Minutes
The regular meeting of the Brandon Valley Board of Education, Brandon, SD was held at 6:30 p.m. on the 26th of November, 2018 at the Brandon Valley High School Community Room with the following members present: Renee Ullom, Gregg Ode, Cary Schroeder, Ellie Saxer, and Dan Klumper. Absent: None. Also present were Superintendent Jarod Larson, Business Manager Paul J. Lundberg, High School Principal Gregg Talcott, Middle School Assistant Principal Bill Freking, Intermediate School Principal Nick Skibsted, Valley Springs Elementary Principal Tanya Palmer, Fred Assam Elementary Principal Susan Foster, Director of Instruction Sherri Nelson, Special Services Director Kyle Babb, and Operations Manager Ty Hentschel.
Renee Ullom called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m., beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Motion by Ode, seconded by Saxer to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried.
Administrative reports were presented. Superintendent Larson reported on the following: the draft of the 2019-20 school year calendar continues to go through review with the Administration, Teacher Liaison Committee, and the Classified Council. We plan on an initial presentation to the Board of Education on January 14, 2019 and a potential adoption at January 28, 2019 regular Board of Education meeting.
School Accountability Data/SPI Time-line: Larson noted that the pre-appeal window was open for review of this School Accountability Data from October 19-29, 2018 and public release of this information, which was originally scheduled for November 20, 2018, has been delayed by the South Dakota Department of Education. Larson plans to have a State of the School Address at the regular BV Board of Education meeting scheduled for December 10, 2018.
BVSD is currently engaged in the development of our staff work environment, tagged as “BV Listens”. Within our strategic plan we talk about staff development and evaluating our work environment; therefore “BV Listens” is a work environment survey. Both Certified and Classified staff will be participating in this survey. The “BV Listens!” survey is scheduled to be conducted on January 21, 2019, at the staff in-service day.
South Dakota Department of Education graduation requirements were adopted in July and we are working toward an implementation date (2020) as reviewed by the Student Activities, Curriculum & Technology Committee along BVHS Administration and Director of Instruction, Sherri Nelson. This committee along with the Administration will review the new requirements and plan for implementation.
We have planned a City-School collaborative work session on Monday, December 10, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. starting in the BVHS Community Room. We have also scheduled a School-State Legislator breakfast meeting on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. with all District 10 and 25 legislators that are available. This breakfast meeting will be held at the George Gulson Administration Building conference room.
Looking ahead at the academic calendar, 2018-19 school year important dates to remember: two-hour early dismissal on Friday, December 21, 2018 for the start of Winter Break; December 24, 2018 – January 1, 2019 ~ no school for Winter Break; January 2, 2019 ~ school resumes; and February 15 and February 18 ~ no school for the President’s Day holiday.
Superintendent Jarod Larson reported on the Facility Review Committee as it aligns specifically to the strategic plan in the areas of facility use and operations with a proactive approach on planning for growth. Larson began by thanking all those that served on this board. The committee has reviewed the current school/district enrollment, current facilities and capacity, residential/student growth, as well as analyzed elementary building site locations. They have also focused on school finance, analyzing the building site locations, discussing the time-line for a new elementary school, as well as discussing long-range planning and a 20-year growth vision. The Facility Review Committee has worked to develop non-binding facility recommendations to develop a 20-year growth vision. A formal presentation and copy of the complete report was provided at tonight’s meeting.
The recommendations as presented by this committee include:
1) Construction of an elementary building on the school owned property at 41st Street and Sparta Avenue that could be ready for occupancy in the 2020-21 school year.
2) Construction of an addition to the Brandon Valley High School when the current enrollment hits a 90% trigger taking the capacity of that school to approximately 1,800.
3) Maintain one high school as long as possible and utilize innovative solutions to alleviate capacity pressure at BVHS, such as an off-site academic academy at school owned land in Valley Springs.
4) Construct an elementary building on the school owned property east of Brandon (TRACT 9 Burkman Addition S1/2 NW1/4 36 10 48 Brandon Township) when Robert Bennis Elementary hits an approximate 95% utilization trigger.
5) Discontinue the use of Valley Springs Elementary when an elementary building is constructed on the east side of Brandon and begin preparation to utilize the school owned property in Valley Springs for the purpose of an off-site Brandon Valley High School Career and Technical Education Academy, alternative high school and/or other innovative secondary education programming.
6) Begin the pre-construction planning process for a second Intermediate School in the southwest quadrant of the district when the current Brandon Valley Intermediate School hits an 85% utilization trigger.
7) Begin the pre-construction planning process for a second Middle School in the southwest quadrant of the district when the current Brandon Valley Middle School hits a 90% utilization trigger.
8) The Board should continue to seek appropriate sites for future school buildings which may include, but not be limited to, BVIS South, West Elementary, BVMS South, Transportation and Maintenance to further the expansion of existing school-land usage potential.
9) Continue the use of enrollment triggers for the purpose of proactive growth management.
10) The Board, to the extent possible, should collaborate and cooperation with our communities on facility, playground, and park space when constructing school facilities for the overall good of the district’s citizens.
Other notes: The greatest amount of dissention within the group surrounded the appropriate size for a middle school. The Committee recommends reconvening a Facility Review Committee when the BVMS utilization trigger is hit to futher plan for the middle and high school facilities.
A complete copy of this report is available on the school district’s web-site at www.brandonvalleyschools.com or a hard copy can be reviewed at the school district’s central office. No action was taken at tonight’s meeting.
The boundary line proposal formal recommendation for the 2019-20 School year was presented at tonight’s meeting by Superintendent Larson. The proposal alters the Fred Assam Elementary boundary line by taking the Brandon Elementary boundary west at Holly/Rice Street and then including the northwest portion of our school district into Brandon Elementary boundary lines. The recommended change reduces the size of the Fred Assam Elementary attendance area and has the potential to redistribute 100 students from the northwest portion (north of Holly/Rice) of the school district to Brandon Elementary. While formulating the proposed recommendation to the district’s elementary boundary lines, we work to minimize impact on students and establish long-lasting attendance center boundaries that align to the future growth of the district. Additional items considered are 1) current third grade students will be permitted to remain at FAE as well as siblings of current third grade students. These students would be subject to the open enrollment transportation fee; 2) Open enrollment requests from exiting students grades JK-2 will be processed in accordance to open enrollment administrative regulation by February 8, 2019 with a direct communication via letter sent to families impacted by the boundary line change with specific information regarding open enrollment application and time-lines. Motion by Schroeder, seconded by Klumper to accept the proposed recommendation for the 2019-20 school year boundary line change as presented. Motion carried.
Superintendent Larson explained that the realignment of our elementary boundary lines creates a circumstance in which the make-up of the majority of our BV School District Elementary EL student population is divided between two elementary buildings (Fred Assam Elementary and Brandon Elementary). Since analyzing all components and understanding that strengths and weaknesses exist within all options, Fred Assam Elementary is the location the best serves the needs of our elementary EL program. Motion by Saxer, seconded by Ode to approve the recommendation for the location of the District Elementary EL program at Fred Assam Elementary School beginning with the 2019-20 school year as presented. Motion carried.
Motion by Saxer, seconded by Klumper to approve the following personnel items:
1. Approve recommendation to hire Adam Zabih, long-term substitute for Josie Reekers, BVMS Smart Lab Facilitator, effective beginning January 8, 2019 for approximately six to eight weeks.
2. Approve resignation notification from Alison Freese, BE Speech Language Pathology Assistant, effective December 21, 2018.
3. Approve recommendation to hire the following substitute for the 2018-19 school year: Brooke Becker.
Motion carried.
Board Reports were presented. Board member Ellie Saxer reported on City Affairs & Legislation Committee with a legislative update. Board member Klumper reported on the first Child Nutrition/Wellness Committee meeting of the year and meeting new members and setting goals for the year.
Travel reports were reviewed.
Motion by Saxer, seconded by Schroeder to adjourn the meeting at 6:50 p.m. Motion carried.
Signed Business Manager
Approved by the Board of Education this 10th day of December, 2018.
Signed Chairperson
Published once at the approximate cost of $94.55.
(Dec. 5, 2018)
