SPARTANBURG COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO



SPARTANBURG COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 7

Minutes of Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees

Charles H. Humphries, Jr., Administration Building

Spartanburg, South Carolina

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

6:00 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Rick Gray, Chair

Mrs. Laura Bauknight, Vice-Chair

Mr. Vernon Beatty

Mr. Andy Hayes

Mr. Sanders Lee

Mrs. Julie Lonon

Ms. Sharon Porter

Dr. Ernest White

MEMBER(S) ABSENT: Mr. Andy Oberg

NOTICE TO MEDIA: In accordance with the S.C. Code of Laws, 1976, Section 30-4-80, as amended, the following were notified of the time, date, place and agenda of this meeting: THE SPARTANBURG HERALD/JOURNAL, WSPA, WYFF

I. CALL TO ORDER: Mr. Gray called the meeting to order. The invocation and Pledge of Allegiance were given by Mr. Lee.

II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Dr. Booker requested to add Approval Item E: Approval to Waive Two Make-up Days for Inclement Weather for FY15 Pending General Assembly Legislation. A motion was made by Ms. Porter to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Mrs. Lonon. All were in favor of the motion. The motion passed.

III. GOOD NEWS: Chief Communications Officer Sally Hammond recognized Kevin

Brabham PE Teacher Jesse Boyd for being awarded a Junior League of Spartanburg mini-grant for PE equipment through its Mini-Grants for Teachers program. Chase Rose from Jesse Boyd was honored for being named one of the 10 Kids Who are Making a Difference winner by Upstate Parent Magazine. The Norse News staff from Spartanburg High School was honored for winning a number of awards at the South Carolina Scholastic Journalism Association’s Spring Conference at USC Columbia last week. In the March Excellence in Scholastic News Awards competition, junior Caroline Carey won First Place in Layout and Second Place in Features, senior Danielle Cassells won Second Place in Editorials and Third Place in Centerspread, junior Mary Louise Vann won Third Place for Front Page Design, and junior Jack West won Third Place in News Features. In the yearly ESNA Awards, Danielle Cassells won Second Place in Editorials and Caroline Carey won Second Place in Layout. The entire Norse News staff was also honored for earning an overall rating of Superior and the prestigious Palmetto Award, the highest honor given within a class based on school size. This is the second year in a row that Norse News has earned this distinction. In addition, juniors Caroline Carey, Makrina Nayfa, Nora Grace Smith, Mary Louise Vann and Jack West were elected as student Board Members of the South Carolina Scholastic Press Association for 2015-16, and adviser Lisa McCulley will serve the second year of her term as adviser board member. Upstate Regional Science Fair winners Janie Long from Jesse Boyd received 1st place in General Science and Carver’s Anderson Jeter received an Honorable Mention in Middle School Chemistry. The Piedmont Region III Science Fair is hosted annually on the USC Upstate campus, and serves students in grades 1-12 in the South Carolina counties of Chester, Cherokee, Lancaster, Spartanburg, Union and York. Three students from Carver - Taquan Powell, Rykem Ferguson-Laney, and Katie Lopez received the “I Am An Achiever Award” for their hard work, their grit and resilience. Sixteen students from McCracken in Laura Brooks’ French class earned medals in the National French exam. The students included: Buddy Akridge, Andrew Berry, Jaylon Girdner, Max Goldman, Jesse Kurkis, Emma Hardin-Parker, and Elizabeth Yex with Honorable Mentions, Grant Booker, Evan Gaubert, Isabella Goodchild, Nathan Jones, Christopher Latham, Emma Sandago, and Jack Thorp with Bronze Medals, Amy Rieth with a Silver Medal, and Will Kendrick a Gold Medal and also designation as 5th highest scorer in the Nation. Over 24,000 students in the nation took the highly competitive French exam sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF).

IV. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS: There were no Citizens’ Comments.

V. ACTION ITEMS:

A. Consent Agenda: A motion was made by Mrs. Lonon to approve the Consent Agenda, seconded by Dr. White. All were in favor of the motion. The motion passed.

B. Approval of Revised Policy ADC – First Reading: Dr. White brought forth a recommendation from the Board Policy Committee to approve the Revised Policy ADC – First Reading. All were in favor of the motion.

C. Approval of Revised Policy GBED – First Reading: Dr. White brought forth a recommendation from the Board Policy Committee to approve the Revised Policy GBED – First Reading. All were in favor of the motion. The motion passed.

D. Approval of Revised Policy JICG – First Reading: Dr. White brought forth a recommendation from the Board Policy Committee to approve the Revised Policy JICG. All were in favor of the motion. The motion passed.

E. Approval to Waive Two Make-up Days for Inclement Weather for FY15, Pending General Assembly Legislation: A motion was made by Mrs. Bauknight to approve to Waive Two Make-up days for Inclement Weather for FY15, Pending General Assembly Legislation, seconded by Mrs. Lonon. All were in favor of the motion. The motion passed.

VI. Reports from Administration:

Instruction: Dr. Terry Pruitt, Deputy Superintendent, informed the board that Chapman Elementary School would begin implementation of The Leader in Me model beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. He said the faculty and staff participated in a book study this year and also had a team attend the Leader in Me Symposium in Charleston where they had the opportunity to visit Leader in Me schools and attend sessions on successful implementation. Dr. Pruitt shared with the board that the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation had officially accepted the Early Learning Center at Park Hills as a candidate school. He complimented Ms. Wanda Owens-Jackson, Principal and noted how extremely proud of the work that the faculty and staff have done preparing for NAEYC Accreditation. Dr. Pruitt concluded his report with an update on the Spring 2015 Assessments. He said students in grades 3 – 8 would take the ACT Aspire in English Language Arts (ELA), writing and math and would continue to take the South Carolina PASS assessments in science and social studies. He noted students in grade 11 would take the ACT and Workkeys, and that May 4-15 would be when AP Exams would be administered.

Personnel & Student Services: Dr. Carlotta Redish, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Student Services, provided for information the monthly staffing report.

Communications: Ms. Sally Hammond, Chief Communications Officer, provided a copy of the communication’s overview and media report along with a list of pertinent dates for the month. She also informed the board that she was in the process of drafting a strategic plan for the Office of Communications and would anticipate sharing the outline in the next month or two. She concluded her report by sharing feedback that had been received following the first edition of 7Headlines, the District’s new e-newsletter, and the State of the District Address. She noted the inaugural issue of 7Headlines was released on March 31 and that going forward one would be distributed on a monthly basis to a district wide database of almost 6,000 email addresses.

Planning & Operations: Dr. Thomas White, Assistant Superintendent for Planning and Operations, provided and update on the capital project throughout the district. Dr. White shared that the SHS Viking Unlimited and Student Center were now occupied and in use, and that the atrium carpet had been installed and looked great. He noted the atrium furniture would be delivered in late May. In the area of safety, Dr. White shared that weather had delayed parts and lengthened the time for completing the Emergency Generator project. He is hopeful the project will be completed by mid-May. He concluded his report by noting OSF had approved the design for Pine Street School’s fire access road and site improvements for their playground and that work should begin very soon on this phase. Jesse Boyd’s Playground Phase II, he noted, would begin as soon as school ends.

Financial Report: Mrs. Missy Campbell, Chief Financial Officer enclosed the financial report for March 2015. When comparing now against March 2014 Mrs. Campbell stated revenue was up slightly (1.5%) due to local tax collections and that our expenditures were within target ranges and consistent with percentages from prior year.

VII. Superintendent’s Report:

Inclement Weather Make-up Days: Dr. Booker shared with the board that currently, Spartanburg County Schools would have a total of three (3) days to make-up due to inclement weather. He let board members know a number of bills had been introduced, but he had received no definitive answers regarding district options. One option he did share however would be the forgiveness of days as long as the make-up days in the calendar were used. This option would make June 1 the last student day but as it currently stood, the last day of school was still June 3.

Redistricting Update: Dr. Booker provided the Board with an update on status of redistricting. He shared that on April 23, 2014 Representatives Harold Mitchell and Derham Cole introduced a redistricting bill and that this bill had since passed the House and would be making its way to the Senate. He noted that the redistricting plan presented in this legislation was the same plan that was presented to board members by the Fiscal Affairs Department in the fall.

State of the District: Dr. Booker thanked board members on their attendance at the State of the District on April 17, 2015. He noted he had received very positive comments regarding the information that was shared, and that he would welcome any feedback they might wish to offer as we look to next year’s event.

Summer Schedule: Dr. Booker shared beginning on Monday, June 8, 2015 and ending on Friday, July 31 the district would be on a 4-day week (Monday through Thursday) summer schedule. The switchboard at the district office, he noted, would operate from 7:00AM to 5:00PM – Monday through Thursday.

Teacher Appreciation Week: Dr. Booker reminded the board that the week of May 4-8 had been designated as National Teacher Appreciation Week and said during the course of the week, we would recognize our outstanding employees for their commitment to the children of District Seven. He noted the district’s “Cheer Patrol” was scheduled for Friday, May 8, a day each school would be provided with breakfast and a small token of our appreciation.

VIII. Chairman’s Report: Chairman Rick Gray provided a copy of the draft agenda for June 2, 2015 and reminded members of the May 26, 2015 Budget Work Session.

IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION: There was no Executive Session

X. ACTION ON MATTERS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION: There was not action taken.

XI. ADJOURNMENT: At approximately 6:39 p.m. a motion was made by Mrs. Lonon to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mrs. Bauknight. All were in favor of the motion. The motion passed

____________________________ ______________________________

SUPERINTENDENT CHAIR

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SECRETARY MINUTES APPROVED

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