Guilford County Board of Education
Board Meeting
September 12, 2006

GUILFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

The Guilford County Board of Education met in a regular meeting on Thursday, August 24, 2006, at 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The following board members were present: Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Susan Mendenhall, Amos Quick (departed at 7:20 p.m. and returned at 8:05 p.m.), Nancy Routh, Anita Sharpe (departed at 7:29 p.m.), and Marti Sykes. Also present were Superintendent Terry Grier and Attorney Jill Wilson.

Call to Order

Chairman Alan Duncan called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence

Board member Amos Quick led the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Recognition

Fulbright Administrator Exchange Recognition

The board recognized Sali Kasemrat, director of Ben 2 School in Chachoengsao, Thailand and Tony L. Burks, II, principal of The Early College at Guilford, as Fulbright Administrator Exchange participants . Kris Cooke presented certificates to Mr. Burks and Ms. Kasemrat on behalf of the board.

Public Comments

Chairman Alan Duncan called on members of the public who requested an opportunity to address the board.

John Abbott, 8515 Mahla Drive, High Point, NC 27265
Earl Gill, 1106 E. Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
Joe Stafford, 4604 Forest Village Drive, Greensboro, NC 27406

Approval of Agenda

Chairman Alan Duncan asked board members to review the meeting agenda and called for a motion to approve or amend it. Board member Anita Sharpe requested that Consent Agenda Item B, “Consideration for Naming of Peck Elementary School New Classroom Annex” be moved under Staff Reports as Item A and that Staff Report Item E, “Update on High Point Central Academy” be moved to become Staff Report Item B. Motion was made by Dot Kearns, seconded by Anita Sharpe, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed upon unanimous show of hands.

Consent Agenda

Superintendent Grier presented the following Consent Agenda items:

A. Personnel Action Report

The Consent Agenda included personnel actions as noted in the monthly Personnel Action Report requiring board approval.

B. Consideration for Naming of Peck Elementary School New Classroom Annex

This item has been moved to Staff Report, Item A.

C. Opening of School for Eastern, Hairston, and Kernodle Middle Schools

The Consent Agenda included a recommendation to set the opening of school at Eastern, Hairston, and Kernodle middle schools to Monday, August 28, 2006 to allow the staff adequate preparation time. The make-up day for Friday, August 25, 2006 will be Tuesday, November 7, 2006.

Motion was made by Marti Sykes, seconded by Dot Kearns, to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Consent Agenda Item A passed upon majority roll call vote of 8-to-3 as follows: Ayes – Walter Childs, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Susan Mendenhall, Amos Quick, and Marti Sykes; Nays – Darlene Garrett, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe. Consent Agenda Item C passed upon unanimous roll call vote.

Staff Reports

Consideration for Naming of Peck Elementary School New Classroom Annex

Kevin Lear, Chief Operations Officer, presented to the board a recommendation that the board carefully consider the public comments and support the revised name Mary Ann Yarborough Wing and direct the administration to have the appropriate signage prepared. As reported at the June 26, 2006 board meeting, pursuant to our procedure on the naming of schools (FDCA-P), the principal of Peck Elementary School, on behalf of faculty, staff and student body, had requested that the new eight-classroom wing be named Mary Ann Yarborough Annex in honor of a distinguished individual who has made outstanding contributions to the Guilford County School system, as well as the community. The recommended name was posted on the district website for a period of public comment and feedback. Four emails were received, all in favor of replacing “Annex” with “Wing.”

Motion was made by Darlene Garrett, seconded by Dot Kearns, to approve the naming of Peck Elementary School new classroom annex the Mary Ann Yarborough Wing. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Nancy Routh, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Anita Sharpe, Deena Hayes, Darlene Garrett, Dot Kearns, Walter Childs, Amos Quick, and Susan Mendenhall ; Nays – Marti Sykes .

Update on High Point Central Academy

Dr. Eric Becoats, chief of staff, presented to the board an update on the High Point Central Academy. Dr. Becoats provided the board with the following points regarding the academy:

• Facilities – outside and landscaping complete
• Staffing – full staff in place
• Desks and Furniture – all in place
• Textbooks – all should arrive the week of August 28
• Enrollment – 125 students are enrolled in the academy with 67 students in the culinary arts program, 48 students in the public safety program and 10 students in the medical careers program.

Dr. Becoats will provide answers to all questions raised by board members which were not answered during the meeting.  

Contracts for Construction at Parkview Elementary School

Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, presented to the board a recommendation to award contracts to H. M. Kern, Inc. for the single prime general construction in the amount of $5,160,080 and to Access Control Consultants for technology construction in the amount of $131,010 at Parkview Elementary School.

Motion was made by Susan Mendenhall, seconded by Dot Kearns, to approve contracts with H. M. Kern, Inc. in the amount of $5,160,080for the single prime general construction and to Access Control Consultants for technology construction in the amount of $131,010 at Parkview Elementary School . The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 9-1-1 as follows: Ayes – Dot Kearns, Anita Sharpe, Nancy Routh, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Marti Sykes, Susan Mendenhall, and Darlene Garrett; Nays – Amos Quick; Abstain – Deena Hayes.

Middle School Gymnasium Update

Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, and Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer, presented to the board a middle school gymnasium update. Ms. Ozment reported that the district’s capital outlay budget includes revenues from the state-funded Public School Building Capital Fund (PSBCF). The PSBCF is administered by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), and the program is funded using a portion of the corporate income taxes which are assessed to corporations doing business in the state. Monies in the fund are allocated to school districts on the basis of average daily membership (ADM) as determined and certified by the State Board of Education. School districts must match these funds on the basis of one dollar for every three PSBCF dollars.

The PSBCF dollars for fiscal years FY04 thru FY07 reflect an available balance of $7,750,833.34. This balance includes the 2006-07 PSBCF planning allotment of $3,954,287. The remaining dollars are available primarily because tax revenue/collections and interest earnings exceeded state planning allotment estimates by $2,590,398.34. Additionally, because Guilford County Schools did not have to purchase land for the new Northern Elementary School, there was a savings or cost avoidance of $825,000.

Given the $3 million reduction in our 2006-07 capital outlay appropriation and the significant expenses incurred to date in connection with the middle school structural enhancement issues, we recommend submitting applications for the release of $7,750,833 from the PSBCF for the following projects:

• $5.4 million for middle school structural enhancement issues – the requisite match of $1.8 million will be satisfied by the $1,817,226.76 in capital outlay funds expended on middle school structural enhancement costs in 2005-06;
• an additional $1.5 million for the Academy at Smith High School – the requisite match of $500,000 will be satisfied with 2006-07 capital outlay funds equipment expenditures; and
• $850,833 for the Academy at High Point Central - the requisite match of $283,611 will be satisfied with $100,000 in 2006-07 capital outlay funds and $183,611 in 2006-07 state lottery funds – the $765,556 balance of the project ($1,900,000 - $850,833 - $283,611 = $765,556) will also be funded with state lottery funds.

Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Deena Hayes, to table the discussion regarding the Academy at Smith and the Academy at High Point Central until the next meeting.The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 7-to-3 as follows: Ayes – Anita Sharpe, Nancy Routh, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, and Darlene Garrett; Nays – Dot Kearns, Marti Sykes, and Susan Mendenhall. Amos Quick was not present for the vote.

Motion was made by Darlene Garrett, seconded by Anita Sharpe, to approve the recommendations in regard to the middle schools. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 9-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Dot Kearns, Anita Sharpe, Nancy Routh, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Marti Sykes, Susan Mendenhall, and Darlene Garrett; Nays – Deena Hayes. Amos Quick was not present for the vote.

Update on School Nurses

Dr. Terrence Young, chief information officer, presented to the board an update on school nurses. He reported that 25 nurses are from the health department and that five additional nurses will be added. The school nurse contract will be presented at the next board meeting.

Magnet Grant Update

Dr. Eric Becoats, chief of staff, led the board in a continued discussion regarding the magnet grant. Dr. Becoats reviewed the following responses to items that were raised during the August 8 Board of Education meeting regarding the magnet grant application:

• Language Immersion Program:
• Eliminate language immersion as a theme in the magnet grant
• Develop a Pre-IB program at Northwood Elementary with Chinese as the preferred language
• Provide Chinese as the preferred language at Ferndale Middle
• Revised list of themes and schools as follows:

Theme School(s)

• Transportation Cost
• Transportation cost cannot be included in a federal magnet grant. The projected cost for this grant will be developed as the grant is prepared. The final projected cost will be provided prior to submission.
• The average transportation cost for a magnet student is $1,385.62 per student per year based on figures supplied by the GCS Transportation Department

• Grant Development Cost
• We will work with American Education Solutions (AES) as we complete the magnet grant application. We anticipate AES to provide us with assistance for no more than 15 days for a total cost of $15,000.

Motion was made by Dot Kearns, seconded by Susan Mendenhall, to approve moving forward with completion of the magnet grant application as presented with the understanding that the administration will bring this item back for final approval by the board after the application is completed. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 8-to-2 as follows: Ayes – Dot Kearns, Nancy Routh, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Amos Quick, Marti Sykes, and Susan Mendenhall; Nays – Deena Hayes and Darlene Garrett. Anita Sharpe was not present for the vote.

Staffing Update

Dr. Peggy Thompson, chief human resources officer, presented to the board an update on the state of staffing including vacancies and new hires. Dr. Thompson reported that the current number of employees is 9,627 (certified – 5,724, classified – 3,295, and bus drivers – 608) and the current number of teachers is 4,837 (elementary – 2,234, middle – 1,082, high – 1,301, special schools – 1,445, and other – 76). The current number of new licensed teachers is 558. She reviewed the No Child Left Behind Licensure requirement and the North Carolina teacher shortage.

Martha Snavely, executive director of induction and success, gave a brief update on the training of new principals and teachers.

Board Discussion

Bond Referendum Discussion

Chairman Duncan asked the board to consider three areas when making a decision to proceed with a bond referendum – identify the needs, identify projects to be included, and define when to move forward with approval by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. Joe Hill, contracted services, presented to the board an outline for a starting point in formulating a plan for future capital improvement funding.

After hearing Mr. Hill’s discussion and comments from board members, Chairman Duncan noted that there is an interest in pursuing another bond referendum. He asked board members to contact Mr. Hill with information regarding any projects they would like to be included in the bond.

Chairman Duncan asked that this item be added to the board retreat agenda to be held in September.

Reports from the Chairman

Chairman Duncan referred to board member Susan Mendenhall for an update on the Legislative Committee’s recommendations to the Greensboro Partnership requesting input per letter from Alan Purser. Ms. Mendenhall noted that the committee will be starting the process for the 2007 Legislative Agenda. Any suggestions should be sent to Sonya Conway or any committee member.

Chairman Duncan asked that the issues of tasers and school climate be put on the agenda for the next board meeting.

Chairman Duncan noted that a request has been made to move the board comments before closed session (if needed) to allow the television staff to go home.

Board Comments

Board members were each allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deemed appropriate.

Adjournment

With no further business, at 9:29 p.m., motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Marti Sykes, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.