Pacific Grove Unified School District
Note: This web page is a copy of the minutes from the Board of Education Meeting.
Minutes are NOT OFFICIAL until approved by the Board.
The official Minutes are available at the Board Office.
Address any questions to the Superintendent, Dr. Ralph Porras, or call the District Office at 831-646-6510.

PACIFIC GROVE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Minutes of the Meeting of November 21, 2002

The Board of Education of the Pacific Grove Unified School District held a meeting on November 21, 2002 at the Forest Grove Elementary School.
I. OPENING BUSINESS

A. Call to Order by Superintendent Perry: 7:04 p.m.

B. Roll Call: Members Present: Debi Page
Beth Shammas
Jessie Bray
Anne Hall
Richard Schramm

Student Representative: Jane Franklin

Administrators Patrick Perry, Superintendent
Present: Robin Blakley, Assistant Superintendent

C. Pledge of Allegiance: recited

D. Adoption of Agenda: MOTION (Hall/Shammas) to adopt agenda. Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

II. CALL TO ORDER - ANNUAL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
Superintendent Perry called the annual organizational meeting to order. He stated that three members of the Board expressed interest in serving as an officer of the Board.

Public Comment: Jane Leatham, second grade teacher at Forest Grove, voiced her opinion in favor of Jessie Bray serving as an officer of the Board.

Jessie Bray read a letter to the Board expressing her willingness to serve as an officer of the Board, stating that whatever the outcome, she would continue to do her best to serve the community and school district and assist them in achieving their goals.

A. Election of President to serve for a one-year period:
Debi Page

B. Election of Vice-President/Clerk to serve for a one-year period:
Beth Shammas

C. Determination of dates, time and location for regular meetings:
MOTION (Shammas/Hall) to set the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month as Regular Board meetings, to be held at 7 p.m. at Pacific Grove High School Library. Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

D. Designation of Committee Representatives: MOTION (Bray/Hall) to appoint the following committee members:
Community Human Services – Walter Kraus
City/District – Anne Hall/Debi Page
Negotiations – Jessie Bray/Beth Shammas
ROP – Rich Schramm/Beth Shammas
Alternative Education Center - Eliminated

Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

Organizational Meeting Adjourned/Reconvened in Open Session

III. COMMUNICATIONS

A. Written Communications:
Perry: Correspondence was received from CSEA and an e-mail from a parent related to music and winter holidays.
Bray: Received her confirmation for the CSBA Conference in December, along with other Board members’ confirmations.

B. Board Member Comment:
Franklin: She reported that last Friday was Shoe Week. The high school had a pep rally on the football field, which got the students pumped up. Even though they didn’t come out with a win it was fun, enjoyable, and the weather was good.
Bray: She reported on the District Library Committee meeting, which she attended on the previous day. She relayed to the Board that there will be major reductions in State allocations this year. The committee’s main goal is to develop information skills curriculum. PGUSD library evaluations will be done by individual sites rather than a composite evaluation.
Hall: She attended the alcohol task force meeting on November 13, a committee developed to look for answers to help keep students from using alcohol. The next meeting is scheduled for December 10.

C. Superintendent Report:
Perry: He attended the high school meeting regarding alcohol awareness. He explained that ideas from the meetings would be shared with parents, students and the Board. He also mentioned that there are two openings on the Elementary Grade Level Task Force, and anyone interested in serving should contact him.

Forest Grove Elementary School presented their school program. Tim Culbertson, Principal, welcomed everyone to their “beautiful home”, and thanked PTA for bringing goodies. He noted that there were a number of parents and staff members that came to communicate and dialogue with the Board. The Board split off into breakout groups and went with team leaders for a 40-minute presentation. Board members expressed their appreciation for the staff’s input, and indicated that it was a good format for listening to various concerns expressed.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Mark Stotzer, Band Festival Executive Director, announced that the committee showed a net profit of between $5,000 -$6,000, an increase from the $2,300 the previous year. The new parade route was favored. He was pleased to report that the San Jose State Band played this year. He mentioned the feeling that the warmth of the community was present, and he thanked the Board and the many volunteers for their support.

Sherry Lessen, mother of two Forest Grove students, expressed her opinion regarding class size, particularly as it relates to her fourth grade student.

Mike Niccum, father of a fourth grade student, spoke in favor of class size reduction, and inquired about the student/teacher ratio in next year’s fifth grade class.

Bill Phillips, father of a fourth grade student, asked about the timeline on the enrollment/class size decision-making process, and noted that Pacific Grove has become a popular place to attend school, causing more people to move to the area. He also asked for clarification regarding charter schools as it relates to dollars per student.

Elizabeth Kostyshak, resource specialist at Forest Grove, expressed her thoughts of an imbalance in resource specialists between the schools, proposing an adjustment.

Deanna Karasek, Forest Grove PTA parent, was interested in the requirements and timeline for becoming a member of the Grade Level Task Force Committee, and was encouraged to contact the District Office.

Sarah Weber, parent of a fourth grade student, requested clarification on the probability of reconfiguration taking place, asking that financial figures not be the primary focus.

Susan Nine, PGTA Co-President, explained the importance of the charter school issue, as it relates to the budget revision item.

Dianne Hobson, cafeteria staff member at Forest Grove, explained that the importance of having one additional employee in food service at Forest Grove is due to the cafeteria set up, and spoke in favor of the Board subsidizing the food service program.

Deanna Karasek, Forest Grove PTA parent, explained that she favors purchasing lunch tickets, as cash isn’t always readily available.

Maria Taschner, cafeteria staff member at the high school, expressed her thoughts on the quality of service diminishing if hours were cut, and extended her appreciation for Robin Blakley taking steps to meet with the food service employees for suggestions.

Robert Kershner, parent of a Robert Down student and executive chef at Canterbury Woods, spoke about the importance of human resources in the food industry, and his opinion that the requirements of staff justify the salaries being compensated.

V. CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION (Hall/Schramm) to approve consent agenda:

*A. Minutes of November 7, 2002 Meeting
B. Certificated Assignment Order No. 08 Recommendation: (Cynthia Saxon) The administration recommends adoption of
C. Classified Assignment Order No.08
D. Approval of Payment for Non-Public School Placement
E. Approval of Contract for Services – Patty Waldin

Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

*Note: Jessie Bray abstained from voting on item “A”, due to her absence from the November 7, 2002 Board meeting.

VI. INFORMATION/DISCUSSION
A. Sub Committee Reports:
CHS (Walter Kraus): He reported on complications with the Genesis House relocation in Seaside. There is a plan to do a presentation to city leaders. COLA salary increase has been passed. Since the recent merger, there have been no complications with payroll being merged, and the agency has been successful in meeting all of their goals. There will be no meeting in December. He will be back to report in January. Schramm thanked him for his service and the tremendous job he does in representing the Board.
City/District: No report.
Negotiations (Bray): A lot of ground was covered in today’s meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for December 6.
ROP (Shammas/Schramm): No report. Next meeting scheduled for January 15, 2002 in Pacific Grove.

VII. ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Job Description for Coordinator of Student Services: After a first reading, the Board provided direction on modification of the proposed job description, 1) add to essential functions that the employee is responsible for review of individual Special Education cases, 2) certain duties to be redefined. This item is to be brought back to the Board for a second reading.

B. Authorization of Signatures Resolution No. 702: MOTION (Bray/Hall) to approve Resolution
No. 702 Authorization of Signatures. Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

C. Long Range Plan: MOTION (Bray/Schramm) to adopt the 2002-2005 Long Range Plan. Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

D. 2002/2003 General Fund Budget Revision #2: MOTION (Schramm/Hall) to approve the proposed budget revisions as presented. Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

E. Food Service Report: MOTION (Shammas/Hall) to accept the Food Service Report including the recommendations as presented. Motion CARRIED 3 to 2.

F. Board Calendar/Future Meetings: A Board calendar for the remainder of the school year will be brought to the Board for approval on December 12. Two expulsion hearings have been scheduled for December 2, 2002, from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the District office. MOTION (Shammas/Schramm) to approve calendar as amended. Motion CARRIED 5 to 0.

G. Future Agenda Items: Board calendar as noted above.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT: 10:22 p.m.

Patrick Perry
Secretary, Board of Education

Pacific Grove U.S.D. Home Page
Monterey County Office of Education

This page maintained for the PGUSD by Bruce Cates
Comments or questions to: bcates@pgusd.org
updated: 12/17/02

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