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Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired<= br> 7725 North College Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46240

 

ISBVI Board Meeting
May 12, 2008
9:30 a.m.
ISBVI Board Meeting Minutes

 

Members Present:&nb= sp;    Ms. Shirley Amond, Chair

                                    = Ms. Cynthia Pittman, Vice-Chair

           &nb= sp;                 &nbs= p;      Mr. John Hill fo= r Dr. Robert Marra
                                &nbs= p;   Mr. Donald Koors

   &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;       Ms. Kathy Botkin

   &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;       Mr. Gary Bates


Members Not Present:  Senator Teresa Lubbers


Administration Present:  Mr. Jim Du= rst, Superintendent; Mr. Hal Owens,= Asst. Superintendent; Ms. Teresa Mynatt, Human Resources; Mr. William Neal, Laundry Services; Mr. John Rahn, Physical Plant Director; Mr. Mike Gaddis, Steam Pla= nt Director; Mr. Charles Foster, Maintenance Supervisor.


I. Call to Order


Ms. Amond called the meeting to order at 9:30am and took roll.

II. Approval of Minutes


The minutes from the March 17, 2008 meeting were reviewed.  Mr. Koors moved for approval of the minutes as distributed.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Bot= kin; the minutes were approved as submitted.

III. Chair Remarks

 

Ms. Amond welcomed everyone to the ISBVI Board meeting= .


IV. Superintendent’s Report


A.  Relay for Life

 

Mr. Durst explained to th= e Board that the ISBVI Relay for Life team raised more than $3400 for cancer awareness.  Every team was to = be represented on the track by someone on the team for 24 hours.  The weather became bad, and most o= f the teams had packed up their belongings and had left.  One of our students, Alex Gilland, walked his hour in the rain because he had committed himself to walk that h= our for the Relay for Life.  This = truly shows the heart and generosity of our students at ISBVI.

 

B.  New Employees

 

Mr. Durst recognized thre= e new employees who were not able to attend the Board Meeting due to shift conflicts.  They are Mr. Robert Eutz, Prison Braille Project Director E5; Mr. Cary Trabue, Laundry Assistan= t 4; and Ms. Kimberly Burcham, Clerical Assistant 4.   

 

C.  Schoo= l Update

 

Best Buddies brought the = Aldur/Lambert students books on CD, individual CD players, and books that had been Braile= d.  The supplies were received from the Indianapolis Colts for this project.  The Middle School/High School band and choir had their Spring Concert April 18th.  The Pi= ano Recital was May 9th.  The I= SBVI Swimming and Forensics teams traveled to the NCASB conference championships.  The boys place= d 3rd overall and the girls placed 6th overall.  Riley Robinson scored 41 points fo= r her performances.  The Leo Club un= der the direction of Mr. Al Lovati and Mr. Dave Schnieders put together a team = for the Relay for Life.  At this t= ime, they have raised over $3400.  = Some of the fundraising activities included Jar Wars, a plant sale through the I= SBVI Greenhouse, and a staff talent show.

 

D.  Month= ly Financial Statements

Mr. Owens presented the financial statements (Attachments 2A and 2B).  Attachment 2A, April 4, 2008.  Eighty thousand dollars was moved from point one to point seven.  The year was 75% over, and 75.44% = was spent.  Another move made was $30,000 from point five to point four due to the increase in gasoline and f= ood price increases.  Attachment 2= B, April 30, 2008, the year was 83.3% over, and 83.3% was spent.  A request has been made to move $1= 50,000 from point one to point two.  = Point two is in the red at this time ($36,285.94).  Point two is for utilities.  The natural gas bill has been very= high.  The bill for December was $39,000; January was $44,886; February was $51,143; and March had a meter reading mistake.  The first bill we re= ceived was in the amount of $185,000.  This bill has been corrected, and the amount due is $42,700.  $20,000 was moved from point five = to point seven to bring point seven back into the good.  The Budget Agency has assured us t= hat we will get a salary contingency fund to help offset the raises, health insura= nce costs, vacation buyouts, and any other end of the year expenses that we incur.  The amount for that is $375,000 to $390,000.

 

E. Personnel Actions Updates

Attachment 3A is the April Personnel Status Summary with 178 FTE filled, 28= FTE pending totaling 206.  There w= as also 24 Intermittent filled.  Attachment 3B is the May Personnel Status Summary with 178 FTE fille= d, 28 FTE pending totaling 206. There was also 24 Intermittent filled.  Attachment 4A is the Personnel Act= ions for April with three separations.  Attachment 4B is the May Personnel Actions with two separations, one lateral transfer, and three new hires.

F. Vacant Positions

Refer to Vacant Positions - Pending (Attachments 5A and 5B).  Man= y of these positions are pending and posted.&nb= sp; Some of these are pending and we are holding these positions at this point to see where we are in terms of need and financial resources.  State Personnel is assisting us in= the process of filling the positions as quickly as possible.


G. Physical Plant Update (Attachment 6)

Fire Alarms:  The upgrade process has begun at the cost of $975,971.  The fire alarm and fire suppression workers are on site.  They are currently receiving materials, investigating the job areas, and preparing to start the work.

 

Electrical Grounding: = ; The project is complete.

Replacement of Wrought Iron Fencing:  The iron fence is being made by Capital City Iron Works.  Ther= e has been difficulty in finding the proper color to match the existing fence.

 

Bus Pad:  There is no new information from t= he Department of Public Works regarding the timeframe of the repaving of the b= us pad area.

 

Wilson 5:  The= re are two phases:  Phase one - Work = is complete.  Phase two – T= he work is 90% complete.  This ph= ase is to add air conditioning and to dehumidify the air in the area.

 

There will be a meeting in= East Chicago for a meeting to discuss the new Capital Projects for 2007 – 2009.  Some of the projects on the agenda include the replacement of the breezeway flooring, installation of the hot water boilers in Lambert Hall, renovate the Lambert restrooms, and to renov= ate the tunnels.

 

H.  Indiana Blind Children’s Foundation Building Proposal

 

The Foundation was not awa= rded the grant for the new building proposed.  The Foundation is currently looking into other strategies to put that building into place.  One way = is to the possibly break the one large grant in to several smaller grants.

 

I.  Outreach Department Update

 

Ms. Toni Hughes addressed the Board with several updates from the Outreach Department.  The Low = Vision Clinic saw 64 students on campus this year.  There was not a traveling clinic t= his year.  Mr. Dave Romano, Orient= ation and Mobility, has done over 915 hours with the Short Course students this y= ear as well as 15 hours of direct services throughout the state.  He also updates the Outreach website.  Ms. Ann Hughes, Early Childhood, has seen many new children 0-5 year of age.  She has seen 125 children this year.  The Osborne Early child= hood Conference was April 26th.  The theme was “Trail to your Treasure” which included 40 parents and 20 professionals in attendance.  There were two morning sessions wh= ich included: sensory processing issues and behavior which was given by an Occupational Therapist from Voc Rehab and IU.  The second session was behavior an= d its impact on learning given by Lynn Baize, ISBVI teacher.  There was one afternoon session wh= ich included: Outdoor classroom-Nature’s treasures presented by Ms. Eliza= beth Garvey, ISBVI Horticulture teacher.  Assessment of Young Children will be held 2 weeks in June (June 9th and June 16th).  Th= ere will be 8 children in attendance ranging from ages 2 ½ through 4 years.  Ms. Diana Childers, Sc= hool Age, has seen 120 students grades K through age 21.  The School Age Conference was Apri= l 26th as well.  There were 16 families with their children in attendance totaling about 50 people in all.  There were also 8 Teache= rs of the Visually Impaired in attendance at the conference.  The participants rotated through t= hree different sessions: cooking -students made cupcakes and decorated them as pirates while the parents make cookie mix in a jar to take home.  The parents used simulation glasse= s for this session.  There were fami= ly activities and pirate photo shoot in the gymnasium.  The third session was a self aware= ness activity.  Each family member = added what they felt their family treasure was into a treasure box which they decorated themselves.   S= ome upcoming events that the Outreach Department has planned are:  August 1 – 3, 2008 ISBVI alo= ng with 2020 Innervision (Craig MacFarlane’s foundation) will host the 2= nd annual Expanding Your Horizons Weekend. 2020 Innervision funds this event f= or at least 25 families for the weekend.  This weekend is for academic VI/Blind students in grades 6 through 1= 0. This weekend was very successful last year. Out of 20 families last year, 10 students either came to ISBVI full time or through the short course program.  October 9- 10, ISBVI= will be hosting a two day workshop for VI teachers.  The first day will be geared towar= d new Teacher of the Visually Impaired. The second day will offer a workshop in t= he morning for Sensory Integration and the afternoon will be on Traumatic Brain Injury and Vision.  In January= of 2009, ISBVI will be hosting our first Braille Challenge™  contest for the state. The Brai= lle Challenge™ is a two-stage academic contest designed to motivate school-age Braille readers to excel.  Then, the top eligible students are invited to Los Angeles, where they'll match Braille skills against their peers at the June Challenge.  In February ISBVI will host Transi= tion Weekend for high school students (grades 9-12). At this conference, families work on their goals for their VI/blind student. This conference is always v= ery successful.  The Outreach Depa= rtment is planning more workshops for Teachers of the Visually Impaired this year,= but all of the arrangements are not made yet. Some of the other ideas the Outre= ach Department has include: a workshop for paraprofessionals who work with VI/B= lind students, and regional training which would take the workshops to different areas throughout the state.  T= he Short Course program continues to be a very successful and popular program = at ISBVI.  We have 3 teachers and= 2 assistants.  There are 45 stud= ents to start next fall and at least 5 more waiting to be case conferenced into = the program.  Five former Short Co= urse students will be attending ISBVI full time next year.  From June 2007 through April 2008,= the Outreach Department has provided a total of 5641 services to the state, including direct services to 219 students. This is done with only 9 staff members who all are very dedicated and hard workers.

 

V. New Business=

=  

= A. Donations and Contributions

Attachments 7A and 7B include Donations and Contributions under $499 from M= arch 19, 2008 through April 25, 2008.  7A totals $1,084.02 and 7B totals $1,656.93.&= nbsp;

 

B. Capital Projects for the Biennium 2009 - 2011

 

Attachment 8 is the proposed Capital Projects for the Biennium 2009 – 2011.  T= hey are Preventative Maintenance, New Intercom System, Replace Phone System, Install New Roofs: Churchman and Wilson, Install Two Elevators, Install New Athletic Track Surface, Install New Safe Floor in Multipurpose Room and Main Gym, Replace Exterior Lighting, Renovate Wilson Hall, and Relocate Bus Load= ing Area.  Some other Budget Commi= ttee Projects that are also proposed are Install New Hot Water Boilers, Rehab Lambert Restrooms and Showers, Resurface Breezeway Flooring, Replace Room on Lambert and K Dormitory, and Repair and Renovation of the Tunnels.

 

C.  Prison Braille Project

 

Mr. Durst explained that the new Prison Braille Project Manager, Mr. Robert Eutz, began April 21, 2008.  The interview and selection proces= s has begun for offenders to be trained in the transcription program.  The Department of Education has fu= nded this project with $600,000 to get it off of the ground.

 

D. IUPUI Update

 

The Department of Informatics from IUPUI has been work= ing with ISBVI students and staff on the creation of an acoustical interface wi= th that has non-verbal sound cues that would help a person who is blind be abl= e to navigate around the web more efficiently.&= nbsp; The program will continue during the summer with 10 students continu= ing in the study.

 

E.  Lions= Update

 

Mr. Durst explained to the Board that the State of Indiana Lions has adopted ISBVI has a State Project.  They have committed to assist us in developing a physical therapy la= b, an occupational therapy lab, an assistive technology lab, and a communicati= ons lab with the plan of having these labs on campus.  We have also been encouraged by the International Lions to take our labs on the road to the different districts.  Additionally, seve= ral of the Lions Clubs have adopted some of our dormitories.  The Nora Lions have adopted H Dorm= .  A couple other Lions Clubs in Northwestern Indiana have agreed to adopt two other= of the dorms.

 

F.  STEP = and Summer School

 

The STEP program is scheduled for Session 1 to begin J= une 2 and end June 27.  Session 2 is scheduled to begin July 7 and end August 1.  Session 1 currently has 16 students enrolled.  Session 2 has 10 st= udents enrolled.  Summer School is scheduled to begin June 9 and end June 20 with 29 students enrolled.

 

G.  Superintendent’s Evaluation

 

Ms. Amond presented to the Board a formal evaluation o= f the Superintendent / CEO.  The Boa= rd has reviewed a job description as well an evaluation for the Superintendent.  Ms. Pittman moved to approve the j= ob description and the evaluation of the Superintendent, Mr. Durst.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Bot= kin; motion carried.

 

H.  Noodl= es and Company

 

A brochure (Attachment 9) was given to each Board memb= er for Noodles and Company who has agreed to provide the Indiana Blind Children’s Foundation with a portion of the proceeds from sales during the month of May which will benefit ISBVI.

 

I. 2008 – 2009 Board Meeting Schedule

 

Mr. Durst presented a copy of the proposed schedule of= the ISBVI Board meetings for the 2008 – 2009 ISBVI school year (Attachment 10).

 

VI. Public Comments<= /span>

There were no Public Comme= nts.


VII. Board Comments
 

Mr. Hill – no comment

 

Mr. Bates– no comment

 

Ms. Botkin– no comment

 

Ms. Pittman – It was nice to hear the reflection= on the past school year.  She also commended and thanked the Outreach Department for their accomplishments for= the year.  Also, thank you to all = staff for the wonderful year.

 

Mr. Koors – He thanked everyone for all of the w= ork done both on and off campus for the good of ISBVI.


VIII. Next Meeting<= /b>


The next meeting of the ISBVI Board is set for August 18, 2008 at 9:30am in= the Aldur/Lambert Multipurpose Room.  <= br style=3D'mso-special-character:line-break'>

IX. Adjournment

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 am.