January 6, 2014 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Meeting Agenda

Rationale: 

Re-elected Board Members Mike Kinney, Frank Kumor, and Nina Wolford will be administered the Oath of Office.

Attached is the Oath of Office for Board members.

Rationale:  A motion will be necessary if a member of the elected Board is absent.

Rationale:  The Bellevue Board of Education abides by the Nebraska Open Meetings Law.  A copy of the law is posted on the wall of our Board room.

Rationale:  Approve by consent items in section B of the Agenda identified with an asterisk and receive the information and proposals in section D identified with an asterisk.

Rationale:  The attached Minutes of the December 9, 2013, Board of Education meeting were sent to all members of the Board of Education for review.  One modification was received and is reflected in the Minutes.

Rationale:  Acknowledge receipt of the Treasurer's Report for December, 2013.

Rationale:  Approve the payment of claims totaling $1,236,274.47.

Rationale:  Request for nomination of Temporary Chairman is taken.

Rationale:  Nominations for President of the Board will be taken.

If no further nominations, I move that nominations be closed.

If one nominee, roll call vote will be taken.  If more than one nominee, vote will be taken by secret ballot.

Rationale:  Nominations for Vice President of the Board will be taken.

If no further nominations, I move that nominations be closed.

If one nominee, roll call vote will be taken.  If more than one nominee, vote will be taken by secret ballot.

Rationale:  Nominations for Secretary and Treasurer of the Board will be taken.

If no further nominees, I move that nominations be closed.

Rationale:  Recommended action:  To adopt the following resolution: whereas _______________ has been duly elected President and _____________ Vice President of the Board of Education for 2014, be it therefore resolved that the President of the Board of Education be named the authorized representative of the Bellevue Board of Education and in the President's absence, the Vice President of the Board of Education be designated as the authorized representative and that these officers are authorized to file the applications and reports for Impact Aid, Title XVIII of PL106-398, and any other Federal applications, reports, resolutions, contracts, real estate transactions and agreements necessary to the operation of the school district as required on behalf of the Bellevue Public School District.

Rationale:  Recommended action:  To authorize the Superintendent of Schools or his designee to act as the Board of Education's official representative in all matters relating to local, state, and federal programs including applications, plans, reports and verified information for No Child Left Behind, vocational education, special education, adult education, grants, Educational Service Unit, and any other federal or state programs as required, and any contracts, real estate transactions, or agreements necessary to the operation of the school district and as authorized through Board policy.

Rationale:  The recommendation is that all warrants of the District issued in the month of January of this year which bear the facsimile signatures of the officers authorized during the immediate preceding term of office by this Board to sign and validate warrants of the District are hereby ratified, confirmed and validated.

Rationale:  The recommendation is to nominate three members of the Board of Education to serve as Bellevue Public Schools' Foundation Board of Directors.

The current members of the Foundation Board of Directors are Frank Kumor, Lisa Rybar, and Doug Cook.

Rationale:  The law requires that the President of the Board of Education appoint three Board members to examine, inspect, and approve all textbooks used in the teaching of American History and Civil Government.

The current members of the Americanism Committee are Cindy Copich and Lisa Rybar.  Alicia Richards fulfilled her obligation on this committee before her resignation.

Rationale:  The Bellevue Board of Education serves in a quasi-judicial role at various times including when a student discipline action by the administration is appealed.  The President of the Board of Education shall appoint three members of the Board to the Student Discipline Committee to hear any student discipline appeals.

The current members of the Student Discipline Committee are Doug Cook, Frank Kumor, and Nina Wolford.

Rationale:  The Nebraska Association of School Boards is requesting a Board appointment to the Government Relations Network.  The Government Relations Network keeps representatives current on important legislation  at the local, state, and federal levels.

Cindy Copich was the 2013 representative.

Rationale:  MABE is comprised of a school board representative from each of the metro area school districts.  The group typically meets monthly to share information and best practices.

Cindy Copich is the current Board representative.

The President of the Board of Education will appoint a member of the Bellevue Board as a representative on the MABE Board.

Rationale:  Nebraska statutes require the Board of Education to annually review the Parental Involvement in Educational Practices Policy.  The existing policy was adopted by the Board of Education in 1995 and is reviewed annually by the Board of Education.

Notice of the hearing was published in accordance with Nebraska statutes.  A copy of the existing policy and regulation, Parental Involvement in Educational Practices, is attached.

Public input will be received at this time.

Rationale:  Recognize the Bellevue Education Association as the exclusive and sole collective bargaining representatives for all teachers, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists employed by the District for the 2015-2016 school year.

Attached is a letter from BEA President Deb Carlson requesting that the BEA be recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for non-supervisory certificated staff for the 2015-2016 contract year. 

Rationale: 

The Board reviewed revised Board Policy 704.04, Audits, and Board Policy 805.03, Bonding, which was recommended for deletion at the December 9, 2013, Board meeting. The attached proposed Board policies are presented tonight for final approval.

Rationale:  Bellevue West Forensics competed at the Creighton Prep tournament on Saturday, December 14.  The team took 7th place and individual results are as follows:  Callie Pancoe, sophomore-5th place Informative Speaking; Ariana DiBernardo, sophomore-6th place Informative Speaking; Callie Pancoe and Tyler Araujo, sophomores-4th place Duo Interpretation; Renee Pineda, junior-6th place Entertainment Speaking; and Jasmine Rosemond, junior-4th place, Entertainment Speaking.

Rationale:  On Friday, December 6, Computer Science students attended the UNO Computer Science programming and quiz bowl competitions.  The team finished 3rd in the programming competition.  The students on this team were Lane Ives, Trevor Fellbaum, and Stephen Fluharty.

On Saturday, December 7, UNO hosted a Capture the Flag Hacking competition. This was a 10 hour event where students tried to solve different programming and computer security challenges.  The team took 1st place overall.  The students on this team were Nate Brown, Zac Brown, Lane Ives, and Cathy Storck. 

Rationale:  Congratulations to Dan Parkison, teacher at Bellevue West High School.  Dan was recently selected as a recipient of an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) grant for the Bellevue West High School science department.  The award amount is $1,000.  The AFCEA is an international, professional association chartered as an educationally oriented, non-profit, technical group.  Please see attached congratulatory letter.

Rationale:  Students from Bellevue and Fairview Elementary Schools competed in the Bellevue Robotics Qualifier at Lewis and Clark Middle School on Saturday, December 14.  The theme this year was Nature's Fury and the student teams worked on creative solutions to aid with various types of natural disasters across the world.

The Fighting Firebirds from Fairview took 1st place in the Project Award Category out of 25 teams.  In addition to building and programming the robots, teams at the robotics tournament also have to create a solution to a problem regarding the theme of the year.  The Firebirds decided to tackle the problem of flooding in Sondu, Kenya.  They partnered with a school there (the School of Hope) and each team member has an ePal that they communicate with on a regular basis.  Using mostly recycled materials, the team created a water filtration system that allows flood victims in Sondu to have access to fresh drinking water immediately.

Members of the Fighting Firebirds are Charlie Sims, Allie Otto, Darian Draft, Mia King, Mason King, Emma Gage, Eva Gorzkiewicz, Ty Kiviniemi, Jackson Beck, and Grant Schneider.  The team is coached by Garrett Sims and Michelle Boyce.

The Bellevue Elementary Robotics Team earned 1st place overall in the Champions Award.  The Champions Award recognizes a team that embodies the First Lego League (FLL) experience by fully embracing the Core Values while achieving excellence and innovation in both the Robot Game and Project.  Bellevue Elementary scored the second highest score of the day in the Robot Game out of 23 teams and shared their innovative solution to help check and maintain levees that protect against floods.

Members of the Bellevue Elementary Robotics Team are Dylan Araujo, Luke Bartlett, Kekoa Chai, Colt Inselman, Syndey Keith, Nolan Lausterer, Garrett Parker, Ashleigh Ragone, Maggie Scott, and AJ Taylor.  The team is coached by Darin Toelle and Tim Kruger.

Both teams qualified for the State First Lego League Championship February 22, 2014, at the Air and Space Museum in Ashland.  A total of 50 teams from 7 qualifiers around the state will be competing in the championship.  Nebraska has about 125 total teams this year. 

Rationale:  In continuing with the overview of various special education instructional programs available to students in the District, Matt Fenster, Director of Special Education, will provide a short description of programs offered to students in grades K-12.

Rationale:  An update will be provided to the Board regarding Board Goal 5.1:  Perform a cost benefit analysis of the work that we currently use vendors for versus employing BPS staff to complete needed tasks.

Rationale:  As a continuation from the December meeting, the Board will discuss what role they would like to have in the presentation of the AdvancED Survey results at each building.  The administration will present the expectations for building principals and present possibilities for Board member involvement.

Rationale:  An oral report will be provided on the recent meetings of the Learning Community.

Rationale:  Public comment pertaining to items not otherwise on the Agenda must be submitted to the Secretary of the Board five days prior to the Board meeting.  There were no items submitted for public comment for this meeting.

Rationale:  January 26 - February 1        School Board Recognition Week

February 3                          Board of Education Meeting, Welcome Center, 6:30 pm

Rationale:  Adjourn to executive session to consider matters relating to strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining which are necessary to be considered in closed session for the protection of the public interest.