May 17, 2021 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

STRIVE  -  COMMIT  -  SUCCEED  -  District Mission Statement

Schuyler Community Schools in partnership with parents, students, and the community is committed to educate students to become skilled, knowledgeable and responsible citizens in a global society - District Vision 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

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 front of the meeting room.

Nebraska Open Meetings Act:  http://nitc.nebraska.gov/documents/statutes/NebraskaOpenMeetingsAct_current.pdf

Rationale:  Discuss, Consider and Take Action on the consent agenda

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Rationale:  This committee is responsible for reviewing curriculum recommendations, textbook selection, requisitions/inventory, and instructional programs.

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This plan was discussed with board committees prior to the approval of the 2021 strategic plan. The entire curriculum cycle is posted in the district website.  Attached below is the 2021 textbook replacement plan.  See attachment below.
 

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for recommending approval of building/grounds and transportation programs, vehicle replacement schedule, building and maintenance and upgrade schedule.

Rationale:  This plan was discussed with board committees prior to the approval of the 2021 strategic plan. The building and grounds plan is on the filemaker portal.  You can review the entire plan on the board website.  See attached 2021 plan.
 

Rationale: 
This plan was discussed with board committees prior to the approval of the 2021 strategic plan.  The 2021 Equipment Replacement Plan is on the filemaker portal.  You can review the entire plan on the board website.  See attached 2021 plan.
 

Rationale: 
This plan was discussed with board committees prior to the approval of the 2021 strategic plan.  The 2021 vehicle replacement plan is on the filemaker portal.  You can review the entire plan on the board website.  The only vehicle on the plan for 2021 was for a food service van that was purchased with a grant this spring. See attached 2021 plan.

 

Rationale:  We had three companies submit bids on the removal, repair, and resurfacing of the track, runways, and approaches on the track.  See bid summaries below:

Pro Track and Tennis:  $117,300
Midwest Track and Tennis:  $129,500
Mid-America Golf & Landscape, Inc:  $156,382

See attached resolution.

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for recommending the annual district calendar, strategic planning process, technology, and promoting positive public relations and communications program.

Rationale:  This plan was discussed with board committees prior to the approval of the 2021 strategic plan.  The entire technology replacement plan is on the board website.  Attached below is the 2021 technology equipment replacement plan.  The replacement budget is larger than in the past and as originally discussed as this proposal is funded by the ESSER II Federal Program for the next three years.  See attached plan.

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for budget, finance, and contract negotiations with administration, certificated staff, and support staff.

Rationale: 
Resignations
1. Wanda Juan:  SES Para Educator (High Needs)
 

Rationale: 
New Hires:
1.  Mylissa Krupka:  Richland Teacher
2.  Emily Steinhoff:  SCHS Language Arts Teacher
3.  Bailly Ballard:  SCHS Social Studies Teacher
4.  Arturo Adame:  Buildings and Grounds (Terry Spale)
5.  Aylin Adame:  ASP Assistant/Community Liaison
6.  Viviana Moran:  Richland Dual Language Para Educator
7.  Jessica Graef:  Full-Time Substitute Teacher
 

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Attached are the recommended support staff salary schedules for 2020-21 and 2021-22 for comparison.

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See attached list and corresponding assigned positions for the 2021-2022 school year.

Rationale:  Attached below are the recommendations on extra-duty and extended contracts for the 2021-22 school year. We still have three assignments unfilled at this time.  We will work to fill these upon completion of our hiring for the 2021-22 school year.

Rationale:  Attached is a petition for a real estate transfer between David City Public Schools and Schuyler Community Schools.  The petition requests a comparable transfer of real estate property owned by Mark and Samantha Ladwig currently in the David City School District and Chad and Chantel Denker currently in the Schuyler School District. 
The David City Board of Education approved the request at their board meeting on May 10th.  This request has to go before the State Reorganization Board for approval and will probably be approved for your consideration in July.  The actual transfer will take place January 1, 2022.
See attached documents.

Rationale: 

Priority Schools 2020-21 State Board Report:  High School Administrators will be at the meeting to present the 2020-21 report to the Nebraska State Board of Education.  This report will be presented to a committee of the State Board in July.

Priority Plan update
This past month we were able to meet with our consultants on four different days.  We met on April 14th and 15th, as well as April 28th, 29th.  We once again had a long list of to-do items, but I feel the meetings went well and were very productive.  We continued our "Teaching Studies" and will finish those the second week of May.  This is also a great time to review and celebrate the progress we have made over the past few weeks.  We also continued our walk through process, but changed the focus to find strengths of our teachers.  It has been a great opportunity to find ways to continue to support our teachers and to help our new administration get to know them.  

We spent a great deal of time working on our board committee meetings and were able to meet with our board committee members to explain and outline the progress of our plan.  We appreciated this opportunity and will present to our full board during the May 17th board meeting.  This presentation will be the same presentation that we give to the Nebraska State School Board on June 3rd.  

We also spent time during their visit discussing goal setting, as well as summer professional development opportunities, coaching for administrators, and visiting classrooms.  We have two more days scheduled with KLK on May 10-11.  During this time we will finalize all presentations and continue to work on data for our presentation as well as visit classrooms. 

Below is a link to our priority plan, as well as our SCHS newsletter.  Again, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t be afraid to contact one of the high school administrators.

https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/908802/Draft_2018-2021_Schuyler_Priority_Plan__1_.pdf 

https://5il.co/nlww

Rationale: 

Preschool and SES 3-5 Principal's Report:  Mr. Comley
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  This month I would like to highlight Winnie Harbison.  Ms. Harbison is a valuable piece to the Family Literacy program at SES. Winnie always has materials ready and handles the task of organizing the families at so many levels. We have repeatedly been told we have one of the states top programs and this is due in large part to the hard work the Ms. Harbison puts in. I would like to recognize Winnie Harbison for all she does to make Schuyler Community Schools a better place!

SES K-2 Principal's Report:  Mrs. Neesen
Spotlight Staff Member: I would like to use our final board report for the 2020-21 school year to highlight the work and 20 years of service of Pat Cuda. Mrs. Cuda started her Schuyler Community Schools career in 2001. During her career at SCS she has worked in multiple settings ranging from working at Richland, 4R, and was one of the first teachers to teach at SES when the new building opened. Mrs. Cuda has taught first grade at SES for 12 years, resulting in making lasting impressions on students and staff. Her current team wanted to share their Discovery Education SOS Strategy of "6 Word Story# when thinking about Pat. 

6 Word Stories:
Caring, Hardworking, Great Teacher, Great Friend.
Dedicated, Caring, Loving, Organized, Prepared, Patient
PAT (Persistent, Adaptable, Trustworthy) CUDA ( Committed, Understanding, Dedicated, APPLAUSE!!!)
Thank you for your years of service Mrs. Cuda. You will be greatly missed!

Spotlight Upcoming Events: Students are excited that we are still able to do Park Day! We are able to accomplish this while maintaining the same COVID protocols that we’ve been practicing all year. It’s exciting to be able to continue to have end-of-the-year traditions even during this unconventional school year. 

Fisher’s & Richland Principal's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Deb Gonisor has worked in our district for many years.  She is a para at Richland and  is also in charge of an art club at the high school.  Deb is always willing to help out wherever she is needed and will do any job without hesitation.  One thing I wanted to highlight is Deb helped save a student who was choking!!  Deb has had CPR training in the past.  This year I had all of my staff attend a CPR training held by our school nurses, we do not have full-time nurses at the rural schools.  This training was excellent and a good refresher for everyone.  A few days ago, a student who was eating french fries started choking on a fry.  Deb noticed that the student could not breathe and performed the Heimlich Maneuver several times without hesitation before French Fry  was dislodged.  Everything turned out ok because of Deb’s willingness to have the training, saw a student in distress, and then acted immediately!  It of course goes without saying that we are blessed to have Deb on our staff.

SMS Assistant Principal's Report:  Mr. Banahan
Spotlight Program: The program that I want to highlight is our Process Champions group of teachers that have really begun to take some leadership opportunities here at Schuyler Middle School. This group of teachers have really grasped the idea of Capturing Kids Hearts and now are using their skills to help really expand and push others to follow the model that Capturing Kids Hearts have laid the foundation for in their training. This group provides our teachers with ideas they can use in their classrooms to help build positive relationships with our students. They also provide us with a launch from all of our staff meetings to send us on our way with a positive mindset
Spotlight Staff: The staff member I would like to highlight is Mrs. Marisela Lopez. Mrs. Lopez is one of our administrative assistants here at Schuyler Middle School. She does so much for our students and staff throughout the school year, and we are very grateful that she is here at SMS. She is the glue that helps to keep everything running smoothly, she always has a smile on her face when she is helping someone, even if she is completely swamped with a different task, she is always willing to help someone in need.  On top of helping students in the office, and ensuring that everything in the office is running smoothly, she also runs a club for the after school program. We all appreciate the work that she does in our building, and behind the scenes that it often goes unnoticed, but we want to make sure that she gets the recognition that she deserves.
Spotlight Upcoming Events: This month has been flying by as we are already entering our last week of school! This month has had a myriad of things happening here at SMS. Our athletes competed their last track meet of the school year on Monday May 10th at David City. We had band and choir concerts on May 6th. Students were honored with Academic Honors on Tuesday May 11th. On May 14th we had our R-Time celebrations, and Athletic Honors during the school day. We wrap up our year with 8th grade graduation on May 20th.

Middle School Principal's Report:  Mr. Zavadil
Staff Member Spotlight:  This month I would like to spotlight the work of Ms. Brenda Klein.  Ms. Klein is our Schuyler Middle School high needs special education teacher.  She works with our students that have more severe medical concerns and disabilities.  She essentially runs a mini-school for those students within our school and does so with a great deal of love for her students.  She coordinates the efforts of three paraprofessionals to assist the students and is an unwavering advocate for the wellbeing of the kids.  Mrs. Klein is retiring at the end of next week and she will be missed.  It takes a very special person to devote their career to students with severe disabilities, but she does it with grace. 
Upcoming Events:  We have three days left of school and we are all a bit tired, but thrilled that we have made it through what we hope is the most unique school year of our careers.  Last Wednesday we had a great "Jump-up" day at SCHS and our 8th graders learned about the transition to High School.  Last Friday we had a special R-time celebration in which the students competed within their  R-time and other groups.  It was planned by our building’s CKH team and took a lot of coordination and work, but was a good event for our students.  Friday we will celebrate our 8th grade graduation starting a 10am.  It will be short and simple.  We will hear a speech from myself, a student representative, we will award 8th grade graduation certificates and do a celebratory Tunnel walk through the school.   We are excited for those students as they continue their education at SCHS.   

SCHS Assistant Principal's Report:  Mr. Kasik
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight our entire teaching staff.  Teaching is a difficult job and unless you have spent time in the classroom it is hard to understand what it takes to be an effective teacher.  Being an educator is not just a job, it is a calling to serve others.  Over the last few years I have watched our teaching staff take some pretty tough blows in the media and in our community.  While scores are important, there is more to being successful than having a high GPA or ACT score.  Our teachers, like our students have to just sit back and take it and work hard to prove the haters wrong.  Over the years I do not know how many times I have heard someone say, "I should have been a teacher, eight to four, summers off, seems like a pretty easy job........ but I could not handle those kids every day!" It is easier to see what needs to improve than it is to see what is right about our schools.  If you want to see a group of kids that have overcome a lot of adversity and are ready to tackle life’s next challenges, then come to graduation and see the smiles on the graduates and the pride that their families have.  I am proud to have worked here for 32 years, raised three kids in this community and have even graduated from Schuyler High School  "Class of 84"!

High School Principal's Report:  Mr. Grammer
Program Spotlight:  The program I would like to acknowledge at Schuyler Central High School this school year is our New Teacher Leader Program. (NTLP) We have had similar programs before and they just faded away as the school year got a more intensive approach.  This idea of Mentoring our new teachers, was to give our new teachers opportunities to be successful and to have a positive experience with their colleagues in the building.  The program was developed and implemented with our new staff best interests in mind. We are fortunate to have a staff, who have a passion to work with our new staff through this program. The staff genuinely cares about the new staff and are diligent in working with them in order to be successful both in the school and within the community. The main goal is to grow and develop teacher leaders within our school and hopefully across our district.  Congratulations to our teachers for supporting this program and helping to retain teachers in our district;
Staff Member Spotlight:  As the Principal of SCHS, it is my honor and privilege to recognize Mr.Kasik, at Schuyler Central High School. Mr. Kasik is the assistant high school Principal/ Activities Director.  Mr. Kasik has developed and implemented the New Teacher Leader Program. (NTLP).  Mr. Kasik implemented NTLP as a way to help our new teachers feel welcome at SCHS.  Mr. Kasik oversees this mentor program to ensure that this program is a successful program at SCHS.  He has worked hard to ensure that the new teachers feel welcome, and has a positive attitude, which enables him to develop a positive rapport with his new teachers. He strives to be a strong advocate for his new teachers and to ensure they have a positive school experience.
Event Highlight:  We are continuing our work with the state priority team, UNL EL team, DE cohort groups, with the SIG grant, and STEM through DE.  It is cumbersome at times to schedule and plan for all the groups.  But, it is worthwhile as we see growth and development of our students.

Rationale: 

Warrior Academy - ASP Director's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: I would like to highlight Rob Reppert and his work through Karate with the after-school program!  Rob has been working with our program for two years. We are blessed to have him with our students. Rob is a black belt instructor in (Tatsu Te Ryu) Karate - Jutsu martial arts. He travels from Columbus every Monday to teach for Warrior Academy. He has a dojo located in Columbus and teaches classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The students in his club earn the chance to advance belt rank. We appreciate everything he does for our afterschool program.

K-6 Youth Sports Director's Report:  Mrs. Neesen
Program Highlight: Preparation and planning has begun for next school year on our programs. One item is that if in-person sign up nights will be able to resume next school year, hopefully we can get more students signed up and parent volunteers. Another action item is to create a nonintimidating environment for a novice parent coach to feel comfortable and knowledgeable on becoming a parent volunteer for our program. One way we could do this is by providing parent volunteers with sample practice plans that they can use along with a bank of drills that is developed by the high school and middle school programs.

Spotlight Upcoming Events: Youth Football will be having a scrimmage for community members May 10th! Start time is 6:15 pm at the High School football field. This is exciting for our athletes because they’ll get to play on the "big" field and also since it will be one of the first times playing in front of family and friends.

Middle School Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Banahan
Spotlight Program: Middle School Band and Choir. We recently wrapped up our school year with performances by our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands under the direction of Mr. Ryan Baldwin. They each performed a number of songs for their parents, families, and friends to hear in the new Performing Arts Auditorium at SCHS on May 6th. In addition to the band performances, we also had our 7th and 8th grade choir perform as well as a select 6th grade choir group perform under the direction of Miss Morgan Semerad. Both performances were outstanding, and the seating in the auditorium was completely packed for our performances.

Spotlight Staff: For the program staff spotlight this month I would like to highlight Mr. Jim Kasik. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kasik for his service to Schuyler Community Schools. He has provided a lot of insight and experience to me this year as I started my journey into administration in the roles of Assistant Principal and Activities Director. It was always a relief to me when I had questions, thoughts or ideas and I knew that I could turn to Jim for some guidance or feedback. He helped me grow in areas and activities that I was unfamiliar with, and did a great job of allowing me to ask questions and took the time to explain things to me that I wasn’t sure about. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to work with Mr. Kasik and he will be missed by many here at Schuyler Community Schools. 

Spotlight Upcoming Events: Our upcoming events for Middle School Activities include summer camps for our athletes, as well as summer weight training that will help to give our athletes an edge on the competition. In addition to these events we also have one middle school track athlete that qualified for the Middle School State Track meet held in Gothenburg on May 15th.  Miriam Deanda will be competing in both the 800 meter run and the 1600 meter run and we wish her the best of luck in the meet! This season she broke the 7th grade girls 800 meter run school record set by Megan Macholan  in 1997.

High School Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Kasik
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight our cheer and dance programs.  They are led by Ashlie Stone and Lydia Quiring respectfully.  These are two programs that often fly under the radar.  They serve and support all of our sports programs but are often not credited for all that they do.  A big shoot out to each of these two programs and their sponsors!

Upcoming Events:  We are wrapping up the year and getting ready for what we hope will be a summer that feels more normal after this challenging year.  

Student Services Director's Report:  Dr. Lefdal
Program Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight Ms. Amy Johnson for the work that she is doing with our students.  Amy is one of the most caring and dedicated counselors that I have worked with over my tenure as an educator.  She is always willing to do whatever is necessary to help students and goes above and beyond what the normal counselor would do.  Her ability to think outside the box on how to best help students is nothing short of amazing. Great work!
Notable Topics:  The spring musical was an amazing representation of the great work that our school and students are doing.  Watching students work together to create an amazing performance even when that performance might be outside their comfort level was nothing short of awe-inspiring.  Bravo!
Looking ahead:  I am excited for our students and the end of the year.  Our students have worked hard this year and I know they are pushing to stay positive and focused.  Many are excited to see the end of this school year and get on with a normal summer.

Special Education Director's Report:  Mrs. Vrba
Spotlight Program/Staff Member:  Sometimes, people wonder exactly what a teacher does. If you were to ask me that about Mrs. Bernice Maxwell, I would simply respond that she: inspires her kids, teaches perseverance, celebrates achievements with her kids, models the love of learning, differentiates learning experiences for all her kids and creates a safe learning environment for her kids. Bernice is constantly searching for "tools" to improve our students' reading and writing abilities. She is a champion for the struggling reader...she just won't quit on anybody! Bernice, Bailey and Tyrell make an unstoppable team at SMS. They are definitely here for our students.
Spotlight Staff Member:  I have to shine the spotlight on my right-handed assistant, Pattie and my left-handed school psychologist, April. I couldn't do my job without their daily help and keeping the Special Education Program afloat. April is always testing students, writing MDTs and/or doing classroom observations to ensure our students success in school. Pattie is checking over all the paperwork and making sure all components have been handed in to file away! Sometimes, we mirror a 3-ring circus, but the bottom line is that we work really hard to do the best for our students

Curriculum, Assessment, Instruction Director's Report:  Dr. Gibbons
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:   I appreciate the work of Mindy Perrin, Paula Kment, and Meridith Riha for the work on the NSCAS Assessment.  Mindy was very conscientious in making sure that students were properly rostered and in monitoring progress to ensure that all students completed the assessments.  Paula and Meridith worked tirelessly to ensure that all students either completed the assessment or were accounted for in their reason for not testing.  I anticipate having a 100% completion rate - pretty remarkable this year.

Spotlight Upcoming Events: 

• I should be able to display the NSCAS ACT data for you next month. The NSCAS Growth assessment data will not be available until next fall.

• I am looking forward to having a chance to meet with the Committee on American Civics to discuss Social Studies Curriculum Adoption.  Can we please find a time to meet at the conclusion of the board meeting?
  
  Reading Highlights of the Year

• As of May 12, students in grades K-8 read 8,896 books (118, 044,835 words!) according to AR data.

• Within myOn, students have finished 13,731 books (some are counted in both AR and myOn).  Students have spent 4,024 hours reading in myOn. 12% of the time was outside of school.

Rationale:  Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Steve Buresh and the maintenance staff have done an outstanding job this year working around construction to make sure all the fields and venues are ready for activities.  Special thank you for their work in preparation for and setting up for graduation this past weekend. 

Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Carol Reha and her nursing staff have done an outstanding job this year through their leadership during the pandemic, providing input on return to learn plans, recommending protocols, and managing the spread of the virus in our school buildings throughout the school year.  With Carol's announcement of her retirement, she is leaving a very capable staff to manage the health and wellness of our students and staff. Thanks again for your dedication.

1.  Status of Pending Legislation:  See attached information.
2.  Board Policy Updates:  I sent Jim Luebbe access to the google doc for him to review any recommendations you may have on policy changes or updates.  I also asked him to get back to me on a date or dates in June for him to visit with us about changes to the manual. 

Rationale:  1.  Foundation Meeting:  Update