Additional Details

Board of Education Meeting

AGENDA

 

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

5:00 PM

John Milne Community Board Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE

Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

I.	Call to Order
A.		Color Guard Presentation Provided by Volcano Vista High School Air Force Cadets
I.			Pledge of Allegiance / Moment of Silence
B.		Roll Call
C.		Adoption of the April 3, 2013, Board of Education Meeting Agenda and Approval of the March 15, 2013, Special Board of Education Meeting and the March 20, 2013, Board of Education Meeting Minutes (Discussion/Action)
II.	Recognition of Students, Staff and Community
A.		Celebrating Community Partnerships
I.			APS Education Foundation partnership with Nick Martinez, Kevin Gallegos and Janet Schleifer of Whole Foods Market Wyoming/Academy store, for their support of the APS Education Foundation, academics and activities within APS
B.		Celebrating Staff and School Success
I.			Valley High School, Eldorado High School and West Mesa High School Dance/Drill teams and Eldorado High School Cheer team, for receiving top scores at the New Mexico Activities Association Spirit Championships
II.			Missy Archibeck, athletic trainer and physical education teacher at Eldorado High School, for receiving the New Mexico Activities Association Distinguished Service Award for her outstanding work and dedication to student athletes and athletic programs
III.			Painted Sky Elementary and Reginald Chavez Elementary, for receiving the Title III "Exemplary Level" Programs Awards from the New Mexico Public Education Department
III.	Public Forum
IV.	Matters of Information
A.		Superintendent's Report
B.		Board Member Comments
C.		President's Report
V.	Special Issues
A.		Teacher and School Leader Evaluations: Update on APS Implementation Plan (Discussion) Presenters: Carrie Robin Menapace, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst; Shelly Green, Interim Chief Academic Officer; Andi Trybus, Assistant. Superintendent of Human Resources; RoseAnn McKernan, Executive Director of Instructional Accountability; Eddie Soto, Associate Superintendent for Secondary Education; Ellen Bernstein, Albuquerque Teachers Federation (ATF) President; and Art Melendres, Modrall Sperling
B.		Consideration for Approval of Changes to Board Policy JC1 Assignments of Students to School (Discussion/Action) Presenter: Carrie Robin Menapace, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst
C.		Consideration for Approval of Changes to Board Policy JF Student Enrollment Requirements (Discussion/Action) Presenter: Carrie Robin Menapace, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst
D.		Discussion of Proof of Residency for Annual School Registration Procedural Directive (Discussion) Presenter: Carrie Robin Menapace, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst
E.		Proposed Virtual High School (Discussion) Presenter: Shelly Green, Interim Chief Academic Officer, Eddie Soto, Associate Superintendent for Secondary Education, and Dave Wells, eCADEMY@ Albuquerque Public Schools Principal
F.		Presentation of FY14 Strategic Budget Outlook (Discussion) Presenter: Don Moya, Chief Financial Officer, and Ruben Hendrickson, Executive Director of Budget, Planning, and Analysis
VI.	Approval of Consent Calendar Items (Discussion/Action)
A.		Consideration for Approval of Capital Outlay, Property and Technology Matters (Discussion/Action)
I.			Approval of the Albuquerque Public Schools Administrative Boundary Adjustment Recommendation for North Star Elementary School and Double Eagle Elementary School Note: The supporting document is as approved by the Capital Outlay, Property and Technology Committee meeting on April 2, 2013.
VII.	Announcement of Upcoming Board Meetings
A.		The next Board of Education meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, at 5:00 p.m., in the John Milne Community Board Room.
B.		The next Special Board of Education meeting will be held on Friday, April 26, 2012, at 7:30 a.m., in the DeLayo Martin Community Room.
VIII.	Adjournment

Minutes of Board of Education Meeting

Albuquerque Public Schools

 

A Board of Education meeting of Albuquerque Public Schools was held Wednesday, April 3, 2013, beginning at 5:00 p.m., in the John Milne Community Board Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE.

 

I.      Call to Order

The meeting was called order at 5:03 p.m.

A.     Color Guard Presentation Provided by Volcano Vista High School Air Force Cadets

I.      Pledge of Allegiance / Moment of Silence

B.     Roll Call

Present: Dr. Analee Maestas, Kathy Korte, Lorenzo Garcia, Martin Esquivel, Steven Michael Quezada, Dr. Don Duran, and Dr. David Peercy

C.     Adoption of the April 3, 2013, Board of Education Meeting Agenda and Approval of the March 15, 2013, Special Board of Education Meeting and the March 20, 2013, Board of Education Meeting Minutes (Discussion/Action)

Kathy Korte motioned for adoption of the agenda and approval of the agenda. Dr. Don Duran seconded the motion.  Board members unanimously adopted the April 3, 2013, Board of Education meeting agenda and approved the March 15, 2013, Special Board of Education meeting and the March 20, 2013, Board of Education meeting minutes.

II.     Recognition of Students, Staff and Community

A.     Celebrating Community Partnerships

I.        APS Education Foundation partnership with Nick Martinez, Kevin Gallegos and Janet Schleifer of Whole Foods Market Wyoming/Academy store, were recognized for their support of the APS Education Foundation, academics and activities within APS

B.     Celebrating Staff and School Success

I.        Valley High School, Eldorado High School and West Mesa High School Dance/Drill teams and Eldorado High School Cheer team, were recognized for receiving top scores at the New Mexico Activities Association Spirit Championships

II.       Missy Archibeck, athletic trainer and physical education teacher at Eldorado High School, for receiving the New Mexico Activities Association Distinguished Service Award were recognized for her outstanding work and dedication to student athletes and athletic programs

III.      Painted Sky Elementary and Reginald Chavez Elementary, were recognized for receiving the Title III "Exemplary Level" Programs Awards from the New Mexico Public Education Department

 

III.    Public Forum

Topics of public forum included an invitation to the Class of 2013 Rites of Passage Ceremony and support for the Transportation Boundary Agreement (TBA) between Bernalillo Public Schools and Albuquerque Public Schools, which allows students in the Evergreen Hills Subdivision to attend APS schools.

IV.    Matters of Information

1. A. Superintendent's Report

Superintendent Brooks reported on the following issues:

• Gratitude for the parents showing support for their students at this board meeting

• Standards Based Assessments (SBA) result effects on New Mexico’s new A-F school grading system
• SBA as the new high school exit exam
• Eubank Elementary School performance improvement plan and anticipation of quarterly evaluation of effectiveness
• Honoring 2013 APS Selfless Seniors by the APS Education Foundation and gratitude to Frank Frost for the wonderful photography
• Gratitude for Yvonne Sanchez, UNM’s women’s basketball coach and graduate of Eldorado, for being our guest speaker and her involvement with APS
• Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council (SuperSac) interactions with new board members Mr. Quezada and Dr. Duran
• APS schools receiving Seeds of Learning mini-grants from the APS Education Foundation to support creative and clever classroom ideas that help bring the Common Core standards and the schools’ Educational Plan for Student Success alive
• Mitchell Elementary School’s 50th Anniversary celebration
• Valley High School’s Digital Film Production class hosting its 6th Annual Digital Desert Youth Film Festival

1. B. Board Member Comments

Board members commented on the following issues:

• Gratitude for          support from the APS administration to resolve issues at schools
• Encouragement for continued support for parents, teachers, and administration for creating the best environment for students to do well on the SBA
• Recognition of community input for recommendations of boundary proposals
• Appreciation for APS administration responding quickly regarding budget information requests from board members
• APS representation at Math Counts
• Art is Elementary
• Appreciation for the community representation and comments regarding boundary issues and for all who participated and facilitated the process
• Learning about special education issues
• Support for the special services assisting students and teachers and administrators who work with them.
• Looking forward to meeting with Special Education parents
• Meet with Title I homeless project
• Gratitude for Ed Briggs, a resource teacher with the Title I Homeless Project, for helping with the leadership program at middle schools
• Support for SuperSac students making a difference working together to solve issues
• Recognition of the Public Academy for Performing Arts Charter School’s Fine Arts program
• Support for terminally ill student with graduation and prom event
• Importance of including all children in the decisions made by board members and other leaders
• Importance of all constituents to feel comfortable to contact their board representative
• Concern about grant process deadlines for Chamiza Elementary School
• Recommendation to reevaluate booster group administration and oversight
• Robert F. Kennedy Charter School and pending nearby heroin addiction center
• Effects of excessive testing on students are already overburdened and stressed

 

1. C. President's Report

President Esquivel recognized Brenda Yager and the Board Services Office staff for facilitating board training.  He also requested that voting on the consent calendar agenda item VI.A.I, be moved to be heard and voted on before Special Issues to respect members of the community interested in this issue and participating  in this meeting’s public forum

Dr. Peercy motioned for approval of the Albuquerque Public Schools administrative boundary adjustment recommendation for North Star Elementary School and Double Eagle Elementary School. Lorenzo Garcia seconded the motion. Board member unanimously voted to approve the boundary adjustment as presented at the April 2, Capital Outlay, Property and Technology Committee meeting.

 

V.     Special Issues

A.     Teacher and School Leader Evaluations: Update on APS Implementation Plan (Discussion)

Presenters: Carrie Robin Menapace, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst; Shelly Green, Interim Chief Academic Officer; Andi Trybus, Assistant. Superintendent of Human Resources; RoseAnn McKernan, Executive Director of Instructional Accountability; Eddie Soto, Associate Superintendent for Secondary Education; Ellen Bernstein, Albuquerque Teachers Federation (ATF) President; and Art Melendres, Modrall Sperling

Ms. Menapace presented the following information regarding a new teacher and principal evaluation system that is required, through state regulation, to be implemented in August 2013:

• Review of the components of NMAC 6.69.8 Teacher and School Leader Effectiveness
• Review of the timelines established through rule and Public Education Department direction
• Review of APS discussions with stakeholders regarding each component of the new evaluation system
• Discussion of challenges APS expects when implementing the new evaluation system
• Request for guidance and direction from the APS Board of Education regarding components of the APS plan for implementation
• Should non-tested subject teacher evaluations use the school’s grade or the SBA scores of students on the teacher’s roster for the student achievement data?
• Should APS explore meeting with other school districts to determine how the new evaluation system is impacting their schools?
• Should APS administration begin to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement to reflect the requirements of the new evaluation system?
• Should APS request an additional year from the PED for implementation of the new evaluation-meaning, should APS postpone submitting a plan and implementing new evaluations until SY 2014-2015?

 

Issues discussed regarding this agenda item:

• Concern about the accelerated timeline of training and implementation
• Concern regarding the time required to implement mandatory observations without funding to add assistant principals to implement the process
• Conflicting Information received from the New Mexico Teacher Evaluation Advisory Council (NMTEACH) and the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED)
• Clarification needed of “ineffective and minimally effective” teachers
• Concern about alignment of teacher observations and evaluations with negotiated agreement
• Concern for fiscal impact to the district
• Conflicts of NMAC 6.69.8 Teacher and School Leader Effectiveness and compliance with the statute and other regulations
• Reliability of the observations and the cost of implementing consistent and true reliability
• Waiver submitted by the NMPED to federal government to be immune from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements does have a teacher evaluation component that does not have to be available for the 2013-2014 school year
• Flexibility of the United States Department of Education with negotiating the waiver for more time to be in compliance because its emphasis is on quality for the programs and evaluations implemented
• Concerns about using student rosters to evaluate for individual teachers
• Considering the level of student maturity and its effect on students test performance
• Clarification of three different categories of teachers: those who teach areas covered by the SBAs, those who teach non-tested subject areas, and school administrators
• Some teaching areas are not a part of the SBAs, so those teachers would have to use the school grade and/or the roster of their students
• Concern of double standard and fairness to teachers
• Teachers want meaningful feedback and want reform of evaluations
• ATF does not support the NMPED recommended teacher evaluation process
• Concern for excessive test preparation, narrowing of curriculum, and arbitrary and inordinate focus on the students who are on the cusp of proficient, which undercuts the right of all students to a rich, well-rounded curriculum
• Concern about the distortion of teacher evaluation research in NMPED’s rules
• Definition of the “opportunity to learn”
• Concern about the role of NMTEACH
• Concern about the use of a static test score ability to show student growth, especially considering that some students come from very low levels of capability and accomplishment
• Concern about the percentage of teachers on performance plans
• Concern that people who have never worked in education are making rules for education
  Concern that NMTEACH is a rubber stamp group that is meant to approve what the NMPED has set forth
• Clarification of the teacher’s individual valued added model (VAM), which equals the current year and two previous years
• When will the work be done, how will all of the work be done, how where will the funding come from
• No funds allocated to build assessments, professional development, and training
• Fiscal implications from the Legislative Finance Council states that the bill could have significant impact to school districts operating budgets, developing assessments is costly, and appropriate training for evaluators is costly and time consuming
• Concern that if we request for a delay to prepare for compliance and the request is denied, what is plan B
• Does rule supersede a law?
• Due to the fact that it is impossible to develop, what are the ramifications if the district states that APS will not comply?
• What is the percentage of teachers at APS that are deemed effective?
• Nothing in this rule that will help a student be a better student and make a teacher a better teacher
• Per the governor, 99.1 percent of the teachers in New Mexico are considered satisfactory
• Most teachers that are considered ineffective are counseled and leave the teaching profession
• Currently, 12 out of 6,000 APS teachers are on performance plans because they are minimally effective
• Responses to the rule were submitted during the comment period for the NMPED rule
• NMTEACH and the Coalition for School Administrators ask questions and respond to APS with information they receive, but responses are minimal from NMPED
• Transition from the SBA’s to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) results as the basis of the school, principal, and teacher evaluations. Evaluation should be about making the educational experience better, not a game of “Gotcha”
• Concern that APS is forced into the evaluation process over which we  have no control
• Will the evaluation be used to determine teacher’s pay?
• Will teachers who teach more students be evaluated the same as teachers who teach fewer students?
• How long will it take to create a fair teacher evaluation system?
• Concern about teachers who take on the effort of teaching challenging students
• Secretary Designate Skandera has stated that no waivers will be granted to delay compliance with the rule
• Concern about legal implications

 

Recommendations from administration:

• Recommendation for consistency for all teachers in non-tested areas to use the school grade in their personal teacher evaluation
• Recommend that based on their initial evaluation, exemplary teachers be evaluated every three years and less exemplary teachers be evaluated more often

 

Recommendations from board members:

• Request communication to NMPED of the work that APS has done to develop assessments and evaluations for teachers and principals
• Request that new board members are given the responses that were delivered to NMPED during the rule comment time frame
• Recommendation that the APS Board of Education responses to the rule be resent to the governor with a letter of request for a waiver to delay a year to implement the rule, comments from the Albuquerque Teacher Federation, an APS Fiscal Impact Analysis and the comment from Secretary Duncan regarding flexibility
• Concern that by asking for the waiver, we are saying that we will comply with the rule but at a later date, but based on board member comments and administration it is not clear that we are willing to comply at a later date
• Recommendation to use the school’s grade instead of the roster of students for teachers in non-SBA tested areas
• Recommendation to contact other school districts to determine how the new evaluation system is impacting their schools
• Request for APS Fiscal Impact Analysis of what it will cost the district to provide labor hours for evaluations and conferences, contracting specialized services for test development, and cost of professional development
• Recommend connecting with Partners in Education, legislative leaders and community members to provide education about the process and get feedback
• Recommend that an alternative plan be prepared if APS is not going to comply with the rule
• Recommend APS proactive programs to improve teacher’s performance and hold them accountable

B.     Consideration for Approval of Changes to Board Policy JC1 Assignments of Students to School (Discussion/Action)

Presenter: Carrie Robin Menapace, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst

Ms. Menapace reviewed federal law that affect APS students who may be homeless or undocumented and explained that the policy and procedural directive supports those requirements to protect these students. Amendments to this policy include a requirement that proof of residency be given to the school annual upon student registration.  Principals and school staff will be trained about the documentation and federal law.

Public forum participant expressed appreciation for the audit of the North Star Elementary School residency and for the opportunity to contribute to revising the policy and providing input into the procedural directive to provide fairness while allowing exceptions to be made for special circumstances. He urged board members to approve this policy.

Dr. Peercy motioned for approval of the revised JC1 policy.  Kathy Korte seconded the motion.

Issues discussed regarding this agenda item:

• Concerns about the needs of undocumented students to be more successful if they can remain at the same school for the longest period of time
• Importance of keeping students in school, especially if the alternative is no adult supervision
• Concern documentation required for students of family living with family
• Provisions in the federal law that protect students who are family living with family
• Concern that of the 5,000 homeless families, that approximately 450 home visits have been completed to verify residency and determine other needs of the families
• Capital master plan could not have accounted for projections of homelessness due to the recession
• Accurate information is needed for each school to determine the needs of the population and the possibility of school closures if the budget if warranted
• Concern that schools which were once a sense of community and welcome will be considered a place of distrust
• Concern for added burdens for families that are having a difficult time maneuvering the school system due to the situation they are in and subjecting families to potentially embarrassing questions
• Support for the policy and the procedural directive because they are broad enough. Importance to be consistent in requiring all students to provide documentation, otherwise we are providing an open enrollment system
• Importance of having the information to contact the student’s guardian, especially in case of emergencies
• All students have to supply documentation the first year they are enrolled with APS schools
• Importance of asking students questions to know what services they need to succeed
• Concern about overcrowded schools and classrooms due to students that shouldn’t be at that school
• Concern about families gaming and abusing the system, which hurts children’s opportunities to have the best educational experiences

 

Mr. Esquivel requested a roll call vote. Dr. Peercy, Ms. Korte, Mr. Garcia, and Mr. Esquivel voted for approval.  Dr. Duran, Dr. Maestas and Mr. Quezada voted against this agenda item.  Changes to Board Policy JC1 Assignments of Students to School were approved.

 

C.     Consideration for Approval of Changes to Board Policy JF Student Enrollment Requirements (Discussion/Action)

Mr. Esquivel asked if there was any discussion for this agenda item considering that the debate for agenda item V.B. had also covered the issues of this agenda item. There was no further discussion.

Mr. Esquivel requested a roll call vote. Dr. Peercy, Ms. Korte, Mr. Garcia, and Mr. Esquivel voted for approval.  Dr. Duran, Dr. Maestas and Mr. Quezada voted against this agenda item. Changes to Board Policy JF Student Enrollment Requirements were approved.

1. D. Discussion of Proof of Residency for Annual School Registration Procedural Directive (Discussion)

Presenter: Carrie Robin Menapace, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst

Issues discussed regarding this agenda item:

• Public input was used in creating the language
• Depending on the needs of the community, principals can be flexible in the documents requested from families
• Acceptable list of proof of residency documents schools will request for families to present upon registration of their student
• Provides for additional required documents should a school have enrollment beyond its site capacity
• Concern that the front office staff at schools will be implementing the  policy and procedural directive, yet communicating with some families in their home language causes difficulties
• Recommendation for training of school front office staff
• Communities need to know in advance that information is required for school enrollment, especially if there is an overcrowding issue at a school and more documents are required
• Support for allowing students to enroll even if the documents are not immediately available

E.     Proposed Virtual High School (Discussion)

Superintendent Brooks recommended that this agenda item be removed from this agenda to allow for more time to present it at a future meeting.

 

F.     Presentation of FY14 Strategic Budget Outlook (Discussion)

Presenter: Don Moya, Chief Financial Officer, and Ruben Hendrickson, Executive Director of Budget, Planning, and Analysis

Mr. Moya explained that the unit value has increased by $144, which represents approximately 3.9 percent or $700,000.  End results of some legislation that will affect the budget are still pending.

The life insurance for retirees has already been paid in January. Mr. Moya recommended that instead of phasing out the plan, the plan should be considered discontinued and there will be no payment from APS for the retiree life insurance in January 2014.

Board members recommended that those affected should be contacted to inform them that the possibility exists that cost of the premium will no longer be paid by APS considering that the issue will be part of the decision in the creation of the budget this year.

 

VI.    Approval of Consent Calendar Items (Discussion/Action)

1. Consideration for Approval of Capital Outlay, Property and Technology Matters (Discussion/Action)
2. I. Approval of the Albuquerque Public Schools Administrative Boundary Adjustment Recommendation for North Star Elementary School and Double Eagle Elementary School

Kathy Korte motioned for approval of the boundary adjustment recommendation for North Star Elementary School and Double Eagle Elementary School. Dr. Peercy seconded the motion. Board members unanimously approved the Albuquerque Public Schools administrative boundary adjustment recommendation for North Star Elementary School and Double Eagle Elementary School

VII.   Announcement of Upcoming Board Meetings

President Esquivel announced that the next Board of Education meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, at 5:00 p.m., in the John Milne Community Board Room and the next Special Board of Education meeting will be held on Friday, April 26, 2012, at 7:30 a.m., in the DeLayo Martin Community Room.

 

VIII.  Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

 

 

 

 

APPROVED: ____________________________

Martin Esquivel, President

 

 

 

 

 

ATTEST: __________________________________

Steven Michael Quezada, Secretary