January 8, 2018 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.

Strategic Growth Plan

Washington Elementary School

Officer Dave Lichtenberg

December 2017 Success Pin Recipients

Dr. Thompson will call for nominations for Board President.

The newly elected President will call for nominations for Vice President.

It is customary for the District's Business Manager to serve as the Board Treasurer. Therefore, I would recommend that Bill Robinson be appointed as the 2018 Board Treasurer.

It is customary for the district's Superintendent to serve as the Board's Secretary. Therefore, I recommend that you appoint me as your 2018 Board Secretary.

For numerous years, the district's primary legal counsel has been provided via the attorneys at Perry Law Firm.  We continue to be satisfied with their advice and performance, and I strongly recommend that we continue to use their services on an as needed basis. 

Other legal firms may be used from time to time for special cases with extenuating circumstances.

Current Committees:

Negotiations Committee:

Purpose: Represents the full BOE in negotiations with recognized labor organizations

Meetings: Several meetings in November-January

Current Members: Bob Waite and Tammy Day

Curriculum and Americanism Committee:

Purpose: Examines recommended social studies textbooks and reports findings to the full BOE. Also reviews major proposals regarding the adoption of new textbooks, instructional programs, and graduation requirements.

Meetings: At least once a year; more if major proposals are being reviewed

Current Members: Bruce Mitchell, Patti Gubbels, and Arnie Robinson

Finance and Facilities Committee:

Purpose: Studies financial documents of the district, as well as finance and facilities proposals

Meetings: At least once per month; more frequently when needed

Current Members: Bob Waite, Arnie Robinson, and Dr. Patti Gubbels

Policy Committee

Purpose: Reviews proposed policy revisions and adoptions and makes recommendations to the Full Board

Meetings: Typically once per month

Current Members: Bob Waite, Sandy Wolfe, and Dr. Patti Gubbels

Government Relations Committee:

Purpose: Participates in government relations activities, such as attending GNSA meetings, visiting with State Senators, and testifying before the legislature

Meetings: Varies-typically 2-3 times per month during the legislative session

Current Members: Tammy Day, Sandy Wolfe, and Dr. Patti Gubbels

Activities Committee:

Purpose: Reviews activities budget, participation, and proposals

Meetings: 4-6 times per year

Current Members: Arnie Robinson, Sandy Wolfe, and Tammy Day

Superintendent Evaluation Committee:

Purpose: Completes the annual Superintendent Evaluation

Meetings: 1-2 times per year

Current Members: Arnie Robinson, Sandy Wolfe, and Dr. Patti Gubbels

Staff Member of the Month:

Purpose: Helps to select the Award for Excellence recipient

Meetings: 4-6 per year

Current member: Bruce Mitchell

Foundation Board:

Purpose: Serves as the BOE representative on the NPS Foundation Board

Meetings: Typically once per month

Current member: Sandy Wolfe

School Liaisons:

It has been suggested that a member of each committee give the committee reports at Board meetings.  If the Board would like to make this change, I would recommend that a spokesperson be chosen for each committee, at the committee's next meeting.  The administrator in charge of each committee would still create the meeting agenda and minutes, which would then be used by the spokesperson to guide his/her Board Report.

RESOLVED, that the official depository of school funds for Madison County School District 59-0002 is hereby designated to be at Bank First, Elkhorn Valley Bank & Trust, Midwest Bank and Nebraska Liquid Asset Fund, and that the designation of any other institution as the depository of school funds is hereby withdrawn.  Bank First will be the primary depository for the General Fund; and Elkhorn Valley Bank & Trust will be the primary depository for all other district Funds except the Bond Fund which Midwest Bank will be the primary depository.  Nebraska Liquid Asset Fund will serve as a depository for cash reserves in the General, Bond, QCPUF, Special Building, and Depreciation Funds.

This resolution specifically recognizes the financial institutions where district and taxpayer's dollars are deposited.  This resolution also meets the requirement of full public disclosure of financial institutions used by the district. 

I am recommending that we use the following financial institutions (Bank First, Elkhorn Valley Bank & Trust, Midwest Bank and Nebraska Liquid Asset Fund), all of these financial institutions provide banking services to the district at no charge while also fully securing all district funds.

According to Policy 3130 the Board of Education shall be presented annually the list of recommended administrators and staff to have the authority to use school district issued credit cards and purchasing cards.  The credit cards are issued through Elkhorn Valley Bank and have the school districts name and card number on them, not individual names.  The district Voyager fleet cards for fuel can only be used by organizations that qualify for the state fuel rate. These cards are also numbered with the school district name on them.  All cards are initially checked out through the Business Office and returned to the Business Office when they expire or a listed employee leaves the district.

This is the newspaper that we utilize to post official Board notifications, such as bids and meeting notices.  I recommend that we continue to use our local newspaper, the Norfolk Daily News.

State statutes require that School Board members disclose any Conflicts of Interest that they may have related to contracts and employment issues, as well as any other matters that may have a financial impact on the Board member or his/her family.  The procedures for conflict disclosure and reporting have been provided to all Board members for their review.

All Board members understand their duty to disclose potential conflicts of interest and refrain from voting on such items.  Potential items that may be a conflict include:reimbursement of expenses and the payment of wages for activity workers.  Our Finance Office will notify Board members if such items appear on the monthly claims and assist them in preparing a conflict of interest disclosure statement.

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 January, 2018 by specific fund are as follows:

General Fund = $503,269.77

Nutrition Services Fund =$214,804.17

Cooperative Fund = $13,837.26

Special Building Fund = $672.25

Student Fee Fund = $1,519.75

The total amount of claims for the month of December, 2017 in the Activities Fund are as follows:
Activity Fund =$109,059.23

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.  The business office is in the process of preparing the 2017 W-2's and 1095 C's for employees. They should have them early next month.

Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

• In December, I attended the Nebraska Science Education Summit in Lincoln. The updated Nebraska Science standards take a different approach to learning science.  It’s going from the former instructional approach of sit and get science facts to inquiry based, problem solving approach. Although everyone agrees this is a better approach, it will take time and effort of teachers to adjust instruction and students to adjust to learning differently. It will be challenging, but over time, it will make a difference in our student’s thinking.  A small group of senior high teachers attended. They are also growing in their understanding.
• Elementary buildings completed their DIBELS testing before break.
• A select numbers of students will receive the MAP Growth test in January. This is only administered to a select group of students based upon professional discretion for monitoring midyear progress.  Spring state testing will be right around the corner.
• Two days last week served as professional development for our progressive work with the 13 Steps to Target Based grading and as a work day.  Grades 7-12 met on Thursday at the senior high and K-6 plus specials curricular areas met on Friday at the middle school.

1. Special Education- January 17th, our district special education team will be meeting to discuss district goals for improvement within the program.  

2. February 1st and 2nd I will be attending the Nebraska Association of Special Education Supervisors (NASES) Legislative Conference in Lincoln.  At this conference we are given the opportunity to meet with our State Senators on the expectations for special education.

3. The window for our ELL students to be assessed with the ELPA will open the week of February 5 through March 16, 2018.

Standard Response Protocol: Information Video

• This month, we will be providing our community stakeholders a video that details our "Standard Response Protocols." This information highlights the actions staff and students should take in the case of an emergency or crisis situation. Student safety is our top priority and we want our community stakeholders to be aware of our response plans.

Staff Development Day (ESU # 8 Winter Workshop):

• The Winter Workshop (a collaborative staff development day with a multitude of area schools) will be held at Norfolk Senior High School on Monday, January 22, 2018.
• This event is an excellent way to bring together area school districts for consistent and relevant staff development on topics designed to enhance educational effectiveness.
• The keynote speaker for the 2018 Winter Workshop will be Dr. Adolph Brown.
• For more information on the Winter Workshop, please go to: esu8winterworkshop.weebly.com.

Personnel Update:

Current Openings:

• Activity Bus Drivers
• General Maint. /Transp.
• General Maintenance/ Electrician
• Speech/Language Pathologist (1)
• Substitute Custodians
• Transportation Assistant to the Director of Student Services
• Washington Elementary-Classroom Paraprofessional
• Westside Elementary- ED Paraprofessional/Driver-F/T
• Westside Elementary- Kindergarten Teacher (2018-2019)
• Substitute Teachers
• Substitute Paraprofessionals

Current Coaching Openings:

• 9th Assistant Boys Track (2017-2018)
• 7th Boys Head Basketball (2018-2019)
• JV Volleyball (2018-2019)
• Head Softball (2018-2019)
• Assistant Varsity Volleyball  (2018-2019)

Dr. Thompson's annual evaluation was completed in December.

Annual Report:

Please see the attached 2016-2017 Annual Report. This was developed in accordance with Board Policy 1040 and NDE Rule 10.  The brochure will be placed on our district website and disseminated to parents at Parent Teachers Conferences in February. 

This year, we chose to highlight  a wider array of accomplishments, including the completion of our strategic plan, our enrollment growth, state and national recognitions, community service, student activities, staff awards, financial information, and of course, our student achievement.

We scored well above the national average on the NWEA MAP test in both reading and writing.  Our reading scores ranged from 10 points above the national average in 7th grade to 34 points above the national average in the 3rd grade. Similarly, our math scores ranged from 20 points above the national average in the 7th grade to 39 points above the national average in the 6th grade. Our growth in achievement in both areas has been very impressive in the last seven years, as you can see in the "growth column."

Superintendent Goals:

Based on the feedback that I received during my evaluation, I would like to replace Goal #3 "Advocate for Norfolk Public Schools and Nebraska Public Schools within our community, the state, and the political arena" with "Develop and Implement our 2nd Strategic Action Plan."  I still believe that advocating for our public schools is extremely important and will continue to do this. It just does not need to be a goal at this time.  I have developed effective strategies for this and will continue their implementation. 

I have made a lot of progress towards my other two goals, but will continue them for 2018, as they are not complete. They are:

1. Create and Implement a District Communications Plan to strategically enhance internal and external communications and public relations.

2. Provide leadership and direction regarding the creation, implementation and maintenance of a district instructional model.

In regards to Strategic Planning, I have already made initial contact  with Larry Dlugosh, who served as our original facilitator.  We have a lot of details to work out, but are hoping to host our "second round" of Strategic Planning in March. This would be very similar to our "first round"... meaning that it would require participants to be available a Sunday evening, Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon. I will get you more information about this as soon as it is available.

The committee met today at 12:00 p.m., we reviewed all claims for January, 2018, Activity claims for December, 2017 and current fund balances.  We also discussed the following items:

• Update on the renovation process for the 25th Street property
• Reviewed banking resolutions and credit card list for 2018
• Information on staff negotiations for 18-19

Our next meeting will be at 12:00 noon on February 12, 2018 at NPS central office.

The Policy Committee reviewed policies 5201-5305 electronically.

Policy 5205, which outlines our graduation requirements, was revised to make it easier to understand.  Our expectations for graduation have not actually changed, they are just outlined more clearly.

Policy 5303, which outlines our fund-raising guidelines, was revised to give the superintendent discretion to allow more than one fundraiser for an organization if extenuating circumstances exist (such as qualifying for a national event in another state). 

No other changes were recommended at this time.

The 2018 Legislative Session began on Wednesday, January 3rd, and all indications are that it will be a busy, busy session.  The Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce held its first Government Affairs meeting on January 4th, and I already have the following meetings scheduled for January.  Members of the NPS Government Relations Committee are welcome to attend any of these meetings (unless otherwise noted):

January 10: Greater Nebraska Schools Association (GNSA) Legislative Committee (Supt only)

January 11; Norfolk Public Schools (NPS) Government Relations Committee

January 12: GNSA Legislative Call

January 17 GNSA Legislative Meeting in Lincoln

January 18: Chamber Government Affairs Call with Senator Scheer

January 19: ESU 1/8 Legislative Committee (Supt only) and GNSA Legislative Call

January 21-22 Nebraska Association of School Boards Legislative Issues Workshop in Lincoln

January 24; NPS Government Relations Committee

January 25: Chamber Government Affairs Call with Senator Scheer

January 26: GNSA Legislative Call

Property tax reform, school funding, and maintenance of local control are three prominent issues we will be following closely throughout the session.

The Policy Committee met at noon on December 18th. 

Mr. Ries and Mr. Shiers reviewed our participation numbers, which  have remained relatively stable over the last few years, with some decline at the Junior High level. It was discussed that this is comparable to what we are seeing across the state and nation.

The Committee reviewed Board Policy 5304 related to Cooperative Activities.  No changes were recommended at this time.

We also discussed spring scheduling at Memorial Field, which could be a little more tricky, as NECC is starting baseball.

Mr. Ries discussed our transition to the Heartland Athletic Conference, including the scheduling of events,  the transition of our website, and the hosting of conference events.

Mr. Shiers indicated that it is becoming increasingly difficult to schedule Junior High events due to our size and location.

Our tennis courts and tracks will be repaired this summer.

Our Next Activities Meeting is scheduled for 12:00 pm @ Central Office on February 26, 2018.

No committee meeting minutes were submitted.

Minutes from the December 11, 2017 meeting are attached for review.

Abbey Coffin--Bel Air Resource- staring January 9, 2018

2017-2018 - Norfolk Public Schools, Elementary Resource Teacher

Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education, Special Education Emphasis from the Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

Previously a Special Education Student Teacher at St. George School, St. George, Kansas.

We were not able to hire someone for this position at the beginning of the school year, so we temporarily filled it with our district behavior/autism specialist (Lori Voss). Lori will help Abbey with the transition and then resume her district assignment.

Burgess Powell is retiring from the senior high after 38 years of service as our Drafting teacher.

Pat Schipporeit is retiring from senior high after 42 years of service as a language arts instructor.

Jodi Coolidge is resigning from the senior high after 5 years of service as Vocational Coordinator/Special Education Instructor.

I would like to thank these three individuals for their service to NPS and for turning their resignations in year.  

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind staff that we have not offered an Early Separation Agreement for many years, and assure them that we do not intend to offer one this year.  The sooner staff turn in their resignations, the better chance we have to hire strong replacements.

Attached are the claims and conflict statements for this month.

I am recommending that the Board approve the posted calendar, which was created by the District Calendar Committee and reviewed by administration.

The start and end date are very similar to our current year, as is our Winter Break.

The biggest change from the 2017-2018 calendar to the 2018-2019 calendar is the change regarding "make up snow days." These are now attached to a spring break, rather than the end of the school year, which will make them more valuable in terms of instruction.

Another notable change is that our Staff Appreciation Event will take place during the last Early Out/PLC of the year - allowing us to schedule an additional day of professional development in February. We have also designated April 12th (District Music) a Teacher Work Day, rather than a No School Day. This may help us find workers for that event.

It should be noted that our change to Staff Appreciation will require us to rethink that event. Instead of hosting a breakfast in the morning we will need to consider an ice cream or desert social in the afternoon, following the awards ceremony.

Melora Hirschman is requesting that we approve a foreign exchange student from France.  This student meets all the requirements listed in Board Policy 5007 except the August 1st application deadline. Melora is requesting an exception to this deadline due to extenuating circumstances. (This student was removed from a placement in Stanton mid-year.)

Based upon recommendation of the FCS Career Academy Steering Committee, the FCS department has designed, developed and is seeking board approval of the addition a Program of Study, Child, Youth and Family Studies. This program consists of 3 courses, 2 of which need board approval. Human Growth and Development and Parents and Families. 

Human Growth and Development studies the lifespan from prenatal to death. Parents and Families studies in depth dynamics of family and parenting roles, including considerations of children with special needs. Both courses include exploration of family related careers. 

The district conducted interviews on December 20th with four different architectural firms that were selected as finalist.  The district's 8 member team spent the day reviewing each firms abilities in the following areas.

• Professional team that would be used on the project, their relevant experience and approach to consulting and design services 

• Visual and detailed concept drawings that reflect the ideas, needs, and suggestions from the district

• Proposed cost breakdown for Architectural Services on this project

• Ability to stay within estimated budget for the project

• Open to discuss and share items that might not have been considered

• Provide a closing statement on why your firm is the best choice for this project.  Giving firms a chance to discuss and share unique characteristics they could provide as well as any item that they want the district to consider

At the conclusion of the day each member was able to share their thoughts and opinions and if they had any other questions that needed to be answered.  As a group there was a strong recommendation for CMBA as the firm to design and oversee the renovation of the 25th Street property.

The Policy Committee reviewed these policies and is recommending that the Board approve their First Reading tonight.

Policy 5205, which outlines our graduation requirements, was revised to make the formatting consistent throughout and to make it and easier to understand. We also made a few changes to the policy to make it consistent with our current practice (as noted in our Student Handbook).

Computer technology is its own category now, because it isn't really an elective. It is a required course.  We also updated the PE/Health category to reflect current practice, which is to require 10 hours of PE.  Health is no longer part of this category; it is an elective. 

Policy 5303, which outlines our fund-raising guidelines, was revised to give the superintendent discretion to allow more than one fundraiser for an organization if extenuating circumstances exist (such as qualifying for a national event in another state). 

Attached is the Non-Supervisory Certified staff negotiated agreement for 2018-2019.  This agreement is reflective of a 3.25% total package increase.  This package increase should keep our district in a competitive position for 2018-2019.  Some additional highlights of this agreement are.

• Additional number of times the superintendent will be able to deviate from the salary schedule placement requirements for new hires, this is important for specialized and hard to fill areas.
• Adding an additional year of experience that new staff hired can bring in for placement on the salary schedule.  This helps when recruiting and hiring for positions while staying competitive with other districts in this regard.

The Association and Board during their meetings worked professionally and productively to settle on this agreement which is a positive for everyone.  I would like to thank all those involved for their efforts.

The Second Meeting of the Month will be held at noon on Thursday, January 25th.

Our next regular Board meeting will be held Monday, February 12th.  The Study Session will begin at 5:30 and will be followed by the Business Meeting at 6:30. 

All components of these meetings will be held at the NPS Central Administration Offices and 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.