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January 25, 2008 Minutes

 

Meeting of the Board of Trustees

Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), was held in Room 116 of the Administration Building, located at 1100 West 45th Street, Austin, Texas on January 25, 2008.

Call to Order:  Frankie Swift, Board President, called the meeting to order at 10:15 AM.  In addition to Ms. Swift, the following Board members were in attendance:  Donna Clopton, Debbie Louder, Dr. Gene Brooks, Jesus Bautista, Michelle Goodwin, Caroline Daley, and Jamie Wheeler.  Board Member Dr. Robert Peters was unable to attend this meeting.

Introduction of Audience:  Others in attendance at the meeting included William Daugherty, Superintendent of TSBVI; Barney Schulz, Director of Business, Operations and Technology; Miles Fain, Principal of Comprehensive Programs; Gloria Bennett, Director of Community Resources, Kendra Dorty, Audio/Visual Tech; David Tawil, Wells Fargo Investment Manager; Dr. Lauren Newton, Principal of Special Programs; Jaye Stepp, Internal Auditor; Carol Vaughan, School Attorney; Malcolm Cleveland, Accounting Director; Ken Miller, Director of School and Student Services; Vicki Prager, Program Specialist; Debra Nesbitt, Human Resources Director; Susan Houghtling, Director of Planning and Evaluation; Gay Sikors, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent; Paul Woodard, Architect; Kara Belew, Liaison to TSBVI from the Governor’s Office; Cyral Miller, Director of Outreach; Tad Doezema, Teacher; Lyn Robertson, Lead Teacher; Joe Paschall, Athletics Director; John Castillo, Assistant Wrestling Coach; Tammi Reed, Cheerleading Coach; Chasity, Jamie, Ashley, Amy, Briana, and Alex, students; and the following members of the Point Venture Lions’ Club: Gary Robertson, President; Charlene Robertson, Roy Abels, Mim Hruby, and Bob Adolph.

Public Comments/Open Forum:  There were no public comments.

Presentation of Check to TSBVI from Point Venture Lions Club:  Gloria Bennett introduced Gary Robertson, President of the Point Venture Lions Club, and Charlene Robertson, Roy Abels, Mim Hruby, and Bob Adolph, members of the Club, who presented TSBVI with a check for $4,550.  This donation was accompanied by a letter requesting that the money be used to fund two $500 scholarships for TSBVI students, to replace sports uniforms and footwear, to replace play therapy equipment in the elementary program, and to purchase braille compasses for TSBVI graduates and for teaching purposes.  Allocation of remaining funds has been left to the discretion of TSBVI management.

Update on SCASB Wrestling, Cheerleading and Performing Arts Championships Hosted by TSBVI, January 18 &19:  Miles Fain reported on the SCASB Wrestling, Cheerleading and Performing Arts Championships and shared a video of some of the activities, with commentary by Joe Paschall, the Athletics Director.  Tammi Reed, who coaches the cheerleaders (along with co-coach and former TSBVI student, Melody Ballentine) announced that this year our team won first place, for the first time. The students showed off their trophy and answered questions from the Board about their experiences.  John Castillo, assistant wrestling coach, read a letter to the Board from Coach Mark Ramirez, who was traveling to another event with a student.  Coach Ramirez named each of the students who participated in the wrestling competition, and said how proud he was of their demonstration of sportsmanship, and respect for each other and their competitors.  TSBVI music teacher, Jane Rundquist, announced that two of the student wrestlers, Amy and Alex, are also part of a small group called the TSBVI Singers.  They opened the SCASB activities on Saturday by singing the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and she requested that they sing it for the Board. 

Award of Certificates of Appreciation:  Mr. Fain presented plaques to Tammi Reed and Melody Ballentine (who could not be present) in appreciation for ten years of service as cheerleading coaches.

Consideration of Approval of Minutes of November 16, 2007 Board Meeting:  Jamie Wheeler made a motion that the minutes of the November meeting be approved as presented, and Donna Clopton seconded the motion.  The vote to approve was unanimous.

Report from the Finance and Audit Committee:  Michelle Goodwin introduced David Tawil, investment manager from Wells Fargo, to report on the status of the TSBVI investment portfolio.  In spite of the fact that the stock market has experienced recent downturns, and 2008 is expected to be a difficult year for the economy, the portfolio is so diversified that it reacts less to these downturns than the overall market.  Mr. Tawil said that he expects our portfolio to perform well in 2008.

Report from the Internal Auditor:  Jaye Stepp said that she had no reports for this meeting, but she expects to have the Purchasing Report by the next meeting.  She is also working on the Peer Reviewer’s recommendation on the status of prior year recommendation.  She has postponed the Risk Assessment to the end of this year.

Consideration of Adoption of a Resolution Regarding the Review of the Investment Policy and Strategies of TSBVI:  Ms. Goodwin reported that the Finance and Audit Committee recommended approval of this resolution, reviewed at the last Board meeting.  Since it came from Committee, no second was required.  The vote to approve was unanimous.

Consideration of Approval of Board Policies:  The following policies were considered for amendment:

• CL             Building, Grounds, and Equipment Management
• CLA          Building, Grounds, and Equipment Management:  Security
• CLB          Building, Grounds, and Equipment Management:  Maintenance
• CNA          Transportation Management:  Student Transportation

Ms. Goodwin said that the Finance and Audit Committee recommended approval of the proposed amendments to all three policies.  Donna Clopton inquired about the status of security improvements.  Malcolm Cleveland reported that the scanner for the entrance gates has not yet been installed, but there is a camera in place at the Miller Drive entrance, and soon will be one at the Sunshine entrance.  The scanner will not be installed until phase three of construction.  After a short discussion of existing security measures, Ms. Swift said that since the recommendation for approval came from Committee, no second was needed, and called for a vote.  The vote to approve was unanimous.

Consideration of Approval of the Investment Report:  Ms. Goodwin reported that the Finance and Audit Committee also recommended approval of the Investment Report.  Barney Schulz briefly reviewed the report.  Since the recommendation for approval came from Committee, no second was needed, and the vote to approve was unanimous.

Approval of Receipt of Gifts and Donations of Over $500:  Ms. Goodwin reported that we had three gifts over $500 during this period.  Saberex donated $1,500 to the athletics program.  All Blind Children donated $2,000, also for athletics.  Delta Gamma Foundation provided $9,187.14 for whatever need is designated by TSBVI Board and management.  The Finance and Audit Committee recommended acceptance of these gifts, no second was needed, and the Board voted unanimously to do so.

Approval of Request for Expenditure of Gifts and Donations:  Ms. Goodwin said that Bill Daugherty has stated that he is not quite ready to designate a use for the Delta Gamma funds, and would prefer to save this money for a future need.  Consequently, the Finance and Audit Committee had no recommendations at this meeting.

Report from the Personnel Committee: 
Consideration of Approval of Board Policies:  Donna Clopton reported that the Personnel Committee considered the following policies for amendment:

• DBA          Employment Requirements and Restrictions: Credentials and Records
• DBE          Employment Requirements and Restrictions: Nepotism

Ms. Clopton said that the only addition to DBA is to add CPR/defibrillator training for all teachers who have direct contact with students, as in sports and athletics. TSBVI goes beyond recommendations by asking that a certain percentage of direct care staff have this training.  Gene Brooks asked whether we actually have a defibrillator, and Mr. Daugherty answered that we have two, and our safety officer, Bonita Thomsen, and others are working to get a grant to purchase many more and distribute them all over the campus.  Ms. Clopton said that the Personnel Committee recommended approval of the amended policies.  No second was needed, so the Board voted unanimously to approve.

Review of Policies and Practices Pertaining to Rehiring Retirees:  Debra Nesbitt reviewed TSBVI’s policy and practices with regard to rehiring retirees, which has not changed.  The Texas Legislature requires that a retiring state employee must not be re-employed for 30 days, but otherwise has no restrictions on this practice.  Since a large percentage of TSBVI professionals have reached retirement age in recent years, just as in the general population, there is concern that that the School would experience a “talent gap” if those employees retired and had to be replaced by others without their experience.  Ms. Nesbitt believes that this practice has been very beneficial to the School.  Mr. Daugherty commented that a major concern is succession planning, and the longer we can keep the talent we have, the better plan we can make for future replacements.

Report on Survey of Organizational Excellence:  Due to email problems in December, the survey could not be completed.  The results should be available in about two weeks, and will be reported at the next meeting.

Report from the Program Committee:           
Consideration of Approval of Board Policies:  Debbie Louder reported that the Program Committee considered the following policies for amendment or review:

• BF             Board Policies
• BR            Reports
• FD            Admissions and Attendance
• FFI            Student Welfare:  Weekends Home

The Program Committee recommended approval of these policies as amended; therefore no second was needed.  The Board voted unanimously to approve.

Report from Comprehensive Program Principal:  Ms. Louder reported that the Program Committee was treated to a presentation on EXIT Program class activities, and asked Principal Miles Fain to give the full Board a review.  Mr. Fain explained that teacher Margot Marshall and some of her students talked about the activities involved in preparing students for the transition to adult life and related independence.  One student talked about weekly activities, working on living skills, goal setting, budgeting, learning about apartments and resources in the community, and taking a class at Austin Community College.  He is hoping to go to college, and is learning about college admissions.  Another student, who has a work goal, talked about his work preparation experiences and his new job at Gatti’s call center.  Some of the students in this program live in the duplexes at the far end of the campus, furthering their sense of independence and belonging to the adult world.

Report from Outreach Director:  Cyril Miller reported that the Outreach staff is busy planning for next year and the far future.  The Deafblind group is working on writing a grant proposal to continue the Deafblind Outreach program past September.  Ms. Miller shared a list of proposed ”distance ed” trainings for the next year, which are typically two-hour programs offered through video conferencing.  She also listed proposed workshops to be presented by the VI Team, the Deafblind Team, and the Professional Prep group.  She said that one of the biggest goals of their grant proposal is working toward developing standards and national certification for deafblind teachers and deafblind interveners.  Ms. Miller had a meeting during the past week with representatives from the Lone Star Community College, in the Houston area, about developing coursework in this area.  Caroline Daley talked about the difficulty her family has had trying to hire an intervener for their deafblind daughter.  Because our government does not recognize “Intervener” as an official job category, there is no training available for people interested in working in this field.  The Daleys have found an intervener from Canada who will come to live with their family, but because there is no certification available, she cannot obtain a work visa to work in the United States.  Consequently, the Daleys will have to pay transportation and expenses to get her to Texas, and then provide her living expenses, etc. as a “gift” because officially she can only be a visitor.  This is very expensive and very difficult to accomplish logistically.

Report from Special Programs Principal:  Dr. Lauren Newton reported that Short Term Programs now has their application form for summer programs online.  She has had this project on her action plans for three years, but resources have been limited by demand for electronic services throughout the school, many of which took priority over this one.  It happened that one of the teachers in Special Programs has a special interest in programming and with the help of others, he was able to write the program for TSBVI.  Having the application online will greatly reduce necessary paperwork for teachers, who are used to working with electronic media and welcome the change.        

Ms. Swift called for a break at 12:03 p.m.  The meeting reconvened at 1:38 p.m.

Facilities Master Plan Update:  Mr. Daugherty introduced Paul Woodard, the architect from Halff Associates who designed most of the new buildings and improvements currently being built at TSBVI.  For the benefit of the new Board members, Mr. Woodard described the work performed to date.  Beginning in the spring of 2006, Mr. Woodard and two other architects in his firm produced a Master Plan for TSBVI.  This generated the ideas and the imagery that resulted in the Public Square scheme, in which all the buildings that are designed for some public use are grouped together and centralized, then surrounded by the housing and academic buildings.  Mr. Woodard used the original architect’s drawing of the Master Plan to point out the expected flow of activity when the project is finished.   During the remainder of 2006, many discussions between TSBVI staff and Halff Associates’ architects, as well as planning with the Legislature and the Texas Facilities Commission about funding the project over time, resulted in divisions of the Master Plan for details. Mr. Woodard shared many of these drawings with the board and staff, while he explained “phasing” of construction and funding.  The different phases of construction are color coded on the drawings.  A plan for drainage and grading is designed to ensure that our construction will have as little impact on the surrounding neighborhood as possible. A plan for utilities (water, gas, sewage, electric power, communications, etc.) assures that these necessary things will be installed in an orderly fashion, before they are needed. The plan for buildings focuses on the phases, as in which buildings will be built at the same time, and how to keep disruption of the campus at a minimum.  Studies were done of expected cost escalations for building materials over the four to five years of construction, and project budgets have been designed for each phase and each building.  Phase One of actual construction, beginning in August or September of 2008, will consist of roadways and parking lots and preparation for construction of the buildings, along with demolition of the existing natatorium.  Phase Two will be the beginning of construction of the Public Square buildings; these are the Natatorium, the Kitchen/dining building, the Fine Arts Auditorium, and the Student Activity Center.  This phase will also include fire lanes and parking areas, as well as protected sidewalks for student access to Building 500.  Jesus Bautista expressed concern for student safety, should students get lost in the construction area. Mr. Woodard assured the Board that the construction zone will be clearly defined and prohibited to students with fences and signs.  The designers are very aware that our students will need to relearn and remap the campus in their minds, and they will take all possible precautions to avoid the possibility of anyone getting lost.  This second phase of construction will last approximately 18 months.  Construction of Building 600, the replacement for Building 500, will begin around January or February of 2009, and Building 500 will be removed from the site in the summer of 2010.  After that they will begin the development of the yard.  In addition to the complex activities and moves he had already described, Mr. Woodard explained that during the period of September 2008 to October of 2010, work will also commence on independent living facilities and the Outreach Center, as well as demolition of Dorms 501 and 502, and renovation of the Elementary School, the OT/PT Center, the Gym, and the Student Health Center.  In May of 2011, construction should begin on the Vocational Building and the Business Office.  Malcolm Cleveland asked where the business offices would be located during these interim periods.  Mr. Woodard described some alternatives that have been discussed; the planners are hoping to keep the necessity for staff to relocate down to once for each staff member, but that probably will not be possible for all. 

Public Discussion of TSBVI’s 2006-2007 Annual Report:  The Memorandum of Understanding between the Texas Education Agency and TSBVI requires the School’s Board to publish, discuss and disseminate an annual report describing the educational performance of the School.  The report must be disseminated to parents of enrolled students, districts that have placed students at the School, and regional education service centers.  The Annual Report for 2006-2007 was published and disseminated in November.  Additionally, the Board must notify these individuals of an opportunity for public discussion of the annual report to be held at a regularly scheduled board meeting.  This notification of a January 25, 2008 public meeting with the board was sent out along with the Annual Report.  At this point, Mr. Daugherty invited suggestions and comments regarding the report.

Ms. Louder asked whether TSBVI is required to address the same eleven indicators that other school districts are required to address by the federal government.  Mr. Daugherty said that his understanding is that the entirety of TSBVI’s requirements is addressed in the Memorandum of Understanding, but he will get a more complete answer to her question.  Ms. Louder also asked whether TSBVI must become a part of the Texas Continuous Improvement Process, and include this in the annual report.  Ken Miller answered that we do not have an answer to that; there has not been a firm decision on that yet.

Consideration of Approval of TSBVI’s Vision, Mission and Philosophy Statements:  Bill Daugherty reviewed the TSBVI Vision, Mission and Philosophy Statements and small revisions suggested for the Philosophy Statement.  Donna Clopton moved that the Board approve the Vision, Mission and Philosophy Statements, and Michelle Goodwin seconded the motion.  The vote to approve was unanimous.

Consideration of Organizational Structure Study:  Mr. Daugherty reiterated his understanding of the desire for an organizational structural study, as discussed in the last two Board meetings.  Two interests that he has heard from the Board are, (1) how is the School organized, i.e. what is the structure of the school, and (2) how well does this structure work in support of the mission? A previous study of the school, done a number of years ago by superintendents of schools for the blind, concluded that our departments were not integrated well; they did not meet each other’s needs for information, services, or support.  Another issue was a general lack of accountability campus-wide.  Unfortunately, however, that study clearly identified problems but did not offer solutions.  Significant improvements have developed over time; our three programs areas started working well together, and all of our departments work in a more collaborative fashion.  Supports to the programs and general communication have improved. But the Board would like to see a new, objective study of the organizational structure of TSBVI.  Over the past month, Mr. Daugherty has become acquainted with a couple of people who are organizational experts, and have a company called Implementations, to help organizations study themselves and make improvements.  TSBVI has recently participated in a Survey of Organizational Excellence through the University of Texas School of Social Work, and will have results of that survey by the middle of next month.  Mr. Daugherty suggests that we use those results as a starting point to develop a more in-depth study of the School’s/Agency’s organizational structure.  He would like to schedule a meeting between himself and the Board President and Ross Mitchel and Liz Solka of Implementations to lay out a general approach to the study, and then ask the full Board to work with Ross and Liz on the Saturday after the March Board meeting.  This was not a “decision item” on the agenda, so no vote was required, but the Board was generally in agreement with this approach.

Consideration of Approval of Request from the Superintendent to Travel to Nigeria to Conduct Educational Leadership Training for the Hope for the Blind Foundation:  Mr. Daugherty revisited his request to travel to Nigeria during the spring break.  He will participate in the West African Conference on Blindness and Low Vision, in the section on mainstreaming.  The Hope for the Blind Foundation will pay all his expenses.  Ms. Louder made a motion that this request be approved, and Caroline Daley seconded the motion.  The vote for approval was unanimous.

Discussion of Survey of Special Education Directors and Teachers of the Visually Impaired on the Benefits of Assistance with Transportation Costs to Short-term Programs:  Dr. Newton shared a printout of the web page for Short-Term Programs announcing that TSBVI will pay the cost of transportation to short-term programs.  The page includes a link to a survey designed to determine the difficulties that might prevent a student from attending a program.  Besides transportation costs, the problems listed are concerns about a student missing school, parents not wanting a child to leave home for a length of time, and an open category for any other reasons.  Dr. Newton has sent this survey to her list of teachers and Education Service Centers, and will send it to special education directors next week.  She expects that addressing these issues will increase enrollment for Short–Term Programs.

Discussion of Accessibility Issues of TSBVI Staff:  Mr. Daugherty reported on his efforts to address accessibility issues of visually impaired staff, mentioned by Dr. Brooks at the last Board meeting.  Mr. Daugherty attempted to contact every staff member who might have accessibility issues, and shared his results with the Board.  Some comments were about the accessibility of braille technology; Mr. Daugherty said that many office staff have been trained in the use of Duxbury, and we have the capability of having twenty users simultaneously using Duxbury.  Embossers are available in many areas of campus, or can be linked at the Learning Resource Center.  Workshop participants are given the option of receiving materials in the form of electronic files.  The LRC staff produces braille for us, and is always willing to help, and the residential program can produce braille as well. On the other hand, the forms on our Teacher Solutions program are not accessible.  TSBVI recently hired a staff member to perform major rehabilitation on the Teacher Solutions system, and when he completes the basic rescue work on the software, he will work on making the forms accessible. The School does not have uniform procedures on creating forms; Mr. Daugherty said we need to have a manual for that, testing of the forms, and training for staff.  Forms have been developed in different departments by different people and then added in, without a uniform process for doing that.  Information Resources is currently adapting a procedures manual from Health and Human Services that may help us in this regard.  Another problem perceived by at least one of our visually impaired staff members is what Mr. Daugherty called “access to responsibility.”  She believes that there is not an overt confidence level in the skills of blind staff members at our school.  In terms of training that we provide, she feels that we are not using the skills of blind staff members to bring “real life” approaches to situations.  Additionally, if an off-campus activity is planned with an instructional team consisting of a blind staff member and a sighted staff member supervising a group of students, and the sighted staff member is absent, the activity is likely to be cancelled or postponed, rather than “trusting” the blind staff.  Mr. Daugherty commented that this is a complex issue; while there is no question that sight carries a big advantage in monitoring students, there may sometimes be a less tangible benefit in allowing such a situation to happen.  Safety is the most important issue, however, and is not a matter of competency of the TSBVI professionals, but of the danger present in the population at large.  No conclusion has been reached, but these questions need further consideration.  Mr. Brooks thanked the Superintendent for his thorough efforts to address these issues, and several other Board members commented that these are questions to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Report on All Blind Children of Texas Charity:  Gloria Bennett reported that the Secretary of State’s office wants to make a public service announcement about voting and about blind people having accessible voting machines.  A public relations firm called Think Street.Net called Ms. Bennett and asked her to review the text of the announcement, to be sure it is “politically correct,” and she agreed to have some of our visually impaired staff do that.  Three TSBVI staff members reviewed it and made suggestions.

Ms. Bennett sent out ABCTX’s annual fund-raising letter in December.  There were 350 letters mailed, and they received 38 responses (over 10%), which is excellent, and raised approximately $3,000.  Suggesting donations be made “in honor” of someone turned out to be a positive strategy, as she had eight donations in honor of Mary Sue Welch, three in honor of Dr. Phil Hatlen, two in memory of Steve Allen, three in memory of Forrest Goodenough, and one in honor of Carol Vaughan.

Ms. Bennett reported that ABCTX has raised $1,135 selling Virginia Bishop calendars, to be used for a scholarship to be awarded at the next graduation.  She said that although the calendars are beautiful, she hopes/intends never to sell calendars again.  All Blind Children is an organization of one, with a Board, and does not have the staff to market calendars, which are obviously a time-limited product and must compete with thousands of advertisers who send calendars to their customers and prospects for free.  Ms. Clopton commented that she thought that all-occasion greeting cards would be a better idea, and Ms. Bennett agreed, saying she might try that for next year’s fundraiser.

All Blind Children paid for Joe Paschall and two students to go on the annual ski trip to Crested Butte, Colorado in February.  They also purchased shoes for the wrestling team, sponsored the Hospitality Room for the SCASB tournament, and paid for the SCASB banquet centerpieces.

All Blind Children agreed to join a travel organization called YTB Travel, which is a fund-raiser for nonprofits.  There will be a link on the ABCTX website, with the message, “Take a trip and raise money for your favorite charity,” and out of all the money spent through this link, ABCTX will receive 40% of the profit.  They also decided to again sponsor Sports Vision 20/20 Bowl-a-thon.  TSBVI staff member Richie Flores is in NFB in a mentoring program, which raises money through a Bowl-a-thon, and ABCTX, will sponsor two lanes for that event.  ABCTX will also contribute to a young woman who has raised over $3,000 to go on a trip with her sighted peers, on a project called “Rome Dream.”  She asked for $250 to buy a camera, so ABCTX gave her $500.  They also contributed $225 to a TVI in Houston, to take her students shopping and do food preparation.  A young man who is raising money to go to the Amazon applied for assistance, so ABCTX gave him $500, and he has agreed to come speak to our students when he returns from this trip.

Status Report on Action Plans in the 2007-2008 School Improvement Plan:  Bill Daugherty presented the printed report called “Status of Completion of Action Plans From the 2007-2008 Annual Improvement Plan,” which had previously been provided to the Board in electronic format.  This report lists 30 Action Plans for development and/or improvement of procedures and programs throughout TSBVI.  Each Action Plan is broken down into Action Steps, with a Target Date for Completion, Person(s) Responsible, Resource Allocation, and Status.  Mr. Daugherty commented that Action Plan 20 was the only one with his name listed as a “Person Responsible,” and it proposes to “Begin Plans for Continuous Improvement for Three Departments on Campus: Business Office, Operations, and Technology.”  He has added this statement to Action Plan 20:  “The new Superintendent will propose an agency-wide review looking at the quality of TSBVI’s internal processes and functioning through an organizational study rather than through use of this action plan.”  He then asked whether the board members had comments or questions about any of the Action Plans.  Deborah Louder said that she had one minor problem with the “Status” column of some of the Action Plans.  In some cases the status was listed as “ongoing” or “in process” and she would like to see details of what is being done or has been done.  She would like more information.  Mr. Daugherty said that these changes would be made soon; the next time the Board is given this report, it will be complete.

Report from the Superintendent:
Superintendent's Travel:  This issue having been addressed earlier in the meeting, Mr. Daugherty will travel to Nigeria during spring break, from March 6 to March 16, 2008.

Campus visitors and activities:  We have had two visitors from Saint Mary’s School in South Korea for about a week.  The Legislative Budget Board analyst, Jody Wright, visited here January 23rd and Barney Schulz and John Raff did a fine presentation for him.  On December 19th we had a performing arts assembly in the auditorium that was our Christmas program.  We had an MLK celebration on the 14th, and the SCASB Wrestling, Cheerleading and Performing Arts Conference on the 18th and 19th.

Enrollment update:  There are currently 24 elementary, 111 middle/secondary, and 3 post-secondary students enrolled in Comprehensive Programs.

Progress report on procedures required in policy: No policies that were reviewed by the board at the November Board meeting required procedure development before the January Board meeting.

Use of facilities by outside groups:  Texas State Employees Union set up a table one morning to disseminate information to TSBVI employees.  A film production company worked in the main building for a couple of nights.  Austin Council for the Blind and Prevent Blindness have both recently had meetings on our campus.  These activities were in addition to the musical groups who use our facilities for rehearsals on a weekly basis.

Monthly reports of web site visitors:  Almost 12,000 visitors per day use our website, from all over the world.

Report of Consultants' Contracts Approved at the Administrative Level – Contracts Greater than $600 and Equal To or Less Than $10,000:  Mr. Daugherty referred the Board to a list of contracts greater than $600 and equal to or less than $10,000 provided in the materials mailed to them before the meeting.

Report of Completion of Board Member Training Requirements for the Past Year:  Frankie Swift read a list of Board members with information about training requirements each has completed. 
Board Members Completing All Requirements:  Gene Brooks
Board Members Exceeding the Requirements:  Gene Brooks
Board Members Needing Additional Training:  Jesus Bautista, Donna Clopton, Caroline Daley, Michelle Goodwin, Debbie Louder, Robert Peters, Frankie Swift, Jamie Wheeler

Carol Vaughan announced that she provided a four-hour training for the Board of the School for the Deaf on the legal citations involved in legislation, mission statement, etc., and has been approved by the Texas Education Agency to be a trainer.  She is willing to provide that training for our Board, if they would like to take advantage of that.  The Board was enthusiastic about this suggestion, and such training will be scheduled at a future time.

Discussion of Future Board Meeting Topics:  Frankie Swift called for suggestions for topics for the next Board meeting.  Jesus Bautista suggested an explanation of Tier Two and Tier Three, with regard to the Board training requirements.  Ms. Louder asked that Dr. Newton share the survey about providing transportation to short-term programs and the results she gets from the Summer School application online.  Ms. Daley would like Cyral Miller to provide an update on the intervener training and Outreach information.  Gene Brooks would like accessibility to become a topic subject to regular updates.  Susan Houghtling reminded the Board that they usually plan to have lunch with the Student Council in March, and they responded positively to that idea.  Ms. Louder suggested that they present a Certificate of Appreciation to Paul Woodard, for his passionate dedication to our building project.  Ms. Clopton would like to also recognize Debra Nesbitt for her talent and hard work as retiring Human Resources Director.  Ms. Daley would like to recognize the teacher who designed the online application for Short Term Programs.  Susan Houghtling said we would also recognize 2008 TSBVI Outstanding Direct Care Staff Members at the next meeting. 

Discussion of the January 26 Board Meeting:  Frankie Swift reminded everybody that Saturday’s training meeting would start at 8:30 a.m. in the Conference Center at the Silverrain Building.

Election of Board Officers:  Ms. Swift said that since she has served for a year past her original appointment to the Board, she thinks it would be a bad idea for her to run for reelection to office.  She nominated Deborah Louder, who has been serving as Vice President, as President for the next term. Caroline Daley seconded the nomination, and Ms. Louder was elected unanimously.  Donna Clopton nominated Gene Brooks for Vice President, but he respectfully declined.  Jamie Wheeler nominated Michelle Goodwin, and Ms. Daley seconded.  Ms. Goodwin was unanimously elected Vice President.  Ms. Swift brought up the fact that most of the Board members are at or near completion of their terms, and suggested that those who were interested in reappointment should apply as soon as possible, because the process takes some time.  Ms. Louder nominated Gene Brooks for re-election as Secretary.  Jesus Bautista nominated Caroline Daley, and Gene Brooks seconded her nomination.  She was elected unanimously. 

Consideration of Approval of Incoming Board President’s Recommendations Concerning Board Committees and Nomination of Committee Members:  Ms. Swift passed the gavel to Ms. Louder, who assumed the Presidency and asked for preferences in serving on committees.  All members expressed desires to stay on the committees on which they have served for the last term.

Jamie Wheeler will chair the Program Committee.

Announcements:  There were no announcements.

 Recess:  The meeting was recessed at 4:40 p.m.

_____________________________       ________________
Deborah Louder                                    Date
Board President

______________________________     ________________
Caroline Daley                                       Date
Board Secretary

______________________________     ________________
Gay Sikors                                                      Date
Recording Secretary

          

BOARD DIRECTIVES AND FUTURE MEETING TOPICS

1. Explanation of Tier Two and Tier Three, with regard to the Board training requirements
2. Dr. Newton to share the survey about providing transportation to short-term programs and the results she gets from the Summer School application online 
3. Cyral Miller to provide an update on the intervener training and Outreach information
4. Accessibility (as a recurring topic)
5. Lunch with the Student Council
6. Recognition of the 2008 TSBVI Outstanding Direct Care Staff Members