Public Meeting Minutes: November 11, 2024 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance

Discussion:

Board President Desh called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Board President Desh led the board members and patrons who attended the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance.

2. Announcement of the Open Meetings Act Posting

Discussion:

Board President Desh identified the location of the Open Meetings Act Poster on the wall in the meeting room.
- The changes are reflected in the currently posted materials: revised April 2024.

Attachments: (1)

Open Meetings Act Information. Updated April 2024

3. Construction Manager Progress Report

Discussion:

FYI: The CMAR summary report for November 11th, 2024 was a verbal report from the Board of Education President (Brandon Desh) focusing on the final "punch list" items at both buildings.
- Please note: As of November 11th, 2024, the CMAR board report will be delivered by the Board President, Superintendent, and Facilities Committee members as needed.

4. Staff and Student Presentations

Discussion: Presentations for this month include the following topics:

School Spending Presentation: Mr. John Spatz: Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB). See the attached document for more information.
Elementary School Physical Education / Bennet Gym / Front Entrance Update: Mr. Zach Wemhoff: See the attached document for more information.
Veterans Day Program and Activities Feedback: Admin Team Summary: See the attached document for more information.

Attachments: (2)

5. Consent Agenda

Action(s):

Motion Passed:

Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. This motion, made by Dee Moore and seconded by Josh Penterman, Passed.

Busch: Yea
Calfee: Yea
Cheney : Yea
Desh: Yea
Moore: Yea
Penterman: Yea

No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.

Discussion:

No further discussion.

5.1. Approval of Board Agenda

5.2. Approval of minutes of previous meetings

Attachments: (3)

5.3. Approval of Claims/Payment of Bills and Payroll

Attachments: (6)

5.4. Certificated/Classified Hire(s)/Reassignment(s)/Resignation(s)

5.5. Financial Reports

Attachments: (2)

6. Public Comment

Discussion:

Please note that the Public Comment document was updated as of November 11, 2024.
The updated Public Comment document is attached to this agenda item.
Public Comment was provided by Craig Bolz of Palmyra.

Attachments: (1)

Board of Education Public Comment Request Document . Updated 11.11.2024 (1)

7. Administrative Reports

7.1. Superintendent's Report

Discussion: Highlights from the Superintendent's Report:

Superintendent Evaluation Document Update and Discussion:
- Please note: This is an agenda item listed later in the meeting.
Superintendent's Request to Extend:
- In each contract year, the Superintendent shall, by December 15^th of such contract year, notify the Board President in writing if the Superintendent desires to extend this contract for one additional year.
- If the Superintendent does not notify the Board President in writing by December 15^th, then this contract shall not be extended and shall end on the final day of the existing contract, unless both parties otherwise mutually agree in writing.
- The request will be on the agenda for the Monday, December 9th regular board meeting.
CTE Career Clusters Wheel: Updated November 2024:
- See the attached document.
District Food Drive and Potential Early Dismissal on Tuesday, November 26th
- See the attached document for more information.
  - Please note: Because our K-12 students met the identified goal for the Food Drive, there will be a 1:00 p.m. (early dismissal) for all students (Pre-K-12) on Tuesday, November 26th, 2024.
2023-2024 District Audit:
- Copies of the 2023-2024 District OR-1 annual audit were distributed to all board members.
- A digital copy of the report is attached to this agenda item.
Board Of Education Election Results from Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
- Congratulations to Tim Cheney, Jaimi Calfee, and Brandon Desh for their reelection to the Board of Education.
- Special thanks to Mrs. Vicky Hillman and Mr. Jim Tate for their interest in the school board.
District Equipment Sales / Donations
- Board members discussed the sale of some obsolete Career Technical Education (CTE) equipment and school district furniture.
- Some of the items for sale are listed below.
  - Desks and chairs
  - Weight equipment
  - CTE equipment
Calendar Committee
- 2025-2026 "draft" calendar discussion
  - Board of Education members provided feedback on the latest "draft" proposal of the 2025-2025 district calendar.
  - The next "draft" of the 2025-2026 school calendar will be discussed again at the Monday, December 9th, 2024 regular board meeting.
Student and Staff Kudos
Legislative Update
- The next Legislative (90-day) session will begin on January 8th, 2025.
"Value Up" Assemblies
- More information is listed below.
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday, November 19th:
  - Staff Development Day
- Tuesday, November 26th:
  - 1:00 p.m. Early dismissal
- Wednesday, November 27-29:
  - Thanksgiving break
- December 20th - January 3rd, 2025
  - Winter break:
- Monday, January 6th, 2025:
  - Staff Development Day
- Tuesday, January 7th, 2025:
  - Start of second semester

Attachments: (4)

7.2. Administrative Team Report

Discussion: Highlights of the admin board report are listed below:

HAL criteria/policy will be changing within the state early this next year.
Teacher Inservice time has been spent reviewing the new ELA curriculum samples with a committee of preK-12 staff, administration, and ESU Staff. The committee has the selection narrowed down to three choices.
The November professional development day will have time devoted to looking at Social Studies Standards, new Health Standards, Math Curriculum implementation discussion, Reading Curriculum analysis, and CPI training for staff.

November 11th, 2024 Principal’s Board Report:

October 21st-25th: PHS and Bennet students celebrated Red Ribbon Week and making positive choices.
On Monday, November 4th, Mike Donahue met with staff and parents for the Value Up presentation.
On Tuesday, November 5th, we had a guest speaker, Mike Donahue, speak with K-12 students about the challenges of today’s youth.
Monday, November 13th: World Kindness Day.
November 19th is the next staff in-service day. CPI, ELA curriculum, and staff evaluations are just a few things that will be on the agenda that day.
Mr. Johnson has been meeting with HS students for the Principal’s Student Advisory team. There are a total of 8 groups (1 group at each lunch) and they meet monthly.

Attachments: (4)

7.2.1. District Safety Audit Update

Discussion:

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Haag summarized components of the latest District Safety Audit for each district building.
- This audit is an annual requirement of the Nebraska Department of Education.

8. Discussion Items- Committee Reports

Attachments: (1)

2024 Board Committee Assignments_ District OR.1. Updated and Approved. January 10.2024 (3)

8.1. Budget Committee

Discussion: District Account Changes were highlighted:

We will be making the following changes to how we utilize various district funds. These changes will be more efficient and more cost-effective for the district as we eliminate bank charges for cashier's checks and minimize other bank fees.
Employee Benefit Fund.
- Under NDE advisement, we will now run our FSA (Flexible Spending Accounts) and dependent care expenses through the Employee Benefit Fund rather than the General Fund.
- This fund will change from a savings account to a checking account to meet the new requirements.
- Depreciation Fund:
  - This fund will change from a savings account to a checking account.
- 2016 (2021 Refinanced) Bond Fund:
  - This fund will change from a savings account to a checking account.
  - We have also identified who the authorized users are on the account.

8.2. Curriculum: Committee on American Civics Update

Discussion:

Committee members presented highlights of the committee meeting held on Wednesday, October 30th at Palmyra High School.
- More information regarding the specifics of this meeting is attached to this agenda item.
The next committee meeting will be Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, at Palmyra High School from 12:00-1:00 p.m.
- The February 19th, 2025 meeting will not be a public meeting as we already hosted the required public meeting on October 30th, 2024.

Attachments: (2)

8.3. Superintendent Evaluation Committee

Discussion: Board President Desh updated the board members on the Superintendent Evaluation Process
Superintendent Evaluation Timeline:

Listed below is the process for the current superintendent evaluation process.

Friday. November 1^st - Thursday. November 7^th
- Superintendent completes the self-evaluation: This step has been completed.
Monday. November. 11^th
- NASB sends board members the self-evaluation results. This step has been completed.
Monday. November 11^th - Wednesday. November 20^th
- Board members complete their evaluations
Monday, December. 2^nd
- The final Report & Executive Summary will be emailed and mailed to the board president.

8.4. Negotiations Committee Update

Discussion:

The Negotiations Committee met last year to finalize the certified Negotiated Agreement for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
- We are now in Year One of our current two-year contract.
Negotiations Committee members discussed the highlights of the Monday, November 11th, 2024 Negotiations Committee meeting.
- Highlights from the meeting included adjusting contract language in the Salary Schedule Advancement section of the current Negotiated Agreement.

8.5. Activities Committee

Discussion:

Superintendent Hart provided an update on coaching searches, and the beginning of scheduling, transportation, and other issues relating to the addition of baseball for the 2025-2026 school year.

8.6. Strategic Planning Update

Discussion:

The Strategic Planning Committee will meet during the 2025 Summer Board Retreat to discuss looking at enhancing the district Strategic Plan with the assistance of representatives from the Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB).
- This revision will be completed at no additional cost to the district as this is a service of the original agreement.
Please note: The Prioritization Summary of our most recent discussions on this topic is attached to this agenda item.

Attachments: (1)

Strategic Plan Prioritization Summary_ District OR-1. July 12, 2023. Reviewed. June 3.2024

9. Policy Review

Discussion:

Policy Committee Members discussed information from the latest Board Policy Committee Meeting held on Friday, November 8th, 2024.
- This meeting focused on the 6000 and 7000 Series Policies.

Attachments: (3)

9.1. Discussion of Policy #3241 Emergency Response Mapping: Second Reading

Discussion:

This is the second reading of this policy.
This is also an action item later in the meeting agenda.

Attachments: (1)

Policy #3241--Emergency Response Mapping. District OR-1. October 14.2024 .docx

9.2. Discussion of 6000 Series (Instruction) and 7000 Series (New Construction) Policies

Discussion:

Policy Committee Members discussed information from the latest Board Policy Committee Meeting held on Friday, November 8th, 2024.
This meeting focused on the 6000 and 7000 Series Policies.

Additional policies discussed included:

3000 (Business Operations) Series
- 3241 Emergency Response Mapping
6000 (Instruction) Series
- 6212 Assessments: Academic Content Standards
- 6215 Collection of Information Relating to Dyslexia
- 6284 Initiations and Hazing
- 6288 Artificial Intelligence
- 6600 Sped Policy
- 6700 Firearm Policy
- 6930 Behavioral Points of Contact
7000 (New Construction) Series
- 7050 Bid and Contracts
Committee members also discussed the process for reviewing, approving, and posting them on our website.

Attachments: (12)

10. Action Items

10.1. Presentation, discussion, and or official action to approve Policy # 3241: Emergency Response Mapping

Action(s):

Motion Passed:

Motion to approve Policy # 3241 Emergency Response Mapping as presented. This motion, made by Jaimi Calfee and seconded by Dean Busch, Passed.

Busch: Yea
Calfee: Yea
Cheney : Yea
Desh: Yea
Moore: Yea
Penterman: Yea

No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.

Discussion:

No further discussion.

Attachments: (1)

Policy #3241--Emergency Response Mapping. District OR-1. October 14.2024 .docx

10.2. Presentation, discussion, and or official action to approve the 2023-2024 District Audit

Action(s):

Motion Passed:

Motion to approve the 2023-2024 district audit as presented. This motion, made by Tim Cheney and seconded by Dee Moore, Passed.

Busch: Yea
Calfee: Yea
Cheney : Yea
Desh: Yea
Moore: Yea
Penterman: Yea

No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.

Discussion:

No further discussion.

Attachments: (1)

2024 Audit Palmyra Public Schools District OR 1

10.3. Presentation, discussion or official action to approve fund changes

Action(s):

Motion Passed:

Motion to approve fund changes as discussed. This motion, made by Dee Moore and seconded by Josh Penterman, Passed.

Busch: Yea
Calfee: Yea
Cheney : Yea
Desh: Yea
Moore: Yea
Penterman: Yea

No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.

Discussion:

No further discussion.

10.4. Presentation, discussion or official action to sell or donate school equipment

Action(s):

Motion Passed:

Motion to approve the sale or donation of school property as discussed. This motion, made by Josh Penterman and seconded by Dean Busch, Passed.

Busch: Yea
Calfee: Yea
Cheney : Yea
Desh: Yea
Moore: Yea
Penterman: Yea

No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.

Discussion:

We have some outdated weight equipment and obsolete CTE-related school equipment that we would like to sell or donate to make sure that it goes to good use.
No further discussion.

Attachments: (1)

Policy 3090 Sale and Disposal of School Property. November 11.2024

11. Board of Education Development

Discussion:

Topics included:
- Upcoming Board Leadership Opportunities
- State Conference Attendance in Omaha
- Start of the 2025 Legislative Session
- NASB Board Notes and Board Quicks are attached to this agenda item.

Attachments: (2)

12. Closed Session

Discussion:

No closed session occurred during the meeting.

13. Topics for Next Month’s Agenda

Discussion: Topics of next month include:

Admin Reports
Committee Meeting Summaries
Facility Update
District Calendar Draft Review
Rule 10 Annual Report
Superintendent Evaluation Update
Negotiations Update
Other items as requested

14. Adjournment

Discussion:

The meeting was dismissed at: 8:53 p.m.

November 11, 2024 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

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