November 1, 2016

DELAWARE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

6:30 p.m.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

 MINUTES

 Present:  Adam Williams, President; Trent Fox, Vice President; John Adams, Secretary; Alice Gillis, Member; Tyce Stebbins, Member; Darin Gullion, Assistant Superintendent; and Reece Mann, Superintendent

 I.                   CALL TO ORDER

 At 6:30 p.m. Board President, Adam Williams, called the meeting to order.

 II.                PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 III.             AMEND AGENDA

 A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to amend the agenda, as presented.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 IV.              MINUTES

 A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Alice Gillis to accept the minutes of the business meeting and executive session held on Tuesday, October 18, 2016.  The motion was approved unanimously.

  V.                 FINANCE

 A.     A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to accept the list of vouchers, as presented.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 B.     Purchases over $7500:

 A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Alice Gillis to approve the following (item 1):

 1.       Midwest Transit            Bus Replacement     $443,425.00

(Five 78 passenger buses)  (2017 Budget Appropriations)

 The motion was approved unanimously.

 

A motion was made by Tyce Stebbins and seconded by Trent Fox to approve the following (item 2):

2.      Adjustment of prior approved POs.

 a.      Netech                       CP                               $258,892.69

(Prior amount $262,482.27)

 b.      ASG                            CP                               $125,315.29

(Prior amount $124,967.73)

 The motion was approved unanimously.

 

VI.              COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Doug Marshall, Royerton Elementary Principal, informed everyone they participated in Red Ribbon Week last week.  The students did a great job dressing up each day to show they choose to live a drug free life. He stated the highlight of the week was having the Pride Team perform.  There were several former Delta students on the team who represented Delta in a great way.  He informed everyone they also had Parent Appreciation Day last Friday for parents to come in for donuts and the Book Fair was also going on.  Mr. Marshall stated it was a nice week of activities that promoted reading and relationships with our community.

Brett Clark, Delta Middle School Assistant Principal/Athletic Director, informed everyone on October 26th they recognized the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Honor Roll students.  He’s very excited about the numbers they had.  He stated 6th grade had 55% that earned all A’s and B’s, 7th grade had 64%, and 8th grade had 53%.  They honored 353 out of 611 students with 58% of the student body being recognized.  He commends the teachers, administrative team, and students for their success.  He informed everyone today they had their first parent lunch day and it was great to see community members and family there.  They had a great turn out and tomorrow is 7th grade and Thursday is 8th grade.  Mr. Clark stated they are looking forward to getting their fearless leader back soon.  They miss her and wish her and her family nothing but thoughts and prayers from everyone at DMS.

Chris Conley, Delta High School Principal, appreciates what Mr. Clark did for the high school at the beginning of the year before he transferred back to the middle school.  He introduced Mr. Ross Elwood, the new Assistant Principal at the high school who started last Monday.  He has been a great part of their team and Mr. Elwood and Ms. Gossett have worked closely this last week or so.  Mr. Conley invited everyone to attend “Fiddler on the Roof” the Drama Club will be putting on November 17, 18, and 19.  He stated Thursday’s and Friday’s performances are at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday’s is at 2:00 p.m.  The Drama Club has been working very hard and practicing full cast for the last week or so and he’s looking forward to seeing that.  He informed everyone the girls’ basketball team plays their first game Thursday night at Muncie Central and this Friday the football team will host Mount Vernon in the Sectional Championship game at 7:00 p.m.  He hopes everyone can come out and cheer us on and if we are fortunate enough to win, we will be on the road to Regionals. 

Allen Kidd, Royerton Elementary Parent, knows in the next month or two we will be looking at developing a calendar for the 2017-18 school year.  He started a Facebook page called “Save Delaware County Summers” and has found a tremendous amount of support for schools starting in the middle of August.  Some of the things he’s heard from supporters is on air conditioning expenses.  If we don’t have occupied buildings in the month of August it could save money we could spend on other programs and the environmental benefit of not consuming as much power.  He’s heard concerns about temperatures on school buses, summer businesses, pools, nearby state parks, and communities.  He stated it makes more sense to spend money in the state of Indiana in August than the shores of Florida in March when none of that money will come back to Indiana.  He expressed concern about the State Fair having the lowest attendance in this entire millennium dropping 170,000 from last year.  He stated family vacations can be difficult to plan in July versus August and concern for not being able to send kids to camps.  He’s heard concerns from various people about needing to get kids outside more in the fresh air and having more physical exercise.  August is an excellent time to be swimming, bicycling, and doing things outside.  Mr. Kidd would greatly appreciate if we would look at all possibilities and start a couple weeks later in August.  He thanked everyone for their time and consideration.

 

VII.           NEW BUSINESS

 A.     Certified Staff

 1.       None.

 B.     Classified Staff

 A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to approve the following (items 1-2):

 1.       Resignation of Rebekah Swanson, School Nurse at Delta Middle School, effective November 18, 2016, but will continue as a Substitute Nurse.

 2.      Resignation of Maranda Cave, Food Service Cook at Delta High School, effective October 26, 2016. 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Alice Gillis to approve the following (items 3-4):

3.      Recommendation to employ Troy Wilburn as a Sub Bus Driver at Transportation effective immediately, pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 4.      Recommendation to employ Aaron Gibson as a Sub Bus Driver at Transportation effective immediately, pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 The motion was approved unanimously.

 

C.     Extra-Curricular

A motion was made by John Adams and seconded by Trent Fox to approve the following (items 1-5):

 1.       Recommendation to employ Kendi Zvokal as a 7th Grade Girls’ Basketball Coach at Delta Middle School effective for the 2016-17 school year, pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 2.      Recommendation to employ Evan King as a 6th Grade Girls’ Basketball Coach (split position) at Delta Middle School effective for the 2016-17 school year.

 3.      Recommendation to employ Jordan Yaryan as a 6th Grade Girls’ Basketball Coach (split position) at Delta Middle School effective for the 2016-17 school year, pending successful completion of all pre-employment testing.

 4.      Recommendation to appoint Randy Willis as a Volunteer Assistant 6th Grade Boys’ Basketball Coach at Delta Middle School effective for the 2016-17 school year.

 5.      Recommendation to appoint Jillian Renbarger as a Volunteer Assistant 8th Grade Girls’ Basketball Coach at Delta Middle School effective for the 2016-17 school year.

 The motion was approved unanimously.

 

D.    Conference Requests/Field Trips

 A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Alice Gillis to approve the following (items 1-5):

 1.      Tracey Brooks and Tracy Bullock request permission to attend ServSafe Certification Class to be held on October 24, 2016 at the Holiday Inn Express in Muncie, IN.

 2.      Lance Brand requests permission to attend the H.E.C.C. Technology Conference to be held from November 9, 2016 through November 10, 2016 at the Union Station in Indianapolis, IN.

 3.      Debbie Helfst and Holly Mosier request permission to attend Differentiating Sensory from Behavior to be held on November 14, 2016 at Hilton Garden Inn in Indianapolis, IN.

 4.      Marilee Creech requests permission to attend Close Reading and Text Dependent Questioning to be held on November 17, 2016 at the Marriott East in Indianapolis, IN.

 5.      Reece Mann and Darin Gullion request permission to attend the 2016 IAPSS Annual Meeting to be held from December 4, 2016 through December 6, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis, IN.

 The motion was approved unanimously.

 

E.     Information and Proposals

 1.       Superintendent

 a.      Mr. Bryan Weaver gave a presentation on the Transportation Department. 

 b.      Deb Huston from the Aspect Foundation introduced the Foreign Exchange Students attending DelCom Schools.

 c.       A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to approve permission to post DHS End of Course Assessment positions.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 d.      A motion was made by Trent Fox and seconded by John Adams to approve the Royerton Elementary 5th grade class to attend Flat Rock Camp.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 e.      A motion was approved by John Adams and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to approve Classified Benefits, as presented.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 f.        Mr. Mann informed the Board about the following fundraisers:

 1.       Lynde Bratton, Royerton PTO, requests permission to sell spirit wear from November 2, 2016 through November 16, 2016, as presented.  Proceeds go towards Royerton PTO Teacher Grants.

 2.      Wendy Brown and Morgan Jones, Delta Junior Honor Society, request permission to hold a Pie in the Face Contest at Delta Middle School from November 7, 2016 through November 18, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., as presented.  Proceeds go towards Secret Families.

 3.      Amanda Craw and Miranda Hummel, DHS Student Council, request permission to hold a Canned Food Drive at Delta High School from November 7, 2016 through November 12, 2016, as presented. Proceeds go towards benefiting the community.

4.      Lynde Bratton and Jen Kile, Royerton 5th Grade, request permission to hold a Cookies and Canvas event on December 1, 2016 and December 10, 2016, as presented.  Proceeds go towards costs for the Flat Rock field trip.

 5.      Jennifer Conti, Royerton Elementary Service Learning Project, requests permission to collect donations of used children’s clothing from December 5, 2016 through December 9, 2016, as presented. Proceeds go towards benefiting the Center Chapel Mission House Clothing Pantry.

 6.      Michelle Friend, Royerton Elementary PTO, requests permission to sell spirit shirts from January 17, 2017 through January 27, 2017, as presented.  Proceeds go towards paying for shirts of students who cannot afford one.

 

2.      Assistant Superintendent

 A motion was made by Tyce Stebbins and seconded by Alice Gillis to approve the following (items 1-3):

 a.      Use of Facilities:

 1.       Sherri Spay, Delta Girls’ Softball Association, requests permission to use the Royerton Elementary Teachers’ Lounge on October 19, 2016 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to hold a Board Meeting, as presented.

 2.      David Bratton, Delta 4th Grade Basketball, requests permission to use the Delta Middle School Gymnasium from November 3, 2016 through January 31, 2017 to hold basketball practice, as presented.

 3.      Jennifer Barrett, Indiana Blood Center, requests permission to use the Royerton Elementary Cafeteria on November 7, 2016 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to hold a Blood Drive, as presented.

 The motion was approved unanimously.

  

A motion was made by Alice Gillis and seconded by Tyce Stebbins to approve the following (items b-d):

 b.      Request for Transportation to accept a donation from Louck Farms Plants and Flowers, as presented.

 c.       Request for Eaton Elementary School to surplus items, as presented. 

 d.      Request for Royerton Elementary School to surplus items, as presented. 

 The motion was approved unanimously.

 

 

VIII.        LETTERS/NOTES

 

 IX.              BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

Tyce Stebbins – Mr. Stebbins thanked Mr. Kidd for coming and speaking about the school calendar.  He hopes Mr. Kidd understands the number one thing is where are those days coming from.  He stated he talks to different friends, family, and neighbors, but the biggest thing is there are still a certain number of days we have to get in and they have to find those days somewhere.  Mr. Stebbins would personally like to get rid of Spring Break, Fall Break, and maybe less time at Christmas and Easter which are the biggest ones that eat up the days.  He appreciates Mr. Kidd’s comments and thanked him for sharing. He welcomed Mr. Elwood and looks forward to seeing his face around and has heard good things about him already.  He let Mr. Weaver know it’s nice to get a tour of Transportation because that is one of the buildings most of them don’t get to see very often.  He stated we just approved new buses and he think it’s important for everyone to understand those expenses all come from different funds.  He appreciates the foreign exchange program coming in every year and stated it’s prideful to hear all the great things about Delta and seeing the kids be enthusiastic about it.  He stated it’s neat to have the exchange students come in and explain the differences in their countries and great for our kids to see the different cultures.  He thanked Ms. Huston for all the hard work she puts into the program.  He thanked Louck Farms for their donation to Transportation and the 4-H members for the thank you cards.  He commented it’s neat the 4-H group is always adamant about sending out thank you’s

 Mr. Stebbins stated there is a lot going on in everyone’s life and different people going through different things so make sure you keep everybody in your thoughts and prayers and help those around you when they need it the most because that is what makes Delta great. 

Alice Gillis – Ms. Gillis is glad to hear about Red Ribbon Week because it’s a great thing in the schools.  She stated 58% on the A-B Honor Roll at Delta Middle School is incredible.  She welcomed Mr. Elwood. She wished good luck to the actors participating in “Fiddler on the Roof” at Delta High School.  She wished good luck to the girls’ basketball team on Thursday and hopes they will start out with a win.  She wished good luck to the football team and hopes they bring home a Sectional Championship.  Ms. Gillis appreciates the administrators giving updates at meetings because she doesn’t always know what’s going on and it’s great to hear what’s happening in the buildings.  She gave a special thanks to Mr. Weaver for the transportation presentation.  She has never been down there and doesn’t have any idea what goes on there.  Ms. Gillis thanked the foreign exchange students.  She thinks it’s a wonderful thing.  She enjoyed the exchange students when she was teaching and learned a lot from them. 

John Adams – Mr. Adams thinks 58% of students on the DMS A-B Honor Roll is outstanding and a great accomplishment.  He thanked Mr. Weaver for his transportation presentation and he’s glad to have him on board.  He stated he drove back there to look at everything after he heard it was cleaned up and thanked Mr. Weaver for getting that done.  He stated it’s great to hear all the things going on in the buildings from Red Ribbon week, 58% A-B Honor Roll at DMS, and teams advancing in tournaments at the high school. He congratulated Mr. Elwood, welcomed him on board, and let him know it will be nice working with him as time moves on.  He thanked Mr. Kidd for coming and sharing his thoughts about the school calendar.  He informed him that unfortunately sometimes things don’t always go the way we like, but he has had many people talk to him about starting the school year later.  He stated there are things we don’t get to do like we used to and he would concur with a lot of things Mr. Kidd said.  He explained other things dictate when we start and there are a lot of logistics that go into making the calendar.  Mr. Adams doesn’t want Mr. Kidd to take it we don’t look at the concerns because we certainly do and if we could extend that time for our kids, we would be more than willing to try and do that.  Mr. Adams never thought he would get a flag from the Ukraine and that is awesome.  He let Ms. Huston know he is proud she thinks highly of Delta and wants to share exchange students with us.  He stated we learn just about as much from them as they do from us. He thinks it’s neat our students immediately adapt to the foreign exchange students and make them feel like they have a home.  He thanked Ms. Huston for bringing them tonight and hopes she continues to bring them. Mr. Adams thanked Ms. Swanson and Ms. Cave for the time they’ve spent with our kids and for being a part of our school system. 

Trent Fox – Mr. Fox thanked Ms. Kile and Ms. Vance for coming tonight.  He has always said Royerton needs an overnight camp like Eaton and Albany and he’s glad that’s finally going to happen.  He stated it will be an experience the kids will get to enjoy and something for the whole group to be able to do.  He commented they are going to go away overnight and be with all of their friends and that is going to be a little bit different for them.  He stated it’s good to get to see a different environment outside of school and he appreciates Ms. Kile and Ms. Vance being able to bring this to them.  He looks forward to hearing the results and how everything went.  He congratulated Mr. Elwood and thanked him for coming tonight.  He stated he met him at the National Honor Society induction the other night at the high school and he’s glad to have him on board.  He thanked Mr. Weaver for the transportation presentation.  He let him know it’s great to see those things and what’s going on down there.  Mr. Fox thanked Ms. Huston and let her know it’s great to have as many exchange students as we have and we’ve been able to find host families for them.  He stated it’s always a neat experience to get to hear their side of things and our kids to get to intermix with them as well.  He thanked Mr. Kidd for coming tonight and bringing up the school calendar.  He would love for school to go back to starting after Labor Day, but it partly needs to go to our Legislators and them starting to work to change the 180 day mandate.  He stated that would allow more flexibility in what schools can do in Indiana and would help with the decision making on calendars.  Mr. Fox let Mr. Kidd know that’s the other avenue that needs to be tackled and next Tuesday could drastically change things.  He stated those are the avenues that need to be hit up.  Mr. Fox thanked Louck Farms for their donation to Transportation. 

Adam Williams – Mr. Williams concurred with his fellow board members and greatly appreciates everyone’s time for being here tonight.  He really feels the value of host families for foreign exchange students, what they add to Delta, and what we are able to add to their lives.  He asks to please visit www.aspectfoundation.org for more information if you are interested in being a host family.  Mr. Williams stated between now and the time his kids are through school, he would love to be able to find a way to be a host family. 

  

FUTURE MEETINGS

 A.     A regular meeting for the Board of School Trustees is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.

 

X.                 ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made by Tyce Stebbins and seconded by Trent Fox and Board President, Adam Williams, adjourned the meeting at 7:45 p.m.

 

 November 1, 2016

  

ADAM WILLIAMS                                              ___________________________

 TRENT FOX                                                        ____________________________

 JOHN ADAMS                                                   ____________________________

 ALICE GILLIS                                                    ____________________________

 TYCE STEBBINS                                                ____________________________