LRP Committee April 30, 2007

Long Range Plan Review Committee
Minutes
April 30, 2007

Members in Attendance:
Harry Amend* Susan Clayton Chris Hammons Bryan Martin* Joel Palmer
Rosie Astorquia* Jane Curtis Russ Hansen David Miller Pam Pratt*
Hazel Bauman* Jim Ferguson Katie Harris Jill Neal Lori Smith
Jeff Bengtson Scott Fischer* Doug Jaworski Vern Newby* Tami Stroud
Steve Briggs* Lana Hamilton Erin Lenz Dave Patzer John Swallow
Dianna Walde
*Ex-officio members

Welcome:
Dave Patzer called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m. The meeting was held at the Midtown Center meeting room.

Levy Rate Report – Steve Briggs:
The committee was provided with a handout on FY 2007 school levies to address questions that were surfaced at the last meeting. This handout included a bar graph illustrating levy rates for school districts with 5,000 or more students as well comparative data on the back. Steve pointed out the percentages listed on the right hand side of graph represent how much of each district’s levy is required to pay off bonded indebtedness. Coeur d’Alene is one of the lowest out of the top 13 districts with 14% and Lewiston does not have a bonded levy. If the District would have passed the $20,000,000 S.P.F.L, the levy rate would have changed from $1.12 to $1.71 per thousand (keeping the September 2006 values the same) which is still significantly less than some of the other large districts.
Harry stated that one of the focal points of the levy campaign has been emphasizing that out of Idaho’s 114 districts, 98 districts levy taxes at a higher rate than the Coeur d’Alene School District. There has been a lot of positive response at levy presentations regarding this fact.

Supplemental Maintenance & Operations Levy Update – Harry Amend:
Harry informed the committee of two major levy presentations this evening with booster clubs as well as with students and parents involved in activities, one at Coeur d’Alene High School at 6:00 p.m. and one at Lake City High School at 7:00 p.m. There are 11 more presentations left which will put the total at approximately 89. Presentations have been made to the Mica Grange, Hayden Chamber and Hayden City Council who are all in support. In addition to these presentations, John Young has contacted over 60 business owners and rallied them together. They are buying two full back page ads in the newspaper to be run on Monday and Tuesday endorsing the levy and listing the supporters. Bill Radabenko has been working with these same businesses to have them advertise the levy on their reader boards and they are also purchasing signs. The Press is donating the Tuesday back page for the levy. The plan for the last 8-10 days will be half-page levy ads in both newspapers, 20,000 door hangers have been ordered and mailings will be sent to approximately 4,000-5,000 voters that have been identified as yes voters (Levy Steering Committee dollars). Flyers will also be handed out at local grocery stores. The CEA, administrators and volunteers will be calling parents on Sunday and Monday (as long it is marked yes to contact on registration cards). Several voters have already voted absentee.
Rosie Astorquia reported that numerous phone calls have been placed to voters and at this time there are 3,500 yes and/or undecided voters identified. She thanked all the volunteers for their help.

Approval of the Minutes:
Motion by Lori Smith, second by Lana Hamilton to approve the February 26, 2007 and March 26, 2007 minutes, approved unanimously.

Approval of By-Laws – Doug Jaworski:
The committee was provided with a redlined copy of the By-Laws (attached to original minutes) which denoted proposed changes by the subcommittee comprised of Doug Jaworski, Jane Curtis and Susan Clayton. Doug stated that most of the changes were housekeeping and making things current. He proceeded to go over the changes with the committee. Committee discussion followed. Motion by Lana Hamilton, second by Jim Ferguson to approve the By-Laws changes as presented and make the recommendation to the School Board, approved unanimously.

Board of Trustees Report – Vern Newby:
Vern is thankful that there are no students at Hayden Lake Elementary due to current road construction taking place on Government Way. Trustee Edie Brooks and Board Clerk Lynn Towne recently attended nationals in California. Lynn also attended some law seminars in Boise on the way back.

Discussion of S.P.F.L. Priorities:
The committee was provided with a memo, scoring descriptions and Criteria for Future Building Projects matrix dated September 2003 which was created by Scott Fischer. Steve explained that the matrix is a subjective review which provides an opportunity to discuss building conditions (needs assessment). Each school was scored based on building condition (100 points max.), site viability (90 points max.), educational effectiveness (80 points max.) and demographics (70 points max.) with a total maximum score of 340 points. This needs assessment was used to drive the S.P.F.L. It was suggested that portables need to be looked at again since some schools were penalized more than once for having these. Another suggestion was to add growth potential as another category. Steve would like the committee to look at this assessment tool over the summer, make changes and update it in the fall.
Jill Neal provided Cheri with an updated copy of the matrix dated 2/24/05. The updated copy will be provided to the committee.

District Report – Steve Briggs:
The District is moving forward on a grant application to secure the Federal Building located at 4th and Lakeside. An extension of time was granted and the new deadline to submit the application is May 23rd. The guidelines established by the federal government give homeless agencies a higher priority than education.

Other:
Dave Patzer explained that when the Legislature took the M & O off the property tax and shifted it to sales tax, the Lake City Development Corporation (LCDC) ended up with approximately $250,000 of school district money. There is an effort going on right now to impart change the Idaho Statute and return the money to the school district. LCDC is meeting with Representative Clark this week. Hazel and Harry attended the last couple of LCDC meeting and discussed the needs of the Sorensen Magnet School (meet ADA requirements). The LCDC Board voted to do whatever they could to return that money in the form of public improvements. Sorensen falls just outside of the district and some have said that LCDC may not be able to spend money on that project. Legal counsel has advised LCDC that they can spend that money outside the district if it is for public infrastructure improvements that benefit the patrons of the district. Since LCDC does not have any public schools in their district, Sorensen fulfills this need and it services the Lake District. LCDC is working on moving forward on this.

Next Meeting:
The next Long Range Planning meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. at the Midtown Center meeting room.

Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheri Beard
Administrative Secretary

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