March 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM - ESUCC Regular Board Meeting

Discussion:  Meeting called to order at 8:30am.

Discussion:  No public comments.

Discussion:  Dr. Troy Loeffelholz, NCSA Associate Executive Director, joined NCSA to mentor first-year Administrators and provide professional development to those in the Administrator role. Dr. Courtney Matulka, UNO, reviewed the Nebraska Collaborative & Credentialed Learning Network (NCLN) sample draft courses platform. 
 

Discussion:  Todd Hatcher, Assistant Technology Director, reviewed the attached SRS presentation. 

Discussion:  No one from the Learning Community was present. 

Discussion:  Dr. Kevin Wingard, NCSA Ambassador, attended to provide updates on NCSA. 

The Celebrating Women in Leadership conference will be March 26-27, 2025, in Kearney, NE. The Government Relations Information Teams (GRIT) Conference will be held on April 2, 2025, at the NCSA office and there will also be a virtual option. The NASBO State Convention will be April 24-25, 2025, in Lincoln, NE.  

Discussion:  Dr. Shirley Vargas, NDE, attended to provide the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) updates to the Board. Dr. Vargas reviewed the linked NDE Updates document.

 

Discussion:  Dr. Dan Schnoes, ESU 3 Administrator, and ESCUCC CEO Dr. Polk will be attending the AESA National ESA Leadership Academy and traveling overseas the first two weeks of April. The AESA 2025 Summer Leadership Conference will be held July 15-17, 2025, in Austin, TX. 

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk met with Sheila King, AESA Chief Program Officer, on March 7, 2025, as a follow-up to the February Board Meeting discussion. Ms. King will provide a draft of a possible strategic planning timeline. Once the draft is received, it will be added to the April board meeting for review. The board would like ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk to get a couple different proposals for strategic planning and would recommend a timeline to start in the Fall of 2026.

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk reviewed the linked CEO Report to the Board - March 2025. Dr. Polk will be reaching out to the ESU Administrators to ask for training opportunities for the EIR visit. 

The ESUCC Board Meeting was changed to November 13, 2025. Dr. Brenda McNiff, Board President, is in favor of having the November ESUCC Board Meeting moved back to November 19, 2025. There will be a survey sent out to the Administrators to gather data regarding the committee meetings and board meeting changes. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk will contact Board President, Dr. Brenda McNiff, to discuss the survey prior to sending it out to the Administrators.

The Service Contract Template with Schools was created because there is not a contract with schools for some of the services ESUCC offers. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk reviewed the attached Service Contract Template with Schools - Draft and received significant feedback. A new draft and process will be made available at an upcoming meeting.

Master Service Agreement (MSA) - Once the draft is approved, the amounts can be entered. All of the changes previously requested, have been made. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk received additional feedback and suggestions on the attached DRAFT Master Service Agreement w ESUs, changes will be made and reviewed with Dr. Brenda McNiff, Board President, in order to bring it back to the April board meeting.

Discussion:  No report.

Discussion:  No report.

Discussion:  No report.

Discussion:  Dr. Melissa Wheelock, ESU 10 Administrator, will make sure the ESUCC is getting billed for SMART and will have it separated by Nebraska SMART and other state's SMART.

Discussion:  Mr. Gregg Robke, ESU 4 Administrator, reviewed the attached committee meeting minutes document. TLT would like to amend their budget for 2024-2025. TLT is requesting their budget for 2025-2026. A Marshall Memo email will be sent out again because over 500 people have not replied to the initial request.

Discussion:  Dr. Takako Olson, ESU 18 Administrator, provided the Education Resources Committee update to the board. SDA budget is requesting an increase from last year. The SDA strategist budget was not approved, need additional information first.

Meetings are taking place with the affiliates to discuss PDO Reimagined. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk asked each affiliate chair person to provide feedback and Dr. Polk and CLO, Andrew Easton, will take the feedback, review it, and create PDO Reimagined drafts. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk wants PDO Reimagined to be done well, not just quickly. 

SORA - One Drive Marketplace, is an online library of books. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk is researching SORA usage for continued viability.  There is currently over $2,000 in credit. 

Literacy Program - The Literacy FAQ will be updated as questions arise. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk spoke with Justin Knight, Perry Law Firm, about the best way to get the money back to ESUs using a formula around the number of K-3 teachers in the ESU (public and private).

Discussion:  Jason Bromm and Curt Bromm attended to provide a legislative update to the board. LB 680 hearing is next week on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk will be prepared to provide neutral testimony at the hearing next week.

Governor's student event - The March 19, 2025, agenda is organized in a Q&A fashion. As questions are asked, ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk will add to the document. Students will not know their question has been selected until the day of the event. Jason Bromm will provide a list of the pre-session panelists once there are responses to the invitations sent out.

Mr. Drew Harris, ESU 9 Administrator, reviewed the Legal Committee meeting minutes. Craig Peterson, ESUCC Cooperative Purchasing Director, notified the board the paper buy is now closed and it ended close to where the paper buy ended last year. 

CEO Report - Article IV policies and the ESU 17 Interlocal is still in reading, they will be voted on in April. Canvas contract expires at the end of June. Conversations will continue around Canvas staff salaries or seat costs. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk asked the board what is the priority, seat costs or training. A survey will be sent out to Administrators to gather feedback on the direction of Canvas.

Discussion:  Dr. Brenda McNiff, ESU 5 Administrator, notified the board the updates have all been shared throughout the other committee updates. 

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk reviewed the attached January Budget Summary document. 

Discussion:  Mr. Gregg Robke, ESU 4 Administrator, attended the business manager's meeting held a couple of weeks ago to share results of a federal grants audit performed at the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). ESU 4 was selected as the entity to audit. Administrator Robke encourages all ESUs to talk with their Business Managers about the findings of that meeting.

Mr. Corey Dahl, ESU 8 Administrator, had questions regarding Sparq negotiations. A brief discussion of the Sparq negotiations committee meeting was shared. 

Mr. Drew Harris, ESU 9 Administrator, shared his comments regarding the ESUCC meeting format. Administrator Harris expressed his interest in having more meetings in person than virtual.  

Dr. Ted DeTurk, ESU 2 Administrator, wants to compliment folks who are testifying and thinks the hearing yesterday went very well. 

Dr. Dan Schnoes, ESUC 3 Administrator provided an update on a committee meeting he was on. There will be a subcommittee to look at and make changes to Rule 10. Looking at getting rid of instructional units and move to a credit system. Will get feedback from schools. Should middle school athletics still be in Rule 10, move to somewhere else? Will be gathering feedback. Will impact schools.

Discussion:  Meeting adjourned at 12:21 pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Mindy Reed, Executive Secretary to the ESUCC CEO.