January 11, 2021 at 7:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  Board Members who were recently elected to the board of education will be administered the "Oath of Office" by the board president.

Rationale:  Mrs. Havranek will be in to take a picture of the board members for the yearbook.

Rationale: 

As per board policy, the Ravenna School Board reorganizes itself annually at the regular January Board Meeting.

Rationale: 

The Nebraska State Laws regarding conflict of interest and the corresponding forms are available to all board members at: <http://www.nadc.nebraska.gov/e/>.  Any board member with a potential conflict should fill out a conflict of interest form and file it with the superintendent.

A copy of the Conflict of Interest Policy and a copy of the Board Code of Ethics is also attached to this agenda item for review by each board member.

Rationale: 

The school district's attorney recommends that the board review its policy on complaints annually.  Policy 2006 "Complaint Procedure" is attached for review by the Ravenna Board of Education.

Rationale: 

The board needs to appoint an official representative for all of its state and federal programs.  The superintendent requests that he be named as the representative for these programs.

Rationale: 

The board is required to appoint the bus mechanic(s) that do the regular inspections of the fleet vehicles.  The mechanics currently working on the buses and completing the inspections are: Ravenna Coop, Chris Stahl, Holiday Express Bus, & Todd VanWinkle.

Rationale: 

The Ravenna Board of Education needs to decide how they will publicize their meetings and record that method in their minutes.  It is the recommendation of the administration to publicize the meetings in the manner described in Board Policy 2008, which reads, "Notice of regular and special meetings shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation with the district including, but not limited to The Ravenna News or The Omaha World Herald. Such notice shall contain a statement that the agenda shall be readily available for public inspection at the administration office of the school during the normal business hours. In addition, the superintendent is authorized, but not required, to publish the notice of any meeting on the school district’s website, posting in three prominent places within the school district, or by any other appropriate method designated by the board. "

A copy of Board Policy 2008, which was revised in October 2020, is attached to this agenda item.

Rationale: 

The board needs to appoint standing committee members for the upcoming school year.  The suggested appointments are attached to this agenda item for the board's review and approval.  They may adjust these committee assignments in any manner they see fit.

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

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

6.  Payroll Ledger Review

7.  Insurance Billing Review

8.  ACH Payroll Review

9.  FEMA Reimbursement Request

Rationale:  Picture attached-These warm ups are old and have been replaced.  They have been sitting in a tote for some years and have little value.  The coach is requesting that they be declared as surplus.

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 proposed 2021-22 Negotiated Agreement and the corresponding salary and extra duty schedules are attached to this agenda item.  The REA has indicated they are willing to accept the agreement.  The board can choose to go into executive session if they want to discuss any aspect of the agreement.  Otherwise, the board can simply approve the attached agreement and negotiations will be concluded for this year.

Rationale:  Attached are the annual contracts the school district enters into the ESU 10 with annually to provide contracted service for special education.

Rationale:  As part of our on-going policy review, board members should please review our 1000 & 2000 Series Board Policies in advance of the February Board Meeting.  The superintendent will do the same and provide any suggested revisions to the Board Policy Committee & to the whole board at the January Board Meeting.  It's simply best practice to continually engage in a review of board policies.

Rationale:  Speaking Points:
1) We are now in year two of our continuous school improvement cycle.
2) The school mission statement has been revisited and affirmed.
3) All students will improve in reading.  School improvement goal has been selected.
4) Perceptual Surveys for students, parents, and staff have been administered.  The tenet teams are reviewing the perceptual data for strengths and areas of concern.



1.  Positive Partnerships, Relationships, & Success
2.  Transitions
3.  Educational Opportunities & Access
4.  College, Career, & Civic Ready
5.  Assessment
6.  Educator Effectiveness


 

Rationale: 

The Ravenna Board of Education is suppose to appoint members to the Board of Directors for the Ravenna Public School's Foundation at its February Board Meeting.  Each year, we review this information together, so that the board is in a good position in February to make any needed appointments.

The superintendent would like to review the information with the Board of Education to ensure its accuracy and to plan for any new appointments that need to be made at the February 8, 2021 Board Meeting

Current Members of the Ravenna School Board Foundation Include:

Misti Fiddelke-Board Member (2011/2013/2015/2017/2019)-The bylaws state that no more than 4 consecutive terms can be served by a director.  She is currently in her 4th consecutive term.  So, she'll need to be replaced by a Ravenna School Board Member in February of 2021.  Misti will continue to be a member, as she is the president of the board of education.

Tara Schirmer-Board Member (2009/2015/2017/2019)-The bylaws state that no more than 4 consecutive terms can be served by a director.  Tara is currently in her 3rd consecutive term. Tara is eligible to serve on the board through 2023.  So, she'll need to be replaced by a Ravenna School Board Member in February of 2023 or in February of 2021, if she chooses not to continue to volunteer to be on the Foundation Board after her completion of her current term in February of 2021.  Marilyn Bohn will replace Tara Schirmer.

Marc Vacek-Board Member (2018/2020)-Needs to be either reappointed or replaced in February of 2022.

 Jill Hurt-Community Member (2019)-Jill is working through her first three-year term.  Jill would either need to be reappointed or replaced in February of 2022.

Nikki Bock-Community Member (2018)-Nikki would either need to be reappointed or replaced in February of 2021.  Nikki graciously declined the opportunity to renew her term, so we will need another community member to replace her.

Dan Schmidt-Community Member (2018)-Dan would either need to be reappointed or replaced in February of 2021.  Dan agreed to serve another term on the board.

Heidi Kjar-Teacher (2018)-Heidi would either need to be reappointed or replaced in February of 2021.  Heidi said she would step down, if another teacher was interested.  Kinsley Musil and Tanner Ellis both volunteered to be considered for appointment to the board.

Sonya Rasmussen-Teacher (2018)-Sonya would either need to be reappointed or replaced in February of 2021.  Sonya said she would step down, if another teacher was interested.  Kinsley Musil and Tanner Ellis both volunteered to be considered for appointment to the board

Tiffany Drabek-Teacher (2019)-Tiffany would either need to be reappointed or replaced in February of 2022.

Superintendent  (Lifetime Ex-Officio Non-Voting Member)

The"By-Laws of Ravenna Public School Foundation" (see attached) call for the Ravenna Board of Education to appoint the board members.  The purpose of this agenda item is to review the current board appointments, to track the length of the board members' appointments on an annual basis, and to establish a plan to revisit these appointments for review by the board on an annual basis. 

Board Members may serve no more than four consecutive terms:

Board members=2 year term x 4 terms max=8 years

Other appointed members=3 year term x 4 terms max=12 years

 

 

 

 

Rationale:  The new relief package released by the federal government did NOT call for the extension of FFCRA leave.  Some districts are offering this leave to their staff during the second semester.  The option is being presented to the board for inital consideration.  No action needs to be taken immediately.  The board can investigate the matter and consider their options.

Rationale:  This agenda item is simply a recurring agenda item throughout the pandemic, so that the board can weigh on any needed changes they think are necessary.  The school has started to use the 10-day quarantine with students and staff.  This most recent change has gone over fairly well and numbers continue to be manageable.

Rationale: 

 

Rationale:  1.  Student Artist of the Month-Ashlyn Fiddelke (Art Attached)
2.  Strategic Planning Dates-January 23 & 30th-Scott Danielson
3.  New Stimulus Money-Little is known at this point, but the allocation is about 4 times what the original relief allocation was.  The commissioner of education said it will likely be distributed to schools for academic remediation and technological infastructure purposes.  The commission and the governor will be discussing how to prioritize the use of the funds and how they will be distributed.
4.  Pasture Lease DRAFT-Attached
5. Interlocal Agreement with REDC & City of Ravenna Update
6. Youth Center & After School Programming
7.  Committee on American Civics Meeting with Elementary Staff & Mr. Anderson Reporting @ 7:40 on February 8th (Before the start of the Regular Board Meeting)-Committee Members-Fiddelke, Schirmer, Voelker
8. Timpani Set-The Band Boosters have approached me and they would like to donate $6,000 for the purchase of a new set of timpani drums, which are valued at $13,500.  There is money in the depreciation account to cover this expense, as well as in the General Fund.
9. Legislative Update-A summary of the legislative bills introduced thus far is attached.
10.  Staff COVID-19 Vaccinations & The School Calendar Planning


Monthly Superintendent Goals Update:

Academic Achievement

Vision

Community Relations