Van Wijk Blog

Summary of the School Board special called meeting.

Full board in attendance.

Approval of agenda.

Agreement for RISO lease – copiers for the district. Lease agreement. Town will be the ‘owner’ of the contract due to state law. Same provider as legacy Shelby County. These are lease purchase agreements. Includes service/maintenance. Equipment becomes property of district after the lease agreement. Approved by all board members, except Mr Cox who abstained.

Approval of Memorandum of Understanding with Partners in Education (PIE). The memorandum dictates the flow of gifted funds from the foundation into the district. Approved by full board.

Approval for Renaissance and Fleming to submit the new CHS school as TSBA School of the Year award.

Special called meeting adjourned.

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Summary of the Work Session.

Review of August financial statements. Notable: school revenue (USDA funding) not received yet. SFES can declare severe need, but is awaiting the ruling from the state.

Policy reviews – updates due to legislative and regulatory changes:

• Parental and Family Involvement – minor updates to update references to state and federal school improvement programs.
• Promotion and Retention – updates to incorporate emphasis on promotion vs retention. Addition of individual promotion plans to help avoid retention.
• Graduation Requirements – introduction of new diploma available to special education students
• Graduation Activities – expands the special recognitions available at the high school graduation ceremonies
• District Water Testing – new policy – testing for lead in drinking water in facilities built before 1998; dictates specific steps to take in case of negative findings. Includes WCMS, CES, CWES, TOES.

2019-2020 School Calendar – highlights:

• Summary of highlights available online
• Full (proposed) calendar available online
• Each School elected a representative for the committee
• 607 employees responded to survey (out of approximately 1000 employees)
• August 6 is student registration/orientation day; August 12 is first day of school for students
• 2019-20 looks mostly like the 2018-2019 calendar
• Fall break will be a week later in ’19-20; spring break will be a week later to better balance the calendar
• Winter break slightly expanded in response to employee complaints about shortened ’18-’19 calendar
• Maintains full week of no school for fall break, Thanksgiving, spring break
• Teachers will still be required to attain 18 professional development days (state law)
• Students will be in school for 175 days, which consumes the stockpiled minutes for inclement weather, leaving (only) 8
• Due to, among other things, social media feedback, parent-teacher conferences will be split to evenings in fall, daytime in spring
• It is possible there is a state ruling on testing dates that makes an adjustment to the calendar needed, but this is deemed unlikely
• Approval of calendar by state will be requested after board approval
• Municipals are likely to align again (with customary exception for Germantown)

Board Calendar for 2019; anticipating a shift to the CHS Community Room

Superintendent Update:

• School board association regional meeting being hosted at CHS on Monday
• On track to open Dragon Stadium for homecoming game
• grades 3-8 will all be paper and pencil testing, except for one field test; tests will be shorter, and reduced by one

Chairman’s update:

• CEF Classic Car Show at Central Church Saturday
• Oct 20 CEF golf tournament at Memphis National
• Oct 26 OPEB trust update from Morgan Stanley
• TSBA convention/leadership conferences first week of November – Collierville Schools will be doing several presentations

Meeting Adjourned

Please note: If you find that my updates on board business have been helpful, I request that you consider supporting my campaign to be elected to the open seat on the school board. Mrs Messerly is not seeking reelection this year. You can find more information here: https://www.facebook.com/EelcoForSchoolBoard 

Tags: Citizen's Report, Collierville Schools

Summary of the Collierville School Board Business meeting.

Above average crowd in attendance. News media in attendance from 4 TV stations.

Full board in attendance.

Special Recognition:

Collierville High School. Presentation by Principal Chip Blanchard. “This is a great time to be a Dragon.” Introduces the Freshman Mentoring Program (FMP).

FMP is intended to help freshmen get acclimated at CHS. Hallie Ross passed it right along to the students for their own presentation to the board. They introduced the top 8 freshman fears:

1. Getting Lost
2. School Dances
3. Peer Pressure
4. Class Workload
5. Appearance
6. Upperclassmen
7. Lunch Seating
8. Social Status

758 freshmen…

“The building isn’t what makes a school, it is the people inside.”

Public Comments:

Stacey Spencer – Collierville High parent and pastor at New Directions. Supporting his friend pastor Linwood Dillard. Met with principal Blanchard yesterday and felt positive about meeting, but not pleased with the school official statement. Referred to last year’s hate graffiti discussions and the promises of a taskforce to address the culture. Urges attention to a proactive culture to fight racism.

Linwood Dillard – 3rd generation resident. States things could have been handled differently yesterday, but is more concerned with the larger picture of racism experienced by his children in Collierville. Calls for diversity/sensitivity training. Believes that Collierville Schools wants to be welcoming to all, and is urging the board to be proactive about this. Will be hosting a town hall and invites the board and community to participate.

Latois Glasper (spelling unsure) – did not state address or residency – here to support Pastor Dillard. Discusses all the honors his children received in their academic and athletic careers. States he is not a Collierville resident. Talks about buying a home in Collierville 18 years ago and loved the town. Loved Collierville but his kids in schools were experiencing significant hostility, and there was not an adequate response from the school system. So he moved to Olive Branch. Calls for action

Mr Dillard (father of Linwood Dillard) speaking to support his granddaughter. Pointed out his father (age 94). Recalls when he had to ride the bus past Collierville High School to attend Mt Pisgah High School. Proud to see his grandchildren in Collierville Schools. Proud of the new school and all its opportunities and calling for support of minority community in the Collierville Schools.

Response from Mr Hansen. Read statement he posted on social media yesterday: “I can assure the people of Collierville, ALL of them, that the Collierville School Board CONDEMNS racism in all of its forms and manifestations. We also condemn the use of racist language and are committed to removing such language from use in our schools. We support the administration in its efforts to find out who wrote this vile and disgusting term, and disciplining them fully in accordance with our policies. We believe that all of our students should be treated fairly, equally, and with dignity, and will continue to work to create a culture in our school system that reflects those values.” Thanked the public speakers and assured them they were always welcome here, and that he will ensure there is continued dialog and action.

Approval of Agenda, previous meeting minutes, July financial statements.

Presentation of TNReady summary by Ms Cole. “Testing was rough last year.” State is showing commitment to improving processes for this year.

Highlights to be proud of – Collierville Schools ranking in the state:

• #2 in 3-5 ELA
• #5 in 3-5 math
• #4 in 5-8 science
• #4 in 6-8 ELA
• #10 in HS ELA
• #9 in HS Math

Breakdown in numbers shows Collierville Schools outperforming the state in almost all ‘attention demographics’ which include students with disabilities, minorities, economically disadvantaged. The economically disadvantaged are showing to be a lower performing group in the high school.

A key indicator is the growth vs previous year, and those were all over the board, but an overall average of 3 – which is considered average growth.

Mr Hansen: given the difficulties in testing this year, how valid are these scores?

Mr Aitken: that’s hard to respond to. It will have been a factor. But we know some kids started giving up after the difficulties started. Key to remember the overall top 10 rankings across subjects and grade levels. Will really need to have a clean testing season this year, as there is not a lot of credibility when testing doesn’t work.

Mr Hansen: “The state owes our kids a reasonable and normal testing environment”

Mr Vaughan: “We can’t live in a culture of blaming external factors, and will need to ensure the students focus on achievement.”

Ms Cole outlines how the district is working on specific targeted efforts that will lead to better student achievement which should lead to better test results.

Chairman Update:

• Commends principals and staff for the smooth start to the school year.
• Compliments and thanks to getting all the schools ready, including the shifts of use.

Superintendent Update:

• 5th day numbers on enrollment: 8851 projected, 8974 enrolled. Mostly exceeding projections in CHS enrollment.
• Kindergarten enrollment led to a minor adjustment in staffing.
• 781 Bailey Station
• 821 ColliervilleES
• CrosswindES 783
• SFES 509
• Sycamore 483
• TOES 467
• CMS 873
• WCMS 1219
• CHS 2763 (760 freshmen)
• 459 out-of-district students, which is lower than previous years. Mostly concentrated at WCMS and the lower attendance elementary schools
• Finishing out punch list items at CHS. Preparing the athletic facilities
• Haslam listening tour asking for volunteers to attend
• Nov 8 board meeting may have to be moved
• Sept Work Session may need to have special called business meeting to get RISO agreement approved

Business Items:

• Change to instructional calendar for current school year: removal of semester exams references – approved
• Revision to attendance policy and post-secondary visit attendance; properly documented college visits and school endorsed activities are no longer excused absences, but will count as ‘present.’ This will include non-school team athletes, including gymnastics – both policies approved.

Sponsorship Agreements.

Framework agreement for sponsorships. Governed by policy passed last month. All agreements will run for 10 years, except First Tennessee which requires 1 or 2 year agreements from the corporation.

Big names/commitments made: Landers, Ortho One (including in-kind services), Principal Toyota, Max Dental Cares, First Tennessee, Hickory Tavern, David Pickler, MyTown Movers (lot of in-kind services), 901 Customs, David and Donna Nelson Family Foundation. More to come.

Board asked to approve that the district can enter into agreement with these sponsors. Approved.

Meeting Adjourned.

Please note: If you find that my updates on board business have been helpful, I request that you consider supporting my campaign to be elected to the open seat on the school board. Mrs Messerly is not seeking reelection this year. You can find more information here: https://www.facebook.com/EelcoForSchoolBoard 

Tags: Citizen's Report, Collierville Schools

Collierville Schools Board Work Session for July. Rescheduled from July 12.

Chairman Hansen absent (vacation). Mr Vaughan chairing the meeting.

June Financial Statements.

New policy for sponsorships and naming rights. Provides some safeguards for the district around sponsorships and naming of facilities.

Policy on transcript alterations – TSBA/Legislation related – changes must be supported by proper documentation.

Policy on application and employment – updates to support state law related to background checks and an annual review for abuse convictions.

Policy on background investigations – additional update since last month to support state law updates. This includes certain types of vounteers.

Policy on qualifications and duties of director of schools (superintendent).

Policy on medication updated.

Budget updates to close out past school year expenditures. Interesting to note: only 2.8% of revenues (less than $2.5M) are coming from the town of Collierville. Rest comes from county and state.

School nutrition resulted in net proceeds of $65k for the year (~3%).

Chairman and Superintendent Updates deferred to Business meeting (6:30pm same day).

Mention of town surveying new water meter applicants for reason to move to Collierville – appears to be 50% that list schools.

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Business Meeting.

Special Recognition presented by Mr Jeff Robbins: Natalie Estes, National Champion at the NSDA National Speech and Debate Tournament.

No public comments.

Approval of agenda (policy review items B through E added to consent agenda), approval of consent agenda, June minutes, June Financial Statements.

(Vice) Chairman’s update

• Busy time this summer with the work on three schools. Kudos to staff and leadership.
• Athletic fields will be finished with minor delay due to construction priorities for academics and some late weather challenges.

Superintendent’s update

• West Collierville and Schilling remodels winding down.
• Teachers report next week.
• Signage going up, furniture being moved in.
• Incredible extra effort by all support staff.
• CHS 11605 has temporary certificate of occupancy to allow employees only access without required protection. Athletic facilities still active construction zone.
• When full certificate of occupancy is issued, a ribbon cutting will be hosted which will be open to the public. Event planning for this is under way.
• There will be additional opportunities to view/tour the high school after the formal ribbon cutting.
• Football and soccer will begin their season at the old fields for the first month.
• Town of Collierville is installing temporary traffic signals on Shelby/Byhalia and Shelby/Sycamore.
• New Teachers will start orientation Monday July 30 at the Highpoint church facility.
• Student Services is getting new student registrations, and is collecting out of district tuition payments.

Additional Vice Chairman comments:

While academic facilities will be finished and safe, there will be additional work to be completed on the grounds for some time to come.

Business Items:

Sponsorship and Naming Rights Policy. Mostly athletics and major public rooms. Various safeguards in place to prioritize the reputation of Collierville Schools. Tied into Partners in Education program with the Collierville Chamber of Commerce. This policy is separate from the facility naming policy that is in place. Approved.

Medicines Policy. Update to policy to align with updated state legislation. Administration of certain medications. Approved.

Final budget updates to close out the 2017-2018 school year. Approved through five separate resolutions.

Note: Collierville Schools has grown from $60M to almost $80M since its inception. Close to 1000 employees.

Meeting Adjourned.

Tags: Citizen's Report, Collierville Schools

Summary of Collierville Schools Board Work Session. Central Office Conference room. Full board present, as well as various staff.

Staff items:

• Superintendent Contract – 2 year extension through 2020. Mr Aitken is declaring that to be the end of the road, but ‘things change.’
• Superintendent Evaluation process – feedback due back to Mr Marshall by Monday.

Desire to have a board retreat in the near future

Policy updates:

• Background Investigations – minor update on policy wording. Looking at July 1 mandate from the state to have all staff undergo background review every 5 years.
• New policy on file transfers and recommendations. Needed to address new federal legislation.
• Attendance. New rules around progressive truancy intervention plans effective July 1. Question from Mr Vaughan about prevalence of truancy in the district. Not highly common, but does happen regularly with a small group of the same students.
• Alternative school. Updates based on department of education changes in regulation.
• Medicines. Adding the requirement that prescribing doctor must be Tennessee based, and adding specific language around specific consideration for various specific health issues.

Review of May financial statements. Numbers look good as the year closes out. Will have final amendment soon to close out the FY. Year-end school nutrition $113,000 year end surplus.

2018-2019 nutrition budget update. Contracting of food services at the high school (only), which will move the nutrition budget categories around, and updates the expected funding numbers based on bids under consideration.

2018-2019 general funds budget update. Related to maintenance staff – great results from bringing function in house.

Review of 2018-2019 CIP Budget. Spend and allocation of construction and related costs.
2018-2019 discretionary budget – grants based income. Will be updated as the year progresses. Includes Safe Schools grant, which Dr Kelley is submitting the grant request for. Hoping for doubling of funds currently allocated. Board will want a review of security plans soon. Current safe schools grant funds Shelby County SRO. New HS will have two CPD and at least one Sheriff SRO.

Review of School Nutrition RFP. Currently undergoing state review of proposed plans. Once approved, it will be presented to the board. This would outsource CHS nutrition only.

FY19 IDEA/ESEA Application – formal process to obtain (annual) funding – includes the temporary higher Title I funding.

2018-2019 Apple Lease. Change in payment flow for Apple lease to allow direct payment to Apple by school system.

2018-2019 School Fees. Progress in management of student activity funds, etc.

• Elementary fee is request for $25 to cover year. 5th graders will be asked to pay $50 device fee for take-home of iPads. Multiple students in school will lower second and subsequent fees to $25, with a total cap of $100 per family. Shift to self-insurance this year.
• Middle School Fees will also have device fee with multiple student tiers. Basic fees are requested by grade to cover all year. $25 instructional, $20 PE. Course fees for various musical programs ranging $25-125. Optional activities will incur funds to participate, which will stay in control of school personnel. Booster clubs are receiving significantly increased scrutiny, but are not required to have board approval for funding.
• High School has more variation and complexity even than middle schools. Some items are required, such as AP exam fees, graduation fee, parking fee (lower rate, more spots available (everyone that wants a spot will have a spot)). Still working through individual course fees to eliminate those that are no longer needed.
• Full detail will be available at board business meeting.

Schilling Farms Elementary playgrounds bids review. To be installed this summer. K-2 and 3-5.

Five Year Capital Improvement Plan.

Side comment #1: ribbon cutting is expected before August 8, probably before end of July.

Side comment #2: there is a need to better manage the outside transfers.

Superintendent Update

• Meetings with commissioner and superintendents; looking at different vendor for testing vendor, improvements of current process with current vendor, need to have a year-end measurement, and online testing is the answer for the future. Upcoming year will have logistical improvements.
• 3-8 math, English, social studies will be paper and pencil, science field test will be online; high school will be online. Released by State DOE today.
• Moving of content between buildings is completed. Lots of work on CHS site, WCMS and SFES sites.

Chairman Update

• Governor at Chamber of Commerce was great interaction with School District
• Certificate of Occupancy in first half of July is reasonably possible

Meeting adjourned.

Tags: Citizen's Report, Collierville Schools

Summary of February 8, 2018 school board working session. Absent: Wanda Chism.

Policy review - Student Disciplinary Hearing Authority – update to have long suspension (10+ days) appeal process go through Superintendent before it goes to the board. Question: appointment of DHA hasn’t been formal – needs to be more formally handled.

Review of January financial statements – will be provided to board in the morning, pending one last component.

Revenue side in January higher than past few years, which offsets the lower than usual December numbers. Related to timing of revenue streams. Regular burn rate on expense side.

Amendments to budgets:

• General Funds: allocation of funding from BEP growth almost $1M. Allocated to other capital outlay.
• Federal Funds: final allocations known – adjusting funding to reflect final numbers.
• Capital Projects Fund: adjustments related to CHS funding sources.
• Nutrition Fund: minor fund adjustments.
• Discretionary Fund: $12,000 proceeds from Race for the Ville. To be allocated to family resource center.

Review of FF&E Contracts

• Motorola first responder radio indoor repeater – required by code.
• Low-voltage wiring plus installation NCS and Presidio; same vendors as used for infrastructure at 1 on 1 rollout
• Kitchen equipment from Federal Equipment – winning bid; includes cafeteria, concession stands, culinary arts area
• Laboratory Casework, Nycom winning bid; instruction labs for sciences; initial bid plus some additional items for safety and accessibility
• Tackboards and white boards, Townsend doors and hardware winning bid

Superintendent Update:

• Congratulations to Mr Vaughan for getting his first bill passed in the state house
• Tuesday will be Day at the Hill
• Congratulations to Pom and Dance teams from Middle and High Schools
• Cheer teams now in Orlando for the championships
• Conversions and moves of middle school/elementary school work under way, contracts coming up soon
• District Learning Day – full schedule with PD for all educators
• Draft of Partners in Education provided to Board; includes sponsorships; workforce development; new programs at various levels going to become available at the new HS; tools for parents and students
• Collierville Vision 2021 – ambitious goals for students
• Day at the Hill this year will provide unique opportunity for Collierville Schools to partner with State Labor and Workforce Development department, including the Commissioner.
• National School Counselors week – public recognition and appreciation
• March Work Session is at same time as Collierville Education Foundation – needs to move to 3:30pm that day

Chairman’s report:

• Also bringing up workforce development needs, specifically impending aviation labor shortages, and various programs that are available to tie into local schools
• Tara Oaks visit by Mr Hansen and Mrs Messerly – occasion was school board appreciation week, very inspiring to see kids working on robotics, etc.
• Day on the Hill next week
• Lots of positive news and updates coming out of Collierville Schools on a regular basis
• Momentum building for new High School; excitement in the community

Meeting adjourned.

Tags: Citizen's Report, Collierville Schools

Summary of Collierville School Board work session, scheduled to precede the regularly scheduled December business meeting.

Mr Cox absent (ill).

Superintendent’s contract review. No previous adjustments to compensation since base contract was established with the town prior to the establishment of the district. Resolution to be proposed to have board attorney and superintendent to discuss a new contract.

November Financial Statements

Proposed changes to policy on non-resident student attendance:

• removed ‘spring’ as open enrollment time
• introducing a tuition for non-residents from inside the county. This is new. Rolls up all town expenses (including in-kind) for education, and will add up to approximately $400 per student.
• tuition for non-shelby county residents remains, and remains at current rate [I've heard this is about $3,700 per year]
• tuition is regulated by state law, and is common in districts across the state
• priority for admission remains: school district employees, current enrolled students, siblings of current enrolled students, Shelby county residents, residents from outside Shelby county.
• Academic, attendance, and disciplinary record will be part of admission and re-enrollment criteria
• Mr Vaughan is asking to insert a new priority for residents of areas zoned for Collierville schools prior to merger to be prioritized before the remainder of Shelby county. Some discussion around how to define this in policy.

Proposed changes to policy on transfer students:

• removed ‘spring’ as open enrollment time
• adding rezoning impact statement (as space is available)
• adding rezoning transportation green zones for sibling transfers for next two school year, including attendance and academic/disciplinary record

Resolution regarding state-level letter grading for schools. Asking the state to repeal this from state law, referencing issues with testing cycles over the years.

Superintendent and Chairman reports deferred to 6pm business meeting.

Work Session Adjourned.

6pm: Business Meeting.

Special Recognition: Bailey Station: First Grade Chorus; they were also handed the Reward School banner.

Collierville Schools recognized as Exemplary School District by State.

Public Comments: Megan Milligan. Parent of four students: 1 HS, 2 SFMS, 1 Crosswind. School start times. Primarily presenting the research results around later start times. Asking the board to have Mr Aitken convene a committee to review how an earlier start time can be implemented. Board response is that research presented will be reviewed, and considerations will be discussed with superintendent and district personnel, but should realize that there is a lot at play here.

Approval of agenda, previous month’s minutes, financial statements.

Chairman’s report:

• Lot of activity prior to Christmas break. Board members trying to get to celebrations at all schools.

Superintendent’s report:

• Winding down first semester. Half day on Wednesday 12/20.
• Thursday 1/4/18 first day of second semester.
• Finalizing procedures and getting numbers for green zone attendance.
• Updating FAQs and open enrollment information on website
• 18-19 school year budget process under way
• Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. Going to be a busy 2018!

Business Items:

• Resolution to rework superintendent’s contract – approved
• Board chairman, vice chairman, legislative network nominations and votes: Mr Hansen for chair; Mr Vaughan for vice chairman; Mrs Messerly for legislative network – unanimous approvals.
• Change to non-resident attendance policy, including the new prioritization of residents in the areas previously served by schools located in the district – approved
• Change to district transfer policy – approved
• Resolution to State Legislation to repeal single grade level for schools – approved

Meeting adjourned.

Tags: Citizen's Report, Collierville Schools