March 10, 2020 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Sonja Schilke thanked the board & school for the opportunity to student teach at Chase County Schools. She noted that the staff and students were very encouraging. 

Chris Lee addressed the issue that the guidance counselors who currently co-coordinate the Teammates program feel that they don't have enough time for the program anymore so they are in need of a new coordinator. He offered a few options they are considering in their search for a coordinator. They asked the board to consider the possibility of helping with the cost of a salary for the new coordinator. 

Nathan Gaswick shared his article he is working on for the Longhorn Way and reiterated that the a well maintained weight room and a good strength and conditioning program is important for all students not just athletes.

Discussion:  Mr. Hauxwell extended his congratulations to Mrs. Bauerle & the show choir who placed 5th overall and 1st in division. He thanked the wrestling club for donating an ultra light mat & Matt Vlasin for picking it up in Kearney. He noted that the cameras on the buses were a great investment. They protect not only the drivers, but also the students. The football schedule was released and they have found officials for the games.

Discussion:  Mrs. Odens said that Mrs. Cupp & students represented well in Lincoln at the Statehood Ceremony. She noted the PTO book parade is March 16th @ 8:10 and asked the board members to attend. She noted that the 1st & 4th grades went to the Manor and read to the residents for Read Across America and hopes to do again in the future. The PBIS attended training in Ogallala. With Carolina Ramos leaving Jeremy Vlasin will take her place on the team. There will be a teacher in-service on March 16th and Mrs. Odens informed the board of the schedule that day. She & Mr. Lechtenberg are busy with interviews this week for open positions.

Mr. Lechtenberg said that there has been state testing going on and will be more coming up. The ELL testing is finished and the 3-8 grades will be taking English & Math testing soon. The 5-8 grades will be taking Science as well. April 7th is the ACT testing date for Juniors. The quarter ends this week. Night school is still going on & letters have been sent to parents of students who have not been showing up.

Discussion:  Mr. Lambert informed the board that we will not know if we are going to receive the grant for Pre-K until the end of April due to the fact that the unicameral will have to approve the funds. He met with Larry Munger about the a statue that he would like to put in and that would cost around $3,000. He said Larry would come to a later board meeting when he had more information. He also would like to have the windmill repaired and the cost would be $2,975. He noted that 4 incumbents on the board are running again and Laura Maddox has put in her name as well, so that is 5 running for 5 open spots. He would like to have the curriculum committee and the transportation committee meet soon. He thinks it would be beneficial to have a board retreat since they have only had 2 in the past 8 years and should have one each year. He asked the board to give him possible dates and he would like to have Adam Lambert be a part of the retreat as well. He also noted that teacher contracts would be completed on April 15th and due back on May 1st. The classified staff would receive contracts by May 1st and they would be due back May 15th.

Discussion:  Sheila talked about how she stopped at the school and watched Mrs. Stephenson and the 8th grade work on their poetry assignment. She was very impressed with how well she implemented technology into the project and how well behaved the students were in the hallway.

Discussion:  Mr. Lambert explained the ESU contract to the board. He noted that if our cost is less than what is contracted we will be reimbursed. If we go over we will have to pay in the difference. He thinks we will end up at $99,600 at the end of this school year and that the 2020-2021 school year will be even higher.

Windmill will need to be repaired so it can be used to pump water into tank. Karl thought that water could not be in tank because of liability issues and would like that to be checked. They would like to know if there is a reason that it is needed or could it be taken down and asked that Larry Munger explain the reasoning to them at a future meeting.

Discussion:  [Record time board enters closed session and record the exact wording of the motion to enter closed session in the minutes.]

After the board has voted to go into closed session and just before entering closed session, the Board President must say: 
The board has adopted a motion to enter closed session to evaluate the job performance of certain employees and to prevent needless injury to the employees' reputations.  The board will limit itself to discussion of this issue.
[When the Board has completed the closed session, return to open session and record the time that the closed session ends.]
 

Discussion:  Executive session ended at 8:46 pm.

Discussion was held on possible dates for a board retreat.

President Olson adjourned the meeting at 8:50 pm.