July 14, 2014
MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
MINUTES
July 14, 2014
The Montgomery County Board of Education convened in its regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 14, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. Board members present were as follows:
Steven W. DeBerry, Chair
Tommy Blake, Vice Chair
Bryan Dozier
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 Ann Long and a second from Sandra Miller, the agenda was adopted with unanimous approval from the board.
Chairman DeBerry opened the meeting with a devotional on attitude and success. Gifted violinist Nicolo Paganini was standing before a packed house, playing through a difficult piece of music. Suddenly, one string on his violin snapped and hung down from his instrument. Nicolo was worried, but kept playing. After a few minutes, a second string broke and shortly thereafter, a third. Now there were three strings dangling from Paganini’s violin as he completed a difficult composition on the one remaining string. The audience jumped to its feet and filled the hall with shouts and screams, “Bravo! Bravo!” As the applause died down, the violinist asked the people to sit back down. Even though they knew there was no way they could expect an encore, they quietly sank back into their seats. He held the violin high for everyone to see. He turned to the crowd, and with a twinkle in his eye, he smiled and shouted, ‘Paganini … and one string!’ Instead of leaving the stage, Paganini stood his ground and calmly completed the difficult number on the one remaining string. The mark of a champion is consistency of performance at your highest level, even under difficult circumstances.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was led by Chairman DeBerry.
Laura Dawkins and Cheryl Johnson are Montgomery County Schools Certified and Classified Employee of the Month. Both are from East Montgomery High School. Principal Heather Seawell said, “Laura connects with students to make sure the kids get what they need on a daily basis and Cheryl is the one to call; she’s the “go-to person”. Congratulations to both these ladies.
Dr. Ellis recognized Kathy Johnson (Chief Finance Officer), Lisa Ritter (Assistant Finance Officer), Donna Morris (Accounts Payable) and Lourdes Yarbrough (Accounts Receivable), for being awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (CAFR). This achievement is the hightest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting and represents a significant accomplishment by a government and the management. Dr. Ellis stated the award is a measure of how well the finance office handles funds. He commended them, along with the school bookkeepers, “these ladies do a tremendous job”. Mrs. Johnson commended them for being “loyal and dedicated employees that never complain and always get the job done”. Congratulations on this honor!
Chairman DeBerry asked that the Consent Agenda be held until closed session for discussion. The board expressed no opposition.
Director of Technology, Rodney Neal, presented an overview of Office 365. Office 365 gives you the familiarity of Office with the flexibility of the cloud. With Office in the cloud, your applications and files are with you wherever you go, whether you are working offline at your desktop, online, or on one of your devices. Advantages of 365 include file sharing, mobility, email, calendars, instant messaging, conferencing an office web apps. What you need is accessible from anywhere and always up to date. Microsoft has invested millions to make this work. The cost to us is nothing. With the money saved, teachers will be getting new 15” durable Lenovo laptops. There will be a training session soon with 20 attendees, who can go back to the schools and teach others how to use it. Mr. Dozier asked about the students using the program, especially the email. Mr. Neal explained that the email would be closely monitored.
Dr. Lancaster presented a change in technology policy code 3225/4312/7320 for first reading due to the above changes Mr. Neal discussed. Parents will need to give their permission for their child to use Office 365.
Dr. Ellis gave an overview of the budget stating that this a crucial time. The governor and house are proposing a 6% raise, which does not require drastic cuts. The senate is looking at an 11% raise, but with that, teacher assistant positions will be affected. Superintendent Ellis stated “teachers have been jerked around enough and something needs to be decided”. He will communicate with teachers and staff and urge them to contact the legislature with their budget concerns.
Chairman DeBerry then asked for a motion to adjourn and move into closed session. With a motion from Sandra Miller, along with a second from Tommy Blake, the board unanimously approved going into closed session to discuss personnel.
During closed session, the Board approved the following consent agenda items with a motion by Bryan Dozier and a second from Tommy Blake. The Board unanimously approved the motion.
1. Minutes from the Regular Board Meeting June 2, 2014.
2. Personnel and Auxillary Reports as follows:
a.
Superintendent
reports the acceptance of the following resignations/retirements:
Resignation/Retirement School/Assignment Effective Date
1)
Courtney Britt East
Middle School June 20,
2014
Resignation ESL Teacher
2)
Barbara Slingerland Central Office July
17, 2014
Resignation Director of Exceptional
Children
3) Tarra Barrett Candor Elementary June 16, 2014
Resignation Elementary Teacher
4) Brenda Darlene Smith Candor Elementary June 5, 2014
Resignation Child Nutrition
5) Angeline Freeman East Montgomery High June 6, 2014
Resignation Child Nutrition Part-time
6) Lee Ann Griffin West Middle School June 19, 2014
Resignation Communication Skills
7) Amy Chisholm Green Ridge Elementary June 17, 2014
Resignation 3rd Grade Teacher
8) Josh Frye East Middle School June 25, 2014
Resignation Health/PE Teacher
9) Eric Trail West Montgomery High June 30, 2014
Resignation Social Studies Teacher
10) Sean Thompson West Middle School June 20, 2014
Resignation Health/PE Teacher
11) Lizzie Garner County Office July 31, 2014
Resignation Pre-K Director
12) Vancy Legrande Candor Elementary June 13, 2014
Retirement Child Nutrition
b. Upon recommendation, approval of the following probationary contract for the 2014-2015 school year as provided by General Statute 115C-325:
Contract/ School/ Record
Effective Date Assignment Check Replacing
1) Miranda Duell West Middle School Yes Re-employment
08/19/2014 6th Grade Teacher of non-renewal
2) Julie Madison East Montgomery High Yes Mike Loutzenheiser
08/19/2014 EC Teacher
3) Emily Allen Page Street Elementary Yes Betty Harvel
08/19/2014 EC Teacher
4) Ben Misenheimer West Montgomery High Yes Tyler Wendell
08/19/2014 Math Teacher
5) Jaimie Russell Star Elementary Yes Patrice Monroe
08/19/2014 EC Teacher
6) Stacy Corne West Middle School Yes Angela Sorenson
08/19/2014 8th Grade Math Teacher
7) Sara Ceneskie West Middle School Yes Carrie Watkins
08/19/2014 7th Grade Math Teacher
8) Nathan McCallum East Middle School Yes Tyler Koser
08/19/2014 PE Teacher
9) Colin Milroy West Montgomery High Yes Eric Trail
08/19/2014 Social Studies Teacher
10) Matthew Germann East Montgomery High Pending Todd McGuire
08/19/2014 French Teacher
c. Report of the following transfers:
Transfer/
Effective Date From To Replacing
1) Angie Tofflemeyer West Middle School Troy Elem. Danielle Hurley
08/01/2014 Asst. Principal Inst. Facilitator
2) Carol Parsons East Montgomery High Green Ridge New Position
08/19/2014 Media Inst. Elementary Testing
Coordinator
3) Cindy Sweet West Montgomery West Middle New Position
08/01/2014 Asst. Principal Special Populations
Coordinator
4) Chris Blake Candor Elem/ Candor Elem. Full Time Needed
08/19/2014 Green Ridge Elem. EC Teacher
EC Teacher
5) Sarah Blanton East Middle School East Middle/EMHS
08/19/2014 ESL ESL
6) Terrie Thomas Troy Elementary Troy Elementary/Page Street
08/19/2014 Media Media
7) Sally Britt Star Elementary Star Elementary/East Middle School
08/19/2014 Media Media
8) Teresa Thomas Candor Elementary Candor Elementary/East Montgomery
08/19/2014 Media Media
9) Jackie Jahns Mt. Gilead Elementary Mt. Gilead Elem./Green Ridge Elem.
08/19/2014 Media Media
10) Lane Morgan West Middle School West Middle/West Montgomery
08/19/2014 Media Media
11) Rhonda Thompson West Middle School West Montgomery High School
08/19/2014 Office Support Office Support
12) Leanne Coyle Green Ridge Elementary West Middle School
08/19/2014 Teacher Asst. Office Support
13) Shoua Ly West Montgomery High West Middle School
08/19/2014 Office Support EC One-on-One
14) Marie Shaw West Montgomery High Page Street Elementary
08/19/2014 EC One-on-One EC One-on-One
15) Lilly Young West Middle School Green Ridge Elementary
08/19/2014 EC One-on-One EC One-on One
16) Mollie Williams East/West Montgomery East Montgomery High
08/19/2014 Science Teacher Science Teacher
17) Sonya Chavez West Middle School West Montgomery High School
08/19/2014 Spanish Teacher Spanish Teacher
18) Angela Everette Montgomery Learning Troy Elementary School
08/19/2014 Teacher Assistant Teacher Assistant
19) Nancy Britton West Middle School Troy Elementary School
08/19/2014 EC Teacher Assistant EC Teacher Assistant
20) Shenelle Green Troy Elementary School Mt. Gilead Elementary School
08/19/2014 EC Teacher Assistant EC Teacher Assistant
21) Carol Smith Troy Elementary School Mt. Gilead Elementary School
08/19/2014 EC Teacher Assistant EC Teacher Assistant
22) Marie Ingram Troy Elementary School Mt. Gilead Elementary School
08/19/2014 EC Teacher Assistant EC Teacher Assistant
23) Frances Morris Troy Elementary School Mt. Gilead Elementary School
08/19/2014 EC Teacher EC Teacher
24) Irene Robledo East Middle School Green Ridge Elementary School
08/19/2014 ESL Teacher ESL Teacher
25) Amy Harris Mt. Gilead Elementary Green Ridge Elementary School
08/19/2014 Pre-K Teacher Pre-K Teacher
26) Kristy Kissell East Montgomery High Candor Elementary School
08/19/2014 Teacher Assistant Teacher Assistant
27) Heather Nance Page Street Elementary Candor Elementary School
08/19/2014 Elementary Teacher Elementary Teacher
28) Julie Estes Page Street Elementary Candor Elementary School
08/19/2014 Elementary Teacher Elementary Teacher
29) Patrice Monroe Star Elementary School Central Office
08/25/2014 EC Teacher/ Full-time Literacy Specialist
Literacy Specialist
30) Charlotte Burris Troy Elementary School Central Office
08/19/2014 Office Support Office Support Maintenance/
Transportation Dept.
d. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approval of recommendation for employment of the following non-certified personnel:
Employee/ School/ Record
Effective Date Assignment Check Replacing
1) Billy Ridgeway Green Ridge Elem. Yes Michael Dawkins
05/07/2014 Part-time Custodian
e. Upon recommendation, approval of the following administrative contract:
- Ellen Jones, Interim Exceptional Children’s Director, annual twelve-month term, commencing July 21, 2014 and ending TBD.
- John Shelton, Assistant Principal, West Montgomery High School, annual eleven-month term, commencing August 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2016, (pending completed criminal history check).
3. Continuing Budget Resolution;
4. Budget Amendments 16, 17 & 18;
After closed session, Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to adjourn. With a motion by Tommy Blake and a second from Bryan Dozier, the meeting was duly adjourned.
The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, August 4, 2014.
Steven W. DeBerry, Chairman
Dale Ellis, Ed. D., Secretary