December 1, 2014 at 6:30 PM - Omaha Public Schools Board of Education and Educational Service Unit 19 Board Meeting

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Notice to visitors: If you wish to speak, please obtain a “Request to be Heard” form from the entry table and return the completed form to the table attendant or the Board of Education Director.

The agenda will be kept current and available for public inspection in the office of the Secretary of the Board of Education at the Administrative Building during regular working hours. 

Board members may request specific agenda item(s) be moved to a different place on the agenda.  Please attend the entire meeting to ensure you hear discussion on a particular agenda item.

Pursuant to Section 84-1412 of the Nebraska Statutes, the public is hereby informed that a current copy of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act is posted in the Board meeting room on the north wall.

Agenda items are subject to reordering at discretion of the board president, please attend the entire meeting to ensure you're able to hear any discussion. If you would like to rehear any discussion, please listen to our podcast located on the District Web Page, district.ops.org.

Rationale:  Led by Pack 327

Rationale:  Congratulations to Omaha North!  The Vikings repeated as Nebraska State Class A football champs Monday evening, as they defeated Creighton Prep 41-0 at Memorial Stadium.  Star running back Calvin Strong was the offensive standout, leading the team with 286 yards rushing; meantime, North’s defense allowed just 128 total yards for the game.  Congrats on an outstanding season!

Rationale:  At this time, any Board member may request that any item in the consent agenda be removed from the consent agenda and be considered and voted on separately. 

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APPROVAL OF CLAIMS - SCHOOL DISTRICT OF OMAHA

It is recommended that the claims for the School District of Omaha be approved as presented by the central administrative staff.

A.    CLAIMS REPORT A

Rationale:  APPROVAL OF CLAIMS - SCHOOL DISTRICT OF OMAHA

It is recommended that the claims for the School District of Omaha be approved as presented by the central administrative staff.

A.    CLAIMS REPORT B

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APPROVAL OF CLAIMS - EDUCATIONAL SERVICE UNIT NO. 19

It is recommended that the claims for Educational Service Unit No. 19 be approved as presented by the central administrative staff.

Rationale:  The Committee on Claims met on 11/17/2014 and approved the audit of claims conducted by the Secretary to the Board of Education. 

Rationale:  GRANT FUND BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS

REIMBURSABLE GRANT FUND BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS

It is recommended that the receipts and expenditures of the detailed grant fund budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year be amended to include the following reimbursable programs: 

The Sherwood Foundation Grants and Grants less than $10,000.00 to be amended into the 2014-2015 budgets are available for review in the Board Workroom. 

1.   SHERWOOD FOUNDATION GRANTS    

These budget amendments in the amount of $80,516.00 are for the period beginning September 1, 2014, and ending August 31, 2015.  These amendments represent only that part of the budget that will be expended during the 2014-2015 school year for new programs from the Sherwood Foundation. 

     This program is 100% reimbursable.

Rationale:  This settlement will resolve the tort claim submitted Jayden Cypress, a student at Florence Elementary School, son of Heather Tomczak, for personal injuries incurred while riding a Student Transportation of America (STA) bus driven by one of their bus drivers. A demand for defense and indemnification was submitted to STA, pursuant to the contract between the busing company and OPS.  The claim was also submitted directly to STA's insurance carrier. OPS is a named additional insured under that policy. The carrier accepted defense of the claim.  Settlement was reached between the claimants and the insurance carrier on behalf of STA and OPS for $146,000.  Upon payment of the settlement amount, OPS will be released as part of the settlement, but OPS will not have to pay any portion of the settlement amount. 

Rationale:  Omaha Public Schools will be piloting the CEP program in six schools.

Rationale:  Jacobs will present information on inclusion of small disadvantaged businesses with regard to Bond contracting.

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The staff recommends approval of the following Amendments to the Stakeholder Engagement, Communications Services and Program Management Agreement, dated March 3, 2014, between the School District and Jacobs Project Management Co.: 

a.         Amendment setting the amount of the fee to be paid to Jacobs for program management services for the bond construction program, the duration of Jacobs' services and related matters under the Agreement. 

b.         Second Amendment providing additional detail regarding the obligations of Jacobs under a proposed Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. 

Rationale: 

The Transition Program is a Special Education program within Omaha Public Schools that provides transition services to 18-21 year olds who have finished high school and have unmet transition needs.  The Transition Program is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the student with a disability to facilitate the student's movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment, continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.                                                                                          

The number of students enrolled in the Transition Program is growing. Currently, there are 127 students enrolled. OPS has classrooms in three locations: Paralyzed Veterans Association (PVA), the Career Center, and Saratoga Elementary School. Due to significant increase in enrollment this fall a classroom at Saratoga Elementary is being used on a temporary basis due to the lack of space at the PVA and Career Center.  The Transition Program should be housed in a community setting so as to best deliver the required transition services.  To meet current and future student membership increases in the Transition Program, an additional location in South Omaha would allow better access to work and community experiences for students in South Omaha and would allow the Transition Program to move out of Saratoga Elementary. Authority to proceed with exploring a South Omaha site is requested.  

Currently the Transition Program proposed for South Omaha has been determined to be approximately 5,000 square feet with an estimated rental of $51,000 the first year.  A building of this size would require remodeling to meet program needs and building codes at a estimated cost of $600,000.  This program will not be allowed in most city zoning areas which require applications to wave the zone ordinance.  

If the authority is given by the Board to proceed, there will be a need to locate a facility that meets the size requirements, conduct a preliminary study to determine if it will meet the needs, review with the city codes and zone, and refine the estimated project cost.  After determining that the facility will meet all requirements, a lease will be negotiated and brought to the Board for approval along with a refined remodeling estimate for Board authorization to proceed.  The Board will also need to approve construction before remodeling begins.  

Rationale:  This report describes the free or reduced-price lunch (FRL) participation of OPS students for the 2014-15 school year as well as a history of student participation since 2001-02.  The FRL statistic is benchmarked annually at Official Fall Membership, the last Friday of September.  Nationally, participation in this program, although not the best indicator of socioeconomic status, is typically the only one available to school districts.  For the 2014-15 school year, FRL participation in the Omaha Public Schools is 73.2 percent down slightly from the previous school year.

Rationale:  The Omaha Board of Education is authorized by state statute to hold closed sessions.  Closed sessions may be held when clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual.  Reasons that meet this standard include but are not limited to:  (a) strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate matters, pending litigation, or litigation which is imminent as evidenced by communication of a claim or threat of litigation to or by the public body; (b) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices; (c) investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct; (d) evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person and if such person has not requested a public meeting; and (e) legal advice.