February 12, 2018 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Rationale: 

1. The Board of Education reserves the right to enter into Closed/Executive Session for 1) the protection of public interest or 2) the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual, and the individual has not requested a public meeting. When making a motion to enter into Closed/Executive Session, the member making such a request should be as specific as possible keeping the previously listed stipulation in consideration. 
2. If the Board is in agreement, a motion maybe to enter into Closed/Executive Session to 1) discuss a personnel matter, or 2) for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of the individual, or 3) to discuss litigation and for the protection of the public interest.
3. Action concerning matters discussed in Closed/Executive Session will be acted upon in open session

Rationale: 

Welcome to the Dundy County Stratton Public Schools Board of Education Meeting.  The Board welcomes citizens to attend board meetings to become acquainted with the programs and operations of the district.  Members of the public are also encouraged to share their ideas and opinions with the Board during the agenda item labeled “Public Items”.  Comments or questions from the audience at any other time during the meeting except for the agenda item “Public Items” will out of necessity be declared out of order.

The Nebraska Open Meetings Act prevents the board from speaking to a matter that is not on the agenda.  Please understand that the board may be unable to address your issue during the meeting.  It is not permissible for the board to comment on items not listed for the protection of the public’s right to know and participate in the discussion of items that do come before the board and stated appropriately in the meeting agenda.  

During this agenda item “Public Items” we ask that you abide by the following rules:

Public Comment Protocol and Procedures

1. Anyone wishing to speak to the board on specific agenda items or on other topics relevant to board business must complete a Public Comment Request Card and submit it to the Board President prior to the opening of the meeting.   The public will only be recognized and their comments heard at Item “Public Items” on the board agenda.  The total time allotted for the public comment will not exceed thirty minutes and each member of the public will be allotted not more than five minutes to address the Board.  If a group wishes to speak, please designate one spokesperson for the group.
   
   
2. Please state your name and the topic you are addressing before you begin.  
   
   
3. Speakers are asked to direct their questions and comments to the chair.  A member of the Board of Education or the Superintendent may direct clarifying questions to the chair, but the board will not under any circumstance enter into a debate with any the member of the public.
   
   
4. Speakers may offer objective criticism of district operations and programs, but the Board would encourage members of the public to address complaints concerning individual district personnel through the proper chain of command.  The chair may direct the member of the public to the appropriate means to address concerns brought before the Board; however, the board will not respond with action but will take comments under advisement and direct the comments to the appropriate staff member to address outside of the board meeting.
   
   
5. Please remember that is a public meeting for the conduct of business of the Dundy County Stratton Public School District. Offensive language, personal attacks and hostile conduct will not be tolerated. You should further be advised that there is no legal protection for any comments that are made. 
   
   
6. As stated in NEB. REV. STAT. § 79-570 Class I, II, III, IV, or VI school district; president; meetings; maintenance of order.  

   If any district meeting of a Class I, II, III, IV, or VI school district any person conducts himself or herself in a disorderly manner and persists in such conduct after notice by the president or person presiding, the president or person presiding may order such person to withdraw from the meeting and, if the person refuses, may order any person or persons to take such person into custody until the meeting is adjourned.

7. As stated in NEB. REV. STAT. § 79-571 Class I, II, III, IV, or VI school district; meetings; disorderly conduct; penalty. 

Any person who refuses to withdraw from such meeting on being so ordered as provided in section 79-570 or who willfully disturbs such meeting shall be guilty of a Class V misdemeanor. 

Rationale:  To verify that notice of the meeting was given by publication in the Benkelman Post, a legal newspaper for Dundy County Stratton and by written notice to each member of the board, the designated method of giving notice

Rationale:  To adopt the agenda of this meeting. The board reserves the right to change the order of items within the agenda.

Rationale:  Presentation of the financial status of the district, balances in various funds, recent/impending activity therein, anticipated expenses and planning for future considerations.

Rationale:  In the past we have joined the Chamber in both Benkelman and Stratton when we have received a statement. We have received a statement from the Benkelman group. Would you like to continue this?

Rationale:  We annually adopt the calendar in February. A few schools do theirs two years out. 

Rationale:  Mr. Fette and Mr. Rotherham will give a short report on our School Improvement Plan progress and what to expect when the external visit occurs. 

Rationale:  This agenda item is to allow for presentation and discussion about where we are from a staffing needs and course offerings standpoint for the upcoming school year. 

Rationale:  LB 758 has made it through the legislative process to the initial Enrollment and Review. It will return to debate again on Select File, hopefully be returned to E&R again then go to Final Reading, be passed and signed by the governor. This is Senator Hughes bill to allow NRD's to pay property taxes on water augmentation projects and allow us to not have to repay the property taxes already collected, that's $125,963.90. 

The Governors bill, 947, would provide a refundable tax credit to home and property owners and reduce the top corporate and individual income tax rates.

Senator Briese's bills, 312 to remove some sales tax exemptions and raise the Earned Income Credit to 7%, 313 to raise the sales tax rate 1%, 1084 to limit property tax increases to 2.5% and 1001 to study school finance are part of the package Nebraska United (NRCSA, NASB are a part of this) helped develop. 

Senator Groene's bill 640 would cap property tax at 60% of the funding of a school district. His 778 would not allow schools to use special building fund money to add to or build new buildings with out a public vote.

Senator Linehan has a bill, LB 651, which would require a series of school based interventions in reading for students in grades K-3. The mandatory retention of students in grade 3 who are not reading on grade level has been removed. This bill was on the agenda last week but always behind a bill Senator Chambers didn't like. It is back on the agenda for debate Monday but there are several bills ahead of it again. 

The property tax reduction bills and attempts to fill the void created if those are reduced deserve attention. We can discuss any of the bills that you wish during this agenda item. 

Rationale:  Here is my preliminary list of potential projects:

Interior lock and nob replacement BE & SE
Exterior door and lock replacement at HS
Concrete in north hs parking log
Fence around FB field
Exterior lighting at SE
Server closet climate control
Landscaping at BE
Surveillance cameras

Rationale:  The RPAC schools as a group are looking at admission prices to both their individual school events and RPAC activities.

RPAC as an organization is solvent and consistently generates enough revenue to sustain itself financially. That status has improved drastically since the move to the events center in McCook for the volleyball and basketball finals. 

The schools in the RPAC are uniform in their admission prices (except Southern Valley) at $4.00 for adults and $3.00 for students. RPAC as an organization also charges the same rates. Those rates have not changed for many years, We may have raised the prices in the late 90's but I don't really  recall them rising during my time as an administrator here. 

The issue comes from the rising costs of events, particularly officials. Schools in the conference rarely take in enough gate receipts to cover the cost of the varsity officials.

Two options are likely to be considered. One is simply to raise admission prices to $5.00 for adults and $4.00 for students. The second is to curtail drastically the number of RPAC passes, probably to paid coaches/sponsors only, and give Faculty passes which would only work locally to other members of the staff.  

Each school in the conference is talking about it with their board and we will go back to the conference with your thoughts. We will try to reach a consensus as a group and make any changes as a group. 

While we are discussing the concept in general I would also like to discuss the family rate, senior pass and season pass rates and possible changes to that at our school. The family rate is great for some families, Mom, Dad, 3 kids, an uncle, Grandma and Grandpa all get in for $8.00. 

Rationale:  The board should recap the discussion from the goals meeting on Jan. 10 and decide what the next steps and priorities are. These are the topics from the Jan. 10 meeting. 

Extended Learning Opportunities and cooperation with area schools, agencies and businesses to help implement them;
Legislation affecting the district;
replacing text books with electronic texts;
career exploration opportunities;
improvements and expansion of existing facilities and grounds;
the improvement of test scores; and
boardsmanship/board expectations.

 

Rationale:  Mike called in and said he would be out of town