OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE
The Board of Trustees for the
Present: Henrietta Williams, Chairperson; Pam Hyneman, Vice Chairperson; Beth Gray, Secretary; Andrew Tolbert, Board Member; Dr. Doug Watson, Board Member; Jim Hill, A.S.B. Superintendent; Dr. Marcella Dalla Rosa, A.S.D. Superintendent; Zania Musteen, Cherie Courtwright, Interpreters; Amy Ford, Office of the Attorney General; Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community
Absent: Johnny McGehee
08-B-010 Motion to Approve Consent Items – Personnel Items
Mr. Hill explained that Kelli Dixon took a job with UALR so she could attend school at a cheaper rate. Mr. Hill said he is not going to rehire for that position, but will fuse the position with another position. Mr. Tolbert asked if this would be listed as a termination or resignation. Mr. Hill said it is not a termination and Dr. Dalla Rosa explained that termination is the state term. Donna Prock said the employee resigned. Mr. Tolbert asked if it should be put under resignation and Donna Prock said it should be resignation for that purpose but the state terminology is termination and that the state does not recognize resignation. Mr. Hill said perhaps we should use the term resignation since it is a report to the board. Ms. Williams asked for a motion to approve the Consent Items. Ms. Gray made the motion and Dr. Watson seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Action Items
Approval of Revised Employee Performance Evaluation
Motion to approve took place during the Joint Meeting (08-J-007).
Superintendent’s Report
Mr. Hill thanked the board members for attending the A.S.B. graduation.
On Friday June 6, A.S.B. hosted the 25th anniversary celebration of the Division of Services for the Blind (DSB), which is a division under DHS. DSB provides assistance to visually impaired persons as related to education and/or job rehabilitation. He said the division gave the school approximately $90,000 in scholarship money. DSB provides any academic student with college tuition and room and book fees. Money is also provided for students who attend Vo-Tech or a rehabilitation school. Mr. Hill said the school was
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very pleased to host the celebration for DSB. Mr. Tolbert asked if there is a set
amount awarded, does it depend on what school the student is attending, and is it reoccurring. Mr. Hill said there is not a set amount and a student receives support as long as he/she is in college and as long as the student makes passing grades. Mr. Hill said next week he and Sharon Berry will represent DSB at a federal meeting for agencies such as Division of Services for the Blind. He said they will get insight into new laws and regulations that will apply to the agency and will bring a report back to DSB.
Mr. Hill said that the school received $250,000 from the Governor and he had sent the board a memo to that affect. Mr. Hill mentioned projects for which the money would be used, which include replacing 6 air conditioners, drainage repair, repair of entrances to some of the buildings, repair of structural damage at the Infirmary, painting the choir room, band room and the stage and replacing the curtain, replacing showers and door frames in Prewitt Hall. Mrs. Hyneman asked if the school receives these monies every year. Mr. Hill said that each biennium, when the legislature meets, there is cash left over and some of the money is given to the school for repair of buildings. Mr. Hill said in addition the school has about $200,000 in the regular budget to be used for repairs.
Mr. Hill said two parents have worked with the Lions Clubs
in
Mr. Hill said he will be attending a NAPVI meeting in
Bentonville and possibly three A.S.B. families will also attend the meeting, as
well as parents from
There are about 64 students attending Summer Camp. Mr. Hill said there are 16 students working throughout the city and one of the students is working in an attorney’s office. The school provides the adaptive equipment needed for the student to function appropriately within the respective job position. On campus, the students are taught skills such as how to interview, how to dress appropriately, etc. Classes in orientation and mobility are offered through Dr. Jacobson’s UALR class with 16 UALR students from different states working with the students. Dr. Watson asked if they are providing the traditional cane training with GPS. Mr. Hill said he thinks the course on A.S.B. campus does not have the GPS and is just the basic techniques, including the cane, grid searching, and teaching the students how to catch any mode of transportation. Ms. Williams asked if any of the students were receiving credits during summer school. Mr. Hill said if a
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student had failed a class, the school would provide him/her with the opportunity to receive the credit. He said the major emphasis next year is going to be to train teachers and students how to fuse technology into the instructional and learning process. One of the summer camp classes is a CSI class in which the students take apart old computers and study the techniques that police use to find evidence from a computer.
There being no further business for the Arkansas School for the Blind, the meeting moved to the Agenda for the Arkansas School for the Deaf.
_______________________________
Henrietta Williams, Chairperson
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Beth Gray, Secretary
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