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Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties Head Start Consortium 245 North Lombardy, Suite A – South Bend, IN 46619 Office Phone: (574) 283-8127 – Fax: (574) 283-8108 Toll Free: (866) 440-8843 Web site: www.headstartesj.com Kathy Guajardo, Executive Director
May 21, 2008
9:30 a.m.
Consortium Board Meeting
I. Call to Order
President of the Consortium Board, Mark Mow, called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.
II. Roll Call
President Mark Mow called for the roll call. Jim Connor Middlebury Community Schools Jerry Cook Baugo Community Schools Dick Reese John Glenn School Corporation Dr. Robert Zimmerman South Bend Community School Corporation (Dr. Pat O’Connor sat in for Dr. Zimmerman) Kathy Guajardo Executive Director, Head Start Mark Mow Elkhart Community Schools Dr. Bruce Stahly Goshen Community Schools George Dyer Concord Community Schools Joe Sabo Wa-Nee Community Schools Dr. Jerry Thacker Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation (Denise Seger sat in for Dr. Thacker) Steven Mills School City of Mishawaka Larry Phillips Union-North United School Corporation
George Dyer, Concord Community Schools, was absent from the meeting.
III. Public Speakers
Mr. Mow asked if there was anyone present from the public who would like to speak.
Dwight Noble, Policy Council member from LaVille, reported on the end of the year festivities He reported that they had a 100% turn out. They had projects for the children to do, snacks, the children sang songs, there were gifts from the teachers and bus driver, and flowers were given to the children. He stated that the kindergarten preparation packets were great. The parents went to McDonalds Restaurant afterward to spend time together and to treat the teachers to lunch. Mr. Noble reported that all in all it was a great day. He reiterated that the Head Start Program has brought the community closer together. He stated that the parents do things together now outside of school and has been just a great experience this year. IV. Adoption of the Agenda
Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the adoption of the agenda. Steven Mills made the motion for approval and it was seconded by Dick Reese. All were in favor.
V. Approval of Minutes
Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the minutes for the March 19, 2008 Board meeting. A motion was made by Jerry Cook and seconded by Steven Mills. All were in favor.
VI. Communication
a. Executive Director’s Report Kathy welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained that several people in the room had reports to share with the Board.
The first presentation was made by the Elkhart County Coordinator, Deb Sura, and the St. Joseph County Coordinator, Damon Pittman. (A handout explaining their presentation was distributed and is attached.) Deb stated that the biggest gain was in language literacy and letter identification with a 2.91point gain. Damon explained the reason for assessing three times a year. The first assessment period being for the baseline, the second for bringing in new experiences to build from and the third to see the growth. Deb explained that the five sites involved this year in Numbers Plus were: Concord West Side, Bristol, Model I, Jimtown, and Woodview. Damon explained that what Elkhart experienced this year, St. Joseph County will implement next year.
Mr. Mow asked if there was follow-up training following the initial training. Deb explained that it was a three year process. She explained that in Numbers First they initially come in and do observations. The second year they actually go through the training. The third year there is a follow-up.
Deb then explained the improvement in the transition process of our students to kindergarten. She explained how the FACS employees made up transition packets and made copies of the student’s birth certificates, immunizations, physicals, and dentals. In Elkhart they went by the student’s home address and sent the packets right to the home school where the child will be going to kindergarten, except at Roosevelt where they did kindergarten registration right at the school. In Goshen the teachers had parent teacher conferences and the parents were handed the packets and then went to the administration building and registered their students for kindergarten. In Goshen they had 96% of their children registered for kindergarten. In Bristol they got 100% of the children registered. At Concord West Side all the children were registered for kindergarten. At Jimtown and Middlebury the packets were ready and forwarded on to the school corporation. All the parents had to do was show proof of residency. There was a lot of positive feedback in doing the process this way. Damon added that at Lafayette notices were sent home regarding Kindergarten RoundUp so the parents could get their children enrolled in a timely fashion. At Lafayette there were over 350 students register for kindergarten which was a large increase over past years.
Dick Reese asked if Head Start teachers ever formally met with kindergarten teachers. It was explained that if the school has a kindergarten class where Head Start is held it is possible to have the children and teachers visit. However, if not, it involves a field trip to get the children and teachers from Head Start to a site that contains kindergarten classrooms. Deb Sura stated that teachers are encouraged to make that trip to visit kindergarten classrooms. Damon stated that at LaVille the kindergarten students love to take the lead role when the Head Start children come into the classroom. They read to them and have activities for them to do.
Kathy next introduced Sue Christianson and Ann Rosen from the St. Joseph County Community Foundation. Through their funding they support us in helping with our Program Quality Assessment, teacher training and education support, revising a nutrition curriculum, and funding teachers with supplies in St. Joseph County. Ann Rosen began by giving a brief history of the Community Foundation. She explained that her main focus has been on teacher training. Ann then explained the packet that was distributed to all Board members. Ann described the ECAP (Early Childhood Assessment Program) and how they follow up with the teachers after observing the classrooms. Ann stated that Head Start had some of the best, if not the best, teachers in the county. Ann said they are working with South Bend Schools to monitor Head Start students, kindergarten through second grade, to compare their progress compared to similar children who have not attended Head Start to see how they fare. Kathy made that comment that Head Start mirrors the funding for Elkhart County so those teachers also get the same supplies and training as St. Joseph County teachers. Ann Rosen then explained some of the results of the PQA testing, etc. She explained that the PQA was also used as a tool to show how to keep getting better.
Mr. Mow asked when the grant would run out. Ann and Sue explained that it runs out in June. Sue explained that the Community Foundation anticipated this and have raised local monies to continue this process.
Joe Sabo asked Kathy if the Head Start instructors are required or encouraged to attend the training. Kathy answered that it was offered in the fall and it was not sought out as much as she had hoped so it was offered again in the spring and 31 teachers showed interest, of which 28 attended by choice. She said they were offered the class, paid mileage, given dinner and a stipend for attending.
Ann Rosen, in closing, stated what a pleasure it had been working with Kathy.
Kathy next introduced Nick Braun and Oralia Sanchez, Head Start Technology Team. A handout was given to explain the presentation. Nick explained how the server will be used to send information to the Head Start Office and for employees to get forms, etc. Information can be sent over the computer for use in a database for PIR, etc. He explained that forms would be put on the database so everyone is using the same form. Trainings will also be presented over the computer. After the training is watched, a quiz would be taken and submitted. Nick explained with the cost of gas and gas mileage, this would be cost efficient.
Kathy next introduced the Program Service Managers, Julia Halasz-Tadajewski and Chris Teeple. Julia and Chris gave a handout showing the enrollment thus far for the 2008-09 school year. Julia explained that Elkhart Head Start is nearly full. She stated that once the names are submitted to transportation and they break the routes down by school and a.m. and p.m. sessions, some of the children end up on the waitlist because of the way they have to place the children. She stated that we are just finalizing a PIR report that goes to Washington DC and we are happy to report that we serviced 16% this year of children with IEP’s, we had 95% of our children receive their medical physicals, 92% received dentals. We had a big report due to the state on immunizations and we had 663 students come into the program with up-to-date immunizations and we have improved that to 911 students that are now complete.
Chris Teeple then reported on St. Joseph County. He stated that the Transpo buses will soon have an advertisement for enrolling in Head Start on their buses with a phone number to call, plus there have been several open enrollments.
Mark Mow asked if we were on track for full enrollment to take place. Chris answered that absolutely we are getting lots of applications in daily.
Julia told that Bristol held an ESL class this year and at the end of their program the 18 parents who attended the ESL class got up and sang a song in English. Kathy stated that in South Bend 500 parents showed up for the end of the year programs.
Kathy then introduced Pastor Greg Robertson as the last presenter at the meeting. Pastor Greg passed out an outline of his presentation. His presentation was on Governance, Policy Council, Federal Initiatives, Development of Annual Family Summit, Men to Dads, Site Meetings, Developing More Partners and Advisory Council Members, and the Health Fair. The Health Fair which was on its way to being finalized had to be stopped because it could not be put on by Head Start or else the 45 days for health information deadlines would have begun starting the day of the Health Fair this summer. Therefore, the St. Joseph County Health Department stepped up and asked if they could put it on for us. The County Health Department then contacted Memorial Hospital who has agreed to sponsor a Health Fair on July 12th that will be tailored for Head Start parents. While anyone is free to attend, they are making sure everything is covered for Head Start families. The St. Joseph County Health Department will be there to give the immunizations.
Pastor explained that the Policy Council had been asked to review the parent handbook and give input as to what could be changed to make it a better tool for parents. There are additions and deletions made for next year. Also, each handbook will contain a DVD that will have chapters that will correspond with the book. The DVD will be in English with subtitles in Spanish. All FACS and teachers will have copies so that at meetings, like site meetings, the information given will be consistent.
Kathy reported that the enrollment for March was 1020 as was the enrollment for April at 1020. The attendance for March was 95.24% and April was 98.87%.
Kathy stated that this was an excellent group to work with, they do an excellent job and it is a pleasure to come to work everyday. She stated how well the staff works together and enjoys being together. Kathy congratulated the staff on the effort and amount of work done this year. Kathy further stated that she has an outstanding team of clerical support.
Jerry Cook stated he was very appreciative of the reports given at the meeting. He stated they were all very informative and interesting.
Mr. Mow stated he had made a comment to the Chicago Office that he would like our Consortium to become a model site for Head Start. He stated he felt we were well on our way to becoming a model site.
John Soper, Building Supervisor of Lafayette Early Childhood Center was not able to attend the meeting but sent the following report:
“I apologize for my not being able to attend today’s meeting. I would have liked to say this in person but I am currently at a meeting discussing the implementation of the new Lafayette Traditional School.
First, I would like to say what a wonderful year I had at the Lafayette Early Childhood Center. Working with all the unique groups was refreshing and invigorating. I would especially like to say what a wonderful time I had working in collaboration with the Head Start teachers and the Consortium administration. Everyone has been very professional and a real team player. I look forward to our upcoming year together so that WE can continue to develop and improve the Head Start Program and services.
Finally, I want to thank the Consortium for the opportunity to experience Head Start through the national training conference. I was so impressed with the amount of parent representation from around the country and especially with the caliber of parent representation that our Consortium was able to send. I have brought back many ideas to share in hopes of helping the Consortium with its endeavors. A conference like the one in Nashville is designed to inspire and motivate, and I must say that listening to speakers like Ron Herndon and especially Lilian Katz, one could not have left without being inspired and I believe our group was. We will work hard to collaborate on parent involvement as well as many curricular areas. Thank you again for the opportunity and I look forward to seeing you in the near future.”
Mr. Mow thanked everyone for their fine reports and then called on Heather Saunders from the Policy Council to speak.
b. Policy Council Chairperson’s Report Heather shared with the Board members her experiences when attending the national conference. She stated she attended eight sessions while at the conference plus the legislative luncheon and keynote speaker. Heather attended a conference sponsored by Nike offering a grant for a Physical Fitness Program. She added that she did get the information for the grant and will be passing it on to Kathy. Heather also attended a session on Science that had 100 activities that could be used in Early Childhood classrooms. These activities give children their sense of order in the world.
Heather further stated that she felt a huge amount of work had been done this last year with the Board, Policy Council, and Administrative Staff. Heather explained how her own children who attended Head Start were so much farther ahead in school than those children who did not have the opportunity of attending Head Start. She thanked the eleven school corporations for getting together and offering this wonderful program to the children.
Heather commented on how the collaboration between the Policy Council, Board, and Administrative Staff had been phenomenal and what a difference had been made in the last three years. Heather stated that she hoped the parents who have been involved in Head Start will continue to be involved in the PTOs and PTAs in the schools in the future.
At this time Heather and Mr. Noble presented the Board with pins that were purchased at the conference. A special pin was presented to Mark Mow as President of the Board, and a parliamentarian pin was given to Pastor Greg Robertson.
c. Board Member’s Communication
VII. Action Agenda
08-0521-01 Approval of Personnel Actions included in Human Resources Report Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of Personnel Actions. The motion was made by Joe Sabo and seconded by Jerry Cook. All were in favor. 08-0521-02 Approval of Distribution of Payroll, Summary of Actual Expenditures Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of Payroll and Expenditures. A motion was made by Dr. Stahly and seconded by Steven Mills. All were in favor. 08-0521-03 Approval for the Amendment of the Employee Handbook Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the amendments to the Employee Handbook. A motion was made by Larry Phillips and seconded by Dick Reese. All were in favor. 08-0521-04 Approval of the 2008-2009 School Calendar Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the 2008-09 school calendar. A motion was made by Dr. Stahly and seconded by Steven Mills. All were in favor. 08-0521-05 Approval for the Self Assessment and Child Outcomes Report Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the Self Assessment and Child Outcome Report. A motion was made by Larry Phillips and seconded by Pat O’Connor. All were in favor. 08-0521-06 Approval of Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Grant (T/TA Grant – One Time Only) Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Grant. A motion was made by Steven Mills and seconded by Jerry Cook. All were in favor. 08-0521-07 Approval of the Head Start Open Competition Grant Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the Head Start Open Competition Grant. A motion was made by Dick Reese and seconded by Joe Sabo. All were in favor. All of the following were approved at once: 08-0521-08 Approval of Head Start Program Plans (Service Area Plans): · Education and Early Childhood Development · Child Health and Development · Children with Disabilities · Family and community Partnership · Governance/Rules of Operation · Management System · Human Resources · ERSEA · Transportation Mark Mow asked for a motion for approval of the Head Start Program Plans. The motion was to include all nine topics. A motion was made by Jerry Cook and seconded by Larry Phillips. All were in favor.
VIII. Adjournment
Mark Mow asked for a motion to be made to adjourn the meeting. A motion was made by Joe Sabo and seconded by Larry Phillips. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned.
IX. Closed Session
Respectfully submitted by Gayle Garrage
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