NON-AGENDA ITEMS:

1.0	Most of the items included in this back-up will be agenda related, in large part because almost all of my waking and certainly all of my working hours have been devoted to getting things done to the point where you can approve them this time out.
2.0	Hobart and William Smith cooperative is in full swing. Dave Craig and Wes Perkins pass along the attached letter and brochure. Note the participation of RCS folks! When we do things right (which is often) we draw a crowd in doing it! This is an outstanding partnership that we've built and you as a Board should try to make certain that it continues not only for this project but for the added value that having a live partner in higher ed locally can provide to our kids in any number of areas. Ave Bauder, your SDM co-chair now works there, too, and may be a great asset in this.
3.0	Along the lines of cooperation and our 21st Century Schools Grant, we are now part of a county-wide initiative in applying. South Seneca will serve as the LEA, Basil Dobush will actually pen the grant, and Barb Quinn will serve as the RCS liasion to the effort. We met on Wednesday this past week after the Partners For Children core team last week to further discuss the application. Were we to receive funds, the idea would be to keep school buildings open until 9 every night with a variety of recreational, health and counseling programs available for kids and families, along with things like academic evenings and homework corners. We will submit a joint grant - whether or not we will be funded and have to face the implementation of such far reaching proposals as running a health clinic in the nurse's office three nights a week or not will remain to be seen. A wonderful opportunity to be on the cutting edge of community-centered schooling. Nice to have three partners in the effort as well.
4.0	Thanks to the five members who were able to make the legislative breakfast. The post-session with Randy Kuhl was particularly enlightening for me, as I was able to see him in a much different, more positive light than I ever had previously. He sounded very much like he has done some homework and that he is taking his new role as Senate Education Committee Chair very seriously. He's still conservative, but at least he's now semi-knowledgeable about the aid formula and other issues.
5.0	Had a CBO meeting yesterday and cleared the air on a few issues. We have an evaluation form which will be completed by all principals and supervisors in each of the three districts which we will be able to use as guidance for improvements in the future. Romulus was very generous in sharing savings to help get this up and running last year. In our transition to a new superintendent and a new fiscal year we should stay the course on staffing. BUT, a year from now you and the new superintendent should be considering how much of Gary you are using and how much you are paying for. The two percentages may not be the same. Along these same lines I would like to discuss salary for Gary in executive session with you.

 

AGENDA ITEMS

You will start at 7:00 with an executive session with Bob Thompson. Bob met with a few dozen folks here yesterday and has some input for you on the characteristics he feels should be highlighted in the brochure you use to advertise the position. I thought a half-hour might be enough and Barney can't make it early, so asked that he come later than the 6 o'clock hour you had selected before. If the regular meeting gets started too late, we'll just have to hold the throng back. ( ThRong - with an r). Bob may wish to stay and see how an RCS BOE meeting looks - in case he needs to prepare himself for the culture shock. That's up to him, obviously.

1.0	Routine should be.
2.0	I have asked Terry Mays to come to this meeting to update you as Clerk of the Works on the progress being made on your capital project. We had a contractor's meeting on Tuesday and I continue to be impressed with the cooperation we are seeing. We do have a planning meeting scheduled for the Monday back from break with the gym teachers to make certain they have some sort of temporary home when we kick them out for the last month of school.
3.0	Focus of the evening will be on a first draft budget discussion. Gary will walk you through the areas ( good practice) where we know we can make reductions and the areas which are pretty straight forward with little room for movement. You have a copy of the line by line detail which we entered into CP from last meeting. That remains unchanged at this point. You also have a new summary sheet with suggested reductions for a draft two which brings you into the 7.5% range for expenditure increase.
4.0	Barb and Mike will be on vacation. Remember we had moved the meeting originally. Oh well, good time to talk about their pay then….
5.0	I had told you that I wanted to wait on Sandy Steele's permanent replacement until I cleared something else up with an internal candidate. That was Craig Steven's situation which I shared with you last time. Craig and I have reached an agreement whereby he will agree in writing to have the $550 he owes us for course tuition deducted from his remaining pays this school year. We will keep the books from the class for our transportation department library. That cleared up, I am prepared to recommend that Craig be allowed to transfer from his mechanic/driver position to a full-time driving position replacing Sandy Steele. By contract we should allow existing members the opportunity to transfer, all factors being equal. In this case we would like to execute the transfer because we would like a different mechanic working on our buses. Tina knows of three people who've expressed interest and would be qualified (one of whom I know and would HIGHLY recommend). This may be the final missing piece in the transportation puzzle. Craig will stay on as mechanic to "train" his replacement and then move to driving full-time. He has asked for this and we are pleased to want to say yes. This shows up as two items on the agenda.
6.0	Sabbatical committee met and recommends 4-0 that Joy Ike's request for a half-year sabbatical to work on curriculum documentation under the supervision of Barb Quinn be granted. The original thought here is to get the various loose curricula we have under one digital umbrella, align it with current State jargon and disseminate it via Docushare. If done right, this could be a MODEL for the region or the State! Joy is interested in the project, needs an internship for her administrative license, and knows Docushare as well as anybody here. It's a natural. You have money in salaries already coming off of Jim Delia's second summer of his sabbatical. You've done Gambee, Kaminski , Fox and Delia in my time here, and I see no good reason for you to stop now. We say we support the continued improvement of our staff…let's.
7.0	We discussed tenure for Alan Gelatt last time. I recommend it and hope you will approve.
8.0	Ratification of the CSEA contract negotiated in record time and with great cooperation among all parties rounds out the evening. You asked that I try to get this done before departing and thanks to the willingness of the other side to do so as well, we have an agreement which the local group has already voted in favor of. It calls for a three year deal with all members getting a $0.75 per hour increase in year one, a $0.50 per hour increase in year two and a $0.25 per hour increase in year three. It also approves a 50% District contribution toward the cost of health insurance for retirees with ten years service up to age 65, This should help move some of our salary-intensive employees of age toward the great leap of faith. We also up the outside trip rate $0.50 per hour per year, and grant longevity increases of $100 and up starting at five years. We get a more competitive and now articulated starting wage for all covered job titles and we get straightened out the crazy 2080 hour employee snow day debacle. A fair deal arrived at fairly. I strongly encourage you to approve. This is a BIGGIE.
9.0	I did not yet conclude non-affiliated salary discussions for your two principals. You know that they are paid less than their peers in most circumstances. ( I share with you the latest confidential salary information on both secondary and elementary principals.) You also know that in recent years I have budgeted higher than average increases in order to bring these positions up to the point that they are competitive. I HAD $5,000 each in draft one - that's an average 8% increase. (A $2500 increase each would be a 4% raise for the two on average, but they are reluctant to accept that in haste, particularly while the CSE and AD issues are in limbo. Looks like you and Bob will have to iron out this detail.

That may actually do it for this coming Tuesday. Hope to see you all there for any updates we may have by then…We will be mailing this on Thursday in anticipation of a major storm Friday. Watch out for snow!

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