The agenda and attachments can be downloaded here:  Agenda for May 24th Special Board Meeting With Handouts

There is one critical piece of business to be discussed at this meeting.  The Board needs to authorize a contractor to complete repairs at Springdale School in order for the CAPS program to open next year.  Currently about 23% of resident students in grades K-8 have applied for and been accepted to the  CAPS at Springdale School.  The Board will need to decide the level of renovation that takes place this year and how the renovation will be funded.

Two options are being considered.  Complete the entire project now or complete the first 5 classrooms and the auditorium.  To complete the entire project now would require taking out a low interest loan.  The primary benefit of completing the project now is that it completes the districts programming goals for the facility and will keep the construction costs considerably lower.   If the Board votes to only open five classrooms and the auditorium there are two funding mechanisms available.  The five classrooms and the auditorium could be paid for with the QSCB funds, the Ford Family Grant, and money generated by Springdale School that has already been budgeted for capital improvements, and about 70K from other sources such as the general fund.  This would still leave about a 5% carry forward in the general fund budget.  Some argue that this is the best thing to do, while others do not like the idea of spending down our cash reserves.  Proponents of keeping our cash reserves on hand advocate for taking out a small low interest loan to finish the five classrooms and the auditorium leaving us with considerable cash reserves in  our capital improvement fund…in fact enough cash to make the loan payment for 7 years without Springdale generating any more funds.  Springdale is expected to continue generating considerable positive cash.  The draw back of taking out a loan, even a low interest loan, is that it does cost money in the long run.

I will post financial reports as they are available.  The good news on the financial report front is that our finances continue to track at or slightly better than we for which we had planned.  Further, the newest report from the state points to a modest revenue  forecast increase over the next year at the state level.

Agenda April 18th, 2012 and Approved Minutes for March 14th

4 page Financial Report April 2012 2012

April 1 Page and 3 Other Financial Reports for SB 1149, QSCB, and SELP

I did share with the Board information from the OSBA regarding best practice in including information supplied by patrons, vendors, etc. in either the board packet or on the district web site.  The huge majority of communication we receive from patrons is included in the board packet and then latter posted on the web site.  This is best practice.  However, the district has a responsibility to publish factual information and to make sure it does not publish material that could be viewed as a complaint against an individual. The following PDF is information from the OSBA.

Information from OSBA Regarding Board Packets and Information Posted on the District Web Site

A copy of the agenda can be downloaded here. April 4th Board Meeting Agenda

Update: 4-9-2012 The Board Voted unanimously to extend the terms of Leota Pulliam and Stuart Childs on the budget committee.  The Board voted 4 to 2 to open the lottery via HB3681 with Springdale School Open.  The lottery will occur this week pending an update on lottery protocols from the ODE.  The Board also voted unanimously to have the Board Chair appoint a committee to discuss the superintendent’s employment contract and bring a recommendation back to the Board.

The School board and the Budget Committee will hold their first budget meeting immediately after the special board meeting.  I will present the budget message to the committee for the next school year.

A copy of the agenda can be downloaded here. Agenda for April 4th Budget Committee Meeting

Update 4-9-2012 The Budget Committee read through the initial budget document.  The Committee voted to add another meeting on April 25th to discuss the budget more thoroughly after everyone had more time to read the document.  A copy of the Budget Document can be downloaded in PDF form.

Budget 4-12-2012 Proposed

I will provide a break down of the meetings after they are completed.

The agenda for this meeting as well as the one page and four page financial reports will be posted next week to the web site.  However, I do want to share some of the important topics that will be addressed during the meeting.

This is the March 2012 Board Packet.  It contains the minutes from the previous board meeting (which are not official yet) as well as the handouts sent out to the board members.

March 2012 Board Packet

Regular Board Meeting Wednesday

Auditors Report

Our auditing firm will present their findings to the board.  The good news is that, once again, Corbett School District has earned a “clean audit” with no reservations.  This is what all districts work towards and I am glad we have met the goal again.  The auditors have also provided a list of suggestions to refine our business service protocols that the district will consider and implement as appropriate.  I hope to post the entire audit to the web site as I did last year.

Corbett SD Audit – 2011(1)

Corbett SD Board Letter – 2011

Corbett SD Management Letter – 2011

Financial Report

The good news is that our spending is still tracking according to our projections.  The bad news is that since last meeting the state cut last years funding (yes that is right last years funding) and this years funding.  The results of those reductions in funding amount to about $75,000.  Further, they have reduced the number of ADMr they are paying us for this year.  (This is due to a trended average calculation.)   You may recall that last meeting I predicted that we had taken a snapshot of our ending fund balance at a high point.   That ending fund balance will be significantly impacted by these revenue and ADMr adjustments.  I am now projecting our ending fund balance to be $729,000 or about $200,000 less than a month ago.

Further, the ODE has released funding numbers for next year.  It appears that we should plan on receiving at least $100,000 fewer dollars next year.

All of this news is bad.  But it is not horrible.  At this point I anticipate finishing the year with no cuts and we will work hard towards building a budget for next school year that maintains all services at their current levels.

March 2012 One Page

March 2012 Four Page

Springdale School and Inter-District Transfers

You can HELP!

Much of the meeting will be dedicated to these two topics.  These topics also are related directly to our budgeting process and may determine if we make further cuts next year.  I will provide a bullet list of items that will be discussed.

• Terry Rommel and Peter Fry will discuss architectural developments and land use developments.
• Architectural planning and building permit applications are going very well.
• Interior demolition could start shortly.
• Our land use hearing with Multnomah County has been delayed due to scheduling on the counties part.  (They only have one meeting per month; we were bumped from March and April is full.)
• The district lottery for inter-district transfers will close April 1st.
• After April 1st but long before May 1st the board will need to decide if we are going to admit students based upon Springdale being available or based on Springdale not being available.
• If we open Springdale it will likely generate more than $200,000 of positive revenue after the loan payment for the year is paid.
• If Springdale is not opened and new students are not admitted revenue will remain flat.
• If we admit students and for some reason Springdale can not be opened (Due to a Multnomah County land use problem issue for instance.) Corbett School District would be responsible for educating these students no matter what.
• No decisions about admitting students based upon the opening or closing of Springdale will be made at this meeting.

Grant Funding Update

• The State Historic Preservation Office is very interested in Springdale and will likely provide $20,000 worth of grants for the project.  It is a competitive process but we have a very strong project.
• The Jubitz Family Foundation is also very interested in the project and may grant up to $5000 for the project.
• In the coming weeks I will meet with the Ford Family Foundation to tour Springdale School. They are interested in committing $150,000 to the project.  Their particular interest revolves around community use and the auditorium.
• The Ford Family Foundation loves to see broad based community support.  Donations as small as $5.00 speak loudly to them.  If you are interested in donating to the project, or just writing letters of support, both can be forwarded to the district office, the SSCA, or the Corbett Education Foundation.

Enjoy early Spring!

Randy

2-15-2012 You can download a pdf of the updated agenda and minutes from previous meetings here. Feb 15th Board Packet and Minutes from other Feb Meetings These minutes are not official until after the Board votes on them.

Highlights on this agenda include:

Mr. Killgore Hard at Work!

1.6.d  Director Reports

Mark Wilson will report to the board about the high school septic project.

3.0 Financial Report:

I will report that our ending fund balance is looking healthy.  In fact I have made a  temporary hire of  one of the maintenance/custodial employees we had to RIF last year.  I hope to make this a permanent position after the per pupil funding numbers are released for next year.  This will likely occur in March.

The one page and four page reports should be available by Monday afternoon or Tuesday and I will add them at that time.

February 2012 One Page

February 2012 Four Page

6.1  Out of District Lottery Process

I have been working with the ODE, the OEA, and communicating with the board about the “Standards” the district will establish for allowing students from out of district to attend Corbett via HB 3681.  I will post these standards after the board adopts them at the next meeting.

The lottery will likely be open from March 1st to April 1st.

7.1 Springdale School

I will provide an update about Springdale School.  Indications from the county and the architect make it look more an more likely that the facility will be operable, at least for five classrooms, next year.  Final determination will likely be  by the end of March.

7.2 Cascade Locks

I am waiting on an update from the ODE regarding the small high school correction associated with Cascade Locks School.  It appears that the school may not be eligible for the small high school correction after this year.  If this is the case I will recommend that the district  distance themselves from the process.

11.1 Capital Projects

Future capital projects that we will talk about include: The septic project for the high school, a new bus purchase, possibly a new roof on the MS building, refinishing the main gym floor are some of the projects on the horizon.

11.2  and 11.3 Staffing Recommendations and Course Offerings

I will recommend that retain our current staffing and our course offerings pending the State’s funding predictions for the next school year.

12.1 Superintendent Evaluation

My evaluation will be completed by the Board in executive session.

After the special board meeting the board will hold a work session to continue working on the board/superintendent operating agreement. A copy of the agenda can be downloaded in pdf format.

Agenda Special Board Meeting 2-8-2012

The Board will also have a workshop (download the PDF agenda) to work on a Board Operating agreement on Wednesday the 1st.  The work shop is open to the public and will be in the grade school cafeteria.  It also starts at 7:00.  Updated agenda with handouts as of 1/27/2012 Februrary 1st Work Shop

I have had one of those weekends…where you drop your computer with your entire life on it and you suddenly realize how important that tool is in your life!   At any rate here is a late update for the upcoming meeting this Wednesday.

Mr. Killgore Hard at Work!

NOTE:  There will not be a Superintendent’s Chat this Wednesday as I am presenting at a superintendents meeting in Yakima.

First, for a copy of the agenda you can download a copy by clicking here.

Updated Agenda  with Handouts as of 1/27/2012 board agenda and handouts feb 2nd meeting

Final Updated Agenda and Handouts in two parts:  Final Feb 2nd Packet with approved minutes part 1 of 2 and Finale Feb 2nd Packet with approved minutes part 2 of 2

I am including the approved minutes from last weeks meeting.  December Minutes 2011

The agenda is light this month.  Here are the highlights.

3.1 Four patrons have expressed interest in the open budget committee vacancy.  It is a shame we do not have room for all four!  Each of the interested patrons will have a few minutes to address the board.

3.3 My financial report will be filled with good news.  Our audit has been completed (the final printing is a few weeks out) and all looks good.  In fact our ending fund balance was slightly higher than we had hoped.  Further our ending fund balance for this year is still growing as we continue to under spend our budget.   This is all very good news as the state’s revenue forecast is dismal.  I am expecting to hear a further downgrade to the revenue forecast in February.  We may very well need every bit of our ending fund balance to make it through next year.   We will see.  I will upload copies of the one page and four page when I can get a computer that will actually do that work for me!

January 2012 One PAge  and the January 2012 Four Page can be downloaded as a pdf by clicking on each link.

I also handed out a three page document from COSA detailing how state funding for education has fared over the last 10 years or so.   The basic news is that Education’s share of the state resources continues to slip year after year.  Yes, the economy is bad and the pie is shrinking…but at the same time the slice of pie that is given to education is shrinking as well.   You can download those graphs as a pdf by clicking on these  State Funding Graphs .

3.4 and 3.5 are pieces of business that are required by law.  One is a final review of the QSCB bond that is scheduled to be sold this week.  (The QSCB loan is the source of financing for the Springdale project.)  The other item is required for all districts to review the service plan of their ESD each year.  Both of these are formalities.

Consent Agenda:  There is plenty of action on the consent agenda this month.  Many small adjustments to individual classified personnel’s work hours to help fill the gap caused by an employee who had to leave mid year for personal reasons.   Further, there is a bunch of new language that the OSBA has recommended for districts to adopt in order to comply with new state laws.

7.1 I will give a quick update on Springdale.  At this point the big news is this week we should turn in our land use packet to the County and perhaps apply for permits to begin some limited demolition (removal of asbestos) in the building.   A traffic engineer is working on a traffic plan and all looks good in that arena.  The Rommel Architectural firm continues with work on design.

7.2 Cascade Locks: I have very little new information to report on this topic other than I will be having a second meeting with the superintendent from Hood River next week.

I handed out the following report from the Hood River School District about the cost of running Cascade Locks.  cascade locks spending report from Hood River County

9.2  A number of Corbett Charter School employees have made requests to extend their leaves of absence from Corbett School District for two more years.  I support these leaves requests unequivocally.

10.2 Is a rather lengthy set of recommendations form the OSBA for all districts to update their current policies to account for new State laws around the granting of charter school agreements as well as the operation of charter schools after the charter has been approved.  When given a choice I have selected language that gives the district the most flexibility and leaves the district in the stronger position relative to their other language suggestions.  This 21 page policy will replace our existing 10 page policy.

11.1  An embarrassing part of my job is the annual self assessment I am required to do.  Here it is in one paragraph: Enrollment is up, achievement is up, our ending fund balance is up, our commitment to communication is up, we are moving forward with some exciting projects like Springdale, all in all things are pretty good.

A call for help!  If you live downwind from the school could you keep an eye out for one of my School Board signs I have been putting up each week before the meeting.  I was told they would stand up to any wind…but the makers of the signs had clearly never been to Corbett because one of them blew away on Thursday!  If you find it I will buy you a coffee!

Enjoy the snow!

Randy Trani
Superintendent

• By clicking here you can download an updated December agenda and attachments page financial and  minutes (these have been approved yet), and attachments.
• You can download  the original one page (pdf) and the four page (pdf) financial reports.
• Download the updated one page (pdf) and four page (pdf) financial reports.
• By clicking here you can download a pdf of the RFP for architectural services and the results of the RFP process.

Highlights:

1.5C  Is a Board Superintendent Operating Agreement that the Board Chair will present to the Board.  The language found in the agreement is language recommended by the OSBA.

1.6    Typically, I do not comment on correspondence to the Board.  However, this packet has an overwhelming amount of correspondence to the Board which directly references me and I want to take a moment to reflect publicly on  what this body of support represents.   First, these letters are not something orchestrated by me or anyone on the administrative staff.  Second, between these letters and the dozens and dozens of personal conversations and emails I have received over the last 2 weeks from community members I find myself at a loss for words to express how grateful, honored,  humbled, and embarrassed I am at the display of support offered to me by so many people from the community and staff.  I am positive that no other superintendent in the area enjoys this type of relationship with staff and parents.

Exceptional School

I do want to say that I am given far too much credit for the successes of the school district.  The successes of the district are largely a product of the staff and the relationships they have formed with parents and community groups.  The work the staff does at Corbett is, in my opinion, without equal. I am far more comfortable embracing any shortcomings we have as a district rather than being labeled as the sole architect of the plethora of positives associated with the district. Corbett is a great school district in a great town. I am proud of our district and eager to keep working to make it even better. I offer my humble thanks to all of you for support and trust

3.3 Financial reports.  I have posted the one page and the four page at the top of this article.  The news in those reports is good.  First, revenues are tracking as predicted.  Second, expenses are tracking as expected.  This is good news and demonstrates that we are continuing to manage the district in a fiscally conservative manner.  However, part of my job is to be the “worrier”.  State revenue forecasts continue to trend downwards from the original estimates for this biennium.  No one at the state level has officially raised any alarm flags

yet, there is no talk of cutting K-12 spending this year….yet.  You can sense the worry in my voice; let me explain.

We are about 25% of the way through the biennium and the State is planning on using about 75% of the reserve funds they had in the two year state budget.  This is a bad trend!  The next scheduled revenue forecast is in February.  We will see what that brings

3.4 QSCB This resolution item is the final action the board will take to commit to the 1 million dollar QSCB loan to refurbish Springdale School.  This action is necessary because Corbett has joined with several other district to lower the cost of issuance of loan funds to all districts concerned.  The cost of issuance for Corbett (outside of loan proceeds) will run very close to $22225 dollars.

7.1  The district has, with the help of Peter Finley Fry, scheduled a pre filing meeting with the county to discuss the Springdale project.  In all likelihood (pending a vote on 7.4) the district will hire an architectural firm to join Mr. Finely Fry in representing the district at that meeting next week on the 22nd.

7.2 Project Board Statement is a work in progress.  The intention of this language is to convey to the community the sense of conservative stewardship the district is bringing to the Springdale project.

7.3  Cascade Locks: I understan

d that there is confusion and supposition around this topic.  I hope to clarify the situation.

• A group from the Cascade Locks Community approached me and the Board regarding a merger with the City of Cascade Locks and Corbett School District.
• I did not approach them, this is not part of some clandestine plan to expand the district.
• There is no plan to add Corbett Charter School to Cascade Locks there is no plan to bus kids from Troutdale to Cascade Locks, there is no plan at all… short of asking more questions and investigating further the Cascade Locks merger idea.
• The only way this merger would happen is if the district can be sure that it makes financial sense for the district in both the short run and long run, and that it makes programmatic sense in both the short run and long run.
• Please understand that it is far too early in the investigation of this proposal to raise alarm flags, we are only asking questions and looking for information.

11.1  Suspension of Division of 22 Assurances:  Each year every superintendent has to sign a letter of assurance that their district has met every division 22 standard.  The division 22 standards grow larger and larger each year.  As part of  mandate relief the State has suspended the reporting requirements associated with division 22 standards for this year.  Notionally, the standards will be reduced in scope and the assurance protocol will be reinstated at a future date.

11.2 Thanks go out to Reed Meuller, a member of the district communication committee, who donated his professional services to refine the commonly used survey for use by the school district.  Everyone is encouraged to complete the survey which can be found at the top of the district’s main web page or by following this link.

11.3 The Charter School has provided the district with their annual report.  A narrative, performance data, and unaudited financial data can be found in the report.

I will post other handouts distributed at the board meeting after tonight’s meeting.