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Citizen’s Report: Collierville Schools Technology Deployment Community Meeting – April 11, 2016

Apr 11

Posted by E2Dutch in Ramble, Reality Check | Comments off

Digital learning community meeting to update the community on the proposed technology rollout. Collierville Middle, April 11, 2016.
Present: 3 school board board members, county commissioner Chism. Lots of school admin and teachers. Some parents.

Collierville Schools just made the presentation available online. The notes below are largely in addition to the content on the screen today.

Dr Dyer did a quick intro
Presentation will be put online tomorrow. Note: This is all dependent on funding. Budget process for 2016-17 school year is currently under way.

Mr Aitken did a brief intro of technology in society.

Sheryl Johnson – education background on technology.
Introduced this George Couros video

Central idea: there is a lot of ugly stuff on the internet; we need to teach kids how to find the good stuff online, and, more importantly, create it!

Mark Hansen (School Board Chairman)
Walked through the process undertaken thus far.
Multiple committees
Involvement from all stakeholder groups

Cindy Tesreau  (Bailey Station principal)
Presented the mission and vision for the technology deployment.

Chip Blanchard (CHS principal)
Presented the timeline so far. Started May 2015. Recommendation to school board April 2016.

Lisa Higgins (Head of technology for Collierville Schools)
Presented the SAMR MODEL

Substitution
Augmentation
Modification
Redefinition

Lots of content will be included with the Apple product. Also a Learning Management System (LMS) to manage content.
New Apple OS has classroom management tools, that allow screen sharing within the classroom, as well as the teacher locking all devices remotely to ensure students pay attention in class.

Aside from new options for stimulation of learning, there are also lots of customizable accessibility and special needs enhancements.

Roger Jones (CMS principal)
Talked about Digital citizenship. Hands on learning throughout the educational experience K-12.
Reference materials from Digitalcitizenship.net

Mike Simpson (Chief Operating Officer of Collierville Schools)
Discussed Measuring Success. Aligned with mission, vision and goals.

Sheryl Johnston
Discussed Community engagement
Make sure the schools are supporting parents in the process

Lisa Higgins and Zach Gilbrech
Infrastructure updates under way.
Switch from coverage to capacity based infrastructure.
Deployment process being developed to ensure smooth roll-out.
Policy updates to ensure everything is covered.
Options being explored to help families without adequate Internet access.

Anita Hayes (Chief Financial Officer)
Financial sustainability
- roll out to teachers first (so they are ready to hit the ground running with their students)
- lease vs own
- text books may not be history, but would reduce text book quantities
- reduce consumable supplies

Mr Aitken, standing in for Mrs Claney -
AdvancED accreditation – only low score was digital learning environment

Walked through digital learning recommendation:

  • iPad purchases for K-12 teachers at all schools Spring 2016
  • Provide in-depth training for teachers throughout the summer and fall of 2016
  • Go 1:1 with iPads for grades 4-7 in January 2017
  • Go 1:1 with iPads for grades 3-8 in fall 2017
  • Go 1:1 with MacBook Pro for grades 9-12 in fall 2018
  • Go 2:1 with iPads in grades K-2 in fall 2019Displaying 2016-04-11 19.11.37.jpg

What will this cost?
Approximately $600k per grade level per year for a 3-year lease.
$2.5M for first step rollout.

Decision to lease made today. Included in budget request for next year.

Dr Dyer to close out the evening.
FAQs will be built and posted online in the very near future.

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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}

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Citizen’s Report: Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting June 8, 2015

Jun 8

Posted by E2Dutch in Reality Check | Comments off

Venturing a little away from the School Board meeting reports… Attended the Collierville BMA meeting June 8, 2015. This meeting included on its agenda the second reading and associated public hearing on the town tax property rate, as well as setting the annual budget.

The meeting was held in front of a packed house tonight. Lots of school staff and other members of the community wearing Collierville Dragon colors.

From 6 till approximately 6:35, the meeting covered regular BMA topics.

Starting at 6:35, Mr Aitken presented the Collierville Schools annual budget to the BMA. He highlighted successes of the school system in the first year, and thanked the BMA for their active support in the past 18 months. In his budget presentation, which only covered the annual operating budget, he pointed attention to certain notable items, including:

  • Collierville Schools Motto starts with Scholarship – that is the primary focus around any changes in budget items for the coming year
  • Total $ is $66.5M. $34.4M from state BEP, $30.4M from county, and $2.3M from Collierville.
  • Coming school year enrollment projection is 8063, which is approximately 150 higher than last year.
  • $500k in budget for capital expenditure: portables for ’16-’17 school year

Alderman Fraser asked how will CS accommodate 150 new enrollment – Mr Aitken: floating teachers (“teacher on a cart”)

Then Mr Lewellen presented the Town budget. Some items of interest:

  • 600 new residents into Collierville in past year. Expecting 50k total population within next 2 years.
  • Property tax revenue increased due to increase in property values.
  • Sales tax revenues increased after a few flat years.
  • Schools local option tax projection for FY2016: Collect  $4,738,187. Spend $2,266,809 which will raise the balance of school-allocated funds to: $4.8M
  • Town health care expenditures are going down due to participation in the same group health plan as the municipal schools. This is resulting in reduced town contribution to the health plan and reduced premiums for town staff.
  • Overall town general fund budget numbers have improved, and will be unaffected by anything done for schools.

As for the tax rate that will be needed to support the bond payments for a new school – there is a challenge to get to exact funds needed determined up front. For example, a 1% increase in interest = 680k increase in annual interest expense.

Note: all Collierville long-term liability finds like retirement and OPEB are fully funded. Principal on current outstanding debts is being paid down ahead of schedule.

Next on the agenda: the public hearing about the tax rate and the mandatory second reading.

Lewellen introduction:

  • 15 cent increase being proposed currently brings the total rate up to 1.68
  • 10 cent increase works out to $25 annually for a $100k home

These 15 cents are going to be designated exclusively for Collierville Schools’ Capital Improvement Plan (which would include a new school facility).

Public comments – limited to 3 minutes per speaker, but speakers can donate time to others. Apologies for messing up anyone’s names… Also tried to capture gist of comments best as I could.

Bart Wilbanks. Had questions about non-residents attending and who pays for that, and confusion about 1500 student new high school option.  (2000+1500 = 3500?!) (EvW note: answers are that (as seen above) the vast majority of funds for schools is not from Collierville but rather the state and the county; and anyone from outside the county pays a fairly significant tuition to attend if they are accepted in. The math of adding a 1500 student high school is that it would reduce the current high school back to a better number and create some space for improved facilities)

Heath Hudspeth. Letter to BMA last night. Describes himself as a very conservative person, has been attending school board meetings. Overcrowding is a huge problem. Collierville residential growth and student growth is great problem to have. Has a lot of facts gained from maintaining interest and serving on long term planning committee, and is convinced one high school is correct answer. Spending $99M today will save us $$ in the future.

Valerie Frazier. Donates her time to John George.

Gregory Frazier. Donates his time to John George.

Diane George. Crossview Lane. Donates time to John George, her husband. (Note: This is the same Diane George who served on the Shelby County School board and who opposed the creation of municipal schools…)

John George has 12 minutes.  Lived there since 1994.

He is hoping his comments will let BMA be spurred to make “best decision.” Is concerned decision is already made. He questions the idea that the right decision has already been reached. Has no vested interest. Says he won’t mind paying higher taxes for best school. He has 2 daughters who are proud graduates of CHS. Will address 3 items. Existing school, proposed school location and alternative options.

Talked about proposed Shelby & Sycamore location – he is a “national” real estate developer by trade. Will need 4 lanes on Shelby Drive, improvements to Sycamore, including traffic lights which will cost money. He also thinks the school would be too far south, compared to where ‘the customers’ are. Provided an impressive mathematical calculation that shows it will take many decades (45 years?) at current growth rates before there’s more residents south of poplar vs north of poplar. He suggested the school board should consider Maynard Way location (70 acres behind WalMart). He also brought up ways to possibly reduce the cost of necessary renovations at the current site. Proposed other options to consider that might be solutions other than building. Questions why he hasn’t seen those options discussed. Argues a golf course can be built on landfill (property next to current CHS is old landfill).

Mike Tebbe. Thinks we need new school, and pay for it. Complimentary of the school system. Make the right call now, invest in the future. Sees positive impact on property values.

John Barrios. Chair of Chamber of Commerce. Official Position of support. Unanimous support from Chamber for this position for business. Parents, business growth, etc.

Byron Cobb. Reference to emails and previous contact with mayor and aldermen. Supportive of quality education. “Survey” done in spring was what it was – need to respect the “outcome.” He expresses his displeasure with the apparent direction and speed – not enough information out there. Not opposed to school, opposed to process being taken. Asking for vote. He also mentioned being worried about location due to the projected growth in the north reserve.

Chuck Lesnik. Need strong schools. Pay attention to vocational tract. Likes voc ed plus MS option in current location. Not sure about $10M for athletic facilities in current plan. Not sure the “new plan” is enough, don’t move too quickly. Take time and get people involved. Not saying there should be a referendum. Just get more buy in.

Susan Hawthorne. CHS and SFMS kids, Self-described as Collierville Schools cheer leader. Something needs to be done, and there is no time. Is confident in fiscal responsibility of boards involved. Asking for full funding. Make the right decision.

Leslie Thomas. Asking for fully funding one high school. CHS kids. Very involved parent and substitute. References Nashville push for local control. References Mega District year and the lack of funding for basic school supplies. Look where we are now. Then moves to reference all the facility shortfalls of current CHS facility (in addition to overcrowding). Not everybody will be happy with any plan. She admits she doesn’t think the current plans are perfect. But thinks it is the right thing to do.

Sherry Startingham. Lancelot lane. CHS grad, property owner, business person, etc etc. 94% of Collierville voted yes. Calling for courageous and visionary leadership. References racial/ethnic division that might result from 2 locations. Do it right. Asks for full funding.

Rusty Philips. 15 year resident. 2 kids came through system, makes teachers proud. Need to look at the numbers. Great management by school district, town. Happy to bet on this BMA and School Board. Knows importance of investing.

On to board discussion.

Mayor Joyner calls for naming rights of athletic facilities funding – only half joking…

Worley: appreciates input from public. Site under consideration >100acres. Interest rates are moving up… Price of construction materials are going up (he is a contractor). Can’t afford to wait. Thanks to CS board and John Aitken.  Portables needed already. Chamber support – even with commercial tax rates. Let’s estimate adjustments with citizens in the room at this (second) reading. Better to get rate reduced at third reading for accuracy.

Fraser: Agrees with Worley. Clarifiying that BMA has no say in all the external things (location, etc), and asks school board to answer open questions about current site, why other options are not feasible. Answer these questions over next 2 weeks. Doing nothing is not an option. Must make tough decisions.
Asks Lewellen what is a reasonable estimate, who answers he cannot be certain. Bonds will not be issued till fall. At 4% interest – 5.7M/year debt service = 38 cent increase of taxes. Also have sales tax funds available to help keep cost down – possibly 10 cents’ worth without consuming all of the surplus.

Allen: in favor of one school, but only responsible for $. Opposition from seniors because $100-200 is a lot for some people.  Supports schools, just not sure about how to fund it. Needs more analysis.

Patton: Nobody has said 2 schools is an option. School Board is to make the choice. He supports a new school, but thinks the cost needs to be discussed more. Live within budget. Town facing rising costs partly due to school system. Talking about bond funding issues and using sales tax revenues, squeezing the overall $ to keep the numbers down. Let’s push on those numbers. Afraid 10% of votes will ask for binding referendum.

Joyner: referendums are not going to help much. Need to raise taxes before bond issue can be done. If we want to put off the project a while we can do this.

Allen: $5M contingency fund in budget is bothersome – what will it go to? How can we cut cost? “If you put in a contingency they will spend it.”

Stamps: Appreciates the background for the presentation – solid town finances. May agree to think this is rushed, but hears public sentiments. Appreciates the public input. Doesn’t think 15 cent tax is enough, too risky to depend too much on sales tax revenue. Should consider the 38 cent number.

Joyner: addressing the rush comments – town budget has to be done by specific time, including setting tax rate. And a tax rate would have to be raised (again) by end of September if not set correctly now. The “rush” is more representative of the urgency at hand.

Joyner: $1.68 is up for vote, but entertaining motion for tax rate now, but may need updates in 2 weeks up or down.

Allen moves for 1.68 second by Patton. Patton reiterates he thinks more work is needed. Won’t get taxes paid back once set.

Fraser says the BMA work hard for the people. If rate is too high, she will pledge to give it back. BMA reputation at stake. Set at best number known today, adjust (down) in 2 weeks if possible.

Worley: In reference to the “survey” which asked about 38 cents… Now discussing 20-25-30… shows responsiveness to citizens. Must make call now rather than raise rate needed in next meeting when “nobody” is here. You can’t count on sales tax. Set reasonable rate now and cut in 2 weeks if numbers come down. Board is tight, will not be frivolous.

Stamps: good points made by Allen and Patton, supports Fraser about returning rate if possible. 15 cents not high enough.

Allen argues that the town can cut more town expenses to cover any shortfalls.

Fraser disagrees: 50% is public safety, can’t cut it. Can’t cut stormwater improvements. There is no more room. Board elected to do the right thing.

Vote on 15 cents: Stamps, Patton, Allen – yes. Fraser, Worley, Joyner – no.

Fraser moves for 30 cents. Stipulates rebates or reduction of rate pledge. Worley seconds. Vote: Fraser, Worley, Stamps – yes. Joyner, Allen, Patton – no.

Patton moves for 20 cents. Fraser seconds. Allen only one to vote no. Tax rate 1.73 passes in the second reading.

Meeting Adjourned.

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Collierville School Board Working Session and Special Called Meeting – June 23, 2014 – Citizen’s Report

Jun 23

Posted by E2Dutch in Uncategorized | Comments off

This week, the Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the School Board have swapped nights… The Collierville School Board has both a working session and a special called meeting on the docket.

My summary and observations from the meeting tonight:

Mrs Messerly was absent, CS staff was well represented. Only a few members of the public were in attendance.

Tonight’s working session saw some new and a few previously approved policies brought back for revision, based on changes in TN law. Policies covered in this session were a policy on sex offenders, placement of AED devices in schools, insurance management, separation policies for tenured and non-tenured teachers, attendance, student surveys and student records. In the personal communication device policy, an addition was made for wearable technology.

Most discussion took place around interscholastic athletics. The proposed policy is fairly short, and focuses on school representation, payment to coaches, and participant insurance. Mr Vaughan, himself the parent of two varsity athletes, wanted to ensure the school system would aspire to improve upon things he has observed and found less than ideal in the recent past. None of these are items that would have been addressed with this particular policy, so the policy should move forward at this time. Mr Aitken assured the board that he was aware of opportunities, and his office would be in a position to help improve matters. Mr Hansen added that openness will be key.

In the Superintendent’s update, Mr Aitken highlighted three key dates for the school district:

  • July 27 4-6pm open house to celebrate the new school system, at the central office
  • August 1 teacher appreciation event hosted by the Collierville Education Foundation
  • July 29 registration day

Mr Aitken also provided some key points from the biweekly shared services update newsletter, which listed updates on all the shared services efforts across the municipal districts. Things are on track, communication and cooperation are going very well.

Mr Hansen, in the chairman’s update, complimented the school staff on the amount of work being completed for the upcoming school year, including the completion of 6 new hire orientation sessions so far.

Mr Simpson, the consultant provided several logistical updates. The process to develop a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan is moving forward, with the committee having its first meeting on June 12, where they set goals and objectives, and received an update from the school planner. This committee has members from the various stakeholder groups across the community, including the school system and the BMA, as well as a parental representative and city planners. Their next meeting is July 17.

Mr Simpson also discussed the process for the architectural and engineering firms and their statements of qualifications. 13 firms will be providing presentations for himself and Mr Vaughan over the next couple of weeks.

The final update from Mr Simpson was around the condition of school facilities and maintenance on them. Parking lot work is being done where needed, and the town is providing a lot of help with this.

In his closing remarks, Mr Hansen highlighted the importance of having the town planning efforts and the school district’s long-term plan working closely to ensure responsible growth remains positive.

 

Immediately following the working session, the school board moved into a special called meeting in order to vote on several proposals. Nobody from the public addressed the board today.

The first proposal was the annual approval of special courses, which, today, was to ensure 5 special courses would continue to be offered, including one honors English class and two ACT prep classes. Approved.

The second item was the approval of the proposed contract with Kelly Services to provide substitute teachers to Collierville Schools. Key items to note:

  • This is the model most municipal districts are following
  • This is the same provider already in use for DeSoto Schools in Mississippi
  • Principals will be able to provide lists of preferred subs for their schools, and named subs can be requested for specific classes
  • Long-term subs can be converted to district employees, or can be retained long-term through Kelly Services
  • This model is preferred because of the amount of logistics involved in attracting, retaining, and managing a substitute teacher base, including, new this year, rules around the affordable care act for employees who work 30 hours a week or more
  • In the 2012-2013 school year, the 8 Collierville schools had 2819 teacher days of absence. Detailed figures for last year are not available.

Approved.

Item 3 is a contract with Durham Transportation for the school buses. This contract is close to final, and the board is asked to authorize the superintendent and school board chair (Executive Committee) to engage in a contract with Durham for 4 years. Collierville is managing transportation for all 6 municipalities. 34 regular buses will be needed for Collierville. By the end of the 4 year term, all buses will be airconditioned. Route planning is advancing very well (somewhat ahead of schedule). After some additional discussion, the board provided its authorization.

Next up – a three year lease arrangement for 600 laptops from Apple for just over $700k for the duration of the lease will be entered into by the town of Collierville. The school board is not able to enter into a capital lease like that, but will be paying the town for this. Approved.

The final item up for a vote this evening was the detail around the health care plans. Three contracts are to be entered into to provide for health care plan administration, trust fund management and a healthcare administration agreement among the participating groups. The health care plan will be administered by Meritain, an Aetna company. These contracts are to be in place by July 1, which is when school admin and central office personnel will fall under that plan.

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Collierville School Board Business Meeting – May 13, 2014 – Citizen’s Report

May 13

Posted by E2Dutch in Rave, Reality Check | No Comments

Regular business meeting of the Collierville School Board. All of the board present, as well as a significant contingent of school and central office staff. Bill Dries from the Daily News was also present (albeit a few minutes late…).

At the start of the meeting, there were two public comments. The first was from a representative from Cigna, who wanted to relate some additional points of information about their response to the RFP. The second comment was from the CEO of Healthchoice, which is an organization that is affiliated with Methodist Health Care managed care, as far as I understood. His comments were in support of Cigna as a health insurance provider.

Following the moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance, Beth Robbins presented the Collierville Highschool Academic Allstars, as recognized by the Commercial Appeal. She also noted that of the 11 overall scholars designated by the CA from the are, 3 are from Collierville High. Mr Hansen congratulated the students, and commended them on being a great example of what Collierville Schools exemplify.

The report from the chairman touched briefly on the interlocal agreements still in progress (with some recent “hiccups”) among the municipalities. Germantown will be voting on a budget on 5/14, which will hopefully include the shared services. Mr Hansen also mentioned the almost completed central office facility, which will be a great place to showcase Collierville Schools. The move-in date is Monday May 19th.

The Superintendent’s report had four quick items:

  • The personnel plan for Collierville Schools has been approved by the State Board of Education
  • The County Commission has approved $1M for capital projects in Collierville, which will primarily be directed to a new roof at Collierville High
  • Job offers for teachers and administrators were delivered this past week
  • Regular meetings have started with SCS around the transition of buildings and personnel over the next few weeks

Mr Simpson, the consultant had an update with more detail about the finishing touches for the central office. Additional updates covered the contracts for services that the school district is still working on, including two later on in the agenda, and the transportation contract as well as others for safety equipment and insurance. Mr Vaughan asked if the bus radius is being changed, to which Mr Simpson replied that in order to most efficiently and economically start services in August, no changes from the current transportation plan were being made. This includes bell times.

The next agenda item was added at the last minute: a presentation on the benefits plans recommended to the board, based on the RFP process that was followed. Karen Naccarato explained the process followed, which included representatives from the municipalities to set out the objectives and perform the RFP process. For health benefits, the options considered were the state plan, full insurance and self insurance. 10 companies provided proposals.

The recommended option is from Aetna, as it came out with the best match of the required features and the cost. Its proposal also will provide for various allowances to allow for change management to ensure a smooth transition. A significant change from the current provider (Cigna, the runner up) is that Aetna offers two network choices: Methodist plus St Francis or Baptist plus St Francis. The employees will have that choice, with the Baptist plan being slightly lower cost.

There was significant discussion around this recommendation, including concern with changing insurance administrators from the current provider, whether this plan provides for the state-mandated level of services, etc. While the employer/employee split is improving from 63/37 to 66/34, it appears the monthly cost will go up slightly for employees. Mr Hansen pointed out that his employer (FedEx) has had major overhaul in its health insurance plans and associated cost, primarily due to the Affordable Care Act, and every employer is facing similar issues.

The board is not yet ready to vote on this, and a vote is not needed until the 23rd of May, so a special called meeting was decided on for one week from today. Mr Vaughan will be unable to attend, but expects consensus among the board.

Metlife Dental, Davis Vision and for basic life insurance, Metlife, are recommended. That maintains the current providers for all those.

Up next, the board considered the policies that were presented three weeks ago at the working session. Mr Aitken pointed out some minor changes that were made, mostly for grammatical reasons. Additionally, the facility use policy was updated to allow use of kitchens, provided under appropriate supervision. The policy on naming of schools and school real estate was simplified based on feedback from the working session. The policy on athletic participation insurance was restated to allow parents to provide for their own insurance or accept the risks of not having insurance if they so choose.

The 63 policies were approved.

Two new policies were presented: first, vacation and holidays, which mostly stipulates the non-teaching personnel policies around vacation and holidays. A key improvement over current policy is to reduce the wait time for the commencement of benefits from 1 year to 6 months. Also, those employed by SCS during the current school year are not considered new employees under this policy, and will thus enjoy the vacation amounts commensurate with their time at SCS. The other new policy is around On-the-job injuries.

Finally, two contracts were up for review and approval:

Both custodial services and maintenance services are recommended to be provided by the current custodial services provider, GCA. For maintenance, SCS currently uses in-house personnel, which may not be economical for a small district. Collierville is proposing to work together with Germantown specifically on this, and the two municipalities will share the use of 11 skilled maintenance personnel, such as plumbers, HVAC technicians, locksmiths, etc. Germantown is expected to vote on, and approve, this arrangement in their meeting on May 14. These both passed.

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Collierville joint School Board and Board of Mayor and Aldermen budget working session – May 6, 2014 – Citizen’s Report

May 6

Posted by E2Dutch in Rave, Reality Check | No Comments

On May 6, the Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) and the Collierville School Board held a joint working session to review the draft budget for the 2014-2015 school year. The Collierville Schools budget is not finalized yet, but is very close to being finished. The BMA needs the preliminary numbers for its budgeting purposes by next week. This post summarizes my observations from today’s meeting, and any editorial comments are clearly identifiable as such below.

The full BMA and School Boards were present, as well as the town administrator, and most of the Collierville Schools senior office staff. The audience was very light.

For most of the meeting, Superintendent Aitken walked the board through the numbers that make up the detailed budget. The budget balances revenues and expenses at this time. The expense side of the budget is based on the projected enrollment number of 7900 students. The revenue side is based on an estimate of 7600 students, which is the number of students in Collierville schools as of April. This is the number the state board has decided to use as the basis for allocation of funds. Per state law, the actual payments out of the county tax and state education funds will be based on actual enrollment numbers, as determined during the school year. In June following the school year, a true up payment will be made as appropriate to account for the difference. It should be noted that in the case where the actual enrollment actually is realized, that June payment could be around $2M at the end of next school year.

There are a few items still under negotiation with vendors, but reasonable estimates have been included in the budget.

The projected total cost for the 2014-2015 school year is $60,695,411. Revenues match this number for a balanced budget. Mr Aitken pointed out that there are approximately $800-900,000 in savings realized through the use of shared services by the participating municipalities. In the current setup, Collierville is responsible for approximately 26% of shared services cost, when allocated on a per-student basis among 6 municipalities. For comparison, Germantown’s share is 19%. Should Germantown opt out of some or all shared services, those costs will then be spread among the participating school districts.

Into budget detail…

The largest portion of revenues is state funding. Second is county funding. The municipal contribution is currently set at the state mandated formula relating to the property taxes, but is being funded through the local option sales tax.

On the expense side, by far the largest portion is teacher salaries and related general education expenses. The projection is that there will be 395 general education teachers, which is an increase of approximately 13 teachers over current staffing levels. Most of the increase in teachers will go to CHS and SFMS. In the health insurance projection, the current district-employee ratio used is 66-34%. It is estimated that 80% of eligible personnel will actually enroll in the health care plan.

Another area with significant personnel numbers is special education. Special education staffing will follow current numbers, which are generally where legacy SCS was. It should be noted that by law the ‘maintenance of effort’ rules around special education are based on the first year of operations, whereas the overall maintenance of effort will be based on numbers after three years of operation. Maintenance of effort refers to the rules around towns that fund school districts not being allowed to reduce their funding levels for the schools unless there is a significant reduction in enrollment.

In reference to budget line items around instructional equipment, the question was asked if measures are being taken to ensure current school inventories will not change after the end of the school year. The settlement agreement stipulates that everything in the schools as of the time of the agreement will stay with the schools. Mr Aitken assured the boards that this is being watched closely. The superintendents in the county (including SCS’ Hopson) are discussing this in a meeting this week. Inventory documentation exists and school administration is keeping an eye on it.

Other notable budgeting items:

  • Health rooms will see a nurse at each school, and a medical records clerk at each school.
  • There will be a full-time librarian at each school.
  • Librarian assistants and cafeteria monitors will return to the schools.
  • Each school will have a plant manager again.
  • Special Education clerical staff will remain at each school (these are being cut at SCS).
  • Janitorial Services will continue to be outsourced as per the legacy SCS model.
  • Transportation will be outsourced, because of the inability to start an in-house system in the time allowed and funding available.
  • Career and Technical education will be a shared service provided by Arlington under contract.
  • Curriculum Technology Trainers (CTT) will be assigned two schools each. There will also be 6 tech support resources for the district.
  • After three years, the school district, by state law, must have built a reserve fund equaling 3% of its annual operating expenses.
  • No major capital items are included in the budget for this year.
  • Collierville Schools will be awaiting the results of discussions at the county level around some overdue maintenance items at some of the school buildings.
  • In the budget is a line item for $500,000 to be paid to SCS as part of the settlement agreement for the next 12 years.

Throughout the presentation, there were clarifying questions asked by various board members. My comments above generally include the explanations given.

At the end of the meeting, Vice Mayor Maureen Fraser asked about enrollment confirmation letters, and was told that the last of those should have gone out today. Generally speaking, all requests had been honored. Another question by Ms Fraser was about school start times. After remarking that this would depend on the arrangement with the transportation company, Mr Aitken also clarified that while the aspirational goals might be to go to two start times, for practical and budgetary reasons, it looks like the district will remain at three start times at least this coming year. A change in start times would seem likely after a few years, but not right now.

In conclusion, Mr Aitken pointed out that the main objectives were to restore services and service levels to the legacy SCS levels, at the least. Having shared services is a key element in being able to spend more of the district’s money in the classrooms.

 

Teacher hiring:

After the meeting, in a conversation with Mr Aitken, he indicated that teacher employment offers should be going out this week. There is no requirement of currently having tenure to be eligible to be hired for next school year right now. This is good news for all those teachers eager for news about their continued employment in their municipal schools!

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Collierville School Board Business Meeting – April 8, 2014 – Citizen’s Report

Apr 8

Posted by E2Dutch in Rave | No Comments

Below is my summary of the April 8 Collierville Schools Board meeting. This was a regular business meeting.

All of the board was in attendance. About two dozen of the public were present, as well as various Collierville Schools staff. There were no comments from the public.

After approval of the agenda, which included the removal from the agenda of the two interlocal agreements, and the approval of the minutes of the various March board meetings, the chair delivered his report.

Mr. Hansen commented on the positive results of the enrollment nights, and on the progress made towards the interlocal agreements which will allow the municipalities to band together on common services and thus have high quality services at a much lower cost than when set up individually. While the agreements weren’t ready to be voted on this week, they are nearing completion. Mr. Hansen also mentioned the Collierville Education Foundation fundraiser the board attended last week. This is a very highly commendable organization that provides grants directly to teachers. Finally, Mr Hansen touched upon the preliminary BEP funding estimate Collierville Schools got from the State Department of Education, with more detail to be provided by Mr. Aitken.

Mr Aitken, in his Superintendent’s report, addressed the BEP funding. This is the funding for the schools by the state, which is the largest part of funding for the schools. This is a set amount per enrolled student. The estimated amount, based on current enrollment numbers, was approximately $1M higher than the feasibility study had used.

Enrollment numbers from the enrollment period came out around 90-91% of the projected fall enrollment, which is, according to Mr Aitken, a very good result. The schools have continued to follow up with families who have not yet provided their intent, in order to get even more reliable enrollment projections for next year.

Mr Aitken also mentioned the new hires for Collierville Schools:

  • Director of Student Services – Herchel Burton
  • Head of nutrition – Marsha Landstreet
  • Three Powerschool administrators – Karen Dew, Becky Kenley, Tabitha Barnes
  • Director for Curriculum and Accountability, Louise Claney
  • Pre-K through 5 Supervisor, Dr Andre Crafford

These all come with significant (legacy) SCS experience.

The nutrition and powerschools positions are shared services positions, which means their expense will be spread among the participating municipal school districts, which will be covered through interlocal agreements. Mr Aitken took the time to address some concerns from the public that he had heard about the phrase ‘shared services,’ especially in regard to nutrition. The bottom line, he explained, is that each school will have staff to prepare and serve the staff and students. The cafeteria at each school will operate independently, but will have the support of the planning, administration, purchasing and budgeting processes from the central office.

With the application deadline passed for non-resident enrollment at Collierville Schools, there are approximately 700 non-resident applications to be reviewed.

Finally, Mr Aitken asked the board to authorize him to initiate an RFSOQ process for a future school to be built. This process authorizes him to review the qualifications of architecture and planning firms to help select a future site and start the planning for a new building. The need for a new school was presented to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen last week, and met with approval. The Collierville School Board voted to authorize the RFSOQ process.

The next agenda item was a report by Mr. Simpson, the consultant. He updated the board on the progress made at the historic high school building (Poplar and Walnut) for the Collierville Schools central office. The work is being overseen by the Town, and the move-in date is projected for the second week of May. Secondly, the Town has engaged Ms Debra Rike as a consultant to select a bus routing and planning software package and prepare for its use. The package under consideration is called Versatrans, which includes GPS functionality, which may offer parents the ability to see the location of the bus, and the projected time at each stop. Routing staff will be hired soon. The final part of Mr. Simpson’s update addressed work with The Pool, a Tennessee Risk Management organization that is expected to provide insurance for Collierville Schools properties and liability.

Following these updates, the Superintendent presented the proposed policies for second reading. He highlighted a few adjustments made since the last reading. Mr Vaughan motioned to suspend the rules and vote to approve the policies on the consent agenda, rather than have them return for a third reading. The motion, and the policies, were approved. A summary and some comments on these policies from the working session two weeks ago can be found here.

Finally, in closing comments, Mr. Aitken indicated that immediately following the working session in two weeks, there would be a special called meeting to vote on the interlocal agreements that were dropped from the agenda today.

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Collierville School Board special called meeting – March 21, 2014 – Citizen’s report

Mar 21

Posted by E2Dutch in Rave | No Comments

Quick summary of the special called meeting. This is from my notes and observations, and I will indicate where I insert my opinion.

This meeting was called at last Tuesday’s meeting in order to consider the anticipated proposed interlocal agreement with Germantown for the Houston Middle and High Schools. As expected, Germantown’s school board voted on, and approved, the interlocal agreement on Thursday 3/20.

Kevin Vaughan missed the meeting due to previously scheduled vacation. Around 15 people attended this meeting, including a reporter from the Commercial Appeal.

There were no public comments.

Mr Aitken introduced the content of the interlocal agreement:

  • Three year duration
  • Covers current 6th and 7th grade Collierville residents at Houston Middle and current 9th through 11th graders at Houston High.
  • Students will be allowed to choose to continue to attend their school until their exit grade
  • Germantown will provide transportation for these students
  • In exchange, Collierville will allow Germantown to use its bus lot, and the gas pumps at the bus lot (and will pay for fuel used)
  • Collierville will also pay $100 per student to Germantown to cover transportation cost

This also means the following:

  • Collierville Students not covered under this agreement (transfers), including siblings of covered students will NOT be eligible for transportation by Germantown
  • Students will need to register at these Germantown schools by April 11
  • Students should not register at their zoned Collierville school if they are choosing to register and attend in Germantown under this agreement

Board member Cox and Chairman Hansen made statements in support of the agreement, and highlighted that this would offer the affected families stability and the ability to choose.

The agreement was approved 4-0 by the board members present.

The other agenda item brought before the board for consideration by the Superintendent was a resolution to authorize the Superintendent to enter into a contract with Pearson for the purchase and installation of the Powerschool student data management system. This is the same system that was in use with the legacy Shelby County Schools system. Board members remarked that they had received numerous requests from parents and teachers to go back to this system.

The first year cost, including implementation and data conversion is $340,000, and the annual cost after that will be $170,000. The software will be used by all municipal school districts and Collierville will receive payment for this on a per-student basis. The Collierville share of the first year cost will be $88,000.

The board voted 4-0 to approve this resolution, following comments by Mr Hansen about the model of ‘saving through sharing’ where the municipal districts are joining forces to be able to defray the cost of necessary support services, in order to maximize the funds dedicated to teaching the students.

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