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Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board Work Session, July 21, 2020

Jul 21

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

My summary of the July 21, 2020 Work Session of the Collierville School Board. All members present except for Mr Cox, who is under the weather. As always, these notes represent my attempt to capture the relevant information discussed at the work session. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any concerns you may have.

Introductions:

Troop 56 boy scouts

Leigh Anne Rainey – Chief Academic Officer, head of the Curriculum Department.

Mario Hogue – Communications Specialist – started last week.

Review of deferred compensation plan – improvement in options for 401(k) plans; state-level plan, which has lower management costs due to much larger fund investment. Part of the activity is retroactively entering into the appropriate signed agreement.

Review of Proposal for Collierville Dragon Dancers School Support Organization – combining CMS and WCMS dance teams due to reduced participation this coming year. This reflects a few years of declining participation. The combined team will be coached by the same coach as the high school.

Review of 2020-2021 fees. No changes from previous year, except the device fee in elementary school will apply to 5th grade plus anyone enrolling in Collierville Virtual Academy. Mr Warren asks if fees will be refunded in case of cancellation of the team activities. Mr Curtis responds that a refund process will be in place (less fixed costs). Mrs Chism is asking for copies of the refund process documentation.

Review of financial statements for June, which closes out the fiscal year, but is subject to final changes. Overall funds balanced out overall, but nutrition needed to be supported with a transfer from the general fund due to the COVID shutdown. Savings were realized in payroll, transportation, utilities.

Policy updates:

  • Budget line item transfer authority language and responsibility clarification
  • Gifts and bequests
  • Surplus property sales
  • Audits
  • Fundraising Activities – new policy replaces old policy – will need to add clause about exception process to follow TN law
  • Staff Gifts

Review of Updating the Disciplinary Hearing Authority Committee of removing Herchel Burton (retired) as Chairman and appointing Andy Field as Chairman and adding Eric Linsy commencing on August 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021

Review of the Reopening & Recovery Plan School Year 2020-2021

  • Plan reflects survey results showing vast majority of parents wanting to return to school full time, but to allow for students to stay home for 100% virtual school.
  • FAQs still being added to, including answers to non-CVA questions
  • Videos will be posted to show what school will look like to some degree
  • Plans have been submitted to Shelby County Health Department, and they may require changes
  • Collierville Schools does not have control over the fluid situation we are living in
  • July 29 deadline is needed to ensure teachers can be appropriately assigned and then trained prior to the start of the school year
  • currently 1111 students have selected the virtual academy (approximately 1/8 of the total enrollment)
  • Mrs Chism suggests an online townhall meeting may be beneficial to help with parent questions and concerns
  • There are some highly specialized (including AP) and technical or hands-on courses that will not be able to be made available online through CVA
  • Dual Enrollment courses are controlled by the University of Memphis, and some will and some will not be available online, which is still being worked on with the U of M.
  • List of courses offered in CVA is now in the FAQs – linked here.
  • Explicitly stated: CVA will be taught primarily by Collierville teachers

Review of Board Resolution 2020-01, Emergency Suspension of Board Policies During the 2020-2021 School Year. This accommodates a fluid situation so appropriate measures can be taken when needed that are outside of regular board policy.

Meeting adjourned.

One more thing… I have been writing up these summaries in my attempt to help local stakeholders stay engaged and informed since 2014, adding up to 80+ meetings. I am hoping to further improve community engagement by getting elected to the school board. If you’re so inclined, please visit my campaign page and ‘like’ it for updates, and consider getting involved! Thank you!

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Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board Work Session, April 11, 2019

Apr 11

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Summary of the April 11, 2019 Work Session of the Collierville School Board.

Absent: Mr Vaughan, Mr Hansen and Mrs Chism. No quorum needed since there are no votes for decisions.

Special Recognition for West Collierville Middle: presentation on the visual arts and 6th grade chorus performance.

Special presentation by Chef Ulysse Charles – Future Chef competition. Received 165 recipes in the competition (45 from Bailey Station Elementary). Selected one chef from each elementary school and BSE’s Makayla Young won for Collierville, and learned in the meeting that she won the regional competition. Her recipe will be featured in the CHS cafeteria in the near future, and she will be competing at the next level.

Special presentation by the Collierville Schools Vanguard Team. This is a team of teachers who lead the use of technology in the schools. Teachers rotate through the program, as member in the first year, and as coach the second year.

Review of 2019-2020 proposed budget. In the introduction of the budget, Mr Aitken expressed his displeasure with the developments in Nashville related to school vouchers. It is insulting how public education is being described by paid corporate lobbyists. Budget Highlights:

  • Each school principal has been involved in the overall budget request process.
  • Challenges around increased employer contribution for retirement, health insurance costs, transportation services contract increase due to growing enrollment and start time changes, the CHS grounds upkeep, staffing levels above BEP funding levels, ongoing dedication to the digital initiative: equipment and all the support it requires, discontinuation of most shared services among the municipal schools and uncertainty of the Governor’s budget.
  • General Funds Budget estimate: 89,650,792. BEP (state funding): 45,972,923. County (property taxes): 38,700,162. Collierville: 2,571,884 (equal to 0.5% of property tax revenues, but funded through sales tax).
  • 9214 student enrollment expected, 242 increase over 2018-2019. Funding level lags enrollment.
  • Teacher-student ratios; Collierville Schools staying below state mandated ratios for planning.
  • State BEP funding levels are at 70% of a minimal pay scale per allocated teacher and staff member. Collierville Schools employs significantly more staff than the state allows for to support school administration, teachers and student health.
  • Collierville Schools employs 481 regular education teachers @ average of 53,574. BEP funds 362@33k. This is a funding shortfall of $almost $14M. This does not include the cost (approx $11M) for benefits, substitute expenses, supplements/stipends, teacher assistants, etc.
  • Long list of additional costs in general fund that are not covered in the BEP funding formula.
  • $525000 annual SCS payment – year 6 of 12.
  • New positions for Payroll Specialist, a Business Information Analyst, benefits specialist, which replaces the shared services previously used for those functions
  • Bringing substitutes back in-house next school year.
  • $2.2M in utilities, including MLGW, Collierville water/sewer/waste.
  • Transportation is the only area that will maintain substantial shared services. $3.5M for Durham ($2.8M in original 2018-2019 budget).
  • Some increased technology staff.
  • Apple lease will be $2.7M next year.
  • Step raises (~2%) for teachers
  • 2% Cost of Living Adjustment increase for most staffing (at cost of $747,774). Note: while state will claim ’4% increase for teachers’ that is calculated at the same $33,000 per teacher rate the state uses.
  • Once BEP funding is determined and finalized at the end of the legislative session we will know if there are any opportunities for funding of other items.

Special funds: Nutrition $2.8M; Federal: $4.7M.

Also important to note: Town of Collierville pays for grounds maintenance at all schools except CHS, School Resource Officers, and other items above the tax-based funding.

Business Items:

  • March Financial Statement – no questions
  • Apple Lease – placeholder for updated leases to reflect the equipment refreshes and ongoing equipment leases – details available in 2 weeks at the business meeting
  • Crosswind Elementary HVAC equipment installation (equipment was approved last month) $83k
  • Collierville Elementary HVAC equipment replacement will have bids at next business meeting (bids being opened in one week). Replacing the Boiler/Chiller central unit and using rooftop units as new equipment. This will be a major overhaul, including demolition, roof work, duct work, etc. Projected to take all summer.
  • Memorandum of Understanding between Collierville Schools and Shelby County Department of Children’s Services. Agreement is replacing similar agreement at each municipal school around detecting and reporting child abuse, etc

Superintendent Update:

  • TNReady Testing starts Monday 4/15
  • This will be new at CHS (network dependent)
  • Collierville Schools and its personnel and equipment are prepared
  • Legislative issues around vouchers and charter schools. Mr A recommends the public to do their own homework to investigate and listen to the testimony about public education. Feels public education is under the gun and will see erosion of funding going to private sector, which is not subject to most of the standards and regulations that very tightly control public schools. Nashville is where funding is determined, and where any additional $ will have to come from.
  • Remember how far Collierville Schools has come. And how blessed this district and its students and staff are.

No chairman update today.

Meeting adjourned.

 

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Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Board Work Session and Business Meeting – February 28, 2019

Feb 28

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Summary of the February 2019 combined work session and business meeting (skipping Valentine’s Day for the work session). Full board present. Started the work session with recognition of Collierville Elementary. First grade choir performed songs from the Black History Month program. Tennessee Educational Technology Association president presenting the Consortium of School Networking award recognizing Collierville Schools. Award for the team that has the greatest impact on education. State-wide recognition. Recognition by Apple of Collierville Elementary as an Apple Distinguished School – only 500 globally across 35 countries. Tennessee Educational Technology Association recognizing West Collierville Middle’s Sara Hodge as Technology Teacher of the Year. Collierville Education Association Presentation to discuss teacher compensation:

  • “Teacher salaries have stagnated where they make 20% less than comparably educated professionals, and in Tennessee, that is 27%”
  • CEA surveyed teachers and presented results to the board.
  • 50% reported that the teacher income is primary household income
  • 82% of survey respondents are paying out of their own pocket for materials for their classroom beyond the tax deductible annual amount ($250)
  • Step increase for some teachers was less than the increase in medical insurance fees
  • 50% of teachers do not live in Collierville, the majority of those responded that they cannot afford to live in Collierville
  • Collierville’s cost of living index compared to the whole US (which is at 100) is 126. Tennessee as a whole is 97
  • Teacher salaries in Tennessee rank 39th
  • Teachers with 18+ years of experience are stuck with no salary increases, despite ongoing inflation every year

Presentation of Collierville Schools Audit Report. Presented by the audit firm Dixon Hughes Goodman

  • Audit report available on School Website
  • Clean opinion of the regular financial reports
  • No findings on the special grants audit
  • Added OPEB estimated liabilities to restate beginning balances
  • Audit of internal school funds, each school gets its own opinion
  • Three schools (Middle and High) have a modified opinion due to booster funds issues in past years being intermingled with student activity funds, which could not be corrected in the financial reports until this current fiscal year
  • School-level findings: not depositing collected funds within required 3 days at times; purchase orders not always fully approved prior to expenditures; purchases in excess of $500 did not always have bids, in some cases sole-source supplier documentation was not provided; corrective action plans are in the report

Business before the board: Annual approval of the members of the Disciplinary Hearing Authority Committee of Mr. Herchel Burton as Chairman, Mr. Andy Field, Dr. Nancy Kelley and Mr. Jeff Jones. Only two members are required to hear appeals of any discipline exceeding 11 days. Review of January 2019 Monthly financial statements. Discussion about the revenues and expenditures being in line. Budget Amendments:

  • Capital Projects Fund budget adjustments, increased by $4M, which includes $1.7M in capital funds from the county
  • Nutrition budget adjustments without changing the overall balances
  • Discretionary Grants budget – accommodating receipt of additional grants
  • Federal Funds Budget – to incorporate the unexpected Title I funding
  • General Funds budget increasing by $700,000 due to increased BEP funding, which also alleviated the need to use reserve funds. Other adjustments to recognize several donations and expected expenditures for some capital improvements

Final agenda item: West Collierville HVAC units. 5 rooftop units covering the cafeteria and kitchen areas. 20-25 year old units which will likely not work when temperatures warm up. Best bid from AHA Mechanical Contractors – just over $150k, plus 15k contingency. Good references. Work would be performed over spring break. Superintendent Update:

  • CHS Gym is hosting regional finals for men’s basketball
  • County Mayor is setting up bimonthly meetings with school superintendents
  • Collierville Schools will participate in the ESSA (Federal Every Student Succeeds Act) pilot
  • CEF Trivia night
  • Spring break coming up
  • Announced he will be retiring June 30 2019 to prioritize family

Chairman Update:

  • Chairman Hansen recognizing the monumental contributions the Superintendent brought to the establishment of Collierville Schools
  • CHS Hosted the 8th grade open house this week
  • New Football Coach has been hired (CHS Alum)
  • Board attended Day on the Hill in Nashville
  • Chairman Hansen met with Dr Nancy Kelley about school security and was pleased with the details and the conversation. Will be providing a summary to the board in a few months

Work Session Adjourned.

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Business meeting called to order – all of the board still present.

Approval of Agenda with amendments; including motion for consent agenda for business items IX B through G. Approval of Consent Agenda. Approval of Minutes, Approval of January Financial Reports.

No further reports from Superintendent or Chairman.

Approval of Disciplinary Hearing Authority Committee.

New Item: Request for Proposals for recruiting firm for Superintendent Search. Time is of the essence to ensure the best candidates can make themselves available and following appropriate process.

Meeting Adjourned.

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Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Business Meeting, December 13, 2016

Dec 13

Posted by E2Dutch in School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Regular business meeting for the Collerville School Board. All board members in attendance.

Special Recognition: Tara Oaks Elementary’s Tiger Tones. Should mention that having them in the room for the Pledge of Allegiance was a special treat, also… (Most of these recognitions bring in the students after the meeting has gotten under way)

Ms. Risa Elder, 3rd Grade Teacher, Tara Oaks Elementary “Science Educator of the Year” for the State of Tennessee (lower grades)

Ms. Lauren Baker, Counselor, Collierville Elementary School “School Counselor of the Year” for the Elementary Division for the State of Tennessee

No public comments

Approval of Agenda, Minutes, October 2016 Financial Statements.

Chairman’s report:

  • Lot going on in the schools, trying to attend as many programs and open houses as possible. Very enjoyable to interact with the parents, students, and staff.

Superintendent’s report:

  • 2% longevity bonus for employees maxed out will receive half of that this month
  • Collierville Schools listed as the top educational employer in the area
  • Congratulations to reelected board members who were sworn in last week
  • State Report Card published today. Proud of achievement. Top 10 rating in state for English and Math. Expected dip in statewide achievement scores due to TN Ready challenges was visible. American History is main area of opportunity for Collierville Schools.
  • 24.6 composite ACT score for the district
  • Challenges around the future format of the report card – will lead to reduced visibility in key areas.
  • State level lots of discussion on charters, vouchers, etc.
  • Friday half day for students for Christmas break
  • January will start rezoning meetings
  • iPads will be issued in January

Business Items:

Board officer position elections: chair, vice chair and Tennessee Legislative Network

Mark Hansen nominated to continue as chairman, with support from the rest of the board. Honored to accept. Exciting work.

Kevin Vaughan nominated to continue as vice chairman. Accepts on condition Mr Hansen keeps up his attendance record.

Cathy Messerly nominated to continue as TLN representative.

Pro-Rated device fee for Middle School iPads: $25. 6th and 7th graders will carry device home. Annual fee is $50. This will cover protection through Safeware against damage, loss, and theft. 4th and 5th graders will not take device home, and will thus not be assessed a fee. Note: devices are in protective case to preserve them.

Meeting adjourned.

 

 

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Citizen’s Report: Collierville School Working Session, November 15, 2016

Nov 15

Posted by E2Dutch in Rave, School Board Meeting Notes | Comments off

Collierville Schools Board Working Session. Full board present.

Digital Learning Update

Note: the (draft) resource guide for the technology rollout is online. NOTE ALSO: THIS IS NOT FINAL

Rollout planned to start early in January 2017 with iPads for grades 4-7. Summer 2018 will see rollout to the high school with MacBook laptops. Grades 6+ will be able to take devices home. Home use of devices for grades 4-5 is not currently available, but may be an option in the future.

Fees listed in the draft resource guide are not final/approved yet.

Updates to network infrastructure are under way to ensure sufficient bandwidth is available.

Devices will be controlled through the Filewave Mobile Device Management tool. Has the devices locked and controlled remotely. This will render any stolen devices completely unusable, in addition to pushing updates and content out to the devices. All internet use will be filtered and restricted while on campus, but will also have filtering when the students are off-campus. The result is a powerful digital tool that is controlled by Collierville Schools.

Major component of the technology roll-out is Digital Citizenship. All teachers are in the process of being certified in the digital citizenship model promoted by Common Sense Media. In the first couple of months of the roll-out, all users will complete 5 lessons on digital citizenship. This will have annual refreshers and continuous reinforcement.

Collierville Schools is using the Schoology Learning Management System (LMS). It is integrated with PowerSchool, including schedules and rosters. It also lets teachers create digital content and assessments, and has freely available digital content from around the world from other teachers and service providers.

Student emails have been created for all Collierville Students with an @colliervilledragons.org domain. The email is through the Office 365 service, which allows each user 1Tb of cloud storage, and provides Microsoft Office applications on up to 5 devices, such as home computers. K-5th grade students can only email within the district.

Discussion of concerns around students getting email access, especially in the lower grades.

Part of the digital learning is also significant support for the admin, staff and faculty. Professional development geared to the grade levels. Selected classroom teachers per school are designated members of the ‘Vanguard Group’ to help their schools with the technology integrations and to support their peer teachers.

Deployment schedule:

  • Grades 4-7 in January 2017
  • Grades 3-8 in Fall 2017
  • Grades 9-12 in Fall 2018
  • Grades K-2 with 2:1 ratio devices in Fall 2019

Collierville High School Update

Collierville Schools stays closely informed on construction progress through bi-weekly review updates with the architects and construction management. These meetings also preview upcoming work, and to cover decisions to be made. Currently, the project is “absolutely not behind schedule.”

Presentation showed progress in a 3-D image. This showed the weekly and even some daily progress with footings, foundations, slabs, walls, etc. Concrete work started on 8/31.

Bids for interior finishes were opened 10/27. This includes millwork, drywall, tile, vinyl and wood flooring, and paint. Qualified lowest bid selection process under way.

Design being finalized for the athletic complex.

Update on the financial angle – close monitoring of the cost against budget.

Question from Mr. Vaughan about road infrastructure around the school and the concerns around peak times. This is subject to projections and modeling and the town is working to prepare for this.

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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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