To:

Members, Board of Education

From:

Alan W. Duncan
Terry B. Grier, Ed.D.

Date:

June 22 , 2007

RE:

Board Memorandum for Meeting of June 28, 2007

I. Call to Order
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Chairman Duncan will call the meeting to order. 

II. Pledge of Allegiance
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Chairman Duncan will call on a member of the board to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. Closed Session
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the board will address business requiring a closed session.

IV. Moment of Remembrance and Silence
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Chairman Duncan will lead the board in a moment of remembrance and silence in honor of those students who have tragically lost their lives this school year.

V.  Public Comments
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Chairman Duncan will call on members of the public who have requested an opportunity to address the board.

VI. Approval of Agenda
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Chairman Duncan will ask board members to review the meeting agenda and will call for a motion to approve or revise it. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Chairman Duncan at 378-5315, prior to the meeting.

VII.    Consent Agenda
A. Personnel Action Reports
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes personnel actions as noted in the monthly Personnel Action Report requiring board approval.  Should there be any additional personnel action requiring board approval, you will receive notification prior to the meeting. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Peggy Thompson, chief human resources officer, at 370-8340, prior to the meeting.

B. Budget Amendments and Transfers
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes State, Local, Federal, Capital Outlay and After School Care Enrichment Services (ACES) budget amendments/transfers for the 2006-07 school year as follows:

State Public School Fund Amendment #7 reflects:

• the receipt of reimbursement for new teacher orientation - All newly certified teachers (local and state) who have never taught before, or taught less than six months, are eligible for up to three extra days of employment for orientation and classroom preparation. This includes lateral entry teachers that are newly certified and have never taught before. The three additional new teacher orientation days must be completed by April 30th. ($1,519)
• the receipt of substitute reimbursement for April, 2007 and substitute reimbursement for NC Council on the Holocaust teacher workshops ($21,966)
• the receipt of allotment for months of employment for principals opening new schools in  2007/08 - EP Pearce ES, Guilford Newcomers School, Northern Area ES, Northern HS and Reedy Fork Area ES  ($139,900)
• the receipt of interest for School Technology Fund for March, 2007 ($4,210) and April, 2007 ($4,400)
• the receipt of special fuel allotment ($207,277)
• the transfers due to site-based requests and year-to-date expenditures
  

Local Current Expense Fund Amendment #7 reflects:

• the receipt of Smart Start reimbursement for March, 2007 ($14,950)
• the receipt of More at Four reimbursement for March, 2007 ($163,304)
• the receipt of registration and sponsor fees for Large City Schools Superintendents' (LCSS) Conference to be hosted by GCS June 27-30, 2007 ($24,800)
• the receipt of Mentor of the Year donation from the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro ($2,000)
• the receipt of Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation Student Mentoring Awareness and Resource Team (SMART) grant payment ($66,250)
• the receipt of Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation School Health grant payment ($44,822)
• the receipt of revenue for Character Education from sale of seized vehicles [10% of storage costs collected on vehicles seized under North Carolina's DWI law are released to owner or lien holder] ($478)
• the transfers due to site-based requests and year-to-date expenditures
  

Federal Grant Fund Amendment #7 reflects:

• the allotment adjustment for the following grants:  Title IV - Safe and Drug-Free Schools & Communities ($2,688), ESEA Title I Basic Program ($3,724), Abstinence Education ($10,815), IDEA VI-B Handicapped ($6,850), Title II - Improving Teacher Quality ($3,578), Title III - Language Acquisition Grant ($1,554), ESEA Title I - School Improvement ($1,276), Title III - Language Acquisition - Significant Increase ($6,748) and Title II-B Math & Science Partnership ($382,127)
• the receipt of 2006-07 allotment for Educational Technology - Formula Grant ($162,841)
• the transfers due to site-based requests and year-to-date expenditures

Capital Outlay Fund Amendment #6 reflects transfer of available funds within projects as indicated below:

• Allen Jay Middle School project from construction to furniture/equipment in order to purchase classroom equipment ($442,000)
• Guilford Elementary School project from construction to furniture/equipment in order to purchase classroom equipment ($400,000)
• Northern Area Elementary School project from construction to furniture/equipment in order to purchase technology equipment ($600,000)
• E. P. Pearce Elementary School project from construction to furniture/equipment in order to purchase technology equipment ($70,000)

After School Care Enrichment Services (ACES) #6 reflects:

• the receipt of additional revenue due to increase in number of students at Triangle Lake Elementary School
• the transfers due to site-based requests and year-to-date expenditures

If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer, at 370-8343, prior to the meeting. 

C. Second Reading – Policy IN, School Improvement Teams
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes a recommendation that the board approve Policy IN, School Improvement Teams. At its meeting on April 26, the board approved for first reading Policy IN, School Improvement Teams. This policy has been posted on the district Web site for a public comment period per the board’s policy. On May 24, 2007, this policy was presented to the board for second reading and approval.  However, the board requested that the Governance Committee further review the wording of this policy.  The Governance Committee did review this policy at its meeting on June 6, 2007, and made additional changes. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Peggy Thompson, chief human resources officer, at 370-8340, prior to the meeting.

D. 2007-08 Insurance Coverage
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes a recommendation that the board approve the following lines of insurance coverage for fiscal year 2007-08: General Liability, Auto, Garage Keeper & Garage Liability, Law Enforcement Liability, High School Catastrophic, Middle School Catastrophic, Errors & Omissions, Excess Workers’ Comp & Employer’s Liability, Student Athletic and Student Accident. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer, at 370-8343 or Wanda Frazier, program administrator for fixed assets/risk management, at 370-3245, prior to the meeting.

E. 2007-08 Instructional School Day Bell Schedules
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes a recommendation to approve the 2007-08 instructional school day bell schedules. The transportation staff members review the instructional school day bell schedules annually in an effort to reduce bus costs, promote school bus efficiency, promote on-time delivery of students, meet the minimum of six hours and 40 minutes of instructional time for elementary schools with delivery of students complete at least 15 minutes prior to the start of school and meet the minimum of six hours and 55 minutes of instructional time for middle and high schools with delivery of students complete at least 10 minutes prior to the start of school. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Jeff Harris, director of transportation, at 370-8920, prior to the meeting.

F. Authorization to File Title I Application for the 2007-08 School Year
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes a recommendation that the board authorize the superintendent to sign and file the 2007-08 Title I Application. As required by No Child Left Behind legislation, the Local Education Agency (LEA) is required to submit a North Carolina Title I Application on an annual basis in order to receive those federal funds. The Title I application outlines the district and individual Title I school plans that have been developed based on the identified needs of students to be served. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Don Hare, executive director of federal and special programs, at 370-2375, prior to the meeting.

G. Duke Energy Carolinas Right-of-Way Agreement for Reedy Fork Area Elementary
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes a recommendation that the board approve a right-of-way request by Duke Energy Carolinas affecting a 20-foot strip to permit the underground installation of primary electrical wiring to feed one transformer on the north side of the Reedy Fork Area Elementary campus. This transformer will serve the elementary school. The requested right-of-way would have a width of 10 feet on each side of a centerline, which would be determined by the centerline of the electrical facilities to be installed.
This right-of-way would permit the construction or modification of facilities currently proposed, and it would include the right to inspect and maintain these underground electrical lines as needed. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.

H. Duke Energy Carolinas Right-of-Way Agreement at Eastern Guilford High School
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes a recommendation that the board approve a right-of-way request by Duke Energy Carolinas affecting a 20-foot strip to permit the underground installation of primary electrical wiring to feed one existing transformer and transformers connected to each of the POD units on the Eastern Guilford High campus. These transformers will serve the POD village and sports facilities. The requested right-of-way would have a width of 10 feet on each side of a centerline, which would be determined by the centerline of the electrical facilities to be installed. This right-of-way would permit the construction or modification of facilities currently proposed, and it would include the right to inspect and maintain these underground electrical lines as needed.

At its May 24, 2007 meeting, the board granted Duke Energy an easement to serve the existing transformer and transformers connected to each of the POD units, but, upon further review, it was determined that the location of the right-of-way as adopted on May 24 would result in a greater GCS cost than the easement location currently proposed. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.
        
I.  City of High Point Easements for Oak View Elementary
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the consent agenda includes a recommendation that the board approve easements by the City of High Point affecting an area near the northwest edge of the Oak View Elementary campus (on acreage recently acquired adjacent to Oak View Elementary). Please refer to the attached drawing:

• Temporary Construction Easement – to include a temporary sedimentation control basin, with the total easement encompassing 5,648.61 square feet
• Permanent Drainage Easement – easement encompassing 348.15 square feet
• Permanent Electrical Utility Easement – total easement being 10 feet in width running a length of 125 feet along the northwest side of the parcel acquired in January 2006, plus an electric guy easement in the same general area, containing 118 square feet

These easements are being requested due to the widening of Oakview Road and related construction activities. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.

VIII.   Staff Reports  

A. Approval for Naming of Reedy Fork Area Elementary School
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, will present to the board information regarding the naming of Reedy Fork Area Elementary School.  At the May 24 board meeting, the project team working on the new Reedy Fork Area Elementary School put out a recommendation for naming the school Reedy Fork Elementary School.

After reviewing the materials and hearing from members of the public, the board voted to propose the name Ronald McNair Elementary School at Reedy Fork.

In keeping with the procedure, the board’s proposed name was posted on the district Web site for a period of public comment and feedback.  Sixty-eight additional public comments from the community on the name have been received. The comments can be summarized as follows: 

• 62 in favor of Reedy Fork Elementary School
• Four in favor of Ronald McNair Elementary School at Reedy Fork
• Two comments related to the opinion that a school should be named according to the location and community
  

If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Lear at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.

B. Construction Update

1. Eastern High School Update
   At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, will present to the board an update on Eastern High School. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Lear at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.
   
   
2. Approval of Underground Storage Tank Purchase Order for  Eastern High
   At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, will present to the board a recommendation to approve a purchase order increase to Environmental Construction Services (ECS) Carolinas in the amount of $124,787.57 affecting the Eastern Guilford High building site. The district contracted with ECS for the removal and monitoring of two underground storage tanks (USTs).  The USTs removed were one 8,000 and one 10,000 gallon tanks that were no longer in use and were located within the building footprint of the new high school.
   
   Under the original purchase order agreement with ECS they were to inspect and hire a contractor to remove both tanks and monitor the removal of same.  During the removal of the two tanks it became evident that the tanks have released some of their contents into the surrounding soil requiring the contaminated soil to be removed and disposed of at a site meeting state certification.  The amount of soil removed and replaced was in excess of 90 tons. The above action is required by the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources. 
   
   ECS has requested additional funds for this operation.  Additionally, ECS has indicated to GCS the charges related to the fees, removal and disposal of the USTs and contaminated soils fall within the State Guidelines that will allow up to an 80 percent reimbursement of costs. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Lear at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.
   
   
3. Change Order to Contract for Construction of Northern Area Elementary
   At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, will present to the board a recommendation to approve a change order in the amount of $110,487 for the revised water system by R.L. Casey, Inc., at Northern Area Elementary. The funds for this change are currently in the budget under project contingency. On April 17, 2007, R.L. Casey, Inc. submitted a request for a change order which includes the following: site development: grading, erosion control and a stone access road for the new well house; construction of a new well house, installation of a well pump and a pressurized water storage tank; fencing around the new well house site; relocation of and installation of a water line to the new well house site (credit) and supervision, survey and layout and fees. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Lear at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.
   
   
4. Approval of Sod at Northern High
   At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, will present to the board a recommendation to approve additional scope of work in the amount of $323,000 in order to complete the work on the three fields and to establish a stand of grass suitable for use by the athletic departments at Northern Middle and Northern High. The funds for this work are in the project budget. The Northern High fields #1 (football), #3 (multi-purpose) and #9 (soccer) do not have the stand(s) of grass originally anticipated for this time of year and upon further review it has been determined additional work will be required.  The three fields indicated will require the planting of Bermuda sod to replace the Bermuda sprigs originally called for in the contract.  This will allow for fall and spring sport activities to be played on the school’s athletic fields this year. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Lear at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.
   
   
5. Special Ed. West (Gateway West) Architect Selection
   At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Kevin Lear, chief operations officer, will present to the board a recommendation to approve a change in the architect selection and that Pinnacle Architecture be selected for the design and construction administrative services associated with the Special Education West project. The Architectural Selection Committee met on June 6 for the purpose of revisiting the architect selection.  This committee recommends rescinding any previous recommendation and now recommends Pinnacle Architecture, P.A. of Mathews, North Carolina. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Lear at 819-2763, prior to the meeting.
   
   
6. Update on Union Hill Elementary
   At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Superintendent Terry Grier will present to the board an update on Union Hill Elementary. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Superintendent Grier at 370-8992, prior to the meeting.
   

C. Contract for Benchmarking Software System
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Wes Leiphart, executive director for formative assessment, will present to the board a recommendation to approve the renewal of a benchmarking software system contract with Scantron Corp. in the amount of $253,499.99 for the 2007-08 school year. This system enabled the district to implement quarterly benchmarks in tested subjects for elementary, middle and high schools. It assisted teachers and principals in diagnosing mastery of objectives aligned to the Standard Course of Study. The system can be implemented on-line or through paper scanning. The latter provides students and teachers with an opportunity to simulate the testing environment. The feedback is immediate and can be disaggregated by school, grade/subject, teacher and specific objectives.  If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Leiphart at 370-2371 or Dr. Gongshu Zhang, executive accountability and research officer, at 370-8323, prior to the meeting.

D. SpringBoard Agreements for Middle Schools
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Dr. Beth Folger, chief organizational development/federal programs officer, will present to the board a recommendation to approve an agreement with the CollegeBoard for SpringBoard subscription, services and materials at a cost of $214,881. The subscription period is July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2008. SpringBoard is a unique program designed around the rigorous CollegeBoard standards for high school and college success.  By backward-mapping the competencies students should master from grade 12 down to grade six, SpringBoard enables our teachers to provide a systematic, seamless, and rigorous curriculum throughout middle school to better prepare them for high school and to increase the rigor of our middle school language arts and mathematics classrooms. The programs are designed to help prepare more students for advance placement and other rigorous high school classes and use a student-centered approach and exploratory, hands-on activities. Preliminary analysis in SpringBoard classrooms across the country show increased student engagement (more than 80 percent of students on-task and focused) and increased achievement.  If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Folger at 370-2313, prior to the meeting.

E.  Update on the 2007-08 Budget
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer, will present to the board an update on the 2007-08 budget.  If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Ms. Ozment at 370-8343, prior to the meeting.

IX.  Board Discussion

Discussion of Military Recruiting Policy
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Chairman Duncan will lead the board in a discussion regarding the military recruiting policy. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Chairman Duncan at 378-5315, prior to the meeting.
  
X. Reports from the Chairman, if needed
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, Chairman Duncan will share reports of the board’s activities should there be any events to be reported.

XI. Board Comments 
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, board members will each be allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deem appropriate.

XII. Closed Session
At the meeting of June 28, 2007, the board will address business requiring a closed session.

XIII. Adjournment