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

ISBVI Board Meeting
August 17, 2009
9:30 a.m.
ISBVI Board Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Ms. Kathy Botkin, Chair

Mr. Donald Koors, Vice Chair
Dr. James Mervilde

Mr. Michael Dalrymple

Mr. John Hill (representing Dawn McGrath)

Mr. James Hodson

Ms. Shirley Amond

Members Not Present:  

Administration Present:  Mr. Jim Durst, Superintendent; Dr. Larry Streeter, Assistant to the Superintendent;  Mr. Hal Owens, Assistant Superintendent;  Mr. Jay Wilson, MS/HS Principal; Ms. Gail Ringwalt, Elementary Principal; Ms. Teresa Mynatt, Human Resources; Ms. Toni Hughes, Director of Outreach Services; Mr. Charles Foster III, Maintenance; Mr. John Litt, Housekeeping; Ms. Jerry Pitts, Nursing;  Mr. Todd Malone, Maintenance; Ms. Karen Keller, Secretary.

I.  Call to Order

Ms. Botkin called the meeting to order and took roll.

II.  Approval of Minutes  (Attachment 1)

The minutes from the May 11, 2009 meeting were reviewed.

Motion:  A motion was made by Mr. Hodson and seconded by Mr. Koors to approve the minutes; motion carried.

III.  Chair Remarks

Ms. Botkin welcomed the Board back for the 2009/2010 school year.  She is happy to be serving as Chair and is enjoying learning the responsibilities of this new position.    

IV.  Superintendent’s Report

A.  New Employees

§ Mr. Durst introduced Karen Keller to the Board.  She has filled the Administrative Assistant position in his office.  She has been here since June.

§ Mr. Wilson announced to the Board that Christian Kinder and Elizabeth Northcutt will both be working as Residential Mentors in a teacher’s assistant capacity during the day.  Anthony Johnson and Leslie Saccaro will be working in the dorm as house parents in the evening.  They all come with very good credentials and he is looking forward to having them on the ISBVI team.  Mr. Wilson is looking into filling 2 vacant positions; a residential mentor and a residential leader position.

§ Ms. Ringwalt announced that Pauline Flynn and Dave Johnson will be starting as teacher assistants in AlDur.  Both come to ISBVI from the Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s Home.  Amy Harris will be filling the preschool position.  Ms. Ringwalt currently has one vacant position; Occupational Therapist.

§ Mr. Owens announced newly filled positions in the Dietary department. Tony Brown and Patty Jensen both come to ISBVI from the Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s Home.  Tony will be filling the Food Service Worker 4 position and Patty will be filling the Cook 3 position.  Mr. Owens welcomed back Debbie Ferrell to the ISBVI staff. Debbie retired from ISBVI last August after 32 years of service.  She is starting today in the Food Service Worker 4 position.

§ Mr. John Litt introduced 3 new employees:  Deloris Tomey, Rebecca Lee and Darlene Halliburton.  Deloris and Rebecca both come from the Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s Home.   All have proven to be wonderful additions to the Housekeeping staff.

§ Ms. Betsy Scott, Director of the Braille Production Project, introduced Annabelle Paul.  Annabelle has a degree in communications from Purdue University and brings her expertise in data entry and proofreading to the Braille project.

§ Ms. Leslie Durst introduced the 2 new librarians:  Jennifer Abbott and Dayna Masih.  Jenny comes to ISBVI from Lakeland High School.  She has a degree from Ball State in Elementary Education and is currently finishing her Master’s Degree in Library Science.  Dayna has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Lee University in Tennessee.  She is also completing her Masters Degree in Library science.  Dayna will be dividing her time between teaching English and working in the Library in the evening.

§ Dr. Larry Streeter announced that Allyson Byrne will be joining our recreation department.  She is a Physical Education major at IUPUI.  She comes with outstanding credentials and will be an excellent addition to ISBVI.

§ Mr. Durst commented how pleased he was about the strong pool of candidates ISBVI has had.  Also, having 2 librarians will enable us to keep the library open until 8:00 p.m. to allow access for students staying on campus to the school’s technology.  Ms. Masih will teach English allowing Mrs. Kristen Durst to function as a full time Assistive Technology Coordinator.

B.  School Update

§ Mr. Durst stated that it has been a busy summer for the students and staff.  Dave Romano was able to take 4 students to Colorado to the USABA sporting competition.  They did an outstanding job and returned home with 16 medals. 

§ Two staff members took a group of students to ACB (American Council for the Blind) in Orlando.

§ Two staff members also took a group of students to NFB in Detroit.

§ The school’s Occupational Therapist (OT) resigned so we are currently seeking candidates for this position.  For the start of the school year, ISBVI will probably need to contract services through an agency which will increase some of the costs for the year. This is necessary to ensure success with our students that have OT in their IEP goals. 

§ We have a number of students that returned early to school to Washington Township.  The School for the Deaf is covering the two week costs we will incur for having these 17 students.

§ Housekeeping will be structured differently this year.  Each housekeeper will be assigned a specific area or individual building rather than cleaning in groups. 

§ House 120 is the new home for Outreach and the Blind Children’s Foundation.  Maintenance and Housekeeping have done a wonderful job getting this area ready.

§ Also, we received a letter from the Department of Education indicating that we have not met Adequate Yearly Progress.  This is our 3^rd year not meeting AYP.  There are specific requirements we have to do when we do not meet AYP.  One of the requirements is to hold public hearings to explain to the public why our students are not meeting AYP.  There are a number of reasons for this.  First and foremost is the ISTEP test.  This is not a reliable and valid instrument for denoting progress of blind or visually impaired students.  Many of the test questions are omitted due to the fact that they cannot be adequately transcribed into Braille.  One example on a retake test:  Write an essay convincing your principal on why more students should participate in driver’s education.

Another difficulty we are facing is that the ISTEP test is based on where students should be performing according to their chronological age.  Many of our students are functioning anywhere from 2 to 6 years below their grade level.  In addition, we are facing challenges with students who are newly blinded or who have a degenerative eye disease who were previously print readers and are now Braille readers.  We are not in a position to be able to read the tests to them because it is designed to measure reading comprehension.  As a result, the student automatically does not pass the ISTEP test.  What we have done in the past is look at the Case Conferences and determined that these students would be better served and their progress better reflected on the alternative assessment.  We do not receive an adequate participation score, which impacts AYP.  Another critical issue is that we are a school of 100% special education students.  Fifty-five percent of our students have additional handicapping conditions.  We are being compared to Washington Township and other townships where only a percentage of their students are special education.  Mr. Durst would like to see us being compared to schools with similar populations versus schools that do not have the same needs.  For these reasons, Mr. Durst does not anticipate in the near future that we will meet AYP based on how the standards are set up.  A representative from the DOE will be meeting with our Administrative team next week to discuss this further.

Mr. Dalrymple asked if the IEP’s mention that students will be held to these standards.  Mr. Durst replied, that they do and that we are fulfilling IEP’s.  One of the PROBE areas that we are showing progress in is IEP’s.  These are a much better tool to reflect the progress a student is making. 

Mr. Koors asked how many students it would take to fulfill AYP.  Mr. Durst replied that we would need to show on-going improvement with ultimately 95% of our student population performing at an acceptable level.

Additional areas that we struggle to meet AYP is in participation and school attendance.  We are averaging 93 to 95%.  We do not provide transportation.   What this means, for example, to a student living in Gary with a Dr.’s appointment on a Tuesday is that he/she misses an entire week.  Attendance for AYP is to be at 95%.  Mr. Durst has requested a waiver for the attendance portion.

C.  Monthly Financial Statements (Attachments 2A, 2B & 2C)

§ The allotment for May 31, 2009 was $11,566,277 which was a 2% reversion from our original appropriation of $11,801,000.  The percentage of the allotment spent was 90.19%.

The balance remaining in points two through nine was $240,311.  The balance remaining on points one through nine was $1,134,508.

Expenditures for Year-End were $11,754,324.  In points one through nine we had a balance remaining of  $47,658.  It was discovered that the auditor made an error in calculating insurance and deducted  $188,651.  The total reversion after the correction was $236,310.  Actual expenditures for Year-End were $11,565,073.

The July 31, 2009 allotment went down to $11,322,958.  (Plans for meeting the reversion are outlined under Item E, New Business)

Ms. Amond asked what the reversion is for the current year.  Mr. Owens replied that it is still 2% making the total $231,081.

D.  Personnel Actions (Attachment 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D) 

Attachment 3A is the Personnel Actions Update for June with 9 separations and 1 new hire.  Attachment 3B is the Personnel Status Summary reflecting 173 positions filled, 36 positions pending with a total of 209 with 22 intermittent.  Attachment 3C is the Personnel Actions Update for July with 8 transfers from the Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s Home, 1 new hire and 1 separation.  Attachment 3D is the Personnel Actions Update for August with 8 new hires and 5 separations. 

Mr. Durst explained the new process for expanded criminal history checks being required by the DOE.  The state is requiring us to check 10 years of history and has suggested that we use a QPA (Quality Purchase Agreement) vendor to assist in this process.  The expense of the check, according to state personnel, is $43.00 and is the responsibility of the employee.  For each check, it will take 1 to 3 weeks processing time. 

Dr. Mervilde stated that Washington Township is currently paying the fee but they are looking into passing the cost onto the employee. 

E.  Vacant Positions

Attachments 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E reflect pending, vacant positions from June through August that we have intentions of filling.  Ms. Amond inquired about deleted positions.  Mr. Durst explained that the state has hired a Strategic Hiring Committee (SHC) and a Strategic Advertising Committee (SAC).  If a position is vacant for a period of time, it is automatically removed from our manning table.  If we wish to keep a position, we request this through the SHC. This committee is made up from representatives from State Personnel, Office of Management and Budget and the Governor’s office.  They make the decision whether or not we are allowed to fill the position.  Many of the positions deleted were denied by the SHC.  Some are due to reclassification to allow other positions to be filled.  Ms. Botkin raised the question of how long the school has to submit a request before the position is deleted.  Mr. Durst responded that, unfortunately, the timeline is very inconsistent.

Mr. Hill inquired if we had advertised for an OT.  Mr. Durst replied that we have started our process.  We must request permission from the SAC to advertise the position outside of standard state protocol, such as advertising in the newspaper.  The school will probably need to enter into a contract with an agency such as Easter Seals or Crossroads, in order to provide these services to our students until the position is filled.  We are still waiting on approval from the SAC.  (More details are below under Item E, New Business)    

F.  Physical Plant Update (Attachment 5)

§ Fire Alarm Covers:  Covers are in the process of being installed.  Many students trail the wall at the same height of the alarms causing them to inadvertently pull them.  These covers should provide the protection needed to ensure they are not pulled unnecessarily.

§ Bus Pad:  A request was made to Public Works to repave the bus pad and a few other areas on campus.  The request was cut from the Department of Transportation’s budget. We will submit another request again during the next phase in the summer of 2010.

§ AlDur/Lambert Electric:  Eagle Electric is in the process of repairing the electric in AlDur/Lambert.  We experienced significant rain which caused a short and took out one phase of the electric.  This work is almost complete. 

In addition to this shortage, there was a shortage in the bus barn which provides electric to the main building and parts of AlDur/Lambert.  Total cost for the bus barn repair and the electric in AlDur/Lambert is roughly $150,000.  We requested to move funds from the Wilson Air Conditioning project to cover the costs.

§ Apple Tunnel:  We submitted a request to Public Works for them to examine the tunnel.  A private contractor noted there were cracks in need of repair.  The tunnel is also leaning in on the top.  To ensure the safety of students, we are putting a chain link mesh fence on each end of the top entry so students cannot cross.  This is one of the schools tornado shelters so a chain link panic bar is also being installed in the tunnel.

§ Churchman Hall:  We have a contract with Brody Campbell to install a double door into the staff dining room to allow students who are able, to go through a serving line.  Students who are unable to go through the line will continue to have meals served family style.

§ Capitol Projects 2009 - 2010 School Year: 

Intercom/Phone System Project:  A meeting will be held August 26^th with the Budget Committee to have funds allocated for this project.

Breezeway Project:  Initially this project was priced at $300,000.  After examining the project in greater detail, the total increased to $700,000.  Plans are being made to have this on the agenda for the September Budget Committee meeting.  A request will be made to move funds from the Wilson Air Conditioning project to cover the difference of the cost.

Aldur Boilier Project:  A new boiler is in the process of being installed in Aldur that will be independent from the main building. 

Lambert Restroom Project:  This project is in the design phase. 

Tunnel Renovation:  The initial cost was estimated at $2,000,000.  After a study, actual cost

will be $1,987,143. 

Roof Replacement:  Roofs in Aldur, Lambert and K Building (IERC) need to be replaced.  This project is in the design phase. 

V.  New Business

A.  Donations and Contributions (Attachments 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E)

§ Attachment 6A includes Donations and Contributions over $500 through May 31, 2009 which totaled $4,896.  Four donations totaling $1,497 were restricted to Box Tops for Education, Relay for Life, Leo Club and Trikes.  One donation of $3,399.00 was unrestricted.      

§ Attachment 6B includes Donations and Contributions under $499 through May 31, 2009 which totaled $803.00.  Five donations totaling $778 were restricted to Relay for Life and the Denny Shaul Scholarship Fund.  One donation of $25 was unrestricted. 

§ Attachment 6C includes Donations and Contributions over $500 through June 30, 2009 which totaled $231,835.  Five donations totaling $14,225 were restricted to Outreach transition weekends, the Colorado Student Trip and for Nutrition and Fitness.  One donation of $217,610 was unrestricted.

§ Attachment 6D includes Donations and Contributions under $499 through June 30, 2009 which totaled $535.  Both donations were unrestricted.

§ Attachment 6E includes Donations and Contributions over $500 through July 30, 2009 which totaled $3500.  Two donations were restricted to Transition Weekends and one to the Bee Hive.

Motion:  A motion was made by Mr. Koors and seconded by Dr. Mervilde to approve donations over $500; motion carried.

B.  Handbooks

Attachments 7 and 8 are copies of the 2009 – 2010 Parent/Student Handbook and Employee Handbook.  Teaching Staff will be returning Wednesday, August 19^th and 20^th for Staff In-Service days.  All staff will be returning August 20^th.  Registration will be held Sunday, August 23^rd from noon to 3:00 p.m.  Students will begin classes Monday, August 24^th.  Ms. Amond asked if any of the Board Members would be attending.  Mr. Durst replied the Board is welcome to come and greet students and families.  Registration will be held in the gymnasium and a table will be set up for Board members.   

C.  Tobacco Free Campus

Mr. Durst opened discussion about having a tobacco free campus effective January 1, 2010.  This has been an issue that has been discussed for many years.  We currently have four designated areas that can be used by individuals that smoke.  Mr. Durst has talked with other schools for the blind and other agencies and realizes that ample time is needed to help give individuals that do smoke the opportunity to stop if they choose.  A member of the audience offered that each county has free smoking cessation programs.  This will be further researched for employees.  Mr. Durst feels that it is necessary to set a positive example for our students and to support the health of the employees.  Mr. Dalrymple supported the idea but countered that January might not be the most convenient time for current tobacco users.  Another point made was the time that it takes away from work.  Two 15-minute breaks are provided each day, as feasible and as long as it does not impact students.  Tobacco users are taking more frequent breaks than non tobacco users.  Ms. Botkin inquired about possibly going to either the front or back gates for breaks.  Mr. Durst replied that both of these areas are part of the campus.  Ms. Botkin commented that the hospital campus where she is employed is tobacco free.  Tobacco users on her campus use breaks and lunch breaks to leave the campus to smoke making it more difficult to have access to them rather than if they were on campus and closer to their work areas.  Mr. Durst asked Dr. Mervilde if Washington Township was tobacco free.  Dr. Mervilde replied that they are.  He also stated that it is not that much of an issue due to the fact that, in general, people have become more understanding about the issue.  Dr. Mervilde also pointed out that schools are public institutions and as employees of these institutions, we are to be models for our children.  Mr. Hodson asked if employees were allowed to leave the campus on breaks.  Mr. Durst stated that employees were allowed to leave campus only on their lunch break.  Mr. Hodson also inquired if this had been discussed with staff and how many individuals this would impact.  Mr. Durst commented that discussion had been held, at length, in the most recent Cabinet meeting with Department Leaders.  There are currently around 25 to 30 staff members that this would affect. 

Motion:  A motion was made by Ms. Amond and seconded by Mr. Dalrymple to make the ISBVI

  Campus tobacco free effective the start of the 2010 – 2011 school year; motion carried. 

One opposed:  Mr. Hodson    

D.  DOE Advisory Council

Mr. Durst was notified by the Department of Education that one of our voting Board Members is needed to meet with the DOE Advisory Council that meets quarterly.  Ms. Amond volunteered to serve in this role.

E.  2009 – 2010 School Budget (Attachment 9)

Mr. Durst explained that the allotment last year was $11,566,277 with a reversion of  2% totaling $236,309.  This year, the budget agency asked for 2% again.  The school made the initial 2% reversion calculation based on the appropriation of $11,801,938 and agreed to the 2% reversion again for this year.  The budget agency then informed the school that the actual amount the 2% should come from was the $11,566,277 which was 2% less than what was allotted last year.  This made the allotment for this year total $11,322,958.  The allotment this year is 4% less than what we received last year making the reversion $236,309 for this year. 

Initially when meetings were held with the budget agency, they requested 5% which was roughly $590,000.  If  the school were required to give 5% back, it would have to be from the operating budget which would mean losing 12 to 18 staffing positions.  The budget agency said they had no desire to take positions away and asked for only the $236,309 (2%) and to fully expect this to be re-allocated in the fourth quarter.  This year there will be an increase of $115,000 due to years of service and change of degrees within personnel.  Mr. Durst anticipates that the school will be starting the year with the reversion in place.  Based on the funds available to work with, this will be an incredibly tight year.  Ways in which the reversion requirement can be met are limited.  Plans to create ways to fulfill the reversion are:

1) Using donated funds for equipment rather than point 5 funds 

2) Using donated funds from the Blind Children’s Foundation and the statewide project for the Lions for in-state and out-of-state travel expenses and training

3) Limiting overtime as much as possible, keeping in mind that overtime will be spent to ensure the safety of children

4) Consideration is also being given to closing the campus on the weekends.  Students travel over the weekends to sporting competitions, piano recitals, etc….At this point the school is looking into having the students compete at the Conference events only.

Mr. Durst will be speaking with staff and will welcome any ideas that they may have in limiting expenses as they have been creative in finding ways in the past.

Mr. Koors asked if retired teachers would be paid for the new contract that was approved.  Mr. Durst replied that to the best of his knowledge they would be receiving 1% retroactive pay for the 2007-2008 year.  There are other unknown expenses such as rises in insurance premiums and other benefits.  In all probability, the school will be operating in the red this year.  Mr. Koors also commented that the individuals and organizations making contributions should be made aware that donated funds are being used to support the school in areas that should have state appropriated funds available.  Mr. Durst replied that he is keeping these organizations aware of any funds being spent on operating expenses.  The Board also inquired about stimulus funds.  These funds, totaling $43,000, have been spent on technology and technology infrastructure.

The school also receives a discretionary grant for $966,387.  This covers the IERC, the Miami Prison Braille Project, the school’s internal Braille Project and some staff for short course.  This year the school will also be picking up the Large Print Production currently housed at Madison.  This will be going to the Miami Correctional Facility in January and will be under the school’s leadership.  Dual programs will run at both Madison and Miami until April.  The school was told that the grant would be approved until January.  In addition, all of the grants would be surveyed by superintendents throughout the state and by directors of special education.  With input from these individuals, a decision would be made as to what grants would be funded for the remainder of the year and ongoing.  For the grants that would be funded, request for proposals (RFP’s) would be written by the DOE and would be put out for bid.  The IERC has been in place well over 30 years and serves over 700 students.  The IERC saves the state between $800,000 and $1,000,000 a year in reuse costs.  Prior to the IERC, Braille books would be purchased by individual school corporations and, in all likelihood, would never be used again.  The IERC is able to buy and then distribute/redistribute materials throughout the state.  Mr. Durst sent a comprehensive position paper to all of the directors of special education about the value of the IERC and the Braille Project.  Ms. Amond commented that another group to engage is the Superintendent’s Association to help them realize the cost savings provided to them by the IERC.  Dr. Mervilde agreed and added that he would be happy to give Mr. Durst a contact for the School Board Association, as well.          

Mr. Koors asked about “wrap dollars” received in the past and if the school will be receiving more.  Mr. Durst replied that, in the past, school corporations that have students who are deemed as needing one-on-one services, requested wrap dollars that were allocated from the DOE.  The DOE informed ISBVI last year that those funds were no longer in their budget.  This is now an ongoing expenditure for ISBVI.  Currently, the school is spending about $150,000 on wraps.  

F.  Contracts (Attachment 10)

Attachment 10 shows contracts that the school is in the process of entering into for the year.  The Board is required to approve contracts in excess of $25,000.  The contract with Sarcom is for $65,000.  Mr. Durst also asked the Board’s consideration to enter into a contract with an agency up to $25,000 for Occupational Therapy services until this position is filled.

Motion:  A motion was made by Mr. Dalrymple and seconded by Mr. Koors to approve the contract with Sarcom and to enter into a contract with an Occupational Therapy agency; motion carried.

G.  2^nd Reading—Time Out Policy (Attachment 11)

At the last meeting, the change recommended by the Board was to change the wording of “should” to “shall” throughout the document.  Mr. Durst stated that the necessary changes had been made and was ready for consideration by the Board.  Mr. Dalrymple commented that “shall” is now being replaced by “must” if an action is required.  Many drafting organizations including the Federal Courts are recommending eliminating the use of “shall”. 

Motion:  A motion was made by Mr. Dalrymple and seconded by Dr. Mervilde to approve the Time Out Policy with the change of “shall” to “must” as a 2^nd reading; motion carried.   

VI.  Public Comments:

A member of the audience asked about the budget and the probability of ISBVI working in the red next year.  The question was raised if this would affect the safety of the children.  Mr. Durst replied that it would absolutely not affect the safety of the students.   He assured her that he, the Board, the Administration and Staff  will go into the red to ensure the safety of the children. 

Riley Robinson, a senior at North Central and ISBVI, addressed after school use of technology of social networking websites. Ms. Robinson stated that typical teenagers go home after school and have access to a number of sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.  All of these sites are completely blocked on the school campus.  Riley, along with many other students, believe that these sites should be accessible to students after school hours. 

Ms. Amond asked for an explanation of how these sites are blocked.  Ms. Robinson replied that there is a barracuda filter that is displayed whenever access to these sites is attempted.  Ms. Robinson also brought up that sites such as Facebook and Twitter that have mobile sites that are application free where you can check your email and your status.  Having this option would satisfy many of the students. 

Mr. Durst thanked Riley for her candor and her willingness to come forward.  He stated that the reason they are blocked is to protect the integrity of the entire school system from viruses and other corrupt materials.  Another issue is that the vast majority of the technology used to access information at night is property of the school.  There was great concern regarding corruption of the hardware.  Mr. Durst is willing to have discussions with Mr. Frownfelter to see if there is a way to access these sites without threat.  Permission would also be needed from parents for students who are not 18.  If these requirements are met, Mr. Durst could consider allowing access to some of the social networking sites. 

Ms. Amond thanked Ms. Robinson for coming forward and commented on how articulate she is.       

VII.  Board Comments:

Dr. Mervilde commented that it was good to be back.

VIII.  Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired School Board will be Monday, October 19, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. in the AlDur/Lambert Multipurpose Room. 

IX.  Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 am.