OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED

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1 OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED The Board of Trustees for the and Visually Impaired met for their monthly meeting on. Present: Mary Weeks, Chairperson; Dr. Doug Watson, Vice Chairperson; Faith McLaughlin, Secretary; Susan Pack, Board Member; Jeanne Tribett, ASBVI Parent Representative; Harry Pompeo, ASD Parent Representative; Jim Hill, ASBVI Superintendent; Janet Dickinson, ASD Superintendent; Katie Becker, Annie Mikel, Interpreters; Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community 15-B-014 Motion to Approve Consent Items Ms. Weeks asked for a motion to approve the consent items to include the minutes, financial statement and personnel items. Mrs. McLaughlin made a motion to approve the consent items and Mrs. Pack seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Action Items Discussion Items Entergy Project Report Mr. Hill stated he had been in discussion with Mr. Breuster from Entergy. He said they have worked out an agreement whereby Entergy will assume responsibility for all ASB s lines and maintenance (power lines/poles). He said they will upgrade the system as the existing system is very old. He said it will give a more steady supply of electricity and ensure there is enough power to keep ASB going. Ms. Terry said they had weighed the overall long-term benefits of having Entergy taking over and agreed it was the best for ASB. She said it could be crippling for the school if they lost power for any length of time. Ms. Weeks asked if it would affect ASD. Ms. Terry stated that ASD would have to talk to Entergy since the schools were separated. Dr. Dickinson said she had already had one meeting with Entergy and she has contacted them again and has not had a response. Mr. Hill said ASB has a meeting scheduled with Mr. Breuster and he will tell him Dr. Dickinson wants to meet with Entergy. Mr. Hill stated that Entergy has the resources and potential to get help from other states and get equipment quicker than any other sources he could use in case of a power outage. Ms. Terry said she had talked to ABA and they indicated it was common. Page 1

2 Dr. Watson asked what the cost benefits were and what the incentive was for Entergy to do this. Ms. Terry said ASB would lose the 1% but it was still better in the long run. Dr. Watson asked what the possibility was for the state to give ASB the money for the 1%. Ms. Terry stated she had tried. Mr. Hill said ABA thought it was better and Petit & Petit recommended it. He said Entergy would get the 1% but ASB would be getting a lot more. Ms. Terry said the campus would be much more secure for the students. Mr. Hill said UAMS had done the same thing. Dr. Watson asked if Ms. Terry would be available to help ASD and Ms. Terry responded yes. Superintendent s Report Mr. Hill asked if there were any questions regarding his report sent to the board. There were no questions. Mr. Hill asked JoAnn Coleman to talk about the Easter Seal project. Ms. Coleman said she had talked to Josh and everything had been approved. She said the check should be ready Friday. She said she would pick up the check and bring to the school. Ms. Terry said they were waiting for the W-9 to initiate the check and she would get to Josh tomorrow. Ms. Coleman said Sara will transfer the building back to ASB from the Foundation. Mr. Hill thanked Ms. Coleman. Mr. Hill said there had been a security issue at the building. He said a Central High School parent had called saying the kids were planning to have a Halloween party at the building site. He said he put security at the site Friday and Saturday nights. He said barriers have now been put up and it is not accessible. He said he was in the process of trying to move forward with getting the building down. Ms. Terry said Morris & Associates did the specs initially and paid them about $20,000. She said she received a tentative invoice from them and it was about the same amount. She said she was going to send out for bids. Mr. Hill commented that he did not want the board to get high expectations of how far the $200,000 would go. He said it would probably only get the building down, they would have to wait and see how the bids come in. Ms. Weeks adjourned the meeting at 5:00. Mary Weeks, Chairperson Faith McLaughlin, Secretary Page 2

3 OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF The Board of Trustees for the met for their monthly meeting on. Present: Mary Weeks, Chairperson; Dr. Doug Watson, Vice Chairperson; Faith McLaughlin, Secretary; Susan Pack, Board Member; Jeanne Tribett, ASB Parent Representative; Harry Pompeo, ASD Parent Representative; Jim Hill, ASBVI Superintendent; Dr. Janet Dickinson, ASD Superintendent; Katie Becker, Annie Mikel, Interpreters; Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community, Hillcrest residents Ms. Weeks stated that there were incorrect figures on the original ASD financial and that it had been corrected. Corrected page passed out to board members. Dr. Dickinson stated it had been on the last several reports and it appeared that they had moved money but it was moved in Ms. Weeks said she did not remember where the money went and asked that it be checked on. Ms. Ballard explained that it was money taken out of a CD and transferred to the Cash account and used to pay bills and Arrow Coach. Ms. Weeks asked that a note explaining be written. Ms. Ballard stated that it was when Alma and Jim were in the Business Office. Ms. Weeks said she would meet with Dr. Dickinson. 15-D-0015 Motion to Approve Consent Items Ms. Weeks asked for a motion to approve the consent items to include the minutes, corrected financial statement and personnel items. Dr. Watson made a motion to approve the consent items and Mrs. McLaughlin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Action Items Discussion Items Superintendent s Report Dr. Dickinson stated it has been exciting month she got to meet the Governor. She thanked Susan Pack and Stacey Tatera for arranging the meeting. She said Silent Sunday was a success raising over $48,000 to date. She said it had progressed over the last 5 years. She thanked Stacey for all the hard work. Page 1

4 Dr. Dickinson said they were in the process of interviewing for the Maintenance Supervisor position and the Fiscal Manager position. She said she had an interview team to help with the process. She said there were many qualified candidates. Dr. Watson said they were both very important positions. There being no further business for ASD, the agenda moved to the Arkansas School for the Blind. Mary Weeks, Chairperson Faith McLaughlin, Secretary Page 2

5 OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE ARKANAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED The Board of Trustees for the and the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired met for their monthly meeting on. Present: Mary Weeks, Chairperson; Dr. Doug Watson, Vice Chairperson; Faith McLaughlin, Secretary; Susan Pack, Board Member; Jeanne Tribett, ASBVI Parent Representative; Harry Pompeo, ASD Parent Representative; Jim Hill, ASBVI Superintendent; Dr. Janet Dickinson, ASD Superintendent; Katie Becker, Annie Mikel, Interpreters; Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community; Hillcrest Residents Call to Order Ms. Weeks called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. The next meeting was scheduled for December 15, 2015 to be held at the. 15-J-022 Motion to Approve Consent Items Ms. Weeks asked for a motion to approve the Joint October minutes. Dr. Watson made a motion to approve the October minutes and Mrs. McLaughlin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hill stated that Everett Elam (new board appointment) was unable to come as a result of flooding where he lives. Mr. Hill read a note from Mr. Elam stating how happy he was to be able to serve on the board. (A copy is in the Board file). Dr. Watson asked when Mr. Elam would officially start. Mr. Hill said he would start immediately because of Mr. DePriest s resignation. He said Mr. Elam would serve the last two months of Mr. DePriest s term and then he would be reappointed for his 5 year term in January. Dr. Watson asked Mr. Hill to tell the board about Mr. Elam. Mr. Hill said he would let Mrs. Berry talk about him. Mrs. Berry stated she had taught Everett in 1 st and 3 rd grade. She said he was very smart and would be a great addition to the board. She said he comes from a good home, plays the violin and is #2 in the state. She said he was very dedicated to ASB. She said he is finishing his degree in music and Spanish. Mr. Hill said in his letter to the Governor he expressed his appreciation for the education he received from ASB and was very appreciative of the support he received from the staff. Action Items Page 1

6 Discussion Items ASB Parent Representative Jeannie Tribett Mrs. Tribett said ASB had their Homecoming activities this week. She said the cheerleaders participated in a cheer weekend November 6, 7 and 8. She said there was a candy bar wrestling meet with the youth wrestlers on November 12 th, Homecoming crowing of the King and Queen and a Homecoming dance on the 12 th. She said the Homecoming Parade was held on Friday, November 13 th and was very successful. She said a Chili Cook-off was held Friday afternoon and was enjoyed by all in attendance. She said Roy DePriest, Dr. Watson and Melinda were the judges for the cook-off. She said there was a wrestling match held on Saturday with several school participating. Mrs. Tribett invited the board members to the Thanksgiving lunch to be held on November 19 th. She said Mrs. Doan was taking the A-Honor Roll students to All Aboard for lunch on the 20 th. ASD Parent Representative Harry Pompeo Mr. Pompeo reported that Silent Sunday was an awesome success. He said the students continue to collect pop tops. He said ASD s Thanksgiving lunch was also on the 19 th and invited the board members to attend. He said Lower School had a food drive November He reported Middle School participated in helping the VAN Organization. He said Literacy night was held and they went to the Capitol to learn how government works. He said High School participated in competition November 5 8 th. He said the 9 th grade would participate in competition in February. He reported that GPSD hosted basketball tournament with 8 schools participating. He said basketball season started November 9 th. He said the Special Olympics had a party. He said 12,500 donated to Special Olympics by Baymont Hotel along with enough points to stay 86 nights, Mrs. Pack stated Casey Brown deserved recognition for that. Dr. Watson asked how they were going to cash in on the night stays. Dr. Dickinson said they had talked about it and the kids had several ideas. Mr. Pompeo said the on November 20 th the high school students were going to his work (Dassualt Falcon). Ms. Weeks had Mr. DePriest come forward told him he was missed. Mr. Hill presented Roy with a plaque for his service on the board. Mr. Hill stated Roy had graduated from ASBVI and was proud of the performance as chairperson on the board and wished him good luck. Mr. DePriest expressed his appreciation and love for the board and said it was good to be a part of the group. There being no further business of Joint nature, the meeting moved to the agenda for the. Page 2

7 Mary Weeks, Chairperson Faith McLaughlin, Secretary Page 3