November 3, 2014

MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

MINUTES

November 3, 2014

 

            The Montgomery County Board of Education convened in its regular monthly meeting on Monday, November 3, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. Board members present were as follows:

                        Steven W. DeBerry, 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 Sandra Miller and a second from Shirley Threadgill, the agenda was adopted with unanimous approval from the board.

           Chairman DeBerry opened the meeting with a devotional on learning from your failures. An example of a person who learned from failure is Thomas Edison. Edison is best known for inventing the lightbulb, but did so after many failed attempts. Sometimes the filaments were too thick and the lightbulb exploded. Other times it was too thin and it wouldn’t light up. After each failed experiment, he learned what not to do, until he finally discovered the perfect combination. Failure is not final; failure brings a great opportunity for us to learn and grow. Falling down doesn’t mean failure; staying down does.

          West Middle school students Alexa Cranford and Julius Wilson led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, along with West Montgomery ROTC students Zach Allen and Augusta Vang.

           Chairman DeBerry presented the family of Phebie Ewing Bowden, with a Resolution of Esteem. Ms. Bowden was a teacher with Montgomery County Schools for many years. The resolution reads as follows:

      WHEREAS, our Heavenly Father, in His infinite love and wisdom, saw fit to call home Phebie Ewing Bowden on October 15, 2014 and

       WHEREAS, her services as an educator with Montgomery County Schools were a living testimonial of her integrity and skill, and

       WHEREAS, her loss will be deeply felt not only by those with whom she served, but also throughout her entire community and county.

       NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Montgomery County Board of Education goes on record in expressing a sense of real loss and regret in her passing; that a copy of this resolution be conveyed to her family as an indication of our deep sympathy; and that a copy of the same be filed as a part of the permanent minutes of the board of education.

            Dr. Ellis and Joan Frye, principal at West Middle, presented a certificate to employee Naomi Drake for Classified Employee of the Month. Mrs. Drake is an EC Assistant and bus driver for West Middle. Cynthia Ziccarelli won Certified Employee of the Month, but was unable to attend. Mrs. Ziccarelli is a 7^th grade math and science teacher. Mrs. Frye had high praise for both women thanking them for their hard work.

             Next, Superintendent Ellis and Star Elementary Principal, Teresa Dunn, awarded Bernie Hill a plaque for 50 years of service to Montgomery County Schools. Mr. Hill is a custodian at Star Elementary. Last month, students, staff members, family and friends of Mr. Hill honored him by celebrating his years of service with an assembly at the school where he was presented the Order of the Longleaf Pine. Mrs. Dunn said Mr. Hill “always comes to work with a smile. Mr. Hill loves the kids and they love him. He is very much appreciated at Star”.

           Dr. Ellis presented banners to the schools that met or exceeded growth last year on End of Grade tests. Principals were on hand to accept the banners. The schools who exceeded growth were East Montgomery High and Page Street Elementary. The schools who met growth were East Middle, Green Ridge Elementary, Star Elementary, Mt. Gilead Elementary and Montomery Learning Academy. 

          Dr. Ellis then presented West Montgomery’s Athletic Director Seth Dunlap and Principal, Benjie Brown with a certificate. The school received the 2013 Sportsmanship Award for exemplary sportsmanship by receiving no ejections by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. According to NCHSAA, the sportsmanship honor is designed to recognize a school that has been ejection free, has a plan to promote and implement good sportsmanship, is welcoming to visiting fans, makes appropriate accommodations for officials and fans demonstrate good sportsmanship. Dr. Ellis congratulated Mr. Brown and Mr. Dunlap on a job well done.   

           Chairman DeBerry asked that the consent agenda be held until closed session. The board unanimously agreed.

           Next, Superintendent Ellis discussed A-F School Performance Grades legislation. Schools will be “graded” on student achievement by a letter grading system. These systems measure the performance of individual schools and school districts through the same A-F letter grading scales that are used for student report cards, with various test data ranges translating to certain letter grades. Student growth levels are notably absent from the criteria to be considered in assigning these new letter grades to a school and school district. Most educators recognize that student learning levels at a school are most appropriately gauged through both the portion of the school’s students attaining proficiency (scoring at or above grade level) and the levels of learning growth students are experiencing. Evaluating student learning through these two factors accounts for the fact that end of year composite scores are narrow snapshots in time; they fail to capture how much students are actually learning from year to year.  Dr. Ellis stated that the new system would be frustrating for adminstration, teachers and parents. The system is expected to be released February 5, 2015.    

          Jeff James, Takeda LeGrand, Phillip Brown and Deidra Steed, Curriculum Staff, discussed testing results and implications. The group presented proficiency and school performance data. The data compared Montgomery County to surrounding counties including Moore, Randolph, Anson and Bladen. Analysis of the data concluded that Montgomery County Schools met the attendance, Cohort Graduation and Math Course Rigor rate; met sixty-four percent AMOs; seven schools met or exceeded expected growth and seventy percent of our schools met or exceeded growth (a thirty percent increase from fourty percent in 2012-13). The Curriculum Department will continue to work to improve reading and math proficiency of ALL students to meet state AMO targets in grades Kindergarten through twelve, using programs such as Letterland, iReady, Georgia Units, and lesson/unit planning.

           Alisha Ellis, Director of Curriculum Support, requests the Board’s permission to submit a waiver request to the North Carolina Analysis of Student Work (ASW).  The rationale for this request is to provide ample time for professional development on the ASW process with teachers, as well as school and district administrators. The waiver would be for a period of one year to allow teachers in our district time to learn about the specifics of the process, share strategies for implementation in their schools and have an opportunity to participate in district collaborative teams to understand the expectations of the process. The board unanimously approved the request to submit the waiver to ASW.        

           Kathy Wright, WMHS and Kim Turner, WMS, introduced a new STEM course: New Technology Design and Innovations. The curriculum is delivered through Montgomery Virtual Environment and has three units: What is Technology?, System Design: What Every Technology Needs, and Transforming Resources: From Production to You. In What is Technology?, students come to understand their roles in developing individually and collectively.   The System Design unit teaches students to use their creativity to use technology to their advantage. The final section lets students produce their own product. Will Haywood     demonstrated for the Board a lego robot made in class.         

               Dr. Lancaster presented several policy codes for first reading to be approved at the December board meeting.

               Dr. Ellis asked for approval of the School Improvement Plan, which is viewable online. Ann Long made the motion to approve the plan with Sandra Miller seconding. The Board approved the plan unanimously.

             Dr. Pokie Noland, Exceptional Children Director, discussed the EC Compliance Update. Beginning January 2014, an extensive audit and compliance review began on all active EC folders. Five hundred, sixty-four folders were audited between January 9^th and June 10^th. Out of all folders audited, zero folders involved issues that cost the EC department any money. All deficits found were those that, if audited by the state, would require additional staff development and training, but no money lost. EC is now in the process of extensive staff development related to errors found in EC paperwork. A strict auditing process has now been put in place. EC folders, including all meeting documentation, are to come to the EC department for compliance review anytime a meeting takes place on an EC student. To decrease missing information, at least one time per year, all EC folders will come through the department for some form of audit. All EC personnel have worked hard together to complete deficits in folders.        

            Superintendent Ellis asked to hold the Student Advisory Meeting notes until the December meeting, and instead introduced Mitch Taylor. Mr. Taylor is Montgomery County Schools new Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Ellis and the Board welcomed Mr. Taylor to the school system.             

              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 Jesse Hill, 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 Board Meetings dated October 6, 2014.

2.    Personnel and Auxillary Reports as follows:

  a.    Upon the recommendation of the principal, approval of the following additions to the

          substitute teacher list:

           Noncertified                            Recommended By                Record Check

1)    Wanda Beal                        Kevin Lancaster                              Yes

2)    April Cesaro                        Donna Kennedy                              Yes

3)    Kimberly Goodwin              Donna Kennedy                              Yes

4)    Lewis Smith                        John Beard                                     Yes

5)    Shykendra Steele               Angie Tofflemeyer                           Yes

6)    Corina Hill                           Angie Tofflemeyer                           Yes

7)    Rosa Reynosa                   Heather Seawell                             Yes

8)    Nikimia Ratliff                     Donna Kennedy                              Yes

9)    Ereka Turner                      Beth Lancaster                             Pending

10) Louise Little                       Donnie Lynthacum                          Yes

11) Mirell Lilly                           Beth Lancaster                                Yes

12) Rosa Jeringan                  Angie Tofflemeyer                            Yes

13) Vanessa Carpenter          Jack Cagle                                       Yes

14) Chad Thompson              Joan Frye                                      Pending

 

Resignation/Retirement        School/Assignment             Effective Date

1)    Patricia Harris                    Troy Elementary                     October 30, 2014

Retirement                         Elementary Teacher

2)    Jessica Grooms                 West Middle School                November 27, 2014

Resignation                        Health/PE Teacher

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 Ck.                Replacing       

 1)    Dana Glenn                           West Middle School                 Yes                        Dan Jones

           11/17/2014                  Math Teacher

2)    Sharon Romero                     West Middle School                  Yes                   Teresa O’Connor

            11/03/2014                Social Studies Teacher

3)    Alison Wilson                         East Middle School                   Yes                      Matt Smith

             ESL Teacher

4)    Catherine Monroe                  Star Elementary                        Yes                    Natalie Mauldin

             11/10/2014               1^st Grade Teacher

 

d.    Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approval of recommendation for employment of the following non-certified personnel:

 Employee/Effective Date         School/Assignment                    Record Ck.              Replacing

1)    Mac Simmons                   Green Ridge Elem.                          Yes              

10/13/2014                        Interim EC Support

 2)    Roneisha Edwards            West Montgomery                           Yes

10/20/2014                        Interim EC One-on-One

 3)    LaShonda Douglas           Green Ridge Elem.                           Yes  

             10/28/2014                        Part-time Site Coordinator/21^st Century Grant

 4)    Brandy Furr                      Candor Elementary                            Yes              

             10/28/2014                        Part-time Site Coordinator/21^st Century Grant

 5)    Kayla Lee                       Mt. Gilead Elementary                           Yes

              10/28/2014                     Part-time Site Coordinator/21^st Century Grant

 6)    Jessica Batten               Green Ridge Elementary                       Yes

10/28/2014                     Interim Kindergarten Support

 

 e.   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:

 Eric Litaker     James Marshall       Darrell Reeves      Dale Watkins     Tangelar Young – Background Pending

      

f.   Report of the following transfers:

 Transfer/Effective Date                      From                                To                         Replacing

1)    Deborah Haywood                 Candor Elementary          Candor Elementary         Kristy Holder

10/06/2014                             Child Nutrition Sub           Child Nutrition P/T

 2)    Shirley Harris                         Central Office                   Central Office                 Charlotte Burris

                        Receptionist                     Auxiliary Services/Office Support

 

g.    Upon recommendation, approval of the following coaches for the fall 2014 sports season:

       East Montgomery High School

       Coach                              Sport

       Julie Estes                        Girls Soccer

 

h.   Upon recommendation, approval of the following coaches for the winter 2014 sports season:

      West Montgomery High School

     Coach                               Sport

      Earle Poole                       Swimming

      Cathy Haithcock               Swimming

      Jerimy Rinker                   Wrestling

      Daniel Coggins                  Wrestling

      Ben Misenheimer             Basketball

      Jamie Smith                      Basketball

      Henry Panzer                    Basketball

      Stefanie Panzer                Basketball

      Tanisha Bowden               Basketball

      Claudette Cuthrell             Cheerleading

      Rikki Baldwin                    Cheerleading

 

 The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, December 8, 2014.

                                                                     

                                                                     

                                                                      Steven W. DeBerry, Chairman

                                                                  

                                                                     

                                                                       Dale Ellis, Ed. D., Secretary