Wednesday, January 10, 2024 2:00 PM. Meeting postponed due to weather. - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public School District's board of education meeting is called to order.  

Rationale:  If any board member is absent, there will need to be a  motion to excuse the absence.

Rationale:  This is a legal meeting of the board of education, as advertised by the means specified in board policy. A complete copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in the board room for your review. A copy of the agenda is available at the desk of the recording secretary.
 

Rationale:  Please stand and join us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rationale:  According to Board Policy 9121, the Board President:
* Presides at all meetings of the School Board
* Countersigns all orders upon the school treasury for funds to be dispersed by the district
* Countersigns all warrants of the Secretary of the County Treasurer
* Maintains order at public meetings of the School Board
* Appears for and on behalf of the district in all suits brought by or against the District
* Appoints or provides for the election of committees of the Board and stays apprised of the work of all such committees
* Calls special meetings of the Board when warranted

The Superintendent will call for nominations for the office of Board President.  Once nominations have ceased, one of the following procedures will be utilized:

If only one person is nominated: 
The superintendent will ask for a motion to approve that person as Board President and proceed with an electronic vote.

If more than one person is nominated:
The Superintendent will provide Board members with a ballot on which they will write the name of the person that they want to vote for. 

Callan Collins will count the votes and read the tally for the record.

The candidate with the most votes will serve as our 2023 Board President, beginning immediately.

Board Policy 8130 specifies that the motion to elect officers should state:  I move that _________ be elected as ________ to serve a term of one year, or until the person's successor is elected and qualified.

Rationale:  According to Board Policy 9122, the Vice President shall perform the duties of the President in case of the absence of the President.

The Board President will call for nominations for the office of Vice President.  Once nominations have ceased, one of the following procedures will be utilized:

If only one person is nominated: 
The superintendent will ask for a motion to approve that person as Vice President and proceed with an electronic vote.

If more than one person is nominated:
The President will provide Board members with a ballot on which they will write the name of the person that they want to vote for. 

Callan Collins will count the votes and read the tally for the record.

The candidate with the most votes will serve as our 2024 Vice President, beginning immediately.

Board Policy 8130 specifies that the motion to elect officers should state:  I move that _________ be elected as ________ to serve a term of one year, or until the person's successor is elected and qualified.

Rationale:  It is customary for the District's Director of Business Services to serve as Board Treasurer. The Finance and Facilities Committee discussed this and is recommending that I continue as Interim Board Treasurer until Mr. Erik Wilson starts his new position in July. Therefore, I recommend that you appoint me to serve as the 2024 Board Treasurer. We will readdress this in July.  

Board Policy 8130 specifies that the motion to elect officers should state:  I move that _________ be elected as ________ to serve a term of one year, or until the person's successor is elected and qualified.

Rationale:  It is customary for the district's Superintendent to serve as the Board's Secretary. Therefore, I recommend that you appoint me as your 2024 Board Secretary.

Board Policy 8130 specifies that the motion to elect officers should state:  I move that _________ be elected as ________ to serve a term of one year, or until the person's successor is elected and qualified.

Rationale:  One of the duties assigned to the Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent/Board of Education is to serve as the Recording Secretary of the Board of Education. Therefore, I recommend that Callan Collins be appointed as the Recording Secretary for the BOE.

Rationale: 

For numerous years, the district's primary legal counsel has been provided via the attorneys at Perry Law Firm.  We continue to be satisfied with their advice and performance. Therefore, I recommend that we continue to use their services on an as needed basis.

Other legal firms may be used from time to time for special cases that require specialized expertise.

Rationale:  See attached.

Rationale:  RESOLVED, that the official depository of school funds for Madison County School District 59-0002 is hereby designated to be at Bank First, Elkhorn Valley Bank & Trust, Midwest Bank and Nebraska Liquid Asset Fund, and that the designation of any other institution as the depository of school funds is hereby withdrawn.  Bank First will be the primary depository for the General Fund. Midwest Bank will be the primary depository for the Bond Fund, Special Building Fund and Depreciation Fund. Elkhorn Valley Bank & Trust will be the primary depository for all other Funds and Nebraska Liquid Asset Fund will serve as a depository for cash reserves in the General, Bond, QCPUF, Special Building, and Depreciation Funds.

Rationale:  Historically, we have used the Norfolk Daily News as our newspaper of record. This is where we publish public notices, RFPs, etc.

Rationale:  According to Policy 3130 the Board of Education shall be presented annually the list of recommended card assignments that have authority to use school district issued credit cards and purchasing cards.  The credit cards are issued through Bank First.  All credit cards have the school district's name and card number on them, not individual names. The district Voyager fleet cards for fuel can only be used by organizations that qualify for the state fuel rate. These cards are also numbered with the school district name on them.  All cards are initially checked out through the Business Office and returned to the Business Office when they expire or a listed assignment is no longer needed in the district.

Rationale: 

Norfolk Public Schools reviews policies on a three-year rotation in order to ensure they are kept current. The only policies up for approval tonight are policies 4013-4027 related to personnel. There have been no changes to these policies since their first reading.

Policies 4013-4027 related to personnel:

• 4013 Personnel Files
• 4014 Receiving Agents, Salespersons, and Other Business Representatives
• 4015 Unauthorized Purchases
• 4016 Use of School Facilities and Equipment by School Employees
• 4017 Activity Passes
• 4018 Community Relations - Political Activity
• 4019 Fair Labor Standards Act (Minimum Wage and Overtime)
• 4020 Shredding Consumer Reports
• 4021 Social Security Numbers
• 4022 Military and Family Military Leave
• 4023 Notification of Arrest, Criminal Charges, and Certificate, License or Child Abuse
• Complaints
• 4024 Wage and Deduction Information
• 4025 Professional Boundaries Between Employees and Students
• 4026 Prohibition on Aiding and Abetting Sexual Abuse
• 4027 Workplace Privacy Policy

Rationale:  In addition to our 3 year policy review rotation, an additional policy update is completed each summer following the Nebraska legislative session to address any changes required due to new statutes.  This date is tentatively set for July 8, 2024.

Rationale: 

State statutes require that School Board members disclose any Conflicts of Interest that they may have related to contracts and employment issues, as well as any other matters that may have a financial impact on the Board member or his/her family.  The procedures for conflict disclosure and reporting have been provided to all Board members for their review.

All Board members understand their duty to disclose potential conflicts of interest and refrain from voting on such items.  Potential items that may be a conflict include: reimbursement of expenses and the payment of wages for activity workers. Our Finance Office will notify Board members if such items appear on the monthly claims and assist them in preparing a conflict of interest disclosure statement.

Rationale:  Little Panthers Preschool - Early Childhood Programs. 
 

Rationale:  Jim Spanel, Junior High Math Teacher

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public Schools staff, administration and students would like to thank the individuals that serve on the Board of Education for their dedicated service.

Although School Board Appreciation Week will actually occur January 21-28, we want you to take some time now to tell you that we appreciate everything you do for Norfolk Public Schools.  Thank you for all the time and effort you volunteer in order to ensure that all of our students are provided with outstanding learning opportunities that prepare them to meet their goals for the future.

We have a variety of gifts for you from students and staff across the district, as well as a short video to remind you why you have chosen to serve as a member of the Norfolk Public Schools Board of Education.

https://vimeo.com/770872927
 

Rationale:  See attached report.

Rationale: 

This is the time during the meeting when the public may request to address the Board. According to state law, if you wish to comment you must identify yourself, including your address, the name of the organization you represent and the topic that you wish to address. "Public Comment" cards are located at the Media table, in the back of the room.  Please pick up a card and provide the required information, if you plan to speak.  Each individual’s comments will be limited to five minutes.

Please note that the Board cannot discuss or act upon matters that are not listed on the agenda. Therefore, Board members will not respond to your comments or questions. If you wish to request that an item be placed on a future Board agenda, you may contact the Superintendent or her assistant during normal business hours.

Also note that concerns related to school personnel need to be addressed to the Superintendent using the approved district protocol. Individuals who make false, defamatory,  or slanderous statements during public comments may be held legally liable. Slanderous comments are not protected just because they are made at Board meetings.

Rationale:  The total amount of claims to be approved on the consent agenda for the month of January, 2024 by specific fund are listed below:

General Fund = $434,525.21

Nutrition Services Fund = $31,035.54

Cooperative Fund = $2,901.46

Special Building Fund = $5,950.00

Student Fee Fund = $1,808.20

The total amount of claims for the month of December, 2023 in the Activities Fund $112,541.45

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.

Rationale:  CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

As mentioned in last month's report, December serves as a pivotal midyear point for checking on student progress. Principals and teachers will be looking to see if learning plans and instructional emphasis is in need of a shift to accomplish learning goals by the end of the year. These decisions are determined by evaluating a triangulation of data that includes classroom grades, progress monitoring and the interim state assessments.
 

Rationale: 

Our English Language Learner (ELL) students will be able to begin taking the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA) on February 5, 2024 - March 15, 2024.   This assessment evaluates our students' proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing the English language.  The ELL teachers and I will be meeting January 17th in preparation.

Our district special education team will meet on Wednesday, January 24th.  On January 31st, the leadership team will meet to discuss the Targeted Improvement Plan moving forward.  February 8th and 9th I will attend the NASES conference in Lincoln.
 

Rationale:  With the start of 2nd semester, we have begun thinking about kindergarten registration and Round Up for next school year. The application process for kindergarten students to enroll in our Montessori program at Lincoln elementary opened on Jan 1st. There will be a drawing on April 2nd to fill our 2 kindergarten sections in that building. We have also started taking registration information for kindergarten students at their neighborhood elementary schools. Parents must have a birth certificate and a copy of immunization records to begin the enrollment process. Kindergarten Round Up will take place on April 17th. We want parents to get registration information submitted as soon as possible.

Finally, Preschool Registration begins Jan 16th for Little Panthers Preschool. The link to the application will be on the NPS website under the Little Panthers tab. Parents without internet access can complete the pre-application by calling 402-371-8030. This is a shared application with NPS and Norfolk Head Start.
 

Rationale:  NPS students and parents were offered an opportunity to complete a perceptual survey.  This survey is created and managed by the Nebraska Department of Education and the results are shared with the district.  I have shared the district data with board members.  All principals have their individual building data and have shared that data with their staff.  The survey was given with a five point Likert scale including Strongly Agree (5), Agree (4), Neutral (3), Disagree (2), and Strongly Disagree (1).  I am pleased with the results of the survey.  The student survey had an overall average score of 3.89 and the parent survey was a 4.07.  The perceptual survey data and recently shared Upbeat data was reviewed by staff in each building last week.  They will dig into their own data to determine areas of strength and to begin addressing the areas that need improvement.

I am pleased to let you know that one of the contracts on the agenda for approval tonight is for a Spanish Teacher.  I connected with that teacher via our new recruiting tool, LinkedIn Recruiter.  I am scheduled to attend job fairs in January and February to recruit at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, the University of Nebraska Kearney, the University of Nebraska Omaha, South Dakota State University, Wayne State College and the South Dakota Teacher Fair.

On January 15, NPS will host the ESU 8 Winter Workshop at the Senior High.  Approximately 19 school districts will gather to listen to keynote speaker, Sam Glenn, as he shares easy to implement strategies that help staff connect with their purpose each day and overcome any challenges that pop up.  For the remainder of the day, teachers and administrators had the opportunity to attend three different sessions of their choice, choosing from over 75 sessions that cover a wide range of topics.
 

Rationale:  Activities (NSAA, Allied, Affiliated, and Non-affiliated) --See attached

Rationale:  The Facilities & Finance Committee met earlier today. We reviewed claims for the month of January and activity claims for December. Other topics discussed included updates on the following:

• Facilities (Middle School Addition and Bleachers)
• Vehicle/Equipment 
• Mid-Year Spending 
• Arrow/Transportation 
• Strategic Growth Plan
• Staff Compensation 

Minutes from this meeting will be attached to our February 12th Board agenda. 

Our next Finance and Facilities Committee meeting is also scheduled for February 12, 2024.

Rationale:  The Activities Committee met on December 18, 2023. Board members Teri Bauer and Brenda Carhart were present.

Mr. Erwin provided an update regarding senior high participation, uniforms, and performance and Mrs. Lenton provided and update regarding junior high participation, uniforms, and performance.

Other topics that were discussed included:
* the approval of Poetry Club-All Writes Reserved as an Allied Sport, beginning with the 2024-2025 school year
* the addition of Circle of Friends as a pilot activity for the 2024-2025 school year
* the addition of sponsors for Cheerleading and Pink Panthers
* the continuation of our swimming and baseball coops
* athletic trainers
* CPR and AEDs

Some items to note include:
* Starting with the 2024-2025 school year, all coaches will be required to complete CPR training.
* FRHS will no longer provide us with athletic trainers after this school year. If approved by the Board, an RFP will be sent to area medical providers seeking a new partner.
* The Junior High will need to order 25 additional girls wrestling uniforms, as they have 68 girls signed up to wrestle.

 

Rationale:  Minutes from the meeting on December 11, 2023 are attached for review. 

Rationale:  Lexie Bacon

• 2024-2025, Special Education Teacher, Norfolk Senior High School
• Bachelor of Science, Special Education K-12, Wayne State College, Wayne, NE
• 2023-2024, Special Education Co-Teacher, Dakota Valley Middle School, SD

Javier Martinez

• 2024-2025, Spanish Teacher, Norfolk Senior High School
• Master’s degree, teaching Spanish as a foreign language, University of Alicante, Alicante Spain
• 2021-Present, Spanish Teacher, Maywood Public Schools, Maywood, NE

Gage Otte

• 2024-2025, Industrial Technology Teacher, Norfolk Junior High School
• Bachelor of Science, Industrial Arts, Wayne State College, Wayne, NE, to be conferred 5/2024
• Spring 2024 Student Teacher, Industrial Technology, Norfolk Junior High School

Rationale: 

• Julie Shoemaker - Kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Montessori, retiring, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 contract year.
• Deb Brunswick -- English teacher at Norfolk Senior High School, retiring, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 contract year.
• Melissa Andersen -- 8th grade Science teacher at Norfolk Junior High, resigning, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 contract year.

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of January, 2024. These claims were reviewed earlier by our Finance and Facility Committee. 

There are two conflict statements this month that will need to be read before voting.

Rationale: 

Norfolk Public Schools has experienced an increase in the number of English Language Learner students served across the district. In the last five years, our number of ELL students increased from 203 to 278, with the number of "newcomers'' more than tripling (from 41 to 128).  Newcomers are students that are brand new to our country and speak little to no English.  They require a much higher level of services than ELL students who have been in our country for a few years.

The Board granted us permission to hire 2 additional ELL teachers last year to assist with our increase in non-English Ukrainian students. However, our needs in this area continue to grow.  We hired a temporary half-time substitute ELL teacher to help with the large ELL caseload at Washington elementary 2nd quarter. 

It is recommended that we place this individual on a regular (half-time) teacher contract for the remainder of the school year.

Rationale: 

Norfolk Public Schools has experienced an increase in the number of English Language Learner students served across the district. In the last five years, our number of ELL students increased from 203 to 278, with the number of "newcomers'' more than tripling (from 41 to 128).  Newcomers are students that are brand new to our country and speak little to no English.  They require a much higher level of services than ELL students who have been in our country for a few years.

The Board granted us permission to hire 2 additional ELL teachers last year to assist with our increase in non-English Ukrainian students. However, our needs in this area continue to grow.  We hired a temporary half-time substitute ELL teacher to help with the large ELL caseload at Washington elementary 2nd quarter. The needs at this building have continued to grow. It is my  recommendation that we hire one and a half additional ELL teachers next year, one for the senior high and one to be split between the elementary and middle schools.

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public Schools COVID-19 Safe Return to In-Person Learning Committee developed our original COVID-19 safety protocols during the summer of 2020. Those plans allowed us to safely return to in-person learning.

We have revised those plans multiple times based upon COVID-19 transmission rates within our community and changing guidelines from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department (ELVPHD).

We are satisfied with our current plan which allows us to maintain a "normal" school routine.  However, we are required by federal guidelines to review this plan every 6 months until September 2024.

Our committee reviewed our current plan and recommends that the Board of Education reaffirm the plan, as is. The committee did not provide any recommendations for changes at this point. 

Rationale:  See attached calendar.

Rationale:  Faith Regional Health Services has provided us with athletic trainers since 2009, but has decided to discontinue this service at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. We are hoping that another local medical organization will be interested in providing us with this service at little to no cost.  The RFP process is the best way to give all medical organizations a fair opportunity.

Rationale: 

Circle of Friends is an affiliated club at the senior high that has applied to become an allied club. If approved this club would be piloted as an allied club in 2024-2025.

The goal of Circle of Friends is to improve the social skills of students with disabilities (target students) and to get them more involved in the community. 

Sample activities include:
Monthly officer meetings.
Monthly mentor meetings.
Monthly events, such as Dodgeball, Board Games, Cookie Decorating, Pumpkin Painting, Bowling Party, etc.
Attendance at all school dances.
Host adult and student volleyball tournament to raise money for the club.

Participation numbers have increased significantly.
* Mentors have increased from 7 to 31
* Target students have increased from 5 to 15.
 

Circle of Friends currently has two sponsors that volunteer  between 50-60 hours each.

They are requesting the addition of one paid position at a rate of $1972.85 (Step 9 on the Extra-Duty schedule) to be shared/split between the two sponsors. 

Rationale:  Poetry Club-All Writes Reserved (AWR) was approved as a Pilot Allied Activity last year. It started as an Affiliated Club at NHS in 2019 with approximately 7 participants. It is a collaboration with the Nebraska Writers Collective, a non-profit organization that hosts a Spoken Word Poetry Festival/Competition annually with the goal to empower youth through creative writing and performance poetry.  

It is now time for the School Board to evaluate whether Poetry Club should be approved as an official/formal Allied Activity.  If approved, the finances of the club will be managed by the School District within the Activities Fund, and the sponsor will be paid according to the Extra Duty Salary Schedule.   If not approved, the Poetry Club can return to Affiliated status or become a Non-affiliated Activity. 

Information From Application:
1. Name of Affiliated sport or activity to be considered for addition: Poetry Club-All Writes Reserved
2. Name of current activity coach or sponsor: Mike Grove
3. Rational for addition: To provide an opportunity for students to express their creative voice in writing and to learn the craft of creative writing.  In addition they will also be learning and studying performance poetry.
4. Budget:  There is a $400 entry fee for our school to compete with the other schools. This money is paid to The Nebraska Writers Collective who plans the events and coordinates the venues and provides each team with a coach who works for and is paid by NWC.
5. Personnel: One coach placed on the Extra Duty Schedule at #10; Cost $1,578.28.
6. Facility needs/requirements: This should not be an issue as we have the facilities and equipment needed (classroom and basic school supplies).
7. Scheduling: games, practices, and any other competitions, events, trips or clinics: Practices remain flexible and fluid; however, to be a fully effective team, we will have practice for at least one hour per week during the first quarter, two hours per week during the second and third quarters and 4 hours per week during the fourth quarter. When we reach competition times in late March Early April we will be traveling to either Lincoln or Omaha on at least two separate occasions and up to four trips if our team should make it to the finals. 
8. Any other information not listed above, but pertinent to this discussion: none submitted

Evaluation:
1.Participation: Poetry Club-AWR has grown from 7 participants in 2019-2020 to 15 participants in 2023-2024.

2. Rationale: 

• Skills taught and learned: Communication; Reading; Writing;  Evaluation; Collaboration

• Community created: Belonging; Extra curricular activities for the kids that don’t have a place

• Creative writing class isn’t offered; Taught by two established writer’s as coaches; 

• Building confidence;  Place for people who love writing;

• Learning the art of Revision and Interpretation; 

• Skills learned here are used in the classroom; 

• Gives students a chance to create their own voice.

  3. Successes:

• 21-22 Made it to semi finals (State Competition)

• 22-23 Placed second at finals (State Competition)

• 22-23 students have been booked/commissioned to perform at Nebraska Poetry Society Retreat.

• Publishing opportunities

• Anecdotal evidence suggests: Helps increase ACT scores (by improving critical thinking and reading of text for Science and English)

It should be noted that the Activities Committee did not reach consensus regarding a recommendation.

  

Rationale:  A survey of Class A schools conducted by Mr. Erwin indicated that the majority of Class A schools have 2-3 Cheer sponsors.
 

School	Number of Cheer Sponsors
Norfolk	1
Marian	2
Papio	3
Bellevue West	3
Pius	4
Westside	5
Grand Island	2
Bellevue East	3
Millard West	3
LPS	4
Millard North	3
Millard South	3
Fremont	3
Omaha Benson	1
Papio South	3
Gretna	3
Columbus	2
Elkhorn South	3

In addition, an analysis of the time our current cheer sponsor dedicates to this activity supports the addition of another sponsor. The cost of this addition would be $3946.

Rationale:  A survey of Class A schools conducted by Mr. Erwin indicated that the majority of Class A schools have 2-3 Dance sponsors.
 

School	Number of Dance Sponsors
Norfolk	1
Marian	2
Papio	2
Bellevue West	1
Pius	2
Westside	3
Grand Island	2
Bellevue East	1
Millard West	2
LPS	1
Millard North	2
Millard South	2
Fremont	2
Omaha Benson	1
Papio South	2
Gretna	2
Columbus	1
Elkhorn South	2

 

In addition, an analysis of the time our current dance sponsor dedicates to this activity supports the addition of another sponsor. The cost of this addition would be $3946.

Rationale:  Our Baseball Program has a long and successful tradition of cooping with Norfolk Catholic and  Lutheran High Northeast  schools for boys baseball. It is recommended that we continue this coop, as is for the 2024-2025 school year. 

Rationale: 

The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education in January is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, January 25, 2024 at Noon. 

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, February 12, 2024. The regular business meeting will begin at 5:30 PM. All components of these meetings will be held at the NPS Central Administration Offices and will be open to the public unless an Executive Session is needed in order to protect the interest of the district or the reputation of an individual.

Rationale:  I do not anticipate that any action will be taken related to these discussion items tonight. Salaries for classified employees, nurses, substitute teachers, and administrators will be publicly discussed and voted upon at a future meeting.