SCHOOL BOARD OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK

Minutes of the Monthly School Board Meeting
October 17, 2007

EXECUTIVE SESSION—CLOSED

The meeting was called to order at 4:03 p.m. by Mr. Bishop in the Superintendent’s Conference Room of the School Administration Building, 800 E. City Hall Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia. Present were: Mr. Bishop, Mr. Cook, Mr. Driggers, Mrs. Rhodes, Dr. Tonelson, and Dr. Wright. Dr. McCluney was absent. Others in attendance were Superintendent Jones, Chief of Staff Young, Chief Academic Officer Boone, Chief of Operations Spencer, and Clerk Rhodes along with Mr. Pishko, Mr. Cloud, and Mr. Mungo from the City Attorney’s office.

The School Board went into executive (closed) session at 4:07 p.m.

A roll call vote was taken on the motion and it was approved unanimously.

The Board came out of closed session at 5:00 p.m.

INFORMAL OPEN SESSION

Mr. Bishop called the informal session of the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. in Room 1200 of the School Administration Building. Present were Chair Bishop, Vice Chair Rhodes, Mr. Cook, Mr. Driggers, Dr. Tonelson, and Dr. Wright. Dr. McCluney was absent.

Also present were Superintendent Jones, Chief Officers Young, Boone, Spencer, Schmitt, and Sullivan, Executive Directors Jones, Lassiter, O’Konek, and Thomas; and Clerk Rhodes.

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, Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the School Board of the City of Norfolk that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law; now, therefore, be it resolved by the School Board of the City of Norfolk:

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.

Topics discussed during the informal session included:

1. Alternative Education/Discipline Compliance Update
2. Overage-for-Grade Report

The School Board took a short dinner break at 6:35 p.m.

FORMAL OPEN SESSION

Mr. Bishop called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Mr. Bishop led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

HIGHLIGHTS OF INFORMAL SESSION

Mr. Bishop presented highlights of the informal session.

The Board has identified and prioritized several key areas and initiatives for follow-up and briefings. Today we heard a report on Alternative Education/ Discipline Compliance and Over-age for Grade. The School Board is looking at different approaches in terms of non-traditional learners. We also celebrated a 16% reduction in terms of overage for grade district-wide, 27% of which in the elementary schools, 32% in the middle schools, and 2% in the high schools. The Board heard about Project Hope, which is a really shining example of transformational leadership. It’s about everybody coming together to focus on a need.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

1. Our current September 30th enrollment including pre-Kindergarten is 34,935. The K-12 enrollment is 32,757. This is only 37 students or 0.1% short of our September 30th projections. We only anticipate a change of 2-3 students in our total enrollment number upon approval of our submission to Virginia Department of Education.
   
   Our high school enrollment is expected to be higher than our projection and our pre-K and middle school enrollments are expected to be fewer than 10 students under their projection. The Elementary School enrollment is expected to be less than our projection by approximately 100 students. The official September 30th enrollment will be submitted to the state by October 22. The Superintendent thanked and congratulated the Office of Strategic Evaluation, Assessment, and Support for their extremely accurate projections and their hard work in this area.



2. We trained and licensed 32 bus drivers over the summer in preparation for the start of school. We transported approximately 20,000 students on the first day making 422 runs and traveling nearly 16,000 miles which equates to driving back and forth to California about three times!



3. Our Office of Pupil Personnel Services processed 1,258 out-of-district transfers to date for this school year. The Pupil Personnel Services department staffs 54 security officers including a position at our Truancy Assessment Center which opened for the year on October 9. The Superintendent was pleased to report that, to the best of our knowledge, all T-DAP vaccination issues have been resolved.



4. At the opening of school, we were in a good position in terms of staffing. We filled 152 full-time classified positions and had approximately 20 vacancies. On the secondary level, we filled 180 positions and had 6 vacancies. On the elementary level we filled 161 positions and had 15 vacancies. These positions were held by principals pending confirmation of student enrollment. In the area of special education, we filled 65 positions and had 18 vacancies.
   
   Based on that information, we considered ourselves fully staffed. We placed substitutes in vacant positions so that, if cuts should be necessary, we could eliminate positions rather than contracted employees. The Human Resources department continues to interview and hire qualified applicants as a result of our confirmed September 30th enrollment count.



5. The superintendent was pleased to announce that this week is National School Lunch Week. He stated we are proud of our Child Nutrition staff members who work diligently to ensure that our children have healthy meals each day. Mr. Driggers served lunch to students at Fairlawn Elementary School, City Council member Randy Wright served lunch at Ghent, and Mr. Spencer will be serving lunch Friday at Jacox. Seventeen office staff including secretaries, IT people, the director, warehouse managers, and others served as well.



6. Reminder: On October 26, Tommy Smiegiel, our Norfolk Public Schools Teacher of the Year will travel to Richmond for a competitive interview and a celebration dinner in honor of his selection as Region 2 Teacher of the Year. Based on the results of submitted information and the interview process, State officials will select the Virginia Teacher of the Year.



7. Reminder: As a reminder, the fall Council of the Great City Schools conference will take place October 31-November 4 in Nashville, Tennessee. Several Board and staff members will attend. As usual, we have staff members presenting at this prestigious and valuable conference.



8. Please mark your calendars for November 14th at 6 p.m. The Norfolk Education Foundation will host its first fundraising event at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. A flier announcing this event was placed at each board member’s seat and formal invitations were forthcoming.
   
   The Superintendent announced that the Foundation will soon be awarding mini-grants to teachers at each of our schools. The grants are for $500 and awarded based on a short application. He will inform the board of more details once the grant winners have been selected.



9. Finally, the Superintendent welcomed the staff members from MGT of America, who were in the audience. He explained that they were present as part of the efficiency audit being conducted in Norfolk Public Schools. They are observing the Board process this evening and will be collecting a variety of information and speaking with staff and Board members during their visit. The superintendent introduced Dr. Joanne Cox, Director, and Dr. Skip Archibald, Team Member and stated they would return later in the meeting.
   
   Dr. Cox explained that MGT is a nationwide consulting team with offices throughout the nation and that she is no stranger to the Commonwealth. The review of Norfolk Public Schools will be the 21st school efficiency review they have done in 2 ½ years. The goal is to review all school district operations and look for efficiencies and effectiveness and also help validate some of the many best practices in the district that we may showcase after the report is given. An overview of the process includes Dr. Cox and Dr. Archibald interviewing the board members this week and they will interview others when they come back the week of January 7th.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

1. School bus driver, Lacy Carruth, placed 2nd in the State Driving Competition in Richmond. She went on to represent Norfolk Public Schools at the National Competition in Boston.
   
   
2. Ten schools in Virginia received Federal Blue Ribbon Status. Taylor Elementary School was one of the recipients and the only public school in Hampton Roads to receive this honor. The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private K-12 schools that are either academically superior in their states or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.


3. William Gomez, a June graduate from Maury High School and Matthew Strauss, a Senior at Granby High School and students at the NORSTAR/Robotics program at Norfolk Technical Center recently competed in the National SkillsUSA Robotics and Automation Technology competition held in Kansas City, Missouri. Over 25 teams from across the nation competed in this national contest that tested students’ ability to use robots and automation to produce a “mini factory” during the course of an 8-hour challenge. In this event, William and Matthew achieved the highest score in the 20 year history of the competition and won the First Place Gold Medal Award.


4. The Norfolk Education Foundation is sponsoring a special mini-grant competition worth $25,000. Fifty mini-grants of up to $500 are available to PreK-12 grade instructional personnel in Norfolk Public Schools. These awards encourage innovative instructional projects and creative teaching strategies within the school system.


5. Hope Charitable Service, Ryder Trucking, and area churches and organizations partnered together to deliver $15,000 worth of free furniture to Monroe Elementary School recently.


6. Michael Stuckey, a junior at Norview High School, has been playing the violin since he was in the fifth grade. He was part of the program held at Poplar Halls Elementary School hosted by VH1 Save the Music Foundation. It was then that Michael was introduced to the violin and has been playing ever since. VH1 caught up with Michael to see how he was doing with his new found passion. The arts and education go hand in hand. You almost can’t have one without the other.

For other stories, visit the Media Production web page at www.npsk12.com.

These were the Items of Interest for October 2007.

WHRO REPORT TO NORFOLK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Mr. Bishop introduced Bert Schmidt, President and Chief Executive Office of WHRO. Mr. Schmidt gave the board a report on WHRO and what it is doing in the community.

INTRODUCTION OF NEW ADMINISTRATORS

Mr. Spencer, Chief Operations Officer, introduced:

1. Elizabeth Powell, elected to Senior Coordinator—Business Systems
2. Jeffrey Bridgewater, elected to Procurement Systems Coordinator
3. Sabrena V. Ellis, elected to Business Systems Auditor

CITIZEN COMMENT ON AGENDA/NON-AGENDA ITEMS

1. Mary Simpson-Jones, Special Education Advisory Board
2. Prentice Herndon, 200+ Men, mentoring

OPEN FORMAL SESSION - CONSENT AGENDA

The Consent Agenda was presented for approval and contained the items listed below:

1. Personnel Report for October 17, 2007
2. The Pupil Personnel Report containing
   
   
   1. The Suggested Long-term Suspension with Special Conditions Report
   2. The Long-term Suspension Report for the month of September 2007
   3. The Out-of-district Report for September 1-30, 2007
   
   
3. The School Board minutes for August 17-18 retreat and the September 19, 2007, meeting
4. The September 2007, Bills and Payroll Report;
5. The September Use of School Facilities Report;
6. The National School Bus Safety Week Resolution;
7. One recommendation to approve home schooling based on the Religious Exemption Act.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS AND STATEMENT

Mr. Schmitt presented the August Financial Highlights and Report. Mr. Driggers asked, “Where does money reside that hasn’t been spent yet?” and Mr. Schmitt stated that it resided with the city. It was moved by Mrs. Rhodes and seconded by Mr. Driggers to receive and file the report. The motion was approved unanimously.

Mr. Bishop asked when the board can expect to receive the student population numbers and Mr. Schmitt replied that a 30-day enrollment would be available September 30, 2007. Dr. Jones indicated that we seem to be right on the mark on the overall projection but it may vary from school-to-school.

UPDATE ON SCHOOL BOARD INSURANCE PROGRAMS AND COVERAGE

Mr. Schmitt presented the September Financial Highlights and Report. Mr. Schmitt reported that his office had started reporting the pace at which we receive revenue. We do not receive all $316,000,000 in revenue in one lump sum. We do receive it throughout the year through electronic fund transfers from the Feds as well as from the state and from local government. The Finance Division reports the pace at which we do receive revenue. At the end of September revenue received was $69,417,888 or 21.9% of the $316 million. At the same time expenditures were at 18.4%. Mr. Bishop asked if it would be possible to give the Board percentage from last year in terms of revenue received. Mr. Schmitt stated he would begin to report that. The expenditure rate is a little above the last two years and that was because we had changed the policy and we are pre-encumbering a number of utility accounts, service contracts, as well as some of our accounts in workers compensation and unemployment compensation.

Budget adjustments for the month of September included:

• Set up the accounts and budget for Project WORD: Project WORD is a one-time state grant ($300,000) in support of alternative programs.
• Based upon the School Board’s decision to continue the After School Suspension Program, three schools will continue this program for an additional six months, $63,000.
• Teacher Salary Survey was funded for $17,500.
• Budgeted funds were distributed to appropriate budget lines once the locations were identified by Human Resources for Teacher Incentives, $88,500.
• Budgeted funds were distributed to appropriate budget lines once locations were identified by Human Resources to support non-exempt stipends for coaches and grounds patrolling, $111,600.

He asked the Board to note that in the detail part of the report there were some disproportionate expenditure rates given for this time of year. He explained:

• Part-time Security reflects 90%. That reflects costs over the summer and about $84,000 of that overall cost really should be spread among part-time clerical and part-time teachers. That is an accounting adjustment that will be seen in the next report.
• Part-time Labor reflects 82%. This was primarily due to summer work. It is not a large account to begin with, about $22,000. He expects that pace will decrease as we go through the balance of the year.

MODELING SIMULATION AND GAME-BASED LEARNING LAB

Dr. Jones presented Dr. Cliff Harrison, principal at Lake Taylor Elementary School and Dr. Reuthenia Clark, Assistant Principal, to present an informational report on the Modeling Simulation and Game-Based Learning Lab. Dr. Jones reported that he, Denise Wiggins, and Dr. Clark met with Dr. Mike McGinnis, Executive Director of the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center where the prospect of modeling and simulation as a concept to increase teaching and learning success, was introduced. The concept has demonstrated that with its implementation in the technology area, as well as across the curriculum, it reinforces learning and increases marketable skills, thus providing our students a more global and world class education.

UPDATE ON LAP 1

Dr. Jones reported that the fall LAP event was held October 10-12 at the Old Dominion University Ted Constant Center and the theme was “Exceeding Expectations, Leading with our Heads, Hearts, and Hands.” The objectives of the event were to share values, the next phase of our journey, and develop deeper understanding of those target performances. The group was well represented with principals, administrators, PTA representatives, Norfolk Education Foundation representatives, Guiding Coalition, employee association group leaders, and two advisory councils.

The local presenters did a wonderful job. They were Chairman of the School Board, Barry Bishop, Dr. Melinda Boone, Mike Spencer, and Clayton Singleton, a teacher at Lake Taylor High School. He is an author and renowned artist. We had the presence of our two Panasonic presenters, Andrew Gelber and George Perry. The major focus of this LAP was to identify and celebrate the evidence of progress that has been made this past year and then to identify the challenges and barriers as we move forward and to finally identify who needs to be working on these challenges between now and February (the next LAP) and beyond. We have identified those challenges and we are benchmarking the time frame between now and February for the work to be accomplished. Items such as the refinement of the target performance measures in foreign language, special education, TPM learning environment, where we are moving with middle schools, the leadership component TPM needs to be refined. We discussed this afternoon in our earlier session the continuation of services for our kids that are in alternative programs. There is a great deal of work to be done to activate the community and look at community engagement and the involvement of parents and asking the questions, “What do we want it to look like?” and “What do we need to do?” and “How are going to continue to get parents to be more active players of the educational agenda in our city?” Internal communication—are we relying too much on the network that flows between central office and the principals to get information out? There are a number of suggestions and ideas about how we can improve the delivery of our communication. One of the work groups that has finished its work thus far, is looking at communication and we will have some recommendations coming forward from that group as well as the results of the work of a consultant that we have brought on board to help with our communication plan. Finally, CLASP (Council on Leadership and Strategic Planning) was asked to work with the board to revise our current philosophy of teaching and learning as it relates to world class. These are the tasks that are expected to be completed by the next LAP and will be reported on at that meeting.

Dr. McCluney and Mr. Cook will represent the School Board at the February LAP.

SCHOOL BOARD MATTERS

1. It was suggested that the School Board make the January retreat the main retreat for the school year and the board members added a half-day to the January 18th date to include Saturday, January 19th (half-day).
   
   
2. The Board changed the November meeting date from Wednesday, November 21 to Tuesday, November 20, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
   
   
3. Mr. Bishop reminded the board that they would have a recognition ceremony on October 24th at 5:30, and the public hearing on the budget to follow at 6:30. He asked the board for a work session to complete the Accountability Plan at 4 p.m. that day and they agreed. Mr. Driggers and Dr. Wright said they had other plans for that day and would be unable to attend. Mr. Bishop agreed to check with Dr. McCluney before deciding if the work session would have a quorum and get back with the other board members.Mr. Bishop asked for a report on the School Board retreat to be presented at the next meeting.


4. The November 7th work session will focus on Alternative Education. He mentioned that we may be asked to consider an outside firm taking over the responsibility of educating the students who need alternative ways to be educated. The firm has made a very interesting argument to consider their services.


5. Mr. Spencer is hard at work crafting a blueprint on how we move forward with the facilities study and something should go to the board before the November meeting.


6. Dr. Wright announced that the Norfolk Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta is a partner with Norfolk Public Schools and that the Arts and Letters Committee has planned an event on October 19, at 1:30 at Tidewater Park Elementary School, Mr. David Echols, in partnership with the Virginia Symphony, will speak to all third graders on the cello.


7. Dr. Tonelson requested a copy of letters that were sent out in support of HB 648 regarding No Child Left Behind. Dr. Tonelson requested an update on Maury High School and Dr. Jones responded that would come in a Friday letter.


8. Mr. Driggers encouraged board members to visit school cafeterias for Child Nutrition Month. He also asked for an update of the GW Cohort. Dr. Boone said she had some data on the program completers who have also gone on to take the state license exam for administration. She and Dr. Harris will put together a brief report and the superintendent will distribute it. Mr. Driggers would like to explore funding for PTA leadership and will discuss further with the board after the meeting.


9. Mr. Cook reminded board members that on Nov. 30th the Legislative Breakfast would be held at Coleman Place Elementary School. January 9th, the General Assembly will go into session and he and Dr. Tonelson will attend the reception when it is scheduled.

The meeting adjourned at 8:00p.m.

Minutes approved by the School Board: October 17, 2007