EDUCATION OVERSIGHT BOARD MEETING MINUTES February 18, 2009, 8:00 A.M. Conference Room 412C (4th Floor) State Capitol Building Oklahoma City, OK 73105 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Field, Abby Holbrook, Dr. Sherry Labyer, Edward Petersen, Ami Shaffer, Penny Williams, Sen. John Ford, and Rep. Ann Coody BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Patrick Gilmore OTHER REGULAR ATTENDEES: Office of Accountability Staff: Robert Buswell, Jeff Wallace, Dan Craig, Jerry Hsieh, and Dr. Lonnie Melvin VISITORS: none Call to Order: Ms. Field called the meeting to order at 8:18 A.M. Introduction of board members and guests: All board members and office staff introduced themselves. Roll Call: Ms. Field declared a quorum to be present. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Petersen made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 19, 2008 meeting. Ms. Shaffer seconded the motion, and it passed without dissent. Status Report on the Oklahoma School Performance Review Program (OSPR): Mr. Buswell mentioned that the Duncan performance review on-site visit by consultants had been completed last week, several presentations had been made, and new districts had been recruited; he then called on Mr. Craig. Mr. Craig told the board that the Thackerville and Turner performance reviews were completed and presented in January. Craig indicated that many good recommendations had been made to these districts and that both school boards were very complementary of the process. Mr. Craig reported that the Duncan on-site was last week with a final presentation to their school board scheduled for June. He also reported that a review for the Crooked Oak district would start in April, the El Reno school board will vote at their next meeting to approve conducting a review, and a visit to Hulbert is planned to determine if they want a review. Mr. Craig closed by saying that recruiting efforts are ongoing. Mr. Buswell spoke about follow-up projects that the office has helped with after completing selected performance reviews. Follow-up projects look at a detailed need that came up during a district’s performance review. Examples recently completed include: Frederick Public Schools – a security review and evaluation; Wynnewood Public Schools – an energy audit; and Thackerville Public Schools – master planning for their campus. Mr. Buswell informed the Board that Sen. Ford has submitted a bill to include an additional trigger for school districts to qualify for 100% funding for school performance reviews. Adding free and reduced priced lunch criteria would qualify an additional 127 districts. SB 473 is out of committee, passed 47-0 in the Senate and has been sent to the House. Dr. Labyer spoke on her experiences as Duncan superintendent working on the OSPR. She said it was a lot of work before the on-site consultant visit took place but she treated it as a growth opportunity and not a threat. She likes the fact that she will get to review the report before it goes to her school board. She thought the firm hired by the Office of Accountability was very professional and she would recommend the process to any school district. She also stated the process has been very rewarding and that it is good to have other eyes looking at Duncan’s operations. Dr. Labyer would recommend the process to anyone. Ms. Williams asked about follow-up of prior reviews. Mr. Craig stated that a questionnaire has been sent to all of the previous performance review districts and that about 70% of the consultant’s recommendations have been implemented. Letters of recommendation have also been received from a few of the districts with completed reviews. Mr. Buswell and Mr. Craig spoke on planned improvements to the performance reviews such as using color text, and the inclusion of photographs and web links. Dr. Melvin described her experiences as the newest Coordinator of School Improvement beginning with the Thackerville and Turner board presentations and the on-site work for Duncan. Mr. Petersen asked Dr. Labyer about the community perception of the performance review. Dr. Labyer spoke about five focus groups that were held in conjunction with the review. Open ended questions were asked during the focus groups. No school employees participated in the community forums. Dr. Labyer said she plans to do another forum to discuss results of the completed review and show the community follow-up and future plans stemming from the review. Mr. Buswell spoke about the review team hired to complete the Duncan review and their experience. Status Report on the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program: Mr. Wallace reported that most of the data needed to complete the educational indicators reports has been received with only a few pieces of data remaining to be obtained from the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education. Mr. Buswell reiterated that everything is running quite well and that staff from the State Department of Education have been very responsive. Mr. Buswell addressed SB 1111 which would drastically change the makeup of the Office of Accountability. SB 1111 would have most of the data gathering responsibilities carried out by the State Department of Education transferred to a new office created out of the current Office of Accountability. The state-wide student testing program and the Academic Achievement Award program would also be transferred. The author of the bill, Sen. Clark Jolley, was very complimentary to the Office in wanting to relocate these functions to the O of A and take politics out of the process. Sen. Ford stated that the bill has passed out of committee and should be heard on the floor of the Senate within the next three weeks. After a brief discussion about the bill, Mr. Buswell read the current tracking report for the bill. Mr. Buswell also mentioned two other bills; SB 405 which would restructure longevity pay for state employees and SB 748 that would require a performance audit, similar to the one conducted last year for the Department of Corrections, to be carried out for the State Department of Education. Dr. Labyer said she met with other superintendents at Oklahoma Association of School Administrators (OASA) Conference and they asked her to talk about SB 1111. She spoke about her conversations with other superintendents regarding the Office of Accountability and the school performance review program and suggested that the Office of Accountability needed some sort of marketing publication. There was much discussion about the pros and cons of SB 1111. Ms. Field said she had heard concerns about separating curriculum from testing. Ms. Williams asked how other states coordinate their testing. Mr. Buswell talked about how some states approach testing, accountability, and state school boards. There was also discussion about the testing process and cut scores. Ms. Field asked how many staff would be moving if SB 1111 passes. Mr. Buswell said he thought there would be about 20 staff positions involved with the move. Status Year-to-Date Expenditure Report for FY-2009: Mr. Buswell handed out a copy of the budget and reported on the major line items. Ms. Holbrook asked about the cost to a district to get a performance review and Mr. Buswell stated that only two districts have paid 25% of the cost for their review – Ponca City and Stillwater; all others have been fully funded by the Office. Dr. Labyer asked about the budgetary aspect of SB 473. Mr. Buswell stated that it gives the Office an opportunity to recruit more districts for performance reviews and that there is no additional costs associated with the bill. He also brought to the attention of the board an unbudgeted increase in rent and stated that it should not affect the outcome for the year. Mr. Buswell commented that in-state mileage, postage, and printing have increased over prior year’s and that at the end of the financial year the office should have only an eight percent carryover. Approval of Proclamations of Appreciation for State Senator Judy Eason McIntyre and State Representative Tad Jones: Mr. Buswell showed copies of proclamations for Sen. McIntyre and Rep. Jones. Ms. Williams made a motion to accept the Proclamations of Appreciation for Sen. McIntyre and Rep. Jones. Ms. Holbrook seconded the motion and it passed without dissent. Mr. Buswell said he would have the proclamations framed and delivered to the legislators. New Business: Dr. Labyer made a motion to move the board meeting start time to 9:00 AM for all remaining board meetings. Ms. Shaffer seconded the motion. Mr. Buswell explained reasons why the board meets at 8:00 AM during the legislative session. After a brief discussion, the motion passed without dissent. Announcements: No announcements. Adjournment: Mr. Petersen made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Holbrook seconded the motion, and it passed without dissent. The meeting adjourned at 9:39 AM. The minutes of the February 18, 2009 meeting of the Education Oversight Board were approved as submitted on June 17, 2009.