May 30, 2007 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Billings Hotel and Convention Center

Present were ACE board members Dave Huether, Al Sipes, Andy Begger, Tim Dolphay, Les Cabot, and Mark Brajcich.
Guests present were Marianne Llwellyn and Brenda Koch. Jerry Scott was also present for the meeting.

1. Chairman Al Sipes called the meeting to order at 9:15 A.M.

2. Andy Begger moved to approve the April 25, 2007 minutes. Les Cabot seconded the motion which passed 6 – 0.

3. After review, Dave Huether moved to approve the Financial report as printed. Tim Dolphay seconded the motion which passed 6 – 0.

4. Marianne Llwellyn reviewed the ACE Indian Education for All grant summarizing the work the class did this year. An open discussion on a number of items dealing with IEA, the direction schools are to go, and other concerns followed. Marianne showed one of the power point presentations her group did for their final project. She said the class helped all of those attending gain a much better understanding of the Crow and Cheyenne cultures and of Native Americans in general. Marianne showed the group a number of resources the grant provided the participants. The teachers who took the workshop will all be available in the near future to do presentations for the ACE member schools. As a part of the presentation, they will also leave a number of books, C. D.’s and other resources for the school libraries. Jerry said ACE would work out payment and mileage for the presenters if the state did not cover it. Both Marianne and Jerry said that Gail Richardson did an outstanding job with the grant, materials, speakers, and classes. There does not appear to be any more funds for further IEA grants at this time.

5. The 2007 – 2008 ACE PIR dates are set for September 10, 2007 at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center and for March 3, 2008 at a location to be determined. Bea McGarvey will do a presentation titled “Classroom Instructions That Works” based on Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering’s work. Information on the workshop can be found at www.mtace.org. Those present who attended Bea’s workshop in Helena last year felt that Bea would do a great job and not have any problem keeping the group’s attention for a full day. Jerry reported that ACE charged a $15 registration fee for the March 5, 2007 PIR day which helped with the food expenses. Mark Brajcich moved to charge ACE participants a $20 registration fee and non-ACE participants a $60 fee for the ACE PIR days as well as for those participating in the bus driver training in 2007 – 2008. Dave Huether seconded the motion which passed 6 – 0. Jerry said that a location for the March 3, 2008 PIR day has not been set at this time. He did not believe that Laurel could host and will confirm that at a later date and find a suitable location. Jerry has contracted with Bea McGarvey to come back for the March 3, 2008 PIR day. The board said that they would discuss the format of March 3 after they see how the September workshop went.

6. Dave Piel from Shepherd will once again set up the September 10th bus driver training. Jerry said Dave does a great job as indicated by the evaluations from the past years training. The board felt that ACE would only offer bus driver training in September and not in March, as they did this past year. A $20 fee per person for ACE member schools and $60 fee for non-ACE participants will be charged as indicated in the motion in number 5 above.

7. All of the ACE six trait trainers are listed on the ACE web site for schools to contact and use. Because of the late date in the school year, Jerry decided to meet with the six trait trainers after school starts next year. Jerry is still trying to get the names of other trainers so that a complete list can be placed on the ACE web site. Indian Education for All trainers and their PowerPoint presentations will be placed on mtace.org web site when their project is approved by OPI.

8. The group discussed the board of public education decision dealing with distance learning in Montana. Al Sipes said he went to the hearing and the only proponent for the decision to have a Montana certified teacher supervise any distance learning came from Eric Feaver of the MEA - MFT. The group wondered how the ruling would affect ACE schools that are using or planning to Nova Net. Al said he planned to only use it for credit recovery. Information on Nova Net’s fee proposal for ACE members was e-mailed to the 40 member schools earlier this month.

9. Information on the MAP assessment proposal for ACE was sent via e-mail to all 40 ACE schools. There are some schools that have already signed up for the training.

10. Information on the June 22 Jim Staab data workshop was also e-mailed to all 40 ACE schools. The workshop will be held at the Bridge Creek Back Country Kitchen in Red Lodge from 9 – 3. The board directed Jerry to send out the information using regular mail as well. Discussion followed on the expenses for the workshop. Andy Begger moved to charge participants a $25 fee for the workshop. Tim Dolphay seconded the motion which carried 6 – 0.

11. A proposal for the 2007 – 2008 budget was presented to the board. Discussion followed on expenses for the past year, the amount of carry over, expenses for meetings and professional development days, membership dues, and other concerns. Les Cabot moved to adopt the budget as presented. Dave Huether seconded the motion which passed 6 – 0. Those who wish to view a copy of the budget can request one from Jerry at the ACE office in Joliet.

12. Jerry reminded the board of the following events and dates, all of which are posted on the ACE web site:
13. June 11 – 14 is the Montana Summer Educator’s Institute in Helena. ACE
    is one of the sponsors for the Institute and Jerry is on the MASCD board.

13. The next board meeting was set for August 29, 2007 at 9:00 in Billings Hotel and Convention Center??