April 9, 2012 at 7:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  If any board member is absent, there will need to be a motion to excuse the absence.

Rationale:   

 

It is the vision of the Norfolk Public Schools to actively engage all students in learning
through a relevant and comprehensive standards-based curriculum that integrates
 21^st century skills, tools, context, and assessments.  

 

Goal #1:  All students will succeed at each grade level and graduate from high school well-prepared for a variety of post-secondary pursuits.

 

 

Goal #2:  All students will feel connected with the school and the learning process.

 

 

Goal #3:  District resources, programs, and departments will be aligned to attain high levels of student achievement and instructional excellence.

 

 

Goal #4:  The community will be engaged to support high levels of student achievement.

 

 

 

The mission of the Norfolk Public Schools is to prepare studentswith the skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of a complex, global society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rationale:  March 12, 2012 - 4:30 Study Session
March 12, 2012 - 7:30 Regular Session
March 22, 2012 - 2nd Meeting of the Month

Rationale: 

Approval of teaching contract for the 2012-2013 school year for:

1.  Lori Voss - High School Special Education teacher. 

Rationale:  Recommend approval of the resignations, effective at the end of the 2011-2012 contract year, for:

1. Betty Anderson, District Reading Coach
2. Jane Brockman, Junior High Science Instructor
3. Deb Freese, High School Special Education Instructor
4. Harvey Rosenbaum, High School ITE Instructor
5. Barbara Johnson, 4th Grade Teacher, BelAir Elementary
6. Sharon Johnson, District Speech-Language Pathologist
7. Polly Brown, High School English Instructor
8. Sue Dendiger, High School English Instructor
9. Karen Dowling, Junior High Math Instructor 
10. Sherry Schmitt, High School Special Education Instructor
11. Vicki Hopper, Reading Teacher, Bel Air Elementary

Rationale:  Will return next month.

Rationale:  Connie Haglund, Trisha Andreasen and 3rd grade Reading Mastery students will present Reciprocal Teaching -- a new stragegy to improve reading comprehension.

Rationale: 

1. Staff Appreciation Day
2. Legislative Update

Rationale: 
We are expecting State Aid to be certified by April 15th.  The preliminary calculation of state aid indicated we would receive $7,989,703.95.  State Aid for the current fiscal year is $8,887,172.20.  This is a loss of $897,468.25 or about an 11% decrease.  We will know our certified budget authority by May 1st.  Once we have all the numbers, we will be able to finalize our 2012-2013 budget.

For the remainder of the year, we plan to continue to reduce spending for the current year, pay down on next year's orders whenever possible; end the fiscal year with sufficient cash reserves to help meet District revenue needs in the 2012-2013 year.

Rationale: 

Grading Practices Workshop Sessions

On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 4, district administrators took advantage of the opportunity to have all certified staff together to begin initial discussions on the topic of grading and reporting practices.  The intent of this discussion was ultimately to begin a critical discussion amongst staff about our current grading and reporting practices and to identify issues that arise from critical analysis of student grades.  Some of the basic topics that were discussed included:

• Why do we grade?
• Where did each of us learn to grade?
• How confident are we that the grades students receive in our schools and district are:
  • Accurate,
  • Consistent,
  • Meaningful, and
  • Supportive of Learning?

After a large group presentation and discussion, staff broke into approximately 15 groups where small group discussions were continued.  Questions that were discussed in the small groups included:

• Open discussions about where teachers first learned how to grade,
• An activity that discussed how the specific components contained within a grade are not necessarily represented in the final grade, and
• A compilation of information about where teachers learned to grade and what aspects of grading teachers think we should continue to review.

Rationale: 

• Our NPS April calendar is full of activities for baseball, track and field, soccer, golf and tennis.  If you haven’t been out to one of these activities I would encourage you to take advantage of the good weather and support our NPS Panthers.
• April 16^th will be the pre-contest concert by the Norfolk High School band, orchestra and choir.  If you haven’t had the chance to hear them in a performance, now is the time as they are preparing for District Music Contest which will be held on Friday, April 20^th.
• April 27^th @ 6:00 p.m. NHS will present their Evening of Jazz at the Senior High Gym.  Please watch the school calendar for more information.
• Outside maintenance work has begun on our school lawns and activity playing fields.
• Roof replacement continues on the little gym roof at the Senior High.  Hopefully this replacement will be complete within the next 10 to 20 days.
• May 3rd is the NHS Spring Play.  This year’s play is “Les Miserables.”  Plan now to try to attend.

 

Rationale:  The Facilities & Finance Committee met at noon today in the Central Office Board Room.  Clark Froehlich and Alfredo Ramirez were present.  Bruce Mitchell was absent.  Also present was Doug Witte, Marlene Uhing and Vicky Schwartz.

The following items were discussed:

(1.)  The committee received an update on the progress of the Sale of Northern Hills elementary.  We are still in negotiations with a prospective buyer.  We are hopeful that we will come to agreement soon.

(2.)  Mr. Witte said he would begin advertising for the sale of the house on 6th street.  It will be advertised for sale and to be moved.  The land is intended for additional parking for the Junior High School.

(3.)  The reroofing of the storm damaged sections at the High School is in progress.  Scheduled completion is before graduation.

(4.)  The Committee members reviewed the claims list for the month.

(5.)  The Committee members continued to have discussion regarding several district maintenance projects and how pay for them.  The greatest maintenance needs in the District are in its roofs.  Roofing projects take time to bid out, schedule and actually get the work done.  We are working to align the timing of the projects with resources to pay for them.

Rationale:  The Activities Committee met on Monday, March 26th.

1. Committee received an update regarding junior high spring sport participation from Bruce Strong, Jr. High Activities Director. Typically about 100 students from each grade participate.
2. The Committee heard a report from the high school activities director, Dennis Dolliver, regarding the use of Memorial Field for spring sports - baseball and soccer.
3. The Committee directed Mr. Dolliver to determine a method for staff to obtain passes and bring it back to the committee for review.
4. There was some discussion about admission prices for next year. Mr. Dolliver is going to research other districts and the conference and bring that information back to the committee.

Rationale:  The second meeting of the month will be held on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 12:00 noon in the Central Office Board Room.

The next meeting of the board of education is scheduled for Monday, May 14, 2012. The study session will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the Central Office Board Room and the regular business meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers.