January 13, 2014 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:   

It is the VISION of Norfolk Public Schools to be a top-performing school that provides outstanding educational opportunities for every student and is a source of pride and an asset to our community.

The MISSION of Norfolk Public Schools is to prepare all students to pursue their goals for the future.

Strategic Goals:

• Goal #1:  By Fall 2017, NPS will implement and communicate a curriculum that is scoped, sequenced, and aligned with state and national standards.

• Goal #2:  By Fall 2017, NPS will expand career awareness activities and provide course offerings in all 6 (Nebraska Career Education) Career Cluster areas through partnerships.

• Goal #3:  By Spring 2015, NPS will implement a continuous and comprehensive integration of technology for all students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rationale:  Mid Year Superintendent Update/Transition Review presented by Dr. Thompson and discussed by team.

Rationale:  The Norfolk Area Sports Council would like to commend the Senior High School and the City of Norfolk for the outstanding job they did in hosting the State One Act Play Competition. The Norfolk Area Sports Council hopes that we will consider bidding for this competition again in the future.

Rationale:  Governor Dave Heineman has proclaimed the week of January 26th-February 1st to be School Board Member Recognition Week.  On behalf of Norfolk Public Schools, the Norfolk City Education Association, and the Norfolk Public Schools Foundation, I would like to thank each one of you for the countless hours that you volunteer to serve on our board.  Your commitment and dedication is very much appreciated, and your contributions will be felt for years to come by the students who benefit from the quality education that you have helped to ensure. The NCEA and NPS Foundation have joined me in preparing a gift bag for you as a small token of our appreciation.  Thank you.

Rationale:  Heidi Korth-Administrative Assistant at Norfolk Junior High School

Rationale:  Norfolk Public Schools has been awarded the Apple Distinguished Program Award for the third year in a row.  This is now a 2 year award--an honor that fewer that fifty schools in the nation recieve.  

Rationale:  Mr. Hart would like to update the board on the 1  to 1 iPad initiative at the Junior High.

Rationale:  This is the time during the board meeting when the public may request to address the board regarding an agenda item. If you wish to comment, we ask that you identify yourself and indicate the agenda item to which you will be speaking.

Rationale:  Total amount of claims approved in the consent agenda for the month of January, 2014 by specific fund are as follows:

General Fund=$468,166.87
Cooperative Fund=$5,198.84
Bond Fund=$431.25
Convenience Fee Fund=$286.14
Student Fee Fund=$2,134.75
Depreciation Fund=$1,182.00
Special Building Fund=$185.51
QCPUF Fund=$400.00
Nutrition Services Fund=$80,380.29


The total amount of claims for the month of December, 2013 in the Activities fund are as follows:

Activity Fund = $97,198.51

The Finance and Facility Committee reviewed all January claims for approval by the board. The committee also reviewed the Activity Account claims for the month of December.  As we close out the first four months of our budget year claims, revenues seem to be on par of what we budgeted.  First quarter reimbursements have been filed for all Title, IDEA, Indian Education, and early childhood grants.  Over the next few months revenue coming in will be slow and then will pick up again as we enter the spring quarter.  This is where having our cash reserve is important when handling the day to day business operations of our district.  As soon as we finish January payroll this week the business office will start processing all W-2's for our employees and should have them out by the end of the month. 

Rationale: 

STAFF DEVELOPMENT ON JAN. 6, 2014

NPS had a full day of staff development with thanks to Mickie Mueller and Lisa Pospisil. The keynote for the morning was Juli Burney-a humorist and teacher from Doane College. She focused her topic on communication and having a positive outlook. Despite the cold weather, the attitudes were quite warm.

Session topics: NeBooks Project, ELL Applications, Mental and Emotional Health, iPad Chat, Google, Infinite Campus Refresher, Healthy Eating, Classroom Management, Chromebook Panel, Smart Notebook, LEGO Mindstorms, Flipped Classrooms, Twitter, Wonders, Evernote, PLC’s, Video Creation, Using Movies, Blogging, QR Codes, Behavior 101, Smore…etc…) To review the schedule and sessions you can visit the website that was designed for the day by Mickie Mueller.

https://sites.google.com/a/npsne.org/pantherpd/

STATEWIDE NeSA WRITING ASSESSMENT

The testing window is open for 4^th, 8^th and 11^th grade from Jan. 20-Feb. 7. Specific assessment administration training sessions are being led by Claudia Olsen and me (Beth) on Monday-Tuesday Jan. 13-14 before and after school in the Central Office. This becomes an important time of the year for the school district and teachers.

ONGOING PROJECTS

Curriculum work

Staying on top of assessments

Reviewing possible reading programs for 6^th grade.

CHROMEBOOKS

Moving forward as planned with 6 more classroom sets at the Senior High this semester. 

Rationale: 

4. We have two new members this fall, Keith Neal and Lori Coffin.  Keith, Lori, Jayni, Joe and Kris all attended Level I, II and V training last October in Omaha and will follow-up with Level IV training this February in Norfolk.

5. I would encourage the Board of Education and the Norfolk community to go to our website:  http://www.norfolkpublicschools.org and check out the many school activities that may be of interest to you and we hope to see you at those you can attend.

6. On Friday, February 7^th, eleven of our students will travel to the UNMC College of Dentistry for Dental Day.  A variety of dental services will be performed by the college students, with supervision from Dr. Brown.  There is no cost to the district or to the students for these services.  The Elkhorn Logan Valley Health Dept. is coordinating the event.

Rationale:  My report will be very short this evening, as I shared a very lengthy Mid-Year Superintendent Update/Transition Review during the Study Session earlier tonight.

I would like to highlight a few upcoming events that would be beneficial for board members to attend:

Bob Waite and I will be attending the NASB Data for District Decision Makers tomorrow from 5:00-8:30 PM at LLC.

Sandy Wolfe and I will be attending the GNSA Meeting and Senator Luncheon on Wednesday from 9:30-1:00 in Lincoln.

There will be an NASB Legislative Issues Conference: January 26, 2014 6:00 PM - January 27, 2014 1:30 PM -Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln. If you would like to join me in attending this event, please notify Sara Ditmar so that she can register you.



I also would like to remind everyone to have their Supt Evaluations submitted to Dr. Krivohlavek by this Friday, January 17th.  These will be discussed at the noon meeting on January 23rd.

Rationale:  The Facility and Finance Committee met today at 12:00 noon in the central office board room. The committee had an opportunity to review all claims for January, and fund balances for December, as well as the activity fund claims for December, 2013.  Scott Williams from Insurance Associates reviewed our current insurance policy with the committee and answered any questions members had. The committee then reviewed our initial settlement with the teachers associations.  The district and association ended up settling with a 3.35% percent package.  This package includes an increase of $520 to the base salary and $500 annually to staff benefit/flat salary amounts which will help with insurance increases as well as keep us in compliance with the PPACA.  Mr. Waite and Mrs. Pfeil did an outstanding job of representing the board and citizens of Norfolk during this process.  I believe we have a solid package which keeps our staff competitive within their array, provides some cost of living increases while being sensitive to our taxpayers.  I would also like to thank the teachers association for their work on this.  This group was open during our discussion and very professional throughout the entire process.  We ended todays committee meeting with the discussion of the sale of some older scoreboards at our Jr. High and some upcoming facility items in our district.  The facility discussion will continue with a special meeting on Jan. 29th at 12:00 noon in the central office board room with results of those discussion shared at the Feb. 10th study session. The next regular Finance Facility meeting will be Monday February 10th at 12:00 noon in the central office board room.

Rationale:  The Activities Commitee has not met since our last board meeting.  The next Activities Committee meeting is scheduled for noon on February 24, 2014.

Rationale:  The Policy Committee did not meet this month.  We decided to postpone the first Reading of Section 5000 a and b until February in order to allow input from the administrative team, particularly building principals, as the policies in this Student section, has a direct impact on their daily functions.

Policy Section 4000 b an c is ready for 2nd Reading and approval by the school board.

Rationale:  No other committee meeting minutes to report.

Rationale:  Minutes from December 9, 2013 Regular Board Meeting

Rationale:  NONE

Rationale:  Deb Finn, 3rd grade teacher at Westside, is resigning effective May 23 due to a family relocation.  We will need to advertise and hire for this position.  

Joette Hardin, Special Education Teacher (Speech Assistant at Grant, Jefferson, Westside, Middle School and Junior High), resigned effective January 1, 2014.  Joette's resignation is also due to a family relocation.  

We are not planning to hire someone to replace Mrs. Hardin 2nd semester.  We want to monitor special education caseloads and student needs second semester and make a final determination on how this position will be handled later in the spring. Based on current Special Education needs in the district, Mr. Hebenstreit believes that he may recommend replacing this position with a High School Behavioral Disorder (BD) position next school year.  

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of January 2014.  The total of all claims is detailed out in the Financial Report by Fund.

Rationale:  Review of current format and other options; decision on best format moving forward.

Rationale:  The Junior High is seeking permission from the school board to sell the old Junior High backboard to St. Paul Lutheran Schools for a fee of $200.

Rationale:  The policies in section 4000b and 4000c, related to Personnel, have been reviewed by the school board's policy committee and the central office administration.  It is recommended that they be adopted as policy.  

Policies in this section include:
4100: Qualifications for Appointment as a Teacher
4101 Qualifications for Appointment to Administrative and Supervisory Positions
4110: Contracts
4111: Certification
4120: Probationary Certificated Employees
4121: Permanent Certificated Employees
4130: Assignment of Duties
4131: Agents/Tutors
4132: Student Teachers and Pre-Student Teachers
4133: Substitute Teachers
4140: Professional Growth
4141: Teacher Training
4150: Evaluation of Teachers
4160: Reduction in Force Policy for Certifcated Staff
4170: Leave of Absence
4180: Dual Sponsorship of Activities
4190: Standards of Ethical and Professional Performance
4200: Qualifications of Non-Certificated Employees
4201: "At-Will" Employees
4210: Hiring/ Dismissal
4230: Assignment and Transfer
4240: Complaint Procedure
4260: Standards of Performance for Non-Certified Employees

Rationale:  3.35% total increase with $500 on benefit/flat salary package and $520 on base salary.
No changes to language in negotiated agreement.
Similar to the increases we are seeing in other districts across the state.
Final Negotiated Agreement to be adopted at next board meeting.

Rationale:  - Election of President and Vice-President.
- Discussion regarding whether anyone wants to change committees.

Rationale:  The second meeting of the month will be held on Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 at 12:00 noon in the Central Office board room. 

The next regular meeting of the board of education is scheduled for Monday, Februrary 10th, 2014 at 5:30 at the Norfolk City Chamber Office. (A board supper will be held at 5:00 p.m., followed by a Study Session at 5:30 p.m., and the regular board meeting at 6:30 p.m.  All components are open to the public.)