September 14, 2020 at 8:02 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

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.  Investments & Monthly Bank Statements-Investments in the form of 9-month flex cd's have been entered into for the General Fund, Special Building Fund, and Employee Benefit Account.  Those investment amounts are reflected on the monthly banks statements, so that board members are aware of them and can track them from month to month.

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

6.  Lunch Fund Review-Monthly Lunch Fund Balance Worksheet Attached

7.  Payroll Ledger Review

8.  Insurance Billing Review

9.  ACH Payroll Review

10.  FEMA & ESSRS Money Update

Rationale: 

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?"

 

 

 

Rationale:  The school was recognized for a second year in a row on the ALICAP Safety Honor Roll.  This award is evidence of the great work our principals, maintenance staff, and teachers do every day to promote a safe  school environment for out students.

Rationale:  Congratulations to this month's ABC Bluejay Staff Member of the Month, Mr. Tony Schirmer.

His nominators wrote the following about him:
Tony Schirmer-I nominate Tony Schirmer, as he has done an outstanding job of taking over the role of A.D.  He is always communicating with coaches, checking in to see how things are going, and makes sure everything is taken care of efficiently. He is very easy to go to with questions and concerns, and is always willing to discuss and find a solution. He has made the transition very smooth and has just done a great job with handling this new area of his job!!  Second nomination:   "Mr. Schirmer has taken the bull by the horns and has done a superb job as the new activities director. In a year filled with uncertainties and copious amounts of new guidelines and regulations, Mr. Schirmer has helped coaches and sponsors navigate and adjust accordingly to allow us the opportunity to continue to do our jobs with minimal amounts of stress. His ability to communicate effectively and efficiently is an outstanding attribute of his. He will take no credit for all he has already done, but there is no doubt that he will fill the role of AD exceptionally well and is off to an excellent start. We, coaches and sponsors, are thrilled to have Mr. Schrimer at the reigns. "

Other nominee's included:
Dan Cyboron-I nominate Dan Cyboron for this month. With all of the changes that have been required this year, Dan has been able to come up with solutions and ideas to address them. He has all of the cleaning supplies and has organized his staff to do their jobs in a way that benefits the safety of everyone.

Kayla Wiarda-I would like to nominate Kayla Wiarda for Bluejay Staff Member of the Month.  Kayla is an amazing preschool teacher.  She is so kind and understanding to the needs of our school's little learners.  She is constantly going above and beyond to make sure that all of her students are learning and growing. Working with  young kids can be difficult at times but this year she has been given an especially difficult task.  She has worked hard to make sure her students are safe and distanced at all times, while still teaching them how to interact with other students.    She is a rockstar!

Classified Staff-I would like to nominate our classified staff.  Overall we have a hardworking group of classified staff members that take pride in their work and it shows in every aspect of our school!  There is no way I could single out one person due to the efforts of the entire group.

Kirby Sheets-I would like to nominate Miss Kirby Sheets for ABC Bluejay member of the month. Miss Sheets is a first-year teacher and has been doing an amazing job navigating her new position. This year has been full of challenges and Miss Sheets has taken everyone of those challenges and found the best solution for her students. Even with the unprecedented times, Miss Sheets has gone above and beyond to create meaningful relationships with her students. She greets each student in the morning with a smile. She is also great at greeting every staff member. Miss Sheets helps create a positive school atmosphere every day. We are very lucky to have Kirby at Ravenna Public Schools.



 

Rationale:  The board has been reviewing and modifying the school district's "Ravenna Public Schools Return to School Plan 2020-21" on a monthly basis to modify as needed.

Changes that have been made this month since it was last reviewed at the August Board Meeting Include:

• Allowing elementary students to use common play items provided by the school, with sanitation of items being performed by district staff in between student use, in both the yellow and orange operational zones.
• Masks at events for spectators are required at indoor events and they are required for entry at outdoor events and strongly encouraged.  This remains consistent with the language in the plan that says, "masks MAY be required by spectators at events."

Proposed changes for consideration:

• Having all students and staff wear masks in the yellow operational zone.
• Issuing quarantines following "close contacts" as recommended by the health department for all educators (teachers, paras, bus drivers, administrators, anyone working at the school) unless it is absolutely not possible, due to staffing considerations (shortages).

Rationale:  The new staff members will be zooming into the meeting to introduce themselves, tell you about their staff positions, and share a little personal information with the board.

Rationale: 

• Mask - I have been very pleased with how the students have responded to wearing a mask.  We have had no major issues and the kids are all doing what is expected. Overall the start of the school year has gone really well.
• FastBridge Assessments - We will complete our FastBridge screening this week.  These assessments are used to gauge reading and math fluency and comprehension.  We will compare this data to the Fall 2019 data to see if we have any major regression.
• MAP Testing is scheduled to begin on September 28.  Again comparing the data to the Fall of 2019 will allow us to see if last Spring's closure created significant regression.
• Parent/Teacher Conferences Sept 24-25.  We will conduct conferences in person but will give parents the option of a virtual meeting.
• Welcome New Teachers
  • Brook Bult (4th Grade)
  • Jenna Pritchard (4th Grade)
  • Kirby Sheets (1st Grade)
  • Shelbi Burke (K-4 Music)

Rationale: 

Secondary School Board Report

September 2020 

Great Start

Considering students and staff had been on "Spring Break" since March 11th, 2020 our return to school has been seamless.  I anticipated that we would have more academic and behavioral challenges than we have had.  It hasn’t been perfect, but I’ll happily take our start to the school year.  Our eligibility reports have been comparable to years past 58 D’s or F’s this week during September of 2019 and 63 D’s or F’s this week.  We have also had two office referrals.         

Fall Activities

The Fall activities season is off to a great start.  I am proud of our participants and coaches for their commitment, organization, and effort.  It is awesome to see our students and coaches having the opportunity to participate in activities they are so passionate about.    

ACT Test

Seniors are being provided the opportunity to take the ACT on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020 for free as they did not take the state required test in the Spring of 2019.  This test administration is optional and not all Seniors will take the test as they would have been required to do in the Spring.  Thus, the test results will not be state reportable . . . we will not have "district" comparable data for 2019.       

New Staff Members

Our "new" staff members appear to be settling in nicely and we are happy to have them on the RPS team!  To this point they have proven to be a hard working, highly motivated, and competent group of professionals.  

MAPS Testing 

We will be MAPS testing on Monday, September 28th, 2020 and Wednesday, September 30th, 2020.  The tests should give us solid feedback/data regarding any student regression associated with the COVID closure in the Spring.  If our students were able to maintain or, hopefully, demonstrate growth from Fall of 2019 to Fall of 2020 that will be a win!   

Parent/Teacher Conferences

We are planning to have parent-teachers conferences on the scheduled days and times.  Masks and social distancing practices will be required.  A zoom meeting option will be available for parents upon request. 

Rationale:  1. Annual Distance Education Incentive Payment-$37,631 was paid to the district through NDE for offering 39 distance education course units during the 2019-20 school year.  Important Note: LB920 contained provision to reissue N.R.S. 79-1337 (Distance Ed Incentives) but it was "tabled" (for lack of a better word) during the spring session.  Until legislation has acted, we cannot be certain whether or not this program will provide Incentive Funds for the current school year and beyond under current Rule.

2.  Rule 10 Safety Report

• Chemical Closet Between Science Rooms-Ongoing Issue
• Reunification Plan as Part of Evacuation-Stalled due to pandemic, will plan for the future, likely spring of 2021 or fall of 2021.
• AED Unit for Football Field-Purchased
• Monthly Fire Extinguisher Inspections-Just had them done.
• Safety Straps for Elementary Gym Hoops-Made fixed

3. Strategic Planning Session Dates- 

• January 23rd and 30th
• February 13th, 20th or 27th
• March 20th & 27th

Monthly Superintendent Goals Update:

Academic Achievement-Nothing this month.


Vision-Pandemic Plan Review


Community Relations-REDC, Chamber of Commerce, Newsletter