April 8, 2013 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Meeting Agenda

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:  As a part of the AdvancED District Accreditation process and in accordance with Nebraska Rule 10, each school building in the Bellevue Public Schools must participate in an ongoing, continuous school improvement process. School staff analyze student performance data to plan and implement strategies to continually move the school toward improvement and increased student performance levels.

Tonight, Mission Middle School Principal Jenny Powell and members of the Mission staff will present some of the structures, strategies, and activities they are implementing in their building's ongoing school improvement process.

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

Rationale:  The Minutes of the March 11, 2013, 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 March, 2013.

Rationale:  Approve the payment of claims totaling $1,570,354.40.

Rationale:  Release (1) Jean Bond, (2) Grant Campbell, (3) Scott DeBoer, (4) Scott Jensen, (5) Kristen Kirkelie, (6) Nancy Kneifl, (7) Kirsten Korte, (8) Mitchell Leth, (9) Tyler Lindburg, (10) Adrianna Markowsky, (11) Ebony Parks, (12) Sarah Roberts, (13) Jennifer VanRooyen, (14) Melisa Ventre, and (15) Lauren Woolford from their contracts effective May 23, 2013.

Rationale:  Elect (1) Michael Huffman, (2) Sarah Minarik, (3) Kimberly Rausch, (4) Kyle Sandall, (5) David Schumacher, and (6) Kelsie Wilde to the certified staff for the 2013-14 school year effective August 8, 2013, subject to their release from any contractual agreements with other school districts.

Rationale:  Grant (1) Alexandria Downing a leave of absence without pay effective August 8, 2013, through May 22, 2014.

Rationale:  As requested by the Board, additional input on the 2014-15 school calendar was solicited from parents, students, and staff members. 

Three proposed calendars were sent to all groups for their review and results were tabulated with Proposal #2 being the overall choice.

Attached are the Proposal #1, Proposal #2, and Proposal #3 calendars.

Rationale:  Nebraska law requires all certified staff members in Bellevue Public Schools to accumulate six hours of professional growth within a six-year period.  Bellevue offers extensive opportunities for certified staff to earn hours through our Continuing Contract Unit (CCU) Program.

A list of the activities recommended for Board approval is included in the attachment.

Rationale:  At the direction of the Board, a Request for Proposal was released for a district Auditor.  Proposals were received on March 15 with a public opening.  Four proposals were received, and after reviewing all proposals one firm stood out as the clear choice - HSMC Orizon. 

Several staff members and a Board representative conducted an interview with HSMC Orizon and concluded that this would be the firm recommended to the Board.  HSMC Orizon's clients include other Learning Community districts (Gretna and Millard), as well as two of the largest school districts in the state (Millard and Lincoln). 

From a cost perspective, their bid was the second lowest overall (more than a $12,500 savings over what we paid this year), and proposed no increase over the next three years.  Additionally, they offer us unlimited access to basic consulting services on finance and accounting matters throughout the year, as well as periodic meetings at our request.  Other bidders offer to include these services for up to 10 hours per year.

Attached are the Audit RFP Summary and Agreement.

Rationale:  Cafeteria tables in three of our elementary buildings are in need of replacement.  Three bids were received for Twin Ridge, Two Springs, and Belleaire.

The recommended action is to approve the total bid of $141,131 from MEYO Enterprises to replace cafeteria tables at Twin Ridge, Two Springs, and Belleaire Elementary Schools.

Rationale:  The Board reviewed revised Board Policy 204.10, Agenda, at the March 11, 2013, Board meeting.
The attached revised Board Policy is presented tonight for final approval.

Also attached is new Administrative Regulation 204.10, Agenda, provided for your information.

Rationale:  The Bellevue West High School Men's JROTC Armed Drill Team competed at the Air Force Nationals Drill Competition on March 16, 2013, at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. The team won 1st place in the Regulation Drill with Rifle category against 28 other teams.  Their commander, Chris Harris, was recognized as the Top Armed Commander.

Rationale:  Bellevue West's West Connection Show Choir has placed at every competition this year, wrapping the year up with a 2nd place division finish and 3rd runner up in finals at the Hinton Iowa Soundsations competition, and first place for the third consecutive year at the Norfolk show choir competition. They are headed to Branson April 4 - 7 to compete at the FAME show choir competition. (A wrap up of the season:  previous winnings include 1st place at Peru, 3rd place at UNO, 2nd place division, 3rd runner up and Best Vocals at Viking Cup).

Explosion, the Bellevue West JV Show Choir, won 1st place at the Bellevue East Jazz Festival and earned a superior rating in Division 1 (same division as West Connection) at the Norfolk show choir competition.

Rationale: 

The Nebraska EconChallenge On-Line Competition occurred March 1-12, 2013.  The top ten teams in each division advanced to the Nebraska EconChallenge State Finals on March 22, 2013. The competition was held on the UNL campus and is run by the Nebraska Council on Economic Education. The top two teams in each division were awarded medals.

The Adam Smith Division is for AP and IB economics students or for students who have previously competed in EconChallenge. There were 43 teams statewide that competed in this division in 2013.

The David Ricardo Division is for students who have taken only a one semester Economics class or its equivalent. There were a total of 95 teams competing in this division in 2013.

Bellevue East Results:

Team Silver (David Ricardo division): Brooke Winsor (team captain), Megan Andrews, Jameson Poth, and Ji-Eun Shin finished 1st in the State out of 95 teams, named the 2013 State Champions.

Team Guilder (Adam Smith division): Ryan Boyland (team captain), Elizabeth Alexander, Erik Ingram, and Katherine Waite finished 2nd in the State out of 43 teams.

Team Real (Adam Smith division): Alexander Campbell (team captain), Jamie Frangoulis, Joshua Jones, and Scott Walker finished 3rd in the State out of 43 teams.

Other Bellevue East students that competed in the initial on-line competition:

Dalilo Alconini, Brianna Bianchi, Dante Brown, Heather Coffelt, Nathaniel Crouch, Sydney Hanson, Valeci Howell, Kaitlin Kenny, Tyler Lebbert, Noah Madrigal, Ryan Majka, Russell McDaniel, Elizabeth McGoogan, Jared Orsborn, Kevin Pflager, Aerin Ringler, Joshua Schmidt, James Schnitzer, Kirstin Schwart, Thomas Sheridan, Daniel Smith, Austin Sorenson, George Timmins, Korey Villaflor, and Michealo White.

 Bellevue West Results:

Two freshman teams competed in the David Ricardo Division, finishing in 10th place and 8th place respectively.

Bellevue West Team 1: Ethon Koehler, Joseph Lydiatt, Caleb Eby and Peter Bartmess

Bellevue West Team 2: Lindsey Krebs, Alec Stroud and Salvatore Savino

 

Rationale: 

Marc Kruger (Bellevue West girls' basketball coach) has been selected by his peers to receive the 2013 Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands/ Fraternal Order of Police Class “A” Girls “Co-Coaches of the Year” Award because of his outstanding coaching this season.  He will be honored on April 12, 2013, at Benson High School at the half-time of the High School Girls' All–Star Basketball Game (6:30 pm).  Marc will receive a plaque, game jersey and $25 dollar gift certificate to a restaurant of choice.

Please see attached letter of congratulations.

Rationale:  Fifteen Logan Fontenelle students from the Service Club were volunteering at the Open Door Mission to prepare sack lunches. They assisted other volunteers in making 1,075 sack lunches to be distributed to children and adults in need of food.  Before leaving the Open Door Mission, they were provided a wonderful opportunity to meet Congressman Lee Terry and Candace Gregory, President/CEO of the Open Door Mission.  The students were thrilled; they were able to ask Congressman Terry questions and he praised them for their interest in helping others.  Congressman Terry is a strong believer in service to your community.  Candace Gregory educated the students about homelessness and hunger.

Rationale: 

The Omaha Summer Arts Festival is proud to announce that Bellevue East High School has been selected as the 2013 Young Artist Exhibition's High School of the Year.

The main focus of the Young Artist Exhibition is to promote the excellence of art programs in Omaha area schools and the hard work of the exceptional art educators who continue to keep these valuable programs alive.  They feel Bellevue East High School is a prime example of this commitment.

Please see the attached letter of congratulations.

Rationale: 

Students from Mission Middle School competed in the 2013 History Day competition. Coaches for Mission Middle School are Norma Thompson and Brent Myers.

David Ruzicka, 2^nd place for Scottish Independence - Paper

Shaelyn Palazzo, 1^st place for Film Sound –Individual Exhibit

Kelly Speltz, 2^nd place for Uniformitarianism: A Turning Point in the History of Geology - Individual Interpretive Website

Sydney Enokawa, 3^rd place for Nebraska Blizzard – Individual Interpretive Website

Rationale:  On March 7, Bellevue Public Schools was the subject of a required monitoring visit from the Nebraska Department of Education to audit all aspects of the implementation of the Carl D. Perkins Grant funds for secondary Career/Technical Education (CTE). 

Tonight, we will provide the Board with a report on this visit.

Attached is a letter from the Nebraska Department of Education regarding the monitoring visit.

Rationale:  The Bellevue Police Department conducted safety audits in our school buildings.  The administration met with representatives from the Bellevue Police Department to discuss findings and recommendations.

Those results will be shared tonight.

Rationale:  Quality, well-maintained facilities are important in the overall educational program.  Bellevue Public Schools has an annual maintenance and repair program, as well as projects that address equity and growth in the District.

Workers will be assigned to twenty-one buildings throughout the District this summer.  These individuals will perform a variety of tasks including cleaning desks, cabinets, walls, floors, trimming vegetation around the buildings, etc.  Summer workers will help the maintenance/grounds' crew work on playgrounds filling holes and ruts, top dressing, seeding, sod replacement, and mowing 200 acres of school property at 25 buildings each week.  Carpenters will work on a variety of projects.  Summer projects will focus on replacement of carpet where required and refinishing the gym floors at the middle and high schools.

Bids will be solicited for the replacement of boilers at two elementary schools with installation this summer contingent upon funding being available.

Rationale:  Attached are Board Policies 201.01, Purpose and Role of the Board; 201.02, Membership; and 201.03, Vacancy on School Board.  These policies are for review tonight and any changes will be brought back to the May Board of Education meeting.

Rationale:  The kindergarten registration process for 2013-2014 began the week of February 25, 2013.  This is an opportunity for the parent/guardian to complete registration and orient the child to the kindergarten environment and staff.  To date, 540 of the 795 projected students have registered for kindergarten.  By state law, a child must be five years of age on or before July 31 in order to enter kindergarten.  The law also includes a provision for early entrance testing. 

Rationale:  Parent/Teacher/Student conferences were held during the week of March 18-21.  Overall, conferences were attended by 75% of our parents and 64% of our students.  Elementary had an average of 95% parents and 86% students attend.  Middle schools had 70% parents and 60% students, high schools had 50% parents and 33% students, and CHAP had 85% parents and 79% students attend.

Parent Portal in PowerSchool allows parents to receive updated information on their child, via the internet, any time of the day.

Attached is a report of conference attendance by building.

Rationale:  The State of Nebraska provides funds to purchase and loan textbooks to private school children.  The Bellevue Public Schools received 222 applications for the loan of 873 textbooks for the 2013-2014 school year.  Eight hundred thirty-three of these requests will be filled from existing inventory purchased in previous years.  An application was submitted to the State of Nebraska for $2674.52 to purchase and loan the remaining 40 books.  The full amount was received from the state, providing funding for 100% of the planned purchases.

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

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  April 18    PTA Service to Youth Reception, Lied Activity Center, 5:00 pm
April 24    Secretary/Paraprofessional Day
May 6       Board of Education Meeting, Welcome Center, 6:30 pm

Rationale:  Adjourn to executive session to consider matters relating to strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, negotiating with outside agencies, and personnel which are necessary to be considered in closed session for the protection of the public interest and for the needless injury to the reputation of an individual.