Minutes 2013-11-04

YORK SUBURBAN SCHOOL BOARD
PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING
NOVEMBER 4, 2013 – 7:30 PM
EAST YORK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – ALL-PURPOSE ROOM

M I N U T E S
(approved November 18, 2013)

General Business
1. Call to Order – Ms. Leopold-Sharp
  1. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
    Ms. Leopold-Sharp called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
  2. Roll Call
    Members Present – Emily Bates, John DeHaas, William Kirk, Lynne Leopold-Sharp, Roger Miller, Lois Ann Schroeder, Joel Sears, Cathy Shaffer, Alison Liu (Student Representative)
    
    Member Not Present – Jennifer Clancy
Board President’s Report – Ms. Leopold-Sharp
Ms. Leopold-Sharp reported an Executive Session was held on October 29 to discuss legal and/or personnel issues.
Superintendent’s Report – Dr. Orban
No Report
Business Office Report – Ms. Mason
1. Final Audit Report for the 2012-13 School Year. Craig Witmer and Teena Curnow from Smith Elliott Kearns & Company, LLC presented an overview of the completed 2012-13 audit to the Finance Committee on October 30. Their summary: significant improvement over the last several years in the internal accounting and reconciliation processes; 3 findings to report and a positive year for the general fund.
  Ms. Mason reported above. An executive version of the report is available for board members that were not in attendance at the Finance Committee meeting when this was reviewed. The three findings were actually insignificant – one was a prior finding, payroll segregation, this is now in place, two employees take care of maintaining employees in the system; capital assets, this is done in house now rather than third party and is clean going forward; submission of food claims report on a monthly basis at federal and state level, I will be signing off on that report, this is fine moving forward.
  
  Mr. Miller added on page 21 of the summary, the notations, material weakness and significant deficiancy terminology sound tough, but in reality these are the lowest steps on the scale for findings.
2. York Adams Tax Bureau. There will be additional revenue coming from York Adams Tax Bureau for the 2013-14 school year. The District will be receiving an additional $101,021.73 from the Tax Bureau by the end of January. This is due to distribution of excess Operating Fund fees for the 2012 calendar year and a pay back for having our 2004 and 2005 Unallocated Tax Distributions used for the purchase and renovation of the Tax Bureau building located at 1405 N. Duke Street.
  Ms. Mason reported above. This is a one time event and it is anticipated the District will have the money by January 10, 2014.
3. York County School of Technology. Due to an increase in enrollment from an estimate of 42 students to an actual of 58 students attending the school this year as well as an increase in the number of special education minutes, our tuition is increasing by $189,179. for the 2013-14 school year.
  Ms. Mason reported above. The amount from the Tax Bureau will help cover the difference in the York County School of Technology increase in tuition. Responding to a question about special education minutes, Ms. Mason replied YCST does report special education minutes in its reporting.
Student Representative Report – Miss Liu
Miss Liu reported there have been many activities going on at the high school – Girls Volleyball team did very well at the District competition and will play in the State competition; the Cross Country teams were District champs and did well in the State competition; Quiz Bowl match with Hempfield was held today and YS won; the band performed well at a recent competition; the Tri-M Music Honor Induction took place. Students have taken an interest in the recent board discussions and are writing newspaper articles about the possible closing of Indian Rock Elementary School, in history class students are doing political platforms and will be discussing the possible closing of IRES as one of the issues and today many swimmers wore t-shirts in support of keeping the pool open at YS.
Discussion Items
1. Nominating Chair and Committee – Ms. Leopold-Sharp
  Ms. Leopold-Sharp reported Mrs. Clancy will chair the Nominating Committee and a meeting has been scheduled on November 21 at 7:00 PM in the Education Center. Board members should contact Mrs. Clancy if interested in running for President or Vice-President position.
2. District Goals – Ms. Leopold-Sharp
  Ms. Leopold-Sharp highlighted above information and following continued discussion on the goals this evening, voting will take place at the November 18 meeting.
  
  Sections 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 and 6.0 were reviewed and discussed.
  
  Mr. Kirk reviewed Mrs. Clancy’s suggestions that were submitted prior to the meeting because she was not able to attend this evening’s meeting.
  
  Points of the discussion were – these goals are for the administration and the board will offer their insights and suggestion following the process not during the process of a goal; co-primaries were not suggested by the administration due to taking twice the amount of time and it was decided to have one primary for each goal; several aggressive dates were discussed; 3.2 goal, additional information was added; administration asked for clarification by the Board on several goals.
  
  Ms. Leopold-Sharp concluded discussion with asking Dr. Orban to provide a revised goal list from this evening’s discussion at the November 18 meeting with intended action.
  
  An opportunity was provided for public comment. There was none at this time.
3. Middle School Counselor Position Additional Information – Dr. Orban
  It was decided to have this report at the November 18 meeting to allow all Board members to hear the information, especially Mrs. Clancy as she is the Board member that raised the issue.
4. PA-Educator.net Clearinghouse 2013-14 Contract – Dr. Orban
  Dr. Orban provided background on above and reported that Board action is now required on the contract. The contract will be on the November 18 meeting agenda for action.
  
  An opportunity was provided for public comment. There was none at this time.
5. Policies – Ms. Bates
  1. Policy No. 701 – Naming Rights for School District Facilities
    
    Ms. Bates reviewed above.
  2. Policy No. 702 – Gifts, Grants, Donations
    Ms. Bates reviewed above. These policies will be on the November 18 meeting agenda for action.
    
    An opportunity was provided for public comment. There was none at this time.
Committee Reports
1. Academic Standards and Curriculum Committee – Mrs. Clancy
  1. The minutes of October 16 are provided.
  2. The annual Academic Standards & Curriculum Committee presentation is scheduled February 5 at 6:30 PM in room 160 at the high school.
    Ms. Leopold-Sharp reported above.
2. Communications Committee – Mrs. Schroeder
  1. The minutes of October 7 are provided.
  2. The next Communications Committee meeting is scheduled Dec. 2 at 6:30 PM.
    Mrs. Schroeder reported above.
3. Facilities Committee – Mr. DeHaas
  1. The minutes of September 25 are provided.
  2. The next Facilities Committee meeting is scheduled November 20 at 5:30 PM.
    Mr. DeHaas reported above.
4. Finance Committee – Mr. Miller
  1. The minutes of October 2 are provided.
    Mr. Miller reported above.
  2. Appointment of Architect for Routine Projects. The administration recommends the appointment of NuTec Design as Architect for Routine Projects for the remainder of the 2013-14 school year. This is a 6 month extension to the current contract.
    Mr. Miller reported above and added if there are no concerns, a vote will be taken in two weeks.
    
    Mr. DeHaas added that this was discussed at the Facilities Committee meeting too and recommendation was to proceed.
  3. The next Finance Committee meeting is scheduled November 25 at 5:00 PM.
    Mr. Miller reported above.
5. Legislative Policy Committee – Mrs. Clancy
  No Report
6. Personnel Committee – Ms. Shaffer
  1. The minutes of October 24 are provided.
    Mrs. Shaffer reported above.
7. Planning Committee – Mr. Kirk
  1. The next Planning Committee meeting is scheduled December 2, following the Re-Organization Meeting at 7:30 PM.
    Mr. Kirk reported above.
8. Policy Review Committee Report – Ms. Bates
  1. The next Policy Review Committee meeting is scheduled November 12 at 3:45 PM.
    Ms. Bates reported above.
Public Comment
An opportunity was provided for public comment.

Ellen Freireich, 2805 Lehigh Road – Reminded everyone tomorrow is Election Day and to exercise your privilege to vote.

Ms. Leopold-Sharp thanked Dr. Grove and her staff for preparing the room for this evening’s meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM.

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