February 13, 2023 at 5:30 PM - Regular Monthly Meeting of the Kearney Public Schools Board of Education

Rationale:  This is an open, public meeting of the Kearney Public Schools Board of Education, and a copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in this room.

Rationale:  Kearney High School students Jenna Mapes and Maria Buck have been selected to display their ceramic art work at the 26th Annual National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition to be held in March in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Their pieces were two of 152 entries to be chosen out of 1,317 for the exhibition.  Mapes' artwork entitled, Demeter, is a ceramic flower.  Buck's selected piece is a ceramic bust entitled, "Not My Fault".

Rationale:  Megan Schmidt, principal of Bright Futures Pre-School, will report on the programs and activities at Bright Futures Pre-School.

Rationale:  Superintendent Mundorf will report to the Board of Education on the activity of bills in this session of the Nebraska Unicameral that affect education.

Rationale:  President Blessing and Superintendent Mundorf will report on the topics discussed at the January 25, 2023 special, retreat meeting of the Board of Education.

Rationale:  Board meetings may have on the agenda, a specific time entitled Public Participation/Comment, during which patrons may address the Board on matters of general concern.  No public body shall require members of the public to identify themselves as a condition for admission to the meeting, nor shall such body require that the name of any members of the public be placed on the agenda prior to such meeting in order to speak about items on the agenda.  Patrons wishing to address the Board during the Public Participation/Comment will be allowed up to five (5) minutes per speaker to express their view.  Public Participation/Comment may not exceed sixty (60) total minutes.  The Board-imposed time limits may be extended by a majority vote of the Board, following a motion to do so.  Board action may not be taken on matters discussed during the Public Participation/Comment, unless the matter specifically appears on the prepared agenda.  Board of Education members will refrain from expressing personal opinions during Public Participation/Comment.

Any members of the public desiring to address the body shall be required to sign in with the recording secretary prior to the start of the meeting and identify himself or herself, including an address, phone number, and name of any organization represented by such person, unless the address and phone number requirement is waived to protect the security of the individual.

Rationale:  President Blessing will report to the Board of Education on bills in the Nebraska Unicameral that are being monitored by the NASB Legislative Committee.

Rationale:  The KHS spirit squad is requesting permission to attend the Summer Cheerleader Camp at Okoboji, IA., June 26-29, 2023.

Rationale:  Members of the KHS girls' basketball team are requesting permission to attend the Summer Basketball Tournament in Denver, CO., June 8-10, 2023.

Rationale:  The KHS FBLA Chapter is asking for approval of their trip to the FBLA National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, GA., June 25-July 1, 2023.

Rationale:  The KHS DECA Chapter is asking permission to attend the DECA Central Region Leadership Conference in Chicago, IL., March 28-31, 2023.

Rationale:  The KHS FFA Chapter is asking permission to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN., October 31-November 4, 2023.

Rationale:  The Board of Education gave first reading approval to the deletion of Board Rules 1310 and 6310 at the January regular Board meeting and we will ask the Board to give second and final reading approval to the deletion of these rules at the February meeting.

Rationale:  We will ask the Board of Education to approve a correction in the placement of new hire Halli Chramosta on the salary schedule from MA+36, Step 7 to MA+36, Step 6.

Rationale:  We have received letters of resignation from Makaleigh Kohlscheen, special education teacher at Kearney High School; Mary Stuart, 3rd grade teacher at Northeast Elementary School; Maaika Schilz, 2nd grade teacher at Meadowlark Elementary School; Kimberly Maw, English teacher at Kearney High School; Allyson Ferguson, counselor at Kearney High School; Scott Jochum, industrial technology teacher at Kearney High School; Miriam Ramirez, 8th grade English teacher at Horizon Middle School; Luciano Insua, science teacher at Kearney High School; Noah Murrish, English teacher at Kearney High School; Jacob Henderson, PSD teacher at Sunrise Middle School; and Julia Hill, special education life skills teacher at Meadowlark Elementary School; as well as the retirement resignation of Vicki Maupin, music teacher at Buffalo Hills and Windy Hills Elementary Schools; effective the end of the 2022-2023 school year.  We will ask the Board to accept these resignations, with regret.

Rationale:  The Kearney Public Schools Board of Education has completed the negotiations process with the Kearney Education Association for contract terms for the 2023-2024 school year.  The KEA membership has ratified the proposed Negotiated Agreement, so we will ask the Board of Education to ratify the agreement as well.

Rationale:  We will ask the Board of Education to employ the following certificated staff in the Kearney Public Schools for the 2023-2024 school year:  Sidney Enochs, BA, Step 3, 3rd grade teacher at Northeast Elementary School; Jacquelyn Hays, BA+27, Step 5, physical education teacher at Horizon Middle School; Elizabeth Lopez, MA+36, Step 15, school psychologist; Madison Marker, BA, Step 3, agriculture teacher at Kearney High School; Jill O'Connell, MA,+18, Step 14, physical education teacher at Sunrise Middle School; Jocelyn Rauert, BA, Step 3, 2nd grade teacher at Meadowlark Elementary School; Carson Schwarz, BA, Step 3, business teacher at Sunrise Middle School; Bailey Stofer, BA, Step 3, special education teacher at Kearney High School; Amanda Swift, MA+36, Step 15, 5th grade teacher at Meadowlark Elementary School; Melissa Trausch, MA+9, Step 7, Spanish teacher at Kearney High School; and Logan Waggoner, MA, Step 9, special education teacher at Kearney High School.

Rationale:  Each year, the Board of Education is asked to set compensation for the classified, classified-exempt, and administrative employees of the school district for the next school year.  For the 2023-2024 school year, we are recommending an average increase in total compensation of 5% for classified employees, an average increase in total compensation of 5% for classified-exempt employees; and an average increase in total compensation of 3.5% for administrative employees; in the Kearney Public Schools.  

Rationale:  Requests for quotes were sent out to multiple vendors for grades 5 and 9 Chromebooks on December 20, 2022 and received on January 28, 2023.  These proposals were reviewed based on the district's requirements of the device and the evaluation rubric.

Based on these quotes, it is the recommendation that the bid be awarded to Connection in the amount of $202,122.00 for Chromebooks.
 

Vendor	Device	Total Cost
Connection	Acer C722	$        202,122.00
CDW	HP 11 MK G9	$        230,156.50
Sterling	Lenovo 100e Gen 3 AMD	$        243,342.50
Computer Hardware	Lenovo 100e Gen 3 AMD	$        247,437.00
Connection	Acer C734	$        252,491.00
Sterling	Dell 3110	$        275,443.00
Sterling	Lenovo 100e Gen 3 Intel	$        278,236.00

 

Rationale:  We will ask the Board of Education to approve the Emergency Operations Plan for the Kearney Public Schools.

Rationale:  Board President Drew Blessing and Superintendent Jason Mundorf have been invited to attend the NASB Nebraska Legislative Delegation trip to Washington, D.C., April 23-26, 2023.  

Rationale:  The Board of Education will require a closed session for the purpose of discussing teacher negotiations.