November 4, 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:  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 attached Minutes of the October 7, 2013, Board of Education meeting were sent to all members of the Board of Education for review.  One modification was received and the Minutes have been updated to reflect this modification.

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

Rationale:  Approve the payment of claims totaling $1,240,617.63.

Rationale:  Release (1) J. Georgette Clark from her contract effective October 11, 2013, and (2) Karen Bostic from her contract effective October 25, 2013.

Rationale:  Tonight the Board will be presented with the 2013-2014 District Goals for approval.  This is a continuation of the process the Board has used for the last two years.

Attached are the proposed 2013-2014 District Goals.

Rationale:  As discussed during the 2013-2014 budgeting process, there is a need to address the aging bus fleet used by Bellevue Public Schools for student transportation needs.  Tonight the Board will be asked to approve a plan to use a lease/purchase funding mechanism to begin a school bus replacement cycle.

Attached is the lease/purchase proposal.

Rationale: 

Bellevue East competed in the Nebraska Federation of Women's Club Young Women's Quiz Bowl on October 16, 2013. Twenty-seven teams from high schools across Eastern and Central Nebraska competed. Bellevue East took two teams to compete, and one team took home the first place trophy.

Competing on the first place team was Sam Seaman (9), Paige Haskins (9), and Kelly Speltz (9). The other team, which tied for 5th place, consisted of Brooke Winsor (11), Morgan Goldsberry (12), Sarah Sindelar (12), and Lizzie James (12).

 

 

 

Rationale: 

Bellevue East competed at the Midland University Math Challenge in Fremont. The competition is organized in two parts, an individual test and a team test.

Tommy Casart finished 5th among all sophomores in the individual test. The following students also competed: Nathan Beyer (10), Tommy Casart (10), Alicia Gonzalez (9), Josh Jones (11), Mary Laporte (11), and Will Timmins (9).

Rationale: 

The Bellevue Drug Commission would like to congratulate the following students from Bellevue Public Schools on their creativity and quality work that was used to submit an entry in the Drug and Alcohol Prevention Poster Contest. 1st place - Lyric Patterson from Bellevue Elementary (Mrs. Perrone's class), 2nd place - Tessa Jacobmeier from Two Springs (Mrs. Weber's class), and 3rd place - Anna Gullett from Bellevue Elementary (Mr. Toelle's class).

The students were honored at the Bellevue Drug Education and Prevention Breakfast Friday, October 25.

Rationale: 

Logan Fontenelle students participated in the McMillan Quiz Bowl on Saturday, October 12. The team of Samantha Lydiatt, Helen Jacobson, Mia Thomas and Zephan Smith finished fourth out of 30 teams.

Rationale: 

Bellevue East Science Club members attended the UNL Chemistry Department's "Chemistry Day."  The students took lab tours, heard about current research, took part in several hands-on activities, and received good information about UNL, chemistry majors, and job opportunities. East student Rebecca Zawistowski won a $1,000 scholarship from the UNL Chemistry Department that day, if she majors in chemistry at UNL next year.

Rationale: 

The students and staff of Bellevue Public Schools are recognized on a daily basis throughout the district and community, even at the state level on different occasions.  Please see attached some of the letters of recognition that were received over the past month.

Rationale:  The K-6 Reading/Language Arts Curriculum Committee has been working for the past two years to develop a comprehensive plan for quality reading and language arts curriculum and instruction.  Committee members will provide a report on their progress.

Rationale:  In continuing with the overview of various special education instructional programs available to students in the District, Jacci Lucas and Diane Ellis from the Early Childhood staff will provide a short description of programs offered to students birth through age 5.

Rationale:  Radcliffe & Associates represents the Bellevue Public Schools as a state lobbyist on legislative matters in Lincoln.

Walt Radcliffe will provide the Board with information on the upcoming legislative session.

Rationale:  Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences were held in each Bellevue Public School the week of October 13.  Conference attendance was highly attended with an increased number of students attending this year.  Elementary and middle school conference numbers have been stable over the last two years while high school attendance has increased.

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

                                  Parents                           Students
Elementary                     96%                                 88%
Middle School                80%                                 72%
High School                    62%                                 49%

Activities held in conjunction with conferences included book fairs, the AdvancEd Parent Survey, Power School parent portal assistance, high school graduation material orders, scholarship meetings, PTA/PTSA/Booster Club school product sales, and student council activities.

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

Rationale:  Michael Caldwell - Safety/Transportation

Stephanie Cain - Use of Teacher Planning Time, Resources, SPED Services as Related to Future Budget Planning 

Rationale:  November 14         Food Service Day
November 21-22    NASB State Education Conference, LaVista Conference Center
December 4           Holiday Open House, Bellevue East High School, 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
December 9           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 and negotiations with outside agencies which are necessary to be considered in closed session for the protection of the public interest.