May 11, 2020 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public School District's board of education meeting is called to order.  

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

Rationale:  This is a legal meeting of the board of education, as advertised by the means specified in board policy. A complete copy of the Open Meetings Act is attached in the link listed below.  A copy of the agenda is available on the Norfolk Public School website.
 

Rationale: 

According to State Statute, schools must conduct an annual public hearing regarding their Parental Involvement Policy. Norfolk Public Schools has a district-wide Parental Involvement Policy (6400) and a Title I Parental Involvement Policy (6410).  The district-wide Parental Involvement Policy outlines several ways that parents can be involved in their child's education, such as reviewing their child's educational record, filing a complaint about instructional materials, and having advance notice of standardized testing and school sponsored surveys. The Title I Parental Involvement takes this a step further.  Title I defines the term parental involvement as the participation of parents in regular, two-way, meaningful communication regarding students' academic learning and other school activities.  Some specific examples of this include, providing parents with regular opportunities to learn about their child's academic progress, providing them with the opportunity to review this policy, and eliciting their help in developing the district's Title I plan.   At this time, we will open the hearing to the public in order to give them the opportunity to present information and opinions on these policies. (Community Input) The Policy Committee has reviewed these policies and did not recommend any changes. It is anticipated that they will be reaffirmed by the Board later tonight. With that being said, if there are no questions or concerns, I recommend that we close the parental involvement hearing.

Rationale:  Andrea Clark--Special Education (LIFE) Teacher--Middle School

• A summary of Andrea's nomination form is attached.

Rationale: 

This is the time during the meeting when the public may request to address the Board. If you wish to comment, we ask that you identify yourself and the topic that you wish to address. Each individual's comments will be limited to five minutes.

 Please note that  the Board cannot discuss or act upon matters that are not listed on the agenda. Therefore, Board  members will not respond to your comments or questions.  If you wish to request that an item be placed on a future Board agenda, you may contact the Superintendent or her assistant during normal business hours.

Also note that concerns related to school personnel need to be addressed to the Superintendent using the approved district protocol.

Rationale: 

Total amount of claims to be approved in the consent agenda for the month of May, 2020 by specific fund is listed below:

General Fund = $302,703.62

Nutrition Services Fund =$259,997.03

Cooperative Fund = $2,136.72

Special Building Fund = $71,376.00

QCPUF (Bond Payoff Amounts) = $1,623,650.27

QCPUF = $282,678.42

Bond Fund = $62,081.25

Student Fee Fund = $2,443.22

The total amount of claims for the month of April, 2020 in the Activities Fund were:
Activity Fund =$116,533.95

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.

 

Rationale:  Curriculum Instruction & Assessment

• As reported in April, remote learning has continued in a variety of ways depending upon the grade/age of the students and their accessibility to electronic devices and internet services.
• The last week of instruction for passing seniors was May 4^th-8^th while other students still have until May 21^st to complete any failing or missing work.
• I reported in April that the Teaching and Learning Team was working on training and support for teachers to create alternative plans for nontraditional instruction for next year. I will give more specifics about that within a different portion of the meeting.
• Buildings are completing annual reports for Multicultural and Americanism requirements.
• I attended an Assessment Advisory Meeting on Monday, May 4^th. As expected, many of the initiatives have been placed on hold until we have a more stable situation. The AQUeSTT classifications will remain the same for the Fall of 2020; no new classifications can be calculated or determined due to the interruption of school and assessments. 

Rationale: 

• Our results from ELPA  21 have been shared.  Our students scored above the state average in 6 grade levels as proficient. The progressing students made significant gains as well. Our ELL staff will be reviewing that scores and focusing area of instructions for the students in the fall.
• Our elementary principals and building teams will be provided Positive Behavioral Intervention Support (PBIS) training lead by NDE on June 15th and 16th.
• NDE reviewed our Targeted Improvement Plan for special education.  We will continue with our focus on reading and implementation of MTSS in the fall. Our scores from our Fall MAP assessment will determine if we met our projected growth/goal. 

Rationale: 

Hiring Season: 

• Even though our students and staff still remain at home, the hiring season continues! Special thanks to our administrators (and interview teams) for their work in filling our last few open spots. I am confident our "New to the District" staff will do great things when school opens again in the fall.   

Beginning of the 2020-2021 School Year Information: 

(If we are able to open on a regular school schedule):

• Our "New to the District" teacher training is Tuesday, August 4th - Friday, August 7th.   
• All certified staff report on Monday, August 10th.
• The first day of school for students is Thursday, August 13th. 

*If we are unable to open school on a "regular" schedule, the school calendar and opening days information will be adjusted as needed. 

Personnel Update:

Current Classified Positions:

• Senior High - Night Custodian (Full-Time)
• Summer Mowing (Part-Time)

Certified Positions:(2020-21 school year): 

• Elementary P.E. Teacher (.5 FTE ) 
• Middle & Junior High - ELL Teacher
• Middle School - Special Education Teacher
• Senior High - Science Teacher
• Senior High - English Teacher
• Senior High - Math Teacher

Classified Openings: (2020-21 school year):

• Bel Air Elementary - LIFE Para w/driving (Full time) 
• Junior High Special Ed Para w/driving (Full time) 
• Little Panthers Preschool - Health Tech
• Senior High Special Education: Vision Program Paraprofessional
• Washington Elementary - Evening Custodian
• Westside Elementary - LIFE Para w/driving (Full time)
• Westside Elementary - Classroom Para

Coaching Opportunities (2020-21 school year):

• HS Head Boys Golf
• HS Assistant Football
• Assistant Theater (2nd Semester)

 

Rationale: 

I would like to take some time to review the many events and activities that have been rescheduled due to COVID-19.

Teacher Appreciation:

Our Staff Appreciation Celebration will be postponed until we return to school in the Fall.  It will be combined with our normal Back to School Activities.  In addition, I will send a video to staff celebrating our 2019-2020 retirements and will place our normal retirement ad in the Daily News on May 20th.

Graduation:

Due to guidance from the Commissioner of Education and the Governor, our options for an "alternative graduation" are very limited. They are not allowing schools to hold drive-by or drive-in graduations or any other alternative that is "designed to circumvent the Directed Health Measures regarding gatherings." 

Therefore, we have decided to offer three alternatives--all on July 26th.  Our hope is that we will be able to hold our traditional ceremony by then.  However, if the current DHMs will only allow gatherings of 250, we would offer multiple, smaller graduations on that same date (July 26th).  Our last resort would be a virtual ceremony, with no one in attendance on-site.

We will make a final determination regarding which type of ceremony will be held at our Board meeting on July 13th. However, parents can plan on a celebration on July 26th and they can plan for it to be televised on News Channel Nebraska.

Summer School:

Due to the Commissioner of Education and Governor's guidance on summer school, we are only planning remote learning options this summer.  We will offer on-line summer school courses for grades 9-12, similar to the on-site options we have each summer (credit recovery and elective courses).  We will also offer on-line options for students who are not on-grade level in reading in grades K-3 (as required by the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act).  

At this point, we are not planning to offer any other summer school options, as student engagement in on-line courses is beginning to wane.

Kindergarten Round-up:

Kindergarten Round-up has been rescheduled for August 6th (one week before school is scheduled to start), with two separate sessions that afternoon. More information will be provided as we get closer to that date.

School in the Fall of 2020:

It is much too early for us to know what school will look like in the fall. Therefore, my administrative team is preparing for multiple options. We are hoping to have a normal start to the school year, as scheduled on August 13th. However, we could postpone the start of the school year until after Labor Day, if we thought we could have a normal start at that time.  Another option is to split our student body in half, alternating on-line and on-site attendance, so that class sizes are kept to a maximum of 10-15 students. And, of course, it is possible that we may need to continue providing education remotely.  

If remote learning is our only option, learning activities will need to be much more closely aligned to our "normal" learning expectations than the current "enrichment learning expectations."  We are working very hard to put together the training and support that everyone needs for this, and we are planning to survey parents to see what we could do better, as well.

We look forward to the return of our students and hope that will occur in August, but we know that we need to be prepared to serve students both on-line and on-site -- and that circumstances could change multiple times next year, depending upon how COVID-19 progresses and what Directed Health Measures are in place at any given time.

Activities:

Neither the Governor or NSAA has given us any additional guidance on summer activities. At this point, we are tentatively planning to hold mini-camps in July. We are hoping to make a final determination and distribute information on this soon.

We know that none of these revisions is ideal. We wish that we could have students in school with us, but we must comply with the Governor’s Directed Health Measures and do everything that we can to keep our students, staff, families, and community safe.

Rationale:  Recommendations from the Target-based Grading ad-hoc committee will be presented to the Board, along with the rationale for those recommendations. No action will be requested of the Board at this time.

Rationale:  The committee met at 12:00 noon today.  The claims for the month of May and Activity claims for April were reviewed.  The committee was updated about current facility projects under contract. There was also discussion on the upcoming 20-21 fiscal year with items to consider.  The committee then went over the following items:

• Technology purchases with Sterling and CDWG
• Breakfast and Lunch prices for 20-21
• Summer feeding program 
• After school care possibilities at Little Panthers Pre-School
• Extending current admin contracts for 20-21

The next regular meeting will be on Monday, June 8th at 12:00 noon. 

Rationale: 

The Policy Committee met on Thursday, April 23rd at 12:30 to review policies that require annual review. Those policies include: 5008 (Attendance), 5415 (Anti-bullying), 5416 (Student Fees), 5417 (School Wellness), 6370 (Multicultural Education), 6400 (Parent/Community Involvement in Schools), and 6410 (Combined District and School Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy). We are recommending one non-substantive change to Policy 5008. No other changes are recommended to these policies.The committee also reviewed Policies 5205 (Graduation) and 5208 (High School Credit for Middle School Courses).  We are not recommending any changes to 5205 (Graduation) at this time, however, we will revisit the residency portion of the policy at a later date. 

We are recommending that Spanish be added to Policy 5205 so qualified 8th graders can take the course for high school credit. 

Rationale:  Minutes of the May 5, 2020 Nurses and Student Health meetings are attached.

Rationale:  Minutes of the April 13, 2020 and April 23, 2020 meetings are attached.

Rationale: 

Kodiak French

• 2020-2021 - Senior High Social Studies Teacher
• Bachelor of Science, Secondary Education-Social Sciences, Chadron State College, Dec. 2019
• 1/2020-present - Student Teacher at Clarkson Public School, Clarkson, NE, 7-12 Social Sciences

Natalie Yosten

• 2020-2021 - Senior High English Teacher
• Bachelor of Science, Secondary Education-English, Wayne State College, Dec. 2019
• 1/2020-present - Substitute Teacher, Norfolk Public Schools; Fall 2019, Student Teacher, Lutheran High Northeast, Norfolk, NE

Katrina Murdock

• 2020-2021 - Senior High Social Studies Teacher
• Bachelor of Arts, Education Media, York College, York, NE, May 2020
• Spring 2020, Student Teacher, York High School

 Nicole Konert

• 2020-2021 - Parochial Schools - Special Education Teacher
• Master of Arts, Special Education, University of Phoenix, April 2020
• SPED Student Teacher/Paraprofessional, Norfolk Public Schools, Spring 2020

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of May, 2020.  These claims were reviewed earlier today by our Finance and Facility Committee.

Rationale:  The district received RFP's for the following items labled A through G:

• (A)275 Dell OptiPlex 3070 MFF MLK desktops
• (B)55 Dell 22' Monitor E220H, 54.7cm (21.5")
• (C)32 Dell 22 Monitors
• (D)460 Dell 3100 Touch 2 in 1 chromebooks
• (E)700 Asus C204EE Chromebooks
• (F)55 Asus 3-No17U Chromboxes
• (G)430 Google Admin Licenses

Sterling Computer was the low bid on items A,B,C and D for a total price of $346,940.90.  While CDWG was the low bid on items E,F and G for a total price of $193,984.80.  Attached as Appendix (A) is the detailed breakdown of each individual item and the qualifying RFP's that were submitted.  The funds for this purchase will come from our current technology budget and Title funds.
 

Rationale: 

Schools across Nebraska have been told by the Commissioner of Education that we need to be prepared for the possibility of continued on-line (virtual) learning in the fall. This may sound simple, because "we are doing it now." However, the expectations given for our current on-line learning experiences were that they should be non-graded, enrichment activities.  This will not be true when we start the 2020-2021 school year.  We must be prepared to provide more rigorous, high-quality learning opportunities for students in the fall, including assessments to ensure that content standards are met by students. Getting our teachers to the point that they are able to do this in an on-line learning environment will take considerable training, planning, and preparation.

Therefore, I am asking that you consider a revision to our 2019-2020 calendar. We would like your permission to end all new enrichment activities on Thursday, May 14, 2020, so that we can provide professional development and teacher preparation regarding effective internet-based instruction Friday, May 15, 2020-Friday, May 22, 2020. 

Students would still be allowed to reassess and complete previously assigned work during this time period and teachers would provide feedback and assistance regarding these assessments and assignments, if needed.  However, no new student work or instruction would be provided. The focus for that week would be providing our teachers with the resources (training, skills, and worktime) needed to provide high-quality, standards-based instruction to students via the internet starting on the first day of school next fall.

Our administrative team and Teaching and Learning Team have already been working on training materials and schedules in hopes that you would approve this.  I am going to ask Mrs. Nelson to give you more information about that....

Thank you for considering this option.  Our teachers have been working very hard to provide quality enrichment opportunities for our students this spring. Having these days available for training and preparation would be a huge relief to them, and it would make a huge difference in terms of the quality of instruction that we could provide this fall (if we are required to teach virtually).

Rationale:  After reviewing 19-20 expenditures, projected cost and use of commodities for 20-21, it is recommended to keep the Breakfast and Lunch prices the same for the 20-21 school year with no increases.  Attached as Appendix (A) is the 20-21 price schedule.

Rationale:  State and/or federal statute require each of these policies to be reviewed annual.  No substantive changes have been made to the policies.

Rationale:  After consultation with the Junior and Senior High foreign language staff and administrators, it was decided that we would like to offer an advanced foreign language opportunity for our 8th grade students next year.  Currently, Spanish language and culture and French language and culture are offered as elective courses at the Junior High. These are introductory or exploratory courses.
We would still offer these courses next year, but would also like to add the option of Spanish One at that eighth grade level.  This course would be taught using the same curriculum and material as our Senior High courses, so that Senior High credit could be obtained -- opening up other options for students at the Senior High, such as AP Spanish, or the possibility of taking 4 years of Spanish and a year of French.
Our Foreign language department is very supportive and excited about this opportunity. However, we need to revise Board Policy 5208 in order to do this.  Policy 5208 only allows Senior High credit to be given to 8th graders in the area of mathematics.  NDE's Rule 10 allows this in any subject area, as long as the Board approves it.
The Policy Committee has reviewed this policy change and discussed the benefits of this additional course offering at the Junior High.  They are recommending that the policy revision is approved.

Rationale:  No changes have been made to these policies since their first reading last month.

Rationale:  Please see the attachments.

Rationale:  The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education has been scheduled for noon on Thursday, May 28, 2020.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, June 8, 2020.  The Business Meeting will begin at 5:30 via Zoom.  All components of the meeting will be open to the public unless an Executive Session is needed in order to protect the interest of the district or the reputation of an individual.