OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE

ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND

           

The Board of Trustees for the Arkansas School for the Blind met for their monthly meeting on November 18, 2008.

 

Present: Henrietta Williams, Chairperson; Pam Hyneman, Vice Chairperson (via telephone conference); Beth Gray, Secretary (via telephone conference); Andrew Tolbert, Board Member (via telephone conference); Dr. Doug Watson, Board Member; Johnny McGehee, A.S.B. Board Member; Janice Vaughn, A.S.D. Parent Representative; Jim Hill, A.S.B. Superintendent; Dr. Marcella Dalla Rosa, A.S.D. Superintendent; Katie Becker, Zania Musteen, Interpreters; Mandy Abernethy, Office of Attorney General Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community

 

08-B-017 Motion to Approve Consent Items

 

Ms. Williams asked for a motion to approve the Consent Items. Dr. Watson made the motion to approve and Mr. Tolbert seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

 

Action Items

None

 

Discussion Items

None

 

Superintendent’s Report

 

Budget

Mr. Hill said he and Dr. Dalla Rosa attended a budget meeting this week. He said the governor’s budget forecast was encouraging, but not too encouraging. He said they predicted that the slump being felt by the rest of the country will filter down to Arkansas sooner or later. He said the school’s budget was less than he would have liked but still the school came out pretty well. The school did not get the requested $100,000 which would have been used to expand building repairs. He said the school also did not get as much money in extra help as he would have liked. Mr. Hill said he did receive some funds for an extra position for the baby program and received an extra $25,000 to use where needed. He said that the school did better than most state agencies because most state agencies suffered losses. He said the school can still meet it’s obligations at this time but sometime the revenues and budgets will drop and the school will have to tighten up and be very careful on expenditures at the beginning of the year to work through any budget cuts without eliminating personnel.

 

 

 

 

Board of Trustees Meeting

Arkansas School for the Blind

November 18, 2008

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Mr. Hill said the personnel committee was very good to the school. Senator Faris encouraged all of his members to visit the schools and he was highly complimentary as related to the schools’ programs. Mr. Hill said he and Dr. Dalla Rosa felt very good about this.

 

Fundraiser

The school had the Kiss the Pig contest. Mr. Hill said there was a three-way tie to kiss the pig. Those who had to kiss the pig were Mr. Hill, Sharon Berry, and Teresa Doan. Six-hundred sixteen dollars was raised from the contest for the Junior-Senior Prom.

 

Halloween, Dairy Cow, Turkey Walk

There was a Halloween dance and haunted house and Mr. Hill said the kids had a lot of fun at these events. The School for the Deaf sponsored a company who brought a cow to the campus and the School for the Blind had the opportunity to participate in this educational activity. Mr. Hill said the health committee will have a Turkey Walk tomorrow, and students and staff will walk around the campus.

 

Thanksgiving

A.S.B. will have their Thanksgiving lunch on November 20 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 and he invited the board members to join the students and staff for lunch. School will be closed next week.

 

Christmas Dance

There will be a Christmas formal dance on December 11. The students are required to suits and formals to this event.

 

Wrestling

There will be a Jr. High School state wrestling invitational tournament. Mr. Hill thanked Mr. Tolbert and the AAA committee for sanctioning wrestling.  He said that the funds used for activities, which include wrestling, are received from interest from investments. He said a concern is that the value has decreased considerably and therefore the interest will decrease also, which means activities might have to be cut in order to meet the budget.

 

Mr. Hill had no further business for the Arkansas School for the Blind.

 

Ms. Williams asked Dr. Dalla Rosa if she could have the guidelines for the Pre-K program ready for the next board meeting.  Dr. Dalla Rosa said this will be more comprehensive, but said she will try. She said because there is no school next week and because of Homecoming, Silent Sunday and the After-School Program, they have not had time to put that kind of meeting on the agenda. She said it will take a couple of meetings to check on what is going on at other deaf schools and the direction in which they want to go but they are collecting information for the program. Ms. Williams said they need to have the information before school is out and Dr. Dalla Rosa agreed.

Board of Trustees Meeting

Arkansas School for the Blind

November 18, 2008

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08-B-018 Motion to Adjourn

 

Ms. Williams asked for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Tolbert made the motion to adjourn and Ms. Gray seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        ________________________________

                                                                        Henrietta Williams, Chairperson

 

 

 

 

                                                                        ________________________________

                                                                        Beth Gray, Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Board of Trustees Meeting

Arkansas School for the Blind

November 18, 2008

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