February 13, 2023 at 5:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Mission Statement:

Gothenburg Public Schools is the cornerstone of a proud, passionate, and progressive community where students and staff thrive in a positive and innovative environment.  We ensure the growth of all individuals by inspiring them to own and maximize their potential.

A copy of the open meetings law is posted on the wall of the Board Room and is available to the public.

Rationale: 

The Board reserves the right to rearrange the order of items as needed.

Rationale: 

Board Policy 2009 - Opportunity for Public Expression.  
(A copy of the policy is linked here.)

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO SPEAK: This is the portion of the meeting when members of the public may speak to the board about matters of public concern.  

• Getting Started:  When you have been recognized, please stand and state your name.   

• Time Limit:  The board will generally allow a total of 30 minutes for the presentation of all public comments.  Individuals may speak only one time, and must limit comments to around 5 minutes.  If there are more than 6 individuals who wish to address the board, the 30 minutes will be divided equally between the number of speakers.   These time limits may be changed by a majority vote of the board members in attendance to extend the time for a specific item or speaker. 

• Personnel or Student Topic:  If you are planning to speak about a personnel or a student matter involving an individual, please understand that the district has a complaint policy and/or procedures to resolve such complaints and concerns.  The Board requests that you follow the policy and procedures before addressing these matters with the Board.  Board members will generally not respond to any questions you ask or comments about individual staff members or students.  

• General Rules: This is a public meeting for the conduct of business.  Comments from the audience while others are speaking will not be tolerated.  Lewd, obscene, profane, slanderous, threatening and hostile conduct or statements and fighting words (words whose mere utterance entails a call to violence) will not be tolerated. 

• No Action by the Board:  The board will not act on any matter unless it is on the published agenda. 

Rationale: 

1. Approval of Previous Minutes

2. Approval of the Treasurer's Report

3. Approval of the Warrants / Bills

  a.  Petty Cash

  b.  Student Activity

  c.  Hot Lunch

  d.  Bank Statement

  e.  Summary of Accounts and Receipts

  f.  Monthly Expenditure Report

  g. Check Journal

4. Excuse Absent Board Members

5. Consider Option Enrollment Requests

2023-24 School Year
Option In: 
Arian Stevens - Kindergarten from Cozad
Darren Wilson - Kindergarten from Cozad
 

 

Rationale:  Mrs. Smith has had a tremendous positive impact on our students over the past two years.  She has decided to obtain her license for clinical counseling.  While we are sad to see her leave the school system, we are excited that she will be available for private practice in our community beginning in spring of 2024.

Rationale:  Mr. Butterfield filled in for us this year when we received a late resignation.  We sincerely appreciate all of the time and effort that he has put into making this year a success.  We will miss his hands-on career-minded approach in the classroom and wish him the best in his next chapter.

Rationale:  Ms. Angela Piper resigned her position last May as she will be moving.  We are incredibly grateful for the time we have had to advertise.  After a long search process, we are elated to offer a contract to Ms. Faith Mullen.  Originally from Maywood, Ms. Mullen brings 22 years of special education experience from Plattsmouth High School and Bluffs Middle School in Scottsbluff.  We are excited to offer her a contract and know she will be a great addition to our team.

Rationale:  There are several highlights to this negotiated agreement that are different than previous agreements:

• We will transition from 10 sick / 2 personal days to 10 Health and Wellness Days.  This honors the profession of teaching by ensuring teachers can take days when they need them and will hopefully decrease our "morning of" sub calls that are very difficult to fill.
• We added a step to the bottom for our veteran teachers and will acknowledge all years of experience plus one when hiring.

Press Release:
A tentative agreement between Dawson County School District #20, Gothenburg Public Schools and the Gothenburg Education Association was reached through the negotiation process. The agreement represents an increase of 2.93% on the base salary and an approximate increase in total compensation of 4.54%.  Comparability for this negotiations cycle was based on total compensation including salary, insurance, retirement and social security and was calculated using staff employed by the district in October of 2022.  Certificated staff compensation is based on comparability with schools of similar size and who are located within a similar geographic area.  The comparability was completed by KSB Law.

The Gothenburg Education Association has ratified the proposed agreement.

Rationale:  We join the following cooperatives as student needs are identified.  Program costs are prorated between districts who utilize the program.

Audiology. Several audiological services are available, these include comprehensive hearing evaluations for individuals from birth to 21 years of age; analysis, testing, and troubleshooting of hearing aid and cochlear implant devices used by students; consultation on FM system/auditory trainer device purchases for use at school as well as fitting and adjusting school amplification devices and assessment of classroom acoustics; and on-site school consultations regarding the impact of hearing loss, noise exposure, hearing loss prevention, and how to properly use and troubleshoot equipment.
 
Deaf Education. Three deaf educators provided direct services, consultative services, and assessment services to school districts in ESU 10 and ESU 11 to assist them in providing services to students, birth-21 who are deaf or hard of hearing.
 
Vision Services. A vision specialist provided direct services, consultative services, and assessment services to ESU 10 school districts’ students, ages birth-21 who are blind or partially sighted.  
 
Vocational Transition. A vocational transition specialist provided on-site assistance to 21 school districts for students with disabilities age 16 and older to help them realize independent living and employment appropriate to each student’s skills and abilities.
 
SpEd Supplemental Supervision School Age. There was a change in 2018-19 for districts who were not part of the supervision cooperative.  The service unit has an obligation to evaluate and supervise the special education staff that they employ and the programs in which they work so all districts that contract for staff are required to contribute to the supervision cooperative.  Costs are adjusted for districts with their own special education supervisors to account for staff supervision only and do not include charges for other supervision services. These costs appear on the schedule A as SpEd Supplemental Supervision services.

Rationale:  The school district is required to have a Special Education policy on file.  The policy committee is proposing the consideration of Policy 6010 for approval on the first reading.  Typically, with policy, we will have two readings.  However, this policy is very straightforward and includes language that is required.

Rationale:  This is the first reading of Policy 5013 High Ability Learners.  High Ability Learners (HAL) is not a new policy for our district, however, this is a new and updated policy through KSB.  I would welcome feedback from those who have additional insight from a parent's perspective on this policy.

As a first reading, there is no action at this time.

Rationale:  The facilities use fee schedule was last approved on August 8, 2016.  When we adopted new policies, this policy became obsolete.  The rates have not changed since 2016 and will be re-considered this summer.  At this time, I'd like the board to consider re-adopting the Facilities Use Fee Schedule with the updated policy number.

Rationale:  This year's calendar has received feedback from our Superintendent's Advisory Council, Guiding Coalition, administrative team, and all teachers.  We are proposing to move our fall parent-teacher conferences to October to allow a little more time for teachers to engage with students prior to meeting with parents.  Additionally, we will extend fall break by one day to ensure our student athletes and coaches can have an opportunity to catch their breath.  We have also included three extra days in the school calendar for things like snow days, cold days, and state activities that require dismissal.  The proposed calendar includes 174.5 student days and 13.5 staff days - which totals 188 days (3 more than contracted) and 1,220 hours of instruction - well above the 1,080 hours required by NDE.

As a first reading, there is no action needed.  I would encourage those who have feedback about the calendar to please reach out to me directly.

Rationale: 

Committee Reports (Chair in bold)

1.  Personnel Committee (Mr. Fornoff, Mrs. Terrell, Mrs. Jobman)
2. Transportation and Facilities (Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Dalrymple, Mrs. Brass)
3. Finance (Mrs. Jobman, Mr. Wyatt, Mrs. Brass)
4. Committee on American Civics (Mrs. Terrell, Mr. Fornoff, Mr. Dalrymple)
5. Policy Review (Mrs. Terrell, Mr. Fornoff, Mrs. Brass)

 

Rationale: 

Rationale: 

According to § 84-1410, the Board of Education may hold a closed session by the affirmative vote of a majority of its voting members if a closed session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual and if such individual has not requested a public meeting. 

Closed sessions may be held for, but shall not be limited to, such reasons as: 
(a) strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate purchases, or litigation
(b) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices
(c) investigative proceedings regarding allegations or misconduct
(d) evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person.

The vote to hold a closed session shall be taken in open session. 

The subject matter and the reason necessitating the closed session shall be identified in the motion to close.  

If the motion to close passes, then the presiding officer immediately prior to the closed session shall restate on the record the limitation of the subject matter of the closed session.

The Board shall restrict its consideration of matters during the closed portions to only those purposes set forth in the motion to close as the reason for the closed session.

The meeting shall be reconvened in open session before any formal action may be taken.

Rationale:  Monday, March 13th

Swede Activities:
none

Discuss Next Board Retreat (potential dates):
Wednesday, May 3rd 4-8
Monday, May 8th 1-5 with BOE at 5
Tuesday, May 9th 4-8
Wednesday, May 10th 4-8
Thursday, May 11th 4-8
Friday, May 12th 4-8