July 15, 2019 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

The mission of Gothenburg Public Schools is to prepare all students within a positive and innovative learning environment.

A copy of the open meetings law is posted on the wall of the Board Room and is available to the public.

The Board reserves the right to rearrange the order of items as needed.

Opportunity for Public Expression:

• This item serves as the time entitled for public forum during which patrons may address the Board on matters of general concern per Board Policy 8346, Opportunity for Public Expression.  (A copy of the policy is available.)

• Patrons will be allowed five (5) minutes to express their view.  Board of Education Members will refrain from expressing personal opinions during the Public Forum unless asked a direct question by a patron recognized by the Board President as having the floor.  The board imposed time limit may be extended by a majority vote of the Board.  The board may limit collective comments on a particular topic when necessary. The Board may not take action on matters discussed in the Public Forum unless the item appears on the prepared agenda.

• All concerns and complaints should go through the chain of command beginning with the teacher/sponsor and then to the building administrator/program supervisor and finally to the Superintendent.  If the initiating party is not satisfied with the response of the Superintendent, said party may address a written appeal to the Board of Education through the Secretary of the Board.

As a meeting of the Gothenburg Board of Education is a meeting held in public and not a public meeting, visitors should refrain from comments unless recognized by the chair.

1. Approval of Previous Minutes

2. Approval of the Treasurer's Report

3. Approval of the Warrants / Bills

  a.  Petty Cash

  b.  Student Activity

  c.  Hot Lunch

  d.  Bank Statement

  e.  Summary of Accounts and Receipts

  f.  Monthly Expenditure Report

  g. Check Journal

4. Excuse Absent Board Members

5. Consider Option Enrollment Requests

1.  Policy 5416 - Student Fees

  The hearing on Student Fees was held in June.  

        Lunch prices were increased at the May board meeting.

        There are no other fee increases for the 2019-2020 school year.

2.  Policy 6400 - Parent Involvement in Schools 

  Hearing held in June.  No changes proposed.

3.  Policy 6370 - Multicultural Education

  Brief review of the multicultural education policy as required.  No changes     
  proposed.

Introduce new policies and revisions to existing Board Policy.
The policies were introduced during the June meetings and have been reviewed prior to the July meeting by the Policy Committee (Mr. Brundage, Mrs. Jobman, and Mr. Fornoff)

Policies 1120, 5101, 5103, 5104 and 5305: LBs 149 and 397 targeted the use and possession of vaping products (including Juuling) by minors under Nebraska’s criminal statutes. In so doing, the Legislature included the term "electronic nicotine delivery systems" in these statutes. To maintain consistency, we have revised Policies 1120, 5101, 5103, 5104 and 5305 to reflect this same terminology. 

Policy 3130: The Nebraska Department of Administrative Services competitively bids and purchases various property for the benefit of political subdivisions. We understand that this service is becoming more popular with school districts. In turn, we have updated Policy 3130 to exempt the purchasing requirements for schools that purchase through the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services. 

Policy 3131: There are a few minor edits to Policy 3131 to comply with federal purchasing requirements. 

Policy 5001: LB 115 requires school districts to enroll students in military families with military orders to be stationed in Nebraska. Policy 5001 incorporates this new requirement. 

Committee Reports (Chair in bold)

1.  Personnel Committee (Mr. Sitorius, Mr. Brundage, Mr. Fornoff)
2. Transportation and Facilities (Mr. Hudson, Mrs. Jobman, Mr. Wyatt)
3. Finance (Mr. Fornoff, Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Sitorius)
4. Curriculum & Americanism (Mrs. Jobman, Mr. Brundage, Mr. Hudson)
5. Policy Review (Mr. Brundage, Mr. Fornoff, Mrs. Jobman)

The Board of Education may hold a closed session by the affirmative vote of a majority of its voting members if a closed session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual and if such individual has not requested a public meeting.  Closed sessions may be held for, but shall not be limited to, such reasons as:  (a) strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate purchases, or litigation; (b) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices; (c) investigative proceedings regarding allegations or misconduct; or (d) evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person.

The vote to hold a closed session shall be taken in open session.  The subject matter and the reason necessitating the closed session shall be identified in the motion to close.  If the motion to close passes, then the presiding officer immediately prior to the closed session shall restate on the record the limitation of the subject matter of the closed session. The Board shall restrict its consideration of matters during the closed portions to only those purposes set forth in the motion to close as the reason for the closed session. The meeting shall be reconvened in open session before any formal action may be taken.