Minutes

of the

KUTZTOWN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

Board of Directors Meeting

Monday, October 20, 2008, 7:30 p.m.

 

The Board of Directors of Kutztown Area School District met for the regular board meeting on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 7:30 p.m., in the library of the Senior High School pursuant to due notice to board members and the public.

 

Present            Dennis Ritter, Don Vymazal, Jo Stevens, Carl Ziegler, Pat Bealer, Dan Walter, Jasper Ho

 

Absent            Al Darion

 

Also                 Robert R. Gross III, Joseph Pugliese, Nick Lazo, Rikki Clark, David Miller, Peter Miller,

Present             James Brown, Matthew Link, Karen Connaghan, Joann Buffum, Donna Keglovits, Melissa Nolte, Kevin Leiby, Amelia Mengel, Gordon Konemann, Joan Haring, Diana Rydzewski, Karen Voytas, Elsa Voytas, Robert Voytas, Elizabeth Wessner, Lori Arndt, Scott Tarken, Barbara Weston, Rob Gottlund, Andrea Sanders

 

Call to Order            The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m. by President Vymazal.

 

Welcome            President Vymazal welcomed guests and opened the meeting with a moment of silence

                        and Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.  He asked everyone to sign the attendance book and mark the topic of comment next to his/her name.  He requested that anyone wishing to speak on an agenda item please raise his/her hand to be recognized. The meeting was tape-recorded.

 

Approval                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Dan Walter, to approve the minutes

Of Minutes       of the September 19, 2008 and October 6, 2008 school board meetings.

                        Roll call vote:  Yes  6                               No  0                              Absent  1 (Darion)  Abstain  1 (Ritter)

Motion carried.

 

Treasurer’s                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Jasper Ho, to accept the treasurer’s

Report                        report of the general fund.

                        Roll call vote:  Yes  7                              No  0                              Absent  1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Ratification                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Dan Walter, to ratify for payment the

of General                        general account bills in the amount of $444,037.53.

Account Bills   Roll call vote:  Yes  7                              No  0                              Absent  1 (Darion)        

                        Motion carried.

 

Approval                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Dennis Ritter to approve for payment

of General                        the general account bills in the amount of $472,265.93.

Account Bills   Roll call vote:  Yes  7                               No  0                              Absent  1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Ratification of                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Jo Stevens, to ratify for payment the

Construction                        construction account bills in the amount of $58,021.96.

Account Bills   Roll call vote:  Yes  7                              No  0                              Absent  1 (Darion)        

                        Motion carried.

 

Supt’s            Mr. Gross stated that education lost a very good advocate for the process of education and

Report            students by the passing of Senator James J. Rhoades, Chairman of the Education Committee. 

                        The flags have been lowered in remembrance of Senator Rhoades.

 

                        Mr. Gross and the Board recognized Elsa Voytas, who was nationally commended for her outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2007.

 

                        Mr. Gross also recognized our many fall activities.  Our cross-country team is in the District II championships, our field hockey team qualified for district play, and our soccer team was in district play tonight.  Also, our FFA club leaves tomorrow for national competition in Indiana.

                       

Committee       EIT                        No report.

Reports            Pat Bealer              

                                

                        BCTC                        No report. 

Dennis Ritter 

           

                        ECC     Ms. Stevens reported the committee approved the winter coaches and salaries. 

                        Jo Stevens    

                             Mr. O’Neil was approached by the Berks County Wild football team to use our

                             facilities next summer and fall.  This was also approved.

                                                  

            BCIU            No report.

            Carl Ziegler

                                   

            PSBA        Ms. Bealer reported that the governor vetoed Bill 1258, which would have limited 

                        Pat Bealer    districts’ ability to reassess properties. 

 

                                    There were also bills passed in regards to school aged children in the military

                                    and exit interviews for dropouts. 

           

Policy & Curriculum   Mr. Walter reported that there was a second reading on Policy 204,

                        Dan Walter               which is on tonight’s agenda for final approval. 

 

                                                There was also a presentation by Jim Brown on the limited number of failures

                                                in correlation with the number of IEP students at the Middle School.

 

Personnel            Motion made by Dennis Ritter, seconded by Carl Ziegler, to approve the following personnel items:

1.       The approval of Sallie Sandler and Luke Bricker as academic challenge coaches for 2008-2009, effective August 25, 2008 at a salary of $673.00 each.

2.       The approval of Carol Schulley as a family and consumer science teacher at the High School, effective August 21, 2008 at a salary of $38,498 per Step 2, Bachelor’s column (non-tenured) of the KATA/KASD contract.

3.       The approval of the following substitute teachers for 2008-2009 at the approved substitute teacher rate of $100 per day for days 1-20 and $110 per day for days 21-45:

Kristin Ludwig                        Susan Bristel                                    Christopher Fritchman

Christine Flickinger

4.       The approval of Tammy Brown as a Krapf bus/van driver for 2008-2009.

5.       The approval of the following winter coaches and salaries for 2008-2009:

Boys Basketball            Head Coach                                    Scott Heiter                        $5,817

                                    Junior Varsity Coach                        Jeff Zimmerman            $2,311

                                    Head Middle School Coach            Guy Herring                        $2,207

                                    Volunteer Coach                        Taylor Grim

Girls Basketball                        Assistant Coach                        Barry Schultz                        $2,417

                                    Junior Varsity Coach                        Lori Lobb                        $2,417

Wrestling                         Head Coach                                    Brad Losito                        $5,675

                                    Assistant Coach                        Shawn Katz                        $2,417

                                    Head Middle School Coach            Shawn Losito                        $3,139

                                    Volunteer Coach                        D.J. Traylor

Cheerleading                        Head Middle School Coach            Rose Wentzel                        $   893

Roll call vote:  Yes  7               No  0                   Absent  1 (Darion)          

                        Motion carried.

        All Personnel were Approved Pending the District's Receipt of All Mandated Credentials

 

HS Campus Motion made by Dennis Ritter, seconded by Carl Ziegler, to approval the High School campus

Project            construction project.  Said project is to include building renovations and additions to Kutztown Area High School and upgrades to the campus athletic facility. Building renovations and additions feature the one-story classroom wing option approved at the October 6 Board of School Directors’ meeting as attached. Athletic facility upgrades include an all-weather 8-lane track, synthetic turf-playing surface with drainage, replacement of stadium lighting, and a 2,500 square foot concession/toilet/storage structure. Funding for this project will be achieved through the 27 million dollar bond issuance and utilization of existing fund balance and construction fund dollars.

                        Roll call vote:  Yes 4                      No  3 (Bealer, Ho, Walter)                   Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion not carried.

                       

Resident                        Motion made by Dan Walter, seconded by Don Vymazal, to approve D’Huy Engineering, Inc. to

Project                         serve as resident project manager for the High School addition and renovation project at a rate

Manager           of 3.15% of the actual construction cost currently estimated at 23 million dollars.  Approval is pending solicitor’s final review of the contract agreement.

            Roll call vote:  Yes 4                  No  3 (Ho, Ziegler, Vymazal)          Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion not carried.

 

Student                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Dan Walter, to approve Amelia Mengel as Student

Representative                        Representative to the Board of School Directors of Kutztown Area School District for

                        2008-2009, effective October 20, 2008.

            Roll call vote:  Yes 7                  No  0                                            Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Conference                        Motion made by Dennis Ritter, seconded by Pat Bealer, to approve the conference request for

Request                        Matthew Link to attend the Eastern Pennsylvania Special Education Administrators Conference

                        to be held October 22-24, 2008 in Hershey, PA at a cost of $466.56.

            Roll call vote:  Yes 7                  No  0                                            Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Transportation                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Jasper Ho, to approve revising the transportation

Contract                        contract to provide a fuel surcharge using a benchmark rate of $2.60 per gallon of diesel fuel

effective for the period of October 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 whereby the district will reimburse the transportation contractor for the difference between the benchmark rate and the contractor’s fuel cost of $3.08 per gallon based on the number of gallons used per day for the fiscal year 2008-09 not to exceed $22,257.   Should the actual cost of fuel for the contractor go below the $2.60 benchmark rate the school district will get a credit against the fuel surcharge.           

            Roll call vote:  Yes 6                  No  1 (Walter)                           Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Fund Balance                        Motion made by Dan Walter, seconded by Pat Bealer, to designate the Fund Balances on the

Designation                        June 30, 2008 financial statements as follows:

                                                Reserved, Designated for High School Renovation Project                                      $1,452,527

                                                Unreserved, Undesignated – General Fund                                                    $2,150,574

                                                                                                                        $3,603,101

            Roll call vote:  Yes 2 (Walter, Ritter)       No  5                    Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion not carried.

 

Motion made by Jasper Ho, seconded by Dan Walter, to designate the Fund Balances on the June 30, 2008 financial statements as follows:

                                                Unreserved, Designated for Prepaid Expenditures                                                     $  229,168

                                                Reserved, Designated for High School Renovation Project                                      $1,223,359

                                                Unreserved, Undesignated – General Fund                                                    $2,150,574

                        $3,603,101

            Roll call vote:  Yes 5                  No  2 (Ziegler, Vymazal)              Absent 1 (Darion)

            Motion carried.

 

Mediation                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Carl Ziegler, to approve the Mediation Settlement

Settlement                        Agreement for employee number 835 in the amount of $4,000.

Agreement      

            Roll call vote:  Yes 7                  No  0                                            Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Memorandum                        Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Dan Walter, to approve the Memorandum of

of Agreement                        Agreement with the Kutztown Area Education Association regarding the establishment of a 

department head position for information/technology resources as per the attached Agreement.

            Roll call vote:  Yes 7                  No  0                                            Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Policy 204            Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Dan Walter, to approve Policy 204 Attendance - Pupils per attached. 

            Roll call vote:  Yes 7                  No  0                                            Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

 

Policy 918            Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Dan Walter, to approve the second reading of Policy 918 Title I Parental Involvement per attached. 

            Roll call vote:  Yes 7                  No  0                                            Absent 1 (Darion)

                        Motion carried.

                       

Discussion Budget Calendar and Timeline

Items Board Candidate Interviews/Approval Timeline

                       

Public Kevin Leiby stated his concern that the Board meetings were not listed on the website 

Comment calendar.

                       

                        Diana Rydzewski stated her concern regarding class rank.

 

                        Scott Tarken inquired about the possibility of having a full-day kindergarten in the 2009-2010 school year.

 

Executive Motion made by Dennis Ritter, seconded by Dan Walter, to adjourn for executive session at  

Session 9:18 p.m.

                        Motion carried unanimously.

 

Adjournment Motion made by Pat Bealer, seconded by Jo Stevens, to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 p.m.

                        Motion carried unanimously.

                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Respectfully submitted by,

 

 

 

 

                               Rikki L. Clark           

                               School Board Secretary