September 10, 2018 at 8:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

1.  Review monthly bills using the EMeetings Software.

2.  Review all credit card transactions for the month.

3.  Finance Committee Members Sign-off on review of monthly bills, credit card transactions, and district fund balances.

4.  Approve superintendent's expenses (credit card transactions, mileage, cell phone reimbursement).

5.  Special Building Fund-$14,247.98 remains to be paid to Protex for the "Special Systems Project" (fire alarm, bell, PA).  They did not conclude work to the architect or owner's (school's) satisfaction during the 2017-18 budget cycle, so that work will be completed and paid out during the 2018-19 budget cycle from the Special Building Fund.  Demolition of old fire alarm system and PA system remain, as well as some cosmetic issues (wall plates, drywall, etc.)  We hope to conclude work this fall and have a final pay app submitted for the amount.

6.  Depreciation Fund & Bus Purchase-Since being awarded the NDEQ Bus Grant, we have been notified by NDEQ that we can proceed with ordering a bus.  However, we will hold off until after the budget document is adopted and the annual audit is completed.  Also, when we initially submitted bid specs to bidders, the bidders were informed that we might modify the bid specs, if we received the grant, and ask for best and final pricing on the equipment prior to ordering.  I have been working with Mr. VanWinkle to finalize the "final bid specs" and will reach back out to bidders late this fall to solicit best and final pricing on the equipment.  The superintendent hopes to bring the bus purchase to the December Board Meeting for final approval and will then proceed with ordering.

7.  Audit-Scheduled with Dana F. Cole for Tuesday, September 25th.  Does a Finance Committee Member wished to be contacted by the auditors?  Dawn Standage volunteered for the duty of interviewing with the auditors this year.

8.  Lunch Fund Financial Review & Decision Making Timeline-The superintendent has been in contact with NDE Nutrition Services to discuss the possibility of rebidding the contracted food service management contract for the 2019-20 school year.  Bid documents for this process have to be submitted to NDE Nutrition Services for review in early January.

Members of the Public, 

This is the portion of the board meeting when we invite anyone in attendance to address the board of education. If you would like to speak to the board regarding any of the items on tonight's agenda or a public concern, now is your opportunity to do so.  Please review the orange sheet (found on the visitors' chairs) of paper that contains the guidelines for public participation.  If you wish to speak to the board at this time, please let me know.  "Would anyone like to address the board at this time?"

AFTER THE PERSON(S) INDICATE(S) THEY WISH TO SPEAK

1.  Please stand and state your name?

2.  What topic will you be speaking on?

3.  Are there others in the room who wish to speak to the same topic? (If so, ask that they be recognized so that 30 minutes of time for public comment can be apportioned as per the policy-5 minutes per person).

4.  Optional-"Please understand that public comment is your opportunity to speak to the board and present your concerns, thoughts, feelings, ideas, and observations.  Members of the board are happy to hear from members of the public, but the board will not engage in conversation or dialogue with you during public comment."

4.  "You'll have approximately 5 minutes to address the board, as we allow 5 minutes per person and a total of 30 minutes for public comment.  You may begin when you are ready?"

New staff members at RPS will be at the board meeting to introduce themselves to the board member and so that the board members can introduce themselves to the new staff members.

Congratulations to the Summer Custodial & Grounds Crew, who were the August ABC Bluejay Staff Members of the Month!
 

Congratulation to Angie Drahota, who is the September ABC Bluejay Staff Member of the Month and to Wayne Bock, who is the October ABC Bluejay Staff Member of the Month!  There was a tie for the honor, a coin was flipped, and Angie will enjoy the honor this month and Wayne the next.

Nominees this month include:
Shari Spaulding-I would like to nominate Shari Spaulding for ABC Bluejay Staff Member of the Month. We are very lucky to have Shari in our district for she makes such an important job look so effortless and natural. Shari continuously goes above and beyond in her role by extending a listening ear to students, problem-solving our student information system with parents, and assisting staff in the everyday functions of our school. She is the right-hand woman to our administration and support staff everyday. She is a  hub of information for our district and is willing to help in any way she can. Her welcoming personality always greets our visitors with a warm smile. Thank you Shari for all that you do, you are a true asset to Ravenna Public Schools.

Todd VanWinkle-Since joining the staff, I doubt that anyone has worked more hours than Todd. Often times, he is the first to arrive and last to leave. It is also not that uncommon to find him here on weekends. Todd puts in a lot of work that most don't even realize and he does a great job.

Angie Drahota- (1) Angie spent a lot of extra time working hard on finalizing the secondary schedule this Summer and worked diligently through numerous changes in the schedule as a whole.  She demonstrated patience, a cooperative spirit, and professionalism throughout the process.  She also does a fantastic job of working with students and assisting them through schedule changes to start the year.  Thank you to Angie for all her hard work; (2)  Angie is so helpful with everything she does from career planning with the students, STAR and Youth Advisory Board, besides the basic school counselor duties.  She is a very compassionate person and has a listening ear for anyone who needs it.  I appreciate her very much and we are lucky to have her at Ravenna Public Schools.

Kristi Hagge- Kristi is kind and caring worker, who takes GREAT pride in her job. Our facility, students and staff benefit from the meticulous cleaning jobs that Kristi performs each day. The students trust Kristi as a listening ear or constant helper. She is also an excellent seamstress, and Kristi is always mending and sewing for one of us.

Katie Lewandowski-Katie always put in so much time and energy into making the best learning environment happen for her 1st graders.   Her smile and kind words show her students that she truly cares for each one of them.  She is very creative in the ways she comes up with fun and meaningful activities for the students to engage in and she makes sure to always differentiate her instruction.  Helping with the HAL Program is another priority for her as well.  Her students are very lucky to have her as a teacher and we are very lucky to have her as part of our staff.

Wayne Bock-Wayne is awesome in my classroom willing to help me or the students in any way.  I am new here and he took me under his wing and was extremely helpful when I had questions.

We are off to a really good start to the school year.

Members of the MTSS Leadership Team spoke at the State MTSS Convention in Lincoln on August 31.

Grandparents Day another huge success... Thanks to Mrs. Mingus and Mrs. Ellis

Fall MAP Testing starts tomorrow and will continue through next week.

Fall screening completed.  This year we have switched to FastBridge, in the past we used AimsWeb.

Parent-Teacher Conferences next week - also fall book sale

Family Game Night in the elementary gym from 6:00-7:30 pm.

1.  Board Goals on Agenda-A request to add the Board Goals to the Agenda was made.  The board will need to discuss where they want them in the agenda and the format they want them to appear in.

2.  Bluejay Artist of the Month-Congratulations, Trinity Karel!  (Art Attached)

3.  Negotiations Conference-September 6th

• Transportation
  • Nebraska Safety Center is taking over bus licensing.  Drivers will still have to secure CDL through DMV.
  • Physicals will be turned in to school, not DMV. 
  • Physicals for drivers will be given every 2 years rather than each year.  The School District will need to decide whether to have the physicals done annually or bi-annually.
  • 2-Hour in-service training for drivers each year.
  • Age 8 and below need to be in booster seats, when bus is equipped with belts.
• Job Descriptions
• Classified Contracts
• Educators Health Alliance (EHA) Update
  • Rates will be released in late October

4.  Negotiations Ground Rules (See Attachment), Negotiations Timeline (Attachment), & Current 2018-19 Negotiated Agreement (Attachment)-Last year, our first negotiations meeting was held in conjunction with our regular October Board Meeting.  The meeting was held at 7:30.  Do you want me to run the meeting time for the October 8th Board Meeting as 7:30?  This would mean that the Finance Committee Meeting would start at 6:30.  The Regular October Meeting would technically begin at 7:30, with negotiations with the REA (in executive session) being the first order of business.  A copy of the "Negotiations Ground Rules" to the REA Members for review?  Are there any suggestions or revisions the board would like to make to the "Negotiations Ground Rules," with the understanding that these ground rules serve as a guide and are "non-binding"?  Any other information or concerns you would like for me to address as we begin the negotiations process this year?  If you have items pertaining to negotiations that you would like to see negotiated this year, please make me aware of them.

• I feel we should study the number of extra duty positions assigned to each activity, when compared to other array schools.  I get repeated requests from a handful of activities to "add more coaches".  The only way we will know if we are truly short on activity sponsors/coaches is to study the issue.
• The attorney recommends that the school board work with the REA during the negotiations process to update the grievance procedure in accordance with the policy offered by the school district's attorney.  That update comes in the form of the attached Policy #4013 "Grievance Procedures".  Ultimately, the Negotiated Agreement's language regarding grievances would be replaced with the language of this policy.
• Pat & Mr. Schroeder would like to clarify some of the language in the negotiated agreement to be clearer for the reader.  Some of the language regarding leave provisions is vague.
   

5.  State Education Conference-November 14th-16 in Omaha.  If you are planning on attending, please let Mr. Schroeder know ASAP, so that I can register you and enroll us in the "room lottery". 

6.  LPC Activity Passes Distributed