December 8, 2014
MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
MINUTES
December 8, 2014
The Montgomery County Board of Education convened in its regular monthly meeting on Monday, December 8, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. Board members present were as follows:
Steven W. DeBerry, Chair
Tommy Blake, Vice Chair
Bryan Dozier
Shirley Threadgill
Jesse Hill
Ann Long
Sandra Miller
Chairman DeBerry called the meeting to order and moved to adopt the agenda as shown. With a motion by Bryan Dozier and a second from Jesse Hill, the agenda was adopted with unanimous approval from the board.
Chairman DeBerry opened the meeting with a reading of “A Christmas Prayer”. Let us pray that strength and courage abundant be given to all who work for a world of reason and understanding. That the good that lies in every man’s heart may, day by day, be magnified. That men will come to see more clearly not that which divides them, but that which unites them. That each hour may bring us closer to a final victory, not of nation over nation, but of man over his own evils and weaknesses. That the true spirit of this Christmas Season – its joy, its beauty, its hope and above all, its abiding faith – may live among us. That the blessings of peace be ours – the peace to build and grow, to live in harmony and sympathy with others, and to plan for the future with confidence.
Tyliyah Horton, Elizabeth Pirtle and Erica Shank, students from Page Street Elementary, led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.
John Deaton, Montgomery County Clerk of Court, administered the Oath of Office to Bryan Dozier, Sandra Miller, Tommy Blake and Jesse Hill. The board unanimously voted Steve DeBerry to retain his position as Chairman and Tommy Blake to continue as Vice Chair.
Dr. Ellis and Benjie Brown, principal at West Montgomery High School, presented Jessica King and LeighAnne Lamonds certificates for Classified and Certified employees of the month. Mr. Brown said, “Jessica is the bookkeeper at the school. She is a great person and keeps the school running. LeighAnne is dedicated to the school, to her students and their families. She has been involved in the school system for twenty-nine years. I’m proud of both of these ladies and what they have accomplished.” Dr. Ellis commended Ms. King and Mrs. Lamonds on a job well done.
Superintendent Ellis and Donnie Lynthacum, Candor Elementary Principal awarded certificates to Teresa Thomas and Gina Blake. The pair won a Bright Ideas grant from Pee Dee Electric. Mr. Lynthacum called the teachers “grant gurus” and said Ms. Thomas has received a grant for the past eleven years.
Dr. Ellis, along with East Montgomery High School Assistant Principal Tim Addis, congratulated Michelle Williams-Gonzalez and Mark Miller on their recent National Board Recertification.
Dr. Ellis and Bill Mingin, applauded the Transportation Department for an above average audit from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The department received a good TIMS audit above state average and cut their deficit score in half, which made the budget rating higher to fund the transportation department. Mr. Mingin stated that he had a great bunch in the department; they are up early and work late. Dr. Ellis appreciated each one for their hard work. Ricky Hurley, Teresa Robinson and Wayne Collins accepted the certificate on behalf of the transportation department.
Chairman DeBerry asked for approval of the consent agenda. Bryan Dozier made the motion to approve with Ann Long seconding the motion. The board unanimously agreed to the following:
1) Board Minutes from November 3, 2014;
2) Personnel and Auxillary Reports:
a. Upon the recommendation of the principal, approval of the following additions to the substitute teacher list:
Noncertified Recommended By Record Check
1) Miriam DeBerry Donnie Lynthacum Yes
2) Sandra Rink Beth Lancaster Yes
3) Linda Karshner Donna Kennedy Yes
b. Superintendent reports the acceptance of the following resignations/retirements:
Resignation/Retirement School/Assignment Effective Date
1) Tina Hare Star Elementary November 1, 2014
Resignation Child Nutrition
2) Shelby Morris Star Elementary November 27, 2014
Resignation Elementary Teacher
3) Matt Wolf Green Ridge Elementary January 3, 2015
Resignation 1st Grade Teacher
4) Ellen Jones Central Office December 19, 2014
Resignation Part-time ESL Coordinator/
Literacy Support
5) Dan Jones West Middle School November 14, 2014
Resignation Interim Math Teacher
6) Margaret Miller EC Compliance Specialist/ December 12, 2014
Resignation Data Manager
c. Upon recommendation, approval of the following probationary contracts for the 2014-2015 school year as provided by General Statute 115C-325:
Contract Effective Date School Assignment Record Check Replacing
1) Vera Richardson Mt. Gilead Elementary Yes Lucy Lloyd
01/05/2015 Guidance Counselor
2) Holly Morgan Troy Elementary Yes P. Harris
11/14/2014 2nd Grade Teacher
3) Sherri Allgood West Middle School Yes Daniel Jones
12/01/2014 8th Grade ELA/Science
d. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approval of recommendation for employment of the following non-certified personnel:
Employee/Effective Date School/Assignment Record Check Replacing
1) Elsa de los Angeles Page St/Troy Elementary Yes Martha Islas
Temporary Interpreter
2) Krystal Kimrey West Middle School Yes Julie Wittman
11/10/2014 Behavior Specialist
3) Mirell Lilly Mt. Gilead Elementary Yes
10/29/2014 Part-time one-on-one EC Assistant
4) Nellie McCready West Middle School Yes
11/12/2014 Part-time EC Teacher Assistant
5) Carrie Watkins West Middle School Yes Tabitha Harris-Sub
01/05/2015 ELA/Social Studies Teacher
e.
Report
of the following transfers:
Transfer/Effective Date From To Replacing
1) Crystal Douglas Green Ridge/Star Central Office Shirley Harris
12/08/2014 Teacher Asst. Receptionist
2) Melinda Greene Star Elementary Star Elementary Tina Hare
12/1/2014 Child Nutrition Sub Child Nutrition P/T
f. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approval of recommendation for employment of the following bus driver/sub drivers for the 2014-2015 school year that are not dual employees:
Kimberly Goodwin
Patricia Collins – Monitor (Background Check Pending)
Della Steele – Monitor (Background Check Pending)
g. Upon recommendation, approval of the following coaches for the winter 2014 sports season:
West Montgomery High SchoolCoach Sport
Michael Hinson Basketball
West Middle School
Coach Sport
Ron Weaver Basketball
Sean Clausell Basketball
Caitlin Batten Basketball
Mike West Wrestling
Jerimy Rinker Wrestling
Landy Hilger Wrestling
Stacy Corne Cheerleading
East Middle School
Coach Sport
Jonathan Frazier Basketball
Nathan McCallum Basketball
Kesha Collins Basketball
Lauren Peter Basketball
Barbara Streeter Cheerleading
Kirk Watts First Responder
East Montgomery High School
Coach Sport
Cindy Martin Cheerleading
Erie Greene Basketball
Terrence Leak Basketball
Ray Massey Basketball
Mike Stancil Basketball
Linda Baldwin Basketball
Mike Maness Wrestling
Sarah Talbert Wrestling
Phil Collett Wrestling
Angie Collett Wrestling (Volunteer)
Ray Deaton Swimming
Janet Deaton Swimming
Mike Barrington Trainer
h. Upon recommendation, approval of the following tutors:
Chrystal Mabe Star Elementary School
Tina Jackson Star Elementary School
April Cesaro Star Elementary School
Carolyn Johnson Star Elementary School
Rachel Haywood Star Elementary School
Kenneth Shamberger Star Elementary School
Upon recommendation approval of the following student transfer is requested.
Montgomery County Schools to Stanly County Schools
Diotrephes Nivens
3)
Budget Amendment #2:
Next, Dr. Jeff James gave an i3
update. The purpose of the i3 program
is to provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving
student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of,
and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact
on improving student achievement or student growth, closing achievement gaps,
decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or
increasing college enrollment and completion rates. The three million dollar grant will help
develop a system of digital learning by providing expanded access to
connectivity, teaching practices, digital learning community and learning
environments for both students and teachers. Out of 26 applicants, MCS was awarded the third highest score: a
ninety-four out of one hundred. The
board congratulated Dr. James and his staff for a job well done.
Phillip Brown, Director of Secondary Education/CTE Program, stated that Montgomery County’s high school students are ranked first in the state with the highest percentage of students receiving thirteen hundred and fifty credentials with a percentage of 54.7% of enrollments in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses receiving a credential. Credentials received were: 8 drafting credentials, 132 career readiness certificates, 39 CPR/First Aid, 843 Fire Fighting credentials, 206 Microsoft Office, 21 Nursing Assistant 1, 54 Masonry and 46 Serve Safe/Food Protection Manager certification.
Jack Cagle, Director of Business and Community Partnership, presented a power point highlighting 2008-2014 Dropout Data. The data gave a comparison of drop out rates between Montgomery County high schools, the district, the region, the state and surrounding counties. Last year, Montgomery County’s dropout rate was lower, at 2.21 percent, than Moore, Randolph and Anson counties. Randolph came in second at 2.41 percent. Data also showed white males and white females at East Montgomery dropped out more last year than Hispanic, Black and American Indian males and females. The next steps to combat the student dropout rate is to identify students who are at risk using Student Assistant Team data, making home visits, using differentiated diplomas and to connect students and parents with internal and external support services.
Superintendent Ellis presented a copy of an agreement between the Montgomery County Pre-K Committee, Montgomery County Schools, Montgomery County Partnership for Children and Montgomery County that addresses certain obligations and responsibilities of the parties for administration, operation and funding of the NC Pre-K Program in Montgomery County. The Pre K Committee drafted the agreement. Dr. Ellis stated that this will be a three-year contract and will let the board know if it is approved.
Sharon Castelli, Principal at Page Street Elementary, talked about the different programs they have at Page Street to improve reading. Ms. Castelli said that Page Street has “great readers” and the goal is for students to love reading while improving reading scores. The school has friendly competitions between classrooms; a “reading bucks” store, where kids can earn “money” reading and spend it in the store; interventions with high school kids that tutor; book clubs; classroom centers; author visits; assistant principal of the day and afterschool reading.
Krista McGuire, Fifth Grade Teacher at Page Street Elementary, discussed Techbook, a three-year program for fifth graders. Her fifth grade class has a set of twenty-four tablets. These tablets help students learn about things they do not know about, which in turn, motivates them to learn. Students explore at their own pace, watch different videos to find answers to questions and take assessments. Benchmark data will be used to find weak areas and build background knowledge, addressing core areas where scores have not been where they wanted them to be.
Benjie Brown, Principal at West Montgomery High School and Terri Absher, Instructional Facilitator, presented a power point on SMART Lunch. English, Math, Science and Social studies PLC’s meet two times per week during SMART Lunch and one time per week after school. Teachers generate Common Formative Assessments (CFA’s) based on one to two standards that will be taught over a three-week period. CFA’s are administered during regular class time; reports are generated through SchoolNet and disaggregated during PLCs. Students are divided into three groups for SMART Lunch: Remediation for below fifty percent; Bubble for fifty to seventy percent; and Acceleration for above seventy percent. Teachers assigned to each group provide acceleration or remediation for CFA retakes, administered to all students who scored below seventy percent on the first assessment. Data is shared during PLCs and posted in the staff development room. Improvements are celebrated and weaknesses are addressed to decide the appropriate strategy to implement. Teachers have embraced the SMART Lunch idea, being “timid at first”, but now need no assistance in planning.
Dr. Ellis presented a resolution supporting giving local control of school calendars back to school systems. With the board in agreement, Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to approve the resolution. Bryan Dozier made the motion to approve, with Ann Long seconding.
Dr. Lancaster presented several policy codes for approval. Ann Long made the motion to approve the policy changes with Sandra Miller seconding the motion. The board unanimously agreed to the changes.
Superintendent Ellis discussed the notes from the Student Advisory Meeting. The students compiled things that they liked and things that they would change about their classrooms and schools. They also listed topics they would like to discuss in future meetings.
Chairman DeBerry then asked for a motion to adjourn and move into closed session. With a motion from Bryan Dozier, along with a second from Tommy Blake, the board unanimously approved going into closed session to discuss personnel.
After closed session, Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to adjourn. With a motion by Bryan Dozier and a second from Sandra Miller, the meeting was duly adjourned.
The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, January 12, 2014.
____________________________ _______________________________
Steven W. DeBerry, Chairman Dale Ellis, Ed. D, Secretary