WASHINGTON
STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
BOARD OF
TRUSTEES
Minutes from Board of
Trustees Meeting
January 15, 2002
Conference Call
Board
Members Participating: Chuck Nelson, Terry Robertson, Jerry Farley, Noel Nightingale, Kay
Adamson, Joe Fram, Denise Mackenstadt, and Cindy Roney.
Board
Members Absent: Susie Davidson.
Ex-Officio
Members Participating: Steve Rainey (Parent Representative), Carol Schultz (WSSB Teachers
Association), Bonda Albers (Washington Federation of State Employees Local
#1225), Michael Freeman (National Federation of the Blind of Washington), and
Joleen Ferguson (Washington Council of the Blind).
WSSB Staff
Members Participating: Dr. Dean Stenehjem, Superintendent and Janet Merz, recording
secretary.
Joe called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m.
1.
Business Meeting
¨
Joe
asked for a motion for approval of the November 2-3, 2001 board minutes. Noel
moved to approve the minutes; Jerry Farley seconded the motion, approved
unanimously.
¨
Joe
asked for a motion for approval for the executive session minutes of December
20, 2001. Terry moved to approve the
minutes; Jerry seconded the motion, approved unanimously.
¨
Dr.
Stenehjem reported he has not yet written the letter on behalf of the Board
regarding the WASL test. OSPI submitted a bulletin regarding the Washington
Alternative Assessment System. Workshops will be available February
11-September, 2002, addressing this.
Dr. Stenehjem will submit a draft letter to the Board of Trustees by
January 25.
¨
Dr.
Stenehjem has not heard any information on the applicant for the Congressional
District #9 Board position. Kelly
Wicker, who is new in the Boards and Commissions Department, was moved into
this position in December, possibly adding to the delay in response. Jerry asked if there were any
candidates. Dr. Stenehjem stated that
Kris Lawrence was the only candidate that he was aware of.
¨
Dr.
Stenehjem reported we have two nurses on administrative leave and we are taking
disciplinary actions. Staff at WSSB
were informed about this situation.
¨
Systems
Change/Reorganization. Dr. Stenehjem stated we are reviewing the Clerical and
Maintenance/Custodial departments to gain efficiency and streamline
duties. Dr. Stenehjem’s goal is to have
one supervisor manage the Custodial and Maintenance departments. Union and staff members are working closely
with us on this issue. Steve asked if
this would require attrition. Dr.
Stenehjem said it would not as one of the supervisors would move into the
commissary and this would not have a negative impact on any job.
·
Dr.
Stenehjem stated the WASA/WSSDA Legislative Conference is scheduled for
February 10-11. Joe Fram and Mike Freeman will attend.
·
WSD’s
Board Chair received a letter from the Governor telling her he would be recommending
a governing board for their agency in the upcoming session. WSSB
superintendent and board chair have not received any such letter at this time.
Dr. Stenehjem reported that another bill would be dropped into the session this
year, House Bill 1268, regarding Civil Service Reform. This bill could
have ties to the Teacher’s Contract Negotiations. Two main areas of interest in the negotiations were: Personal Leave Day and the concept of TRI
days (extra pay for extra duties). WSSB
worked with the teachers to develop an Exchange Time provision in lieu of these
requests. Dr. Stenehjem spoke to Senators and Representatives and they felt the
only way to incorporate extra funds for the Personal Leave Day and TRI pay is
to include them with House Bill 1268.
Two components of the bill are:
the state being able to contract out for services and the union’s
ability to utilize bargaining units. However, if this action is taken, it would need to come
from the teachers, not the administration.
·
Dr.
Stenehjem reported we are waiting for the final applicant list from Department
of Personnel to determine the interview list for the Volunteer Coordinator
Position.
·
Current
Budget Status: WSSB’s current operating
budget balance is approximately $70,000.00.
·
Supplemental Budget Request: The Governor’s supplemental budget
includes a 30-passenger lift bus, and transition of three FTE’s from WSD for
the transfer of the Business Office to WSSB.
This is part of the de-consolidation process.
·
Status
of De-Consolidation: Denise Livingston, from Employment Security Department
(funded by ESD for six months), has been looking into the functions and design
of the new Business Office. Denise’s
background is a CPA and Attorney. Our
business office will be operational July 1, 2002.
·
Status
of Capital Projects: WSSB’s Business
and Human Resources Offices will be located on the second floor of Old Main;
furniture and technology are currently being ordered to accommodate the new
office area. The position announcement
for the Business Manager will be posted on February 1, as a WMS (Washington
Management System) Band II, with a hire date of April 1. WSSB will then hire two employees with
accounting backgrounds by May or June, 2002.
·
Cherie
Willhide, Human Resources Manager received her National Certification for Human
Resources. This is an extremely
difficult certification to acquire.
·
The
Food Service Department transition is scheduled to take place July, 2003. The union has concerns with the transition
process, so we will work closely together over the next 18 months. We need to be sure we meet the needs of both
the students and the agency.
·
Dr.
Stenehjem reported that DSB and WSSB are working on an interagency
agreement. Staff from both agencies met
last week to discuss creative ways to utilize state dollars to generate federal
match for DSB and the end result in improved efforts for both agencies in the
area of transition.
·
WSSB’s
Balanced Scorecard, Performance Report, and WASL Test results were sent to the
Governor’s office. Dr. Stenehjem
reported we have 12 students taking classes through Hudson’s Bay. WSSB’s Braille Access Center, in partnership
with WCCW (Women’s Correctional Center), has saved the state of Washington
$61,000 in Braille production. Five of
the six inmates producing Braille have passed the state’s BLUE (Braille)
exam. Two inmates are awaiting the
library of congress exam results. One
inmate left prison and WSSB contracts with her for a fee for page. Dr. Stenehjem would like to submit this to
the Governor’s office for a Blue Book Quality Award. Board members will be sent copies of
the performance reports.
·
State
Library. Dr. Stenehjem stated it is in the Governor’s budget to close the State
Library. The concern is that WTBBL’s (Washington Talking Book and Braille Library)
funding runs through the State Library, however it is not slated for
closure. Mike reviewed this budget item
and the money is protected.
·
Denise
Mackenstadt and Doug Trimble are two of seven people in the Stephen F. Austin
University teacher program. WSSB will
be a host site for the class under “internet two”. Noel asked what Internet two was. Dr. Stenehjem stated it is new capacity on video and audio
technology and data stream. More slots
for this program will be available next fall.
The state of Washington filled all 7 slots, receiving one extra due to
one state not utilizing all of their slots.
·
WSSB
has a student teacher from Florida State University on our campus. Carl Jacobson is here for 20 weeks; five
with Longview teacher Pat Kelly, five with WSSB teacher Dee Amundsen, and 10
weeks with one of WSSB’s Orientation & Mobility teacher, Judy Koch.
·
Capital
Projects. The Irwin outside effice columns were vandalized. WSSB discovered the
contractor installed the columns improperly and he will have to redo them. Old
Main HVAC is almost complete with Select Construction; this project saved WSSB
over $2,500 in energy savings from last year (during November). Construction on
Fries Auditorium started January 14 with substantial completion in May. We will be addressing seismic issues in the
Kennedy Building and WSSB may move the recreation center to Kennedy. The
IRC/Braille Access Center’s new building is in the beginning phase of permits
and drawings. The permit process takes approximately 8 months. Dr. Stenehjem reported that an Eco roof
would be put on the building, which is a planted roof with 4” of soil, helping
with insulation. We are on hold with the Distance Learning until the other
projects get started again.
2. Miscellaneous
There being no further business, the meeting
adjourned at 8:30 p.m. The next meeting
will be March 1-2, 2002, in Vancouver.
__________________________________
__________________________________
Dr. Dean O. Stenehjem, Ed.D.
Joe Fram, Chair
Superintendent WSSB Board of Trustees