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I. Call to Order
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, Chairman Duncan will call the meeting to order.
II. Pledge of Allegiance
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, Chairman Duncan will call on a member of the board to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
III. Closed Session
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, the board will address business requiring a closed session.
IV. Moment of Remembrance and Silence
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, 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 July 24, 2008, 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 July 24, 2008, 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 July 24, 2008, 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. Approval of Contract with Blackboard Connect, Inc. for Connect-ED
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, the consent agenda includes a recommendation to approve a contract with Blackboard Connect Inc. for Connect-ED services in the amount of $217,470 for the period of July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009 with the option of renewing for two additional years. GCS began using Connect-ED services provided by Blackboard Connect Inc. (formerly known as Notification Technologies and The NTI Group, Inc.) in 2004. GCS utilizes Connect-ED services to record, schedule, send and track personalized voice messages to parents and/or employees. The Connect-ED service offers a bundled set of emergency communication, survey and community outreach notification tools designed to help schools improve awareness, increase involvement and audit communication on a regular basis. The Connect-ED service requires no hardware; no software; no additional phone lines. Messages can be sent to all defined recipients or to targeted subgroups.
In 2007-08, the district operated under two six-month contracts, the second of which expired June 30, 2008; however, Blackboard Connect has extended the 2007-08 contract through July 24, 2008. The service period or term is a three-year contract, July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011, with the option to terminate on the annual anniversary of the effective date (July 1, 2009 for Period 2 and July 1, 2010 for Period 3) by providing 30-days prior written notice to terminate.
The $3 per student message fee is a fixed annual fee for unlimited use. The negotiated $3 message fee per student has not increased since the district began using Connect-ED services in 2004. The annual message fee is paid from our telecommunication budget. Blackboard Connect has waived the annual support fee of $12,200; therefore, the cost of the contract for the 2008-09 fiscal year is $217,410 ($3 x 72,470 students), which is an increase of $6,132 [(72,470 - 70,426) x $3]. The cost of the contract for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11 will be calculated by multiplying the projected student enrollment for each respective fiscal year by the $3 per student message fee. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Sharon Ozment, co-interim superintendent, at 370-8343, prior to the meeting.
C. Approval of Eastern Guilford High School Generator Project
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, the consent agenda includes a recommendation to approve the authorization for a lease agreement with Duke Energy for the Eastern Guilford High School (EGHS) Generator Project. The EGHS replacement facility will include an elevator. The GCS facilities staff has determined that a backup generator for the school is indeed a requirement to support several life safety systems as well as critical loads. The generator will be sized and configured in a similar manner to the generator that was installed at Northern Guilford High School.
The facilities staff evaluated the lease agreement with Duke Energy and also requested additional information relative to the equipment cost and value of services. Duke Energy will design, procure, install, test, own and maintain (inspect and service) a back-up generation system at the EGHS site for a fee of $3,000 per month for one-hundred twenty (120) months [annual cost = $3,000 x 12 or $36,000; total cost = $3,000 x 120 or $360,000]. The fees associated with the Northern Guilford High School generator [annual cost = $4,430 x 12 or $53,160; total cost = $4,430 x 120 or $531,600] have been paid and the fees associated with the EGHS generator will be paid from our energy budget. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Leo Bobadilla, chief operations officer, at 370-3482, prior to the meeting.
D. Approval of 2008-09 Instructional School Day Bell Schedules
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, the consent agenda includes a recommendation to approve the 2008-09 instructional school day bell schedules. Transportation staff members review the instructional school day bell schedules annually in an effort to reduce transportation 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.
The proposed bell schedules include the following changes:
- The Summerfield Elementary instruction day start time has been moved from 7:40 AM to 7:50 AM making dismissal time 2:30 PM versus 2:20 PM. This 10 minute change will enable buses to unload kindergarten students at the Laughlin School site prior to unloading at the Summerfield School site and will accommodate afternoon loading of kindergarten students at the Laughlin School site first.
- Summerfield Elementary kindergarten students will attend school at the Laughlin school site. In order to maintain bus schedules, the Laughlin site instructional day schedule will be 7:40 AM - 2:20 PM.
- The GCS Newcomers School instructional day schedule will be moved from 8:40 AM - 3:45 PM to 9:30 AM - 4:25 PM. The change from the traditional calendar schedule to the year round schedule initiates challenges for these students changing bus routes when the calendar days do not coincide. The change in the later schedule provides direct bus routes for these students that may have language barriers.
If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Jeff Harris, director of transportation, at 370-8920 or Leo Bobadilla, chief operations officer, at 370-3482, prior to the meeting.
VIII. Staff Reports
A. Preliminary 2007-08 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Update
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, Dr. Gongshu Zhang, chief accountability and research officer, will present to the board an update on preliminary 2007-08 AYP results. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Zhang at 370-8323, prior to the meeting.
B. Haberman Study
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, Dr. Gongshu Zhang, chief accountability and research officer, will present to the board initial research regarding the effectiveness of the Haberman screening process. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Zhang at 370-8323, prior to the meeting.
C. 2008-09 Universal Free Breakfast Program
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, Sharon Ozment, co-interim superintendent, will present to the board a recommendation to approve 23 schools as the schools eligible to participate in the GCS Universal Free Breakfast Program in 2008-09. The percentage of students eligible to receive free meals for the recommended schools ranges from 63.64% to 93.14%. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Ms. Ozment at 370-8343, prior to the meeting.
D. Construction Management at Risk for Jamestown Middle School
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, Leo Bobadilla, chief operations officer, will present to the board a recommendation by the Architect Selection Committee that staff and the board attorney enter into negotiations with New Atlantic Contracting Group to provide services as Construction Management at Risk for Jamestown Middle. It is also requested that the board select the second and third ranked firms and authorize staff and the board attorney to enter into negotiations with the second and/or third ranked firm, if necessary.
A request for proposals for Construction Management at Risk for Jamestown Middle was advertised on May 18, 2008. A mandatory pre-proposal conference was held on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 with thirty contractors in attendance. Seventeen proposals were received on June 9, 2008. After an extensive review by GCS staff and the Architect Selection Committee, four companies have been selected to be forwarded to the BOE. The four companies in order of ranking are: New Atlantic Contracting Group, Winston Salem, NC; Samet Corporation, Greensboro, NC and Barnhill Contracting, Raleigh, NC were ranked second, and D.H. Griffin, Raleigh, NC. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Mr. Bobadilla at 370-3482, prior to the meeting.
IX. Board Discussion
A. Search Process for New Superintendent
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, Chairman Duncan will lead the board in a continued discussion regarding the search process for a new superintendent. 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 July 24, 2008, 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 July 24, 2008, board members will each be allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deem appropriate.
XII. Closed Session, if needed
At the meeting of July 24, 2008, the board will address business requiring a closed session, if needed.
XIII. Adjournment
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