August 13, 2018 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 posted in the board room for your review. A copy of the agenda is available at the desk of the recording secretary.
 

Rationale:  HAL Summer Camps

Rationale:  Please stand and join us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rationale:  Last year our district applied for and was awarded grant dollars to purchase and plant two trees through the Community Forestry Incentive program which is part of the Lower Elkhorn NRD.  This spring the district had two trees planted at our AFS Career Education facility and has submitted a request for reimbursement.  Tonight Bob Huntley who is a board member from the Lower Elkhorn NRD is here to present a check for this purchase. 

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 August, 2018 by specific fund are as follows:

General Fund = $416,853.71

Nutrition Services Fund =$52,359.99

Cooperative Fund = $122,686.25

Depreciation Fund = $10,578.22

Special Building Fund = $94,651.27

Employee Benefit Fund = $290.00

Student Fee Fund = $13,840.44

The total amount of claims for the month of July, 2018 in the Activities Fund were:
Activity Fund =$152,594.84

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

Rationale:  CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT:

• Buildings and teachers should have all of their supplies and working technology. 
• Training has been fantastic and we’ve evolved our scheduling and offerings. The addition of Heather Thompson and Renee Rucker to the Teaching and Learning team has been an awesome improvement.
• Continued Science curriculum work has been done in the 5^th-8^th grades.
• We have lined up a small pilot with a science resource. We will only be piloting on standards and targets that we have written already.
• I need to line up a meeting with Curriculum Committee Members, Dr. Gubbels, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Mitchell to review some curricular processes, documents and discuss the Science pilot.
• Continued training with FIRST Education starts up again tomorrow at the Senior High Building. We will be continuing to work on our grading action plans.

TECHNOLOGY:

• Technology updates, replacements and new purchases were completed early this year. As far as we are aware, everything is ready to go.
• The tech sale was modest this year in terms of items available but we still managed a large crowd.

 

Rationale:  The 2018 summer school attendance numbers for each level are as follows:
Little Panthers Preschool: 24, Elementary: 327, MS/JH: 146, SH: 260
Total: 757

As a reminder: Open Houses for the start of the 2018-2019 school year have been scheduled for the following dates:

• •  
  • Middle School - 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
  • High School - 6:00-8:00
  • Junior High: 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

• ALL Elementary Schools - 5:30 - 6:30 PM

Thursday, August 16th, students at the elementary schools, Middle School, Jr High as well as the 9th graders and new students of the high school report for classes.  The returning students in grades 10th - 12th will start classes on Friday, August 17th.  Kindergarten classes are split for the first two days; half will attend on Thursday and half will attend on Friday. Parents were informed which day their Kindergartner will report to school.

Additional basic school supplies, as guided by the district school supply lists have been purchased by the school district and will be made available to those qualifying students who request them. These are basic school materials like paper, pencils, glue, folders, binders, etc.

 

Rationale:  "New to the District" Staff Training:

• This past week we were able to meet our newest group of educators and spend time with them, getting to know them and preparing them for the beginning of the school year. The group spent time learning about our district instructional and operational practices. Some of the topics included in the training were curriculum, Target Based Grading, professional practices, our district Instructional Model, building positive student relationships, Professional Learning Communities, and technology,
• This is an outstanding group of educators eager to serve our students, our district, and our community. 

Substitute Teacher Training:

• Our substitute teacher training workshops are scheduled for Thursday, August 9th from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. at Central Office and Tuesday, August 21st from 9:00 -10:00 a.m. at Central Office. Our classified staff substitute training was held on Friday, August 10th from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
• We greatly appreciate our substitute teachers and support staff and they do a great job of meeting the needs of our students when our regular staff members are absent.
• We are still looking for quality substitute teachers and paras.  Individuals interested in subbing for our district can apply online at www.norfolkpublicschools.org

Instructional Model:

• Our district Instructional Model goes "live" as we enter the new school year! Thanks again to everyone involved in making this project an outstanding addition to our teacher’s instructional toolboxes. 

Current Classified Openings:

• Activity Drivers
• Tech Center: Assistive Technology
• Substitute Custodians
• General Maint. /Transportation.
• Middle School: SPED Para
• Junior High: ESL Para
• Woodland Park Elementary: Title 1 Para
• Washington Elementary Para
• District Route Driver

Current Certified Staff Openings:

• No openings at this time.

Current Coaching Openings:

• SH Weight Room Supervisor: Winter Season
• JH Intramural FB
• JH Wrestling

Rationale:  Kindergarten Enrollment:
As of Friday, we had 333 students enrolled in kindergarten, compared to 289 last year. I had hypothesized that the 2017-2018 kindergarten class was an anomaly; rather than a trend; and it appears that I was correct. Our average kindergarten enrollment over the last 10 years is 320, with 334 being our highest enrollment in 2016 and 289 being our low in 2017.

Town Hall on Property Taxes
The Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, the Neligh Newspaper, and the Norfolk Daily News are hosting a town hall meeting regarding property taxes on Tuesday, August 28, at 7:00 pm in our Johnny Carson Theatre.  This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the Norfolk Public Schools.  However, it would be good for school representatives to attend to hear the presentation and ask questions.


 

Rationale: 

The committee met today at 1:00 p.m. and reviewed all claims for August, 2018, Activity claims for July, 2018 and current fund balances.  The committee also discussed the following items:

• Updates on the 25th Street property
• Updates on summer projects

Our next meetings will be at 12:00 p.m. on August 22nd and Sept. 10th,

Rationale:   

The Policy Committee met on July 26th to review the Elementary Homework Talking Points to ensure that they are aligned to current Board policy.  In addition, Dr. Thompson shared the research and learning process she is going to use with an Ad Hoc Committee of school personnel. The committee will make Homework guideline and policy recommendations to the Board Policy Committee. We will use the recommendations as a starting point and framework as we revise our Homework Policy 6240 this year. We also set dates for our 2018-2019 Policy Committee meetings, which will be  held immediately following our Second Meeting of the Month. The next Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for September 27th. We will recommence our annual policy review process at that time and review a policy suggested by Perry Law Firm.

Rationale:  The Government Relations Committee has not met, but has been watching recent editorials regarding property taxes and would like to share a few key points from Ann Hunter-Pirtle's recent article:

School spending is not the reason for high property taxes:
*  "Nebraska's property taxes are high because the state ranks 48th in the nation for state investment in education, forcing local property taxes to make up the difference."
* Over the past five years, the average annual budget increase was only 2.7 percent for our public schools, which is less than for state government.

Our public schools are doing a great job.
* "Nebraska's 2017 fourth- and eighth- graders scored higher than their peers across the country in math and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.  -- Only 2 states outscore Nebraska in fourth-grade reading and only two scored better than Nebraska in math."

Our Government  Relations Committee will continue to monitor this important issue and advocate for fair and appropriate levels of funding for our public schools.



 

Rationale:  The Activities Committee will meet at noon on Monday, August 27th.

Rationale:  No meeting minutes were submitted.

Rationale:  Minutes of the July 10, 2018 and July 26, 2018 meetings are attached.

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of August, 2018 as previously discussed.

Rationale: 

According to state statute, 79-724:

(1) Every school board shall, at the beginning of each school year, appoint from its members a committee of three, to be known as the committee on Americanism. The committee on Americanism shall:
(a) Carefully examine, inspect, and approve all textbooks used in the teaching of American history and civil government in the school. Such textbooks shall adequately stress the services of the men and women who achieved our national independence, established our constitutional government, and preserved our union and shall be so written to include contributions by ethnic groups as to develop a pride and respect for our institutions and not be a mere recital of events and dates;
(b) Assure themselves as to the character of all teachers employed and their knowledge and acceptance of the American form of government; and
(c) Take all such other steps as will assure the carrying out of the provisions of this section.
(2) All American history courses approved for grade levels as provided by this section shall include and adequately stress contributions of all ethnic groups (a) to the development and growth of America into a great nation, (b) to art, music, education, medicine, literature, science, politics, and government, and (c) to the war services in all wars of this nation.
(3) All grades of all public, private, denominational, and parochial schools, below the sixth grade, shall devote at least one hour per week to exercises or teaching periods for the following purpose:
(a) The recital of stories having to do with American history or the deeds and exploits of American heroes;
(b) The singing of patriotic songs and the insistence that every pupil memorize the Star-Spangled Banner and America; and
(c) The development of reverence for the flag and instruction as to proper conduct in its presentation.
(4) In at least two of the three grades from the fifth grade to the eighth grade in all public, private, denominational, and parochial schools, at least three periods per week shall be set aside to be devoted to the teaching of American history from approved textbooks, taught in such a way as to make the course interesting and attractive and to develop a love of country.
(5) In at least two grades of every high school, at least three periods per week shall be devoted to the teaching of civics, during which courses specific attention shall be given to the following matters:
(a) The United States Constitution and the Constitution of Nebraska;
(b) The benefits and advantages of our form of government and the dangers and fallacies of Nazism, Communism, and similar ideologies; and
(c) The duties of citizenship, including active participation in the improvement of a citizen's community, state, country, and world and the value and practice of civil discourse between opposing interests.
(6) Appropriate patriotic exercises suitable to the occasion shall be held under the direction of the superintendent in every public, private, denominational, and parochial school on Lincoln's birthday, Washington's birthday, Flag Day, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day, or on the day preceding or following such holiday, if the school is in session.
(7) Every school board, the State Board of Education, and the superintendent of each school district in the state shall be held directly responsible in the order named for carrying out this section, and neglect thereof by any employee.

Our current Americanism Committee members are Bruce Mitchell, Dr. Patti Gubbels, and Arnie Robinson.

Rationale: 

These items would be on a separate posting at the September board meeting.

Rationale:  Our Strategic Action Planning committees have reviewed the feedback that you provided them during our Board-Admin Retreat and made adjustments where needed.  At this time, we are asking you to approve our 2018 Strategic Action Plans related to:
* Target Based Instruction and Grading
* School Safety
* Early Childhood Education

Rationale: 

1. The second monthly meeting of the Board of Education has been scheduled for Thursday, August 23, 2018 at 12:00 noon at the NPS Central Office Administration Offices.  A Budget Hearing will comprise the agenda.
2. The regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, September 10, 2018. 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.