WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
January 15, 2014
Board Members Participating: Ed
Snook, Cindy Bennett, Denise Colley, Nancy McDaniel, Jim Kemp and Yang-su Cho.
Board Members Absent: John
Glenn, Steve Rainey and Lorna Walsh.
Ex-Officio Members Participating: Michael Freeman (National Federation of the
Blind of Washington), Berl Colley (Washington Council of the Blind) and Doug Trimble (WSSB Teachers Association).
Ex-Officio Members Absent: Denise Vestman (Parent Representative) and Scott Hone (Washington Federation of State
Employees Local #1225)
Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB) Staff Members
Participating: Dr. Dean Stenehjem
(Superintendent) and Janet Kurz (recording secretary).
January 15, 2014 – 7:30 pm
Ed called
the meeting to order at 7:30pm.
Business
Meeting
Old Business
Approve board meeting minutes of November 14-15, 2013.
o
Jim moved to approve the meeting minutes as
submitted. Jim also seconded the
motion. The minutes were approved
unanimously.
New Business
Superintendent’s Report. Dr. Stenehjem reviewed his report that was
emailed to the Board. Discussion was
held regarding:
o
Ed asked if there was any progress on the School
Psychologist position. Dr. Stenehjem
stated that School Psychologists are very difficult to locate; WSSB has
contacted universities and colleges in the area and has offered to pay an intern
this fall with the intent of training them in the field of blind and visually
impaired (BVI) education. WSSB is able
to do this because our Principal, Hans Michielsen also has his Ph.D. in Psychology. WSSB believes it will be important to help
home-grow this position so the school has a solid person that can also receive
training on education of the blind and visually impaired (BVI) in order to meet
the on-campus needs and serve as a consultant to school psychologists from
throughout the Pacific Northwest.
o
Sherry Hahn, Digital Learning and Research
Development Coordinator is retiring at the end of June
and her position will be posted very soon.
Candidates with experience in curriculum and accessible online learning will
be sought. Cindy asked if ideally candidates
will have experience in both education and IT? Dr. Stenehjem said both would be ideal
however he is not sure if we will find someone with that type of background. If
the Board has ideas of where this position can be posted, i.e. university
programs, blind consumer groups, etc. send him a
message. WSSB will make sure the posting
is well circulated in trying to reach the best candidates.
o
This year, a vacancy is being filled on an
interim basis for an English Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) due to staff
changes last fall. This position needs
to be filled by a teacher that meets federal definition as highly qualified in
this specific discipline. Interviews have been held and WSSB feels it has a
great candidate. More information will
be shared soon.
o
Outreach positions also being sought are TVI’s
and Orientation & Mobility (O&M) Instructors for both WSSB and school
districts in Washington.
o
Dr. Stenehjem stated Dr. Jim Bickford from
Portland State University (PSU) is retiring this year. Dr. Stenehjem will be meeting with staff from
PSU to review applicants for his replacement.
Mike asked if the position is closed.
Dr. Stenehjem stated the position was posted last fall throughout the
country and currently there are seven applicants. Ed stated there was some concern regarding the
program continuing; Dr. Stenehjem stated it appears that PSU is committed to
this program continuing and they have posted the position as a tenure track
position. PSU has been turning out about 20 TVI’s every two years, however even
with this turnout it is not keeping up with the current demand due to TVI
retirements, and need to hire additional teachers. Craig Meador, Director of Outreach has been
meeting with several Universities (Eastern, Central, WSU-V, and Western) to
look at starting a TVI program or being able to offer courses through an adjunct
professor to keep things going.
Unfortunately, this is not a fast moving process; however there does
seem to be some interest.
o
Birth-3: Several meetings have been held with Department
of Services for the Blind (DSB) and Washington Sensory Disability Services
(WSDS) regarding Birth-3 services. There is complete agreement that Birth-3 services
for BVI children/families need huge amount of work in our state as currently
Washington has somewhat of a patchwork system.
Last fall it was stated by other agencies that one agency needs to take
the lead in this important area. WSSB is in a position, due to the availability
of some private/local funds, to be able to hire a Birth-3 Coordinator. Dr. Stenehjem also met with Director of the
Department of Early Learning and they would like to move forward on this
important initiative. Denise C. asked what components this position would have;
Dr. Stenehjem stated every county in Washington operates differently so part of
this would be pulling all of the information together to determine
demographics, students, students being served, in addition to providing training,
etc. This person would focus on locating
gaps in service delivery and make recommendations in filling these gaps (much
like what we have successfully done in the area of K-12 education through
outreach services). Nancy asked where
this person would be based. Dr.
Stenehjem stated this person would be a WSSB staff working in coordination with
a number of state agencies and organizations and physical location could be at
WSSB, but WSSB is flexible based upon finding the right person with the right
skills. A draft of the job description will be developed after a B-3 meeting on
January 21 with stakeholders from various state agencies.
Budget Status:
o
Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB submitted four Supplemental
Budget requests and only two of the requests moved forward (details are listed
below in the Superintendent’s report).
The two requests that did not move forward were an
interpreter/intervener for a Deaf/Blind student and also a one-on-one teacher’s
aide for a medically fragile student.
Both students are anticipated to stay at WSSB for the next 3-6
years. Both positions are paramount in
students being able to access Basic Education. Dr. Stenehjem feels that WSSB is
a victim of our own success as we are generating a fair amount of private/local
funds at this time. If Olympia is
looking at those funds it can appear WSSB doesn’t need funding to provide those
positions; Dr. Stenehjem stated that in local school districts, mill levy
dollars are not supposed to be used to Basic Education for students, and he feels private/local funds are similar
to mill levy dollars. The funds that WSSB has generated need to be viewed as
one time funding sources without any guarantee of these funds being available
in the future. Dr. Stenehjem will be
meeting with the Office of Financial Management (OFM) in Olympia to discuss
this in more detail next week. WSSB
would like to know how we as a school could have done a better job of preparing
these two decision packages, which to us seem to fall under the protection for
students as "Basic Education”. Ed felt that parents may argue that WSSB
must provide this. Dr. Stenehjem stated
that this time, WSSB is funding these positions with private/local funds so it
is somewhat invisible to parents that it is not being financed through general
state funds.
o
Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB is still trying to
unravel our financial situation due to the moving of our Business Office to the
Department of Enterprise Services (DES).
WSSB is getting closer, and Mary Sarate,
Director of Business and Finance has been digging through information to
straighten this out. At this time Mary
estimates that WSSB has as $140,000 positive cash flow (state funds); and in private/local
funds WSSB has a $1,000,000 positive balance (WSSB was able to carry forward $400,000
in this account the first year and approximately $500,000 has been generated
from Oregon state students).
o
Capital Budget/Projects:
§
Between now and next fall, WSSB will be replacing
our 23-year old phone system. The goal
is to have this system in place and operational by August 1 so staff can be
trained before the start of school. The
system WSSB is looking at is a Lync style phone system; IP tied into our computer
system and is 100% accessible. Mike expressed his concern with a UPS phone
system. Dr. Stenehjem stated a
comprehensive battery back-up system will be in place and for emergency
purposes WSSB has dial phones available so WSSB can get line signal in case of
a power failure.
§
WSSB continues to have problems with the swimming
pool liner and is exploring the possibility of shutting down pool during summer
for repairs. Jim asked if the leak is
getting worse. Dr. Stenehjem stated there
is water between the liner and concrete, and we don't believe it is getting
worse, but it does need to be repaired.
§
WSSB also will be working on the trim (efis) of
Old Main (roofing related project). Work
will commence in the spring when the weather is better.
§
Private/local funds will be used to secure a
modular home that will be placed on campus.
WSSB used to be able to house student teachers from across the US, but
due to program expansion, i.e. the Learning Independence for Today and Tomorrow
(LIFTT) program, WSSB no longer has housing available. The cost will be
approximately $100,000. WSSB believes that having housing available will result
in increases in student teachers from throughout the US/Canada, which will
assist both WSSB and LEAs in securing trained teachers.
o
Teacher/Principal Evaluation System (TPEP): WSSB went through the training process with
teachers last year; the plan is to use the new evaluation process with five-six
teachers this year; then next year bring in the next 1/3 of the teachers and
the final 1/3 in the third year. WSSB feels that if teachers are planning to
retire within the next three years, we would not change the evaluation process
for them. A new Principal evaluation
process is also mandated by state law and will start this fall. Additional training will be held January-March
of this year.
o
Strategic Plan Update: Every two years, WSSB updates our Strategic
Plan. In the past, WSSB went through a
major process for updating the plan, using data, surveys, and input from stakeholders
from throughout the state, etc. to determine future directions. WSSB has not done this since 2008 due to
economic constraints. Dr. Stenehjem
stated we can do this again this year due to our financial situation and would
like to know if the Board would be willing to participate during the next
scheduled Board meeting (March 14-15). This would entail hiring a facilitator, providing
data, and participate in a day long strategic planning process (9am-3pm). That evening WSSB would then hold our regularly
scheduled Board meeting. Board members
would have the option of arriving in Vancouver on March 13 for travel time. Dr.
Stenehjem stated WSSB would bring in special ed. directors and TVI’s from
throughout the state. Cindy felt it is a
great idea however she would like to have the Board meeting Friday evening and
Saturday as planned. At the end of the
session, an updated Strategic Plan will be drafted and sent to the Board. The final document will be utilized to build
the 2015-2017 biennial budget and will also be used
for the preparation of our next National Accreditation. This process entails a comprehensive site
study and WSSB will bring in people from across the country for this. Ed would like to invite board members who are
interested to attend the March 14 Strategic Plan meeting, then to participate
in the Board meeting that evening and on Saturday. Cindy stated she would be available to come
in on Friday and is happy to hear that the Board is being included in this
process. Berl would like the Buildings
and Grounds committee to arrive at WSSB early on March 13 to discuss some
issues with Rob. Ed feels this is an
excellent suggestion.
Committee Updates:
o
Legislative Committee: Denise asked if Dr. Stenehjem decided to
attend the WASA/WSSDA Legislative Conference.
Dr. Stenehjem stated he has mixed feelings regarding this conference and
feels that setting up individual meetings outside of this conference is more
beneficial as there are so many people who are trying to meet with legislators
at that time.
Miscellaneous
Ed stated that since March, 2010 WSSB Board meetings have been
averaging less than 4 hours per meeting, and raised the question if the Board
would be better served holding meetings on Friday’s during the day. Ed asked if this would impose a difficulty on
Board members and asked for opinions. Mike
suggested holding meetings all day Saturday’s.
Jim stated this would not work. Cindy
said it is a good idea and feels that options should be looked into. Janet proposed that the Board meetings be
held on Friday’s from 11am-4pm to accommodate Board members who travel; Berl
stated that timeframe would be ideal for the train schedules. Denise asked how this would affect staff
participation on Friday’s. Dr. Stenehjem stated this could be worked around and
that school gets out at 12:00pm on Friday’s.
Ed stated this would also be positive for staff who
work on Friday evenings and Saturday’s for Board meetings. Dr. Stenehjem also welcomed the board to come
in early on Friday’s to visit classrooms.
Ed asked if there are any other issues to consider, i.e. work or
hardships. Yang-su doesn’t see any
problem and felt condensing to one day would be great. Nancy felt it was great to have meetings on
one day. Janet will send out the proposed dates. Yang-su stated Board members
can join via conference call if they are unable to attend.
Yang-su stated if WSSB uses “Window Eyes”, a program that is similar
to JAWS. Window Eyes is a Microsoft
program whereby when you purchase “Office”, this program is included. Yang-su
asked what percentage of students use screen readers, etc. Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB just received this
information today. Mike reported there is no SMA and no support.
Dr. Stenehjem thinks some of this might change. Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB won’t jump onto any
one thing but is excited and wants to learn more about it.
Nancy stated she enjoyed watching the winter holiday program on the
web.
There
being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm. The next Board meeting will be held March 14-15,
2014 at WSSB.
Ed Snook, Chair Dean
O. Stenehjem, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Superintendent’s Report
During the month of December, WSSB
provided services to 602 students. The breakdown is as follows:
On Campus: 74
Low Vision Evaluations: 10
Outreach Direct Services: 240
Distance Learning Services:
o
Students: 10
o
Adults: 8
Technology Evaluation and Direct Services (outreach): 26
Technology Support to Local School Districts: 75
177 students received 455 pieces of specialized equipment,
textbooks, and materials throughout the state
YouTube “Video Clips On Blindness Tips” Hits: 2,209
Video Clips on Blindness Tips Hits: 393
The above doesn’t include production
of Braille materials through the Braille Access Center; WCCW inmates work in
the production of Braille materials for adults and children. The above also does not include approximately
400 other vision-related services provided each month.
On Campus Program:
Winter Holiday
Music Program:
WSSB's annual Winter Holiday Music program was held on December 19. This event was attended by parents,
volunteers and several community members.
In addition, the Pacific Foundation for Blind Children (PFBC) once again
hosted the annual Soup/Supper event prior to the program. WSSB provided a live web stream for those who
were unable to attend and also the ability for people to watch the concert at a
later date. Stats show that 534 viewers
took advantage of this option.
Winter Holiday Break: WSSB Students were on
winter break from December 23-January 3.
Adopt a
Family: WSSB staff and volunteers
chose to ‘adopt a WSSB family’ for Christmas.
Gifts, gift cards, and cash were gathered for this very deserving
family. The student, who attends WSSB,
received an iPad, cover, and keyboard which will also assist in her daily
studies. Before the winter holiday
break, staff snuck into her room here at school to place a pile of gifts for
her which included a sheet set, new comforter, pillow, and bathroom supplies,
as well as a new Caboodle filled with make-up and nail polish. One of WSSB’s Board of Trustees members, who
lives in Yakima (where the student and her family reside), delivered a
Christmas tree with a stand to her home.
Our school Principal, Hans Michielsen delivered a car load of new
clothes for the family, blankets, coats, toys, and Christmas decorations. The
family will also have $150 in Safeway gift cards to buy their holiday
meals.
Bake
Sale: WSSB students held a bake
sale during the month of December to raise funds for a celebration of Braille
Literacy month.
Goalball
Match: WSSB staff and students
participated in a Goalball match. The
students thoroughly enjoy the staff participating in this event.
Jingle
Cottage Mingle: On December 4, WSSB residential students invited staff and
volunteers to attend a dinner in two of the cottages on campus. Students
planned this event as part of their “Daily Living Skills” curriculum. The event consisted of decorating the
cottages, greeting the staff and volunteers, cooking the meal, playing festive
holiday music and then cleaning up after the event.
Holiday Shopping: Students
once again had the opportunity to go to the local mall with staff and
volunteers to do their holiday shopping for their friends and families. Feedback from our volunteers is so positive as they see the giving nature of all involved.
Annual
Christmas tree decorating: An
annual tradition at WSSB is the Christmas tree decorating in the commons area
of the Irwin school building. Music,
refreshments and holiday cheer was shared by all.
Work Experience: WSSB is working with a local coffee roaster
to create a unique blend of coffee that is sold in WSSB’s Lions Den coffee
shop. This is a great opportunity for
our students to work with community members and businesses.
Off Campus Programs:
Training: Our Director of Outreach, Craig Meador, spent several days
in December attending TPEP (Teacher/Principal Evaluation Pilot) training. This new evaluation system for teachers and principals
was born out of Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 6696 during the 2010
legislative session. In addition,
Superintendent, Dean Stenehjem, and Associate Principal, Sean McCormick have been attending trainings in preparation for this new
evaluation system. Craig also attended
two LEAN trainings in Vancouver.
Microsoft –
“Partners in Learning:
Two
WSSB staff Sherry Hahn and Robin Lowell have been asked by Microsoft to attend
the Global Forum this year in Spain in their roles as experts educators as
winners in last year’ Global Forum. They will also be viewed as mentors for
Partners in Learning. This is something,
as an agency, we believe is great for the employees and WSSB and are waiting to
receive the ok from the Attorney General’s Office that we are not violating any
of the state ethics laws.
Recruitment:
o
School
Psychologist: WSSB has not
been able to fill this position due to shortages, and lack of competitive
salary schedule with LEAs. Thankfully
Dr. Hans Michielsen also has a Ph.D. in Psychology so he has been able to keep
things moving during this void. Our goal is to work with various university
programs and bring in a paid intern next fall with the concept of helping to
train our own psychologist who will be able to specialize in education of the
blind and visually (BVI) impaired. At
this time it sounds like a number of the university training programs are very
interested. Upon completion of the psychologist degree, it would be our goal to
hire this person as a full-time psychologist who will help meet the needs on
campus and serve as an expert providing assistance to school psychologists
throughout the Pacific Northwest.
o
Digital
Learning/Research Coordinator: This is the position being
vacated by Ms. Sherry Hahn who is retiring the end of
June, 2014. The job will be posted within the next two weeks with a goal of
having someone on board to overlap with Sherry for about a week. We want to continue to expand on
online/digital learning opportunities for students and staff.
o
On-Campus
English TVI: During this year WSSB has been filling this
position with an long term sub while we try and find a person that has all the
qualifications needed in helping us meet our student’s needs. The goal is to
have this position filled beginning next fall.
o
Outreach
TVI/O&M Positions: WSSB
continues to search for TVI/O&M positions to help WSSB meet its Outreach
goals and to also assist local school districts and Educational Service
Districts find trained personnel.
TVI/O&M Shortages on a
National Basis is a huge problem:
o
Craig
Meador, Director of Outreach and State Vision Consultant has been meeting with
various universities within Washington with the idea of starting a new program
and/or offering coursework required to provide services to BVI children. Eastern, Central and WSU-V have been
approached at this time with some interest expressed by each university. This
is more of a long term solution, but we needed to get this started.
§
Portland
State University (PSU), which has a TVI teacher training program, announced the
retirement of Dr. Jim Bickford and there was concern whether the program would
continue. They have posted for Dr.
Bickford’s replacement with the goal of filling this before next fall. Even with this program producing 20 trained TVI’s
every two years, we do not come close to meeting our statewide needs when
looking at positions that need to be added within our state. This is not even
considering that we will be losing approximately 30% of current TVIs due to
retirement over the next 5 years.
o
WSSB is
also in the process of purchasing a small modular home which would be located
on the campus and used to house practicum students from throughout the U.S. and
foreign countries. WSSB used to be able to provide housing until our on-campus
program needs required that space. This has had a negative impact on receiving
practicum students from throughout the U.S. We believe that if we can get folks
to WSSB for student teaching and practicum, we have a good chance of keeping
them in our state to help fill our void in trained teachers of the BVI.
o
Birth
to Three Coordinator: WSSB has been working with other agencies
providing services to BVI and is in agreement that one agency needs to take the
lead and help coordinate and guarantee that services and training be put in
place for BVI children throughout our state. The school is in a position
through the use of private local funds to be able to put this position in place
the fall of 2014 with the idea of providing efficacy that hopefully will result
in future state funds and/or combined funding from multiple agencies. It is our
goal to post this position by the end of February, 2014.
Supplemental Budget Requests: WSSB submitted four requests for supplemental budget to the Office of
Financial Management (OFM). Two of the four moved into the Governor’s Budget:
o
Increase in FTEs: WSSB
requested 6 additional FTE not requiring funding, but necessary in order to
allow us to continue meet the needs of students throughout our state by the use
of private local funds.
o
Authorization for increased spending in the
area of private local funds: This merely provides WSSB with
the permission to spend the funds being generated. These funds come from fees and services,
grants and donations.
Request
that were denied:
o
Interpreter/Intervener: This position provides a one-on-one interpreter for a new student who is
deaf/blind and requires a one-on-one in order to access Basic Education. WSSB
will continue to provide this service through private local funds, but we really
felt this should be included under the provisions of Basic Education and access
to education. This student will probably be at WSSB for the next 4-5 years and
we will need to go back to OFM in the next budget to request that this position
be funded.
o
Teacher Aide for Medically Fragile
Student: This position provides a one-on-one for a
medically fragile student that cannot be left alone without a person with
specialized training tied to medical needs.
This is also crucial in providing a safe environment where the child can
access Basic Education. This student will probably be at WSSB for the next 6
years and we will need to resubmit this request to OFM. We can temporarily
handle this under private local funds, which are not guaranteed from year to year
based upon revenue we have been able to generate.
Teacher/Principal Evaluation Status: WSSB
has participated in the new Teacher/Principal Evaluation Program (TPEP): Teachers: WSSB is using the Danielson
model and we are phasing in the new teacher evaluation system starting with
five (on-campus) teachers this year, followed by a second group next year, and
the final group year three. The new
principal evaluation system will begin next fall after WSSB administration has
completed all of its training.
Strategic Planning Update: Tentatively scheduled for April, 2014. Date and more information to come
in the near future. This will be important in preparation for the development
of our next biennial budget and in preparation for our National Re-accreditation
which will get under way next fall with a formal onsite review probably
happening the spring of 2015.
Budget Update:
o
Capital:
§
Phone system: the number one project at this time is the replacement of our 24-year
old phone system, which we have put off for the last couple of biennium. Our
goal is to have a Lync Phone System in place by August 1, 2014.
§
Swimming Pool Liner and Gutter issues: this is being explored to determine options in replacement/repair of a
liner system that is leaking and rusting that is occurring in the gutter
system.
§
Roofing Work/Trim on Old Main: Rework dip cap system on Old Main which should keep the roof/efface
system from deteriorating.
§
Additional Projects: Additional projects are listed within our
capital budget, but we will hold on these until we have solid numbers on the
highest priority projects.
o
Construction but not covered under Capital
Budget:
§
Installation
of a 3 bedroom modular house to facilitate practicum students housing on
campus. Estimated cost ($100,000) for
this building would be covered under private local funds.
o
Operating Budget: Mary
Sarate has been reviewing all budgetary documents coming from DES and has been
working on trying to establish a solid numbers for our agency. There had been some huge variation in
balances so we had very little confidence in the numbers being presented.
Currently is appears that at the end of November 2013 we have a positive number
of $140,133 in State General Funds. Private local funds show a positive balance
of $1,199.023. We anticipate most of this is due to 19-B carry forward from the
last biennium and higher than anticipated out-of-state tuition from
Oregon. Please note: we are still in the
review process to determine whether these are solid numbers and/or if something
has been missed within the state system. Our goal is to have all reviews done
shortly so spending plans based upon our priorities can be made in helping meet
the needs of children in our state. It will be important that appropriate plans
be developed to sustain needed services over the next 3 years to guarantee that
anticipated revenue sources needed to maintain services become
institutionalized.
Board of Trustees Vacancies:
o
Congressional District 3 – SW
Washington: I understand that a
number of names have been submitted to the Governor’s office, but have yet to
hear.
o
Congressional District 9 – Puget Sound,
Tacoma (N), Bellevue:
No applications
received as of 1/10/14.