EDUCATION OVERSIGHT BOARD MEETING MINUTES December 14, 2005 - 9:00 A.M Room 412A State Capitol Building Oklahoma City, OK 73105 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Don McCorkell, Gerald Dickerson, Ron Dryden, Susan Field, Patrick Gilmore and Rep. Odilia Dank. BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Pat Mayes OTHER REGULAR ATTENDEES: Office of Accountability Staff: Robert Buswell, Matt Hesser, Jerry Hsieh, and Dan Craig VISITORS: Ray Pearcey Call to Order and Roll Call: Mr. McCorkell called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. and declared a quorum present. Approval of Minutes: After a correction to the date of the minutes, Mr. Dryden made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 5, 2005 meeting. Mrs. Field seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Status Report on the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program: Mr. Hesser told the Board that things were progressing nicely with the collection of the data used in the Indicators Program and that the Office's survey for 2005 had been released. Hesser reported that 84% of the surveys had already been returned and entered into the database. Mr. Buswell went on to tell the board that the instrument was being used to gather superintendents and principals' e-mail addresses and Mr. McCorkell reminded the Board of the staff's effort to distribute the Profiles 2004 to libraries statewide. Status Report on the Oklahoma School Performance Review Program (OSPR): Mr. Buswell took the opportunity to introduce Mr. Daniel Craig, the new Coordinator of School Improvement for the OSPR program. Mr. Craig's first day with the office was November 7, 2005. Craig distributed a list of 63 schools that he had contacted during his first weeks on the job. He and Mr. Buswell had driven out to personally meet with 10 of those districts thus far and two, Wewoka and Little Axe, had formally agreed to go through the review process. Buswell pointed out that Clinton PS was also close to agreeing to a review and that Weatherford was seriously contemplating the idea of a review. Buswell explained that the trigger for a review had been changed to the district's API score. Districts with API scores below state average were eligible to have 100% of the cost of the review covered by OSPR. When the Clinton school district was first approached, their API was below state average, meaning that OSPR would cover 100% of the review. Since then, a new API list for school year 2005 had been published, and Clinton's API is now above state average. Buswell asked for clarification form the board as to weather Clinton's review should be coved in full, in that Clinton had agreed to the review with the understanding that OSPR would be covering the full cost. After a short discussion, the Board advised Buswell to proceed with Clinton funded at 100%. Presentation on work in Shawnee Public Schools by Edit Educational Consultants: Mr. Buswell explained that OSPR was looking for independent contractors who could assist schools in analyzing students' test results and to then develop a plan to better align curriculum within the school/district based on the results. Edit was one such contractor and Mrs. Susan Field had worked with Edit as part of her duties as assistant principal with Shawnee Public Schools. Mrs. Field reported to the Board that Shawnee's work with Edit had been very beneficial and had helped to increase the schools' API scores. The consultants worked closely with teachers and administrators to align the district's curriculum, text books and classroom instruction. It was Field's belief that there are many districts across the state in need of this type of service. Presentation of Recommendations for Office of Accountability Personnel Policies: Mr. Buswell re-caped the proceedings of a meeting held by the Board's Subcommittee on Personnel Polices. The subcommittee is in the process of developing personnel policies for the Office of Accountability, with a specific charge of developing a policy to systematically adjust employee's salaries to offset for increases in the cost of living. At the subcommittee's meeting, Buswell proposed several different scenarios for systematically increasing employee's pay. The subcommittee chose a system that utilizes a ten-year running average of the inflation rate. This average rate is then applied to employee salaries each year to compensate for the loss of buying power. The increase in salary would be contingent upon a favorable annual evaluation by the employee and would have a hold harmless clause that would freeze salaries if the ten-year average inflation rate became a negative number. The subcommittee will continue to meet to develop a complete employee policy manual for the Office of Accountability. Year-to-Date Expenditure Report for FY 2006: Mr. Buswell distributed a spreadsheet to the board that outlined year-to-date expenditures for the year and remaining funds. New Business: The Board set the calendar for the upcoming year. Mr. Dryden made a motion to have the EOB meet on the third Wednesday of each month, excluding the months of July and August, with the meetings to start at 9:00 a.m. except for the months of February through May when the Oklahoma Legislature is in session, during which time the meetings shall start at 8:00 a.m. to accommodate the schedules of the Chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees. Mrs. Field seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Announcements: None Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m. The minutes of the December 14, 2005 meeting of the Education Oversight Board were approved as submitted on May 12, 2006