October 10, 2022 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:  School Resource Officers--Erik Wilson and others
Building Visits--Board members

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

Rationale:  The Five Great Lessons of Montessori

Rationale:  Dr. Jenna Hatfield-Waite has submitted a letter of resignation, effective immediately.  In her letter, Jenna stated that she is "grateful for the opportunity to have worked with the countless leaders in this community who appreciate the vision of our city and public school system.  She also thanked "those who have offered their guidance and commitment during (her) tenure."

According to Board Policy 8201, the remaining members of the Board shall fill this vacancy via appointment.  I will outline that process for you in my Superintendent's Report later this evening.

Rationale: 

This is the time during the meeting when the public may request to address the Board. According to state law, if you wish to comment you must identify yourself, including your address, the name of the organization you represent and the topic that you wish to address. "Public Comment" cards are located at the Media table, in the back of the room.  Please pick up a card and provide the required information, if you plan to speak.  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, 2022 by specific fund are listed below:

General Fund =$858,445.20

Nutrition Services Fund =$635,849.51

Cooperative Fund =$2,654.64

Depreciation Fund =$263,660.70

Special Building Fund =$126,222.21

QCPUF = $1,659.00

Student Fee Fund = $12,115.97

The total amount of claims for the month of September, 2022 in the Activities Fund is listed below:
Activity Fund =$164,811.64

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee. The on site portion of the 21-22 audit has been completed.  A final audit report will be presented to the board next month.

Rationale:  Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

• Many of the items to report on related to curriculum are included in the Curriculum Committee Report, so out of the respect for time, I won’t repeat the same information.
• The statewide classifications for the AQUeSTT accountability system have been sent to districts for review. The statewide spring assessment results have also been made available. We are currently going through a verification process to assure the data is accurate. Families will soon, or have already received, their child’s individual student report. Parents/Guardians that have questions are encouraged to ask teachers and principals at the Parent/Teacher conferences that will be held soon.
• It is planned for me to present district information at the December study session.

Rationale: 

ELVPHD is providing flu shots for our staff October 6, 11 and 14th.  CPR fall classes will be held October 27 and 28 for selected staff. 

I will be attending NDE’s stakeholders meeting for Results Driven Accountability on October 20th in Lincoln. November 3rd and 4th I will attend the Tri-state special education law conference with two of our NPS principals.   

 

Rationale: 

On September 14th, Mrs. Hutchison receptionist at the High School, Officer Dave, and I attended School Secretary Safety Training in Fremont. This training is designed to help our front door receptionists better understand our Standard Response Protocols and visitor procedures. It really reinforced a lot of the great things we are already doing at Norfolk Public Schools when it comes to safety procedures, visitor protocols, and general situational awareness. Takeaways from that training have been shared with building secretaries. 

Oct 12th 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 more like they had been prior to Covid. Building principals and teachers are working to schedule and provide in person conferences for all families. If that just isn’t possible, staff will work with parents/guardians to provide a Zoom or phone conference option if necessary. We want to encourage parents/guardians to attend those conferences as some of the best educational outcomes can occur when the parent/guardian, the student, and the school are all working together towards graduation and preparing the students to pursue their goals for the future. Those conference times are listed below.

• Oct 17th K-8 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 18th K-4, 9-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 19th 5-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 20th K-12 Conferences 1pm-4pm - Students dismissed at 11:30am
• Students will not have school on Friday the 21st or Monday the 24th

Rationale: 

HR Update:

Today I was at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and was on a Meet the Districts Panel and then participated in the UNL Educator Career Fair.  Tomorrow I will be at Wayne State College for their Student Teacher Fair.  I am working to gain the interest of potential teachers to apply at NPS for teaching positions.

Last month I reported that NPS currently has eight student teachers in our district.  The requests have already started coming in for the Spring 2023 semester.  I currently have 18 requests from Wayne State College.  This is the most we have received from Wayne State College in the three years I have been in this position.  I attribute this increase to the compensation package that we are now offering to student teachers.  This group consists of placement requests in the areas of English, Math, Science, Special Education, Vocal/Instrumental Music, Art, Physical Education and Elementary Education.  Although we do not yet know what openings we will have for the 2023-2024 school year, these are several of the areas that were difficult for us to fill for the current school year.  

Rationale:  Board Member Appointment Process and Timeline

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 2021-2022 audit of financial records and answered any questions.  The committee then reviewed the following items:

• Updates on current district projects
• Review the current condition of the 6th street track
• Review the schedule and specifics when interviewing potential insurance vendors on Oct. 26th
• Review of the Certified Negotiations process for 2022-2023 which will begin at the end of the month
• Review current cash reserves and upcoming uses

The next meeting will be Monday, November 14th, at 12:00 noon.

Rationale:  The Government Relations Committee met with the new Executive Director of Stand For Schools (Dunixi Guereca) on October 5, 2022. Dunixi shared information with the Committee regarding his background, as well as, his plans to move the Stand For Schools organization forward. We discussed public school finance issues and the negative impact that charter schools and voucher schools have on public education.

Rationale:  See the attachment.

Rationale:  See the attachment.

Rationale: 

The Norfolk Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors met on September 19, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. at the NPS Administration Building. Nine board members were present. Board Treasurer Brenda Carhart served as presiding President and called the meeting to order at 4:33 p.m. The Board reviewed the meeting minutes from June and the financial reports from May, June, and July. 

Dual credit scholarships were awarded in August. NPSF awarded 125 NHS students a $100 Margaret Robinson Dual Credit Scholarship for the 2022-2023 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 2022 NPS Staff Campaign kicked off on 8/8 and ended on 8/19. Overall the campaign went well, raising over $17,000 in a few short weeks. We had over 42% participation from NPS staff. 

NPSF is inviting the public to our Traditions Breakfast on Thursday October 27th 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 17th, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. 

 

Rationale:  Minutes of the meetings on September 12. 2022 and September 28, 2022 are attached for review.

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  Mark Claussen--School Psychologist (retiring at the end of the school year)

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of October, 2022.  These claims were reviewed earlier today by our Finance and Facility Committee.  There are two conflict statements for this month that will need to be read before voting.

Rationale:  The addition of a third school resource officer is recommended by both our administration team and the Norfolk Police Department. This would allow us to have full-time police officers at the Middle School, Junior High, and Senior High, optimizing school safety and security in those buildings. 

All costs would be split 50/50 with the Norfolk Police Department/City of Norfolk. 

This proposal was discussed at length during our study session, but I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Rationale:  This is the Emergency Operations Plan that was created by the Safety Team and approved by the Board last year. Any changes made to this plan must be approved by the Board.  This year, the only changes that were made were staffing changes (and related contact information).  Such as new principals at Jefferson and Grant. 

Rationale:  The state department of education has updated the Career and Technical Education Standards and programs of study. In order for the senior high to meet appropriate criteria for career academies, a correct course sequence must be followed. A computer science Career Academy has been in the making for a couple of years with the inclusion of community stakeholders. The addition of the two computer science courses, Computer Science Principles and Computer Science A, Norfolk senior high will have a proper curricular sequence. The same is true with the addition of Digital Design and Foundations of Web Design and the Culinary 2 Course. As mentioned in the committee report, no additional staff or materials will be needed. 

Rationale:  With the update of state standards and course requirements last year, NPS is needing to expand an elective offering for upper level senior high students. This course will replace existing electives that are now found to be redundant. 

Rationale: 

This year’s NASB Delegate Assembly will take place Friday, November 18, 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:  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 for the 2024-2025 school year. This action is required each year by Nebraska State Statute. We have not received any other requests and do not expect  any; therefore, I recommend that the request be approved.  

Rationale:  No changes have been made to these policies since their first reading last month. The Policy Committee recommends them for approval.

Rationale:  The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education has been tentatively scheduled for noon on Thursday, October 27, 2022.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, November 14, 2022. 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.