December 14, 2015 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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I. Call Meeting to Order
Rationale:
STRIVE • COMMIT • SUCCEED - District Mission Statement Notice of this meeting was given in advance according to State Law 84-1411, by giving notice of the meeting to the public. Notice of this meeting was also given in advance to all members of the Board of Education
Discussion:
Meeting was called to order by President Brabec at 6:33 PM. Board members present were Brabec, Vavricek, Cerny, Hild, and Misek; Board member Semerad was absent. Others also present were Principals Comley and Grammer, Directors Gibbons and Vrba, and Student Council Representative Cameron Harding.
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I.A. Pledge of Allegiance
Discussion:
All those present participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.
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I.B. Declaration of Open Meeting
Rationale:
This meeting has been preceded by advance notice and is hereby declared to be in open session. A copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in the hallway outside the Media Center.
Discussion:
President Brabec declared this meeting had been preceded by advance notice and was open to the public.
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II. Approval of Consent Agenda
Rationale:
Discuss, Consider and Take Action on the consent agenda
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion to approve the consent agenda Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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II.A. Agenda
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II.B. Minutes
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II.C. Acceptance of Claims
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II.C.1. Bills of $5,000 or more
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II.D. Financial
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II.E. Other Listed Reports
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III. Public Forum - We ask that all presentation be limited in their length.
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III.A. Recognition of visitors and guests
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III.B. Other topics (limited to 5 minutes - subject to guidelines of the Board Participation Policy)
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III.C. Student Representative's Report
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IV. Action Items
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IV.A. Building, Grounds, and Transportation
Rationale:
This committee is responsible for recommending approval of building/grounds and transportation programs, vehicle replacement schedule, building and maintenance and upgrade schedule.
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IV.A.1. Consider, discuss, and take action to approve change order #1.
Rationale:
Attached are 3 items for approval included in Change Order #1.
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion to approve Rec Center Change order #1 as presented. Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
This change order involved removal of unstable soil and part of an old concrete foundation and the addition of clay. In the future, the Building and Grounds Committee will make recommendations on change orders but the School Board will authorize the formal approval.
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IV.B. Budget, finance, negotiations, and personnel
Rationale:
This committee is responsible for budget, finance, and contract negotiations with administration, certificated staff, and support staff.
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IV.B.1. Consider, discuss, and take action to approve the 2016-17 certificated staff Master Agreement.
Rationale:
See attached information.
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion to approve the 2016-17 Certificated Staff Master Agreement as recommended. Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
The Schuyler Education Association voted in favor of the Certificated Master Agreement offered for the 2016-2017 school year. Changes in the contract included an increase in the base salary, an increase in the medical insurance deductible (insurance company increase,)PTO considerations, SPED compensation and a rate change for in-house substitute teachers.
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IV.B.2. Consider, discuss, and take action to approve the 2015-16 teacher incentive program.
Rationale:
See Attachment.
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion to approve the 2015-16 teacher incentive plan as presented. Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
The 2015-2106 Teacher Incentive Plan included teaching a college credit course, college tuition reimbursement for endorsements or advanced degrees and the SMS School Improvement Grant.
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V. Discussion Items and Reports
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V.A. Principals Reports
Rationale:
Preschool and 3-5 Report: Mr. Comley Short notes from the last month:
Preschool- 94
Kindergarten- 136 1st Grade- 166 2nd Grade- 141
3rd Grade- 122 4th Grade- 131 5th Grade- 146
Total- 936
Traffic is moving good! We held our medal ceremony for children that achieved met or exceeded on the NeSA test. Lots of happy faces :) Mickey Carlson from the ESU has been working with our children to help improve writing scores at the elementary level. Been seeing lots of GREAT teaching out of the Preschool and SES. I am very proud to have the teachers we have! K-2 Report: Mr. Kovar It is almost crazy to think that the first semester is almost over. Oh how the time flies! It really is amazing how efficient the elementary is, considering it's size. That is a huge compliment to all the people who work there!! I would have to say that some of the biggest things we have been working on in K-2, involve I-Observation, and writing. With I-Observation, teachers have embraced using posted daily objectives, to help communicate to students what it is that they are learning that day, and how it is important. With writing, we have been doing a ton of work K-5 on what writing we are doing at every grade level, and what things we want to see from students as the go on the next grade level. We are confident that we will see great improvements over the next few years, as we continue to make writing a priority. JH girls basketball and boys wrestling will finish up before winter break, and boys basketball will start after we return from winter break. We just finished up hosting our JR high boys wrestling tournament last Saturday. It was a huge success. We hosted almost 300 wrestlers, and the Schuyler wrestlers represented very well. It would not have been possible without all of volunteers who stepped up to help. A special thank you to Al Sucha, Carol Reha, Mark Wemhoff and all of the high school maintenance staff. Schuyler Middle School Report: Mrs. Burton The staff and students are not letting up as we head toward Christmas Break! Students continue to be involved in a variety of opportunities. Our SMS 8th graders recently spent a day at the SAC Air and Space Museum, and a small cohort of students were invited to UNO to participate in a middle school computing day. Our partners at Discovery Education continue to coach teachers to strengthen their craft. We currently have eight teachers participating in a strenuous year-long opportunity that provides extreme in-depth coaching, along with administrative support. We are seeing large improvements in student engagement, due to the opportunity. CTAC continues to work with our staff on pushing the measure in the areas of relevant content, instructional strategies, and meaningful relationships. It is a request that SMS students do not have school the day of February 3, 2016, as teachers will be working with our partners from CTAC and Discovery Education. I would like to thank Mr. Kovar, Mr. Al Sucha, and Mr. Russ and Mrs. Carol Reha for their work at the Schuyler Wrestling Invite on December 5th. I had many compliments on the event, and it would not have been successful without their collaborative partnership! The SMS Christmas program is tonight, so I will not be in attendance. The 6th graders are performing at 6:30 p.m. The 7th and 8th grade performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Currents SMS Attendance Figures: 6th Grade: 126 7th Grade: 128 8th Grade: 126 Total Enrollment: 380 Students
Schuyler Central High School Report: Mr. Grammer (See Attachment)
Discussion:
Principal Grammer commended the students at SCHS who have been involved in multiple extra-curricular activities including One-Act, concerts, and sports on consecutive days.
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V.B. Directors Reports
Rationale:
Special Education Report: Darli Jo Vrba Special Education teachers and I are working together on completing their first semester iobservations! We will also be looking at our first semester goals during our Team Sped meeting on Friday, December 18th! In our team meeting, we will be developing our Team Sped goals for the second semester. During this meeting, many teachers will be sharing the information from the Cen7ter Special Education meeting with the rest of their team! Since the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, we have tested and verified an additional 40 students to receive special education services. (Mike Goos has actually tested each student which is a four hour process that we spread over 2 days!) Our special education teachers are providing services for 216 students and we have 20 more pending along with the numerous students in our SAT process. The dedication of our teachers' time and expertise has been priceless through all of the development of MDTs, IFSP, and IEPs! I want to personally wish all of you a Merry, Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years filled with time for loved ones, laughter, and lots of yummy food! Thank you so much for all of your support as I am experiencing a "little learning curve" in my life!! SCHS Asst. Principal/AD Report: Mrs. Egr (HO)^3 Won't be long and Santa will be loading his sleigh! Hard to believe we are almost complete with a semester of school. Time travels fast. I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I will be at SMS at a Christmas Concert on Monday eve. I may or may not make it back to the school for the board meeting. In November, I attended the NSIAAA conference in Kearney. Here is a summary of the presentations. UNK Activities Director Dr. Paul M. Plinski spoke on "Things they didn't teach you, but you had to learn the hard way". Dr. Plinski gave three examples of issues that have occurred in the last year with student athletes and how the law/school policy dealt with the situations. Creighton University Activities Director, Bruce Rasmussen spoke about "Coaching Today's Coaches". He talked about the 7 Habits of Remarkably Successful Leaders, Inc.com (October 5, 2015). 1. Perspire 2. Show grace under pressure 3. Have Integrity 4. Inspire Teamwork 5. Communicate 6. Look at the big picture. He is working with a lot of young coaches. With that comes different challenges. The work force is turning over quickly. The veteran staff is gone and mentoring is left to administration. He also talked about the Three Types of Leaders. Visionary, Relational and Supportive. Visionary spends a lot time chasing the impossible dream. Relational have intimate and emotional connections with people. Supportive make sure no one is left behind. This was a good presentation and as he was speaking, it was easy to put people one knows into a category that best describes their style. My personal favorite every time is Karen Haase, KSB School Law. She gives an overview of current court cases and resolved cases and how they affect schools. One of the cases that she stressed was gym usage by outside sources. The schools liability with injury. We are doing well in following the suggestions. Jim Tenopir, NSAA Interim Executive Director, discussed new NSAA proposals and upcoming meetings. I am working on observations of certificated staff. Holiday Basketball Meetings continue. We meet on Wednesday mornings at 7 am at Hyvee in Columbus. 7-12 Coaches meetings continue each first Tuesday of the month at 7:15 am. Fall Activities Awards Night went very well. In the October board meeting notes, we began advertising when the fall awards night would be. It was well attended. Looking forward to the Winter Awards night on March 7th at 7 pm. Curriculum/Assessment and Special Programs Report: Mr. Gibbons Curriculum, Assessment & Accountability – Results of the state’s new accountability system have been published. The Accountability for a Quality Educational System Today and Tomorrow (AQuESTT) system rates schools on a four point scale: (4) Excellent; (3) Great; (2) Good; (1) Needs Improvement. Although assessment scores are a major part of the rating, the overall score is based on six different tenets. Schools are given an initial status score, then that score can adjusted based on improvements in state testing, graduation rates and scores on a self-assessment called the Evidence-Based Analysis. Here’s how Schuyler Community Schools were rated: District Rating 2 – Good Schuyler Elementary School 2 – Good Fisher’s 24 Elementary 2 – Good Fisher’s 24 Middle 4 – Excellent Richland Elementary 4 – Excellent Richland Middle School 2 – Good Schuyler Middle School 3 – Great Schuyler Central High School 1 – Needs Improvement
After School Program – Thanks to the work of Heather Bebout and a Community Partnership with the Schuyler Chamber of Commerce, the Warrior Academy was awarded an $1800 Donation through ADM Cares. ADM Cares is a social investment program that directs funds to initiatives and organizations that drive meaningful social, economic and environmental progress worldwide. The program comprises three distinct focus areas: supporting the responsible development of agriculture, improving the quality of life in ADM communities and fostering employee giving and volunteer activities. School Improvement Grant – We recently had a joint meeting and professional learning opportunity with our CTAC and Discovery Education partners. It is always beneficial to have them together so we can see the connections between the two partners. We had training in our new principal evaluation model. Today, administrators spent the day working on Inter-rater Reliability and the rest of the teacher model.
Discussion:
Winter Activity Awards night is scheduled for March 7th at 7:00 pm.
Results of the state’s new accountability system have been published. The Accountability for a Quality Educational System Today and Tomorrow (AQuESTT) system rates schools on a four point scale: (4) Excellent; (3) Great; (2) Good; (1) Needs Improvement. Although assessment scores are a major part of the rating, the overall score is based on six different tenets. Schools are given an initial status score, then that score can adjusted based on improvements in state testing, graduation rates and scores on a self-assessment called the Evidence-Based Analysis.
The Warrior Academy (After School Program) was awarded an $1800 Donation through ADM Cares.
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V.C. Superintendent's Report
Rationale:
1. Strategic Planning Update: The PK-12 staff planning session was held on Wednesday, November 25th. SCHS Parent/Community session was held on Monday, December 7th. SMS and SES are scheduled for December 21 and 22. We will host session at Richland, Fishers, and Cargill in January. Once we finalize input from these sessions, we will host a community leaders session prior to presenting our final recommendations to the board for their approval in February.
Discussion:
The Strategic Planning meeting held at SCHS on December 7 was well attended. Future planning meetings at SMS and SES will be held December 21 and 22 and at the rural schools on a date to be announced. An additional meeting will be held at Cargill. Results will be discussed at the February school board meeting.
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V.D. Board Member/Committee Reports
Rationale:
SCHUYLER COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION MEETING 12/07/2015 @ 12 NOON – 1:00 P.M. @ SCHUYLER MIDDLE SCHOOL CONFERENCE ROOM Membership: Lumir Jedlicka-Treasurer, Brian Vavricek- President, Virginia Semerad- Secretary, Joyce Baumert, Sandy Seckman- Vice President, Victor Lopez, and Dan Hoesing Guests -Tiffany Cone – Chamber Executive Director -Kem Cavanah – Economic Development Coordinator -Shelley Friesz –shelley.friesz@schuylercommunityschools.org – 402-352-3527 Ext 216 Foundation Assistant -Sheri Balak – sheribalak@gmail.com – Alumni Honors consultant Vision: To support the enrichment of educational programs and student life experiences Goals: -To promote education in Schuyler Community Schools -Conduct feasibility study on possible new construction at high school building Secretary Report/Minutes – Review and Approve (refer minutes e-mailed by Shelley Friesz – November 2, 2015) Treasurer’s Report – balance as of 12/07/2015- $ · Pd $100 to Ultra Graphics for Schuyler Directory ad · Pd $71.25 to Karel & Seckman New Business: Discuss After Hours- set for Feb. 4, 2016 @ Schuyler Golf Club 5:30 Committee Reports: · Labor Day: Brian & Victor & Sandy · Scholarship: Sandy, Lumir
· Alumni Website: Dan & Virginia · Alumni Honors Committee- Joyce & Sheri · Mission Statement & Goals updated- Joyce, Sheri & Brian · SMS Recreational Building- Dan Next Meeting –January 4, 2016 @ 12:00 Noon @ Schuyler Middle School Conference Room |
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V.E. Discuss timeline for 2015-16 employee contracts.
Rationale:
1. Superintendent's Contract: January 11th Board Meeting. In compliance with the Superintendent Transparency Act, information about the superintendents contract considerations must be posted on the district website prior to board action. Superintendent's contract is also posted on the website.
2. Principals, Directors, and Program Coordinators' Contracts: February 8th Board Meeting. 3. Certificated Staff Contracts: April 11th Board Meeting 4. Support Staff Contracts: May 9th Board Meeting.
Recommended Motion(s):
No Motion Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Discussion:
Actions will be taken on contracts for the 16-17 school year on the following dates:
Superintendent - January 11 board meeting;
Principals, Directors, and Program Coordinators at the February 8 board meeting;
Certificated Staff - April 11 board meeting;
Support Staff - May 9 board meeting.
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V.F. Review of superintendent's evaluation process.
Rationale:
The superintendent's evaluation form is on the district webpage. Please make sure you complete your evaluation so that Rich Brabec can compile a summary report. At the board meeting, you will be able to provide the public with your thoughts. The negotiations committee will meet before the January board meeting to set expectations and review 2016 contract recommendations.
Recommended Motion(s):
No motion Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Discussion:
Board members completed the Superintendent's evaluation online. Comments shared by board members included: The Superintendent has set the district on a path to a balanced budget; He provides information, statistics, and financials to help the board members make good decisions and also helps the community to understand the how and why of decisions; The district is working toward a common goal.
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VI. Correspondence Items
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VII. Adjournment
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion to adjourn Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
Meeting adjourned at 7:38 PM.
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