Minutes

WEST VIRGINIA BOARD OF EDUCATION

at

Board Conference Room

Capitol Building 6, Room 353

1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East

Charleston, West Virginia

February 10, 2000

President Cleo P. Mathews called the regular meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education to order at 10:20 a.m. on February 10, 2000, in Capitol Building 6, Room 353, Charleston, West Virginia. Members present were Secretary J. D. Morris, Sandra M. Chapman, Sheila M. Hamilton, Jim L. McKnight, Paul J. Morris, and Ronald B. Spencer.

II.

Upon motion by Jim L. McKnight, second by Paul J. Morris, the Board approved the minutes of the January 13-15, 2000 regular/special and January 25, 2000 special meetings as amended. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment A.)

III.

Upon motion by J. D. Morris, second by Jim L. McKnight, the Board approved the agenda with the following change(s) and addition(s): Page 2, remove School Closures/Consolidations - Kanawha County Schools from consent agenda and place it after Delegations; Page 6, after item E add: F. Lincoln County Technical Assistance and G. Low Performing Schools Technical Assistance; Page 8, after item F, add G. Appointment of Improvement Consultant Teams for Seriously Impaired Schools; Page 9, under Future Meetings, add: joint meeting date with Mingo County Board of Education; Page 9, add under Miscellaneous, West Virginia Education Summit, Report on Distribution of Faculty Senate Funds and Substitution of Work Keys.

IV.

The Cabell County Board of Education seeks approval of an urban waiver of the required acreage for a school site for the construction of the Barboursville-Pea Ridge Elementary School. The best available site is 5.5 acres and the requirements of Policy 6200 for a school with a projected enrollment of 650 is 9 acres. Staff members from the School Building Authority visited the site on January 19, 2000 and agreed that the site is suitable for the construction of the school.

This item was removed from the Consent Agenda and action was deferred pending receipt of further information.

V.

Upon motion J. D. Morris, second by Sandra M. Chapman, the Board approved consent agenda items as amended and as recommended. (Copies appended to Official Minutes, Attachments B-K and addenda.)

The Grant County Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan (CEFP), approved by the West Virginia Board of Education on November 30, 1990, does not contain a provision for the renovation of the science laboratories at Petersburg High School and the Union Education Complex.

The Grant County Board of Education requests approval of its CEFP to include renovations of the science laboratories at Petersburg High School and Union Education Complex.

The Mason County Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan (CEFP), approved by the West Virginia Board of Education on November 30, 1990, does not contain a provision for the construction of a multi-purpose room/cafeteria at New Haven Elementary School and classroom renovations.

The Mason County Board of Education requests approval of an amendment to its CEFP to include the construction of a multi-purpose room/cafeteria and classroom renovations at New Haven Elementary School.

For the Month of January 2000

Total Supplements = $7,279,324 Total Transfers = $4,531,808

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

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

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

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

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

Board members were provided an update on Office of Healthy Schools activities. (Attachment H.)

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

The Board approved personnel items for the West Virginia Department of Education as listed in the attachment and addendum. (Attachment J and addendum.)

The board approved the instructional material adoption wavier request submitted by RESA 6 on behalf of Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio and Wetzel Counties. (Attachment K.)

VI.

The Board heard from the following delegations regarding the proposed Kanawha County school consolidations/closures: Charlotte Pulliam, Virginia Edwards, Paul Pendergast, Betty Jo Lloyd and Cathy Proctor.

VII.

The Kanawha County Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan (CEFP), approved by the West Virginia Board of Education on November 30, 1990, contains provisions for the closures/consolidations of Taft, Chelyan, Rand, and Midway Elementary Schools.

The Kanawha County Board of Education seeks approval to close Taft, Chelyan, and Rand effective at the end of the 1999-00 school term. Approval is also requested for the closure of Midway Elementary School at the end of the 2000-01 school term. If the Kanawha County Board of Education receives funding for the construction of a new elementary center to serve the Midway attendance area, then the closure of Midway will be delayed until the new elementary center is constructed.

Upon motion by Paul J. Morris, second by J. D. Morris, the Board approved the Kanawha County Board of Education's request to close Taft, Chelyan and Rand Elementary Schools at the end of the 1999-00 school term and to close Midway Elementary School at the end of the 2000-01 school term or upon completion of construction of the new elementary center which will serve the Midway attendance area. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment L.)

VIII.

Chancellor Charles W. Manning provided a presentation regarding a study conducted by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) regarding higher education in West Virginia. Dr. Manning reported that a legislative bill, incorporating findings from this study, will be introduced next week.

IX.

Policy 5100, Approval of Educational Personnel Programs requires professional preparation programs to refile periodically their currently approved professional preparation programs to document for the West Virginia Board of Education that they are implementing Policy 5100. The Office of Professional Preparation reviewed the refiled Professional Preparation Programs. All the higher education professional preparation institutions in West Virginia met the requirements contained in the West Virginia Department of Education document entitled, "Refiling Procedures and Timelines". (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment M.)

X.

Professional preparation programs in West Virginia higher education institutions require K-6, multi-subjects certification candidates to complete an average of 11 semester hours in reading and eight (8) semester hours in mathematics. The data for the chart were obtained from the program refiling documents submitted by the higher education institutions. General studies courses were not used in the calculation of the total number of semester hours contained on the chart. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment Mc.)

XI.

West Virginia Code 18-9D-16h directs the West Virginia Board of Education to inspect all schools that were constructed or where major renovations have occurred that were funded by or in part by the School Building Authority of West Virginia. The following schools have been inspected by the Office of School Transportation and Facilities since the beginning of the school term. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment N.)

COUNTY SCHOOL

Berkeley Mussleman High

Braxton Braxton Middle

Cabell Central City Elementary

Hardy East Hardy Primary/Middle

Harrison Big Elm Elementary

Harrison Nutter Fort Primary/Intermediate

Logan Logan Middle

Marion Blackshere Elementary

Monroe James Monroe High

Monroe Mountain View Middle

Morgan Warm Springs Middle

Pendleton Pendleton County High

Preston Aurora Elementary

Preston Preston County High

Randolph Elkins High

Roane Roane County High

Summers Summers County High

Tyler Tyler Consolidated Middle/High

Wirt Wirt County Middle

Wood Franklin Elementary

Wood Jefferson Elementary

XII.

Making Schools Work is an initiative to design, develop, implement, evaluate and refine a comprehensive middle and secondary school model by bringing together SREB's High Schools That Work and the middle grades (at least 7 & 8 grades) effort into an integrated whole-school improvement initiative for high schools and schools with middle grades. Schools from the seven states were selected by SREB on a competitive basis. West Virginia had six high schools and eight with middle grades selected to participate in this initiative. A list of the high school and schools with middle grades that were selected to participate is attached. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment O.)

XIII.

Bill Luff provided the Board a legislative update of education-related House bills.

XIV.

In accordance with the provisions of W.Va. Code 6-9A-4 and upon motion by Jim L. McKnight, second by J. D. Morris, Board moved into Executive Session at 12:15 p.m.

The Board returned from Executive Session at 1:10 p.m. President Mathews reported that no decisions were made and no business was transacted.

XV.

The Board awarded plaques to 12 West Virginia Celebration 2000 Essay Contest Winners and also honored Mr. Aaron Withrow, a Capital High School senior, for his perfect score on the ACT. Mr. Withrow was the only West Virginia student (and one of nine nationwide) to achieve this honor this year. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment P.)

Bill Luff continued his legislative update with education-related Senate bills.

XVI.

Bill Luff provided the Board with an update of technical assistance being provided to Lincoln County schools.

XVII.

Steve McBride provided an update regarding technical assistance activities being provided to identified low-performing schools.

XVIII.

Eight schools have been designated as "Seriously Impaired" by the State Board. W.Va. Code 18-2E-5(i)(4) requires the State Board to appoint a team of improvement consultants who will make recommendations to the State Board within 60 days of appointment as to how the schools might correct the impairment.

Upon motion by Jim L. McKnight, second by Sheila M. Hamilton, the Board approved the appointment of the Improvement Consultant Teams for Seriously Impaired Schools as listed in the attachment. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment Q.)

XIX.

The purpose of this Board item was to seek approval of the State Board of Education to place Policy 2510 out on public comment for an additional period because of changes made in response to comments already received and further revisions that have been brought to the attention of West Virginia Department of Education staff, especially the addition to the policy of the Robert C. Beach Vocational Agricultural Credit.

Major proposed revisions will: 1) guarantee uniformity of time requirements for a high school credit; 2) provide consistency in testing out procedures developed at the county level; 3) formalize guidelines for substitution of more rigorous courses for career major courses and recommended elective courses; 4) provide guidelines for the Robert C. Beach Vocational Agriculture Credit; and 5) align Policy 2510 with Policy 2419.

Upon motion by Jim L. McKnight, second by Sandra M. Chapman, the Board approved Policy 2510 to be placed on comment for an additional period ending March 17, 2000. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment R and addendum.)

XX.

H.B. 2855 required that a comprehensive computer repair plan be developed by the RESAs and the Department. Staff from both agencies have met several times and shared information. The resulting plan defines terms and reporting requirements for standardized reporting of computer repairs for state-funded programs.

Upon motion by Sheila M. Hamilton, second by J. D. Morris, the Board approved the RESA computer repair plan. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment S.)

XXI.

West Virginia Code 18-2A-2 requires a written request (Call) be issued to vendors for bids, samples, and prices of textbooks, instructional materials, and learning technologies. The 2000 Call is limited to the required materials and programs in the areas of English Language Arts, K-12, and Drivers Education, 9-12. Approval of the Call will initiate the sequence of activities that must be completed to provide the Official State Multiple List of Instructional Materials to counties by December 2000.

Upon motion by Paul J. Morris, second by Ronald B. Spencer, the Board approved the Official State Multiple List of Instructional Materials "Call" for the areas of English Language Arts, K-12, and Driver Education, 9-12. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment T.)

XXII.

An executive summary of the state Plan for Implementation for the Summer Food Service Program for 2000 is attached.

Upon motion by Jim L. McKnight, second by J. D. Morris, the Board approved the Summer Program State Plan for Child Nutrition Programs. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment U.)

XXIII.

Policy 3233 details the establishment and operation of regional education service agencies (RESAs). The changes to Policy 3233 are significant enough to repeal and replace. Four comments were received. No changes were made as a result of the comments.

Upon motion by Paul J. Morris, second by J. D. Morris, the Board approved Policy 3233 as proposed. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment V and addendum.)

XXIV.

In order to receive federal funds under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act of 1998, the state is required to submit a Plan covering four fiscal years 2001-2004. The Plan has been developed in accordance with the requirements of the federal legislation and needs to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by April 1, 2000. It is projected that West Virginia will receive approximately $9 million per year for the next four years. The federal funds are divided between the Board of Directors for Community Colleges and the State Board of Education based on enrollment computed on a full-time equivalency. Approximately 77% of the funds will come to the West Virginia Department of Education for operation of vocational education programs. Higher education will receive approximately 23% of the funds.

Since the West Virginia Joint Commission for Vocational-Technical-Occupational Education was designated by the state legislature in 1990 as the sole state agency for receiving vocational education funds under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act, the Plan will be submitted by that agency to the U.S. Department of Education.

Upon motion by Jim L. McKnight, second by Sandra J. Chapman, the Board approved the

State Plan for Vocational Education. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment W.)

XXV.

The purpose of this Board item was to seek the approval of the State Board of Education to place the revised Instructional Goals and Objectives (K-3) English Language Arts, which are part of the Policy 2520, out on public comment. The proposed revisions address current national reading research, the West Virginia Department of Education Reading Plan (Reading For All), and focus the Instructional Goals and Objectives in order to provide high quality reading standards, a rigorous and challenging reading curriculum, and efficient instructional delivery in the K-3 reading environment. The revision having the most impact is the clarification and inclusion of phonemic awareness at the kindergarten and first grade levels.

It was also recommended that instructional goals and objectives for a new high school mathematics course be placed on public comment. Mathematics in the Community, a higher level mathematics alternative for students who have successfully completed Algebra I and Geometry, would allow students who do not pursue an advanced mathematics sequence (e.g., Algebra, II, Trigonometry/pre-Calculus) to enhance mathematics skills for ACT and SAT assessments, to understand real-world application of algebraic concepts, and to study probability and statistics.

Upon motion by J. D. Morris, second by Sheila M. Hamilton, the Board placed the revised K-3 English language arts and the new high school Mathematics in the Community instructional goals and objectives (Policy 2520) on public comment until April 14, 2000. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment XYZ and addendum.)

XXVI.

This item was tabled during the Board's meeting with the Office of Education Performance Audits.

XXVII.

The following items were brought before the Board for discussion: 1) West Virginia Education Summit - this meeting will be for West Virginia stakeholders and Jim L. McKnight has agreed to chair the initiative; 2) Faculty Senate Funds - J. D. Morris provided the study committee's finding which was that this issue is adequately dealt with by statute and policy. No new policy or procedure is necessary. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment AA.); and 3) Substitution for Work Keys - Barbara Jones distributed a handout requesting approval to substitute for the ACT Work Keys a NAEP-like assessments for use with twelfth-grade students. No action was taken with regard to this item. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment BB.)

XXVIII.

The West Virginia Board of Education will meet in joint session with the Mingo County Board of Education on March 9, 2000 at 9:15 a.m. in the Board Conference Room, Capitol Building 6, Room 353, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, West Virginia. Following this meeting, the Board will begin its regular meeting.

XXIX.

Upon motion by Sheila M. Hamilton, second by Sandra M. Chapman, the Board adjourned at approximately 2:22 p.m.

Minutes approved by the Board on March 9, 2000.

____________________________________________

Cleo P. Mathews, President

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