MEMBERS  PRESENT:
Diann Shuffett, Michelle Gadberry, Angie Chandler, Mary Twohig, Karen Beavers, David Taylor, Connie Adams, Stacie McCune, Jim Batts, Angela Wilkins, Dan Florell, Amanda Crick, Susan McGurk, Wendy Mullins, Kandy Stroup, Christy Cremeens, Carly Cornelius, Karen Tuerk, Kurt Metz.

MINUTES:
Minutes from the March 13, 2003 Executive Council meeting were read and reviewed by all members.  Angie Chandler made the motion to accept the minutes as written with a second from Dan Florell; the motion was approved.

TREASURER'S REPORT:
The treasurer's report was submitted by Karen Beavers.  Current assets were listed as  Checking Account Balance $19,765.97, Jennie Ewald Fund $2,140.50, Certificate of Deposit $3,319.42 for a Total Asset balance of $25,225.89.  Major expenditures since March were Spring Conference $3,708.49, election materials $228.32, membership packets $223.74, and WISC-IV training $312.00.  Major assets since March were Spring training $323.00 and WISC-IV training $1,555.00.  The financial audit from last year is currently on file.  Michelle Gadberry made the motion to approve the report with a second from Kandy Stroup; the motion was approved.

REGIONAL REPORTS:

    REGION 1:  Amanda Crick reported that Region 1 hosted a workshop in June on curriculum assessment with 25 members present.  They plan on a WISC-IV training in October.

    REGION 2:  Stacie McCune had several questions from her regional members.  She asked for ideas for future trainings in her region.  She asked whether it was appropriate to use the predictive formula for the WIAT-2 with Jim Batts answering that is was legal to use but she needed to determine whether it followed her district's policies and procedures.  She asked what the state recommendation was regarding temporary placement of ECE students.  Jim Batts and other members indicated that if the student had a current in-state IEP that student could be placed; if the IEP was from out-of-state, the student would need to qualify using state eligibility.  In addition, out-of-state reevaluation data could be used if data supports Kentucky eligibility.  Again, current district policies and procedures would need to be checked.  Stacie also asked for a clarification of the base rate related to the WISC-IV training.

    REGION 3:  Susan McGurk reported that Region 3 held a recruitment party on September 12th.

    REGION 4:  Wendy Mullins brought up her region's concern that the pendulum seemed to be swinging back to school psychologists being testers only and asked what could be done to make school psychologists seen as interventionists.  Several members had suggestions.  Angela Wilkins said that it was not the legislative duty to regulate what individual districts do.  She felt that school psychologists should use the results from state and national testing, available on October 7th and 14th, to go out to public hearings and talk about the gaps.  Members felt we needed to work harder to make presentations at conferences/meetings where administrators were such as Safe Schools and KASA conference.  Connie Adams felt we needed to be involved with the Family & Youth Resource Centers.

    REGION 5:  Kandy Stroup reported that Region 5 cosponsored the WISC-IV training along with Fayette Count.  She was happy to report that the training made money for KAPS.  She plans to publicize other conferences to her members as they become available.  They are developing a school psychologist work group to work on changes in reevaluation procedures and to discuss ESL issues.  She said that Region 5 members frequently e-mail each to pose questions and borrow test kits.

    REGION 6:  There was no report.

    REGION 7/8:  Karen Tuerk reported that most Region 7/8 members came to the KAPS conference.  She said that her region had a speaker on reevaluations and were developing a crisis response team.  Karen raised questions about getting support from KAPS regarding out-of-date test materials.  Small school districts frequently have difficulty coming up the money or are reluctant to spend money on new test materials.  The question was asked if the cooperative could buy the test kits for sharing.  Kandy Stroup reported that in her region the coop was far away so a cluster of counties worked out buying and sharing materials.  State regulations say to use the most recent version of the test and members felt that generally meant the new test should be use within one year of publication.  A second question was asked regarding the use of aides doing testing.  State regulations say a qualified examiner is needed; may have difficulty in due process hearing if done by an aide.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

    CONFERENCE:  Diann Shuffett reported that the conference was going well with registration of about 225.  She said that the financial goal was to break even but expressed her frustration with the challenges of keeping within budget.  Karen Tuerk asked how long the preconference portion had been in existence with no clear answer given.  Diann reported that the luncheon will be used as the KAPS business meeting.

    MEMBERSHIP:  David Taylor was unable report on current membership information as he was still compiling.  The question was asked - if member does not renew, how to follow-up.  After discussion, it was decided that an e-mail with membership form attached would be sent first with further follow-up through the mail if needed.  David said that the database of members is now in-house as well as with KASA.  New members will continue to get membership packets consisting of list of KAPS officers and committee chairs, letter from KAPS president, membership card and certificate, and eventually KAPS brochure and directory.  Connie Adams expressed a need for an e-mail list of council members but Dan Florell indicated that information was available on the website.  David indicated that the new directory was currently being worked on; it would use a different format and hopefully be less expensive.  It was suggested that he price the cost of having them printed at KINKO's versus through KASA.  David said that information needed to be in by October 11-13 in order for the directory to be ready this semester.  It was suggested that directory somehow include members by regions.  Diann Shuffett brought up the question of membership rate for retired members.  She indicated that KASA and NASP have cheaper rates for retired members and felt we may want to follow suit.  It was suggested that a committee was needed to work on this issue and that the by-laws needed to be followed to make changes.  Since some members did not have copies of the by-laws, Michelle Gadberry volunteered to make copies and have available at next meeting.  This issue was tabled until the next meeting.  The question was then asked about the time frame for dues - the membership year goes from September to September with dues payable in September.  No matter when during the year someone joins, the membership year ends in September.

    LEGISLATIVE:  Connie Adams distributed copies of several articles, legislative newsletters, and websites related to various legislative issues important to school psychologists.  She spoke of supplemental report on Schools and Terrorism, SPAN (School Psychologists Action Network) newsletter, IDEA reauthorization, loan forgiveness, LD eligibility, NASP website, and annual GPR (Government and Professional Relations) survey from NASP.

    PUBLIC RELATIONS:  Stacie McCune reported that she had sent an e-mail to all school superintendents and regions regarding school psychology week in April.  She indicated that nationally school psychology week had been moved to November and asked if the state would also change.  It was noted that April would continue to be school psychology month in Kentucky.  Angie Chandler reported on her meeting with the governor in April.  Stacie indicated that she also sent out a press release about the conference to various newspapers.  She also wanted to encourage members to buy KAPS items for school staff and to give a copy of the newsletter to administrators as a way of publicizing school psychology.  She said that the public relations items are offered at cost to members.  Stacie indicated that she would to pass the public relations chair off to another member but was willing to work as chair until the end of the year.

    LD ADVISORY:  Jim Batts reported that Eastern University was given the contract to update the LD tables with three new tests this year:  the WIAT-2 with the WISC-III now and the WISC-IV in one month, the WISC-IV with WJ-III by end of the year, and the UNIT with WJ-III by April.  Once updated, the tables should be on the website within 24 hours.  Once these are updated, old tables will be removed.

    NASP DELEGATE:  Jim Batts indicated that the NASP conference will be held in Dallas this spring.  On October 24-27, NASP southeast regional meeting will be held involving representatives from thirteen southeast states.  Jim made the motion that the KAPS president and president-elect be sent to the conference at KAPS expense.  The motion was seconded by Angie Chandler and approved by members.  Last year KAPS donated a gift to the NASP Children's Fund and a thank-you note was sent to us.  $20,000 was generated to be used for small grants for a child or group in need.  Applications are available for grants up to $100.00.  Jim reported that NASP will be holding an electronic election this year.  Nominations are being taken for treasurer and president-elect and then voting will be done over the internet with another option of placing a vote through the Communique.  He would like to have Bill Pfohl nominated for president-elect - directions are available on NASP table on how to do.

    STATE CONSULTANT:  Angela Wilkins reported that there were 188 fewer employees this year.  She wanted to encourage all school psychologists to be a voice for parents by becoming involved with district assessment coordinator, Title 1, and crisis response teams.  She felt KAPS members could be the people to explain budget cuts and Medicaid, justify projects, and encourage safety and prevention.

    NEWSLETTER:  Julie Pendley was not in attendance; Diann Shuffett asked the question whether members would like the newsletter to be on-line.  After a discussion, it was felt that it would be best to keep the newsletter a hard copy mailed to members.

    ETHICS/WEBSITE:  Dan Florell reported no ethics complaints had been filed.  Regarding the website, he reported that updates were temporarily delayed.  He encouraged all members to sent in information/news and pictures if they had a digital camera.  He said that he would try to be as responsive as possible.  Suggestions made for additions to the website included the schedule of presenters for conferences and summary of highlights of Executive Council meetings.

OLD BUSINESS:

    JENNIE EWALD SCHOLARSHIP:  The recipient of the scholarship had been selected and Carl Meyers will present the winner during the awards ceremony at the luncheon tomorrow.

NEW BUSINESS:

    DUANE MILLER:  Duane's contract with KAPS expires every July 1st so his contract needed to be renewed.  Diann Shuffett made the motion to renew his contract with Dan Florell seconding; the motion passed.

    STANDARDS BOARD:  Jim Batts reported that school psychology certification is reviewed by the Standards Board every ten years.  University trainers had been contacted and had responded regarding certification.  They asked that the certification be left as is except adding NCSP (national certification) as another avenue for Kentucky certification.  They recommended certification be renewed every five years with three years of practice or six graduate hours if do not practice.  Certification is currently with the Professional Standards attorney and then will go to the Board for approval.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Submitted by
Mary Twohig
KAPS Secretary