August 12, 2024 Business Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF DISTRICT NO. 40,
YAMHILL COUNTY, McMINNVILLE, OREGON

The Board Business Meeting was held August 12, 2024, both in person and via Zoom at the
McMinnville School District Office, 800 NE Lafayette Ave., McMinnville OR 97128 

The link was https://msd40.zoom.us/j/215496199

At 6:30 p.m., the Board of Directors of McMinnville School District opened the board business meeting in Regular Session. The meeting was called to order by Chair Jason Bizon.

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chair Jason Bizon
Vice-Chair Abbie Warmbier
Ms. Lu Ann Anderson
Mr. Gerardo Partida
Ms. Doris Towery
Mr. Larry Vollmer

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
None

ADMINISTRATION:
Debbie Brockett, Superintendent
Cherice Bowden, Board Secretary

Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Director Larry Vollmer.

AUDIENCE:
Steffanie Frost, Kourtney Ferrua, Brian Crain, Jason Hall, Hiran Amerasinghe, and Shelly Simonyi.  See attached 

• 1.4  Introductions and Communications
  Superintendent Brockett introduced Erin Caldwell, the new principal at Sue Buel ES and Stephanie Murdock, the new principal at Willamette ES.  Erin is excited to be at Buel this year.  She has been there for the last three years as the TOSA.  She will continue the work they have been doing around literacy and student achievement.  She is looking forward to a great year.  Stephanie is super excited to join the McMinnville team.  She has 19 years in education.  She has twin students who will be entering their sophomore year.  She is glad to be here and join the team.  She introduced the new TOSA for the EL department, Kourtney Wessels and the new IT TOSA, Gayle Wollam.  No other announcements were made.  

  1.5  Review of Agenda
  There were no changes to the agenda.

  2.0 Consent Agenda
  2.2 Approval of minutes of the July 8, 2024 Business Board Meeting, and August 3, 2024 Summer Board Retreat approved. 

  Director Lu Ann Anderson stated that there was not a second motion made nominating Abbie Warmbier for Vice-Chair for a second term.  A second motion was not put forward by Chair Jason Bizon, but all board members did unanimously agree to approve the motion by Chair Jason Bizon nominating her for a second term.

  2.3 Personnel Actions approved.

  On motion by Director Larry Vollmer, seconded by Vice-Chair Abbie Warmbier, the Consent Agenda was approved on a unanimous vote.

  3.0 REPORTS
  The Board heard Monthly Reports.

  3.1 Superintendent’s Report
  Superintendent Brockett shared the book by Salman Khan: Brave New Words; How AI will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing) with each board member.  She also shared updates on the Synergy rollout, summer school, and staffing updates. See board packet for details.

   3.2  Director of Fiscal Services’ Report
  Director Jason Hall shared the current financial reports for student enrollment and budget allocations.  See board packet for details.

  3.3  Director of Facilities Report
  Director Brian Crain gave a Title IX facilities update on the JV girls softball program and gave an update for Grandhaven and Willamette elementary schools.  Grandhaven ES – all carpets in the affected hallways and carpet in eight classrooms were replaced.  Willamette ES – completion of the cafeteria will be August 21, 2024.  He shared that they are still in the process of organizing the 19th Street property.

  3.4  Pearson Virtual Academy Presentation
  Karla Fabian introduced herself and her team members, Audrey Harrell, the District Partnership Director of Sales and Sharon Jaso, the Manager of District Partnerships and Customer Experience.  She shared that they have served more than one million students since 2001.  Their goal is to offer education to students having difficulty returning to school.  See presentation

  3.5  Cell Phone in Schools Update
  Principal Dave Furman and Assistant Principal Jeremy Vernon gave an update on the ThoughtExchange survey results.  They stated that this was the second most responses for a survey.  They stated that this process makes expectations clear.  Communication will be coming out next week.  They feel it is important to have all voices and will continue to get the word out and hold additional meetings.  They want to give the teachers the tools they need to be successful and partner with parents.  They stated they care about the kids..  They shared that they have purchased the calculator pouches for the teachers. 

  4.0 New Business

  4.1  Vacant Seat #3/Adoption Timeline

  Chair Jason Bizon asked for a motion to accept the resignation of Director Carson Benner effective immediately and a motion to approve the process and timeline for filling the vacant seat 3 as discussed.  

  On motion by Vice-Chair Abbie Warmbier, seconded by Director Gerardo Partida, the motion passed unanimously to approve, accept the resignation of Director Carson Benner effective immediately, and Adopt the Timeline to fill vacancy seat 3. 

  4.2 Resolution 06-2024 Updating District Public Contracting Rules
  Director Jason Hall reviewed some of the changes made to the resolution.  The resolution is to update our public contracting rules to align with the State’s new model rules that were released earlier this year.  The state has recently updated their model rules to new increased limits, which varies depending on the type of services or the procurement that you are trying to do for goods or services.  We have updated these for the public contracting rules to be able to utilize the new higher thresholds.  See board packet for details.

  On motion by Director Larry Vollmer, seconded by Director Doris Towery, the motion passed unanimously to approve Resolution 06-2024, Updating District Public Contracting Rules.

  5.0 Public Forum
  We did not have any public comments.  We received five Intent to Speak Cards from Tonya Perez; given in Spanish (translation), Lupe Bravo, Alesandra Jimenez, Ileuna Barsoth and Reyna Starr with concerns and questions on the Dual Language Program/Equity.  Superintendent Brockett stated that we would get back to them about their concerns and questions regarding the program.  

  7.0  Board Directors Comments
  Vice-Chair Abbie Warmbier gave a shout out to Shiloh Ficek and the nutrition team for serving meals this summer.  She gave a shout out to Hiram Amerasinghe and his team.  For the three years she has been on the board, they have been hearing about a new system information system (SIS) and she hopes this does a lot for the district and eases some of the workload for the staff.  She thanked them for making it happen.  She stated best of luck to all of our staff and families going into this 20-25 school year.  She stated that she really appreciated working with Carson Benner; for the last three years he has been a mentor to all of us.  He served with heart and dedication.

  Director Doris Towery echoed what Vice-Chair Warmbier said about Carson.  She reluctantly voted to accept Carson’s resignation.  He was definitely a mentor to me and has been a friend; he was an incredible example.  He has served our community tremendously and I am glad he is still on other committees in the community.  She thanked everybody who came and gave public testimony.  It takes courage to share your concerns and your thoughts.

  Director Lu Ann Anderson thanked everybody who came and took time tonight to present their thoughts and ideas to the board.

  Director Gerardo Partida stated that he feels losing Carson; he had 18 years and brought a lot of knowledge to the school district. He congratulated the new principals and thanked the PTA for coming to bring the concerns and thank you everybody for speaking and giving your opinion about the education.

  Chair Jason Bizon reviewed the vacant seat #3 timeline information.  He thanked everybody for being here in person and online.  There were great presentations and comments tonight.  

  9.0 Announcements
  There were no announcements.

  Meeting Video

  The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m.