Tom Bennett, Wally Hazen, and Richard Sebesta took the Oath of Office for terms on the Board of Directors ending June 30, 2007. Chairman Caddy McKeown presented them with Certificates of Election from the Coos County Elections Department and welcomed new member Richard Sebesta to the Board.
Election of Officers for 2003-04
Charlie Sharps made a motion that Don Blom be elected as Chairman of the Board for the 2003-04 school year. Sue Walberg seconded the motion.
Tom Bennett made a motion that Caddy McKeown serve another term as Chairman for the 2003-04 school year. Wally Hazen seconded the motion.
Votes were taken by ballot and tallied by Board Secretary Mary Bjornerud. By a vote of 5 to 2, Caddy McKeown was elected to be the 2003-04 Chairman.
Tom Bennett moved that Don Blom serve as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Board for the 2003-04 school year. Wally Hazen seconded the motion. A vote was taken, and Don Blom was unanimously elected to be the 2003-04 Vice Chairman.
Sue Walberg suggested that the Vice Chair be included in the pre-meetings just prior to Board meetings to review the meeting agenda.
Establish Regular Monthly Meetings
Caddy McKeown suggested the Board continue to meet on the 2nd Monday of each month. Since November’s meeting would be on the eve of the Veterans’ Day holiday, it was suggested that month’s meeting be held on November 17. Wally Hazen made an appropriate motion, seconded by Charlie Sharps. A vote was taken, and it was unanimous.
Review Board Standing Committee Appointments
Board members reviewed the list of committee appointments, and the chairman asked for comments. There was a suggestion of changing representatives on the certified and classified negotiations teams. Wally expressed the importance of keeping continuing and good rapport with negotiators as well as honest, good communications. Tom agreed and said that applying individuals’ talents to these Board committees has created strong teams. Being on the same committee for some time creates credibility and continuity, which is beneficial for negotiations. Tom suggested that, if someone were interested in becoming a part of negotiations, the less complex and a good learning ground would be the classified negotiations. Richard Sebesta expressed interest in being on the classified negotiations team. Tom Bennett will step down, and Dr. Sebesta will take his place on the classified negotiations team.
Caddy McKeown said the Board has had a strong team on the certified negotiations committee for a long time and that it has worked well. She expressed willingness to step off that committee and let Dr. Sharps move up from the alternate spot. Tom Bennett expressed the importance of having the Board Chair on the certified negotiations team. Caddy asked Charlie if he would be interested in serving on the classified negotiations team, but he declined. However, he mentioned the need to have others prepared and ready to assume these assignments for the time when current Board members are not re-elected. Wally Hazen reminded the Board of the importance of each one’s input when discussion negotiations among the Board.
Sue Walberg asked about creating a collaboration committee. Wally stated it was the intention of the Board to create a “social” activity. Because of the open meeting laws, they make sure there aren’t four there. Sue suggested they rotate in attendance rather than the same few going each time. Tom commented on their desire to foster an opportunity for dialogue and what possibilities might exist. If follow-up activities come about (e.g., like textbook adoptions, etc.), the collaborative efforts were successful. The hope is to get to the point of seeing financial benefits from collaboration. Tom suggested checking with Attorney Dorsey about the open meetings laws as it related to having an open “social” event so the number of Board members present does not matter.
Richard Sebesta agreed to serve on the Facilities Committee and Professional Services Evaluation Committee as well as Classified Negotiations. Don Blom will serve on the Superintendent Evaluation Committee. These were the three committees formerly served by Rob Wall.
CONSENT AGENDA
Charlie Sharps moved, Tom Bennett seconded, and the Board unanimously approved the items on the Consent Agenda.
· Jeremy Lyon was designated Chief Administrative Officer/District Clerk/Budget Officer for the 2003-04 fiscal year.
· Rod Danielson was designated as Business Manager/Deputy Clerk for the 2003-04 fiscal year.
· Ben Hammer was designated Asbestos Designee for the 2003-04 fiscal year.
· The use of facsimile signature for the Superintendent and the Board Chairman was authorized for the 2003-04 fiscal year.
· Minutes of the June 9, 2003 Board Executive Session.
· Minutes of the June 9, 2003 Regular Board Meeting.
· Minutes of the June 26, 2003 Special Board Meeting/Budget Hearing.
· The retirement of Lonnie Kirkendall and Tom Leahy.
· The hiring of Justin Ainsworth, Jeri Bagley, Stephen Ballew, Kathryn Banks, Mark Cellura, Lillian Erb, Richard Hinkel, Josh Line, Mark Lorincz, Russell Namitz, Jessica Robins, Dorothy Swain, and Michael Tomaso as licensed teachers for the 2003-04 school year.
PUBLIC INPUT
Chairman McKeown invited comments from the public. Those present wanted to direct attention to exhibit 6.c., the new Extracurricular Activities Code of Conduct.
Stuart Woods said he had reviewed the amendment and supported it. He also expressed the need for students to have an opportunity to increase their grades if necessary by providing a way for them to get the extra help. He agreed that they should be students first, but reminded the Board how very important it is for these students to participate in extracurricular activities.
Donna Woods, Stuart Woods’ wife and a certified staff member of the District, addressed the Board with support of the amendment. Donna coached last year for the first time and had 42 students under her supervision, including 22 cheerleaders and the rest spirit team. Many of their grades were great; some were not so great. Donna took an active interest in these kids and say some real improvements. Some, however, did not make the improvements needed and, by this Code, will not be able to participate. She expressed too the importance of extracurricular activities for these students. Caddy McKeown thanked Donna for her work with these students and said, “This is testimony that one person can make a difference.”
Nathan Woods, son of Stuart and Donna Woods, will be a senior next year. He served on the committee that worked with Dr. Lyon and others reviewing the Extracurricular Code of Conduct. Nathan agreed with the academic “raising of the bar.” However, he said he knows of some participants who have said that, if they can’t play (due to grades), they’ll discontinue school. Tom Bennett asked Nathan, “Being on the committee that reviewed this Code and being a part of a team specifically, what level of respect do players have for academics?” Nathan stated that, for some, the only reason they go to school is to play football. However, if they don’t do well after football season or don’t get enough credits, they won’t be able to play. Nathan gave positive comments on the reinstatement of academic study hall for their benefit.
Randy Messner, a certified special education teacher and football coach at Sunset, said it was great the District gave all kids a chance to participate in extracurricular activities. These are not just activities, they are a learning opportunity. Some of the kids who “get someplace” say it was because they participated in activities and went to academic study hall if necessary, thereby improving their grades. Randy recently got a call from a former student who is now in the Air Force. They talked about school, goal setting, self-esteem, etc. Extracurricular activities help kids in so many ways. Randy was definitely in favor of the amendment adding back academic study hall but felt it should be “opened up” even further” by considering a D a passing grade. He felt that may be the very best a student can get in some circumstances.
Superintendent Lyon provided a background saying that, last month, the Board adopted a revised Extracurricular Activities Code of Conduct. Subsequent to that, there was consideration of reinstating the academic study hall, providing a mechanism where they and others can get involved with their academic improvement. Dr. Lyon worked on a modification with Greg Mulkey and the coaches where students can demonstrate academic improvement. Now, having a D would be acceptable as long as the cumulative gpa is 2.0 or better. Academic study hall is to be arranged by the athletic director.
Kent Wigle, head football coach, addressed the philosophy of an extracurricular code of conduct. Kent came to the District 15 years ago, when the philosophy was flexible. There is pressure put on a student who is not good in one particular subject. Also, instead of taking a challenging class and getting a lower grade, a student may take an easy class for a higher grade. The way it is, a student could have five A’s and one F and couldn’t participate due to the one failing grade. Kent said that if you look at any study done, it supports the idea that students make better grades when they are involved in activities. Even for those who don’t make good grades, he believes it is a positive learning situation teaming with others who do.
Doug Miles, head boys basketball coach, expressed support of the amendment. Doug said he’d do anything to help kids stay involved. He doesn’t see as many problems with varsity students as with freshmen. Doug said he has only had one student who wasn’t eligible due to flunking two classes, and that boy dropped out of school. He wants to give kids a chance to work with other kids.
Wayne VanBurger, head wrestling coach at MHS, agreed with many points already expressed by other coaches. Some of the coaches are not working full-time and are not always on campus. Not knowing as much about what’s happening with the kids at school, those coaches don’t have as much influence with the grades kids need to have. Even under the best of circumstances, it’s easy to have a kid “fall through the cracks” sometimes. Keeping track of 40+ kids and everything that needs to be done is hard work for coaches. Because of the nature of the sport, the wrestling program has some of the higher risk students involved. Wayne expressed concern about having expectations above and beyond what some students are capable of doing. For some of them, getting that high school diploma is all they dream of. He said he is “all for academic excellence. We take pride in talking about doing well in the classroom.” But some are there to participate in the sports – that’s their motivation. They know they’ll never go beyond high school and are looking at high performance in their sport. We hope that all our academically excellent kids will come back to the area after going off to college. However, many of the sports achievers stay and are great supporters of our schools. Wayne said he just wants to be sure we’re not eliminating a chance for any of our kids to participate. We want to keep kids in school, on the right track, and doing the right things.
Tom Bennett asked what length of time was considered “probationary” status. Dr. Lyon said the time period established for study hall to demonstrate improvement of grades is arbitrary. The emphasis placed on reinstituting a study hall was all about giving students an opportunity to improve within a reasonable amount of time. However, what is reasonable to one is not reasonable to another. Three weeks was deemed reasonable for this code.
Charlie Sharps said there seemed to be a hint of surprise about a 2.0 requirement. There was a 2.0 requirement at MHS years ago, and that is a requirement at Sunset Middle School. He didn’t know where that requirement slipped.
Greg Mulkey commented that was one of the concerns of many, including himself. What was happening was that, as long as a student attended academic study hall, grades didn’t matter. Greg agreed that is not what we want for student athletes. He supports a probationary time to give the students an opportunity to make progress. He would like to see the code allow one F. For example, if a student receives 5 A’s and one F, being excluded from participation is rather harsh. Mulkey said the District has had an excellent athletic department, and we want to understand that first they’re students. However, he doesn’t want to discourage the low achievers and see them go somewhere else.
Wally Hazen said he was pleased to see academic study hall come back because it is an important tool for these kids. We do want to raise the standard, and what’s here is excellent. He said there are sometimes special circumstances that need to be considered when discussing ineligibility, like extended illness, death in the family, etc. Wally suggested that coaches, parents, teachers, and the principal can evaluate these circumstances and appeal ineligibility to the athletic director. Dr. Lyon suggested the authority is to issue an “incomplete” grade in a class. Greg Mulkey added that, if a student has special circumstances and follows that with huge progress, they should have the authority to consider that. The grade is the responsibility of the student, but giving the grade is in the hands of the teacher.