July 14, 2025 at 6:00 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.

This meeting was legally advertised in the Gothenburg Leader on July 3rd, 2025 and July 10th, 2025 and was also published on the Nebraska Public Notices website, in accordance with state requirements.  A copy of the Request for Publication and Proof of Publication will be linked in the electronic minutes once the Proof of Publication is available.

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: Before the meeting begins, anyone wishing to address the board must sign in with their name, address, and any organizations they are representing. When 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 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

 

Rationale:  Substitute salaries were $155 and $190 for ten consecutive days or after 30 cumulative days last year. 

We averaged 6.4 substitutes per day (not including school coverage) and 1,080 total days covered.  This represents an increase of 100 additional days covered. These numbers include long-term coverage three long-term commitments.  Our substitutes are critical to ensuring we can maintain daily operations and we're blessed with an incredible group.

We would like to give a huge thank you to Monica Rivera, Marley Kennicutt, Dan Sherer, Julie Rickertsen, Rita Foster, Greg Anderson, and Jillian Dowdy who were here over 50 days!

I'd like to recommend we increase our daily rate to remain competitive with nearby districts.

• Set the daily rate to $175 per day.
• After 30 cumulative days in the district, the daily rate will be $210 for all remaining days subbed in that school year.
• For any assignment lasting more than ten consecutive days (e.g., maternity leave), the daily rate will be $210 for each day of that assignment and for any additional days thereafter.
• We will continue to honor those taking on long-term substitute assignments by providing a 20% bonus to be paid for all days in a long-term assignment.  This is the responsibility of the substitute to submit the form in the district office and equates to an extra "day" for each week in recognition of all the extra time that is committed during a long-term subbing assignment.

Rationale:  District #20 has been a Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association member for many years.  NRCSA provides many services for rural schools.

Rationale:  The vacancy process and applicable state statutes are outlined here.

Appointment Timeline:
June 10th, 2025 - Resignation Effective & Applications Opened
June 26th, 2025 - Applications Due
July 14th, 2025 - Appointment Recommendation @ Regular Board Meeting

Each board member has reviewed the submitted applications. Based on this information, the board officers will make a recommendation at the July meeting regarding the candidate who best fits the current needs of the district in alignment with the district goals and priorities outlined in our Strategic Plan.

Rationale:  Each year, KSB provides legally required updates to be made in policy and subsequent handbook references.  A review of those updates can be found here.

Rationale:  After reviewing existing policy, the following proposals for new policy are linked here for consideration of the Board.

As these are a first-reading, no action is required.  Any feedback should be provided to Dr. Jonas before the next board meeting.

Rationale:  No community feedback was received regarding the cell phone policy. As a result, the policy from the 2024-2025 school year will remain in effect. We continue to welcome and encourage feedback from parents, students, and staff to support open dialogue. Any input received throughout the upcoming year will be considered as part of the review process next summer.

Due to no changes, this is an information item only. No action is required.

Rationale:  We did not receive any feedback on the handbook changes presented at the June meeting. Through discussion with our policy committee, administrators, and school nurse, we have added enhanced language regarding latex balloons. This language has now been added accordingly.

Rationale:  This is the first reading of our activity handbook.  They have been aligned with new board policies.  No formal motion is needed at this time.  These will return in August for consideration of approval.  Please provide any feedback before that meeting.

Rationale:  This is the first reading of our staff handbook.  It has been aligned with new board policies.  No formal motion is needed at this time.  These will return in August for consideration of approval.  Please provide any feedback before that meeting.

Rationale:  The School District acknowledges its obligation under state and federal laws to provide comprehensive training to its staff on various subjects. With the recent enactment of LB 1329 during the 2024 legislative session, the Legislature has entrusted each Board of Education with the discretion to set appropriate durations for specific staff training mandates. In light of this, the Board of Education is taking proactive steps to align the District's planned training agenda for the upcoming school year with the provisions outlined in LB 1329. This resolution serves as a formal affirmation of the Board's determination that the proposed training requirements are reasonable in both scope and duration. Additionally, it ensures that the Board is fully informed of and grants approval for other essential staff training initiatives slated for the same academic year.

The adopted calendar includes one full day for staff to work on training sessions that are provided online.  This is done in recognition of the time it takes to complete these trainings.

Rationale:  Each year we ask the board of education to consider approval of our certified staff evaluation tools.  This year, we do not have any changes to these documents.

1. Teacher Evaluation Document
2. School Psychologist Evaluation Document
3. Counselor Evaluation
4. Director of Teaching & Learning Evaluation Document
5. Administrator Evaluation Document

Rationale:  Board Policy 4053 requires administrators of the district to make known the existence of any conflict of interest in any contract in which the employee has an interest.

As an informational item, there is no action required. The conflict of interest forms are attached here for public record.

Rationale: 

Committee Reports (Chair in bold)

1.  Personnel Committee (Mr. Fornoff, Mrs. Terrell, Mrs. Brass)
2. Transportation and Facilities (Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Dalrymple, Mrs. Jobman)
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. Dalrymple, Mrs. Jobman)

 

Rationale: 

Rationale:  Monday, August 11th

Swede Activities:
Open House Night - consider a noon meeting