January 10, 2022 at 7:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Rationale:  Outgoing President Arens will announce the adjournment of the 2021 Board of Education and appoint a president pro-tempore to begin the reorganization of the Board for 2022.

President Arens may appoint himself or a member of the board or the superintendent to act as President.

_________________ is appointed President Pro-Tempore.

Rationale:  President Pro-tempore will conduct the election for board president.  The newly elected president will conduct the remainder of elections and chair the remainder of the meeting.

The chair will call for nominations for the office.  Nominations are to be made by any member and seconded by another member.  If more than one name is placed in nomination, the chair will call for a written ballot to be cast.  The recording secretary will count the votes.

If only one name is placed in nomination, the chair may entertain a motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot.  The motion requires a second, followed by a recall vote.

This process will be followed to elect the board President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer for 2022.  

The Board may also elect to approve the current slate of officers as the 2022 slate of officers.  The current Board officers are President - Jim Arens, Vice President - Mark Johnson, and Secretary/Treasurer - Scott Erthum.
 

Rationale:  The president will re-appoint Laurie Witte, Dedra Stoner, and Dale Hafer as Recording Secretary(s) for the Board.

Rationale:  Amanda Ganser, Wendy Allen, and Dale Hafer will provide the Board with an update on efforts related to the District's Strategic Plan.

Rationale:  Annually, the board approves the date(s) and place for the regular meetings of the board.  Nebraska Statutes Revised §79-554 states that all board of education meetings for Class III districts shall be held on or before the third Monday of every month.

All board meetings shall be subject to open meeting laws as stated in §84-1408 to §84-1414.

The President or any two members may call special meetings, but all members shall be notified.

We have designated all meetings to be held at the District Office.

The meeting times were set for 7:00 p.m. November through March and 8:00 p.m. April through October. The board may change the meeting times at its discretion.

Rationale:  Annually, the board committee assignments are re-organized under the direction of the board president.  President Arens has provided a document of appointed members to the various board committees that served in 2021.

If there are no changes, the committees can remain the same and be approved for 2022.  

Rationale:  The board shall designate the newspaper of general circulation to be used for the district legal notices and official publications. Additionally, the board may announce notices of special meetings and all other notices on KBRB radio and may post these notices in public places such as the US Post Office lobby, the Court House lobby, and the front door of Ainsworth High School.

Rationale:  The district provides each bank with a corporate resolution to approve individuals and authorized signatures for district funds and accounts.  The resolution requires two signatures among the three board officers for the Employee Benefit, Building, Depreciation, Hot Lunch, Bond, and General Funds. 

The Superintendent, Board Secretary/Treasurer, and Business Manager are authorized to make short-term intra-fund transfers from one bank to another.

Activity Fund checks may be signed by the superintendent or any two of the high school administrators and secretaries of the secondary school office.

General Fund Clearing Account to be signed by any two of Darrell Peterson, Dedra Stoner, and Laurie Witte.  It is noted that West Plains Bank will not be reviewing checks for two signatures.

The district maintains a Safe Deposit box at Homestead Bank and the superintendent along with three elected board members have authorized signatures.

Rationale:  To comply with board reorganization procedures and statutory requirements, the board should move to:

1. Authorize Treasurer to pay bills within limits of budget resolution.
2. Authorize Treasurer, per district office personnel, to invest all interim monies and funds as per policy.
3. Authorize Superintendent or designee:

1. As purchasing agent for the district.
2. To receive tax monies and/or other receipts from County Treasurer.
3. To apply for and receive monies, receipts and funds from all federal and state resources.
4. To serve as custodian of and purchasing agent for Activity Fund accounts.
5. To serve as hearing officer for any student suspensions or expulsions.

Rationale:  A copy of the annual district audit was provided to all board members at the December regular meeting to allow time for review and to ask questions before approval.

Section 79-1089 of Nebraska Revised Statutes requires each school district to have an annual audit of all financial records by a certified public accountant.  Ainsworth School District #10 complies with this requirement each year.

Dana F. Cole & Company from Ainsworth, NE performed the audit and prepared the auditor’s report for 2018-19 for Ainsworth District #10.  The audit report included information on the usual finding of Segregation of Duties and Lack of Control over Processes due to the small school size.  The nutrition fund went slightly over budget due to increased reimbursement and spending related to Covid. In the future, this will be avoided or the nutrition budget will be amended if needed.  There were no other deficient findings.

Rationale:  The Board of Transportation, Buildings, and Grounds Committee met with Supt Hafer and Dan Morrell on December 29, 2021.  At that time, Dan provided information to the committee on options to improve the HVAC and fresh air quality in the K-4 elementary wing of the school building.  

Attached is Dan's suggestions on what a possible project would look like and a budget number for potential costs.  The Committee is favorable to asking the Board to approve a motion to authorize the Supt to advertise for sealed proposals/bids in order to move forward with using ESSER III funds to make improvements to the HVAC and fresh air quality of the elementary.

Dale has been consulting with NDE and KSB School Law to ensure the proper steps are followed in order to avoid issues with ESSER III reimbursement if or when a project would be completed. 
 

Rationale:  Due to retirement, Pam Peterson has submitted her letter of resignation to be effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year (May 20, 2021).

We wish Pam the very best and a wonderful retirement.

Rationale:  Now that the AEA has settled with the Board, it would be Mr. Hafer's preference to take care of the Principal's contracts.  It is recommended to enter into closed session to protect the public interest and protect the needless injury to individual's reputation.

Attached is an array of current administrative costs within the array used to negotiate the teacher's contract for 2022-23.

Rationale:  The next regular meeting of the Board is scheduled for February 14, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. in the District Office. Current agendas will be available for public inspection in the office of the superintendent.