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

Rationale:  New Board Member Mike Kinney will be administered the Oath of Office and welcomed to the Board of Education.

Attached is the Oath of Office.

Rationale:  Colonel Gregory Guillot and Lt Colonel Charles Kuhl will be welcomed as our new military advisory members on the Board of Education.

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.

Rationale:  The Minutes of the June 3, 2013, Board of Education meeting and the June 18, 2013, Special Meeting of the Board, were sent to all members of the Board of Education for review.

Rationale:  Acknowledge receipt of the Treasurer's Report for June, 2013.

Rationale:  Approve the payment of claims totaling $1,715,587.45.

Rationale:  Release (1) Thomas Griebel and (2) Andrea Jenkins from their contracts effective May 23, 2013.

Rationale:  Elect (1) Katherine Boeve to the certified staff for the 2013-2014 school year effective July 1, 2013, subject to her release from any contractual agreements with other school districts, and elect (2) Blake Anderson, (3) Reeva Bancroft, (4) Kelly Benne, (5) LaShanna Bernstein, (6) Rachel Block, (7) Lathasha Braden, (8) Anne Daly, (9) Beatriz Esparza, (10) Chad Holtz, (11) Leslie Jones, (12) Addy Markowsky, (13) Holly Oelmann, (14) Brook Parker, (15) Kelsie Rogers, (16) Lindsey Schubert, (17) Geoffrey Semrad, (18) Cynthia Skarda, (19) Rachel Sydzyik, (20) Amy Welte, and (21) Karen Ziegler to the certified staff for the 2013-2014 school year effective August 8, 2013, subject to their release from any contractual agreements with other school districts.

Rationale: 

Due to the resignation of Alicia Richards, a vacancy exists for the office of President of the Board of Education.  The Board will take action tonight to fill vacant officer positions.

Rationale:  Nebraska Statute 79-2,134 requires the Board of Education to annually hold a public hearing to review the student fees policy.  The statute also requires a review of the amount of money collected from students pursuant to, and the use of waivers provided in, the student fees policy for the prior school year.

In accordance with the statute, the Bellevue Public Schools collected $1,858,191 for the provision of breakfast and lunch through the school lunch program.  The District also collected $22,675.03 for reimbursement to the school district for property lost or damaged by students, materials used for alternative projects when the completed project became the property of the student, and fees for late library books.

Attached is a copy of the Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 504.19.  There are no student fees for athletics and activities in the Bellevue Public Schools.

Rationale:  Public Law 111-296, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, was passed into law addressing the equity in school lunch pricing.  One of the guidelines went into effect July 1, 2011, regarding the price for school lunches.  With the new guidelines, the cost of the elementary lunch program needed to be increased.  Bellevue continues to place an emphasis on serving a balanced breakfast and lunch program; with changes to the USDA guidelines we will see an emphasis on more whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, sub groups of vegetables, sodium targets, no trans fat served, etc.

During the 2012-2013 school year, Bellevue Public Schools' food service program served 1,698,153 meals.  In addition to the kitchens at our 20 schools, the District serves meals at three satellites:  CHAP Center, St. Mary's, and St. Matthews.  Food service provides a lunch program at our Title 1 schools, snacks through Kid's Time, operates the concession stand programs, and vending machines throughout the District.

The recommended action is to increase the cost of the elementary lunch program by $.05.  The cost of an elementary lunch will be $2.25.  Middle Schools and high schools will remain the same.

Rationale:  Items related to the budget have been presented at each meeting of the Board of Education since September, 2012.  The 2013-2014 proposed budget was developed within the prescribed parameters utilizing the existing District planning models.  The proposed budget recommends no change in the tax levy.  Currently, the Bellevue Public School District's levy is $1.05, the lowest overall tax levy in the metro area.  The proposed budget provides for the education of 10,258 students, an increase of 74 students over last year's projected enrollment.

The timeline for the budget includes:

March 11, 2013 -
Enrollment projections presented to the Board of Education
Budget parameters presented to the Board of Education for approval

July 8, 2013 -
Budget presentation to the Board of Education

August 5, 2013 -
Public hearing on 2013-2014 proposed budget

September, 2013 -
Learning Community approves or denies budget

September 9, 2013 -
Public hearing on preliminary tax request
Board of Education approves final 2013-2014 budget
Board of Education sets the tax rate for FY2013

By September 20, 2013 -
Adopted budget documents will be filed with the Auditor of Public Accounts and the Nebraska Department of Education

An oral presentation of the budget will be made at tonight's meeting.

Attached is the "2013-2014 Proposed Annual Estimate of Receipts and Expenditures."

Rationale:  A compensation package increase of 3.22% is being proposed for three non-union employee groups:  Certified Administrators, Secretaries, and Supervisors/Specialists/Classified Administrators.  Other non-union groups would maintain current salary programs:  Part Time and Temporary Staff, Substitute Teachers, and Adult Basic Education Instructor. 

The increase is to cover:
Employer paid Health Insurance increase of $350 annually per participating employee
Employer cost increases to employer paid pension or deferred compensation
Salary increases for individual employees

Increased costs to the District for each group are as follows:
Certified Administrators:  $148,703
Secretaries:  $65,851
Supervisors/Specialists/Classified Administrators:  $89,814

The current and proposed salary programs are attached.

Rationale:  A school district is the nucleus of a community.  Schools in Bellevue are open throughout the year to meet the needs of our students and the community.  The District works with many of our partners, including Offutt Air Force Base, the City of Bellevue, Bellevue Senior Citizens Center, Bellevue Ministerial Association, Metropolitan Community College, service organizations, families within the school district, and businesses in their request to utilize our facilities.  Requests for usage vary from classrooms, swimming pools, gymnasiums, baseball, softball, football, and soccer fields, etc.

In addition to the regular day-to-day operations of the District, during the 2012-2013 school year our facilities were used by 387,779 people on 11,253 occasions.  Our facility usage continues to be in high demand and we are always improving our wellness programs and youth developmental sports programs.  These quality programs for our students and community members remain strong and we will continue to expand and improve on all of our programming throughout the District.

Attached is a report summarizing the Community Use of School Facilities.

Rationale:  In October of 2012, the Board approved the 2012-2013 Board Goals.  Tonight, a brief update on the goals will be presented.  We will also discuss the goal setting process.  For the past two years, this process has begun during a July work session.

Attached are the 2011-12 Board Goals and the updated 2012-13 Board Goals.

Rationale:  Tonight, the Board will discuss the 2013-2014 Board meeting calendar.

Attached is the tentative 2013-2014 Board meeting calendar.

Rationale:  Attached are revised Board Policy, 704.01, Deposits and Investments, and revised Board Policy 203.01, Officers.  These policies are for review tonight and approval will be scheduled for the August Board meeting.

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

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  August 5, Board of Education Meeting, Welcome Center, 6:30 pm

Rationale:  Adjourn the July 8, 2013, meeting of the Board of Education.