April 11, 2016 at 8:00 PM - Regular April 2016 Meeting

1.  Robotics Account Quarterly Report (Attached)

2.  Source Gas "Choice Gas Program"-Those materials arrived today.  Best pricing for the school district's gas needs will be evaluated.

3.  Abengoa Update

4.  Bowling Rental Fees & Transportation Costs

5.  Lunch Fund-The district was required to transfer another $7,000 from the general fund to the lunch fund this month, as it has a negative balance of -$6841.33.  The total transferred from the general fund to the lunch fund after this transfer will be $19,000.  An additional transfer may be necessary at the May Board Meeting, depending on expenditures and receipts for the program over the next month.

6.  HVAC Bids and Bid Process

Schools across Nebraska have traditionally received incentive monies for sending distance learning courses.  That incentive was usually $1000 per class sent per semester.  In the future, the payment for classes sent won't be that substantial.  There will be a certain amount of money set aside for schools that send DL classes to make claims from and the money will be evenly divided.  According to the folks at NDE that supervise this program, "...the amount for DL classes sent will likely be far less substantial..."  As a result of this, some superintendents are starting to choose to charge for the class, when they have not done so in the past.  This is the case with Fullerton, who would now like to charge us for the service of providing the DL class.  We have charged for the art classes that we send to schools such as Palmer, Riverside, and Wheeler Central for several years.

The superintendent would recommend that we enter into the interlocal agreement with Fullerton for the purpose of being able to continue to provide the DL Family Consumer Science classes as part of our curriculum during the 2016-17 school year.

The general fund has traditionally subsidized the school lunch fund.  The 2015-16 budget provides for $15,000 in transfers from the general fund to the lunch fund.  Prior to this transfer, $12,000 worth of transfers have been made from the general fund to the lunch fund.  This month, the lunch fund will have a negative balance of -$6841.33.  The $7,000 transfer will exceed the budgeted $15,000 worth of transfers by $4,000.

Depending on what expenditures and receipts are for the remainder of the school year, an additional transfer may be necessary at the May Board Meeting.

Bus bids were due Friday, April 1st.  There were four companies that submitted bids:

Coach Masters ("Off-Lease" 59 Passenger Bus): $65,150

Coach Masters ("Off-Lease" 65 Passenger): $65,400

Cornhusker International (New 65 Passenger): $78,900

Nebraska Central Equipment (New 65 Passenger): $87,281

Nebraska Truck Center (New 65 Passenger): $84,670

Driver's and Mr. VanWinkle were given the opportunity to give input on the bus specifications.  Driver's and Mr. VanWinkle were also given the opportunity to drive and examine equipment from 3 of the 4 bidders (Coach Masters, Cornhusker International, & Nebraska Central Equipment).  The general consensus was a preference for Blue Bird Buses with the Cummins diesel engine.

The recommendation from the superintendent and transportation coordinator is to purchase either the "off-lease" 59-passenger bus or the "off-lease" 65 passenger bus, both of which are Blue Birds.

4 Contractors were contacted to solicit bids for the concrete project, 3 submitted bids:

Chizek: $3600

Rager: $4433

Long: $3852

3 Bids were submitted for water softeners.  I also solicited bids from plumbers qualified to make the needed plumbing improvements in conjunction with the project.  Two plumbers, Anderson Brothers ($7500) & O'Hara Plumbing ($8570) submitted bids.  Total bid prices below are calculated using the low bid (Anderson Brothers) for the plumbing services required for the installation:

Kearney Culligan: $11, 950 + $7500 = $19,450

Salina Culligan: $12,995 + $7500 = $20,495

York Culligan: $12,650 + 7500 = $20,150

Bids for the Elementary HVAC Replacement Project were due on Friday, April 1st.  Four companies submitted bids for the project.  Those four companies were:

A1: $126,476

Axmann: $159,999

Johnson Controls: $209,641

Rasmussen Mechanical: $220,950

A copy of those bids is attached to this agenda item for review by the board members.

The board will conduct a walk through of the building and grounds with Mr. Cyboron and Mr. Schroeder to view potential projects for this summer and areas for needed repairs in the future prior to the regular May Board Meeting.  If there are items you would likely specifically to look at during that walk through, please be prepared to share those at the meeting on Monday, April 11th.

The board is resuming its continuous policy review.  The section of policy to review in advance of the Regular April Board Meeting is the 500 series on "Students".  

The next series of policy to review for the May Board Meeting is the 800 Series "Support Services".

I spoke with the school district's attorney again about policy review.  For $9500, the district can get a full policy review that will include student, certificated staff, and non-certificate staff handbooks that coincide with the firm's policy manual.  The current balance for legal services (budget object code 2330 is $12, 793).  The policy service would provide us with 2 years of policy service, which would allow us the time to update all of our policies and update all of our handbooks to be solidly aligned to current laws, court precedence.  Summer time is generally a very good time to do this work utilizing a policy committee structure.

Policy Considerations/Concerns:

1.  The district currently doesn't have a "restraint and seclusion" policy.  This policy provides for guidelines in working with special education students who need physical restraint or temporarily removal from the classroom.  The district needs to have such a policy in place before next school year.

2.  Lunch Time-A handful of parents are circumventing the school's closed campus policy during lunch.  They do this by checking their students out, allowing them to go out to eat, and then return.  A possible way to address this may be through having the parent check the student out, to ensure they are under the supervision of an adult.

3.  May consider adding language to the student handbook regarding students who are checking out to go to a school-sponsored event which they are NOT a participant in, but are attending as a spectator.  Language that simply states a student checking out for this purpose must have prior parent authorization through the office, complete assignments in advance of the absence, and does not have excessive absences might be a solution.

4.  More clearly define expectations for students who are sick or absent the day prior to or after a school event.  In other words, more clearly stating what are permissible reasons for students being gone in advance of participating in an activity following an absence (illness, funeral, family vacation, etc.).  Perhaps establishing a standard of the student being in "good academic standing with non-excessive absenteeism".

5.  Law enforcement has been contacted in conjunction with several issues of student misconduct.  Board policy clearly spells out this is permissible and "may" happen in instances involving drugs, alcohol, tobacco, weapons.  However, it might be prudent to include a general statement in the student handbook that law enforcement "may be contacted at the discretion of the principal".  This year there were a couple of instances in assaults and instances of posting inappropriate material on-line where law enforcement was contacted and parents questioned the validity of the school's ability to do this.  Certainly, the school has this authority, and it say in policy that law enforcement may be contacted by the administration when they believe a crime may have been committed, but it might make sense to more clearly spell that out to students and parents in the Student Handbook.

6.  Cell phones are problematic because they interrupt the instructional process by distracting students from what they should be doing.  Current language suggests that students leave them in their lockers.  We know this isn't happening and students are distracted by them during instruction, which creates a loss of learning and frustration by the staff.  Going forward, the administration will advise the students and staff of the current language in the Student Handbook that indicates teachers have the right to confiscate cell phones that are interfering with instruction and turn them in to the office to be picked up by the student or parent at the end of the school day.  If this is the standard student, parents, and teachers are aware of and that it will be enforced, the fear of loosing the phone for the remainder of the day might encourage them to not use them at inappropriate times.  This practice will be communicated through the Student Handbook and during the opening days of school when the principal addresses the students and teachers.

7.  As per the lunch program review by NDE, we will need to update our Student Handbook with an updated "USDA Non-Discrimination Statement".

Several months ago, the School Board's Finance Committee started a discussion about ways to improve the financial position of the school Lunch Fund.  Traditionally, the school has subsidized the lunch fund with general fund monies, due to the fact that the lunch program does not "break even" or make a profit.  The Lunch Fund has been subsidized for many years as a result of this.

One of the options the Finance Committee chose to explore was "contracting for lunch services."  There are companies who will come into school districts and provide nutrition services (lunch and breakfast programs) as a contracted service.  Initially, three companies were contacted to see if they would be interested in providing services for Ravenna Public Schools.  Those three companies were Opaa!, Lunch Time Solutions, and Sodexo.  Two of the companies, Opaa! and Lunch Time Solutions, responded to inquiries by the school district.

Both companies asked the school district to complete a feasibility study.  The feasibility study provides the companies with the lunch program's financial information to help the company make a determination as to whether or not it would be feasible for their company to provide services to the school district.  The findings of the feasibility studies conducted by Opaa! and Lunch Time Solutions varied.  Oopa! indicated a positive feasibility study, indicating it would be profitable for them to provide contracted services for the school district.  Lunch Time Solutions indicated a negative feasibility study, indicating it would not be profitable for them to provide contracted services for the school district.

The kitchen staff, bookkeeper, and superintendent attended a meeting hosted by Opaa! at Centura Public Schools on Tuesday, March 29th, for the purpose of learning more about the school district's role and what contracting for services would entail.  All but one member of the kitchen staff was able to attend the meeting.  The superintendent has taken feedback from three of the kitchen staff members who have concerns about making the change to contracted services.  Those concerns include: quality of food provided by the company, distribution methods for food products, lack of local control of menu items, and concerns with the preparation techniques and guidelines the company follows.

The kitchen staff has been invited to attend the May 9th Board Meeting, where the salesperson for Opaa! will be in attendance to present to the Ravenna Board of Education.  The superintendent wants and values the feedback of the kitchen staff as the school district contemplates this change.

Opaa! believes that through utilizing their preparation protocols and pricing advantage they can secure through mass purchasing of food products, they can make the lunch program at least break even in future years, while offering a greater variety in entree selection for students at both breakfast and lunch.

Should the school district choose to contract for services for the 2016-17 school year, the next step would be to work with the Nebraska Department of Education Nutritional Services Department to go through the bid process that is required by the USDA.  The school district would need to advertise for bids for contracted services, evaluate all companies that submit bids to contract for services, and then select a company to provide the contracted service.  If the school district would choose to contract services with a company outside of the school district, that would be a decision that the school district would evaluate annually.  In other words, contracting for services is a "year to year" decision and would not prohibit the school district from taking the program back over, if they chose to do so at any point.

At this point, no decision has been make about whether or not food services will be contracted for the 2016-17 school year.  The Ravenna School Board will need to continue to gather information to make an informed decision.  The next step in gathering that information will be in listening to the salesperson from Opaa! and listening to feedback from the kitchen staff, bookkeeper, and kitchen staff at the May 9th Board Meeting.

It is time to consider summer projects for the summer of 2016.  The superintendent would like board input on any proposed projects or repairs they would like to see completed.  This topic will be discussed over the course of the next several months.  Areas to consider are:

1)  Building Improvements/Repairs

*a.  Water softeners-($19,450)-Bids Attached

  *b.  Split unit HVAC Replacement in Elementary Wing-$154,000 (Preliminary Estimate)-Several contractors have responded to the request for bids published in the paper and are planning on submitting bids by the April 1 deadline.

  c.  Ridge cap on elementary-Waiting on bid by Tilloston 

  *d.  Concrete north of building (11' x 29' & 17' x 36' approximately 17 yards) ($5,000 est. by Dan)-Four local contractors that have been contacted and requested to submit bids prior to the April board meeting for the project.

  e.  Bleachers-($110,564)

  f.  Additional sprinklers  (elementary building to elementary playground-320' x 75') ($2000 est. by Dan)

  g.  Retaining wall & fence on west side of football field ($1500 est. by Dan)

  h.  Concrete for visiting bleachers on football field to sit on ($1500 est. by Dan)

  i.  Concrete pad on east side of concession stand for grilling ($100 est. by Dan)

  *j.  Tile replacement in elementary (2 classrooms) ($1400 per room est. by Dan)

  *k. Tile high school girls/boys locker room showers ($2000 total about $1000 per locker room) (est. by Dan)

  *l.  Metal siding on the storage shed east of crow's nest to match crow's nest ($1050 est. by Dan)

       m. Sprinklers on the interior of the building-$29,900 (contractor) & $3,000 (architect) = $32,900

  n. Pnuematic controls on the air handling equipment replaced-($7972)-We have two contractors that have looked at this project and are providing us with bids for this work.

  *o. Concrete for air conditioning compressors on west side of elementary ($2500 est. by Dan)

  p.  Replace T12 light fixtures in high school classrooms with T8 ($1200 per classroom est. by Dan)-Dan has explored relighting classrooms with LED lights rather T8.  He's put the LED fixtures in the hallway by the library so the board can get a closer look at it.  After the NPPD rebate for installing the LED's, the cost of the equipment compared to T8 is comparably close.  We are working with an equipment distributor to finalize the numbers to decide on the feasibility of an LED relight rather than a T8 relight.

*$186,800 total for preferred projects, NOT INCLUDING THE LED or T8 relight.

2)  Transportation-An updated fleet information spreadsheet is attached.  This was created in conjunction with Todd VanWinke.  There are two buses that the board could surplus if you are interested in doing so.

  a.  Bus replacement-$86,557

  b.  Van replacement-$25,000

We had 78% participation at the Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences. 

Reading Fun Night is scheduled for April 26 beginning at 6:30 pm

Preschool and Kindergarten registration is April 26 from 5:00-6:30 pm

On April 29 employees of Town and Country Bank will give presentations to each class for National Savings Day.

Also, on the 29th we will be celebrating Loyalty Day with a program in the theater at 1:45 pm.

MAP testing has been completed and we have began NeSA testing.

Principal's Report

• Parent Teacher's Conference - 42.3% 
• Map Testing finished up 
• NeSA testing is in progress
• Senior Week 
• Diplomas and Certificates of Attendance

1.  Legislative Update:

LB930 (ACT Testing for Juniors) has advanced to "Final Reading" without debate or discussion and will likely pass.  NDE will likely pay for the testing and use lottery funds or department funds.  Current language of the bill indicates testing will start in 2017-18, but it could begin as early as 2016-17.

LB958 (Increase Property Tax Credit) has advance to "Final Reading" on a voice vote.  Agricultural producers will receive a larger percentage portion of the property tax credit than in previous years.  This is the Governors bill addressing the property tax issue.

LB959 will likely pass.  An analysis of its impact is attached to this board meeting item agenda.  It was prepared by Steve Williams of KSB Law, the school's legal firm, at NCSA's expense.  The two largest impacts it would have for Ravenna Public Schools are in respect to the types of projects that can be completed using the QCPUF Fund and the amount that the school district can levy in the QCPUF Fund.  In the past, the school district could use the QCPUF to issue bonds for projects such as HVAC work.  This will no longer be allowed under LB959.  The other thing it does is lowers the levy rate from $0.052 per hundred dollars of valuation to $0.03 per hundred dollars of valuation.  Currently, the district levy's rate for the QCPUF is $0.018460 per hundred dollars of valuation.  This money is being collected to pay off bonds the school district still currently has outstanding that were issued in conjunction with building projects.  In short, the proposed $0.03 levy rate not impede us from being able to meet our bond obligations in the QCPUF Fund.

*Note: The legislature will adjourn on April 20th.

2.  Abengoa-I have been in contact with Joe Barber and Dennise Daniels from the Buffalo County Assesor's Office.  The Abengoa valuation for the 2016 cycle will be $32,760,020 compared to $33,793,095 for the 2015 tax cycle.  I have also been in contact with the Buffalo County Treasurer's office to clarify the questions as to whether or not any delinquent property tax on the property would need to be paid by the next owner as a condition of the sale.  The answer that I received was, "...Traditionally that is what would happen with residential property.  However, since the bankruptcy court is involved, that may be different in this instance..."  The first payment of taxes are due on May 1st.  I will be checking back with the county treasurer's office prior to the next (May) board meeting to see if the taxes are delinquent or paid on time.  I also reached out to Janice Eret from the Nebraska Department of Education to gain an understanding of the decisions and options in front of the school district should the tax revenue from this property not be available during the 2016-17 budget cycle.  I also have a call out to the debtor's attorney, who has not yet returned my call.  I have also discussed the matter with the school district's attorney and with the school district's auditor.