OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE

ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND

ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

The Board of Trustees for the Arkansas School for the Blind and the Arkansas School for the Deaf met for their monthly meeting on September 15, 2009.

Present: Beth Gray, Chairperson (arrived at 4:45); Andrew Tolbert, Secretary; Dr. Doug Watson, Board Member; Dr. Henrietta Williams, Board Member; Khayyam Eddings, Board Member; Janice Vaughn, A.S.D. Parent Representative; Jim Hill, A.S.B. Superintendent; Sandy Lunestad, A.S.D. Interim Superintendent; Katie Becker, Zania Musteen, Interpreters; Christopher Hart, Office of the Attorney General; Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 4:02 p.m. by Khayyam Eddings, Acting Chairperson. The next board meeting was scheduled for October 20, 2009. Because of Ms. Gray’s work commitment, and travel distance for Mr. Tolbert, the board discussed the issue of changing the meeting time. Mr. Eddings suggested moving the issue to the end of the Agenda and discuss it with Ms. Gray when she arrives.

09-J-033 Motion to Approve August Board Minutes

Dr. Williams made a motion to approve the Minutes and Mr. Tolbert seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Action Items

Board Governance and Operations

09-J-034 Motion to Approve

Section 1.11 - Board Member Training

Mr. Eddings asked if there was any discussion of Section 1.11 – Board Member Training.

Mrs. Vaughn: Yes, 6 hours of special, I mean I’m a little surprised at that. We’ve never had that and I think there are several things that I have about this. Number one, just the fact that we have to have training every year. Secondly, at the very bottom, they’ve added that $85 a day. Some of us don’t even get that and then it says no expenses. Does that mean they are not going to pay for seminars, and I pulled both of those statutes and one of them is just that per diem which, again, I don’t get so it doesn’t matter one way or the other to me. But the other is a statute involving public schools having this training and they all get their, it’s paid for out of the school budget, and this makes it clear that it’s not.

Board of Trustees Meeting

Arkansas School for the Deaf

Arkansas School for the Blind

September 15, 2009

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I mean I don’t mind certainly not getting the per diem, but I certainly think it would be wrong for me to have to pay for seminars.

Mr. Tolbert: I think they pay. They pay for seminars.

Dr. Williams: They pay for it…

Mrs. Vaughn: But see where it says no expenses. At the very end, that last paragraph it says no expenses, other expenses, will be paid.

Dr. Williams: So is it.. and I was confused about that because I’m thinking it’s either going to pay us $85 a day if we attend the seminars and we pay for the seminar or just whatever. So maybe that could be better clarified.

Mrs. Vaughn: Well the statute, the one it’s based on, has ‘local school district boards of directors are authorized to pay per diem and other necessary expenses (inaudible) school district and to reimburse school board directors for expenses incurred in attending in-service workshops. So that’s all been left off and a different matter is our, we, all of these trainings are to do with public schools. They’re not to do with the Deaf School Blind School and I’m just wondering how useful a lot of that’s going to be.

Dr. Williams: Well, as you can see the first part of that says that we are encouraged. It doesn’t say that we have to, like the public schools. But I have attended several of the meetings and have found them very beneficial.

Mr. Hill: Did we pay for yours?

Dr. Williams: Yes, you did. Yes, the school paid for all of that.

Mr. Tolbert: These are model policies and even though the public schools have them, they craft them to fit their particular school or area, and I would say it would be in our best interest to get continuous training whether it was a law or not. So I don’t have a problem getting 6 hours of training. I just think that if we are going to grow as a board, and to address education issues, we need to do that. Secondly, the time that I’ve gone to training and the expenses that have been incurred have been paid, so I don’t see that as a big issue.

Mrs. Vaughn: It isn’t except for the way it’s written down here. It says no expenses will be paid other than the $85.

Mr. Tolbert: And this did not come from the model policies. I think someone else interjected this policy in terms of ..

Dr. Williams: That was a little confusing to me. I think it needs to be re-written.

Mr. Tolbert: So you probably could take the public school’s and craft it similar to that because it’s what’s been done now anyway.

Mr. Eddings: You pulled 6-13-629?

Mrs. Vaughn: And I pulled the other one too and that’s just our per diem where you get the $85 for attending the meeting.

Mr. Tolbert: Would you read the part on public schools where it talks about in terms of expenses incurred and how they’re paid?

Mrs. Vaughn: Okay, “a local school district boards of directors are authorized to pay per diem and other necessary expenses from funds belonging to the school district and to reimburse school board directors for expenses incurred attending in-service workshops,

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conferences and other courses of training and instruction required and completing the training and instruction as required in sub section A of this section”.

Mr. Tolbert: And that’s exactly what’s been taking place here.

Dr. Williams: Right.

Mrs. Vaughn: And it should be instead of this $85 that somebody has scooted in there and says no expenses.

Mr. Tolbert: So if we were to adopt that, we would just put in ‘policy’ where ‘practice’ has been.

Mrs. Vaughn: Yes and take that other part out because it doesn’t even really go there.

Dr. Williams: It really was unclear and it needed clarification.

Mr. Tolbert: I move that we approve 1.11 Board Member Training with the inclusion of the part that was just read?

Mrs. Vaughn: Yes, it’s Section, Ark State 6-13-629b.

Mr. Hill: I don’t know why that was left out. We’ve been paying it all of this time and I don’t know why it was left out. It wasn’t intentionally left out.

Mrs. Vaughn: I think they just inserted something different there.

Mr. Hill: Because, you notice, we referenced A.C.A. 6-13-629, which you just read.

Mrs. Vaughn: Yes, I just pulled it because you reference that but you also reference that 25 where the $85 comes from and I just, it’s not clear on that and I think it needs to be clear because it says that you will, and no other expenses, and I think that needs to be clear. That’s it. Do you want me to turn this in with the, taking the last paragraph?

Mr. Eddings: Yes, I think.. So we’ve got a motion on the floor to approve Section 1.11 of the Board Manual subject to insertion of Arkansas Code annotated 6-13-29b, removing the last paragraph of Section 1.11.

Mr. Hill: Mr. Chair, could I ask Stan an auditing concern?

Mr. Eddings: Absolutely.

Mr. Hill: Stan, when we pay for training for board members, does it have to be approved by the board for auditing purposes?

Stan Bryant: It would be a good idea to run it by the board or to have in a board meeting as far as your policy and like at the start of the year, make a motion any and all expenses would be reimbursed.

Mr. Tolbert: But if this were adopted tonight, then that would take care of that because it would be part of policy.

Mrs. Vaughn: Actually it does say that the board can pay for, but I think we just said

Dr. Williams: Second

Mr. Eddings: Motion is seconded. Are you ready for a vote? Any discussion? All in favor.

All board members voted in favor of the motion.

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Arkansas School for the Blind

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09-J-035 Motion to Approve

Section 1.12 - Committees

Mrs. Vaughn: The only problem I have with it, members versus a member of the Board, but then it corrected itself at the very end with FOI. So it doesn’t really matter, except I don’t know if two Board members can have, that just bothered me a little bit if you had two Board members on a committee..

Mr. Hill: I think in the past they have said if it were committees assigned by the Board to do a research, like when you were part of the hearing and you were part of the hearing, you two never did get together.

Mr. Eddings: Right, for the purpose of complying with the FOI.

Mrs. Vaughn: And it does. The next paragraph brings it up. I circled that and then went oh, it says you have to comply with FOI so it didn’t matter. I did know in the past we have always tried to avoid running into each other.

Dr. Williams: Should we clean it up and just say as well as a member of the Board?

Mr. Eddings: Say again.

Dr. Williams: Should we just go on and clear it up and just say as well as a member of the Board rather than members of the Board?

Mrs. Vaughn: I don’t think it matters, as long as we have the next paragraph.

Dr. Williams: I move that we approve Section 1.12.

Mr. Eddings: Second? Anybody?

Dr. Watson: Second.

Mr. Eddings: The motion is seconded. Any discussion? All in favor.

All members voted in favor of the motion

09-J-036 Motion to Approve

Section 1.13 - Superintendent/Board Relationship

Mrs. Vaughn: I have a little problem with that obviously.

Mr. Tolbert: What’s the problem?

Mrs. Vaughn: Well first of all about adopting. I think it may be in the wording of it, about administrative regulations. Let me just first say this, our Board, and I know this doesn’t change anything, we hire, we have the hire and fire ability of the superintendent. It talks here about being elected, which I think, I mean, was a poor choice of words. Like we elect from somebody among us. That, to me, was a poor choice of words on the first paragraph. On the second one, the only problem I had is if you look at the statutes, it says that the Board is the one that makes any administrative regulations. I know that’s semantics. I mean we’re talking, I know what this means and that is, they implement the plan rather than administrative regulations because that’s kind of a term of (inaudible), rather than a term that should go in here. They can, superintendents implement plans for carrying out the Board’s policies rather than administrative regulations.

Mr. Tolbert: So how would you word that to…

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Arkansas School for the Blind

September 15, 2009

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Mrs. Vaughn: Okay, superintendents are each authorized to develop and implement plans to fulfill the Board’s policies.

Mr. Eddings: Say that again.

Mrs. Vaughn: Plans, just take out administrative regulations and put plans or programs, what ever you want, implement programs, plans or whatever, but administrative regulations is a term of (inaudible) is illegal. You know that, Khayyam, and the main thing is that our statute says that only the Board does administrative regulations as the administrative arm of this.

Mr. Eddings: How about guidelines?

Dr. Williams: Yes.

Mrs. Vaughn: Okay, guidelines.

Mr. Tolbert: So it would be administrative guidelines?

Mrs. Vaughn: Just implement guidelines.

Mr. Tolbert: Implement guidelines to fulfill?

Mrs. Vaughn: Fulfill. Provided such guidelines are consistent with, there are two places, take out administrative regulations and regulations, and put guidelines in both places. I think that’s better.

Mr. Eddings: Right, provide such guidelines consistent with the intent of the Board’s policies.

Mrs. Vaughn: That’s it.

Dr. Williams: What about the first paragraph?

Mrs. Vaughn: That was the one where I thought we ought to change hires rather than elects.

Mr. Tolbert: So the word is hires?

Mrs. Vaughn: Yes, because elects, even you could say selects, but I think elects is not the word I think you want to use.

Dr. Watson: Or employ, the same thing.

Mrs. Vaughn: Employ? Yes, that might be a better word.

Mr. Tolbert: Have y’all decided which word we’re going to use?

Dr. Williams: Which word, Khayyam?

Mr. Eddings: Let’s go with employs. That would be my suggestion.

Mr. Tolbert: I move that we adopt 1.13 Superintendent/Board Relation with added changes of employs to replace elects, and guidelines to replace administrative regulations and regulations.

Dr. Williams: Second

Mr. Eddings: Alright, we have a motion and second. Any discussion? Ready for a vote? All in favor.

All members voted in favor of the motion.

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Arkansas School for the Blind

September 15, 2009

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Mr. Hill: Mr. Chair, Sandy, CJ has this on her computer and she typed up this. So if it’s alright, since she has already been into the mode of setting this up, would it be alright if she finished this?

Ms. Lunestad: If you’ll give me the notes on it, I’ll be glad to follow through on that. Thank you.

Dr. Williams: And while we’re doing that, we received a copy of the Board policies that we had done from 1.1 to 1.10, but the first part was left out. I got a clean copy from 1.16 to 1.10, but I don’t have 1.1 to 1.5 of the clean copy. So

Ms. Lunestad: You need a clean copy of 1.1 to 1.5?

Mr. Tolbert: I just want you, once we get done with it all, send it to me all at one time.

Ms. Lunestad: You don’t want the parts.

Mr. Tolbert: Just wait until we’re done with it all…I would recommend also that at our next meeting, if time would permit, that we would look at 1.14, 1.15, and 1.16, and I think that would clear us up with rest on Section 1.

Mr. Eddings: Just go ahead and finish Section 1?

Mr. Tolbert: At our next meeting.

Dr. Williams: So that will be for October.

Report on Test Results

Mr. Hill said this report will be presented at another meeting.

Report to the Public

Mr. Hill said this report will be given at another board meeting.

ASD Parent Representative – Janice Vaughn

Mrs. Vaughn reported ASD will be playing Ohio this weekend, which is Homecoming weekend.

ASB Parent Representative – vacant

In answer to Dr. Williams’s question, Mr. Hill said he hasn’t received any information on a new appointee to the ASB Parent Representative position.

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Arkansas School for the Blind

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Process of Hiring Business Manager and Assistant Manager

Mr. Hill said he wants to be sure that the schools are on the same page with advertising for the two positions. He said even though this is a School for the Blind position he and Ms. Lunestad are trying to work closely to see that they both have input in the hiring of the individual for that position. Mr. Hill said it is extremely important to him and that Stan has done a great job in keeping the books straight. Mr. Hill went on to say that it is extremely important that the person has background in legislative work and can work with the Governor, with OPM, and have a relationship with DF&A and auditing and bookkeeping process. Mr. Tolbert suggested that these points be put in the advertisement. Ms. Lunestad said they had applied for a pool position and it has been held up by the Legislative Committee and there is now a C127 position and that position will be converted to a fiscal manager position. When that is approved, advertisement can be done and, under emergency hire, bring someone in before Stan leaves the position.

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

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Khayyam Eddings, Acting Chairperson

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Andrew Tolbert, Secretary

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Arkansas School for the Blind

September 15, 2009

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