November 13, 2023 at 7:00 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

Option Out:
Korey Tucker-Kindergarten to Cozad
Alexis Buck-9th Grade to Brady
Alivia Stoddard-9th Grade to Brady
Blaine Viter-5th Grade to Brady

Option In:
Karson Welch-2nd Grade from Arnold
Jaden Bush-8th Grade from Arnold
Violet Carreon-1st Grade from Brady

 

Rationale:  Mrs. Stephanie Waskowiak has served our district since 2019 and has been an incredible contributor to the field of education.  We are so sad to see them move east, but are excited that their young family will be able to be closer to family.

Rationale:  An electronic copy of the district audit and findings was distributed to board members prior to the meeting.

Rationale:  We have been working on identifying a solution for covering second semester classes for what were Mr. Garrison's classes.  Mrs. Lori Long is excited about the opportunity to take this on and we are grateful for her willingness to jump in and help. 

The one "hiccup" we have is the Analytical English class.  This is a high-level course and it would be quite challenging to ask someone to step into that role mid-year.  While we could ask this of Mrs. Long, we have another English teacher who has approached us and indicated she would be willing to give up her plan period for the rest of the year to cover this class.  

I cannot and will not ask her to do that unless we can appropriately compensate her.

We have not explored this option in the past but I asked that the GEA consider allowing us to pay another teacher that is already on staff 1/8th of their salary to take this class on for a semester.  While the agreement allows for "substitute coverage" that amount would not be enough for me to feel good about asking a teacher to actually teach the course. 

The linked amendment below would allow us to pay the staff member to give up their plan period for the remainder of the year in order to teach this course...a significant sacrifice yet one they've offered to make because it will benefit students.

The GEA has already signed off on this but it requires board approval as it impacts the negotiated agreement.

Rationale:  Mrs. Josie Floyd is serving on the board of the Impact Center and will provide an update.

November marks our first of five capital contributions to the Impact Center in the amount of $300,000 which comes from the Special Building Fund and was budgeted in the 2022-2023 budget.

Informational item only.  No action required.

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:  Monday, December 11th

Swede Activities:
2:00 7th & 8th Grade Wrestling @ Broken Bow
4:30 7th & 8th Grade Girls Basketball @ HOME
5:00 Girls Reserve Basketball @ North Platte
6:00 Boys Reserve Basketball @ North Platte