April 11, 2022 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

Rationale: 
April Student Council Board Report

 

• Golf, Track, and Soccer are all competing regularly (records)
• New members and officers were inducted into NHS on April 1st
• Groutfit was celebrated on Monday, April 4th to help student have fun before the ACT
• ACT was on April 5th - Pancake man came for breakfast
• State FCCLA is Sunday - Tuesday - 3 students made nationals
• State FFA is Wednesday - Friday - 10 student qualified
• Students are looking forward to a break on Friday, April 15th, and Monday, April 18th!
• FFA Banquet is on April 24th -
• Prom is April 23rd - Students are excited for that!
• MAP tests are the last week of April
• Jump-Up Day is May 4th - tours, class visits, and an activities fair

 

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

Rationale:  See attached meeting minutes and Curriculum/Textbook Cycle for 2022.

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

Rationale:  The board committee met and reviewed the Building and Grounds, Large Equipment Replacement, and  Transportation Plans for 2022.  See attached plans.

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

Rationale:  Jeff Droge and his technology team annually review the technology budget, secure bids, and update the replacement plan.  This year, most of the items are in alignment with our District Approved ESSER Fund Program.  See attached recommendation for 2022.

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

Rationale: 

Holly Hild, representative from Agri-City Insurance Agency, LLC visited with Penny Janousek, Ron Mundil, and Dr. Hoesing to review the district insurance renewal premiums with EMC for the 2022-23 school year.  See attached renewal information and property value changes.

Rationale: 
Retirements
1.  Amy Johnson: SCHS Guidance Counselor
2.  Mary Eckstein:  SES Para Educator

Resignations
1.  Logan Paben:  SCHS Apex/Rural Physical Education
2.  Melanie Gustofsen:  SCHS Language Arts
3.  Jason Friesen:  SCHS Social Studies
4.  Justin Hayes:  SCHS Special Education
5.  Greg Hansen:  SCHS  Physical Education
6.  Alexa Stephenson:  SCHS Science
7.  Todd Block:  SMS Teacher
8.  Emily Garcia:  SES Teacher
9.  Cara Neesen:  SES K-2 Principal
10. Jenna Banahan:  SMS Nurse: 
11.  Anna Yepez:  Dual Language Para Educator
12.  Giselle Arroyo:  Preschool Para Educator

 

Rationale: 
1.  SCHS Social Studies Teacher: Isaac Cook
2.  SCHS Guidance Counselor:  Wade Brashear
3.  SCHS  Math Teacher:   Ann Scott
4.  SCHS Business Teacher:  Daisy Mejia
5.  SCHS Science Teacher:  Heidi Wallin
6.  SES Teacher:  Delaney Crews
7.  Dual Language Teacher:  Jared Barerra

Rationale:  The Nebraska Continuing contract law automatically renews contracts for all certificated employees (teachers and administrators) on April 15th.  All teachers who have not resigned or notified of non-renewal or termination are on the list for renewal.  See attached list.

Rationale:  The board negotiations  committee met to review the salary comp  study with our Established Array of Schools.  The following positions are compared in salary and benefits to similar positions.  Attached are the  committee recommendations for 2022-23.

1.  Penny Janousek:  Business Manager
2.  Ronnie Mundil:  Director of Facilities, Maintenance, and Transportation
3.  Jeff Droge:  Director of Technology
4.  Jamie  Rameriz;  Food Service Director
5.  April  Becker:  School Psychologist

Rationale:  The board negotiations team met to review the administrative array comparability study and determine their recommendation for principal and director salaries for the 2022-23 school year.  See attached recommendation.

Directors
Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction:  Dr. Dave Gibbons
Special Education:  Mrs. Darli Jo Vrba
SCHS Student Services:  Dr. Joey Lefdal
Principals
SCHS Principal:  Dr. Joey Lefdal
SCHS Assistant Principal/AD:  Mr. Travis Steinhoff
SCHS Assistant Principal:  Samantha Ladwig
SMS Principal:  Jesse Zavadil
SMS Assistant Principal:  Andy Banahan
SES/Preschool Principal:  Mr. Bill Comley
SES K-2 Principal:  OPEN
Rural/Dual Language Principal:  Ms. Heather Bebout

Rationale: 
With Cara Neesen's resignation, we began our search for her replacement.  The elementary staff was consulted as to characteristics they wanted to see in the next K-2 principal.  High on their list was that the next administrator had elementary classroom teaching experience. 
We had 7 candidates apply, 4 with actual elementary classroom experience.  From those four, two withdrew due residency requirements and we interviewed two quality candidates.
The teachers and administrators came together and reached consensus on recommending Alicia Keairnes for the  position with a starting salary of $89,000.

Rationale: 
The board negotiations committee is recommending the attached 2022-23 superintendent's contract.

In compliance with the superintendent Pay Transparency Act, the 2022-23 contract was posted on the district website 3 days prior to the meeting.  The contract includes a salary increase from $188,000 to $193,000. 

Rationale: 

Priority Plan update

This past month we were able to meet with our consultants four different days.  We met on March 17th, 18th, March 30th, 31st, and will meet with them on April 13th, 14, and 28th.  We had a long list of to-do items, but I feel the meetings went well and were very productive.  During our time with Dr. Kennedy, we visited classrooms to support high quality instruction as well as discussed opportunities for the second semester.  With Dr. Head, we discussed ACT implementation and celebrations as well as coaching logs, collecting data, and embedding ACT standards into bellringers.  We also spent a great deal of time just working on aligning our strategic plan to our transition plan for the priority school.  This was one of the most productive and conversationally "rich" discussions we have had in a long time.   

We continue to visit and coach a number of teachers every week.  During our visits, we will visit classrooms and have worked on 30-second feedback.  This semester we will start 30-second feedback with value add.  This is an extension of the 30-second feedback where we coach teachers on how to improve a lesson that was already successful.

We also spent part of days reviewing our progress plan ratings.  We reviewed any areas that we rated as areas of focus for the remaining part of the year.  Again, this was a very good use of our time, it gave us time to reflect on what we have been doing, and what we can do to continue to make the remaining part of this year a success.  Again, this has been an excellent process, and I feel we are doing some amazing things here at Schuyler Central High.  We will have one more rating this year in May.    

 

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/SES 3-5 Principal's Report:  Mr. Comley
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  This month I would like to highlight Ariana Alarcon, Emily Brandl, and Julie Cerny. These 3 outstanding office ladies are truly the heartbeat of the elementary. They always go above and beyond in everything they do. I am so thankful to have such an amazing group of peers to work with and would like to say thank you for all you do for Schuyler Elementary and Schuyler Community Schools. 

SES K-2 Principal's Report: Mrs. Neesen
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: The Kindergarten teachers are hosting an in-person parent meeting for families who are interested in enrolling their students at SES. They have done a great job with planning, organizing and advertising for the event.We are excited to meet our future families and have them learn what SES is all about. We are hoping to get a full house!

DO Dual Language, Fisher’s, & Richland Principal's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Spotlight Program:   I would like to highlight our Dual Language Program offered at the District Office and Richland School.

This year at the DO DL we have Kindergarten with 33 students.  At Richland we have 1st-4th for the dual language program with a total of 48 students.  This is a total of 81 students in the dual language program.

2022-23 we will have K-1st at the DO with a total of 65 students.  At Richland we will have 2nd-5th with a total of 48 students.  Next year we will have a total of 113 students in this program!!

It is so exciting to see our program grow each year and to see the students learning equally in both languages.  In the dual language program, students are in an English class for 50% of the time and in Spanish for the other 50% of the time.  If they have reading in Spanish in week one, they will have Math and Lang Arts in English.  The next week they swap and they have reading in English and then Math and Lang Arts in Spanish.  Science and Social Studies are divided by units.  Our dual language program follows the same scope and sequence that the Rural Schools and the Elementary follow.  Lessons are taught once and if a student is struggling in our program, we offer intervention time daily in the language they need extra help.  I am so impressed daily with the dedication, time and effort that the Dual Lang Teachers spend on making this program so successful.  Thank you to Rhonda Sellentin, Guadalupe Ramirez, Maria Bonilla, Denise Stevenson, Lisa Terrell, and Evelyn Recinos, you are the difference makers in this program!!!!

One other thing I would like to highlight is the success of our very 1st Grandparents/Very Special Person Day we had a few weeks ago at Fisher’s!  We had over 50 grandparents or very special people show up.  It was so exciting to see how engaged our students were having someone there with them!!!  Thank you to all who came out and the teachers that planned this amazing activity.

Middle School Assistant Principal's  Report:  Mr. Banahan
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: I would like to spotlight Mr. Randy Martin, SMS Art Teacher. Mr. Martin has devoted 44 years to the students of Schuyler Community Schools not only as a teacher, but as a coach, a mentor, an Activities Director, and many more important job titles. More importantly he has been a friendly and consistent  face to many staff members and students that have graced the halls over those 44 years. He has developed strong friendships with many staff members and has been a positive role model for our students. I want to thank Mr. Martin, for all of his years of service to Schuyler Community Schools, his passion for working with kids and helping to model them into young adults.
Spotlight Upcoming Events: With all of the state testing and track meets this month, it is sure to fly by and our early events in May will be here before we know it! Some events we are looking forward to in the early part of May include: Academic Honors night May 10th, Activities Celebration and R-Time Celebration on May 13th. We have a lot to celebrate with these groups!

Middle School Principal's Report:  Mr. Zavadil
Program Spotlight:  This month I would like to highlight the collaborative work of the buildings to coordinate our Jump-up and orientation days.  This is not an easy feat, but it is an important part of the transition process that our students will be going through in order to be well prepared for next year.
Staff Member Spotlight:  This Month I would like to highlight the work of Mrs. Kiara Healy.  She works in the SMS office and helps with a multitude of tasks primarily related to attendance, grades reporting, and our lunch program.  She is an extremely organized and hardworking individual who is also going to college to prepare herself to be an early childhood educator.  Someday when she becomes a teacher we are all going to miss her in the Middle School office, but she will then take that same work ethic and bring it to the classroom.
Upcoming Events:  NSCAS Testing is underway and going smoothly.  Mrs. Kment is working with the NDE and our teachers to coordinate logistics and create testing sessions and she has done a great job and our teachers have also done a great job.  This next Month will be full of great events for the Middle School to help prepare students for next year and celebrate our last school year.  Below is a pretty comprehensive list of our end of the year events.

• Tuesday April 12th 8th grade college visitation day Wayne State and Northeast Community College
• Wednesday April 20th HS leadership present information to 8th graders during Enrichment
• Home Track Meet Monday April 25th
• Wednesday April 27th Hand out High School Scheduling documents to 8th graders during enrichment to be collected before Orientation.
• Band Fest Concert Monday May 2nd
• Freshman Orientation Wednesday May 4th 
• 6th Grade Track meet Friday May 6th
• Choir Fest Sunday may 8th
• 6th Grade Jump-up day May 11th 
• Honors Night May 10th (any non athletic awards)
• Athletic awards and R-time celebration May 13th
• 8th Grade Graduation May 19th

High School Asst. Principal's Report:  Mrs. Ladwig
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to highlight the work of Ms. Barbara Saathoff (Science), Mrs. Lynne Rambour (Special Education), and Mr. Nelson (Business) as these three veteran teachers will be retiring from education at the conclusion of this school year. It is evident that each of these teachers has worked to touch the lives of many students and staff members while they have been at Schuyler Central High School, and we are a better school because of them. Thank you to Ms. Saathoff, Mrs. Rambour, and Mr. Nelson for your dedication to our students, and I wish you the best in your retirement

Notable Topics:  Last Tuesday, the sophomores and juniors completed the Pre-ACT and ACT, and it was a great day for all. Mrs. Katie Bertrand organized the testing materials, locations, etc. She even lined up the Pancake Man to come in the morning to provide breakfast for all students and staff to begin the day. The cafeteria was full of energy and excitement as we encouraged students to give the ACT their best. 

High School Assistant Principal's Report:  Mr. Steinhoff
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  This month I would like to spotlight Mrs. Robbi McKenney.  Mrs. McKenney teaches broadcasting and yearbook classes at the high school.  In the classroom, Mrs. McKenney does an excellent job of differentiating her instruction and inspiring authentic engagement from her students.  Before and after school hours, it is not uncommon to see Mrs. McKenney prepping for the next day, supporting her yearbook students at games and activities, or coming in before school to have students take photos.  Recently, Robbi took her broadcasting students to the University of Nebraska to explore broadcasting and tour HuskerVision.   It was a great experience for the students and an opportunity for them to see the real world application of the material they are learning in class.  Mrs. McKenney is a true asset to our school.

High School Principal's Report:  Dr. Lefdal
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight our janitorial staff at the high school.  They do an amazing job of keeping our school clean, safe, and ready for our students.  They always greet students and staff with a smile and are always willing to help out at the last minute.  Whether that is coming in early to help setup, or staying late to help tear down, we can always count on our team.  Keep up the great work! 
Notable Topics:  I am very excited for our soccer teams.  They are playing with enthusiasm and excitement.   Watching them grow as athletes has been nothing short of amazing.  I feel our youth sports/soccer program is really having an impact on our teams.  Good luck teams!
Looking ahead:  I am excited to see the spring musical.  I know the students and coaches have been putting in so much time this spring to make sure their play is a success.  They are an exciting team to watch/hear practice during the evenings.  I know they will put on a great performance.

Rationale: 

K-6 Youth Sports Director Report Name: Cara Neesen
Spotlight Program: Youth Sport Soccer games are up and running! A huge thank you to all of the parent volunteer coaches who are making this league a success. When watching the games you can see excited athletes and their parents cheering on the Warriors, and it wouldn’t happen without our volunteers. Also, thank you to Sheila Hoppe, Guillermo Guiterez, and Steve Buresh. These three have put in countless hours in organizing the league and getting the fields ready for competition. THANK YOU!!!

Warrior Academy - After-School Program Director's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: I would like to highlight Jacquelin Grado this month. Jaci has worked at the after-school program for 4 years. She started off as a club helper in her Junior year of high school.  After graduating high school, she then became a club leader. She loves to run an arts and crafts club.  She has run Crafty Kidz, Bead Pros, Jungle Mania, Under the Sea, just to name a few. She is currently going to CCC to get some of her general studies completed and also taking a few art classes. Next school year, Jaci will be moving to Omaha and going to Metropolitan Community College for Illustration and Animation. We will surely miss her at the after-school program, but cannot wait to see where she goes in life.

Middle School Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Banahan
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: My program spotlight for this month is MS Track. We have over 160 athletes out for Track this year! It is awesome to see such a high number of athletes out for track. We have 90 girls and 70 boys participating this year. We are excited to see what our student-athletes can do this year as we have a very talented group of athletes competing this season, and having our 8th graders compete and have success last season will help lead the way and be a positive example for the future of our track program at the middle school level. Our first track meet is April 7th at Wisner-Pilger, and we will have three meets under our belts before our home invitational on April 25th. We are excited to see what our kids can do this year, and are looking forward to seeing lots of growth from all of our athletes.
Spotlight Upcoming Events: Track meets are scattered throughout the month of April, and ending in early May. We also have some students that will be competing in a Middle School Speech meet in Norfolk later this month, as well as our students getting ready for their final concerts in early May. We will be having Bandfest on May 2, 2022 which will include pieces performed by all of our bands from 5th grade up through the High School Level in the West Gym starting at 7 PM. Also Choirfest will take place in the Auditorium on Sunday May 8th at 2:00 PM.

High School Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Steinhoff
Activity Spotlight:  The high school activities are full of news as winter activities have come to a close and spring sports have kicked off.  Conference soccer is already this week and the Fred Arnold track meet is just around the corner (April 21st).  Here is a look at some of the recent awards, recognitions, and state results.

Fine Arts Students of the Month

• Ben Lefdal in Speech
• Omar Barrios for Band

Athletes of the Month

• Caden Shonka - Boys Golf
• Victor Alonzo - Boys Soccer
• Natalie Espiritu - Girls Soccer
• Austin McCulloch - Boys Track
• Emma Jedlicka - Girls Track

State Speech Update:  Our speech team ended up earning 5th place at state!  Here are the individual results.

• Ben Lefdal - Humorous Prose
• Colin Gibbons - Poetry
• Gina Alba - Poetry
• Elizabeth Harding - Persuasive
• Janey Parra - Duet Acting
• Josue Fuentes - Duet Acting
• Piper Lefdal - Serious Prose

Band:  We had 14 Warriors qualify for Conference Honor Band! 

• Josue Fuentes - Alto Sax
• Ben Lefdal - Bass Clarinet
• Vincent Wegner - Bassoon
• Vanessa Uriostegui - Baritone
• Fredy Vasquez, Litzy Avila, Erika Quezada, Elizabeth Harding - Clarinet
• Marisol Deanna, Piper Lefdal - Flute
• Joel Medina, Janey Parra - Trombone
• Omar Barrios, Colin Gibbons - Trumpet

FFA:  Schuyler FFA had two teams qualify for state FFA. On April 6th-8th the following students competed at state. 

• Eliza Bailey 
• Anna Soto 
• Kathryn Novacek 
• Makayla Cerny 
• Bela Jedlicka 
• Ally Vavricek 
• Abby Reyna 
• Addy Vavricek 

Emma Jedlicka has also been selected to receive her state degree.

Also, Kathryn Novacek and Eliza Bailey also have been accepted into the agricultural issues academy, where they will get to work with students from several schools across the state. 

FCCLA:  Here are the state FCCLA results.  
Lucy Mendez- Scored gold in Career Investigati

ViviAnne Sayer- Scored gold in Fashion Construction

Emily Daviu- Scored bronze in Professional Presentation 

Josue Fuentes- Scored Silver and was grand champion in Baking and Pastry.  He qualified for the National Leadership Conference in June.

Alex Aldana- Scored Silver and runner up in Fashion Construction.  He qualified for the National Leadership Conference in June.

Gina Alba- Gina was named VP of Programs for the state FCCLA officers.  She also competed in an online event, instructional video design, and earned her way to nationals.

Winter Sports Individual Awards

• Alejandro Rodrigues- All Conference Honorable Mention 
• Gavin Bywater- All Conference Honorable Mention
• Caden Shonka- All Conference Honorable Mention
• KT Tzunux Nuirka Castr

Mr. Sayer also took these individuals down to compete in Quiz Bowl

• Ben Lefdal
• Josue Fuentes
• Daniel Davu
• Vance Sayer
• Caden Shonka
• Aiden Kronberg
• Joel Medina
• Ricardo Rosas
• Vincent Wagner

Special Education Director's Report:  Mrs. Vrba
Spotlighting an Influential Educators: My WHOLE Team SPED
   With the never-ending wind blowing away the end of March and a strong gust carrying the beginning of April, my teachers know the busiest time of year is upon us. It never seizes to amaze me how everyone just naturally turns it up a notch. We had 18 SAT referrals come in after P-T Conferences which already have been signed by parents and the testing and follow-up meetings for those students have begun. Teachers are busy finishing all MDTs/IEPs/IFSPs and paperwork for the 2021-2022 school year.
   Although it is extremely important that we identify students that need the additional support, our students are under as they call it "dreadful pressure" of taking the NSCAS and/or the ACT. Our students really need their teachers' support and encouragement through these times. One of the teachers' role is making everyone aware of the accommodations each student needs. Our teachers are practicing meaningful test-taking strategies, practicing and polishing up their students' skills along with some students finding themselves very anxious during a test. Those students  have been memorizing a relaxation technique to help calm down and be more able to focus on the test questions. The  teamwork between general education teachers and special education teachers is very prominent during this time which is awesome! This makes for a true win-win situation for our students.
   In addition, I would like to give a huge shout-out to Elyse Belina, Daysi Magana, Caitlin Becker and our ESU #7 providers who are helping out in the Preschool, Head Start and covering all  home visits. Our EC Special Education Teacher, Gina Bossow fell earlier in March and broke her kneecap. She did need surgery and hasn't been able to return for 6 weeks. All the above people have stepped up to help cover our EC services along with doing their own job! Thank you so much!
   One last enormous shout out has to go to Lilas Harris!!! With all the construction going on next door, she has kept our Special Education Office so clean. She helps many elderly people in our community with their daily needs along with cleaning at other schools...she is just like the Energizer Bunny!! Every Monday morning, we walk into a clean, fresh-smelling office...which is just priceless!!
 

Curriculum, Assessment, Instruction Director's Report:  Dr. Gibbons
Spotlight Program/People: Middle School and High School CTE teachers have been working with Otis Pierce from ESU 7 to look at information about our students and pathways that we can implement in our schools. The teachers are Lauri Novacek, Cindy Beebe, Jessica Graef, Guillermo Gutierrez, Don Seehusen, Casey Harper, Lynn Hanson, Mark Wemhoff, Lyn Beebe, Robbie McKinney and Jared Severson.  

Since Last Board Meeting: NSCAS Testing has started.  Testing times are spread throughout the testing window for us.  Teachers and students are working hard to do well. 

We have been reviewing our usage of our instructional programs. This year we have reviewed Renaissance, Math Instructional materials and are working on Ellevation.  You can view our current reviews the following links:

6th - 12th Grade Math Programs 

Renaissance Usage

After reviewing these programs, we create action plans to improve our implementation of these programs.

Important Spring Semester Dates

• March 21 - April 29 NSCAS Summative Assessment Window
• April 5 ACT
• April 5-8 & April 11-15 ACT Computer Make up dates
• April 19 ACT Paper Make up day
• Early to Mid May Should receive ELPA 21 scores.

Rationale: 
1.  District Office Auction:  From Chris Langemeier:  We had great turnout for the open house Saturday and Sunday.  The final deadline is Tuesday to submit your bids.  I will tally up the wining bids later the week and if I  can get some people to get things moved early I will line that up.  The main item pick up day is Saturday April 23 and then we will be done.  I left the stuff in the hall yesterday I think it will help us get it moved out so please excuse the mess and I hope your people can work around it for a couple days.
2.  STRAT Plan Board Input:  See attached information from the input received from Rich Brabec.  The input was reviewed and compared to ThoughtExchange priorities.  Rich will meet with the committee chairs to make a final recommendation to changes to the adopted plan.
3.  2021 State Testing Results: The 2021 NSCAS test results can be found at the site below.  You can review how our school scores and how we compare to others across the state.  See attached summary or go to  the website and create your own reports.  https://nscas2021specialreport.education.ne.gov/?dataYears=20202021&agencyId=00-0000-000&currentGroup=statewide

 

Rationale:  1.  Foundation Update:  See Foundation Website
2.  NASB Monthly Update:  See attached Report