October 29, 2008 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Pollard Hotel in Red Lodge

Present were ACE board members Al Sipes, Mark Brajcich, Les Cabot and Tim Dolphay.

Guests present were Chad Johnson, Mike Lee, Bobbie Larson and Al McMilin.  Gail Richardson and Jerry Scott were also present.

1. President Al Sipes called the meeting to order at 9:20 A.M. making sure all present knew one another.

2. Les moved for the approval of September 24, 2008 minutes.  Tim seconded the motion which passed 4 – 0.
   Correspondence
   from OPI calling for nominations for members of the communication arts content standards writing team
   follow up information from Patrick Dugan from NWEA on MAP testing and training costs were reviewed.  The board instructed Jerry to continue discussion on MAP testing with Patrick. 
   There has been no contact from Huntley Project in response to ACE’s offer to help with supplies.  

3. The financial report was reviewed.  Jerry said he would continue his contact and billing for Lodge Grass and Northern Cheyenne (Busby) 2008 – 2009 dues.

4. Mike Lee, Ryegate Superintendent of Schools, reported that his board has approved joining ACE.  He requested that Ryegate’s billing be split such that they pay the $5,000 dues and materials this school year and $4,500 dues and training fees next year.  Mark moved that the contract be drawn up to reflect this request.  Les seconded the motion which passed 4 – 0.

5. The September 30 New Member Workshop had 4 participants, 2 from Sweet Grass County High School and 2 from Elder Grove.  This allowed to great discussion and hands on work by the small group.  A letter addressed to Jerry from Kory Winslow, one of the Sweet Grass County High School attendees stated: “I wanted to let you know I received the renewal paperwork you sent and take this opportunity to thank you and Gail and Marlene again for a clear and comprehensive introduction to A.C.E.  Perhaps one of these days you’ll “retire retire,” but not while there still is so much work to be done!  Thanks for making a new teacher like me feel welcome in our consortium.”

6. Gail Richardson reviewed the final finance report from the last IEA grant.  The board directed Gail to purchase library material with any funds left over.  Gail also reviewed the proposed ACE content/standards revision schedule wondering if she should add any dates in case a group needs more time.  The board instructed Gail to keep the schedule as is and add any needed dates as she has done in the past.  Gail said the Traffic Education standards are new from OPI.  She commented on the difficulty getting review dates and current standards information from OPI.  Both she and Jerry commented on how hard the technology group worked.  The final review is being done and Gail will post the current schedule and revised curriculum on the ACE web site. 

7. Bobbie Larson, the SMART (Southern Montana Alliance For Resources and Training) project coordinator was present and reported on the past year’s achievements.  She has now been the coordinator for about one year.  Bobbie complemented ACE for the high level professional development that was done on September 8th thanking the board for allowing them to attend.  Bobbie also complemented ACE and Gail Richardson for the work they have done in IEA.  She reported on the SMART Indian Education for All grant stating that the level I training can now be done on line from their web site.  Bobbie reviewed the PRISIM grant and said they now have 10 trainers to help with the science standards roll out.  They did training in some of the Billings schools and helped OPI with a session during the ACE PRI day.  The SMART trainers are available to help in individual schools.  The trainers can also train on the inquiry method.  Bobbie reported that there might be a possibility that SMART receive a $20,000 grant to help with gifted and talented.  Lisa Scott is helping them with Math trainers.   

8. A list of the local October 16 & 17 workshops was distributed.  The workshops were emailed to all ACE members and put on the ACE web site.  The board instructed Jerry to pay any ACE member the same as they do for PIR days for setting up and doing the workshops.

9. A revised ASCD National Conference application form was approved by the board and will be emailed to all members and placed on the ACE web site.
   

10. A number of handouts on the cost, attendance and evaluations from the September 8, 2008 PIR day were reviewed.  These will also be emailed and placed on the ACE web site.  At the last meeting the board visited about the possibility of schools doing further work with Joseph Whelan.  Bobbie said he did a great job with monthly work with the Billings school district administrators.  The board requested that Jerry give the information to the ACE members to see if any of them wanted to pool their resources and see if they would like to hire Mr. Whelan to do further work with them. 

11. A book study for the March 2, 2009 ACE PIR with Dr. Janie Pollock will be available for any ACE members that wish to set up such training.  Information will be posted on the ACE web site. 

12. Information from Davis Walsh, Ph.D. as a possible main speaker for the ACE March 1, 2010 PIR day was received.  Dr. Walsh presented at the Sept. 19 Fall Superintendents conference in Bozeman.  His books include “Say Yes to No” … “Why Do They Act That Way?  A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen” and No: Why Kids-of All Ages – Need to hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It.”  His office said the fee for a half day presentation would be $7,000 and a full day would be $10,000 plus expenses.  The board will continue discussion on a presenter in future ACE meetings.


13. Al McMilin from OPI was present to discuss standards and curriculum.  Both Al and Mark complemented OPI for their work on the science standards and grade level expectations, but wondered if OPI could continue with such work in other subject areas.  Al said that was their plan.  He stated that the standards should not be looked at as a statewide curriculum, but as a model to provide curriculum consortiums and districts with a means of guidance.  Al said that the mandates from the state are the same and each district will still be responsible for their own curriculum.  He said OPI would continue to work with groups to do level I training on any new standards to provide roll out information and understanding.  The standards and grade level expectations will be tied to the CRT.  Level II training will also be provided for specific district needs.  Al said he would continue the discussion at the SCMASS meeting at 11:00.  


14. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 with the next Ace board meeting set for November 19, 2008 at 9 AM at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center.  A hard copy of the Getting Serious About School Reform, three Critical Comments, Vision Document by Dr. Robert Marzano was passed out.  This document was also attached to an email to all members a couple weeks ago.