MINUTES

WEST VIRGINIA BOARD OF EDUCATION

at

Board Conference Room

Capitol Building 6, Room 353

1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East

Charleston, West Virginia

December 14, 2000

I.

President J. D. Morris called the regular meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education to order at 9:07 a.m. on December 14, 2000, in the Board Conference Room, Capitol Building 6, Room 353, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston West Virginia. Members present were Vice-President Jim Mc Knight, Secretary Sandra M. Chapman (via telephone), Sheila M. Hamilton, James J. MacCallum, Cleo P. Mathews, Howard M. Persinger, Jr., Ronald B. Spencer, David L. Stewart and John Thralls.

II.

Wayne Clutter, Executive Director, Office of School Transportation, recognized two National Association of Pupil Transportation award winners: Rebecca Stokes, Jefferson County, received the Professional Growth Award, and Rod Moore, Monongalia County, received the Blue Bird Heroism Award.

Tony Smedley, Executive Director, Office of Human Resources, recognized Dan Zirkle, Principal, Pikeview High School, Mercer County, recipient of the 2001 Principal of the Year Award.

III.

Dr. Jim Phares, Superintendent, Pocahontas County Schools and Mr. Ben Wilfong, Student Representative to the Pocahontas County Board of Education, addressed the Board regarding the 8100 minutes of instructional time per credit requirement. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment A.)

Mr. Dan Hoover, Principal, Roanoke Elementary, Lewis County, addressed the Board and requested that his school be reinstated to full accreditation status. Dr. Kenna Seal, Executive Director, Office of Education Performance Audits (OEPA), advised Mr. Hoover that his school was to be visited this week and indicated that today's recommendation would be to grant the school Conditional Status and the recommendation could be upgraded based on the new OEPA findings. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment B.)

IV.

Upon motion by James J. MacCallum, second by Jim Mc Knight, the Board approved the agenda with the following changes and additions:

Page 3, add Item G: Follow-up to Meadow Bridge High School Presentation

Page 5, under Reports, before Item A, add: Tobacco Prevention Funding

Page 6, Item D: Dr. Frank Medley will provide the report in place of Dr. Marple

Page 7, move Education Forum Recommendations under Education Goals for West Virginia

Page 8, under Miscellaneous, add Item B. Site for April 12, 2001 State Board Meeting

Page 8, under Miscellaneous, add Item C. Extension of School Calendar

Page 8, under Miscellaneous, add Item D. Add Milken Award and Teacher of the Year Winners as Education Resources

Page 8, under Miscellaneous, add Item E. Bus Inspectors

Page 8, under Miscellaneous, add Item F. Board Committee Assignments

V.

An on-site review of the Nicholas County School System was conducted from March 9 - 12, 1999. An Education Performance Audit Team returned to Nicholas County October 19 - 20, 2000. The purpose of the return team visit was to verify correction of the noncompliances identified during the original on-site review.

Upon recommendation of the OEPA, a motion by Cleo P. Mathews, second by Sheila M. Hamilton, the Board issued the Nicholas County School System Conditional Approval status, granted fourteen (14) Nicholas County schools Full Accreditation status, issued one (1) Nicholas County school Conditional Accreditation status and (1) Nicholas County school Seriously Impaired status. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment C.)

VI.

An on-site review of the Preston County School System was conducted from December 13 - 17, 1999. An Education Performance Audit Team returned to Preston County November 16 - 17, 2000. The purpose of the return team visit was to verify correction of the noncompliances identified during the original on-site review.

Upon recommendation of the OEPA, a motion by Sheila M. Hamilton, second by Howard M. Persinger, Jr., the Board issued the Preston County School System Full Approval status and all Preston County schools Full Accreditation status. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment D.)

VII.

An on-site review of the Wirt County School System was conducted from October 26 - 29, 1999. An Education Performance Audit Team returned to Wirt County November 28 - 29, 2000. The purpose of the return team visit was to verify correction of the noncompliances identified during the original on-site review.

Upon recommendation of the OEPA, a motion by Paul J. Morris, second by Jim Mc Knight, the Board issued the Wirt County School System Conditional Approval status and all Wirt County schools Full Accreditation status. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment E.)

VIII.

County boards are required to ensure that any school issued temporary accreditation status revise its Unified School Improvement Plan to increase the performance of the school to a full accreditation status level. The revised plan must include objectives, a time line, an evaluation component, cost estimates, and a date certain for achieving full accreditation. This plan must be submitted to the State Board for approval. Eighty-eight (88) schools performing within the temporary accreditation status and seriously impaired status submitted revised Unified School Improvement Plans to the Office of Education Performance Audits. Five (5) Unified County Improvement Plans were also submitted. Staff reviewed the plans to determine that the required elements were included, addressed the performance deficiencies, and the date certain was realistic for achieving full accreditation status. The attachment summarizes the elements of individual Unified School Improvement Plans that were reviewed.

Upon recommendation of the OEPA, a motion by Paul J. Morris, second by Cleo P. Mathews, the Board upgraded the Temporary Accreditation status schools to Conditional Accreditation status and the Temporary Approval status counties to Conditional Approval status. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment F.)

IX.

The State Board annually rates both schools and school systems on the results of information reviewed from the system of education performance audits.

Ratings for school systems show that 39 or 70.90 percent of the 55 systems are eligible for Full Approval status and 2 or 3.64 percent with a Temporary Approval status, 12 or 21.82 percent with a Conditional Accreditation status, and 2 or 3.64 percent with Nonapproval status.

Upon recommendation of the OEPA, a motion by Ronald B. Spencer, second by James J. MacCallum, the Board issued the schools and school systems in West Virginia the accreditation/approval status as shown in the Report of Ratings. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment G and addendum.)

X.

Paul J. Morris distributed a letter from Principal Joe McClung for the Board's consideration. Dr. Seal indicated that this letter will be considered by the committee studying this issue and a recommendation will be made to the Board in response. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment H.)

XI.

Dr. Stewart distributed a memorandum showing the certified 2^nd month enrollment figures for the 2000-2001 school year. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment I.)

XII.

Upon motion by James J. MacCallum, second by Paul J. Morris, the Board approved consent agenda items as amended and as recommended. (Copies appended to Official Minutes, Attachments J-U and addenda.)

Total Supplements = $105,814,946 Total Transfers = $7,405,477

Board members were provided an update on activities of the HVAC technicians. (Attachment L.)

Board members were provided an update on Education First: Our Future Depends on It. (Attachment M.)

Board members were provided an update on Project CATS: Coordinated and Thematic Science. (Attachment Mc.)

Board members were provided an update on Office of Healthy Schools activities with an expansion on the Safe Harbor statewide trainings. (Attachment N.)

Board members were provided an update on instructional technology projects in West Virginia. (Attachment O.)

Board members were provided an update on administrative technology projects in West Virginia. (Attachment P.)

Board members were provided an update on Mingo County. (Attachment Q.)

Board members were provided an update on Lincoln County and in particular the replacement of a county board member. (Attachment R.)

The Board approved four (4) waiver requests. (Attachment S and addendum.)

As of October 23, 2000, the Department of Education had received an additional 151 applications for a total of 368 applications for Operation Recognition in connection with Policy 4355: High School Diplomas for Veterans. (Attachment T.)

The Board approved personnel items as listed in Attachment U and the addendum.

XIII.

Dean Lee, Office of Healthy Schools, distributed a memorandum and gave a brief overview of a grant the Department received from the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health. This funding will be used for tobacco prevention programs in West Virginia public schools. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment V.)

XIV.

Chandler, Glenwood and Piedmont Elementary Schools in Kanawha County and Spring Hill Elementary School in Cabell County requested approval to operate school calendars of 180 days spread on a year-round basis. All four schools have been operating year-round calendars for several years. Steve Knighton and Debra Shelton, Principals, appeared and distributed data to the Board in support of their requests.

Upon motion by Ronald B. Spencer, second by Cleo P. Mathews, the Board approved the year-round school calendars for Chandler, Glenwood and Piedmont Elementary Schools in Kanawha County and Spring Hill Elementary School in Cabell County. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment W and addendum.)

Upon the request of Mr. Knighton, the motion was amended by Mr. Spencer and seconded by James J. MacCallum, to approve these calendars for a three year period, if such action is allowed within the State Board policy.

XV.

The Board was provided a report regarding Policy 5100 - Approval of Educational Personnel Programs which requires all professional preparation programs in West Virginia to provide data about their programs. Title II of the Higher Education Act has recently began requiring all states to collect, compile and report data to the U.S. Office of Education about the quality of higher education graduates in the individual institutions and the state. The West Virginia Department of Education was required to submit a state plan to the U.S. Office of Education for their review by October 7, 2000. The U.S. Office of Education reviewed the plan, and all higher education institutions will be following the guidelines contained in the plan. The "Quality of Teacher Preparation in West Virginia" will replace the current document that the WVDE Office of Professional Preparation has been publishing for twelve years entitled "Personnel Preparation Test Results." Both documents are similar in content. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment X.)

XVI.

The six member vocational offerings committee met on October 26, November 14, and December 1 to review existing data and research; discuss issues related to the equitable delivery of secondary vocational-technical education; and, formulate a reasonable and defensible response to the following charges: 1) recommend which programs of study, if any, in vocational/technical education should be added/modified/deleted from Policy 2510; 2) determine whether there is a shortage of personnel qualified to teach vocational/technical programs of study, and if there is, recommend methods of increasing the availability of personnel to provide such instruction; 3) determine whether there is a need for, and if there is, recommend alternative methods of delivery for vocational/technical programs of study, and 4) determine whether there is a appropriate alignment between secondary programs of study and those offered in higher education, particularly community and technical colleges; if there is not such an alignment, provide recommendations on how such an alignment can be achieved.

The attachment provides details in reference to the committee's framework and process for addressing the recommendations associated with the preceding charges, including a focus on assuring student access to a high quality vocational/technical education program of study in all high schools and school systems statewide. (Copy appended to the official minutes, Attachment Y and addendum.)

Dr. Robert Walker provided the Board a copy of the committee report and brief overview of committee activities. Two Science Facilities and Equipment Assessment surveys were developed and forwarded to building principals. One Science Department Chairperson Questionnaire and multiple Science Teacher Questionnaires were sent to every public middle/junior high and senior high school.

Data reflect all responses as of December 4, 2000. Responses have been received from all 55 counties with 762 teachers from 218 middle/junior high and high schools completing the questionnaires. Suveys are still being collected, as schools that have not responded continue to be contacted. When survey results are collected from every school, data will be disaggregated by region, programmatic level, grade level, and subject. A summary of initial survey results may be found in the attachment. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment Z.)

Dr. Frank Medley, Jr., provided the Board a copy of the committee report and brief overview of committee activities. A statewide review of foreign language offerings in West Virginia demonstrates that not all students have equal access to instruction, for a variety of reasons. Most notably among these: 1) the lack of qualified foreign language teachers available in the state, and 2) the level of funding available to many counties to recruit and hire competitively. The Committee is aware that the presence of a course or courses in one or more foreign languages does not attest to the quality of instruction that students may be receiving, either positively or negatively. Based upon these premises, the Committee has formulated its recommendations which may be found in the attachment. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment AA.)

Dr. Fran Kirk provided the Board a copy of the committee report and brief overview of committee activities. At the conclusion of the presentation, Mrs. Mathews suggested that a Professional Development Arts Institute be planned again this summer. (Copy appended to the Official Minutes, Attachment BB.)

Ms. Kym Randolph provided the Board a copy of the committee report and brief overview of committee activities. (Copy appended to the Official Minutes, Attachment CC.)

Mr. Bill Luff provided the Board a copy of the committee report and a brief overview of committee activities. (Copy appended to the Official Minutes, Attachment DD.)

XVII.

Katherine L. Dooley, attorney for the State Superintendent in Tomblin v. Gainer, provided the Board an update regarding activities which have occurred since the last meeting of the Board. Judge Recht has set a deadline of December 18, 2000, for the submission of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

XVIII.

Mr. Steve McBride provided the Board a brief report of technical assistance activities provided by the Department to low-performing schools as well as future plans for the provision of technical assistance. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment EE.)

XIX.

Bill Luff provided the Board with a master summary of forum results. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment FF.)

XX.

Dr. David Stewart, State Superintendent of Schools, presented "Learning for Life," A Vision for Refining Public Education in West Virginia. The objectives and action steps were provided in draft form as they will undergo further refinement. Implementation will be a collaborative effort with input from stakeholders with a 3-5 year time line.

Upon motion by Cleo P. Mathews, second by Sheila M. Hamilton, the Board approved the goals. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment GG.)

XXI.

Kim Lawrence and Karen Larry provided the Board a brief overview of forum results and recommendations .

Upon motion by James J. MacCallum, second by Cleo P. Mathews, the Board approved the recommendations.

XXII.

Policy 2520 defines the instructional goals and objectives for the programs of study required by Policy 2510. The following newly developed instructional goals and objectives (IGOs) were placed on comment: Speech I, Journalism, Foreign Language Exploratory, courses that fulfill the Robert C. Beach Vocational Agriculture Credit and Biology - Technical Conceptual. In addition, IGOs for Science and Foreign Languages I-IV were also placed on comment. The instructional goals and objectives for all of the aforementioned courses were presented for approval.

Upon motion by Jim Mc Knight, second by Paul J. Morris, the Board approved the instructional goals and objectives as presented above. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment HH and addendum.)

XXIII.

West Virginia's secondary schools were surveyed to determine if schools met the 8100 minutes of instructional time per credit as added to Policy 2510 effective July 2000. Using the information gathered, it was recommended that: 1) all credit granting schools not meeting the 8100 minutes of instructional time per credit submit an annual waiver request; 2) 7200 minutes of instructional time be considered the minimum number of instructional minutes for granting a credit; 3) waiver requests be reviewed on an individual basis with particular attention being paid to travel time experienced by students bussed to vocational centers. At the May, 2000 Board meeting in Wyoming County the following was recommended: 4) A county board of education that proposes to schedule class periods in a manner that results in fewer than 7200 minutes of instructional time allotted for a course credit must obtain a waiver from the State Board prior to implementing such a schedule.

Upon motion by James J. MacCallum, second by Cleo P. Mathews, the Board reaffirmed the 8100 minute requirement and directed that schools be notified that waivers are available on an annual basis.

XXIV.

In response to concerns expressed by county school systems regarding the substitute shortage, changes to Policy 5202 - Minimum Requirements for the Licensure of Professional/Paraprofessional and Advanced Salary Classifications will be proposed when it is next revised. Approval of a stop-gap measure, as found in the attachment (Memorandum), was requested to help meet immediate substitute needs.

Upon motion by Cleo P. Mathews, second by Jim Mc Knight, the Board approved the memorandum, in its entirety, for release. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment II.)

XXV.

Policy 5100 - Approval of Educational Personnel Programs requires the Program Review Board to meet each semester to review new content specializations and make recommendations to the West Virginia Board of Education for action.

The Program Review Board met on November 9, 2000 and recommended the following programs to the West Virginia Board of Education for approval: Fairmont State College, School Nurse (Grade Level Not Specified) and Spanish (Grades K-12); Salem International University Educational Leadership Program (Grade Level Not Specified for Principal, Supervisor of Instruction and Superintendent). All three programs are in content shortage areas.

Upon motion by James J. MacCallum, second by Sheila M. Hamilton, the Board approved the programs as recommended by the Program Review Board. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment JJ.)

XXVI.

The Board reviewed and discussed the pre-Board discussions schedule. James J. MacCallum suggested the Board President and State Superintendent set the schedule as opposed to having set meetings with specific groups. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment KK.)

Dr. Stewart suggested that either the site or date of the April meeting be changed due to the fact that the Legislature will still be in session.

Upon motion by Cleo P. Mathews, second by James J. MacCallum, the Board changed the meeting date from April 12, 2001 to April 19, 2001.

James J. MacCallum addressed the Board regarding his ongoing concern with regard to the length of the school calendar and his desire to see it extended.

Upon motion by Mr. MacCallum, second by Cleo P. Mathews, Dr. Stewart was directed to bring a recommendation to the Board.

The possibility of Milken and Teacher of the Year award winners serving as education resources was raised. Dr. Stewart will address this request and provide recommendations to the Board at a future meeting.

Jim Mc Knight brought a concern before the Board regarding a possible need for additional inspectors. Wayne Clutter, Executive Director, Office of School Transportation, requested time to look into this matter before any action is taken.

Committee assignments were discussed.

XXVII.

The next regular meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education will be held January 11, 2001 in Charleston, West Virginia.

XXVIII.

Upon motion by James J. MacCallum, second by Sheila M. Hamilton, the Board adjourned at approximately 3:22 p.m..

Minutes approved by the Board on January 11, 2001.

______________________________________________

J. D. Morris, President

wvbeminutes12/14/00