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SCHOOL BOARD OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK Minutes of the Monthly School Board Meeting REORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL BOARD The School Board convened the meeting at 3:40 p.m. in the School Administration Building, located at 800 E. City Hall Avenue, in Norfolk, Virginia. Present were: Chair Bishop, Vice Chair Rhodes, Mr. Cook, Dr. McCluney, Dr. Tonelson, and Dr. Wright. Mr. Driggers was absent. Chief of Staff Young, Chief Academic Officer Boone, and Deputy Clerk Stocks were present. Mr. Mungo, and Mr. Cloud was present from the City Attorney’s office. Dr. Melinda Boone called the meeting to order at 3:40 p.m. and opened the floor for nominations for Chairman of the School Board. Mr. Cook nominated Mr. Bishop and his motion was seconded by Mrs. Rhodes. The motion was voted upon and passed unanimously. Dr. Boone turned the gavel over to Mr. Bishop who called for nominations for Vice Chair. Dr. McCluney nominated Mrs. Rhodes and her motion was seconded by Mr. Cook. The motion was voted upon and passed unanimously. EXECUTIVE SESSION—CLOSED The School Board went into executive (closed) session at 3:50 p.m.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion and it was approved unanimously. The Board came out of closed session at 4:50 p.m. and the School Board recessed for a dinner break. FORMAL OPEN SESSION Dr. Boone introduced Mr. Bishop as Chair of the School Board and Mrs. Rhodes as Vice Chair. Mr. Bishop called the formal session of the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. in Room 1202 of the School Administration Building. Present were Chair Bishop, Vice Chair Rhodes, Mr. Cook, Dr. McCluney, Dr. Tonelson, and Dr. Wright. Mr. Driggers was absent. Also present were Chief Officers Young, Boone, Schmitt, and Sullivan, Executive Directors Jones, Lassiter, O’Konek, and Thomas; and Deputy Clerk Stocks. RESOLUTION CERTIFYING AN EXECUTIVE CLOSED SESSION It was MOVED and seconded that whereas, the School Board of the City of Norfolk convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and whereas, That the School Board of the City of Norfolk hereby certifies that, to the best of each member’s knowledge, (i) only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies, and (ii) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the Board. A roll call vote was taken on the motion and it was approved unanimously. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mr. Bishop led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance. INTRODUCTION OF NEW ADMINISTRATORS Dr. Patricia Dillard, Senior Director of Human Resources introduced the following new administrators:
CITIZEN COMMENT ON AGENDA/NON-AGENDA ITEMS
DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA The Consent Agenda was presented for approval and contained the items listed below:
The motion was made by Dr. Tonelson and seconded by Dr. McCluney to approve the consent agenda. The motion was approved unanimously. . FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS AND STATEMENT It was moved by Mr. Cook and seconded by Dr. McCluney to receive and file the June financial highlights and preliminary year end close for 2007. The motion was approved unanimously. Mr. Schmitt reported on the close of the fiscal year revenues from all sources. During the month of July Norfolk Public Schools uses a 13th accounting period where both the previous and the current fiscal years are open. This 13th accounting period allows all prior year transactions to post to the records. At the close of the 13th accounting period a “2007 FINAL” revenue and expenditures report will be provided. Although somewhat of a tumultuous year, total revenue from all sources came in $32,467 lower than anticipated. As of June 30, 2007, we have obligated or encumbered $ 309,662,655. or 99/98% of received funds. The books closed in the black by $56,045. This compares to 99.9% at the same time last year and 97.7% in 05. CUSTOMER SERVICE INITIATIVE UPDATE Mrs. Yvonne Young, Chief of Staff, presented the second update report to the School Board prepared by Regina Davis, Community Engagement Coordinator. The recommendations for making our schools customer friendly were undertaken this year by the implementation of several professional development opportunities for clerical staff and training for administrators. Four training sessions were conducted on Exceptional Customer Service and Time Management, 2 sessions on Customer Service I, and 2 sessions on Exploring Attitudes with 542 employees registered to attend and 469 attending. Continuous training sessions (Stephen Covey—Putting First Things First—Habit 3) and half-day sessions offered on four different days concluded with 299 employees registered to attend and 239 attending. Training was provided for administrators at the January Administrators’ Conference. The Customer Service Handbook was distributed during the year and the district four-part telephone greeting was implemented. Secret Shopper results of district phone greeting were done in May with 82% of front-liners using the appropriate greeting. The 17% who did not use the appropriate greeting were informed of expectations and instructed as to where the greeting was found in the handbook. The Professional Senate had three meetings themed around Customer Service and they agreed to be ambassadors of customer service. The report recommended continuing using “Secret Shopper” for the district telephone greeting and to update the status of audit recommendation; conduct a survey evaluation on the effectiveness of the handbook; use the existing checklists that are in the handbook; create a video that demonstrates acceptable customer service for principals to use during in-service training, and develop a rubric for customer service awards. NOTES FROM THE CUSTOMER SERVICE DISCUSSION
STUDENT CELL PHONE POLICY Mrs. Yvonne Young reported to the School Board the Superintendent’s Student Cabinet recommendations made at the June 1, 2007, joint meeting with the School Board. The purpose of the meeting was to allow the students to share their research on the student cell phone policies from the surrounding school districts. As a result of their review and discussion, the student cabinet proposed revising the cell phone policy as described below:
Students who violate the policy could have the phone confiscated to be picked up at the end of the day for a first offense, picked up by a parent for a subsequent offense, or picked up at the end of the year with the student losing cell phone privileges for a third offense. (Schools would not be liable/responsible for the phone). Continued violations would result in subordination discipline infractions. The policy would apply to secondary schools. Students who volunteered to talk to the Board about the cell phone policy were John Ehlers of Granby, Jenana Ferguson of Norview, Julian Parker of Norview, Darrelle Anderson of Lake Taylor, and Brittany Knaggs of Booker T. Washington. NOTES ON CELL PHONE POLICY DISCUSSION
SPECIAL EDUCATION REORGANIZATION UPDATE Dr. Boone introduced Dr. Joan Anderson, Senior Director of Special Educational Services. Dr. Anderson explained that during the 2005-06 school year, the Department of Special Education Services initiated a reorganization designed to provide greater focus on student achievement and instructional support for academic and behavioral needs for students with disabilities. The goal was to be accomplished through increased access to the general education curriculum, aligned professional development based on data, and restructured central system support for teachers, principals, and schools. The report provided an update on the efforts associated with the reorganization and results of the state’s Federal Program Monitoring. Mary Beers, principal of Crossroads Elementary School answered questions from the board about the impact of the change in schools and preparation principals are under taking for the new students. NOTES FROM SPECIAL EDUCATION REORGANIZATION DISCUSSION
2007-2008 PROPOSED PAY SCALES CLARIFICATION The School Board received a report from Jane Pellegrino clarifying the pay scales stipend for teachers. In order to attract new teachers to NPS, the Board approved a one-time incentive for hard-to-fill positions (math, speech pathologists, and school psychologists) in an amount not to exceed $2,000 per teacher during the May School Board meeting. This incentive would be paid (50%/50%) at the completion of the first semester and the close of the school year. This incentive would be for new hire math and school psychologists, but be provided to all speech pathologists (39). The cover sheet on the pay scales approval sheet noted it would be paid only to new hires. However, it had been the intention to provide the stipend to all speech pathologists since NPS spent over $500K on contracted services last year to provide these mandated services. The cost benefit to provide the stipend in hopes of attracting permanent staff is compelling. APPOINTMENT OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS TO FILL COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE 2007-08 SCHOOL YEAR Mr. Bishop asked whether anyone wanted to change their committee assignments and there were no changes. Dr. McCluney and Mrs. Rhodes agreed to serve as the Recognition Committee, stating they would like to come up with ideas on how best to recognize community members. Mr. Cook agreed to be the School Board liaison to the NRHA. Dr. Tonelson agreed to sit on the Community Services Board. The members agreed to talk about the pros and cons of assigning the same two board members to attend all LAP meetings during the school year at the School Board retreat in August. OTHER SCHOOL BOARD MATTERS
Mr. Bishop went over the new format for meetings that will be implemented at the September 19th School Board meeting: 4:00pm – 5:30pm — Open Informal, CR 1200 He also stated that board meetings are on the NPS web site under the School Board section. Dr. Wright asked Dr. Dillard to write a letter to top-of-scale teachers informing them of the School Board’s decision to pay them a bonus in appreciation of service. The $1,000 bonus will be paid in two parts--$500 in December and $500 in May or June. Minutes approved by the School Board: August 15, 2007 |
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