December 16, 2020 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Discussion:
President Gould called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.
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2. Motion to Excuse Board Member's Absence
Discussion:
All members were present.
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3. Open Meeting Law
Discussion:
The audience was reminded that the Open Meeting Laws would be followed.
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4. Consent Agenda
Discussion:
Motion by Black, second by Breitkreutz to approve the consent agenda as presented including the regular meeting minutes of November 11, 2020, November Financial Statement and December monthly bills. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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4.1. Regular Minutes of November 11, 2020
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4.2. Financial Statement/Report
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4.3. Monthly Bills
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5. Correspondence/Recognition
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Discussion:
Thank you to staff and community members for their ongoing support with the Caring Shelves at the Jr-Sr High School. Because of their generosity, we were able to provide Thanksgiving meals to 11 families and will provide 10 families with a Christmas meal as well as gifts.
A special Thank You to ALL staff for their hard work and dedication this semester. We have (almost) made it through the first semester with our doors open while doing "Whatever It Takes." Thank you to our students for continuing to follow the policies and procedures put in place and for adapting to the amount of change that came with the first semester. We have amazing kids! Thank you to Frontier Cooperative for their assistance in providing gifts for Angel Tree families in the community. Thank you to the Board of Education, RC Foundation and PTO for sponsoring the VIBE coffee truck and lining sidewalks with "thank yous" for staff on Wednesday, November 18! |
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5.1. Scott Black - 6 Years of Service on the Board of Education
Discussion:
President Gould presented an appreciation plaque to Scott Black for his 6 years of service as board member.
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6. Public Forum
Discussion:
Nick Monnier addressed the Board in regards to the time doors open for students in the morning at the high school and also busing/transportation.
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7. Discussion Items
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7.1. Student Board Report - Sydnie Blanchard
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7.2. Administrative Reports
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Discussion:
Submitted by Allison Stansberry, Jr-Sr High School Principal
We have (almost) made it to the end of the semester! As I reflect on this semester, I started thinking about the new things we have implemented that we may want to continue implementing after the Pandemic is over (and no masks will not be one of them). Some of those items are: Block Scheduling; Open Campus for Seniors (if we continue with Block Scheduling); Prioritizing the well-being of our students and staff, continue to push for self care; Continue to promote empathy and grace for all; Continue to close the digital divide; Remote Learning for students with extended medical needs; Remote Learning: Research how to integrate remote options for conferences. ACT: The Juniors will be taking the ACT on April 6, 2021. We have started small group ACT prep during Homeroom. We will have 2 more sessions this week and will pick back up in January. We will be doing a data report for the January Board Meeting with Map and ACT. Congratulations to Connor Nichols and Kelsey Hudson on receiving Regent Scholarships! Finals will be held on December 21-22. December 22 will be a 1:45 dismissal. Discovery Education Stem PD: Our teachers continue to meet with Mark Jankowski for 30 minute coaching sessions. The teachers at the Jr-Sr High that are participating as teacher leaders are: Carolyn Enevoldsen, Courtney Polak, Greg Wilmes, Adison Kenning, Sydnie Paige, Jill Huck, Nicole Hummel, Celia Newman, and Rebecca Parks. I had my first coaching session with Albert and it was a great experience. He challenged my thinking and pushed me to think of ways we can incorporate some of the learnings from the Discovery Ed PD into staff meetings to also challenge the thinking of our teachers. I am excited to see where this opportunity will take us as a district. Submitted by Brian Gralheer, Assistant Jr-Sr High School Principal/Athletic Director It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for Winter Sports in Lancaster County. On November 13, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department suspended Winter Sports just before practice was scheduled to open on November 16. In discussions with our coaches at that time, there was a common message, "We are in season." This meant we reverted back to the template we created in March when school and spring sports were shut down. The first step in this process was to establish a reliable line of communication to participants and parents. Coaches were able to utilize Zoom, Google Classroom, and other tech-based platforms to enrich that line of communication. I am proud of how our coaches were able to creatively think of ways to provide opportunities for our student-athletes during the shutdown. We were also fortunate to have unseasonably good weather during the three week break. On December 7, the health department allowed us to open up under tight restrictions. Our coaches, student-athletes, and parents were thankful for this opportunity and willing to abide by any and all restrictions if it meant giving the kids an opportunity to compete. Our players jumped right into competition with limited practice and competed hard. I will be excited to see how our athletic teams grow through the winter sports season. The Central Players Speech Team has been able to compete in multiple competitions remotely from either their own home or a classroom here at school. Regardless of what we hear from the Health Department or NSAA, it is nice to know that speech will continue to move forward in a virtual capacity. FFA was also able to compete at Districts virtually from the Ceresco Senior Center. Sarah Lange was district champion in Discovery Speaking. The Senior Parliamentary Procedure team was district runner-up. Congratulations to them! As we continue to move forward with activities during the pandemic, it is important to note that we will continue to operate under the jurisdiction of the local health departments. Governor Ricketts and the NSAA have recently released new relaxed restrictions, however, our local health department has not changed their guidance. Spectator restrictions will continue to be two household members per participant. As we travel to other venues, I have created an evolving document that will incorporate the many different COVID protocols our students and parents will be expected to follow. Submitted by Shelly Dostal, Elementary Principal at Valparaiso/K-5 Curriculum Director Curriculum/Instruction/Assessment - FASTBridge data benchmarking took place on December 2-11 for the mid-year checkpoint to monitor student progress. Second quarter ends on December 22. Report Cards are scheduled to be sent home on January 15. For professional learning time on December 9, teachers discussed Remote Learning for second semester and were trained on the new phone system. Professional Learning Communities also met to continue progress on their SMART goals. I attended the winter NACIA/Curriculum Directors meeting on December 7. Preparations are underway for staff training on January 6 including information about NSCAS for 2021, EIR Discovery Ed Grant, School Improvement update, PLCs, and building level meetings. Music Concert - The K-2 grade students will have a virtual vocal Winter Concert this year. Mr. Strouf will record K-2 students and Mr. Luke will record the 5th grade band. Families will be sent a link to watch the performances on December 21. Mr. Strouf and Mr. Luke are to be commended for their extra efforts to create the virtual concert. RC PTO - The Cookie Dough sales were a great success. Thank you to everyone who ordered and to our volunteers for organizing and distributing on December 10. Proceeds from the cookie dough sales support class field trips. Homework Club continues to meet each Tuesday and Thursday under the direction of Mrs. Kendra Carlson. Thank you to our many generous anonymous donors for providing Christmas gifts for families through the Angel Giving Trees. Frontier Co-op partnered with Raymond Central to provide the gifts. The families who participate in the BackPack Food Program each week will also be receiving food vouchers and gift certificates to purchase food supplies for the extended winter break as well as extra food. These vouchers, certificates, and food are provided by our local faith based organizations, RC Food Bank BackPack fundraising, and anonymous donors. Thanks to all! Students will celebrate their learning for the second quarter with Winter holiday parties on December 22. We will wear festive holiday apparel on December 21. The Valparaiso Staff would like to extend our best wishes to you all for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Submitted by Ann Egr, Elementary Principal at Ceresco/Special Education Director Elementary Ceresco Elementary just finished the 2nd round of FastBridge assessment. The data is used in conjunction with other assessment tools to evaluate students’ reading progress to develop appropriate supports and interventions. The K-2 vocal music and 5th grade winter band concerts will be held virtually. The concert will be released on December 21. Thank-you Mr. Strouf and Mr. Luke for producing this event. PTO Cookie dough fundraiser pickup was on December 10. Proceeds from the sales go towards field trips. POP Pass (Positive Office Pass) winners will be announced on December 22. Due to Covid-19, we are unable to hold large assemblies. Teachers will hold celebrations in their rooms on December 21. Special Education - end of the year reporting is in full swing. The staff at Ceresco would like to extend our best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! |
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7.3. Curriculum Report
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7.4. Superintendent's Report
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We will receive a $13,500 grant from No Kid Hungry to extend our summer lunch program to provide free meals over winter break. This will be available to any RC child 18 years and younger.
To date, we have had 42 students and 9 staff members test positive for COVID-19. Updated quarantine protocols were reviewed. We are currently operating with five full-time bus drivers and utilizing pickup points. We are seeking to hire a full-time bus driver to support the minimum six drivers needed to go back to regular routes. Please send the names of anyone you know that might be interested to Dr. Joel. Our goal is to increase our busing options for 2nd semester. The SIP Team has completed their book study focused on creating fair, consistent, and equitable grading practices for the district. The team will now use their foundational knowledge to update the draft documents which includes best practices in grading and assessment. The team has made significant strides towards making our Vision 2025 come alive. The Teacher Evaluation Committee met on Wednesday to discuss the next steps in re-developing our process and procedures. The meeting sparked rich conversation and a clearer picture of what we are looking for. At our next meeting, the committee members will come to a consensus on the performance standards and indicators. The committee will need to determine the process and procedures for teacher evaluation and also find a vendor that will create an online system to go paperless. Dr. Joel also reviewed his Goals for 2020-2021. |
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7.4.1. Goal 1: Ensure continuing well being of staff and students by creating an equitable framework for responding to and recovering from a pandemic.
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7.4.2. Goal 2: Continue the creation of a 10-year facilities strategic plan for implementation that addresses maintenance and improvements for existing building assets.
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7.4.3. Goal 3: Develop progress monitoring tools to evaluate the effectiveness of district initiatives to ensure the sustainability over time.
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7.4.4. 2019-2020 Raymond Central Strategic Plan
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7.5. Facilities Report
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AIS (Affordable Internet Solutions) has connected our bus barn and press box with wireless internet. The bus barn project is complete and we are now able to use the space. Back door access concrete in Val has been replaced. Touch-less faucets have been purchased for elementary school sites, will be installed over winter break.
Peggy has been tracking our electric bill from Norris to see what savings we have had after our project this summer at the Jr-Sr High School. Over the course of three months (September, October, November), we have averaged 12% in savings. The total savings in the three months is $4,438.48. The average electric bill from Norris is now $11,379.74 (2020) compared to $12,859.24 last year (2019). |
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7.6. Review of Technology Plan
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December 7-11 was Hour of Code Week/Computer Science Week. This is a national program that was started by Code.org to help promote the importance of programming, and to expose students to the possibilities of what coding can do for them. Students in grades 6-12 participated in events throughout the week. Raymond Central students coded for a total of 3096 hours.
Diode Technologies has been working to install the new phone system at all three sites. We conducted training on December 9 on how to navigate the new phone. We will be conducting more training with the office staff at all three sites once everything is installed. We are waiting for two switches that are backordered to arrive. On 12-11 Kidwell will install the POE switches we took out of the HS in the elementary to help take stress off the existing switches. They also installed the USB (backup power supply) in Ceresco and Valparaiso. AIS has installed the cabling so we can have internet in the press box and the bus barn. The goal is to get the hardware installed on December 18th. The equipment has not come in yet, so it may get pushed back. Kidwell will begin soon to install the new Avigilon Camera System. Transition begins Wednesday, December 16. |
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7.7. Update of Raymond Central Crisis and Safety Protocol
Discussion:
Mrs. Stansberry and Deputy Piitz have completed the Administrator/SRO 20-hour training required by 390.
We are now utilizing BEACON: GoGuardian's newest product, Beacon, is a multi-class classifier built to identify students’ online behaviors that could be indicative of suicide or self-harm by analyzing their browsing across all student content including search engines, social media, email, web apps and more. Beacon shows a holistic view of the student's online behavior. |
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7.8. Committee on American Civics (Breitkreutz - chair, Springer, Burklund)
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7.9. Transportation Committee (Black- Chair, Breitkreutz, Springer)
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7.10. Finance Committee (Springer- chair, Blanchard, Breitkreutz)
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7.11. Facilities Committee (Blanchard- chair, Springer, Burklund)
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7.12. Negotiations Committee (Black- chair, Gould, Blanchard)
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7.13. Curriculum Committee (Gould - chair, Black, Burklund)
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7.14. Policy Committee (Springer- chair, Gould, Black)
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7.15. NASB Monthly Update
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7.15.1. State NASB Conference Takeaways (November 2020)
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7.16. Review Superintendent 360 Performance Evaluation - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
Discussion:
The Board of Education reviewed the results and data from the Fall 2020 Leadership Encompass 360 Evaluation.
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7.17. 2nd Semester Remote Learning Agreement - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
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Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to approve the Parent/Student Remote or Alternate Learning Election Form outlining expectations for remote learning for the second semester of the 2020-2021 school year. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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7.18. Raymond Central Dual Credit Advantage Scholarship - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
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Discussion:
Motion by Burklund, second by Black to approve the proposal to offer two $500 Raymond Central Dual Credit Advantage Scholarships using SENCAP dollars received. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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7.19. Approval of Final 2020-2021 District Calendar - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
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Discussion:
Motion by Black, second by Blanchard to approve the amended 2020-2021 school calendar utilizing Friday, March 5 and Friday, April 30 as teacher/staff professional work time per the Rule 62 Declaratory Order. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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7.20. Review Public Forum Presentation(s) - Consider, discuss, and take all necessary action
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8. Action Items
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8.1. Approval of Staff Resignation(s)
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Motion by Blanchard, second by Breitkreutz to approve staff resignations of Emily Richerson, Valparaiso Paraeducator; Kristine Donahue, Ceresco Paraeducator; Justin Lillie, 6th Grade Teacher and Head Varsity Girls Basketball; and Jeff White, Jr High Girls Basketball. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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8.2. Approval of Staff Appointment
Discussion:
Motion by Blanchard, second by Black to approve staff appointments of Mike Henderson, Jr High Girls Basketball; and Jeff White, Head Varsity Girls Basketball. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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8.3. Approval of Substitute(s)
Discussion:
Motion by Blanchard, second by Burklund to approve Rachel Mika as a substitute teacher; Tyler Polacek as a local substitute teacher; Maggie Brummond as long-term substitute for Ceresco 5th Grade; Dorie Dickey and Cindi Wolfe as substitute paraeducators. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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8.4. Approval of Surplus Item(s)
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to approve three 500 gallon propane tanks and one 1,000 gallon propane tank (side fill) as surplus. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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8.5. Approval to Increase Bus Driver DOT Physical Reimbursement
Discussion:
Motion by Black, second by Blanchard to increase maximum reimbursable dollar amount for bus driver DOT physical exams to $100.00. RCV 5-0. Abstained-1. Motion carried.
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8.6. Approval of Next Regular Board Meeting - Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Discussion:
Motion by Black, second by Blanchard to approve the next regular Board Meeting for Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 6:00 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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9. Adjournment
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Blanchard to adjourn the meeting at 7:50 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10. Important Upcoming Dates:
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