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September 14, 2015


                                  MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

                                                                     MINUTES

                                                           September 14, 2015

 

 

            The Montgomery County Board of Education convened in its regular monthly meeting on Monday, September 14, 2015 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, Shirley Threadgill and 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 as presented.

            

           Chairman DeBerry opened the meeting with a devotional by reading from the book of Deuteronomy 30:19:  “I call upon heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Two women who once lived in a convalescent center had each suffered an incapacitating stroke. Maggie’s stroke had caused paralysis on her left side. Rachel’s stroke had caused permanent damage to her right side. Both women were devastated by what had happened to them. They assumed they would never be able to pursue a pastime they had enjoyed throughout life - playing the piano. One day, Maggie and Rachel met and began talking about their lives. They realized they both had an interest in music. The convalescent center’s director brought them a piano and helped the women sit on a bench in front of it. Maggie played the right hand notes, while Rachel played the left hand. Not only did they make beautiful music together, they formed a long and endearing friendship. God’s design for us is that we work together, live together and have fun together. When we choose to share our time and space with others, we will reap the rewards of joy and peace.    

          Chairman DeBerry called upon Candor Elementary students to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America. Participating students were Jonathan Rosales, Adrian Valdovinos, Janiaha Davis, Iyana Little, Zachary Blue and Geisele Bostic.   

           Chairman DeBerry presented a Resolution of Esteem to the parents of Benjamin Pearson Misenheimer. Ben was a teacher and coach at West Montgomery High School. 

 

           Dr. Lancaster recognized teachers with perfect attendance for the 2014-15 school year. Teachers were: Nathan McCallum and Amanda Terry from East Middle; Matthew Germann from East Montgomery; Jennifer Nance from Page Street; Emily Tew from Star Elementary; Denita Atkins, Amy Ellington and Terrie Thomas from Troy Elementary; and Telena Gooch from West Montgomery. Each teacher received a certificate and check for their efforts.

 

          Chief Financial Officer, Mitch Taylor, awarded five school bookkeepers with a certificate for having a “zero findings” audit. Recognized were: Shannon Robinson, Star Elementary; Terrie Furr, Candor Elementary; Brenda Livingston, East Middle; Jessica King, West Montgomery and Troy Elementary.

           Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. With a motion by Tommy Blake and a second by Sandra Miller, the board approved the consent agenda unanimously. The following items were approved:

1)                   1)  Board Minutes from August 3, 2015; and

               2)  Personnel and Auxillary Reports as follows:

          

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

           substitute teacher list:

 

           Certified                                  Recommended By                Record Check

1)    James Doherty                 Joan Frye                                    Yes

2)    Josh Barbee                      John Beard                                 Yes

3)    Kathryn Powalski              Tim Addis                                    Yes

4)    Alicia Lineberry                 Heather Seawell                         Yes

5)    Corina Hill                         Della Ingram                               Yes

6)    Deborah Robins                Della Ingram                               Yes

7)    Sharon Swanke                 Heather Seawell                         Yes

8)    Roy Wright                        John Shelton                               Yes


Non-Certified

1)    Jamie Beane                    Sharon Castelli                           Yes              

2)    Avis Bostic                       Heather Seawell                          Yes

3)    Jennifer Braswell             Angie Tofflemeyer                       Yes

4)    Martha Webb                  Donnie Lynthacum                       Yes

5)    Cody McMasters             Chris Jonassen                            Yes

 

b.    Superintendent reports the acceptance of the following resignations/retirements:

 

Resignation/Retirement        School/Assignment              Effective Date

1)    Cely Gomezjurado             Page Street Elementary         08/18/2015

Resignation                        EC Intake

2)    Emily Harrison                   Mt. Gilead Elementary            08/18/2015

Resignation                        Elementary Teacher

3)    Alice Lewis                         West Montgomery High          07/03/2015

Resignation                        Child Nutrition Asst.

4)    Priscilla Simmons              West Middle School                08/05/2015

Resignation                        Teacher Asst. EC

5)    Holly Dennis                      Candor Elementary                09/15/2015

Resignation                        Elementary Teacher

6)    Wesley Maynor                 East Montgomery High           08/13/2015

Resignation                        Custodian

7)    Kerri Brewer                      East Middle School                 08/11/2015

Resignation                        8th Grade Science Tea.

8)    Debbie Haywood               Candor Elementary               08/13/2015

Resignation                        P/T Child Nutrition

9)    Melanie Nichols                 Troy Elementary                     08/13/2015

Resignation                        Elementary Teacher

10) Frederick Dumas               West Montgomery High          08/12/2015

Resignation                        Custodian

11)  Lynn Cagle                       West Montgomery High          08/17/2015

 Resignation                       Teacher Assistant

12)  Sara Parsons                   Pre-K EC Itinerant Teacher    01/01/2016                

                  Retirement 

13)  Laura Wolf                       West Middle School                10/01/2015

 Resignation                      ESL Teacher   

14)  Jacqueline Stancil           Green Ridge Elementary         09/08/2015

 Resignation                     Child Nutrition        

c.    Upon recommendation, approval of the following probationary contracts for the 2015-2016 school year as provided by General Statute 115C-325:

 Contract/                         School/                                  Record        

          Effective Date                Assignment                          Check                   Replacing

1)    Bradley Hammill         West Middle School              Yes                        Sharon Romero

08/18/2015                  7th Grade Science

 

2)    Robert Staley              East Montgomery High         Yes                        Emily Dunn

08/18/2015                 Business Teacher

 

3)    Kari Parsons               Page Street Elementary       Yes                         Rebecca Cagle

08/18/2015                  Elementary Teacher

 

4)    Casey Galloway         East/West High Schools        Yes                         Completed

08/18/2015                  Firefighter Instructor                                            Required

                                                                                                                  Coursework

5)    Leslie Barden               Mt. Gilead Elementary           Yes                       Emily Harrison

08/18/2015                   Elementary Teacher

 

6)    David Nugent               West Montgomery High          Yes                    Linda Anundson

08/18/2015                   English Teacher

 

7)    Megan Hall                  Troy Elementary                     Yes                      Debbie Russell

08/18/2015                   Kindergarten Teacher

 

8)    Christa Evans              Candor Elementary                 Yes                     Miriam DeBerry

08/18/2015                   Pre K Teacher

 

d.    Upon recommendation, approval of the following interim contracts for the 2015-2016 school year as provided by General Statute 115C-325:

 

1)     Tina Luther             Page Street Elementary             Yes              Teresa Caudill

 09/04/2015            School Nurse

     

2)    Laura Sattenfield    East Montgomery High              Yes              Julie Madison

09/25/2015             EC Inclusion Teacher

 

 

e.     Report of the following transfers:

 

         Transfer/

 Effective Date                  From                            To                                Replacing

1)    Brenda D. Smith       Candor Elementary     Candor Elementary

08/17/2015                Child Nutrition Sub        Child Nutrition P/T

 

2)    Nannie Hinton           Star Elementary             Star Elementary

08/10/2015                Child Nutrition Sub          Child Nutrition P/T

 

3)    Laura Britt                 Mt. Gilead Elem.            West Middle School     Priscilla Simmons

08/18/2015                Teacher Asst.                 Teacher Asst.

 

4)    Crystal Douglas        Central Office                Central Office               Susan Fox

08/24/2015                Receptionist                   HR Adm. Asst.

 

5)    Carolyn Collins         West Montgomery         West Montgomery

08/17/2015                Child Nutrition Sub         Child Nutrition P/T

 

6)    Cathy Haithcock       Candor Elementary      West Middle School

08/18/2015                Teacher Asst.                Teacher Asst.                Shenelle Green

 

7)    Shenelle Green         West Middle School       Troy Elementary

08/18/2015                Teacher Asst.                 Teacher Asst.

 

8)    Kristy Kissell              Green Ridge Elem.         Candor Elementary

08/18/2015                 Teacher Asst.                 Teacher Asst.

 

9)    Garry Marshall            Central Office                 Central Office               Chris Lee

07/20/2015                 Groundskeeper 1            Custodian 1

 

10)  Candice Brasington    West Middle School      Troy Elem. School        Laura Wolf

 08/25/2015                  ESL Teacher                 ESL Teacher

 

11)  Lynn Maness               Troy Elementary          Star Elementary       Shannon Robinson

 08/21/2015                  Teacher Assistant        Bookkeeper

 

12)  Shannon Robinson        Star Elem.                  Central Office             Crystal Douglas

 09/08/2015                    Bookkeeper                Receptionist

 

     

f.     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)    Amy Pence                   Mt. Gilead Elementary           Yes                 Bobbie Jo Bruton

08/11/2015                    Child Nutrition Asst. Mgr.

 

2)    Terry Flowers               Central Office                        Yes                 Garry Marshall

08/18/2015                    Maintenance Dept.

 

3)    Sandra Beuinsma         Mt. Gilead Elementary          Yes   

8/18/2015                     P/T Media Specialist

 

4)    Wanda Cagle               Green Ridge Elem. P/T          Yes

8/28/2015                     Media Specialist

 

5)    Krystal Debray             Star Elementary P/T              Yes

8/31/2015                     Media Specialist    

 

6)    Jackie Chunn               Troy Elementary                    Yes                 Lynn Maness

8/31/2015                     P/T Teachers Assist.-Inter.

 

7)    Wanda Blue                 Candor Elementary P/T         Yes

8/31/2015                     Media Specialist

 

g.    Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approval of recommendation for employment of the following bus driver/sub drivers for the 2015-2016 school year that are not dual employees:

 

1)    Bianca Green                 Bus Monitor                            Yes

2)    Michael Lassiter             Bus Driver                                Yes

 

h.    Upon recommendation, approval of the following coaches for the fall 2015 sports

season:

1)     Reginald Jackson-Football Coach/East Middle School

2)     Nathan McCallum-Assistant Football Coach/East Middle School

3)     Johni Lilly-Cheerleading/East Middle School

4)     Lauren Peter-Volleyball Head Coach/East Middle School

5)     Elise Smith-Volleyball Assistant Coach/East Middle School

6)    John McKnight-Football/West Montgomery High School

 

i.      Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approval of recommendation for leave of absence of the following personnel:

 1)    Laura Williams Cosner, East Middle School, requesting a leave of absence from August 21, 2015 until December 17, 2015

 Upon recommendation, approval of the following student transfers is requested.

Charlotte -Mecklenburg Schools to Montgomery County Schools

     

            Jade Barden    Lauren Barden    Ethan Barden

           

Moore County Schools to Montgomery County Schools

Lilly Greene     Kara Greene    Valeria Padilla    Erika Hernandez

Malachi Ward    Drason Little

 

Richmond County Schools to Montgomery County Schools

Gilberto Hernandez    Destiny Hernandez

 

Stanly County Schools to Montgomery County Schools

John Bean    Anna Bean   Uniqua Knight    Jordan Leake    Jameson Leake

Julian Leake    Jalil Leake    Jataviun Leake

 

Wake County Schools to Montgomery County Schools

Deonte Nicholson

 

              Montgomery County Schools to Asheboro City Schools

 William Anthony Griffey    Keenan Monroe Griffey

    

       Candor Elementary School presented a power point titled “Building the Foundation for Success at Candor Elementary”. Donnie Lynthacum, Principal at Candor, introduced teachers Charlene Little, Crystal Thomas and Mary Morgan, to discuss Reading 3D and Letterland. Mr. Lynthacum said the teachers work together to provide a solid foundation in vocabulary and comprehension by constantly sharing information. Letterland teaches students phonics skills and spelling patterns. It uses alphabet characters and stories to make connections to sounds and spelling patterns. Mrs. Thomas states that some children enter kindergarten with no knowledge of letters or sounds, but with Letterland, by Christmas, they know their letters and sounds. According to Mr. Lynthacum, this is the first official year Pre-K, first and second grade all have Letterland knowledge. They are looking forward to seeing the results. In Reading 3D, the read aloud portion is the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for language development. Read aloud pulls the details out of the story and brings in the writing component. Other resources used to build a solid foundation is Reading Counts and IReady. Mr. Lynthacum states that if one resource does not work for a student, they try another, because all children learn differently, or as he puts it, “one size doesn’t fit all”.     

        Dr. Jeff James, Dr. Takeda Legrand, Dr. Alisha Ellis, Phillip Brown and Deidra Steed presented testing accountability results, giving an overview of state data, reporting and comparisons, school performance grades and test results. Key updates include proficiency and school performance grades, which are rated as follows: B – East Montgomery High; C – Candor, Green Ridge, Page Street, Star and West Montgomery; D – East Middle, Mt. Gilead and West Middle. Other listings include Troy as non-applicable and Montgomery Learning Academy as maintaining. Strengths from the data include meeting the attendance rate, meeting the cohort graduation rate, meeting 100% of End of Course AMO’s and meeting the math rigor rate. Eighty percent of our schools met or exceeded growth, which is a forty percent increase from 2012-13. SAT scores increased from 1277 to 1304 in three years and outperformed comparison counties on the SAT. Although great strides have been made in each grade level, plans are in place to continue to increase K-12 literacy and math proficiency of all students to meet state AMO targets through professional development, interventions, lesson planning, grants and programs already in place in the school system.               

          Deidra Steed gave an elementary update on the Formative Assessment Process and Summer Reading Camp. Teachers and students use the K-3 Formative Assessment Process during instruction. It provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to help students improve their achievement of intended instructional outcomes focusing on four key points. Point One focuses on the whole child using the five domains of learning and development which are approaches to learning, emotional and social development, health and physical development, cognitive development and language development and communication.  Point Two is that the process occurs during instruction rather than as an isolated event apart from instruction. Using Point Three, a teacher can collect evidence about students using a variety of strategies, such as talking with family, taking a photo, collect work samples or incorporate evidence from other school educators. Point Four uses evidence to guide instruction by identifying what students know and are able to do. It also helps to plan and adjust instruction in an ongoing manner to help meet the needs of all students. Read to Achieve Legislation requires Summer Reading Camp for students not proficient on third grade standards. The sites for the 2015 Summer Reading Camp are Candor, Green Ridge, Page Street and Mt. Gilead. The camp will have seventy-four kids eligible to attend this year.            

        Dr. Lancaster stated that Montgomery County Schools would use local funds to continue the Driver’s Education program this year, if the budget doesn’t fund the program. The budget is due to be released later this week. MCS charges sixty-five dollars for students to take driver’s education, which does not cover the teacher. 

        Dr. Ellis presented the 2016 Graduation Dates to be approved by the board. The dates are as follows:  West Montgomery - Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 9:00 am; Montgomery Learning Academy - Thursday, June 9, 2016 at 6:30 pm at First Baptist Church in Troy and East Montgomery - Friday, June 10, 2016 at 7:00 pm. Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to approve the dates. With a motion by Ann Long and a second by Sandra Miller, the graduation dates for 2016 were approved with unanimous agreement from the board.          

        During Superintendent Remarks, Dr. Ellis appreciated the questions from the board directed to all the speakers tonight. He commented on the budget that is expected to be voted on Tuesday in the Senate and Thursday or Friday in the House. Two items to watch are concerning teacher assistants and driver’s education. Proposed is an additional one year of funding for teacher’s assistants, and an additional two years for Driver’s Ed. No raise is proposed, but a one-time bonus of seven hundred, fifty dollars is expected. 

       Chairman DeBerry then asked for a motion to adjourn and move into closed session. With a motion from Tommy Blake, and a second from Sandra Milller, the board unanimously approved going into closed session to discuss personnel.

        After returning from closed session, Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. With a motion by Bryan Dozier and a second by Tommy Blake, the meeting was duly adjourned.  

           The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, October 5, 2015 at 6:30 pm.

                                                                     

            __________________________                       ________________________

            Steven W. DeBerry, Chairman                          Dale Ellis, Ed. D., Secretary