October 9, 2017 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

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

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 posted in the board room for your review. A copy of the agenda is available at the desk of the recording secretary.

1. Beth Nelson - Assessment Update

2. Board Members - Building Visits

Husker Harvest Days Participation - Career Academy Students

The Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB) proudly recognized the 2017 Award of Achievement recipients during the Norfolk Regional Meeting on Wednesday, September 20, 2017. 

The NASB Award of Achievement is given to Nebraska school board members in recognition of their time and commitment to education.  The 1,724 school board members from across the state are encouraged to participate in board development training throughout the year by attending workshops and conferences to help strengthen their role in governance, legislative advocacy, and stewardship of district resources in support of student achievement.  Through the Awards of Achievement program, the following Norfolk Public Schools board members were recognized at the meeting for their outstanding excellence: 

• Bob Waite                          

• Tammy Day                           

• Dr. Patti Gubbels                  

I would like to thank Bob, Tammy, and Patti for their active participation in the NASB and all of our board members for their continued support for public schools, particularly Norfolk Public Schools.   

The following staff members were nominated by their peers for "going above and beyond the call of duty" and recieved Success Pins:

Lorena Pantoja                        Kelly Mitchell

Chuck Foxhoven                      Mandy Wolff

Bruce Shaffer                          Amy Berner

Trisha Andreasen                     Mary Sorenson 

Kendra Henry                          Julie Daniel

Jolene Groninger                     Dustin Wood

Colleen Petty                           Julie Curry

Kelli Berryman                         Nataly Aceves Peralta

Julie Morgan                            Dale Coan

Jessica Truex                           Jonathon Anderson

Melissa Jantz                           Bianca Ramirez

Janell Feenstra                         Kris Anderson

Annual Foundation Report-Sarah Dittmer

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.

Total amount of claims to be approved in the consent agenda for the month of October, 2017 by specific fund are as follows:

General Fund = $462,183.76

Nutrition Services Fund = $237,746.18

Cooperative Fund = $4,167.64

Depreciation Fund= $11,960.76

Special Building Fund = $244,064.43

Student Fee Fund = $3,336.32

The total amount of claims for the month of September, 2017 in the Activities fund are as follows:
Activity Fund =$153,874.50

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.  We are now into the 2017-2018 budget, all areas of the budget have been finalized and imported into our system.  The audit for 2016-2017 has been completed and will be brought to the entire board for approval on Oct. 26th

Curriculum Instruction & Assessment:

• The prior month has been filled with studying new or different state assessments and practice tools.
• Fall MAP testing is complete.
• PLC’s have been working on Steps 1-3 of our professional development model.
• The beginning steps for Technology curriculum, scope and sequence work have been taken. We are surveying teachers so we have a strong understanding of what is currently being taught at each grade level. There is a lot of work and organization that needs to happen in the area of technology. Technology has been a fast growing piece of education and includes classroom and life skills.
• We have a Science Curriculum work day planned for Oct. 18^th. The new state science standards have been adopted this fall and we are going to start learning them and making determinations about instruction, classes and materials.
• The application for the STEM Big Red Keno grant has been submitted for this school year. I will keep you posted if and when we are accepted. They seem to be pleased with our projects from the prior two years.
• Plans are in place for Oct. 30^th professional development. It will be in a similar fashion as at the beginning of the year.

TITLE:

• The grant is not open for work yet but it will be a priority this early October.

TECHNOLOGY:

• Everything is functioning well.

This Friday, October 13th marks the end of our First Quarter of the 2017-2018 school term.

Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Monday-Thursday, October 23 - 26 as follows:

• October 23rd K-12 normal dismissal.  
  • K-8 parent-teacher conferences from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
• October 24th  K-12 normal dismissal.
  • K-4 and 9-12 parent/teacher conferences from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
• October 25th K-12 students dismissed at 2:00 p.m.
  • 5-12 parent-teacher conferences from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
• October 26th  K-12 students dismissed at 11:30 a.m.
  • K-12 parent-teacher conferences from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
• October 27th  No school for K-12 students/staff.

Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department will provide on-site flu shots for staff and family, at several school buildings in the district on Tuesday, October 31st.  

CPR/AOA" training will be provided for selected staff from all of our NPS attendance centers.  The training will be here at Central Office on November 2nd and November 3rd.

Instructional Model:

• Our next meeting on our district Instructional Model will be Wednesday, November 1st. The Instructional Model Task Force has worked incredibly hard to develop a high quality and sustainable Instructional Model that we will be able to use effectively to train our new teachers and reinforce essential instructional elements with all of our staff. Our intent is to have the Instructional Model ready for implementation sometime during second semester.  

 Crisis Response Team Training:

• On Wednesday, October 11th our district Crisis Response Team (CRT) will be attending Level VII training in Columbus. This training will be led by Dr. John Dudley. Dr. Dudley is a highly sought after expert and one of the leading national authorities on developing effective crisis teams and response procedures. Our CRT team is an invaluable district resource and the team is highly trained to effectively and compassionately respond to crisis situations such as staff or student deaths or other traumatic events.

 District Safety and Security Team Meeting:

• On Tuesday, October 10th, we are meeting with our district Safety and Security Team to review our Standard Response Protocols and other emergency procedures. Student and staff safety is always our top priority and we are constantly reviewing our procedures to ensure that we are prepared to immediately respond to any emergency situation.  

 Career Fairs:

• This month Mrs. Luhr and Mr. Hart will be attending several area Career Fairs. The purpose for attending these fairs is to recruit the very best candidates to teach and serve in our schools and promote the great things happening in our district. We are committed to providing our students the highest quality teachers and support staff possible.

 Suicide Awareness Training:

• In compliance with state requirements, all of our staff that interact with students on a daily basis will participate in Suicide Awareness training. This training is extremely valuable in helping all staff recognize warning signs of when someone may be in "crisis" and remain proactive about immediate intervention options.  

 Staff Development:

• Our next staff development day is Monday, October 30th. This day is dedicated to following up on the information and training our teachers were given at the beginning of the school year. High quality staff development is essential to increasing teacher effectiveness and maximizing student learning and engagement.  

 Personnel Update:

• Current Openings:

• Activity Bus Drivers
• Bel Air- Resource Teacher
• General Maint. /Transp.
• Senior High- Campus Security
• Middle School- Evening Full Time Custodian
• General Maintenance/ Electrician
• Speech/Language Pathologist
• Substitute Custodians
• Occupational Therapy Paraprofessional

 Current Coaching Openings:

• Assistant Swimming-Diving Coach
• 9th Assistant Boys Track
• Girls IM Basketball

Unofficial/Preliminary Enrollment: 

  PK: 187

  K-12: 4183

  TOTAL: 4370

  Increase:  48 students

  Largest Increase: Bel Air and Senior High

  Official Numbers Available End of October -- Enrollment Projections will be calculated based on those official numbers

NPS is now the proud owner of the property at 2500 West Norfolk Avenue, which will provide us with over 27000 square feet of flexible instructional space. The renovation of this property will be carefully designed to meet both early childhood and K-4 program needs, so that we have the ability to adapt to changing needs within our community.

Initially, the property will be utilized for the expansion of Little Panthers Preschool and will be named accordingly (Little Panthers Preschool).  If elementary grades are added to this facility at a later date, then a new name will be determined at that time.

Board Policy section 7000 outlines the procedures and processes that must be used when building or renovating a facility to become a new school.  We will follow these policies closely, beginning with the formulation of a committee, as outlined in Policy 7020. This committee will be comprised of teachers, patrons and administrators who will meet with our architects and engineers to develop the specifications for the renovation. 

It is our goal to have the renovation completed by July 2019, allowing us to move Little Panthers Preschool into the facility for the 2019-2020 school year. Please see the attached documents for a more detailed outline of our proposed timeline.

The committee met today at 10:45 a.m. and reviewed all claims for October, 2017.  The Activity claims for September, 2017 and current fund balances were also reviewed.  We also discussed the following items:

• Initial review of the 2016-2017 audit
• Upcoming bids for the Jr. High Roof and Carson Field and Track
• Discussion on timelines for renovation of the 2500 West Norfolk Ave. building
• Discussion on hiring one full-time substitute teacher for the district
• Discussion on upcoming staffing needs

Official review of the 2016-2017 audit will take place with the entire board at the October 26th board meeting.  Our next meeting will be at 12:00 noon on November 13, 2017 at NPS central office.

The Policy Committee met at 11:15 on Thursday, September 28th.  Policies 5001-5007 were reviewed. 

Slight changes were made to the early kindergarten entrance section of Policy 5001 (Admission Requirements). These changes were based upon our Board discussion in April regarding the need to allow for deadline exceptions for extenuating circumstances.

Policy 5004 (Full-time and Part-time Enrollment) was revised to reflect current practice, which is to allow non-public school students to attend two elective courses if they are not offered at their non-public school and our course is not at capacity.  It was also revised to indicate that non-public students may apply to our Career Academies and enroll in these courses if accepted.

Policy 5007 (Foreign Exchange Students) was revised to reduce our maximum number of Foreign Exchanges students from 5 per year to 3 per year.  This change was recommended by High School Principal, Jake Luhr, based on our increased enrollment and class sizes at the Senior High.

The Second Reading of Policy 4005 (Weather Related Absences) is being postponed in order to allow the Calendar Committee to evaluate its effects on the calendar and develop an alternate proposal, if needed.

Mr. Ries and Mr. Shiers reviewed our fall participation numbers. 

Mr. Ries shared information with the committee regarding our transition to the HAC, our activity card procedures for senior citizens, and our co-op policy.  We currently co-op in baseball, softball, swimming, and boys tennis.  A request to co-op in Girls Tennis was reviewed and denied.  Due to our participation numbers, this is a cut sport, making it in-eligible for co-op.

Mr. Ries and Mr. Shiers discussed our coaching openings and our philosophy regarding the progress from youth/club sports to junior and senior high athletics. It was noted that the expansion of youth programs can create unbalances in the "natural" sports progression regarding the increasing the number of games, practices, travel time, etc. 

Mr. Ries indicated that Mike Fuehrer is retiring from the Norfolk Area Sports Council in the middle of October. He also discussed a plan regarding the storage and disposal of uniforms, equipment and trophies, which require a significant amount of storage space.

Mr. Ries indicated that NHS will remain Class A for football and ended with a facilities update regarding our track, football field and tennis court resurfacing project.

The Next Activities Meeting is scheduled for November 27th at 12:00 pm at the Central Office Administration Building.

Minutes of the October 3, 2017 Nurses' Meeting are attached.

Minutes from the September 11, 2017 and September 28, 2017 meetings are attached.

There are no contracts or resignations to approve.

Attached are the claims for the month of October, 2017

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE DISTRICT TO CONTINUE ITS PARTICIPATION IN AN INTERLOCAL COOPERATIVE WITH ONE OR MORE NEBRASKA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND/OR EDUCATIONAL SERVICE UNITS; AUTHORIZING SUCH COOPERATIVE TO ISSUE BONDS ON BEHALF OF THE DISTRICT IN A PRINCIPAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $100,000 TO FINANCE THE COST OF ANY ITEM OF HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE USED BY THE DISTRICT IN PROVIDING FOR THE DELIVERY OF INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE PURCHASING OF UPGRADES OR RELATED IMPROVEMENTS TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE OPERATION OF LIBRARIES OPERATED BY THE DISTRICT; DELEGATING THE AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNTS, MATURITY DATES, INTEREST RATES, REDEMPTION PROVISIONS AND OTHER TERMS OF SUCH BONDS; IMPOSING A TAX TO PAY THE PRINCIPAL OF AND INTEREST ON SUCH BONDS; DESIGNATING THE BONDS AS QUALIFIED TAX-EXEMPT OBLIGATIONS; AUTHORIZING CERTAIN ACTIONS AND DOCUMENTS; PUBLISHING NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE SUCH BONDS; AND PRESCRIBING OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO.

NCEA requests recognition as the bargaining agent for certified staff.

The NASB Delegate Assembly, which will shape NASB’s 2017 legislative and leadership agenda, will be held on November 18, in conjunction with the State Education Conference in LaVista. It will begin at 8:00 AM to allow delegates to attend other sessions on Friday morning, which begin at 9:30 AM.

No additional changes have been made to these policies since their first reading in September.  The Policy Committee is recommending their approval tonight.

The Policy Committee reviewed the polices in this section and recommend:

Slight changes to the early kindergarten entrance section of Policy 5001 (Admission Requirements). These changes were based upon our Board discussion in April regarding the need to allow for deadline exceptions for extenuating circumstances.

They also recommend Policy 5004 (Full-time and Part-time Enrollment) be revised to reflect current practice, which is to allow non-public school students to attend two elective courses if they are not offered at their non-public school and if our course is not at capacity.  It was also revised to indicate that non-public students may apply to our Career Academies and enroll in these courses if accepted.

Finally, they recommend that we revise Policy 5007 (Foreign Exchange Students)  to reduce our maximum number of Foreign Exchanges students from 5 per year to 3 per year.  This change was recommended by High School Principal, Jake Luhr, based on our increased enrollment and class sizes at the Senior High.

No other changes are recommended to these policies for First Reading.

The Second Meeting of the Month is scheduled for noon on Thursday, October 26, 2017.