December 11, 2014 at 6:30 PM - December 11, 2014 - Regular

Rationale:  It is 6:30 PM and I now call to order the Grand Island Public Schools Board of Education Meeting.  This is the December 11, 2014 meeting.  Notice of this meeting has been advertised in the Grand Island Independent, which is the District's designated method of giving notice of these meetings.

We want those in attendance to know that copies of the Open Meetings Act are available at the entrance to the Board Room.  If anyone in attendance is interested in addressing our Board, you are welcome to do so.  We simply request that you complete the appropriate form and turn it in to us now so that you may be recognized during the Public Forum part of our meeting.  These forms are also located by the entry doors of this room.

Mrs. Wagner, will you please call the roll?

Rationale:  Roll Call.

Rationale: 

The Mission  

Every Student, Every Day, a Success
Within the Grand Island Public Schools,
- every student will be taught to read, write, and communicate effectively; solve problems; acquire and apply knowledge; and demonstrate mastery through performance to the best of the student's abilities;  
- every student will be treated with fairness and dignity;
- every student will experience a sense of belonging, contribution, and success; and
- every student will develop responsibility and show respect for others as well as oneself.  
In educating students, we teach hearts as well as minds.

Rationale:  The first item on the agenda tonight is the Consent Agenda.  The Consent Agenda to be approved is as follows:

(items read.)

This is the Consent Agenda as published.  Would anyone like to remove any items or add any items to the Consent Agenda? 

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  Mr. Hauser, Mr. Wolfe and Mrs. Harder will be giving an overview of the K-5 External Visitation Team's accreditation visit report.  The visit took place on October 20 and 21.

Rationale:  The principals from the Continuous Calendar Schools, Mrs. Gloor, Ms Fiala, Mrs. Schnitzler, and Mr. Hauser, will address the Board of Education with the Continuous School Calendar Team's recommendation regarding CSC for the 2015-2016 school year.

Rationale:  ClassLink LaunchPad is an online service which will provide single sign-on functionality for all our staff and students.  LaunchPad gives clients a single login to a portal which will then automatically log them in to any of our over 30 online resources.  With online curriculum growing everyday and with each new adoption requiring an additional username and password this service should dramatically reduce the overhead and time students and staff spend managing logins and passwords as well as keeping usernames and passwords more secure.  This service will also allow access to more of our online resources from home for our students.

Rationale:  Mr. Petsch will present the Servicemaster Recovery Management Account Agreement, which is a contract for hazard mitigation as a result of a disaster, should there ever be a need.  There is zero cost to this contract unless the services are engaged and used. 

Rationale:  Mrs. Badura will provide examples on how to access and use the NDE Portal for the State of the Schools Report to include NeSA and NePAS information.

Rationale:  Dr. Winter had sent out a schedule to Board members for school building visitation.  The updated schedule will be presented for discussion.

Rationale:  Mr. Brown, Mrs. Coen, Mrs. Worthington, Mrs. Schutz, and Dr. Winter will report out on their recent attendance and events at the NASB State Conference. 

Rationale: 

District past practice is to review and adopt a budget calendar for the subsequent fiscal year in order to properly communicate, plan, and administer the various duties associated with the budget cycle.  The Facilities and Finance Committee has reviewed the attached fiscal year 2015 - 2016 budget calendar for adoption and would like the full Board of Education to review prior to adopting at the regularly scheduled December Board meeting.

Rationale: 

Per current state statute Nebraska school districts are required to have an independent audit conducted annually. Grand Island Public Schools contracts with the independent audit firm of Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway, & Luth, P.C. to conduct the annual audit. Mr. Virgil Harden, Executive Director of Business will give an executive overview of the 2013 - 2014 audit report and answer questions Board members might have.The Board is being asked to accept and place the 2013 - 2014 audit report on file.  Additionally, the audit report is posted on the District's web site along with past years reports .

Rationale:  Currently Grand Island Public Schools belongs to several national purchasing cooperative or programs.  Board policy and business office practice require competitive pricing on many items purchased by the district. In an effort to provide yet another opportunity for the district to obtain 'best pricing' the administration is recommending the adoption of the BuyBoard Purchasing Resolution.  This purchasing cooperative is sponsored by the National School Boards Association and has low pricing from many vendor(s) the district currently conducts business with.

Rationale:  Due to several issues with primarily health insurance like the advent of the Federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), the implementation of surcharges, and the on-going issues with Grand Island's only local hospital being out of network the administration is recommending the Board of Education approve seeking legislative action to give both School Districts and Education Service Units (ESUs) the right to pool for the purposes stated in the attached draft legislative bill.

Rationale:  As a matter of practice Grand Island Public Schools maintains master agreements for both Architectural & Engineering professional services. Cannon, Moss, Brygger Architect's as the single source architectural firm and both ETI and Kucirek engineering for engineering services. As specific projects are funded and implemented, specific contracts are issued to document our working and contractual relationship on each specific project after the construction contract is awarded.

Rationale:  Dr Dexter presented the draft version of the 2015-16 traditional calendar and staff calendar at last month's meeting.  These calendars are being presented for final board approval this month.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Facility and Finance Committee.  From this committee, there is also a possibility of a presentation and recommendation for action on any item which might have recently arisen requiring a short turn around time frame.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Teaching and Learning Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Personnel Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Policy Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration by the Grand Island Education Foundation.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Legislative Committee.

Rationale:  A quarterly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration by the NASB Board of Directors.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Public Relations Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration by The Greater Nebraska Schools Association.