EDUCATION OVERSIGHT BOARD MEETING MINUTES September 17, 2008, 9:00 A.M. Conference Room 412B (4th Floor) State Capitol Building Oklahoma City, OK 73105 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Field, Patrick Gilmore, Sherry Labyer, and Edward Petersen BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Abby Holbrook, Ami Shafer, Penny Williams, Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson, Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre, and Rep. Tad Jones OTHER REGULAR ATTENDEES: Office of Accountability Staff: Robert Buswell, Jeff Wallace, Dan Craig, and Jerry Hsieh VISITORS: Erin Boeckman; eCapitol.net Call to Order: Ms. Field called the meeting to order at 9:05 A.M. Introduction of board members and guests: All board members introduced themselves and Mr. Buswell introduced guest Erin Boekman with eCapitol.net. Roll Call: Ms. Field declared a quorum to be present. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Petersen made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 14, 2008 meeting. Ms. Labyer seconded the motion, and it passed without dissent. Status Report on the Oklahoma School Performance Review Program (OSPR): Mr. Craig told the board that 20 performance reviews have been completed, 15 since 2006. There are four current reviews in progress; Cement and Tipton will be presented to their school boards next month while Thackerville and Turner have had the on-site portion completed with the first draft being due next week. Presentations to the boards of education at Okmulgee and Mounds have been given since the last EOB meeting. Mr. Craig has sent OSPR evaluations to 15 districts with only a few being returned so far. He has also asked for letters of endorsement from selected districts with completed reviews. None of these have been returned to date. Mr. Craig mentioned that from the evaluations returned, he has determined that 90% of the recommendations have been implemented. Current recruiting efforts include contacting the following school districts with 4 to 6 reviews possible for the current year: Rattan, Haworth, Bowlegs, Anadarko, Carney, Chandler, Stroud, Wellston, and Davenport. Mr. Craig finished by mentioning the press coverage the OSPR received in Okmulgee. Mr. Buswell spoke briefly about ways to improve the OSPR by offering additional services beyond the scope of the standard review, for example, energy audits. Mr. Buswell indicated that he had been searching for energy audit software and indicated that he may have found something. O of A staff will test the software and advise the EOB as to the results of the testing. Status Report on the Hiring a New School Improvement Coordinator: Mr. Buswell mentioned that he had included in the board member’s packet the job description for the Coordinator of School Improvement position. The job description is included as a part of the posting that has been placed on the Office of Accountability, State Regents, and other education web sites. Status Report on the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program: Mr. Buswell gave an overview of the press coverage for the past years indicators reports. He also mentioned that once the new legislature is in session, copies will be sent to all legislators. Mr. Hsieh shared the number of internet downloads with board members. 2008 has been another strong year for internet activity with the first eight months of 2008 already surpassing 2007 in the number of downloads. Since May, there have been more than 200,000 downloads per month. Mr. Petersen asked if information about users could be obtained. Mr. Hsieh said he would try and provide a report about users at a future meeting. Mr. Buswell stated that the 2008 indicators data request has been sent to the State Department of Education and the first sets of data have already arrived. The requests to other agencies will be submitted soon. Mr. Buswell and Mr. Wallace spoke about an enrollment projections model the office is improving upon. Mr. Wallace also mentioned a new index that the U.S. Department of Education has created and Oklahoma may try to recreate. He also reported on the new Census Bureau data products that will include all school districts by 2010. End-of-Year Expenditure Report for FY-2008: Mr. Buswell went over a handout for the year-to-date expenditure report. Mr. Buswell noted that the FY-2008 has been closed out. He discussed carryover, postage, printing and binding, rent of equipment, and data processing. Mr. Buswell stated that total revenue was $998,000, and there was $160,000 carryover. Year-to-Date Expenditure Report for FY-2009: Mr. Buswell explained that since we are just a few months into FY-2009, there is not much to report. Mr. Buswell did describe how the State Regents operate as the fiscal agent for the Office of Accountability. Review, Discussion, and Possible Action on Longevity Pay Plan Proposal: Mr. Buswell gave a brief account of the Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) longevity pay plan and that the State Regents have now adopted the OPM plan. Mr. Petersen made a motion for the Office of Accountability to adopt and participate in the State Regents longevity pay plan. Ms. Labyer seconded the motion and it passed without dissent. Approval of Proclamation of Appreciation for State Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson: Mr. Buswell stated that a proclamation for Sen. Wilcoxson has been prepared. Mr. Gilmore made a motion to accept the proclamation of appreciation for Sen. Wilcoxson. Ms. Labyer seconded the motion and it passed without dissent. Election of New Officers: Ms. Field entertained motions pertaining to the election of new officers. Mr. Petersen moved to retain the current officers, Ms. Labyer seconded the motion. The motion passed without dissent. Ms. Fields will be chairman and Mr. Gilmore, vice-chairman for the 2008-2009 term. New Business: Mr. Buswell passed out and discussed two articles that were not included in the packet previously mailed to board members. Announcements: Mr. Wallace distributed a list of the remaining Education Oversight Board meeting for 2008. After brief discussion the October 15th board meeting was canceled. Adjournment: At 10:16 A.M., Mr. Gilmore made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Labyer seconded the motion, and it passed without dissent. The minutes of the September 17, 2008 meeting of the Education Oversight Board were approved as submitted on November 19, 2008.