Marlin ISD

MINUTES
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MARLIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Marlin Middle School Cafeteria 6:00 p.m.
August 21, 2007

Call to Order President, Lowanda Sias called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

Moment of silence was observed.

Trustees and audience members participated in thePledge of Allegiance to the American Flag and the Texas Flag.

Roll Call: Roger Nutt, Danny Vickers, Tania Baker, Sonja Washington, Lowanda Sias, David Lawson, and Steve Johnson.

Public Comments/ Audience Participation - Alfornette Timms addressed the Board on the issue of making sure the District is an Equal Opportunity Employer when it comes to interviewing and hiring procedures.

Bill(s) to The Chicken Place - Motion made by David Lawson, seconded by Roger Nutt to approve payment of bill(s) to The Chicken Place. Trustees
voting in favor of paying the bill(s) were: Roger Nutt, Tania Baker, Sonja Washington, Lowanda Sias, David Lawson, and Steve Johnson. Danny Vickers abstained from voting. The motion carried.

Discussion Item: Reading First Program - Angela Neal, Reading Technical Assistance Specialist and Brandolyn Jones, Local Campus Coach presented an overview of the Reading First Program at the elementary campus. Reading First, the academic cornerstone of NCLB focuses on ensuring that all students read on grade level or higher by the end of the third grade. Ms. Neal presented an overview of the five components essential to the program, the 3-Tier Model, core classroom instruction, modeling and monitoring implementation and assessment data. Ms. Jones explained her role as Campus Coach and her assistance to campus teachers in preparation for instruction, screening, progress monitoring, and implementation of the 3-Tier Reading Model. Ms. Neal informed the Board that the Reading First Program on the campus was very successful. Excellence in education at Marlin Elementary was taking place due to the dedication and hard work of the elementary administration and teachers.

Response to Intervention - Steve Holland, Falls Ed. Co-Op Director addressed the Board on a new evidenced-based process the Co-Op will be implementing in the district for the 2007-08 school year. STEEP (System to Enhance Educational Performance) will allow the District to evaluate the achievement of all students. As a result of thisevaluation, students whose needs are not being met by the core curriculum Tier One are provided additional assistance in the form of supplemental instruction at Tier Two. STEEP provides a way to integrate services with NCLB and IDEA, and has shown to improve overall student achievement. STEEP incorporates universal screening, intervention and progress monitoring. Ken Whitt will be working on the Marlin Elementary and Marlin High School campus. Marilyn Martin will be working at the Marlin Middle School campus. During the second week of school, teams from the cooperative will screen all students in grades 1-5 to identify weak skills. Intervention plans will be written for each student showing weakness. Students will then be assessed weekly to determine progress.

Consent Agenda - Motion made by Roger Nutt, seconded by Steve Johnson to approve consent agenda as presented. Items include: Minutes of the July 17, 2007 Regular Board Meeting at 6:00 p.m. and monthly financial report. The motion carried unanimously.

Renew Interlocal Agreement/Texas Public Unemployment Compensation Program - Motion made by Danny Vickers, seconded by Sonja Washington
to approve renewal of interlocal agreement with Texas Public Unemployment Compensation Program for 2007-08. Motion carried unanimously.

Tax Collection Agreement - Motion made by Steve Johnson, seconded by David Lawson to authorize Falls County through its duly elected Tax Assessor/Collector to act as the Tax Assessor/Collector for the Marlin Independent School District. The motion carried unanimously.

Approve 2007-08 Marlin ISD Student Handbook and Code of Conduct - Motion made by Sonja Washington, seconded by Tania
Baker to approve 2007-08 Student Handbook and Code of Conduct. Motion carried unanimously.

Approve 2007-08 Marlin ISD Employee Handbook - Motion made by Roger Nutt, seconded by Danny Vickers to approve the 2007-08 Employee Handbook. Motion carried unanimously.

Date for Public Meeting - Motion made by Roger Nutt, seconded by Sonja Washington to set the date of September 18, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. for a Public
Meeting to discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate. Motion carried unanimously.

Substitute Teacher Pay - Motion made by David Lawson, seconded by Roger Nutt to increase the substitute pay rate from $50.00 daily to $60.00.
Motion carried unanimously.

Personnel Matters - President, Lowanda Sias announced at 6:44 p.m. the Board would go into closed session to discuss personnel matters under
Texas Gov't Code 551.146. The Board reconvened into open session at 8:04 p.m.

Superintendent's Appraisal, Goals, Directives, Compensation, etc. - No action taken on this agenda item.

Employment of Personnel for 2007-08 - Motion made by Roger Nutt, seconded by Tania Baker to approve the recommendation of employment of personnel for the 2007-08 school year. Motion carried unanimously.

John Hirt - Marlin Middle School
Nancy Criswell - Marlin High School
James Tilley - Marlin Middle School
Gary Kreder - Marlin Middle School
Lisa Colin - Marlin Elementary School
Robin Penick - Marlin High School
Kevin McClendon - Marlin Elementary School
Frederick Ormsby - Marlin High School

Resignation(s) - The Board recognized resignations as received and accepted by Ray Matthews, Superintendent.

Jennifer Wilkerson - Marlin Elementary School
Charles Tucker - Marlin High School

Adjournment - President, Lowanda Sias adjourned the meeting at 8:05 p.m.

________________________
President, Board of Trustees

___________________________
Secretary, Board of Trustees

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