Notes SD2 Planning and Development Committee Meeting Sept 8 2014

Walking Path on Ponderosa Elementary Property

• This path will cross through Kings Green Park and the south side of the Ponderosa Elementary School playground.
• School district would be responsible for snow removal. School will need a 4-wheeler with blade. ~$8,000
• Parks department needs some easements for project.
• Jeff Weldon working on legal aspects.

Strategic Planning Information

• Forums with staff has been scheduled and have started.
• Student Achievement, Teaching Materials, Accountability, Facilities, Safety, Financial Management, Technology, Qualified Staff, Community Collaborations, Communications, Other Issues...Looking for critical issues in these areas.
• Looking at 4 area PTA Forums.

Redistricting Information

• Meetings start Sept 9 and 10.
• Public information was provided in a newsletter and on website.
• Superintendent wrote up a "Charge from the Board" for the redistricting team. Draft was reviewed and amended by the board members present.
• Public meeting Sept 9 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Lincoln Center

Heights Middle School Update

• Grounds work is on schedule and the plan on it being completed in November
• Design work on the building continues. Dick Anderson Construction is on board and doing cost estimate work.
• Committee discussed how to put progress on the web. Web cam with live feed might be too expensive.

Broadwater Elementary Update

• Currently pouring foundation walls. They will start putting up steel by the end of the month.
• No issues with students being near construction.
• Project is within budget.

McKinley Elementary Update

• Just received bids for package 5. Numbers are within budget. Currently verifying bids.
• There were noise problems with crews working during the day, so they have shifted hours to 1 pm - 11 pm. 11 pm is a bit late...so far neighbors have not complained.
• Bulb outs on the streets are being worked on. Hoping they will be complete by the end of the month.
• Everyone received a tour of McKinley work. Basement is completely gutted. They are putting in steel beams so they can remove posts in the basement. There is termite damage in the wood beams in the basement. They are removing the coal infrastructure. Plumbing work on basement bathrooms was in progress.

Aug 18, 2014 Special and Regular Board Meetings

Tuition Levy:

• Senate Bill 191 allows school districts to levy property taxes to help pay for special education.
• School district has to figure out the individual cost for each student to determine what can be levied.
• High school covered by federal funds.
• School District has identified 75 students at elementary that could be funded.
• School District recommends to fund 19 students ~$492,000
• This would be a tuition fund for only special education.
• Stroebie: Legislature gave us the mechanism to do this last year.Will free up general funds.
• 601 9-12 806 K-6 337 7-8 students in special ed.
• Moen: we have been asking for money, the legislature gave us the mechanism to get money, we would lose credibility if this levy is not passed. 
• Layton: is this enough? Worried that local taxpayers are stuck with the bill instead of the state.
• This levy will replace a cut in federal funding. 

Budget:

• Motion made to approve elementary budget which includes 1,845,000 (the maximum) from Senate Bill 191. Motion passes unanimously. 
• Motion made to approve high school budget. Stroebie:  Concerns that capital improvements taking away from high school budget. Wanted Senate Bill 191 funds for high school. Has tuition issues. Motion passes 8-1 with Stoebie voting no to protest.

Update to Scoreboard Project:

• Wahl: replacing scoreboards and getting advertising. In the process of figuring out how much businesses will pay for advertising.

Broadwater and McKinley Update:

• Anderson: Open houses were a success. Radio Station broadcasted from the sites last week.
• Bio swells at Schools? Didn't have the money to put them in. Place to put stormwater. 

East Billings Middle School Update:

• Site prep is underway. Bids came in on target for this bid pack.
• Design is on schedule. 
• Baseball fields is package 2. The rest is package 3.
• 1.2 million dollars over budget because of site development. Second Middle School will be 1.2 cheaper. 
• Package 2: They wanted this done by winter. Numbers came in too high. Looks like they are pulling this package and rebidding in January. Fields will not be ready first half next season. 

Approval of General Contractor for Middle School:

• Dick Anderson Construction was recommended by team. Hafer: All five contractors were good. Decision was difficult. Contractors very local. 
• Motion made and passes unanimously. 

Board Committees:

• Toohill appointed to chair performance and monitoring committee. Hafer nominated for Stakeholders.
• Aragon wonders where the diversity committee? 
• Hafer not sure yet because she doesn't know what she is supposed to do.
• Hafer accepts appointment

Board Retreat:

• Fri, Sept 26 1-5, Sat, Sept 27 9-12
• Here or at Rocky.

SHAC Report - Aragon:

• Talked with Riverstone Health
• Establish a culture of health presentation to principals
• Implementing smart snacks regulations

AA Caucus/MTSBA report:

• No report

Tuition Rates:

• Motion made to table but no second.
• Motion made to approve. Motion passes 8-1.

Aug 11 2014 P&D Committee Meeting/Special Board Meeting

Public Hearing on Environmental Review for Senior High School

• No comments sent to Leo via email or mail.
• Department of Commerce requires the school district to get public comment.
• Not many environmental issues with Senior...Asbestos abatement is major one.
• Propose is for getting a grant for mechanical upgrade project.

Summary of Strategic Planning Meeting

• Minutes was passed out to all board members.
• Last planning process was around 15 years ago.
• Board will set the goals.
• Under values...students will have to commit to doing their part.
• This will involve about 90 focus groups.
• Calendar for focus groups will be on the website.
• What is expected of board members? Terry wants board members to attend 4-6 focus groups to get a feel of what the public thinks. Board is the end process...approving mission statement, goals, etc. Terry will create a document describing roles of board members.
• What does updates look like? Terry: will be looked at yearly. Another full-scale plan should be done in 5-6 years. The accountability process will be done yearly. 
• How will this plan survive board and administrative turnover? Terry is committed to report out progress on the plan at least yearly.

Redistricting Guiding Principles:

• Should social economic diversity be maximized rather than investigated? Cropper: All criteria is looked at equally. Have no problem with changing investigate to maximized. Diversity can be measured (free and reduced lunch). 
• Motion to change: maximize social economic diversity of schools with any redistricting change, whenever possible. 

Broadwater and McKinley Schools update:

• Tours Tuesday Aug 12 430 pm broadwater and 600 pm mckinley
• Broadwater - hole is dug. Major bid pack coming in Tuesday.
• McKinely - Last bid package will be bid next week. Focus on getting historic school ready by August 20. Basement demolished. New windows are being installed. Brickwork will finish this week. 
• 20 people coming in to move stuff back in from containers this weekend.

East Billings Middle School:

• Site grading work came in at 2 million and will put project over budget, but west end school will compensate by being under budget.
• Budget presented to replace ball fields. Looking at putting in a concession stand and storage space for equipment. 
• The will need to put a motion on the next board meeting to approve the addition of a concession stand.

Now onto the special board meeting....Quality Schools Grant:

• Motion to approve environment review...Passed.

Will James Softball Field Improvement:

• Parking lot...want to delay until next summer because of all the things involved.
• Motion: Award Will James Middle School Softball Fields Improvements 2013 Bond Project -Schedule 1 only- for the amount of $365,183.64 to CMG Construction, Inc. ...Passed

Redistricting Guiding Principles:

• Change from P&D meeting above. Motion made and it passed.

8/7/14 - Strategic Planning Orientation Meeting Notes

Purpose and Expectations of strategic planning effort:

• Put together a framework that will guide decisions for 3-5 years.
• What goals should the school district have?
• This will be a 9 month process.
• Progress on goals will be measured and tracked. Progress will be made public on the website. Examples: standardized testing, graduation rates, drop-out rates, numbers in dual credit classes, performance in AP courses, attendance rates.

Overview of Process (Ned Hammond):

• Asks questions...should we stop doing some activities?
• Develops goals and action plans.
• This will drive budgets.
• Plan should be responsive to community needs.
• Stages of process: Input, Vision (development of vision, mission, and goals), Action Plans, Evaluation Process.

Input Stage:

• Focus groups: leadership team, parental advisory team...intact groups in the community.
• Community Forums - organized around topics
• Community Survey
• Environmental Scan - Have board listen to internal and external partners and learn what is important to them.
• Timeline: October 2014-March 2015

Vision Stage:

• Mission Statement, Beliefs/Values, Goals
• Board job

Action Plans:

• Timeline: May 2015- August 2015
• Activities, Individuals Responsible, Completion dates, Measurement of success

Accomplishments:

• Timeline: Each year June-August

Questions:

• Who is targeted for surveys? Random community. One School District wanted as many people to take the survey as possible. Depends on the purpose of the survey.

SD2 Governance Special Meeting - July 28 2014

Committees:

• Board members, who have been on the board for a while, are presenting a history of committees the last 5-10 years. These committees became open to all members because of trust issues...which increased workload on board members. 
• They are looking at a committee to vet the budget before it gets to the monthly board meeting.
• Now there is no committee structure. Every thing is done in ad hoc.
• It was noted that the board as a group needs goals and a vision that unifies the group. Then committees can be trusted to do work on behalf of the board.
• They are considering committees...Shareholders...Planning and Development...Performance Monitoring.
• Motion made to make these committees and it passes.

Notes from SD2 Board Meeting 7/21/2014

Superintendent Report:

• There is an opportunity to raise more money for Project Lead The Way
• Plans are in place in getting all elementary schools and middle schools in the project in 4 years.
• If the graduation rate continues to go up, the school district is looking to make the career center a full high school. SD2 is putting together a planning team needed one trustee representative. 
• Naming of facilities...policy 9250...board will need to appoint a committee. 
• Aug 7th Strategic Planning...Ned talking to leadership team. This is a training session.
• Big Sky Games - SD2 had reps there.

Middle School Update:

• Offsite Development package - Bid comes in this week. Work starts on Aug 1 - through Nov.

Deferred Maintenance:

• 77 out 78 given to local contractors.
• McKinley and Broadwater only has one out of town contractor (brick restoration...none in town)

Cottonwood Land Site:

• 2007 SD2 purchased 10 acres of land. School district has 3 years to put a school on it per agreement. Better to put elementary school on existing middle school site (in addition) on 56th and Grand. 
• Board Approved meeting with parties involved. Superintendent wants a public hearing.

Redistricting Committee:

• Approved rescinding board reps to committee.
• Approved converting board reps to committee liaisons.
• Approved Committee members in board packet.
• 3 members are school employees...requested they act as community members.
• Approved Roles and Responsibilities of committee in board packet.
• Criteria/Guidelines in the board packet tabled to discussed at next Planning and Development Committee meeting.

Budget:

• Charter Disputing taxes caused a lower taxable value for them. Might cause an tax increase to other taxpayers.
• Budget is balanced and does not use one-time money. 
• Goal is to not spend 1% of the budget and put in reserves.
• Expanding capacity (teachers) to get ready for new middle schools.
• Added some money to capital improvements for high schools.
• Increased pay for substitutes. +$15 for Certified teachers and +$10 for non-certified.
• Prelim Budget approved.

Superintendent Contract:

• 2% raise and cell phone.
• Approved by the board.

Notes from SD2 7/7/14 Planning and Development Committee Meeting

On Bond Projects

• Stairwells in McKinley - Looking at converting one stairwell into breakout space. There were historic concerns, but utility of the space is more important for upper level classrooms. $70 a square foot to repurpose space and will cost $20,000 total. Community will not know that there used to be a stairwell there. Project budget may not allow this. Project needs bids to come below expectations to pay for this. Teachers want breakout space. Decision was made to delay to next board meeting.
• Annex in McKinley is gone. Boiler and Gym is gone. Working on restrooms on 1st floor and 2nd floor.
• Broadwater - Late permit created delays. Did some duct work and in process of re-roofing. Carpeting discussion has ensued. Restoring hard surfaces are not in the budget for classrooms. Suggestion to go with hard surfaces with a rugs. 
• Heights Middle School - Off site bid package is out - development of Barrett Road and utilities. Includes regrading of one site property. CTEP funding was received for path from school to bike path. Goal is to get baseball fields ready for Spring 2015. Grass seeding needs to get done soon enough.

Redistricting

• Approval of team members - Criteria for selection: Members spread out across the district. Rush hour considerations. 26 people were selected. Keller and Lundgren are chair and vice chair. Board approves sending this to full board.
• Roles and Responsibilities - School Board and Superintendent encouraged to stay hands-off. Showing the community that the board trusts the community. Cropper wants to let the committee to do the work. Board members expected to serve as a resource. District will provide information via website...everything. Looking to rescind board motion that put board members as part as the committee. Board approved the roles and responsibilities. Hoping to bring two scenarios to board to approve one.
• Guiding principles and criteria - Cropper wants to look at all criteria as a whole. Criteria is below. Question of feeders to middle schools. What if a county wants to send 6th graders to SD2 middle schools? Target of 92% capacity for middle schools. Lots of unknowns, so may have to develop scenarios. Bouck contacted all feeder school districts. He wants to keep them informed. Blue Creek will vote to go to K-5 once schools are opened. Might be others. Onus on school district to provide good assumptions in this area. Cropper will give a number of students impacted by each plan (change schools). Motion carries.

 Minimize impact on students: Move as few students as possible during the process. 

 

 Balance building utilization 

 

 Contiguous boundaries: Remove ‘satellite’ zones that exist in the district and create zones that are contiguous around the schools (1 zone per school) if possible. 

 

 Make all efforts to not split identifiable community components: Do not split apartments and/or subdivisions if at all possible 

 

 Maximize transportation efficiency and walk-ability whenever possible 

 

 Maximize safety of students by defining boundaries along major geographic features such as roads, rivers, and railroads. Try to minimize students crossing over major roads if possible. 

 

 Examine the impact on socio-economics of schools with any redistricting change 

 

 Try to have 100% feeder pattern continuity if possible: Try to feed entire elementary zones into a single middle school i.e. Minimize the number of times elementary school zones are split when continuing to middle school. 

 

 Be pro-active for future potential growth if at all possible 

Cottonwood Land Site

• 10 acre land site in the west end. Agreement in 2007 between some individuals, city, and SD2.
• November 2017 deadline to build elementary school or SD2 has to sell land back to city for $200,000. 
• Attorney that wrote the agreement thinks that SD2 cannot build an elementary school by Nov 2017. Agreement amendment unlikely to extend time.
• Not saying that west-end will not need an elementary school.
• Prefer elementary and middle school on the same site for cost savings.
• Demographics will be reviewed in 2016...in regrads to elementary school needs. SD2 does not know if an additional elementary in the west-end is needed. 
• Superintendent will be looking for direction at the next full school board meeting. 
• Middle school site a better location for an elementary school. 
• There is a high school piece on 48th and Central if a new high school is needed. 39 acres.

Planning Committee Schedule

• Redistricting committee meeting on the first Tuesday of the month. 
• Proposal to move Planning on the second Monday of the month starting August 2014. Passes.

Board Governance Meeting

• Look at August. Halter will recommend dates. Only 90 minute meeting. July 28 530 pm.

Technology Infrastructure RFP

• switches...wifi...etc. Motion passes
• bond funding source.

Chromebooks RFP

• Technology levy funding source. Motion passes.