Van Wijk Blog

Home of the Collierville Schools Citizen's Report

Archive for category School Board Meeting Notes

Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board business meeting February 9, 2016

Feb 9

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Regular business meeting. Mr. Vaughan absent.

Special recognition – Collierville Middle School – Mr. Jones presenting:

  • POM team and Hip Hop – 2nd and 3rd place respectively at Nationals.
  • Fire Prevention Poster; state-wide winners at 6th and 7th grade. Note: 7 of 15 state winners came from Collierville Schools.
  • March 12 at Morton Museum reception and art exhibition 10am-noon.
  • CMS Robotics teams – 5 teams. Won 4 awards past weekend, in second year competing.
  • CMS Orchestra awards and all-west honors; St Louis annual competition
  • CMS Band – all West honors

Special Recognition – several students with perfect writing score in TCAP – 4 in all categories.

Public Comments – none

December monthly financial statements up for approval – unanimous

Chairman’s report:

  • Lots of activity in Nashville, including voucher bill; up for vote Thursday 9am; CS disapproves of diverting public money away from public schools. Any parent feeling strongly about this should contact their legislators.
  • March Literacy Luau March 3rd at CMS. Including free pizza at 5:30.

Superintendent update:

  • CHS Student liaison – Evan Craft.
  • March business meeting 1 pm on a Wednesday due to certification process
  • School audits; 3 perfect scores; rest satisfactory
  • District Learning Day Friday (no school)
  • Rezoning Committee – parent meeting being planned Feb 18; 6 pm CHS. Potentially affected students notified by mail today; website update in the morning.
  • TNReady – moving to paper and pencil for the rest of the year. Thursday Dept of Ed will provide guidance on testing window. Lot of hard work and preparation went into getting ready for this within CS. Recognition all around despite the third party problems. Net result – more instructional time to prepare.
  • Engineers and town engineers working on site plan and design for CHS site. March Planning Commission targeted.

Dr Dyer Digital Learning Update. Presentation available online.

  • Various committees in place to research and decide on 1:1 options for Collierville Schools.
  • Picture in presentation shows iPad but that student is also using paper and pencil – goal is blended learning that will lean on traditional techniques and incorporate technology.
  • March/April final recommendations due to school board
  • This Friday’s DLD will start the development of the staff in the digital learning journey
  • Comparison between Lenovo and Apple.
  • Specialization by Apple into educational support and software is superior to what is available on a Lenovo platform. Cost is remarkably similar.
  • Estimated cost to upgrade network environments – $800k (no bids yet)
  • Estimated device costs – $2.5M
  • Cost estimate shows grades 4 through 7 – with iPad as a example device
  • Apple will be presented as the vendor of choice in the future recommendation. Based in part on long history of using Apple equipment in classrooms.
  • Preparing teachers will be highest priority.
  • Question from audience: estimated savings from no longer using/needing textbooks? Not yet estimated – but savings will be realized.

Student Liaison update/comments. Providing student-perspective view of CHS. Academic achievements, extracurricular activities, support by staff for students.

Consent Agenda: 3 updates as discussed in January working session: graduation requirements, cardiac arrests, budget amendment. Approved.

Adjourned.

 

Tags: ,

Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board business meeting January 12, 2016

Jan 12

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Mr Vaughan sitting in as chair for Mr Hansen.

Special recognition for Sycamore Elementary’s “Chorus Lions.”

Proclamation of Jan 24-30 Collierville Town ‘School Board Appreciation week.’

Emily Russell recognized for getting the recognition as Outstanding Teacher by Tennessee Educational Technology Association. Supports Tara Oaks and Collierville Elementary schools.

Public Comments by Brock Neal – requesting clarification on school (teacher) requirement on hotel stay downtown for special recognition program.

Vice Chair report:

  • State legislature about to convene. Public to keep an eye on what is going on, and to reach out to legislators for concerns.

Superintendent report:

  • Happy New Year – back in routine
  • Getting ready for TNReady in Feb
  • Getting ready for next school year online registration
  • Non-resident enrollment application window Feb 22-March 18
  • January 26 meeting will see update on CHS project
  • Accreditation visit preparation in progress for March
  • Budgeting process under way
  • Rezoning committee met earlier today; recommendations under review by staff; public meeting will be scheduled

Legislative liaison selection. Mr Cox nominates the absent Mr Hansen – but Mr A. declines on his behalf. Mr Hansen recommended Ms Messerly – nominated and approved.

Resolution to request annexation by town of CHS site. Approved.

Compulsory attendance release – approved.

 

Tags: ,

Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board working session and business meeting December 8, 2015

Dec 8

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Working session to review the construction management agreement. Full board attendance.

General discussion around the process and procedures to get the construction efforts into full gear.

FlintCo and Linkous in attendance, as well as Fleming and Renaissance Group.

Mike Marshall, board attorney, presenting:

Board now owns the property.

CM agreement subject to final ‘guaranteed maximum price’ amendment, due in early spring.

High level overview: cements terms and conditions for FlintCo and Linkous. Puts construction management team in charge of the effort.

KV: boilerplate document used with supplemental conditions. This is not a unique document to start with, and it was then supplemented for CS.

Fleming: amount of work completed in past 12 months is unprecedented. 30% design plan detail completed. CM will review and provide feedback against budget. Should be noted the CM companies have already spent countless hours on the project.

Hybrid steel frame (all but classrooms) and load bearing concrete (classrooms) for building.

Construction will take 2 years from start to finish. Must be done by May 2018.

Geothermal vs traditional HVAC – investment for geothermal is much too high, and state-mandated restrictions because of the aquifer.

KV: must ensure decisions are not made without board input. Design team is making assumptions around what the board wants without timely board input. Must build in a mechanism to get input. Community’s ownership in the building. How to make steps more visible. Staff will develop additional ways to raise visibility and solicit input.

As part of road improvements, the town may be shutting down Shelby drive in front of the construction site – only access from Sycamore. This will also add security to the construction site.

Up next: business meeting. Supporting documents are linked here.

Significant crowd with Bailey Station Elementary’s presentation of some of their choirs.

Chair report:

  • New CA reporter assigned to Collierville
  • Board field trip to Huntsville to view blended learning at a school system – 1 on 1 technology in place
  • Moving forward with partnership in education with Chamber of Commerce. Not just financial, but also mentoring, internships, community involvement with schools, etc
  • Executed land purchase – approximately 150 acres, which sounds like a lot, but will be well used. Terrific opportunity to have that land. High School project moving forward.

Superintendent report:

  • Collierville High SGA recognition for Angel Tree effort
  • InfoSnap for online registration. Same system as Bartlett this year
  • Calendar for next year
  • Audit report nearing completion
  • Administrative review of nutrition services – by state
  • Strategic compensation study partnering with Bartlett – will ensure financial sustainability
  • Rezoning committee resuming in January. Early spring for any recommended changes
  • Digital Learning Committee starting
  • School board liaison for schools – voted on by faculty

Officer elections for school board – first meeting in December. Chair and Vice Chair. Cox: nomination of Mark Hansen to continue to serve in chairman position. Approved. Cox nomination of Kevin Vaughan to continue in Vice Chair. Approved.

Policy update on board meetings to more liberally allow photography and recording of board meetings. No reason to restrict, and meetings already on public access channel thanks to CHS TV.

CM agreement discussion prior to approval. Highlights purpose of agreement to be voted on. Introduced firm representatives present.

Approved.

Meeting Adjourned.

Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board working session and business meeting November 10, 2015

Nov 10

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Regular business meeting.

Collierville Elementary’s 1st grade in attendance for special presentation. “I am a Dragon, and you’re gonna hear me ROAR!” Mrs McConnell (CES principal) suggests this song (a minor adjustment from Katy Perry’s Roar) may just have to become Collierville Schools’ unofficial anthem.

In attendance: Mayor Joyner, Aldermen Worley, Stamps, Fraser, and some town staff. Welcomed by Chairman Hansen.

No public comments.

Approval of financial statements for Sept 2015.

2015 Tenure list is at the bottom of this set of documents.

Chairman’s report deferred to Superintendent:

  • Updated presentation on CHS
  • CHS meetings with staff later this week

Scott Fleming, Fleming Architects. Lots of work behind the scenes on planning with construction management companies, etc. Quick visual update.

Link to presentation.

Site plan:

  • 87-90 acres of 150+ developed to contain cost, yet allow for growth.
  • 438,000 sq ft facility
  • Some trees will be allowed to remain on site – working with Cartwright (seller) on that.
  • 1500 parking places with room for expansion, expecting 1200 students to be driving.
  • 4000 seats in football stadium; parking on grass for overflow.
  • Sports turf in football field, rest of the athletic fields are real grass.
  • band field is close to fine arts part of school.

Floor plan walk through, Sal Feraci:

  • 5-wing design as shown in previous presentation.
  • Guidance offices are middle of academic wings, rather than admin.
  • 1000-seat auditorium
  • 3000-seat varsity gym
  • Large interior courtyard in the center of the school, which will bring lots of light into cafeteria, library, etc.
  • Travel time concerns (Question from Vaughan): 1000 feet from upper right (science) to bottom left (gym)
  • Cafeteria will have (only) 3 lunch shifts
  • CHS today <10% using lockers – not having lockers will speed up movement in the school.
  • 14 foot corridors
  • CTE space (vocational instruction) will include labs and auto repair bays
  • Exterior throws back to historic high school look, combined with lots of glass

Bentonville High (Arkansas) is a model that was referenced (4500 students)

Board is looking for breakdown of cost into logical components. This will allow board to make choices, and possible corporate sponsorship opportunities.

Note from Mr. A: these are plans and designs – subject to change with additional input and review.

Consent Agenda:

  • Board Calendar
  • Final 2015-2016 budgets

Request for waiver of compulsory attendance (exception process) for a student after due diligence – approved.

2015-2016 text book committee – timeline in meeting materials – approved

Meeting Adjourned.

Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board working session and business meeting October 6, 2015

Oct 6

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Working session before the regular business meeting in order to review the CHS Education Program Design. This is the current draft of the school plan as put together based on the stakeholder input collected over the past year.

The presentation can be found on the One Town One School website.

Excerpts from the presentation:

  • Cafeteria sized at 900 students.
  • Gym will seat 3000
  • Auditorium will seat 1000 (compare to around 600 today)
  • 150 seats in Library community room
  • Main bus entry is middle academic wing. Guidance corridor (middle of the 5 academic wings), which is the only single-story wing of the 5. SPED wing has direct access to nearby parking, and is going to be twice the size of current SPED offerings.
  • School is designed to 3000 student level, at 25:1 student:teacher ratio. State BEP is 30:1. Building will accommodate more than 3000.
  • Expansion area: make academic wings longer.
  • School security/safety concerns: security consultants will be engaged. Internal courtyard is an asset here. Secure campus plan. Current code drives most of the weather and earthquake considerations.
  • In order to make sure the design accommodate adequate hallway traffic, the design team stood in the hallways during class changes at CHS.
  • Separating 9th grade from other grade levels? Academic teams better off with integration by subject.
  • Library will have room for 21,000 volumes.
  • Not a lot of 3000 student schools in this part of the country to borrow ideas from.
  • Current design is 40% green space. Room for expansion.
  • 5000 seat stadium
  • 1200 parking spaces (not including faculty parking)

Summary by board member Cox: We want this to be our place to be proud of – operative word to be ‘wow’

{working session adjourned}

October 6, 2015 business meeting.

Full board present. About 2 dozen in audience, including Aldermen Stamps and Fraser.

Special recognition for Schilling Farms Middle School – Principal Jeff Jones:
Scintillating presentation: SFMS has 55 clubs covering every possible topic imaginable. A (growing) list is available on the SFMS website. Detailed presentation by Technology Student Association (TSA) advisor.
Closing comments by Mr Jones and board discussing the importance and academic and social benefits from extracurricular activities.

One public comment about support for the arts and asking consideration for improved school start times.

Approval of August financial statements.

Chairman’s report:

CHS Football beat Arlington and Houston.

CHS Mountain Bike Club active and doing well.

Reference to CHS homecoming student discipline issue – thankless job for admin.

Community feedback is generally optimistic, growing pride in school system, sense of optimism.

 

Superintendent Report:

Thanks for staff and community support during family emergency.
Reminder next week is fall break – but central office will be open.
Thanks for Race for the Ville support.
STEM cohorts got iPads this week. Board is working towards 1:1 technology in near future.
Middle School rezoning committee to be reconvened. Initial recommendation in the spring was to defer to this fall… Which is now. Rezoning will look at third middle school @ current CHS location.
Cooperation with Bartlett on evaluating pay strategies.

 

Approval of resolution accepting 120 surplus police department 2-way radios.

Approval of budget updating the general funds budget.

Approval of wellness policy

Approval of final change order to CHS roofing project (closing out the funding allocation). 846,000 approved – $7,100 below budget. Leaves $100,000 in capital for use by 6/30/15. Roof is holding up to rains experienced. Additional roof repairs outside new roof area were included in work.

 

{meeting adjourned}

Tags: , ,