Nelson County Regular 
November 17, 2015 5:00 PM
Central Office

Attendance Taken at 5:00 PM: 

Present Board Members:   
Mrs. Diane Berry 
Mrs. Diane Breeding 
Mr. Damon Jackey 
Mr. David Norman 
Mr. Larry Pate 
 
I. Call to Order  
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Chairperson, Damon Jackey. 

II. Changes to the Agenda  
Dr. Orr advised that after the Consent agenda, we will take a break and move to the cafeteria at Nelson County High School. Also, the Superintendent Evaluation portion of the Executive Session has been removed. 

III. Student & Stakeholder Engagement  
Nada Kaissieh, Junior at Thomas Nelson High School, brought her GRIT group (young elementary school girls) to discuss what they have learned about computing.  They demonstrated their spheros (robotic spheres.) 

III.A. Student Performance  

III.B. Good News  
Bloomfield Elementary School had a wonderful Fall Festival. Our PVG worked very hard to plan for an exciting night and we appreciate the support of our school. We had games, dunking booth, an auction, and cake walk. Fun was had by all. 

Bloomfield Middle School students have read over 1 million words already this year.  In fact in one of Ms. Pozgay's class, they have read almost 1 million words and their average rate gain is 59 words per minute.  But then one of Ms. Miller's classes has read OVER 1 million words and their average rate gain is 41 words per minute.   Some of these students have made almost 2 grade level gains already this year!

Boston School had 97 parents and 172 children for our Title I "Spooky Story Night." In addition we had 65 entries for our pumpkin book decorating contest!
New arrival procedures at Cox’s Creek are going very well. Students enter the building ready to begin their day in an orderly fashion. Students read books, get caught up on work, or are provided with intervention before school begins.

The Horizons project relations group organized another successful blood drive. The goal was 30 units and no one passing out. Both goals were met. The Red Cross staff was very complimentary of our students.

The Early Learning Center’s Halloween alternative family night was a great success. We had 110 students with their families in costumes enjoying a story, trick or treating, a fire engine, pumpkin bowling, a sensory area, and a snack of a popcorn witches hand.

The Nelson County High School Marching Band has finished their 2015 season in KMEA competition ranked 13th in the state after participating in AAA State Semifinals competition.  This will make the 2nd year in a row that they've made it this far. The good news will continue as the band program becomes bigger and better throughout the coming years.

The Thomas Nelson and Nelson County FFA chapters had a very successful Field of Terror this October. Over 1,500 visitors came out to be scared including several FFA chapters from across the country who were attending the FFA National Convention. Nelson County students put in nearly 1000 volunteer hours. This event raised $15,000.00 which will benefit both chapters.

New Haven is excited to announce that we have a BETA club for the first time in several years and 19 students were inducted into the Club at the Induction Ceremony on Tuesday Nov. 10th.  We are very proud of these students as they take on the challenge to serve and lead others. Special thanks to our Sponsor Mrs. Karie Peake.

This past year OKHMS parent support group called the WSO (Wildcat Support Organization.) has grown tremendously.  The group had its first fundraiser this past month sponsoring and chaperoning the FALL dance and raising over $1700 to purchase additional instructional materials, motivational t-shirts, and prizes for our students and teachers!

Congratulations to Nelson County Area Technical Center students Anthony Cavalieri, Dylan Douglas, Tre' Defazio, Cole Gossett who tied for 1st place in the WKU Robotics Competition sponsored through the Department of Engineering.  

III.C. Expect the Best Recognition  
In recognition of their demonstrated commitment to the success of our Nelson County Students, the following staff members, parent and students were recognized by the Board for “Expecting the Best.”

Certified, Amy Leasgang (OKH)
Classified, Jeff Marchese (Transportation) 
Parent, Lisa Thurman (TNHS)
Student, Eli Lane (Horizons)  

IV. Operations Consent Agenda  

Motion Passed:  Motion to approve consent items as presented passed with a motion by Mrs. Diane Berry and a second by Mr. Larry Pate.  The motion was unanimous.

IV.A. Information: Personnel Actions  
Employment: 
Dan Handloser 	Thomas Nelson 	ESS Tutor 
Amy Durbin 		Thomas Nelson 	ESS Tutor 
Cathy Quire 	Foster Heights 	Instructional Assistant 
Mary Kay Beard 	Foster Heights 	Instructional Assistant 
Deborah Shewmaker Boston 		Instructional Assistant 

Transfers: None 

Reinstatements: None 

One Year Certification: None 

Classified Subs: Jamie Mallard 

Certified Substitute: Jacque Godbey, Marlene Kasama, Cody Beasley, Elizabeth Downs, Lanesha Williams, Paula Proctor, Kelsey Brooks, Travis Pierce, Adam Buchert 
Student Workers: None 
Non-Renewals: None 
      
Resignations: 
Ron Greenwell 	Bus Driver 	Transportation 
Zac Sappenfield 	Substitute	Teacher District 
Tammy Reed 		Teacher 	New Haven 

IV.B. Treasurer's Report  

IV.C. Bills and Claims  

IV.D. MUNIS Report  

IV.E. Leaves of Absence  

IV.F. Minutes from Previous Meeting  
October Board Meeting - 10/20/15
November Work Session - 11/5/15 

IV.G. Overnight/Out-of-State Trips  
N/A

IV.H. Fundraiser Requests  
Foster Heights (Art Class)	Art to Remember			3/11/16-3/18/16
OKHMS (Beta Club)			Secret Santa Candy Cane		12/9/15-12/16/15

Motion Passed: Motion to recess in order to move remainder of meeting to Nelson County High School passed with a motion by Mr. Larry Pate and a second by Mr. David Norman. The motion was unanimous.

The meeting reconvened at 5:46 p.m. at the Nelson County High School cafeteria. 

V. Efficient Resource Management   

V.A. Audit Report  
Jason Strange with Smith & Company presented the audit report for fiscal year 2015. There were no findings.

Motion Passed:  Motion to approve the FY 2015 audit passed with a motion by Mr. David Norman and a second by Mrs. Diane Breeding.  The motion was unanimous.

V.B. Post-Audit AFR 2015  
Tim Hockensmith reported the post-audit AFR reconciled to the audit.

Motion Passed:  Motion to approve the FY 2015 post audit Annual Financial Report passed with a motion by Mrs. Diane Berry and a second by Mr. Larry Pate.  The motion was unanimous.

V.C. NCELC KDE Facility Waiver Requests  
Tim Hockensmith presented two letters requesting waivers pertaining to the new construction at the Nelson County Early Learning Center. The first waiver is to remove markerboards that are not needed. The other waiver will request permission to add skylights to classrooms with no natural lighting.  This is not a decision whether or not to add skylights, but simply to have the flexibility to add skylights if the Board chooses. Mr. Hockensmith will present pricing with and without skylights for the Board to make a decision.

Motion Passed:  Motion to approve the attached waiver requests for construction at the NCELC passed with a motion by Mrs. Diane Berry and a second by Mrs. Diane Breeding.  The motion was unanimous.

V.D. NCELC Construction Documents  
Steven Ward with Studio Kremer presented construction documents for new construction at the Nelson County Early Learning Center.  

Motion Passed:  Motion to approve the attached construction documents for the NCELC project passed with a motion by Mr. Larry Pate and a second by Mr. David Norman.  The motion was unanimous.

VI. College and Career Readiness  

VI.A. K-8 Configuration  
Dr. Orr made a presentation showing costs/benefits of a K-8 configuration for the Boston and New Haven School. There was discussion among the board members. Diane Breeding asked for a root cause analysis concerning issues at the New Haven School. She didn’t think the board should start looking at options until the problem has been determined. 

Mr. David Norman agreed that he would like to see a root cause analysis by a third party. 

Larry Pate agrees that the Board needs to find a solution, but this is not the answer.  

Motion Passed: Motion to eliminate this K-8 configuration as an option passed with a motion by Mr. Larry Pate and a second by Mr. David Norman.  The motion was unanimous.

VII. Student and Stakeholder Engagement   

VII.A. Guest Comments  
1.	Erin Barnes; 1292 Lyons Station Rd, New Haven KY; Erin is a member of the SBDM Council at New Haven. She feels New Haven needs stability. She said the last two years have been great. The Leader in Me program has proven to be successful. The leadership show they care. 
2.	Jill Benningfield; 1110 Wilson Creek Rd., Boston KY – Jill is a parent at Boston School. She objects to the reconfiguration on the basis of convenience for parent and community involvement.
3.	Sheila Pfeiffer; 370 N. Stillwell Rd., Boston KY – Sheila is a parent of five. Four students attend TNHS & one attends Boston. She is opposed to the K-8 configuration out of concern that the family cannot be involved in so many schools so far apart.
4.	Anne Sahingoz, 239 Ridgeview Dr., New Haven KY – Anne is disappointed with the lack of transparency of the Board. She believes the success at Boston can be replicated throughout the District.
5.	Judy Jett – 5885 Louisville Rd., Bardstown, KY; Judy would like a list of everything that has already been tried.  She is curious as to how many students in Boston & New Haven did not attend preschool.  If this K-8 configuration were to take place, students’ school day will have to begin earlier, thus having a negative impact on their learning.
6.	Kevin Hall – 937 Tollgate Rd, New Haven KY; Mr. Hall is offended that someone on the Board would suggest New Haven is doing so poor, the State may have to come in and take over.  
7.	Tabitha Edelen, 1854 Bennetts Lane, Bardstown, KY; Tabitha is a Boston parent with 3 kids who attend or will attend Boston School. New Haven has started the Leader in Me program, give it time, it works.
8.	Gretchen Boone, 1502 Hurricane Hills, Boston, KY; There are four schools in this District performing below proficient and expressed concerns about teacher retention at other schools in the district. 
9.	Christina Stiles, 2973 Lyons Station Rd., New Haven, KY; Christina pays tuition so kids can attend Boston.  She asked if test scores are analyzed? She asked if the District breaks down test scores by school and individual student. Dr. Orr answered yes, scores are broken down at the school level all the way down to the individual level.
10.	Vicky Terstegge, 109 Holiday Ct., Elizabethtown KY 42701; She objected to reconfiguration on the basis of potential funding loss.
11.	Vanessa Hurst, 444 Ballard Lane, New Haven KY; Vanessa has two children in the New Haven School. She asked that other solutions to the equity concerns be investigated. 
12.	Rebecca McGuire Dye, 1476 Masden Road, Boston, KY; Rebecca represented a group of families from New Haven School. She asked that other solutions be investigated to address the concerns. 

Diane Berry gave closing remarks and thanked everyone for coming out and voicing their concerns. The Board will take everything that has been mentioned into consideration. The Board does not take this issue lightly, and will not rush into anything. 

VIII. Break  

IX. Superintendent Evaluation Training Part 2  

X. Adjourn Regular Session  

XI. Convene Executive Session per KRS 61.810(1)(f) for Superintendent Evaluation & Pending Litigation  

XII. Adjourn Executive Session  

Motion Passed: Motion to adjourn the Executive Session of the Nelson County Board of Education passed with a motion by Mrs. Diane Breeding and a second by Mrs. Diane Berry. The motion was unanimous.

XIII. Reconvene Regular Session  

Motion Passed: Motion to reconvene the Regular Session of the Nelson County Board of Education passed with a motion by Mrs. Diane Berry and a second by Mrs. Diane Breeding. The motion was unanimous.

XIV. Adjourn Regular Session  

Motion Passed: Motion to adjourn the Regular Session of the Nelson County Board of Education passed with a motion by Mr. David Norman and a second by Mr. Larry Pate. The motion was unanimous.

__________________________________
Chairperson

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Superintendent