Aiken County Board of Education Meeting on February 18, 2014 at the Disrict Office at 7:00 p.m.

THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT OF AIKEN COUNTY

BOARD OF EDUCATION

AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA

                                       

 

 

Location:                                     District Office                                                     Aiken, SC

                                                   1000 Brookhaven Drive

 

  

REGULAR SESSION: 7:00 P.M.

 

  

DEVOTIONAL & PLEDGE: Mr. Ray Fleming

  

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

 

  

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

 

  

SPECIAL ORDERS OF BUSINESS:

 

 

·       Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest Winners

 

 

·       District Spelling Bee Winners

 

 

·       Public Participation

 

No Request This Meeting

 

 

 

·       Office of Board Chairman

 

 

 

A.             INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: The following items are for information only and do not require Board action.

 

 

1.              Community Facilities Committee (Mr. Caver)

 

 

 

2.              School Food Service Update (Mr. Traxler)

 

  

 

3.         Legislative Update (Mr. Liner)

 

 

B.             CONSENT ITEMS: The following items will be voted on as a group. Individual items may be discussed prior to a vote being taken.

 

 

 1.              Ratification of Expulsions (Dr. Everitt)

 

The School Board, according to the Code of Laws for South Carolina Sections 59-63-240, is authorized to expel students from school. Although the Board may receive recommendations for expulsion from others, it solely is empowered to take the final expulsion action.

 

 

 

 2.              Out-of-District Transfer Requests (Dr. Stowe)

 

Board Policy JFABC allows the Aiken County Board of Education to arrange with other school districts for the interchange of students. The policy stipulates that when students transfer out of the District, “the School District of Aiken County shall assume no responsibility for tuition to the receiving district.”

 

 

 

 3.              Kimberly Clark Foundation Grant to Jefferson Elementary School – FY14 (Mr. Laurence)

 

Jefferson Elementary School was given a $1,500 grant from the Kimberly Clark Foundation.   Funds from this grant will be used to purchase games and centers for math and math manipulatives. They will also purchase a presentation easel and magnetic letters to implement the literacy model and actively teach Common Core Standards.

 

 

 

 4.              Obtain Contract Services Provided by Public Consulting Group (PCG) for Medicaid Billing and Section 504 Database (Mr. Laurence)

 

One possible funding source for the Department of Special Programs is money through the Medicaid program. This money requires extensive paperwork and auditing procedures in order to access it. In the past, the Department of Special Programs has used the company Excent and an individual named Vicky Gee to assist with Medicaid billing for services provided to students. Through this contract Excent received 5% of the district’s reimbursement, and Vicky Gee received approximately $17,000 for her role in assisting the district with billing last year.

 

Excent is used by service providers (speech, occupational, and physical therapists) to log the services provided to students. In addition, school psychologists use a paper filing system to bill for services provided to students. Once those services are logged in the system, Vicky Gee reviews them and submits them to Medicaid for reimbursement. As a result of very little training provided by Excent in the past and there being no checks and balances within in the system for compliance, our district has not been reimbursed for a significant amount of the services that we have provided to students who are Medicaid eligible.

 

Through conversations with a Medicaid auditor, Lilla Hoffer, we learned of major compliance issues related to Medicaid billing. In addition, she informed us that we are eligible to receive a significant amount of month for the services we are providing if we billed properly. In December, we gathered a group of twenty service providers within the department and asked two companies to present to the group how they could support our efforts to ensure compliance and increased amounts of revenue. 

 

Last year, the district served approximately 200 students through Section 504 plans. During the course of the year, the Section 504 coordinator provided training sessions to building level coordinators, organized services needed, review paperwork for compliance, attended meetings as necessary, and maintained a database for these students using an Excel spreadsheet. As a student transfers within the district, the coordinator is responsible gathering the paperwork, reviewing compliance, making copies of the paperwork and providing the receiving school with the necessary documentation.

 

As of December 1, 2013, the district is serving approximately 400 students through Section 504 plans. Having the district coordinator collect and manage all of the necessary information on an Excel spreadsheet is no longer an efficient use of time. In December, we gathered a group of ten building level coordinators and asked two companies to present how they could support our efforts to ensure compliance, consistency, and an effortless managing system for the students we serve through Section 504.

 

 

 

  5.              Proposed Schedule of School Board Meetings, 2014-2015 (Dr. Everitt)

 

The School Board has historically scheduled its regular sessions on the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of the month. Executive sessions have been held, as needed, on these same dates.

 

 

 

C.        INDIVIDUAL ITEMS:

 

 

   1.         Personnel Appointments (Dr. Hewett)

 

The certified and classified personnel presented have been screened by the Personnel Services Department and interviewed and approved by the Principal and the Academic Officers.

 

 

 

 2.              Renewal Contract for Midland Valley Preparatory School (Mr. Burkhalter)

 

Both MVPS and LKCS were originally approved with three year contracts (which were permissible in 2002 before the law was changed to a “fixed” five year term and then changed again to a “fixed” ten year term several years ago). Our two schools are operating on yearly renewals of the old agreement.   Meanwhile other aspects of the charter law have changed and are not specifically provided for in the old documents. There is a need to update these, and the 2012 amendments required the State Department of Education to come up with a “template” which they have done. The new contract is “styled” along the template guides, but includes all working arrangements presently in force with the school.

 

 

 

D.        INDIVIDUAL BOARD MEMBERS

 

 

1.              AGENDA ITEMS SUBMITTED BY INDIVIDUAL BOARD MEMBERS:

 

 

2.              CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESSED TO BOARD MEMBERS:

 

 

3.              REPORTS FROM BOARD LIAISON TO VARIOUS COMMITTEES:

 

 

 

 

E.         OFFICE OF DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT:

 

 

·       Update

 

 

F.         EXECUTIVE SESSION:

 

 

            1.         CONTRACTUAL ISSUES:

 

 

No Items This Meeting

 

 

 

2.         LEGAL BRIEFINGS:

 

 

·       Legal Briefing

 

 

 

3.         PERSONNEL ISSUES:

 

 

                                    No Items This Meeting

 

 

 

4.         OFFICE OF DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT:

 

 

                        No Items This Meeting

 

 

 

5.         APPEALS:

                                

 

a.              Student Appeal (Area 2)

 

b.              Student Appeal (Area 4)

 

c.              Student Appeal (Area 5)

 

d.              Student Appeal (Area 3)

 

e.              Student Appeal (Area 3)

 

 

 

RETURN TO OPEN SESSION

 

ACTION ON ITEMS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION:

 

ADJOURN