November 14, 2023 at 5:00 PM - Regular Board of Education Meeting

Discussion:  Mrs. Kreifels is a recipient of the Counselor ...... award

Discussion:  Mr. Geise acknowledged Mrs. Kreifels as she was recently the recipient of the 2023 Counseling Excellence award from the Nebraska State College system. 

Discussion:  Ms. Conant presented on Artificial Intelligence, the future of Artificial Intelligence in schools and her top 3 favorite AI websites to utilize. 

Discussion:  FFA students, Louis Caniglia, Aaron Watson, Ava Tegels and Sidney Vincent presented a recap to the board on attending the National Convention including the FFA Expo, National Contests and the FFA Rodeo. All enjoyed Nationals, where they were able to meet new people with all 50 states had chapters in attendance. 
 

Discussion:  The foundation meets quarterly and recently met at the end of October where they reviewed the bank account balances. A new scholarship in honor of KT Bescheinen and her dedication to education and Conestoga is being gifted to the Foundation. The amount will be $1000 per year for a graduating senior. New ideas to get the word out on the foundation are to put something on bags of popcorn at upcoming basketball games to inform people about the Foundation. Will try to get KT's family to attend the ball game to announce the new scholarship as well. The PTO currently gives grants to elementary grade levels. We discussed creating grants for the Jr. Sr. high school teachers for things they might need that aren't normally covered by the school. A future item to be discussed is keeping classes and organizing groups for alumni and networking ideas. The next quarterly meeting will be at the end of January, beginning of February. 

Discussion:  Mr. Dennis. The winter concert will be held on December 12th and there will be two shows, at 2:00p.m. and 7:00pm. The book fair is happening this week and the grandparents breakfast will be on the 16th. Cougar Holloween, Veterans day, Fax Gilbert and the Fun Run are other events keeping the elementary busy. 
Daycare, we are in need of workers if you know of anyone looking for a job. 
Mr. Geise. Held Veterans day program last Friday, kids did an amazing job with everything from setup to tear down. All teachers will be evaluated at least once by the end of the month. Jr. High dance was a success thanks to Mrs. McHenry and  Mrs. Spangler. Thank you to all of NHS and student council for sponsoring it. College Career day is Wednesday March 20th. The recognition rally was put on by the student recognition committee, Mrs. Schlichtemeier, Mrs. Spangler, Mrs, Kennebeck and Ms. Plihal. It ended with a student and staff dodge ball tournament. Enrollment has stayed steady. Listed upcoming dates.
Director of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction. NDE released their standards guidelines extending to 2039. I will update our curriculum to be better aligned. Our veterans day program was a success and connects with our Social Studies curriculum. Kudos to students and staff for their work with the program. Also to the music program for their first concert with the new staff and layout this year. Will complete an audit and survey on JH technology. Professional development was held and a collaborative effort centered on scaffolding skills for students to promote growth. I recently attended Adaptive schools with Mr. Krause, it reiterated practices that support my work in creating and presenting pd work and coaching sessions. Both coaches are working with staff 1:1 with meetings and coaching sessions. PreACT data is back and will be shared with staff and students. I will share assessment information at the December board meeting. Students will complete AIMS Web Plus, NSCAS Growth and MAP Growth. 
Director of Student Services, attended NeMTSS conference, affirmed what I learned and saw and confirmed our school district is further along than others, while also looking at where to improve with our MTSS team. Conducted SAEBRS screener, will review data Thursday and plan grade level meetings beginning of December. Attended a 2 day SPED Law conference, heavy emphasis on behavior and finances. Had school mental health follow up meeting 11/8/2023 via zoom. Cass County Community of Practice was held yesterday with a discussion on behavior and IEP guidance. Listed submitted reports and upcoming meetings/trainings. 
AP/AD. Last month we took 10th grade students to attend a career exploration simulation at the Cass county fairgrounds put on by the UNL extension program. Mrs Kreifels set up taking the freshman to Peru College. The Fall sports seasons finished with volleyball sub districts finishing 18-13; the most wins since 2004. Maggie Fiene received all conference 2nd team. Davida Garrett and Ava Tegels received all conference honorable mention. Several team and individual records were set this year. Cross country state qualifier: Dani Ahrens and softball: Elizabeth Harvey received all conference 1st Team. Teams continue to have their end of season banquets. Coach Qucik and myself met with the football team and have declared for 11-man for the 2024 & 2025 seasons with a 2 year commitment and JV schedule. Will release classes and district in December. The band received an excellent rating at the state competition. The FFA jacket ceremony was held for 8 new members and they attended the National FFA convention in Indianapolis Nov. 1-4. The One-Act dinner theatre performance was held on November 9th and conference is next Monday at The Lofte. Conference choral clinic was held on November 6 at DC West. FBLA held a dodgeball fundraiser on 10/30 where several students 7-12 participated. Mock Trial has been competing the last 3 weeks at the Sarpy and Cass county courthouse. E-sports finished the fall season of super smash bros. JH quiz bowl hosted the first competition on 10/30 with 7th grade winning their division and 8th grade receiving 2nd. Winter sports practices begin and listed upcoming activity dates. 

Greg Page updated the board on Cyber Patriot with State competition in 2 weeks, tbd on which tier they will compete in. 

Discussion:  Superintendent, mechanical company has been working at the Jr./Sr. high over the weekends, Mondays and will be working over winter break placing preliminary wiring and piping for the HVAC system. Windows are nearing completion at the elementary. Negotiations for the most part are complete between the committee and the teachers. 5% range, the increase in blue cross blue shield rates was 1.9% for the next year according to the Educator Health Alliance. Next year is an election year with a filing deadline for incumbents: February 15th. The audit was completed and the annual financial report was submitted by Sarah this month. John McConnell will be on a panel on Thursday at the State School Board convention as part of the student voices presentation. 

Discussion:  Grateful to the teachers and administrators who did a great job in trying to pass a bond and thank you to Mr. Apple for opening our eyes to new ways of getting information out to the community. 

Discussion:  December 13, 2023    Board of Education meeting.