December 20, 2006 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Billings Hotel and Convention Center

Present were ACE board members Al Sipes, Tim Dolphay, Dave Huether, Andy Begger, Les Cabot and Bob Barnes.
Guests present were Jim Staab, Martha Young, Bill Schlepp, Josh Middleton, Al Buerkle, Jennifer Hickok, Brenda Koch, Fritzie Walker and Deani Kerkness.
Gail Richardson and Jerry Scott were also present for the meeting.

1. Chairman Al Sipes call the meeting to order at 9:10 AM with introductions.


2. Dave Huether moved to approve the November 29, 2006 minutes as presented. Tim Dolphay seconded the motion, which passed 6-0.


3. Andy Begger moved to accept the financial report and Les Cabot made the second. The motion passed 6 – 0.


4. Jerry reported that he had received Roundup’s contract and had Al complete the signature page. Al Sipes reported on the visit to the Roundup school board meeting on December and the presentation that he and Jerry made. The Roundup board chairman and Superintendent Bill Schlepp accepted and signed the contract at that meeting.


5. Al Buerkle reported that CSPD Region 3 was looking at training for all of a school’s staff and not just special education training. Al said CSPD will help sponsor the March 5, 2007 PIR day with Wayne Callender and would like to continue a partnership with ACE for future training. He requested Jerry contact Deb Miller at MUS – B to work out details on how to include CSPD Region 3 in a web link as well as other professional development information. Wayne Callender will be mainly working with K – 6 staff and administrators. Workshops for 7 – 12 will follow the format from the September 11 ACE PIR day. Various suggestions were made by the group including MontCAS, Six Trait Writing, K – 12 Portfolios, AIMS WEB, MAPS, curriculum needs based on evaluation data, NOVA NET, Indian Education for All, and others. Effective Schools and train the trainer formats were discussed. Jim Staab suggested workshops be designed to connect the kids, school, and staff. Career pathways, school design and Breaking Ranks were all discussed. Josh and Fritzie said Laurel has a number of trainers who could help put on workshops. Jerry will work on obtaining a list of trainers from the ACE member schools and put it on the ACE web site. He will continue to work on offerings for the March 5 PIR day. Andy Begger said Harlowton is planning to do AIMS WEB training sometime this spring and will invite others to attend.


6. Deani Kirkness reviewed the ACE web page. The board wanted to make sure that all of the members know about the mtace.org site. Deani said she was willing to make any changes the board might have. The board felt the web site was a positive addition to ACE and will become a valuable tool for all members.


7. Gail Richardson reported on the Indian Education for All grant workshop held on December 9. There was some disappointment in the fact that not all ACE member schools were participating, especially those that have a large Native American student body. However, the workshop is providing valuable information and resources on the Crow and Cheyenne cultures for those who are attending.


8. The University of Montana Indian Education for All in Montana leadership training opportunity information was reviewed. The board felt that it was too expensive and too far away and that the ACE IEA grant was doing a good job for the member schools.


9. Jerry reported that he signed and returned the September 10, 2007 PIR day contract to B. McGarvey. He will make arrangements to hold the workshop where the participants will be seated in a classroom environment.


10. Jerry said 27 participants from 5 ACE schools attended the afternoon Smart Board presentation done by TEST at Edgar Elementary School.


11. ASCD Annual National Conference … Five applications were received by the deadline date of December 8. Two more were received on December 19th. No board members planned on attending. Gail said she could not attend because of a previous engagement. Discussion followed with some feeling applicants should not be able to attend two years in a row. Others felt it was a benefit to attend two years in a row because one would be more familiar with the conference and its offerings. A recommendation was made to tell those attending they would be required to do a presentation to the Ace board or at an ACE PIR day. Les Cabot moved to accept all the applications except the one who attended last year. Andy Begger seconded the motion. After further discussion the motion failed on a 3 – 3 tie vote. Dave Huether moved to accept all seven applications. Bob Barnes seconded the motion, which passed on a 4 – 2 vote. Jerry will send letters of acceptance and continue to make arrangements for the group to attend the conference.


12. Information on the Instructional Technology Strategies Conference in Portland on Feb 18 – 20 was brought up with no action taken.


13. Information on the Alberta Bair Theater workshops was given to those in attendance. The ACE board is invited to attend the January 9 workshop “Introduction to Arts Integration in the Classroom from 4 – 7 PM at no cost. Those who plan to attend should contact ABT as soon as possible. Information on the workshops will be placed on the ACE web site. ACE will offer renewal units for those participating in the ABT workshops.


14. A handout of an article taken from the MACD September newsletter entitled “More Than a Test Score” by Dr. William McCaw from UM was give not those in attendance.


15. Jerry suggested that the ACE board look at holding a Goal setting session. The board felt this was a good idea in order to look at the future of ACE, especially with the lack of direction from the state and the emphasis on test scores and data. Jim Staab is presently working with Columbus and Shepherd and would be willing to help with the session. Jerry and Jim will work on a survey in order to collect information on the needs of ACE member schools and staff. It was suggest that the next ACE board meeting be held on January 24 at 9 AM to be followed by a goal setting session. ACE member schools will be invited to send representatives. Jerry will inform all members and continue to encourage them to check mtace.org for upcoming activities.


16. The next board meeting will be at 9:00 AM at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center followed by a goal setting session. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45.