BCSD and B.E.A. President's Meeting Joint Agenda 2-28-17

Burlington Community School District

President’s Meeting Joint Agenda

February 28, 2017

4:15pm- started early- commenced at 4:02

Attendees:  Sharon Dentlinger, Greg Reynolds, Jeremy Tabor, Elizabeth Sanning, Matt McKee, Tom Buckman

Purpose/Goal of Meeting

1. Keep the flow of information open between stakeholders in the district
2. Develop a positive relationship
3. Identify issues, brainstorm solutions for continued growth, and share information
4. Create joint communication for stakeholders

Create Ground Rules/Norms

1. If an item is tabled, it is not available for public consumption at the time it is tabled.
2. The team is open to gathering information (jointly if appropriate) to make informed decisions.
3. Not interrupting
4. Create a focus on our current reality and focus on moving forward with respect to the past
5. If an issue needs to follow chain of command, the process has been followed.

Creation of Agenda

1. Timelines for submission and completion of agenda is the Friday before the meeting
2. Meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month
3. Submitted items will be prioritized before the meeting agenda is complete
4. Informational items will be discussed the last 7-10 minutes of the meeting (these do not need to be on the agenda)

Item 1- Clarification of meeting procedures:

• Both sides will communicate approval of the agenda by the Friday prior to the meeting.  This will be done by the BEA president and the superintendent or his/her designees.
• Each meeting the group will begin the agenda for the next meeting.
• The next meeting is tentatively March 28, 2017.
• The agenda for that meeting would need to be approved by Friday, March 24.

Item 2- Possible reduction in staff:

• BEA leaders feel that a head’s up would be beneficial to staff who might be riffed.
• The District is proceeding cautiously due to uncertainty with the changes caused by Chapter 20.
• The District negotiation proposal is Wednesday, March 1.
• On March 13th Mr. Coen will present recommendations to the school board on budget cuts.
• Two to three options, based on  deliberate decision making, will be presented.
• The District is creating a staff handbook to address items that are currently in the master agreement but due to changes in Chapter 20 cannot be in the master agreement.
• The District is also looking at variety of areas to reduce budget including transportation.
• All administrators rode buses to evaluate “empty” buses. Transportation cost was $ 1.4 million last year.
• There was a meeting with bus drivers where Mr. Coen discussed the need to be more efficient, including possible personnel cuts.
• Rumors are swirling and clarification on how the process works is needed.
• There are several courses of action.  One course of action is an administrative team change such as the one at Edward Stone. These are only proposed changes at this time.
• The administration feels the majority of what they are trying to do is to not impact staff.  (Clarification: the administration recognizes there will probably be reduction in staff.  We are looking at programs that have the least impact on students and services.  We are also looking at reductions through attrition from early retirement.)
• We discussed sending out the joint statement about reassignment/realignment/bid day instead of the minutes.  Greg suggested including the minutes to all staff.