ACE Board Meeting Minutes

January 26, 2011 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Billings Hotel and Convention Center

Present were board members Al Sipes, Andy Begger, Josh Middleton, Jennifer Hickok, Tim Dolphay and Mark Brajcich

Guests present were Carl Somers, Carol Blades, Kay Faust, Lorrie Koski, Trent Windsor, Andrea Fischer, Brent Lipp, Cathi Rude, and Steven Schwartz. Gail Richardson and Jerry Scott were also present for the meeting.

  1. Call to order, introductions
    Chairman Al Sipes called the meeting to order at 9:05 having everyone present introduce him or herself.
  1. Approval of December 15, 2010 minutes
    Mark moved to approve the December 15, 2010 board minutes and the January 6, 2011 special board meetings minutes. Jennifer seconded the motion which passed 6 - 0.
  1. Financial report … contract adjustment
    The report was reviewed. Jerry said the teachers retirement system adjusted the maximum one could make and still draw a retirement check and requested that his annual salary as ACE director be adjusted to reflect the change. Andy moved to approve the adjustment in Jerry’s contract. Josh seconded the motion which carried 6 - 0.
  1. New member workshop ... held Billings Central High on January 13th.
    Jerry and Gail reviewed the introduction to ACE workshop they did for the 80 staff members of the Catholic schools. Both Gail and Jerry said the information was well received and appreciated by those in attendance. Trent said he received good feedback about the workshop. Gail mentioned that she told those in attendance schools should personalize the model ACE curriculum to fit their own needs.
  1. Gail Richardson … curriculum review
    Gail reported that all of the curriculum reviews have now been completed. She said she is frustrated that some of the editing work has not been completed as agreed upon by the participants. She cannot complete and post the curriculum until she receives the edits. Al advised that Gail should contact the administrators if she cannot receive a response from the participants.
  1. ACE March 7, 2011 and September 12, 2011 PIR days
    Jerry is trying to finalize the information on the March 7 PIR so he can send out registration forms. The plan is to review Understanding by Design in the morning and have small groups work on completing a draft unit plan in the afternoon. Jerry reported that there were around 250 who indicated in the spring survey they would be attending the Marcy 7 PIR day. The two McTighe associates have committed to be the presenters and the Crown Plaza contract has been signed. Crown Plaza said they could arrange for bus parking if needed.

    Discussion on the 2011 - 2012 ACE PIR days followed with the board deciding to hold a special meeting at 9:00 A.M. in the Billings Hotel and Convention Center in order to plan for the new director’s needs, the PIR days, and set some short and long term goals. The board agreed that the September PIR day should continue to have bus driver training on that day
  1. ACE Director position
    Andy moved to approve the contract for Andrea Fischer as the 2011 - 2012 ACE director at 0.6 time principal hours and a salary of $44,000 with benefits and conditions as stated in the contract. Mark seconded the motion. Discussion on the location of the office, who will handle the finances, and consulting fees followed. The board decided to have a special meeting on February 16th at 9:00 A.M. in the Billings Hotel and Convention Center in order to map out such decisions. The motion to approve the contract for Andrea passed on a 6 - 0 vote.
  1. Technology train the trainer
    Trent said the 4 day 7 hour per day training of the trainer was completed and went very well. There are now 10 white board trainers in the state of which 7 are from ACE member schools. Trent plans to meet on the 11th with the 9 local trainers to set up specialized areas, including assessment. Trent emphasized that there is a difference in instruction and training. Instruction is a collaborative piece that allows growth. For training it is necessary to look at the ability of the groups you are going to train. Trent also reported that the technology consortium and advanced group are both doing well. The advanced group will now start to utilize and format some of the data work Jim Staab has done with ACE schools. He felt the technology consortium might look at developing materials for K - 8 and multi-grade schools systems. Al requested that Trent send Jerry a list of the trainers along with their contact information so the information can be placed on the ACE web site. Al said these trainers are now available to work with individual schools.
  1. Carol Blades
    Carol introduced herself, passed out an information sheet, and said she was available to help with any professional development or training for ACE and/or the schools. Carol said her strength is working with teachers and staff development. She does not believe in one-shot professional development but believes in continuous training. Carol said she loves to work with students who are at risk and their teachers. She left her contact information with those present.
  1. Lori Brennemann
    Lori is working for the Montana Department of Agriculture and said she would like to join ACE in order to keep up with her professional development as well as what is going on in the area schools. Jerry suggested that, because Lori was requesting membership as an individual, ACE just add her to the member email list so she can choose which PIR days to attend. The board gave its approval to add Lori to the member email list.
  1. 6 + 1 Writing workshops and proposal
    Kay Faust and Lorrie Koski were present to report on the 6 + 1 trait-writing workshops that were held this fall. 17 teachers from 7 schools attended the 18-hour workshop held over three months. This allowed the attendees to practice what they learned and report back at the next session. The evaluations returned all indicated that the sessions were excellent and more sessions should be offered in the future. This was the second year that this workshop has been offered by ACE. The board felt they should continue with the offering the workshop in the future. Lorrie and Kay also requested that the ACE board look into sending them, and others, to the 6 + 1 Trait Writing training of trainers for further certification. The board asked for more information, including expenses, for the February meeting.
  1. National ASCD conference … March 25 - 27, 2011, San Francisco
    A list of those who showed interest in attending the conference was distributed. After discussion Mark moved to have ACE only send Andera and Jerry paying their full expenses. Andy seconded the motion, which carried 6-0. Jerry will notify the two teachers who applied of the motion.

  2. MRESA3 meeting
    Jerry reported that SMART has changed its name MRESA3 … Montana Regional Education Service Area III. He reported on the January 24 board meeting stating that ACE is still a part of the organization. Jerry felt that the direction MRESA3 was taking is starting to realize the original vision of the group, namely, becoming an information center for regional professional development opportunities as well as providing professional development through grants, regional schools, CSPD region 3, and MSU-Billings. Jerry believes that ACE still needs to be an active board member.

  3. September 13, 2010 PIR
    Next ACE board meeting was set for February 23, 2011 at 9:00 A.M. at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center
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