The regular meeting of the Board of Education of St. Mary’s County was held on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, in the Board of Education Meeting Room, 23160 Moakley Street, Leonardtown. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Mrs. Cathy Allen, chairman. Board members present for the meeting were:
.Mrs. Cathy Allen, Chairman
.Dr. Salvatore Raspa, Vice Chairman
.Mr. Gary Kessler
.Mr. Bill Mattingly
.Mrs. Mary Washington
Mrs. Allen reconvened the regular meeting at 6:40 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Mrs. Allen and Board members welcomed Dr. Michael Martirano, superintendent of schools, and look forward to wonderful times ahead working with him.
Public Comment
Public Comment was received as follows:
Name Subject
Janice Walthour School size matters
William Breslin Attendance policy
Tom Bailer Positive superintendent search and welcome to Dr. Martirano
Dr. Raspa made a motion that the following consent agenda items be approved:
.Executive Session minutes of June 27, 2005
.Regular and Executive Session minutes of June 29, 2005
.Executive Session minutes of July 1, 2005
.Administrative and Supervisory Appointments
.New Employment
Mr. Kessler seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Policy Revisions of “J” (Student) Section (2nd Reading)
Mrs. Kathleen Lyon, director of pupil services, presented revisions to “J” (Student) Section for 2nd reading and approval. Mrs. Lyon noted that these revisions are related to student absences and parental responsibilities and highlighted the recommended changes made at the last Board meeting. Mrs. Lyon also highlighted the membership of this committee and noted that once these policies are approved, they will be incorporated in the student handbook, on our website, a news release sent out, and a letter explaining the changes will be sent from each school. Mrs. Washington suggested that policy “JED” be revised to include additional wording to reflect intervention strategies and procedures in the 2nd paragraph. After some discussion, Mr. Kessler made a motion to approve the revisions to the policies as referenced and modified. Mrs. Washington seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Land Acquisition
Mr. Brad Clements, chief administrative officer, noted that the school system has been searching for future school sites to accommodate three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Staff have met with the Department of Planning and Zoning, and the Commissioners’ of Leonardtown, and both are very favorable of our layouts and allowed us to move forward with possible school sites. Mr. Clements noted that the school system has successfully negotiated and has a letter of intent for the Oscar Buchanan property located on St. Andrew’s Church Road and parameters for additional property as discussed in executive session will give the school system two parcels for additional school sites. Board members congratulated Mr. Clements and staff for their hard work and dedication to secure school sites. Dr. Martirano noted that he was very pleased with this news. Mrs. Allen noted that this action will require a letter to the Board of County Commissioners and is pleased that the Enterprise and Mr. Denis Canavan, director of the Department of Land Use and Growth Management, recognzize the Clark’s Rest property is a future school site. Mr. Kessler made a motion that the Board of Education of St. Mary’s County approve the Oscar Buchanan property as a future elementary school site to be submitted to the state for approval prior to final purchase of the property and approve the negotiation parameters for the purchase of a parcel of property as discussed in executive session. Dr. Raspa seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Clements noted that the school system has not rejected any of the sixty seven sites that have been identified and thanked Dr. Martirano for being involved in the land acquisition process in a short time frame.
School Bus Contracts
Mr. Clements noted that the St. Mary’s County Public Schools offer school bus transportation to and from school for over 16,000 students. The school system relies on 61 independent contractors who own and operate a total of 195 buses to provide this service. 167 of these buses are used for daily routes and 28 are used as spare buses. There are 4 new route buses for FY 2006 and 5 bus contracts have been transferred from one contractor to another. Mr. Reed Walker, supervisor of transportation, and Mr. Tom Kracinovich, assistant supervisor of transportation, were present for this action item. Dr. Raspa inquired about the procedures for new bus contracts and Mr. Clements shared the process of transferring contracts from one contractor to another. Mrs. Allen questioned the appeal process in the bus contractor agreement and asked that this issue be reviewed when updating the agreement. After some discussion, Mr. Mattingly made a motion to approve the bus contract awards as presented by staff for the FY 2006 school year. Mr. Kessler seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Adequate Public Facilities
Mr. Clements and Ms. Kimberly Howe, supervisor of capital planning, gave a briefing of the School Facilities portion of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) for St. Mary’s County. The APFO requires that there be sufficient school capacity in order for development projects to be approved. The county is divided into three zones for determination of adequacy, which are the three high school service areas. The ordinance states that the enrollment at the schools in each zone may not exceed 107% of state rated capacity. It further states that any capital improvements project that is budgeted in the current fiscal year for 100% of the design cost may be counted toward capacity. Staff presented that the only requirement of the school system is to provide the official September 30th enrollment and state rated capacity, for use by the Department of Land Use and Growth Management in their determination of school adequacy. This issue has recently had a lot of discussion, as the Leonardtown district is out of capacity, and therefore, development projects have been denied. Staff is keeping informed of this issue via discussions with the Department of Land Use and Growth Management, as well as, by serving on the subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce that is studying this issue.
FY 2005 Unaudited Financial Report
Mr. Dan Carney, chief financial officer, presented the FY 2005 unaudited financial report as of June 30, 2005. Mr. Carney noted that this is a status report based on the financial records, as adjusted to date, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005. He also noted that he will continue to make adjusting entries as we complete our year-end closeout. The adjusting entries and bills received after June 30, 2005, but chargeable to FY 2005 may create the necessity for categorical transfer requests. If necessary, these requests will be presented at the August Board meeting to be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for approval.
Reports
.Dr. Raspa noted his attendance at a Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) Legislative Meeting, where a report on charter schools was given and this information has been passed on to Dr. Martirano.
.Mrs. Washington attended the following events: Operations Employees Recognition Luncheon, Retirement Celebration for Ms. Deanna Nored, Board Executive Session on July 1st, MABE Willis Award Committee meeting, and a Chamber of Commerce meeting.
.Dr. Martirano noted that he is very honored to be serving as Superintendent of Schools and commended the Board of Education for an outstanding interview process. He also noted that teachers, staff, and parents have been very welcoming to him, as well as, his partnership with Dr. Fulton, deputy superintendent. He recently spoke at the Lexington Park Rotary Club and announced that an Employee Convocation will be held on Wednesday, August 24, 2005, at Leonardtown High School, and the theme is “Charting a Course to Excellence”, which is in alignment with his vision plan “One Community Committed to Learning and Safety for all Students” and asked that everyone “Work Hard and Be Nice”.
.Mrs. Allen noted that she had attended the Operations Awards Luncheon held recently.
Future Board Meetings
The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, August 10, 2005, at 9:00 a.m., in the Board Meeting Room, Leonardtown.
Adjournment
Mrs. Allen adjourned the regular meeting at 8:05 p.m.
Mrs. Cathy Allen
Chairman
Dr. Michael J. Martirano
Secretary-Treasurer