February 4, 2015 at 6:30 PM - Omaha Public Schools Board of Education and Educational Service Unit 19 Board Meeting

Rationale: 

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 your 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:  The Vision:  Every Student.  Every Day.  Prepared for Success.

The Mission:  Omaha Public Schools prepares all students to excel in college, career, and life.

Rationale:  The Board of Education honors the top two finishers from this week's district spelling bee. 

This week’s school spotlight focuses on Kellom Elementary:  Faculty and staff held a pep rally recently to support fourth-graders as they prepared to take the NeSA writing test.   Students, faculty, and staff lined the hallways, held signs, and cheered on the fourth-graders as they walked by—an outstanding team effort!  Congrats to all at Kellom Elementary!

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. 

Rationale:  The Committee on Claims met on 02/02/2015 and approved the audit of claims conducted by the Secretary to the Board of Education. 

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 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

Rationale: 

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:  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 $1,232,435.00 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:  The agreement between OPD and OPS for the Associate SROs will be presented for approval. This agreement ends on July 31, 2015. The Associate SROs are retired law enforcement officers working in the middle schools who are fully sanctioned police officers performing under the triad approach of the School Resource Officer Program acting as a mentor, a law enforcement counselor and supporting a safe and secure learning environment.

Rationale:  The monthly Douglas County School District 0001 Head Start Governing Body Report for December 2014 is provided as an attachment in accordance with the 2007 Head Start Act.

Rationale: 

In accordance with the 2007 Head Start Act, the Board of Education is presented with information for Douglas County School District 001 Head Start 2013-2014 Annual Report.

Head Start Act Sec. 644 (2) Each Head Start agency shall make available to the public a report published at least once in each fiscal year that discloses the following information from the most recently concluded fiscal year. This report should include:

• financial report with total amounts of public and private funds received
• explanation of budgetary expenditures and proposed budget for the fiscal year
• total number of children and families served
• average monthly percentage of funded enrollment
• percentage of eligible children served
• results of the most recent review by the Secretary and the financial audit
• percentage of enrolled children that received medical and dental exam
• information about parent involvement activities
• agency's efforts to prepare children for kindergarten

This report will be shared with the public on the district website and distributed to each Head Start school location as well as with community partners.

Rationale:  Benson staff and community members will provide a short presentation on the newly developed wall-to-wall proposed Career Academy plan for Benson High Magnet. Attached is both the PowerPoint presentation and Benson’s comprehensive plan of action to implement Career Academies.

Rationale:  The 2014 Graduation and Dropout Report presents annual information on the district’s graduation and dropout rates for all students and racial/ethnic groups.  This report provides district officials and policy makers with a metric for understanding the district’s progress in graduating students.  Overall, the district’s graduation rate has increased 17.2%, and the dropout rate has decreased 3.9% since 2003.  Further, the data demonstrates that OPS is narrowing the graduation gap between racial/ethnic groups. 

Rationale:  BOND FINANCING UPDATE

Information will be provided by the Bond Financing team regarding the actions taken thus far to prepare for the sale of voter approved bonds for the renovation and construction of district school facilities.  Included will be the recommendation of the District's financial advisor as to the method of sale of the first series of bonds.

Rationale:  Central office staff will provide a brief update on Standards Based Grading using an outline created for the board of frequently asked questions. As noted on the FAQ document attachments are provided for additional information and reference.

Rationale:  Central office staff recommends next steps for consideration by the Board to apply for Title I NCLB School Improvement Grant.

Rationale:  The Board of Education will vote and/or discuss legislative positions.

Rationale:  Accreditation is a required process by which schools examine all systems and educational functions to certify competency and authority in the operation of Nebraska public schools. Attached is a report to update Board members of this process which will be occurring February 8, 9, 10 and 11, 2015.

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.