DATE:March 1, 2004PRESENT:Jill Camnitz, Chair

DATE:March 1, 2004PRESENT:Jill Camnitz, Chair

Mike Barnette Mary Grace Bright

Don Carson

TIME:7:30 P.M.Betsy Leech

Ralph Love, Sr.

Barbara Owens

Sidney Scott

PLACE:Pitt County Office BuildingDick Tolmie

Delano Wilson

ABSENT: A. Michael Dixon

Walter Gaskins

The Chair, Ms. Jill Camnitz, called to order the Pitt County Board of Education in regular session and welcomed everyone present. Ms. Mary Grace Bright led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ms. Deborah Long, Public Information Officer, introduced recognitions for the evening. She advised that Mr. Travis Lewis was scheduled to be recognized, but could not attend due to a family illness and would be rescheduled for the next meeting.

Mr. Aaron Beaulieu and staff from the Pitt County Schools Finance Department were recognized and congratulated for being one of only eight school systems to receive all three prominent financial awards announced by the state annually. The three awards were the Recognition of Achievement in Financial Resources Management for the 2003 fiscal year, the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting, and the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, both for the 2002 fiscal year. Mr. Beaulieu introduced to the Board each member of the Finance Department present, indicating they were the ones largely responsible for this success. The Chair presented the department with a Certificate of Recognition.

Cafeteria Managers from each school in Pitt County Schools were recognized and presented with Certificates of Recognition for being named by the Pitt County Health Department as “Golden A” award winners, denoting that a sanitation grade of 95% or higher had been achieved for each quarterly inspection.

Ms. Tina Beacham, President of the Pitt County Association of Educators (PCAE), presented mini-grants awards to four schools and shared information with the Board about the goals to be accomplished with each. The awards presented were: $380 to Bethel Elementary, $500 to Wintergreen Primary, $300 to Belvoir Elementary and $300 to Falkland Elementary. She also announced that PCAE would be a recipient of an NEA Urban Grant in the amount of $4,971.35 to support the National Board Certification Program, and she shared the award letter with the Board.

The Chair offered the agenda for adjustments or approval. Dr. Ralph Love motioned that the agenda be approved as prepared. The motion received a second from Mr. Dick Tolmie and was unanimously approved.

An opportunity for Public Expression was offered; however, no requests to address the Board were received.

Upon motion by Ms. Mary Grace Bright and second by Mr. Delano Wilson, the Consent Agenda items were unanimously approved. Included on the Consent Agenda were minutes of the meeting held on February 2, 2004 and the Personnel Report for the month of March.

In the absence of Mr. Michael Dixon, Mr. Delano Wilson presented the report from the Policy Review Committee. Referring Board members to pages 14, 16, and 17, he reviewed the changes made in the By-Laws and Code of Ethics, which were being presented at this time for Second Reading.

A discussion was held in regard to the By-Laws as related to the Board’s level of compensation. It was suggested while the Board of Commissioners had rejected the request by the Board of Education to increase its level of compensation, that perhaps the Board should put the recommended formula in the By-Laws anyway as a statement of the Board’s position, suggesting that at the appropriate time, the request could be resubmitted to the Commissioners. The Board Attorney, Mr. Phil Dixon, advised against taking that action, as the request to change the formula had been submitted and rejected by the Commissioners. He suggested that it would be better to go back to the Commissioners at a subsequent point in time with recommendation and that the By-Laws, as written, would allow the Board to do that. Upon motion by Dr. Ralph Love and second by Mr. Don Carson, the revisions in the By-Laws were unanimously approved as presented.

Ms. Brenda Jones presented a request to designate March 15, 2004 as the inclement weather make-up day for February 16 which was lost due to inclement weather, which had previously been designated as the make-up day for the day lost on January 28, 2004. She emphasized that March 15 was the very last available day to designate as a make-up day. Upon motion by Ms. Mary Grace Bright and second by Mr. Dick Tolmie, the Board unanimously voted to approve the recommendation to designated March 15 as the make up day.

Dr. Ralph Love, Chair of the Human Resources Committee, recommended that the Board of Education go ahead and give to the Superintendent the authority to use Saturday as a make-up day in the event any additional days were lost due to inclement weather. It was noted that Saturday could only be used in a week where a regular day was lost due to inclement weather or for other reasons. Dr. Love placed this recommendation in the form of a motion, which received a second by Mr. Dick Tolmie, and was unanimously approved.

Mr. Dick Tolmie provided the report from the Finance Committee meeting held earlier that same day. He stated that the first order of business was to review bids received for audit services. He advised that of the five received one was submitted late and was disqualified, one was determined unqualified, leaving three competent proposals. He shared that Aaron Beaulieu’s recommendation as Associate Superintendent was to continue audit services with the firm of Pittard, Perry and Crone, which Mr. Tolmie pointed out was also the low bidder. Rationale for this recommendation, he added, included good service, a good working relationship, low bid status, and a savings at a reduced cost of $42,000 for the upcoming year, compared to $47,000 paid for this current year. Mr. Tolmie advised, however, that he personally felt strongly that the bid should be awarded to a different firm this year. He acknowledged that Pittard, Perry and Crone (and their predecessors) had given good service, but stated that the same firm had been auditing the financial books of the school system since merger, and he felt that a fresh set of eyes would be beneficial. He emphasized that since the notice had gone out as a request for proposals, he did not think the Board was locked in to the low bid requirement, and he further advised that the firm of Dixon and Odom had indicated they would be willing to match the low bid price. He suggested that in order for the Board to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility, he felt a change from the firm that had audited the books for the past 18 years was necessary.

Dr. Ralph Love voiced his concern with making a change this particular year with a new Finance Officer just starting his position. He suggested that the working relationship and procedures that had been developed in the past would help Mr. Cowin in his first year and give him time to learn the system. He added that in these times of tight funding, he felt it was best to go with the low bidder to save money and to show the Board’s good intent. He agreed that at some point in the future it would be good to go with a different firm, but added that at this point, he thought the Board should stay with the low bidder.

Mr. Mike Barnette motioned that the Board award the contract for audit services to Pittard, Perry and Crone for the year 2004-05 only and look at another year with further discussion of the pro’s and con’s along the lines as had been discussed this evening.

Mr. Sidney Scott provided a second to the motion indicating that while he understood Mr. Tolmie’s point, he felt that the bids were put out in good faith and that the Board should give notice of its intentions beforehand rather than after the fact. It was additionally stated that the Finance Committee should have had discussion about the request for proposals before they were sent out and the committee members should have been aware of this, but that since the bid process had already been completed, it was felt the Board should stay with this firm for one more year.

Noting the outstanding audit reports received consistently in the past, another Board member suggested that an alternative way to look at it would be that it might be useful to award the contract to another firm for one year to see if the same results were obtained. Upon voting, the motion passed 9 to 1 with Mr. Tolmie casting the dissenting vote. The Chair asked the Finance Committee to take the responsibility for following up the discussion this evening and reviewing those issues raised prior to another new contract year for audit services.

Mr. Don Carson, Chair of the Facilities Committee, presented the report from that committee’s meeting held on February 17th. He stated that both Jimmy Hite and John McKnight met with the committee to review information on three possible sites for the new K-8 school in the D. H. Conley Attendance Area. Upon discussion, he reported that the committee was recommending that the site #33 on Mills Road be purchased for that construction. Upon motion by Mr. Don Carson and second by Mr. Mike Barnette, the Board unanimously voted to approve the recommended site.

The Chair, Ms. Camnitz, presented the Capital Resolution, which had previously been shared with the Board in draft form. She indicated that upon approval, the Resolution would be presented to the Board of County Commissioners. Upon motion by Ms. Mary Grace Bright and second by Mr. Delano Wilson, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Resolution for Capital Funding. Dr. Ralph Love noted that although Mr. Michael Dixon was not present, he wished the Board to know that he was also in favor of the Resolution.

Ms. Barbara Owens presented the report from the Educational Programs and Services Committee meetings held on February 3rd and February 24th. She reported that on February 3rd, the committee had discussed a list of (new money) budget priorities, which included the Board-approved Strategic Priorities, funding to support the strategies identified by principals to meet the goals of No Child Left Behind, and long-range budget projections to meet those goals. She advised that the committee gave Dr. Williamson approval to move forward with the budget process with the information provided and asked that she bring back to the committee a list of specific priorities for 04-05. She reported further that Dr. Williamson had briefed the committee on the progress made with changes implemented by the General Assembly in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) funding for the upcoming year that would affect students in the 7th and 8th grades. She shared with the Board that these changes would limit CTE courses in the 7th grade to Keyboarding and in the 8th grade to Business and Information Technology.

From the meeting on the 24th of February, Ms. Owens reported that committee members received an update on AVID as well as information related to the Smaller Learning Communities Grants for two of the high schools. She reviewed the goals of AVID, both for teachers and students, and indicated that students have been recommended to begin the 9th grade AVID classes next year at North Pitt, Ayden-Grifton, and Farmville Central. Ms. Owens also shared that D. H. Conley and J. H. Rose will each receive a little over $499,000 through the Smaller Learning Communities Grant to develop smaller, more personal learning environments within their schools. These grants, she said, will help support freshman academies, student tutorials, and academic support, and she shared the stated goals of this program. Ms. Owens reported that the last two items reviewed by the committee were (1) the budget priorities for new money requests for the Educational Programs and Services Department, and (2) a letter to Governor Easley that is being prepared by a coalition of organizations expressing concerns about the confusion and misperceptions likely to result from the No Child Left Behind legislation.

Dr. Ralph Love, Chair of the Human Resources Committee, presented the report from the committee meeting held on February 24th, at which time that committee reviewed its budget priorities. He shared that the Human Resources Committee had reviewed and discussed the proposal to reinstate the Central Office Salary Schedule, which would designate salary upgrades for individuals serving in a supervisory capacity in the Central Office, and had agreed to recommend it to the Board. Dr. Love motioned to approve the reinstatement the Central Office Salary Schedule. The motion received a second from Mr. Delano Wilson.

Ms. Brenda Jones was asked to come forward to share additional information in this regard. She stated that in 1995, the state mandated that each Board of Education adopt a salary schedule for Central Office supervisory staff. She indicated that our Board met that requirement and implemented a salary schedule with incremental steps outlined based on identified criteria. Subsequently, she explained that in 1997, at a time when it was necessary to make drastic cuts to the budget, the Board had suspended that salary schedule which meant that it was possible for an individual to come into central office now and be paid more than someone who had been in their position for quite some time, because the individuals already here were not moving up. She explained further that with the steps taken by the State Board of Education to address teachers and principals and the action taken by the Board of Education to address classified employees, this group of employees were the only group not moving progressively on a salary schedule.

In response to questions, Ms. Jones shared that the revenue to support the salary schedule had, in 1997, come to the school district from the state in block funding combined with other things. She advised that the funds coming to the school district in that block had been significantly reduced in addition to positions being cut. Because of the cuts that were necessary at that time to make up for the loss in funds, it was deemed more appropriate by the Board at that time to suspend the salary schedule than to make other cuts. She stated further that presently, the salary schedule is only fully funded by the state for teachers and school-based administrators, noting that funds to support the increases for central office staff would come from local sources. She additionally explained that it was the recommendation of the committee that appropriate adjustments be made to bring salaries in line for these individuals, given that they had not had salary adjustments since 1997. In response to another question, Ms. Jones indicated that the total amount needed to fund the reinstatement of the salary schedule and make the necessary salary adjustments would be about $140,000. Upon voting, the motion to approve the reinstatement of the Central Office salary schedule was unanimously approved.

Under Superintendent comments, Dr. Priddy commented on the Teacher of the Year Awards Luncheon stating that it was a very nice, festive occasion.

He discussed the concern voiced by Board members regarding the article that was in the newspaper on the second morning of the Retreat. He suggested that while the article did cause a stir for about ten days, it had been successful in bringing attention to the No Child Left Behind issue. He added that as reflected in the article over the weekend, Kelly Soderlund and Al Clark were committed to providing more information to help parents and the public understand what the No Child Left Behind program is all about.

He indicated that the Board did need to begin thinking about naming a new K-5 school and a new K-8 school and that Deborah Long would work with a committee and with the Community Relations Committee to bring those recommendations to the Board.

The Chair indicated that the Education Compact II Committee agenda for the first meeting to be held on March 3rd had been provided for the Board at the table along with some supporting documentation. She invited Board members to join the committee for that meeting should they so desire.

She reminded Board members that the March 15th meeting would not be needed and therefore the next regular meeting of the Board would be held on April 5th.

Ms. Camnitz additionally expressed appreciation for all the thoughts and good wishes she received from everyone during her recent time of loss. She stated her regret at having missed the Board Retreat but indicated that she had received good reports.

Mr. Delano Wilson voiced his appreciation for Ms. Brenda Jones and the outstanding job she did with the Teacher of the Year Program. He stated that it was a pleasure for him to serve on the committee, and he discussed that every aspect was well planned and executed every step along the way from the initial interviews until the Awards Luncheon.