January 13, 2021 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. New Board Member Oath of Office
Discussion:
Bill Lange recited the Oath of Office and he was welcomed as a new member of the Board of Education.
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2.1. Bill Lange (Ward 3)
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3. Election of Officers
Discussion:
President Gould turned the chairmanship over to Superintendent Joel at 6:05 PM. Motion by Blanchard, second by Burklund elect Harriet Gould as President. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
President Gould assumed chairmanship at 6:07 PM. Motion by Gould, second by Lange to elect Brad Breitkreutz as Vice President. RCV 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Blanchard, second by Breitkreutz to elect Lori Springer as Secretary. RCV 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Burklund, second by Gould to elect Matt Blanchard as Treasurer. RCV 6-0. Motion carried. |
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4. Motion to Excuse Board Member's Absence
Discussion:
All members were present.
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5. Open Meeting Law
Discussion:
The audience was reminded that the Open Meeting Laws would be followed.
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6. Consent Agenda
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to approve the consent agenda as presented including the regular meeting minutes of December 16, 2020, December Financial Statement and January monthly bills. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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6.1. Regular Minutes of December 16, 2020
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6.2. Financial Statement/Report
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6.3. Monthly Bills
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7. Correspondence/Recognition
Discussion:
A thank you letter was read from Ron Bottorff, President of Raymond Central TeamMates Board, extending their appreciation to the Superintendent and Board of Education for their support of the TeamMates program.
January is TeamMates month, contact Kris White if you are interested in becoming a mentor for an RC student. It is always a pleasure to recognize six volunteers, who work hard for our students, staff, families, and community - our elected school board members: Dr. Harriet Gould, Lori Springer, Matt Blanchard, Brad Breitkreutz, Cathy Burklund, and Bill Lange. The Board meets regularly to support and enable our educational mission, vision, strategic plan, and they advocate for continuous improvement to our district. Members participate in endless board, committee, negotiation, and other meetings, make appearances at school functions and spend hours reviewing reports, agendas, proposals, and other information they receive weekly. When you see one of our six board members, be sure to thank them for their commitment to making Raymond Central a great place to learn as we celebrate their leadership from January 31 to February 6, 2021! Thank you to Jared Shanahan and his crew for their hard work over Winter Break. Our school facilities are in excellent shape thanks to their time and efforts. Thanks to Patty Hudson and her team for their willingness to serve lunches over Winter Break. We look forward to extending this service into the summer! |
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8. Public Forum
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9. Discussion Items
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9.1. Student Board Report - Sydnie Blanchard
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Discussion:
Student Survey regarding new A/B Class Schedule - Mrs. Stansberry and I decided to ask students for their honest opinions regarding schedule changes for this semester. Students this week were sent out a survey asking their grade level and other questions regarding past and current class schedules and open campus. Most responses came from freshman and sophomore students with a total of 105 responses.
Over 1/2 of the surveyed students chose the new A/B class schedule to be their preferred choice. Negative responses included students not having enough time to finish homework and/or retake a test during the 30 minute advisory period held at the end of the day. This was the only availability for advisory time because of the new block schedules. Past advisory or study hall periods were as little as 20 minutes with eight classes a day. Positive feedback was fully received with many students enjoying being able to see teachers more often and having a simpler schedule that is easier to follow. Many responses included seniors enjoying this schedule more because of work and college class schedules. Eighty-five percent of senior students agreed that this schedule works better with work and college schedules. Open campus was a very positive topic with no negative responses regarding senior open campus. Mrs. Stansberry and I plan on sending a similar survey out at the end of February or March to further input. This survey was very helpful and showed students point of view on their class schedules. In person class schedules were hard to make this year because of covid and administration came up with great options to keep students in the classroom this school year. |
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9.2. Administrative Reports
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Discussion:
Submitted by Allison Stansberry, Jr-Sr High School Principal
We are 2 days into the 2nd semester and piloting our A/B Block schedule. So far, the transition has seemed to go smooth but we will continue to monitor and seek feedback as we prepare for the 2021-2022 school year. We have welcomed six new students to our building to start the semester. We have three juniors, one sophomore, one freshman, and one seventh grader. We also have five new student teachers joining us this semester. Those student teachers and their cooperating teachers are: Regan Hennings (UNL): Mr. Strouf ; Tyler Polacek (UNL): Mr. Placke; Bailey Ballard (Hastings): Mrs. Polak; Riley Freeland (Concordia): Mr. Pester (Starting January 14 through March); Jeremy Brey (Concordia): Mr. Henderson (Starting January 14 through March). During our staff meeting on January 6, we discussed the culture of your school post COVID will depend on how well you build connections during the crisis. We know that teachers are facing the challenge of connecting with both our remote learners and our face to face learners. Teachers have stated that they are reaching out to their students on remote through email, through phone calls home, and through zoom. We know that at some point these students will be back in our building and we want to make sure that they don’t feel disconnected when that happens. "Connection is why we’re here. We are hardwired to connect with others. It’s what gives us purpose and meaning to our lives and without it there is suffering," Brene Brown. We now have the ability to control the bells through my computer. This has been a huge blessing as with the old system, we had to call the company to come in and program. If we needed to create a schedule that was not already pre-programmed, we were having to manually ring every bell. Now if that ever happens, I will be able to quickly create a schedule needed. Also, the program has capabilities to do some fun things so I am hoping that I will be able to spend some time to try it out. New phones are up and working. As with every new system, we have had some glitches but Keely continues to work hard with Jeremiah to quickly fix these problems. On January 20, I will be attending Midland’s Virtual Interview Fair. On January 6, para’s worked in the classrooms. We provided an opportunity for training on Mental Health and a small piece on the Opportunity Gap. Para’s watched the Mind Inside Episode 2 (Episode 3 comes out in February) and it seemed to have really sparked some good conversations amongst our Para’s. I appreciate the work they do every day as they are an immeasurable asset to RC. We will also now have a full team as we have hired a new para that will start January 11. I think she is going to be a great addition. ACT: The Juniors will be taking the ACT on April 6. Submitted by Brian Gralheer, Assistant Jr-Sr High School Principal/Athletic Director 2021 is finally here! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday season. Our students and staff definitely deserved a break. I want to thank our students and staff for their hard work and diligence throughout the first semester. Because of their efforts, we were able to not only keep our doors open, but also keep activities running as smoothly as possible. I have heard our coaches use phrases such as "control what you can control" and "do whatever it takes" multiple times since the beginning of the year and I appreciate them putting those words into action. Our wrestling team has been going strong with a busy slate of five tournaments and four additional duals since our season kicked off on December 7. The NSAA has made the following adjustments to the postseason schedule for THIS SEASON ONLY: ? No State Dual Tournament ? District Wrestling has been split into two subdistricts (RC will host on February 5) ? District Final Wrestling will be held the weekend of February 13 ? State Wrestling will still be held in Omaha on February 18-20 The girls basketball team has endured some tough games, and was able to come away with a victory over Dorchester in the Weeping Water Holiday Tournament. They are currently 1-7 with a game against Centennial coming up on January 9. The boys basketball team secured victories over Malcolm, Weeping Water, and Sterling thus far in the season and is currently 3-4. Their next game will be on January 12 at David City. The Central Players have competed in 7 tournaments with competition ranging from Class A to Class C2 and have been doing well. They are a small, but mighty team this year. In three of those tournaments, the Players have placed in the top half of the competing schools. Most notable tournaments are placing 10th in the Team Sweeps at Pius Varsity Meet and placing 2nd in the Team Sweeps at Norris Varsity Meet. 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 Professional Development - On January 6, teachers and paras participated in professional development. Dr. Joel presented along with information regarding School Improvement, the EIR/Discovery Ed grant, NSCAS update, and building level meetings. PLC groups also met, with the primary focus being to analyze data and make instructional decisions for third quarter. PLC groups will meet on January 18 and again on the next scheduled late start which is January 27. Assessment - Winter FASTBridge benchmarking was completed in December. End of quarter assessments were completed prior to break. Second Quarter Report Cards will be sent home on January 15. I have been attending trainings via webinars for the statewide assessment system (NSCAS) to take place this spring. Mrs. Stansberry and Ms. Osten are coordinating the ACT assessment and are attending those trainings. Information regarding NSCAS assessment was shared with staff during the January 6 professional time. Staff and students are adjusting to our revised schedule. Elementaries are using a four day rotation to follow the A/B schedule of the Jr-Sr High. The first two days have gone pretty smoothly. We would like to welcome our new students and new staff. January is National Mentoring Month. The mentoring program founded by Dr. Tom and Nancy Osborne, TeamMates, matches students with caring adults. Mentors and mentees meet once a week during school hours. TeamMates would like to thank all of our mentors: Kathy Fredrickson, Brad Kobza, Shirley Eichmeier, Mike Unverferth, Ian White, Dallas Fletcher, Linda Ward, Kara Nelson, Alice Pecka, Deb Brooks, Jen Polak, Ron Bottorff, Karri Donahue, Esther Ryan, Tammie Holley, Darrell Walla, Barb Ohnoutka, Kathryn Hayward and Brad Breikreutz. Mrs. Kristine White continues to recruit mentors and match students. Please contact Mrs. White at the school for more information about how to become a mentor or go to www.teammates.org. PTO - Cookie dough sales were a huge success! Families picked up their cookie dough and then distributed it. PTO met on January 5 to discuss ideas for the second semester. PTO has a virtual scavenger hunt/ family night planned for January 21. Other happenings at Valparaiso: The Elementary Winter Concert was held virtually this year! A YouTube video was sent out to families on December 21. Thank you to Mr. Strouf and Mr. Luke for putting together the video. A special thank you to the generous donors for providing gifts for some of our students during the holiday season. A big thank you to Frontier Coop for partnering with us to provide many of the gifts. Winter holiday parties and end of second quarter celebrations were held on December 22. It was fun to celebrate the successful first semester with some games, crafts, and physical activities. To promote learning over the break, a reading challenge and physical activity calendar were sent home. Students who completed the reading challenge were rewarded with a free book. We had 41 students turn in their completed challenge on the first day back to school, January 7, and we expect more to be returned on Friday. The physical activity challenge is due on January 12. Thank you to Mrs. Shelly Hlavaty, Mrs. Monica Blank, and Ms. Kalyn Brannagan for facilitating these promotions. The 100th day of school is quickly approaching. We will plan to celebrate on January 25. "I Love Public Schools" day is January 20. Go to I Love Public Schools Day 2021 to see how you can participate. Submitted by Ann Egr, Elementary Principal at Ceresco/Special Education Director Elementary Elementary - Welcome to 2021! The students were excited to be back and ready to learn. It was nice to see all of them. The second round of FastBridge was completed in December. The data is used in conjunction with other assessment tools to evaluate students’ reading progress. This data is used to develop appropriate supports and interventions. Thank-you to the many generous donors for providing food and gifts to our families in the Food Bank BackPack Program and Angel/Giving Trees. The community support is greatly appreciated. Due to COVID-19 we were unable to hold the PTO sponsored Holiday Shop. Report Cards will go home January 15. The district is currently accepting kindergarten registration for 2021-2022. The application process for the district pre-school is available until March 15 or until both sections are full. Para Educators participated in on-line training on January 6. Thank-you to Mrs. Stansberry for organizing this opportunity. Special Education numbers continue to grow. Currently, the district has 146 identified students. This is an increase of 11 students since September. The number of students in September was 135. |
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9.2.1. Student Performance Data Presentation
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9.3. Curriculum Report
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9.4. Superintendent's Report
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Discussion:
We served a total of 2,884 meals over Winter Break. A big thank you to Patty and her team, FFA leadership students, and FBLA students for making this possible. I am impressed with the support of our staff and students stepping in to help out a program that we have never had before.
Our new BlueBird bus was delivered on Monday. They took the 2006 bus to scrap. Once it is scrapped, we will get our $20,000 grant. We now have the 2013 Lion bus, 2011 Freightliner bus, and 2007 Thomas bus as our backups. We have been working with the Maly Marketing Group out of Lincoln to update our Raymond Central district and ward map. Our campaign for adding bus drivers has paid off. Kerry Sanchez has agreed to drive a route for us. Kerry lives in Lincoln and is currently a substitute driver for Wahoo. Stephanie Voichahoske, new SPED para at the Jr-Sr High School, will begin training immediately. She will become a route driver for us when her certification is complete. On Thursday, January 14, Governor Ricketts will deliver his State of the State address. The Governor has alluded to unveiling several school spending control measures, to be introduced at his behest. We'll soon find out what he has in mind and what we'll need to address this session. Bill introduction will continue through January 20 for the 107th Legislature. No "big surprises" have happened at this point in time. Health Director Pat Lopez announced Tuesday afternoon that the COVID Risk Dial will remain in RED this week as they have not had any substantial change to our case counts, positivity rate or hospitalizations. In addition, Pat announced that the current DHM will be extended for two weeks, through January 29 at 11:59 p.m. If over the next week, our indicators improve substantially relative to cases, positivity rate, and hospitalizations, it is possible that we could move into ORANGE next Tuesday and the DHM would also be updated accordingly. The Feasibility Study has been completed and was presented to the board on January 12. The Board of Education will meet again to discuss before sharing the findings. |
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9.4.1. 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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9.4.2. 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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9.4.3. Goal 3: Develop progress monitoring tools to evaluate the effectiveness of district initiatives to ensure the sustainability over time.
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9.4.4. 2019-2020 Raymond Central Strategic Plan
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9.5. Facilities Report
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Discussion:
The new technology office/workshop is complete. Thanks to Jared, Chris, and Ron for their work. Also, thank you to Mr. Jedlicki and his class for constructing the new wall. This space will now allow Mrs. Schaffer a secure storage area and more workspace for devices.
Touchless faucets have been installed at both elementary schools in the bathrooms. The last bathroom needing to be completed is the west wing in Val. This will be done on January 18. The new carpet in the elementary entryways will begin on January 18. We will approve the bid for the Jr-Sr High School roof project in the action item section of our meeting. The total for the project will be $187,398. Cameras have been installed at the Jr/Sr High School. The next step is to repurpose the old ones. We will begin getting price quotes for the other projects as we get closer to springtime. |
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9.6. Review of Technology Plan
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We have implemented GoGuardian Beacon. This provides us with an alert in several different categories such as Active Planning, Suicide Ideation, Self Harm, Help and Support, and Suicide Research.
Raymond Central has a new Technology Office. I have moved to room 306. Thank you to Mr. Jedlicki’s construction class for building the wall and to the custodians for everything they coordinated and helped with. Diode Technologies has been working to install the new phone system at all three sites. We are still ironing out some issues, but for the most part the transition has gone well. Kidwell installed 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 and equipment and we now have an internet in the press box and the bus barn. We submitted a proposal for three new firewalls to replace the existing firewalls at all three sites. They will also be faster to assist with all the new equipment and internet speed we have installed in the last year. Kidwell has begun installing the new Avigilon System. As of January 8, the existing cameras have been added to the new server. Kidwell is working on getting the new VLAN setup for the cameras. Kidwell will be back out next week to install the new cameras around the district. The electrician was out on January 8 to run a new electrical circuit to the data room. Website Updates - As always if you see something out of place send me an email and let me know.
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9.7. Update of Raymond Central Crisis and Safety Protocol
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9.8. Committee on American Civics (Breitkreutz - chair, Springer, Burklund)
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9.9. Transportation Committee (Black- Chair, Breitkreutz, Springer)
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9.10. Finance Committee (Springer- chair, Blanchard, Breitkreutz)
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9.11. Facilities Committee (Blanchard- chair, Springer, Burklund)
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9.12. Negotiations Committee (Black- chair, Gould, Blanchard)
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9.13. Curriculum Committee (Gould - chair, Black, Burklund)
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9.14. Policy Committee (Springer- chair, Gould, Black)
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9.15. NASB Monthly Update
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9.16. Families First Coronavirus Response Act Extension - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Breitkreutz to extend the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to March 31 providing employees up to two weeks of Covid leave if not already used. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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9.17. 2021-2022 Teacher's Master Contract - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
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Discussion:
Motion by Blanchard, second by Springer to approve the 2021-2022 Teacher’s Master Contract as presented with a $400.00 increase to the base salary. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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9.18. Early Dismissal Friday, February 5, 2021 - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Blanchard to dismiss school early on Friday, February 5 due to Raymond Central hosting Wrestling Sub Districts - Elementary at 1:00 PM, Secondary at 1:15 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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9.19. Board of Education Committees - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Lange to approve the 2021 Board Committee members as follows: Committee on American Civics: Brad Breitkreutz-Chair, Cathy Burklund, Lori Springer; Transportation Committee: Brad Breitkreutz-Chair, Bill Lange, Lori Springer; Finance Committee: Lori Springer-Chair, Matt Blanchard, Brad Breitkreutz; Facilities Committee: Matt Blanchard-Chair, Cathy Burklund, Lori Springer; Negotiations Committee: Matt Blanchard-Chair, Bill Lange, Harriet Gould; Curriculum Committee: Harriet Gould-Chair, Bill Lange, Cathy Burklund; Policy Committee: Lori Springer-Chair, Bill Lange, Harriet Gould. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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9.20. Review Public Forum Presentation(s) - Consider, discuss, and take all necessary action
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10. Action Items
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10.1. Approval of Staff Resignation(s)
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Discussion:
Motion by Springer, second by Blanchard to approve the resignation of Wade Houchin as Special Education Teacher and Strength/Conditioning Coordinator effective at the end of the school year. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.2. Approval of Staff Appointment(s)
Discussion:
Motion by Burklund, second by Blanchard to approve staff appointments of: Rebecca Ries, SpEd Para at Valparaiso; Stephanie Voichahoske, SpEd Para at the Jr-Sr High School; and Kerry Sanchez, bus driver. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.3. Approval of Substitute(s)
Discussion:
Motion by Gould, second by Burklund to approve Lance Ferguson as a local substitute teacher. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.4. Approval of Shelly Hlavaty from .815 FTE to 1.0 FTE
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to increase Shelly Hlavaty from .8125 FTE to 1.0 FTE for second semester 2020-2021 to work in collaboration with Mrs. Carlson, Valparaiso Kindergarten teacher, due to the increase in class size. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.5. Add 1.0 FTE 6-12 Special Education Teacher for 2021-2022
Discussion:
Motion by Springer, second by Lange to add an additional full-time Special Education Teacher at the Jr-Sr High School due to increased needs and services. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.6. Approval of the Jr/Sr High School Summer 2021 Re-Roof Project
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Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Breitkreutz to approve the bid of $187,398.00 from Weathercraft of Lincoln to re-roof the flat section of the Jr-Sr High School. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.7. Approval of 2021 Legal Counsel
Discussion:
Motion by Springer, second by Burklund to approve the Resolution designating Perry, Guthery, Haase, & Gessford Law Office, with Justin Knight as lead attorney, to serve as the 2021 general legal counsel for Raymond Central Public Schools. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.8. Approval of 2021 Official Depository
Discussion:
Motion by Burklund, second by Lange to approve the Resolution designating CerescoBank, Jones Bank, First Northeast Bank of Nebraska, and BOK Financial (Bank of Oklahoma-Lincoln Office) as the 2021 depositories for Raymond Central Public Schools. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.9. Approve New Mileage Rate
Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Burklund to approve the new mileage rate of 56 cents per mile (a 1.5 cent decrease from the 57.5 cents per mile rate for 2020). RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.10. Approval of Next Regular Board Meeting - Wednesday, February 10 , 2021
Discussion:
Motion by Blanchard, second by Lange to approve the next regular Board Meeting for Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 6:00 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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11. Adjournment
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Blanchard to adjourn the meeting at 7:20 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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12. Important Upcoming Dates:
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