Board Meeting August 10, 2011

Please refer to the minutes for more details about the meeting.

I gave an update about what I learned at the Summer Leadership Institute and wanted to reference a couple of things we learned at the conference.  First, the Jim Bearden, the keynote, provided strategic planning information, for which I had a cost and presented it to Superintendent Uterhardt with the request we consider hiring Jim Bearden to guide the district in the development of a 5yr Plan for our district.  I also mentioned we have not addressed our vision or mission, in the 8 months,  I have been on the School Board.  It seems each school and even the technology committee has their own.  I believe it would benefit us to get someone to guide us on the right path and be on the same page. 

Jim Bearden spoke about Victimhood versus Accountability, don’t blame others, and hold yourself accountable.  The thing that came to my mind was us not meeting AYP.   We addressed it from the perspective of being the victim, I would like to see us do an about face for things like AYP and other issues that come about and address them from acknowledging where our faults are and present the plan for how we will address those faults in the future.

I presented an article I read from the newspaper about AIMS scores, at a quick glance it shows our third grade at WJM scored the highest in reading and third in Math than any other school in the county.  None of the other grades came close; in fact they dropped way down.  I requested Mrs. Darby to review the data to see why that is.   Mr. Perotti added he would like to receive that kind of information before it goes to the newspaper.

I mentioned the budget information I learned at the Leadership Summit.   Other School Boards assign one board member who does the reviewing of budget sheets and no one signs any blank documents.   I requested that we address this at the next board meeting.  I also requested a monthly document from Mrs. Reames that is distributed to other district board members and passed the copy on to Superintendent Uterhardt. 

I addressed a concern I had of the Bullying Policy that will be coming up and stated the Tombstone Marshal’s Office needs to be aware of the policy and would like the Huachuca City Police Department be made aware also.

I expressed my delight to participate and be a part of the District’s Back to School Meeting and the Huachuca City’s Open House.  Having the transportation department at the Huachuca City School Open House was very useful for the parents who had bussing concerns.  I was pleased to see communication happening among the departments at the district.  

I gave accolades to Mrs. Anderson for her independent participation in professional development  at the Biosphere and using the technology she received at the Open House.

Before the meeting I toured Huachuca City with Mrs. Crandall and has concerned with there not being bus stop sign at bus stops.

I asked Superintendent Uterhardt for a Professional Development Calendar on the next agenda for each school and the topic of the training.   I also mentioned Mr. Devere has each teacher do their own professional development calendar and would like that to be done throughout the district if possible.

Mrs. Nyquist and Mrs. Berzinski presented what they learned at the International Society of Technology Educators.  I am excited by their new learning and can’t wait to see the exciting new lessons the students will experience, because of their teacher new skills.