February 11, 2019 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:  Strategic Planning Update regarding Safety Goal

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

Rationale:  Montessori Educational Model

Rationale:  January 2019 Success Pin Recipients
The Cash Now winner is Karen Kalin. She will receive $50, compliments of U.S. Bank.

Lori Voss	Jenny Bloom
Alissa Hoffman	Jenny Bloom
Jay Arnold	Derek Ippensen
Megan Lewis	Deb Borgelt
Martha Thompson	Sandy Claussen
Michelle Fisher	Ben Ries
Karen Kalin	Nancy Full
Barbie Painter	Keira  McCord
Gretchen Vanness	Mike Sunderman
Michelle Lingenfelter	Makenzie Jones
Stacy Hardy	Meagan Priebe
Tara Jordan	Jason Ayers

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 February, 2019 by specific fund are as follows:

General Fund = $348,121.66

Nutrition Services Fund =$234,146.26

Cooperative Fund = $5,400.58

Depreciation Fund = $165,079

Special Building Fund = $4,381.10

Employees Benefit Fund = $104.75

Student Fee Fund = $88,770.07

The total amount of claims for the month of January, 2019 in the Activities Fund are as follows:
Activity Fund =$99,153.44

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.  The business office has provided W-2's and 1095 C's to all district employees for the 2018 calendar year.

Rationale:  Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

• Ryan Specht and I are leading a study group to review our High Ability Learner Program and Honors Programs. We have a series of meetings designed to evaluate the existing NPS programs, create a mission statement and direction for the programs, organize details for student qualifications into the programs, and create a plan of program management that fits within district resources. We have only met once and have three more sessions scheduled.
• The Teaching and Learning Team has been working on the state testing training and management surrounding the details of state testing.
• The Teaching and Learning Team has also been working on training for all staff which occurred at today’s profession development. Heather Thompson and Renee Rucker facilitated training to small curricular groups throughout the day on breaking apart the meaning of state standards and how to apply the appropriate depth of knowledge. My time with staff involved information on federal and state requirements and our local movement through target based grading steps.
• Mary Luhr and I worked a full day with elementary principals on MTSS development for the district. This is a comprehensive system that involves multiple layers.  Our goal is to streamline a foundational district system.

 

Rationale:   

• Parent/Teacher Conferences were held last week.  I will share an attendance summary of conferences at all Norfolk Public Schools, at next month’s board meeting.  
• ELPA 21 started for our district ELL students on Monday, February 4^th and will continue through March 15^th.

• Kindergarten enrollment has started for the 2019-2020 school term. Registration is being held at neighborhood schools. Parents must have a birth certificate and a copy of immunizations to begin the enrollment process.
• Kindergarten Round Up will be held Wednesday, April 18th at your neighborhood elementary school.
• February 14th and 15th 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.

Rationale: 

Staff  and Student Development:

• On Monday, January 21st, our staff (and several surrounding school districts) received a heartwarming and insightful message from Dr. Adolph Brown about the power of relationships and learning each student’s personal story. Dr. Brown reminded all of us that students carry "Two Backpacks" and that "poverty is not a disability." Special thanks to all of the staff  members who who also took the time to utilize their talents in leading "break out" sessions for the event.

• Monday, February 11th was a professional development day focused on enhancing grading practices and prioritizing learning targets. This training helped to further reinforce our district expectations of a  "guaranteed and viable curriculum." The planning, presentations, and collaboration demonstrated throughout the day exemplifies our district’s commitment to increasing student learning and achievement. Kudos to our staff for their continued work in this area!

• Monday, February 11th was also the first annual Norfolk Area Youth Leadership Summit. This event (held at Norfolk Middle School) brought together youth from a variety of area schools to develop leadership and positive connections for adolescents in our community. The Keynote speaker for the event was Mike Smith (mikesmithlive.com) who delivered a powerful message about the value of every child. This "youth led" event (planned in conjunction with several community agencies) highlighted the amazing talents of our young people here in the Norfolk Area.  

School Safety Information:

• We will be providing some additional safety training for our classified staff on Wednesday, February 27th from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. A representative from the Nebraska State Patrol will be leading the training. Our certified staff received this training back in January and we had tremendous positive feedback regarding the information.

Hiring Season:

• The hiring season is already in full swing for our district and we are busy carefully reviewing applications and selecting the highest quality candidates to fill our most recent and anticipated openings. We will continue to advertise and recruit as needed until all of our spots have been filled.

Personnel Update:

• Current Openings:

• • Aftershock Club Facilitators

  • General Maintenance /Transportation (2)

  • Jefferson Elementary: Resource Paraprofessional

  • Junior High: Secretary I (15 hrs)

  • School Bus Activity Drivers

  • Senior High: Achievement Center Paraprofessional

  • Senior High: ELL Paraprofessional

  • Substitute Custodians

  • Substitute Deaf Ed. Interpreters

  • Substitute Paraprofessionals

  • Substitute Teachers
     

• 2019-2020 School Year Openings:

  • (Anticipated) Senior High: Math Teacher

  • (Anticipated) Senior High: Dean of Students

  • Little Panthers Preschool: Early Childhood Teachers (3)

  • Little Panthers Preschool: Early Childhood Special Education Teacher (2)

  • Senior High: Science

  • Senior High: English Teacher

  • Senior High: Guidance Counselor

  • School Psychologist

  • Speech Language Pathologist

  • Westside Elementary: 1st Grade Teacher

  • Westside Elementary: Title I Teacher
     

• 2019-2020 Coaching Openings:

• • ½ Assistant Theater (2nd Semester)

  • (Anticipated) Assistant Football

  • (Anticipated) Head Girls Soccer

  • Head Speech

  • Assistant Speech

  • 7th Assistant Volleyball

  • Freshman Football

  • 8th Grade Assistant Girls Basketball

Rationale:  Registered Apprenticeship Update:
The Registered Apprenticeship standards that we submitted have been approved by the Department of Labor.  They have given us permission to begin advertising these youth apprenticeship opportunities to companies in our area and have indicated that they would like to set up a signing ceremony with us once an employer has committed to the program.

Inclement Weather:
We used one "inclement weather" date on January 30th.  According to Board policy, we only have one more day built into our calendar.  If we use more than that, prior to March 1st, we will need to make up days over Spring Break.

Meetings with Senators:
I have met with several Senators over the course of the last month, including Speaker Jim Scheer, Revenue Chair Senator Linehan, General Affairs Chair Senator Briese, and our newest Northeast Nebraska Senator, Senator Gragert.  In general, there seems to be more optimism within the legislature this session, in regards to the prospect of collaboration.  All senators agreed that compromise would be necessary in order to pass legislation to address property taxes and school funding.

Legislative Resolution 10:
Speaker of House, Jim Scheer, along with 9 other senators, introduced Legislative Resolution 10, which officially recognized school board members across the state for their service, stating:
"Now, therefore let it be resolved...that the Legislature appreciates the hard work of school board members across the state, and that the Legislature encourages Nebraskans to acknowledge and thank school board members for their work and dedication."  
This resolution was met with a standing ovation at the NASB's Legislative Issues Workshop, where it was introduced.

 

 

Rationale:  The committee met at 12:00 today and discussed the following items:

• Review of February claims
• Updates on the 25th Street project, Jim Lange from HESPE provided the committee an update on the project and also opportunity for questions
• Discussion on 403 (B) plan management proposals
• Final review of the Certified Agreement for 2019-2020
• Review of proposed compensation packages for Classified, Nurses and Administration for 19-20 using the 3.30% total package increase that was approved for the certified staff

Next meeting with be March 11th at 12:00 noon.

Rationale: 

1. The Policy Committee met on January 24, 2019 to review Board Policies 2310-2440 related to Administration for first reading.

Formatting improvements and grammatical changes were made throughout the policies, including numerous capitalization and verb tense changes.

We are recommending an update to Policy 2410 (Administrative Actions in Emergencies) to make the language about make-up days due to  inclement weather consistent with the language in Board Policy 4005.

It was also noted that Policy 2420 (Staff Handbooks) states:

"Staff handbooks shall, when approved by the Board, have the effect of Board Policy and control over any conflicting Board Policy adopted prior to the staff handbook in the event of a direct conflict." It is not necessarily required that the Board review staff handbooks, and has not been done in the past, but we are recommending that Board approval become part of common practice in the future. This does not reflect a recommended change in policy. 

2. There are several changes we are recommending for some of the Administration policies that were approved on first reading last month.

The Committee is recommending changes to Board Policy 2223 (Director of Human Resources and Accreditation), as suggested by our current Director of HR.

3. The Committee removed the words "from time to time" in Policies 2110 and 2210 in regards to the review and adoption of administrators’ job descriptions.  In addition, the Committee removed language indicating that administrators shall be expected to adhere to their job descriptions. We believe it is implied that administrators are expected to fulfill responsibilities identified in job descriptions.

  4. The Committee reviewed the draft Homework Definition and Guidelines (Administrative Rule), as well as the Draft Homework Policy recommended by the District Homework Committee.  The Policy Committee would like to thank the committee for their thoughtfulness, dedication, and effort in developing a Homework Policy, Definition, and Guidelines that support homework as an integral part of the learning process. The research, discussion, and writing process they used serves as an excellent model for research-based decision making. The Policy Committee recommended a few wording changes to the proposed policy, definition, and guidelines, which will be taken back to the  Homework Committee for review.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 1:00 on February 28, 2019.

Rationale: 

Members of the Government Relations Committee have been busy attending various meetings related to the legislative session, including meetings with the Greater Nebraska Schools Association (GNSA), the Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB), the ESU 1 and 8 Legislative Committee, the Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Committee, and Stand for Schools.

At this point, we are still reviewing bills and analyzing their potential impact on the district. Over 700 bills have been introduced, and many of these are related to areas that directly affect schools, such as, property taxes, school funding, student discipline, and mental health resources. The NASB’s Summary of Key Legislation has been attached for your convenience and consideration.

Our next GNSA meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 20th, and our next Govt Relations Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 26th.
 

Rationale:  The Activities Committee has not met. Our next meeting is scheduled for noon on Monday, February 25, 2019.

Rationale:  The minutes of the February 5, 2019 Nurses' Meeting is attached.

Rationale:  Minutes from the January 14, 2019 and January 24, 2019 meetings are attached.

Rationale:  Angie Hausmann - 2019-2020 0.6 FTE Principal of Lincoln Montessori

• Transferring from 1.0 FTE Principal of Jefferson Elementary

Ryan Specht - 2019-2020 Principal of Washington Elementary

• Transferring from Assistant Principal of Norfolk Middle School

Haeven Pederson - 2019-2020 - Principal of Jefferson Elementary

•  Master of Science in Elementary Counseling from the University of Nebraska in Omaha.
• Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Doane University, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
• Currently the Principal at Holmes Elementary, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Whitney Porn--2019-2020 - Junior High- Science Teacher

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education from the University of Nebraska, in Omaha.
• Currently a Registered Dental Hygienist at Family 1st Dental, here in Norfolk, Nebraska.

  Austin Casselberry--2019-2020 - Norfolk Junior High, Business/After School Programming Director (Aftershock)

• Bachelor of Science in Business and Technology from Wayne State College, in Wayne, Nebraska.
• Currently the after school programming director, here at Norfolk Public Schools.

Rationale:  Sandy Cover--Senior High Math Teacher
Deb Holland -- Senior High Science Teacher
John Erwin--Senior High Dean of Students
Sally McCallum- 6th Grade Teacher at Middle School

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of February, 2019.  These claims were reviewed earlier today by our Finance and Facility committee.  Also attached are the conflict statements on specific claims that need to be read before voting.

Rationale:  These policies have been reviewed and updated by the Policy Committee.  They recommend that you approve the second and final reading of these policies, as presented.

Rationale:  These policies have been reviewed and updated by the Policy Committee.They recommend that you approved the first reading of these policies, as presented.

Rationale:  I'm recommending the approval to purchase a 3 year digital renewal for the Wonders reading program for 3rd -5th grade. This renewal will balance the end date to be consistent with K-2 grade. This cost ($50,042.13) also includes additional materials to support the student growth in a couple of grades where needed. This is not a program change, only an extension of online access to teaching and learning materials.

Rationale:  The NCEA membership has voted to accept this agreement, which was reached via the collective bargaining process.  The Board's Negotiations Committee (Tammy Day and Bob Waite) recommend that the Board also vote to accept this agreement, which includes a 3.3% total package increase for non-supervisory certificated staff.

Rationale:  This course has been reviewed by the Family and Consumer Science department at the Senior High, the district Teaching and Learning Team, and the Board's Curriculum Team.  It is recommended that the course be added as part of the Education Career Academy.

Rationale:  The attached agreement outlines the roles and responsibilities for Norfolk Public Schools and Wayne State College in regards to the S.T.E.P Program/Education Career Academy.

Rationale:  The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education has been scheduled for noon on Thursday, February 28, 2019.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, March 11, 2019. 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.