July 20, 2016 at 5:00 PM - Work Session /Regular Meeting

Discussion:  The board toured West Park and looked at the new polish concrete, carpeting in the halls and classrooms and remodel of the kindergarten classrooms.

Discussion:  Work has started on installing temperature control units in gyms. Once this is completed, the wooden floor will be put in the main gym first and the auxiliary gym second. The roofing in Area C is mostly done. Framing is in progress for Area D. In the auditorium, the overhead lighting and clouds are being installed. The media center is all framed. When asked by the board if there were still leaks, Zach Smith of Hausmann Construction said some of the roof leaks and other areas that were leaking have been fixed. He said work is being done to get the windows and exterior sealed. The paving of the dock is finished. The main entrance is poured with the exception of the circle drive so equipment can be moved in and out. Smith said the light pole bases are also being worked on. The sidewalks on the north side are poured and moving along. Superintendent Dr. Troy Loeffelholz said he is working on the bronze dedication plaque for the new high school. Smith said the recent storm did not cause any major damage. It did move the roof top units that weigh 25,000 pounds up and shifted them four inches but didn’t cause any damage.

Discussion:  Executive Director of Business Operations and Human Relations Dave Melick talked to the board about the proposals from lunch service companies. Melick said the process started when parents expressed concerns about the menu variety. He said the district decided to go out for bids to find a company that would plan the lunches and provide more options. He said bids had to be advertised for 60 days. The State Department of Education and Food Service Nutrition has an approved list of companies that can do this job for districts. Melick said there were 11 companies and 8 responded. After responding, an 80 page RFP was sent and the businesses had 60 days to prepare a proposal. These companies were also required to attend a pre-proposal meeting in June. The bids were opened at 1 p.m. July 18 and two company representatives attended. After the opening, the proposals were sent to a panel to review and rate the companies. The companies were awarded points based on their RFP. There were 100 points available, and cost was a factor but not the biggest factor. The rating panel scored the proposals independently. Lunchtime Solutions was the top choice receiving an average score of 95 out of 100 points. Lunchtime Solutions has a much greater business presence in Nebraska and has worked with districts the size of Columbus. Melick said the company’s references were also high. He said they had a better understanding of CPS and problems the district wanted addressed. Melick said there was also a well-defined transition plan. Melick said they were one of the lower bids but not the lowest but their overall rating was higher. He said they also showed a great interest in partnering with CPS and made two visits to look at facilities. He said any of the companies that completed the entire process would have been good. Lunchtime Solutions have dietician's on staff, lots of menu choices and increased entrees. They all also had a chef on staff. He said the chef will prepare some of the board’s meals. Dr. Loeffelholz said he did meet with the Scotus administration and they are on board with the new cooperative agreement.

Discussion:  The Board did not go into executive session.

Discussion:  The board adjourned at 6:31 p.m.

Discussion:  Tim Pospisil read the mission statement.

Discussion:  No spoke to the board.

Discussion:  Motion by Doug Molczyk second by Tim Pospisil to go into the public hearing. Motion carried. Dr. Loeffelholz said student fees include the elementary and CMS supply lists, student fee lists for both CMS and CHS and also a fee waiver. He said most of the things on the agenda concerning fees are extra curricular activities. No one spoke at the hearing. The board adjourned the hearing at 7:08 p.m.

Discussion:  This policy was created because the district didn’t have a policy to govern the cooperative agreement. Dr. Loeffelholz and the new Scotus activity director met last week. He said the Scotus administration is in agreement with the policy and will present it to their board in August. Dr. Loeffelholz said after school starts, representatives from the CPS and Scotus boards will need to meet in September. He said there will be another meeting after baseball is finished in the spring to see how things are going. Scotus administration agreed that the cooperative students must follow the same rules as the Columbus athletes. The Scotus athletes will also go into the pool for random selection for drug testing. Dr. Loeffelholz said the idea behind the policy is to try to clean up things that cause inappropriate adult behavior. He said he will be monitoring parent interaction as well as student interaction, and when something happens, it must be addressed immediately. Dr. Loeffelholz said there can only be three people on the committee that will meet with Scotus. He said in August, he will ask three board members to volunteer. Next year the appointments will be done in January when all the other positions are appointed.

Discussion:  CHS Assistant Principal Jon Frey said there were not a tremendous amount of changes to the handbook. He said electronic devices couldn’t be used during the day to record others without their knowledge. If this information is used to harass another student an investigation will be done and discipline action may result. Another part added was to address using school computers during school hours for non-educational things. Gaming will not be allowed during the school day and can lead to the suspension of Internet privileges and the laptop. Frey said students are stealing the part on the charging cord that plugs into the wall because there are no serial numbers on it. He said this type of stealing will be addressed and anything found must be given to district technology. Frey said a new section on National Honor society was added to give clarity to the process. One of the biggest changes for next year is closed campus lunch for students in grades 9, 10, and 11. Frey said seniors are still eligible for open lunch. The board was concerned about consequences for students who miss too many days. Dr. Loeffelholz said some schools have started doing like in college where if a student misses a percentage of the class, they must withdraw. He said the problem with that is what do you do with these kids if they are not in class. Ken Curry arrived at 7:29 p.m. Another questioned if students with open lunch created any problems. Frey said in recent years most of the problems occur in the parking lot such as not picking up trash or gathering in large groups. He said it is also very distruptive when a teacher as started instruction and a student walks in late. Doug Molczyk said he would like a report on how the seniors with open lunch do on attendance. CHS Principal Steve Woodside said moving to a new high school in a more remote site and starting a new lunch program played a part in the decision on no open lunch for juniors. He said the lunch will now be better able to serve the needs of the kids. Woodside said 86 percent of the staff was supportive of closed lunch for juniors. He said many of the staff members spend a lot of time checking in students. Molczyk asked what was being done to educate parents on the change besides putting something in the handbook. Dr. Loeffelholz said there are several ideas that have been discussed to inform parents such as an all call, letter or using social media. The closed lunch for juniors will start next year. Frey said most of the students are aware that there will be no open lunch for juniors even though nothing has been official said. Woodside said he hopes people understand that the administration is doing what is in the best interest of the kids. He said with all the changes, the timing was right. He said he wants parents and students to understand the rationale behind the decision.

Discussion:  Activity Director Dave Hiebner said there are not a ton of changes in the handbook. He said although nothing was changed on the drug testing policy, it will now be included in the students’ handbook. He said CHS has a great relationship with the hospital in working together on the drug testing. He said the expectations of students who do a cooperative sport are also now included.

Discussion:  Hiebner said the only change was increasing an all event pass from $70 to $100. He said this price is very similar to other schools. Hiebner said the goal was to keep the prices to get into events the same so people could afford to come. He said that is why those prices didn’t change.

Discussion:  There were no recognitions.

Discussion:  No items were removed from the consent agenda.

Discussion:  Meal prices will increase for next year. Melick said the cost of free and reduced will remain at 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. However, the regular lunch will increase because the federal government requires a certain balance in the lunch account at the end of the year before prices will not increase. He said there was an increase in the account but not enough. The cost will increase by 10 cents so breakfast at all levels will be $1.70 and lunch at elementary $2.45 and CMS/CHS $2.70. Theresa Seipel said she thinks the prices are still very reasonable.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said there has been some activity in summer through the Foundation. In June, there were $31,403.80 contributed from the Band Boosters, Sports Boosters, Alumni, North Park PTO and Foundation. Dr. Loeffelholz said the Band Boosters made a significant contribution because the down payment was required for the trip to the Holiday Bowl. He said the total contributions from the Foundation and umbrella organization will be ahead of what was given last year.

Discussion:  The board approved paying Sepeil Repair Inc. $307.05 for regular vehicle maintenance and $338.30 for bearing replacement on van.

Discussion:  Melick explained that these are the bills that are paid in advance of the meeting. He said most of these are reimbursements or to local vendors.

Discussion:  The board accepted the proposal from Lunch Time Solutions to provide management for food service for next year. Melick said this is not approving the contract because the proposal must first go to the Department of Education. The contract will be approved at another meeting.

Discussion:  Melick said the CMS surplus athletic items are obsolete or in poor conditions. Dr. Loeffelholz said in the future, surplus items will only be approved by the board twice a year – once at the beginning of the school year and once in the spring.

Discussion:  Melick said there are not a lot of changes to the certified handbook. One of new benefits for all staff is the employee assistance program. He said this doesn’t cost the district anything and is a service that is offered. An employee can get a free phone call with a counselor on issues such as depression, stress management, anxiety, marital difficulties and family conflict and other topics. Eventually, the situation will be turned over to a local counselor. Melick said around 80 percent of the people eligible carried one day of personal leave over to next year. He said this is clearly a benefit for the staff.

Discussion:  Melick said one change this year is classified employees can now get cash in lieu of taking health insurance. He said the amounts are different from certified staff. A 12 month classified employee would receive $125 a month and 9 and 10 month employees $100 a month. The handbook also includes the classified staff salaries this year.

Discussion:  Melick said there will be a $5 increase for each of the pay rates for all subs. The pay for subbing during a planning period has also increased from $17 to $19 at CHS/CMS and $11 to $13 at the elementary. He said there has also been something included about a sub receiving a half a day pay if they are called and when they get there are not needed.

Discussion:  Melick said he hopes the increase will give CPS an edge when looking to hire substitute teachers. The pay for 1-30 days is $135; 31-60 days $140; 61 and above days $145; and long-term sub rate will be $190.85. Melick said at the elementary level, the specialty positions are hard to find substitutes, and at the secondary level, math and science are difficult.

Discussion:  July 22 is the end of spending from the current year’s general fund. It is also the date used to determine if unused money will be put in the depreciation fund. Melick said he has been carefully monitoring hours of para professionals. He said the district has had three claims filed by employees who said they deserved health insurance and CPS would not provide it. Melick said one employee wasn't even eligible because she quit in 2014. The other two work 6.5 or 6.75 hours and the average day doesn't make them qualified either. He said the district will appeal the claim. Melick said the district will provide time sheets, but it is somewhat difficult because sick and vacation time will show up on the card but are not counted in the hours worked. He said the claim company will then have 60 days to respond. Melick said the claims are because all three applied for insurance but were denied.

Discussion:  The board approved the low bid of $174,825 from Commonwealth Communications for the IP based access controls and IP camera system at the new high school. Executive Director of Technology/Operations Leonard Kwapnioski said the cameras were not included within the scope of the high school project. He said the wiring for the cameras is installed for the indoor cameras, but not for the cameras in the parking lot. He said there were six vendors who were contacted and four responded with only three making a bid. Kwapnioski said this is a large amount of money but this is the system that will eventually be used district wide with the IP based access controls, so the cost for the other buildings will be reduced once the initial equipment is purchased.

Discussion:  Kwapnioski said the new phones are starting to be implemented at the administration, maintenance and elementary buildings. He said they are currently working on some of the bugs with the system. Kwapnioski said the nice thing is people can now log into a phone any where in the district and be able to get all their messages and other things.

Discussion:  Next year there will be 10 new or revised courses. Engineering courses will be new next year. Other at courses at CHS include some in CAD, Application in Design and Preconstruction, Linkages, Manufacturing Metals, Manufacturing Welding, and Athletic Strengthening for Men and Women. Romshek said the strengthening and conditioning for men and women are designed for athletes, and it is individualized for the student. Strength and conditioning courses will help to develop kids. The course will get kids more engaged at the physical level. Hiebner said there will also be an advisory group on strength and conditioning class, so the teachers can approach it in the correct manner. Hiebner said the training for girls will be different than guys. He said these changes should bring some significant benefits. Another change is in the English Language Arts 7 and 8 grades, there will be target areas for each unit.

Discussion:  Romshek said all of the materials that have been approved are coming in and being distributed to the buildings.

Discussion:  No updates.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said there will be another tour of the high school at the board meeting on August 15. He said there will also be several groups doing a tour and the board is welcome to attend. Central Community College will be touring on July 28 at 1 p.m. to look at the STEM area and other places. The board retreat will be August 4 at the Elks at 6 p.m. The convocation will be on August 12 beginning at 9:30 a.m. School starts four weeks from today. Dr. Loeffelholz said he will be attending Administrator Days next week.

Discussion:  Tim Pospisil thanked Leonard Kwapnioski and Dave Melick for all the work they did on the bids. Ken Curry apologized for being late, and thanked the administration for all they do. Candy Becher thanked everyone for all their hard work over the summer to get ready for the start of school. Doug Molczyk thanked Steve Woodside and his staff on the research they did on open lunch and other areas. He said the improvements at West Park were impressive and he is excited to see how it works for the teachers. Molczyk said the food service manager is a perfect example of an issue that was brought to the board and resulted in a changed. Theresa Seipel said the renovations at West Park have been talked about for a long time, and she is glad it is finally done. She thanked Dr. Romshek for all the work her department did on the new courses and the new books. Seipel said she also really liked the polished floor at West Park.

Discussion:  The board did not go into executive session.

Discussion:  The meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.