November 14, 2011 at 7:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

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

Rationale:   

 

It is the vision of the Norfolk Public Schools to actively engage all students in learning
through a relevant and comprehensive standards-based curriculum that integrates
 21^st century skills, tools, context, and assessments.  

 

Goal #1:  All students will succeed at each grade level and graduate from high school well-prepared for a variety of post-secondary pursuits.

 

 

Goal #2:  All students will feel connected with the school and the learning process.

 

 

Goal #3:  District resources, programs, and departments will be aligned to attain high levels of student achievement and instructional excellence.

 

 

Goal #4:  The community will be engaged to support high levels of student achievement.

 

 

 

The mission of the Norfolk Public Schools is to prepare studentswith the skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of a complex, global society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rationale:  October 10, 2011 - 4:30 Study Session

October 10, 2011 - 7:30 Regular session

October 27, 2011 - 2nd Meeting fo the Month

Rationale:  Natalie Hedrick, Senior High autism paraprofessional.

Rationale:  "Three Schools, One Book" presented by Lisa Guenther, Principal Drahota and the following Westside School students:  Alyssa Cuffe, Kari Labenz, Ethan McCorkle, Hope Fossum, Grant Weis, Gabrielle Eberly and Family, and Anden Schold and Family.

Rationale:  1. Study session items.
2. AYP and NCLB

Rationale:  The Bills for the month of November are as follows:

General Fund = $330,108.84
Cooperative Fund = $3,624.06
Lunch Fund = $111,348.30
Depreciation Fund = $9,963.06
Special Building Fund = $6,316.00
Employee Benefit Fund = $13,457.99
Qualified Capital Purpose Undertaking Fund = $383,983.75
Bond Fund = $1,033,452.50

The QCPUF payment included $335,000 in principal and $48,983.75 in interest.
The Bond payment was for the 2005 bond series and included principal of $585,000 and interest of $448,452.50.

We will also have a bond payment due in December for the 2009 bond series.

The expenditures from the Employee Benefit fund are for payment of our workers compensation claims.
The expenditure paid from the Depreciation is for audio repairs in the Johnny Carson Theatre. 

The Annual Financial Report was due November 1st.
The District audit report was filed on November 5th. 

Rationale: 

State Reporting

Last week, Adequate Yearly Progress results were released by the Nebraska Department of Education.  This release of information was the third from NDE and contained very similar data that has been released multiple times.  In August, data from the NeSA Reading and Mathematics tests were released.  In October, the State of the Schools Report was released that again contained NeSA Reading and Mathematics results along with STARS Science, NeSA Writing, and other test results.  Finally, last week, AYP results were released which were based upon data fully contained within the State of the Schools Report. 

Multiple releases of very similar information has happened over the past few years and created understandable confusion for both our staff and public.  I want to take this opportunity to clarify what has been released.

First of all, new data was not released to the public with the release of AYP results.  AYP is determined by comparing results of subgroups of students on NeSA tests to goals determined by the state.  In order to determine if a school has met AYP, their results are compared to state goals in 54 areas for performance and participation including the following groups:  all students, demographic groups (American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, White, Black, Hispanic), students eligible for free and reduced lunch, special education students, and English Language Learners.  In order for a school to meet AYP, they must meet the same goals for each of the 54 areas.  With even just one area not met, the building or level of the district is considered to have not met AYP.

Norfolk Public Schools students met and exceeded the goals set by the state in 156 out of 162 areas.  Yet, by having only two areas at the middle level and four at the high school level not meet the goal; those levels are considered to have not met AYP.  To look at this another way, Norfolk Public Schools met state goals in over 96% of the AYP categories and yet had to levels designated as not meeting AYP. 

Data released by NDE indicated that, for the 2010-2011 school year, 137 of Nebraska’s 249 school districts did not meet some requirement of AYP and No Child Left Behind (NCLB), up from 24 districts in 2006-2007.  This is an increase of over 470%.  Does this mean that schools are performing at lower levels than they were in 06-07?  No, it definitely does not! 

Since 06-07, the Nebraska assessment system has had a complete overhaul.  It is impossible to compare results from year-to-year with this transition.  Also, NCLB/AYP goals have been, and will continue to be, ratcheted up.  For instance, in order to meet NCLB/AYP goals will increase by about 10% from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012.  As the law currently stands, NCLB/AYP goals in Nebraska will rise to 100% for all groups by 2013-2014.

The academic performance of Norfolk Public Schools students actually continues to improve.  For instance, this year we have documented an improvement on the ACT test of nearly a full point (a huge, huge increase in one year).  We also saw significant progress in reading and continued high levels of performance in writing.  As was stated before, we cannot gauge math performance because this was the first year for the new assessment. 

In addition to academic successes, NPS has made great strides in determining the essential curriculum, defining what a 21^st century education looks like, and incorporating technology into instruction.  Items like these are not measured by AYP/NCLB.  The education that our students receive in Norfolk is top-notch. 

Are we satisfied?  Absolutely not.  We certainly have areas for growth.  However, let there be no confusion, Norfolk Public Schools students are performing well.  We are proud of our accomplishments and will continue to get better!

Rationale: 

• Parent/Teacher Conferences

 

School	Fall 2009	Fall 2010	Fall 2011
Bel Air	98.7%	100%	100%
Grant	100%	97%	97.7%
Jefferson	99.5%	99%	99.6%
Lincoln/ECC	98%	100%	100%
Montessori	100%	With LN	100%
Washington	97.1%	98.3%	98.1%
Westside	93%	95.3%	96.1%
Woodland Park	98.6%	99%	100%
Middle School	60%	92%	84.7%
Junior High	67%	73%	69.4%
Senior High	72.6%	71.7%	73.2%

 

• November activities consist of:

            Boys and Girls BB practice

            Norfolk Club BB activities

            Speech and Debate practice and contests

            Intramurals

 

• All Norfolk Public Schools have Attack on Asthma teams who are trained to address emergency medical situations as they occur.  At the end of October, twenty-nine members were re-certified, with the assistance of two trainers.

 

• Mid-second quarter progress reports will be sent home from all elementary schools on November 18.  If parents have questions or concerns regarding their child’s academic progress, please contact your child’s teacher.

 

• Norfolk Public Schools will be dismissing at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 23^rd for Thanksgiving.  Buildings and Central Office will re-open on Monday, November 28^th.

 

Rationale:  The Finance Committee met at noon today at the District Central Office building.  Clark Froehlich and Alfredo Ramirez were present.  Bruce Mitchell was absent.  Dr. Uhing was also present.

The bills as approved this evening were reviewed.

The District is in the process of reworking the Workers Compensation process.  An update was provided to the committee.

Rationale: 

1. Mr. Dolliver reported that the Activities Schedule can now be found on the NPS Website, Activities Schedule.

2. Report on Football Field. Mr. Dolliver indicated that the use of the field has gone very well even though work was going on during the season that impacted full use of the facilities. City and school staff cooperated very well to make it work as smoothly as possible for patrons and the teams.

3. Norfolk Area Sports Council – Mike Fuehrer, Sports Development Manager, and Kim Kwapnioski, Director of the Norfolk area Visitors Bureau, attended the meeting and provided information about the formation of the Norfolk Area Sports Council. Their mission is to positively impact the economy and quality of life of the Greater Norfolk Area by attracting and promoting youth and adult sporting events and extra-curricular activities.

Rationale:  No action items.

Rationale: 

A second meeting of the month will not be conducted due to the Thanksgiving holiday break. 

The next regular meeting of the board of education is scheduled for Monday, December 12, 2011. The study session will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the central office board room and the regular business meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the city council chambers.