BEA notes from 8-26-19 BCSD Board Meeting

August 26, 2019 BCSD Board of Directors Meeting

Absent Vickstrom and Brueck

I. 7:00 called to order.

II. Motion to adopt agenda, Roberts, Hatteberg seconded Motion carried

III Public comments: none

IV. Consent Agenda:  Courtney moved to approve, Hatteberg seconded.  Passed. Bross 

abstained

V. District Positive Accomplishments 

 Ruehs presented Freshman Boot Camp.  This year 67 students participated. Each day started with a speaker such as Coen, Shay, Duncan Delzell.  The National Guard did team building activities each day. The days were broken into two morning sessions and two  session after lunch. There were communication sessions, organization/executive function session, conflict avoidance, brain power.  They were used by various admin and other people. Some of the activities in the afternoon were a scavenger hunt, high school sundae, equip for success (schedules, lockers), cardboard boat race, schedule school webpage, etc, . Parents were invited  to the boat race and students presented about the process of it. Brenna Remele (student) presented to board on how she liked the boot camp. She said it wasn’t boring but active and it had cool speakers. It was very fun. Her favorite part was the scavenger hunt.  

Mosbach and Sarah Wood presented their experiences as teachers of the event.  Wood said the event has grown and it was good to hang out with students. It was a good time with the students.  Mosbach was new to boot camp this year. It was an amazing experience. The breakout sessions were amazing. Many of the breakout activities are used in freshman transition class.  She got to be a counselor and not a teacher. She invited the board to come and see it. Bross asked how to promote it. Mosbach said the kids are the best recruiters although she talked a lot about it in her classes today.  Coen said something about getting your 12 and the promotion ceremony to sell this to the 8th grade this year.

VI. Student representative report - no rep available.

VII.  Superintendent -The event at SCC was good.  The speaker had interesting ideas about tigers.  He attended the ES early days. He attended the Greater Burlington Partnership meeting.  He met with Bross and Kendell and discussed current and pending issues. He has a clear understanding that a BHS homeless child from Chicago can play sports due to an act.  The high school athletics association can’t rule on this. The Build Stronger Brains training from AEA was good training. It was well done and ACEs was presented. He visited Ready Math training at BH.  It was good but the cafeteria was not good place to have it. We need as much PD as possible at the beginning instead of at the end. But it is a balancing act. He visited open houses and they were well attended.  He sent thank you cards to SCC. SCC will work with BHS with marketing and expanding DECA. Maybe include concurrent enrollment classes. Meet the players was good at Bracewell but the band should be there. He will work on that.  Issues pick up this time of year but working through issues usually takes a phone call or two. The Grimes PTO playground is something to see. November 20, 21 trade show at the School Board Convention (?). He visited every school today and found them positive and excited.  Bross asked if there were any students still in JMEC? Coen said they were at Corse except for Head Start.

VIII.  Delegate Assembly - Reynolds presented this.  This happens at the school board convention. The board nominates one of the directors to be the delegate.  Bross nominated Courntey, Robbert seconded. All approved.

IX.  Second reading on Graduation Credits - Board policy.  Cory Johnson said it is the same but with a few alignment changes.  Robberts moved, Courtney seconded and approved.

SEcond reading on At Risk 602.4 - There was a minor change to reflect Iowa law. Hatteberg moved,  Courtney seconded. Approved

X. Superintendent Contract - It is for three years to 2022 with an increase in salary.  Kendell motioned, Hattenberg seconded. Courtney asked why this was done ahead of time?  Bross said that he wants this to happen before contract negotiations. Robbert said it shows faith in Mr. Coen and his positive employment evaluation.  She thanked him for taking slow salary increases. Kendell still thinks he does a good job and glad he is staying until 2022. He makes the district stable.  Hatteberg said he believes in kids and the community. All approved.

XI. Board communications

Robberts welcomed all  back to school and reminded people to watch for busses, children crossing the streets, etc.  She thanked BEF for gifts and grants including $10,000 to PIECES.  

Courtney welcomed back to school everyone and  reminded all parents to get kids their shots.  

Hatteberg attended a couple of the open houses and was overwhelmed. She suggested this be done at the beginning of each trimester.  She gave kudos to Kesterke and his crew.

Kendell  loved the boot camp.  He felt it is one of the best things going and wants to increase participation in it for next year.    He gave a huge thanks for preparation for day 1. He acknowledged the scout troop in the audience and asked them to introduce themselves.  

Bross welcomed back to school teachers, students, everybody.  He was thankful for the stop sign at Sunnyside because it calms the traffic down.   He reminded everyone about the football game Friday night here against Ottumna.

Courtney moved to adjourn, Robberts second, Passed 7:34.

BEA notes from 8-12-19 Board Meeting

I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m.- Kendell leading, Bross and Courtney absent

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda- moved by Hatteberg, 2nd by Robberts. passed.

IV. Public Comments

The Board encourages citizens to attend its meetings. Citizens have this opportunity

to comment on issues and concerns (Policy 210.9 & 213)

None.

V. Consent Agenda

3. Minutes, Bills, Human Resources Report and Gifts- moved for approval by Hatteberg, 2nded by Robberts. ? by Dean- no HR report - Dean couldn’t pull up

Pull the P card purchases for a 2nd vote by Kendell- would require a 2nd. Robberts seconded.

Consent passed- now on to P card

What do we do with money we spend with P card purchases- Kendell wants to know what people are doing with these P cards.

Passed, with kendell voting against.

I went back through the agenda- I can’t figure out what he’s against. I am guessing it’s because a lot of the restaurants visited were bars- but he didn’t say

VI. District Positive Accomplishments- Buildings & Grounds- houndtown days. Thank maintenance staff- big thanks to audrey meade. Big thanks to all the coaches and shay. Way beyond what were expecting for that. Thanks to keane for music department. Ashley lee at blackhawk. Houndtown days was a big success. 

Coen- service organizations were there too.

Kesterke- tried to get all he could remember.

Room remodel at Aldo. storage closet with restroom and shower.

New carpenters did it- they did a great job. District saved several thousand having them do it over hiring out. 

Corse moved in a matter of days. Really went well. Softball field light replacement. Remodel at ed stone- classroom turned in to science room. Moved things in to corridors- inviting staff to come get them- asphalt replacement- 

Concrete replacement

Painting at admin building

Roof replacement at hs office area

Laser machine- cleaned out a storage room- put in new lights- need to put in new doors and frames- 

Ragbrai- took a lot more work than what kesterke thought. For the most part came out great. Wish boosters could have made more money. 

New sound equipment at bracewell.

Currently looking at playground equipment for aldo

Kendell- happy to see sign change at aldo- that’s fantastic

Will the sign change out front

Playground equiment at corse? Will be left for headstart

VII. Student Representative Report- none

VIII. Superintendent’s Report- library summer reading bash. Freshman boot camp. Spoke there about get your 12. Marco polo- one child broke their nose- worked through that with attorneys. Bracewell. Somali families. Toured some schools. Very impressed with school. Will see where it goes. Continue to polish plan for beginning of school year. Met with Bross and Kendell to get ready for this meeting. Met with Ms. williams- student exchange services. Good meeting with Vickstrom- 503c for science- being poor is one thing- it can be overcome- but if you’re poor and have bad manners and rude it’s harder to overcome. DHS meeting once a week - family study team- very exciting. Some schools will have reps at these meetings. Incident where someone put on FB that child would be picked up at 530 am by bus. Reached out to person. She hasn’t responded. Our buses don’t pull out until after 630. 

IX. Items for Discussion

4. Branding- Robberts moved to proceed, Vickstrom 2nd. Passed unanimously.

5. Schumacher Elevator Contract- Kesterke can speak. It’s about elevator inspections. Had a chance to renegotiate. Paying annually saves us more. 

Moved by Hatteberg, 2nd by Brueck. Passed unanimously.

6. Review of District Wide Assessments and Grading Practices Information Only- Cory Johnson. Quick update. Had a few changes- handout in packet. Similar to last year for elementaries- except we use 2 benchmarks- he’s talking really fast.

I Ready assessment- previously used FAST- ready math. Comes with a computer based adapted measure assessment. Coen- measures what you’re teaching.

HS level- scholastic reading inventory- 9-10 (? i think he said) filtered into right interventions

Keane is going to share about BHS. Cory- standards based report cards k-5. Not a lot of questions last year. Rollout went smoothly. Study going on at hs.

Keane- over last 2 years- hs staff looks at equitable learning environment across the board. Staff over last 2 years has read research- recommended grading practices listed in packet. One thing is that extra credit has not necessarily aligned with standards for the class. Its often discriminatory in practice. Not going to be any extra credit anymore- not best practice. 

Have been a lot of issues in metro area with students assessed differently based on who their student has- it has reached litigation- North Scott- has adopted similar policies. Muscatine, Des Moines, West Des Moines- equity in areas. 

Daily work will be scored- but moving toward not using in grades- used for feedback- most of grade will be summative assessment. Piloting grading scale changes- 4 pt instead of 100pt- diff between d and f is same between c and a d- 0 has much greater impact on 100 pt scale- invalidates the grade of the student. Students have to take all of the assessments- if they demonstrate remediation they can retake- seems to be more of a high school issue because credits and GPAs are equated to money- misconception that high GPA will get you a big scholarship- that’s really not true

Robberts- students who don’t test well?

Keane- students can retake

Kendell- when will they retake?

Keane- student achievement center

Coen- when you no longer grade daily work- 

Keane- daily work- students sharing and copying.

Robberts- are we informing special education students- they don’t do as well on tests- their daily work helps with their grade- providing notice to parents and IEP students know this change- something in IEP about how this will work- Robberts wants to make sure students have something in their IEP to help them

Keane- assessments won’t be the way they are now in the future.

Robberts- 

Keane- we don’t see things in the same way.

Robberts- special ed students don’t always test well- might have to stay after for tutoring to retake the test

Hatteberg- lots of reg ed students don’t test well

Keane- any assessment we are doing is guaranteed to be the student’s own work. Want teachers to know that the work is the students’ work.

Keane- we have had students pass classes with their grades skewed. Will be opportunities to re-take- causes test anxiety and causes them to not do well. Students will retake pieces that they didn’t show mastery of.

Finals aren’t a good measure of mastery. Not good assessment. Cohort model- how do we develop quality assessments- if a student hasn’t demonstrated in one way- could they demonstrate in a diff way- like an interview with the teacher- you’re not going to take the same test over again

Robberts- what is our policy for how often teachers update infinite campus- 

Keane- daily work will still go in- just won’t hurt or inflate the grade- teachers need that feedback

Keane- requested that update gradebooks at least once a week- might not be an assessment but will be something in there- if we have some kids that aren’t ready to test, they won’t test. We don’t want that frustration level to build. 

Kendell- what happens to the C student who doesn’t do the daily work- test doesn’t work out for them- 

Keane- they’ll have to go back to do it. Some know how to play the school game. Daily work isn’t for points- it’s to learn. Emphasis should be on the learning and demonstration of it. College doesn’t give points for daily work. 

Coen- Blooms taxonomy.

Kendell- will reflect badly on teachers if students don’t do the homework

Keane- i have a lot to lose if it doesn’t work.

Robberts- policy says only 1 re-test opportunity? How will that work. Keane- these are guidelines- we are in process of moving farther down the road

We want to know when students have mastered the content.

Robberts- things like that worry her

Keane

Brueck- couldn’t that be in IEP

Keane- this will be HS this year.

Cory- intermediate and middle schools are looking at grading practices. HS has been working on this for multiple years. 

Conversations at intermediate and middle- he talked fast again i can’t keep up

Middle school prioritizing standards.

Kendell- realignment - ed stone got A- transferred to Aldo and got a C- aligning better- 

Brueck- communication with teachers- elem teachers didn’t feel like they got enough communication about grading

Hatteberg- staff needs to really communicate this with students

Keane- this comes from the staff- been 2 years of work- a big barrier to hs reform is grades.

Keane thinks grades are de-motivational- 

Hatteberg- wants to hear back at the end of 2nd tri to see how it is working out.

7. First Reading of Board Policy 505.5- graduation requirements- Kendell- adjusting # credits?- Coen- staying at 48- if you watch classes teachers have developed- phenomenal

Keane- department chairs- a lot of good conversation comes around- some talk about increasing- not a big push- still feeling some things out- how this is impacting kids- how do our opportunities compare to other districts- we used to be above everyone else for requirements because we didn’t have as many chances to get credits- 

Coen- don’t need to go quick- until this many kids are graduating- 

Robberts- talked about Carnegie units discrepancy

Kendell- asked about attendance policies

Have to approve first reading- Brueck moved- Hatteberg 2nded. Passed

8. First Reading of Board Policy 602.4- at risk student programs- passed

X. Board Communications

The members will have the opportunity to share items and events.

Hatteberg- thank you to Kesterke- Ragbrai thing was huge- staff put in a huge # hours- thank you to all of admins who met on work sessions- communication was wonderful- feel like on same page

Robberts- have a great first day of school- look for buses- school zones

Brueck- welcome students and teachers back

Vickstrom- 3 issues- summer school at north hill- did a great job with kids- did interesting things. 

Boot camp- most of people were volunteers- they were doing a great job with it. Not on the time card. 

Mrs. Hippe (?) article in sunday’s paper - Gemini program- gender aspects in science and engineering- women are good at math and science. 

Kendell- we get together next time school will be under way- lots of happy faces- thanks to kesterke and crew- teachers are starting to go in to get ready- excited for school year- going to be good for students and staff- open house schedules posted- fall sports and practices- football and lots of fun things- 

XI. Adjournment- adjourned at 8 pm.

7-29-19 BCSD Board Work Session notes

July 29, 2019 BCSD Board of Directors Work Session

Board members attending:  Bross, Kendell, Brueck, Vickstrom, Courtney, Hatteberg

Robberts arrived at 4:30.

Others:  Principals, vps, Greg Reynolds, Lacy Johnson, Cory Johnson, Pat Coen, Reggie Shipp

Coen started with thank you cards for the booster clubs that helped with RAGBRAI.  Board members were instructed to sign them. 

Courtney asked whether the booster clubs made as much money as they thought the would.  He heard that they had a lot of leftover food. Coen said that 4000 were served.

Nina Zaiser said that the crowd didn’t meet expectations.  But food wasn’t wasted, was sent back.

The meet was officially called to order at 4:04 PM.

Cory Johnson reviewed what happened June 10 (last work session). 

Bross appreciated the ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences) information.  He wanted to hear more about what are we doing this year. How are we going to work on?  He likes positive interventions for discipline issues.

Kendell agrees about ACES. This could be why different buildings have different problems.

Shipp said something about  the discipline expulsion rate and the services provided for said students. Bross thanked Shipp for the YouTube video on how to enter discipline referrals in Infinite Campus (IC)

CJ then reviewed  district wide efforts to support student learning. 

Attendance teams are working on developing a plan for home visits in June and July.

Coen then inserted that if students aren’t there, good curriculum doesn’t matter.

Behavior is taught and expectations taught at school.  We need to work on attendance.

CF referenced a handout that they in their folder.  CASTLE - defines social/emotional competencies. It's a framework adopted by the state of Iowa.  It’s relevantly new. Early in the year we looked deeper in social/emotional stuff. We need to try to be more consistent in this. There was a committee  that recommended the purchase of Positive Action curriculum K-8. Looking at a soft implementation because we don’t want to throw something else on teachers. Counselors and social workers know about it and can help if teachers need help.  Implementation not this year but the next. There are six units in the curriculum. Aligns with CASTLE.

CJ refernced a handout in the packet from DOE about suicide prevention and mitagting toxi stress responses.  We have to do new annual training on this. We are doing an online program for suicide. The mitigation program is called building stronger brains.  AEA supports it. Its free to us. Its face to face. Occurs during the PD before school starts. All teachers have to take it annually per Iowa code. 

CJ referenced a handout on professional development for creating a culture of mutual respect and learning.  It summarizes all the training that staff will have access to this year and some of the training that we have done in the past (Jenson).  

Coen then said that attendance for staff is important.  TQ was attended by 243 or about 75% of our staff. Then he called Bolander the old guy and asked him how many usually attend and Bolander said less than 50%.  Then Coen said that is the problem. Bross wanted to know if we measure if it is implemented. L. Johnson is working on an audit of different programs in place and how they are working.  More info to come about this. It will be done each trimester. 

CJ then said something about coaching and feedback to teachers.  Then he reference the drop in discipline referrals for the after school program.   Eduplanet learning modules another learning for staff. TQ wanted to offer a menu this spring 101 signed up, 88 finished.  About ⅓ of staff did this.  

There were learning opportunities for teacher summer 2019.  There was something in Ottumwa (3 staff) did it. Five teachers attended a  behavioral summitt. The third thing that came out in an email today (No Such Thing as a Bad Kid).  PLC institute training is being done. Admin is providing a lot of support for staff and a lot of learning.  It is focussed on trauma informed mindset. 

Joanie James did a Conscious Discipline presentation. I’m not sure what her job is with the district but she has worked with after school program. Its an evidence based trauma informed self-informed program.  It fosters self regulation.

A big piece relies on creating a healthy school family.  She showed a pyramid of how it works.

She gave some examples of things done during the day. 

PIECES chose this approach because of a survey they did and found a need for improvement for student behavior.  It was first used in Club M and then in PIECES. All PIECES staff were trained. She explained the timeline on this.  More training occurred this summer and more to come. This is done through a certified instructor. Year one was focused on structure and rituals.  In year 2 feelings will be focussed on. Year 3 will involve “I Love You Rituals”. Many positive results have come from this program she feels. Staff is more willing to calm and self reflect and work on a solution.  She feels that their students are more accountable for their behavior because of this program. There was a 89.5% reduction in after school program DRs.

CJ referenced a handout that had pictures of the different parts of  the program.  

Courtney asked if they leave the classroom and get help.  James said the goal is to keep them in the classroom in calming zones.  

CJ then said adults can relate to getting away from aggravation.  

James then sometimes it involves taking a walk or running.

Courtney - who teaches the kids when this goes on?

James - there are always two staff members in the classroom.  Or office people handle it or she comes.  

Courtney asked if it was done last year.

Bross clarified that it was only in the PIECES program.  CJ said a few teachers were using it.

She referenced Diana Reed ( music teacher) as a teacher that uses it.  Two kindergarten teachers did the training. (PIECES is an after school program.)

CJ then referenced the PD for this school year.  (This is going to be in our PD?)

There is training on this during the first week back and free to staff.  

TQ day will be about this stuff - Donna Porter and someone named D.J.  This is specific for secondary. James was describing an elementary program.  

Courtney asked if there are  some students that this doesn’t work on.   James said that she does it differently than the staff members and not all were trained and so it wasn’t implemented well. James said her mindset is different than the teachers mindset.  She said she really listens to the child and gives them the time to calm. Courtney asked if everybody got the training, would it work? James - yes. She is having a problem hiring staff and getting them trained in time for school year.  James has 7 more people to interview to fill vacancies is the PIECES program. Courtney hopes it works since he is the biggest complainer about discipline. She uses this policy at home. Bross thanked her for sharing a personal story. Bross asked if there was an opportunity for parental training. James said there is a parent book and seminar.

PBIS 

Christina Larken and Nina Zaiser asked admin to do a presentation about something they learned when they took to classes this summer.  They then did a Powerpoint presentation that addressed the following question: How can we make a positive impact on behavior program? Larkin said there were discipline problems in the District but that Sunnyside didn’t have a problem.  She asked if everyone could think about a time that a teacher made them feel negative about something? And changed the question to positive. Then they instructed everyone to turn and talk with someone about the positive experience.

They said that empathy and relationships are what happens in the positive experience.  They said it is about being proactive and not reactive. It is about consciousness not consequences.  It’s all about building relationships.  

A House is Not A Home was the course they took. Larkin then described some stuff in the course.  They learned that more kids are hungry than in the past. They met with Coen to talk about this issue and he is working on it.  Reynolds is going looking at everyone in our district eating free because our district is so poor. Zaiser talked about a sharing table for left over packaged food.  Larkin and Zaiser are working on writing a plan to do this. Chris Roberts said that someone else in the district is working on it. Robberts asked about how big a program they were thinking of and whether they would form a nonprofit.  They weren’t sure.

They learned that relationships are important.  

Zaiser then read a slide titled  Breaking the Cycle: School to Prison Pipeline (This was the second class they took).  It stressed the importance of relationships and knowing what is going on with the child.  Courtney said that some teachers will say I’m not a social worker. They just want to teach. Conversation then broke out about whether those teachers should be in the classroom.

Larkin talked about the zero tolerance policy and that SROs should only be used for police stuff and not piddly stuff.  

Shipp said the SRO at the high school tried to build relationships with students.  Referenced John Stern as an example of a good SRO. Larkin was excited to know we are using SROs correctly in our district. 

Then they went to a presentation on PBIS.  Stressed the importance of talking to students.   Larkin modeled how to talk to a student. Zaiser modeled a negative teacher.  Larkin then said even what she did was not correct and she could modify it to make it better.  

Larkin then talked about restorative practices and conscious discipline.  She suggested morning meetings, talking circles, and dialogue circles with students. 

Then they had everyone watch a video called Talking Circles with Edwina Smith. This was in Oakland California. They ended with a slide on positive intention - it was a quote from a principal Washington D.C. Zaiser invited them to visit the kindergarten classrooms.  Larkin concurred. 

Bross called them superstars for doing this.

CJ then pointed out a handout about health services.  A full time counselor was added to the district. He went through the list of people who help with stuff like this.  He referenced TLC positions that help with this. Coen then complimented Monica Mundt on what she does. 

The PBIS Handbook was presented by Tim Bolander.  The bottom line was inconsistency in using this. Teams were trained separately and so different building developed different plans.  In 2016 a district team was created and discrepancy were found in all levels. He referenced a handout. The most critical part is instruction.  He said that some people thought there were no consequences but that is incorrect. There were also lesson plans attached in the handout. This is for elementary.  Bross asked why the classroom was not listed on the sheet. Bolander said it may not have printed on the handout. He referenced the posters that are used. Teacher turn in a checklist after they teach the lessons on PBIS.  Different building plans resulted in different forms to be used such as minors and majors. The list he referenced was very specific to Sunnyside. When the program went forward as a district, the problem solving matrix was introduced.  He then referenced a story where a Sunnyside student hugely misbehaved as told by Tom Courtney at the last work session. It really made him mad. But he wanted to let the board know that they used this matrix on that student. Then he held up what was used by Mark Taylor at Corse.  Bross asked if the matrix will be explained to the teachers. Bolander said yes. He also said that they were inconsistent on what goes into IC. Only majors will go into IC. He said the ODR form is all consistent but Chris Richards has a full sheet instead of a half sheet. Both versions are three-ply so that teacher, office, and parent get a copy. These are used for majors only.  Minors are managed by the teacher and not the office. He then talked about recognition for good behavior being a part of PBIS. He gave examples of prizes. He talked about how this works with bus drivers. Shipp said that transportation does a good job of letting the high school know about issues on the bus.

Hatteberg asked him about training students and teachers on this so its consistent.  Bolander and Richards then gave examples of what they do. Mark Taylor explained how he did it.  

Coen asked Lacy to check teacher attendance against the audit.  He thought that maybe teachers missed the training. Hatteberg asked about new students.  Richards said he used a video for new students but it needs to be updated to work for all elementary buildings.  Bolander said they use data to determine if parts of PBIS need to be retaught based on the behaviors. Bolander talked about bus behavior.  He said the key is teaching correct behavior. Bolander explain the pyramid of MTSS and how it is used. Bolander said there is a need of a district team.  I left at 6:00 PM and the meeting was still going on.