October 10, 2011 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  A motion will be necessary if a member of the elected Board is absent.

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:  Approve by consent items in section B of the Agenda identified with an asterisk and receive the information and proposals in sections D and E identified with an asterisk.

Rationale:  The Minutes of the September 12, 2011, Board of Education meeting were sent to all members of the Board of Education for review.

Rationale:  Acknowledge receipt of the Treasurer's Report for September, 2011.

Rationale:  Approve the payment of claims totaling $2,093,471.78.

Rationale:  Release (1) Christopher Brown from his contract effective October 14, 2011.

Rationale:  Approve the settlement agreement and release of claims and accept the resignation of Douglas Townsend.

Rationale:  The Board of Education discussed results of the District Governance Survey and Superintendent's Goals at the July Retreat.  At the September meeting the Board reviewed goals focusing on four areas:  student achievement, school finance, governmental relations, and technology.  The proposed 2011-2012 goals are presented tonight for the Boards' approval. 

Rationale:  The Board reviewed the proposed changes to Board Policy 706.01, Purchasing Procedures, at the September 12, 2011, Board meeting.  The attached proposed board policy is being presented for final approval.

Rationale:  Each year Bellevue Public Schools develops a Poverty Plan which outlines what the District does to provide for students from poverty and/or diverse backgrounds.  The plan addresses the areas of attendance, transportation (if there are mobility issues), parental involvement at the school and District level, class size reduction at the elementary level, access to Early Childhood, after school programs, extended year programs, summer school, mentors for new teachers, professional development for working with students from poverty, coordination with the Elementary Learning Center, and access to social workers.

The District has done many things to meet the needs of students in poverty and from diverse backgrounds.  The approved proposed Poverty Plan will be submitted to the Learning Community for approval.

The recommended action is to approve the attached proposed 2012-2013 Poverty Plan.

Rationale:  The Limited English Proficiency Plan provides specialized instruction that develops a student's ability to read, write, speak and understand English.  The purpose of the program is to prepare students to participate fully in the curriculum of the school, while supporting the cultural heritage of each student.  Currently there are six teachers and six paraprofessionals who provide services to 180 ELL students.  There is also a native Spanish speaking Parent/Community Liaison who supports students and families in all the schools.

The District develops a Limited English Proficiency Plan to include an explanation of how the school district is addressing the needs of the ELL students in the District.  The plan is then submitted to the Learning Community for approval.  The plan focuses on the identification of students with limited English proficiency, instructional approaches, assessment of students' progress toward mastering the English language, and the effectiveness of the elements of the Limited English Proficiency Plan.

The recommended action is to approve the attached proposed 2012-2013 Limited English Proficiency Plan.

Rationale:  The Bellevue West Marching Band placed 1st in their class at the Pursuit of Excellence Competition in Marshall, MN.  The band also received the Outstanding Winds, Outstanding Battery Percussion, Outstanding Concert Percussion, Outstanding Color Guard, Outstanding Visual and Outstanding General Effect awards.

The Bellevue West Marching Band placed 1st in their class at the Blue Springs Invitational in Blue Springs MO.  The band also received Best Effect, Best Visual, Best Colorguard, Best Soloists and Best Drum Majors.  Soloists were Katie Nolin, Lalah McLaughlin and Daniel Moses.  Drum Majors were Ashley Weed and Molly VanHerck.

Rationale:  The Bellevue East High School Math Team won 2nd place in their division at the Doane College TriMATHlon.  The competition consisted of three parts:  Extreme Challenge, the Individual Test, and the Quiz Bowl.  The Bellevue East team of Trevor Savage, Ryan Boyland, and Nate Crawford won 2nd place in all three challenges.

Rationale:  Bellevue West Literature Teams tied for 3rd and 5th place in the large school division of the Nebraska Literature Bowl.  The West team of Alex Gangwish, Kevin Hanna, Kenny Cotton, and Cole Burmeister tied for 3rd place in the large school division.  The West team of Ashley Weed, Lauren Garcia, Daniela Cortes, and Sarah Bigge tied for 5th place.  The teams are coached by Bradley Nord.

Rationale:  Bellevue middle school students competed in the second annual Bellevue Geography Challenge hosted by Mission Middle School.  Teams competed in recognizing world landmarks, identifying nations, and miscellaneous geography questions centering on mountains and world water features.  Seventh and eighth grade teams were scored separately.  Mission Middle School won the event and control of the traveling trophy.

At the 8th grade level, the Mission team of Jacob Mikkelson, Tommy Casart, Andrew Nelson, Michelle Ruzicka, and Ryan Dolezal won 1st place in Nations and Miscellaneous and tied for 1st place in Landmarks.  The Mission team of Dominick Lewis, Michael Lohrman, Libby Dolezal, Ali Matthews, and Anthony Ermitano won 3rd place in Landmarks.  The Lewis and Clark team of Peter Bartmess, Joey Ferrante, Scott Williams, Clayton Butler, Matthew Wittig, and Corbin Merkel-Evans won 2nd place in Nations and Miscellaneous.  The Lewis and Clark team of Trish Wheeler, Stephanie Stoley, Bethany Dart, Nina Gomez, and Lauren Wiegand won 3rd place in Miscellaneous.  The Logan Fontenelle team of Adonis Dotson, Alec Stroud, and Christopher Bean tied for 1st place in Landmarks and won 3rd place in Nations.

At the 7th grade level, the Mission team of Noah Sautter, Christian Swan, Jared Swift, and Dalton Gamache won 1st place in Nations, tied for 1st place in Landmarks, and tied for 2nd place in Miscellaneous.  The Mission team of Tori Mullen, Paige Haskins, Kelly Speltz, Samantha Seaman, and Jacob Brown won 1st place in Miscellaneous and 3rd place in Landmarks.  The Mission team of Catherine Belcher, Logan Wood, Audassi Foster, Alex Pettit and Jason Ragone tied for 1st place in Landmarks.  The Lewis and Clark team of  Emma Larson, Audrey Lausterer, Brandon Simms, Celeste Kenworthy, Jillian Hussman, and Katherine Knights won 2nd place in Nations and tied for 2nd place in Miscellaneous.  The Lewis and Clark team of Jake Reckin, Brett Fieze, Bryce Walker, Trever Ward, Trent Hedin, and Bryson Williams won 3rd place in Nations.  The Lewis and Clark team of Xedrix Barbeyto, Jayden Ervin, Alex Harrison, Jake Balaberda, and Justice Schmidt tied for 3rd place in Landmarks.  The Logan Fontenelle team of Morgan Deters, Emily Wilson, Jacob Kunes, and Sydney Stricklin tied for 3rd place in Landmarks. 

Rationale:  One of the Board's Goals is to increase board members' understanding of school finance and budgeting.  Each month the Board receives a monthly Treasurer's Report and Claims Report.  Tonight Mr. Harwood will discuss these monthly reports and the budget process.

Rationale:  Each year school districts file an enrollment update with the Nebraska Department of Education.  The update is the official enrollment taken on the last Friday in September.  As of September 30, Bellevue Public Schools' enrollment was 10,023.  Attached is a copy of enrollment by school.

Rationale:  Principals led professional development for their certified staffs during the September 16 Staff In-service Day.  Topics included:  data analysis of recently released NeSA-W, M, and R data, continuous schoolwide improvement plans, Response to Intervention (RtI), anti-bullying/respect, and autism.

Rationale:  Attached are proposed Board Policies 103, Equal Educational Opportunity; 501, Objectives for Equal Educational Opportunities for Students; 508.15, Concussion Awareness; 604.11, Citizenship; and revised Board Policy 503.01, Compulsory Attendance.  These policies are submitted for review at tonight's meeting with approval of the policies scheduled for the November Board of Education meeting.

Rationale:  Mr. Harwood will update the Board on recent meetings regarding our federal funding and meetings with our Congressional representatives.

Rationale:  Walt Radcliffe represents the Bellevue Public Schools on legislative matters in Lincoln.  Mr. Radcliffe will provide the Board with an update of what is happening with regard to legislation and seek input from the Board.

Rationale:  An oral report will be provided on the recent meetings of the Learning Community.

Rationale:  October 12, NASB Area Membership Meeting, 5:30 pm, LaVista Conference Center
November 5, Veterans Day Parade, 10:00 am/chili feed, 11:30 am, Mission Middle School
November 7, Board of Education Meeting, 6:30 pm, Welcome Center

Rationale:  Adjourn to executive session to consider matters relating to strategy sessions with respect to personnel and negotiations with outside agencies which are necessary to be considered in closed session for the protection of the public interest and for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of individuals.