WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

 

Minutes from Board of Trustees Meeting

June 6, 2014

Vancouver, Washington

 

 

Board Members Participating:  Jim Kemp, Cindy Bennett, Nancy McDaniel, Dennis Mathews, Yang-su Cho, John Glenn, Lorna Walsh, Denise Colley and Ed Snook.

 

Ex-Officio Members Participating:  Doug Trimble (Teachers Association) and Berl Colley (Washington Council of the Blind).

 

Ex-Officio Members Absent:  Michael Freeman (National Federation of the Blind of Washington), Scott Hone (Washington Federation of State Employees Local #1225), and Denise Vestman (Parent Representative).

 

WSSB Staff Members Participating:  Dr. Dean Stenehjem (Superintendent), Mary Sarate (Director of Business and Finance), Sherry Hahn (Digital Research and Development Coordinator), and Janet Kurz (recording secretary).

 

June 6, 2014 – 12:00pm 

Ed called the meeting to order at 12:00pm. 

 

Business Meeting:

Old Business:

*      Approve board meeting minutes of May 1, 2014. Jim moved to approve the minutes as submitted; Lorna seconded the motion.  The minutes were approved unanimously. 

 

New Business:

Mary Sarate, Director of Business and Finance:

*      Mary stated the financials that were provided (listed below) reflects the month ending April, 2014.  Mary stated the report is misleading as the surplus of funds is partly due to positions that are open (School Psychologist, etc.). 

*      Mary expressed her concern with the financial status of the Ogden Resource Center; if they continue to expend funds as they have been throughout the school year, they may overspend.

*      The 19B fund is averaging about $500,000 per year in carry over funds, which has been a key factor in being able to fund some of the non-funded program needs at this time.

*      Mary is waiting for information from managers for next year’s budget allocations. 

*      Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB had not increased Outreach fees and many years due to the terrible economy and had supplemented some of this service to assist students in local districts.   However, next year 10% increase has been added to help cover all of our Outreach costs. This still keeps WSSB slightly under the rate that is charged by the Educational Service Districts throughout our state.

*      Regarding the audit (details listed below in the reports):  Two things that were not included (not findings) is the petty cash fund in the espresso stand is not being balanced on a daily basis; the day the auditor went to check the cash register there was too much money in the register (supposed to be $40, was $89).  The other recommendation from the auditor was that WSSB should institute a policy regarding investments.  The superintendent has wide authority to invest funds, purchase real estate, etc.  Dr. Stenehjem stated the policy will be put in place by next fall.  The audit also reviewed WSSB’s Betterment fund.  The Braille Access Center (BAC) Enterprise fund had a finding.  Also, student work experience timesheets were not being signed by student and supervisor.  Reconciliation with financial records; this is directly tied to DES.  Those funds are reconciled monthly; when DES did this, they combined the betterment fund with state revolving fund; WSSB did reconcile monthly; however they were not being balanced.  This issue has been resolved.    

*      Dr. Stenehjem stated he is thankful to have the business office back on campus again.  Dr. Stenehjem feels that DES tried their best, however they were overwhelmed with the amount of agencies they were charged to oversee and WSSB was not able to receive the type of information that was needed to operate efficiency/effectively.

*      Dennis asked about early childhood services.  Dennis stated, as he understands this, WSSB will be using 19B funds to start this position and program with the probability that in the future, state funds will support the program.  WSSB is hoping to have a line item in the state budget for the Birth-Three program.  Dr. Stenehjem stated this will be a decision package in the next biennial budget.  Dennis felt that this was well worth pursuing.

 

Sherry Hahn (Digital Research and Development Coordinator)

*      Dr. Stenehjem asked Sherry Hahn to come to the Board meeting to recognize Sherry for the excellent job she has done.  When Sherry started her career, she had no experience in working with blind and visually impaired (BVI), but was a quick study and gained the respect of TVIs and blind consumers through her dedication to the field.  Dr. Stenehjem stated excellent partnerships have been established and big steps have been gained since Sherry began. 

*      Sherry has 15 leads and five contracts in place for online classes for students next year.  Sherry would love to see WSSB move into the arena of Digital Learning Science programs.  Sherry shared two letters from students who had an excellent experience with the Digital Learning Program (math). 

*      Discussion was held regarding starting a Digital Learning Science program.  Funding is one barrier and the other is finding the right TVI.   

*      WSSB will once again host the annual Computer Programming Camp for teachers working with BVI students.  To date, 30 people have signed up (from across the United States). This is a pilot program, promoting a new computer programming language designed for BVI students.  

*      Sherry stated the Board will get to meet the new Digital Learning Coordinator, Mike Bicknell.  Mike comes to us from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. 

*      Microsoft was on campus last week to film WSSB’s Lync Digital Learning math program (human interest story).  This included student and teacher interviews.  WSSB is considered Microsoft Expert Educators.  Yang-su stated Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) has started using Lync for instant messaging. 

*      Yang-su asked if WSSB has considered purchasing the new 3D printer.  Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB has a volunteer photographer who worked for Fuji for 30 years and would like WSSB to purchase this printer if the equipment has advanced enough that it makes good sense.  Dr. Stenehjem has connected this person with American Printing House for the Blind (APH) for more information.  Dr. Stenehjem stated if Yang-su had information to send it our direction.  Sherry stated they are hearing less about Haptic and more on 3D printing, at this time.

*      Dennis asked if Sherry wants science to be where math is now, via digital learning.  Dr. Stenehjem stated the curriculum would need to be developed before contracts with districts could be put in place.  Dennis asked if there were any leads for a TVI in this area.  Dr. Stenehjem feels if a concept can be put together and include other schools and for the blind, it could be presented to the Gates Foundation or others to gain funding.  Lorna asked how many students teachers could instruct using this platform/approach; Sherry felt there would be about 10 students per class. Dr. Stenehjem stated since this online approach is synchronous ideally if other schools for the blind replicate the program it would increase the optional times across the country for students to join in and gain this knowledge in a way that made sense.   Replication could provide many times during the day for students to take a class that is 100% accessible/ usable.  Crossing borders creates some issues, but I’m sure these can be resolved in order to improve education. Sherry stated it has been her honor to work with the Board and WSSB. 

 

 

Superintendent’s Report

Dr. Stenehjem reviewed the following: 

*      Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB received an invoice from the Department of Enterprise Services (DES) as part of a bill from the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) for $246,000 which is currently due.  This was a huge surprise.  WSSB already pays approximately $62,000-$67,000 per year.  WSSB had four open claims, of which only two are currently open.  WSSB is in the petition phase with a claim that is a key to this huge increase in rates.  Anne Baker, Human Resources Manager is attempting to garner more information regarding the claim. Dr. Stenehjem will keep the board posted on this.  Dennis asked who assists with this.  Dr. Stenehjem stated Anne will be contacting our Attorney General. WSSB knew there was an open claim but did not know that it had grown to this magnitude. 

*      Denise asked about the error that was made in the budget and why is WSSB only receiving half of that back.  Dr. Stenehjem stated he would get the answer and send that out. Having checked with Mary Sarate, Director of Business and Finance, this related to funds that should have come back into our budget from DES since they are not and have not been responsible for H.R. services. They had this in their budget proposal and it was pulled from DES, but somehow did not get put back into the WSSB budget.  Therefore, WSSB needs to submit a supplemental budget request (which is a technical fix) for the 2015 budget process. 

*      Dr. Stenehjem is waiting to receive the budget instructions for the next biennial budget.  WSSB has decision packages that we are going to submit.  State agencies have been advised that we will be moving into a very difficult 2015-2017 biennium and that decision packages will be hard to come by; however WSSB provides basic education and some of these packages are tied directly to “Basic Education”.  Dr. Stenehjem received a PowerPoint from OFM projecting 2015-2017 anticipated revenue, which doesn’t look good based upon prior years.  The economy has been improving, but numerous provisions have been put in place over the years, which had reduced tax collections, which will be causing major issues in funding needed services.   Potential reductions in state budgets will be in place even without the McCleary Decision in regards to fully funding “Basic Education” as mandated by the state constitution.  Revenue collections are at a historic low, in relationship to personnel income.

*      Strategic Plan – Dr. Stenehjem will be pulling this together and put into a format as per requirements with the budget instructions. WSSB will continue to push forward on the coordination of Birth-Three services in our state.  WSSB has good buy in from all agencies involved in helping put these important services in place.  The Birth-Three statewide coordinator position was posted and WSSB will be interviewing five candidates on June 16. Dr. Stenehjem has been meeting with Health Care Authority (HCA) to gain information on how to go about getting vision related services for B-3 included as billable services, like many other states to help increase services to this population. WSSB has also been working with Gavin from the ESD 112 who is a wealth of information in this area.   We estimate that vision related services could be set up under HCA [State Plan Amendment (SPA)], and this could result in an estimated $500,000 to $1,000,000 per year in additional program dollars. This could possibly garner funding from private insurance.  We have a lot of unknowns at this time.

*      WSSB wants to find ways to increase pay for TVI’s.  WSSB would like to be able to be contemporary with local school districts that are able to pay TRI funds.  WSSB would like to look into private/local funds to level the pay scale. 

*      Teacher shortage is a huge issue (TVI and O&M).  WSSB met with architectural and engineering services through DES; to get a modular home in place, on campus, by September.  This will provide free housing for student/practicum teachers.  Dr. Stenehjem feels if WSSB can get someone to Washington, we can keep them.  This is a huge benefit as WSSB can see how the student teacher performs before a hire decision is made.  Cindy asked how many practicum students can live in the modular.  Dr. Stenehjem stated four people can stay in the home at a time.    

*      Portland State University (PSU) TVI Program:  Dr. Holly Lawson will be taking the position that Dr. Jim Bickford has held at Portland State University for the past 13 years.  Dr. Bickford will be retiring this year.

*      Public Records Request – WSSB has seen an increase in public records request.  These can consume a great deal of time in research, redacting, etc. 

 

*      Election of Officers:

o   Jim nominated Ed Snook as Chairman of the Board; Nancy seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously. 

o   Denise  nominated Lorna Walsh as Vice Chair; Yang-su   seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously. 

 

Recognition

*      Ed would like the Board to recognize Sherry Hahn for the program she has developed and WSSB has garnered international recognition because of her hard work. 

*      Denise Colley’s term will be ending this year.  Denise has served on the Board of Trustees for 11 years.  Dr. Stenehjem provided Denise with a plaque of appreciation.  Dr. Stenehjem would like to ask that Denise continue on the Board until a replacement is located. 

*      Dr. Stenehjem also re-presented a plaque of appreciation for Steve Rainey for his years of service.  Steve has been participating on the Board since 1996, originally in his capacity of Parent Representative.

*      Dr. Stenehjem also has a plaque for Denise Vestman for her years of service as Parent Representative.

*      Dr. Stenehjem handed out a certificate of appreciation to all board members, thanking them for their excellent service. 

 

Executive Session

An executive session was called to order at 1:15pm.

 

Committee Assignments

·         Education Committee (Chair-John, Cindy, Denise C., Doug, Yang-su).

·         Buildings and Grounds Committee (Chair-Berl, Jim).

·         Management Committee (Chair-Lorna, Ed, Jim, Nancy, Denise).

·         Legislative Committee (Chair-Denise, Yang-su, Lorna, Berl, Michael, Dennis).

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:45pm.  The next Board meeting will be held in Vancouver on September 12, 2014 at 11:00am.   

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Ed Snook, Chair                                                                                 Dean O. Stenehjem, Ed.D.

                                                                                                                Superintendent

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Board Reports – June 2014

 

Outreach

Rate Increase

We are finishing the year strong and wrapping up evaluation requests and services for students.  Contracts for services have gone out and are already returning.  We increased our costs by 10% for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year. This will raise our rates from $540 to $595 per day.  In a review of educational service districts (ESDs), we found that our prices were still lower as we do not charge for mileage, first visits and assistive technology support.  Our last rate change was five years ago and we have seen large increases in costs partly due to the motor pool situation. 

 

Position Openings

We have posted two positions, one each in the Spokane and Seattle areas. I am hoping that we will get some interest but at this time, there have been no inquiries.

 

Trainings:  There were two trainings offered in the last quarter of this year:

·         Phil Schweigert presented on communication strategies for multiply involved children. We had 60 participants made up of Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI’s), Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) and classroom teachers.  This one-day workshop was well received. 

·         Our final workshop of the school year was “The Symbols and Meanings” workshop presented by Millie Smith. Millie is considered a guru in the field of developing concept-based programs for multiply involved students.  She is the author of several publications and the creator of the Sensory Learning Kit and the Symbols and Meanings Kit, both of which are staples in the itinerant teachers’ bag of tools. WSSB worked with the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) to make this training possible. 

 

Upcoming Trainings

Three trainings will occur this summer:

·         The Combined Summer Institute (Washington Sensory Disability Services (WSDS)) will be held in Seattle, July 24 and 25. The vision strand of this training will feature workshops in Orientation and Mobility (O&M), Unified English Braille and tactile graphics. 

·         The WSSB Summer Institute for Educators will occur July 27-August 1.  This institute is geared towards educators (teachers and para educators, SLPs, etc.) that will be working with visually impaired students in the upcoming school year. 

·         The Cortical Visual Impairment Mentoring Workshop featuring Dr. Chris Roman will occur August 3-8.  Information about all these workshops is available on the school’s website and on the WSDS website.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Digital/Distance Learning

It is May – wow! June is just around the corner and another wonderful school year is coming to an end. This June will be a bitter sweet month for me as it will be my last month working at WSSB. So this report is also my last one and my chance to say that I have been honored to work with such a wonderful and caring group which includes the students, the staff but also this Board. I want to take this time to tell you that your support and guidance is invaluable in maintaining the high quality education and services for blind and visually impaired (BVI) students not only on campus but throughout the state of Washington. Your dedication and hard work deserves a round of applause–and a big thank you for all the support you have given me.

 

When I look back at the last 8 years I know we have taken a vision and made it a reality. The idea that we could successfully take one of the most difficult educational challenges, online high school math for BVI, and make it work, and make it work is nothing short of amazing.

 

This summer we are once again opening our campus for a Programming Camp. With financial support from the Pacific Foundation for Blind Children (PFBC) and University of Washington Mini Access Grant we will have 28 teachers on campus learning how to teach accessible programming to students across the US and Canada. This year we had 44 applicants and had to select those teachers who demonstrated the greatest chance to deliver this training back to children. This camp will take place July 16-23. This program has expanded each year. WSSB is committed to continuing this tradition, growing it, enhancing it and providing students with an exceptional opportunity that will support their future.

 

My last wish is that WSSB, with the support of the board, expand our program. Students are still being shorted when it comes to areas in Science and Programming. These are two areas we need to move ahead and digital education is the perfect platform to move this forward. There is a good chance we will start this year with 9 off campus students, proof that the program is growing. The exciting thing is that once they start math with us they stay, that is testimony that the students see the value of the educational service they are receiving.

 

So you already know I am replaceable and that replacement is Mike Bicknell whom we have snatched away from Texas School for the Blind. Mike will be a great addition to the WSSB staff bringing a fresh and knowledgeable perspective to digital education, and providing strong support to our wonderful IT staff. I leave you in good hands and wish you all the best in future adventures.

 

I wanted to leave you with a message from one of our students enrolled in our Digital Learning program.  His school year is at an end and he will continue to check in with JJ Isaacson (TVI) for the remainder of our time as he feels it is important.

 

I thought I would write this end-of-year email to all of you. I want to tell all of you how much I appreciated working with you this year.

 

I really feel that I have learned a lot from everyone, and I truly appreciate everything. In some classes, it is hard to make accommodations for blind students, but everyone was patient and worked with me on whatever I needed. Everyone understood my needs and what was needed for me to get my work done in an effective manner. I cannot begin to express how much this means to me, and I will miss every one of you over the summer. Thank you for all you do to make my education successful.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

On Campus

Enrollment - total on-campus programs is 73 students.  Breakdown: 

        57 students in grades 6-12

        9 students enrolled in Learning Independence for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) program (fifth                                           year program designed to help students-mostly from local school districts with a smooth                                        transition to employment and post-secondary education)

        7 students participate in the on-line program

 

Ten of our students attend one or more classes at Hudson’s Bay High School, while four students attend Clark Community College.  Ten students will graduate next week. It is expected that another ten students will enroll by the start of the new school year bringing total expected enrollment for September, 2014 to 67. At this time, it looks like 11 students will participate in one or more of four mathematics offerings on-line for the 2014-2015 school year. Participation includes students from Idaho, Oregon, Alaska and Washington.

 

Orientation & Mobility (O&M)

Due to the student additions this year, we are running short of O&M slots to serve our students’ needs.  We are using a temporary paraprofessional assignment at this time to meet these needs.

 

Common Core

Over the past years WSSB has used the states required course listings as our course catalog, along with information from the student’s evaluation to develop the student’s schedule.  WSSB is now in the process of revising this process with the school’s own course catalog, which will allow for some additional flexibility to be able to be more accountable for students’ progress toward the common core standards. This will be in place for the 2014-2015 school year. We have now entered all appropriate course codes that match state course codes, thereby making it easier for staff other than our own to evaluate our transcripts. Scheduling for next school year is near completion. We will use a quarter-based system, which allows us to provide focused instruction in ten-week increments. Several classes are now cross-credited. For example, a student who takes an intensive ten-week O&M course can earn fitness credit in that time. To date, pull outs did not allow a student to earn credit.

 

 

 

 

Job Placements

Our transition coordinator has done a tremendous job developing job placements for our students in the community and on campus. The student store is now open regularly. We anticipate expanding the amount of product offered to expand to apparel, cane, cane tips, braille paper and the like over the summer.  

 

TPEP

WSSB began implementation of the new teacher and principal evaluation system. Our legislature may need to make several more decisions before the system can be completely implemented.  The really new part of TPEP is the emphasis on continuous staff development, which is both positive and encouraging. Currently, only volunteer teachers have been evaluated with TPEP.  In light of the Doran decision, making special education part of basic education, and in light of the anticipated state budget shortfalls, it is imperative that WSSB aligns with school districts in all of its practices. 

 

State requirement on 1080 instructional hours per year

Washington State requires that school districts offer students 1080 hours of direct instruction per school year. Many districts have difficulty achieving this number. Because WSSB implements 24-hour IEPs, the required number of hours is easily met. For our day students, the number of hours of instruction per year averages 1,194.  For residential students, that number is 1,736.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Residential

Residential Life Activities

As is normal for this time of year, there are multiple activities going on almost every day. The whole campus is trying to create and carry out activities to close out the year. Students are excited and tired! We are wrapping up the pilot year of our focused DLS curriculum. We feel it has been very successful for a first year, and are planning new ideas and lessons for next year.

 

Staff Evaluations

Staff evaluations were completed this quarter, and we will try to implement training requested by staff into the coming year. We have a talented staff with many interests and we will try and incorporate some of their talents into educational programs for the students in the coming year(s). We have one Residential Life Counselor (RLC) who will take advantage of our new policy to support graduate school training to become a TVI. She will enter the program at the University of N. Colorado in the fall, and continue to work as an RLC while doing that.

 

Summer Programs

Planning for summer programs is progressing. We expect to have enough students to use all four cottages for the first week.

 

LIFTT

Students in the LIFTT program are finishing up their goals and planning for their next steps. They have all increased their skills of independence and are ready for their next step.

 

Applications are coming in for the fall and we are about reaching capacity. We are planning a pilot program to occur in July. Students who plan to attend Clark College are requested to attend an orientation where they will complete many of the steps that should be completed before starting the program in the fall. The hope is that by getting a lot of the enrollment tasks completed in July, students will be prepared to enter LIFTT in September and have a course schedule already set, and be more ready to start college.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Business Office

1.       2013-15 Operating Budget

Listed below is a monthly budget summary for our main funds:  General Fund, 19B Local Fund and Betterment.  We ended with a positive fund balance of just under 1% in State General Fund. We will be re-evaluating allotments for the coming year. Our spending is in line with revenue; however, vacant position funding is being used to meet operating costs which creates a problem once positions are filled. 

 

2.       2013-15 Supplemental Budget

Two of our four decision packages were approved; one for 6FTEs and the other increasing our 19B spending authority to $2.02 million per year. We have submitted our allotment package and re-cast activity for these as required. 

 

We received a $106,000 cut in error.  Because the legislature is no longer in session, we will have to absorb half of it and submit for a technical correction in the 2015-17 budget.

 

3.       2013 Local Funds Audit

        Our betterment and enterprise (Ogden Resource Center) funds were selected for audit for the period         July 1, 2012–June 30, 2013.  They took exception to the following:

 

Expenditures

The School did not obtain adequate documentation to support expenditures made from the Betterment Fund.  85 transactions, totaling $75,463 were selected for review and noted the following:

·         Twelve transactions for student work experiences were not supported by adequate      documentation, such as timesheets. The total amount paid for these transactions was $2,361.

·         Receipts for six transactions were not retained to support payments for student activities. Of these       six transactions, four were checks written for cash. The total amount paid for the transactions was        $1,170.

 

The School does not require verification of student work experience timesheets prior to making payments.  Instead, supervisors produce a master spreadsheet with the total amounts to be paid to workers. The master spreadsheet is not adequate to support the payroll expenditures, as it does not specify the hours worked or wage paid per hour for each employee.

 

The School does not always collect receipts for payments made to vendors or when issuing checks for cash out of the Betterment Fund.  Because the School is not verifying supporting documentation for issued payments, it cannot ensure that the use of its Betterment funds is allowable.

 

Cost allocation

The Braille Access Center (BAC) has six employees whose salaries are paid by various funding sources. The salaries and benefits for these employees totaled $335,529. Of this amount, $127,180 (38%) was charged to the BAC.  Annually, the School sends the Department of Enterprise Services an estimate of each employee’s percentage of time they work on state and federally funded projects in order to allocate its payroll costs.

 

The auditor found staff does not record the actual time they spent on each activity – only daily totals for staff hours are recorded on timesheets. 

 

Since the School does not require employees who are paid from various funding sources to track the actual time spent on each activity, it cannot ensure that estimates for payroll costs are properly allocated and adjusted to actual in AFRS.

 

 

 

 

Reconciliation with state financial records

The auditor found the Betterment Fund bank account balance and general ledger at year-end did not reconcile with state financial records (AFRS). The difference was due to transactions from another fund being posted under the Betterment Fund in AFRS by mistake.

 

The School does not review the entries or adjustments made by Enterprise Services to verify that the local fund balance and general ledger reconciles to AFRS. 

 

A variance of $3,541 was identified between the local fund balance and AFRS.

 

The reconciliation of agency local funds to AFRS is required by state policies to ensure that the Washington State’s financial records are accurate and complete. 

 

The auditor recommended that the school:

·         Verify student work experience timesheets prior to issuing payments.

·         Obtain and review supporting documentation for expenditures to ensure payments are proper.

·         Require employee to track the actual time spent on various activities. Adjustments to estimated payroll costs should be made to the actual hours worked. This will ensure that each funding source is properly charged.

·         Reconcile its local fund accounts to the state financial records on a monthly basis.

 

4.       Contracts for 2013-14 school year

        We will be preparing client service and facility use contracts in July.  We will also be preparing contracts         for out-of-state students returning next year.  

 

5.    Department of Labor & Industries Retrospective Rating

We will once again be participating in the Retrospective Rating Group for worker’s comp insurance. We received a refund of $7,732.13 for FY10 and FY11.  The funds are to be used for safety or return-to-work requests.  In FY12-13, the refund and/or assessment will be allocated differently.  The new allocation method will also reward agencies for practicing good loss control and successfully closing claims but will be more driven on individual agency loss as opposed to the “group” loss.  Previously, there was no incentive for “individual” agencies to control losses.”

 

The above excerpt is from my June report last year.  As noted, their allocation method has changed and it has had a significant impact on our agency.  We received a notice as reports were being prepared that our assessment for the last three years is as follows:  

 

7/1/10-6/30/11         $239.50 refund

7/1/11-6/30/12         $128,677.78        assessment

7/1/12-6/30/13         $117,972.93        assessment

 

Net due:  $246,411.21

 

With this invoice, we will definitely end state spending in the red and will have to be supplemented by 19B funds.

 

5.       Year-End Close – we will be working on the usual close-out activities:

·         Continue to closely monitor and track current year expenditures

·         Close out the year

·         Year-end processing on various levels (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Disclosure forms,           Capital Asset Management report)

·         Close out various grants and submit final reimbursements

·         Records storage and set-up of vendor files for new biennium

·         2014 allotments

·         2015-17 Budget Preparation (Instructions have not been published)

 

April-2014

Fund 001-GFS                                 Budgeted                   Actual                           Variance                                                                                        

100               Res                                $         712,278            $        654,506              $         57,772                                                                                

110               Rec                                $           49,877            $          51,556               $         (1,679)                                                                               

120               Health                          $         156,470            $        145,161              $         11,309                                                                                

200               Food                             $         154,656            $        139,372              $         15,284                                                                                

300               B&G                              $         331,025            $        308,004              $         23,021                                                                                

400               Ed                                  $     1,962,320            $    1,998,666               $       (36,346)                                                                               

420               LIFTT                                                                   $        108,880              $     (108,880)                                                                               

500               Summer                      $                    -               $              (350)            $               350                                                                                

510               Outreach-State        $             5,834             $        171,060              $     (165,226)                                                                               

600               Support Services     $         676,404            $        605,233              $         71,171                                                                                

601               Superintendent       $         258,810            $        236,054              $         22,756                                                                                

611               Foundation                                                      $                145               $             (145)                                                                               

610               Board                           $             6,420             $            4,824               $            1,596                                                                                

700               Technology                $         477,437            $        350,902              $       126,535                                                                                

800               Transportation         $         241,409            $        229,281              $         12,128                                                                                

930               Idea                                                                     $            2,933                                                                                                                        

940               Other Grants                                                   $            1,195               $         (1,195)                                                                               

BETER          Betterment                                                      $            1,585               $         (1,585)                                                                               

WSDS                                                                                        $                  32               $               (32)                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                              $     5,032,940            $    5,009,039               $         26,834                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                           Mar Expenses            YTD             Remaining                                                                      

543       BAC (Jul-Jun)           $35,932               $356,493            $49,507                       $35,649 Avg Mo               

                                                                                                                                                       $24,754 Ave Rem Mo    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

920       IRC (Sept-Aug)        $26,168               $239,718            $         61,282              $29,965 Avg Mo               

                                                                                                                 includes Gr619        $15,321 Avg Rem Mo    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Fund 19B                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

  Beginning Balance                                                             $        505,432                                                                                                                       

  Plus FY14 Est Revenue                                                     $    1,959,003                                                                                                                       

  Less YTD Expenditures                                                     $     (976,613)                                                                                                                       

  Less Estimated Costs May-Jun                                     $     (299,647)                                                                                                                       

   Betterment Transfers                                                     $        158,360                                                                                                                       

                                                             Balance                                                               $   1,346,535                                                                                

                      Projected balance                                                                                 $   1,289,735                                                                                

Betterment Balance                                                                                                   $       749,468                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Human Resources

New Hires:

·         Research and Development Coordinator –  Mike Bicknell

·         TVI – Outreach (North Seattle Area) – Tracy Spohn

·         On-Call Instructional & Classroom Support Tech 1 – Hannah Studer

·         On-Call Nurse – Sasha Furiya-Johnson

·         TVI – English/Braille – Mai Nguyen (fall 2014)

 

Open Recruitments

·         School Psychologist 

·         Outreach TVI (2) – Spokane and Seattle area

·         Birth-3 Coordinator

·         TVI – Math Teacher

 

Meetings/Trainings Attended

·         Human Resource Manager’s Meeting, facilitated by Lee Strehlow, Department of Retirement Systems

·         Washington Public Employees Association (WPEA) General Government Management Negotiation Team Meetings

·         Business Intelligence (BI) End User – Department of Enterprise Services

·         Ethics Advisory Board Meeting

 

Miscellaneous

·         Joint Base Lewis McCord (JBLM) – Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) Career Day – Sponsored by National Guard, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) and Olympia Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

·         Received a surprise notice that our agency is receiving a Retrospective Rating assessment for coverage periods 10-11, 11-12 and 12-13.  The assessment is $246,411.21.  WSSB was aware our experience rating would increase but the amount was a certainly a surprise.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Ogden Resource Center (ORC)

 

UEB Unified English Braille Code

BANA adopted changes to the braille code effective January 2106. States have been charged with rolling out a plan for implementation. Colleen Lines pulled together a statewide UEB committee, consisting of the following membership:

 

Colleen Lines, Facilitator

Mike Sivill & Zach Lattin, Braille Experts, ORC

Hans Michael & Sean McCormick, WSSB

James Bickford/Holly Lawson Portland State University

Tracey Gaver, Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)

Cindy Van Winkle, Washington Council of the Blind (WCB)

Mike Freeman, National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Washington

Craig Meador, Washington Sensory Disability Services (WSDS)

Danielle Miller, Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL)

 

The initial meeting was held on May 15, 2014. The working committees will rewrite WAC 180-82-130, develop a new state braille proficiency exam and develop several training opportunities for educators.

 

In preparation for the UEB, ORC staff Angela Vargas and Kandi Lukowski attended California Transcribers and Educator of the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI) conference in March. With the information they obtained, Kandi developed a PowerPoint about UEB for the meeting, which will be posted on the WSSB website. Mike Sivill attended a day-long UEB workshop at the NBA Conference in April.

 

Braille Department

WCCW Correctional Industries (CI) Braille

New books are coming in for transcription, from lower level math through college, music and a myriad of projects. Our transcribers have all earned their NLS literary, 3 associate of music and several Nemeth, two NLS proofreaders and two NBA textbook formats certified!

 

Our braille supervisor at WCCW, Rick Flores, took another job as a promotion. We were without a permanent position for approximately 3 months. The permanent replacement is James Estep began last week. He will visit our department in Vancouver as part of his new orientation and training for the position.

                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Buildings and Grounds

Capital

·         Pre-bid walk through for the manufactured home project is scheduled for June 4. We have a proposed completion date of mid-August which will give us some contingency time if there are any problems.

·         Adding of the drip edge metal to the Old Main exterior is scheduled to start June 23. The contractor has already installed and tested a sample piece and it performs just as we had hoped by shedding the water away from the efis. 

·         We are still in the planning stage of reworking the pool by replacing the liner. Repair of the liner is not a sound option as there are several tears in it and according to several pool consultants; it is unlikely that the material will bond to itself after several years of use. Fiberglass lining proved to be too expensive so we are considering using a highly filled plaster which is then diamond polished. Reviews of this material and method are favorable for a long smooth life with ease of maintenance.

 

Campus

·         With the help of Anne Baker, we have completed work on the Continuation of Operations Plan (COOP). This is now being reviewed by the Admin. Team in preparation for general distribution and submittal to Olympia.

·         We have hired a local arborist to trim the trees on the campus perimeter. This pulled back some of the larger limbs overhanging several of the cottages and opened up around the light poles that were blocked. We will hopefully be able to have them back before school starts to trim the overgrowth on the inner campus trees.

·         Summer projects include changing the cottage dishwashers to newer ADA models that match what LIFTT has found to be easy for our students to use and dependable for operation. The current dishwashers in use are between ten and fourteen years old.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Superintendent

The 2013-2014 school year and fiscal year has been a year of continued growth and WSSB has seen additional requests for services, especially in the outreach area. WSSB has also been meeting as part of a statewide task force to determine how to help improve Birth to 3 services for BVI children and their families. While all this has been occurring, 2013-2014 has also been a year of trying to straighten out problems that were created under the Department of Enterprise Services (DES).  I am thankful that WSSB once again has its own Business and Human Resources offices on campus, and we are getting closer to having systems back in place that work for the school, are responsive, and can provide WSSB the information it needs in a timely manner.   

 

Campus enrollment is about the same when you add online classes, on-campus (grade 6-12) and the LIFTT program.  As WSSB continues to diversify services, the requests for the way students are served continue to occur. 

 

Budget

Mary will provide a complete budget report, but I would like to emphasize some of the uses of private local funds which have been and will continue to be utilized to help resolve statewide problems/concerns while proposals are developed as “Decision Packages” that will be presented to the Governor’s Office for the 2015 Supplemental budget and 2015-2017 biennium budget.

 

Current budget

WSSB has been able to maintain a solid budget that gives us flexibility due to the continued diversification of service delivery that began in the early 1990’s and continues to be key in improving services for students both on campus and throughout the state.  This flexibility has only been made possible through solid partnerships that have been developed with local school districts, educational service districts, other state agencies and with other states, but is not inclusive of all partners from both the public and private sector. In the early 1990s, WSSB was approximately 99% funded through state legislative appropriation; currently funding is split 63% legislative appropriation and 37% private local funds (fees, contractual agreements, grants, federal flow through funds, etc.).  Major flexibility over the past years has occurred due to acceptance of out-of-state students from Oregon that generates out-of-state tuitions. This arrangement has allowed Oregon to meet its obligation for a full continuum of services and has allowed Washington to meet our obligation for student needs and the flexibility to expand services with a variety of pilot projects.

 

Pilot

·         Housing for Student Teachers (approximately $100,000): WSSB will have a modular home located on the campus that will be sited between Hall and Clarke Cottage beginning the fall of 2014. We hope to advertise this to all TVI Training Programs throughout the U.S. in order to attract more student teachers to the Washington to assist with WSSB and statewide shortage of TVI and O&M positions.   

·         Birth to 3 Statewide Coordinator: This position was the result of a statewide task force made up of personnel from:  Department of Services for the Blind (DSB), WSDS, Department of Early Learning (DEL), Department of Health (DOH), Neonatology Intensive Care Unit (NICU) staff from the University of Washington, and WSSB. The goal is to begin to put in place a system whereby improvements in services for BVI children and their families would occur. One of the first recommendations was to hire a B-3 Statewide Coordinator to help identify all BVI children in our state, facilitate training throughout the state, work on securing increases in both state and federal funding options, resulting in improvements in services. A request for this position will be submitted as a decision package for the 2015-2017 biennium. Funding of this position will occur through private local funds for up to two years. Start-up funding to cover the position and operating costs are estimated at $250,000 per year. In the meantime, WSSB has also been meeting with the Health Care Authority (HCA) to learn more about third party (Medicaid) billing to determine whether various services for B-3 for BVI children could be billed through back to Medicaid. This is being explored at this time.

·         Additional training days have been put in place beginning the fall of 2014, which are being covered by private local funds. We do believe that these training days and additional compensation for teachers should be put in place allowing WSSB to be more competitive with local school districts, which have supplemented the statewide LEAP teacher salary schedule which has placed WSSB in a position of not being as competitive when competing for limited number of TVIs, O&M positions and other positions such as psychologists, etc. 

o   WSSB continues to search for a school psychologist. This position has been open for almost one year.

o   WSSB has an opening for a TVI/math teacher and also is actively searching for additional TVI/O&M positions that would be part of the outreach team.

 

Strategic Planning

·         Update to the strategic planning will occur as part of the 2015-2017 biennial (update): No major changes will occur based upon the stakeholder meeting that occurred a few months ago.  

o   Major emphasis on Birth to 3 services – emphasis on identification, training, and continued development of strong partnerships.

o   Continued emphasis in development of accessible and usable online learning systems as a means of helping children both on campus and in local communities receive the types of classes in a mode that helps improve student’s educational experience in gaining needed skills.

o   Emphasis on expansion of partnerships as a means of providing the best educational experience possible by reducing artificial barriers to quality education.

o   Emphasis on improving services to families.

o   Increased emphasis on recruitment and the teacher shortage (TVI/O&M).

o   Change the school’s name to better emphasize the full range of services. This is more of a branding issue than anything else, but would require a change in state law, which would place us more in line with the concept of CDHL/Washington School for the Deaf (WSD).

o   Increase the concept of short-course on-campus (week to month) with an added option of this occurring online and/or a combination of both.

o   Explore increased use of technology to reduce seat time in car for some degree of outreach services.

 

Budget Requests

2015 Supplemental Budget requests as part of the 2015 Legislative Session should resolve the below problem:

·         Decision Package (technical fix):  DES, which provided some business office functions for a short time until WSSB regained this service, submitted to OFM fees for H.R. services for WSSB of which we did not request. We noticed this during a meeting last fall and were informed that it would be pulled from DES and placed back into the WSSB budget. This did not occur. Since this was discovered after the legislative session, the only way to get these dollars back into our budget is to submit a decision package. This resulted in a loss of $106,000 for the biennium unless a correction can be made. 

·         The requests were made during the 2014 interim session, but not approved (we believe these are Basic Education services and should have been funded through a state appropriation, therefore they are being resubmitted).  Currently we have funded these positions through an unfilled psychologist position and private local funds.

o   Teacher Aide position needed to support a medically fragile student.

o   Interpreter/intervener position needed for one-on-one assistance with a deaf/blind student.

 

Budget 2015-2017

From the information that we have received on estimated statewide expenditures compared to anticipated revenue it appears that the up-coming session will once again be a long session with anticipated reductions outside of Basic Education, unless the legislature comes up with plans to increase revenue. The following information will be included in our budget submission based upon need and minor updates to the school’s strategic plan:

·         WSSB will continue to guarantee that it is in full alignment with “Basic Education”

·         WSSB will continue to place strong emphasis on “Basic Education” for BVI children, which includes Expanded Core Competencies (specialized skill training for the blind) which is part of each child’s IEP.

 

Decision Packages to be requested:  [Operating]

New Requests:

·         Birth to 3 Statewide Coordinator Position:  needed to provide coordination in improving statewide services to BVI impaired children and their families.

·         Teachers:  Increase in additional days for training, etc. to increase pay in order to be more competitive with local school districts that have supplemented the LEAP schedule.   

 

Capital Budget

·         Preservation projects:  Approximately $700,000

o   Roofing replacement

o   Painting

o   Cottage work renovation

o   Flooring replacement – Old Main

o   HVAC

·         Major Capital Project:

o   LIFTT Cottage (new construction):  this will allow expansion of the LIFTT program which has been at capacity for the past few years and could grow if space was available.

 

National Accreditation [National Association Accredited Schools]

We are moving into the year for re-accreditation. The process which includes self-study followed by on-site review will occur during the 2014-2015 school year, with on-site review occurring the spring of 2015. 

 

Change in Personnel

·         Sherry Hahn will be retiring the end of June, 2014 and we want to thank Sherry for being a key driver in helping to promote online learning options for BVI persons and helping to establish a working relationship with Microsoft.  In addition Sherry has been the person that oversees our campus technology with the help of two staff: Danya Borowski and Ed Lukowski.  We want to thank her for all that she has done. 

o   Mr. Michael Bicknell will begin work on June 16 as Sherry’s replacement and the two of them will work together for two weeks to assist in a smooth transition.  Mike comes to WSSB from the Texas School for the Blind and has a background in distance learning and is excited about the possibilities in expanding distance learning options for BVI children, online training for teachers, para-professionals and parents.

·         B-3 Coordinator: A committee of partners from various state agencies will be meeting the week of May 26 to narrow down the candidates for this important position. Our goal is to have an announcement with this position by the 3rd week in June.

 

Educational Briefing

This past April, I had the opportunity to be part of an Educational Briefing to Congress along with Dr. Eugene Mahon, Executive Director of the Council of Schools/Services for the Blind (COSB).  The focus was on Schools for the Blind and the importance they play in a wide range of service delivery in most states throughout the U.S.  WSSB was featured because of the diverse and full range of service options it has put in place over the years and the continued emphasis on development of comprehensive diverse service delivery systems.     

 

Our goal for this next year is to continue to provide a solid full range of services to children throughout our state, provide more information about the services available to school districts and families, continue to work with university programs not only in the areas of research, but also in the areas of teacher training.  (Craig Meador’s report will contain more information on this topic.)

 

Board of Trustees Open Positions

·         Congressional District 9:  Open 

·         Congressional District 10:  Term expires on July 1, 2014

 

Teacher Training Program – Portland State University

·         Dr. James Bickford “Blue” is retiring June, 2014. We want to thank Jim for all of his years of service in helping to prepare excellent TVI’s.

·         Dr. Holly Lawson has been hired to fill Jim’s position at PSU and we look forward to a wonderful working relationship, and in expanding partnerships and options in getting more teachers into this important field.

 

Public Records Requests

WSSB has seen a much higher than normal request for public records.  WSSB has received four requests in the timeframe of February through May, 2014, with several of the requests asking for more than one set of records.  One specific request required 39 hours of research. WSSB submitted a unique agency records schedule in July of 2013 and is hoping to have that approved in the near future.