November 8, 2021 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:  Safety Update: Strategy Plan, Emergency Operations Plan 

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

Rationale:  Norfolk Middle School--Mr. Dreher and robots

Rationale:  Award for Excellence Recipients: NPS Instructional Coaches

• Mickie Mueller
• Jared Oswald
• Nancy Probasco
• Sharie Thelen

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 November 2021 by specific funds are listed below:

General Fund = $499,228.25

Nutrition Services Fund =$286,631.74

Cooperative Fund = $2,663.32

Depreciation = $25,648.00

Special Building Fund = $52,562.80

QCPUF = $892,884.40

Student Fee Fund = $3,021.70

The total amount of claims for the month of October 2021 in the Activities Fund is listed below:
Activity Fund =$108,623.87

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.  I would like to publicly thank everyone on the Business office team for their hard work not only during the audit but for getting the school year started off on a positive note.  We had many new staff members to get on-board using our new records systems.  We also have had a lot of extra paper work and documentation that is required for use of ESSERS funds and other grants.  These individuals always take these tasks on with grit, grace and a positive attitude.  Melissa Coler (General Ledger), Amanda Liewer (Activity Accounts, Nutrition Fund), Tricia Nathan (payroll benefits classified staff) and Auni Strong (payroll benefits certified staff).  NPS is fortunate to have strong people in these positions. 

Rationale:  Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

• The teaching and learning team was heavily involved with the professional development day held on Monday, October 25^th. Their leadership influenced K-12 teachers in preparation for NSCAS Winter Testing, deep discussions on the current Zearn Math pilot, and specific curriculum work in PE and Music as well as strategic work at the senior high.
• Third through eighth grade will be participating in a midyear NSCAS Growth assessment in December. The Nebraska Statewide Assessment is evolving to a through-year model. This is the first time this assessment is offered midyear. I will be reporting on assessment changes at an upcoming study session.
• Although curriculum work has slowed down due to the sub teacher shortages, we have still managed to move a lot of groups forward in proficiency scale and assessment development. A comprehensive report was giving to the Curriculum Committee on Nov. 5th.

Rationale: 

Nurses- CPR classes were held October 28th and 29th for the required staff in the district. ELVPHD provided 114 flu shots to our district staff; this is down 43 from last year.

ELL Teachers- ELL numbers for the district as of October 1st are 209, which is 4.7% of the student total population. 

Mental Health Providers- Our LMHP at the High School presented to select staff at our October 25th regarding suicide awareness. 

Special Education- Numbers for the district as of October 1st are 724, which is 16.2% of the student total population. I and several other special education staff participated in the Special Education Law virtual conference on November 4th and 5th. 

Rationale: 

Student Services and Safety

Members of the District Safety Team and I attended the 2 day NDE Safety Summit in Kearney on October 19th and 20th. We were able to learn a lot more about the state's Safe2Help program and Emergency Operations Planning that was shared at our study session. We are also in the process of finalizing our Safety Audit with Norfolk Police Department. Once complete, I will meet with individual building principals to discuss the recommendations and will share the results with the board at our next meeting. 

We have received notification that our Emergency Connectivity Fund Grant was approved to assist with our purchase of student Chromebooks and teacher laptops. The tech team is working to finalize that ordering process as we want to make sure supply chain disruptions don’t affect us getting those devices in a timely manner. 

Finally, we completed our fall parent teacher conferences near the end of October. Attendance numbers are posted below. As a district last year we were at 65.7% attendance this year 70.08%. So a better attendance rate then we had last year and we did have almost 500 families take advantage of having the zoom option.

 

	Student attendance at P/T Conference	# Zoom Conferences	Total School Enrollment	% attended
Little Panther Preschool	212	30	216	98%
Bel Air	325		338	96%
Jefferson	220		220	100%
Grant* 1 teacher abs.	195	2	217	90%
Lincoln	185	27	185	100%
Washington	217	22	219	99%
Westside	215		215	100%
Woodland Park	181	33	183	99%
Middle School	629	175	659	95%
Junior High	377	148	650	58%
Senior High	355	54	1337	27%
District Results	3111		4439	70.08%

 

Rationale: 

HR Update:

On October 27, I attended the Nebraska Educator Shortage Summit in Kearney.  This summit was a gathering of school administrators, Nebraska state school board members, ESU staff, college representatives, and NDE staff.  The morning was spent determining the factors that are contributing to the educator shortage and the afternoon was spent on solutions and creating groups to move forward with solutions on individual topics.  It was a day well spent in Kearney and I will continue to be involved with the process moving forward.

Rationale:  Annexation:
Our attorney has notified us that NDE has changed the process required to transfer land from one school district to another following an annexation. This no longer requires Board action. I simply need to file documentation with Madison County once our 90 day waiting period is over. The transfer of taxes to NPS will begin on July 1, 2022.

Commissioner's Visit:
The Commissioner of Education (Dr. Matt Blomstedt) and State School Board member (Dr. Patti Gubbels) visited NPS on October 29th.  They visited with my Central Office Admin Team regarding current issues and challenges in education, such as the staffing shortage, assessment requirements, school finance, and pandemic-related issues.  

Upon completion of our conversation, Dr. Blomstedt and Dr. Gubbels toured Lincoln Montessori, where Dr. Blomstedt learned more about the Montessori method of instruction and how it can be utilized as a way to offer parents more choices within public education. Norfolk is one of three Nebraska public school districts that offer this option for students.

Enrollment:
Norfolk Public Schools' enrollment increased by 4 students last month, giving us a total enrollment of 4478 on November 1st. (See attached chart.)

Holiday Social:
Each December I host a Holiday Social for our Board and 
Administrative Team.  I will send you a Doodle Poll later this week to determine the date and time for the event, which is sponsored by D.A. Davidson.  No school funds are utilized for this event; nor is any school business discussed. It is a way for us to get to know each other a little bit better in a less formal environment. I hope that everyone will be able to make it. 

 

Rationale:  The committee met at 11:30 today.  The claims for the month of November and activity claims for October were reviewed.  The committee had presenters from Agri-City Insurance, Norfolk Public Transportation and the City of Norfolk.  Agri-City gave an overview of our current insurance coverage and rates for 2022.  Norfolk Public Transportation presented what is currently going on with Norfolk Public Transportation and if NPS would start paying Norfolk Public Transportation for transportation of students under the 4 mile radius.  The City of Norfolk provided additional information on its easement offer which is connected to the Benjamin Ave. road project.  The committee then reviewed the following items:

• Updates on current and future projects
• Proposed amended LSI contract due to the need to increase staff wages 
• Annexation
• Banking updates
• Negotiations for 22-23

The next meeting will be Monday, December 13th, at 12:00 noon.

Rationale: 

The Policy Committee met on October 15, 2021. 

The Committee reviewed policies 5101-5208 related to Students. Only minor, non-substantive changes were made.  However, it should be noted that the changes to social studies course offerings that are on the agenda tonight, will result in a need to revise Policy 5205 (Graduation) before it’s second reading.

The Committee also reviewed Policy 6600 related to Special Education. Extensive changes have been made to this policy at the recommendation of our attorneys and the Nebraska Department of Education.  Those changes reflect state and federal special education law. The district has always followed these laws, but we are now required to have a detailed policy documenting that.

The Policy Committee recommends the approval of the first reading of these policies.

Rationale: 

American Civics & Curriculum Meeting Notes 11.5.21

The American Civics Committee meeting began at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, November 5th. Director Beth Nelson  summarized the changes needed in course offerings at the senior high to meet the updated Nebraska State Social Studies standards. The graduation requirement of 30 credit hours remains the same. The changes of the required classes will impact graduates of 2026, 9th graders of 2022-2023. There will be a switch between 8th and 9th grade offering of social studies where American History 1 occurs at 8th grade and World History occurs at 9th grade. Also, Economics now becomes a portion of the former Government/World Studies class. You will see a motion regarding this later in the agenda. 

Instructional Leader Nancy Probasco gave a short update on the TCI social studies pilot occurring in 5th & 6th grade. 7th grade will begin the TCI pilot this week. It is intended to have a program decision by the end of the semester. 

The American Civics Committee portion of the meeting concluded at 2:25 p.m.

The curriculum portion of this meeting included a summary of the curriculum work that has been completed this fall. English,Social Studies,  Math, PE and Music have completed significant work. 

The 5th - 8th grade has held a vertical meeting to correspond alignment and determine a collective focus for selecting updated materials. A second meeting is scheduled to review programs and narrow down possible pilot items. A pilot with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt materials showed unfavorable results so more searching is needed for a strong program decision. Other materials that are being worked through the textbook adoption matrixes with teachers includes Savvas: My Perspectives, Collegeboard: Springboard and McGraw Hill: StudySync.

 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades math have worked to align proficiency scales, create assessments and pacing guides. Math fluency implementation has been a strong conversation among educators. 

Elementary music has worked on proficiency scales and PE has worked on assessments. 

The K-7 math pilot has been centered on the program Zearn which again is being analyzed by educators on if it is better than EnVisonMath being used presently.  The team is eager to analyze winter data from the pilot classrooms.

There is a plan in place to purchase the updated K-5th grade ELA program, Wonders. The vertical work of 6th - 12th grade will drive a determination on a purchase in ELA as well. 

 

Rationale: 

The Norfolk Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors met on Monday October 18th, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. at the High School. Ten board members were present. Austin Casselberry gave the Board a tour of the Career Academies and showed the work of the Foundation. Following the tour, Board President Bobbi Theisen called the meeting to order at 5:23 p.m. The Board reviewed the meeting minutes from September and the financial reports from August. 

NPSF is inviting the public to our Traditions Breakfast on Thursday October 28th at 7:00am 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 November 15th, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. 

Rationale:  Minutes of the November 2, 2021 Student Health and Nurses Meetings are attached for review.

Rationale:  Minutes of the October 11, 2021 and October 28, 2021 meetings are attached for review.

Rationale: 

Mackenzie Lamp

• 2021-2022, 2nd Semester, 0.5 Art Teacher, 0.5 Substitute Teacher, Senior High
• Fall 2021-present, Student Teacher, Pierce High and Elementary School

Michael Wright

• 2021-2022, 2nd Semester, 1.0 Special Education Teacher, Senior High
• Fall 2021-present, Student Teacher, Norfolk Senior High 

NOTE: These are positions that we were unable to fill at the beginning of the school year.  Because we could not fill the art position, we had to reduce the number of art sections we offered at the senior high first semester. The special education position was filled via a long-term sub. 

Rationale:  None at this time.

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

Rationale:  This information was presented during the Study Session.

Rationale:  The staffing issues facing employers not only locally but across the nation has also affected Lunch Time Solutions, the district Food Management Company.  Over the past month, NPS has worked with LSI to develop a proposed adjustment to the current contract which will allow LSI to increase its staff wages as well as other unforeseen cost increases which are outcomes of the current pandemic.  These adjustments have the approval of NDE and district legal counsel.  This addendum has been reviewed by our Finance and Facilities Committee in detail.  The cost increase of this addendum will not affect the overall fiscal health of the Nutrition Fund in an adverse way.

Rationale: 

Due to the changes in the Nebraska Social Studies State Standards, we have made some adjustments to course offerings at junior and senior high schools. World History and American History I have switched and the inclusion of economics appears with Government and World Studies. Geography, although not required for graduation, still remains a part of elective course offerings. These changes will go into effect beginning next year and have a graduation impact on the class of 2026. A follow up adjustment will be made in Policy # 5205 and the handbooks for next year. All changes regarding social studies curriculum and purchased resources have been reviewed with the Civics Committee.

Senior High Social Studies Graduation Requirements Update

 

# Credits Required for Graduation=30	Grade	Former Course	New Course	Students impacted, implementation
10	9th	American History I	World History	9th graders of 2022-2023, graduates of 2026
10	10th	American History II	American History II
5 / 5	11th or 12th	American Government & World Cultures/Geography	American Government & Econ/World Studies

Rationale:  Only minor, non-substantive changes have been made to these polices.

Rationale:  This policy has been revised per the recommendations of our attorneys and NDE. It is a close match to state and federal law.

Rationale:  There will not be a second meeting of month in November.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, December 13, 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.