November 11, 2024 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:  Grant Elementary Students

Rationale:  Recipient: Melissa Coler, NPS General Ledger, Central Office

Rationale:  Professional Learning Communities (PLC) Presentation

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.

Additional procedural guidelines are available at the media table.

Rationale: 

The total amount of claims to be approved on the consent agenda by specific fund are listed below:

General Fund = $300,678.89

Nutrition Fund = $44,294.15

Cooperative Fund = $2,979.25

Subsidiary Fund = $20,197.57

Depreciation Fund = $34,230.00

QCPUF = $727,650.00

Employee Benefit Fund = $257.25

Senior High Activity Fund = $21,690.78

Junior High Activity Fund = $5,845.05

Athletic Field Fund = $120,586.05

Student Fee Fund = $1,173.59

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

Rationale: 

CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

• In October the Teaching and Learning team has been working with teachers in a variety of ways.  The team continues to work to support new teachers, especially those that are new to the profession.  They have also been working with groups of teachers during our PLC time.  Over the past three weeks our grade level teams have worked through a process to study district wide data.  The groups identified a target they wanted to work on.  They brought data and student work to their team meetings and studied it together.  The goal of this process is for the teachers to share strategies with one another on how they can teach that standard and to provide support to students who have struggled.  

• We received our preliminary AQuESTT data in late October.  For the past few weeks I have been in the process of reviewing that data and verifying its accuracy.  After the results are finalized I will be meeting with principals to go over areas of strength and work to identify areas where we can improve.    

• The Curriculum Committee met on Friday, November 8th.  The committee will share a full report tonight. 

Rationale:  Our October 1st count for 2024 shows an increase in ELL and Special Education students. The rise for ELL went from 6% to 7% with an increase of 55 students. The Special Education count increased by 88 students. Overall, percent is at 20% of the total student population (including parochial and preschool). For grades K-21 we are at 17% for Norfolk Public Students.

Rationale: 

• On October 17, I was able to attend the School Safety and Security Summit in Kearney.  I was able to listen to a keynote speaker, Lisa Hamp, who was a survivor of the Virginia Tech shooting.  I then attended breakout sessions on Safe2Help, 988, and Psychological First Aid, while being able to network with other Directors of Student Services and Safety throughout the state.  

• Parent/Teacher Conferences were held in October.  As a district, in the fall of 2022, we had 72.7% of our families attend conferences, in the fall of 2023, we were at 73.5%, and this fall 70.5% of our families were in attendance.  It’s great to see families attending conferences.  If you weren’t able to attend Parent/Teacher Conferences for your student, I encourage you to reach out to your students' schools and/or teachers.  Attendance for the individual schools and district are posted below:

Rationale:  I am continuing to work to gain the interest of potential teachers to apply at NPS for teaching positions. Since the last board meeting, I have attended the UNL Education Career Fair and Nebraska Wesleyan Education Fair. I spoke on a UNL Administrative Panel to senior education students.  I was on campus at WSC to speak to the NENTA teachers, who are college students that have a local sub permit and are allowed to substitute teach, while taking classes. Mary Luhr and principals attended the Wayne State College Education Fair, as well.  Later this week, Mary Luhr and I will travel to USD for their Educator Networking Event.

Rationale:  See attached.

Rationale:  The Facilities & Finance Committee met earlier today. Board members present were ___ . 

The committee reviewed claims and financial reports.

The annual audit for the 2023-2024 school year has been completed by Forward CPA. Ms. Janzing presented the audit findings to the Finance and Facilities Committee.

A facilities update was given regarding the Middle School construction project. Other items discussed included budget cuts, lawn care, and the HVAC service contract. 

Our next Finance and Facilities Committee meeting is scheduled for December 9th. 

Rationale: 

The Policy Committee met electronically to review the recommendations made by Todd Wolverton at NDE and the Superintendent Evaluation Committee regarding additions to Board Policy 2320- Evaluation of Superintendent. 

According to Todd Wolverton, we needed to add language to our policy indicating that:

1. the superintendent will be evaluated twice during their first year of employment and at least once annually thereafter, and

2. the superintendent will be notified in writing if deficiencies were noted, along with a means for correcting those deficiencies and a timeline for implementing suggested improvements.

The Policy Committee agreed with drafted changes made by the Superintendent Evaluation Committee and is recommending that the second and final reading of Policy 2320 is approved as amended.

The Policy Committee would also like to note that we have already been notified that NDE has approved our new Superintendent Evaluation Instrument.

Rationale: 

The Government Relations Committee met on 11/4/2024 to discuss LR 387, a resolution to examine the viability of selling land that is currently held in the School Land Trust managed by the Board of Educational Lands and Funds.

The School Land Trust was established as a stable source of income for public schools in 1864 and adopted into the Nebraska State Constitution in 1875.  In 2023, the Trust provided $59.5 million for public schools, comprised of $41.3 million from land income, $17.2 million from invested cash in the permanent fund, and $1 million from miscellaneous fees.

Norfolk Public Schools’ apportionment in 2023 was $920,706.09.

Dr. Thompson provided neutral testimony on behalf of the Government Relations Committee, expressing the concern that the possible sale of this land could result in a less stable source of income for public schools.  She noted that land tends to appreciate in value over time, while other investments are more volatile and can depreciate in value over time. She asked the Legislature to study this matter very carefully before taking any action in order to avoid possible detrimental effects on public education and taxpayers.

Rationale: 

The Curriculum Committee met on November 8th, 2024 following the American Civics Committee Meeting. Board members present included Cindy Booth, Tom Stanton, and Beth Shashikant. 

The meeting began with a review of three course proposals for the Senior High.  The first proposal was a change to one of the third year Science courses currently offered.  The current course offering is Environmental Science.  The Science department proposed changing that course to Earth Science.  This change will allow some standards that are currently being taught in 9th grade Physical Science to be moved to this third year course.  They believe this change will be beneficial across the entire 9-12 Science sequence and will make finding resources aligned with these courses much easier.  

The next proposal was from the World Languages department to create a Spanish for Spanish Speakers 1 course.  The teachers are confident the creation of this course fits a need for our growing heritage speaker population.  The last proposal was a minor change to the course sequence in one of the pathways in the Business Department.  The proposal will change the current full year Marketing Course to one semester of Marketing and one semester of Marketing Management.  The department will add Advanced Marketing as a course to replace Sports Marketing.  This change will bring this pathway in line with Nebraska Department of Education’s suggested sequence for the Marketing Career Academy. 

There was one proposal for a purchase discussed at the meeting.  To meet the requirements of the Computer Science and Technology Act, Norfolk Senior High has incorporated the teaching of Computer Science Standards into the already existing Info Tech Apps course.  These standards were not released from the Nebraska Department of Education until last spring.  As a result the teachers in these courses piloted a curriculum resource this fall to support them in their teaching.  The product is from CodeHS and was specifically created to align with the newly created Nebraska State Standards.  After comparison to the other resource option available from Code.org, the teachers felt CodeHS was a much more comprehensive and engaging option for their students.  The pilot of the product has now ended.  Because the course is only a semester in length the teachers have requested a purchase of the product for next semester so it can be used with the remainder of the students who will be starting the course Second Semester.  Teaching and Learning requested permission from the Curriculum Committee to make this purchase and was given permission.  This purchase is only for next semester and purchase for a longer term will be discussed again at the next Curriculum Committee Meeting in the Spring. 

Rationale: 

The American Civics Committee meeting began at 9:00 AM on Friday, November 8th, 2024. Public Notice was published in the Norfolk Daily News on November 1, 2024. Board members present were Cindy Booth, Tom Stanton, and Beth Shashikant. No formal action was needed during the meeting. The information shared from Jared Oswald, Director of Teaching and Learning, began with a review of the project Senior High students complete during their Government course to meet the requirements of LB 399, the American Civics Act.  Members of the Teaching and Learning team also reviewed the Social Studies courses being taught across grade levels at Norfolk Public Schools. The K-3 Social Studies teachers are reviewing resource options for implementation during the 2025-2026 school year. A decision will be made, and the resource will be brought to the Curriculum Committee for their approval during the second meeting of the school year in the spring.  

Rationale: 

The Norfolk Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors met on Monday, October 21st, 2024 at 4:30 PM. 10 board members were present. The board reviewed the meeting minutes from September, financial reports, and the third quarter investment report.

President Jason Busch shared with the board that Traditions is scheduled for the next evening, October 22nd, beginning at 5:30 PM. The board reviewed information about the event, an analysis of the 2024-25 Staff Campaign, and some more details about the Bel Air Inclusive Playground project. Various committees will be meeting before the November 18th board meeting to prepare for the end of the year.

Rationale:  Minutes from the meeting on October 28, 2024 are attached for review. 

Rationale:  Diane Price - Kindergarten Teacher at Woodland Park Elementary - retiring at the end of the 2024-2025 school year

Rationale:  Attached are the claims. These claims were reviewed earlier by our Finance and Facilities Committee. 

There are no conflict statements this month.

Rationale: 

The annual audit for the 2023-2024 school year has been completed by Forward CPA. The audit findings were shared with the Finance and Facilities Committee by Ms. Janzing earlier today.

Rationale: 

No changes have been made to these policies since their first reading on 10/14/2024.

• 2210- Duties of Principal 

• 2226- Director of Student Services and Safety

• 2310- Certificated Administrator Evaluation

Rationale: 

This policy was discussed earlier during the Policy Committee Report and is attached. Revisions were made since the first reading on 10/14/24. 

• 2320- Evaluation of Superintendent 

Rationale:  See attachment.

Rationale: 

This year’s NASB Delegate Assembly will take place Friday, November 22nd, 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 is scheduled for Monday, November 25th, 2024 at Noon. 

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, December 9th, 2024 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.