PHOENIX-TALENT SCHOOLS
Regular School Board Meeting
Thursday, April 23rd, 2015
10:00 a.m. – Talent Middle School
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at Talent Middle School at 10:00
a.m. by Chairman Prewitt. Other Board Members present: Nate
Shinn, Dawn Watson and Rick Nagel. Absent: Ruth Staten, Marina
Piacentini and Debra McAlister. Also present: Aaron Santi, Brent
Barry, Cally McKenzie, Jeff Carpenter, Curt Shenk, Patrick Couture,
Jani Hale, Jeff Ashmund, TMS 8th Grade Social Studies Students,
Melinda Lidbetter, Judy Casad, TMS Leadership Club, David
Marshall, Supt. Teresa Sayre, and Board Secretary Sarie Wu.
ACCENTUATE THE
POSITIVE

TMS Principal Aaron Santi welcomed the Board to the middle school.
The TMS Leadership students presented the Boards with painted
bulldogs. Mr. Santi stated that Smarter Balanced testing is going on
and the students have found it to be rigorous and different from the
OAKS. Mr. Santi thanked Director Shinn for helping out with the track
meet at PHS. The School of Design and Innovation is still open for
applications and continue to receive several. TMS is in the process of
interviewing math and science teachers for the program.

OHES Principal Brent Barry announced that the two contenders from
OHES took first and second at the District Spelling Bee competition.
Baylee Heywood too first and Shayne Hiett too second. Smarter
Balanced uses a new system with many different aspects teachers
and students must get accustomed to. Mr. Barry thanked his
teachers for their determination in preparing students for success
with the new assessment. OHES will be hosting their 3rd annual Math
Night. Parents will receive packets at this event containing resources
and tools they can use to help their kids with math at home.

PES Principal Jeff Carpenter informed the Board that transition
meetings are going on. The school is working to help preschool
students form Head Start transition into the elementary school. April
30th will be the Farm-to-Market event at PES. Mr. Carpenter invited
the Board to join in the event. The PES Self-Management program
has been going very well. About 70-85% of the students have
received badges and have been proudly wearing them to school.

TES Principal Curt Shenk informed the Board that Día Del Niño will
be celebrated later that night. The school expects to see hundreds of
families. Mr. Shenk thanked Cheryl Joseph and the TES office staff
who keep the school running and create such a great culture at TES.
The Instructional Aides at TES have been working tirelessly to
ensure students have the best opportunity for success on the
Smarter Balanced assessments.

PHS Principal Jani Hale announce the 9th straight year of student-led
conferences at PHS. By the end of the process 100% of parents will
have shown up to participate. Ms. Hale thanked the PHS advisers for
the work they’ve done to create and sustain the program. Students
Zora Rose and Emanuel DiFruscia will be receiving awards at the
Community Works Imagine Awards. Also, John Cornet and Bruce
Timmerman received Coaches of the Year awards by the OACA this
year. Ms. Hale recognized Jenny Hopkins for running the Smarter
Balnced testing program at PHS. Ms. Hopkins works hard to create
an atmosphere where kids can succeed and runs the program with
an iron fist and a lot of love. Rep. Walden’s assistant visited PHS and
Ms. Hale shared with her some insight on how PTS is a relationshipbased district and she thanked the Board for their continued support.
Chairman Prewitt thanked Jani and the administrative team for
communicating with the Board and making their job easy when it
comes to making policy decisions and determining the culture they
would like to foster in PTS.

Sodexo Operations Manager Melinda Lidbetter announced that the
Farm-to-Market event will feature an A to Z Salad Bar. She
mentioned that the bill passed relating to the reduced lunch category.
This category will be subsidized by the government so students will
no longer pay for lunch who would normally pay a reduced fee. Ms.
Lidbetter invited the Board to lunch following the Board meeting.
STUDENT
REPRESENTATIVE
REPORT

None
CITIZEN’S COMMENTS

None
SUPERINTEDENT’S
REPORT

Supt. Sayre informed the Board that this is the 8th year she has
proctored the District Spelling Contest. It is always a pleasure. This
year two 3rd grade students participated and the contestants had to
go to two tie-breakers. All the schools did a great job.

PHS student Nevina DeLuca was awarded a Pear Blossom Run
Scholarship she was one out of four to receive this award.

Supt. Sayre updated the Board on the current number of homeless,
or MKV qualifying students in PTS. The District is part of a
consortium which the Maslow Project assists with and currently 187
students have been identified as homeless this school year. These
students live in all kinds of different situations. Many are doubled-up,
staying in hotels, shelters, cars or travel trailers and one has been
living in an unsheltered situation. PTS has identified 21 kindergarten
students. Supt. Sayre thanked Suzanne Foster for keeping the MKV
program organized and arranging the travel for these students. Its
important to provide them with a consistent education as it provides
many of these students with some level of stability. Supt. Sayre also
thanked Jonel Todd, Diana Wright-Matzkanin, the office managers
and principals for their hard work to support these students. Supt.
Sayre thanked Sarie Wu in honor of administrative support week.
CONSENT AGENDA
 Approval of Agenda
 Approval of Minutes
for 4/9/15
 Personnel Report

Chairman Prewitt presented the Personnel Report for review which
included the following:
Increase in Hours:
Heather Lowe, as TOSA at District Office, an additional 10.5 days
Effective: June 14, 2015 through June 30, 2015
Carolyn White, as TOSA at District Office, an additional 8 days
Effective: June 18, 2015 through June 30, 2015
Transfer:
Dianne Wolff, from PHS to OHES as Office Manager
Effective: August, 2015
Resignation
Emily Bland, as .60 FTE Science Teacher at TMS
Effective: June 11, 2015
Anne Reid, as .50 FTE ESL Specialist at TES
Effective: April 2, 2015
Retirements:
Beverly Fullmer, as Special Education Instructional Assistant at TMS
Effective: June 10, 2015
Brian McGuire, as Special Education Teacher at TMS
Effective: September 1, 2015
Request for Leave of Absence:
Tracie Hanscom, as 2-Hour Playground Assistant at TMS
Effective: April 1, 2015 through the remainder of the 2014-2015
school year
WOODSHOP SURPLUS

On motion by Vice-Chair Rick Nagel, seconded by Director Nate
Shinn, the consent agenda was approved as presented by
unanimous consent.

Chairman Prewitt presented the list of surplus woodshop items to the
Board for review. Director Watson inquired about how the District will
sell these items. Business Manager David Marshall stated they are
considered different options including online, first-come-first-serve
but their main priority is to remove the surplus and free up the space
in this classroom at PHS.

On motion Director Nate Shinn, seconded by Director Dawn Watson
the authorization to dispose of the Woodshop Surplus items as
presented was approved as per the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:
ACADEMIC CALENDAR

Chairman Prewitt presented the draft Academic Calendar, which
mirrors the schedule adopted for the present year. Supt. Sayre noted
she has received confirmation that Medford is also starting after
Labor Day, which will fall unusually late this upcoming school year
causing the first day of school to fall on Sept. 8th.

On motion by Vice-Chair Rick Nagel, seconded by Director Dawn
Watson, the adoption of the 2015-2016 Academic Calendar as
presented was approved as per the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:
BOARD POLICY LBE
Public Charter Schools
Watson, Shinn, Nagel, Prewitt
None
Staten, McAlister, Piacentini
None

Chairman Prewitt presented Board Policy LBE to the Board for
review. This policy relates to Charter Schools. Supt. Sayre suggested
the Board consider adding “shall be permitted to participate in district
curricular programs with prior consent from the receiving school on a
case-by-case basis” or removing the suggested green language from
the policy. PTS from time-to-time will allow ATI students access to
other classes at PHS if there is space available. Relating to the other
optional language, it was recommend the Board consider including
“will not” in the third paragraph on page 2, and “annually” in the 4th
paragraph on this page. Selecting “semi-annually” was add burden to
the District Office staff and currently PTS has a very low percentage
of students participating in virtual charter schools.

On motion by Director Nate Shinn, seconded by Director Dawn
Watson the adoption of Board Policy LBE as modified was approved
as per the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:
BUDGET COMMITTEE
MEMBER APPOINTMENT
Watson, Shinn, Nagel, Prewitt
None
Staten, McAlister, Piacentini
None

Watson, Shinn, Nagel, Prewitt
None
Staten, McAlister, Piacentini
None
Chairman Prewitt informed the Board that a vacancy has been
created on the Budget Committee due to the hiring of Debbie Mobley
at TES. The Board previously received an application from Laura
Lotspeich to fill a vacancy. Chairman Prewitt asked the Board to
consider appointing Ms. Lotspeich to the Budget Committee to fill the
vacant seat.

On motion by Vice-Chair Rick Nagel, seconded by Director Nate
Shinn, the appointment of Laura Lotspeich to the Budget Committee
was approved as per the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:
Watson, Shinn, Nagel, Prewitt
None
Staten, McAlister, Piacentini
None
FACILITIES UPDATE

Business Manager David Marshall informed the Board that with their
recent approval of the Long-Range Facilities Plan, the District is now
getting ready for selected summer projects for each school.
FINANCIAL UPDATE

Mr. Marshall informed the Board the District is working hard on the
budget right now. A new payroll specialist has been hired at the
District Office. She’ll come to PTS from the Ashland School District
and has a background in Human Resources and Payroll. She is
expected to do well at PTS. The District extended their Bond
Negotiations because JP Morgan would like to bid.
MEAL PRICES

Mr. Marshall informed the Board he will be presenting meal prices to
them for consideration at the next Board Meeting. PTS is also
working with Sodexo on a contract renewal and will submit it to the
Board prior to June 30th.
RECESS

10:37 a.m. – 10-48 a.m.
PROGRAM REPORT

Chairman Prewitt welcomed the TMS students from Andrew Kemp’s
8th Grade Social Studies Class to the Board Meeting. The Members
of the Board each introduced themselves to the students.

On behalf of their classmates, four students presented questions to
the Board to discuss. The presenting students were Bailey Olson,
Samantha Wetmore, Lupita Alegria, and Mason Stella. These
questions regarded several topics including budgeting, community
involvement, the robotics program, board member requirements,
electives and advanced coursework. Student Ezra DeLuca asked the
Board about transferring students’ eligibility for sports participation.
Additionally two students, Annika Larson and Josephine Wallace
voiced their concerns to the Board about the use of Styrofoam in the
cafeteria. The Board thanked all of the students for their attendance
at the Board meeting. Their questions were insightful and the
students were excellent representatives of the middle school.

PES 4th grade teachers have requested the Board consider
sanctioning an out of state trip to Crescent City for insurance
purposes. This item will be up for action at the next meeting.
Conversation with TMS
Students
OUT OF STATE TRAVEL
BOARD MEETING
DATES 2015-2016

Chairman Prewitt presented the Board Meeting Dates to the Board
for review. The schedule is similar to the 2014-2015 Meeting Dates
with the exception of adding in a second meeting during the month of
February. A single meeting would continue for July, August,
December, January and March.
INTERDISTRICT
TRANSFERS

Supt. Sayre presented the Board with a report on the current
interdistrict transfer numbers. At the next meeting the Board will be
asked to consider setting a number of slots available for transferring
into and out of PTS. Included in their report were the slot values
selected last year along with the number of filled slots thus far. Supt.
Sayre pointed out that the number of requests for the 9th grade level
exceeded the number of slots this year so a wait list was created.
The students on the wait list requested transfers to the Ashland
School District which turned back two students at that grade level
which explains why the number of slot values used does not match
with the spaces available but contains a waiting list. The three
hardship transfer requests resulted from severe hardship situations.
Supt. Sayre stated she has found the new transfer process to be
easier than previous procedures due to the cut down on meetings.
The main difficulty this year was in receiving transfer students from
Medford because their district is closed. For next year, PTS has
received 35 Open Enrollment applications and Supt. Sayre
suggested the Board continue to provide this option to families. At
the next meeting the Board will be asked to select slots for each
grade level and approve transfer request processing dates.
BOARD POLICY
REVIEW

None at this time
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Supt. Sayre informed the Board that presentations have been going
on around the State for Ways and Means. Friday a presentation will
be conducted in Klamath Falls and another will occur in Grants Pass
on Saturday. Supt. Sayre, along with other area superintendents
have drafted a letter related to the 50/50 split in funding that was
budgeted for the next biennium. The first year the districts expect to
get by, but the second will be difficult. Supt. Sayre will forward a copy
of this letter on to the Board Members to review.
REVIEW OF NEXT
MEETING AGENDA

The next Regular Board Meeting will be on May 7th, 2015 at Talent
Elementary School and will include the following:
Meal Prices
Out of State Travel
Board Meeting Dates 2015-2016
Facilities Update
Financial Update
Board Policy Review
Legislative Update
ADJOURNMENT

11:45 a.m.
Teresa Sayre, Clerk of the Board
Recording Secretary: Sarie Wu,
Board/Executive Assistant
Craig Prewitt, Chairman of the Board