Several members of the public were present at this meeting in addition to staff and board members. The open meeting started fifteen minutes late at 6:15 p.m. Meeting duration was about an hour. Highlights as follows.
1) Three board members were sworn in this evening. Skylar McCullar is beginning his second term and Priscilla Benadon and Cathy Heseman are beginning their first terms. They join Sandy Sprouse and Samantha MacLean with MacLean serving as board president.
2) Two items pertaining to coaching assignments removed from agenda without explanation.
3) Superintendent’s Report - Superintendent Tomes announced that six staff members will be attending ALICE (active shooter) training in January. He also talked a little about the retirement of the elementary principal, who has served in that capacity for 34 years.
4) Trona Teachers Association - Union president requested that monthly information pertaining to royalties be posted with the school board meeting agenda. Also reminded board to update the job posting for a math teacher at edjoin.org to reflect the agreement that year-for-year credit on salary schedule will be given to successful applicant.
5) Public Comments - A pastor from a local church requested that students attending the local church school be allowed to participate in the Trona HS sports program. He requested that a dialogue begin to develop an agreement to allow for this option.
6) Youth Sports Agreement - Discussion about an agreement for youth sports program (not a school program) to have access to weight room. The elementary office secretary explained that boys in the youth football league would benefit from weight training. She also said that she would ensure that the key to the weight room would not be copied or otherwise misused.
7) First Interim Financial Report - Although the district received an overall positive certification, the district was found to be deficient in several areas. Superintendent Tomes explained that small schools have an especially difficult time satisfying certain criteria on the report.
8) WASC (high school accreditation) - The HS principal explained the current status of the next round of accreditation. The WASC coordinator was also on hand to answer questions. Generally, at this point the high school is in good shape. Both the HS principal and the WASC coordinator plan on participating as members of WASC accreditation teams visiting nearby high schools. In fact, one will visit Bakersfield HS and the other will go to Barstow.
9) Board Travel Policy - The board discussed increasing the amount paid for meals when staff must travel to attend to school business. Currently there is a set amount for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The board would like to increase mealtime flexibility and increase the daily total allowance.
10) Winter Gathering - The board approved funding for the annual staff Christmas Party. However, officially the event must be referred to as the Winter Gathering since the county does not allow the terms Christmas or Party to be used in reference to school sponsored and financed events.
11) Additional Public Comment - Community member requested that adults be given access to the weight room. The board asked that a proposal be submitted in writing. [Community access was revoked years ago due to abuse of equipment and because the key to the weight room was copied by many community members. The expense to the district was substantial.]
NEXT MEETING: January 10th, 2019