March 7, 2016 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Meeting Agenda

Rationale:  The Bellevue Board of Education abides by the Nebraska Open Meetings Law.  A copy of the law is posted on the wall of our Board room.

Rationale:  Administrative Recommendation: The information in sections B, D, and E were sent to all members of the Board of Education for review.  The administration recommends approval by consent of the items in section B of the agenda identified with an asterisk and receipt of the information and proposals in sections D and E identified with an asterisk.

Rationale:  Administrative Recommendation:  Approve the Minutes of the February 8, 2016 Board of Education meeting.

Rationale:  Administrative Recommendation:  Acknowledge receipt of the Treasurer's Report for February, 2016.

Rationale:  Administrative Recommendation:  Approve the payment of claims totaling $1,119,138.01.

Rationale:  Administrative Recommendation: Release: (1) Lori Thomas and (2) Todd Tripple from their contracts effective June 30, 2016 and release (3) Gayle Christensen, (4) Nancy Hale, (5) Pamela Kouba, (6) Oudious Lee, (7) Pamela Miller, (8) Patricia Mills, (9) Linda Mokrycki, (10) Lisa Neu-Ramirez, (11) Mary Olszowka and (12) Joyce Smith from their contracts effective May 23, 2016.

Rationale: 

The Board is aware that Mr. Harwood has been exploring other professional opportunities.  He has accepted an offer from another district and requests that the Board amend the expiration of his contract from June 30, 2018 to June 30, 2016. 

Rationale: 

In August, the Board approved a contract with Jacobs to develop a Facilities Master Plan.  This process involved a Steering Committee made up of Students, Parents, Community Members, Board Members and Staff. The preliminary report was presented at the January Board meeting.  Board members have since received the full report, attached.  Tonight the Board will be asked to take action in regards to the Steering Committee's recommendations and plan the next steps.

Administrative Recommendation:  Based on discussions at the January Board meeting, the administration recommends accepting the Facility Master Plan recommendations with the exception of any school closures.

Rationale: 

A Board Policy regarding the use of Therapy Dogs was presented at the February meeting.  Tonight that policy is presented for approval as part of the Consent Agenda.

Rationale: 

Bellevue East competed in the Academic Decathlon State Finals February 19 & 20, 2016 at Creighton University. While the team did not finish in the medal round (top three), they did win medals in several events.

Primary Team:

Morgan Gallagher - 1st Place Gold Medal (Honors Division) - Interview

Morgan Gallagher - 1st Place Gold Medal (Honors) - Language & Literature

Morgan Gallagher - 2nd Place Silver Medal (Honors) - Economics

Kelly Speltz - 1st Place Gold Medal (Honors) - Science

Kelly Speltz - 1st Place Gold Medal (Honors) - High BE Team Scorer

Kelly Speltz - 3rd Place Bronze Medal (Honors) - Music

Kelly Speltz - 3rd Place Bronze Medal (Honors) - Essay

Nate Crouch - 3rd Place Bronze Medal (Varsity Division) - Interview

Nate Crouch - 3rd Place Bronze Medal (Varsity) - Economics

Nate Crouch - 3rd Place Bronze Medal (Varsity) - Science

Darren Brinkerhoff - 3rd Place Bronze Medal (Varsity) - Math

Alternates:

Brandon Simms - 2nd Place Silver Medal (Honors Alt) - Humanities

Brandon Simms - 3rd Place Bronze Medal (Honors Alt) - Soft Science

Christian Reza - 2nd Place Silver Medal (Scholastic Alt) - Humanities

Christian Reza - 2nd Place Silver Medal (Scholastic Alt) - Soft Science

Rationale: 

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts announced the winners of the 19th annual Nebraska Young Artist Awards on February 10, 2016 and Alex Molnar of Bellevue East is an award recipient.

The awards annually recognize 11th-grade students from Nebraska for their talents in visual art, dance, music, theater, and film and new media. Seventy students from more than 35 high schools across the state have been selected to participate in the special day of activities April 6 at UNL.

Rationale: 

Bellevue West JROTC Drill Teams competed at the 11th Annual Smith-Cotton Drill Meet in Sedalia, Missouri, on February 13, 2016. This was their first meet of the season; the Men’s team took 3rd place in Unarmed Exhibition and 4th place in Armed Exhibition.

Rationale: 

Bellevue West JROTC Drill Teams competed at the 53rd Annual UNO JROTC Drill Meet in Omaha on February 20, 2016. 

First-Year Team: 3rd place, out of 8 teams, in their category.

Men's Team: Regulation without Arms, 1st place; Exhibition with Arms, 3rd place; Exhibition without Arms, 1st place; and Overall without Arms Champions.

Individual Drill Down: Brogan Zollar, 2nd place

Individual Exhibition with Arms: Ben Seelbach, 1st place

Rationale: 

Bellevue West High School AFJROTC Drill Teams competed on Saturday, February 27, 2016, in the Lee's Summit North Invitational Drill Meet in Missouri.

Men's Team: 2nd place, Regulation Drill with Arms; 3rd place, Exhibition without Arms; 1st place, Exhibition with Arms

Women's Team: 2nd place, Exhibition with Arms

Ben Seelbach: 1st place, Individual Exhibition

Ben and Nick Seelbach: 2nd place, Dual Exhibition

Rationale: 

Bellevue West competed in the Cyber Patriot State Competition in February, 2016. The open division took first in the state and two teams competed in the regional competition the end of February. The service division took first and third in the state and had one team move on to compete in the regional competition.

Rationale: 

The School-Based Enterprise at Bellevue East High School was among 9 school-based enterprises in the United States achieving Bronze Level Certification this year. East DECA student Gabrielle Griffin with the assistance of her advisor Brent Gehring worked on the certification. The school-based enterprise at Bellevue East High School has operated for more than 15 years.  

Rationale: 

As part of the 2015-16 District Goals adopted by the Board, Strategy A2 focuses on College and Career Readiness.  In November a work group was established and tonight the board will be presented with an update of the work so far.  Tonight's presentation will focus on existing programs and planned next steps.

Rationale: 

As part of the 2015-16 Budget Planning process, the Board adopted a policy to require athletes to purchase an activity card in order to participate in sports.  The full cost of the activity card is $50 for the year.  Students that qualify for free or reduced price meals receive their activity card at no cost or at a reduced cost.  When the policy was adopted, the Board requested a report in order to determine if each school was being treated equitably. Attached is an updated report regarding Activity Cards sales at each of the high schools. Activity card sales have been beneficial to programs and have helped offset building budget decreases seen over the past two years.

Rationale: 

The following regulation is presented for review:

613.02R Therapy Dogs

Rationale: 

A district-wide professional development day was held on February 15, 2016 for all Bellevue Public Schools certified staff members.   Secondary staff participated in district-planned activities in the morning and building-planned school improvement activities in the afternoon.   Elementary staff participated in building-planned school improvement activities in the morning and district planned activities in the afternoon.

All elementary and secondary teachers and principals were required to attend a one-hour session about the new Nebraska State Assessment (NeSA) - English/Language Arts.  BPS teachers and ESU #3 consultants facilitated these classes focused on effective instruction using district curriculum materials to support student mastery of these new college/career ready standards.

Teachers and principals also selected two elective topic sessions (see attached for a full listing of the topics and session facilitators).  BPS staff members proposed all of the elective topics. Many teachers stepped forward to share their effective practices with colleagues.  BPS teachers and administrators facilitated sixteen of the twenty-two elementary elective sessions. BPS teachers and administrators facilitated twenty-eight of the thirty-four secondary elective sessions.  Many sessions allowed for teacher-directed, hands-on work time for staff members from various schools to collaborate together.

Rationale: 

Historically, the second parent/student/teacher conference of the year has occurred the end of the third quarter, however, this year conferences were held the week of February 8th. The home and school connection is evident by the participation of parents and students as well as their access and use of Power School on a regular basis.

The following indicates the average attendance of parents and students at each level.

                                                    Parents                   *Students

                    Elementary                94%                         86%

                    Middle School             61%                         64%

                    High School                31%                         51%

*The student percentage indicates those who attended with their parents.

Activities held in conjunction with conferences included book fairs, College 101 for Juniors, scholarship meetings, PTA/PTSA/Booster Club school product sales, and student council activities.

Rationale:  Robyn Griffin-Mixan wishes to speak on the reassignment of Mr. Stueve.

Rationale:  Learning Community - Nina Wolford
BPS Foundation - Doug Cook, Frank Kumor
MABE - Mike Kinney
Board Policy Review Work Group - Doug Cook, Mike Kinney, Phil Davidson
District Safety Committee - Doug Cook

Rationale: 

March 8, BPS Employee Appreciation Day

April 4, Board of Education Meeting, Welcome Center, 6:30 p.m.

Rationale: 

Administrative Recommendation:  Adjourn the March 7, 2016 Board of Education meeting.