OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE

ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND

           

The Board of Trustees for the Arkansas School for the Deaf and the Arkansas School for the Blind met for their monthly meeting on March 11, 2008.

 

Present: Henrietta Williams, Chairperson; Pam Hyneman, Vice-Chairperson; Beth Gray, Secretary; Andrew Tolbert, Board Member; Johnny McGehee, A.S.B. Parent Representative; Jim Hill, A.S.B. Superintendent; Dr. Marcella Dalla Rosa, A.S.D. Superintendent; Katie Becker, Zania Musteen, Interpreters; Amy Ford, Office of the Attorney General;  Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community

 

Absent: Dr. Doug Watson

 

Call to Order

 

Ms. Williams called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. The next board meeting was scheduled for April 15, 2007.

 

 Consent Items

 

Ms. Williams said the Minutes from the last board meeting are not ready for approval.

 

Action Items

08-J-004 Motion to Approve Revised Performance Evaluation Policy

 

Mr. Hill said that the new personnel performance evaluation system has changed, and each board member received a copy of the changed policy. Mr. Hill explained that the highlighted areas are the changes and the additions to the existing policy. Mr. Hill asked Donna Prock if there was anything she needed to add and Mrs. Prock told the board that Act 449 of 2007 requires the revision of the current policy and incorporation of the merit increase pay system into the new policy. She said that everything put into the policy was taken strictly from the OPM guidelines. Ms. Williams asked for a motion to approve the evaluation policy. Mr. Tolbert made the motion and Mrs. Hyneman seconded the motion. Ms. Williams asked what the thought was behind the requirement that approval must be received from the superintendent prior to sharing the evaluation with the employee. Dr. Dalla Rosa said that refers to the Exceeds Standards which has been part of the policy. Mr. Hill said that everyone should not receive an Exceeds Standards and it is the superintendents’ responsibility to evaluate Exceeds Standards to be certain the person completing the evaluation has made sure that the employee qualifies for the Exceeds Standards. Dr. Dalla Rosa said it might happen that a department puts Exceeds Standards

 

Board of Trustees Meeting

Arkansas School for the Deaf

Arkansas School for the Blind

Marc h 11, 2008

Page 1 of 3

for every employee and the evaluation is not based on criteria. Ms. Williams also asked

about the section that states that the supervisor and the employer must discuss the duty

areas and asked if there are written duties outlined so the employee knows what they are

being evaluated on. Mr. Hill said that every job has a job description and the supervisor outlines what the employee will be evaluated on. He said it is required by the state evaluation process that the employee is aware of what the supervisor considers things that can be done to receive Exceed Standards and there should be no reason for the employee not to know what they will be rated on and what is necessary to earn an Exceeds Standards. Ms. Williams asked if the supervisor observes a number of times to be sure the employee is performing the standards.  Mr. Hill said the evaluation he would like to have in place would be that the supervisor evaluates the employee’s job performance the performance of the employee. Mr. Tolbert asked how many formative evaluations are early in the year and has a post visit evaluation conference to discuss his/her thoughts on required. Dr. Dalla Rosa said it is not stated but the School for the Deaf is working on that and this evaluation will be a collection of more than just observation in the classrooms. There were no other questions about the policy and Ms. Williams asked for final approval of the policy and the motion passed unanimously.

 

A.S.B. Parent Representative – Johnny McGehee

 

Mr. McGehee introduced Shelli Moore and her daughter. Mrs. Moore is director of the Birth to Three Program and former 5th grade teacher at the school and Parker is a student at A.S.B. Mr. Hill told the board that Parker was the featured student on the video that the board was shown at the last meeting. Mrs. Moore told the board that she and Parker went to the National NAPVI Conference in Nebraska last summer. She said the American Foundation for the Blind and NAPVI have created a web site for families called Family Connections. Mrs. Moore said that Parker was a very frustrated child in a world that makes sense and was okay when she was at home, but when she was out of the home, it was very scary for her. The family then moved to Little Rock where there was a 5th grade teaching position open at the School for the Blind and for which Mrs. Moore was hired.  About 5 years later the school opened the baby program and Mrs. Moore said she then got to be a part of that program, the early intervention program. She said there were 11 children in the program her first year and now she has almost 30 and Bette Parker, who also works in the program, works with about 30 children. The program also offers parent meetings, and a toddler camp for parents to meet and network. Mrs. Moore explained the program and areas in which they work with the babies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Board of Trustees Meeting

Arkansas School for the Deaf

Arkansas School for the Blind

March 11, 2008

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A.S.D. Parent Representative (vacant position)

 

There being no further business of a Joint nature, the meeting moved to the Agenda for the Arkansas School for the Deaf.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            _____________________________________

                                                            Henrietta Williams, Chairperson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            ______________________________________

                                                            Beth Gray, Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Board of Trustees Meeting

Arkansas School for the Deaf

Arkansas School for the Blind

March 11, 2008

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