Board members-present; - - Mary Beyer.-Karyn Gibbons, Ralph Gierke, Steve Kraxberger, - - -
Deneen Munson, Jim Needham, Janette Palmer
Staff present: Alice Ericksen/Superintendent; Pam Monte/Administrative
Assistant, Dave Peterson/Business Manager
Audience;- - - -10
Chair Janette Palmer called the meeting of the Molalla River School District Board of Education to
order at 7:40 p.m. and established that a quorum was present.
Staff/Student Recognition
Kathy Nickoloff, principal at Rural Dell Elementary, recognized one of her teachers, Susan Lucht,
because last Friday there was a fire emergency in her classroom at Rural Dell. She and her students
did such a good job, not only protecting themselves but also protecting the rest of the school.
Roy Reynolds, principal at Molalla High School announced that Pat Rogers, teacher, was selected
by radio station K 103 as teacher of the week.
Changes to agenda
Cash flow projection/information
Delete approval of superintendent search brochure
Move superintendent search an information item
Public Comments
Lyn Thomas, parent, expressed his concerns that Oregon does not provide proper education funding
for our children. They do not seem to have it high on their priority list.. He asked what would
happen if we had a petition placing education as the number one priority for the lottery funds.
Chair Palmer encouraged him to pursue this and to begin with his legislator, Tootie Smith. Dr.
Ericksen affirmed that Rep. Smith is a proponent of education. Another way of addressing this issue
is the initiative process and the elections office should be able to help with the process. Dr.
Ericksen also informed Mr. Thomas of an organization, the Coalition for School Funding Now.
They have been active for the last two legislative sessions and they will continue their fight for
education.
Action Items
Boundary change
Dr. Ericksen: referred the Board to a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Pool requesting a boundary
change from the Molalla River School District into the Canby School District. They have submitted
documentation showing that their property lines are contiguous with the Canby School District. The
Canby School Board has approved this request.
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Chair Palmer expressed her concerns that by approving this change, that it may then spread to the
next piece of adjoining property. Mr. Gierke stated that he was not comfortable with making it a permanent change. Rather, we
should have a policy allowing the parents to request a change of attendance area.
Chair Palmer stated that we do have such a policy that addresses requests for interdistrict transfers,
but this policy contains specific criteria for granting such a release.
Mrs. Gibbons provided the Board with some background of the family and the reason for the
request^ It is a blended family and they would like all of the children to attend the same school
district. As stated in the Pool's request, three of their six children are already attending Canby
schools.
M02-30 A motion was made by Mrs. Beyer, seconded by Mrs. Gibbons, that the Board of
Education approve the request made by Ronald and Stayce Pool that their property
located at 29160 S Highway 170 be annexed into the Canby School District from the
Molalla River School District. Motion passed. 4-3 (Palmer, Gierke, Needham
opposing)
Surplus Property
A tree was cut down at Maple Grove and the wood belongs to the Molalla River School District.
Maple Grove would like permission from the Board to sell the wood as a fundraiser.
M02-31 A motion was made by Mr. Gierke, seconded by Mr. Needham that the Board of
Education declare the wood at Maple Grove Elementary School as surplus property
and allow Maple Grove Elementary to sell the wood as a fundraising activity. Passed .
unanimously. 7-0
RFP for Food Service
Dave Peterson, Business Manager, informed the Board that the District is in the fifth year of the
five-year contract with Sodexho America, LLC. The contract will expire the end of the current
school year and law requires that the District go out for a RFP for food services. This motion will
allow the fiscal department to proceed with the process.
M02-32 A motion was made by Mr. Kraxberger, seconded by Mr. Gierke that the Board of
Education authorizes the district to proceed with a Request for Proposal for food
services. Passed unanimously. 7-0
Graduation Requirements
On October 22 the Board received a proposal from the Molalla High School Graduation Task Force
Committee for changing the graduation requirements beginning with the class of 2007.
The task force is recommending that the total number of credits required for graduation remain at 28
for a standard diploma. The proposed changes in course requirements are designed to better align with
Certificate of Advanced Mastery requirements of the State and to offer both a more rigorous and
relevant education for all students.
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November 14, 2002
Roy Reynolds, principal, informed the Board that slight modifications have been made to the
information provided to them last month. The subject of keeping the basic math skills test as a
requirement has been topic for debate. They are going to keep it as a requirement within the classes
in order to pass a class. It is not a requirement for graduation. The other change in the report is to
promote flexibility.
Mr. Kraxberger asked for clarification whether the CAM is a requirement for 2007. Mr. Reynolds
stated that the following are state mandated requirements for an Oregon High School Diploma
starting with the class of 2007:
1. Develop an education plan and build an educational profile.
2. Meet the performance standard for extended application through a collection of evidence.
3. Demonstrate career-related knowledge and skills.
4. Participate in career-related learning experiences as outlined in the education plan.
Molalla High School wants the relevance of the new state requirements but they want the rigor also.
They want to set highest expectations for our kids. The graduation committee accepted the fifth part
of the CAM requirements:
5. Meet specific Certificate of Initial Mastery performance standards in English, mathematics,
science and social sciences through CIM assessment options.
Students must meet the CIM performance standards in the English knowledge and skills test and
work samples and in mathematics, science and social sciences through the CIM work samples or
knowledge and skills tests. (School districts will continue to measure each student's progress toward
all standards with the goal of helping each student meet the standards in all seven CIM contest
areas).
M02-33 A motion was made by Mr. Gierke, seconded by Mr. Needham that the Board of
Education approve the proposal made to change the graduation requirements
beginning with the class of 2007. Passed unanimously. 7-0
Board Working Agreements
Mr. Needham recently brought a resolution before the Board regarding the board working
agreements and he stated his concerns whether the agreements are being observed.
M02-34 A motion was made by Mr. Needham, seconded by Mr. Gierke, that the Board of
Education accept the resolution regarding the working agreements.
Mr. Needham made reference to the following agreements under Annual Planning and Evaluation
and Board Job Description:
1. Establish annual goals and expectations. Prioritize our agenda items and work session
topics. Plan for monitoring key goals and evaluation of key board decisions. Periodically
review our meeting topics.
2. Establish annual expectations and goals for the superintendent.
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Board of Education - Minutes
November 14, 2002
3. Objectively evaluate the superintendent's performance on established expectations and
provide appropriate feedback.
4. Set priorities as a Board for Board professional development annually.
5. Participate in annual formal self-assessment of the Board's performance.
His observation is that the Board, in the previous year, did not:_
1. Plan for monitoring key goals and evaluation of key board decisions
2. Periodically review our meeting topics
3. Set priorities as a Board for Board professional development annually
4. Participate in annual formal self-assessment of the Board's performance.
Mr. Needham stated that if we are not going to conform to these working agreements, then we need
to revisit and dispose of those we do not wish to abide by. His resolution called for the Board to
meet in a worksession no later than November 2002.
Mrs. Gibbons stated that the Board:
• did do annual formal self-assessment at the end of last year
• did talk about priorities for board professional development - one of those being this week's
OSBA convention
• Chair and vice chair do review our meeting topics
Chair Palmer stated that the Board does have specific goals that they are concentrating on this year
that being the superintendent search and they have also pursued the topic of systemic change.
Mr. Gierke suggested that the Board review the goals several times throughout the year to see how
they are doing and if they are following their goals.
M02-35 A motion was made by Mr. Gierke, seconded by Mr. Needham to amend the
original motion by striking the word November and inserting January in the
resolution. Motion failed 2-5 (Palmer, Munson, Gibbons, Beyer, Kraxberger
opposing)
Chair Palmer called for a vote on the original motion:
Motion failed. 2-5 (Palmer, Munson, Gibbons, Beyer, Kraxberger opposing)
Public Comment
Bill Clarke - stated that he had asked for complete print out of Dr. Ericksen's salary and benefits
two months ago. He thanked Dr. Ericksen for participating in all the functions that the Lions Club
has. Mr. Clarke is still not happy with the facilities use policy.
Information/Discussion
Facilities Use - Dr. Ericksen stated that we have revisited the section on kitchen use. The
administrative rule has been revised to state me following:
Kitchen facilities may be used only when a person with a valid food handler's license is
present. At least one week prior to the use of any district kitchen, Sodexho must be
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Board of Education - Minutes
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contacted for specific instructions. The kitchen facility at Molalla High School may only be
used under the supervision of a regular Sodexho employee.
The high school kitchen must be addressed separately as it is the base kitchen for the entire kitchen.
Any mishap or malfunction of equipment could affect food service throughout the district.
Cash Flow Projection
Mr. Peterson provided the Board with a cash flow projection as of October 2002. He stated that the
district is facing a shortfall of $288,419 in revenue due to the governor's veto. The district has
since cut back in expenditures and the ending fund balance is estimated at $161,017.
Should Measurer fail in January, we stand to lose an additional $487,650 and we will be looking
at a shortfall of $326,633.
Local budget law requires that we must have a balanced budget at the end of the year. We cannot
operate in the red. With this in mind, the district may have to make some hard decisions after the
first of February.
Superintendent Search
Because we have not received many applications for the Screening Committee for the superintendent
search it was the decision of the Board to extend the deadline for appointment of the committee. We
will run the ad again in the paper and in the school newsletters. Chair Palmer stated that the Board
needs to take a more active role in seeking people to apply and ask them to fill out an application.
Mrs. Munson expressed concerns with naming of different groups in the solicitation advertisement.
She minks some people did not apply as they felt they did not qualify. The announcement will be
reworded.
The Board moved the timeline for accepting applications to the first week in December. The Board
will meet in a worksession on December 5, 6:00 p.m., to review the applications and will make the
appointment to the committee at the December 12 Regular Board Meeting. It was suggested that the
orientation of screening committee be after January 1. They will meet in February to begin
screening process.
Consent Agenda
There has been a request to move Item A of the Personnel Report to a separate item on the agenda.
Mr. Needham questioned the line item for legal fees and wanted to know what our legal expenses
are to date. He was shown on the cash flow projection that the legal expenses to date were $24,671.
M02-36 A motion was made by Mr. Gierke, seconded by Mrs. Gibbons to approve the
consent agenda with the exception of Item A of the Personnel Report. Passed
unanimously. (Due to being absent from the meeting: Mr. Kraxberger abstained
from voting on the minutes of October 10;/ Mrs. Beyer abstained from voting on the
minutes of October 22; and Mrs. Gibbons abstained from voting on the minutes of
October 17)
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M02-37 A motion was made by Mrs. Gibbons, seconded by Mrs. Beyer to approve Item A
of the Personnel Report. Motion passed. 5-2 (Gierke, Needham opposing)
Mr. Gierke stated his reason for voting against this item has nothing to do with the individual
involved. The reason is that he believes that with the projected shortfall, that it is the position at the
high school that should not have been filled.
Old Business
Mr. Kraxberger stated that last year the board made a motion to change winter break to Christmas
Break. Dr. Ericksen will remind all schools to refer to Winter Programs and Christmas Break.
ADJOURN
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Chair Superintendent
