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August 23,
2004
The
Catawba County Board of Education held its two-day Board Retreat on
August 23-24, 2004 at the County Schools’ Administration Building with
Chairman Charlie Wyant presiding. The following members were present:
Mrs. Blackburn, Mrs. Sherrill, Mrs. Butler and Mr. Sigmon. Also in
attendance were Superintendent Ann Hart, Assistant Superintendents Pat
Hensley, Rick Sherrill and Nancy Yount, Attorney Crystal Davis, Finance
Officer Sondra Wolfe, Chief Technology Officer Terry Bledsoe,
Construction Coordinator Ernest Williams, Maintenance Director Mark
Bumgarner and Energy Educator Director Tony Cox. Mr. Biggerstaff and
Mr. Scott were not present for the meeting.
Christina
Cupo represented the Hickory Daily Record.
The
meeting opened with a Moment of Silence followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance led by Chairman Wyant.
The Energy
Management Conservation Program was the first item on the agenda.
Assistant Superintendent Sherrill introduced Energy Education Director
Tony Cox who began employment with the school system on July 1. Energy
Education Director Cox has already begun implementing ways to save
energy and dollars. Dollars saved will be returned to the schools for
needed expenditures. Members were given the energy management
conservation program mission, goals and guiding principles. The program
mission consisted of two parts: significant dollar savings through
ethical energy use, efficient energy delivery and responsible energy
acquisition while sustaining or improving the quality of the learning
environment. The program outline consisted of three core goals: energy
ethic, energy efficiency and energy equity. There are also three
guiding principles: keeping it simple, meeting the education mission and
energy management is like safety. Energy Education Director Cox
presented the two “layers” of teamwork in order to meet these energy
conservation goals: the campus energy team including the building
energy monitor (recommended to be the head custodian) and the Catawba
County Schools’ energy team (which is the Board of Education
foundation). Energy Education Director Cox then presented a draft Board
of Education policy and administrative procedures for their
consideration. The floor was opened for any questions on the
presentation or draft policy and administrative procedures. Mr. Sigmon
asked a question regarding irrigation time portion of the draft policy
and procedures. Energy Education Director Cox addressed the question.
As a result of the question by Mr. Sigmon, additional language will be
incorporated and the policy will be presented on first reading to
members at their regular meeting the next day. Energy Education
Director Cox stressed to members that the energy management plan would
be a “cultural change” for most employees, but the savings would be
beneficial for the students and schools in the district. Chairman Wyant
extended thanks to Energy Education Director Cox for the work that he is
doing for the school district.
Next on
the agenda was the legislation and implications of the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA). Assistant Superintendent Hensley briefed members
on the school system’s activity to-date to comply with this important
legislation. Persons attending the various meetings and training, and
implementing changes include Superintendent Hart, Assistant
Superintendent Hensley, Attorney Davis and Finance Officer Wolfe.
Activity to-date consisted of:
June 2003-
NCSBA Fair Labor Standards Act Training (presenter – Allison Shafer);
August
2003 – Supervisor Training for FLSA Compliance
August
2003 – Non-exempt Employees’ Compliance Training
Fall 2003
– Additional Compliance Training for Finance Officer, Board Attorney and
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources
March 2004
– Decision Finalized regarding Teacher Assistants/Coaches
March 2004
– Initial Training for Timekeeper Software
April 2004
– Roll-out of Timekeeper (initiated with Central Office classified
staff, school secretaries and data managers)
May 2004 –
Internal monitoring of FLSA Compliance
June/July
2004 – Completion of Policy Revision Recommendations
August
2004 – Policy Recommendations to Board of Education
September/October 2004 – Policy Implementation
September
2004 – Supervisor Training
October
2004 – Posting of Revised Personnel Handbook on the Web
October
2004 – Employee Training regarding revised Personnel Handbook
October
2004 – Initiate Roll-out of Timekeeper (remaining staff – three schools
at a time)
January
2005 – Evaluate Utilization and Implementation of Timekeeper
Assistant
Superintendent Hensley, Attorney Davis and Finance Officer Wolfe then
elaborated on each activity to-date and opened the floor for any
questions from members. Attorney Davis also pointed out that somewhere
during the timeline, job descriptions would be revised. She stated that
job descriptions should be reviewed every year. Chairman Wyant extended
thanks to Assistant Superintendent Hensley, Attorney Davis and Finance
Officer Wolfe for their diligent work on such an important piece of
legislation.
Assistant
Superintendent Yount gave members an update on the School Improvement
Plan process. Each School Improvement Plan is based on comprehensive
needs assessment. Goals and objectives focus on critical needs and
direct resources to those needs. Assistant Superintendent Yount
stressed the importance of the “working” document. Components of the
plans included recommended organization, survey results and high student
performance data were presented. Assistant Superintendent Yount
informed members of the Healthy Active Children Policy, which will be an
additional component in the schools’ plans. In this new component, the
State recommends 150 minutes of physical education per week for all
elementary schools and 225 minutes per week with a minimum of every
other day of physical education throughout the 180 days of school for
middle schools. Other components of school improvement plans are
Character Education, staff development plans and strong family,
community and business support. After the presentation, Superintendent
Hart asked for direction from members as to when the School Improvement
Plan presentations needed to be given. It was recommended that plans be
presented at the November Board of Education School Visit/Meeting at
Sweetwater Elementary School. Members will receive all school plans
prior to that meeting so ample time will be given for review.
The last
item on the agenda for the day was the presentation of the FORESIGHT
Report by Mr. Phillip Null, chairman of the FORESIGHT committee. Also
in attendance at the meeting were Mr. John Kenny and Mr. Taylor
Dellinger from the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG).
Members received a copy of the report prior to the meeting for review.
Mr. Null began his presentation by giving members some background
information on the FORESIGHT process. Two previous FORESIGHT strategic
planning projects, begun in 1985 and in 1989, were completed in a
different economic climate from the current plan, which was completed in
July 2004. The urgency of this current FORESIGHT effort was brought
about by major manufacturing downsizing and significant layoffs in a
time of changing global business. The Catawba County Board of
Commissioners appointed twenty prominent leaders to begin a third round
of the FORESIGHT strategic planning process in November 2001. From
January 2002 until January 2003, the committee focused on examining and
analyzing information on a variety of broad topics dealing with the
County’s economy. The committee selected the following topics to be
studied: Jobs and the Economy, Education, Environment, and Leadership
and Political Action. The FORESIGHT Committee appointed an additional
eighty-three citizens to the Task Forces to study these topics. Each
Task Force generated innovative strategies and developed the report.
The final phase of the planning process required the commitment to
overseeing the implementation of the strategies proposed in the report.
Mr. Null briefed members on the four strategies recommended by the
FORESIGHT Committee. The four strategies recommended were: Jobs and
the Economy, Leadership and Political Action, Environment and
Education. Mr. Null then introduced Mr. Kenny and Mr. Dellinger for any
questions members may have. After the presentation, Mr. Sigmon
complemented Mr. Null on the great information and asked what the
Catawba County Board of Education can do to help. Mr. Null stressed the
need to push forward by working with the County staff and
commissioners. Superintendent Hart, along with Mrs. Blackburn,
commended the work of the FORESIGHT committee. Chairman Wyant also
commended Mr. Null and the committee for the informative report.
Chairman
Wyant concluded day one of the Board of Education Retreat. Before
adjourning, Mrs. Sherrill asked to make an amendment to the agenda to
discuss the Superintendent’s evaluation and contract. After discussion
among the members, a date will be decided upon for the Superintendent’s
annual evaluation. Members also agreed to always take voting action on
items of business and not a consensus from members.
There
being no other items of business on the agenda, a motion was made by Mr.
Sigmon then made the motion to adjourn. Mrs. Sherrill seconded the
motion and all members were in favor. Day one of the Board of Education
Retreat adjourned at 4:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
_________________________
Charlie C.
Wyant, Chairman
__________________________
Ann Y.
Hart, Secretary
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