This is an opportunity for the community to provide input and comments on district business.

Members of the public may address the Board during the period set aside by the Board without submitting an item for the agenda. No action shall be taken during this portion of the meeting on issues raised by employees or the public unless deemed an emergency by the Board. Please note: Speakers are asked to refrain from personal remarks in which an individual is named. Comments are limited to two minutes unless extended by the board chair. Critical comments or complaints are processed through the District’s complaint procedures. Questions and concerns will be addressed by the Board through various venues, including, but not limited to, the district website and e-mail. In addition, copies of the meeting rules and procedures will be provided at every board meeting.

James E. Biggs Early Childhood Education Center students will be recognized for perfect attendance.

James E. Biggs Early Childhood Education Center's administration and staff will report to the Board their annual update.

The partnership and collaboration with the Carnegie has allowed both students and staff to grow in the Arts Program. Continuation of this program will provide instruction, lessons and professional development in the area of Arts and Humanities to the five elementary schools. The partnership with the Carnegie has given the five elementary schools the opportunity to participate in the 4 areas of Arts and they are a huge support of our “Whole Child Supports” section under Opportunity and Access for the new accountability system for this school year.

Based on reflections from the 2018-2019 school year from principals, they have chosen Option 1 upon board approval.

Carnegie has agreed to provide the following services:

The Carnegie lessons will be project-based lessons focusing on creating, performing/producing, responding and connecting in:

• Visual Arts/Music/Media Project – 32 sessions per grade
• Drama/Dance/Media Project - 32 sessions per grade

Option 1 is for K through 5th grade at all 5 Covington Independent Elementary Schools for $130,848.

AGIRepair covers the MacBook fleet at Holmes High School (HHS) with a care plan that states if the device is enclosed in the purchased AGI case and the device is damaged, it will be repaired for free. 

AGIRepair has given us a unique opportunity to pay for this case plan over three payments.  HHS made the initial payment of $68,000.  Two additional payments of $65,100 ($35,000 invoicing in July 2019 and $30,100 invoicing in Feb 2020) are outstanding. 

We propose that the board consider paying the remaining balance of $65,100 in lieu of holding the HHS KETS offering for the next two years in order to have the coverage intact and assured.  HHS will forego their KETS offerings which will cover the costs of the next two payments.  It is understood that if KETS offerings come in totaling more than the amount HHS owes the board for a year, they will receive the money that is over and above the payments for the case care plan. 

This Tentative Budget Cycle is required by State Stature KRS 160.470.  The Tentative Budget must be approved by the local school district and submitted to the Kentucky Department of Education by 5/30 of each year. 

The budget committee has met on several occasions over the last few months creating the budget for FY2020.  This budget takes into consideration the increase in retirement fringes that the school district incurs based on information provided by KDE.  This budget incorporated non-personnel expenditures based on actual expenditures. 

The budget committee will be looking into how cost saving measures can be incorporated into the budget.  At this time there are many unknowns related to the adoption of this budget.   Once those unknowns become available, the budget will be amended and will be reflected in the Working Budget that is presented to the Board of Education in September of each year.

Attached are the results of our proposals for our property, liability and worker compensation insurance for FY20.  There were slight increases in both property, liability and worker compensation insurance.

The Property/Liability package would be with Liberty Mutual with a premium of $246,696 and the Worker’s Compensation package would be with Liberty Mutual at $172,682.  These are both our current carriers for FY19.  The district’s current insurance provider/agent would still be with Crawford Insurance. 

CIPS Staff and Crawford Insurance have formed a safety committee to take a proactive approach on safety in our district. This committee continues to meet periodically.  Having this safety committee in place can only help decrease the number of claims & the mod factor over time for the district.  Both of these are used to determine the district’s premium.  If the district sees a decrease in both of these factors then the district could see a lower premium saving the district money. 

Professional services such as Auditing Services does not have to be bided out by a school district.  However, it is good business sense to bid out every 2-5 years at least.  The last time the district bided out auditing services was for the 14/15 school year.  The budget committee met during this budget cycle and discussed our options.  It is the budget committee’s recommendation to bid out auditing services at this time. 

The bid opening was held on 4/22/19.  See attached bid tabulation.  An auditor committee was formed to discuss the bid opening results.  The auditor committee recommends Barnes Dennig as the district’s auditor for fiscal year ’19.

The attached Contract for Transportation Services for Covington Independent Public Schools July 31, 2019, through August 1, 2020, is for board review. The contract includes; purpose, contract term, compensation, Holmes High School services, student pass program and schedule.

Dave Hartman, Assistant Principal at Holmes High School and Ken Kippenbrock, Director of Pupil Personnel both reviewed the contract and approved for signature.

To date we have been able to recruit and hire one certified School Psychologist for the three positions we have posted for next school year.  Two additional vacancies have become open in the past week. Surrounding school districts have had unfilled School Psychologist positions in recent years. 

The re-institution of the Educational Diagnostician position in our district will allow us to fill some of the gap, if we are unable to fill our open School Psychologist positions.  

As part of the GearUp District Leadership Institute, Mr. Alvin Garrison is requesting approval to attend the following conferences at no cost to the district:

Laying the Foundation
July 15-16, 2019
San Francisco, CA

Sharpening Skills
February 24-25, 2020
Orlando, FL

Tying it All Together
May 2, 2020
Dallas, TX

For more information about the District Leadership Institute please visit their website at https://www.edpartnerships.org/dli-2019

May 6-10 ~ Staff Appreciation Week 

May 6-10 ~ Testing 

May 16 ~ First annual HESPY Awards, Jack Moreland Auditorium, 4:30 p.m.

May 20 ~ Graduation Walk, HMS and all Elementary Schools, 9:30 a.m.

May 21 ~ Schools and Office Closed, Election Day

May 22 ~ Honors Night (Grades 9-11), Jack Moreland Auditorium, 6:00 p.m.

May 24 ~ Last Day for Students

May 27 ~ Offices Closed

May 28 ~ Professional Day #4

May 29 ~ Closing Day for Staff

May 29 ~ Senior Honors Night Dinner at Garden of Park Hill, 6:00 p.m.

May 31 ~ Graduation Practice, 9:00 a.m.

May 31 ~ One Hundred and Fifty-First Annual Commencement Exercises, 7 p.m. 

Pursuant to KRS 61.810 (1) the Board may go into executive session.