Board Meeting Dates

Additional Details

District and Community Relations Committee Meeting

AGENDA

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

5:00 PM

DeLayo-Martin Community Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown Blvd.NE

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Minutes of the District and Community Relations Committee Meeting

Board of Education

Albuquerque Public Schools

A District and Community Relations Committee meeting of the Board of Education of Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) was held Wednesday, June 26, 2013, beginning at 5:00 p.m., in the DeLayo Martin Community Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE.

I.      Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 5:08 p.m.

1. A. Roll Call

Present:  Dr. Analee Maestas, Kathy Korte (by phone, arrived at 5:15 p.m.), Lorenzo Garcia (by phone and then arrived at 5:55 p.m.), Steven Michael Quezada, Dr. Don Duran, Dr. David Peercy, and Martin Esquivel arrived during discussion of item VI.

1. B. Adoption of the June 26, 2013, District and Community Relations Agenda and the Approval of the May 22, 2013, District and Community Relations Minutes

Chairperson Analee Maestas asked for a motion to adopt the agenda and approve the minutes.  Steven Michael Quezada moved for approval; David Peercy seconded the motion; motion carried.

II.      Public Forum

Participants in the public forum expressed support for APS’ proposed revised teacher evaluation, and safety for students, especially at Jefferson Middle School.

III.     Albuquerque Public Schools:  Goal IV

Dr. Brad Winter, chief operations officer, reviewed the action steps to achieve APS’ Goal Four:  Albuquerque Public Schools will provide a safe and supportive climate for learning and working that maximizes student achievement:

1. Continued site safety plan for staff, students and the community
2. Continue to develop a district-managed plan against bullying that will foster a safe, respectful and fear-free environment
3. Continue to work on APS having its own police department; ensure that staff, students and the community have consistent, immediate attention and follow policies set forth by the APS Board of Education
4. Required fire drills for all schools and APS facilities
5. Required lockdown drills involving schools and non-school facilities
6. Conduct and manage threat assessments regarding students
7. Continue developing a managed plan in addressing drug and alcohol abuse in the district
8. Create and post family friendly signage in multiple languages that directs parents and others to a central location for information

Issues discussed regarding this agenda item included:

• APS police officers receive specialized training to work with students
• Crossroads runs the parent involvement program (PIP) as alternative suspension
• PIP only offered to high school students, but there are different alternatives to suspension offered to middle school students
• Request for report of trainings as described in action step 3.10
• Importance of a police department capable of interacting with students, teachers, the school community, other law enforcement agencies and judicial entities
• What portion of the bullying prevention plans will occur during the 2013-2014 school year and when will they be implemented?
• Guidelines for protecting staff while they are working before the school year starts and after it has ended
• Request for a meeting regarding the police department’s progress and future
• Concern about an event at Rio Grande High School that required mediation with Bernalillo County law enforcement
• Request that community input should be part of decisions made at schools in addition to collaboration with safety councils

IV.     Homework Diner

Dr. Kristine Meurer, executive director, Student, Family, and Community Supports Division, and Deanna Creighton, community school coordinator, Manzano Mesa Elementary School, shared that Manzano Mesa established a six‑week Homework Diner pilot program in the spring of 2012.  This program is designed to involve parents in the school/after school community, engage parents in their child’s academic development, invite communication between home and school, and give parents support for homework help and ideas they can use at home.  Average attendance fluctuated between 35-55 participants during the pilot.  Due to overwhelming support from parents’ desire to continue Homework Diner, the leadership team of Manzano Mesa Community School expanded their relationships to create a diversified funding stream.  APS district dollars currently are being leveraged approximately five to one to support the program, and now attendance often exceeds 100 participants (students, siblings of students, parents, teachers, volunteers, etc.). 

Issues discussed regarding this agenda item included:

• Support from CNM, providing cooking staff through an internship
• Importance of this program supporting APS goals
• All ages of students and their families are invited to participate
• Nutrition information is provided in Spanish and English
• Inquiries from other entities to implement this program in other communities

V.     Presentation of Paycheck Options Update

Tami Coleman, executive director of Accounting, provided an update on the employee paycheck calendar adjustment.  APS has been processing payroll on a bi-weekly (every other Friday) basis, which provides staff with 26 paychecks a year.  In order to maintain compliance with New Mexico Statutes Annotated (NMSA) 1978, § 30-23-2, entitled, “Paying or receiving public money for services not rendered,” APS must make an adjustment to the payroll process.  This adjustment has been identified as an issue since Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10), and is no longer avoidable.  Six options were presented to and discussed with the union groups.  Option one was identified as the best possible scenario, in which three out of the next 15 years will include 27 checks in a fiscal year for 9‑month, 10‑month, and 11-month employees.  This infrequent scenario will advance the first payday of each year by one day each year (two days during leap year), targeting the last paycheck in August as the first check for 9-month employees.  Twelve‑month/260-day calendar employees will not be affected by this change. Board members asked for clarification regarding the impact of this change on the negotiations of the contracts with APS employees and bargaining units.

VI.     Presentation of NMPED Denial of APS’ Alternative Teacher and School Leader Evaluation System Proposal and Options for the District Moving Forward (Discussion/Action)

Superintendent Winston Brooks, Shelly Green, chief academic officer, and Ms. Menapace shared that APS had submitted a request for permission to implement a locally-developed teacher evaluation system in lieu of complying with New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) 6.69.8 on May 7, 2013.  APS received official notice from the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) denying the alternative plan.  Different options were presented for the Board of Education (BOE) to consider now that the system has been denied.

Concern was expressed about the ramifications of each option presented.  Board members supported continuing with the original plan that was submitted or presenting a compromised version of the original plan. The response of NMPED to either decision was uncertain, but original correspondence from NMPED stated that no waivers would be considered. The question was raised as to whether to wait to submit APS’ response until after hearing the results of the Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education submission to NMPED.  Ms. Menapace reminded board members of the deadline to submit.  Board members expressed the importance of communicating the NMPED’s responsibility for the ramifications since the NMPED must approve the plan. .  Specifically, NMPED should be held responsible for legal implications regarding reputations of individual teachers.  Kathy Korte suggested that APS should not submit another plan.  Dr. Peercy suggested that the information be collected from the evaluation and used to present reporting based on both the APS evaluation criteria and the NMPED criteria.  Mr. Quezada expressed concern that no matter what we submit, the governor will use education as a spotlight to get reelected.  Regardless of the results of the evaluations, NMPED’s documentation seems to reflect the need to fire the lowest performing 10 percent of the teachers. Board members requested the opinion of legal counsel on this issue, and Mr. Melendres reminded board members that the secretary of NMPED has the authority to create rule and enforcement compliance with the rule with possible results of suspending the board and superintendent for non-compliance.  Board members expressed concern that school board members have less involvement and flexibility in governance of school districts.  Dr. Peercy emphasized the need to support the coalition working toward a more meaningful evaluation plan, which included Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education. Ms. Korte requested information about the meeting scheduled with Secretary Designate Skandera. President Esquivel recommended that the additional time required to complete the evaluations be logged to show the cost to the district in time spent away from instruction and other required documenting processes.

A. Consideration for Approval of Option in Response to NMPED Denial of APS' Alternative Teacher and School Leader Evaluation System Proposal (Discussion/Action)

Mr. Garcia motioned for approval of the “blue” plan because it shows a good faith effort to compromise since NMPED refused to accept the first plan. Steven Michael Quezada seconded the motion. The motion was approved with Dr. Maestas, Kathy Korte, Lorenzo Garcia, Steven Michael Quezada and Dr. Peercy voting in favor of approving the “blue” plan to be submitted to NMPED.  Dr. Duran and President Esquivel voted against the motion.

VII.    Presentation of Special Education Maintenance of Effort (MOE) Update

Carrie Robin Menapace, legislative liaison and policy analyst,  shared that NMPED applied for a waiver of the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement for Special Education funds to the U.S. Department of Education for FY10 and FY11.  On June 3, 2013, the NMPED received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education informing them that the waiver request for FY10 had been approved, but that the request for FY11 was denied.

Issues discussed regarding this agenda item:

• What can be done to communicate to the U.S. Department of Education that the MOE process is not effective in addressing special education student’s needs and it penalizes regular education students due to the need to comply with the current MOE spending requirements
• Causes and implications of the choices made by NMPED  in failing to follow the MOE guidelines
• Concern regarding who is qualified to certify that a child requires special education services

VIII.   Next District and Community Relations Committee Meeting

Chairperson Maestas announced that the next District and Community Relations Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, at 5:00 p.m., at the Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex in the DeLayo Martin Community Room.

IX.     Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.  Chairperson Maestas announced that the Special Board of Education meeting would begin in five minutes.