Board members present:                Mary Beyer, Karyn Gibbons, Ralph Gierke, Steve
                                                              Kraxberger, Deneen Munson, Jim Needham, Janette Palmer
Staff present:                                     Alice Ericksen/Superintendent, David Peterson/Business
                                                              Manager, Pam Monte/Administrative Assistant

Audience:

Chair Janette Palmer called the meeting of the Molalla River School District Board of Education to order at 7:32 p.m. and established that a quorum was present.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Kathy Nickoloff, principal of Rural Dell Elementary School, reported that they would be finishing up with the second round of TESA testing next week. Staff is feeling positive about student growth at Rural Dell.  She issued a special thank you to Gary Dix for setting up the computers for the testing. Mrs. Nickoloff announced that Rural Dell will be hosting McTeacher Night at McDonalds on March 11 and invited everyone to attend. She invited all board members to come and visit Rural Dell Elementary.

Danell Blair, Ag Science teacher at Molalla High School and also the FFA advisor, informed the board that we have FFA members that will be competing at the state level. A new water project has been completed at the land lab, all with donated materials.

Neal Beyer, president of Molalla FFA Chapter and Amanda Johnson reported on our students who have qualified for state competition and will hopefully go on to the national level.

REVISIONS/ADDITIONS TO AGENDA
Information:
               Updates on swimming pool and HWY 211 property
               Revised calendar
              Cash flow analysis
              Set policy committee meeting

PUBLIC COMMENT
None

ACTION ITEMS
MYS Baseball Project
Dennis Stith - MYS president, stated that it has been a dream of theirs to put some dugouts at the middle school. A proposal was presented to the Board tonight. This would be of no cost to the school district; it will be done through donations and fund raising. This would be a wonderful community project.

M02-61                A motion was made by Mr. Gierke, seconded by Mrs. Beyer that the Board of
                              Education approve the Molalla Youth Sports proposal to construct dugouts at
                              the middle school.
                              Motion passed. 6-0 (Mrs. Munson abstaining as she is an employee of MYS)

Guidance and Counseling Curriculum

Molalla River School District
Board of Education - Minutes
March 6, 2003

Last month the Board was asked to review the guidance and counseling curriculum for the Molalla River School District. The curriculum has been available for parents and community members to review. The Board is now being asked to approve this curriculum

M02-62                A motion was made by Mrs. Gibbons, seconded by Mrs. Beyer that the Board
                              of Education approve the Guidance and Counseling Curriculum for Grades
                              K-12. Motion
                              passed 6-1 (Kraxberger opposing)

Refer Policies to Committee
Mr. Needham brought before the Board some policies that he would like to have the committee review.  Mr. Needham stated that the purpose of these amendments is to move in the direction of going through systemic change and to retain our teaching staff.

M02-63                A motion was made by Mr. Kraxberger, seconded by Mr. Gierke to refer
                              policies DA - Fiscal Management Goals, DB - School District Budget, DBB -
                              Fiscal Year and JHFCA - Skateboard/Rollerblade/Scooter Use to the Policy
                              Committee for their review.
                              Passed  6-1 (Palmer opposing)

The Policy Committee scheduled a meeting for March 20 at 3:30 p.m. at the district office.

INFORMATION
HB2415 - School Accountability Enhancement Act
Mr. Needham reported that this bill is supposed to repeal proposed activities in the CIM and CAM program. He provided the Board with information on HB2415. He also urged Board to take action supporting SB 863 - Taxing the sale of property to assist education.

Chair Palmer asked Sandy Pellens, Director of Curriculum, to respond to these proposed bills.

Mrs. Pellens stated that the reading, math and science assessments are in line with the "No Child Left  Behind" Act. She stated that at this point the state requires that we offer the opportunity for a student to receive a CIM, but that they are not required to. Portfolios are an important tool, as they show the best piece of work in math problems solving and writing that a student can do.

Helen Ying, Assistant Principal at Molalla High School stated that it would not be a cost savings if the CIM goes away. The cost to put things in place has been spent - training and testing preparation. We .are able to test students online in reading and math. It would increase cost if we had to have an independent contractor do our assessments. She reminded the Board that the new graduation requirements came from a task force who indicated which direction they want our district to go - providing a rigorous and relevant education for our students. This was adopted by the Board.

Mr. Niemiec reported that the Middle School is using TESA for the first time this year. They are collecting data and still learning how to use the data. It has been beneficial to the students to get their results right away and to alert them to where they may need some additional instruction.

Mrs. Pellens stated that the multiple-choice tests are adaptable to the "No Child Left Behind". Her understanding is that the state test can be cross-walked to the national norm.

Chair Palmer expressed her appreciation for all the information everyone has brought forward and stating that we need to monitor this in the next biennium of the legislature.

Molalla River School District
Board of Education - Minutes
March 6, 2003

Mr. Needham asked the Board to take a unified position on legislation that is relevant to our district as directed by our policy, BI — School Board Legislative Program.

M02-64               A motion was made by Mr. Gierke, seconded by Mrs. Gibbons that the Board of Education not support HB2415.
Motion passed 5-1 (Needham opposing, Kraxberger abstaining)

Chair Palmer gave charge to the Board to research HB2744 and SB863. This will be a topic for discussion next month. The Board needs time to educate themselves on these bills

Cash Flow Analysis
Dave Peterson, Business Manager, provided the Board with the cash flow analysis through February 27, 2003. It shows a negative ending fund balance of $193,336. He was asked to provide the Board with an update on projected expenses by the April 10 meeting.

Swimming Pool Update
Dr. Ericksen reported that the last word she heard was that the goal was to open the pool by spring break.  Mr. Owings will be asked to provide the Board with a brief update in an information packet.

Hwy 211 Property Update
It was reported that we have received an updated wetlands study.  The buyers are moving along with the criteria in their offer. The deadline for closure is April 15.

Revised School Calendars
Revised calendars were distributed in the schools and sent home to parents following the adoption by the Board in February. Board members have received copies.

Superintendent Search Update
Chair Palmer reported that the Board was interviewing candidates this week. She thanked the members of the search committee. The Board is looking forward to their final selection so they can prepare for the open forums for the community.

CONSENT AGENDA
M02-65                 A motion was made by Mr. Gierke, seconded by Mr. Needham to approve the
                               Consent Agenda as revised.
                               Motion passed 6-1 (Kraxberger opposing)

ADJOURN
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting reconvened into Executive Session at 8:55 p.m.  Chair Palmer announced that they might come back into open session to take action on a personnel issue.

Superintendent