July 18, 2011 at 5:30 PM - BOE Goal Setting Session

Discussion:  Board member Brian Copsey arrived at 5:40pm and joined the goal setting session already in progress.

Discussion:  Each July the Board meets to discuss their past and future goals for the district. The current goals are communications, curriculum and facilities and have been in place for three to four years. These goals provide direction for the Superintendent and Administrators. One of the facilities goals was completed when the bond issue passed last year. The Board's President and Vice President spoke with Superintendent HAGUE during his evaluation about addressing district goals and determining if they need to continue or if they have been addressed. HAGUE explained that TERRI MARTIN would be moderating the goal setting session so he could fully participate with the Board. BRUNNER suggested identifying 10 to 20 goals and determine specific objectives for those. Each Committee Chairperson identified areas of concern in those fields. MILES stated that the Personnel Committee would like to enhance staff guidance and improve the communication process. Their goals might include creating and posting organizational charts, updating job descriptions, create staff goals and objectives, determine staff evaluation tools based on those objectives and pushing the district towards performance based appraisals. It was suggested that mid-year teacher evaluations could be performed rather than one at the end of the year only. BRUNNER feels that this would aid in determining if a full pay increase is merited. PETERS and DOLL feel that human resource management needs to be addressed within the district as well. The would like to see the district come up with a goal that encompases and improve that area. The implementation of better checks and balances in the hiring of classified staff should be enforced. DOLL expressed his desire for continuity. HAGUE stated that he will be redelegating human resource responsibilities amoung the central office staff and specific responsiblities will be more clearly defined. This will be an area of focus over the next couple of years. Communication was also determined to be a goal. The board would like to see more communication through evaluations with the purchase of new IPADS and evaluation specific software as June is not soon enouogh to provide feedback to the teachers. The board asked if an informal email from the supervisor would suffice rather than a formal end of year evaluation in June after school has been released for the summer. Classified staff is currently evaluated using pre-formated forms. WINN suggested utilizing the recently pitched janitorial tracking process to assist in evaluating custodial staff and their processes. MARTIN explained that goals are currently developed for teachers but not for classified staff. It was determined that classified staff could be brought in and goals could be developed as departmental tools. Goals will provide focus and hold people accountable. DOLL believes targets should be provided so staff know exactly what is expected of them. The board's goal will be to enhance and define what role individuals serve as. The website can be better utilized as a resource by posting this information there. The goal will be classified as "Communication" with a sub heading of "More Effective Human Resources Management". The next item to be examined is how to determined success. Each individual employoee's strengths and weaknessess will be examined through evaluations and the review process and the district will determine who is best suited for each position so talents are utilized better. Job descriptions should be examined each year with both the supervisor and employoee. Although a review is performed on new staff eight to nine weeks into the school year, a mid year evaluation will be implemented as well to provide feedback on a faster schedule. This process will be implemented for a period of one year, at which time it will be revisited and determined if it is warranted. The Business Manager and Superintendent will determined placement on the salary schedule rather than the building principals. HAGUE will present a goals update to the board in January of 2012 detailing progress made on any items discussed during the goal setting session. Facilities have also been a critical goal for the board due to the demolition and construction of Lincoln Elementary school. Other facilities should be examined and focused on now. DOLL suggested re-priotizing everything currently on the Master Facilities projects list at a seperate work session. A priority list from each building principal should be submitted to the Facilities Committee for review. The committee would like to set a three year plan for larger projects and prioritize smaller projects. The Facilities Committee has now visited all school buildings within the district and can sit down to review the projects in August. Various projects include window replacement, track maintenance, locker room maintenance and auditorium seating. The aim is to preserve and maintain our existing facilities to the best of our ability. This committee is responsible for grounds, as well as building maintenance. A fiscally responsible list of needs and wants would also aid the committee in determining priorities. The committee was encouraged to look at overall impacts, as well as costs. The Facilities Committee will try to develop one, three and five year plans for the priority list. A short and long term timeline will also be developed. The Business Manager was asked to review financing, depreciation funds and building funds. MARTIN displayed charts that focus on assessment, measureable goals, timelines and curriculum revision that echo State standards The curriculum goals as a whole may not change much, however, the board would like to see trends and pick differnt areas to focus on. The board would like to see goals set for the High School and Junior High with NeSA assessment taking place in grades eight and eleven. Last year, the curriculum goals were broad and the committee then made them more specific. The goals will remain the same in this area until we are able to evaluate as more time goes by. The benchmarks are still feasible. The committee will review the goals in August or September and make adjustments if needed after testing scores are in. The evaluation of teachers will be done at every level in Science this year. The Business Committee would like to prioritize expenditures, involve departmeht heads when making purchases and create a better check and balance system. Travel requests will be required to be filled out on the proper forms, must be approved by building principals and must be for education-related professional development. The process of credit card distribution will also be revised. MARTIN displayed a blue binder where curriculum related travel has been tracked. It was determined that this system could be implemented district wide. Another goal is to strengthen the travel and purchase order request process and make it more uniform. Measurable objectives will be determined to aide HAGUE and MEISNER in the development of priorities. MARTIN will format the Board's goals and submit them to the board members for review. WINN suggested extending formal board recognitions beyond verbal acknowledgements by sending out a card or a certificate from the board thanking district staff for their above and beyond contributions. It was determined that the Personnel Committee will inform the board when cards/certificates need to be signed.

Discussion:  The Goal Setting Session adjounred at 6:45pm.