October 11, 2021 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  October 4, 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:  Early Childhood Education Opportunities at NPS

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

Rationale:  Leann Widhalm was appointed to the Board of Education and will remain in this position until the next General Election.

Rationale:  Operation 'N'ployability and the Transition House 

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: 

The total amount of claims to be approved on the consent agenda for the month of October 2021 by specific funds are listed below:

General Fund = $515,962.71

Nutrition Services Fund =$583,747.19

Cooperative Fund = $3,474.89

Special Building Fund = $88,759.00

QCPUF = $171,869.00

Student Fee Fund = $6,526.22

The total amount of claims for the month of September 2021 in the Activities Fund is listed below:
Activity Fund =$190,619.01

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.  The 2020-2021 audit of district financials is near completion.  A complete audit report will be presented to the board at the October 28th, Board of Education meeting. 

Rationale:  Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
 

• Continued small groups are meeting to work on curriculum but some have been postponed due to lack of substitute teacher availability.
• The BOE Curriculum Committee will be meeting soon to hear a comprehensive report on curriculum work, proposed updates, and information on program pilots as well as holding our 1 of 2 required Civics Committee meetings for the year.
• The TnL Team are making plans for professional development for Oct. 25^thsome of which will include training for a new testing platform for statewide assessments.

 

Rationale: 

Nurses- Our school nurses have been working with the ELVPHD in setting up the flu shots for staff in our district.  Shots will be available to staff at each building.  The schedule has been shared with our staff to sign up.

 ELL Teachers- During weekly PLC time, ELL staff is reviewing Fall MAP growth data and intervention programs.   

Mental Health Providers- Memorandums of Understanding have been completed with our local providers of our mental health services. Our LMHP at the High School will be presenting to staff at our October 25th staff development day. 

Special Education- The special education leadership team will be meeting monthly for ½ days to update special education procedures.  The special education Targeted Intervention Plan (TIP) will also be reviewed and updated with the leadership team. I will be virtually participating in NDE’s stakeholders meeting for Results Driven Accountability on October 28th. I will also participate in NDE’s state team which is reviewing special education staff shortages on November 2nd. 

Rationale: 

Student Services

Oct 13th will be the official last day of the 1st quarter. Teachers will be finalizing grades the rest of this week and then next week we will be conducting our 1st semester parent teacher conferences. Conferences this year will be a combination of in person and a zoom option for those who prefer not to come in person. Individual school buildings are sending out information to their families on the flexible conferencing options. Teachers are posting short video introductions and then scheduling zoom times with parents who would like to discuss things specific to their student. We are still following our Parent Teacher conference schedule listed below. Students will not have school on Friday the 22nd or Monday the 25th.

 

• Oct 18th K-8 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 19th K-4, 9-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 20th 5-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 21st K-12 Conferences 1pm-4pm

 

Rationale: 

HR Update:

The HR office has seen an increase in the number of applications received, since the NPS School Board unanimously approved the Hourly Classified Staff Pay Proposal.  The increase of $2.54 to the base wages of all classified positions has most likely been a contributing factor to the increase in applications within the district.  From September 1 - September 13, we received 10 applications for a variety of positions.  The proposal was approved at the September 13 School Board Meeting.  From September 14 - September 28 we received 43 applications for a variety of positions.  Thank you to the Board for recognizing this need and responding to the proposal in a timely manner.  Currently, we are still searching for a couple of Special Education paraprofessionals, bus drivers, a maintenance and transportation staff member, and substitutes in a variety of areas.

Rationale:  Negotiations Timeline
According to state statute, we must begin negotiations with our approved collective bargaining agency (NCEA) before November 1st.  We are required to hold 4 meetings or settle a contract before February 8th.  If we have not reached a settlement with the NCEA by February 8th, we must submit our case to a resolution officer.

Once an agreement has been reached with the NCEA regarding certificated employee pay, we will begin working on other employee groups.  Typically, we apply the same percentage increase to all employee groups, but this is not a requirement.

Annexation 

According to State Statute 79-473 a representative from Norfolk Public Schools is required to meet with a representative from each of these schools within 30 days of the annexation to determine which school district will serve the annexed land.  If the districts cannot reach an agreement, then the annexed land is transferred to the public school located within the city that annexed the land (Norfolk).

Sandy Wolfe and I will meet with superintendents and board presidents of the Battle Creek and Madison Public Schools on October 14, 2021 to begin this process.  It is our belief that all land within the Norfolk City Limits should be served by Norfolk Public Schools. Thus, it is our intent to pursue the transfer of these parcels to NPS through an Annexation Agreement, to be written by Perry Law Firm.

See attached chart for more detailed regarding the properties in question.

Enrollment--see attached

Rationale:  The committee met at 12:00 today.  The claims for the month of October and activity claims for September were reviewed.  The auditors provided an overview of the 2020-2021 audit of financial records and answered any questions.  The committee then reviewed the following items:

• Updates on current district projects and upcoming activity facility needs
• Updates in technology in the large board room
• Annexation
• Review of our current contract with LSI and their need to also implement staff wage increases
• Updates on the Benjamin Ave. street project
• Updates on the ODD fellows property request
• Review of the Certified Negotiations process for 2022-2023 which will start at the end of the month

The next meeting will be Monday, November 8th, at 12:00 noon.

Rationale: 

The Activities Committee met at noon on October 4, 2021.

Mr. Erwin and Mr. Beranek provided an update on Fall activities, including participation numbers and season highlights.

Mr. Erwin announced that Prom will be moved from April 30, 2022 to April 9, 2022 due the sale of the Devent Center. We are in the process of communicating this change to students and parents so they have ample amount of time to adjust their plans.

Mr. Erwin surveyed students to determine the amount of interest there is in adding bowling as an activity.  The Committee brainstormed a list of questions for Mr. Erwin to research in regards to a potential proposal.  They asked him to follow-up with this at our February meeting.  This would leave time for additional questions and research prior to our April meeting, if needed.

Both Mr. Erwin and Mr. Beranek thanked the Committee for the increase in classified hourly pay, which increased activity workers' pay from $12.46 to $15.00 per hour.  Although this is helping, it is still difficult to obtain enough workers for some events.

Mr. Erwin is working with the Athletic Booster Club in regards to budgeting for some bigger items, such as a potential record board and sound system update.

The Activities Committee will meet again at noon on December 20, 2021.

Rationale: 

The Norfolk Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors met on September 20th, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. at the NPS Administration Building. Eleven board members were present, Board President Bobbi Theisen called the meeting to order at 4:31 p.m. The Board reviewed the meeting minutes from June and the financial reports from May, June, and July. 

Dual credit scholarships were awarded on 8/24. NPSF awarded 125 NHS students a $100 Margaret Robinson Dual Credit Scholarship for the 2021-2022 school year. Dual Credit Scholarships are intended for current high school students interested in pursuing dual credit learning through NECC during their time at NPS. Our scholarship committee put a lot of time and consideration into this process with a very tight timeline. We appreciate their efforts. 

The 2021 NPS Staff Campaign kicked off on 8/9/2021 and ended on 8/25/21. Overall the campaign went very well, raising over $21,000 in a few short weeks. We had over 48% participation from NPS staff. 

Recently, a 4th member of the NPSF Board was appointed to the Board of Education. NPSF will allow 2 BOE members to serve on the Board. Jake Claussen and Brenda Carhart will continue to serve on the NPSF Board. Leann Widhalm has resigned and Jenna Hatfield-Waite will finish her term through 2021. 

NPSF is inviting the public to our Traditions Breakfast on Thursday, October 28th at 7:00 a.m. at the Lifelong Learning Center. This is our main fundraiser for the year where we plan to celebrate the tradition of academic excellence at Norfolk Public Schools. All funds raised by this event will benefit the NPS Foundation and will help support students and teachers in our District. We hope you’ll join us! 

The next Board meeting will be October 18th, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. Meeting will be at the High School for a tour of the Career Academies. Meeting to follow.

Rationale:  Minutes of the October 5, 2021 Nurses Meeting are attached for review.

Rationale:  Minutes of the Budget Hearing, Meeting #1, Tax Hearing, Meeting #2 and the Regular School Board Meeting held on September 13. 2021 are attached for review.

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  Peggy Belt--Senior High English and Speech Teacher (Retiring)
Tracie Chochon--District Psychologist (Retiring)

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of October, 2021.  These claims were reviewed earlier today by our Finance and Facility committee.

Rationale:  Norfolk Public Schools will be hosting the HAC Conference Track meet on May 4th.  The meet is scheduled to start at 11:00, with 20 bus loads of students arriving at 9:30.  In order for us to have enough workers for this event and open space for contestants, fans, busses, etc, the HS needs to have this day off from school...which would require a calendar change.  

If this calendar change is approved by the Board, all HS staff would be expected to work the track meet or sub for other teachers who will be working the track meet that day. (Only students would get the day off.) We have used this approach many times in the past and it works well.  In fact, we have similar (but smaller) track meets built into our calendar on April 21st for the HS and May 5th for the JH.  We should have built this May 4th HAC Conference meet into our calendar, but it got missed somehow.

I would also like to move our Staff Appreciation Event from May 4th to April 27th to allow all staff to participate.

 

Rationale:  The Board Committee assignments have been updated. I am recommending that Leann fill the positions vacated by Bruce Mitchell, with the exception of Superintendent Evaluation.  Jake Claussen has agreed to fill this position, as Leann has not had the opportunity to observe Dr. Thompson's performance.

Rationale:  We have received a formal written request by the NCEA (Norfolk City Educational Association) to be recognized as the exclusive collective bargaining agent for non-supervisory certificated staff. This action is required each year by Nebraska State Statute. We have not received any other requests; therefore, I recommend that the request be approved.  

Rationale: 

This year’s NASB Delegate Assembly will take place Friday, November 19, at 8:00 AM, in conjunction with the State Education Conference, at the CHI Health Center - downtown Omaha. This Delegate Assembly is where the NASB’s annual legislative and leadership agenda is determined. 

Each School Board is allowed to select one Board member to represent the district as their voting delegate. This delegate is responsible for reading the NASB Advocacy Handbook prior to the meeting and then voting on behalf of their school. 
 

Rationale:  The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education has been scheduled for noon on Thursday, October 28, 2021.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, November 8, 2021. The Study Session will begin at 5:30 PM. The regular business meeting will start 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.