May 9, 2016 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public School District's board of education meeting is called to order.  

Rationale:  If any board member is absent, there will need to be a  motion to excuse the absence.

Rationale:  Please stand and join us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rationale:  According to State Statute, schools must conduct an annual public hearing regarding their Parental Involvement Policy. Norfolk Public Schools has a district-wide Parental Involvement Policy (6400) and a Title I Parental Involvement Policy (6410). 

The district-wide Parental Involvement Policy outlines several ways that parents can be involved in their child's education, such as reviewing their child's educational record, filing a complaint about instructional materials, and having advance notice of standardized testing and school sponsored surveys.

The Title I parental involvement takes this a step further.  Title I defines the term parental involvement as the participation of parents in regular, two-way, meaningful communication regarding students' academic learning and other school activities.  Some specific examples of this include, providing parents with regular opportunities to learn about their child's academic progress, providing them with the opportunity to review this policy, and eliciting their help in developing the district's Title I plan.  

At this time, we will open the meeting to the public in order to give them the opportunity to present information and opinions on these policies.

If there are no questions or concerns, we will reaffirm these policies later tonight.

Rationale:  1 to 1 initiative

Rationale:  Kim Frowick-Interpreter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Woodland Park Elementary School

Rationale:  This is the time during the board meeting when the public may request to address the board regarding an agenda item. If you wish to comment, we ask that you identify yourself and indicate the agenda item to which you will be speaking.

Rationale: 

Total amount of claims to be approved in the consent agenda for the month of May, 2016 by specific fund are as follows:
General Fund = $1,152,649.53

Nutrition Services Fund = $123,074.01

Cooperative Fund = $57,051.93

Special Building Fund = $75.67

QCPUF = $70,472.50

Employee Benefit Fund = $370

Bond Fund = $111,100

Student Fee Fund= $36,420.17

The total amount of claims for the month of April, 2016 in the Activities fund are as follows:
Activity Fund = $154,953.62

All the claims for the month of May and Activity claims for the month of April were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facilities Committee.  We continue to be on track with our current budget funds.  The 2016-2017 budget documents have been released by NDE and I am currently reviewing those and starting the budget building process.

Rationale: 

Curriculum Instruction and Assessment

• NeSA and NWEA MAP testing are officially complete for the Spring 2016 session. Electronically we had very few issues. Our biggest concern was keeping track of students that either left or entered the district during the testing window.  The state also required an additional third session in ELA in 5^th-11^th grade which created some scheduling issues.
• This time of the year brings the activities to tie up and complete the year, while planning and preparing for the beginning of the next year.  I’ve been meeting with several different teams to set goals for next year and line up work and training for summer time as well.
• Our visit to observe the K-1 Wonders ELA program in Lincoln a couple of week ago went very well. You will see a request for purchase in the action items.
• Project Problem Solve, which was a grant sponsored by Big Red Keno was a big hit. We had 300 plus 3^rd graders come in shifts that day to experience STEM project stations. During the evening, we hosted more parents and students as well as the Big Red Keno Administrators.

Technology

• I’ve received proposals for the purchasing of the 975 Chrome books. I have a recommendation in the action items.
• I have scheduled meetings next week with building principals to review their technology needs so that we can make purposeful decisions regarding the reallocation of iPad minis and Chrome books. 

Rationale: 

1. Our Johnson O’Malley (JOM) Native American Awards Banquet will be held on Thursday, May 19th at Ponca Tribe of Nebraska beginning at 5:00 p.m.
2. We held a Public Meeting for our Title VII (Native American) Grant on April 28th as part of the guidelines of our Title VII Grant.  
3. On Wednesday, May 4th we held a district PLC for the Special Education Team.  Our schools that piloted our TIP for vocabulary presented their success and discussed plans for summer development to be ready districtwide in the fall.
4. The Migrant Parent Advisory Committee met, Thursday, April 21 at 6:00 p.m. at Washington Elementary. ESU #1 facilitated the meeting.

      Some important dates to remember:

• May 15th - Graduation
• May 17th - Last day of school for students
• May 18th- Teacher Work Day and staff check-out

Rationale: 

School Improvement/Professional Development

Dates for our AdvancED and Nebraska Department of Education external review are being reviewed and will be scheduled for the spring of 2017. 

During the 2016-2017 school year, Norfolk Public Schools may be partnering with ESU 1 out of Wakefield to provide APL training.  Outside of Norfolk, ESU 8 is unable to secure commitments from area schools that are attracted to participating in the training.  

Human Resources

Open Certified Positions: 

Special Education/Resource – HS – interviews scheduled for May 10

Speech Language Pathologist – District – still recruiting candidates

Vocal Music – Elementary – interviews scheduled for May 12

High School Physical Education – opened on May 5

Coaching Vacancies:

Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach

Head Varsity Softball Coach

Unified Bowling Coach

TeamMates News

Currently TeamMates of Norfolk has 112 matches with another 6-8 mentees ready to be matched.  On April 15 approximately 90 mentor/mentees attended the Husker spring game.  Two of our senior matches were acknowledged during the senior recognition ceremony.  The Rotary Recognition Luncheon was held on April 26 at Black Cow Fat Pig and the graduation party for senior mentees is scheduled on May 9 at Valentino’s.

On July 18 Tom Osborne will be in Norfolk to assist TeamMates recruiting.  He is tentatively scheduled to be at Daycos, the Abbey Christian Store, and the Nucor Detailing Center.

After SHOCK News

During the 2015-2016 school year, After SHOCK served 400+ students between the Middle School and Junior High.  Numbers have increased from last year and students were more consistent in their attendance.  The summer program will run from May 31-June 24 at the Middle School from 12:00-4:00 with lunch being served.  Last year, After SHOCK served over 120 students during the summer and the numbers are expected to increase this summer.

Rationale: 

Little Panthers Preschool:

I am happy to announce that our changes to Little Panthers Preschool have been well received-particularly the option of attending full-days.  We are already at capacity for 2016-2017 and have 15 half-day students on our waiting list for full-day spots. I believe that we need to continue exploring the possibility of expanding this program, as its value is exponential.

Sundaes for Success:

The NPS Foundation is sponsoring a fundraising event for our Career Academies during The Big Give from 4:00-6:00 on May 24th.  The event will include ice cream and live music at the Senior High School. Please come out to support our Career Academies if you are able. 

Rationale: 

As stated earlier, the committee reviewed all claims for the month of May as well as the April Activity claims. The committee received a facility tour on our Central Office updates and was able to review the project in its current state.  We then discussed the following items:

• Extra Duty positions
• Pest and Sanitation proposals
• Group Accident policy from Colonial Life
• Proposal from the Verdis Group
• Student Lunch prices for 2016-2017

Our next meeting is scheduled for June 13, 2016 at the Central Office.

Rationale: 

The Policy and Government Relations Committee reviewed the following policies via email:

5008: Attendance

5415: Anti-Bullying

6400: Parental Involvement

6410: Title I Parental Involvement

State statute requires that these policies be renewed annually.  The only changes being recommended are minor typos in policy 5008.

 

Rationale: 

The Activities Committee met at noon on April 25, 2016.

Mr. Dolliver reviewed spring participation numbers and coaching changes for 2016-2017.

The committee participated in an extended discussion regarding the addition of 1 softball, 1 baseball, and 1 speech coach.  It was the recommendation of the committee that Dr. Thompson approve the hiring of these coaches due to our increasing participation numbers and our desire to maintain our current programs.

The committee also participated in an extended discussion regarding the impact of NCN 35 broadcasts of our sporting events.  We have received a lot of positive comments from the community regarding these broadcasts. However, they are having a financial impact on our activities program due to a reduction in gate receipts and concession sales. The committee recommended that Mr. Robinson talk to Mr. Flood about a formal contract for future broadcast rights, in order to offset our the financial loss. 

The committee thanked Mr. Dolliver for his service and wished him a happy retirement.  

Our next meeting will be held after school starts in the fall.

 

Rationale: 

Ben Ries - Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at Norfolk Senior High School

Elizabeth Baber-.50 FTE Title I teacher at Jefferson 

Bachelor of Science Degree in Education with an endorsement in elementary education from Wayne State College

Currently student teaching at Washington Elementary School in Norfolk, Nebraska

Chandler Nielson--Junior High Math

Bachelor of Science Degree in Math from Wayne State College

Currently student teaching at Elkhorn Middle School in Elkhorn, Nebraska

T.J. (Teddy) Shiers, Jr.--Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at Norfolk Junior High

Master of Science in Education, Wayne State College

Currently 5-8 Principal/Activities Director at Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School

Ryan Specht - Assistant Principal at Norfolk Middle School

Master of Education in Educational Leadership, Doane College

Currently a 4th grade teacher at Lakeview Community Schools in Columbus, NE

Rationale: 

A public hearing was held to discuss, consider, and receive input on the districts' Parental Involvement Policies.  The public was given the opportunity to present information and opinions on these policies (6400 and 6410) at that time.

These policies need to be reviewed and reaffirmed or revised annually.

The Government Relations Committee also had the opportunity to review these policies and is not recommending any changes.  It is their opinion that policies 6400 and 6410 can both be reaffirmed as written.

Rationale: 

State law requires that we review our Attendance Policy 5008 annually.  It outlines the types of absences that can be excused, the age for mandatory attendance (6-18), the procedures for early withdrawal, and our requirements for reporting excessive absenteeism to the county attorney.

The Government and Policy committee is not recommending any substantive changes, but they have fixed some slight typos.

Rationale: 

State law requires that we review our Anti-Bullying Policy (5415) annually. It indicates that we will implement practices that reinforce and encourage positive behaviors, as well as practices to identify and prevent inappropriate behaviors such as bullying. The Government and Policy committee are not recommending any revisions at this time.

Rationale: 

See attached request from Melissa Wentling asking for a waiver regarding the requirement that a Foreign Exchange Student sponsor have a current student attending Norfolk Senior High School.

Mr. Luhr indicated that he would like us to follow our policy, and said, "the main reason we want the host family to have a student currently enrolled in NHS is so the exchange student has someone to associate with when attending school. Also to be sure the exchange student will be able to attend various activities and events at the high school. The other aspect would be to have a host family that is familiar with how things work at the high school. Parent teacher conferences, fees, clubs, athletics, and activities."

We had a similar request last year from Rotary, and I denied the request. 

Rationale: 

Below are the proposals we received for the purchase of 975 Chromebooks for the 2016-2017 school year.

1. Softchoice $222,943.95

2. Dell $219,375.00

3. Blue Range $212,941.75

4. Hypertech $215,475.00

5. CDW-G $194,025.00

These proposals all met specifications which were for Dell model 3120.  Based on the proposals I am recommending to the Board of Education to approve the purchase from CDW-G in the amount of $194,025 which will come from our general fund technology budget.

Rationale:  I am recommending to the Board of Education to approve the purchases of Wonders Reading materials for Kindergarten and First Grade. The cost of these materials will be $209,931.15 and will come from our general and depreciation funds. This new program was reviewed by staff, the curriculum committee and district administration during this past school year.  We feel confident this is the best decision for the students in our district in this key instructional area.

Rationale: 

Rationale: 

The district received the following proposals for pest and sanitation services for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Pest Control Proposals

1. Plunketts Pest Control - $9,600

2. Guardian  - $7,512

3. Kustom Pest Control - $4,872

Sanitation Proposals

1. Waste Connections - $57,600

2. Prime Sanitation - $43,380

3. HD Haulaway - $40,200

I recommend to the Board of Education to accept the proposals from Kustom Pest Control for $4,872 and the proposal from HD Haulaway for $40,200 for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

 

 

Rationale:  Our next meeting is scheduled for noon on Thursday, May 26th at the Central Office Administration Building.