August 11, 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:  Dr. Thompson shared the State of the Schools Report that she will present to staff August 12th and 13th and started  a discussion regarding an Academic Achievement Goal to complement the Strategic Plan and Comprehensive Facilities Plan.

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

Rationale:  These will resume in September.

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 August, 2014 by specific fund are as follows:

General Fund = $304,449.20
Cooperative Fund= $102,076.86 
Bond Fund= $24.47
Student Fee Fund= $10,475.11
Special Building Fund= $4,937.11
QCPUF Fund=$299,316.83
Nutrition Services Fund= $7,880.09
Depreciation Fund= $10,300.00

The total amount of claims for the month of July, 2014 in the Activities fund are as follows:

Activity Fund = $79,659.43

We are finishing the year within budgeted expenditures.  I do anticipate finishing the year with higher revenue than budgeted due to healthy tax receipts for this fiscal year.  I am finalizing the 2014-2015 budget and will be sharing this during our next board meeting.  Dr. Thompson and I participated in the visioning process for TEEOSA last week.  The main theme from those days was a focus on base funding and equalization aid.

  

Rationale: 

Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment:

• New teachers have received appropriate training in the Reading Mastery program and DIBELS testing.
• New Reading Coach received coaching training in Reading Mastery and has also been in contact with the Wonders Reading representative-of which we will be having an update in Wonders with all of those teachers on Wednesday morning.
• Formal curriculum work will continue throughout the year in the area of Language Arts, Foreign Language and Music. Plans have been put into place for PLC work. This is a part of meeting our SAP-in Curriculum.

Technology:

• 1:1  Chrome book roll out in the HS is being organized. This is a big project that I send compliments out to the HS administration and staff as well as the technology department. They have all been working very hard this summer to have these ready to go for students. The organization has taken quite a bit of person-power and organization.
• Cable One selected Norfolk Middle School as a recipient of 50 donated Chrome books. As of this report posting the exact timing is unknown.  
• I will keep you posted as we accomplish steps and objectives in the technology strategic plan.

Title:

• Attended a National Programs Conference in conjunction with Administrator Days to learn about the rules and regulations associated with Title 1 which is new to my position.
• There will be a Title 1 Meeting with those specific teachers on Tuesday morning to acclimate our group, review responsibilities and expectations as well as any issues involving Title 1 specifically. 

Rationale: 

Monday, August 11, 2014 is the first full day of school for ALL staff. In the first days, I will be meeting separately with ELL (English Language Learners) staff to discuss program plans and budgets for this school year.

NPS will have an “overflow” kindergarten section this year. This had to be established since our kindergarten classes at Bel Air Elementary, Washington Elementary and Westside Elementary grew to exceed the suggested classroom cap of 25 student per classroom. This additional classroom will be housed at Bel Air  Elementary School. Bussing for these kindergarten students from Washington and Westside is provided by the school district for those wishing to use it. Washington Elementary will send 4 students to Grant elementary as well.

Additional basic school supplies,  as guided by the district school supply lists, have been purchased by the school district and will be made available to those qualifying students who request them. These are basic school materials like paper, pencils, glue, folders, binders, etc.

Rationale: 

1.  In the months of June, July, and August potential hires have been flooding our office to complete applications for jobs. All certified positions have been hired.  We are still working on filling some classified positions.  These range from classroom paraprofessionals, health techs, to night custodians. We are certain most, if not all, will be filled within the next week or two.

2.  On August 4, 2014 we hosted our first of two substitute teacher workshops.  We currently have 33 teachers approved to sub with Norfolk Public Schools.  Our next sub teacher training will be on August 15.  We anticipate another 20+ to be in attendance.  Of those approximate 50 subs, 31 will be trained in Reading Mastery.

3.  On August 7, 2014 Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Luhr, Mr. Robinson, and myself provided training/orientation for our new teachers.  Some of the training topics included emergency procedures, payroll business, professional growth, the teacher evaluation process, grading, discipline, and technology.

Rationale:  Elementary Enrollment
Preschool Criteria

Rationale:  The finance and facility committee met today at 12:00 noon in the central office board room.  The August claims were reviewed as well as the July Activities Account claims.  I updated the committee on our current QCPUF projects, updates on the Carson Theatre project(s) and then reviewed the sound system bids for Carson Theatre.  I also discussed the replacement of two of our maintenance trucks with new trucks to update our fleet and replace one that was totaled during the hail storm.  The committee will meet again at a special meeting on August 19th to review details of the proposed budget for 2014-2015 and will then have its regular business meeting on September 8th at 12:00 noon.

Rationale:  The Policy Committee met at 7:00 A.M. on Thursday, August 7th.  

Only one change was made to Policy Section 8000, which is up for 2nd reading tonight.  The remaining of the time was spent discussing Policy section 9000, which is related to Board By-Laws and is up for 1st  Reading tonight.  Both of these sections were provided to the entire board in advance.

Rationale:  The Activities Committee did not meet during the summer months.

Rationale:  No other committee meeting minutes to report.

Rationale:  07-14-2014 Board Retreat Meeting Minutes
07-24-2014 2nd Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

Rationale:  none

Rationale:  none

Rationale:  The purpose of this committee is to: 

1. Examine and approve social studies textbooks and report findings based to other members of the Board of Education. 

2. Review all major proposals prepared by the superintendent of schools and instructional staff for adoption of new textbooks, development of new instructional programs, revision of existing instructional programs, modification of established graduation requirements, and other related matters....and make a recommendation to the full Board of Education about approval or adoption of the matter under consideration.  

State statute 79-724 indicates that three members of the board shall be assigned to the Americanism Committee at the beginning of each school year.

All other board committees will remain as they are until the reorganization of the board in January.

Rationale:  We received two qualified bids from the following vendors on August 8th, 2014:

1. Conference Technology, Inc. (Omaha, NE)
$253,253 for the Sound System and $95,959 for the projector system for a total of $349,212

2. Electronic Contracting (Lincoln, NE)
$208,000 for the Sound System and $100,000 for the projector system for a total of $308,000

Both vendors had an Oct. 10th completion date for the sound system and a completion date to be determined with NPS on the projector system with their proposals.  Based on review of qualifications and pricing I recommended accepting the low bid from Electronic Contracting to complete the sound and projector system for the Carson Theatre in the amount of $308,000.  This will be paid by our special building fund and then reimbursed by the Carson Grant given to the NPS foundation.  Davis Design our architect and Engineer on this project will be overseeing this project to verify specifications are being met and handling the punch list at completion.

Rationale:  We are very close to capacity in two grade levels/buildings, and may need to hire an additional teacher or teachers.  I am requesting authorization to make this hire (or hires) if/when we reach capacity.  

We will be able to adjust our preliminary/draft 2014-2015 budget if enrollment warrants the hire(s).

Rationale:  These policies were reviewed by the Policy Committee.  In addition, many of these items were discussed during the Open Meetings Act discussion  held during our Board Retreat.  

The only change being recommended since the first reading is that the Americanism Committee must have three members (rather than two) according to state statute.

Rationale:  These policies were reviewed by the Policy Committee and are ready for First Reading.

Rationale:  During the Study Session, we discussed the need for a School Improvement Goal related to Student Achievement to complement our Strategic Plan and Comprehensive Facilities Plan.  Student Achievement is our #1 priority.  The addition of a goal in this area will stress its importance and fulfill a Rule 10 requirement.

Suggested Goal:

Rationale:  The Second Meeting of the Month is scheduled for noon at Central Office on Thursday, August 28th.

The Next Regular Board Meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 8th.  A Study Session will be held at 5:30 p.m..  The Budget Hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m., followed by a Tax Hearing at approximately 6:40 p.m., a Bond Hearing at 6:45,  and the regular business meeting at approximately 6:55 p.m.  All components of the board meeting are open to the public and will be held at the City Administration Building.