LIBERTY-BENTON LOCAL SCHOOLS

MONDAY DECEMBER 17, 2007

BOARD OF EDUCATION OFFICE 9190 CO. RD. 9, FINDLAY OHIO

REGULAR BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING 6:00 P.M.

 STRATEGIC PLANNING WORK SESSION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING

 

I.                    Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance ……………………………………………Jeff Shadle, Board President

II.                 Recognition of Visitors

III.               Approval of minutes from the Monday, November 19, 2007 regular and special board of education meeting.

IV.              Communications and Discussion

NEOLA – Second Reading, Proposed Policies

Mr. Gerken, District Overview of Value-Added

V.                 Principals’ Reports

Brian Burkett, Bruce Otley, Brenda Frankart

VI.              Treasurer’s Report ………………………………………………………………Lisa Dobbins

VII.            Superintendent’s Report ……………………………………………………….Dennis Recker

VIII.         New Business

A.     Approve Consent Agenda, to include:

1.      Listing of bills, expenditures, and investments through 11/30/07, and monthly financial report of the Treasurer.

                   2.    Accept $2430 from eTech Ohio for the FY 2008 Professional Development Grant.

3.   Approve membership in OSBA for calendar year 2008.

                   4.    Approve the following extra-curricular positions:

Jim Rucki, Head Baseball Coach

Susan Haseley, Technical Director for Spring Musical

                   5    Accept the resignation of Dennis L. Recker, Superintendent of Schools, effective July 31, 2009

                   6.  Approve Jade Kuhn as teachers aide on “as needed” basis

B.     Approve the following useful lives effective July 1, 2006

Land Improvements                             20 years

Buildings & Building Improvements    20 – 109 years

Furniture, Fixtures, & Equipment        5 – 40 years

Vehicles`                                             10 – 15 years

C.     Suspend rules of local board of educations regarding policy approval, to approve as required by    

Ohio Statute, Policy 5517.01, “Bullying & Other Forms of Aggressive Behavior”

D.     Appoint president protem for January organizational meeting

 

      IX.        Other Business

X.                 Executive Session

XI.              Adjournment

 

 

LIBERTY-BENTON LOCAL SCHOOLS

DENNIS L. RECKER, SUPERINTENDENT

December 2007 DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION REPORT

 

  1. Andre Washington, chief negotiator for OAPSE has asked if we’d consider beginning negotiations early.  He has 11 contracts to negotiate, and was hoping we might help reduce this “bottleneck”.
  2. Sometimes we need to look at how we provide greater opportunities to our students.  We have post-secondary and concurrent enrollment programs in place which are available to any of our qualifying students, based on the college’s criteria.  I just came across an out of county school (highly regarded, but not a US News awardee), that had 233 of its juniors and seniors taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses in 2006-07.  75 of these students (32%) took the final AP exam for college credit in 145 subject areas.  125 of 145, or 86%, achieved a qualifying score (3,4, or 5) for college credit.  However, only 45 of 233 students (18%) achieved college credit.  188 students received nothing.  This is why we’re focusing on concurrent enrollment, where we hopefully have greater than 90% of our students who participate, receive college credit.  I’d like to think we have success be the norm, rather than the exception.
  3. I’ve been informed that, regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act of 2004, Liberty-Benton has been designated as a school that “Needs Assistance”.  This designation is based on seven of 20 “indicators” that must be met.  We failed to meet one (1) of those 20, “annual yearly progress”, or AYP.  There are 788 Ohio school districts being monitored, and 663, or 84%, shared this designation of “Needs Assistance”.  Since this is based on 2005-06 data we saw this coming, based on the No Child Left Behind criteria, and we took the initiative of expanding our instructional staff and administrative oversight  (ESC additional services with Mr. Ward) in these areas to see if we can move to the “Meets Requirements” side, even though the “cards are stacked against us”. Two additional indicators are being added next year, and frankly, very few schools have yet to react to the difficult path being laid out before them.  We responded (added inclusion staff (06-07), curriculum coordination (07-08), and curriculum extension specialists (07-08), and I’m anxious to see next year’s results, which we’ll get in November of 2008.  Then in November, 2009, we should see if adding coordination and extension helps.
  4. The Ohio Department of Education has been able to finalize some data for 2006-07.  Since we tend to dwell on cost, I looked at the other nine Ohio schools most like us, to compare how we spend our money. From an administrative cost perspective, we were the lowest district (10 of 10) at 11.3% administrative costs per pupil, with the range of cost being 11.3% to 15.3%.  Instructionally, we rank  fifth (5 of 10) in this category, at 56.6% instructional cost per pupil.  The range was 52.2% to 60.5%, with the average instructional cost being 56.25% per pupil.

     

    The 10 Ohio schools most like us, based on ODE criteria, and in rank order are as follows.

     

    School                                   Instructional per pupil                  Administrative

    LB                                                     56.6%                                     11.3%

    Huron City                                        55.6%                                      12.3%

    Bluffton Exempted                           54.6%                                      11.5%

    Newbury Local                                  53.6%                                     14.1%

    Pleasant Local                                    58.7%                                     13.1%

    Fairbanks Local                                  52.2%                                     12.7%

    Lakeview Local                                  55.5%                                     15.3%

    Berlin-Milan Local                             59.5%                                     11.6%

    Berkshire Local                                   53.0%                                     14.5%

    Woodmore Local                                59.0%                                      13.4%

    Buckeye Local                                    60.5%                                      11.9%

 

  1. We’ve been asked to help create a 5 year master plan for Millstream Career and Technology Institute.  This is gratifying in that we’re looking at combining career education with higher levels of learning, which was first presented here at LB with our agriculture post-secondary options program.
  2. The latest tri-folds from “The Board” list the five main performance indicators a school board should monitor.  They include a. student performance, b. student engagement in extra and co-curricular activity, c. rate of staff turnover, professional development, and investment in improving organizational leadership, d. tracking budget reserves in terms of percentage devoted to salaries (sound familiar?), and e. condition and maintenance of facilities.
  3. The Ohio School Facilities Commission presented me a “short list” of firms to become construction management if we move forward with creating new facilities.  It looks like we’re one of 13 potential construction projects statewide.  Also, we’ve gotten word of a “1/3 rule” to contain cost of renovation for newer buildings (high school).  That could be up to $4,000,000 of our proposed project.  We’ll see what happens.
  4. NOW FOR SOME GREAT NEWS….U.S. News and World Report released its first ever detailed analysis of national school performance to determine the top performing high schools in the nation. (Actually there were 1591 schools receiving the award)  Nonetheless, the authors, as you can see in the accompanying articles, are really looking at all elements of the school experience to determine what a great school might look like.  68 of 820 Ohio high schools were honored, and we were one of the 68. In northwest Ohio, Ottawa Hills, Miller City, Coldwater, and LB were able to meet the multiple criteria to ascertain high performance.  I copied the list and added some data, including the cost per pupil by district and by award category, along with the median income by household, which gives you an idea of the level of commitment, as a percentage of income, made to public education.  We were 64 of 68 in cost per pupil, but 30 of 68 in median household income, and 45 of 68 in cost per pupil as a per cent of median income.  I then did the same for Hancock County.  This award also validates what LB has been doing in terms of providing a high quality education, and again demonstrates how we are “ahead of the curve” in the use of data, how we use this information to make ourselves better, and how we utilize personnel to formulate instruction.
  5. The five attachments from “U.S. News and World Report” are:
    1. “America’s Best High Schools”
    2. “Shooting for the Academic Stars”
    3. “The Ranking Formula”
    4. “What Matters Most in Measuring”
    5. “The Ohio List of High Performers”

           What is compelling about this study is that there is no political agenda, or any

      agenda for that matter, other than to determine academic performance based on  

      student growth.  We’ve been clamoring for this, and a third party has now been

      able to quantify and qualify our performance.  However, we’re still “ahead of the 

      game” with our use of data and developing our needed personnel, plus the             

      eventual construction of a longitudinal “value-added” reporting system, using data

      in a manner similar to what U.S. News and World Report has done.

  1. As I studied the data provided by U.S. News and World Report, and compared     our performance to the other northwest Ohio schools, I was really struck by a piece of data that made this award even more meaningful.  Not only did we have high performance, but we also had a student population which we serve, not found in the other three schools, that of over disadvantaged students.  Again, this speaks to our culture of learning and how we operate a system where we don’t just expect high performance, but provide academic rigor distinctions of extra-curricular activities (relationship) and our continual push to working with institutions of higher learning  (relevancy).  Frankly, though, at this point, I don’t really know of a “metric” that can be utilized to measure this, other than our anecdotal information.  I do believe that we can have this metric created over the course of this next year, if I can get the “LB model” of a “student  value added” tool that utilizes our IOWA, CoGat, PLAN, and ACT results.
  2. The Ohio legislature created a law requiring all boards of education to adopt a policy student to student in bullying, to be in force on or before December 31, 2007.  We received the model policy in November and I asked Brenda to lead the required meeting of the community (29 participants) again, a state requirement to provide a final draft copy.  Enclosed is the final version of the policy, 5517.01 now ready for board approval.  Interestingly, we’ve had similar policies in place (3362/4362) since 1993, but this statute requires this specifically for students, while the other policies affect the rest of the organization.
  3. Attached is a copy of a letter for Senator Buehrer.
  4. We had 100% of our teachers meet the state of Ohio’s definition of “highly qualified” for the 2006-2007 school year. Interestingly, we are seeing Ohio  change the definition of qualifications, and some schools will see staff who’ve been “highly qualified” the past four years,  not be highly qualified next year (2008-2009).  Also, we have staff with 12 hour certificates who exceed the state and federal definition of “highly qualified” regarding education and experience, yet will not meet the state and/or federal definition.  Looking ahead, I’ve already   contacted ODE, and have addressed this concern with them.  I am asking that they revisit their current rules, specifically for our 12 hour certificated staff.
  5. Three construction management firms are being considered by the Ohio School Facilities Commission to work with us on the potential OSFC project. They are Barton/Malow, Richard L. Bowen and Associates, and Gilbane Construction Managers.  I’m also scheduling a community meeting date for Monday evening, January 14th at 7:00 pm, which will be led by the Buehrer Group, to get community input.  We will host this session at the high school cafeteria.
  6. Attached is another letter from Senator Buehrer.  As you can see, with his being Vice-Chair of Energy and Public Utilities, having one of his constituent districts recognized is very positive.
  7. We had a productive session at the Hancock County ESC regarding the development of a common school calendar for the next two school years.  We need to conduct a final “tweaking” by adding an additional two hour delay for collaboration and adding an additional “staff only” day for work and/or staff development.  We’ll adopt the calendar early next year (2008).
  8. Pleases note my letter of resignation effective July 31, 2009.  I have given this a lot of thought, and if we’re to maintain our stature as “One of America’s Best…”, this is the best way to go before I get too old.
  9. I am beginning to see a negative financial impact on LB, due to the flooding of this past August.  With homes considered uninhabitable, students are now technically “homeless”.  This allows the child to pretty much attend any district they wish.  We’re seeing some displaced and homeless children, residing in LB, but attending another school or schools as open enrollment students.  Therefore, we now lose both local and state share dollars, and in effect, are subsidizing these children to attend elsewhere.  I made an appeal to the Division of School Finance at that we be held “harmless” in cost to us (the state share of dollars should follow the children), but to no avail.  Sometime, through tragedy, one begins to see the truth.  This drives home the point that while it was said open enrollment was to provide better education for students, it was, in fact, a form of “school choice”, which was a political issue and not educational.  However, we must abide by the law of the land.
  10. We’ve had a student teacher, Jade Coon, who graduated this past weekend.  She is in the process of receiving her teaching certificate.  We need her to serve as a substitute in music.  We’ll hire her now at aide rate, and then under sub rate upon final credentialing.
  11. I saw the accompanying article on the first page of the “Putnam County Sentinel”.  It was a “rush” seeing us portrayed in such a positive light.
  12. Looking ahead a few years, we currently provide all day kindergarten for our children.  With tighter state funding on the horizon, some schools are using a sliding scale for tuition (based on 2007-2008 state dollars).  Full tuition for half day is $2,530.  Students qualifying for reduced meals receive a 25% waiver, and students who qualify for free lunch receive a 50% waiver.  This scale (or something similar) was required for schools who charged kindergarten tuition.  This information is presented as you have a record of what some schools currently do, in case we find ourselves in a financial “pinch” and can’t maintain tax payer support.  All of this stems from an Ohio Attorney General’s ruling.
  13. I have enclosed a copy of a “Code of Ethics” published by the Ohio School Board Association.  This helps us to focus on what is important.

 

 

HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Liberty-Benton Board of Education Meeting

December 17, 2007

6:00 P.M.

 

1.)    Nation’s Best High Schools 2008 -  We have been very excited and proud of being recognized in this year’s U.S. News & World Report’s recognition of the Nation’s Best High Schools.  I know you have been provided with the information and probably seen the article already in the Courier.  The information is also highlighted on our website right now, and we have a school celebration planned for Wednesday this week.  We will be celebrating a Pride Day on Wednesday with “Be Proud of Your School Day.”  Students will dress up in their nicest clothes for school that day and enjoy a special cake reception during the lunch periods in the cafeteria.  I have arranged for several parents to serve the cakes during lunch, and we will have a new banner proudly displayed in the cafeteria as well.

2.)    Course Description Updates -  We are just starting to look at updating our course descriptions booklet for next school year.  Each department is reviewing their curriculum at this time for any necessary revisions.  Scheduling will likely begin in February.

3.)    Musical -  Auditions were held this past Wednesday and Thursday for the Spring musical, “Grease,” and I am happy to report that we had 82 students audition for parts!  I truly believe this is the most students ever!  We are looking forward to the Spring production.

4.)    Senior OGT Results From The October Test -  The state allows us to preview the OGT scores early for the seniors so we know how to proceed with them.  As it turns out, we made terrific progress with this testing group in October.

·         We had 5 seniors taking a total of 7 tests.

·         2 of these seniors are on IEP’s.

·         2 of these seniors moved into LB during high school.

·         Out of these 7 tests, 4 of them were passed successfully this round.

·         3 of these 5 seniors have now passed all of their OGT’s.

·         Of the two remaining seniors who still have sections to pass, one regular education student needs to pass the math section, and she only missed it by one point this time!  Her best score yet!  She is clearly capable of passing it in March, and we will continue to work with her.  The second student is on an IEP and can be exempted from his remaining two sections, math and social studies, if necessary.

5.)    First Semester Exams -  Our first semester exams will be given on January 17 & 18.

6.)    Collaboration Time -  Our December 4th collaboration time was spent completing curriculum extension activities within our departmental areas.  I am quite impressed with our curriculum progress so far this year.  Thank you to our staff for all of their efforts!

7.)    Salvation Army Canned Food Drive & Winter Fun Day -  Thank you to the Z-Club members once again for organizing our annual Salvation Army canned food drive and to Mr. Brandon Cupples, Mr. Justin Shank, and Mrs. Deb Morella for helping to supervise the project.  Our building goal this year was to collect 7,000 pounds of food, and we successfully collected 7,902 pounds.  This was up 800 pounds over last year’s collection, and as a reward, student council will now conduct our annual afternoon of Winter Fun Day activities on Friday, December 21st, for all students and staff.  Many new events have been added this year, and we are looking forward to an afternoon filled with competitive fun between the faculty team and various grade levels.  The activities clearly offer something for everyone!

8.)    Coats For Christmas -  Our Hancock Youth Leadership juniors ran the annual Coats for Christmas drive in our building.  We collected a ton of coats this year!  I thank our HYL students for coordinating the efforts so well!

9.)    Grant Money -  I received a nice phone call offering us $1,153 in grant money for our high school STRIDES program.  We just need to submit our request for how we will choose to spend the money, and we will receive the money from Hancock County’s Learn and Serve grant program.

10.)                        Observations & Evaluations -  Our high school observations and evaluations are a very time consuming process, but they are going exceptionally well.  I am very relieved to have our assistant principal, Ben Gerken, helping with some of the observations.  I don’t know how I would ever physically get them all done single-handedly!  We make a great team, and I know we both are continually impressed with our teachers in action!  I’ve said it before, but I truly mean it, when I say that I would put our high school staff against any other school’s staff any day.  Our LB staff is exceptional, and we are truly deserving, in my opinion, as the Nation’s Best!

11.)                        Congratulations to Coach Pat Wagner -  I know our Girls’ Track and Cross Country Coach, Pat Wagner, doesn’t want a big fuss made about him receiving this award, but I do want everyone to know about this special recognition as it is well deserved.  He has been selected to receive the Ed Barker Award at the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches annual convention in February.  Ed Barker was one of the founding fathers of the Coaches Association, and it is the most prestigious award handed out by the Coaches Association.  The banquet will be held at the Columbus Hilton at Easton on February 1, 2008.  Congratulations, Pat!!!

12.)                        November 19th Service Projects -  On November 19th, the Monday before Thanksgiving break, our high school students completed several worthwhile service projects, and I know their support and efforts were greatly appreciated.  We had a bus full of students volunteer at the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library in the morning and a second bus full of students volunteer at the library in the afternoon.  This effort was helpful to the library as they were scrambling to re-open after the flood.  Also, that day, a group of our students helped to run the Jump Rope for Heart event at the elementary as well as help with the bake sale and Wolfie’s nuts distribution.  Our students are actively participating in service every week, and sometimes, it seems like every day!

13.)                        FFA Service Project -  Our LB FFA built a terrific playhouse that was raffled off to benefit Special Kids Therapy.  Several area schools participated by building playhouses for this special cause, but I must say that our LB project was by far the largest and most well done playhouse.  It was on display at Brinkman’s Country Store until it was raffled off on November 24th.  Thank you to the members of FFA for their hard work!

14.)                        Upcoming Events:

December 19              Holiday Concert

Dec. 22 – Jan. 2           Winter Break

January 3                     Classes Resume

January 7                     Speech Team Dessert Theater

January 11                   Eagle Update Deadline for February

January 15                   Relay For Life Planning Meetings, 5:30-7:30

January 16                   Financial Aid Night, 7:00-9:00

January 17 & 18          First Semester Exams

January 25                   HS Chicken BBQ

January 31                   Academic Boosters Meeting, 6:30

February 15 & 16        Musical, “Grease,” 7:30

February 17                 Musical, “Grease,” 2:00