October 9, 2023 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:  Please stand and join us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rationale:  Middle School Presentation - Character Congress

Rationale:  Strategic Action Plan on Communications

Rationale:  Norfolk Public Schools Foundation Annual Update

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. Individuals who make false, defamatory,  or slanderous statements during public comments may be held legally liable. Slanderous comments are not protected just because they are made at Board meetings.

Rationale: 

The total amount of claims to be approved on the consent agenda for the month of October, 2023 by specific fund are listed below:

General Fund =$903,340.32

Nutrition Services Fund =$276,206.20

Cooperative Fund =$5,023.93

Depreciation Fund =$4506.25

QCPUF: $2400.00

Special Building Fund =$52,806.38

Student Fee Fund = $8,859.16

The total amount of claims for the month of September, 2023 in the Activities Fund is listed below:
Activity Fund =$252,359.15

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

Rationale:  CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

• As we approach the end of the first quarter, we’ve had several groups meet on curriculum work. Those included are Middle School Social Studies, Junior High ELA, Junior High Science, Junior High PE/Health, Elementary Science, and Elementary Writing. Curriculum is an ongoing process, and we handle that by tackling certain subjects each year.
• Another item that is ongoing for the Teaching and Learning department is following up with new teachers to support or help them with their classroom responsibilities and preparing for P/T conferences.
• The Spring 2023 Statewide Assessment data has been shared with individual reports. Parents can expect those to come home at P/T conference time. We’ve been notified that the tentative date for the AQUESTT State Accountability report for schools will be coming out in the November-December timeframe. Our local Fall assessment window is closed. We will be generating reports on that data to determine if any curricular items need immediate attention and to use in our data meetings over student progress.  
• DIBS for Kids is a literacy nonprofit organization. The program has been presented in prior board meetings. As a reminder, the organization operates under the belief that every student should have a great book to read at home every night, regardless of family income. It is a classroom-based library that supports teachers in easily sending books home with students. The program was first established at Washington Elementary and spearheaded by the Title I teacher at the time, the late Mrs. Rhonda Spanel. Since then, it has grown into all the 1st and 2nd grade elementary classrooms. Recent donations from the Day Foundation will allow the expansion of the program to every 3rd and 4th grade classroom in the district.  As of Sept. 20th, 7,724 books had been taken home since the beginning of this school year.  The most popular books so far this year have been, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Buss, Giraffes Can’t Dance, The Pigeon Needs a Bath, How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read? And Meet the Big Cats. All sets include some Spanish language books and other languages are available upon request.
• The Curriculum Committee met on Tuesday, Sept. 19th where Beth Shashikant will share a full report.

Rationale:  ELVPHD is providing flu shots for our staff on October 3, 5, and 10th.
 
I will be attending NDE’s stakeholders meeting for Results Driven Accountability on October 17th in Lincoln. On November 2nd and 3rd I will attend the Tri-state special education law conference with two of our NPS principals.

As we wrap up the first quarter of activities, I wanted to share with you that the Arrow Stage Lines continue to be good to work with and any concerns have been addressed professionally.
As of September 21, 2023, our expenditures for Arrow Stage Lines are at $43,263.00
 

Rationale: 

Student Services and Safety

The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center has completed a review of our District Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) which was reapproved at last month's Board of Education meeting. I am happy to report that our EOP met the necessary requirements and showed lots of improvements over our 2017 submission. I would like to recognize the District Safety Team, Norfolk Fire and Rescue, Norfolk Police Department, and our Local Emergency Manager who volunteered a lot of  time and effort to help develop usable plans to ensure the safety of our students and staff. 

Also, this week marks the end of the 1st quarter. I want to remind our NPS families that Parent Teacher Conferences begin next week. 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 16th K-8 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 17th K-4, 9-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 18th 5-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 19th K-12 Conferences 1pm-4pm - Students dismissed at 11:30 AM
• Students will not have school on Friday the 20th or Monday the 23rd

Rationale:  Today I was at the University of Nebraska Lincoln to participate in the UNL Educator Career Fair.  Next week I will attend the Wayne State College Student Teacher Fair and the following week Mary Luhr and I will participate in the Nebraska Educator Shortage Summit in Kearney.  I am working to gain the interest of potential teachers to apply at NPS for teaching positions.

NPS currently has 15 student teachers in our district.  The requests have already started coming in for the Spring 2024 semester.  I currently have 18 requests and have not heard from all colleges yet.  This group consists of placement requests in the areas of Early Childhood, Elementary, English, Math, Physical Education, Social Science, Skilled and Technical Sciences, Special Education, and Physical Education.  Although we do not yet know what openings we will have for the 2024-2025 school year, these are several of the areas that were difficult for us to fill for the current school year. 
 

Rationale:  Enrollment, Negotiations, and Other Pertinent Updates

Rationale:  Facilities & Finance Committee meeting minutes from October 9, 2023 attached. 

Rationale:  Policy Committee meeting minutes from October 4, 2023 attached. 

Rationale:  The committee met on September 19, 2023. The meeting minutes are attached. 

Rationale:  Minutes of the meetings on September 11, 2023 and September 28, 2023 are attached for review.

Rationale:  None at this time. 

Rationale: 

• Retirement - Beth Nelson, Director of Teaching and Learning, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 contract year.
• Resignation - Elle Wegher, Speech Language Pathologist, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 contract year.

Rationale: 

Attached are the claims for the month of October, 2023.  These claims were reviewed earlier today by our Finance and Facility Committee. 

There are four conflict statements this month that will need to be read before voting.

Rationale:  This strategic action plan was discussed in detail during Study Session. I would be happy to answer any additional questions that you may have.

Rationale:  We are seeking your permission to begin the bidding process for the Middle School addition and renovation. This project includes the addition of a safe and secure entrance, the renovation of existing offices into classrooms, and the addition of new, larger fine arts classrooms. It addresses safety and space concerns described previously.  Most importantly, this entrance does not meet the same safety standards as other entrances across the district, as office personnel must utilize a camera system to determine if guests should be admitted into the building.  In addition, this building currently serves approximately one hundred more students than it did a decade ago, creating significant space issues.

If bids for this project come in higher than anticipated, the Board has the option to refuse all bids.  This is important, as our funding is limited.

Rationale:   

This course is to be taught as part of the JAG Program that the Board approved last month.  It is an elective, for-credit classroom program with instruction provided by certified CTE JAG Career Specialists. It teaches up to 87 desirable workplace competencies. The course is intended to empower students with personal and professional development skills and support to achieve success in high school graduations, further-education and employment following high school graduation.  The primary learning concepts  in this course are: Career Development Job Attainment Job Survival Basic Skills Leadership and Self-Development Personal Skills Life Survival  Workplace Competencies Economic Empowerment

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:  According to State Statute, public schools must adopt an Option Enrollment Resolution annually, setting grade and program capacities and indicating which grade levels and programs are open for option enrollment students, based upon those capacities and projected enrollments.  

For the 2024-2025 school year, our projections indicate that we will be at capacity in grades 10 and 12.

The grades that we will be accepting option enrollment students in next year are Kindergarten through 9th and 11th. See the attached appendix for the number of option students that will be accepted at each grade level.

 

Rationale:  The NASB Delegate Representative attends the NASB Delegate Assembly on Friday, November 17th to help determine the NASB's annual legislative and leadership agenda. This meeting occurs annually at the NASB State Education Conference. Brenda Carhart and Beth Shashikant are both planning to attend this conference.

Rationale:  These policies were discussed during the Policy Committee Report. I would be happy to answer any additional questions that you may have.

Personnel - Policies 4001 - 4012

• 4001 Recruitment and Selection
• 4002 Equal Opportunity Employment
• 4003 Anti-discrimination, Anti-harassment and Anti-retaliation
• 4003a Notice of Nondiscrimination
• 4003b Complaint Form
• 4004 Duty Hours of Employees
• 4005 Absence of Employees
• 4006 Absence From Building
• 4007 Family and Medical Leave Policy
• 4007a Family and Medical Leave Policy Documents
• 4008 Adoption Leave
• 4009 Drug and Substance Use and Abuse, with attached Appendix
• 4010 Intellectual Property and Work-for-Hire
• 4011 Bloodborne Pathogen Compliance Plan
• 4012 Infectious Diseases

Rationale:  This policy was discussed during the Policy Committee Report. I would be happy to answer any additional questions that you may have.

Rationale: 

The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education has been scheduled for Noon on Thursday, October 26, 2023.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, November 13, 2023. The regular business meeting will begin at 5:30 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.