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Board Briefs Archive
Board Minutes |
This page contains the latest Board Briefs. Board Briefs provide a brief overview of a meeting and are posted after a Board meeting.
Board Minutes contain detailed information from each Board meeting and are posted after they have been approved by the Board, which happens at the next regularly-scheduled meeting.
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Public Comments
Ms. Jenny Ricklets and Ms. Kris Beisel addressed the Board and provided a short PowerPoint outlining the task and accomplishments of the Englewood Leadership Academy's Destination Imagination Team. The team took first place at the regional competition and is currently preparing and practicing for the national competition. The team's project was building a lie detector for measuring plant responses to stimuli. When asked what they learned participating in Destination Imagination the students responded that they learned how to do team work, patience, responsibility for completing a task, and skills in inquiry research. The problems provided to the team require quick thinking and creativity. The group is currently raising money to help pay for the team to travel to the national competition.
Special Recognitions
The Board of Education recognized Ms. Kate Dulaney, Art Teacher at Bishop and Maddox Elementary Schools, for being selected by her colleagues throughout the State, as Colorado 2008 Elementary School Art Educator of the Year. The Board also recognized Ms. Cathy Zirklebach who received the School Nurse of the Year Award from the Colorado Association of School Nurses. This award recognizes one school nurse who demonstrated excellence in school nursing practice and leadership in school health. Also recognized at the meeting were district volunteers who were nominated for distinguished service to the children in Englewood Schools. Ms. Teri Kavinsky received a plaque for her extraordinary volunteer service at Clayton Elementary for the past 15 years. Five Gold Certificates were presented. Dr. Howard Kelsall has volunteered for the past 10 years at Clayton Elementary but began volunteering at Englewood High School 54 years ago, he previously received a volunteer plaque award. Ms. Bonnie Fries is a daily volunteer at Bishop Elementary helping students with reading skills. Mr. Agustin Herbas has volunteered for the past 5 years at Englewood Middle School helping Spanish-speaking students with high-level math. Ms. Sherry Jones regularly volunteers in the first grade class at Cherrelyn encouraging the children to learn new things. Ms. Bettie Marsh has provided undivided attention to individual students, for the past seven years, in the kindergarten class at Clayton Elementary.
Board Member Reports
Ms. Thompson, attended a training on the role that boards play in driving student achievement. Detailed in the class was a list of the ten things a board can do to drive and support education. Ms. Thompson will provide copies of the class information to the Board Members.
Ms. Miller stated that the Englewood Education Foundation (EEF) is trying to build its membership. Ms. Miller reported that the City has waived the fee for Hampden Hall; the location for the Fall Fling. The EEF has ten thousand dollars available for scholarships and has received 13 scholarship applications. Ms. Miller provided the first ten pages for the alumni directory produced by the Harris Foundation. The Harris Foundation will donate five hundred dollars to EEF for Ms. Miller's work.
Ms. Miller was pleased to announce that discussions with EHS have resulted in an agreement that the Pep Band will perform at all home football games and also at some other school events.
Ms. Howard attended the middle school open house for 5th grade students. The event was well attended and good information was supplied to the students.
Mr. Gorsky thanked Ms. Linda Torres, Principal at EHS, for her assistance in having the Pep Band at more events. Mr. Gorsky thinks the increase in band performances will provide a big boost to school spirit.
Ms. Hunt said Englewood applied for participation in Colorado Citizens for Culture and was one of eight cities accepted. The project goal is to promote culture in the community. Englewood will participate in a one-year process developing an Arts program.
Ms. Hunt attended a workshop on effective board meetings and will supply information to the other Board Members.
Highlights from Superintendent's Report
Mr. McDaniel thanked the Board for allowing him to start early. Stating that planning for the next school year is taking place now and being able to be involved with processes that take place now is beneficial. Mr. McDaniel said his first week in Englewood has been delightful. He has been impressed by the various programs available in the buildings but even more impressed with the people he has had the opportunity to meet. He provided several scenarios of events this past week, involving students and staff, that created a very positive impression of Englewood Schools.
Clayton Arts Program
Mr. Jonathan Fore, Principal of Clayton Elementary, provided information on how Clayton is aligning with the District Strategic Plan while emphasizing integration of arts and technology as avenues to increase student achievement. Several quotes, from various individuals, were presented that spoke to the importance of technology and arts in student development and learning enabling them to be more successful. Mr. Fore provided results from a survey of Clayton parents that showed overwhelming support for arts and technology integration in the classroom. Explaining growth indexes, Mr. Fore pointed out that Clayton students are out performing the District average. Clayton students are performing well on CSAP tests. in 2008 86% of 3rd graders scored proficient or advanced on the Reading CSAP. Research supports Arts Integration as a method to improve learning. Mr. Fore also talked about the culture at Clayton being a "caring community". High expectation for achievement exist for all Clayton students. Learning is directed by grade level achievement goals with data driven instruction. Integrating arts and technology with learning activities develops higher level thinking, understanding, and skills. Mr. Fore thanked his dedicated teachers for their contributions to the success of Clayton students.
District Facility Audit
Mr. Bob Binder, Architect with DLR Group, provided details and recommendations from their facilities assessment of Englewood Schools. A detailed list of needs at each facility was provided that included costs, level of concern, expected failure time, and consequences of the failure. Using this information items were priority ranked. This large volume of information will be studied and will help direct decisions in the future.
Indian Education Grant
Ms. Mary Vedra presented information on the grant application for Title VII Indian Education 2008-09 which has been submitted. The grant award is $10,679 to be used July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. For the past three years the grant has been used to support the AVID program at EHS. This program provides support for students working toward graduation. From 2006 to 2007 the graduation rate for Indian Students has improved by 13 per cent.
Safety Report
Mr. David Henderson, Supervisor of OMT, provided information from the safety committee this year and the initiatives for next year. Mr. Henderson outlined safety threats as biological, environmental, fire, security, and physical. He then explained the district's actions to address each threat. The safety committee meets every 6 weeks to discuss prevention and is comprised of district administrators, school health professionals, police and fire personnel, insurance providers, and the city traffic engineer. Goals for the near future include installing more security cameras and improving intercoms. Each facility is studied and concerns are addressed.
Annual Insurance Program
Ms. Peg LaPlante presented information on the districts liability and property insurance. The district has been successful in limiting accidents and will receive a refund check from the Self Insurance Pool in the fall.
Financial Advisory Committee
The Financial Advisory Committee reviews the financial status of Englewood Schools and advises the superintendent on short and long-term financial issues that affect the district. Ms. Peg LaPlante, CFO for Englewood Schools, is the facilitator for this committee. Mr. Sean McDaniel outlined the topics for the Financial Advisory Committee for the 2008-2009 school year. The committee is charge to study a demographic and economic study of Englewood, to review a capital needs assessment report provided by a professional architect and engineering firm and to make long-term financial related suggestions and recommendations to the superintendent.
Full-Day Kindergarten
The Board approved providing FREE full-day kindergarten for all students who attain the age of 5 by September 15, beginning with the 2008-09 school year. The district will fund all kindergarten teachers through the general fund. Additional funding for the program will be provided by the Colorado Preschool Kindergarten Program (CPKP) hold harmless funding ($175,557), and from an additional .08 funding for kindergarten students ($116,160). Research supports the effectiveness of early education programs. The Board and Administrators are pleased and excited to be able to provide free full-day kindergarten to better serve the needs of Englewood students.
Consensus Items
The Board approved the following consensus items:
a. Personnel Recommendations & Addendum
b. Board of Education Regular Meeting Schedule
c. Donate Flood Middle School Flag Pole to the City of Englewood
d. Policies renamed with no content change: Policy 2230 Job Description-deletion; EGEAE Public Electronic Mail Records; GBEE Staff Use of the Internet and Electronic Communications; JS Student Use of the Internet and Electronic Communications; KFD-R PowerSchool Parent Access; GDM Support Staff Development; GDS Support Staff Memberships in Organizations; GDO Evaluation of Support Staff; GDQD Discipline, Suspension, and Dismissal of Support Staff.
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