July 12, 2021 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  July 3, 2021

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

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, including your address, the name of the organization you represent 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 July 2021 by specific fund are listed below:

General Fund = $1,922,362.74

Nutrition Services Fund =$56,306.96

Cooperative Fund = $2,379.61

Depreciation Fund = $294,064.50

QCPUF = $4,588.81

Student Fee Fund = $4,175.75

The total amount of claims for the month of June 2021 in the Activities Fund is listed below:
Activity Fund =$149,217.68

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

Rationale:  Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

• The Teaching and Learning Department has held 3 curriculum sessions with teachers this month to update and prepare for instruction for the next school year.
• Jared Oswald has facilitated some work and discussion with a group of senior high teachers to study accountability and interventions. This group will continue to meet several times. At this point, there is nothing to formally report out.
• I have spent time listening to webinars for EduClimber and NDE Assessment Update Sessions, which is a typical off season task.
• Our office is managing last minute purchasing for next year and planning for back to school learning sessions with new to the district teachers.

Rationale: 

Student Programs will have team meetings in the early weeks of August to discuss program goals for the 2021-2022 school year.

LB 527 brought a change with transition expectations for our students identified for special education. We will begin conversations of transition to post-high school, during the IEP year the student turns 14 years old.  Currently, the conversations begin during the IEP year the student turns 16.

I will attend the NDE and NCSA Administrator Conference, July 28-30 in Kearney.  At the conference I will attend sessions regarding ELL, Mental Health, MTSS/PBIS and Special Education. 

Rationale: 

One month from today we will have students and staff back in the buildings for the first day of school. There are a lot of behind the scene activities that happen over the summer to make sure we are ready for August 12th. We have had multiple summer professional development sessions with the administrative team. Included in that professional development was specific training on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, identifying our hidden biases and working to ensure safe environments for all our students, staff, and community members. Our technology team has been busy processing the student Chromebooks for August. I am happy to announce that we have received all our ordered devices already and are ahead of schedule to have them ready for August. Safety team Standard Response Protocols have also been updated and will be shared with staff at the beginning of the school year. Finally open houses have been set, on Monday August 9 we have Middle School at 5:30 pm, High School at 6:00 pm and Junior High at 6:30 pm.

Tuesday August 10 we will have all Elementary schools open houses starting at 5:30 pm. 

Rationale: 

HR Update:

Beginning of School Information:

• Our "New to the District" teacher training is Tuesday, August 3rd - Friday, August 6th.
• All certified staff report on Monday, August 9th.
• The first day of school for ½ of the students is Thursday, August 12th and the other ½ is Friday, August 13th.

LB147 brought a change for our recent retirees that would like to become substitute teachers for Norfolk Public Schools.  In the past, retirees were not allowed to sub until after a 180 day separation period.  With LB147, recent retirees are allowed to volunteer or substitute up to 8 days per month during the 180 days following termination of employment.  We are excited to be able to bring our recently retired teachers back into our buildings as substitute teachers.

Job Postings Update:

Certified Positions:

• Elementary Special Education Teacher (Anticipated)
• Senior High Special Education Teacher (Anticipated)
• High Ability Learner Facilitator
• Art Teacher - Senior High(0.5 FTE)/District Substitute Teacher (0.5 FTE) 
• Substitute Teacher - ‘21-’22

Classified Openings: 

• Jefferson Building Secretary
• Aftershock Club Facilitators (Part-Time)
• Grant Special Education Paraprofessional
• Lincoln/Mont. Reading Paraprofessional
• Lincoln/Mont. & Junior High Health Techs
• Middle School ED (High Needs) Para/Driver
• Junior High Media Para
• Junior High High Needs Para
• Senior High ELL Paraprofessional
• After Hours/Evening Custodian
• School Bus Activity Drivers 
• Evening Custodians (Part-Time)
• Electrician (Part-Time) - Maintenance
• Substitute Custodian (on-call)
• Substitute Deaf Education/Sign Language Interpreter (Part-Time)
• Substitute Paraprofessional, Health Tech, Secretary and Nurse

Coaching Opportunities:

• Assistant Swimming-Diving Coach
• SH Technical Theater Director

 

Rationale:  CARES/ARP/ESSER III Update:
The American Recovery Plan Act includes nearly $122 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) Fund for schools to mitigate the pandemic by taking additional steps for continued safe in-person instruction and addressing unfinished teaching and learning.

Norfolk Public Schools will be allocated approximately $6.5 million, which is the largest infusion of federal funds we have ever experienced.  This funding is to be used to address our COVID related concerns, by 1) taking additional measures to safely sustain our healthy operations, by implementing appropriate mitigation strategies, 2) addressing the many impacts of COVID-19 on students, including unfinished instruction; social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs; and 3) avoiding devastating staff layoffs.

We have submitted Part 1 of the application which included basic assurance statements, and we have posted our Return to In-Person Instruction Plan prior to those deadlines.  We have also submitted paperwork seeking preapproval for COVID related facility improvements that we would like to include in our grant proposal.

We will hold a Board Retreat on August 26th from noon to 4:00 so that we can provide you with a solid background regarding all of the components that we want to include in our proposal. This retreat will be open to the public and will include a public comment period.  This will allow us to consider this feedback and complete the grant prior to the September 15th deadline. 

We are excited about the possibility of using this funding to address students' learning loss, purchase new curriculum and intervention programs and technology upgrades, and address some critical facility issues, such as overcrowded lunchrooms and an inability to provide adequate social distancing.

Our final recommendations will be based upon the work of our Transitions Committee that helped us develop a plan to address the students' learning loss, our Return to School Committee, which helped us determine the mitigation strategies that we need to have in place, and the public feedback that we receive at this Board Retreat and via public surveys.

We want this process to be extremely open and transparent, so that our constituents know how we are using this funding and have an opportunity to share their feedback with us prior to grant completion.

 

 

Rationale:  The committee met at 12:00 on Friday July 9th.  The claims for the month of July and Activity claims for June were reviewed.  The committee then reviewed the following items:

• Updates on current district projects
• Recommendation to recycle old chromebooks
• Discussion on paying off our general obligation bond debt early
• Recommendation to release an RFP to purchase chromebooks and laptops for 22-23
• Review of tentative Budget and Tax Request timeline for 2021-2022
• Review of tentative Audit Timeline

The committee then went through a proposed update of the strategic facilities plan (Post Pandemic).
The next meeting will be Monday, August 9th at 12:00 noon.

Rationale: 

The Policy Committee met on 7/9/2021 to discuss the following policy revisions and additions, which were all recommended by the Perry Law Firm based upon changes at the state or federal level.

1. Policies 1200, 3560, 4002, 4003, 4190, 4260,5001, 5401, and 6380 have all been updated to include the new non-discriminatory references (or protected categories) required by state and federal law. LB 451 added the following new protected categories: skin color, hair texture, and protective hairstyles; and the 2020 Supreme Court Ruling added sexual orientation, and gender identity. 

Norfolk Public Schools welcomes, accepts, and teaches all children and strives to treat everyone equitably and fairly.

2. Policy 3132 (Internal Controls) -- NDE's "Fiscal Desk Reviews" now ask for each District's written Internal Controls and Policies and Procedures. This new policy outlines those controls, policies, and procedures.  (These controls and procedures were already in place, they just were not specifically outlined in policy.)

3.  Policy 1110-- Bulletin Boards -- This policy has been updated to specify that building principals control what is displayed on school bulletin boards. 

4. Policy 4025-- Professional Boundaries -- Nebraska Revised Statute  79-879 requires that every school district have a professional boundaries policy to address, among other things, the grooming of students.  We have revised our policy to include more of the language contained in the model policy developed by NDE.

6. Policy 6212 -- Assessments and Academic Content Standards --  In the past, our policy has indicated that we would automatically adopt the State Board's recommended content standards.  However, now that the State School Board has started  recommending standards that are not required by law (such as the new health standards), it is recommended that we change our policy language to indicate that adoption of new content standards would require a vote/approval from the Board.  If our  Board does not adopt the standards recommended by the State School Board, the district will create their own standards that are equal or more rigorous than those recommended by the State School Board.

Minor non-substantive spelling, punctuation, and grammar changes have also been made to these policies.

Rationale: 

The Norfolk Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors met on June 21, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. at the NPS Administration Building. Ten board members were present, Board President Bobbi Theisen called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m.

The board reviewed the meeting minutes from May and the April financial reports. Callan Collins shared with the Board an update on her first 30 days in her new role as Executive Director. 

The Classroom Grant selection committee met in May and selected 40 classroom grants. This year's grants included (1) Big Give grant, (1) NPS Wellness Grant, (2) Furstenau K-6 Science Grants, and (36) classroom grants for a total of $20,024.48. Teachers, principals, and staff have all been notified of projects receiving funding and checks will be delivered in July. 

Applications are currently being accepted for the Dual Credit Scholarships. The deadline is 8/18/21 at 4:00pm. 125 scholarships at $100 each are available. 

The Marketing Strategic Action team members gave an update to the Board on their recent efforts. This includes planning for the Traditions Breakfast, Staff Campaign, and New Teacher Luncheon. They also discussed changes to the Annual Report. 

No Board meetings are scheduled for July or August, but meetings are planned for the Executive Team, Finance Committee, and Scholarship Committee.

Rationale:  Minutes of the June 14, 2021 and June 24, 2021 meetings are available for review.

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of July 2021.  These claims were reviewed earlier today by our Finance and Facility Committee.  There are no conflict statements for this month that need to be read before voting.

Rationale:  Lori Dingel--Special Education Teacher at Washington, is requesting that her resignation be accepted --pending finding a suitable replacement--as she has been offered a job outside of the district

Ellen Wagner -- Special Education Teacher at Norfolk Senior High, is requesting that her resignation be accepted --pending finding a suitable replacement--as she has been offered a job outside of the district

 

Rationale: 

Amber Peterson

• 2021-2022 5th Grade Teacher, Norfolk Middle School
• Bachelor of Science, Wayne State College, Wayne, NE
• Currently Assistant Youth Services Librarian at Norfolk Public Library

Cindy Booth

• 2021-2022 Music Teacher (0.4 FTE), Norfolk Junior High
• Bachelor of Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
• Currently retired; was previously Vocal Music Teacher at Norfolk Catholic and Elkhorn Valley Schools

Position changes

John Erwin

• 2021-2022 NPS Interim Activities Director
• Master of Science, Educational Administration & Supervision, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
• Has worked for NPS for 31.5 years and is currently Assistant principal at Norfolk Senior High

Paige Hastings

• 2020-2021 Interim Assistant Principal at Norfolk Senior High School
• Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Wayne State College, Wayne, NE
• Eligible for Provisional Administrative Certificate; All Paige's administrative courses are complete; She just needs to complete her practicum/hours, which she can do while serving as our interim AP
• Currently Special Educational Behaviorist for the District

Rationale:  These policies have been updated to include the new non-discriminatory references required by state and federal law.  The new language indicates that skin color, hair texture, protective hairstyles, sexual orientation and gender identity are protected categories which will not be discriminated against.
Norfolk Public Schools welcomes, accepts, and teaches all children and strives to treat everyone equitably and fairly.

We will have our second reading of these policies at our July 22nd meeting, rather than waiting until August.  This will allow us to make these changes to student and staff handbooks before they are distributed.

Rationale:  Policy 3132 (Internal Controls) -- NDE's "Fiscal Desk Reviews" have started asking for each District's written Internal Controls and Policies and Procedures. This new policy outlines those controls, policies, and procedures.  (These controls and procedures were already in place, they just were not specifically outlined in policy.)

Policy 1110-- Bulletin Boards -- This policy has been updated to specify that building principals control what is displayed on school bulletin boards. 

Policy 4025-- Professional Boundaries -- Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-879 requires that every school district have a professional boundaries policy to address, among other things, grooming of students.  Our policy has been revised to include more of the language contained in the model policy developed by NDE.

Policy 6212 -- Assessments and Academic Content Standards -- In the past, our policy has indicated that we would automatically adopt the State Board's recommended content standards.  However, now that they are recommending standards that are not required by law (the new health standards), it is recommended that we change our policy language to indicate that adoption of new content standards would require a vote/approval from the Board. 

We will have our second reading of these policies at our July 22nd meeting, rather than waiting until August.  This will allow us to make these changes to student and staff handbooks before they are distributed.

Rationale:  The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education has been scheduled for noon on Thursday, July 22, 2021.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, August 9, 2021. Study Sessions will resume, starting at 5:30 PM.  The business meeting will follow at 6:30 PM. 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.