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Carteret
County Public School System
October 4, 2011
Attending the meeting: Chair Al Hill, Vice Chairman Cathy Neagle and
Board members David Carr, Adele Collins, June Fulcher, Perry Harker
and Shelley Sylivant. Chair Al Hill welcomed West Carteret High School students and members of the Teacher Cadet program Becca Rollings and Xiao Jing Yang to the meeting. Chair Hill remembered Anthony Simmons, a Croatan High School student who died in an accident earlier in the month. Perry Harker extended sympathy to the family of Eddie Tootle, a former East Carteret High school teacher. Mr. Tootle died October 3.
Vice
Chair Cathy Neagle led the invocation. Perry Harker made the motion to amend the Consent Agenda by removing Item H. LEA Mileage Reimbursement Rate for 2011-2012. David Carr provided the second and all members voted aye.
David Carr made the motion to approve the agenda with the amended
Consent Agenda.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA
The
Consent Agenda items were: B. Personnel Matters; C. Student Transfers; D. Advisory Council Recommendations; E. Fund Raiser Requests; F. Field Trip Requests;
G.
Resolution for Designation of Applicant’s Agent (FEMA); and Shelley Sylivant made the motion to approve the Consent Agenda as amended. Adele Collins provided the second. Cathy Neagle said she had a concern about the FBLA Leadership Conference and the West Carteret High School students missing what she considered an extra day of class. She asked Dr. Novey to explain his findings. Dr. Novey said students would travel by Amtrak from Wilson to Philadelphia, PA, to attend the conference. They would also visit three top notch business colleges in the area. Dr. Novey said Amtrak offers a ticket discount to students visiting college campuses as part of their travels and those discounts were significant. Additionally, the Amtrak departures on Sunday were limited. All members voted aye.
In the request presented to the Board, Dr. Novey wrote that $340,000 of the $500,000 would be used to pay some teacher assistants/bus drivers for the additional time required to complete their jobs. Dr. Novey noted that because teacher assistants are needed to drive students to school and then home, limited funding does not allow for them to be doing what we consider their primary job – working with students in classrooms. Dr. Novey said the remaining $160,000 of the $500,000 held in contingency would provide partial funding for substitute pay. Dr. Novey noted that the County Commissioners stated a couple prerequisites required before the release of the contingency funds would be considered. One was a verification of where the school system stood financially. Dr. Novey said an external financial review had taken place. In his written request presented to the Board at the meeting, he noted that Anderson, Smith & Wike PLLC indicated that the school system had spendable money in the amount of $772,000 as of June 30, 2011. Since that date, Dr. Novey said the amount had been reduced to $310,000 because of expenses incurred. Another prerequisite was to develop an agreed upon format for quarterly financial reports. Dr. Novey noted that he and Finance Officer David Millush met with County Manager Russell Overman and County Finance Officer Dee Meshaw, and a document has been developed. June Fulcher made a motion to request the Carteret County Board of Commissioners to release the $500,000 set aside in contingency to pay some teacher assistants/bus drivers for the additional time required to complete their jobs and to provide partial funding for substitute pay.
Shelley Sylivant provided the second. Dr. Novey stressed that receiving this funding would enable teacher assistants to stay in the classroom helping students instead of having to clock out in the middle of the school day. Mr. Millush said 20 bus drivers are being trained this week and he hoped some of those would be willing and able to drive to keep some teacher assistants in the classrooms with students. Chair Al Hill expressed concern about the issues facing the transportation of students because of the budget shortfalls. Transportation Director Lloyd Willis shared some concerns about bus transportation and shared his support of the request to the County Commissioners to provide funds to pay teacher assistants/bus drivers for the additional time required to complete their jobs. Mr. Willis said the ridership has increased. He noted the Transportation Department is funded by the state on efficiency and ridership. Mr. Lloyd said the school year started with 94 yellow school buses on the road and now there are 98 yellow school buses on the road. After the discussion, all members voted aye.
CONSIDER REVISED REQUEST TO COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO CARRYOVER CAPITAL FUNDS Finance Officer David Millush told Board members the school system was not aware of $18,280.70 when he presented the request to the Board of Education for carryover funds for capital funding at its August meeting. Mr. Millush explained that the school system’s numbers differed from the county’s numbers and, for that reason, County Finance Officer Dee Meshaw recommended the Board of Education’s request for the carryover funds be held until a complete review could take place. In the documentation Mr. Millush presented, he wrote that subsequent to their action in August to request carryover of unspent capital fund balances, it was identified that there were differences in the school system’s accounts compared to the county’s accounts that would change the amount of capital funds remaining. Mr. Millush said those differences had been carefully examined and the necessary records corrected. He said to prevent the problem from going forward, the County Finance Office has agreed to provide a copy of all county-paid invoices for entry into the school system records. Mr. Millush said based on the confirmation of the capital funds remaining, it was requested that the Board of Education’s request to carryover capital funds be changed to read as follows: Fiscal Year 2010 Carryover – Category II – Technology Replacement - $39,456.22 Category II – Equipment & Small Capital Items - $33,211.94 Fiscal Year 2011 Carryover – Category I – Painting, Planned & HVAC Repairs - $75,526.47 Category II – Technology Replacement – $0.00 Category II – Equipment & Small Capital Items - $67,743,31 TOTAL - $215,937.94 Mr. Millush stated in the documentation that he was not requesting the Board of Education approve a budget revision at this time, but he was asking the Board of Education to request the County reappropriate the categories and amounts shown above. Mr. Millush said once this revised request has been approved by the County, a budget revision for the amounts approved by the County would be presented to the Board of Education for consideration. Perry Harker made the motion to revise the request that the County Commissioners carryover (reappropriate) the unspent fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2011 capital funds in the categories and amounts for fiscal year 2012 as presented. Adele Collins provided the second. Chair Hill restated the amount totaled $215,937.94. All members voted aye.
LEADERSHIP WILL GUIDE INNOVATION IN SCHOOLS
RECEIVE MAINTENANCE UPDATE Dr. Novey noted that the maintenance department had placed motion sensors at Morehead City Primary School along with temporary data loggers to monitor time and use of rooms. Dr. Novey said the sensors were saving kilowatt hours and money for the school system.
RECEIVE BOND UPDATE The HVAC renovations in the auditorium at East Carteret High School were progressing and the work should be completed in late November. Work on Wings E and F continues. The work on the east section of Wing F will be completed by the end of November, and will then be used as swing space for the Family and Consumer Science Department while renovations to that department’s current space occurs. Those renovations should be completed by early January 2012. The upfit on the remaining area will begin in January 2012 and be completed in the spring. The roofing bid package for Smyrna Elementary School has been distributed to contractors.
COMMENTS FROM SUPERINTENDENT
Superintendent Dr. Dan Novey shared a number of comments with the
Board. Dr. Novey congratulated Director of Transportation Lloyd Willis for securing a school bus stop arm camera system at no charge to the school system. The school system is one of five in the state selected for the pilot project which is part of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. He noted that the new system provides documentation that is admissible in court. Dr. Novey noted that many of schools had Constitution Day programs and those were very important. He said the Constitution Day program at Croatan High School and the fact that teacher Colin Mayo dressed in his military uniform made an impact on student Anthony Simmons. The evening after the school program he told his family of his desire to be in the military and later that evening he died of an accidental gunshot wound. Dr. Novey saluted a number of community organizations that support the school system including the Boys & Girls Club, C4 and Communities In Schools. Dr. Novey highlighted the coming Communities In Schools fund raiser titled Dancing With Our Stars and said he would be throwing his two left feet in to try to raise money for the students of the school system.
COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS Chair Hill invited Board members to make comments. Cathy Neagle – Mrs. Neagle wished all students good luck in the school year. Adele Collins – Mrs. Collins said it was almost the end of the first nine weeks of school. She urged students to be careful and watchful of motorists around school buses. Mrs. Collins expressed her appreciation to Lloyd Willis for securing the stop arm bus safety program for the school system. Mrs. Collins expressed appreciation to the central office for working to secure the contingency funds from the County Commissioners. June Fulcher – Mrs. Fulcher thanked all those parents and community members working to support the public school system, and she expressed extra appreciation to all school system employees for working hard. She also congratulated East Carteret High School’s football team on winning the homecoming game. Perry Harker – Mr. Harker congratulated Lloyd Willis for securing the school bus camera system pilot program. Mr. Harker said Mr. Willis represented the school system well in the resulting media coverage. Shelley Sylivant – Mrs. Sylivant said teachers and all school employees are having to put in extra time, take on extra duties and work hard, and on the other end of the spectrum some people are stressed out because they do not have employment. She noted that children are feeling both ends of this and everyone needed to keep the students in mind. Mrs. Sylivant urged everyone to support Dancing With Our Stars and go online to the Communities In Schools website to cast votes. David Carr – Mr. Carr expressed sympathy to the family of Anthony Simmons. Croatan High School is planning to build a picnic pavillion in his memory. Mr. Carr congratulated West Carteret High School’s two undefeated teams as of this week – the football team and ladies tennis team. He congratulated those coaches and students. Mr. Carr also thanked coaches across the county handling the position of being bill collectors as they collect roster fees Mr. Hill expressed sympathy to the family of Anthony Simmons and the family of Eddie Tootle. Mr. Hill encouraged parents to get involved and stay involved in schools by supporting staff and volunteering. He noted the importance to have extra support in the schools. Mr. Hill said school staff members are under a lot of pressure and they need support.
REMINDERS
Shelley Sylivant provided the second and all members voted aye.
RETURN TO OPEN SESSION David Carr made the motion to return to open session. Shelly Sylivant provided the second and all members voted aye. No action was taken in open session.
ADJOURNMENT
New HiresJason Godfrey, EC Teacher, Bridges Learning Center (08/17/2011) Jennifer Griffin, Physical Therapist, Central Services (10/17/2011) (County Wide) Pamela Roberson, Business Education, Morehead Middle School (08/17/2011) Sarah Shouse, Alternative Teacher, Croatan High School (08/23/2011) Shelley Story, Math Teacher, West Carteret High School (08/17/2011) Julie Treece, EC Teacher, Morehead Middle School (10/24/2011) TransfersMeg Fulcher, fr Science Teacher, Atlantic Elementary School(08/17/2011) to Science Teacher, Beaufort Middle School Laura Leegins, fr Art Teacher, Beaufort Elementary School (08/17/2011) to Art Teacher, Morehead Primary School Ruamie Perri, fr Art Teacher, Morehead Elementary School (08/17/2011) to Art Teacher, Beaufort Elementary School
Amy
Wilkinson, fr P/T English Teacher, West Carteret High School
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