November 18, 2009 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Billings Hotel and Convention Center

Present were ACE board members Al Sipes, Tim Dolphay, Mark Brajcich, and Andy Begger Guests present were Terry Grant, Luke Enemy Hunter, Jennifer Hickok, Brent Lipp, and Andrea Fisher Jerry Scott was also present.

1. Al Sipes called the meeting to order at 9:10 A.M. and made sure everyone knew all present.

2. Tim Dolphay moved to approve the minutes of the October 28, 2009 meeting Andy Begger seconded and the motion passed 4 - 0

3. The financial report was reviewed and is on file at the ACE office at the Joliet.

4. Correspondence: an email from Veronica Small-Eastman, Lame Deer Superintendent, was reviewed Veronica listed several things that Lame Deer is working on at their schools Veronica invited all ACE teachers to attend a November PIR day at Chief Dull Knife College She feels that ACE could help both the Northern Cheyenne and Crow Reservations by hosting best practices workshops such as math and curriculum mapping, read naturally, step up to writing, read 180, character education and effective schools Other suggestions included trying to get all ACE members to agree on a date for one evening and a full day of PIR during the first quarter of the school year, conflict resolution team building, writing teacher evaluations, a quick reference administrator’s handbook, sample guidelines for certified and classified staff and student handbooks She said the ACE curriculum was quite useful and has printed it for her staff.

5. Membership: Judith Gap has joined the ACE membership and Jerry will coordinate introductory workshops with superintendent Fran Swensgard Shepherd has not paid their dues as of this date but indicated that they will do so at the end of the month.

6. Gail Richardson could not attend but sent a report on the upcoming ACE curriculum reviews as posted on the ACE web site.

7. OPI is offering a new Indian Education for All grant opportunity Jerry asked the board if the felt that Ace should look into applying for the grant and suggesting that the grant could be used to provide IEA specialists to be available to member schools Luke Enemy Hunter indicated that he would be willing to help coordinate and write the grant Jerry will work with Luke on the grant  

8. November 10 ACE principal’s meeting:  The meeting was attended by 18 principals from 13 ACE member schools Topics discussed included absentee policies in light of the Swine Flu, school emergency plans, how schools work with social workers, what testing is being used and how the data is incorporated into the system, cell phone policies, student led parent conferences, and what training trainers are being used and could be available for other schools. Several of the principals said they are willing to share their school’s training experiences When asked, the group felt that the ACE PIR dates are now known and should be left as the first Monday after Labor Day and the first Monday in March even if individual schools may schedule conflicts. The group felt the afternoon was very worthwhile and indicated that they would like to meet again in January or February They also felt that ACE grade and or subject area meetings would benefit all teachers.

9. Jerry will attend a SMART board meeting at 3:00 this afternoon.

10. ACE PIR dates:  The dates are now set as the first Monday in September and the first Monday in March Those present felt that there will always be some conflicts but these dates seem to work and are known to all ACE members, some of who choose to not participate (The principals felt the same way at the November 10 meeting.)

11. Training opportunities: These are being listed on mtace.org web site when they are known At the present time ACE is providing 6 + 1 writing workshops at Laurel led by Jeri Heard The how to interpret and use MAP testing data in the classroom that was scheduled to be held at Ryegate on November 2 was canceled because the trainer did not show up Jerry said that Ryegate called him at 10 A.M. that morning and said the trainer was not there. The trainer was reached by phone at 10:30 and told Jerry she had tried to contact Ryegate the week before in order to obtain information on what she was expected to present She said that Ryegate did not respond to any of her messages She sent an email to Jerry at 4 pm on that Friday stating she was not going to go Jerry did not see the email until Monday after Ryegate called him Ryegate told Jerry that they left several messages for the trainer and that they were never contacted back Jerry told the group that it was too late to find a replacement so it would be best to just cancel the workshop having participants send him any mileage and substitute teacher bills. Jerry reported that he is working with Andrea Fisher in order to set up another MAP testing workshop after the Christmas break.
    
    A Dibles training is also being set up using the teachers that ACE paid to become trainers.

12. ASCD annual conference: The conference will be held in San Antonio on March 6 - 8, 2010.  Application forms can be found at the mtace.org web site and are due December 18th. No applications have been received at this time. Jerry will send out another message about the workshop.
    
    At the last meeting Gail Richardson mentioned that teachers and administrators who attend the conference were being paid their normal salary She wondered if ACE would also pay her a salary of $15.00 per hour ($120 per day) when she attends the conference. The board responded that because Gail is an independent contractor who works for others as well as ACE, attendance was not a salaried item but an additional perk ACE offers her. ACE pays the full expense of travel, registration and room for Gail if she chooses to go.


13. March 1, 2010 ACE PIR Day:  As of this time the plan is for all sessions be held at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center with registration and continental breakfast from 8:30 - 9:00 A.M At 9:00 A. M. participants will have their choice of attending one of two sessions: A 9:00 to 4:00 all day workshop by Dr. Melissa Genaux on Creating Effective and Defensible Programs for Kids on the Autism spectrum: Practical Strategies for Rural School Districts The second choice would be a 9:00 - 12:00 morning session with Dr. Tracey Kinney on Delivering the Data Promise - Using High Stakes Test Data to Truly Improve Learning. There would be several 1.5 hour afternoon sessions for attendees to choose from including Dr. Tracey Kinney presenting a follow-up session for K - 6 followed by a session for 7 - 12 Other presenters are being contacted including Jim Staab, Northwest Assessment, and OPI Any suggestions for the afternoon sessions are welcome The board felt that did not want Stephanie Smith from Answers Plus to present that day because of the cost and repetition of sessions already being planned There was some discussion on having presentations on ACT and SAT exams.


14. September 13, 2010 PIR:  Andrea Fisher suggested that ACE look at bringing in Jay McTigh to present on differentiated instruction The PIR day would be followed up with work at individual schools throughout the year Because the state board of public instruction and OPI is requiring standards based education and understanding by design, both of which are McTigh’s specialties, all present felt this would be a good idea, especially since everyone is working on their required five year plans Andrea will continue to contact McTigh and bring more information to the December ACE board meeting.


15. Next ACE board meeting will be on December 16th at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center starting at 9:00 A.M.