|
Governance Board Meeting, September 17, 2003 | |
| In Attendance: | Mark Chalupsky, Julie Anderson-Simonson, Mary Tingblad, Joseph Ricke, Linda Morantez, Margaret Ruffino, Pam Wertjes, Mark Broten, Melanie Casiday, Debra Jensen, Katie Tuthill, Mark Brzezinski, Sandy Gosen, Jeri Goodspeed-Gross, Jan Nelson, Mike Cutshall, Miles Mortensen. |
| Guests: | Amy Gillespie, Kelly Hanson, Bob Koppes, Bruce Marmesh, Louise Miles, Penny Needham, Daryl Seifert, Merlin Zimmerman (Organizing for Settlement Committee members); Anita Otten, Teachers Rights Co-Chair; Chuck Kehrberg, Negotiator; Susan Vento, Education Minnesota Field Representative. |
| Call to Order: | 4:35 p.m., by President Chalupsky. |
| Negotiations Update: | Chuck Kehrberg reported on today's
negotiations session. Many neighboring districts have settled, and none of
them have fund balances as healthy as Minnetonka's. The MTA Negotiating
team has requested another mediation session. Now is the time to increase
teacher involvement. The Governance Board is requesting that teachers come
to the School Board Study Session at the District Service Center on
September 18, 2003. The teacher presence from 4:30-5:30 p.m. will show
support of the negotiators and the MTA. The Organizing for Settlement
Committee will meet with Sue Vento to begin the next steps. The Committee
still needs representation from MM-East and Groveland.
Teachers can sign up and continue on district and school committees, but they may be asked later to step down due to negotiation concerns. |
| Approval of Minutes: | Motion by Jensen, seconded by Ruffino to approve the minutes of September 3, 2003. Motion carried. |
| Teachers' Rights Report: | The Teachers' Rights Co-Chairs will meet with Dr. Peterson on September 24, 2003. They will discuss opening day concerns and request that future opening days be more upbeat and motivational. This year's first meeting of the Teachers' Rights Representatives will also occur on that day. |
| New Business: | Data Privacy: Teachers have
been told that we must be careful with e-mail messages due to data
privacy. The district has not yet provided guidelines as to how we should
be doing this.
Reserve Shortages Plan: Excelsior teachers have been asked to divide classes to be split up among remaining classes should a teacher be absent and there is no reserve for that class. We have a Meet and Confer agreement that this should not be an option. If no reserve is available, the principal should ask for volunteers to cover the class during their prep periods with compensation. If no volunteers come forward, the principal should cover the class. If that is not possible, the principal should call the District Service Center and an administrator can come to the school to cover the class. |
| Treasurer's Report: | The yearly audit will occur in October. The MTA ended the 2002-03 year with approximately $25,000 in reserves. Treasurer Ricke distributed the MTA Checking Account Statement, July 23, 2003 to September 10, 2003, and the MTA Budget Report dated September 15, 2003. |
| Old Business: |
Reminder: Building Representatives should forward their MTA members e-mail lists to Julie Anderson-Simonson. ArtsCenter Restructuring: The ArtsCenter restructuring process has not been clear, so there are concerns about how this has been handled. MM-East Success: The Health/Physical Education issue has been successfully resolved. The district agreed to increase the French teacher's contract by .2FTE so that the students would be able to take their chosen classes and have Health/PE as normally scheduled. Prep for Part-Time Teachers: Part-time teachers should check that they are getting their appropriate prep time, 5 minutes prep for every 25 minutes of student time. |
| President's Remarks: | President Chalupsky will not be in
school September 26, 2003, and the following week, as he is taking some
time off for surgery. He will be available for meetings and phone
calls.
Technology concerns: Some people are still experiencing problems accessing their district e-mail on their home computers. There are problems downloading class lists on Making the Grade. District Leadership Committee Proposal: President Chalupsky has
talked informally about the district forming a committee that would be a
sounding board before decisions are made. This committee could meet
monthly or as needed, and would include teachers and other, not just
administrators. Motion by Tingblad, seconded by Anderson-Simonson, that
President Chalupsky formally discuss with Dr. Peterson, the formation of a
District Advisory Committee to be used as a sounding board before
decisions are made. Motion carried. |
| School Board Report: | At the September 4, 2003, School
Board meeting, two board members and Tom Berge were not present, as they
were at the Minnetonka City Council meeting to discuss the dome and turf
issue. The Deephaven principal gave a presentation on Responsive
Classroom. Community Comments were about the ArtsCenter staff
reorganization. Later this was pulled from the consent agenda to be
discuss, and then tabled until the September 18, 2003, study
session.
The District Accountability Plan was also presented. The goal is "to increase student achievement through implementation and frequent monitoring of the District Strategic Plan." Claudia Risnes presented a review of No Child Left Behind and the State Report Cards. |
| Motion by Anderson-Simonson, seconded by Nelson, that President Chalupsky send an e-mail to all teachers asking them to come to the School Board Study Session at the DSC on September 18, 2003, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Motion carried. | |
| Motion by Nelson seconded by Goodspeed-Gross, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m. | |
|
Respectfully submitted, | |