JASPER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
SEPTEMBER 28, 2009
PRESENT: Kathleen Snooks, Randy Horton, James Gardner, Michael Hubbard, Pamela Williams, Patricia Walls, Berty Riley, Alina Hamilton-Clark and Priscilla Fraser (T)
Others Present: Bick Halligan, Childs & Halligan Law Firm
Jasmine Rogers, Childs & Halligan Law Firm
1. CALL TO ORDER – This Board Work Session was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Michael Hubbard, Chairperson, in the District Office Boardroom, Ridgeland, S.C.
2. ROLL CALL & ESTABLISHMENT OF A QUORUM – 8P/1T
3. NOTIFICATION OF NEWS MEDIA – The following news media were notified of the date, time, place and agenda of this meeting: Jasper Sun, Hardeeville Today, Beaufort Gazette, Savannah Morning News, The Gullah Sentinel, WSAV, WTOC and WJCL.
4. INVOCATION – The Invocation was led by Alina Hamilton-Clark, Board Chaplain.
5. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The pledge to the flag was recited by the Board
and audience present.
6. *APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Mr. Hubbard entertained a motion for approval of the Agenda. A motion was made by Berty Riley and seconded by Pamela Williams. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 8-0.
7. *POSSIBLE BUDGET CUTS/FURLOUGHS – Mr. Taylor explained that this
meeting was originally scheduled as a work session but there were a couple of items that were placed on the agenda that the Board may want to take action on.
(Priscilla Fraser arrived at the meeting.)
Mr. Taylor reminded the Board that this issue regarding furloughs for staff was tabled at the September 14, 2009 board meeting.
The board members were given the opportunity to ask questions.
Mr. Hubbard questioned how many pay periods are left in this fiscal year.
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Mrs. Mack-Huff shared that there are approximately 21 pay periods left.
Mr. Taylor explained that the two/four day plan would save the school district $252,122.61 and the four/eight day plan would save $504,245.23. He added
that there will be more possible budget cuts in January.
Mr. Hubbard stated that a teacher work day is scheduled on October 29th and if the Board approves this they can include this date as one of the furlough days.
Mr. Taylor shared that he has asked principals to begin discussing this issue with staff to see what days they would like to use as work days. He would like every-one to take the same days so the schools can be shut down and this will also save on utilities.
Mrs. Snooks stated that she would rather the Board consider this tonight as she will not be at the next board meeting.
Mr. Gardner questioned where the remaining $1.8 million will come from if the district is looking at a shortage of $2.3 million and the four/eight day furlough plan will only save $504,245.23.
Mr. Taylor shared that they are working to save on electrical power. He will be bringing a proposal to the Board where they can use funds from the Stimulus Energy Grant to change out lighting out in the gymnasiums that would save electricity. They are looking at cutting back on travel. The Honeywell contract was renegotiated and they saved approximately $60,000. He plans on starting the budget process for 2010-2011 earlier this year to begin looking at staff ratios compared with other comparable districts.
Mrs. Walls questioned when teachers will have time to work on grades, etc. if teacher work days are cut.
Mr. Taylor stated they will work with the teachers in whatever way they can. He is trying to prevent employees from losing their jobs.
Mrs. Snooks shared that the state says that teachers cannot be required to stay
after hours. At one time teachers were required to attend workshops after school
hours.
Ms. Riley questioned if Mr. Taylor has looked at the single-gender program to
help with the budget.
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Mr. Taylor stated that one grade level was eliminated from Ridgeland Middle School because these classes had not started yet in the program. They will also be looking at the 9th Grade Academy. They will try to identify those things that are a must and those that can be done without, at least until the economy im-proves.
Mrs. Walls stated that they increased teacher’s salaries at one time to compete with Beaufort County and other districts.
Mr. Taylor stated that Beaufort County and other districts are also looking at fur- loughs because of the budget cuts. It was noted that the State Department of Education is also eliminating positions by not filling vacancies.
Mr. Hubbard questioned the average teacher salary with fringe.
Mrs. Mack-Huff responded that the average teacher salary is approximately $43,000 ($50,000 with fringe).
Mr. Hubbard entertained a motion from the Board. A motion was made by Randy Horton to go with the Superintendent’s recommendation for the four/eight day furlough plan. Pamela Williams seconded the motion.
THE MOTION PASSED 8-1.
(AYES – SNOOKS/HORTON/GARDNER/CLARK/HUBBARD/WILLIAMS/RILEY/FRASER)
(NAY – WALLS)
8. *SALARY INCREASE FOR CAFETERIA MANAGERS – Mr. Taylor shared a
request from the Food Service Supervisor to consider a small increase in the cafeteria managers’ salaries to make this position more attractive. There is currently a vacancy in Hardeeville but no one has shown any interest. He recommended this for Board approval.
Mr. Hubbard entertained a motion from the Board on this recommendation so they can entertain questions. A motion was made by Berty Riley and seconded by Pamela Williams.
Mrs. Walls stated that the Board just voted to furlough staff (especially teachers) and they are being asked to increase a salary because the cafeteria manager position cannot be filled. She questioned the justification for this.
Mr. Taylor explained that Mrs. Breland has been helping out in Hardeeville in the
mornings and coming back to do office work in the afternoon to pick up the slack
until they can fill this position. None of the cafeteria workers have shown any interest in the manager position.
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Mrs. Snooks asked how this position has been advertised. She asked how they
can increase a salary when they have just cut days for others.
Dr. Cooper shared how the position has been advertised.
Mr. Horton stated that he has a lot of applications at his restaurant for people
looking for jobs. He feels they should re-advertise this position.
Ms. Riley felt they need to re-advertise this position with no change in salary.
Mrs. Williams stated that this would set a bad precedent for the Board to do this. She does not feel that this is a good thing to do at this time.
THE MOTION WAS DENIED 0-9.
9. *PERSONNEL UPDATE – Mr. Taylor stated that this item would normally be included under the consent agenda but this meeting has an unusual Agenda.
He recommended the Personnel Update for Board approval.
9.1 VACANCIES
9.2 *RECOMMENDATION (A)
9.3 *RESIGNATION (B)
9.4 *RETIREMENT (C)
Mr. Hubbard entertained a motion for approval of recommendation “A”. A motion was made by Alina Hamilton-Clark and seconded by Randy Horton.
THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 9-0.
Mr. Hubbard entertained a motion to accept resignation “B” and retirement “C”.
A motion was made by Kathleen Snooks and seconded by Randy Horton.
THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 9-0.
Mr. Taylor asked if he could skip down to Item 11 on the Agenda since the Board had some time before Executive Session. No action is needed on these items.
Mr. Hubbard questioned if the Board had any objections to this request.
There were no objections from the Board.
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FUTURE WORK SESSION(S) – Mr. Taylor shared that there are numerous board policies that need to be dealt with. There is an issue with graduation requirements for students coming into the District from home schooling, private schools or other districts and some students bringing in credits that would allow them to graduate early. He gave each board member a handout to review and stated that they will be dealing with this at the next work session. The last item listed involves brainstorming and planning with the Board to set priorities with him while he is still in the District and the transition over to the new superintendent.
He asked board members to let him or Cheryl Smith know of any items that they would like to add for future discussion.
1) Mrs. Snooks asked that they look beyond the minimum graduation require-ments.
2) Mrs. Fraser requested that they bring back the student uniform policy.
THE BOARD TOOK A 15-MINUTES BREAK [6:30 PM – 6:45 PM]
Mr. Hubbard called the meeting back to order at 6:45 p.m.
10. *EXECUTIVE SESSION – INTERVIEWS WITH SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH CONSULTANTS – Mr. Hubbard entertained a motion to go into Executive Session to conduct interviews with the Superintendent Search Consultant Firms. A motion was made by Berty Riley and seconded by Pamela Williams to enter into Executive Session. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 9-0.
THE BOARD ENTERED INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 6:45 P.M.
Interviews Scheduled with Superintendent Search Consultants:
· 6:45 PM South Carolina School Boards Association
· 7:30 PM Ray & Associates, Inc.
· 8:15 PM B.W.P. & Associates, LLC
THE BOARD RETURNED TO OPEN SESSION AT 9:17 P.M.
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The following motion was derived from Executive Session:
A motion was made by Kathleen Snooks to select Ray & Associates, Inc. as
the superintendent search firm and that the board chair be authorized to initiate a contract with them. Priscilla Fraser seconded the motion.
THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 9-0.
11. FUTURE WORK SESSION(S) – Already addressed previously in the meeting.
· BOARD POLICIES
· GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
· BOARD PRIORITIES
12. *ADJOURNMENT - The meeting adjourned at 9:19 p.m.
Cheryl Smith______
Recording Secretary
October 12, 2009______Michael Hubbard______
Approval Date Board Chairperson