March 11, 2024 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 In - 2024-25
Jack Watkins-Kindergarten from Eustis-Farnam

Option Out - 2024-25
Nolan Husk- Kindergarten to Cozad
Frankie Miller-Kindergarten to Brady

 

Rationale: 

• Mrs. Kelly Morgan has accepted a teaching position in her home-district of Arnold where she will get to share a school schedule with her husband and children.  Mrs. Morgan teaches Spanish 8, 1, and 2.
• Mr. Tim Negley has submitted his letter of resignation.  He did not indicate future plans in his letter of resignation although KRVN reported he would be the Cozad Girls Wrestling coach next year.  Mr. Negley teaches Ag Education. 

Rationale: 

• Mrs. Epley Hamilton attended the University of Nebraska Lincoln to obtain a Business Administration degree and followed her passion for education by later earning her Master's degree in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Nebraska Omaha.  She has been teaching business courses at Bellevue West High School for the past four years and brings a wealth of knowledge, having taught AP Computer Science, Personal Finance, Introduction to Business, Information Technology, and Business Communications.  Mrs. Hamilton will join our CTE team in the area of business.
• Miss Brooklyn Elwood attended Hastings College and will graduate in May with a 7-12 English Language Arts degree.  Miss Elwood has been student teaching at Grand Island Senior High this semester and brings a passion for Language Arts instruction and experience at the collegiate level in Speech (National Forensics).  Miss Elwood will join our English Language Arts team.
• Miss Elise Johnson attended South Dakota State University and will graduate in May with her Agricultural Education degree.  Miss Johnson is highly organized, has served as an Admissions Advisor at SDSU, and even wrangled horses on a Montana ranch! This semester, she completed her student teaching under the mentorship of Mrs. Mosel. Together, they are poised to become a dynamic duo of Ag Educators and FFA Sponsors, offering our students a wealth of wonderful opportunities.

Rationale:  The Personnel Committee has met to discuss compensation for non-instructional staff.  This category includes office personnel, paraprofessionals, custodians, bus drivers, and directors.  The committee recommends an overall increase in total compensation of 6.12%. Total compensation includes applicable health insurance through the Educators Health Alliance, which saw rates increase by approximately 1.99% from 2023-2024 rates. 

Overall, our district will spend $9,938,813 on the wages and benefits of all staff next year.  This is an increase of $375,655 or 3.78% from the 2023-2024 school year.  

Rationale:  The Gothenburg administrative team is an outstanding professional group of leaders.  District #20 will continue to benefit from their leadership.  The Personnel Committee is proposing a compensation package for administrative staff that reflects an overall increase in total compensation of 3.98% for administrative staff. Administrative compensation is based upon comparability with schools of similar size and who are located within a similar geographic area.  Total compensation used in the comparison includes applicable health insurance through the Educators Health Alliance which saw rates increase by approximately 1.99% from this year's rates.

Rationale:  The Superintendent currently has a three-year contract that expires on June 30, 2026.  At this time, the board will discuss and consider a motion to update the contract as presented.

Rationale:  The proposed calendar for 2024-2025 is attached.  There are no significant changes from the first draft that was presented last month.  Spring Break continues to be the most challenging scheduling obstacle.  There is no "right way" to schedule spring break.  With state girls basketball, state boys basketball, district speech, spring sports starting, and families that want to get away - this is an incredibly busy time of year.  We do our best to "guess" what will work best, but honestly, this is the hardest part of the school calendar.  We will continue to evaluate our process in the years to come in hopes of finding what works "best" for the majority.

Rationale: 

(Coffee) Shop Talk, our platform for engaging with stakeholders and highlighting the incredible achievements of Gothenburg Public Schools for the past year and a half, has provided us with a valuable opportunity to connect with our community, share updates, and foster meaningful dialogue. 

After careful consideration and reflection, we have made the decision to explore other opportunities for community engagement that ensure that we are effectively reaching every demographic within our community. While (Coffee) Shop Talk has served us well, we believe that exploring alternative methods will allow us to better connect with all members of our diverse community and address their unique needs and perspectives.

Please know that this decision was not made lightly, and we remain committed to maintaining open lines of communication and fostering collaboration with all stakeholders. We are currently exploring new avenues and platforms for engagement that will enable us to continue sharing important updates and celebrating the successes of our school district.

We look forward to continuing our journey together and strengthening our ties with the entire Gothenburg community.

It is important to note that we are not discontinuing stakeholder meetings - instead, looking at how we can do this better!  I would encourage anyone who is interested in being part of this new process OR who has ideas on how we can do this better 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:  Monday, April 8th, 2024

Swede Activities:
JV Golf @ Minden @ 1PM
Swede Stage Stars Auditions @ 6PM