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Appendix E School Board Meeting Analysis

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The meeting followed the schedule/agenda that was provided for all in
attendance. In addition to the board, there were quite a few spectators and people
waiting their turn to speak. The meeting took place in the middle schools library. All
board members were in attendance. All, but one, of the principals were in
attendance and spoke about the different activities and happenings that have taken
place and will take place at their buildings.
The first issue that was discussed was the high rates of absenteeism at the
high school. The assistant principal of the high school called for a revision to the
way that it is handled due to the fact that there are restitutions that still need to be
owed from years before from certain students. These restitutions are preventing
different students from graduating, while some have extraordinary circumstances.
One example of this is a student has to work in order to provide for his family and
therefore misses many days or school. Other students are unable to get
transportation to and from the school and that is their reason for their absents. The
board agreed to look at the issue further.
The next issue that was discussed was by the teachers union. They
negotiated in their contract that if the district was to receive money from the
leasing of the gas and oil rights the districts many properties that the teachers
would get a certain percentage from that. They did receive this money, which they
stated was owed to them. The superintendent had decided to give the same
amount to everyone in the district, even though they had not negotiated for it in
their contracts. The teachers felt they should receive the same gift as the rest of
the employees. They also stated they felt they deserved this money because they
have degrees that are required for them to complete their jobs and that teachers
buy supplies for the students and to better the education of the students. The board

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Appendix E School Board Meeting Analysis

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listened to their issues and for the majority was very respectful. This issue caused
the board to go into an executive session. The executive session lasted for almost
two hours. Many of the teachers that came to support the issue left during that
time. When the board came back, they stated that they determined that they would
be able to give the teachers another $200 for their supplies, but would have to put
in a requisition before they made their purchases and turn in their receipts after
their purchases. The teachers were not thrilled about this ruling but kept their
silence for the most part.
One of the next issues that was voted on was the school calendar for the
2015-2016 school year. One hang up they had previously about the calendar was
whether or not to make veterans day an entire day off or if it would be used as a
teacher work day. They ruled that it would be an entire day off in respect to the
veterans and they hoped that other institutions would follow their lead.
Recently, one of the districts buses was in an accident. The pickup truck, that
was in front of the bus, made a U-turn, causing a collision between the two. The
pickup truck then flipped. The driver and young passenger were the only parties
injured in the collision and all of the students on the bus and the driver were all fine.
The driver was uninsured, driving on a suspended license, and driving a borrowed
vehicle. The board discussed the condition of the bus. It was presented that the
garage has not had the opportunity to get the bus up on the lifts yet to get a better
idea of the damage done to the bus. But it will be discussed again at the next board
meeting.
On the agenda, they had a guest listed that did not attend to bring his topic
to the board. And a board member forgot her report at home, and will bring it to the
next board meeting. Towards the end of the meeting the board recognized two of

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Appendix E School Board Meeting Analysis

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their members for over twenty years of service. The last two people to report were
the Assistant Superintendent and the Superintendent.
The Assistant Superintendent was the first to report. He discussed the district
owns a property near our county fair grounds and a farmer would like to purchase
the land because it would connect his property. The land totals .85 acre and the
bank quoted the price as being $9800. The district owns this property due to an old
one room schoolhouse that used to be on the land and they gained the property
from a previous consolidation. Another topic he brought up was, an update of a
baseball field the district leases to a local baseball league. The league would like to
renew their lease and would like to make updates to the fields and facilities; the
agreed that this is an issue to look into further. He also brought up that the track
needs to be completely stripped and redone. The last time that it was done was in
2004, and it cost $125,000. They are expecting that it will cost much more money
than that. He is also looking into quotes from different companies to redo the
different parking lots within the district.
The Superintendent brought to the attention of the board that the Senate
passed Bill 7. He also discussed the fact that all of the schools have been active in
participating in standardized testing. The high school and middle school have all
taken their tests electronically, and seemed to have been successful with all of the
technology. The elementary schools completed their tests through the paper and
pencil version. They are hoping to have the technology next year for the entire
district to complete their tests electronically. The last topic that the Superintendent
brought up was the event that the local community college held for high school
students. It was reported that 208 families from the district attended and were
interested in their students taking college courses at the high school level. This

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program, through the community college, would cost the district $40 per credit hour
per student. They stated that they would look into it further to see if the cost would
be worth it for the district.
The overall atmosphere of the meeting was a very tense atmosphere. The
teachers union came to the meeting in their union t-shirts and came in all at once to
show their presence and that they are a united front. I, being a long term substitute
trying to gain a contract with the district, made it known to the Assistant
Superintendent, Superintendent and Treasurer of my intentions at the meeting,
because I knew that the meeting was going to be very tense and did not want it to
jeopardize my chances of getting a contract. After the meeting had officially ended
the union representative approached the Superintendent to express her
dissatisfaction with their decision on their issue. He was very cordial to her and tried
is best to word every statement correctly as not to upset the teachers more or the
others present at the meeting. One board member, I felt was quite unprofessional.
He was the leader of the meeting and openly laughed at the union representative
while she was stating the issue of the teachers. Later on in the meeting, he
answered his phone while another board member was reporting. It seemed very
awkward and unprofessional. My overall impression, of a school board meeting, was
that it can be a very hostile environment and it makes a lot of people nervous. It
doesnt seem like a very simple process to be a part of either. It does seem that
they did have the best interests of the students and the district as a whole in mind
when making their decisions.
After the board meeting ended I was able to contact the Assistant
Superintendent and ask a few questions about the executive session. He relayed to
me that an executive session can be called for a few reasons which include:

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Appendix E School Board Meeting Analysis

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appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion,

compensation, or investigation of charges. The board is responsible for announcing
the reason for the executive session in the public session and people, other than
board members, may be asked to join if they are able to provide the board with any
additional information. Any person may also ask to speak to the board in an
executive session as well. During an executive session, the atmosphere takes on
one of an open discussion and there are not any procedures taken unless a vote
takes place.