COTTON CENTER ISD

P.O. Box 350

Cotton Center, Texas 79021

Board of Trustees

Agenda

Cotton Center ISD hereby gives notice that a Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Cotton Center ISD will be held on Monday, September 10, 2007 beginning at 8:00 P.M. in the Cotton Center ISD Administration/Board Conference Room. The Administration/School Board Conference Room is located at 2345 F.M. 179, Cotton Center, Texas 79021.

The subjects to be discussed, consented and / or have formal action taken on are as follows: (Items do not have to be taken in the same order as shown on the meeting notice.)

 1.         Call to order, Invocation and declare a quorum.

 2.         Public participation--  Public participation is encouraged as long as the guidelines as described in school board policy, BED are followed.

 3.         CONSENT ITEMS:

All of the following items, which concern reports and items of a routine nature normally approved at a board meeting, will be approved by one vote unless any board member desires to have a separate vote on any or all of these items. The consent agenda consists of the discussion, consideration, and approval of the following items:

                        A.        Approval of Minutes for previous Board meeting(s).

                        B.        Approval of Payment of Bills.

                        C.        Approval of Monthly Finance Reports.

                        D.        Approval of Tax Reports.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:

4.         Discussion and action to Approve extension of depository agreement with Security Bank.

6.         Discussion and action to consider a resolution concerning a change in tax law dealing with tangible Personal Property in Transit.

7.         Discussion and action concerning contracts with Hale County Juvenile Probation program. This is the Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program(JJAEP).

8.         Discussion and possible action to consider a proposed budget recommended by the Superintendent.

9.         Discussion and possible action to consider a proposed tax rate as recommended by the Superintendent.

10.       Discussion and possible action to consider the setting of a public hearing on the proposed budget and the proposed tax rate.

11.       Discussion and possible action to consider updates to the Student handbook and Student code of conduct.

12.       Discussion and possible action to approve Substitute Teachers List.

13.       Discussion and possible action to approve Meal Program Agreement for 2007-2008.

14.       Discussion and possible action to adopt a revision of Board policy concerning pets in the district owned houses.

INFORMATION ITEMS:

15.       Review Items / Various Reports.

                        a.         Principal’s report of activities.

                        b.         Report concerning school housing.

                        c.         Report on campus summer projects.

                        d.         Status of at will employee hiring.

                        e.         Accountability rating

16.       Future Meetings or Agenda Items:

                        a.         TASB Convention

                        b.         Board member training

                        c.         Other 

17.       Adjourn or recess to the following day(s) for the completion of agenda items.

I the undersigned authority, hereby certify that the above Notice of Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Cotton Center Independent School District is a correct copy of the Notice and that I posted the Notice on the posting area for public notices in the district’s administration office located at Cotton Center ISD in Cotton Center, Texas on _Friday___, the 10^th day of August, 2007 at 7:30 pm

Cotton Center ISD Superintendent

If during the course of the meeting, discussion of any item on the agenda should be held in a closed meeting, the Board will conduct a closed meeting in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, subchapters D and E. Before any closed meeting is convened, the presiding officer will publicly identify the section or sections of the act.

Summary of July 24, 2007 Board Meeting

1.         Call to order, Declare that there is a quorum.

2.         Public Participation Section

According to the policy, an individual wanting to address the board shall sign-up prior to the meeting and indicate the subject that they want to address the board.

3.         Citizen complaint appeal hearing.

            It is Ms. Koelder’s option as to whether this is heard in open or closed session and she has indicated to me that she would like for it to be in closed session.

            A.        Joe to call board into closed session at __________________ pm.

            B.        Joe will call board back into open session at _______________pm.

            C.        Action concerning the discussion in closed session.

4.         Consent agenda

All items can be approved with a single motion and vote. Should anyone item be a concern to any board member, the board member can request that it be considered separately.

            Recommendation:    Motion to approve items A-D of the Consent agenda.

5.         We have to approve a district depository bank and have to enter into an agreement with them. We are allowed to do extensions of the previous year agreement which is what I am recommending that we do.

            Recommendation:    Motion to approve resolution for an extension of our depository agreement with Security Bank.

6.         New law passed in the last session concerning Property in transit. Unless we take action we will loose tax money generated on inventory that is stored at one location and then moved to another location.

            Recommendation:    Motion to approve resolution to continue tax on personal property in transit.

7.         There are two agreements. One to continue participation in the alternative education program, JJAEP and the other is for expulsions and probation placements.

            Recommendation:    Motion to approve Agreements with Hale County Juvenile Board for Alternative Education placement and for expulsions and probation placement.

8.         8, 9 and 10

I am giving you two proposed budgets. One is for a tax rate of $1.04 and the other is $1.17. This year we were at $1.37 per hundred valuation. The $1.17 is a drop in taxes by $.20 per hundred. I feel that this would be a good time to improve our financial situation while giving our citizens a tax break. We have many needs such as transportation, sewer systems, doors, windows, roofs and others. This would allow us to start fixing some things that have deteriorated over years because of a lack of money. Our kids deserve to have a school that they are proud of and I feel that this would allow us to make a start in that direction. This rate will force us to hold a rollback election. The $1.04 rate would be the allowable rate and would not require a vote of the citizens of our district. We must make a decision which way we intend to go so that I can present a formal budget and tax rate for adoption on August 30, 2007.

8.         This is just the presentation of a proposed budget. We will vote to approve the budget on August 30 after the public meeting.

9.         This is the adoption of a tax rate. One of the motions below will need to be made.

            Recommendation:    Motion to adopt a tax rate of _$1.17 per hundred valuation and authorize the Superintendent to take all necessary steps to prepare for a rollback election. (OR) Motion to adopt a tax rate of $1.04 per hundred valuation. 

10.       Setting of public meeting date.

            Recommendation:    Motion to set a public meeting date for August 30, 2007 at 8:00 pm to be held in the Administration building in the board meeting room. 

11.       Student Handbook and Student Code of Conduct

            Mr. Setliff will discuss with you proposed changes in the handbook and code of conduct. There is interest expressed by the Site Based Committee to look at changes related to facial hair and cell phones.

            Recommendation:    Motion to approve revisions in the Student Handbook and the Student Code of Conduct.

12.       Substitute List-I am presenting the substitute list that we ended the year with. We are going to need to revise the list as we recruit new substitutes.

13.       This is an annual approval of the meal program.

            Recommendation:    Motion to approve the agreement for the Child Nutrition program.

14.       Pets in the district owned houses.

            Recommendation:    Motion to approve a new local policy DEB-Local concerning pets in District owned housing.

15.       A. Principal’s report

            B. Work on school houses

            C. Progress on campus summer projects.

16.     Future Meetings

          a.       I need to start planning for those that are going to attend this conference.

          b.       Monday, September 24-Level 1 New Board Member Orientation in the ITV room starting at 7 for 3 hours and Tuesday, September 25-Level 1-update for experienced members starting at 7 for 2 hours in the ITV room.

          c.        other

17.       Adjournment

            Recommendation:    Motion to adjourn the meeting at ____________ p.m.