Minutes--Special Meeting

July 29, 2002

MEMBERS Present: Mickey Anderson, Barbara Chomko, Jerome Greenstein, Alice Higgins, Harriette Laronge, Roland Piccone, Norm Stockton, Peter Straw, David Winterrowd

MEMBERS Absent: Regina Stinson

GUESTS Present: Chad Binnet, Carol Darling, Bill Delp, Ken DeVeau, Tonya Ditty, Jeffri Durrance, Pat Gardner, Wilma Hamilton, Richard Hays, George McGonagill, Terrie Minter, Mary Ribaudo, Tim White, Allen Wilson, Laura (Channel 6).

Chair Peter Straw called the SCTI School Advisory Council Special Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. on July 29, 2002. The regular meeting will be on August 12, 2002. All persons attending introduced themselves.

Pete read SCTI’s mission statement and said the mission of the SAC is to serve as advisors to SCTI. The goal of today’s meeting is to determine if the District and SAC are going in the same direction. Pete stated that the SAC had previously instructed Bill Storms to maintain necessary state certifications. In regard to the no-confidence vote, Pete asked how many were eligible to vote. Roland Piccone asked if the SAC knows if all of the voters were eligible to vote, i.e., was it a representative sample. Wilma said she does not have union membership numbers. She also said that her decision was not the result of the no-confidence vote, but that there were governance issues that were impacting the education of students in the classroom. SCTI needed its own budget as other schools have.

Mickey Anderson said that in business, he relied on employee relations staff and union representatives and felt that the situation should not have gotten this far. Jerry Greenstein said that the news media should know that SAC is not Student Advisory Council and that SAC is mandated by the State legislature. Pete emphasized that SAC is mandated by legislation and that the SAC was not brought into the process during the situation, but after.

David Winterrowd said that at practically every SAC meeting he has attended, there is always a financial crisis. After approving the priority list of equipment submitted by the administration, there was still a shortfall of $30,000-$40,000 that would come from internal funds. He questioned why the SAC did not know that the District was discussing governance issues. Wilma said she had talked to some SAC members. Ken DeVeau said the equipment shortfall is closer to $200,000. He said that internal funds are unique to SCTI. The funds come from tuition and fees from adult students, which is a substantial amount. Therefore, internal funds were suggested for the $30,000-$40,000 equipment shortfall. SCTI monthly pays the District approximately $12,000-15,000 for central administration salaries. Regarding staffing, Ken said that SAC did not have the opportunity to allocate staffing and other budget items as other schools do. He said there are two fund sources: (1) allocation that is fixed; (2) internal accounts that are fluid depending on enrollment numbers.

Norma Stockton said the SAC couldn’t understand SCTI’s budget especially when given to the SAC after it has been finalized. SAC needs to see the budget earlier. Mickey said the budget was complete and that SAC recommendations were ignored. Roland said the SAC was asked to ratify the budget rather than help in developing the budget. He looked at State Statute regarding School Advisory Councils and read “shall assist in school’s annual budget”. He suggested an independent audit of funds to use for future direction. Barbara Chomko said she had requested an audit of SCTI. Richard Hays said the audit is a standard practice of all schools when there is a change in leadership. Barbara said she wants to untangle SCTI’s and ACEC’s joint budget. Bill Delp said that SCTI has unique budgeting with workforce development funds. He was aware that the budget had been finalized before it was presented to SAC. Jerry asked if there were workforce development funds for high school students. Bill Delp said not for the most part. David asked if the SAC would be provided with internal audit report. Bill and Richard said they would be. Roland asked if there was need for an independent audit in addition to the internal audit. Barbara suggested that the SAC look at the internal audit report and then proceed. David said the SAC would find good information in the internal audit.

Wilma said that the budget is not given to schools until after the legislative session concludes which is usually April. However, schools can be given a general idea of budget climate before April. SCTI also has business partnerships and grants. Pete said the business community will support SCTI and that the former Director was very visible in the community.

The site analysis for the new Director will be July 31 in the SCTI cafeteria. Mickey, Roland, and Jerry will attend. Allen Wilson said that Dr. Parker would facilitate the site analysis. The format will be group discussion for about two hours. Applicants for the position will address the information submitted by the groups. An information sheet requesting input is available for persons who cannot attend. Pete asked that the information sheets be mailed to all SAC members.

Barbara Chomko read a letter from Kathy Dent stating that SCTI is no longer a polling place due to accessibility issues with parking and restroom facilities. Wilma said that many schools are no longer polling places due to safety issues. Norm suggested that SCTI not be a polling place.

Pete said there is public discussion and confusion about SCTI’s becoming a charter school. The SAC has a committee that has been discussing this issue. SAC sees charter status as a means for SCTI to be more responsive to the business community. Wilma asked if the committee was looking at a district charter school. Pete said true charter status might help SCTI meet its mission. Wilma said it is important to have the new Director and new organization in place to accomplish the mission. She encouraged the committee to look at best practices in the country. She said the district is interested in a technical high school. Richard Hays said we must have a clear understanding of barriers to achieving SCTI’s mission and he encouraged the SAC to wait for new leadership and reorganization of SCTI.

Roland asked about physical facilities that are shared by ACEC and SCTI. Wilma said there is an internal committee looking at the shared staff and facilities. Ken said the committee should consider that all programs funded by workforce development funds should report to SCTI.

Barbara discussed the draft SCTI organization chart. Mickey asked for the ACEC organization chart.

Wilma thanked the SAC for their active participation.

The next meeting is August 12, 2002.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol Darling