February 9, 2015 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:  A motion to excuse Arnie Robinson is needed. He provided advance notice that he would be absent for family reasons.

Rationale:  DRAFT Elementary Growth Plan/Boundary Revisions

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

Rationale:  There is no Focus on the Students this evening due to Parent-Teacher Conferences.

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: 

Rationale: 

CURRICULUM & ASSESSMENT:

Assessments are an important, high priority in school districts during second semester. Teachers and students work very hard and since assessment results have become such a big piece to a school’s accountability, it can be stressful at times.

• NeSA Writing window:  Closed on Feb. 6^th. All 4^th, 8^th and 11^th graders completed the state writing test. Results will be sent back to schools in mid April.
• MAP Testing window:  February 23-March 2 for Reading, Language Arts & Math in grades 3-8 & 10. These are our national tests that we administer in the fall and spring to measure growth and compare to national percentiles.
• NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress):  Wednesday, February 25^th for grade 8 at the Junior High and February 24^th for grade 4 at Westside Elementary.  Random selection occurs every year for these tests.
• NeSA (state test) window:  March 23- May 1 for Reading, Math and Science in grades 3-8 & 11

   

  SUMMER SCHOOL:

  Summer school success begins now through the work and organization of our building principals.

• Matrices for determining summer school participants have been distributed to elementary principals.
• Each building principal is starting to line up summer school teachers and make instructional plans.
• K-8 summer school in session:  June 1- June 26
• 9-12 Session 1: May 26- June 16 & Session 2: June 17– July 10

 

TECHNOLOGY:

This year’s big focus is on moving our server location, updating our infrastructure and continued maintenance on existing equipment. We have been setting up plans for updating technology in places we feel we can best utilize resources. Mr. Robinson, Mr. Wolff and I have been working on ERate submissions so we may qualify for some discounted rates to assistance with our district infrastructure work.

Rationale: 

• Parent/Teacher Conferences start tonight, February 9^th at all Norfolk Public Schools.  The conferences will continue through February 12^th. We encourage parents to use this opportunity to visit with their child’s teachers.

• ELDA (English Language Developmental Assessments) will begin for our district ELL and Migrant students starting today on Monday, February 9^th and continue through March 20^th.  Students are assessed in reading, speaking, listening and writing.

• Kindergarten enrollment has started for the 2015-16 school term. Registration is being held at neighborhood schools. Parents must have a birth certificate and a copy of immunizations to begin the enrollment process.

Rationale: 

School Improvement/Professional Development

On January 22, NPS, in partnership with ESU 8, hosted Walter Bond. We had 1200 teachers and administrators from the ESU 8 areas listen to Walter’s message, "Make sure your children can hear your voice.” Following the presentation, 800 teachers/administrators took advantage of professional development sessions. Survey results were encouraging. Nevertheless Beth Nelson, Heidi Rethmeier and I have already had conversations about changes we will implement to make this training even better. Some of those improvements include adding more sessions on topics like school improvement, sessions for content/specialty teachers, additional sessions on technology and principal round table discussions.

Safety

I am excited to announce all of our district safety and security plans have been updated. I am in the process of assembling a team consisting of community members and NPS staff to review the procedures. If needed, this group will offer recommendations and appropriate modifications will be evaluated.

Human Resources

Currently the HR Department is working on updating evaluations for our classified staff. Our classified staff includes custodians, administrative assistants, food service, paraprofessionals and maintenance workers. As drafts become available, representatives from each of those groups will be asked to review the forms and offer suggestions.

 Public Relations

I am excited to announce that Washington Elementary School has been nominated to join the esteemed community of National Blue Ribbon Schools. National Blue Ribbon Schools produce outstanding results for all students, have demonstrated continual excellence and made progress in closing gaps in student achievement.  Washington was nominated as an Exemplary High Performing School. Mr. Michael Andreasen and his staff are currently working on the application which is due on March 20. I know I speak for our entire administrative team when I wish our heartfelt congratulations to the entire Washington community on their nomination! We thank you for your endless loyalty in demonstrating commitment to educational excellence for all children.

Rationale:  Legislative Update
GNSA Feb 18th
Calendar

Rationale:  The committee met on Jan. 26th and today at 12:00 noon. On the 26th the committee reviewed all the boundary information presented earlier this evening and had a chance to ask questions and provide feedback. Today the committee reviewed all claims and financials being presented this evening. The committee also reviewed the compensation packages for 2015-2016 for the following:
1. Nurses
2. Salaried Classified positions
3. District Administration 

All of these employee groups' compensation increases were calculated using the same percentage as was settled with the teachers, that percentage being 2.85%. Official action on these items will take place later in tonight's meeting. Mrs. Nelson shared bid information on our wireless infrastructure and then I shared updates on district facility projects. A written summary of district projects is attached for review. Our next meeting will be on March 9th at 12:00 noon in the CO board room.

Rationale:  Bill Robinson, Bob Waite, and I attended the GNSA meeting in Lincoln on January 21st. A variety of bills were discussed and the procedure for determining the GNSA's stance on individual bills was reviewed.

The Policy Committee met at 1:30 on January 19th.  Perry Law Firm's revisions of our remaining "old policies" were reviewed. These included: Weather Related Absences, Appropriate Dress, Leaves of Absence, Restriction on Wednesday Events, Cooperative Activities, National Trips, Limitations on Minimum Class Size, Attendance Area Boundary Line Review, Attendance Districts, School Activity Trip Drivers, and Board Vacancies and Resignations.

These are being presented for First Reading this evening.

Rationale:  No report. The Activities Committee meeting was rescheduled for February 16th at noon.

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  Darlene Wolff - Fifth Grade Teacher
Krystal Johnson - Third Grade Teacher at Westside
Debbra Marotz - Elementary LIFE Teacher

* All effective at the end of the 2014-2015 school year.
** Thanks to these teachers for their service to NPS and for announcing their decisions early so that we can recruit the best replacements possible

Rationale:  4005: Weather Related Absences
4026: Appropriate Dress
4110: Contract
5302: Student Organizations (including Restriction on Wednesday Events)
5304:  Cooperative Activities
5416: Student Fees Policy (including National Trips)
6113: Limitations on Minimum Class Size
6118: Attendance Area Boundary Line Review
6119: Attendance Districts
6271: School Activity Trip Drivers
8201: (Board) Vacancies and Resignations

Rationale:  I recommend to the Board of Education to accept the bid from Prime Communications in the amount of $299,039.95.  This will provide our district with a complete upgrade of our wireless technology system.  The contract with Prime is also E-rate eligible for reimbursement for up to 80% from the USAC.  This bid was discussed with the Finance and Facility committee today at noon and will be funded through E-rate, our tech bond, and depreciation if needed.

Rationale:  I recommend to the board of education to make a motion to accept the Nurses compensation and negotiated agreement for 2015-2016.  This document is attached for review.  The nurses had two representatives that met with myself and NEA representation to discuss the contract for 2015-2016.  The conversation went well and the nurses agreed to the 2.85% total package similar to our certified staff and also three additional contract days.  This will help our district with providing parents access to our health professionals during schedule pick-up and also at the start of summer school.  I believe our settlement is highly competitive, recognizes the work of our existing staff, while also being friendly to our taxpayers.  

Rationale:  I recommend to the Board of Education to make a motion to accept the increase of 2.85% of the classified salary schedule base to our classified employees who are on salary.  These employees will also receive a $400 dollar annual increase to their benefit package.  The compensation increase is similar to what we have done with our other employee groups and reflects a competitive wage for our current and future staff members while being cognitive of the budget.

Rationale:  I recommend to the Board of Education to make a motion to accept a wage increase of 2.85% of the administrative pay structure base and a $400 increase in each administrator's benefit package for 2015-2016. This is a similar compensation approach used with our other employee groups and provides our administrative team with a competitive wage increase for our current and future staff members while also being thoughtful to our budget.

Rationale:  I am recommending to the Board of Education to make a motion to approve obtaining proposals for our district fall photos and student/employee ID cards.  This will allow our district to receive proposals from vendors on handling our photo and ID needs.  This is at no cost to the district but we are providing vendors an opportunity to have access to our students. By offering that access, we will compare what benefits and incentives offered through the proposal process best help our district.

Rationale:  Membership dues are $8129.  
We will receive a 2% discount (-$163) if paid prior to April 1, 2015.
Total with discount: $7,966.

Rationale:  Our second meeting of the month will be held at noon on Thursday, February 26th at the NPS Central Administrative Offices.

Our next Regular Board meeting will be held Monday, March 9th. A study session will begin at 5:30 and will be followed by a regular business meeting at 6:30. All components of the meeting are open to the public and will be held at the City Administration Offices.