August 30, 2006 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Billings Hotel and Convention Center

Present were ACE board members Bob Barnes, Les Cabot, David Huether, Al Sipes, Andy Begger, and Tim Dolphay. Guests present were Stephanie Long, Jennifer Hickok, Martha Young, and Brenda Koch. Gail Richardson and Jerry Scott were also present.

1. President Bob Barnes called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M. Introduction of guests was waved because everyone knew each other.


2. Dave Huether moved to approve the minutes of the May 17, 2006 meeting. Al Sipes seconded the motion which passed 6 – 0.


3. The financial report was reviewed along with the member dues payment list. Only Broadview and Busby have not paid dues as of today.


4. Jerry and Gail reviewed the ACE summer activities:
   
   
   Lodge Grass joining ACE … A contract was issued and paid.

   August 8 Lodge Grass board meeting … Jerry traveled to Lodge Grass but the board meeting was canceled for lack of board members. He met with superintendent Doug Woods, toured the school, and left the materials he was planning to present to the board.

   August 16 Administrator’s workshop was attended by about 30 principals and superintendents. Presentations were made by Al McMilin on ther MSEC project, DeAnna McAleer and Rick Jones on the e-Mentoring for Student Success program, and Gail and Jerry on ACE materials and updates. Those present felt the meeting was very informative. It was suggested that the ACE board set the date for the 2007 workshop early so schools can place it on their calendar.

   August 17 Northern Cheyenne workshop was given to about 35 teachers, administrators and paraprofessionals in Busby. A review of how to utilize the ACE curriculum, the CRT and NRT and ACE resources was given by Jerry and Gail. The new superintendent, Wanda Belgarde, was introduced. Don Bidwell will now serve as the dean of boys.

   August 18 Lame Deer workshop was given to about 50 staff members by Jerry. The format was the same as the Busby presentation. Lame Deer had the ACE curriculum separated into notebooks by placing specific topics and grade levels for each teacher.

   August 18 Harlowton workshop was given by Gail. Andy reported that because of Gail’s work on the importance of the CRT he has paid his staff to take the released item test in order to have them become more familiar with the exam.

   August 23 Lodge Grass workshop was given by Gail and Jerry to about 50 staff members using the same format as the Lame Deer and Busby presentations. All of the ACE materials and disks were delivered to superintendent Woods on this day.
   


5. Jerry asked if ACE should schedule a New Teacher workshop this year. The board felt this was a very important orientation for new staff members and scheduled the workshop to be held on September 26. ACE will pay for substitutes, mileage, meals and materials.


6. A review of Al McMilin’s presentation on MSEC (Montana Surveys of Enacted Curriculum) done at the administrator’s workshop was given. Al Sipes mentioned it was difficult getting OPI to release any data they had on curriculum mapping, as if it is top secret. There was a lot of discussion on curriculum, data, CRT, and AYP. Shepherd and Columbus have contracted Jim Stabb, a retired administrator from Powell who has worked with ACE before, to help organize, utilize and present data. Bob reminded those present that NCLB requires all students to be proficient by 2014, thus one had best look at what percentage of their students are accomplishing this goal each year. The class of 2014 are the fifth grade class this year. Graduation rates were also discussed noting that some students who make up credits in their senior year are not counted in the graduation rates. Jennifer Hickok mentioned Pryor has participated in a Gear Up program aimed at educating parents on how to help make their children become successful in school. She will bring more information to our September 27 board meeting.

7. Several ACE schools are already participating in the E – mentoring for student success program for math and science teachers. Information on the program was presented at the administrator’s workshop on August 16.

8. Gail and Jerry reported on the July 1 – 4 TEST INTEL technology workshop in Bozeman which focused on higher learning skills using Intel’s web site. Jennifer Hickok was also present as well as several other ACE member schools. All the participants were required to produce a detailed lesson plan. Gail and Jerry did their plan on the Indian Education for All grant and attached the plan to the grant to be distributed to all ACE member schools. All three felt it was a very worthwhile training and schools should encourage their staff members to take the 24 hours Intel course when it is offered. An introduction to the Intel training will be presented on the September 11 PIR day. Columbus plans on starting training during MEA days and all schools are welcome to attend. Jerry reviewed the hardware that will be given to the ACE grant schools this year. Questions on membership, dues, and so on, should be directed to Liz Cunningham at TEST.

9. Jerry reported that Elder Grove was interested in joining ACE and he sent them a contract. Al Sipes moved to accept Elder Grove as a member as directed by the contract. Andy Begger seconded the motion which passed 6 – 0. Jerry said Rob McDonald told him the contract should be approved at the next board meeting.

10. The curriculum revision schedule was passed out to all present. Gail said she has worked on the footers on the review disks and believes she has overcome the page number problem. She passed out a review disk as well as a disk containing all 4-curriculum books with the updates in them. The disks will be distributed to other member schools at the September 11 PIR day. The board thanked Gail for the great work she is doing on the curriculum books and for ACE.

11. Jerry said he has ordered new K – 6 booklets that include all of the updates and the aligned numbering system. Two copies of the booklets with the ACE member school name on them along with a disk will be given to schools during the September 11 PIR day. Those present reported that their staff felt the books were very helpful.

12. Jerry gave a report on September 11 PIR day. He asked those present to review the proposed registration format and reviewed the school survey which indicated about 650 will attend the workshop along with about 60 bus drivers receiving training at Shepherd. The bus driver training has been set up by Shepherd’s transportation director Dave Piel. Jerry will make the suggested changes in the format and registration will be sent to all ACE schools via e-mail on the 31st. The number of participants for each sectional will be needed early next week in order to assign rooms to the various presenters. Jerry reported that the September 11 format was very difficult to arrange and the board told him that is why he gets paid the big bucks. Everyone present felt the day looked very good and thanked Jerry for setting it up.

13. The ASCD Annual National Conference will be on March 17 – 19 in Anaheim, CA. Pre-conference sessions start as early as March 14. The board felt national conferences were important and would like to continue to offer the opportunity to member schools. They requested the item be placed on the September 27 agenda in order to determine the details for attending the ASCD conference with the possibility of including other national conferences.

14. Gail reviewed the ACE Indian Education for All grant. Jennifer Hickok passed out information inviting everyone to attend the September 29 Native American Day in Pryor. She is mailing the invitation to all schools.

15. The next board meeting was set for September 27 at 9 AM in the Billings Hotel and Convention Center. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30.