STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
June 19, 2014
251-A/B Public Service Building
255 Capitol St., Salem, OR 97310
Members/Advisors PresentSamuel Henry / Board Chair / Randy Schild / Advisor, K-12 Admin
Serilda Summers-McGee / Board Vice -Chair
Miranda Summer / Board Member
Anthony Veliz / Board Member
Charles Martinez / Board Member
Jerome Colonna / Board Member
Members/Advisors Excused
Angela Bowen / Board Member / Kevin Furey / Advisor, CC Faculty
Jada Rupley / Advisor, Early Learning / Patty Scott / Advisor, CC President
Kevin Gordon / Advisor, K-12 Teacher
Kate Brown / Ex Officio Board Member
Ted Wheeler / Ex Officio Board Member
Other Participants
Rob Saxton / Deputy Supt of Pub Inst. / Emily Nazarov / ODE
Gerald Hamilton / Interim ED, CCWD / Cindy Hunt / ODE
Blake Dye / ODE / Mitch Kruska / ODE
Kate Pattison / ODE / Mary Zigman / The Ivy School
Anne O’Neil / The Ivy School / Gaelen McAllister / Sequoia Montessori School
Tanya Frisendahl / ODE / Sarah Shin / Sequoia Montessori School
Jim Carlisle / ODE / Amarette Drexler / Sequoia Montessori School
Carol Betho / Oregon State University / Juan Ramos / Sequoia Montessori School
Michael Wiltfong / ODE / T.J. Crockett / ODE
Chelle Robbins / Four Rivers Community School / Christina Regal / Western Oregon University Teaching Research Inst.
Video recording and supporting documents are posted online.
Call to order at 9:05.
Roll call – Bowen, Rupley, Gordon, Scott, and Furey excused.
Milken Educator Award
Chair Henry
Chair Henry gave background of Milken award, introduced winner Teresa Chan Seidel. Seidel addressed the board. Chair Henry thanked Seidel for her service.
Welcome New Board Member Jerome Colonna
Chair Henry
Chair Henry introduced and welcomed new Board member Jerome Colonna. Colonna thanked Chair Henry and briefly addressed the board.
Recognition of Board Advisors Randy Schild and Kevin Gordon
Chair Henry
Chair Henry talked about the value that Schild brought to the board and thanked Randy for his service.
Chair Henry explained Gordon has a promotion to principal and we are losing him as an advisor. Talked about the value he brings to the board and thank him for his service.
Recognition of Gerald Hamilton and CCWD
Chair Henry
Chair Henry thanked Hamilton for his many contributions to the State Board of Education and wished him well in his next endeavors.
Hamilton addressed the board and thanked the board members and advisors.
Public Comment
Karen Delaney addressed the board regarding Lake Oswego School District’s request for a Division 22 waiver. Asked the board to deny the waiver given the importance of instructional time and the district’s ability to buy back furlough days.
Board Member Reports
Chair Henry:
· Thanked Mark Mulvihill and Intermountain ESD Staff for hosting State Board last month. Shared highlights of visit.
· Invited Dr. Golden to visit Four Rivers Community School this fall.
· Will miss tomorrow’s portion of the meeting because leaving tonight for the NASBE meeting in Washington DC. Shared some of the successes of NASBE work.
Summers-McGee:
· Serving on Portland Public Schools transfer and enrollment committee. Shared some of the recent discussion around transfer policies and impact on low income students and upcoming community discussions.
Miranda Summer
· Updated board on her NASBE involvement, including her recent nomination of Chair Henry for Western regional Director.
Anthony Veliz:
· Congratulated graduating Seniors across the state.
· Attended the recent Teach Oregon Network Forum. Goal is increasing diversity of teacher candidate pool.
Randy Schild:
· Shared about end of school year in his district. Teachers will get well deserved break and come back rejuvenated.
· Met with Governor and small group in Tillamook for conversation about connection between early learning, K-12, and higher education.
· Shared appreciation for opportunity to serve as an advisor to the board.
Jerome Colonna:
· Shared with the board three good articles in the AASA School Administrator on charter schools.
Charles Martinez:
· Participating in school District accountability taskforce.
· Appreciates the board approving the NASBE grant on school discipline.
· Thanked Rob Saxton for giving keynote address in April.
· University of Oregon now has a concentration program in equity leadership
· On June 27th and 28th, U of O hosting equity leadership conference in Eugene.
Deputy Superintendent Report
Rob Saxton
· Update on Early reading initiative.
· Shared what is happening in Seaside at the COSA conference.
· Welcomed Jerome Colonna to the board. Colonna will be a great addition to the board.
· Acknowledged recent tragedy at Reynolds High School. His thoughts are with the community and especially with the families that lost their children that day.
· Waiting to hear from USDOE about waiver. Asking them to approve that we not include results of smarter balanced from first year in teacher evaluation.
· Continuing around state with evaluation support. Workshops in Seaside this week. Continuing across the state this summer.
· ODE issued a numbered memo to the field talking about modified diploma and access to student financial aid.
Waiver Requests
Emily Nazarov, Board Staff
Nazarov explained issues before the board, articulated standard for board to review waiver requests, reviewed information provided by districts, explained recommendation, and explained ODE’s plan to open up instructional hours rules for revisions.
Chair Henry asked board if they had questions regarding the waiver or the process.
Martinez: Asked for clarification on history of waivers for the districts seeking waiver.
· Cindy Hunt (ODE) explained none of these districts have received waivers within the past five years.
Schild: How many waivers has the board granted in the past ten years on the 130 hour rule?
· Hunt explained one waiver granted a few years ago and it had to do with the district wanting flexibility to move to a proficiency based system.
· Discussion around history of 990 and 130 and waivers.
Summers-McGee: Asked for clarification on how many waivers board had granted this year.
· Nazarov refreshed board regarding waivers granted in April and May.
Chair Henry invited Supt. Korach to address the board.
Korach: Explained district is asking for time in order to develop a new schedule that will bring the district in compliance with the 130 hour requirement. Even if the district bought back the three furlough days, the district would not meet the 130 hour requirements.
Summer: Asked for clarification on where the school district would be if they added back the three furlough days.
Summers-McGee: Asked what district has in mind for the revised schedule.
· Korach explained choice will be between 7 period day or 8 period day and briefly mentioned pros and cons of each. Decision needs to be informed by community input.
Summer: Can the type of changes necessary to bring districts into compliance be done in a year?
· Chair Henry: Unwilling to give waivers beyond this one year.
· Schild: Any revisions to instructional rules need to be done early so that districts have time to adjust schedules.
Martinez: Acknowledged board seems to be in agreement that waivers beyond this one year will be unlikely. Appreciates concern around having sufficient time to plan.
MOTION: Martinez moved adopt staff recommendation to grant on year waivers to Beaverton School District, Bethel School District, Hood River County School District, Lake Oswego School District, Newberg School District, and North Clackamas School District with the understanding that any renewals would need to meet the conditions of future waiver process and be supported by evidence of student achievement during the period for which the district was granted a waiver and the board’s expectation that these will be one year waivers. Summer seconded.
VOTE by roll call: passed 5-0 (Bowen excused).
Nomination of Board Officers
Chair Henry
Miranda Summer reported out the following nominations from the nominating committee:
· Samuel Henry for Chair
· Serilda Summers-McGee for Vice Chair
· Miranda Summer for Second Vice Chair
Summers-McGee: Spoke to importance of having a Second Vice Chair.
VOTE: 5-0 (Bowen excused) approved the recommendation of the nominating committee.
Strategic Initiatives Update
Cindy Hunt, ODE
Blake Dye, ODE
Hunt briefly overviewed process of bringing the strategic initiatives rules before the board and introduced Blake Dye.
Dye shared current status of awards and walked the board through the website that allows members of the public to see how awards were distributed.
Veliz: Excited about the tool and appreciates all the work that went into the creation of the tool. Appreciates the geographic distribution. But another thing to look at is who has the greatest need. We have to be able to look at whether we hit the communities with the greatest need.
Schild: Recognized the difficulty ODE has in balancing who get the money and how to best invest in an equitable way.
Surrogate Parents / OAR 581-015-2320
Mitch Kruska, ODE
Cindy Hunt, ODE
Kruska explained rule should be amended to be consistent with federal regulations. Explained how current rule creates problems in the field.
Summer: Added benefit of change will help reunite families.
Hunt explained first reading and rule is out for comment and will have a hearing. Will be back before board in August for adoption.
The Ivy Charter School (State Sponsored) Annual Report (2012-13 school year)
Kate Pattison, ODE
May Zigman, The Ivy School Administrator
Anne O’Neil, The Ivy School Board Member
Pattison explained purpose of annual report presentation to the board.
Zigman walked the board through a powerpoint presentation.
Henry: Asked about hiring of teachers of color and improvement of math scores.
· Zigman:
o Regarding hiring –Ivy Board formed a committee to improve hiring practices and support Zigman in hiring. Working on improving outreach and hiring.
o Regarding math – offering afterschool math classes. 80% of all students showed some growth. There is an upward trend now that is creating a momentum. Prior year had a downward trend.
Henry provided some background to new board members regarding board’s oversight of state sponsored charter schools.
Summers-McGee: Absolutely impressed with staff of Ivy during the site visit. Question about 2013-14 staff demographic numbers.
Martinez: Noted many hires but much more growth with hires of white staff.
Summers-McGee: Asked for information on student demographics. How does Ivy plan to stay true to mission given that Ivy is not as diverse in early years.
Martinez: Asked for information on demographics to include socio economic status as well.
Zigman: Explained the efforts the school is making to recruit a diverse student body given the limits of a lottery situation. One example of effort is building community partnerships to get word out to families that are more diverse and low income.
Martinez: Shared experience in Eugene in giving preference to certain communities in lottery.
Zigman: School split her position into three positions. Zigman will concentrate on working with the board and community outreach.
Four Rivers Community School (State Sponsored) Annual Report (2012-13 school year)
Kate Pattison, ODE
Chelle Robins, Four Rivers Community School Administrator
Robins walked board through online presentation.
Henry: Last meeting the board passed a resolution recognizing the leadership that Robins has provided at Four Rivers Community School. Invited Dr. Golden to visit the school on her next trip to the region. Thanked Robins for hard work in getting the school to this point.
Martinez: Appreciates that school does significant self-assessment. Likely one of the drivers of the school’s success.
Summers-McGee: We need to celebrate and replicate Robins’s level of leadership and share best practices with other schools.
Schild: Recognizes the importance, and difficulty, of making connections with kids and families. Appreciates that Four Rivers is pulling it off.
Josephine County Charter School Request
Kate Pattison, ODE
Pattison explained process leading up to this recommendation. Explained outcome of review and where proposal did not meet criteria. Staff recommendation is to uphold district’s denial of the application.
Henry: Concurs with ODE report. The school’s idea is an idea that should be considered. There are folks around who can help them prepare the idea in significantly better form.
Sequoia Montesori School
Kate Pattison, ODE
Gaelen McAllister, Sequoia Montessori School
Sarah Shin, Sequoia Montessori School
Amarette Drexler, Sequoia Montessori School
Juan Ramos, Sequoia Montessori School
Pattison explained proposal, history of school’s application, and ODE’s recommendation.
Summers-McGee: Asked whether ODE has terminated any contracts.
· Pattison and Henry gave history of terminated contracts in the past.
Saxton: Any opportunity for Salem to reconsider Sequoia’s proposal?
· Pattison explained that would be an option available to developers.
Colonna: Asked for clarification on how the accountability measures would work.
· Pattison explained conditions and ODE work monitoring state sponsored schools.
Schild: Would be surprised to have a charter pursue sponsorship with state board and then also pursue sponsorship with local district.
Pattison invited Sequoia developers to present to the board. Developers walked the board through a powerpoint presentation.
Schild: Appreciates that the sponsors made adjustments to the proposal based on feedback from the charter sub-committee. One concern is that Montessori is a magnet for upper middle class. How is the school going to make sure the student population is diverse?
· McAllister explained research sponsors have done to see how other schools have been successful and outlined a few options for building diversity in the face of a lottery.
Summers-McGee and Schild: If the lottery does not result in a diverse student population, would developers be willing to walk away and not open the school?
Martinez: Applicants need to be very specific about how they will build a diverse student population. Shared experience in Eugene with difficulty of undoing the results of a lottery based system. Will take more structural assertiveness to make a difference and more care needs to go into the plan on the front end.
Henry: Board’s goal in pushing for more on diversity issue is to have state sponsored charter schools that are high performing models and to get to the 40-40-20 goal.