Board of School Trustees Meeting

1. Invocation/Pledge of Allegiance (5:55 PM)
Mrs. Shannon Walls, Board President

Minutes

The invocation was given by Mr. Mike McCarty.


2. Call to Order
Mrs. Shannon Walls, Board President

Minutes

The Board of School Trustees of the Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation held a regular meeting on December 16, 2019 at 6:02 pm in the Board Room at the Administrative Service Center.


3. Adoption of the Agenda
Mrs. Shannon Walls, Board President

Minutes

There were several additions to the Personnel Report.

Mr. McCarty made a motion to adopt the agenda as presented.  Mrs. Freeman seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.

 


4. Reports
Dr. Jack Parker, Superintendent

4.1 Good News
Mrs. Maria Bond, Communications Director

Please help me welcome my student intern, Madison King, to present the Good News Report. 

Minutes

Madison King, Mrs. Maria Bond's student intern, was unable to attend.  Dr. Parker shared the following Good News in her place:

1.  Miss Tessa Freeman was one of two seniors in Hancock County to win the Lilly Endowment Scholarship.

2.  MVMS 8th Grade Treble Choir made it to the top five choirs for the B105.7 Christmas Choir Competition.

3.  For the first time is school history, the MVHS Football Team won regionals and advanced to semi-state.

4.  MVMS Mr. Douglass' Project Lead the Way class designed and built toys for people with cerebral palsy.

5.  Mt. Vernon had 16 students and two teachers from Taiwan visit Mt. Vernon Schools for a week.  Mt. Vernon will be sending several students to visit them in Taipei next summer.

6.  Mt. Vernon Education Foundation distributed over $20,000 in grants at all five schools.


4.2 Spotlight on Schools
Dr. Jack Parker, Superintendent

Mrs. Alissa Lockwood, Principal - Mt. Comfort Elementary School

Minutes

Mrs. Alissa Lockwood, Principal at Mt. Comfort Elementary School, gave a presentation spotlighting her school.  She began by saying it has been an exciting semester and thanked Dr. Parker and board members for their support and allowing her to be principal at Mt. Comfort.  Over the summer, curriculum collaborator teams came together and identified essential learnings that they want all students to learn.  They realized they can't teach everything so picked what is most important with the believe that all students can learn at high levels and focus on learning and not just teaching.  Mrs. Lockwood showed an example of an Instructional Planning Sheet (IPS) they are using.  This IPS showed 1st grade Math, Subtraction within 20.  Pre-assessment proficiency showed 51% of students were proficient.  That only went up to 57% proficiency after the post unit test.  Teachers regrouped to figure out what they had missed and why it only went up 6%.  After the post unit re-teach, the percentage went up to 78%.  Further data showed at the end of the unit, 43 students were not proficient and after re-teaching, that number went down to 22.  They will circle back with those 22 students to make sure they are proficient by the end of the school year. Teachers talked about and shared instructional practices that work and what to avoid next year when teaching this unit again.  The third grades did a unit on measuring length to a quarter inch and will finish that unit soon.  Pre-assessment proficiency was 2% and after the post unit, proficiency went up to 67%.  Mrs. Lockwood stated it will be exciting to see what percent  they end up at after the post unit re-teach.  Kindergartners did a unit on identifying and name all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet. Pre-assessment proficiency was 50% and after the post unit test, went up to 71%.  After the post unit re-teach, that percentage went up to 90%.  Mrs. Lockwood ended by saying she is very excited for the next semester and very proud of the Mt. Comfort teachers who are learning by doing.

Dr. Parker added, that if we truly believe all students deserve to learn at high levels and after post post we have not done that yet, we can identify exactly which students need extra help and move them into a Tier 2 Intervention.

 


4.3 Report on Teacher Evaluations
Dr. Jack Parker, Superintendent

Minutes

Dr. Parker gave a report on Teacher Evaluations.  For the  2017-18 school year, 67 teachers were rated Highly Effective; 165 Effective; 5 Improvement Needed; and 0 Ineffective.  For the 2018-19 school year, 60 teachers were rated Highly Effective; 166 Effective; 2 Improvement Needed and 0 Ineffective.   A couple of things Dr. Parker pointed out, the 5 Improvement Needed in 2017-18 are not Improvement needed now, and the 2 for the 2018-19 school year, are headed in the right direction as well.  He also noted that the teacher pool did not decrease from 2017-18 to 2018-19, but as some teachers come and go during the school year, we are unable to capture some teachers in an evaluation, so the numbers are not going to be perfect.   He reminded everyone that the metrics had previously been changed for the next evaluation, 20% school letter grade and 80% rubric, making it much simplified. The new system will start for the 2019-2020 evaluations.  A teacher committee has been working on lining things up and clarifying things in the rubric to advance to administrators, making sure the system is clear for everyone and everyone is comfortable with the entire evaluation process.   

Mr. McCarty asked if teachers have been communicated with on their evaluations. Dr. Parker stated yes.  

 

 

 


5. Public Comments Regarding Agenda Items
Mrs. Shannon Walls, Board President

0167.3 - Public Participation at Board Meetings
May only address items listed in the agenda
Must be recognized by presiding officer.
Must provide name, address, and group affiliation, if and when appropriate
Limited to 3 minutes duration
All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer; no person may address or question Board members individually

 

Minutes

There were none.


6. Consent Agenda
Mrs. Shannon Walls, Board President

The school board shall use a consent agenda (Policy #0166.1) to keep routine matters. By a single motion, the Board approves/adopts the following items or actions which reflect application of School Board Policy and/or Indiana Code. Any items marked "Consent" may be removed from the agenda by a Board Member or the Superintendent.

 

Minutes

Mrs. Smith made a motion to accept the following Consent Items as provided:

1.  Minutes of the November 18, 2019 Board Meeting:

2.  Claims;

3.  The following overnight field trip requests:  a)  MVHS Wrestling to the North Montgomery Invitational December 27-28, 2019 in Crawfordsville, IN; b)  MVHS Locked Out to the International Championships of High School A Cappella Quarterfinals February 15, 2020  at William Henry Harrison High School in Harrison, Ohio;  c)  MVHS National Honor Society Reward Trip April 5-6, 2020 in Chicago, IL; d)  MVMS and MVHS Dance Teams to the Indiana High School Dance Team Association Invitational February 14-15, 2020 at Lake Central High School in St. John, IN.

4.  Request from Casey Dodd to accept a donation of $500 from Mrs. Leslie Kelly, retired teacher, to help support the MVHS Black Student Union Club.

5.  The following personnel items:

CERTIFIED RETIREMENT/RESIGNATIONS

Clayton Cina, MVHS Teacher

Heather Bates, MVMS Teacher

Brandy Bell, FES Teacher

CERTIFIED RECOMMENDATIONS

Amy Tucker, MVCSC Behavior Specialist

CLASSIFIED RETIREMENT/RESIGNATIONS

Walter Irby, MVHS Cafeteria

Shelby Bernard, MVHS Instructional Assistant

AnnaLisa Maas, MVMS Cafeteria

Angela Smith, FES Instructional Assistant

Mike Prewitt, MVMS Custodian

Cynthia Hansel, Mini-Maruader Preschool Instructional Assistant.

Emily Rogers, MES Instructional Assistant (Retirement)

Jenny Humerickhouse, FES Instructional Assistant

CLASSIFIED RECOMMENDATIONS

Kimberly Miles, Bus Driver

Elizabeth Flynn, Mini-Marauder Preschool Coordinator

Taylor Roberts, MVHS Custodian

Kade Lewin, Mini-Marauder Preschool After-Care Instructional Assistant

Teresa Boucher, MCE Special Ed Instructional Assistant

Ryan Brammer, LIFE Center Instructional Assistant

Amber Baker, MVMS High Intensity Instructional Assistant

ECA RECOMMENDATIONS

Matt Lacy, MVMS Social Studies Super Bowl

Sarah Hall, MVMS Special Education Team Leader

Courtney Stroup, MVMS Newspaper Club

Kathy Tingwald, FES Robotics Coach

Jeff Loy, MVMS 7th Grade Baseball Coach

Srederick Tinker, MVMS Digital Media Productions Club Sponsor

Kittie Master, MVMS Geography Bee Sponsor

ECA RESIGNATIONS

LEAVE REQUESTS

Tracy Tolliver, Speech-Language Therapist (Maternity Leave 3/16/20-7/26/20)

Mrs. Freeman seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.

 


6.1 Executive Session Minutes

6.2 Regular Session Minutes

6.3 Claims

6.4 Personnel Report

6.5 Overnight Field Trip Request

6.6 Request to Accept Donation

7. Action Items
Dr. Jack Parker, Superintendent

Minutes

There is one Action Item.


7.1 Restoration of Pension Debt Funds
Mr. Greg Elkins, Chief Financial Officer

Resolution 2019-18   Authorizing Temporary Loan From the Pension Debt Fund to the Education Fund

Resolution 2019-19   Resolution to Transfer Funds From the Education Fund to the Pension Debt Fund 2019

Minutes

Mr. Elkins presented two resolutions that are tied together.  Resolution 2019-18 authorizes temporary loan from the Pension Debt Fund to the Education Fund.  Resolution 2019-19 transfers funds from the Education Fund to the Pension Debt Fund 2019.  He stated that the Pension Debt Fund is a levied fund, so he wanted to have a record of any action taken for accounting purposes.  This is no new revenue, he just wants to clean it up so it can be shown that all receipts and expenditures remain in the correct funds.  

Mrs. Freeman made a motion to approve the two resolutions (2019-18 and 2019-19) as presented.  Mr. May seconded.  Mr. May wanted to clarify that the resolutions allowed a loan from the Pension Debt Fund to the Education Fund and then a transfer back from the Education Fund to the Pension Debt Fund.  Mr. Elkins stated, yes, this is all retroactive and related to retiree insurance and this was the closest language to what needed to be done.

The motion carried 5-0.

 


8. Board Member Reports
Mrs. Shannon Walls, Board President

Fortville RDC - Mr. Tony May

Cumberland RDC - Mrs. Kellie Freeman

Hancock Co. RDC - Mr. Mike McCarty

McCordsville RDC - Mrs. Shannon Walls

MVEF - Mrs. Beth Smith 

Minutes

1.  Fortville RDC: Mr. May was unable to attend meeting. No report.

2. Cumberland RDC:  Mrs. Freeman stated no meeting was held.

3. Hancock County RDC:  Mr. McCarty was unable to attend meeting.  No report.   Dr. Parker did attend and stated discussions were on using TIF money for various things. 

4.  McCordsville RDC:  Mrs. Walls attended and stated the meeting centered around working on the 2020 budget, approving invoices, and setting the 2020 meeting schedule.

5. MVEF:  Mrs. Smith attended and stated they discussed the grants that were recently awarded,


9. Announcements
Dr. Jack Parker, Superintendent

Minutes

Dr. Parker announced that as everyone was aware, it is snowing outside.  He thanked Mr. Shelton for driving the roads. He assured board members that a decision on whether to close or not was made as quickly as possible in order to notify parents after Mr. Shelton drove the roads and talking with the other county superintendents.  All decisions were made with student safety as a priority.

Dr. Parker announced that the administration office would be open during Winter Break except for Tuesday and Wednesday (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) and a cabinet member will also be available during that time. 


10. Adjournment
Mrs. Shannon Walls, Board President

Minutes

Mr. McCarty made a motion to adjourn at 6:32 p.m.  Mrs. Smith seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.