June 22, 2017 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Our Bethel Middle School, History Bowl Team placed 9th in the Country at a recent competition in Atlanta, GE.   What was more outstanding is that the students competed and won against high school aged teams.  A big shout out to the teams advisors, Caitlin Bowles and Kelsy Dohney for all of their hard work with our students.  

Students from Johnson School l recently competed at the national level (MI) Odyssey World Finals.  Aligned with our strategic plan, the students competed in STEM programs.  What an amazing experience for all of the students and parents involved. 

This year we will have our first groups of students to be recognized for completion of pathways in Education and Global Studies.   They will receive recognition through the graduation exercises.  

This year, the total amount of know scholarships given to students and their families exceeded $3.2 million dollars.  

GRANTS, GIFTS, BEQUESTS:

Johnson School - Immigration Nation. It is truly a rich opportunity. Our students go to outings (Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and more ) fully paid by grant! 75 students and chaperones. The program's goal is to raise awareness of our forefathers who came to the US. The Liquori, Kersting, & Claridge triad participated. Their projects, experiences, and collaboration (with other schools in the area) on theses trips and at workshops was truly authentic project based learning in action. 

Rationale:  Please see letters for Dr. Gangi and Mr. and Mrs. Stowell.  

Rationale:  (Please note:  The Board welcomes Public Participation and asks that speakers please limit their comments to 2 minutes.  Speakers may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them.  The Board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students, nor against any person connected with the Bethel Public School System.)

Rationale: 

Status of State Budget.  

 

Rationale: 

Summary of the Briefing:
We piloted both the Grade 7 & 8 Digital Music course and the Grades 9-12 Recording Studio
course this past school year to provide more personalized choice for students and to create a
pathway for students prior to entering Bethel High School. We have the staff,
curriculum,materials and equipment needed to run both courses at BMS and BHS.

Digital Music (Grade 7 & 8 music elective)
This course is designed for students to develop skills in music composition and production.
Students will utilize MIDI keyboards and computers to write and record music. Music
composition and songwriting techniques will be explored as well as piano, music theory and
introductory audio engineering.

Recording Studio (Grades 9-12 music elective)
This course takes place in a student-run recording studio, in which students are tasked with
recording and editing music. Students will learn mic placement, recording techniques, audio
signal processing, and audio editing.

Rationale: 

Summary of the Briefing:

• The CC (Common Core) 6/7 accelerated math course is aligned with the CCSS for Mathematics Grades 6 and 7, both the content standards and the standards for mathematical practice.

• In addition to all of the concepts taught in Grade 6, accelerated students cover the following Grade 7 topics: operations with integers, operations with rational numbers, two step equations and advanced algebraic expressions, proportions and percents.

• Curriculum was revised to include acceleration in standards. You can find the CC 6/7 curriculum here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B2GvklnotlxkZ2twcnV6bklvcms

 

• Entry criteria using multiple data sources has been established to determine which students would likely excel in this course. All assessments have a required benchmark.

              -Performance Task

              -Grade 5 Core Standards Assessment

              -NWEA

              -Teacher Recommendation

 

Rationale: 

 

Shipping			169.58
Total Cost			16,287.38

 

Rationale:  This item is for informational purposes only.  There were two changes in Public Acts which required changes to the regulation.  The first act eliminates the ability of districts to file a Family with Service Needs (FWSN) with Juvenile Court for truancy.  The second act P.A. 17-14 implements guidelines from the SDE regarding attendance.   We updated our regulation based on the model policy update from Shipman and Goodman.  

Rationale: 

The Bethel Public Schools, on their website have always contained regulations regarding "charging" for the School Lunch Program.  Under the new Federal law, Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Board of Education is required to adopt a policy and regulation regarding charging of school lunches and breakfast.   The Board of Education does not currently have a policy.  Some key points of the policy and regulation include:  

1. Commitment to providing assistance to students quailifying for free and reduced lunch; 
2. Parameters for "charging" lunches;  
3. Strategies for parents who are having difficulty paying for lunch;  
4. Overview of ways for parents to make payments; and
5. Mechanisms for the district to contact parents when their balances are low or in debt.  

This will be the first reading of this policy.  

 

Rationale: 

Rationale:  The administration is recommending that we use Shipman's Model Policy 3280, Grants, Gifts and Bequests and eliminating the existing CABE policy.  This is the second reading of the policy.  

Rationale: 

Key Points of the Briefing:

* It is important to the Bethel Board of Education that an excellent Food Service Management Company administer the food service operations for the district in accordance with all of the regulations of the National School Lunch Program under the direction of the USDA and the CSDE.

* It is important that the FSMC manage the food service operations with a financial break-even or better result; otherwise the BOE operating funds must cover any loss.

* The SDE has reviewed and approved this annual amendment with Sodexo.

Recommendation of the Administration:

1. The Director of Fiscal Services is recommending renewing Sodexo for many reasons including:

1. A guaranteed profit in the 2017-2018 year of $52k and again in each of the remaining two years at a time when many districts our size have not been able to turn a profit in food service
2. A history of good management here in Bethel
3. The active partnership of Sodexo in our district wellness initiatives

 

Rationale: 

Key Points of the Briefing:

 

*  As we are nearing the end of the fiscal year, final payrolls are posting tomorrow and then we will know what funds remain with which to close accounts and if possible, make a positive impact on our district:

* 1) Unexpended Funds Account – Knowing that we are in uncertain times waiting for a State Budget, we will look to deposit some remaining funds to this account is for opportunities and contingencies in future years.

* 2) Technology – One of the four Board of Education goals is to have technology as a catalyst for teaching and learning.  We have achieved actual 1:1 in Chromebooks grades 3 through 12 for 2017-2018.  There are several routers that need replacement and we will see if any can be funded.

* 3) Special Education – The SPED department is still closing their books especially for outplacement tuition and transportation; this will all be reconciled.

* 4) Safety – This area continues to be paramount and we will add security measures in accordance with our approved plan.  One long-time safety issue just addressed was netting to catch baseball fly balls that land on the track where other athletes are absorbed in their sport and unaware of the danger coming towards them.

* 5) Facilities – There were significant facilities issues this year and these costs will be covered during the year end closing process next week.

Rationale: 

The Bethel High School renovation project remained open until all outstanding legal issues were resolved.  These two issues were resolved several years ago and now the final filing of all State required paperwork is ready to be filed.  These documents include the ED049F, a final ED046, and a final Eligible/Ineligible Cost Worksheet.  Along with these documents must be documentation of final acceptance of the project by the Board of Education.  

Rationale:  We wanted to provide the Board of Education with the opportunity to ask any additional questions regarding the project.  

Rationale:  Annually, the Bethel Board of Education sets the increase for all non-union employees.  A motion will need to be made after coming out of executive session regarding increases based on Board of Education consensus.