October 13, 2025 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 STEAM

Rationale:  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 his 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 = $674,241.31

Nutrition Fund = $223,217.23

Subsidiary Fund = $36,483.04

Depreciation Fund = $298,738.07

Senior High Activity Fund = $56,107.87

Senior High September Checks = $21,610.00

Junior High Activity Fund = $13,864.26

Junior High September Checks = $2,047.50

Student Fee Fund = $9,638.38

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

Report: 

• Yearly Audit
• Labor Relations

Rationale: 

• PLC Professional Development 

• Fall Testing is complete

• Nebraska Association of Curriculum and Assessment Directors

  • Nebraska Literacy Project and CLSD

  • Changes to State Assessments and Accountability

  • Conversations about how other districts are supporting students

Rationale: 

• Native American Student Enrollment

• NASES Fall Conference

• SPED Count

Rationale: 

• Active Shooter Tabletop Exercise

• Educators Academy for Legislative Advocacy

• MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) Summit

• Last Day of First Quarter (October 10) and Parent Teacher Conferences

  • October 13: K-8 P/T Conf (4:00-7:00)

  • October 14: K-4 and 9-12 P/T Conf (4:00-7:00)

  • October 15: 5-12 P/T Conf (4:00-7:00)

  • October 16: K-12 P/T Conf (1:00-4:00); Students dismissed at 11:30

  • October 17: No School

• Jr High Cell Phone Update

Rationale: 

Upcoming Job Fairs:

• USD Speech Language Pathologist Fair
• NE Wesleyan Education Fair
• UNL Educator Career Fair
• USD Teacher Fair

Fall Student Teachers: 8
Spring Student Teacher Requests: 21 (WSC, UNK, Chadron)

Attended Labor Relations Conference, sessions focused on:

• Recruitment & Retention
• Labor Issues
• Employee Accommodations

Attended a Continuous Improvement Workshop, hosted by NDE, sessions focused on:

• Continuous Improvement Tools
• Role Clarity
• Systems and Processes
• NDE External Visit

Rationale:  Meetings Schedule

• Building Leadership Teams (BLT): These meetings are held twice a month. This suggests a focus on school-level leadership and decision-making.
• Central Office Leadership Teams (COLT): These meetings are held weekly. This indicates a regular and frequent meeting of the district's central administration.
• TAC Meeting
• Central Office All Staff meeting
• Opportunity to visit with HS Freshmen
• Middle School Monthly meeting
• Spoke with Rotary Club

Report:

• Visiting schools is going well.
• Also attending PLC meetings on Wednesdays.
• Enjoy the activities I am able to attend.

Rationale:  The Finance and Facilities Committee met on October 13th. The committee discussed and reviewed: 

• Union Pacific Railroad lease
• Facilities updates
• Expenditure report
• Annual Audit

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors met on September 15. During the meeting, Superintendent Bill McAllister was introduced to the directors. Insight Financial presented the quarterly report following a review of financial statements. Preparations are underway for upcoming events, including the Lion’s Club Parade, Traditions, and the Staff Campaign. In addition, directors were asked to review draft guidelines for the NPS Hall of Fame.

Rationale:  Minutes from the meeting on September 22nd, 2025 are attached for review. 

Rationale:  Port, Whitney

• 2025-2026 Special Education 7-8 Behavior Teacher, Norfolk Junior High
• Bachelor of Science, Education, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
• 2/2023, City of Norfolk, Norfolk Public Library Youth Services Supervisor

Rationale:  Attached are the claims. These claims were reviewed earlier by our Finance and Facilities Committee. There are 5 conflict statements that will need to be read prior to voting. 

Rationale:  The Policy Committee reviewed the following policies and recommended revisions, which were previously discussed in the Committee’s report.

3132 - Internal Controls
8342 - Designated Method of Giving Notice of Meetings

Rationale:  There have been no changes to these policies since the first reading.
3550 - Rebates to School Personnel
9320 - Order of Business

Rationale:  All agreements with Norfolk Public Schools will be for two (2) years — 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years. It is the recommendation of the Activities Committee to renew the coop. 

Rationale:  All agreements with Norfolk Public Schools will be for two (2) years — 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years. It is the recommendation of the Activities Committee to renew the coop. 

Rationale:  Wisner-Pilger will no longer have any swimmers and will be removed. Wayne Community Schools will be added.  All agreements with Norfolk Public Schools will be for two (2) years — 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years. It is the recommendation of the Activities Committee to approve the coop. 

Rationale:  Circle of Friends was approved as a Pilot Allied Activity at the Senior High during the Board of Education meeting on January 10, 2024. If formally approved as an Allied Activity, the finances of the club will be managed by the School District within the Activities Fund, and the sponsor will be paid according to the Extra Duty Salary Schedule #10. The Activities Committee recommends that Circle of Friends be officially approved as an Allied Activity.

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:  The fenced storage area behind the district maintenance building has always been owned by Union Pacific Railroad. NPS has used that area for storage and parking. We were contacted by Union Pacific to inform us that we would need to lease that property if we wanted to continue to use it or remove our stuff from their property. This is a yearly lease of $5000. If we lost this space, we would be hard pressed to find room to store the equipment and materials we have out there. A different space would most likely be farther away and cost us a lot more. I would recommend moving forward with this lease.

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 2026-2027 school year, our projections indicate that we will be at capacity in grades 9-12.

The grades that we will be accepting option enrollment students in next year are K - 8. See the attached appendix for the number of option students that will be accepted at each grade level.

Rationale:  Confidential personnel issue. Resolution attached. 

Rationale: 

If needed, a 2nd regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education will be scheduled for Monday, October 27th, 2025 at Noon. 

The following regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, November 10, 2025 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 a Closed Session is needed in order to protect the interest of the district or the reputation of an individual.